When Solomon declares "all is vanity" in Ecclesiastes, he is speaking with as much authority as any human being could. He is not speaking as a bitter, envious "wannabe", who watched others live "the good life" while he struggled and toiled to put food on the table. He succeeded at everything he tried. He knew what it was to attain, achieve, acquire. And, at the end of it all, he declared it "vanity and striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 1:14)
As I mentioned yesterday, Solomon speaks to my middle-aged musings. By the time you reach age 50, you have watched people succeed and fail in business, in marriage, in recovery from alcohol and drugs, in weight loss, spending habits, in learning to balance life, in "getting their heads on straight." Often, the same people will succeed, then fail again in a few years at marriage, drug rehab, weight loss....
And it's not just personal cycles that you observe endlessly repeating themselves. You see cycles in economics, the weather, politics and religion. What goes around comes around.
There is a certain tedium and futility that comes with these observations. Why put out the effort to help someone lose weight, save a marriage, get off of drugs or alcohol, only to watch them turn around in a few years and repeat the cycle. Is it worth trying to "do good" when it seems to be so easily and thoughtlessly reversed?
I am grateful to Lee Camp, who introduced me to a word during our "Renew" conference at College Church earlier this month: the word is "proleptic".
Webster's New World Dictionary defines the word as "treating a future event as if it had already happened."
Lee Camp explained the importance of living a "proleptic" life as a Christian. Why work to heal people's bodies when we're all going to die someday anyway? Because there will come a day when death is conquered and people live forever in healthy resurrected bodies. So, work today to create a "preview of coming attractions". Live in the reality of the resurrection of our mortal bodies today.
Why work to help people recover from drugs and alcohol or other addictive, destructive behaviors, when so many people return to old habits, only to struggle through rehab again in a few years? Because someday sin will be eradicated and Christ will rule the earth with perfect justice and balance. People will no longer turn to addictive behaviors to escape the pain of living in a world gone wrong. The world will be made new. Work today to show people what that will be like. Live "propleptically".
Why fight world hunger or help create clean drinking water sources for people when those problems will continue somewhere else in the world? Because someday the earth will be watered by the River of Life, flowing pure and clean from God's throne. Live today in the reality of wholesome food and clean water for everyone. Give people a taste of God's future for this world. Live "proleptically".
Why work for peace when war will likely break out again very soon? Because the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, will someday reign over the whole earth, bringing peace to everyone. Live in the reality of the coming peace today. Show others what it will be like. Make them hunger and thirst for righteousness. Live "proleptically."
Thank you Lee Camp for sharing your thoughts and thank you Jason Locke and the entire team who organized the "Renew" conference in 2013. We are blessed!
--Posted by Mama O.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
All is vanity
"...All is vanity....
All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.
All things are wearisome;
Man is not able to tell it.
I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted."
Ecclesiastes 1:2,7,8,14,15 (New American Standard Version)
Ecclesiastes has always been one of my favorite books.
"Isn't it rather cynical?" one may ask.
Yes and no.
Solomon was an architect, real estate developer, rancher, farmer, international businessman, best-selling author, lover-extraordinaire and king. There was no human goal that this man had not achieved in his lifetime. He found love, fame, fortune, fulfillment. His summary of life in Ecclesiastes is not coming from an embittered man who was never able to "grab the brass ring" on the merry-go-round of life. Solomon had a collection of brass rings, and he discovered that they all turned his fingers green when he wore them! They were worthless once they joined his collection of rings.
Why? To put it bluntly in middle-aged terms: because we're all going to die. (I can say this, I just had my 53rd birthday this month.)
All that striving, saving, economizing, sacrificing, fighting and dreaming earns us a spot--in the graveyard! It all dies with us. And all our effort and sacrifice and creativity and struggle are almost immediately forgotten by the next generation, who remains here on earth to learn all the same lessons that we took with us to the grave.
Do I sound like a "downer"?
Let's talk more tomorrow about how Solomon has helped me deal with my middle-aged musings. For now, I've gotta go. I have places to go, things to do, brass rings to reach for...
Until tomorrow, this is Mama O., with another post.
All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.
All things are wearisome;
Man is not able to tell it.
I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted."
Ecclesiastes 1:2,7,8,14,15 (New American Standard Version)
Ecclesiastes has always been one of my favorite books.
"Isn't it rather cynical?" one may ask.
Yes and no.
Solomon was an architect, real estate developer, rancher, farmer, international businessman, best-selling author, lover-extraordinaire and king. There was no human goal that this man had not achieved in his lifetime. He found love, fame, fortune, fulfillment. His summary of life in Ecclesiastes is not coming from an embittered man who was never able to "grab the brass ring" on the merry-go-round of life. Solomon had a collection of brass rings, and he discovered that they all turned his fingers green when he wore them! They were worthless once they joined his collection of rings.
Why? To put it bluntly in middle-aged terms: because we're all going to die. (I can say this, I just had my 53rd birthday this month.)
All that striving, saving, economizing, sacrificing, fighting and dreaming earns us a spot--in the graveyard! It all dies with us. And all our effort and sacrifice and creativity and struggle are almost immediately forgotten by the next generation, who remains here on earth to learn all the same lessons that we took with us to the grave.
Do I sound like a "downer"?
Let's talk more tomorrow about how Solomon has helped me deal with my middle-aged musings. For now, I've gotta go. I have places to go, things to do, brass rings to reach for...
Until tomorrow, this is Mama O., with another post.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
FIRM
Tout-Tou Bounthapanya sings "Amazing Grace" in Lao
Tout-Tou shared her very moving testimony with our group on Sunday morning. She spent several of her childhood years in a concentration camp in Laos, eating bugs in the jungle, just in order to survive. Her father had been a general in the Lao military, fighting against the Communists. In order to punish him, the Communists imprisoned his entire family. When Tout-Tou and her family finally escaped and made it to the United States, Tout-Tou felt completely unprepared to live life as an American girl, riding a bus to school every day. For the first year she was here, she planned to kill herself rather than feel the pain of not "fitting in" to her new culture. Then, Tout-Tou encountered Jesus Christ and the helping hand of the Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministry (FIRM). She began to see God's love for her and His plan for her life, even with all its difficulties. Today, Tout-Tou is a wife, mother, master's degree candidate and community health worker for FIRM. She has a passion for the mental health of Fresno's newest citizens--our refugees--helping them with language skills, job skills, daily living skills, and, most importantly, introducing them to the love of God. FIRM, whose headquarters and preschool are located on Fresno Street, between Clinton and McKinley avenues, works to train the preschool children of refugees with readiness skills, works with school-age children in tutoring and after-school programs, works with adults in literacy, English-as-a-second-language and citizenship training, and works with the "elders" in community garden projects--a way for the older refugees to interact with one another while they do a familiar activity. FIRM needs volunteers for its adult ESL (English literacy) programs. Teachers are not required to have credentials. Volunteers are also needed for FIRM's summer programs, working with school children who are on summer vacation. They can be reached at (559) 487-1500 or www.firminc.org.
Members of FIRM's Lao Dance Team perform a
dance celebrating the salvation of Jesus
from the refugee camps of Southeast Asia
and from sin (see the bamboo cross in the center)
--Posted by Mama O.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Who does the work?
I am now a chiropractic patient.
Everything in life is connected. And, I firmly believe that my chiropractic status is tied the amount of time I am spending in front of a computer screen these days looking through bifocals, which cause me to crane my neck. I have an appointment with the optometrist tomorrow to get new, non-bifocal glasses as well.
Anyway, I was getting a chiropractic adjustment on my neck last week when the chiropractor lifted my head from underneath. I felt him lifting and thought I would help. He said, "Let me do the work!"
He has given me muscle-strengthening exercises to do at home. I have a part to play in the healing process. But, when it is time for him to work, then I must let him work!
I was struck with the similarity to God's work of healing our souls from sin. Certain parts of the process are in the "expert hands of God":
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9 (New International Version)
Certain jobs are given to us, to help us strengthen our faith muscles:
"...continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Philippians 2:12b,13 (New International Version)
"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." James 2:20-24 (New International Version)
Like a good chiropractor, God heals us through a combination of some work that He alone can do, and some healing, strengthening exercises that we must do ourselves.
I've gotta go--I have strengthening exercises to do...
--Posted by Mama O.
Everything in life is connected. And, I firmly believe that my chiropractic status is tied the amount of time I am spending in front of a computer screen these days looking through bifocals, which cause me to crane my neck. I have an appointment with the optometrist tomorrow to get new, non-bifocal glasses as well.
Anyway, I was getting a chiropractic adjustment on my neck last week when the chiropractor lifted my head from underneath. I felt him lifting and thought I would help. He said, "Let me do the work!"
He has given me muscle-strengthening exercises to do at home. I have a part to play in the healing process. But, when it is time for him to work, then I must let him work!
I was struck with the similarity to God's work of healing our souls from sin. Certain parts of the process are in the "expert hands of God":
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9 (New International Version)
Certain jobs are given to us, to help us strengthen our faith muscles:
"...continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Philippians 2:12b,13 (New International Version)
"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." James 2:20-24 (New International Version)
Like a good chiropractor, God heals us through a combination of some work that He alone can do, and some healing, strengthening exercises that we must do ourselves.
I've gotta go--I have strengthening exercises to do...
--Posted by Mama O.
Monday, February 4, 2013
No Grace
I am taking an accounting class right now, it is a prerequisite to a Quick Books class, so I can do my bookkeeping on-line efficiently. I texted my husband the other day, and said, somewhat cryptically, "I know why I don't like accounting--no grace".
It's not that I disapprove of the process of keeping accurate records of where money comes from and where it gets spent. I think that's wisdom. I firmly believe every high school student should be required to take an accounting class, and every college student should be required to take another accounting class. It makes us keenly aware of the balance between what is coming in, financially speaking, and what is flowing out, and how quickly it is coming and going. It gives us a forum to ask the tough questions like, "Is this how I want to spend my money?"
But, I find a latent "teenager" inside myself, rebelling at the teacher's admonition to "not make mistakes" in our record-keeping. She is advising us thusly because it requires a great deal of effort and form-filling-out to correct accounting errors once they have been posted to a general ledger.
But, somehow, instead of appreciating this sage advice from our instructor, there is a part of me that rebels at the instruction to "be perfect". I find myself internally nit-picking at the mistakes she makes as she teaches up front (I know, that's really going to help me learn the material!). I am a little disturbed at this phenomenon in my psyche, and yet, I believe it is hitting on a spiritual principle: a view of perfection shows up our flaws and that brings out the worst in us.
The Apostle Paul took quite a bit of space to explain this in Romans 7 and 8:
"Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In facet, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, 'You must not covet.' But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law's commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God's good commands for its own evil purposes." Romans 7:7-13 (New Living Translation)
A call for perfection shows up our imperfection but has no power to make us better than our weak selves. The answer, spiritually speaking, is found in grace through Jesus Christ:
"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God" The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws , and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)" Romans 7:24-8:9 (New Living Translation)
That settles it in the spiritual realm, and now to get a much-needed attitude adjustment in my accounting class...
--Posted by Mama O.
It's not that I disapprove of the process of keeping accurate records of where money comes from and where it gets spent. I think that's wisdom. I firmly believe every high school student should be required to take an accounting class, and every college student should be required to take another accounting class. It makes us keenly aware of the balance between what is coming in, financially speaking, and what is flowing out, and how quickly it is coming and going. It gives us a forum to ask the tough questions like, "Is this how I want to spend my money?"
But, I find a latent "teenager" inside myself, rebelling at the teacher's admonition to "not make mistakes" in our record-keeping. She is advising us thusly because it requires a great deal of effort and form-filling-out to correct accounting errors once they have been posted to a general ledger.
But, somehow, instead of appreciating this sage advice from our instructor, there is a part of me that rebels at the instruction to "be perfect". I find myself internally nit-picking at the mistakes she makes as she teaches up front (I know, that's really going to help me learn the material!). I am a little disturbed at this phenomenon in my psyche, and yet, I believe it is hitting on a spiritual principle: a view of perfection shows up our flaws and that brings out the worst in us.
The Apostle Paul took quite a bit of space to explain this in Romans 7 and 8:
"Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In facet, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, 'You must not covet.' But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law's commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God's good commands for its own evil purposes." Romans 7:7-13 (New Living Translation)
A call for perfection shows up our imperfection but has no power to make us better than our weak selves. The answer, spiritually speaking, is found in grace through Jesus Christ:
"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God" The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws , and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)" Romans 7:24-8:9 (New Living Translation)
That settles it in the spiritual realm, and now to get a much-needed attitude adjustment in my accounting class...
--Posted by Mama O.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Moving Day
 |
| Cleo, Amanda and Jeremy |
 |
| Grandma Kathy Tolleson and grandson Brooks on the hand truck |
 |
| RJ Buchanan, Casey Sue and Ryan Buchanan load the U-Haul truck |
 |
| Casey Sue loads the U-Haul Jeremy and Amanda Ellington moved to Bakersfield on Saturday, February 2, 2013. Several of us from the Ocheltree Sheoherding Group, along with family members, gathered to help with the packing process. The Ellingtons have a nice house with a yard for Cleo and two full-time jobs awaiting them in Bakersfield. They plan to attend the Westside Church of Christ. And remember, Bakersfield is only two hours away and it's on the way to a lot of places. So, stop by and see the Ellington's new home on your way through town! We will miss you, Jeremy and Amanda! Go with God!! --Posted by Mama O. |
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