Okay, so we've been very busy and blogging seems to always fall way down on the list of important things to do around here. I have several posts that I need to write, as several things have changed in our lives and it is important that I chronicle those things, but this is a more cerebral post - more about what is going on in my head and less of the logistics of our busy lives.
But, really quick, here are just some of the things that have happened:
1) We finally joined a church! Hooray - blog post about it to come
2) Alex's first final exam was today! Hooray - it was challenging, but we are 1/4 of the way done with finals!
3) Melody went titi on the potty. I think that underwear and dry pants are still a ways off, but she is definitely showing signs of readiness in that area - Hooray!!!
4) Cooper slid down the super tall (like we're talking second story off the ground) fireman's pole all by himself yesterday at the park! Big boy!
5) We ate to our heart's content on Thanksgiving, and realized how much we had to be thankful for. (Well, can we ever truly realize how much we have to be thankful for? Probably not, but we were certainly humbled by all that God has done for us and blessed us with even in these last few months)
Okay, onto this post. First of all, I have to thank Valerie. My oldest friend. I just love that we are close enough to talk and sometimes even disagree about the things most people don't talk about in polite conversation. I guess Val and I are WAY past the polite conversation. But we dig into religion and politics. And the best part is that even when we disagree (which is often) we still love each other and we still know that we love each other. And even though we are both intelligent people, who passionately believe what we believe, we are always kind and loving and respectful of each other. I have never, not once, called her an idiot. (I don't think that she is an idiot - so why would I call her that?!) See, people, it can be done!
Anyhow, the other day, my parents had my kids, Alex was studying, and I called Valerie. That is what I accomplished with my big day alone. I had a lovely chat with my friend about religion (not so much politics, now that the election is over, although there was a little of that sprinkled in!) We, of course, discussed much more than religion, but somehow the conversation meandered its way into this "forbidden" territory. We got to talking about religion and then specifically Christianity.
Without revealing too much personal information about Valerie - (Obviously, this is not her blog) let me just say that we agree as often as we disagree and I don't want anyone to think that she is starkly in opposition to my beliefs. The beautiful thing is how we often approach things from two completely different angles and still somehow end up at the same point. Just goes to show how truth is universal. :)
This blog is not about Valerie though, or even our conversation. Our convo made me think and reflect on what I believe and what is really true. Not true for me, or any other moral relativism, but she causes me to examine my own self under a microscope and I love that so much about her.
So, then, Alex and I had a conversation that was very interesting - and then in BSF, this issue came up again.
What does religion have to do with Christianity?
So many people are BURNED big time by Christians who are "religious". They are legalistic, condemning hypocritical and most of all hurtful. Hurtful to the people around them who don't believe, hurtful to the other Christians in their lives, hurtful to the cause of Christ in the world. I think that we have all met these people. I think that most of us have been these people. I know that I have. How I wish that I could go back and change those years of my life....
And, b/c we, as Christians, are called to reflect the love of the Father, when someone sees a Christian acting hateful, their idea of who God is and what God is about gets skewed. God becomes some hall monitor with a pink notepad on which to write citations. "Oh, Bobby, you cheated on your wife - BOOM, cancer!" "Oh, Sally, you decided to drink yourself under the table AGAIN, - BOOM, tornado!".
Funny, my understanding of the founders of our "religion" - Christianity - is that they were never intent on forming a world religion. They were sure that Christ was returning in their generation or perhaps the next - but sometime very soon. They had no idea what was going to happen to their gospel. The thing that set them apart, and I imagine the thing that made Christianity explode on the scene was their experience with Jesus. These guys had been set free from sin, free from guilt. They knew pure love and they knew pure forgiveness. Their hearts were overflowing with the grace and love that they were touched with every single day. They knew what it was like to be in bondage, and they knew what it was like to not be in bondage. How could they not tell other people about it?
Somewhere along the lines, though, as time passed, and these men and women were martyred off, the luster of that experience faded, and man became ritualistic (as man is wont to do). Things became habit instead of heartfelt and powerful people realized that you could easily intimidate others when you threatened their souls. Wasn't this what the Pharisees themselves were guilty of?
Of course, religion has become twisted - everything gets twisted eventually in the hands of man! That is the whole problem of sin. (Ironic how the very thing meant to fix the problem of sin just becomes yet another source of it?!)
But, somehow, through the years, a remnant of faithful followers have remained. People who truly seek the heart and will of God, scores of people who never are recognized, who never are even noticed, but who share the true love of Christ in their little corner of the world. These people have been touched by the grace of God. I am so encouraged when I look around and see so many people who are truly trying to help people, to love them, who sacrifice and hurt for those around them. In the true history of the world, these people are few and far between, but for me, I see them every day.
I'm not talking about perfect people. We are all hypocrites. We all want to love perfectly and do wonderful things for the Lord, and then our husbands leave the toilet seat up and all it takes is one dunk in the toilet water to "forget our religion". But, I am talking about people who get grace, and who pass it on to the people around them every day. People who mess up and ask forgiveness when they do. People who grieve over the lives they have NOT touched because they were too selfish or self-involved, at least.
When I think about "religion", it makes me so sad that so many people have been misguided by the "religious" and thus have a faulty view of who God is. It literally breaks my heart that people who spent time with me during my teen years and even afterwards would have seen someone who didn't understand who God really was...I hope that I am never remembered as a religious person, or as Val would say, a "checklist" Christian. My prayer over the Christmas season will be that my witness will simply come out of the overflow of my heart. That as I spend time with Jesus and as I experience true freedom, that it would radiate through me. That nothing would be compulsory or because I need to check it off my list, but instead everything that I do would be motivated by my love for others. Not a love that fades, but an everlasting love that God has set in my heart.
That is what I'm thinking about these days - hopefully tomorrow, I'll write a post about the things we are all doing around here. Thanks for reading, and goodnight.
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