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You Become Like What You Pursue…

As I look around me I am overwhelmed by the variety of things we are pursuing.  Things like: The perfect house…the right career…the right guy or girl…escape from life’s realities through books, film, poetry…

We pursue justice…vacations…accumulating stuff and things…the American dream…passions…health goals…life goals… financial goals…pleasure…money…power and control…recognition…family and independence…

We are tired and weary from the elusive pursuit, yet every day we get up and the race begins all over again.

What are you chasing after…who are you becoming?

The reason this is an important question to ponder and ruminate upon is because we become like the thing we pursue. The things that get our time, energy and focus are what we slowly shape-shift into becoming. Generally, the things we pursue are not actually what we truly desire, there is something deeper, but we have invested so little time into our souls that we are deaf to her cry.  Out the soul’s deepest longings are desires that would bring about life, beauty and joy.

The soul is timid, powerful but timid. The energy-draining-crashing-around we exhibit as we pursue something generally causes the soul to stay in the shadows, waiting for a quieter moment…but the moment passes us by as the volume of life drowns out the soul’s whisper.

Psalm 34:14 in the Amplified translation notes:

“Depart from evil and do good; seek, inquire for, and crave peace                  and pursue (go after) it!”

Interesting…I wonder what our world would be like if instead of pursuing global-economic primacy nations instead pursued peace. I wonder what would happen in our neighborhoods if instead of one-upping the Jones’ we chose peace and received contentment. I wonder what our soul would sing if we chose to live a lifestyle that pursued peace and not all the stuff and things that we think will bring us peace.

King David was a man that longed for God’s peace yet lived a life where peace was as tangible as a steak at a Vegan seminar. Wars, subterfuge, marital conflict, adultery, betrayal and constant criticism nipped his heels daily. Yet his words seem to lock in on something beyond…something fascinating…something beautiful…something his soul was crying out for: Seek after…inquire for…and crave peace…then by all means make that your pursuit!

The greatest gift God has given me is an otherworldly saturation of peace in the midst of storms. A feeling so powerful and so real that I have wondered what it was, where it came from… and then, I pray it will never leave. It is more than peace though…it is God’s own Spirit unleashed in our soul causing her to sing in such a way that all those other pursuits fade on the sidelines of life.

To pursue peace is to become peace. Your presence will affect the people around you. Your countenance will be a calming reality and a contagious morsel. Your eyes will radiate a sense of God’s power and presence that is beyond the normal human pursuit.

You see, when we pursue peace and embrace it we are allowing God’s Spirit access to the control center of our life. As The Spirit slowly begins to lead us, there is something forming, growing, expanding and bringing even more peace with it and that is the very life of Christ Himself. The Spirit’s role is to form the living Christ in us by faith.

Jesus was called the prince of peace…the bringer of peace…so to pursue peace is to pursue the author and embodiment of peace, Jesus.

When we run around trying to experience a feeling we never quite get there because peace isn’t a feeling, it’s a person.

Let’s choose to pursue Peace at work; at home; in our communities of faith; in our storms; in our goals and in our soul.

Jesus said it this way:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Jesus gives us peace by giving us Himself…no formula…no hoops to jump through…no major clean up in order to deserve it. No, He offers us His peace in and of Himself…to hold Him is to have peace…Isaiah said the the punishment that brought us peace was taken on by Jesus. (Isaiah 53:5).

May you be fascinated by Him this week, and may you experience peace as you pursue it in the face of the Messiah.

~Monty

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How Shall I Pray…

Real prayer happens when we finally get to the end of ourselves, when we stop posing and posturing; when we stop trying to impress God with our vocabulary and understanding. The moment we wonder if we can really “pray like this” is more than likely the moment when your prayer has transcended religious rhetoric becoming as beautiful as the song sung to her daddy by a three-year-old…unskilled, unrefined but infused with hope and love.

For those wondering how they should pray tonight because the burden they bear is too heavy and the nights too long…for those wondering how they should pray when words seem so impotent and deep sighs seem verbose…for those wondering how they should pray tonight, take a moment and absorb the following prayer written by Ted Loder, it’s pure gold.

Monty

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How shall I pray?
     Are tears prayers, Lord?
     Are screams prayers, 
          or groans
             or sighs
                or curses?
Can trembling hands be lifted to you,
     or clenched fists
          or the cold sweat that trickles down my back
               or the cramps that knot my stomach?
Will you accept my prayers, Lord, 
      my real prayers,
           rooted in the muck and the mud and the rock of my life,
and not just my pretty, cut-flower, gracefully arranged
     bouquet of words?
Will you accept me, Lord,
     as I really am, 
          messed up mixture of glory and grime?
Lord, help me!
Help me to trust that you do accept me as I am, 
that I may be done with self-condemnation
     and self-pity
          and accept myself.
Help me to accept you as you are, Lord:
     mysterious,
          hidden, 
               strange, 
                    unknowable; 
and yet to trust
     that your madness is wiser
          than my timid, self-seeking sanities,
and that nothing you’ve ever done
     has really been possible,
so I may dare to be a little mad, too.

~Ted Loder

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A New Phronesis

There were many requests for the above quote from todays talk on overcoming anxiety. As we have been unpacking some powerful truths in the book of Philippians, perhaps the center piece of the book is understanding how to live out of the new “phronesis” or mindset that we have in Christ. Paul reiterates that this new mindset is experienced as a new way to think, feel and act. Our old mindset, or way of thinking, feeling and acting, is so easily overcome with fears, phobias and anxiety, that the joy that Paul talks about experiencing seems impossible. Yet he continues to inspire us towards living in such a way that we can know and taste joy even in the midst of the hardest of circumstances.

Paul rightly understood that we move towards the things that we dwell on…the things that captivate our mind. If we are stuck in an anxiety rut, we move towards more anxiety. But, since we have received a new mindset from Christ, we can begin thinking, feeling and acting differently…and the difference results in an intrinsic joy that flow from the source of Christ Himself, who dwells within you by faith.

God supplies the peace and joy but our job is to redirect our thoughts through prayer, meditation, and choices. In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Paul states: “4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

When the defeating thoughts that flow from our old mindset (phronesis) come, Paul calls us to stop, take hold of those thoughts, release them, and then, most importantly, replace them with thoughts from the new mindset (phronesis). In fact he lists some things to replace your negative thoughts with in Philippians 4:8-9:

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

To think about these things is the Christian act of meditation…to ponder…to dwell…to ruminate on those things which move you closer to God. God mysteriously meets us as we choose to think differently, and we are flooded with a sense of peace that defies our current reality…and this unleashes a flood of joy in our soul.

This week…take the negative, limiting thoughts of your old mindset captive…and replace them with thoughts from your new God-infused mindset. As you do, take note on how differently you begin to see things.

Monty

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Look It Over

Stump

I read the following reflection this morning by Wendell Berry. Wendell has authored fifty books of poetry, fiction, and essays. This piece is from his first volume of poems call Leavings. I read it a few times through, for some unearthed reason it resonated and reminded me of the gifts God gives us each day…with no cost.

MC
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Look It Over

I leave behind even
my walking stick. My knife
is in my pocket, but that
I have forgot. I bring
no car, no cell phone,
no computer, no camera,
no CD player, no fax, no
TV, not even a book. I go
into the woods. I sit on
a log provided at no cost.
It is the earth I’ve come to,
the earth itself, sadly
abused by the stupidity
only humans are capable of
but, as ever, itself. Free.

A bargain! Get it while it lasts.