Books, Faith, and the Ordinary

Books often have a way of speaking into my soul. It's not unusual for the Holy Spirit to nudge me about a certain book that ends up being timely in my life. Recently I had one of those times... I was cleaning our bedroom when I glimpsed a letter our daughter Jamie had sent us eight summers ago while living in Denver just after she completed high school. Months before, when getting the house ready for sale, I had sorted through sentimental boxes filled with cards, notes, and letters from Dennis, with an occasional card or note from one of the kids. I pulled Jamie's letter from the box and laid it on the bottom shelf of a small table in our room. For some reason it sparked my interest and I had hoped to get to it sooner than later.... but with a busy summer, the "later" won out... in the middle of a cleaning day.

I turned off the vacuum and sat down to read again what Jamie had written on the back of a few copied pages from Elisabeth Elliot's, These Strange Ashes - a book instrumental in her life during a summer that she describes as a time of "brokenness." Finishing the letter, I turned the copied pages over to read portions from a chapter in the book that were particularly meaningful to Jamie. Elliot's words drew me in. I wanted to read more. Thankfully I discovered These Strange Ashes occupied space on my book shelf.

I turned the pages to the chapter that Jamie was referring to in her letter. I could resonate with Elliott's words, the questions she pondered. She wrote, "Faith's most severe tests come not when we see nothing, but when we see a stunning array of evidence that seems to prove our faith vain."

Before I went back to my cleaning, I knelt by my bed, and as E.E. in her transparency shares, I "bowed down before that which I could not possibly explain."

Her words encouraged me, but more than that, the divine exchange in my room that day was a turning point for me - surrendering that which I could not explain and accepting what is given. In so doing, God gives Himself - His cleansing, peace, and joy for the unexplainable... the essence of Isaiah 61:3. It is only when I allow this divine exchange to take place that I have something to offer to others.

Elliot finishes the chapter with this: "I saw that to God nothing is finally lost. All the scriptural metaphors about the death of the seed that falls into the ground, about losing one's life... all these go on to something unspeakably better and more glorious. Loss and death are only the preludes to gain and life."

And so, I'm thankful for books that feed the soul,
a faith that is living and real,
and days like this where God meets me in the middle of the ordinary.

One debt we don't need to get out of...

I read recently that one of the best things we Americans can do in this economic crisis is to get out of debt. Isn't that the whole problem, at the federal level right down to where we live day to day? Spending beyond our means is what got us where we're at in the first place for both of the above. Dennis and I have always tried to live within our means. Many times that meant going without something we wanted or thought we needed, but we always had enough. The peace of mind of being debt-free (except our home) is worth it!

But, there is one debt that we should never stop paying back. Perhaps the apostle Paul had the best advice for our troubled times when he wrote, Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that!

What if love outweighed the debt of money? With the trillions of dollars that make up the federal deficit, there would be a lot of love to go around!

Maybe it would be a different world if we thought more about how we can show love to others than how we can make more money to sustain a lifestyle. Just a thought.

Being true to yourself...

In wrapping up some posts on knowing who you are, I must add that I believe the crux to all this - strengths, passions, gifts - is that we are most true to ourselves when we find our identity in Christ.

Walking in a deep and abiding relationship with Christ brings us closer to the true self that God created us to be. Thomas Merton in his book, New Seeds of Contemplation, explains that one discovers himself by discovering God. It is in God that the reason and fulfillment of one's existence is found. Without him, we lose sight of who we are. Left to myself, with a desire to exist outside of God’s will and love, I become an illusion, covered up by deception. So, in a sense, one aspect of salvation is redemption from my own deceived self. I believe this is what Paul meant in his letter to Timothy when he wrote, "Watch your life (how you live) and doctrine (what you believe) closely, for by it you will save both yourself and your hearers."

Living in the truth of who God is, we find ourselves... operating in our strengths, passions, and gifts to His honor and glory. Hmmm, maybe this is one aspect of what Jesus meant when he spoke of humanity being "lost"- he rejoices when we "find" in Him the truths of our own identity, because he knows that it is in this discovery that we will make our greatest unique impact in the world.

Be true to yourself...