October 11, 2011 Observations

October 11, 2011

Observations

 (Philippians 4:11) 

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I have noticed that focusing on the Spirit within, the ability to focus on the self is greatly diminished.  Gazing to follow the Spirit brings a security not lived out in “serving to do right” from a human performance method.  In just this short time I notice that I have more peace when I seek simply to obey the Lord , as opposed to managing my behavior.  I will probably need some outside verification that I have not fallen into a “more selfish” pit, but I think my outward actions are more in line with Christ also. 

One surprise that I have found is in listening.  When I am not is self-manage mode, I have time to listen to others.  I do not feel the compulsion to respond or defend my position or actions.  It is more like I feel more sorrow for past mistakes, and a longing not to dwell on them or allow them to rule over me.  So I think I am open to the Spirit and others more, I grant them a more true entrance into my emotions and thoughts.  It seems like the Spirit highlights failure so that we move forward into Christ likeness.  The Spirit choosing to have us dwell on our faults and failures only when we are not “getting “the lessons we need.

The first hours of this adventure I could feel a ripping of the souls’ delight away from my thoughts of pleasure.  How can being holy be pleasurable?  I feel a ripping, pulling, tearing away from my security of future fun.  To trust the Master for fun, what faith is needed for this?

In reading the Desert Fathers I have considered their thoughts.  To desire Christ Jesus you must have seen him.  This seeing is not a vision but an unfolding of Christ into our hearts.  Some who write on this describe it as seeing the Lord in a mirror.  The clearer the vision of the Lord the more a person desires to behold Him more.  When the vision is in a broken mirror, containing reflections of other things and distorted views, so also is the desire to see the Lord continually fragmented.  Pride would have us seek to “self fix” the mirror.  Humility would have us be a good steward of what we have received.  Pride calls out, “I can do better”, humility whispers, “Lord Jesus have mercy on me”.   I am aware of the two men who stood before the alter to pray.

What gain is Christ to the soulish man

In every way it seems

For un-separated from self he lives

And Christ heals everything

Mind Your Own Business

"Mind your own business" is the advise given to us from the early Church Fathers and mystics who enjoyed the peace and presence of God. Those of us who are filled with facebook, unending news coverage, cell phones and prayer list that can literally be 7 typed pages long, should take note.

If you want to have, let alone enjoy, the presence and peace of God, you will need to limit the number of distractions in your life. One of the most powerful is "getting involved in the business of others. Here are some ways we get entangled.

1) We want to know what others are thinking about us. We spend a lot of time with our minds and emotions trying to justify ourselves or to prove we are right. Hours that could have been spent enjoying God and His peace are lost to unless mental and emotional agreements that accomplish nothing. Is it any of your business what someone else thinks?
2) You can take on problems or issues of others and loose your peace with God. Getting involved where you do not belong results in stress removing peace. While we are not called to separate ourselves "out of" the world, we do not live "in" the world in a natural way. We live un-natural even super-naturally. Just because you know about an issue doesn't make it your business. How much pride do you have to think your can solve everyone's problems? How many of your problems have you overcome. This is not to be condemnation or lazy living. But we need to affirm that every person needs to call on God themselves, to be responsible themselves to live rightly in obedience to God. We cannot fix everyone's wrong living by our intervention.
3) Judging the style, method or ways of others can cost you the peace and presence of God. Because we have so little skill at enjoying others who are different that we are, we have so little unity. We have even come to the place of only liking the ways of God which fit into our personal limited word view. We find ourselves in a church age that is divided into numerous sections of "this is what my God is like" Christianity. The age of reason is past and we have numerous un-reasonable leaders who judge, condemn, ridicule and publicly renounce people who do not serve the God of their own persuasion. You can even go to "Unity Gatherings" that are the same thing over and over and over again. It is like a "gathering for those who already like we are" unity meetings.
4) Working together on a project, from packing for a trip to building a business, can open the doors to getting entangled in the affairs of others. When we delegate or work with other people we need to allow them the grace to be who they are and not just who we want them to be. In numerous marriages one mates lives without the peace and presence of God simply because of the never ending frustration of trying to fix their mate. Hours are spent trying to figure our a way to communicate, direct or manipulate the other person to do something the way I would do it. Allowing others to be who they are frees us from trying to fix everyone and allows us grace to enjoy God in more places.

One pitfall in the quest for detachment is uncaring. We are called to care, to care deeply. But like the teaching that requires us to loose our lives in order to gain them, we too must become detached in order to care in the deepest ways.