Well, one way to confirm it is Christmastime is that the ol' pants are begging to be released from the confines of remaining buttoned as we drive across the not-so-picturesque landscape of late-fall pre-snow Illinois.

Which has led me to finally commit to getting back into the gym.  

It has also led me to reflect on the rigor of getting results from the gym.  It sort of requires regular attendance, constant attention to collateral damage (like delicious foods), and a good deal of pain and the occasional inability to walk from muscle soreness.

All of this becomes fantastically worth it as the body transforms to its lean, lithe, athletic alter-ego.

But in the weeks and months of meantime, it can be hard to convince oneself the whole bit is better than sitting on the sofa eating chips.

Kinda reminds me of the keystone characteristics of Christianity: servanthood, kindness, generosity, love, non-judgement...etc, etc.  They don't exactly just happen.

So for the love of the world's health & wellness, and, well, because it is Christmastime, choose to practice joy. 

It won't hurt for long, I promise.

 

I get a lot of well-intended messages from Christians about the excess commercialism of Christmas.  I don't disagree entirely...except this:

 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jarb of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.   But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said,  “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” John 12:3-5

Is blessing someone through a gift so different?  As Judas points out, there have always been many 'noble' ways to pass on what we own.  Yet, if we are called to be Christlike, and to view others as incarnations of Christ on earth, then both giving and receiving is, in fact, quite holy, quite beautiful, and quite loving. 

Stinginess has no such positive attributes.  Nor does judgement.  

Merry Christmas!!! 
 

In faith we talk about 'the fruits of the Spirit', which is a real religiousy way of describing that when Christians are really living faith, they will display certain characteristics: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.   So that is how we should see Christians behaving.  If we described our lives, those words should be present if we are living our faith.

Now here is the rub:  John 10:10 (looked at in the last post) "The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  But I (Jesus) come to give you life, and to give it abundantly."   I don't think it is much of  a leap to say that an abundant life would be characterized by plenty of joy, peace, faithfulness, patience, gentleness...etc.

Let's jump to the obvious point, we Christians don't have an abundance of these markers.  We are in fact known as the opposite, judgemental, isolationistic, unkind, etc...

Why?  Wouldn't it be a fantastic witness if we lived these - shoot, wouldn't it be fantastic for us and our families, let alone the world as a whole?

So what is the thief up to that Christ's Church is living so inversely?  What lies have we bought that erode love?  What is the destroyer destroying to erode joy in the world through Christians?  What essentials have been hikacked that prevent kindness?    

Makes all those rousing sermons against so and so seem misguided, eh? 

Probably one of my favorite statements from Jesus is this: "the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.  But I come to give you life and to give it abundantly." (John 10:10)

This is one of the MANY (and worst) things the church of the last 2000 years has left to the wayside.  Jesus' punchline, his proclamation is that he came to give us each extraordinary, cup-running over, unexpectedly good life.

Yet we operate as though the goal of Christianity is to live less fully, to chastise ourselves and others more, to become so pristine that judgement could not touch us.

But Jesus himself didn't live that way.  He was a get around town and make life good kind of guy.  He was joy-filled when a thief gave back more than he stole.  Make no mistake, the guy didn't give away everything he owned to serve the third world poor, he just made right on his previous theft from people with a little sauce on top.  

And then there was the time Jesus made sure there were 6 barrels of wine to keep a party going...no way to misconstrue it, they had already drunk ALL the wine at the party.  And there was that thing about feeding droves of people until they were full just so they didn't have to go in search of food.  They weren't starving or helpless...he just chose to bless them.

And there it is, just like he said.  Jesus chooses to bless us.  To give us life beyond our expectations.  Why do we continually expect less?  Why don't we, Christians, expect and then practice sharing that more? 

Partake in abundance and bless somebody.  Share Jesus.

Grace is one of those Christian words - "Christianese"  - we say it too much, assuming everybody is on our page, and if asked more, we would likely bumble our way through additional Christian cliche's in an effort to explain.

Grace is so gravitas though, that all the trite answers have dethroned it unceremoniously.   Grace is superhuman.  Grace is wholly unnatural.  Grace needs to be wrestled with and lived out.  Grace WAS on the cross, but it just wasn't - it IS.  It IS for you and me and all Christians to be DOING.  And I fail at grace a lot.  A lot.  Like always.  Like these:

Grace is when you were put down or wronged, and you don't bring it up to ANYONE in an effort to preserve the other person.

Grace is when you are given the juicy tidbit and you never repeat it to protect those involved.

Grace is when you can't stand someone and yet you defend them and speak about them as though they are golden.

Grace is when you lay yourself down for somebody who totally doesn't deserve it.

Did you notice how all of those examples require you to not live with an attitude of judgement and self-promotion?  Yeah that is why I fail at it all the time.  Grace is the end of hypocrisy, and the living out of the Gospel.

It is the 'judge not' part.  The love with skin on part.

I have been hanging out with a lot of Christians lately...actually most of the time since officially disavowing my season of doubt.  (I spent about 6 years as an atheist or some variation of agnostic.)  One thing I hear often is that a well-intended Christian has read this or that atheistic writer and now feels equipped to proselytize the Gospel to atheists.  I sort of wish those books came with a siren - a LOUD SIREN - and a disclaimer. Wooowooo - If you are Christian, you aren't going to 'get it' from reading this book.  Wooowooo...  you get the idea.

The point is this: there are two kinds of atheists.  (Maybe more - I've got two in mind.)  First, there are scientific atheists, these are the guys writing books - and into this camp I will lump people who bother with philosophy - ie: God can't exist.  Second, there are post-trauma atheists - ie: God couldn't exist, a good God would never allow this horrible thing to occur, therefor there must be no God.

Christians, unless you are science literate , HIGHLY science literate (like - you are a scientist or science student), and no, I am not talking about people who read a Dawkin's book, you cannot hang with the folks in camp #1.  They will eat you alive, they look forward to it - it is their intellectual way of snacking.  They prey on Christians who think they can hang (and then eventually end up muttering about 'you just have to believe...')  It is how atheism has gotten teeth; they have sharpened them on Christian pseudo-intellectuals. I would know - I was part of camp #1 back when I was studying biochemistry and philosophy.  I was not nice.

Ok camp #2 is where Christian's drop the ball.  This accounts for most atheists, practical atheists, and many pagans.  They have endured something and it OFTEN comes back to Christians behaving reprehensibly.  Not always, but abuse, lying, thieving...we all know the headlines.  Well somebody lived through all of that and more.  This is where Christ gives us the go-ahead, the green light.  Love non-church people like your life depends on it.  Go visit people.  Drop them a line.  Care when caring makes NO SENSE.  Let Love LOVE do the talking, the walking, and the evangelizing.  He is way more convincing than you are. 

Anyway - the good news is you will also win lots of folks in camp #1 just through irrational, relentless care.  It sort of trumps everything.  So put down the Dawkins (you're just making him rich and toothy) and bake some brownies for that atheist you had in mind when you bought it.

Sooooo... I was thinking a few years ago about love, and it occurred to me that we can't fulfill the 'Golden Rule' - Christ's ultimatum - because we just don't love ourselves.  Check it out:
  Do to others as you would have them do to you... Love your neighbor as you love yourself...you know the variations.

It is predicated on self-love.

So if your internal dialogue is about what an idiot you are, you are gonna live that towards other people.

If you hate your body, your physical self, or worse yet harm it, you are gonna live that towards other people.

If you cannot figure out why someone would want to hang around you, you are gonna live that towards other people.

We cannot LOVE OTHERS until we love US - intentionally, carefully, honestly.  That is not new-age or incense-burning or hip.  That is hard and it is holy.

I am pretty sure most of the ills of society boil down to this bad boy.

Anyway - something to chew on.