Did you know that the C.S. stands for Clive Staples?
A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil.
You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.
C. S. Lewis
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
VICTIMS
Sometimes it’s a circumstance,
A change in life resembling chance,
Sometimes it’s a consequence,
Decisions made with no defense,
Sometimes it’s a hurtful word
Leaving scars once we’ve been burned,
Sometimes it’s a lie that’s heard,
Believed too long before we learned.
Other times we’re singled out,
Or so it seems to those in doubt,
While other times a violent act
Can leave us where we can’t relax,
Still other times we’re stricken down
By sickness as it makes its rounds,
Or other times wrong place, wrong time
We witnessed things now stuck in mind.
The truth is that some time or other
All of us are victimized,
Not one escapes this world unharmed
By pain and hurt and sin and lies.
We all could claim the reasons why,
Excuse behavior, rationalize
Behavior that does not become
The children of the Holy one.
KDC 10/08
A change in life resembling chance,
Sometimes it’s a consequence,
Decisions made with no defense,
Sometimes it’s a hurtful word
Leaving scars once we’ve been burned,
Sometimes it’s a lie that’s heard,
Believed too long before we learned.
Other times we’re singled out,
Or so it seems to those in doubt,
While other times a violent act
Can leave us where we can’t relax,
Still other times we’re stricken down
By sickness as it makes its rounds,
Or other times wrong place, wrong time
We witnessed things now stuck in mind.
The truth is that some time or other
All of us are victimized,
Not one escapes this world unharmed
By pain and hurt and sin and lies.
We all could claim the reasons why,
Excuse behavior, rationalize
Behavior that does not become
The children of the Holy one.
KDC 10/08
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Danger of Over-Protection
We live in a fearful world. The media and the entertainment industry feed that fear by focusing on crime, injustice, and pain more than on any goodness that might remain in the chaos of our shrinking world. Those of us who are "in the world but not of it" must struggle to maintain a positive and hopeful outlook in the midst of what occurs around us.
The response of many to the pervasive fear in our world today is often to become protective, and I dare say over-protective. We wish to protect our children, our property, our careers, our beliefs, and even ourselves from other people and their bad intentions. In an effort to protect what we perceive as "ours", we can isolate ourselves and our children from the outside world and thus maintain a false feeling of safety at least within our own families, our own homes, our controlled environment.
I submit that this is quite a dangerous prospect, and is ultimately not the healthiest way for humans to live. The fact is that we need other humans, both for social interaction and for support in times of trial and need. We also need to feel needed by others. Studies have shown that people with a wide base of support and involvement in society are happier and live longer.
Even apart from the need for sharing our lives with others, there is inherent danger in isolation due to the risk of misplacing our trust. This is perhaps the biggest issue with a fear-based outlook leading to over-protectiveness. Are we trusting in our government to protect us? Are we trusting law enforcement to protect us? Are we trusting our families or parents to protect us? Are we trusting in ourselves? In our weapons? In our escape tactics? In our knowledge and intellect? In our money? (I can not help but want to laugh out loud at these prospects...)
NONE of the entities listed above are trustworthy. I pray that this does not come as a shock to anyone reading this. Every single person, organization, tactic, and physical quality WILL let us down. It has been proven over the ages too many times to require mention. There is ONE trustworthy being in all of the universe, and ONE only. That is God, the Almighty, the Creator of everything, and He who knows the future. Only He is trustworthy and we must learn to put all of our trust in Him alone, for ONLY HE can protect us! He is above all...
Does putting our trust in God alone mean that we will no longer experience any suffering? Certainly not. He himself has told us that we will suffer in this world, especially if we openly confess our faith in Him. But ultimately, in the end, in the long run and in the only world that matters - we'll be with Him, we'll be safe, and we'll be happy. On that we can depend.
The response of many to the pervasive fear in our world today is often to become protective, and I dare say over-protective. We wish to protect our children, our property, our careers, our beliefs, and even ourselves from other people and their bad intentions. In an effort to protect what we perceive as "ours", we can isolate ourselves and our children from the outside world and thus maintain a false feeling of safety at least within our own families, our own homes, our controlled environment.
I submit that this is quite a dangerous prospect, and is ultimately not the healthiest way for humans to live. The fact is that we need other humans, both for social interaction and for support in times of trial and need. We also need to feel needed by others. Studies have shown that people with a wide base of support and involvement in society are happier and live longer.
Even apart from the need for sharing our lives with others, there is inherent danger in isolation due to the risk of misplacing our trust. This is perhaps the biggest issue with a fear-based outlook leading to over-protectiveness. Are we trusting in our government to protect us? Are we trusting law enforcement to protect us? Are we trusting our families or parents to protect us? Are we trusting in ourselves? In our weapons? In our escape tactics? In our knowledge and intellect? In our money? (I can not help but want to laugh out loud at these prospects...)
NONE of the entities listed above are trustworthy. I pray that this does not come as a shock to anyone reading this. Every single person, organization, tactic, and physical quality WILL let us down. It has been proven over the ages too many times to require mention. There is ONE trustworthy being in all of the universe, and ONE only. That is God, the Almighty, the Creator of everything, and He who knows the future. Only He is trustworthy and we must learn to put all of our trust in Him alone, for ONLY HE can protect us! He is above all...
Does putting our trust in God alone mean that we will no longer experience any suffering? Certainly not. He himself has told us that we will suffer in this world, especially if we openly confess our faith in Him. But ultimately, in the end, in the long run and in the only world that matters - we'll be with Him, we'll be safe, and we'll be happy. On that we can depend.
Monday, September 22, 2008
CONTROL ME
There was a movie out in theatres a few years back that starred Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding. It was titled "INSTINCT", and the crazed character of Hopkins, a brilliant professor tainted by an experience with overseas research in the jungles of Africa, shed light on some things of which I had not previously been consciously aware. My favorite scene in the movie is when Gooding, the psychologist assigned to Hopkins' case, is forcefully held face-down on the table by his inmate client who remains shackled at the wrists. Hopkins asks his therapist repeatedly what he has lost? "WHAT HAVE YOU LOST?", he yells insistently. Gooding guesses cleverly, offering up power, choice, freedom, and control in answer to the impromptu quiz. Each time he is mistaken, his face is shoved violently against the table once again with a repeated, "NO! WHAT HAVE YOU LOST?" Finally, an idea seems to pass by Gooding's eyes as he cries out, "My illusions! I've lost my ILLUSIONS!" at which point he is immediatley released from the hold that Hopkins had on him physically. "Yes, you lost your illusions. Remember, even control is merely an illusion, boy."
What a powerful message - all is an illusion. Just as Solomon points out in the book of Ecclesiastes, all is vanity. It is all for show, all about appearances. We struggle to appear in control of our 'destiny' and our 'success'. When you really get down to it, what do we have? Our body? No, that is subject to injury, illness, and death. The body is actually very fragile. Our mind? No, also subject to attack and decay. Our life? No, that does not belong to us -nor did we make it - nor can we sustain it past the appointed time. Our time? No, for time is greatly fleeting and we fade quickly like the flowers of the field.
The truth is that we are nothing, and we have nothing that really belongs to us. Even our own lives are not our own. ALL CONTROL IS ILLUSION. We expend major amounts of energy attempting to control our environments, our relationships, our health, and how we spend our time. I must agree with Solomon categorically - it is all vanity.
What a powerful message - all is an illusion. Just as Solomon points out in the book of Ecclesiastes, all is vanity. It is all for show, all about appearances. We struggle to appear in control of our 'destiny' and our 'success'. When you really get down to it, what do we have? Our body? No, that is subject to injury, illness, and death. The body is actually very fragile. Our mind? No, also subject to attack and decay. Our life? No, that does not belong to us -nor did we make it - nor can we sustain it past the appointed time. Our time? No, for time is greatly fleeting and we fade quickly like the flowers of the field.
The truth is that we are nothing, and we have nothing that really belongs to us. Even our own lives are not our own. ALL CONTROL IS ILLUSION. We expend major amounts of energy attempting to control our environments, our relationships, our health, and how we spend our time. I must agree with Solomon categorically - it is all vanity.
Friday, September 12, 2008
SORTING
It’s a huge, fine mess
Of tangled up strings
With knots tied tight
Representing things
That caught us up
And thus enlarged
The ball of wax
Or house of cards
That’s fallen far
Below the line
That once was straight
But now defined
By twisted yarns
So that the time
To sort it out
Becomes a daunting task.
KDC 9/08
Of tangled up strings
With knots tied tight
Representing things
That caught us up
And thus enlarged
The ball of wax
Or house of cards
That’s fallen far
Below the line
That once was straight
But now defined
By twisted yarns
So that the time
To sort it out
Becomes a daunting task.
KDC 9/08
Thursday, September 11, 2008
ALL MY OWN
My troubles are my own doing,
I can not blame them on you, God.
From my decisions the dilemma comes,
For consequences match choices.
My God has no need to punish,
For the result of my own actions
Is enough to cause me pain,
I can not put the blame on you, God.
Perhaps my God is at fault
For doing nothing to save me
From these difficulties,
For leaving me to my sin?
My troubles are my own doing,
And if He saves or spares me
Then I will not learn,
My God knows this full well.
If anger overtakes me
As I suffer from my self-concern,
I’ll not direct it at my Lord
For my troubles are my own doing.
My troubles are my own doing,
I can not blame them on you, God.
From my decisions the dilemma comes,
For consequences match choices.
My God has no need to punish,
For the result of my own actions
Is enough to cause me pain,
I can not put the blame on you, God.
Perhaps my God is at fault
For doing nothing to save me
From these difficulties,
For leaving me to my sin?
My troubles are my own doing,
And if He saves or spares me
Then I will not learn,
My God knows this full well.
If anger overtakes me
As I suffer from my self-concern,
I’ll not direct it at my Lord
For my troubles are my own doing.
Monday, September 8, 2008
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORDS
They all say their lines in perfect style,
Delivering words like fountain pennies,
Heaping their cheapened utterance on tired ears
That beg for valuable silence.
No one takes them seriously anymore,
These thespians of the modern age
Who speak for the sake of filling time
With sound lest they’re forced to think.
We’re buried in a lack of meaning,
Saddened that gone is the day when art
Was all about communication,
Well-crafted and designed to impact.
If I wax poetic it is only because
I love the careful combination
Of symbols we call language,
This powerful tool for sharing ourselves.
The words existed before mankind,
Forming in the vortex of space and time
Until they could not help but create,
For words become what they define.
Delivering words like fountain pennies,
Heaping their cheapened utterance on tired ears
That beg for valuable silence.
No one takes them seriously anymore,
These thespians of the modern age
Who speak for the sake of filling time
With sound lest they’re forced to think.
We’re buried in a lack of meaning,
Saddened that gone is the day when art
Was all about communication,
Well-crafted and designed to impact.
If I wax poetic it is only because
I love the careful combination
Of symbols we call language,
This powerful tool for sharing ourselves.
The words existed before mankind,
Forming in the vortex of space and time
Until they could not help but create,
For words become what they define.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Loving Too Much
This is a subject which I have pondered extensively, and which at first glance seems to present us with a catch 22. If our purpose in life is to love others, as God has dictated, then how could we possibly love too much? If love is entirely good, which the Word also assures, then how could more love ever be bad? Using the most common tools of rationalization, it is hard to ascertain how "too much love" could be a possibility at all.
There have been times in my life when I thought my heart would burst, when experiencing the purity of God-love for someone. This love is without thought, selfless, deeper than emotion, and painfully real. When it is experienced, time stops as we recognize the limitless power of God's art in an individual's design. It is then that we recognize the infinite nature of God, and feel humbled at our own ignorance. However, there is a very fine line between this real, divine love and its counterfeit! The counterfeit is what we know as obsession. Obsession occurs when instead of simply appreciating divine love for its existence and appearance, we begin to want it for ourselves, more and more of it, and we never want the experience of it to end.
I submit that it is, in fact, possible to love a person too much. Here I must steal a quote from (once again) the incomparable C.S. Lewis, "The Four Loves". In this work, he states...
"It is not possible to love someone too much, it is only possible that we love someone too much in comparison with our love for God."
Any of us who have identified with this question in any regard - with respect to a person, a material possession, a substance, a beloved animal, an occupation, or a child - are immediately silenced by the above statement. It is so obvious, so plain once we see it clearly in writing. Yes, it is all about the priority of our loves and the first command ever given the human race by God himself... "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul". The second is like unto it, "Love your neighbor as yourself". The order of these commands is paramount. FIRST, we love GOD with our whole being. THEN we are able to love others and love ourselves. If the subtle temptation to reverse the order overcomes us and we begin to love the gift more than the giver, we are loving someone or something too much in comparison with our love for God which must precede and supercede all other loves.
There have been times in my life when I thought my heart would burst, when experiencing the purity of God-love for someone. This love is without thought, selfless, deeper than emotion, and painfully real. When it is experienced, time stops as we recognize the limitless power of God's art in an individual's design. It is then that we recognize the infinite nature of God, and feel humbled at our own ignorance. However, there is a very fine line between this real, divine love and its counterfeit! The counterfeit is what we know as obsession. Obsession occurs when instead of simply appreciating divine love for its existence and appearance, we begin to want it for ourselves, more and more of it, and we never want the experience of it to end.
I submit that it is, in fact, possible to love a person too much. Here I must steal a quote from (once again) the incomparable C.S. Lewis, "The Four Loves". In this work, he states...
"It is not possible to love someone too much, it is only possible that we love someone too much in comparison with our love for God."
Any of us who have identified with this question in any regard - with respect to a person, a material possession, a substance, a beloved animal, an occupation, or a child - are immediately silenced by the above statement. It is so obvious, so plain once we see it clearly in writing. Yes, it is all about the priority of our loves and the first command ever given the human race by God himself... "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul". The second is like unto it, "Love your neighbor as yourself". The order of these commands is paramount. FIRST, we love GOD with our whole being. THEN we are able to love others and love ourselves. If the subtle temptation to reverse the order overcomes us and we begin to love the gift more than the giver, we are loving someone or something too much in comparison with our love for God which must precede and supercede all other loves.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
NOTHING LIKE YOU
You’ve tried so hard
But we keep messing up
Because it’s what we do best,
Taking what’s perfect
And making it “better”,
Avoiding the need to confess.
You’ve called and drawn
The worst of us towards you
Because you love us that much,
But we find our ways
To go it alone again,
Still shying away from your touch.
You’ve saved us from
The curse of selfishness
Over and over in time,
Yet here we are fighting
For personal ground,
Unable to see down the line.
You’ve given your all
And spared not your son
That we might have rest for our souls,
But we don’t believe
In a truly good being,
Assuming we lack as a whole.
You’ve opened the gates
To let mercy flow down
On us who are nothing like you,
Convinced we’re the rulers
Of our destiny
And right to invent our own truth.
You are ever patient,
Slowest to anger,
Filled with compassion for us,
Although we rebel
And insist we know better,
You look on us always in love.
KDC 8/08
But we keep messing up
Because it’s what we do best,
Taking what’s perfect
And making it “better”,
Avoiding the need to confess.
You’ve called and drawn
The worst of us towards you
Because you love us that much,
But we find our ways
To go it alone again,
Still shying away from your touch.
You’ve saved us from
The curse of selfishness
Over and over in time,
Yet here we are fighting
For personal ground,
Unable to see down the line.
You’ve given your all
And spared not your son
That we might have rest for our souls,
But we don’t believe
In a truly good being,
Assuming we lack as a whole.
You’ve opened the gates
To let mercy flow down
On us who are nothing like you,
Convinced we’re the rulers
Of our destiny
And right to invent our own truth.
You are ever patient,
Slowest to anger,
Filled with compassion for us,
Although we rebel
And insist we know better,
You look on us always in love.
KDC 8/08
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