Teach Me Lord to Pray

So, something strange happened to me today.  And I wish it wasn’t strange…but it was.  I actually wish it was a really normal occurence for me.

I’m praying this morning…and I usually have a card of specific people that need prayers.  But today, I couldn’t find my card.  Well…that’s ok.  I figuired I’d just pray through without it…no big deal.  About halfway through my prayer, an image of a friend (who I know wasn’t on the list) was burned in my mind.  So I prayed for that person.  Then, came the image of Marshall (read We Are Marshall to learn about him).  And I prayed for Marshall.

Sometimes I wonder if my list doesn’t get in my way.  Maybe my list of people to pray for puts a limit on what I will hear from God.  It doesn’t limit God…but it limits me.  Thank you Lord, for continuing to teach me to pray.

Perhaps I’ll lose my card again sometime.

(Un)Focused

I sat last night in a bible study…but there were several times my mind went somewhere else.

I sat this morning in prayer…but again, my mind went elsewhere.

Turn my thoughts to you, O God, grant me the peace of mind to remain focused on you.

Original

We are a fallen people.  And we live in a fallen world.  I hear so much about “original sin.”  The sin that Adam and Eve committed when they listened to the lies of the enemy.  That was the original sin.  That is what changed everything for us.  Before that sin – Eden, Paradise, Heaven.  After that sin – a broken, fallen, world.

I hear so much about that.  I hear so much about how I shouldn’t sin.  How sinning is bad.  And it is, don’t get me wrong, but I wonder if there is a different message to hear.

What about our original Glory?  We were made in the image of a perfect God.  That is how glorious we are.  That is how we were created to live.  What if, instead of focusing on the sin, and the life that came immediately after that sin, we focused on what was BEFORE the sin. 

Sinning is central to our core.  Ever since that first sin, we have never been able to get it right.  But more central to our core is the glory that God created within us.  Sometimes I think if everyone tried to live in to that glory everyday, this world would be a better place.

Passions For Life

“Restore me in the image of your love this day, that my passions for life may be full.”

                                        - J. Phillip Newell, Celtic Benediction

 

I been asking God alot recently about how He wants me to pray.  Every so often in my life something changes in how I feel I’m supposed to pray.  Sometimes it’s through journaling, sometimes it’s through reading, most recently it’s been through working out.  My hope is that someday I will be able to incorporate all those things into a “super prayer”…and then all things in my life will be perfected through Christ.  As of yet, though, I’m not there. 

I’ve been sensing a transition in how I pray.  Still not sure where it’s headed.  But this morning, in prayer, I read the quote above, and an image immediately washed over me.

Tumbleweed.  Tumbleweed rolling along a dry, dusty, lifeless road.

I don’t think that’s where I am, but, honestly, God gives me images like that sometimes.  Images that spur me on to either let God transform my heart, or show me where my heart is headed if something doesn’t change.

It got me thinking about life.  Our God, our Creator, is passionate.  Look at this world.  Look at this creation.  So much love and beauty and creativity.  The passion of God is all around us.  And we were made in that image.  God created us, and gives us the ability to feel that same passion.  I truly believe that. 

But it seems to me that I get so caught up in the everyday…that I lose that passion.  I have my schedule…I need my schedule, I need that rhythm to the day…so it is a good thing…but I get so lost in that rhythm, that when I read the words “passions for life”, well…I get the feeling that I’m missing something.  Hence the tumbleweed. 

“Restore me in the image of your love this day, that my passions for life may be full.”

Little Miss Sunshine (The Function of Dysfunction)

This post was originally a post on an old blog of mine, before the whole “this side of eden” name struck me.  I tried to vow to always come up with new things to write…which meant that all the other stuff got scrapped.  So…anyway, I’m reposting this, originally titled “The Function of Dysfunction,” because I just finished watching Little Miss Sunshine again…and the movie always seems to strike a chord.  Pardon the duplex, for those that have read this before on the other blog.

 

I just finished watching “Little Miss Sunshine.” I’m not sure why I bought it off the pay per view…but, I decided too. I guess I had been hearing a little bit about it recently (with all the Oscar hype and all)…and I heard an interview on NPR with the directors and screenwriter of the movie.

The movie had moments of laughter…but it was somewhat disturbing.

In the end however, it came down to this family.

Probably the most dysfunctional family I’ve ever seen in a movie. And they totally pulled it off. It was an amazing bit of acting…but I’m not so sure it was entirely acting…I mean, aren’t all of our families dysfunctional at some point?

I would hate to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it…but at one point the Uncle and the Brother are talking. The brother is saying how life sucked…it was terrible. He hated his family. He hated his life.

The Uncle (played by Steve Carell, so this is said in a rather humorous way…) responds by talking about Marcel Proust, a French novelist. He says that Proust used to say that the hard years, the years where he really struggled, were his best years, because they made him who he was. He didn’t learn anything from the easy years.

In the end, this totally dysfunctional family, somehow, in their own way, pulls together.  It’s disturbing.  It’s scary.  But it’s beautiful. And it seems as though, while they totally struggled through this movie, that these were the best years for them, because it was making them who they are. 

And that, my friends, seems to me to be the function of dysfunction.

This Side of Eden

“Created for a place I’ve never known…Yeah, this is home.” – Switchfoot, “This is Home”

It’s been a while since I’ve written here…Believe me, I’m aware of that.  But…I was listening to this song this morning, and, while I’ve heard those words a hundred times…for some reason they stuck in my head, and I haven’t been able to shake them all day.

Lately, I’ve been telling alot of people my email address…which is also, “thissideofeden”, and quite a few people have asked about what that means.

I don’t think I could explain it any better than the song lyrics above.  We were created for a place we’ve never known…and when we get there, we’ll know it’s home. 

Eden.  Paradise.  Heaven.  Call it what you will, but we were created to live there, and we aren’t there now.  Right now, we’re stuck here…on this side of Eden.  It’s almost like we’re locked out.  All is not yet right with the world.  Heaven has not yet crashed into Earth.  Occasionally, we see glimpses of Eden through the gaps in the gate that keeps us out. 

That place is written on our hearts, for it is where we were created to be.  And I trust that, some day, that gate will be opened, and we will once again live in paradise. 

That is what living on this side of Eden is all about.  Trying to make it home.  Living life in such a way that we stand as close as we can to that gate, trying to catch as many glimpses as we can, until it is opened for us. 

I’m glad you could join me on this side of Eden.

Peace to you.

The Next Thing Right

I have lived most of my life striving to do just that… to do the next thing right.  It’s not a bad thing, I don’t think.

For those of you who don’t know me (and for probably most of you that do), I am a big fan of Michael J. Fox.  And tonight, I became an even bigger fan.  I just got done watching “Adventures of an Incurable Optimist.”  It is a documentary he did about optimism.  Very cool.

At one point in the show, he’s on a golf course with Bill Murray.  And they were talking about doing the next thing right.  And Michael J. Fox was saying how hard it is to go through life that way…especially for him now, as a parkinson’s patient…it is very difficult for him to do the next thing right (especially on the golf course) simply because sometimes his body won’t allow it.

Somewhere in the conversation Bill Murray says, “The next thing right, as oppossed to the next right thing.” And it really struck a chord with me.  Big time.

For most of my life I’ve concentrated on doing the next big thing in my life perfectly.  And I’ve missed alot of the in between times.  The space between.  The ironic thing is that I normally ending screwing those things up anyway.

So my new goal, to stop focusing on doing the next thing right, and focus more on doing the next right thing.

I think that’s how Jesus calls us to live our lives.  Doing the next right thing, regardless of whether we are going to screw it up or not, because we will…instead of striving for perfection by doing the next thing right, and missing everything in between.

I think looking at the world that way would make it a better place.  So I’m going to try it.

Peace to each of you.

Training for “Life by the Spirit”

“What counts is whether we really have been changed into a new and different people.” Galatians 6:15

So…yes.  I have this new puppy.  6 months old.  Adorable little puppy.  He’s just about all I’ve talked about for the past week since I got him.  And it is amazing to see the transformation in him already.  What used to be a timid, hand-shy, submissive puppy is now becoming confident and approachable.  He is not “submissive” so to speak, but he is obediant.  He listens…and does what he is told.

For the most part, he did what he was told to do before (last week, when I first got him).  But he did it solely out of fear.  And that fear was evident in his mannerisms. 

So, the other day, as I was inviting him up on the couch with me for the first time…he refused.  It was clear that he had never been allowed on the couch before…and was so scared at even the invitation, that I’m sure he probably has some very terrible associations with jumping on the couch. 

But little by little, I lured him up.  After about 20 minutes, he finally jumped up and stayed for just a couple second before getting down again.

In the week that has passed since that time…he has pretty well taken ownership of the couch.  He is on and off without any hesitation.

But that first few days…the first time he got up, I found myself saying to him, “Mordecai, this is life by the spirit buddy.  There’s no need to fear the condemnation from the old law.  Life by the spirit says that you can join me on the couch.”

Transformation.  I am witnessing it daily with my pup.  The transition from a life of strict law, to a life led by the spirit.  And truly, a new dog is emerging from this experience.  As I think about it though, he still listens.  He still respects and obeys.  And that seems to me to be what it is all about.  Life by the spirit doesn’t mean act willy-nilly and do whatever you want.  It means that yes, the old law is gone…but God is still God…and he still speaks, and we still need to listen, and obey.  But the fear…the fear of not getting it absolutely right…the fear of misunderstanding and messing up, the fear of breaking the old law…well, life by the spirit has no room for those fears. 

So live it up Mordecai.  Live by the spirit my friend.  There’s no reason to live in fear.  Please, though…don’t forget to come when you are called. 

 

Not Sleeping Soundly…

Sometimes I wish I could sleep as well as my new four legged friend (See previous post).

But alas…it’s 2:30AM, and for whatever reason, I am awake.  He’s still sleeping soundly, though.  And I imagine will be for quite some time.  Probably until the time that I get back to sleep and start sleeping soundly…then he’ll awake, and need to be walked. 

It’s a lovely rhythm we are falling in to together. 

Sleeping Soundly

I have just adopted a dog from the Humane Society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He seems to me to be about as good as dogs can get.  He is house trained, mellow, not hyper at all and is learning to be loved.  Because…I’m not entirely sure he was quite so loved before.

But, after several days at the pound, I thought he’d be so happy to be out of that situation.  And don’t get me wrong, he totally is happy.  I can tell…because he’s sleeping….and he’s sleeping like he hasn’t slept in ages.  Now…when I’m really happy, I show it by being energetic, bouncing off the walls, etc.  But not my new pup. 

He’s happy…that’s for sure.

But more than happy…I think he knows he’s safe.  And when you haven’t been safe in a really long time, it probably means you haven’t REALLYslept in a really long time.  And that just seems to take priority.

So here’s to my new friend, Mordecai. 

                                                                         

Rest well my friend.  I’m a little nervous about the 6 month old puppy energy that may be on the otherside of these deep sleeps you are having.  Bur for now, rest well.

You are safe.