No Man Is an Island

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No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main; if a clod be
washed away by the sea, Europe is the less
as well as if a promontory were, as well
as if a manor of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the
bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

This poem by John Donne has been a favorite of mine since the first time I read it. It describes the interconnectedness of humanity, something we’re recognizing globally as this virus continues to spread. Measures of physical isolation, to varying degrees, have been instituted across the world.

I want to hone in on two ideas related to this poem and to our current shared experience. The first thing is this idea of social distancing and interconnectedness. The longer these measures are drawn out, the more many people will realize for the first time that we actually need one another. We weren’t made to go through life alone. Sure, some personalities have a greater capacity to remain alone for extended periods, but human contact is essential for our well-being. This is what makes something like a pandemic particularly hard. In order to stop it, we have to limit our connections. It goes against something that has been built into us, community. “It is not good that man should be alone.“

The second thing I want to draw attention to is empathy. Donne finishes this poem recognizing that at each funeral bell we hear, a small part of us dies as well. We’re in the midst of a pandemic and many lives are being lost. It remains to be seen what the impact of the virus will be here in the US or even in many other parts of the globe where it is just now beginning to spread. Nevertheless, I think we would be better for it to recognize the loss of life and empathize with those in pain because whether we like it or not, we’re involved in mankind. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.“

My Empty Heart

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Compassionate Lord,

Thy mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day,

Vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace,

          increase in knowledge,

          ripen for spiritual harvest.

Let me this day know Thee as Thou art,

          love Thee supremely,

          serve Thee wholly,

          admire Thee fully.

Through grace let my will respond to Thee,

Knowing that power to obey is not in me, but

   that Thy free love alone enables me to serve Thee.

Here then is my empty heart,

   overflow it with Thy choicest gifts.

This prayer from the Valley of Vision reads like poetry. The first line calls to mind Lamentations 3 but does something interesting by flipping the wording. The Lamentations passage acknowledges that God’s mercies are never-ending. They are new every morning. This passage is always a breath of fresh air when we feel like we’re at a roadblock, when things aren’t going our way. We recall this to be reminded that it is God who sustains and blesses us. We’re reminded that things can be better.

However, in this prayer the author takes it a step further to remind us that it is a mercy all its own that gets us to the new day in the first place. This is both a sobering reminder that we are not guaranteed tomorrow and a catalyst to action because we have been gifted another day to serve and worship Him.

But how are we going to do that? Historically, people don’t have a great track record at extending kindness in the midst of a pandemic. We’re captured by fear and suspicion. Sure, there are stories of selfless people sacrificing everything for others. Nevertheless, I fear that these stories are the exception. Things can quickly move to an every person for themselves mentality. What a great reminder for the mercy of a new day, “vain will be its gifts unless I grow in grace.”

This is not a call to ignore the dangers of this thing and to put other people at risk. Part of what it may mean to love our neighbors at this time is to remain distant from them. We use wisdom during these moments, but whatever we do, we don’t stop loving, caring, and showing people that they are not forgotten. This is, however, a call to be aware of your attitude toward those around you. How are you continuing to relate and grow in empathy rather than close yourself off and grow in distrust?

So, let us know and love God for who he is, and let us serve him faithfully by our love, extended not just vertically to God but horizontally to our neighbors as well. 

Prayer and Reflection

Pray that God instills in us a desire for grace rather than suspicion. Open your hearts and offer the empty vessel to the Lord that it may be formed into His likeness and filled with the Spirit’s fruit. Which of those fruits do you need most right now? Ask for that.

Nothing Can Separate

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The Church of England wrote a prayer for those affected by coronavirus, which today is the overwhelming majority of people in the world. It’s offered here as our prayer for the day. I’ll be using it as a guide throughout the day in my own times of prayer. I hope it can be beneficial to you in that way as well.

Keep us, good Lord,

under the shadow of your mercy.

Sustain and support the anxious,

be with those who care for the sick,

and lift up all who are brought low;

that we may find comfort

knowing that nothing can separate us from your love

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen

The Gambler

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You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run

This past weekend Kenny Rogers passed away. I listened to a lot of country music growing up because that’s primarily what my grandparents liked. It’s strange to me though because I don’t remember a ton of Kenny Rogers in the mix. I can think of a few songs, and I’m sure there were more sprinkled in that I just didn’t know. One that I do remember though was easily his most successful song, The Gambler.

This song is a country music classic, and I pulled it back out this weekend as part of a short retrospective with Hannah in the car. Her choice was Islands in the Stream, a duet he did with Dolly Parton. As I listened to The Gambler for the first time in some years, I couldn’t help but think of it like a proverb. The chorus begins with the lyrics above, and it strikes a very similar tone to wisdom’s discerning eye in proverbs.

The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving. Proverbs 14:8

One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless. Proverbs 14:16

These two verses from Proverbs 14 get at the same idea that Rogers is trying to communicate through his parable. Opinions on gambling aside, he’s promoting caution and discernment over recklessness and carelessness. What’s brilliant about the narrative of the song (and something quite biblical actually) is that he takes a character whose stereotype is often one associated with negative traits like debt, negligence, imprudence and flips that on its head.

Discernment is something that develops as we mature. For the Christian, it hinges on our relationship with Christ and our reliance on His Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2 tells us that the things of God are revealed by the Spirit and discerned spiritually. Part of discernment is trusting that God is leading, which is not always easy to do or to recognize. The best way that I have been able to understand this is to look back. Discerning what is ahead of us requires us to reflect on how we’ve seen God work in the past. We trust that He is good and that He will act in the future how He has acted in the past. This is the heart of faith.

For some of us, we may not feel like we have seen God show up in the past, so we have to cling to Scripture, which is the account of His actions in history. These actions and words communicate God’s character and nature to us, and in that we have faith.

Prayer and Reflection

How has God shown up in your past? What does the Bible say about who God is? Pray that these things are revealed to you and pray for the faith to trust that he will help you discern your future actions.

Freedom in Limitation

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May I find freedom in limitation—

           to fully give myself

To what I can do

          rather that to worry about

          what I cannot.

This short prayer from Justin McRoberts seems like an appropriate one for our current cultural moment. It’s a strange feeling to be uprooted from our normalcy so quickly. The world feels so fragile right now, and it’s easy to be discouraged and afraid. There is a very real part of me that is unsettled by the very clear uncertainty of so many things ahead of us.

For you Gen Zers, this will likely be a defining moment for your generation. It’s possible that it will fundamentally shape the way you see and interact with the world around you for decades. It’s hard to understand how a single event is able to do that, but it has been true of most generations and will be likely be true for yours as well. I think what’s most amazing about this experience is just how global of an event it actually is. People across the world are simultaneously having similar experiences.

Currently in Memphis this situation is not nearly as dire as in many other places. The biggest thing most of us are dealing with is how to cope with this new normal of social distancing. I pray that things don’t get worse here, but there is no promise that it won’t. In the meantime, my hope is that we begin to see newfound freedom in the limitations that we’re experiencing. This posture is one that nurtures growth and helps us see what is possible rather than what is not.

There are a lot of people hurting because of the losses suffered from the effects of this virus. We don’t ignore that pain, but we recognize the possibility to surround one another with love and support in whatever ways we can. The limitations we are experiencing in physical proximity give us an opportunity for creativity, to creatively love those who are experiencing heavy pain and loss. When we focus on the possibility, I think, it positions us to come out of the other side of this thing with deeper trust, deeper trust in God, in others, and in ourselves.

When we focus on possibility, we find hope that there is a way through this current crisis. We recognize that God is still working in the midst of our broken world, that he always has been. When we focus on possibility, we find trust in others rather than suspicion. We recognize that the fight is not against one another but against something else altogether. When we focus on possibility, we find out that we are more resilient than we ever knew. We recognize that God has made each of us for more than what we are currently experiencing.

It’s easy to be discouraged and afraid right now, but my hope is that we can begin to see clearly the freedom to love more deeply that has been put so clearly in front of us. It will take creativity and grace to learn how to do this well, but there’s something in me that is excited to figure it out.

Prayer and Reflection

Think about people who may need to hear an encouraging word from you. Pray for the courage to reach out and let them know you’re thinking of them.

Delight In Your Will

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Psalm 119:9-16

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

I’ve always had a rebellious streak. I wasn’t a bad kid and was largely obedient to most boundaries that had been set for me. I certainly explored those boundaries and crept across them from time to time. I had to explore that boundary and inspect it for myself. For the most part, I stayed out of trouble. My rebellion was much more of an internal struggle. When I was told that something was a certain way or that I needed to think in a particular manner, I bucked against it. When I see everyone moving in one direction, I have to go the other way and see what they’re running from. I have to investigate it for myself. Buried deep inside the roots of who I am is a skeptic and a cynic.

Those qualities aren’t exactly seen as negative in our culture, and it’s true that they have served me well in certain situations. Nevertheless, they are some of my least favorite. They’ve bred arrogance and pride, selfishness and ego, safety and complacency. My fear is that I sometimes treat Scripture with the same level of skepticism. I read a passage and hear how it has been interpreted for centuries and think to myself that it must be saying something else. I don’t want to accept something that may not be true just because people have largely agreed with it. This is a dangerous boundary to toe because at the same time, I don’t want to reject something that is good and pure for the same reason.

This has been and still is in some ways a real challenge for me. It’s a fight against the arrogance that I know better. It’s a fight against elevating myself and my own intellect over that of others. It is, at its root, pride. I do think that there are healthy expressions of those qualities, but when I’m honest with myself, I know that I miss that mark far too often. So, this passage is my prayer.

Prayer and Reflection

Let me guard my way according to Your word and help me not to wander from Your commandments so that I don’t sin against You or against others. Give me the vision and heart to learn your statutes and to declare them. “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”

Miracles

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Psalm 107:1; 15; 22

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!

22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

I’ve doubled back around to Psalm 107 because it has been on my mind the last few days. If I were to break it down further, it’s really these three verses. March 10, 2018, Hannah and I had our first child, a boy named Julian. I foresee some of this blog ultimately turning into things that I want him to know about the world, about life, and about God, but that’s for another time. Right now, I want to give thanks.

I want to give thanks to God for the miracle of childbirth. I have never witnessed something more awe-inspiring. It will stop you dead in your tracks and give you all the emotions at once. I already thought pregnancy was a really amazing thing, and I still do. Pregnant women literally grow humans inside of them. It’s mind-boggling that this human boy that I can now hold was once roughly the same size as the diameter of a single strand of hair.

But Birth? Birth is the process of all that internal effort coming to fruition. The baby begins to physically separate from the mother and stake his claim in our world. Julian has existed for the last several months, but his existence changed 3 days ago in a way that I can’t comprehend. In fact, even if I understand the biology of what’s going on, I still can’t comprehend the ways in which his personhood will be shaped and developed. There is, of course, a biological element to this, which is already imprinted in his DNA, but there is also an environmental element, which is a future that I can’t see. He will be a combination of both me and his mother in some ways, but in many many other ways, he will be uniquely himself.

I’m elated to witness this process of change and development upon which he will embark. I’m overwhelmed by the possibility of things he can experience, positive or negative, far more overwhelmed than I have ever been about the possibility of things I could experience. There’s a lot of mystery moving forward, but what I do know is that God’s steadfast love endures forever. I’m confident in this. I’m largely confident in this because people for multiple millennia have testified to it. This very passage from Psalm 107 could’ve been written over 3000 years ago. The same steadfast love that’s testified to in verse 1 is the same love that I feel in moments like this, and it’s the same love that will be there for my son as he grows into the man that he was created to be.

So, how could I not give thanks for His wondrous works to children of man? The only response I can fathom is to tell of this love and to tell of His deeds (verse 22). I witnessed a miracle at 12:13 A.M. on March 10, and the amazing thing is that it’s so commonplace I’ve taken it for granted my whole life. Children are born every day, 250 times a minute, in fact.

I started this blog to help me find truth in every day occurrences, but I wasn’t expecting to find miracles. Thank you, Lord.

Beautiful Things

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Ephesians 1:7-10

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

This theme is similar to much of what I have covered in other posts, but I want to specifically dig into the idea of unity and how we can better understand what is means that God wants to unite all things.

Unity

It is the revealed mystery of God’s will, His purpose, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. This is a pretty significant idea in understanding what God is doing and in better understanding who God is. God is about the unity and reconciliation of all things.

When I was in college, my small group leader consistently asked us a question that is still one of the first questions that I try to answer when attempting to understand a passage of Scripture. He would ask, “what does this say about the character and nature of God?” Whenever we read statements made by or about actions ordained by God in the Bible, we know that they are communicating something about who He is. If God’s purpose is to unite all things in Him, then it stands to reason that God is not about causing division. God is about relationship. He’s about pulling the broken in closer to himself and about repairing divisions that sin has caused in our relationship with Him.

To better grasp the idea of what this means, let’s look at the Japanese art of Kintsugi. This tradition takes broken pottery and repairs it into a new work of art by piecing the broken pieces and using a gold, silver, or platinum lacquer to put it back together. The results are stunning. The new piece has a spider web of gold fingers reaching across the ceramic. Some of the best pieces actually look like they were intentionally designed to be that way. Kintsugi stands in contrast to most western traditions, which tend to repair something like this by making it as close as they can to what the original looked like. Kintsugi, on the other hand, uses the broken places of the pottery to create something that is unique and beautiful in its own right. Kintsugi forces you to see beauty in the broken parts of the object. In some ways, this is how I understand what God does with our broken places.

The broken places of our lives are chasms that often keep us from God, but the work that God is doing is much like the work of Kintsugi. He is uniting the broken pieces within us to make something new. He’s using the broken body of Christ on the cross to make us new creations in His kingdom. One of the most amazing parts to this is not just that he is repairing the fractures in both you and me, but in all who believe. He is reconciling the world to Himself through the global church with the help of the Holy Spirit.

What does this say about the character and nature of God? It says that He has a plan and a purpose. It says that He is about reconciliation and about relationships. It says that He is generous with His grace and His forgiveness. God is not about hiding the flaws in our characters, but about reconciling us and healing us so that we are seen by Him as righteous. It’s a system where the brokenness of the body of Christ brings us into relationship with Him. It’s a system of redemption and of love. God is about uniting rather than dividing.

Prayer and Reflection

Think about Kintsugi and what it means that the brokenness is repaired for use and beauty. Where might you be broken? Ask God to repair that brokenness and be reminded that He will view it as something new and beautiful.

I’m reminded of the song from a few years ago, Beautiful Things, by Gungor. Give it a listen.

He Hears

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Psalm 107:1-3; 17-21

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they loathed any kind of food,
    and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
    and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

Today is a day for joy. It’s hard for me to read a passage like this and not feel gratitude. In some ways, I can’t speak for the experiences of every person, but deep down there are things that I know are true about us all. I know that we have all experienced hurt, and if you haven’t, I’m confident that you will at some point. It’s not that I like to be overdramatic about these things, but I do like to tell things like they are. So, at some point in our lives we have or we will experience brokenness. We’ll have to come to terms with our failures and our shortcomings. We’ll have to grapple with the fact that we are far from perfect. We are, in fact, sinful.

We like to always paint this as a complete negative, but I’m not always confident that it is. We are sinful, but it’s our sin that exposes our need for others and ultimately for God. We realize that it’s really hard to go through life alone and that we can’t always naturally pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We need a supernatural help from the Lord.

The good news is that a passage like this tells us some things about who God is. He has gathered together in one body, the global church, to be his heirs and to encourage, equip, and love one another. I know that this isn’t everyone’s experience with churches. Unfortunately, there are many people who have distorted the image and function of the church to be something that it was never intended to be. It was never intended to be oppressive, yet that’s many people’s experience. It was never intended to be abusive, yet many experience abuse at its hand. Despite the deeply distorted portrait of the church that some communities portray, it isn’t always aligned with the biblical vision of how things should look and function.

19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
    and delivered them from their destruction.

God does not promise deliverance from hardship in this lifetime, nor does he promise to end discomfort on your timeline. God is in this for the long haul. He has eternity in mind and is concerned with a spiritual freedom that only he can promise. Nevertheless, he has called the church to seek justice and relief on behalf of others. One of the charges of the church is to care for those who are struggling. We serve a God who hears the cries of his people. We serve a God who heals and who delivers. God hears your voice when you cry out to Him. It’s a time of joy and a time of thanksgiving. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Prayer and Reflection

If you feel like you need to cry out to God about something, do it. If the Psalms show us anything, they show us that it’s okay to do that. Cry out because He will hear you.

The Wayfarer

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Imagine a wayfarer. He has been brought to a standstill at the foot of a mountain, tremendous, impassable. It is this mountain . . . . . no, it is not his destiny to cross it, but he has set his heart upon the crossing; for his wishes, his longings, his desires, his very soul, which has an easier mode of conveyance, are already on the other side; it only remains for him to follow. Imagine him coming to be seventy years old; but the mountain still stands there, unchanged, impassable. Let him become twice seventy years; but the mountain stands there unalterably blocking his way, unchanged, impassable. Under all this he undergoes changes, perhaps; he dies away from his longings, his wishes, his desires; he now scarcely recognizes himself. And so a new generation finds him, altered, sitting at the foot of the mountain, which still stands there, unchanged, impassable. Suppose it to have happened a thousand years ago: the altered wayfarer is long since dead, and only a legend keeps his memory alive; it is the only thing that remains—aye, and also the mountain, unchanged, impassable. And now think of Him who is eternally unchangeable, for whom a thousand years are but as one day—ah, even this is too much to say, they are for Him as an instant, as if they did not even exist. . . .

Anyone not eternally sure of Himself could not keep so still, but would rise in His strength. Only one who is eternally immutable can be in this manner so still.

He gives men time, and He can afford to give them time, since He has eternity and is eternally unchanging.

– Søren Kierkegaard

This passage appears in Kierkegaard’s book, Judge for Yourselves! and illustrates the unchangeableness of God. It’s a comforting thought to me to know that God is unchangeable. There have been times in my life that felt synonymous with change, instability, or uncertainty, and the knowledge of God’s unchangeable nature was a constant relief. Even though I found great solace in that aspect of His character, I’m glad that I am not unchangeable in the same way.

God gives us time, and what a wonderful gift it is. True, we often want to speed time up or slow it down depending on our current experience, but time has to be a gift. We don’t exit the womb with fully formed ideas about ourselves and the world. We grow and change, and that takes time. As much as we want to make time our enemy, it’s our friend. Of course, time marches us toward death, but in Tolkien’s mythos, death is the Gift of Men. It calls us to action and to change and push forward rather than to live in the past. I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago, and for that, I’m thankful.

We’re all in the midst of process. We’re being shaped and formed and identities are taking root. If it takes anything to understand who you are, it takes time.

Prayer and Reflection

Think about how you’ve changed over the years. Pray that the Spirit continues to shape you into greater Christlikeness. Embrace the gift of time and be thankful that we aren’t static.