I've been very introspective of late. At times, it's reached unhealthy levels, where anxiety overrides reason or peace. It's a situation I'm quite familiar with, which means it can be an easy road to follow when certain circumstances seem to align.
Today's been one of those more extreme days, where the worry baseline started fairly low and then continued to grow as I became more anxious about the workload and challenges ahead of me - both inside of work and out. By the time I was travelling home, I was employing as many distraction techniques as I could muster, trying to maintain a veil of calm and hoping it would all just go away. It's daft really, because I know that's the worst thing to do... but I'm human, a creature of habit, and sometimes following old behaviours and mindsets seems 'easier' than challenging them.
I finally stopped for a moment and had a chat with God tonight. I asked Him what He wanted me to do with this. I asked Jesus about how he managed to cope when he was on the Earth - I mean, it's not like he didn't have some very stressful things to cope with. And then I thought of the boat. The story is told in Mark 4. Jesus and the disciples were crossing the water, and in the NIV (v37-38) it says that 'A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.' Try to imagine it - the waves were so high, so frequent, that the boat was nearly so inundated with water that it could have sunk. How is it possible that Jesus remained asleep at this time? And as I thought of this image, I realised that the disciples had a couple of choices available to them at that moment. Their decision was to wake Jesus, to beg him for help. Alternatively, they could have equally chosen to huddle together in their fear, whimpering and crying as the waves got higher and the boat got lower in the water, wishing that someone would help them but believing they were utterly doomed. But there was also a third choice, the one which I love the most and which I'm choosing to do tonight. They could have joined Jesus in the stern of the boat, lain down next to him and gone to sleep. They could have rested, staying close to him and relying on the peace that he carried to also settle them.
This all links back to something I've been considering a lot recently. Whether you look at secular or Christian teaching, the need for rest in order to function well is being made very clear. If you want your mind and your body to work at their best, sleep and times of peaceful restoration (meditation, stillness, however you view it) need to be a central element of your life. They're not things that come easy to me - the habits I've built up till now have kept both sleep and 'me-time' to a minimum. I don't think that's been healthy or wise. But there's also a Godly perspective to consider. As His child, I am told that perfect peace is mine to have: 'You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!' (Isaiah 26:3, NLT). It makes you think about where Jesus' mind was whilst he was sleeping. Can you imagine that - he must have been so practiced in it, to have his mind in heavenly places even as he slept, not just when he was awake. I really want that. I really want that level of peace. And it's a choice I'm prepared to keep on making, to keep working away at, whilst it becomes my new habit. It's a decision to sleep well (surely more sleep must mean more time for my mind to be in heavenly places?!) and to keep metaphorically slapping my thoughts on the wrists every time they take a wee daunder away from heaven and into the anxiety pit.
Feel free to challenge me - if you see me on Facebook after 11pm, or just when you see me in the week, ask me how it's going. And encourage me - habits are tough enough to change on your own, it's good to have the wise counsel and positive encouragement of friends!
Showing posts with label christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christian. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
Saturday, 4 August 2012
There may be fifty shades of grey....
... but some things are black and white.
I'm surprised by how quiet things have been from Christians when it has come to the book that has apparently sold out Harry Potter. I've not read Fifty Shades of Grey, nor do I intend to. If there was ever still a question over pornography being a male-dominated issue, that has been answered. This book has simply highlighted that, whilst men generally prefer visual stimulation, for women it is visceral. We want to be wooed, we want fantasy, ideals; and so our imagination is our greatest tool to help us on that journey. Magazines have been playing up to men's needs for imagery for years and, whilst Mills & Boon and the like have been trying to tap into the female market, somehow this book has gained a heightened degree of notoriety and acceptability that they perhaps did not. So why now? I suspect that it is the product of a multitude of changes; I watch TV or music videos, and I see images that would have been considered pornographic ten or twenty years ago. Now they are part of the 'norm', and lyrics by Rihanna and others are sung across playgrounds by girls to young to have a clue what they really mean. Everyday clothing sold in everyday stores is designed to be increasingly provocative, show more cleavage without crossing the boundary into something more. Women's magazines have become a farce, with the same publication using one page to berate certain celebrities for putting on a few pounds/being too skinny, and another to scream about how we should all learnt to accept our bodies.
I could go on, but I won't. I'm already in danger of taking on the mantle of Mary Whitehouse, and I certainly don't want to give the impression that I believe myself to be whiter than white when it comes to the issues of popular culture and its impact on female sexuality, whether through music, magazines, clothing or other influences. Nor do I want to vilify one particular group of people for being the downfall of us all. It's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario of which came first, the businesses who promote sexualisation in so many forms, or the people who demonstrated an interest for it? However it started, it's now a vicious circle, that apparently wants to spiral downwards into itself. Brilliant. That should help Western society no end.
Where are the Christians in all this? I have been really surprised by the lack of discussion by Christians about what is a significant marker point in our society's acceptance of pornography into every day life. I suspect the answer is that we have become more de-sensitised to popular culture than we have realised. Of course, the question really is, why does it matter? The simple answer is this - the more time people spend in fantasy, the more difficult it is for them to engage in reality and gain satisfaction there. It affects people's abilities to have whole and honouring relationships with others. And all of that is without even considering what it does to a person's relationship with God. In other words - it doesn't matter who you are or what you believe in, devoting time to pornography will have a less-than-positive impact on your life. So this is why Christians should care. This is why they should be talking about this subject. This is why Christian women should be paying attention - because pornography cannot be put aside as a men-only subject now. But we will only be able to take this issue on if we are clear in both who were are in Christ - new creations, powerful beings who can choose to have the mind of Christ - and what He wants for us - freedom.
I'm surprised by how quiet things have been from Christians when it has come to the book that has apparently sold out Harry Potter. I've not read Fifty Shades of Grey, nor do I intend to. If there was ever still a question over pornography being a male-dominated issue, that has been answered. This book has simply highlighted that, whilst men generally prefer visual stimulation, for women it is visceral. We want to be wooed, we want fantasy, ideals; and so our imagination is our greatest tool to help us on that journey. Magazines have been playing up to men's needs for imagery for years and, whilst Mills & Boon and the like have been trying to tap into the female market, somehow this book has gained a heightened degree of notoriety and acceptability that they perhaps did not. So why now? I suspect that it is the product of a multitude of changes; I watch TV or music videos, and I see images that would have been considered pornographic ten or twenty years ago. Now they are part of the 'norm', and lyrics by Rihanna and others are sung across playgrounds by girls to young to have a clue what they really mean. Everyday clothing sold in everyday stores is designed to be increasingly provocative, show more cleavage without crossing the boundary into something more. Women's magazines have become a farce, with the same publication using one page to berate certain celebrities for putting on a few pounds/being too skinny, and another to scream about how we should all learnt to accept our bodies.
I could go on, but I won't. I'm already in danger of taking on the mantle of Mary Whitehouse, and I certainly don't want to give the impression that I believe myself to be whiter than white when it comes to the issues of popular culture and its impact on female sexuality, whether through music, magazines, clothing or other influences. Nor do I want to vilify one particular group of people for being the downfall of us all. It's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario of which came first, the businesses who promote sexualisation in so many forms, or the people who demonstrated an interest for it? However it started, it's now a vicious circle, that apparently wants to spiral downwards into itself. Brilliant. That should help Western society no end.
Where are the Christians in all this? I have been really surprised by the lack of discussion by Christians about what is a significant marker point in our society's acceptance of pornography into every day life. I suspect the answer is that we have become more de-sensitised to popular culture than we have realised. Of course, the question really is, why does it matter? The simple answer is this - the more time people spend in fantasy, the more difficult it is for them to engage in reality and gain satisfaction there. It affects people's abilities to have whole and honouring relationships with others. And all of that is without even considering what it does to a person's relationship with God. In other words - it doesn't matter who you are or what you believe in, devoting time to pornography will have a less-than-positive impact on your life. So this is why Christians should care. This is why they should be talking about this subject. This is why Christian women should be paying attention - because pornography cannot be put aside as a men-only subject now. But we will only be able to take this issue on if we are clear in both who were are in Christ - new creations, powerful beings who can choose to have the mind of Christ - and what He wants for us - freedom.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
The blessing's in the detail...
I have spent a lot of time in the past thinking about the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32), and it came back to mind this past weekend. It's a precious story even just on the surface - a son who makes some big mistakes, and a generous father who forgives. But it's only when you start to listen to the story with the mindset of those who would have heard it directly from Jesus that you really appreciate some of the even more incredible nuggets of fabulousness in it!
The prodigal son starts off in an amazing place of understanding about his position in the family - he knows he is a son and therefore an heir, so there is an inheritance to come. He's entitled to it and he's not embarrassed or ashamed about it -in fact, in this case he's so clear on this that in our terms he gets a little ahead of himself, by asking for his share whilst his father is still living and well! But hold that thought, we'll come back to this again shortly.....
And then there's what he gets up to with said inheritance. Well, some things never change - just as then, excessive drink and sleeping around with a multitude of women were as frowned upon in new testament Israel as they are by most today. So no great revalations there. But then the money runs out, and he has no place to go, and no-one to turn to. So this young man - and remember who was hearing this story - ended up feeding pigs. That's right, unclean animals - both in a physical and Old-Testament-Commandment sense of the word. Which means that, whatever you look at in terms of his life up to that point, he was now also unclean - he had committed adultery, effectively been caught up in idolatry in terms of his 'worship' of drink and women, loved everything and anyone but God and his family, so in body, mind and spirit this was one filthy man.
So what would Jesus' audience have been thinking about -certainly that Jesus was going to keep in line with Old Testament law, which probably left only a couple of likely options for this story's ending. Either he would tell them of how this man was now damned, because of the amount of sin over his life. Or, if there was redemption, he would explain that it would only be through great quantities of animal sacrifices and other rituals made on behalf of himself and his family, during which time he would probably be considered unclean and untouchable by anyone, until the process was complete.
But Jesus doesn't tell this story. Imagine the shock, confusion, hope, fear, uncertainty, wonderment - so many emotions -going through their minds, when they heard about the father who had constantly kept watching, trusting his son would finally make his way home. A father whose love for his son was so intense, so fierce, that his first thoughts were not about rituals and sacrifice, but about running to and passionately hugging his son. What was this? How would the Jewish audience have received this - not easily, I'm guessing, because it fundamentally challenged everything they had been told to believe. But it was, too, such a message of hope and grace - that a new covenant was on its way, where God's love for His children meant that He would ignore any barriers and run straight towards them, the moment they turned to Him. That's why the later tearing of the Temple curtain (when Jesus died) was so important - the barrier between the Holy of Holies, the central place in the Temple where God dwelt had been removed. Furthermore, this was not about us being able to now enter that place, although we now could, but more about how God was breaking out and running towards His people to embrace them - His Kingdom come, His will being done, now on Earth as it had previously only been done in Heaven!
Oh, and that inheritance I mentioned at the beginning..... well, although what he did with the inheritance wasn't great, there's still something to be learnt by Christians from this. At no point does the story suggest that asking for the inheritance early was wrong. It doesn't fit with our understanding of when an inheritance is received, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't have asked. In fact, the Father is quite clear to the other son, who remained behind, that 'all I have is yours' - the second son was welcome to ask at any time for part or all of his inheritance, in fact, he is effectively rebuked by his Father for behaving like a servant instead of a son and heir. 'Why didn't you ask me, son? All you had to do was say, you are a son and you are entitled to all that you see.....'. We need to understand that we don't have to wait to receive our inheritance. Instead we should start asking our Father-Daddy for what we want, not being reticent, or stingy with our requests, but instead being outrageous - 'Daddy I want it all, everything I'm entitled to!'. When we begin to get our head around the idea that we are sons and heirs, not servants and slaves, we are set free to enjoy the table of good things that God has set before us (Psalm 23) - it's our right, and we don't have to wait until heaven to get it!
The prodigal son starts off in an amazing place of understanding about his position in the family - he knows he is a son and therefore an heir, so there is an inheritance to come. He's entitled to it and he's not embarrassed or ashamed about it -in fact, in this case he's so clear on this that in our terms he gets a little ahead of himself, by asking for his share whilst his father is still living and well! But hold that thought, we'll come back to this again shortly.....
And then there's what he gets up to with said inheritance. Well, some things never change - just as then, excessive drink and sleeping around with a multitude of women were as frowned upon in new testament Israel as they are by most today. So no great revalations there. But then the money runs out, and he has no place to go, and no-one to turn to. So this young man - and remember who was hearing this story - ended up feeding pigs. That's right, unclean animals - both in a physical and Old-Testament-Commandment sense of the word. Which means that, whatever you look at in terms of his life up to that point, he was now also unclean - he had committed adultery, effectively been caught up in idolatry in terms of his 'worship' of drink and women, loved everything and anyone but God and his family, so in body, mind and spirit this was one filthy man.
So what would Jesus' audience have been thinking about -certainly that Jesus was going to keep in line with Old Testament law, which probably left only a couple of likely options for this story's ending. Either he would tell them of how this man was now damned, because of the amount of sin over his life. Or, if there was redemption, he would explain that it would only be through great quantities of animal sacrifices and other rituals made on behalf of himself and his family, during which time he would probably be considered unclean and untouchable by anyone, until the process was complete.
But Jesus doesn't tell this story. Imagine the shock, confusion, hope, fear, uncertainty, wonderment - so many emotions -going through their minds, when they heard about the father who had constantly kept watching, trusting his son would finally make his way home. A father whose love for his son was so intense, so fierce, that his first thoughts were not about rituals and sacrifice, but about running to and passionately hugging his son. What was this? How would the Jewish audience have received this - not easily, I'm guessing, because it fundamentally challenged everything they had been told to believe. But it was, too, such a message of hope and grace - that a new covenant was on its way, where God's love for His children meant that He would ignore any barriers and run straight towards them, the moment they turned to Him. That's why the later tearing of the Temple curtain (when Jesus died) was so important - the barrier between the Holy of Holies, the central place in the Temple where God dwelt had been removed. Furthermore, this was not about us being able to now enter that place, although we now could, but more about how God was breaking out and running towards His people to embrace them - His Kingdom come, His will being done, now on Earth as it had previously only been done in Heaven!
Oh, and that inheritance I mentioned at the beginning..... well, although what he did with the inheritance wasn't great, there's still something to be learnt by Christians from this. At no point does the story suggest that asking for the inheritance early was wrong. It doesn't fit with our understanding of when an inheritance is received, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't have asked. In fact, the Father is quite clear to the other son, who remained behind, that 'all I have is yours' - the second son was welcome to ask at any time for part or all of his inheritance, in fact, he is effectively rebuked by his Father for behaving like a servant instead of a son and heir. 'Why didn't you ask me, son? All you had to do was say, you are a son and you are entitled to all that you see.....'. We need to understand that we don't have to wait to receive our inheritance. Instead we should start asking our Father-Daddy for what we want, not being reticent, or stingy with our requests, but instead being outrageous - 'Daddy I want it all, everything I'm entitled to!'. When we begin to get our head around the idea that we are sons and heirs, not servants and slaves, we are set free to enjoy the table of good things that God has set before us (Psalm 23) - it's our right, and we don't have to wait until heaven to get it!
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