When I was a child on the farm, one of the most exausting things that could happen to you is to get stuck in the muck. Woe to the happless wanderer who ventured unwittingly into the muck. It was really horrible. Usually you had your work boots on anyway, which were huge and heavy just by themselves. You would exhaust yourself to pull one foot up, just to have it sucked back down again. At times you would have to get a helping hand or a stick to lean on to get yourself out. Yuck. If there is one thing I learned from the experience, it was that just because your tired, doesn't mean you've been climbing. My battles in the muck field taught me that you can wear yourself out going nowhere. I wonder how many times we make that mistake spiritually. How many times do we play the role of Martha, running ourselves ragged doing good deeds while forgetting or neglecting " the better thing."
The "Left Behind" series has been a big hit. People have spent so much time and energy reading the books and focusing on the rapture and end times. But I have to wonder if the bigger concern of our lives shouldn't be over getting left behind by the wind of the Spirit and what God is doing on this earth in the here and now. Could it be possible to be stuck so deeply in the muck of our old habits, ways and ideas that we fail to even realise we have been left behind, even as those around us are caught up into the new things of God? Just because you're tired, doesn't mean you've been climbing.
8 comments:
Angevoix,
I enjoyed and appreciated your commentary on this post. You employed one of my fave literary devices in writing. Your mix of personal narrative and contemplation made your comments somehow more substantial and rooted in reality for me. Nice work.
The rapture sign is funny. Funny ha-ha, but also funny as in strange and bizarre. It’s also sad. I can almost feel the weight of that sign being an unnecessary and unfortunate burden shouldered by the easily persuaded. I have a similar photo of a “rapture/end times” type sign (without the predictive date noted—I guess a few loons have learned their lesson on this front) that I quickly snapped with my camera in a moment of entertainment on the side of a road about a month or so ago. I was bewildered and saddened and humored all at the same time by the sheer audacity, but even more so, ignorance of such a display. Fear still motivates for some where God is concerned I suppose, but only to a point. I’ll post my pic too later, so we can compare images. Of course, I’ll supply a little loathing in the form of comments to go along with it for good measure. It won’t be anywhere near as charitable as your thoughts here, and hence, not as worthy.
In my estimation, the whole Left Behind movement is at a minimum annoying like a mosquito bite to those like me who watch it in disgust from a healthy distance, as it gains prominence and a foothold (stranglehold would be a better descriptive) among so many Christians who refuse to think for themselves. Why is it that so many seem content to hang up their “thinking cap” at the entrance to the sanctuary? At its worst, the LB movement (cult?) is a festering boil on the lives of those who believe its distorted message.
I think I would call it "Escapism Theology" amd one of the biggest problems that I have with it is that people who are really in to it tend to act as if it negates their responsibility to do anything about the condition of our world in the here and now. I can't count the number of times I have heard someone say in response to a critical issue,"Well its not going to get better until Jesus comes back anyway." So in the mean time, let's all just sit on are hands and shake our heads while we watch it deteriorate...
How did your move go? I hope things are settling down a bit for you and finding their center.
You put it exactly right, C. I do feel a bit uncentered at the moment, but i'm not sure if that isn't by God's intention. Things are going in a lot of new directions at present, and even good change can be overwhelming when there is a lot of it. thanks for asking Amigo.
Do you miss the farm or were you glad to get away?
I miss it constantly. From time to time it gets so intense I have to grab a friend and head out of town for a day. I always say that if my life were not hidden in Christ, I would be somewhere as close to nowhere as you could get raising sheep and reading books - my idea of heaven.
You said, "if my life were not hidden in Christ, I would be somewhere as close to nowhere as you could get raising sheep and reading books - my idea of heaven."
Why would living out the above desire of your heart not potentially be part of a life hidden in Christ? The "intensity" of the desire could be indicative of a "call" or vocation so to speak. I'm just curious. You obviously don't have to answer if it's too personal.
How I wish it were so. I wonder from time to time if there will come a point in my life when God will release me from where I am at now and go live out my fantasy life... Perhaps a career in writing one day will allow it... After I get my degree in teaching I would like to get a small inexpensive cottage type place in somewhere remote for the summers...
Post a Comment