Growing Into Our True Freedom

True freedom is the freedom of the children of God. To reach that freedom requires a lifelong discipline since so much in our world militates against it. The political, economic, social, and even religious powers surrounding us all want to keep us in bondage so that we will obey their commands and be dependent on their rewards.

But the spiritual truth that leads to freedom is the truth that we belong not to the world but to God, whose beloved children we are. By living lives in which we keep returning to that truth in word and deed, we will gradually grow into our true freedom.

These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey.

The Temptation to be only Relevant

This past Lenton season we started a discussion about the connection of Lent and the 40 days Christ fasted in the Desert. 

At the end of His fast, Christ was tempted. 

Accourding the Matthew 4.3-4

The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

The first temptation was a temptation of being relevant to the situation at hand. 

You're hungry, others are hungry. 

Feed them. 

Meet the need. 

Christ responds by saying no. 

I think at a first glance, thinking on this, I was taken back. 

Isn't being relevant important?

Yes.

I think the answer is in His answer. Christ answers with,

Man does not live on bread alone, 

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Jesus understands something at a much deeper level. Something deeper than a social mission, a hand out, something that connects people. I think many times I am tempted to let my commitments stop with an hour of volunteer time, or my checkbook turning  stones into bread.

Skipping a deeper commitment  to creating space to speak the words that come from the mouth of God.

I forget to speak the words that make some one matter. 

Words that heal.

Words that liberate. 

Words that love. 

I think we live under a lot of pressure to give to needs. To jump into every social awareness trend or cause. The rise in creating a common good, and social justice are incredible, needed, and welcomed.

 However, we must find the unique need where we are to be fully present. A place where we not only meet someone's need, but a place to speak words that heal.

Words that liberate. 

Words that make someone matter.

Words that are from the mouth of God.

Reading Spiritually About Spiritual Things

Reading often means gathering information, acquiring new insight and knowledge, and mastering a new field. It can lead us to degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Spiritual reading, however, is different. It means not simply reading about spiritual things but also reading about spiritual things in a spiritual way. That requires a willingness not just to read but to be read, not just to master but to be mastered by words. As long as we read the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowledge, our reading does not help us in our spiritual lives. We can become very knowledgeable about spiritual matters without becoming truly spiritual people.

As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down the book we are reading and just listen to what God is saying to us through its words.

These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey.

A Place to Start

Over the last few weeks we have been exploring the season of Lent, which is a season of preparation leading up to Easter. Lent lasts for 40 days, signifying the 40 days Jesus fasted and was tempted in the desert.  

According to the Gospels, Jesus was baptized by  John the Baptist in the river Jordan, he experienced a divine affirmation, and from there went into the desert to fast, and then to be tempted 3 times. 

And that's the beginning.

The place where one of the most compelling, polarizing people in the history of the planet begins, not with temptations in the desert, but a "moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

The moment that He begins is the moment heaven claims him as its beloved.

This is a big thing, I think, at least it is for me. Actually I think, for more people then we'd think. 

I read a posting once from an individual in New York. It read,

"Lunch...with friends. Dreaming and talking about how we could make the world a better place. Everyone wants to matter."

Reading this, I realized how much of our lives tend to pursue to matter, we pursue to become beloved.

The irony is,

We already do matter.

We are beloved. 

Our pursuit is no longer to matter, or to be loved, but to love, to express to one another how each of us matters.

This is the start. This is the beginning.

To be honest, I'm not really what my life is supposed to look like being beloved, no longer pursuing to matter. 

So far it seems liberating. 

Free from impressing.

Free from status.

Free to give.

Free to love.

Free to serve.

Liberated from slavery to my sins, struggling to gain what has already been freely given. 

An Exodus.

The beginning of movement. 

This is Easter. 

Christ died, because we matter. We matter despite sin and failures.

Embrace liberation. 

We've been given what we struggle for.

  

And that's only the beginning.

Making Time for the Important

Someone told me once that "we make time what what's important to us." This phrase jumps into my head every time I tell myself or someone else that "I don't have time for that." I guess, if we were completely honest, we would more often say, "I'm not making time for that." This is because if we break our standard modern weekday schedule down, it would go something like the following:

• 8 hours sleeping
• 8 hours working
• 8 hours for the other things that are most important to us
  

If I've got 8 hours per day for the things other than working and sleeping, how should I spend it? Too often we let the immediate things replace the important things. If we were to plan the extra 8 hours per day for the important things, it might look something like this:

• 1 hour with God, who granted me the grace of life and forgiveness
• 1 hour ensuring I am fully available to anyone in my family
• 2 hours eating, and especially among family and friends with the purpose of community
• 1 hour serving the vulnerable and needy
• 1 hour reading to improve my mental health and life discovery
  
• 1 hour exercising my physical body to care for the temple that God has granted to me
• 1 hour in daily chores, errands and tasks to maintain my existence
  

Now that would be a satisfying weekday, and fully aligned with what's important. This is a weekday that I would not regret having wasted.

I'm wondering whether a wasted life is the culmination of wasting the extra 8 every day. Maybe a wasted life is attending perpetually to the immediate without regard for the important. What would it look like if we all began to schedule the important into our lives, not letting them get pushed out by the immediate things? I"m up for trying.