On Jesus

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil 2:5-11

I've done alot of thinking about Jesus the past few weeks. That might seem like a "So what?" statement - after all, I am a Christian. Don't I think about Jesus alot? Aren't I always thinking about Jesus?

Err... yeah...

Anyways, as I took a break from blogging I had more time to think, read, and pray. I wish I could say I used all of that time wisely - there were alot of movies rented in the last month - but by and large this was a very insightful time for me. I did alot of introspection, alot of soul searching. I suppose it was inevitable that while searching my own soul I would come across Jesus.

As I mentioned months ago, I have a very special relationship with nature. Going to the lake summer after summer, being alone in the woods, staring up at an infinite sky untainted by city or even country lights... it was a blessed childhood. And I grew so much during those years, learning my lessons from breeze and tree and sky. God was great, and powerful, and as far above me as the stars. This I learned very well - that there was a mindful creator behind the beauty I saw, and it was unreachable. Utterly Beyond. The Great... uh, Whatever-He-Was. Awesome. Powerful.

Inhuman.

I learned this very, very well. And for a long time - even after becoming a Christian, which at the time I did mainly to avoid hell (gotta snap up that "Get Out of Jail Free" card when you can, folks) - I could not escape this view I held of God. It frightened me, and also galvanized me with a strange sort of fury. I could not recount to you all of the Job-like nights spent raging against heaven for the suffering of my fellow person. How could God do this to us? How dare he! He lets children ache with hunger pains, women live in fear of their husbands, allows us the pain and sorrow that accompanies life and that drives so many to suicide - why, if you gave any of us the choice, would we not rather choose oblivion than a life of suffering and then death? Such was my mindset at the time.

It changed since then; I cannot say when exactly. But over time I came to understand that this was not the God of scripture. The person that brought me to this understanding was Jesus, and it was this process that I was reflecting on over the past month.

A good friend of mine once said (accurately), "Dan, you seem to hate God the Father, and the Holy Spirit you could do without. You're lucky that God's not a duo, because I don't think you'd be a Christian without Jesus." And he was mostly right. I would read the gospels and agonize with Christ when he was in agony, feel for him when he wept, rejoice with him when he was happy. I watched him live and breathe and do all the things the rest of us did, and it made me feel something I couldn't quite understand.

I began to understand a bit better when I read the passage above - "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death." I read it and something clicked -Jesus was a human being. He lived and died just like the rest of us. And he didn't just get born and then die, as our church calander may suggest - he actually lived. As in, he loved, cried, bled, sweated, laughed, smelled, farted, was scared and doubted himself - just like one of us! And yet he was also God, wholly and completely. God experienced all that we do. He was not hiding in the wings, watching our performace with a critical eye. He was onstage, active and tragic just like one of us.

In Deism, God is removed and impersonal. He sets the universe like a gigantic pocket watch and leaves it to run. But the Christian God - Christ - is personal, as in A Person, and he is genuinly interacting with us. Because he was human, we can know him, and because he is God, he can save us.

I've said it before, but for me, that earns him my worship. And that's what I've been thinking of and realizing again the last few weeks. So thanks for reading.

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A Hiatus Explained

My Friends,

I have been silent for over a month now, and it's been surprisingly hard on me to do so. I've missed you - Cindy and Jamie, Maryellen and Wanderer, Bob and Scott and Robby and other Scott and everyone else whose names I'm forgetting but who persist in reading what I write and not sending me letter bombs. I've missed the conversations, and I've missed writing. But I think before I jump back in I ought - no, I OWE it - to give an explanation of where I've been.

There were three factors that contributed to my absence. The first was work. I was reaching the end of my training period - all 2 years of it - and finishing up assignments and paperwork that I had diligently procrastinated on. This involved putting in long hours and late hours, even bringing work along to the lake for the long weekend. It was difficult, but on wednesday night I officially completed the process. Hallelujah!

The second factor was personal - I was simply frustrated with the internet medium. I got involved (under a different name) on some other websites on which dialogue was happeneing concerning other issues. Politics, mostly, but also sites about movies, pop culture, and other mundane matters. What I discovered was that in these other forums there were the same issues of rhetoric, miscommunication and character assasination that happened in the religeous forums. The internet medium encourages people to act their worst, and I got to the point where I needed a break or I would become what I despised.

The third reason was spiritual, and I intend to expand upon that on monday. Look for my post in the AM on monday, and I'll try not to disappoint.

Hopefully peopel still stop by here. Pass the word if you do - Grey Owl is back.

-cue dramatic music

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