"Most of what goes on in salvation is beyond us; we live a mystery. We make our way through in a 'cloud of unknowing.'"
- Eugene Peterson
I forget how miraculous Spring is. We have these huge Bradford Pear trees in our front yard. Their transformation from bear branches to being covered in a blanket of beautiful white flowers reminds me of how little I understand and how inexhaustible God is.
We seem to live in such a curious age. We are witnessing the passing of "modernity", with it's foolish belief that man can "know all", and the rising of "postmodernity", with the potentially equally as foolish belief that man can "know nothing". So where is the middle ground to stand in these confusing times? I am finding peace in one simple word...humility. Humility to accept that I am limited, and God is not. Humility to accept that I can't know everything, but I am responsible for what is revealed. Spring is God's gentle, beautiful reminder that there is more going on that we are aware of. He is present and active, able to awaken the dormant life hidden in the seemingly lifeless earth. That is an encouraging thought for a Monday morning...encouraging indeed.
1The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4Their measuring line goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.7The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
8the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
10More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.12Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.Psalm 19 (ESV)
6 comments:
Great post, Ted. I love your ability to recoognize and read the changing culture around us.
I am always amazed at how lifeless winter causes me to forget the life and joys that spring brings. It truly is a picture of redemption to me. The renewing of lost life. It makes me long for God to fully restore life through the kingdom to every place it does not exist now.
This is a good follow up to our other comments about incarnation & experience, I think.
You are right here - humility is key. And "suggestion" becomes kind of silly when we base it on less than experience, right? Are you suggesting you heard pear trees bloom beautifully, or did you see it? :) What was your experience? And (as you put it) what was revealed to you?
So, that's the question: if we are responsible for what is revealed ... is the "what" not revealed primarily through experience? How else would it be? And how could we be responsible for anything less?
And this is perhaps where it connects. God is incarnate - come to reveal himself through experience and the like- and so, as Payne says, "Christianity is Incarnational." (and borne of experience?)
S.0. -
Once again bro...good thoughts. I'm gonna need some more time to reflect. I agree we are experiential beings, but experience that does not lead me to some deeper understanding of an eternal truth seems suspect. Not that everything is meant to be analyzed, but I think the awakened and illuminated soul is able to enjoy things on a different level. One that finds faith, hope, and love in all things.
More to come, thanks for stirring the pot :-)
P.S. - We have to make time to hang out when I come to Big D for Herrson's wedding.
I've continued to think on this topic and had another thought about "experience". There needs to be some measure or interpretion. Experiences are powerful and insightful, but can also be misleading.
I don't think experience and reason are at odds, rather meant to work together. Like the left hand brings symmetry to the right. I'm growing to understand that the end goal is actually neither of the two individually...but WISDOM.
cool. And, I know you'd distinguish between "knowledge" and "wisdom" - wisdom only comes from having experience part of the equation. To me, that puts knowledge much lower on the list. In fact, as Caputo puts it, "knowledge is at its best when it concedes what it does not know." You could say the same thing about experience, but it would have to be in a different way.
As for "measure" & "interpretation": The reality is any measure we have will have come from our Experience! Certainly, that is how we interpret too. It's all a gray area ...
Caputo writes,
"Human experience ... comes alive as experience by and through the impossible. Experience is really experience, something that really happens, something to write (home) about, only when we are pushed to the limit of the possible, to the edge of the impossible, driven to an extreme, which forces us to be at our best."
s.o.
What up…thanks again for your comments. This conversation has given me a lot to think about and is beneficial.
I don’t see knowledge as lower than wisdom, simply different. I’ve spent a lot of time in Proverbs over the past year and learned to value both, if for no other reason than both are gifts from God. But I may be defining it differently. I’m not familiar with Caputo but I don’t agree with his statement about knowing. Just because we are unable to know everything doesn’t mean we know nothing. This just isn’t practical in everyday life. I would agree with his statement if God had not spoken, but He has. And that makes all the difference.
I don’t know how to adequately explain it, but the defining measure of my experiences is God’s revelation. For me this is not as gray as it may appear. My experience is not self validating…if I’ve learned anything over the past 3 years it’s that. An example might be someone struggling with depression. If they interpret life through their experience it will be deeply flawed. What is needed is not more experience on their part but wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in principles of God’s created order revealed by God Himself. Hmm…maybe the key is not whether something is an experience, but the origin and end focus of the experience. Could it be the perspective that we interpret experience from that is the key?
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