Archive for Religion

Ownership is Illusion

Mar

I’ll be brief. (unlikely)

You never realize how much stuff you “own” till you move somewhere, or decide to reorganize your life. Just in one room in your house you may be surprised how much you actually “own” and how much of that really is stuff you could live without.

In a book I read a while back, Serve God Save the World, the Author J. Matthew Sleeth discusses a very important part of the book. Ownership is illusion. Ownership of what? The Earth. There’s a lot in the book I could talk about, but I’ll stick to this idea, because telling a world that set on claiming land for their own or having ownership of territories due to religious rites is what this world seems to have been built on.

Much of this idea reminds me of some of the monks at the seminary my friend Kelly is at. (He’s becoming a priest). The monks are Benedictine. If you aren’t familiar with Benedictine Monks, I’ll give you a quick run down of why this is relevant. Within the Regula Benedicti it states that that the private possession of anything is forbidden. Of course there are many things that the Benedictines use that are all owned by the abbey and although they are not possessed by one man, they are used by all.

I want you to wonder for a moment, what all do you “own”? Go ahead, make a quick list of everything within a 5 foot radius of you. A lot more than you think. You may rent your apartment, but I doubt you rent a lot of what is around you. I think the Benedictines have the idea right, although not all of us may be called to be monks (or nuns), I think the idea is clear to me:

Ownership is Illusion.

How much do you own? The answer is nothing. Your ownership is an illusion.

I’m sure you may be thinking, “well, that’s funny my name is on the deed to my car, I have to own this puppy!”

First off, thank you for calling your car a “puppy”, but that’s not the type of ownership I’m talking about. Ownership is where we claim private power, control and authority over something. You have no authority, control or power over anything that is not given to you by a higher power. (Hint: The higher power isn’t the U.S. Supreme Court.)

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you ARE God’s field, God’s building”

1 Corinthians 3:9

Ownership belongs to our LORD. He has given us stewardship and blessed us all individually. Not only is the entire earth HIS, but so are we. Our body is not only a temple, but it’s HIS temple. When you lose all ownership and come to the realization it’s all God’s, the more weight and levity your actions in this world seem to take.

This isn’t a call for people to get rid of all their posessions, but I’m sure you could really clean out that closet or movie collection of yours. Also this isn’t relevant to ownership of actions, we all must take responsibility for those, but when we speak about ownership we should be careful who’s the real owner of our lives and the world we live in.

How are you serving the LORD as a steward of you life and this world? These are the only questions I pose. We may want to think about the true owner of our fortunes and misfortunes, and how we are working to give praise to HIM.

Things, stuff, DongXi, guff, etc… tend to get in the way of our real realationship to God and our praise for HIM. Ownership of everything is illusion, it all belongs to him. It ALL belongs to HIM.

I know many of you that read this may not have the same beliefs as I, but I think the idea can still have value. Our earth, your body and the livelihood of the world is dependent on our understanding that we are incredibly lucky to share this world, and live.

We shouldn’t take those blessings away from future peoples and inhabitors of a world that we share stewardship for such a short time.

Give Heavily, Thank Graciously and Share Unending.

The rest will take care of itself.

Categories : books, Religion, Science

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somehow

Feb

A lot of my graduate school work has been about a smattering of different things, but often it’s about self reflection. When learning about how others develop their identity we must first have a good base of what our own identity is. When you think of identity we think of what we are, or if you were to say it… Who I am.

I had to write this out for an assignment, and at first I had trouble, and then I wrote a single line that made me just sit a look at the cursor blink on the screen.

I am nothing, but somehow; that’s something

nothing

People are constantly trying to find out what and who they are. It’s seemingly human and odd to try and figure out who and what we are, and especially who you identify with. I can claim one group, or place or thing, but how does that let me know who I am? Am I only identifiable by what I own, do or believe? Who are we? better yet… what are we?

I don’t want to get philosophical, metaphysical or preachy on any level, but I think it’s a valid to think about this. Like I stated above I said that, “I am nothing, but somehow; that’s something.”

When I first wrote out that little line I didn’t think of the depth or meaning to admitting that I am nothing. Often people that are sucidal belive that they have no more worth to society, but that isn’t what I mean by “nothing”. When I say I am nothing I’m saying that I am so insignificant that it’s mind blowing. When you look up at the star at night at the stars that are the same size if not bigger than our own sun which is bigger than anything I can fathom. That’s what it means to be nothing. So small that the world and other things pass on without even acknowledging your existence.

But… just cause you’re nothing doesn’t mean you aren’t something.

We may seem insignificant and small on the scale of existence and the world, but we are something too. I liken it to the idea that a small micro-organism can take down someones entire immune system, a small screw that somehow keeps an engine running and the one person who makes a larger difference that we may never completely see or know the consequences of. To me, that’s something.

How though? In all of this expanse and empty space are we just nothing? Why do we exist? Are we a fluke? That’s where the “somehow” comes in.

Somehow we are something. When everything around you tells you that you are nothing and there’s no reason in your life except to reproduce and die, then there is one who makes you something. In my faith it is my LORD that makes me something. I don’t worry about my own identity, because I find it in my LORD. I am nothing, but it is my LORD that makes me something. I am something only because of Him and only for Him. Otherwise I am nothing. It’s a strange to feel and know that I am because of the true I AM. All I can do is sit back and think, “Isn’t that something”.

Categories : Life, Religion

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The Gardener…

Jun

Some things in life can make you sit in wonder and disillusion.

I’ve been having those moments a lot lately. I am working outside doing landscaping work this summer, and I’m surrounded by trees, flowers, grass and other things pertaining to nature. You never look and analyze at something like blades of grass or tree blossoms on a tree until you spend eight hours a day around them.

This is less of a real story. More of a story from an observation I made.

The Gardener

The Crepe Myrtle sits amongst a thatch of juniper bushes. It is not a particularly gorgeous arrangement of flora, but it serves it’s purpose and creates a green area to off set the dry landscape around them. She abides in commonplace and the world cannot see her true beauty yet because her day has not come yet.

She has buds that are just screaming to bloom and new growth that gives way to her true beauty, but she has been neglected and the overgrowth of previous years and dead branches covers up her beauty and splendor.

Some of her buds try to bloom, but are blocked out by all of her fruitless branches slowly killing and taking over. The light is blocked out and she begins to feel the slow cold of her demise, with none to enjoy her last breathes of splendor.

But somehow the dead branches and fruitless growth begins to be pruned away. With each clip she feels her health and spirit begin to grow. A gardener has began to prune away at her branches.

He snips and clips away at the dead lifeless parts of her and opens up areas of her existence that she had never seen before. Light began to shine through. The gardener keeps working away at her cutting parts of her that aren’t necessary. He works hard and sweat rolls of his brow and drips to round below where her roots have become exposed.

The gardener smiles to find new parts of The Crepe Myrtle exposed to the sun and warmth of the Summer day. He continues his work without break and without hesitation. She worries when parts of her branches that to her seemed fine end up being clipped too.

She still sits among the juniper bushes with her buds waiting to bloom, and waiting for the world to see her beauty.

The next day she still has not bloomed, but the gardener comes and waters her roots and gives them a nice cool on her feet to quench her thirst during the hot summer day. She is still confused why no one will come and see her splendor. The gardener covers her roots with mulch to keep them moist and cool during the day.

She sits all day and wonders why no one will come see how beautiful she is. This gardener keeps coming each day and clips away the dead parts and fruitless things about her. She wonders why no one will look at her splendor.

One morning as the sun begins to rise she sees someone on the horizon, but cannot make out who it is. She rustles with excitement in the breeze hoping and wishing it is someone to see her splendor.

The silhouette of the person in the distance becomes clear that it is the gardener, but this time he doesn’t have any tools in his hand. He came there with one thing… his eyes. So he could see how beautiful she truly was.

As the breeze blows through her branches and moves her leaves and pink-reddish blossoms she realizes that there was someone there all along to take care of her and look back and love everything about her in a way that no one else in the world could. She finally found someone was admiring her splendor all along… The Gardener.

…

We often get caught up in ourselves so much that we can’t see the people around us that have been there the entire time helping us along. Remember to look back and see who’s helped you get to where you are now. Sometimes we forget about those people.

There is one Eternal Gardener that will prune, feed and provide for us but all we have to do is allow this “gardener” into our lives. All he want is to love and give to those that will receive him. If we accept this gardener’s gift of sacrifice for our lives then we too can be held in splendor and will continue to bear fruit and live forever.

This gardener’s name is Jesus Christ.

Categories : Religion, Stories, writing

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Throwin’ Punches in the Dark

Jun

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Some days I feel like I am accomplishing nothing. Sometimes I feel like everything I do amounts to nothing. Sometimes I feel like, if I didn’t even exist it wouldn’t matter. Sometimes I don’t even know why I try. Sometimes I try and wonder why I even am.

There are alot of times when it just doesn’t seem like life is really worth it. It seems like we’re constantly fighting this uphill battle on a hill that we’ll never reach the top and eventually just trip and fall all the way down. People always say that they never said life was going to be easy, but they never told me it was going to be this hard.

I’ve felt this inadequate feeling multiple times in my life. It’s something that I can believe that everyone feels at some moment in time. We feel so insignificant. We scratch and fight and pull ourselves forward just to find another obstacle. It seems like this perpetual cycle will never end.

I’m reminded of a song. It is by Matthew Perryman Jones. He’s a not so well known musician out of Nashville. He has a song called Refuge. The first part of the second verse reads like this…

LORD I Get so Tired of Fighting,

Throwin’ Punches in the Dark,

Where Mystery’s Seduction Puts a Blindfold on my Heart,

Oh This Seem Too Much…

This has stuck with me. So many times I feel like I am doing just that… Throwing punches in the dark.

But this song is called refuge. What is he talking about? Here’s the entire lyrics…

Lord, i feel the weight of a mountain
Pressing down inside my soul
I can see the pillars fallin’
There ain’t nothin’ left to hold

The reigns are broken too
I can’t steer this
There’s nothing i can do
Except to throw my arms out

Take me to
A place where love can mend these wounds
Where mystery can dance with truth
And the broken soul finds refuge

I get so tired of fighting
Throwing punches in the dark
When mystery’s seduction
Keeps a blindfold on my heart

Oh, it seems too much
God i fear this
I’m longing for your touch
And for your kisses

Take me to
A place where love can mend these wounds
Where mystery can dance with truth
And the broken soul finds refuge

Can you calm this angry tide
The fears and rage inside
Won’t you lead me to the place where beauty dwells

You go dancing on the hills
And i won’t rest until
You take me to the place where beauty dwells

Take me to
A place where love can mend these wounds
Where mystery can dance with truth
The broken soul finds refuge

Take me to
A place where love can mend these wounds
Where mystery can dance with truth
And the broken soul finds refuge

It’s a beautiful song, and it’s message is just as amazing.

In those times when you can’t make it any further, and you feel like the world is draggin you down. In those times when you’re fighting with nothing and accomplishing nothing… rest within the LORD. Let him be your refuge.

He will bandage your wounds. He will prepare a place for your broken soul. Just let him take over.

I absolutely love this song, and I forgot how much it really means till I re listened to this song about a week ago. So even when the world is dragging you down and your chains are too heavy… look to your refuge. Look to a place where Love will mend your wounds and you will dance within the mystery of truth.

Here’s the song…

Categories : music, Religion

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Archive for Religion

Ownership is Illusion

somehow

nothing

The Gardener…

Throwin’ Punches in the Dark

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