A Human Family Reunion

William Ury sits perched on the edge of his seat.

As he talks with one of the Summit facilitators, I listen closely to what he has to say.  I can’t help it.  His energy and passion for conflict resolution is so engaging.  He calls the point we are at in history “the moment of the human family reunion” and describes how we must learn to live with one another. 

Ury talks about his role in major negotiations for peace around the world; and I can tell he loves his work.  He tells a story about how he chose not to react to a frustrated Hugo Chavez who was yelling in his face for thirty minutes, in the midst of negotiations with his opponents, just prior to Christmas in 2002.  There was only so long Chavez could carry on his rant; and once he reached the end of it, he was quiet and then asked Ury what he should do.  I am rather impressed at the calm he describes. 

He offers the idea that the biggest obstacle in conflict is me.  I think about it.  Isn’t it when I am being stubborn or focusing on my own injured feelings or just plain angry that I can’t begin to think about having an adult conversation in the midst of conflict?  Ury invites us to “go to the balcony”— to get some perspective and separate from the problem.  Yes.  I’ve practiced this a few times and it always goes better than those times I just can’t seem to choose it. 

As Ury talks, I file away these nuggets to remember the next time my feelings are injured or my husband comes to me with a problem we need to work out. 

We near the end of his allotted speaking time when the facilitator asks about Israel and Palestine.  He wonders if there can ever be peace between these peoples, asking Ury for some perspective.  He says something profound that I have been pondering ever since:

“Some conflicts are so difficult they can only be healed by a story.”

Could it be as simple a solution as that? 

The part of me that knows the way my own faith has deepened because of training in God’s story relaxes into this idea.  This makes perfect sense to me. 

When we believe a story we live it.

I know what it is to train in a story, to believe something more fully—to go from head knowledge to practiced knowledge of the heart. 

As I trained in God’s story this spring, I came to a better understanding that God wants us to trust Him.  A healthy relationship is built on trust; and choice is the laboratory for trust.  When a choice is made, trust is either kept or broken.  In the garden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the vehicle around which trust would develop.  Adam and Eve were invited by their Creator to trust him and choose loving obedience and relationship by not eating from it.  When man chose not to trust we were separated from God; and our relationship with Him was broken.

Yet, it is through a shared story with man, God redeems us and restores our relationship to Him. 

Sandra L. Richter describes the story succinctly,

“In Eden all humanity was welcomed into relationship with God, with the Fall, that relationship was broken.  With Noah, one man and his immediate family reenter God’s plan.  With Abraham, an extended family that eventually becomes a tribal confederacy is welcomed home.  With Moses, an entire nation experiences the grace of God.  Finally with Jesus, as in Eden, every son of Adam and daughter of Eve is offered the opportunity for relationship with their Creator” (Epic of Eden, p.133).

 

For me, understanding this idea of trust led to practical applications in one of my family relationships.  I realized that in order for there to be a real relationship with this person, they would need the opportunity to choose it.  This meant having some conversations about boundaries with others in my family to allow for the possibility.  It also meant doing something that was hard to do, for the possibility of something better. 

Believing God’s story changed me.  It continues to change me.  Because of this, I suppose, I shouldn’t be surprised that story might change others too.

Ury describes the tradition of hospitality and kindness to one another that is rooted in a common ancestor for Israelis and Palestinians—Abraham.  He talks of a need to build a new story that is rooted in an old one.

It makes me wonder. 

Is it possible to begin weaving our lives together from a common place—like a shared ancestor, Abraham—and find reconciliation by creating something new together that honors both the Israelis and Palestinians?

Could it be possible that it is through being shaped by God’s story, which we all share, that we will find reconciliation? 

Paul wrote a letter to the Galatians saying, “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29

Is it possible that by finding our identity as God’s children we will care about the well being of our brothers and sisters and seek peace with them? 

Is that the kind of story powerful enough to bring people together?

I think so.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we experience the reconciliation that comes through God’s story.  As we train in His story may we be changed by it in ways that leave us ever speaking of His goodness.  May we be the kind of people who allow God to work in us to pursue reconciliation in our own broken relationships.  May we share of the availability of His reconciliation for all.

Jessica :)

Gift of Love

A book I have been picking up on and off since late spring is The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer.  I have loved reading about the attributes of God, reminding myself about what God is really like, not how I imagine Him to be.  This weekend I read a chapter about “The Love of God.” 

Tozer’s prayer that begins his musing on the topic reads:

“Our Father which art in heaven, we Thy children are often troubled in mind, hearing within us at once affirmations of faith and the accusations of conscience.  We are sure that there is in us nothing that could attract the love of One as holy and as just as Thou art.  Yet Thou hast declared Thine unchanging love for us in Christ Jesus.  If nothing in us can win Thy love, nothing in the universe can prevent Thee from loving us.  Thy love is uncaused and undeserved.  Thou art Thyself the reason for the love wherewith we are loved.  Help us to believe the intensity, the eternity of the love that has found us.  Then love will cast out fear; and our troubled hearts will be at peace, trusting not in what we are but in what Thou hast declared Thyself to be. Amen.”

  

Tozer makes me think about the gift of God's love and give thanks. 

This week...

May we delight in the gift of God’s love. 

May we know that nothing can separate us from God’s love.  His gift of love is always available to us.  

May we be rooted in God’s love and taste of how wide and long and high and deep this love is in Christ. 

May we be changed by this love, extending it to all who cross our paths this week.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we come to know His love more fully.  

Jessica :)

Grace and Peace

Today, I'm taking a bit of a break.  I began writing a story to tell earlier this week, intending to finish for today's post.  However, over the last few days I have spent the time I had to write having a good conversation with my mom and soaking up the wise words of leaders at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. 

I hope to share a little bit about what I learned at the conference and tell a story about rest next week.

Until then...

Find time to rest, dear friends. 

***

"Grace and peace be ours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1:2

Jessica :)

Where Cravings Are Satisfied

On Thursdays I have been sharing a little bit about what I have been learning as I read through 1 John.

1 John is a letter written to the believers in Asia Minor.  John has been giving examples of what a believer who walks with God looks like.  He has been contrasting these believers with those who say that they walk with God, but whose actions and beliefs do not support their claims.  He calls these people liars and says they walk in darkness.  John wants the believers to be able to recognize the difference between that which is true and that which is false.  He pauses in this endeavor to encourage the believers he is writing to by reminding them of the joy, the power, and the faithfulness they have received from Christ.

Last week, we looked at the first of three verses about the world.  This week we look at the second.

John writes, 

“Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”  1 John 2:15-17 TNIV

 

It says it right in the opening words of Genesis: 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

As creation unfolds, it is God who brings everything into existence. 

John knows this.  Yet, choosing his words carefully, he says, “Everything in the world comes not from the Father but from the world.” 

It makes me stop.  If everything in the world comes not from the Creator God, but from the world, what is John talking about? 

I think the key to uncovering what he is trying to say can be found in the word for “world.” Last week, we read that the Greek word kosmos has to do with “the present condition of human affairs in alienation and opposition to God” (VINES Expository Dictionary).

This human condition in opposition to God comes not from God, but from man. (The definition of kosmos in the second instance of the word “world”is slightly different).  This idea brings to mind a picture.

I imagine the command given to Adam in the Garden.  I imagine the scene where the command is broken.  It is here the present condition of the world begins.  Man is alienated from God.  Adam and Eve choose opposition to God.  Left unto myself, I choose this too, everyday.  It is my default.

At its best, “The world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions” (NLT).  At its worst, the world is full of hunger, slavery, and all kinds of brokenness—all the fruit of trying to be like God, apart from God.  Yet, even the best the world has to offer is empty, because it is never enough.  The cravings are never satisfied. 

It seems to me that nearly every American probably relate to this picture.  We are driven by cravings.  It seems to me that our economy depends on the cravings of the consumer.  Commercials tell us every day that what we have is not enough, and we believe it.  We see the newest piece of technology and we are sure that we couldn’t be content without it.  We go shopping just for fun, not because we need something.  If we are truly honest, sometimes the things we say we need are really just things we want.  We seek to get ahead in our careers—to get promoted, be in charge, to buy a bigger home, and to make more money in order to get more of something someone has convinced us we need.  We want more and more and it is never enough.

When we see the world with eyes of scarcity rather than eyes of abundance, what we have is never enough.

John says the things of the world are not from the Father. It makes me wonder, what is from the Father?  
I begin to imagine the kingdom He inhabits.  What might that be like? 

Could it be that His kingdom is a place where cravings are satisfied?  A place where there is humility in achievement?  A place where possessions aren’t a priority, because all we need is provided?  What might it be like to live in that place?

I believe such a kingdom exists. 

I believe it comes through Jesus—who showed us how to live, who humbly accomplished his work on the cross, atoning for our sins, and defeating death in His resurrection—by grace. 

I believe it involves surrendering to God's will and living in obedience.  It begins with choosing loving obedience through Christ rather than living in willful disobedience with Adam and Eve.  As we begin anew we start to discover that in Christ our cravings are satisfied; we learn to trust that His humble example is better than the world’s pride; and we see that all we need will be provided in Him.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as our eyes are opened to the scarcity of this world and the abundance of God’s kingdom.  As we seek Him may we find our cravings are satisfied, humility is indeed better than pride, and that all we need is provided as we pursue obedience to Christ.  May our eyes be open to see the grace that is poured out on us each day, so that we never cease to be amazed by the abundant goodness of God.

Jessica :)

P.S.  We will continue to look at this kingdom next week.  I believe it is closely tied to the last verse (v.17) about God's will.  I hope you will join me next week :)



Darning Our Hearts

Often, it is a slow drift—a series of choices, careless words and selfish thoughts.

But once in awhile it’s like being sideswiped, sudden.

It all goes spinning out of control.

The silence hangs heavy

As we regroup and try to find the way back to wholeness and peace and love.

It is here, out of the brokenness—

In the bending of wills,

In seeking to listen and understand,

In choosing an attitude of humility—

A marriage is proved strong.

As we set aside wounded feelings and deal with the humanness of us both.

Together, doing the work of darning our hearts—

Finding the places worn thin and weaving in the new and fresh and strong

Threads of communication, trust, and active love.

The kinds of fibrous substance to last a lifetime.

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 5:21

*** 

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we seek to honor our spouses.  As we submit to each other out of love may we find that mutual submission leads to a beautiful rhythm that brings us much joy.

Jessica :)