It is completely timely that I write of this gift of God at this time. I have experienced an incredible gift this week. I write 'this week', but the gift has been continuous since April this year, when friends, relatives and acquaintances offered their prayers and support during our time of need.
This week my family was given a simple gift of money. It was from my congregation and other concerned and loving Christians, most of whom know my wife Martha and me, and the boys. A fund raiser was put on by St. Lukes and by our local Thrivent Chapter to offset our expenses with Martha's illness. With matching funds donated by Thrivent, over $11,000.00 was collected to help us offset the hospital and doctor and therapy bills. This gift was announced at our 8:30 worship service on December 6.
I don't know fully how to thank everyone who contributed. Though I don't readily show too much emotion (guilty of being a male Lutheran-and of German stock), I do tend to get a tear in my eye on occassion and to be unable to keep a quiver out of my voice when I am witness to generosity and a caring spirit. I would not have been able to respond in any meaningful way to the gift if I had been pressed into doing so on that Sunday. And I want to respond in a worthy manner. Yet, this has been a very moving thing to me. I thank all who were involved at any level in making this come about.
As we near Christmas, I am reminded in this of the gift of our savior. As I struggle to thank all those who have shown kindness to Martha and our family, I can see a comparison to how we struggle as Christians to thank God in any meaningful way. We want to thank him, but perhaps are not capable of doing so in a worthy manner! Even when we attempt to thank God for the gift of salvation, understanding what a struggle it was for Jesus to endure the cross and abandonment and death, we know that our efforts are not up to the task. We begin with the best of intentions, and can almost keep those intentions pure, but ultimately they fall short of even our own expectations.
Lets consider just how thankful we can be for simple gifts given in the most simple of ways, and apply that to how to give thanks to our Lord for all he has done for us. The simple gift was the gift of money when we needed it. A deeper gift was what God has done for us in the steady recovery of Martha's health and strength, and her return to her family. Deeper still, however, is the sure gift and eternal hope and peace of our savior.
In His Peace, and with great thanks!
John
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Prayer power
My note in the newsletter for St. Luke noted that I would cover some topics related to gifts, practical gifts which God gives to us. In that article I also stated that God gives good gifts to everyone, not excluding those who don't believe in Him. The power of prayer falls into this category, just as did the power of forgiveness.
Both gifts have some inherent psychological benefits regardless of the subject of the believer's faith. Psychologists and students of human behavior over many generations have observed the benefits of belief in a higher power. Abraham Maslow's pyramid of needs placed this in the upper echelon of need fulfillment on the way toward his 'self-actualized' person. That is just one example (uh, the one I happened to gravitate toward in college, and so remembered a bit better) of belief in a higher power demonstrating benefits for individuals.
I think that the reasons this is true are pretty simple. Belief in a higher power necessarily places the believer in an inferior position in a relationship. This may not sound like a great thing, but it means that the person believes that there is a greater good out there than his or her own good. Its this kind of thinking which leads me to at least appreciate a society which would require some kind of military service to qualify to vote. Military service necessarily places one in a position to serve a greater good at the expense of self. Do that long enough and you may just consider the needs of society in general before you vote on any issue. Don't get too worked up that I wrote that! I said I appreciated the society which would consider this, not that I am pushing for it!
Okay, I think the general point was made. Now back to the power of prayer. I believe that praying places us in a position where we must acknowledge that we are the mere supplicant. We are obviously praying to a higher power, which by extension must mean that it is considering requests from others as well. It also demonstrates the belief that we are not always in control of our own situation (responsible for our actions, yes. In control of the results? No.). We must then accept the outcomes which may not be the ones we desire.
Prayer puts us in a position to handle many possible outcomes in our lives. But it also indicates a belief that we don't always know what is best for us. Not only that, but it also moves us toward the conclusion that what is best for us is not always best for others, or for all. This understanding might be considered close to a miracle revelation for a young Christian, say in their early teens, around whom the world usually revolves. It is a miracle for parents many times to witness this kind of understanding dawning on their child.
Maybe the power of prayer could be linked strongly with the notion of selflessness. I think that mature prayers necessarily have this quality. Prayer certainly matures over time for the one doing the praying. I believe that the act of prayer moves the very maturing process along at a quicker pace. Consider someone you know with a strong prayer life. If you get a chance, find out if anything I wrote is proven out or disproven by their example or experience. I would be interested in your input on this.
I have by no means exhausted the ideas floating around in my head on this topic. We'll see where that gets us the next time I write.
Peace!
John
Both gifts have some inherent psychological benefits regardless of the subject of the believer's faith. Psychologists and students of human behavior over many generations have observed the benefits of belief in a higher power. Abraham Maslow's pyramid of needs placed this in the upper echelon of need fulfillment on the way toward his 'self-actualized' person. That is just one example (uh, the one I happened to gravitate toward in college, and so remembered a bit better) of belief in a higher power demonstrating benefits for individuals.
I think that the reasons this is true are pretty simple. Belief in a higher power necessarily places the believer in an inferior position in a relationship. This may not sound like a great thing, but it means that the person believes that there is a greater good out there than his or her own good. Its this kind of thinking which leads me to at least appreciate a society which would require some kind of military service to qualify to vote. Military service necessarily places one in a position to serve a greater good at the expense of self. Do that long enough and you may just consider the needs of society in general before you vote on any issue. Don't get too worked up that I wrote that! I said I appreciated the society which would consider this, not that I am pushing for it!
Okay, I think the general point was made. Now back to the power of prayer. I believe that praying places us in a position where we must acknowledge that we are the mere supplicant. We are obviously praying to a higher power, which by extension must mean that it is considering requests from others as well. It also demonstrates the belief that we are not always in control of our own situation (responsible for our actions, yes. In control of the results? No.). We must then accept the outcomes which may not be the ones we desire.
Prayer puts us in a position to handle many possible outcomes in our lives. But it also indicates a belief that we don't always know what is best for us. Not only that, but it also moves us toward the conclusion that what is best for us is not always best for others, or for all. This understanding might be considered close to a miracle revelation for a young Christian, say in their early teens, around whom the world usually revolves. It is a miracle for parents many times to witness this kind of understanding dawning on their child.
Maybe the power of prayer could be linked strongly with the notion of selflessness. I think that mature prayers necessarily have this quality. Prayer certainly matures over time for the one doing the praying. I believe that the act of prayer moves the very maturing process along at a quicker pace. Consider someone you know with a strong prayer life. If you get a chance, find out if anything I wrote is proven out or disproven by their example or experience. I would be interested in your input on this.
I have by no means exhausted the ideas floating around in my head on this topic. We'll see where that gets us the next time I write.
Peace!
John
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Faith in Life vs. Life in Faith
With the recent and extreme illness (and continuing recovery) of my wife, Martha, I have noticed a pattern of questioning from concerned friends and acquaintences, which allows me some insight into how people perceive matters of faith.
Some people view faith as a tool with which to handle the ups and downs of a life which seems to have no real purpose. It is a faith with a purpose, I suppose, in that faith is meant to support and strengthen a believer. God is certainly a personal god to those who view faith in this manner. I don't doubt that there is true belief here, as far as it goes. When trouble comes to a friend, a person operating within this framework often expresses concern by asking how faith has helped the friend cope with, or overcome their helplessness, fear, and confusion during the time of trouble. There is no doubt that many Psalms and Biblical passages can support this understanding of the role of faith. God is an everpresent help in time of need.
I think, however, that when we do this, we stray from the Biblical standard in at least two ways. First, today we seem to use "faith" in place of "Jesus" or "God" when describing what helped us in our time of trial. This is, to me, a secularization of Biblical faith into a generic 'faith in faith.'
Second, as I noted above, many of us stray into trivializing faith as a tool to be used when needed, then set aside for the next crisis.
Don't worry, I have not been categorizing your faith based upon how you asked me about my faith during Martha's illness. I have tended to sometimes think along these lines myself.
To finally connect with the title, I will note this about how I believe we should all approach our faith: I don't simply have faith in my life. I live my life in faith. In other words, faith is not a part of my life. My faith in God is the context of my life. Faith itself, God himself, is bigger than I. Faith and God are bigger than I;they predate, and will postdate, my puny existence.
The strength of this faith did not only just show up in time for the crisis. It has been there all along. God's gift to us is a salvation earned in a specific way, in a real time and place, and once and for all. The gift does not depend upon how much faith we have. It does not depend upon how we feel at a particular time. It is simply there. It happened the way it happened despite our unbelief, or lack of faith. It is steady and unchanging. And yes, I do have strength through it. But it is not my strength. It all belongs to God.
Finally, life's ups and downs, and in my case the big down of an unexplained illness in Martha, do not define my faith. My faith in Jesus defines my whole life, including the highest ups and the lowest downs.
Thanks for taking a look at my first post. I promise I won't dwell on this particular issue. But I cannot promise that it won't influence my future postings! This was written somewhat in haste, with no editing. So don't get too critical about the grammar!
Peace to you all,
John
Some people view faith as a tool with which to handle the ups and downs of a life which seems to have no real purpose. It is a faith with a purpose, I suppose, in that faith is meant to support and strengthen a believer. God is certainly a personal god to those who view faith in this manner. I don't doubt that there is true belief here, as far as it goes. When trouble comes to a friend, a person operating within this framework often expresses concern by asking how faith has helped the friend cope with, or overcome their helplessness, fear, and confusion during the time of trouble. There is no doubt that many Psalms and Biblical passages can support this understanding of the role of faith. God is an everpresent help in time of need.
I think, however, that when we do this, we stray from the Biblical standard in at least two ways. First, today we seem to use "faith" in place of "Jesus" or "God" when describing what helped us in our time of trial. This is, to me, a secularization of Biblical faith into a generic 'faith in faith.'
Second, as I noted above, many of us stray into trivializing faith as a tool to be used when needed, then set aside for the next crisis.
Don't worry, I have not been categorizing your faith based upon how you asked me about my faith during Martha's illness. I have tended to sometimes think along these lines myself.
To finally connect with the title, I will note this about how I believe we should all approach our faith: I don't simply have faith in my life. I live my life in faith. In other words, faith is not a part of my life. My faith in God is the context of my life. Faith itself, God himself, is bigger than I. Faith and God are bigger than I;they predate, and will postdate, my puny existence.
The strength of this faith did not only just show up in time for the crisis. It has been there all along. God's gift to us is a salvation earned in a specific way, in a real time and place, and once and for all. The gift does not depend upon how much faith we have. It does not depend upon how we feel at a particular time. It is simply there. It happened the way it happened despite our unbelief, or lack of faith. It is steady and unchanging. And yes, I do have strength through it. But it is not my strength. It all belongs to God.
Finally, life's ups and downs, and in my case the big down of an unexplained illness in Martha, do not define my faith. My faith in Jesus defines my whole life, including the highest ups and the lowest downs.
Thanks for taking a look at my first post. I promise I won't dwell on this particular issue. But I cannot promise that it won't influence my future postings! This was written somewhat in haste, with no editing. So don't get too critical about the grammar!
Peace to you all,
John
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