My plea to all of my family

A good friend of mine posed a question to me the other day.  He said, "Do you have things you do to de-stress from the week?"  I think I answered with something really lame but that conversation included four other dudes and so the conversation quickly moved away from my response and no one brought it up again, much to my relief.  As I reflect on that question, though, I have come to a realization.  I really don't have a healthy way to de-stress.  At college one way I would de-stress is have intense conversations about God and theology and religion (all of them).  Those conversations breathed life into me.  I don't think I knew it at the time.  I was blessed to have a conversation like that with four very close friends and it reminded me again and gave me such a sense of peace.  It was like all the thoughts had been building up in my head, creating some pressure, and I was able to get everything off my chest, process with the counsel of four other believers, and the pressure was relieved.  Did we solve any major issues? No.  Did we disagree?  On several points.  Did we leave that conversation thinking less of any of the others? NO WAY!  It was a beautiful discussion about how we work in tandem with God to the world.  Each of us coming from different perspectives and different belief systems but each of us were able to express our thoughts, comment on the others, and process through a tough issue together.

The topic of the discussion doesn't matter.  What matters is how it was handled.  I would like to share another of these conversations I had with one of my coworkers.  Let's call her Amy.  Amy wears a hijab and covers almost all of her skin except for her hands and face.  I thought it was a pretty good bet that she was a Muslim but I didn't think much of it.  She is funny and she is kind.  We have talked in passing (we work different shifts) and have had some brief conversations about random life and stuff.  Work chatter.  Then, one day, the topic of religion was opened up.  I often bring projects to work on while I work because it can get slow.  This time I had brought some material for youth group and I had left it open.  One of my other coworkers saw it and asked what religion I was.  I mumbled something offhanded because I thought it seemed like an obvious answer.  Amy laughed thinking it was obvious, too.  Then, I finished up my work, packed up my stuff, and started to leave.  But then...for some reason...I turned to Amy and asked, "Do people ask you what religion you are a lot?"  Amy rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, all the time!"  We started a conversation from there and were able to talk a lot about both of our religions.  The conversation was less about what we believed and more about why we practiced and what the purpose was.  For Amy it seemed that it was something that has meant a lot more to her recently, though I didn't ask that specifically.  She discussed her struggles with some of the rules of her faith (a lot of which are broken against her will because of American customs, by the way) and how people just do not understand it.  She told me about a story in which a truck driver called her a "f***ing Muslim" and how it was all "her peoples" fault for the way the world and America is now.  Amy shared with me about how people can be extremely mean and rude to her because of the way she dresses and because of what she believes.  At the end of the conversation, right before I left, I apologized for asking so many questions and mentioned that I hoped that I hadn't offended her or been too curious.  She assured me that I hadn't bothered her and that she appreciated me listening.  I thanked Amy for the great conversation and she thanked me, too.

A simple conversation.  Two very different faiths, belief systems, and opinions on life and on God.  In fact, oftentimes two opposing religions entirely.  Neither Amy nor I set out to convert the other.  We still haven't since.  We have had other conversations similar to this one and they have all been great!  I took the long way around to start this blog because I think it is important to have some background on the conversation my four friends and I had.  Imagine that conversation if we all had gotten angry and upset at one another.  When we worship the same God and follow the same faith.  Think of how that could have gone.  Then think of how, more often than not, those conversations do go down a bad path...apply that to the conversation I had with Amy...

How can we have healthy, life-giving conversations with non-believers when we are at each other's throats over theological differences that truly aren't so different??  Yes, I will give you that some issues are worth arguing over because there are certain doctrines that are core to the Christian faith and those should not be shaken.  Most of our theological differences boil down to differences in interpretation of Scriptures and, sometimes, what we consider to be Scriptures.  They are not discussions worthy of such division among the family of Christ.

Let me summarize what I am trying to say...Family.  Please, please, please stop bickering over theology and start speaking in love and understanding and agreement (even in the midst disagreement).  Before we try and convince the world it is broken, we should probably check our own hearts.  Let's stop arguing and start communicating.  Then let's go out and communicate with others in love and understanding.

Always Seeking Truth,


Dylan

The Enigma Called Prayer

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

My, oh, my.  The disciple that asked Jesus this question in Luke chapter 11 had no idea what he was getting into, and neither do we.

Prayer is a complete and total enigma.  Every religion has some form of prayer or at least something similar to prayer.  Among Christians, prayer can be a source of bitter judgment and it can, quite literally, change the world.  Some Christians will fight, tooth and nail, to defend how we pray and what we pray in the Christian faith.  There is even sometimes a debate about who it is we pray to exactly: Jesus? God? The Holy Spirit? The Saints? The Holy Mother? The Trinity?  Who do we address in our prayers?  In the Jewish faith it was pretty straight forward: God.  The Jewish traditions oftentimes held no mixture of misunderstanding to whom we pray.  There also was little debate about how to pray to God.  The Law had laid everything out very clearly and there wasn’t much room for differing interpretations (though there were definitely some!).  But by the time Jesus comes into the picture with His good news of God’s love, grace, redemption, salvation, and His overwhelming desire for all to be brought back into right relationship with Him the disciples, who were Jews, began to wonder if maybe there was something more they were missing out on when it came to prayer.  So, the boldest of them in Luke’s account asks the fatal request, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Luke’s account gives a shorter version of the Lord’s Prayer, and the one that many Christians have memorized or tend to memorize is the Lord’s Prayer located in the gospel according to Matthew chapter 6.  I will be mainly referring to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew for this post.  

If you need to reference it, then here it is:

Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT)

“Pray like this:

                Our Father in heaven,

                May your name be kept holy.

                May your Kingdom come soon.

                May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

                Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

And don’t let us yield to temptation

But rescue us from the evil one.”

Side note: I have chosen the NLT because it is one of my personal favorite translations, but I will bring up some translation differences that I feel are worth pointing out and will reference those as they come up.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrestled with some of the same questions and thoughts the disciples did when it came to prayer.  It seems that he felt there was something more, something he was missing when it came to prayer.  This eventually led to him writing a brief book on the Psalms and prayer.  Here is a quote from his book, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible, that really begins to capture where his struggle began and where it ended, “If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart.  Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray."  Bonhoeffer’s struggle stands where many of our struggles stand: how do we pray?  And his conclusion seems to be that, perhaps, there is something God DOES want us to pray and even HOW to pray.  Naturally, the next step includes the request of the disciples and Jesus’ response, the Lord’s Prayer.  In fact, Bonhoeffer states, “All the prayers of Holy Scripture are summarized in the Lord’s Prayer, and are contained in its immeasurable breadth.”  Bonhoeffer goes on in his book to say that the Lord’s Prayer is the complete summation of the Psalms and since Jesus the Christ, being God, prays the Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer, then to pray any of these are to pray with Jesus and to pray the very words of God.  To summarize Bonhoeffer, as we pray and read the Psalms we are praying with God about the things God wants us to pray about, and all these are summarized by Jesus the Christ in the Lord’s Prayer.

Sorry if that seemed a little convoluted but I truly believe it carries some vast significance.  If you want to read up on Bonhoeffer’s thoughts here I highly recommend checking out the book, “Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  It isn’t even 100 pages so it is worth the read, although it can be a little dense and intellectual sometimes. 

If the Lord’s Prayer is a summary of the Psalms, which are the words of God spoken and prayed by Jesus, then what is the Lord’s Prayer really about and why aren’t we paying closer attention to it? 

Let’s break it down briefly.  “Our Father in heaven.”  Good.  We now know who we are praying to.  Jesus kept it simple.  We pray to our father in heaven.  Now, we could talk about everything that this could imply but let me just say this…rather than offer up my theology of what it means to address “Our Father” and somehow force my ideology on you, I would recommend doing some research on your own, talking to some solid Christian friends, a pastor/preacher, etc. about what it means to pray “Our Father.”  The significant thing here is that Jesus gives us some direction.  When in doubt, pray to “Our Father.”  That’s what Jesus did and that is enough for me to start with!

“May your name be kept holy.”  Okay.  What is this about?  Indulge me for a second as I point out that the Greek here is actually in the imperative and so the word used here, “may,” implies the possibility or the hopeful request for the Father’s name to be kept holy but the Greek actually implies a command.  “Your name be kept holy.”  No need for the confusion of the word “may” because we get a better idea of what Jesus is saying without it.  Jesus is summarizing possibly one of the main reasons the Psalms were written, to glorify God.  When we pray to our father we always seek for his name to be made holy and for him to be glorified.  Glance at pretty much any Psalm and you will see the glorification of God proclaimed passionately.

“May your Kingdom come soon.”  Again, “may,” let’s just ignore it. “Your Kingdom come soon.”  Part of the Jewish Messianic prophecies included the coming Kingdom of God brought about by the Messiah.  This hope and prayer was present all throughout the Psalms.  In the Psalms there is a deep desire for the Kingdom of God to come as quickly as possible.  Just take a look at Psalms 23, 87, 145, just to list a select few.

               

“May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”  Bye, “may.”  Imagine heaven on earth.  That is basically what is going on here.  That’s where this phrase probably comes from! (I actually don’t know if that is true at all, but it could be!)  But really.  Jesus is saying that our prayers to our father in heaven, who we want to see glorified in every single way and whose Kingdom we desperately want to see here on earth, should include that we want nothing more than for his will and his desires (which we know are always centered around love and, therefore, must be ultimately good) to be done here on earth just as they are in the heavens.  Again, this idea ties to the themes of God’s glory and his coming kingdom mentioned all throughout the Psalms. Pick a couple and check it out.

               

“Give us today the food we need.”  The translator here chose some interesting word choices.  Briefly, the word translated “today” has recently been up for scholarly debate on its exact meaning.  Here the words “we need” have been added with “today” to summarize a popular translation of the word epiousion (ep-ee-oo-see-on).  It is typically translated “as daily” but has more recently been seen with the idea of “just enough for today.”  But what is the point?  Maybe Jesus is reminding us of the Jews utter dependence on God throughout the Old Testament.  At one point, while they were in the wilderness outside the Promised Land, they were receiving food from God directly and part of the restrictions with this food was that they could only take as much as they needed. (Take a gander at Exodus 16)  Sound similar to what Jesus is suggesting we pray here?  When we pray to our father we must go humbly, seeking his glory, his kingdom, his will, and then we need to recognize that we must depend on him daily and that it is he who provides for us from day to day.  To ask for more than what we need today is to ask that we don’t need him tomorrow.  It is to literally ask God, “Give me enough so that I don’t need to ask you for anything tomorrow.”  If we view our journey as a relationship with God, then doesn’t this seem ridiculous and crazy?  Shouldn’t we want to be in conversation with someone to build a relationship?  I know it’s a tired argument “talk to God to grow a relationship just like you talk to your friends and family every day” but it really is true.  Especially when Jesus, when he is teaching us to pray, is implying that it needs to be a daily conversation and request.  The Psalms are riddled with instances of daily petitions to God from some need to be met.  Specifically, look at 77, 79, and 86 (some of my favorites that have to do with the daily presence and petitions to God).

“And forgive us our sins.” I feel as if I don’t need to explain this one much.  Again, look at any handful of Psalms and you will find the request for forgiveness of sins.  It is, in fact, fundamental to ask for the forgiveness of sins and seek to turn from them. 

“As we have forgiven those who sin against us.”  This part is a bit trickier and needs at least a little bit of explanation.  Psalms 32 and 51 both touch on the subject of forgiveness.  Jesus puts these Psalms into perspective in the verses after giving the disciples the Lord’s Prayer.  In verse 14 and 15 he says, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly father will forgive you.  But if you refuse to forgive others, your father will not forgive your sins.”  The Psalms provide such a beautiful tale of the honest search for forgiveness and then, when God grants forgiveness, the outpouring of love and glory to God.  Jesus is saying here in the Lord’s Prayer that extending forgiveness to others opens us up for this gracious forgiveness.

“And don’t let us yield to temptation.”  Boy, oh, boy do the Psalms talk about temptation and giving into temptation.  Look at a few random selections from the Psalms attributed to King David and you will learn of yielding to temptation.  David carried a great regret when he gave into temptation and had an intense affair with Bathsheba and then killed her husband.  It is also important to note that there is very little implication of the willingness of Bathsheba in any of this (yes, times were different then, but there is still room to argue for the “less-than-consensual affair”).  David knew temptation.  His passionate Psalms about these temptations, sins, and the seeking for forgiveness can attest to this.  Jesus is asking us to pray long, hard, and often for God to give us the strength to resist temptations.

“But rescue us from the evil one.”  Lastly, the Lord’s Prayer ends with a plea for our father to protect us, rescue us from evil.  Now, there is a translation issue here that can swing one way or the other.  The phrase, “the evil one,” which is used here, is a neuter noun in the Greek and can mean “the evil one” or can mean the abstract concept “evil.”  So the question is: was Jesus saying we should pray to be rescued from “the evil one” or “evil”?  I would like to argue two things; first, it could be both and maybe the translation doesn’t matter one way or the other, but, second, that he intended for it to be “evil.”  I think Jesus was worried more about us being protected from evil in general because, if you look at the other parts of the prayer, a pattern emerges.  Each line of the prayer encompasses something that is not in our natural tendencies to do, if that makes sense.  “Give us today the food we need” has a lot to do with daily dependence and communication with God but we tend to want to say “give me something once and for all.”  And then, “forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us” even though we typically never want to forgive people.  There is something about doing the right thing that we just simply do not want to do.  I talked in depth about that a couple weeks ago.  So look there for reference on “The Reason Why I Do What I Do Not Want To Do.”  You could refer to this "evil" as our sinful nature.  You could refer to it as the work of Satan or the devil or demons.  You could refer to it as both.  I tend to lean towards the possibility as both.  Jesus is saying that we must ask God to rescue us from Satan, the devil, demons, etc. AND from evil that exists in the natural world and within our own sinful natures.  

So what is the deal with the Lord's Prayer?  It gives us a pattern to follow.  It is a summation of all of the prayers written down in the Psalms which were prayed thousands of years ago.  These Psalms were prayed by God through the mouth of Jesus the Christ.  These Psalms were inspired by the Spirit and exhaled by the Spirit in Jesus the Christ.  As we pray the Lord's Prayer we pray with Jesus and we pray with God himself for that which God wants us to pray.  

I am not saying that we need to only pray the Psalms and the Lord's Prayer.  But I am saying that our prayers should be strongly modeled after that which was prayed by Christ.  That is the power of the Lord's Prayer.  The Lord's Prayer teaches us a guideline for our prayers and offers shape for our prayers.  With this in mind, I have taken it upon myself to begin praying this pattern, as well as the Lord's Prayer itself, daily.  

As usual, thank you for reading!  And I would love to hear any questions or concerns!

Seeking the Truth,

Dylan

Charlotte - A Short Story

Well, here I am.  Running again.  The first rule when running is that you never have to be the fastest, just faster than the slowest person.  The second rule when running is that anything goes.  Speaking of anything goes…I bend down quickly and pick up a handful of the dirt from the side of the road, turn around, and throw it high in the air.  Then, I spin around quick as a flash and off I go. 

There, now they’ll run into the cloud of dust and hopefully it will blind them long enough to trip or at least slow down a little.  I can’t afford for them to catch up to me.  Not when that thing is so close behind.  How far away is this place, anyway?  I think they gave me some bad directions.  I hear gasps and sputters behind me.  I know that they just hit my cloud of dust and debris.  I hear coughing and I take a glance behind me and I really wish that I hadn’t…Oh, why did I look behind me!? I turn my head back immediately as I hear two short, piercing screams, cut off quickly. 

This is why I’m running.  I am running to save my life.  I have to run faster than the slowest person or I die.  I have to preserve my life, even at the cost of others.  I can feel the chill of the wind blowing against the tear rolling down my cheek.  But that doesn’t make it easy.

It doesn’t take long for them to finish…well…doing what they do to people…but I think I’m getting closer! Off in the distance is a bright orange sign with baby blue lettering standing tall and proud above the surrounding forests and the overgrown buildings from an age past.  Ivy and low bushes and weeds and occasionally some beautiful flowers like Chrysanthemums and multi-colored Magnolias and sometimes even sporadically growing rose bushes have overtaken much of what was once finely trimmed lawns and paved parking lots and roads and once proudly up-kept buildings.  Not that these things weren’t beautiful in their own way, but the beauty of nature persists over them in a more literal sense now.  Although, the people of yesteryear managed to build and construct a few things that have been able to withstand natures advances, like this sign.  Ah, I can read it now!  It looks like it says, “ALMOST THERE!” Wow…good thing this thing can’t read.  The sign had once had some professionally printed white letters but these have long since worn off and now the baby blue letters have been crudely painted on by an inexperienced hand, and it seems like they were painted rather hastily as well.

As the sign gets closer and bigger and larger with each step I begin to look for my next waypoint.  A dog in the park…this is so vague and so stupid.  How am I supposed to take the time to find a dog in a park when they are chasing me.  Those kids from before didn’t slow them down enough for me to be able to go on a search for a lost puppy! Just then the image of the two kids, blinded by my trickery, being attacked by that thing.  They couldn’t have been more than twelve, maybe ten, years old.  I give my head a quick shake in an attempt to rid myself of the memory.  I don’t have time to think about that.

As I approach the sign I realize that there is a town or something surrounding the sign, which makes sense.  Well, the best thing to do is find a park in the middle of this town-forest.  Good, that should be easy…

I am running down what I can only assume is the main street through the town and I see houses with white picket fences, red doors, green shudders, white siding, lovely brick chimneys, except that they are now falling apart and covered in greenery.  It is totally abandoned, like most small towns.  Wait.  What is that.  A street sign.  I glance behind me and I do not, or cannot, see it behind me and I strain to hear anything but I can only hear the occasional bird song and the soft hum of the activity of the forest surrounding me.  So, I take the risk and stop at the street intersection.  As I look around I notice a tiny, blinking yellow-orange glow.  Wow.  All this time and all this overgrowth and the street light is still functioning somehow.  That is just crazy. Then it hits me…that means that it has power.  Which means that somewhere around here there is a functioning generator.  And that means that someone must be around to keep the generator working!  That means there are people, or at least someone, here!!! I sprint over to a street sign and try to wipe off all the grime and vines.  The sign reads, “Trenton Memorial Park.”

THIS IS IT!  I FOUND THE PARK! Off in the distance I hear it.  The sudden, intense clacking and buzzing.  My whole body tenses and I burst forward into the park.  Run faster! Run! I shouldn’t have stopped for so long, what an idiot.  Where is that dog!? As I’m putting one foot in front of the other and trying not to trip on any rocks, concrete, or roots I am scanning left and right looking for a dog.  Or maybe something dog-like.  I don’t know what I am looking for!  I hear the clacking and buzzing getting a little louder.  Oh, God, please someone help.  I feel something snag the tip of my left foot.  I try and keep my balance and catch myself with my other foot. No, no, no, no! As my right foot lurches forward with the unexpected downward momentum I know that this could be it.  I could be done.  My right food lands at an awkward angle and I immediately can feel the stress on the tendons.  My heart is beating so fast I can feel it in my ears and in my fingertips.  Pain shoots up from my foot to my hip and I let out a short gasp of pain, but I somehow catch my balance and push off with my right foot in order to keep moving forward.  Every step hurts and I have slowed down a little. I don’t think anything is broken and I don’t think I have torn anything but I can still hear that thing.  It definitely knows where I am now, though, after I opened my big mouth.  I may have just killed myself…

It was at that moment, when I was totally preoccupied with my thoughts that I hear a startling sound that catches me off guard.  I hear a dog bark.  Just once.  To my right.  Without giving it another thought I cut to the right in the direction where I hear the bark.  Now, I am listening intently in that direction hoping to catch any other sounds.  A dog. In the park.  A literal dog.  This is ridiculous.  The clacking and buzzing has gotten closer and louder.  I am too scared to turn around and see how close it is.  I could probably see it now.  Those horrible eyes…Another bark.  Definitely closer this time.  And dead ahead!  I’ve got to be close!  I have to push myself!  I put every ounce of energy I have left into pumping my legs faster and faster.  As I squeeze between two tree trunks and burst out on the other side I am suddenly in the middle of an open field with thigh-tall grass.  Where did this come from?  I slow down long enough to get my bearing.  The sun is overhead but heading west.  It is probably still several hours until dark.  I have been heading east for quite some time.  The dog should be around here somewhere.  I risk everything and yell, “Here boy! Heeeerrrreeee, boy!” I see some movement in the grass and I can hear the dog barking, coming towards me.  I run closer to the dog.  He pops out close enough for me to see him and I come to a screeching halt. Running out of breath and energy with my ankle throbbing I pat the dog on the head instinctively, “Ya know, boy.  I’ve never seen a dog but, somehow, I knew you would look like this.  Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard a dog before either…so how did I know what you would sound like?”  The dog had long, blonde hair and a square-ish face with deep, brown eyes.  His tongue was hanging out of his mouth a bit as he panted and enjoyed the patting and scratching.  Then, suddenly, he made a growling, barking sound and his body tensed up and his hair began to stand on end.  I realize that while my mind wandered about this dog I had dropped my guard and stopped paying attention for the thing behind me.  I feel the hair on the back of my neck rise and I feel a shiver go down my spine.  I listen closely, too afraid to see what the dog was growling at. Where did it go?  I don’t hear anything…What is happening!?

Silence.  Nothing.  The most terrifying sound of all when you are surrounded by wildlife and nature and have recently been chased by something.  The dog barks again, bites onto my right shirt sleeve, and pulls me away.  This is just what I need to snap back to reality and both the dog and I break out into a sprint. In his haste, the dog tore off part of my sleeve but is still holding on to the scrap of dust –covered, mottled green and brown cloth flapping as he runs.  It is almost comical despite the horror that I know is right behind me.  I don’t even know where this dog is taking me.  Why am I doing things and remembering things that I know nothing about.  What is going on with me?  What if this dog is just leading me to another one of these things?  Are there more of them??

Suddenly, I am falling.  The ground just disappeared beneath my feet and I see the sun and sky disappear and a blackness and darkness surrounds me.  In the split second before I lose sight of everything above ground I notice the dog stop and turn around, panting, almost smiling. What is happening now?

I hit the ground with a dull thud, trying not to land badly on my injured ankle, and I quickly jump up to observe my surroundings.  The drop wasn’t as far as I thought.  Maybe just fifteen feet.  That didn’t hurt as much as I thought.  And did I land on something soft? What is going on?  The opening where I just fell through has closed already and, wherever I am, it is completely dark.  There is absolutely no light.  I blink a couple of times quickly in an attempt to make my eyes adjust faster but no luck.  A hear the sound of a speaker turning on, that small crackle of electricity when you flip a switch, and a familiar voices calls out to me, “Charlotte.”

“What do you want? Who are you? And where am I?  What is going on?  Why aren’t you answering me” I call back while pausing between questions, my voice rising in intensity with each question. 

The lights flicker to life and I realize that I am standing in a room with mirrored glass on all the walls.  The soft floor I landed on is actually some kind of orange and red and yellow shag rug from who knows what time period.  I see myself in the mirrors all around me.  I look at my dirty green-brown shirt with part of the right sleeve missing, from the dog.  My torn and tattered light blue jeans.  My shoes are covered in dirt and they are caked with mud. They used to be mint green but now are some kind of ugly, puke green color.  My long black hair that used to be so straight and would shine when it caught the light is now tangled and frizzy and has lost its luster significantly.  My dark brown eyes are bloodshot and they carry a deep sadness in them.  My soft, white skin is now bronze and scratched up and covered in scars.  My nose that used to look so small and dainty is now crooked from it healing wrong once when I ran into a tree and broke it.  My fingernails are chipped and rugged and short due to the constant clawing and climbing up trees and rocks.  Who is that?  I can tell it used to be me?  But who is it now?  Is this what I have become?

The voice speaks up again, gently this time, “Charlotte.  You are safe now.”

I lower my head, looking at the floor, and a wet spot appears on my shoe from the tear that fell off of my eyelash.  I’m safe.