Trying to follow

This won’t be a long post, nor will it be all-inclusive. There are a lot of things to be happy about, my beautiful wife, beautiful community, friends, food, family, the list goes on. Two, though I thought worth of touching on this late evening.

I might be biased, being a married person myself, but there is something very beautiful about weddings. I don’t think it’s the pretty dresses, fancy tux or sparklers, it’s something about the commitment being made. It’s true, are society (Christian and not) doesn’t seem to take the marriage commitment too seriously, with such a high divorce rate, but it shouldn’t diminish from those that make that commitment.

I’ve been married four years and 17 days. It’s not that long, so I don’t have grand experience or wisdom to speak from. I just know that life without the willingness or opportunity to commit to someone seems, well, selfish. Our friends, Curt and Beth were married this weekend, they committed their lives to one another and that is a powerful thing.

I can’t even begin to describe both the joy and heaviness I’ve felt spending time with my 11 day old child. It’s joy and awe to look at her and think that I have some how played a small role in her being here, and I will continue to play a role raising her. At the same time I feel a heaviness at the thought of the responsibility of raising another human being, teaching her, loving her, caring for her.  It’s a task I believe, with grace, I will be able to handle, but I pray I don’t lose sight of the seriousness of that task. I’m so grateful for a community of friends and family around me to support me in raising my daughter.

I don’t know much about sacraments, I know very little in fact. Some of what I know is basically that sacraments are things that religious folks (particularly some Christian denominations) are into, to varying degrees. Sacraments are ’special’ things and events, stuff like baptism and communion. I wasn’t sure of what I thought about the concept, but I liked one of my profs views back in college, Quakers believe everything is a sacrament.

From Wikipedia on Sacraments:

The Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) do not practice formal sacraments, believing that all activities should be considered holy. Rather, they are focused on an inward transformation of one’s whole life. The Quakers use the words “Baptism” and “Communion” to describe the experience of Christ’s presence and his ministry in worship.

So, the point of this topic, was just that I was thinking about ’special’ moments in my life, and more or less, religious/spiritual experiences. We haven’t gone through the birth of our baby yet, but we’ve had 9 months of pregnancy and we are eagerly anticipating this amazing event of bringing another human life into the world. If anything is considered ’sacred’ and ’sacramental,’ I think birth should be on the list. Of course I don’t know enough of about the theology or religious tradition, but I figured bringing it up would give others a chance to chime in on that.

There was quite a bit of conversation last week after I posted about the benevolent act of Philip Workman, a man executed in Tennessee last week for murder. The initial comments put me deep in thought and I’ve been trying to think through my values and ethics and trying to make sure I’m not holding double standards. This is not a direct response to those comments, but it was provoked by those thoughts. Today, I simply wanted to write a brief devotional thoughts post about some of the heroes of the Christian faith.

Moses seemed to often be in the right place at the right time. As a baby, when his fellow Hebrew tots were being killed off, Moses managed to get in with Pharaoh’s family and grow up as royalty. Then he grew up, learned a bit about his history, and in a moment of zeal kills a guy. He lives as a fugitive in the desert for about forty years and then goes on to lead one of the greatest freedom movements of ancient times, the exodus of the Jewish people out of Egypt. Moses was a murderer, though never captured and convicted, and he then went on to be a famous leader and a pillar of the Jewish and Christian faith.

David is the original Cinderalla-story: Shepard boy becomes Israel’s great King. Every kid in a church grows up hearing about how David slays Goliath. And we don’t really see it as murder, it’s the epic good vs. evil story, redemptive violence at its finest. So, most wouldn’t agree that David qualifies as a murderer for that. But the other story we don’t teach many kids in church, is about David committing adultery and then having a man killed to protect his crime. And as repentant as David might have been, David was a murderer. David even recommended the death penalty for a person who committed a crime such as his, but the sentence was never carried out. David is remembered as one of Israel’s Greatest Kings, which seems to overshadow his death-deserving crime.

Paul is, next to Jesus, probably the most influential forefather of the Christian faith. The guy wrote half the New Testament, established churches all over the Roman Empire and was a martyr for the faith. Paul was so special, Jesus even paid him a special visit after he’d already ascended to heaven. By his own admission Paul was a murderer of Christian’s prior to becoming one himself. The fact that Paul’s murderous campaigns were one of the greatest original threats to Christianity does not seem to phase us now as we lift him up as one of the founding pillars of our faith.

Jesus himself was more or less a fugitive for part of his three years of ministry. He constantly avoided certain areas and had to duck away from persecuting crowds (how he managed that is a mystery to me). And Jesus, who maintained his innocence until the very end received the death penalty.

The point of this short run down of Biblical figures was not to make a statement that murder is okay, by no means do I think killing someone is ever a good idea. It was a chance however to reflect on how four of the greatest figures in the Bible were or were treated as criminals, and yet we are able to look through that, around it, in spite of it and see the great good that was accomplished through them as well. I have the great honor to work with many youth who in their own moments have made grave mistakes and they are paying a price for that. However, I would hope I, and no one else, ever stamps a permanent label on them that keeps them from having a second chance and keeps others from recognizing each benevolent act that they make. Here’s to every murderer who has turned their life around and contributed to the well being of humanity, I applaud you.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. -Jesus“

Given that some readers of this blog get the idea that I’m a pretty sad person, I felt it might be important to point out a component of my faith that I sometimes take for granted, and don’t speak out much. I’m a Christian Hedonist, this is definitely a topic for another time, but I basically want to mention that I don’t live a life Trying to Follow Christ out of duty, but rather out of delight and joy.

I recognize that a lot of people might read some of the things that I suggest and think that either, A) I’m a looney or B) it’s a serious sacrifice meant only for select people (like monks and nuns and stuff). I worry that at least B misses the point (If you think A then I probably can’t help you). To some degree you might consider some of these things a sacrifice, but I think you should reconsider, and secondly I think the things Jesus says and calls people to are not just for a select group.

When I say I’m Trying to Follow Jesus, what I mean primarily, is in relation to the statement above. This dude, named Jesus, comes and tells people, I know how to really live life to it’s fullest. Bad analogy: Jesus was like some self help guy, running around telling people how to live happy and fulfilled lives. The only thing is Jesus teaches things that seem backwards to the way we’ve currently been living. When it seems the opposite of our logic we tend to think of it as a sacrifice, rather then an obvious step to an abundant and happy life.

I hope I’m not scaring people away with my preaching. I just felt the need to clarify that choices I’ve made, and things that I write, are not done out of an obligation or duty, but rather in and for the delight and joy I’ve found in Trying to Follow Jesus. More on that later.

It’s Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, a holy day to many, a day for chocolate and presents for many more. I’ve been thinking for a while about what I wanted to say about today. I’m well aware that not everyone who comes across my writings here believes in God, nor do many believe in the Bible or Jesus Christ in any way as authorities. I’ve appreciated those who have stuck around and interacted with me despite my off-the-wall radicalism and extremism at times, and have taught me many things I would not have been able to see myself. I’ve been trying to think of what brilliant thing I could say to allow me to acknowledge my belief in the resurrection without being written off as a complete fool and a loony.

Whether you or I believe in the Easter Bunny or not, in no way affects whether an Easter bunny really exists. Someone said they found Jesus’ bones a few months ago, but whether you or I believe it has no effect whatsoever on whether they really are ‘Jesus’ bones’ or not. There are some things, such as the Easter bunny, that you and I could examine the evidence, and more then likely come to an agreement on a belief, and if I continued to disagree with you, you might say I’m nonsensical. We might also be able to examine the evidence concerning the Tomb of Jesus that was discovered, but if we come to different conclusions, it is probably not fair to write each other off as nonsensical in the same way that we did concerning the Easter Bunny.

I will be the first to admit that there are a great many things that I currently believe that are wrong. I recognize I am a flawed human being, and that is why this post is not a structural argument for why you should believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s also not an attempt to say that that idea is nonsense. I think my point is to say that I believe there is truth out there and we are all wandering travelers on a search for that truth. You might think it is nonsense that I believe I have found truth in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, but that’s okay, because I’m willing to believe it is nonsense too. You might say the impact this belief system has had on my life is all psychological, and I’m willing to believe that might be true as well (though at the moment I disagree).
I don’t intend to come across in any way as relativistic. I believe there is absolute truth. In the same way that there is a truth concerning gravity, there is also a truth concerning whether Jesus Christ rose again or is dead and buried somewhere. I’m not sure what that truth is, as a finite and flawed being I’m not sure I’ll ever have an exact answer to that. And I can understand anyone’s critique of my beliefs, because they to do not see conclusive evidence to prove one way or the other.

If you remember anything from this rambling remember this:
Truth exist.