The Two Still Standing

 

I’m no bible scholar, but it seems to me the people Jesus called out the most (when he wasn’t otherwise occupied with healing, serving, or teaching) were those who already thought they were holy. Today, I read in John 8 about when the Pharisees and the scribes brought a woman who had been caught in adultery into the temple. They did this because Jesus was teaching there and they wanted to test him, hoping his response would allow them to bring a charge against him. His penchant for grace was a threat to the law they so loved. 

The first thing that struck me about this passage was that the Pharisees dragged the woman into the TEMPLE, into the house of God. Why? To accuse her, to attempt a stoning, and to bring charges against Jesus. It seems so horrible. The house of the Lord should have been a place of healing, grace, humility, repentance. A place to encounter God. Instead we see a sinful, prideful mob looking for blood and to raise their own elevated egos.  

If you read the rest of the scene, the holy folks ask Jesus what should be done to the woman, reminding him that stoning is the law. And Jesus did the most awesome of boss moves: he bent over and wrote in the ground. As they asked again and again he looked up and said “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” Then he did some more ground writing  (*some ancient authorities say he wrote the sins of each of them). And low and behold, they went away, one by one, the elders first.  And Jesus addressed the woman: “Woman, where did they all go? Has no one condemned you?’ She said “No one, Lord.” And he said “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

In churches of my past, ministers and fellow congregants have pointed out that Jesus did command the woman to go and sin no more at the close of the scene.  That actually has been the big takeaway for some, and yet this is not the big takeaway sitting with me as I read and sat with the passage. Also, when I was discussing this with my husband he pointed out that nowhere in the passage do we even hear the woman ask for forgiveness nor express her own repentance.  Not that it didn’t happen, but it is not mentioned. What is clear to see in the passage, is the vast difference between the character of the condemners and the character of Jesus. The Pharisees accuse the woman, who has indeed done wrong. But Christ calls out the accusers. 

This passage also reminded me of church disciplines I have witnessed in the past.  There, the words spoken had a kindly tone, where “truth in love” was the delivery. And desire for hopeful restoration and details of all that had been done to “help bring the person back into repentance.” But ultimately it felt like a public shaming, an instruction to exclude, to only interact with the person insofar as to encourage repentance. A different stoning of sorts. And public shaming is not just an Evangelical weapon of choice, it is EVERYWHERE. I see it daily from the secular to the religious, from left and the right and everyone in between. We accusers are loud and sometimes well intentioned.  But I doubt what good we are doing throwing rocks and hurling accusations. Perhaps our time would be better spent healing, helping or speaking words of life to each other.  And on occasion, bending over and writing in the sand as we contemplate our own hearts and sins, remembering Jesus who sent all the stone throwers away and then set the woman free.  

Life Worth Living

 

I am thrilled to have finished another fabulous book this month! Life Worth Living (by Volf, Croasmun, and McNally-Linz) was a perfect follow-up to Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. 

Let's dig into what really resonated for me.  

This book was based on a very popular course offered at Yale. Its aim is to take the reader on an excavation of sorts. Uncovering what exactly it is to YOU that makes a life worth living. 

First, I want to share this cautionary tale from the opening of the book. A man named Albert Speer was an impossibly talented architect.  He fancied himself an architect to his very core.  His ultimate dream was the chance to build the unimaginable.  Unfortunately, Hitler made him an offer he decided he couldn't refuse.  He would build the New Reich Chancellery. Hitler's foreign headquarters which included a marble gallery, along with many other massive, groundbreaking structures. See them here.  His work was funded by Hitler and his buildings were built with the aid of slave labor.  

"There is a certain greatness to Albert Speer. It lies in the fact that he was '"above all an architect."' That singular devotion to his career made him an exceptionally good architect. But that greatness also contains the monstrosity of his life because that same singular devotion also made him an exceptionally bad human being. "

It is interesting to me that our culture is so centered on hacks, morning routines, productivity, and success. Yet little thought or wisdom is given to what exactly we are hacking towards, or why we want any of these things, do they deliver, and furthermore ARE THESE THINGS EVEN WORTH WANTING? 

That is the question I am still mulling over: what is worth wanting? This question seems to me like a great foundation.  And a lot of us are building lives with no foundation whatsoever and finding ourselves blowing all over the place. 

The authors include insights from many different religious traditions: including Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, and Judaism just to name a few.  The book also explores different philosophies from famous figures in history. Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, Nietzsche, Jeremy Bentham, and even an indigenous tale called Skywoman. These different perspectives invite the reader to lean into the perspectives that resonate and consider others that don't.  

Each chapter has questions to reflect on and journal.  I found some more useful than others.  The first four chapters of the book were especially valuable for me.  Some of the questions about what you value in contrast to how you spend your actual time and days were revealing to say the least.  

This would be an excellent read for ages 17 and up.  

I read this with a group of friends from church.  There is a podcast series to go along with it too and I will link it here. The podcast episodes feature Claire Danes, Kate Bowman, and Kelly Corrigan.  I have not listened to these yet but several of the ladies in our book discussion loved them.  

I do want to say that I think the Yale course itself would be a lot more engaging and have a better flow than the book.  The first 4 chapters were great as written, but as the book transitioned into all the different perspectives and philosophies, it felt a little bogged down and all over the place.  It was definitely worth finishing though.  

As a follower of Jesus, I have been thinking about how Christ took time to reflect on the character of God, spending time in prayer, in praise, and then pouring out what He was filled with.  He knew what was worth wanting.  And from there He did what was worth doing.  He began and he ended with acts of love.   

So what do you think? What is worth wanting? What is a life worth living? 

Let Me Live in the House by the Side of the Road

 

I love this cross stitch, it was made by my Great Aunt Margaret and it hung in my Mema’s house. That is actually HER farmhouse in the picture. When they moved her the house had no plumbing or electricity. There was an outhouse and a well on the property. A great big pecan tree. I grew up on the property right behind her home and barns. Wow, this sounds about as southern as you can get. 

 Anyway, it hangs in my home now, and I don’t know if you can read it, but it says “Let me live in the house by the side of the road and be a friend to man”

This was basically Mema's rule of life, not that she would have called it that.  

She was a friend to everyone she met. 

She never had an Instagram account or a Facebook feed.  I have no idea how social media would have shaped her for better or worse. Her life was lived out in those flesh-and-bone days that we seem to be stepping away from. My memories of her are all wrapped up in my senses. I remember the feel of the skin on her arms wrapped around me. The spiky texture of her amber tea glasses in my hands. The sizzle of her skillet. Her freezing cold bedroom in the front of the house where she would tuck my twin and me up into bed as girls and pack us in tight under so many blankets. The sound of the kickball as she kicked it toward us. Her perfect lap and silky soft hair. The sound of her voice as she made up stories for us. Her kooky friends that would often visit. How she tried to find the good in everyone. She delighted in a loving God, in his people, in his creation. She made everyone feel like they were her favorite.

I am so thankful I can remember her as a woman with her eyes and heart set upon whomever crossed her path.  She was a witness to the world unfolding right before her. And not through empty words, but through her VERY LIFE, she testified to all that was good and beautiful and broken in it.

And I wonder how our world might change if each one of us just lived in the house by the side of the road and was a friend to man.  

Omnipotent, Omnsicient, and Omnipresent or Powerless, Stupid, and Nowhere?

“Cannot you see, cannot all you lecturers see, that it is we that are dying, and that down here the only thing that really lives is the Machine? We created the Machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now. It has robbed us of the sense of space and of the sense of touch, it has blurred every human relation and narrowed down love to a carnal act, it has paralyzed our bodies and our wills, and now it compels us to worship it. The Machine develops – but not on our lives. The Machine proceeds – but not to our goal. We only exist as the blood corpuscles that course through its arteries, and if it could work without us, it would let us die”  

-The Machine Stops E.M. Forster

I love a chilling quote, and this quote from The Machine Stops DELIVERS.  If you have not read this short story, I highly recommend it. I first heard about this story on Tsh Oxenreider's podcast: A Drink With A Friend.  Her guest was Autumn Kern, a fellow Charlotte Mason Homeschooling enthusiast.  The episode was about Autumn's recent abandonment of her smartphone for a flip phone.  Their conversation was phenomenal.  I always enjoy Tsh's podcast and how thoughtful she is at both crafting a life that represents her values and sharing it on her podcast.  

As Autumn began to share her thoughts on social media and having a mini computer in our back pockets I found myself nodding along with her.  She asked a question that just floored me, and I am going to paraphrase: "Are these things making us feel like we are God?" 

Omnipotent? At the push of a button, we can declare our beliefs, attack those we disagree with, and assemble a virtual tribe that will tell us we are right right right.  Powerful or powerless?

Omniscient? We can answer countless questions with a simple Google search. Are we full of more knowledge or are we becoming stupid? 

Omnipresent? We are ACCESSIBLE to anyone in our contact list or on our social media feeds at all times.  Are we everywhere or are we LOST? Are we even present with those humans right next to us? 

It is shocking that day after day we know these things aren't delivering what we are looking for.  Like drinking salt water and finding yourself more and more parched, yet choking down another pitcher.  WHAT ARE WE DOING?? And what will we do about it? 

How can we love with our hands and our hearts when we are too busy scrolling on a hamster wheel? How will we hear the Spirit when we never take time for quiet reflection? 

Maybe we don't all need a flip phone.  Maybe some of us do.  I for sure don't need to be spending much time on social platforms like IG or FB.  The more time I spend on them the more hopeless I feel.  The less loving I am.  Detached and disembodied, my words are not tempered with any measure of grace.  When my kids see me on platforms daily where I am ranting and raving about politics and people then I'm not teaching them to love the world, I'm actually teaching them to hate it.  And while it's true that Jesus did call out the Pharisees on occasion, in person, he actually spent the majority of his time loving people, healing people, and delivering messages of encouragement and hope.  All of these interactions were HUMAN interactions. Face to face by a God who EMBODIED himself to meet us in person.  Feet washed. Dirty bodies touched, Tears wiped. 

I don't see how we can become better humans by dehumanizing ourselves.  And so the work of embodiment in this age of virtual everything seems so daunting.  And yet while I am still in this physical body, I want to lean into this physical world God created us for, with full hope that when this body is discarded, the spiritual realm that awaits will infinitely redeem a fallen virtual platform created by man.  

A Drink with A Friend

Our Week in Pictures 11/5/22

This week Jason was on vacation. We kicked it off with Trunk or Treat at church, Sunday night.

Monday we had Halloween at Kim and Heather’s and I can’t believe I took zero pictures! We had pizza and watched Insidious. I love traditions. The boys stood out front and scared the older kids that were trick or treating.  

Tuesday the kids had Fall Festival at Vanguard and I only got one photo of Jason manning the balloon game. The kids had a blast though. 

Thursday we headed to Landrum for lunch and then stopped by Landrum Eclectics. What a cool place.  We snagged Saint Francis and he’s in our front yard now. 

Rounded out our week with some cooking and games. What a fun staycation we had.  

Rest and Remember

  One of my favorite things about church is seeing everyone face to face.  So many of us spend a lot of time in front of a computer or some other screen.  Sometimes we are just so busy going about our days that we don’t just stop and really see each other.  

Can you imagine for a minute, what it would have been like some 2000 years ago, to have met Jesus face to face, in the flesh? To have him come over and just gaze at you? Can you close your eyes and picture that in your mind for a moment? 

Jesus face to face. 

Him seeing you.  

On any given day,  I am honestly often too distracted to notice the spirit of love that dwells within me.  But noticed or not He is still there,  loving me, holding me, and gazing upon me with grace.  

And that is one of the things I love about church.  For a few hours, we all get to come together, and for a bit, we lay down our distractions and SEE each other.  We set our gazes on Jesus and find He has been watching us all along.  And we remember that every moment is holy. We are welcomed home. 

I wonder what would happen if we stopped scrolling. If we fasted from striving and just stepped away from places and spaces that leave us feeling hopeless, angry, anxious, and depleted.

What if we sat with those things within us that we want so badly to escape and instead of scrolling or striving, we just met Jesus face to face.

What would that feel like? To take our anger and tell it to Him. Our disappointments, our fears. Our guilt. Instead of lashing out in our flesh, to dig in. To pray what we want to post, to sit quietly and listen. To read Jesus' words.

How might we change the world if we practiced resting and remembering who it is we follow.

What anger might be replaced with love?

What fear might be quieted with peace?

What disappointment might be blossomed into hope?

If we could stop searching and rest. And remember the One who never takes His eyes off of us.

FREE

 

I finished a great book last week, The Gift by Edith Enger. She is a 94-year-old renowned psychologist and also a Holocaust survivor. She arrived at Auschwitz at age 16. Her parents were executed the day they arrived at Auschwitz, and that first night, Edith, a young ballerina, was made to perform for Josef Mengele, a nazi known as the Angel of Death. Her life was spared and she spent months in Auschwitz before going on to the so-called Death March. She was rescued by a black American soldier in Gunskirchen, who saw her hand move in a pile of dead bodies. She weighed 70 pounds.  If you have not read her story, please go check it out! 

The book was a collection of her clients' stories from years of her practice, interwoven with pieces of her own story. She shares the 12 most common imprisoning thoughts/behaviors she has encountered over the years and her tools for overcoming them.  

My favorite story from the book was near the end.  Several years ago Edith was invited to attend a ballet portraying her own story, a retelling of the night she had to perform for Mengele.  She says “In that theater with my daughter, watching moments of my past being brought to life on the stage, I knew again what I realized that night in the barracks- that while Mengele had all the power, while day after day he chose with his grotesquely wagging finger who would live and who would die, he was more a prisoner than I was.

I was innocent. 

And free.”

Something in these lines unlocked a deep truth that was transformative for me in my own story of victimization.  When justice does not come for the oppressors, I was reminded that they are already imprisoned. They are imprisoned by their power, their shame, and their endless hungering. They are imprisoned to the self. As they perpetuate more suffering and selfishness these bars grow tighter and their chains weigh them down. They will never find wholeness or freedom in the pursuit of their own glory. They are starving. 

Mengele never was brought to justice by human standards. He fled to Argentina and changed his name.  He drowned while swimming in 1979 after suffering a stroke in the water. Helpless, powerless, sinking from the weight of his own body. He was identified posthumously via forensic evidence.

Was he ever free? 

What prisons, Oh God, would you have me unlock within myself? What chains? 

Thank you for showing me that you have designed us all to be free when we walk in your Spirit of love, and also to be prisoners when we walk in the Spirit of selfishness, anger, wrath, greed, vengeance, and pride.  

Help me be a woman who stands in Your love and freedom even as I advocate for love and freedom, even as I honor my personal story and the experiences of others, that true Justice belongs to You, and Your design is perfect.