With the exception of the weather yesterday, which got too hot and uncomfortable for my tastes, the weather has been great here in Chicago lately. Not too chilly to prevent one from going outdoors wearing little more than a pair of pants and a short sleeved shirt. Not so hot that one can't lie down in bed at night (in a room with no air conditioning) without waking up with a sweaty neck and a drenched pillow. Weather.com says that it's currently 66 degrees Fahrenheit, with a humidity of 60% and a "dew point" of 52 degrees Fahrenheit. It says that the 66 degrees actually feels like 66 degrees. Like I said, my kind of weather.
Does God know what weather makes people the most comfortable, and what weather makes people the most uncomfortable? Of course he does. He's omniscient, which means that he knows everything. So why isn't the weather here on earth perfectly tailored for us all of the time? I think that the answer has something to do with the Fall, which not only tainted the hearts of men and women, but also had a negative impact on all aspects of God's creation.
I suspect that the weather in heaven will be perfect all the time. Nevertheless, just in case God needs a hint or two in order to properly prepare things for us, I like to drop a request in the divine suggestion box now and then. I'll say things (under my breath, of course) like, "Lord, this weather is really, really nice today. I hope you'll remember that this is the kind of weather that I like, when I get to heaven."
Of course, there are those who can anticipate weather, in the afterlife, which will make the hottest weather we've ever experienced seem refreshing in comparison.
I would like to think that I'll never have to experience the fiery torments of hell, but I know in all honesty that if I do get a heavenly reward, it will be on account of God's mercy, not on account of my own good works.
UPDATE: The really amazing part about this blog post is that the weather recorded in the blog post wasn't just a fluke. It's now August 18, 2008 as I type this update, and the weather outside is marvelous! In fact, it's been marvelous almost every day this summer, in terms of the temperature. There have been a few thunderstorms, but otherwise, it's been extremely comfortable.
But ignore what your senses tell you, ignore the readings of the thermometer, and pay attention to the "global warming" doomsayers instead. In case you can't tell, that last sentence was meant to be extremely sarcastic.
Showing posts with label heaven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heaven. Show all posts
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Thinking of Eternity
Unless you've been completely cut off from the media for the past 48 hours or so, chances are very good that you know about the recent tragic events at Virginia Tech, in which a man inexplicably took loaded weapons onto the campus and started shooting at just about everyone he met. 33 people are dead (including the gunman), and numerous people were wounded as well.
Looking at this individual tragedy, questions are raised. Why did the killer do it? Why didn't campus security do more to protect the students on the campus? What can be done to reduce the likelihood of such incidents happening in the future? What would it feel like to be trapped inside a building with chains across the doors, helplessly watching one's fellow students and teachers die like flies at the hands of an insane killer? How does a person recover from such a traumatic event and move on with life?
Those are valid questions. Some of those questions need to be asked. Others are bound to be asked, whether they need to be asked or not. But this incident is just part of a larger picture. In order to ask all of the right questions, one needs to think beyond this one incident and think about what the incident represents in the light of eternity.
That's right. Eternity. It's one of the most difficult words in the English language, because it represents something (whether real or unreal) which none of us have ever personally experienced, except in our dreams.
Sooner or later, unless something unprecedented occurs in order to completely change the natural order of things as we know it, we all must die. We may die peacefully in our beds at a ripe old age. We may die quickly, violently and prematurely at the hands of a mad gunman or a political terrorist. There are numerous ways in which to die, but death is nonnegotiable and universal. We will all die. And then what?
Some say that life is random and devoid of any deep meaning. They say that any ideas to the contrary are delusional. They say that a human being is little more than a biological machine, destined to return to the dust in a fairly short period of time. They say that we might as well have as much fun and enjoyment as possible while we remain alive, because life is short and we have nothing better than this to look forward to after we die.
And then there are those of us who are pinning our hopes and dreams on the idea that there is a God who can be trusted. We believe that God is preparing a heavenly place for those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We believe that the real delusion is the idea that life is random and ultimately meaningless. We believe that the trials and tragedies of this demonstrably imperfect life on earth are merely a temporary detour on a road which leads to an inconceivably joyful state of existence in a perfect world where time never ends.
Yesterday, I was in a crowded elevator, and I was talking to a guy who lived in my building. I expressed the idea that this latest incident was yet another example of the flaws of this fallen world. I said that I was looking forward to spending eternity in Heaven, which would be infinitely better than anything this world had to offer.
A woman in the elevator spoke to me directly, telling me that she thought I was "ungrateful" for the good things this world had to offer. I thought, and still think, that that was a strange thing for her to say. It does not follow from the fact that I believe that we live in a fallen world that I don't appreciate the good things this life has to offer. Life here is not always a miserable thing. Sometimes there are times when it is great to be alive on this earth. But I believe that the pleasures of this life pale in comparison with the infinite joy which awaits us in Heaven.
Karl Marx said that religion was "the opiate of the people". I think that he meant that promises of heaven were often used by unscrupulous leaders in order to anaesthetize the population so as to manipulate them into accepting the status quo even when the appropriate response was to rise up and rebel against unjust leaders.
It sounds reasonable, in theory, but I think it's demonstrably false. It doesn't follow from the fact that one believes in heaven that one believes in the need for complacency when one is confronted with evil. In fact, quite the opposite. A firm belief in heaven makes one painfully aware of just how far this world and its leaders fall short of God's ideal. We may not be able to fully implement God's kingdom here on earth, but the Lord's prayer seems to strongly suggest that that should be our goal and our prayer.
It's interesting to note that Marx's revolution (based on a weak philosophical foundation which discounted the necessity of God) ultimately failed; whereas the American revolution (led by men and women with strong religious beliefs) led to a political system which, despite its imperfections, is still thriving today.
Being "heavenly minded" does not have to mean that one is "of no earthly good". On the contrary, it is only by keeping our eyes fixed on heaven that we can do our part in order to bring about God's kingdom "on earth, as it is in heaven".
With that thought in mind, I'd like to share a poem I wrote not long ago.
When time is at an end, my friend,
then life begins at last.
No longer bound by future dreams
or memories of the past.
When time is at an end we’ll see
an end to death and misery.
No tears will ever stain a face,
and all our pain will be erased.
When time is at an end, my friend,
then minds will heal and hearts will mend.
Then hidden truths will be revealed.
No longer will they be concealed.
When time is at an end, we’ll hear
the sound of trumpets far and near.
And songs of everlasting praise
will grace our nights and fill our days.
When time is at an end, the Lord
will comfort those who He’s restored.
A privilege it will surely be
to praise Him for eternity.
*************************************************************************
NOTE: To download additional Christ-centered poems I've written (stored online in the form of PDF files which can be downloaded from a public SkyDrive folder), visit this link, then select the poem in which you have an interest, and then click the Download button.
Looking at this individual tragedy, questions are raised. Why did the killer do it? Why didn't campus security do more to protect the students on the campus? What can be done to reduce the likelihood of such incidents happening in the future? What would it feel like to be trapped inside a building with chains across the doors, helplessly watching one's fellow students and teachers die like flies at the hands of an insane killer? How does a person recover from such a traumatic event and move on with life?
Those are valid questions. Some of those questions need to be asked. Others are bound to be asked, whether they need to be asked or not. But this incident is just part of a larger picture. In order to ask all of the right questions, one needs to think beyond this one incident and think about what the incident represents in the light of eternity.
That's right. Eternity. It's one of the most difficult words in the English language, because it represents something (whether real or unreal) which none of us have ever personally experienced, except in our dreams.
Sooner or later, unless something unprecedented occurs in order to completely change the natural order of things as we know it, we all must die. We may die peacefully in our beds at a ripe old age. We may die quickly, violently and prematurely at the hands of a mad gunman or a political terrorist. There are numerous ways in which to die, but death is nonnegotiable and universal. We will all die. And then what?
Some say that life is random and devoid of any deep meaning. They say that any ideas to the contrary are delusional. They say that a human being is little more than a biological machine, destined to return to the dust in a fairly short period of time. They say that we might as well have as much fun and enjoyment as possible while we remain alive, because life is short and we have nothing better than this to look forward to after we die.
And then there are those of us who are pinning our hopes and dreams on the idea that there is a God who can be trusted. We believe that God is preparing a heavenly place for those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We believe that the real delusion is the idea that life is random and ultimately meaningless. We believe that the trials and tragedies of this demonstrably imperfect life on earth are merely a temporary detour on a road which leads to an inconceivably joyful state of existence in a perfect world where time never ends.
Yesterday, I was in a crowded elevator, and I was talking to a guy who lived in my building. I expressed the idea that this latest incident was yet another example of the flaws of this fallen world. I said that I was looking forward to spending eternity in Heaven, which would be infinitely better than anything this world had to offer.
A woman in the elevator spoke to me directly, telling me that she thought I was "ungrateful" for the good things this world had to offer. I thought, and still think, that that was a strange thing for her to say. It does not follow from the fact that I believe that we live in a fallen world that I don't appreciate the good things this life has to offer. Life here is not always a miserable thing. Sometimes there are times when it is great to be alive on this earth. But I believe that the pleasures of this life pale in comparison with the infinite joy which awaits us in Heaven.
Karl Marx said that religion was "the opiate of the people". I think that he meant that promises of heaven were often used by unscrupulous leaders in order to anaesthetize the population so as to manipulate them into accepting the status quo even when the appropriate response was to rise up and rebel against unjust leaders.
It sounds reasonable, in theory, but I think it's demonstrably false. It doesn't follow from the fact that one believes in heaven that one believes in the need for complacency when one is confronted with evil. In fact, quite the opposite. A firm belief in heaven makes one painfully aware of just how far this world and its leaders fall short of God's ideal. We may not be able to fully implement God's kingdom here on earth, but the Lord's prayer seems to strongly suggest that that should be our goal and our prayer.
It's interesting to note that Marx's revolution (based on a weak philosophical foundation which discounted the necessity of God) ultimately failed; whereas the American revolution (led by men and women with strong religious beliefs) led to a political system which, despite its imperfections, is still thriving today.
Being "heavenly minded" does not have to mean that one is "of no earthly good". On the contrary, it is only by keeping our eyes fixed on heaven that we can do our part in order to bring about God's kingdom "on earth, as it is in heaven".
With that thought in mind, I'd like to share a poem I wrote not long ago.
WHEN TIME IS AT AN END
© Mark W. Pettigrew
© Mark W. Pettigrew
When time is at an end, my friend,
then life begins at last.
No longer bound by future dreams
or memories of the past.
When time is at an end we’ll see
an end to death and misery.
No tears will ever stain a face,
and all our pain will be erased.
When time is at an end, my friend,
then minds will heal and hearts will mend.
Then hidden truths will be revealed.
No longer will they be concealed.
When time is at an end, we’ll hear
the sound of trumpets far and near.
And songs of everlasting praise
will grace our nights and fill our days.
When time is at an end, the Lord
will comfort those who He’s restored.
A privilege it will surely be
to praise Him for eternity.
*************************************************************************
NOTE: To download additional Christ-centered poems I've written (stored online in the form of PDF files which can be downloaded from a public SkyDrive folder), visit this link, then select the poem in which you have an interest, and then click the Download button.
Monday, January 15, 2007
From One Jerk To Another
Yesterday morning, I attended Willow Chicago (the downtown Chicago branch of Willow Creek Community Church) for the second time.
After the worship service, Willow Chicago held a fellowship reception in the Windsor Room at the nearby Congress Hotel, since their contract with The Auditorium (where their Sunday worship services are held) apparently doesn’t include access to meeting rooms for such events.
As I approached the Congress Hotel, I looked into the window of the hotel’s gift shop. I saw what appeared to be a line of humorous bumper stickers.
However, the captions on some of those bumper stickers would not necessarily strike everyone as amusing. For example, the first bumper sticker I noticed had the following caption:
“Jesus Loves You. Everyone else thinks you’re a jerk.”
Alright, I made part of that up. “Jerk” wasn’t actually the word the bumper sticker used. It actually used a harsher word which rhymes with the phrase “brass pole” and which could be roughly paraphrased as “anal aperture”. But this is a family-friendly Christian blog, so I thought I’d try to keep things “clean” for the sake of the many Christians who think that certain words should be completely off limits.
I thought it was a bit ironic that I saw that message when I was on the way to a church event being held in that same hotel.
Putting aside the issue of the bumper sticker’s mild profanity, and putting aside the fact that it was obviously an attempt at humor on the part of the writer, I thought it was an interesting message which raised equally interesting questions.
In essence, the message on the bumper sticker seemed to imply that Jesus loves jerks because he is too naïve to recognize a jerk when he sees one. It implied that loving a person and recognizing that the person is a jerk are mutually exclusive.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Nobody knows us better than God. If any of us really are jerks, you can be sure that God knows that better than anyone else.
I have been known, from time to time, to characterize some particularly unkind people (including some of my fellow Christians) as jerks. I’ve even used the other word that was actually on that bumper sticker, when people have really made me angry by treating me badly.
However, in my more reflective moments, I suspect that God thinks that we’re all jerks, not just some of us.
Admittedly, some of us are bigger jerks than others, but the Bible makes it clear: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
We have all acted in self-centered ways from time to time. Intentionally or unintentionally, most of us have hurt one another on occasions. And even if some of us as individuals have not ever hurt other people, we have certainly hurt God when we have insulted God by implying by word or deed that we were better qualified than God to know how we ought to live our lives.
The Bible talks about two kinds of righteousness. One kind of righteousness is what might be described as “relative righteousness”. To be relatively righteous is to be more righteous than most other people. Job, for example, met that criterion. That’s why the Bible described Job as a “righteous man”.
Provided that it is tempered by humility, relative righteousness has value. It’s good to strive to be a relatively righteous person. In fact, God expects us to do so.
However, there’s also another kind of righteousness: Perfect or absolute righteousness. We ought to strive for that higher level of righteousness as well, but the Bible makes it clear that no one other than Christ has ever lived a perfectly righteous life here on earth. Compared with the perfect righteousness of Christ, our relative righteousness begins to look pretty sad and pathetic.
A lot of people think that because they’re relatively righteous, in comparison with other people, that means that they are qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not long ago, I spoke with someone I care for deeply. He said that he knew he was going to go to heaven because he’d been a relatively good person who had “never murdered anybody”.
Such a statement is common in our society, but it shows a real lack of understanding, for two reasons. First, it implies that all one has to do in order to qualify for entry into heaven is to abstain from the most grievious sins such as murder. Second, it implies that murderers and others who have committed the worst sins have no hope of entering the kingdom of God. Neither one of those things is true.
God doesn't merely want us to be relatively righteous people. God’s standards are uncompromising. God requires perfection. Anything less than perfection makes a person unqualified to enter the kingdom of heaven. In terms of salvation, the extent to which you miss the mark is irrelevant. If you miss it by even a little bit, you’ve missed it.
It’s like being a deer hunter. You can miss the deer by an inch or a mile. Either way, you go home hungry, and the deer lives to see another day. What good is it that you almost hit the deer you were shooting at? When you're hungry for venison, "almost" doesn't cut it.
When it comes to pleasing God, we’ve all missed the mark. Some by a little, some by a lot, but we’ve all missed it. We all have a spiritual hunger that cannot be satisfied on the basis of our own inadequate efforts.
However, heaven would be a mighty empty place if God had not made any provisions for sinners to enter heaven. That’s why Jesus died on the cross for us. He knew that on some level, we were all rebellious jerks who didn’t deserve to go to heaven. Yet, Jesus inexplicably loved us anyway. That’s why it’s called “amazing grace”!
Jesus wants to spend eternity with us, despite our obvious and not so obvious flaws. Because Jesus was the only perfect person to ever live, Jesus was the only one qualified to pay the penalty for our sins on our behalf. He had no obligation to do so, but he did so anyway.
None of this ought to be used, as some immature Christians do, as an excuse to act like jerks. God’s grace and mercy can cover and forgive a multitude of sins, but we still have a moral obligation to make a conscientious effort to avoid sin. We still have an obligation to hold one another accountable for sins we may commit.
As much as possible, I try not to act like a jerk. Relative to a lot of other people, I think that I’ve done a pretty good job of living a morally admirable life.
Nevertheless, nobody but God is more aware of my shortcomings than I am. Consequently, I’m indescribably glad and grateful that Jesus has loved and forgiven me even when I have miserably failed to meet God’s standards.
Regarding what other people think of me or don’t think of me, I do want others to think well of me, but there is a sense in which it really doesn’t matter what other people think about me, just as there is a sense in which it doesn’t really matter what I think about others or about you.
Your judgments are impure. My judgments are impure. God’s judgments are perfect and unimpeachable.
In the final analysis (which is coming sooner than you may think), what God thinks about me and you is the only thing that really matters.
Don’t be caught unprepared for Judgment Day. Instead, I would suggest that you pray the following prayer, or something similar to it:
Dear God,
I’ve known a lot of jerks in my life. Sadly, I have to admit that I have sometimes been one of them. I have chosen my own way and not yours. I have rejected your wisdom and counsel. I have hurt you, and it's quite likely that I have hurt others. I have strayed from the path that leads to eternal life.
Please forgive me. Please set my feet back onto the righteous path once again. Please help me to help others so that they, too, can receive the glorious forgiveness you have generously offered to all who will humbly ask for forgiveness.
I thank you that you sent your son Jesus to die on my behalf. I thank you that you can be trusted to honor this request for forgiveness. I praise and glorify your holy name, for you alone are worthy of such praise.
In Jesus’ Blessed Name,
Amen
If you’ve just prayed the above prayer for the first time, or if you’ve just prayed something similar (possibly because the above prayer was not tailored perfectly to your own situation), please write to me and let me know that you’ve decided to follow Christ.
It would really make my day to know that I helped to play a role in leading you to make the most important decision that you will ever make.
Sincerely,
Mark Pettigrew
mark_w_pettigrew[at]hotmail[dot]com
After the worship service, Willow Chicago held a fellowship reception in the Windsor Room at the nearby Congress Hotel, since their contract with The Auditorium (where their Sunday worship services are held) apparently doesn’t include access to meeting rooms for such events.
As I approached the Congress Hotel, I looked into the window of the hotel’s gift shop. I saw what appeared to be a line of humorous bumper stickers.
However, the captions on some of those bumper stickers would not necessarily strike everyone as amusing. For example, the first bumper sticker I noticed had the following caption:
“Jesus Loves You. Everyone else thinks you’re a jerk.”
Alright, I made part of that up. “Jerk” wasn’t actually the word the bumper sticker used. It actually used a harsher word which rhymes with the phrase “brass pole” and which could be roughly paraphrased as “anal aperture”. But this is a family-friendly Christian blog, so I thought I’d try to keep things “clean” for the sake of the many Christians who think that certain words should be completely off limits.
I thought it was a bit ironic that I saw that message when I was on the way to a church event being held in that same hotel.
Putting aside the issue of the bumper sticker’s mild profanity, and putting aside the fact that it was obviously an attempt at humor on the part of the writer, I thought it was an interesting message which raised equally interesting questions.
In essence, the message on the bumper sticker seemed to imply that Jesus loves jerks because he is too naïve to recognize a jerk when he sees one. It implied that loving a person and recognizing that the person is a jerk are mutually exclusive.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Nobody knows us better than God. If any of us really are jerks, you can be sure that God knows that better than anyone else.
I have been known, from time to time, to characterize some particularly unkind people (including some of my fellow Christians) as jerks. I’ve even used the other word that was actually on that bumper sticker, when people have really made me angry by treating me badly.
However, in my more reflective moments, I suspect that God thinks that we’re all jerks, not just some of us.
Admittedly, some of us are bigger jerks than others, but the Bible makes it clear: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
We have all acted in self-centered ways from time to time. Intentionally or unintentionally, most of us have hurt one another on occasions. And even if some of us as individuals have not ever hurt other people, we have certainly hurt God when we have insulted God by implying by word or deed that we were better qualified than God to know how we ought to live our lives.
The Bible talks about two kinds of righteousness. One kind of righteousness is what might be described as “relative righteousness”. To be relatively righteous is to be more righteous than most other people. Job, for example, met that criterion. That’s why the Bible described Job as a “righteous man”.
Provided that it is tempered by humility, relative righteousness has value. It’s good to strive to be a relatively righteous person. In fact, God expects us to do so.
However, there’s also another kind of righteousness: Perfect or absolute righteousness. We ought to strive for that higher level of righteousness as well, but the Bible makes it clear that no one other than Christ has ever lived a perfectly righteous life here on earth. Compared with the perfect righteousness of Christ, our relative righteousness begins to look pretty sad and pathetic.
A lot of people think that because they’re relatively righteous, in comparison with other people, that means that they are qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not long ago, I spoke with someone I care for deeply. He said that he knew he was going to go to heaven because he’d been a relatively good person who had “never murdered anybody”.
Such a statement is common in our society, but it shows a real lack of understanding, for two reasons. First, it implies that all one has to do in order to qualify for entry into heaven is to abstain from the most grievious sins such as murder. Second, it implies that murderers and others who have committed the worst sins have no hope of entering the kingdom of God. Neither one of those things is true.
God doesn't merely want us to be relatively righteous people. God’s standards are uncompromising. God requires perfection. Anything less than perfection makes a person unqualified to enter the kingdom of heaven. In terms of salvation, the extent to which you miss the mark is irrelevant. If you miss it by even a little bit, you’ve missed it.
It’s like being a deer hunter. You can miss the deer by an inch or a mile. Either way, you go home hungry, and the deer lives to see another day. What good is it that you almost hit the deer you were shooting at? When you're hungry for venison, "almost" doesn't cut it.
When it comes to pleasing God, we’ve all missed the mark. Some by a little, some by a lot, but we’ve all missed it. We all have a spiritual hunger that cannot be satisfied on the basis of our own inadequate efforts.
However, heaven would be a mighty empty place if God had not made any provisions for sinners to enter heaven. That’s why Jesus died on the cross for us. He knew that on some level, we were all rebellious jerks who didn’t deserve to go to heaven. Yet, Jesus inexplicably loved us anyway. That’s why it’s called “amazing grace”!
Jesus wants to spend eternity with us, despite our obvious and not so obvious flaws. Because Jesus was the only perfect person to ever live, Jesus was the only one qualified to pay the penalty for our sins on our behalf. He had no obligation to do so, but he did so anyway.
None of this ought to be used, as some immature Christians do, as an excuse to act like jerks. God’s grace and mercy can cover and forgive a multitude of sins, but we still have a moral obligation to make a conscientious effort to avoid sin. We still have an obligation to hold one another accountable for sins we may commit.
As much as possible, I try not to act like a jerk. Relative to a lot of other people, I think that I’ve done a pretty good job of living a morally admirable life.
Nevertheless, nobody but God is more aware of my shortcomings than I am. Consequently, I’m indescribably glad and grateful that Jesus has loved and forgiven me even when I have miserably failed to meet God’s standards.
Regarding what other people think of me or don’t think of me, I do want others to think well of me, but there is a sense in which it really doesn’t matter what other people think about me, just as there is a sense in which it doesn’t really matter what I think about others or about you.
Your judgments are impure. My judgments are impure. God’s judgments are perfect and unimpeachable.
In the final analysis (which is coming sooner than you may think), what God thinks about me and you is the only thing that really matters.
Don’t be caught unprepared for Judgment Day. Instead, I would suggest that you pray the following prayer, or something similar to it:
Dear God,
I’ve known a lot of jerks in my life. Sadly, I have to admit that I have sometimes been one of them. I have chosen my own way and not yours. I have rejected your wisdom and counsel. I have hurt you, and it's quite likely that I have hurt others. I have strayed from the path that leads to eternal life.
Please forgive me. Please set my feet back onto the righteous path once again. Please help me to help others so that they, too, can receive the glorious forgiveness you have generously offered to all who will humbly ask for forgiveness.
I thank you that you sent your son Jesus to die on my behalf. I thank you that you can be trusted to honor this request for forgiveness. I praise and glorify your holy name, for you alone are worthy of such praise.
In Jesus’ Blessed Name,
Amen
If you’ve just prayed the above prayer for the first time, or if you’ve just prayed something similar (possibly because the above prayer was not tailored perfectly to your own situation), please write to me and let me know that you’ve decided to follow Christ.
It would really make my day to know that I helped to play a role in leading you to make the most important decision that you will ever make.
Sincerely,
Mark Pettigrew
mark_w_pettigrew[at]hotmail[dot]com
Friday, November 24, 2006
I Hear The Whistle Blowing
Being stuck in a job where one is belittled and threatened with job loss on a regular basis is a really unpleasant experience. It's like being tied to the train tracks in the path of an oncoming train. One can hear that whistle blowing as the train gets nearer and nearer, but one has no ability to stop the train or avoid the collision. All one can do is hope that the train is further away than it sounds.
As comparisons go, I think that's a pretty good comparison. But it isn't really fully adequate.
When being hit by a real train, it's reasonable to suppose that one's moment of actual pain would be mercifully brief, provided that it was a direct hit. One might suppose that death would be instant, and that one wouldn't be alive long enough to really experience any pain. It seems reasonable to assume that the anticipation and the fear would be the worst part of the experience.
With a job loss, there is nothing particularly merciful or brief about it. Instead of bringing relief, the actual moment in which one is told that one has been fired merely initiates a long process in which one repeatedly does one's best to smile and act as optimistic as possible during job interviews, even though one is dying inside. It doesn't help that one is expected to refrain from criticizing one's former employers, even in situations where one was often treated with little or no consideration and respect.
It gets harder to stay optimistic the longer the job search process takes. And the older one gets, the longer the job search process seems to take. During that time, funds shrink (even if one is fortunate enough to qualify for unemployment insurance), and one's self esteem and hope for the future diminish with every incident in which one has to plead for one's landlord to be patient and to abstain from evicting one from one's home long enough for one to secure another job and get back on one's feet again.
During times of unemployment, one basically is not allowed to have a real life. Every moment spent in some endeavor other than looking for work is filled with guilt. That includes time spent sleeping. Yet, sleep offers the only relief from the constant awareness of one's predicament. With no job to go to, it's very hard to get motivated to make do with five or six hours of sleep when one's body really needs eight hours or more.
Somehow, it seems that one always gets a job at the end of the process, but the road leading to that event is often long, twisted and rocky. What makes it worse is that one is often forced at the end of the road to take yet another mindnumbingly boring job which is not much better (if any) from one's previous job.
How does one get into such a position? It's easy. No dastardly villain is necessary. All it takes is to be poor and powerless, lacking adequate resources with which to pursue the type of job for which one is really suited. Which, in my cases, is no job at all. For most of my life, I have tried to fit into a variety of job situations, but in most of those jobs, to a greater or lesser degree, I have felt like the proverbial square peg in a round hole.
I am not by any means averse to hard work. But what I long for is a "job" in which the work, no matter how hard, is so enjoyable that it doesn't really feel like work. I know that I have many viable, marketable skills. There are people in this world who are able to support themselves doing things they love. There are people who say hello to the boss every morning when they look into the mirror. Why can't I be one of those people?
Sometimes, talent can be a blessing. Sometimes, though, it can feel like a curse. It would be easy in some ways for me to resign myself to mind numbing work where job security was a distant illusion and the pay was just barely enough to pay the bills, if I had no other conceivable options, and if I didn't know that I had abundant untapped potential. But that's not the case. I long to work in a field which makes the most of my abilities as a musician, writer, artist, photographer and more. I am daily working on personal goals with that objective in mind. But every time I seem to make some progress, it seems that I suffer a financial setback which causes me to lose ground. To say that it's frustrating is an extreme understatement.
I was once accused by a pastor of being "lazy". This, despite the fact that I had only been unemployed (after being fired for failing to meet a sales quota) for a very short time.
Prior to that, the aforementioned pastor knew good and well that I'd been working 12 hours a day at a job that barely paid minimum wage. I'd spent another 4 hours a day commuting. (It was a 2 hour bus ride to and from work.) All told, I'd been spending 16 hours a day either working or riding to and from work. How that qualified as "lazy" was a mystery to me. Apparently, this particular pastor wasn't satisfied that I was spending virtually all of my waking hours in work related activities. He thought I ought to be giving up my sleep as well.
In situations like that, one begins to feel like an orange being squeezed by a huge vise, long after all of the juice is all gone.
But don't dare complain in a situation like that. Oh, no! You'll likely be accused of "whining" by people (including some so-called Christian leaders) whose personal dictionaries do not include words like "compassion" and "empathy". They'll accuse you of holding a "pity party". They'll let you know that they have no interest in your problems or your life. And then they'll expect you to joyfully put money in their collection plates. Just don't count on getting any of it back during times of crisis.
Of course, there will be exceptions. You will occasionally get lucky, or blessed, and find someone who actually practices what he or she preaches. Someone who knows that when a person is down and out, that person needs a helping hand, not a kick in the teeth. But that will be the exception, not the rule. Or at least, it has been for me.
Getting older stinks in some ways. The hair thins and then disappears. The teeth and other parts of the body begin to show their age, especially if one cannot afford regular medical or dental care. Stairs that used to be easy to climb become difficult to climb. The names of old friends increasingly show up in the obituaries.
If one has little or nothing in the form of a financial "nest egg", as is often the case when one is living from one paycheck to the next, then growing old can also be cause for fear. What if the "inevitable" job at the end of the job search process stops being so inevitable? What if one's landlord runs out of patience altogether? What if no one wants to hire one because one has accrued so many bad experiences that it's harder to get a good job reference than it is to pull the teeth of a saltwater crocodile? For these and other reasons, growing old leaves a lot to be desired.
But old age can also be a blessing, if one believes that an eternity in heaven awaits those who continue to do their best to serve and obey God in spite of this massive pile of dung known as life on earth.
Every passing day brings a person of faith one step closer to the arrival of another kind of train. Curtis Mayfield once sang the following song:
People get ready, there's a train a-comin'.
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board.
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.
I once attended a philosophy discussion group at a local secular bookstore. I may have been the only Christian in attendance. Each time they met, they would write down interesting questions they wanted to discuss. Then those questions would be read aloud, and the group would vote for the topic they wished to discuss. At the meeting I attended, someone asked, "Will science ever discover a cure for death? Would that be a desirable thing?"
What a question! That's like asking a person sentenced to prison for life whether or not that person would like to stay in that prison forever. When it was my turn to speak, I said that an eternity here on earth would be a curse, not a blessing, unless solutions could be found to all of the other problems which make life on earth such a miserable experience at times. And I did not believe that such a thing was possible, because we lived in a fallen world which was irreparably tainted with selfishness and sin.
Yes, life here on earth can sometimes be enjoyable, but even those who are relatively blessed in this life are constantly being reminded of just how far this life falls short of what it was meant to be. In this world, there are the "haves" and the "have nots". If you're a "have not", you have numerous problems to deal with, and many of those problems (although not all by any means) are related to financial needs. But being a "have" isn't necessarily much better. If you're a "have", you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on the television news without being reminded that others are suffering. How can you respond to such knowledge? You can either suffer with and for people who suffer, or you can ignore their pleas for help until your soul becomes dead and you become a hollow wraith instead of a man or a woman.
In terms of real pleasure, both of those alternatives leave a lot to be desired. Most people minimize the discomfort by trying to find a balance between those two extremes, but that isn't easy. It shouldn't be necssary. In heaven, it won't be necessary.
In the short term, I hear a train whistle. It tells me that I may not be at my current job much longer. It tells me that leaving that job may be an involuntary experience on my part. I'm not looking forward to the arrival of that train. I hope that I'm mistaken about the inevitability of its arrival.
But that other train? That's a different story. I'm waiting for a train which is bound for glory. The sound of that train whistle is sweet music in my ears. All of the hypocritical preachers and uncompassionate bosses in the world cannot diminish my faith in the Lord who commands that train. I know in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep my soul until that day.
As comparisons go, I think that's a pretty good comparison. But it isn't really fully adequate.
When being hit by a real train, it's reasonable to suppose that one's moment of actual pain would be mercifully brief, provided that it was a direct hit. One might suppose that death would be instant, and that one wouldn't be alive long enough to really experience any pain. It seems reasonable to assume that the anticipation and the fear would be the worst part of the experience.
With a job loss, there is nothing particularly merciful or brief about it. Instead of bringing relief, the actual moment in which one is told that one has been fired merely initiates a long process in which one repeatedly does one's best to smile and act as optimistic as possible during job interviews, even though one is dying inside. It doesn't help that one is expected to refrain from criticizing one's former employers, even in situations where one was often treated with little or no consideration and respect.
It gets harder to stay optimistic the longer the job search process takes. And the older one gets, the longer the job search process seems to take. During that time, funds shrink (even if one is fortunate enough to qualify for unemployment insurance), and one's self esteem and hope for the future diminish with every incident in which one has to plead for one's landlord to be patient and to abstain from evicting one from one's home long enough for one to secure another job and get back on one's feet again.
During times of unemployment, one basically is not allowed to have a real life. Every moment spent in some endeavor other than looking for work is filled with guilt. That includes time spent sleeping. Yet, sleep offers the only relief from the constant awareness of one's predicament. With no job to go to, it's very hard to get motivated to make do with five or six hours of sleep when one's body really needs eight hours or more.
Somehow, it seems that one always gets a job at the end of the process, but the road leading to that event is often long, twisted and rocky. What makes it worse is that one is often forced at the end of the road to take yet another mindnumbingly boring job which is not much better (if any) from one's previous job.
How does one get into such a position? It's easy. No dastardly villain is necessary. All it takes is to be poor and powerless, lacking adequate resources with which to pursue the type of job for which one is really suited. Which, in my cases, is no job at all. For most of my life, I have tried to fit into a variety of job situations, but in most of those jobs, to a greater or lesser degree, I have felt like the proverbial square peg in a round hole.
I am not by any means averse to hard work. But what I long for is a "job" in which the work, no matter how hard, is so enjoyable that it doesn't really feel like work. I know that I have many viable, marketable skills. There are people in this world who are able to support themselves doing things they love. There are people who say hello to the boss every morning when they look into the mirror. Why can't I be one of those people?
Sometimes, talent can be a blessing. Sometimes, though, it can feel like a curse. It would be easy in some ways for me to resign myself to mind numbing work where job security was a distant illusion and the pay was just barely enough to pay the bills, if I had no other conceivable options, and if I didn't know that I had abundant untapped potential. But that's not the case. I long to work in a field which makes the most of my abilities as a musician, writer, artist, photographer and more. I am daily working on personal goals with that objective in mind. But every time I seem to make some progress, it seems that I suffer a financial setback which causes me to lose ground. To say that it's frustrating is an extreme understatement.
I was once accused by a pastor of being "lazy". This, despite the fact that I had only been unemployed (after being fired for failing to meet a sales quota) for a very short time.
Prior to that, the aforementioned pastor knew good and well that I'd been working 12 hours a day at a job that barely paid minimum wage. I'd spent another 4 hours a day commuting. (It was a 2 hour bus ride to and from work.) All told, I'd been spending 16 hours a day either working or riding to and from work. How that qualified as "lazy" was a mystery to me. Apparently, this particular pastor wasn't satisfied that I was spending virtually all of my waking hours in work related activities. He thought I ought to be giving up my sleep as well.
In situations like that, one begins to feel like an orange being squeezed by a huge vise, long after all of the juice is all gone.
But don't dare complain in a situation like that. Oh, no! You'll likely be accused of "whining" by people (including some so-called Christian leaders) whose personal dictionaries do not include words like "compassion" and "empathy". They'll accuse you of holding a "pity party". They'll let you know that they have no interest in your problems or your life. And then they'll expect you to joyfully put money in their collection plates. Just don't count on getting any of it back during times of crisis.
Of course, there will be exceptions. You will occasionally get lucky, or blessed, and find someone who actually practices what he or she preaches. Someone who knows that when a person is down and out, that person needs a helping hand, not a kick in the teeth. But that will be the exception, not the rule. Or at least, it has been for me.
Getting older stinks in some ways. The hair thins and then disappears. The teeth and other parts of the body begin to show their age, especially if one cannot afford regular medical or dental care. Stairs that used to be easy to climb become difficult to climb. The names of old friends increasingly show up in the obituaries.
If one has little or nothing in the form of a financial "nest egg", as is often the case when one is living from one paycheck to the next, then growing old can also be cause for fear. What if the "inevitable" job at the end of the job search process stops being so inevitable? What if one's landlord runs out of patience altogether? What if no one wants to hire one because one has accrued so many bad experiences that it's harder to get a good job reference than it is to pull the teeth of a saltwater crocodile? For these and other reasons, growing old leaves a lot to be desired.
But old age can also be a blessing, if one believes that an eternity in heaven awaits those who continue to do their best to serve and obey God in spite of this massive pile of dung known as life on earth.
Every passing day brings a person of faith one step closer to the arrival of another kind of train. Curtis Mayfield once sang the following song:
People get ready, there's a train a-comin'.
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board.
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.
I once attended a philosophy discussion group at a local secular bookstore. I may have been the only Christian in attendance. Each time they met, they would write down interesting questions they wanted to discuss. Then those questions would be read aloud, and the group would vote for the topic they wished to discuss. At the meeting I attended, someone asked, "Will science ever discover a cure for death? Would that be a desirable thing?"
What a question! That's like asking a person sentenced to prison for life whether or not that person would like to stay in that prison forever. When it was my turn to speak, I said that an eternity here on earth would be a curse, not a blessing, unless solutions could be found to all of the other problems which make life on earth such a miserable experience at times. And I did not believe that such a thing was possible, because we lived in a fallen world which was irreparably tainted with selfishness and sin.
Yes, life here on earth can sometimes be enjoyable, but even those who are relatively blessed in this life are constantly being reminded of just how far this life falls short of what it was meant to be. In this world, there are the "haves" and the "have nots". If you're a "have not", you have numerous problems to deal with, and many of those problems (although not all by any means) are related to financial needs. But being a "have" isn't necessarily much better. If you're a "have", you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on the television news without being reminded that others are suffering. How can you respond to such knowledge? You can either suffer with and for people who suffer, or you can ignore their pleas for help until your soul becomes dead and you become a hollow wraith instead of a man or a woman.
In terms of real pleasure, both of those alternatives leave a lot to be desired. Most people minimize the discomfort by trying to find a balance between those two extremes, but that isn't easy. It shouldn't be necssary. In heaven, it won't be necessary.
In the short term, I hear a train whistle. It tells me that I may not be at my current job much longer. It tells me that leaving that job may be an involuntary experience on my part. I'm not looking forward to the arrival of that train. I hope that I'm mistaken about the inevitability of its arrival.
But that other train? That's a different story. I'm waiting for a train which is bound for glory. The sound of that train whistle is sweet music in my ears. All of the hypocritical preachers and uncompassionate bosses in the world cannot diminish my faith in the Lord who commands that train. I know in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep my soul until that day.
Friday, December 09, 2005
New Year's Advice
from Dr. Phil
Because I'm a big bald guy with a thick moustache, I've sometimes been told that I look a bit like Dr. Phil McGraw, the popular TV psychologist from Texas, or to "meathead" from All In The Family.
(When I have had a beard, I've been compared with Dr. Andrew Weill, the nutritional "guru", or to the guys from Z.Z. Top, depending on how long my beard is at the time. And let's not forget the comparisons to good 'ol St. Nick, whose beard, like Dr. Weill's, is noticeably whiter than mine has ever been.)
I'm not quite sure why people feel compelled to tell me who I remind them of. Maybe that kind of thing happens to everyone, I don't know. To me, I seems kind of rude for people to comment on my appearance in such a manner (especially when the person is comparing me to Santa Claus!), but maybe I'm just overly sensitive.
At any rate, I can think of worse people to be compared with than Dr. Phil, who sometimes offers pretty good advice on his show, even though he almost never really addresses underlying spiritual issues.
On 1/6/2003, Dr. Phil McGraw had what I considered to be a particularly good show, pertaining to New Year's Resolutions. So good, in fact, that I took notes. He offered the following tips and advice (which are paraphrased slightly), followed by my own comments (as indicated by the initials MP):
DR. PHIL: Be accountable to others, and be honest with them.
MP: This is the key behind the success of groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. But accountability to other human beings, who can be fooled if you really want to fool them badly enough, is less foolproof than accountability to God. If you're conscious of the fact that he knows everything about what you think and do, and if you understand that he will hold you accountable on Judgment Day, it tends to make self-discipline a lot easier.
DR. PHIL: Replace bad behaviors with new, good behaviors.
MP: Good advice. Many of our self-destructive behaviors are just our ways of killing time. Telling someone not to do something isn't much help if you don't tell him what he ought to be doing instead. But notice that judgment is required, inasmuch as one is required to decide what constitutes bad behavior and what constitutes good behavior. So the first step is to resist the nonsense of moral relativism, which says that all things are of equal value. The second step is to make sure that our definitions of bad and good are aligned with the values of our Creator, who alone can be trusted as a source of perfect knowledge about such things.
DR. PHIL: The difference between a goal and a dream is a timeline (which enables you to measure your progress). Set specific goals with measurable results and a timeline.
MP: Great advice, to a point, but it presumes that you always have the ability to project how long a particular task is going to take. Sometimes you're just guessing when you set up such a timeline, and the accuracy of your guess will depend a great deal on your level of knowledge and experience, as well as your ability to accurately foresee all of the complications which might arise. No one can be expected to do that perfectly. An event such as Hurricane Katrina can throw a monkey wrench into even the best of plans.
DR. PHIL: You can't always control results (e.g., how much you weigh), but you can control your actions, so set goals in terms of actions likely to bring you closer to your desired results, not in terms of results which can't be controlled. For example, say, "I will walk one mile each day," not "I will lose 20 lbs. by March 1".
MP: Recognition that one can't always control results is essential for people engaged in Christian ministry. We would like to be able to convert the whole world to Christ, but the reality is that the most we can be expected to do is to clearly communicate our beliefs with others. Beyond that, how they respond is ultimately their choice.)
DR. PHIL: To overcome temptation (e.g., to smoke, overeat, etc.), control your environment (e.g., by choosing not to buy cigarettes, fattening foods, etc.). Don't set yourself up for failure.
MP: Sometimes, controlling one's environment is easier said than done! But Dr. Phil has a valid point. It's a good idea to do so whenever possible. If you are an alcoholic, for example, it probably isn't very smart to go into bars and liquor stores.
DR. PHIL: Talk to yourself in ways which encourage and reinforce good behavior. If you can believe it, you can achieve it. If you keep telling yourself something is hopeless, then it is. Don't make excuses.
MP: "If you can believe it, you can achieve it" is one of those clever but overly simplistic things frequently said by motivational speakers and TV shrinks. All human beings have objective limitations. Believing that one can fly high above the clouds without the aid of mechanical devices of any kind doesn't make one a positive thinker, it makes one delusional!
However, it certainly is true that we can often accomplish more than we thought possible, and it certainly is true that approaching life with a spirit of optimism can substantially increase the probability that we will succeed, if for no other reason than the fact that pessimism saps us of the energy and motivation we need in order to do great things.
As a Christian, I might add that we can accomplish a lot more if we put our faith in God. Our success is no longer reliant solely on our own strength and our own efforts, because he is there to help and strengthen us. The Bible says that with faith, all things are possible. With faith, we can move mountains.
DR. PHIL: Will power is a myth.
MP: I don't completely agree with this one, but I do agree that for those who are struggling with serious addictions or negative habits, will power isn't always sufficient. "Will power," it seems to me, is just a phrase which means that sometimes we have to make tough choices, and stick with those tough choices even though it isn't easy to do so, in order to exercise conscious control over our own lives. Will power can also include planning our lives on the basis of the wise principles Dr. Phil teaches.
DR. PHIL: The power of an immediate reward is greater than the power of a longterm penalty.
MP: This may be one reason why people who don't meditate frequently on the possibility of Heaven and Hell tend to need more temporal rewards in order to be motivated to do the right thing. Those who meditate on such matters tend to find deferred gratification much easier, even though it still isn't easy by any means.
DR. PHIL: The difference between winners and losers is that winners do things (such as working out at the gym, studying for exams, working hard, etc.) which losers don't want to do.
MP: This raises big questions in my mind. What is a winner? What is a loser?
We all win (in the short term) from time to time, and we all lose (in the short term) from time to time. Winning in this life is sometimes more a matter of good luck than any significant achievement, and losing in this life is sometimes more a matter of bad luck than any personal failure. To call a person a "loser", therefore, isn't so much a statement about whether or not the person has recently lost anything of value. It's more of an insult with regard to that person's fundamental character.
Labeling certain people as "losers" is a common practice in our society, but I question whether or not such labels are consistent with a Christian worldview. There is a sense in which we are all losers, since we have all fallen short of God's plans for our lives. To single out certain individuals and to call them names seems to be contrary to the spirit of Christian love and humility.
Moreover, it seems to me that we won't really know for sure, until the day of final judgment, who the real winners and losers were. Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?" Many people who are currently considered to be winners in this world will be seen as losers on Judgment Day. Conversely, many now considered to be losers will receive top honors. If you don't believe me, read the Beatitudes.
However, I understand that Phil is trying to distinguish between those who are successful in their attempts to achieve things and those who are not. He's essentially saying that self-discipline is an essential component in success, and he's right about that.
Self-discipline is not just a matter of doing things you don't want to do. It's also a matter of abstaining from doing things you ought not to do. Self-disciplined people resist the temptation to do things (such as taking recreational drugs, having sex outside of marriage, etc.) which are not in their best interests.
DR. PHIL: You don't have to resist temptations constantly, you just have to make it past "narrow impulse moments".
MP: I might add that the more success you experience in resisting temptations, the easier such resistance becomes, because it becomes harder for you to believe the tempter's lies about "irresistable temptations", since you've proved that they can in fact be resisted.
DR. PHIL: Your beliefs about your own identity can affect your ability to resist temptations. If you label yourself by saying such things as "I'm an addict" or "I'm a criminal" or "I'm a fat person" or "I'm a loser", then you're programming yourself to act in certain self-destructive ways. Don't confuse what you do (or, for that matter, what other people may say you are) with your intrinsic identity.
MP: As a Christian, I would add that we need to remind ourselves that people are fallible, both with regard to their assessments of others and their assessments of themselves. Only God possesses perfect insight into a person's identity, so our identity should be based on his word, not on our own fallible opinions or the fallible opinions of others. If we have met God's requirements in terms of the repentance which leads to salvation, then we are children of God, because he declares it to be so. Therefore, that is our identity, regardless of how much success we may or may not experience in this life.
DR. PHIL: Take small steps regularly, and you will achieve your larger goals, too.
MP: There's nothing wrong with having large goals. But it's hard to measure progress in relation to such goals than it is to measure progress in relation to smaller related tasks.
DR. PHIL: Failure is not a valid excuse for abandoning one's goals. Everyone fails sometimes, the difference between winners and losers is that winners never give up on valid goals.
MP: And of course, it helps to know that when we fail, God is there to forgive us, pick us up and set us on the right path again.
Overall, I'd say that Dr. Phil offers a lot of good (albeit incomplete) advice.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
A Christian Love Song
There's a common misconception among many Christians that if you're a Christian singer, you're obliged to sing about Jesus constantly. That's nonsense, just as it would be nonsense to suggest that Christians were forbidden to read books which were not about Christ.
(I doubt that I'd be computer literate if I'd only read the Bible, which says nothing about Windows or the Internet, so far as I can tell. In fact, you'd have a hard time finding a more enthusiastic bookworm than myself.)
Obviously, it would be sinful to sing a song which promoted and condoned sin, just as it would be sinful to write such a song, but that still leaves a huge range of legitimate topics for believers.
Of course, the most popular category of secular song is the romantic love song. The Song of Solomon, a book of Bible, is in fact such a "song" (although one shudders to think how long the piece would be if it were to be set to music). Given the fact that God saw fit to include a romantic love song in the book which is regarded by Christians as God's holy word, why should anyone conclude that such songs are unsuitable for Christians? I have no idea, but I can make an educated guess: It's not about Christian discipleship, it's about marketing music to the Christian subculture in America. Fortunately, things are a little bit less restrictive in that respect than they were several decades ago, but we still have a long way to go.
One night not long ago, I awoke in the middle of the night, and for some reason, I experienced what might be described as a creative frenzy. Within a very short period of time, I had written the lyrics to an entire love song, written from the perspective of an older man who has finally been blessed with the godly wife he has sought for so long. (Perhaps it was a case of wishful thinking. At age 49, I still haven't found such a woman for myself. Nevertheless, as the old saying goes, "Where there's life, there's hope." I'm sometimes tempted to give up hope, but the Bible reminds me: "With God, all things are possible.")
Here are the lyrics to the song I wrote that night:
I see Heaven in your eyes, and it's really no surprise
that I want to spend my lifetime by your side.
When I met you, I just knew that I always would love you.
It's a special love that cannot be denied.
CHORUS
I never thought that I could ever love again.
You know I really thought those days had come and gone.
I thought I'd never find the woman of my dreams,
but now you know it really looks like I was wrong!
Verse 2
You're a special kind of friend, and I won't even pretend
I deserve the love that you have shown to me.
You're an answer to my prayers, all my worries and my cares,
and I thank the Lord for you on bended knee.
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Verse 3
I'm so happy every day that our love is here to stay;
to abandon love like this would be unwise.
So I promise to be true to this love I have for you,
for I love to see the Heaven in your eyes.
Yes, I love to see the Heaven in your eyes.
------
I attempted to write a song which would make reference to Biblical values pertaining to commitment (since I believe that God abhors divorce), without losing the feeling that the singer is really passionately in love with his wife. Who knows? Perhaps "Heaven In Your Eyes" will do for wedding anniversaries what Paul Stookey's "Wedding Song" did for weddings! That would be great.
Of course, no human spouse can love us the way that God loves us. Have you experienced that love? Ask him to be your Savior, and receive the fullness of his love for you!
(I doubt that I'd be computer literate if I'd only read the Bible, which says nothing about Windows or the Internet, so far as I can tell. In fact, you'd have a hard time finding a more enthusiastic bookworm than myself.)
Obviously, it would be sinful to sing a song which promoted and condoned sin, just as it would be sinful to write such a song, but that still leaves a huge range of legitimate topics for believers.
Of course, the most popular category of secular song is the romantic love song. The Song of Solomon, a book of Bible, is in fact such a "song" (although one shudders to think how long the piece would be if it were to be set to music). Given the fact that God saw fit to include a romantic love song in the book which is regarded by Christians as God's holy word, why should anyone conclude that such songs are unsuitable for Christians? I have no idea, but I can make an educated guess: It's not about Christian discipleship, it's about marketing music to the Christian subculture in America. Fortunately, things are a little bit less restrictive in that respect than they were several decades ago, but we still have a long way to go.
One night not long ago, I awoke in the middle of the night, and for some reason, I experienced what might be described as a creative frenzy. Within a very short period of time, I had written the lyrics to an entire love song, written from the perspective of an older man who has finally been blessed with the godly wife he has sought for so long. (Perhaps it was a case of wishful thinking. At age 49, I still haven't found such a woman for myself. Nevertheless, as the old saying goes, "Where there's life, there's hope." I'm sometimes tempted to give up hope, but the Bible reminds me: "With God, all things are possible.")
Here are the lyrics to the song I wrote that night:
Heaven In Your Eyes
© Mark Pettigrew
Verse 1I see Heaven in your eyes, and it's really no surprise
that I want to spend my lifetime by your side.
When I met you, I just knew that I always would love you.
It's a special love that cannot be denied.
CHORUS
I never thought that I could ever love again.
You know I really thought those days had come and gone.
I thought I'd never find the woman of my dreams,
but now you know it really looks like I was wrong!
Verse 2
You're a special kind of friend, and I won't even pretend
I deserve the love that you have shown to me.
You're an answer to my prayers, all my worries and my cares,
and I thank the Lord for you on bended knee.
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Verse 3
I'm so happy every day that our love is here to stay;
to abandon love like this would be unwise.
So I promise to be true to this love I have for you,
for I love to see the Heaven in your eyes.
Yes, I love to see the Heaven in your eyes.
------
I attempted to write a song which would make reference to Biblical values pertaining to commitment (since I believe that God abhors divorce), without losing the feeling that the singer is really passionately in love with his wife. Who knows? Perhaps "Heaven In Your Eyes" will do for wedding anniversaries what Paul Stookey's "Wedding Song" did for weddings! That would be great.
Of course, no human spouse can love us the way that God loves us. Have you experienced that love? Ask him to be your Savior, and receive the fullness of his love for you!
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Not So Alone After All
If your name is something like John Smith or Bill Jones, you probably aren't surprised to learn that there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people who share your name. A surname such as Pettigrew is far less common, here in the U.S. at any rate. Even so, I've occasionally seen evidence that I am not the only Mark Pettigrew in the world. That impression has been substantiated by a web search via Yahoo, Google or Dogpile. One recent search (at http://reunite.myfamily.com) turned up 60 different results!
It's interesting to see what other Mark Pettigrews are doing in the world. Among my namesakes, there seem to be a lot of writers (one of whom specializes in religions of the Middle East, and another who has written a number of educational books about science) and professors. I also found at least one police officer (in Canada), and even a tattoo artist. I'd have to say that I identify most with the writers and educators, in terms of my own interests.
Growing up, I knew very little about the history of the Pettigrew name, but I've subsequently learned that we seem to originate primarily from Scotland (e.g., Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Kelso, etc.) and, to a lesser degree, from Ireland.
There's a Scottish company, Pettigrews of Kelso, which makes some excellent food products such as fruit cake, lemon curd, chutney, and so forth. (I confess. I actually like fruit cake! And their lemon curd tastes great on shortbread. And no, I don't have any business connections with the company.) Perhaps one day I'll get to travel to the U.K. and meet some of my distant relatives there.
A person could kill a lot of time by using the Web to search for information pertaining to the geneology of one's family name, and tracking down all of one's distant relatives, no matter how remote. But to what end? I admit that there's a certain narcissistic pleasure associated with seeing one's name in print or on the Web, even when it belongs to a person one has never met. Even so, I think that a person's identity ultimately has much less to do with one's family name, and much more to do with the type of legacy one leaves behind.
If you'll take the time to read a number of the articles I've posted on this blog site so far, I think that you'll see that I'm trying to be a person of substance. I'm trying to focus on things which matter in the light of eternity, not on the type of trivial matters (such as celebrity gossip) which seem to preoccupy so many people these days. That's not to say that everything in this blog will be deep and profound, but it is to say that I will try to keep the trivia to a minimum.
As important as it is to leave a lasting, positive legacy, even that is insufficient. Ultimately, the most important aspect of one's identity is one's relationship (or lack thereof) with God. So while I am by no means ashamed to say that my surname is Pettigrew, I take much more pleasure in identifying myself as a Child of the King. Earthly families are transient. My heavenly family is eternal. Sometimes, when I contemplate all of the ridiculous quarrels which take place in the Family of God, I wonder if that's such a good thing, but then I remind myself that such quarrels are just a reflection of the fact that the final fulfillment of God's plan has not yet occurred. I look forward to the day when all of God's children can fellowship together in perfect harmony, in God's eternal kingdom.
It's interesting to see what other Mark Pettigrews are doing in the world. Among my namesakes, there seem to be a lot of writers (one of whom specializes in religions of the Middle East, and another who has written a number of educational books about science) and professors. I also found at least one police officer (in Canada), and even a tattoo artist. I'd have to say that I identify most with the writers and educators, in terms of my own interests.
Growing up, I knew very little about the history of the Pettigrew name, but I've subsequently learned that we seem to originate primarily from Scotland (e.g., Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Kelso, etc.) and, to a lesser degree, from Ireland.
There's a Scottish company, Pettigrews of Kelso, which makes some excellent food products such as fruit cake, lemon curd, chutney, and so forth. (I confess. I actually like fruit cake! And their lemon curd tastes great on shortbread. And no, I don't have any business connections with the company.) Perhaps one day I'll get to travel to the U.K. and meet some of my distant relatives there.
A person could kill a lot of time by using the Web to search for information pertaining to the geneology of one's family name, and tracking down all of one's distant relatives, no matter how remote. But to what end? I admit that there's a certain narcissistic pleasure associated with seeing one's name in print or on the Web, even when it belongs to a person one has never met. Even so, I think that a person's identity ultimately has much less to do with one's family name, and much more to do with the type of legacy one leaves behind.
If you'll take the time to read a number of the articles I've posted on this blog site so far, I think that you'll see that I'm trying to be a person of substance. I'm trying to focus on things which matter in the light of eternity, not on the type of trivial matters (such as celebrity gossip) which seem to preoccupy so many people these days. That's not to say that everything in this blog will be deep and profound, but it is to say that I will try to keep the trivia to a minimum.
As important as it is to leave a lasting, positive legacy, even that is insufficient. Ultimately, the most important aspect of one's identity is one's relationship (or lack thereof) with God. So while I am by no means ashamed to say that my surname is Pettigrew, I take much more pleasure in identifying myself as a Child of the King. Earthly families are transient. My heavenly family is eternal. Sometimes, when I contemplate all of the ridiculous quarrels which take place in the Family of God, I wonder if that's such a good thing, but then I remind myself that such quarrels are just a reflection of the fact that the final fulfillment of God's plan has not yet occurred. I look forward to the day when all of God's children can fellowship together in perfect harmony, in God's eternal kingdom.
Friday, August 19, 2005
A Life Worth Living
Welcome to my new blog site. In this initial entry, I hope to introduce myself in a manner which will stir interest in this blog, and which will bring visitors back again and again.
At the risk of sounding pretentious, I'd like to ask a simple question for you to ponder: What makes life worth living? Many factors can influence one's perceptions with regard to that question.
Few reasonable people dispute the notion that life can be more enjoyable when one has an abundance of material things. Most people also desire some measure of power, although the type of power which is desired can vary widely from one individual to the next. Fun experiences can certainly enhance the perception that one's life has been worthwhile. There is nothing inherently wrong with material things, power or pleasure. But none of those things present the entire picture, at least not for people who believe, as I do, that there is one God who created all that there is.
Ultimately, all of our evaluations concerning the value of our own lives and the lives of others are subjective, and potentially misleading. If there is a God, and a forthcoming day of final judgment, then the true value of our individual lives will only be revealed to us on that day. Then God will have the final word. It is likely that most of us will have some surprises waiting for us.
If there is a life after death, then the things which will ultimately determine the value of our lives here on earth are those which will endure even after we have died. Treasures on earth are transient, but treasures in Heaven are eternal. Therefore, those of us who are sufficiently farsighted to care about how we spend eternity try to live our lives in such a way as to make every moment a positive investment in the future. That means trying to live life in a way which is pleasing to God, even if it means that we must sometimes forfeit temporary pleasures we might experience here on earth.
Virtually all of us, including myself, do this imperfectly. Nevertheless, there is value in making an effort. To make a real effort means to consider the consequences of all of our actions, even including such seemingly trivial things as the creation of entries in one's personal blogs.
Of course, when our own efforts fall short (as they often do), God's grace and mercy are available to all who seek those things, and who also meet God's criteria, which have been clearly communicated in many ways, particularly through the revelation of his written word, and through the life and teachings of the incarnate word of God, Jesus Christ.
Of course, these beliefs of mine, while popular in certain circles, are far from universal. It would be folly to pretend otherwise. Nevertheless, every person has certain foundational beliefs, the understanding of which is crucial to an understanding of all other aspects of that person's life. Since this is my first blog entry in this new blog, I feel that it's important to establish the foundation of my life, so that those who read my subsequent blog entries can read them with an understanding of their context.
By its very nature, a blog is an expression of personal opinions. By my very nature, I am human, and therefore fallible. (Some would say extremely fallible!) I don't pretend that the things which I will write in this blog constitute ultimate truth (although I may, from time to time, refer to things which, being of divine origin, do fit that description in my opinion). Nevertheless, for what it's worth, I think that those who take the time to read what I have written will be rewarded for their efforts.
Like my life itself, this blog will be a journey. I welcome you to come along for the ride!
At the risk of sounding pretentious, I'd like to ask a simple question for you to ponder: What makes life worth living? Many factors can influence one's perceptions with regard to that question.
Few reasonable people dispute the notion that life can be more enjoyable when one has an abundance of material things. Most people also desire some measure of power, although the type of power which is desired can vary widely from one individual to the next. Fun experiences can certainly enhance the perception that one's life has been worthwhile. There is nothing inherently wrong with material things, power or pleasure. But none of those things present the entire picture, at least not for people who believe, as I do, that there is one God who created all that there is.
Ultimately, all of our evaluations concerning the value of our own lives and the lives of others are subjective, and potentially misleading. If there is a God, and a forthcoming day of final judgment, then the true value of our individual lives will only be revealed to us on that day. Then God will have the final word. It is likely that most of us will have some surprises waiting for us.
If there is a life after death, then the things which will ultimately determine the value of our lives here on earth are those which will endure even after we have died. Treasures on earth are transient, but treasures in Heaven are eternal. Therefore, those of us who are sufficiently farsighted to care about how we spend eternity try to live our lives in such a way as to make every moment a positive investment in the future. That means trying to live life in a way which is pleasing to God, even if it means that we must sometimes forfeit temporary pleasures we might experience here on earth.
Virtually all of us, including myself, do this imperfectly. Nevertheless, there is value in making an effort. To make a real effort means to consider the consequences of all of our actions, even including such seemingly trivial things as the creation of entries in one's personal blogs.
Of course, when our own efforts fall short (as they often do), God's grace and mercy are available to all who seek those things, and who also meet God's criteria, which have been clearly communicated in many ways, particularly through the revelation of his written word, and through the life and teachings of the incarnate word of God, Jesus Christ.
Of course, these beliefs of mine, while popular in certain circles, are far from universal. It would be folly to pretend otherwise. Nevertheless, every person has certain foundational beliefs, the understanding of which is crucial to an understanding of all other aspects of that person's life. Since this is my first blog entry in this new blog, I feel that it's important to establish the foundation of my life, so that those who read my subsequent blog entries can read them with an understanding of their context.
By its very nature, a blog is an expression of personal opinions. By my very nature, I am human, and therefore fallible. (Some would say extremely fallible!) I don't pretend that the things which I will write in this blog constitute ultimate truth (although I may, from time to time, refer to things which, being of divine origin, do fit that description in my opinion). Nevertheless, for what it's worth, I think that those who take the time to read what I have written will be rewarded for their efforts.
Like my life itself, this blog will be a journey. I welcome you to come along for the ride!
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