Eve and the Apple

When it comes to questions, this one is BIG...Why did they eat the apple?

Actually, as you ask that question, ask yourself what you would have done?  I mean really...

Eve's motivation could have had multiple sides.  She could have eaten the apple because she was afraid she would have missed something if she walked away.  This seemed like a chance to learn more.  Or, she could have eaten because she was curious and wanted to understand.  She also could have been a little greedy, or prideful.

Which of those have you NOT been in your lifetime? 

Okay, now (hopefully) that we're on a level playing field, let's get down to the real point of Eve and the Apple.  We've always talked about what Adam and Eve lost - the garden - access to God - a cushy life, but we don't talk about what they did about it.  Whenever we turn from God we make our own consequences, right?  The next question is, what are you going to do about it?  Are you going to keep turning away, or are you going to turn back TO God (confessing your need). 

When we choose to turn to God, He is always right there, waiting and excited to have us back.  Every time we choose God we choose life.  The question is not, why do we eat the apple? (because we do).  The question is, what are you going to do about it?  Will you turn back to God?  Will you make a regular habit of confession and turning back to God? 

Turning to God and confession is a good spiritual discipline to practice regularly.  Today, write down how many times you turn away, then write down your turning back and confessing.  Practice turning back to God.  Make it a habit.  That's what discipline is all about.

Adam and Eve

Were they literally the first man and woman, Adam and Eve?

Part of the problem with that question is that it's too literal - exact - black and white.  The problem with black and white is that it doesn't leave room for other possibilities.

Remember that scripture is the written account of God and the Hebrew people.  It was written by Hebrews and for Hebrews.  You need to ask what the story would have meant to them 2500 years ago.  (I am not being literal with 2500 years but am just using that as an example).

What IS important is that God created man and woman in his image.

YOU are created in the image of God.  We talk a lot about being a child of God, but don't always look at what it means to be created in the image of God.  Created FOR God; FOR relationship.  Created OF God.

You are OF God.

God is IN you.

God goes WITH you.

Before, behind, inside and out.

The story of Adam and Eve are important because God is showing us what it was like to be in the garden in perfect union with God.  The writer was trying to get the Hebrew people to understand how desperately God loved them and wanted to BE with them.  The writer wanted the reader to know they are OF God and that God is all around and is always with them.

God is trustworthy.

Even when we are not aware He is there, He IS all around.  He wants to spend time with you in the garden.

Walk with Him.  Soak in His presence.  Know that you are made in the image of God.

Creation Details

How did God create the earth?

Genesis 1:2 says, "The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. The Spirit (Ruach in Hebrew) hovered/moved (Rachaph) over the surface of the waters,"

Genesis 1:3 goes on, "Then God said (Amar), “Let there be light,” and there was light.


The word Amar is a rich word that can mean to say, to command, the promise, the call, to challenge, the declare, or to demand (just to name some of the meanings).  Consider the possibility that Amar means all of those things.

God "promised, called out and commanded as if to challenge with a demanding declaration that light would appear" and then in response to God's Amar, "there was light".

That's how creation happened.  By God's command.

Now here's the really important part.  It does not say when it happened. It does not say how long it took.  It does not say what happened before God spoke.  Since God is eternal, there was a time before.  What it doesn't say is as important as what it does say. 

Why is that?  If our knowing when, how long, and what happened before, God would have given us that information.  He didn't.  Anyone who says it took a specified amount of time is guessing.

What God DID want us to know is that He hovered, moved, commanded with assurance, and the light appeared.

That's how.  

Ultimate Creation Question

One of my sons (at the age of 3) continually asked "who made God?"

Understanding that God is infinite and eternal is certainly difficult to comprehend.  While my son wrestles to understand, I struggled to know how to explain. 

Finally, I stopped trying to explain and I started thinking about God, feeling God everywhere, all the time (past, present and future) and forever.  I came to realize God surrounds us in time, space, and beyond what we can understand.  I talked to my son about the character of God and how God is around, in, through, up, over, and under. 

When God said, "I AM" that's what it meant. 

Everything. 

Speaking of Top Ten...

So, what questions do you have that you wrestle with?

Care to share?

On this journey, as we share our stories, and our questions we begin to realize what community is about.
If you have questions but you don't want to post them, feel free to email me (the email link is posted).

Love Covers All

When I do grief work as a Spiritual Director, I think one of the top ten questions I’ve been asked is, will I see my loved one again in heaven?  When we lose someone, we often have fear that our lifetime relationships with those we love have ended and we’ll not see our loved one again.  That is a lot to swallow. 

I remember asking my dad once when I was a teenager, what he thought heaven was like.  I liked his answer.  In a nutshell this is what he said:

1. Better than earth
2. Different than earth because God’s light shines all over heaven and permeates everything
3. Glorious
4. Filled with love, peace, joy, and all the fruit of the Spirit.
5. Contains all the good we experienced and felt on earth.

What was interesting is that he didn’t try to physically describe heaven.  Those of us from the Western Hemisphere tend to look to the physical aspects in order to describe our experiences.  While there are some references to heaven in scripture, for a total picture we need to look to the whole of scripture and consider the character and nature of God.  What do we know from scripture about the character of God related to the items above?

1. God is good and looks out for our good (Romans 8:28, Genesis 1, Revelation 21)
2. God is pure light and in Him there is no darkness (Amos 4:13, John 1:4-5, Acts 26:23, I Peter 2:9)
3. Glorious  (Deut. 4:31, Deut. 4:35-40)
4. God (Father, Son and Spirit) are the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22)
5. All the good.  Now, this just makes good sense.  God is good and every part of US and in us is from God.  So, when we see God all the darkness will be gone and the only thing that will remain is light and goodness from God’s love since in God there is no darkness at all. 

To answer the question, everything good will remain.  All the love will remain.  Love is stronger than death.

Through Tears and Laughter

While I am certain that laughter cures grief, I also believe that our tears cure our grief as well.  I have taken extensive grief training and as I studied grief and worked through my own grief, I came to realize that tears empty out my pain, and laughter helps me to regain my hope again.

I remember the first time I laughed after my dad died.  He died when I was 33 years old and he was only 60 years old.  The cancer spread very quickly and overtook his body and within just a few short months of the diagnosis, he was gone.  My dad had been my mentor and guide.  He knew me (sometimes better than I knew myself).  I honestly didn’t know how I would cope without his prayer covering and his wisdom.  Every time something happened, I immediately called my dad.

I cried lots of tears when my dad died, but eventually I remembered my dad’s helpful and generous attitude when I lost my keys or made some other silly mistake (I could write volumes about running over curbs…) and I was able to laugh again.

Once when I was in college (living 3 hours away) I called him at midnight when I locked my keys in my car.  (Yes, I do realize losing my keys or locking them in the car is a life-long pattern for me…LOL). 

He said, “I’m in KC.”

I said, “I know…what do I do?”

To that he replied, “I’M IN Kansas City.”

Silence. (I thought, so?)

Then he said, “Well, I guess you could go find “the guys” (John do you remember that night?) and they’ll know how to get into the car.”

It was after midnight, but I got into the boys dorm (things were different in those days) and we got a coat hanger and headed for the car.

All went fine until the police showed up.  That’s another story. At least that night I got into my car and got my keys and my purse back.

My Mom always knew if I called the house and asked for dad that ‘something was up’.  He never yelled, never blamed, he would just chuckle and say, “I’ll be right there.”

I had hoped that God would “heal me” of my obsession with lost keys (I figure it must be some sort of subconscious obsession since I seem to keep doing it), after my dad died, or someday, but he didn’t (or hasn't yet). 

As it turns out, God did this really cool miraculous thing.  After my dad died, my kids started saying to me before I locked the doors, “Mom, you got the keys?” 

After my kids went to college and later married, I wondered what I would do about the key thing.  Now, my daughter has my spare keys and frequently comes to let me in.  When she’s with me she still says, “do you have the keys?” before I shut the door. What’s so remarkable is that her attitude is as cheerful and charming as my dad’s always was.  Often, when she brings me the keys (even at 6:00 am) she is laughing (with me). 

My middle son and his wife gave me a key finder Christmas before last.

My youngest son and his wife gave me a wrist key ring so I can attach my keys to my body this Christmas. 

I see a theme emerging…

After tears, in laughter we resolve our grief (and our shortcomings).

The Triumph of Hope

On this journey called life I have been blessed with myriad of hope.  I’m not sure why that is, except my desperate need and desire for God at a young age put me in touch with hope.  I think I had a desire to make God part of my life because it seemed natural and right.  My dad told me to seek the Spirit, and I did.  I saw my parents “act out” hope.  My mom would take food to those who were hurting and my dad would pray for them and offer words of hope. 

Hope has always been a natural part of life. Somewhere along the way I realized that if you rely on God and look for hope, you will find it. 

I repeated Newton’s law of physics, “for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction” about a thousand times while they were growing up.  For one thing, every time somebody would hit somebody and the other person would hit back, they would come to me and say, “he hit me”, “well, he hit me first”.  I would remind them, “for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction”. What do you expect?  

Love is the same.  If you want love (because you desire to be known), give love.

If you want a friend (in other words, if you are lonely), be a friend.

If you’re in the middle of a violent storm and you are desperately looking for a solution, seek God’s peace.

If you look for hope (because you realize you don’t have it), you will have hope. 

 

Hope is a strong feeling and can out weight, outlast, and overcome the dark of night.  Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning”.  

With the morning light, God brings hope.  Hope for a new day.  Hope for His love.  Hope for God’s peace.  

Watch for the light.  Believe in hope. 

The Power of our Dreams

Dreams, whether that be day dreams or night dreams have the power to change us.  Dreams awaken our feelings, speak from our subconscious and reveal much to us.  

God speaks to us in our dreams.  

Dreams are powerful because they reveal our hidden wounds and desires.  Often when I am not willing or able to face my brokenness, God reveals it to me in dreams.  

Even when we are unaware, God is healing, caring, loving us safely back to Him.  Whether we know it or not, God is working on our behalf.  

I love it when Brennan Manning says, “God is with you, God is in you, God is for you,”

Even in your dreaming, God is there.

Open your hands and receive…

Myth

 ..a story that originated within a tradition.

So, what IS up with myths, and why are they so popular?  Why do we like to read them, and why oh why are they more exciting than life itself (well, for most people…my friends tell me I don’t need to make up fiction because my life is hilarious enough!  However, we’ll save my crazy escapades for another time).  

One thing that comes to mind is the simple fact that when you make up a myth you can make it fun and exciting. You can make up a really cool hero and give that hero the characteristics you want him/her to have.  When you are writing about what really happened, as in a newspaper story, a historical account, or a non-fiction story, you need to stick to the facts.  If a movie is an account of a true story, the details are supposed to be true and not embellished (r-i-g-h-t!).  

When you compare the two, it’s no wonder that we like myths more than history.  Myths are often glamorous and glorious.  Often some part of your own narrative is written into the story and so you have a deep connection to the myth.  If you are the one who invented the myth, often you will be the hero.  Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to be a hero.  

Here’s the kicker though.  The story that nullifies everything I just wrote.  The best story, the absolute greatest story ever is way better than any myth.  It’s also way better than anything we could make up.  See, this baby came, and he grew up to be really cool and he had his own gang and they loved him.  Then one day this creepy gang killed him, even though he was a really cool guy. He even said he was dying for them. What’s awesome is that he put the smack-down on everyone because he didn’t STAY dead.  He actually came back to life. 

Totally.  I mean, he was really dead one minute then he was alive the next.  

True story.

Better than myth.

History.

The greatest story EVER told.

The resurrection of Jesus.

Let yourself go...

When you talk about creativity and imagination, most people think of Van Gogh or Monet.  While I agree they are creative and have imagination, I think of creativity and imagination has a broader reach, so for instance to scientists or theologians. 

What I like best about imagination is that children are better at it than adults.  Some adults allow their imaginations to be reigned in as they get older.  Children are free and don’t know better than to play “pretend”. One of my son's teachers used to tell me "he day-dreams all the time in class".  Hummm...it turns out he is very creative, witty, and hates being bored.  He likes to think.  We need to give children permission to "think" and that might include day-dreaming. 

Albert Einstein wrote, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”  Solving problems requires the use of imagination and creativity. In order to move to the next level, we need to allow ourselves the freedom to imagine. 

On your journey, consider practicing imagination moments as you go about your day.  Give yourself permission to let your mind play.  In school you may have been taught (like my son) that day dreaming was unacceptable. Since then we have discovered that letting your mind imagine is actually very healthy. Give yourself permission to let your imagination go.

Creative Exercise: Live a little – go imagine and then create, or imagine and solve a difficult problem.  You’d be surprised what you can do if you let your mind “go” imagine

Mechanics of Life

The mechanics, as in methods, procedures, or details of our social order dictate many of our daily practices.  It’s not necessarily that we want them to, but as we go about our days, many of our practices are driven by our habits. 

Robert Fulghum’s Credo (2003) in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, states:

I believe imagination is stronger than knowledge –

That myth is more potent than history –

That dreams are more powerful than facts –

That hope always triumphs over experience –

That laughter is the only cure for grief.

And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Our methods, procedures, and details that drive our habits don’t usually embrace imagination.  The procedures we live out don’t see the importance in myth.  As we embark on our everyday journeys we don’t admit the power of our dreams, and we do not believe that hope is a driving force.  The methods we practice don’t understand the power of laughter and we don’t fully practice love that is so readily available to the human heart. 

Most days, my life is filled with busy work, obligation, necessity, and survival.  When I read (re-read) this credo recently I was reminded that God intended the human mind and heart for much more than a trip through a maze filled with facts and figures that would end in grief and death.  God’s desire is that we would live life to the fullest (John 10:10) filled with imagination, hope, laughter, and love. 

Tomorrow, carry those with you as you embark on your journey.  Laugh, love, dream, imagine, and hope beyond your capabilities.  God’s desire for you is to live fully IN Him and enjoy the ride.  Life is a journey…laugh heartily, love freely, dream God’s dreams, imagine you can be what God intended, and most of all put your hope in Jesus.  That’s what makes it worth the ride.

Mechanisms

Have you ever thought how people can be like mechanisms that don’t work properly?  I know it’s a little off the wall, but you know what it’s like when a mechanism doesn’t work right and just keeps running when it isn’t working properly.

Take toilets for example.

Now, I am probably close to the most unmechanical person on the planet,  but even I know that you can jiggle the handle and you hope that will stop the water from constantly running.  I know that because that was the first think my dad always did.

Next, he would look at the tank and check the parts to see if something needed to be replaced.  If he found a broken part he would go to the hardware store and purchase new parts and put it back together.  

The people we meet every day on our journey are often running continually because they have broken parts and they don’t know what else to do.  Some people are afraid if they stop, they might not be able to get started again.  

That’s why people can be like toilets…sometimes they need help – just a little jiggle – to help them get back on track again.  So, if you notice someone isn’t acting like they usually do, you can take a minute to check with them to see if everything is okay.  It could be that they need more help than just jiggling the handle, but you won’t know unless you take the time to check in with them.  

It’s important to remember that life is a journey and we’re all in it together.  Taking time to pay attention to someone else on the road will actually enrich you on your journey as well.  

Moment by moment we have opportunities to see, smell, taste, and hear life all around us.  We aren’t actually enriched by money or power or fame.  Noticing small opportunities and taking the time to appreciate them and to love is what makes the journey worthwhile.  

Exercise: What opportunities have you had today that enriched your life?  Notice them, appreciate them, thank God for them, and most of all remember they made the journey worthwhile. 

One More Thing: Best and Worst of Times

One more thing that helps on the journey is to make sure you have fun.  I remember when my first three kids were born (3 years apart) and we used to play train in a computer paper box.  My daughter would have been about 3 and a half when we started, my oldest son would have been 2 years old, and my middle son would have been around 6 months old (my youngest son not born yet).

The three of them would squish inside a box, oldest to youngest and they would scream and squeal all the way down the hall.  When we would get the other end of the hall (where I would catch my breath for a second) they would all should “Again, Mommy, again!” and we would go whirling down the hall to the living room.  We would repeat the trips for as many times as I could possibly stand it.

We also did laundry together.  I would bring the clothes to the living room couch and we would all fold.  You can’t begin to imagine how they looked when they were folded, but I didn’t care.  They were clean. The kids loved laundry day.  It became a play day.

There were other things that happened that at the time didn’t seem so funny to me, but the kids had a blast!  One day my middle son (who was about 18 months old) was talking about snow.  I told him it wasn't snowing outside and I went on with what I was doing.  Before I knew it, I realized he was missing so the three of us set off to find him.  As it turns out, he was in my bedroom with a large bottle of baby powder and he was squishing it with all his might all over the room.  White baby powder covered my bedspread, my dresser, my carpet, my chest of drawers… baby powder was everywhere!

When I saw it, I said, “Oh, no” and he gleefully shouted, “SNOW Mommy, SNOW!”  The four of us had a great time with the vacuum sweeper cleaning up the snow! 

People would tell me (like my Mother) these were the best times of my life.  At the time I found that hard to believe.  We had messes everywhere all the time, dirty faces, mounds of diapers, and if someone wasn’t crying they were screaming.  Some days I thought they were the worst of times.
People who came to my house would say, “Is it like this ALL the time?”  I would reply, “Oh no, sometimes it’s much worse!”

Looking back, I wouldn’t trade it for anything because we had so much fun.  I loved it that we played train in a box.  I loved it that we did laundry together and that it was strewn all over the living room.  I love it (now) that my son made “snow”.  Now I know, they WERE the best of times.




The journey is filled with best of times and worst of times, the difference is what we do with it...