Category Archives: Dealing with stuff

Frustration is —- trying to track down a sink on some courier truck.  They are trying to deliver it to us and we are not home. 

We know we will not be home so leave instructions to deliver it to my office.

Nothing happens.

Said sink is supposed to be delivered to the countertop people tomorrow for templating. 

I wonder when I will find the sink??????

It’s like phone tag but worse.

As we were moving pews and tearing up carpet at Gateway – well mostly after as we were standing around writing our names on the bare sub floor – some of us got into a little discussion on legalism.  So I did some looking up.  I think this pretty much sums it up:

As we were moving pews and tearing up carpet at Gateway – well mostly after as we were standing around writing our names on the bare sub floor – some of us got into a little discussion on legalism.  So I did some looking up.  I think this pretty much sums it up:

What Is Legalism?

John W. Robbins

Legalism is the notion that a sinner can, by his own efforts, or by the power of the Holy Spirit in his life, do some work to obtain or retain his salvation. Some legalists think man has free will and can perform good works if he just sets his mind to it, thereby obtaining the favor of God. This type of legalist thinks that a sinner can believe the Gospel on his own steam. Other legalists think that a sinner does not have free will, that any good he does is done by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, and it is these good deeds done by the power of the Holy Spirit that obtain or help obtain, retain or help retain, his salvation. Both types of legalists, but especially the latter, may acknowledge that Christ’s work of obedience is necessary for salvation, but both deny that Christ’s work is sufficient for salvation. Both types of legalists assert that to Christ’s work must be added the works of the sinner, done either under his own steam, or by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what makes them legalists: their shared belief in the incompleteness or insufficiency of the work of Christ outside of them. They may differ on what constitutes good works; they may differ on whether only God’s law or church law as well is to be obeyed; but they agree that the work of Christ alone is insufficient for their final salvation.

Against The World. The Trinity Review, 1978-1988. [What Is Faith, John W. Robbins, pg. 121-122] John W. Robbins, Editor. The Trinity Foundation, P.O. Box 68, Unicoi, Tennessee 37692. (423) 743-0199 – FAX (423) 743-2005

One of those involved in the discussion postulated that somehow the word had become corrupted so that its meaning had changed from a more agreeable one to the one we use now which means the blind following of rules.  This can happen to words but I don’t think that this is the case for the word “legalism”.    I think that the word means what it means – a strict adherence to the literal interpretation of the rules.  I don’t think it ever meant anything else than that.

To say that somehow the word has been corrupted from some other meaning to mean the above I think is to try and mask it, blaming “the culture” or some “other” for a shift in meaning – an attempt to soften a term that sometimes we would like to sound more positive.  Because we all know that rules can be a good thing, we would like our obedience to them to be a good thing too.  

I think we have to pay attention to how Jesus responded to legalism and how he dealt with individuals who broke the prescribed set of religious rules.  He was hardest on those religious leaders that behaved in a legalistic manner.  Jesus was more interested in the hearts of people.  He desired good deeds and good behavior to be a reflection of what was in a person’s heart.  He, himself broke the letter of the pharisaical laws by doing good on the Sabbath.

The really good news is that Jesus’ love can transform us in a way that no obedience to laws can.  I guess that is why he came to be human in the first place – to demonstrate how the love of God works and through his sacrificial love to provide a way of transformation.  Out of love for God, in response, we let him move our hearts to do the good works he has for us.  

Loving children requires a life time of patience and the help of everyone you know.  A good friend is mandatory and the more good friends the better. 

This morning the hug of a good friend carried with it a good dose of the healing from God that I have come to be so dependant on. 

God knows my hurts and walks with me through these times but it is good to put flesh on that love from God. 

As part of my personal interest study for the Spiritual Direction program, I attended a seminar on Sexuality and Spirituality at Queen’s House in Saskatoon.  Kathy and Ivan Hitchings facilitated the seminar and as they did so exemplified the material taught – a wonderful relationship of equality and respect grounded in God.

The creation story grew in the retelling and became alive and relevant.  As we were told, “We need to reclaim our creation story.  We are co-responsible with God to protect the dignity of all having been given a responsibility for others and for the earth.”  We looked at this story for the foundations it gives to our sexuality and to our need for relationship.  

As part of my personal interest study for the Spiritual Direction program, I attended a seminar on Sexuality and Spirituality at Queen’s House in Saskatoon.  Kathy and Ivan Hitchings facilitated the seminar and as they did so exemplified the material taught – a wonderful relationship of equality and respect grounded in God.

The creation story grew in the retelling and became alive and relevant.  As we were told, “We need to reclaim our creation story.  We are co-responsible with God to protect the dignity of all having been given a responsibility for others and for the earth.”  We looked at this story for the foundations it gives to our sexuality and to our need for relationship.  

The first story relates how God has placed humans in the created world as male and female and the only part of creation made in the image of God.  Our task is to care for the world because God loves this good creation.

The second story is told from a slightly different perspective – to teach us something fundamental about God and people.  This part of the story tells how Adam comes from the land itself and how Eve comes from the life of Adam.  Apparently there are many word plays is the story that reflect the new relationship that Moses has with God, among them rib meaning life and Eve meaning giver of life.  This story tells a story full of the dignity of woman – a contrast to the view of women in the Canaanite culture around the Israelite people.  As one comes from the other, males and females are called back into unity through marriage.  This part of the story shows the relationship between humans and the earth God created: the role as namers and caregivers, the bond that unites man and woman and the intimate relationship they have with God.  We also see how the break in the relationship with God comes about and how this disrupts all parts of God’s creation.  People now are subject to death, begin to know shame, and make their own decisions without the benefit of the wisdom and vision of their creator.  

The retelling of the creation stories in these ways gave me a fresh look at the amazing relationship between God and the world and a new appreciation for who I am as a woman; created in God’s image, meant to be in healthy relationships including the healthy relationship I have with Leo as my husband.  

So here we are, two equal individuals, who find our fullest relationship in being helpers to each other, in being united in this relationship of marriage.  The commitment to each other opens us up to becoming more complete as the people God created us to be.  And it is a mystery – becoming more complete as you give of yourself to another and receive back.  

I cannot (and should not try to) understand my spirituality without accepting my womanhood as an integral part of my being, who I was created to be and a creation about whom God said was “excellent in every way.” Gen. 1:31 (NLT)

Still having problems with split posts.  I have reposted the last two in just one part, so if you were wondering what I was talking about you can now read them in their entirety.

I guess that when one publishes something as part 1 there is an obligation to continue on to part 2, and so on.  I am not sure how many “and so ons” there will be but here goes part 2.

The quote I ended with in my first post on this, if taken on its own, may come across as rather arrogant and belligerent.  I don’t think that it was made in that frame of mind – that is my understanding from reading Sr. Joan Chittister’s book, Called to Question, and some of her other writings. 

The statement is forceful but one that both women and men need to understand.  I believe it is a statement about the worth of the person, regardless of gender.  And I believe that God calls us to the sort of wholeness that does not allow us to use others or to be used by others in ways that diminish our real value as bearers of his image.  

 believe that my highest calling in life is to serve God.  I don’t think that this is any different for males or females.  In this we are equal before God and equally created in God’s image.  That said, I also believe that God calls us as individuals to a whole assortment of tasks to carry out the work of his kingdom and requires us to be faithful to our calling.  I believe that the calling of God on our lives supersedes any limitation our culture wishes to place on us due to gender, race or social standing. 

Maybe it is time for me to do a post about women and spirituality. 

I have been following with great interest the conversations on women and ministry over at Jesus Creed and Emerging Women.  I realized these are issues I have dealt with in my life, sometimes gaining wisdom, sometimes still struggling with issues.  I feel a bit frustrated that young women lack older women mentors who have enough freedom and guts to forge a path through these issues; a path that above all else seeks God’s way.

A lot of what follows is personal opinion, derived over time experiencing life as a woman who has been called by God first of all to faith, to service as a missionary and as a leader in the congregation I am a part of now.  I guess it could be developed into a paper on the subject but there are women better equipped than I am to write academic papers on this.  These are just matters that I am exploring as I live them out.  I guess you who read this get to help me think.  Or simply let me rant.

Maybe it is time for me to do a post about women and spirituality. 

I have been following with great interest the conversations on women and ministry over at Jesus Creed and Emerging Women.  I realized these are issues I have dealt with in my life, sometimes gaining wisdom, sometimes still struggling with issues.  I
feel a bit frustrated that young women lack older women mentors who
have enough freedom and guts to forge a path through these issues; a
path that above all else seeks God’s way.

A
lot of what follows is personal opinion, derived over time experiencing
life as a woman who has been called by God first of all to faith, to
service as a missionary and as a leader in the congregation I am a part
of now.  I guess it could be developed into a
paper on the subject but there are women better equipped than I am to
write academic papers on this.  These are just matters that I am exploring as I live them out.  I guess you who read this get to help me think.  Or simply let me rant.

The term “feminist” frightens a lot of people.  I have lived with it for a long time.  When I was a young adult in the late 60’s, it had so many negative connotations that I shied away from its use.  Now I am more apt to use the term to describe my way of looking at the world.  The term “womanist” might frighten you less.  Whatever these terms mean to you, they do not mean “anti-male” to me.  I
have a lot to thank my husband for in helping me appreciate my value as
a person, letting me come to terms with who I am and supporting me all
the way.  I think we have a pretty healthy partnership.   And he is not the only male that has helped me accept who I am.  In fact, sometimes opposition forms one faster than support.

My personal project for the Spiritual Direction course I am taking is Women and Spirituality.  So far, I have read The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila, Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd, and Called To Question by Joan Chittister.  I guess it all started when I read Kathleen Fisher’s Women at the Well: Feminist Perspectives on Spiritual Direction this summer. The reading has been enlightening, frightening and encouraging.  It has taught me things about the history of women in the organization of the church.  It
has also opened my ears to the frustrations of women reacting to being
stuffed into “female” pigeonholes in the patriarchal structures that
most of our church organizations are.  In spite of much oppression, women have contributed in huge ways.  They
have had the audacity to listen to God calling them to action rather
than to the voices of those telling them “you are just a woman, you
can’t.”  So Teresa of Avila becomes a Doctor of
the Church and Sr. Joan Chittister becomes a current voice calling the
Catholic Church to question on its sexism.  Other
women – Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Florence Nightingale, and the list
goes on back in history, have lived out exemplary lives by responding
to the call of God.  I have even known some – Vanette Thorsell and Melvina Benson who lived fully as women with a calling from God. 

What
I have learned so far is that women have always played a central role
in Christianity and, even before that, God used women to bring his
message to the world; Sarah, Miriam, Hannah, Ruth, Rahab, etc.  There were judges and prophets, mothers and queens.  Their stories are not always elaborated on their own but are intertwined with those of men.  Throughout history, God’s redeeming work has been worked out through the lives of women.  We just don’t often think about their roles.  All the great male heroes of the Bible had mothers, sisters, lovers that influenced their ability to hear God and respond.  Women were not the writers so their stories are not always complete, they were however present and active. 

Then came Jesus.  The Son of God, certainly.  Also the son of Mary. 

Jesus seems to have a whole new way of relating to women.  They
follow him, provide for his needs, listen and learn at his feet – a
place normally reserved in that culture for male students.  He speaks to them, heals them and cares about the injustices they are forced to endure.  And the women, of no account politically, can follow unhindered to the execution site when the men scatter.  Women often rank among the oppressed – not a bad place to be in the upside down kingdom of Jesus.

The early church seems to follow Jesus’ lead with women taking a significant place in the churches activities.  Again we see prophets, mothers, business women and trades people; women of influence active in the early church.

Presently,
as women recognise their value as persons created in the image of God,
old patriarchal structures are being questioned.  And they should be.  More and more, the secondary position of women is being seen as a result of humankind’s broken relationship with the Creator.  Is God leading us all into a healthier way of being as men and women treat each other with equality?  I
believe it makes sense to take the teachings of Jesus, the examples we
have of how he treated women and extrapolate that he came to redeem
women as well as men; to restore us all to a right relationship with
him and to healthy relationships with each other.

Until
we can be fully human together —until we can all come into the
wholeness of ourselves, neither men nor women will be really happy.  Men will go on being threatened, women will go on being half developed.  What kind of world is that?  I was not born to wash a man’s socks.  He was not born to make my decisions.  I want no part of such slavery, not even when you couch it in God-talk.
Joan Chittister, Called to Question (Sheed and Ward 2004), p 148

Randall posted a quote from Henri Nouwen on Joy.  Actually it is more about our choices in life that let us choose joy over bitterness and how those choices shape our lives. Not unlike choosing to live through the bitter bits of life managing the bad taste by flavouring them with a deep sense of the safety of God’s love or letting the bitterness sour all the rest of life still to be tasted. 

I deal with a lot of fear.  Sometimes I have a lot of fear.  I think that how we choose to deal with our fear can also shape us.  There are likely other emotions that one could say the same about but I have seen patients who manage their fears and those who let their fears incapacitiate them.  There just are some things that arouse fear in us – heights, dentists, needles, the dark, being alone.  Most of these we learn to deal with since we can’t avoid all the situations where we have to face the things that cause us to fear. 

I can remember when I learned not to be afraid of lightning.  I am not saying that I don’t respect lightning but I learned not to go hide in the bedroom with my head under the covers.  When I had children that needed a strong person there when they cried at the crack of the lightning, it was time for me to leave that fear behind.  I guess we could have all run and hid under the bed together.  But you can see how choices change us and those around us too.  Now, my children have learned a great respect for lightning but they also enjoy watching the storm.

So, I am having a bit of surgery on Thursday.  And as I wait for the approaching day, I realize that I am a bit afraid.  There are always the unknowns and because they are unknown, they are easily blown up in my mind to become something to fear.  Local anesthetic is the safest but in some sense i would like to be asleep – just wake up and it would be done.  Since this is  something I need but also something I chose to have corrected, I guess I had also better choose not to fear it.  I’m not sure how successful I will be at that. 

This fear kind of sits on my chest.  It is a bit weird, letting it sit there, experiencing it, feeling it but choosing not to let it incapacitate me. 

I feel it just the same. 

Just as one really does taste the bitterness of life at times. 

It is real.  It is no fun.  But what we do with it makes a huge difference.

“Mom, pray for me,”

These are the words of a somewhat anxious grade 12 student beginning her exams today.  French and Christian Ethics. 

She studies hard and I am fairly sure she will do well.  Jitters. 

We all have the jitters over something in ife.  It is good to have God’s presence to count on in the anxious moments we face.

So, I lift her up and all those in the exam mode, that they might write their exams with a clear mind, remembering the material they have studied so hard – or not – as the case may be!