Posts in Category: down to earth believer
“On Not Being the Alpha Dog”
Our little dog Laylah likes to jump up in my seat at the dining room table. I don’t know why. Does she just like the scent of me? I can’t imagine that! But then, I’m not a dog. Or does she aspire to be the alpha dog, and thinks that she can be the alpha dog simply by sitting in my seat? Seven-and-a-half pounds of four-footed ambition!
I frequently have to tell her to vacate my seat. Sometimes she does so quickly, but sometimes I have to use the Voice of Authority.
The serpent whispered, when tempting Adam and Eve, “You will be like God . . . .” (Genesis 3:5) This is often called “the first temptation.” I suspect that it may be the only temptation. Every other temptation is simply a variation on that theme.
But God says, “I, I alone, am God, and my glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 42:8)
So, I have to choose every moment between living in Genesis 3:5 and Isaiah 42:8. And if I am trying to sit in the place of God, I need to vacate. Sometimes, I do this quickly and willingly. Sometimes, God has to use the Voice of Authority. I need to always remember: I am not the alpha dog.
Now, Laylah is lying in her little bed at my feet, looking up at me every now and then. Perhaps you and I should curl up at God’s feet today. Perhaps that is a much more comfortable place to be anyway.
“Molding the Material into the Spiritual”
I struggle to believe that anything I do is terribly significant. I have a hunch that you may struggle with that as well.
Here is an excerpt from one of my daily 12-step readings. It is followed by my musings about my day.
“Meditation for the Day
Molding your life means cutting and shaping your material into something good, something that can express the spiritual. All material things are the clay out of which we mold something spiritual. You must first recognize the selfishness in your desires and motives, actions and words, and then mold that selfishness until it is sublimated into a spiritual weapon for good. As the work of molding proceeds, you see more and more clearly what must be done to mold your life into something better.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may mold my life into something useful and good. I pray that I may not be discouraged by the slow progress that I make.” (From Twenty-Four Hours a Day © 1975 by Hazelden Foundation.)
I was especially struck by the sentence, “All material things are the clay out of which we mold something spiritual.” Have I done this today? Have I taken material things, and molded them into something spiritual? I ask the question, but can I answer it? My day seemed pretty mundane to me.
- I cleaned and straightened the garage.
- I talked to 12-step friends.
- I listened to about 12 chapters from the Bible.
- I was here when the plumbers came to fix the outdoor water spigot.
- I went out and bought a new riding lawn mower (my first!), a small trailer for the tractor, a water hose, and a reel for said hose.
- I took care of the dog.
- I tried to prop my leg up some.
- I sent out the assignments and challenges for my Hebrew class.
- I did the dishes.
- I wrote out a gratitude list of 50 items.
- I am writing this blog.
How “spiritual” is any of this?
But perhaps I should let God judge my day—and me. I am often my harshest critic. I suspect that God is much more kind and fair to me than I am to me.
The same is probably true of you.
“A Recipe for Stone Soup”
Here is one of my twelve-step readings for today. Since I am trying to learn to cook, I liked this recipe a lot. It is simple.
“Wednesday, June 3
Men will find that they can prepare with mutual aid far more easily what they need and avoid far more easily the perils which beset them on all sides, by united forces.
—Baruch Spinoza
Three travelers stopped in a small town on their way to the city. They had tents to sleep in, but no food or money. They knocked on doors asking for a little food, but the people were poor, with little to eat and nothing to spare.
Cheerfully, they returned to their camp and built a fire. “What are you doing?” asked a bystander, “Building a fire with nothing to cook?”
“But we do have something to cook!” they said. “Our favorite dish, stone soup. We only need a pot.”
“I think I can find one,” said one of the bystanders, and she ran home to fetch it.
When she returned, the travelers filled the pot with water and placed two large stones in it. “This will be the finest soup we’ve ever made!” said the first traveler. “I agree,” said the second, “but don’t you think it would taste better with a cabbage in it?”
“I think I can find one,” said another bystander. And so it went the whole afternoon until, by evening, the travelers had a hearty, fragrant feast, which they shared with the hungry townspeople.
What can I do with help today, that I couldn’t do alone?” (From Today’s Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©1985, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation.)
There isn’t much I can add to this. I think I’ll go build a fire!
(You can purchase this book from Hazelden Publishing. Hazelden publishes lots of good things. While not overtly Christian or even religious, they are often very helpful, even if you’re not an addict.)
“Seeking God’s Face: Impossible, Difficult and Easy”
Wait a minute! How can something be impossible, difficult, and easy?!
Good question! Glad that you asked. I was meditating this morning on the statement in the Scriptures that we are to “seek God’s face.” I thought that this sounded like a worthwhile goal, and that I ought to do that. In fact, I made it my daily affirmation: “Today, by God’s grace, I am seeking the face of God, no matter how difficult that may be.”
My sponsor responded to my twelve-step affirmation by reminding me that I could see God’s face in the face of my wife or of a child. Good reminder. Sometimes I make things more difficult than they are. It is certainly possible that I am doing that in this case.
However, this whole idea of seeing God’s face—or seeing God—is very problematic in the Bible. Some verses say that mortal man cannot see God. For example, God says to Moses that even Moses would not be permitted to behold God’s face (Exodus 33:20).
Other Scriptures say something very different. For example, Exodus 24:9-11 says that Moses, along with seventy elders of Israel, did see God.
And then, there are verses that encourage, yea indeed command, us to seek God’s face.
“You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, LORD, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:8, English Standard Version)
Of course, those who think that the Bible is a hopelessly contradictory book have no problem at all with this. They simply say, “See! We told you so!”
However, those of us who hold the Bible in high esteem (as I do) want to look a bit more deeply. The average person (if such a person exists) may say different things at different times. We may recognize that this does not automatically mean that the person is contradicting him/herself. Perhaps we should extend the same courtesy to the Bible that we give to one another on a routine basis.
Context is everything, as I often remind my students. There are times when it is appropriate to speak of God’s face being inaccessible, and there are times for seeking God’s face.
On the other hand, our default position should be to seek God’s face. Thus, Psalm 105:4 says that we are to “seek God’s face continually.”
Perhaps the most helpful thing is to realize two things.
First, the word “face” in Hebrew, when it is not a literal face, often refers to a person’s presence. Especially, there is the nuance of a person’s gracious presence. In the famous priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26, the Israelite priest is to say to the people of Israel,
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
A second observation about the idea of “face” is that it suggests how we get to know people. Most of us prefer “face-to-face” meetings, even though in this day of global pandemic, we may not be able to meet face-to-face.
A person’s face is the best way to get to know that person. The eyes, the facial expressions, and above all, the words a person speaks, helps us to know the person.
So it is with us and God. God is already well-acquainted with our faces. We just need to seek God’s face more diligently.
And yes, one way to do that is as easy as seeing God’s face in our daily relationships. Yes, God’s face is mysterious. But then so is my wife’s face, even though I’ve had the privilege of studying it for a very long time.
“So Frail a Dwelling”
Sometimes, when our children were little, I would go into their room when they were asleep. Of course, the toys had not been put away, despite my repeated admonition to do so. However, they looked so peaceful that I just stood still, thinking of how grateful I was for them. They probably never knew, nor will they probably ever know.
A story is told of the founder of the Jewish Hasidic Movement, who was usually referred to as “the Great Maggid” (“the Great Preacher). The Great Maggid sometimes went into his disciples’ room as they were sleeping, and looked at them in love. Once, when he looked at one of his disciples, Rabbi Zalman, the Great Maggid said to himself, “Miracle of miracles that so great a God lives in so frail a dwelling.”
Paul, who often spoke us of being “in” Christ, or of Christ being “in” us, made a similar point. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
All we see is the frail dwelling, the jars of clay. But God sees more. And God not only sees. God inhabits us. We are possessed, but not in the negative way that this word is usually used.
Yes, the dwelling is frail. As if I needed another reminder, I have a blood clot causing me problems right now. Frail indeed!
But wherever the King is, there is a palace, no matter how frail the superstructure may be.
“Is God Thankful?”
Is God thankful? I had probably never thought of the question before today, because I never thought of God as needing anything. And perhaps it is true, as many theologians have said, that God does not really “need” anything.
However, I have noticed something about thankful people: They are thankful, even when they do not need a thing. Their response to an offer to help is, “No, I’m good, but thank you so much for offering!” And for grateful people, this is not simply a matter of being courteous. They mean it.
Admittedly, there are not any Scripture passages that say, point blank, that God thanks anyone for anything. However, there are passages that might suggest that God is, in fact, grateful for certain things.
Take, for example, this story from Jesus:
Matt. 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:31-40, English Standard Version)
The words “thanks” or “gratitude” do not occur in Matthew 25:31-40. Yet it seems to me that there is a wonderful atmosphere of gratitude in the King’s words to those who had shown kindness to “the least of his brothers.”
Then, there is a verse in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. “But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God” (Romans 2:29). Paul is talking about how God expects faith and obedience from the Gentile and from the Jew, without any partiality.
It is often noted that the name “Judah” (from which we get the word “Jew”) is a Hebrew word that suggests the idea of “praise.” Indeed, in Genesis 29:35, speaks of Leah praising God as the result of the birth of Judah. In Genesis 49:8, the Scriptures speak of Judah’s brothers praising him.
But I think there is more than just a word play going on here. Notice how Paul speaks of the one who belongs to God as receiving praise from God. What?! I thought that humans were supposed to praise God, not the other way around! However, Paul is clear at this point. He is speaking here of God praising believers, rather than the other way around. (In John 5:44 Jesus speaks of “receiving glory from God.” This also sounds a bit like God thanking us.)
Perhaps there is a broader argument for thinking of God as being thankful. Most of us would, I think, acknowledge the fact that gratitude is a good thing for humans. Why, then, would it not be a good thing for God as well?
Why not indeed? A grateful God is much more appealing than a god who never says, “Thanks!” to anyone.
“Bullied by a Gang of Thoughts”
I am just starting my “3-Minute Retreat” from Loyola Publishing. Today, as with many days, the retreat starts out with an admonition to let go of any distracting thoughts. I am not sure if I am holding on to such thoughts or if they are holding on to me. I have a lot of clingy thoughts.
Well, I should be mature enough to do this. I am in charge of my thoughts. I am bigger and meaner and more determined than they are. I refuse to be bullied by a gang of nasty, useless thoughts!
And what are the names of these gang members? Regret, Resentment, Guilt, Fear, A-Sense-Of-Worthlessness, Desire-For-More (and his twin brother Discontent).
So, I decide that, today, I’m going to stand up to these bullies. I say, to Regret (who seems to be their spokesman), “You little boys, run along. I’m moving forward, and if you try to stop me or follow me, I will hurt you.”
And so, I walk on. I look around and they are gone.
Huh! It works! I think I’ll get on with my day. Maybe you could too.
Three practical suggestions:
- Name the thoughts that are bullying you.
- Tell them to shove off.
- Walk in the direction of the next right thing to do.
“No Quick and Easy Spell”
(Here is a post I did a couple of years ago. It was good that I thought I would reprise it. I won’t say, “Enjoy!” since it is pretty brutal.)
I was sending my report and affirmation to my sponsor this morning. Here is my affirmation:
“Today, by God’s grace, I am taking good care of myself. This way, I will honor God and act caringly toward others.”
The word “caringly” was flagged on my spell checker. I thought this was the correct way to spell it, but figured that I had better check. So, I googled “spell caringly.”
Here is the first hit that appeared on my screen.
“Magic Spells for 2018 – Spells for Any & Every Need
Don’t Settle for the Ordinary: Order a Spell & Change Your Life. So Fast & Easy!
Service catalog: Love/Relationship Spells, Money Spells, Luck Spells
Absolutely guaranteed, or your money back!”
I was not prepared for that!
I rather liked the advertisement, although I did not go to the site. I liked the advert for a very simple reason: It encapsulates precisely what I would like to believe.
I would like to believe that there are simple and easy solutions to complex problems.
I would like to believe that, if I simply say the right things in the right order, accompanied by the right rituals, everything will go my way.
I really want to believe this! However, it is really difficult to make yourself believe something you don’t, even when you want to.
Well, no, on second thought, it’s not really that difficult to make myself believe in the fast and easy way. In fact, I do it all the time.
I want muscles without workouts, character without self-discipline, and good relationships without commitment. I want to be good at everything I do, without doing anything to actually become better.
And, of course, I want a money-back guarantee for everything—including life itself. I don’t need to go to a website to desire “fast and easy.” I am already there.
It’s not just me. As a society, we are addicted to speed, perhaps not the drug speed, but getting things quickly for sure. We are a microwave-loving people.
What is the remedy? I don’t know. But I do know this: There is no fast and easy solution to wanting fast and easy solutions.
Christians, above all, shouldn’t fall for fast-and-easy solutions, but often we do. We turn the cross of Christ into a fast and easy solution to our sin and guilt—past, present, and future. We fall into the trap of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” We forget that Jesus not only bore the cross himself. He also called us to do so. “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me’” (Luke 9:23, NIV).
It’s that “daily” part that usually gets me. I don’t want to take the slow and painful way, the cross, daily. I want to take it when I get around to it. But the truth is that I can either bear the cross now, today, or I can procrastinate until something fast and easy comes along. It won’t.
My choice! Yours too! But I really don’t want to “. . . settle for the ordinary”. Do you?
“Redefining Par”
Dean Furness gave his TED talk from a wheelchair. He is paralyzed from the waist down. He had a fundamentally simple point: “Don’t compare yourself to others.”[1]
And yet, nearly every commercial or advertisement you’ve ever seen or heard has the opposite message. “Do compare yourself to others, and you don’t come off well in the comparison. So, you need our service or product!”
“Comparison Syndrome” may not be anybody’s official diagnosis, but it is real. And it is really deadly.
A friend of mine who trains athletes says that, when he goes out to play golf with a young person, he encourages them to decide on what is par for them for a given hole or a course. (If I did that, most par threes would be par fives.) Then, my friend encourages them to try to gradually improve and lower their score.
There is a wonderful story in John’s Gospel that speaks of a meeting between the resurrected Jesus and his disciple Peter. Simon Peter had denied three times that he even knew Jesus. According to John 21, Jesus gave Peter the opportunity to reaffirm his love for Jesus three times.
However, Jesus also warned Peter that following Jesus meant suffering and a loss of freedom. Jesus never sugarcoated anything. And, like most of us who have had an unsettling conversation with someone we have loved and betrayed, Peter tried a very simple tactic: Change the subject! In this case, changing the subject meant comparing himself to another disciple.
“John 21:20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
Basically, Jesus is saying, “What happens to this other disciple is none of your business! You, follow me!”
Par is different for every disciple. We need to stop comparing and start following Jesus. That will cut down on our frustration, and it will help us to play the serious game of discipleship a lot better.
[1]You can access Dean’s TED talk at:
“Deeds and Plans Done in Serenity”
“Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3, English Standard Version)
“Our activities and plans . . . will be no less our own for being his: only less burdensome . . . and better made.” (Derek Kidner, commenting on Proverbs 16:3)
Do you ever feel frantic in your work? Or, do you feel as if there is no plan, and that your work is random and without real significance?
Welcome to everybody’s world! Many of us struggle with these kinds of fears most of the time. All of us, I suspect, have times when the weight of our own scattered doings and plans is very heavy indeed.
Apparently, the writer of Proverbs 16:3 felt it necessary to warn his readers (or hearers) about this very danger. He writes a prescription for this dis-ease, but it is a bitter pill to swallow: “Commit (literally, “roll”) your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”
However, most of us like to handle things ourselves, even if we are mishandling them. From the time we are little, we are taught to take care of ourselves.
“You’re a big boy now. You should be able to go to the bathroom by yourself.”
“You’re able to do your own laundry and put it away.”
“You need to take responsibility, to stand on your own two feet.”
These messages are not wrong. We do need to learn to take care of ourselves, as much as we can.
But there are other lessons to be learned as well. We need to learn how to care for others. A person who takes care of only themselves isn’t even taking good care of themselves. If this covid-19 crisis teaches us anything, it is teaching us that we really do need one another. Yes, even those who make yeast and toilet paper!
There is one other lesson that I believe we need to learn. And frankly, most of us struggle with this lesson most of all. It is the lesson about trusting God with our doings and our plans.
Now, I am not talking about this lesson being difficult for people who do not believe in God. Of course, if you don’t believe in God, it is difficult—indeed contradictory—to speak of trusting God. But I am talking about the difficulty of trusting God, even those who call ourselves “believers.”
Oh, we’re pretty good about trusting God in general. It is only when we come down to the nitty-gritty, everyday plans and deeds that we struggle. On the other hand, if we only trust God “in general,” do we really trust God at all? I have my doubts about the worth and genuineness of that kind of generalized faith.
So, I need to commit my works to the LORD. Well, how do I do that?
I wish that I knew. Sorry to disappoint. Were you expecting some helpful, practical suggestions?
Well, perhaps one practical suggestion would be in order. It seems to help when I actually do it. Here it is! Just say to God something like this: “This isn’t really my work. It is yours, or at least, I hope that it is yours. Help me to do the work and make the plans, but help me not think of the plans or the work as mine. If planning and working is up to me, I’ll make an inadequate plan, and I won’t work as effectively as I would like.”
Such an attitude, when fiercely cultivated, helps me to relax, plan better, and work better. Give it a whirl, and see what happens. You might be surprised.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- God’s Specific Likes about Us April 25, 2025God pulled off a surprise love attack on me this morning. God lured me into the trap in a quite trivial way. I thought I would start my day, not by grading students’ assignments, but by reading and meditating on some Scripture. By the way, I am not saying that reading Scripture is trivial. The […]
- “Strange and Wonderful Creatures” March 28, 2025I did not sleep enough last night. Five hours of sleep may be enough for some, but not for me. However, when I tried for a while to go back to sleep after waking up at 1:00 a.m., I realized that it was not going to happen. I might as well get up and work […]
- “Even Computers Need a Rest Sometimes!” February 11, 2025Jumpy cursor! I was trying to grade student assignments, and my cursor was jumping around like a Mexican jumping bean. I would start typing something, and then I would be on a different line. Here is the sort of non-sentences I was ending up with: be Please see my respolownse video. Of course, what I […]
- “Lives as Well as Lips” February 5, 2025“Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise? Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!” (Psalm 106:1-3, English Standard Version) […]
- DTEB, “The Wanna-Wanna Method” January 29, 2025“. . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, Phil. 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12b-13, English Standard Version) In a text exchange with a friend, he confessed that he really, really wants to make some bad […]
- “Fun, Cat Videos, and Transformation” December 9, 2024“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, English Standard Version) One of my twelve-step sponsors suggested that I need more fun in my life. He knows me well, but on this one, I was determined to prove him wrong. […]
- “The Enemy is Perfectionism” December 6, 2024“The good is the enemy of the best.” (A common saying.) “The best is the enemy of doing anything at all that is good.” (My take on the saying and my reality.) Some of you have been wondering why I haven’t been posting any of my musings in the past way-too-long. I am tempted to […]
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
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