Bill Dogterom
Sunday, September 25, 2005
The Truly Different Individual
To be an individual – to stand out from the crowd – to be different – to not blend in. For some, the quest is life-long – for others a momentary diversion. There are spiritual versions of it that place a premium on finding God’s special plans and place for you with the repeated assurance that He has something great for you to do. It is promoted by the hypocrites of the advertising industry – who hope enough people will want to be different in the same way. A few years ago there was a commercial featuring children staring into the camera saying things like, “When I grow up, I want to be normal,” the point being that nothing great comes of a desire to be normal. Greatness demands extraordinary individuals who celebrate their out-of-stepness with society by odd fashion sense or strange hair cuts. But eccentricity is not the same thing as individuality – even though they often pass as the other’s twin. The truth is, to quote a favorite bumper sticker, “You are unique – just like everybody else.”
What does it take to be a real individual? The answer may surprise you. It takes belonging to a community. It is only in community that individuality can flourish and have any meaning beyond strange. It is the community that provides the framework, support structure, and background in which individuality can safely exist. It is only out of community that individuality can grow. You don’t create community by pulling together a bunch of individuals in an organized attempt at getting them all on the same page.
Think of a family. In a healthy family, each member is allowed and encouraged to be fully themselves. They don’t need to conform for fear of rejection – they are already part of the family and it is completely safe for them to express themselves against the backdrop of that security. Individual accomplishment is celebrated. Individual failure is equally supported. It is expected that they will be different from the other members of the family – not to be so would be a denial of their reality, and a failure to honor the family that gave them place.
A truly different individual is so comfortable and safe in their respective community of support that they can risk becoming fully themselves without fear of rejection or ridicule. They may endure some good natured teasing when they get too far out there, but the goal is always full expression within the framework of the communal life.
So, if you want to be a truly different individual, be an active part of a vibrant community. Like the church.
What does it take to be a real individual? The answer may surprise you. It takes belonging to a community. It is only in community that individuality can flourish and have any meaning beyond strange. It is the community that provides the framework, support structure, and background in which individuality can safely exist. It is only out of community that individuality can grow. You don’t create community by pulling together a bunch of individuals in an organized attempt at getting them all on the same page.
Think of a family. In a healthy family, each member is allowed and encouraged to be fully themselves. They don’t need to conform for fear of rejection – they are already part of the family and it is completely safe for them to express themselves against the backdrop of that security. Individual accomplishment is celebrated. Individual failure is equally supported. It is expected that they will be different from the other members of the family – not to be so would be a denial of their reality, and a failure to honor the family that gave them place.
A truly different individual is so comfortable and safe in their respective community of support that they can risk becoming fully themselves without fear of rejection or ridicule. They may endure some good natured teasing when they get too far out there, but the goal is always full expression within the framework of the communal life.
So, if you want to be a truly different individual, be an active part of a vibrant community. Like the church.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
A Certain Joy
Joy is one of the indicators on the dashboard of the spiritual life that help us gauge the life of the soul. As we move closer to maturity, joy ought to become more constant and less related to circumstances. Joy combines three core elements – the root in reality, the inner convictional sense, and the outward expression.
The more solidly rooted we are in what is true, the more stable and certain is our joy. Think for a moment about some of the realities which shape view of the world and ourselves. The King and Creator of the Universe has made this world for us – and us for this world. He has provided life and sustenance for us. He has chosen us to be the bearers of His Image and His Name. He has told us His name – allowing us to call Him Father. He has defined the nature of beauty, and the beauty of nature. He has given us access into the heavenlies. He has provided a way to deal decisively and completely with everything that separates us from life – His and ours. He has promised that He would never leave us alone in the world but would be present with us until the very end of the age, when we will be fully present with Him.
These are the core realities in which joy is rooted.
Based on these core realities, we can allow the full flourishing of an inner convictional joy as consequence. Because those things are true, we can live in freedom. We can learn and live in contentment, knowing that no matter what happens, God is committed to us. We can calm down from the frantic craziness of trying to be by doing – and increasingly allow what we do to flow naturally and easily out of who we are. We can more easily establish priorities centered on the Kingdom we seek, allowing life to become simpler and more focused. We can live without fear in relationships, willing to risk intimacy because the core of our identity is established with God in Christ.
The third element of joy is external. It shows up in exuberant and reflective worship, gentle and boisterous laughter, a sense of calm certainty, stability and strength in the middle of chaos and crisis, tears drifting down over smiles which remain, hope, a certain lightness of being, an unquenchable optimism based in reality, . . . and a few thousand other things that vibrate with glory!
No matter how dark may be the night, a certain joy guides us through to morning.
The more solidly rooted we are in what is true, the more stable and certain is our joy. Think for a moment about some of the realities which shape view of the world and ourselves. The King and Creator of the Universe has made this world for us – and us for this world. He has provided life and sustenance for us. He has chosen us to be the bearers of His Image and His Name. He has told us His name – allowing us to call Him Father. He has defined the nature of beauty, and the beauty of nature. He has given us access into the heavenlies. He has provided a way to deal decisively and completely with everything that separates us from life – His and ours. He has promised that He would never leave us alone in the world but would be present with us until the very end of the age, when we will be fully present with Him.
These are the core realities in which joy is rooted.
Based on these core realities, we can allow the full flourishing of an inner convictional joy as consequence. Because those things are true, we can live in freedom. We can learn and live in contentment, knowing that no matter what happens, God is committed to us. We can calm down from the frantic craziness of trying to be by doing – and increasingly allow what we do to flow naturally and easily out of who we are. We can more easily establish priorities centered on the Kingdom we seek, allowing life to become simpler and more focused. We can live without fear in relationships, willing to risk intimacy because the core of our identity is established with God in Christ.
The third element of joy is external. It shows up in exuberant and reflective worship, gentle and boisterous laughter, a sense of calm certainty, stability and strength in the middle of chaos and crisis, tears drifting down over smiles which remain, hope, a certain lightness of being, an unquenchable optimism based in reality, . . . and a few thousand other things that vibrate with glory!
No matter how dark may be the night, a certain joy guides us through to morning.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
A Soul Soaking Sorrow
Once again, the god of technology has proven ineffectual against the force of nature, and we are left in shocked sorrow. The levies failed. The systems of protection proved abysmally inadequate. The government is overwhelmed or inept or both. The agencies of protection are themselves in need of protection. The odor of toxic blame is in the air and will mingle with mourning and rage and sorrow for a very long time to come. Investigations will be launched, committees will be formed, special panels will convene, lawsuits will be filed, and so it will go. For years we will be episodically captivated by the single worst disaster in the history of the nation.
Perhaps that is as it should be. We are, after all, not really built for the full experiential knowledge of the good and evil we have chosen to know. We can only take horror in small doses. It takes something of magnitude to galvanize us to response – and even then it has to be concentrated and focused. We are not exercised by the countless, even though counted, deaths as a result of drunk driving, for example. That doesn’t mean that we don’t care – it means that we can’t care. Until it effects us. Or until it is too big on our emotional radar screen to ignore.
But even then, we move to “normal” as soon as we can, moving back into flood plains, depending on our technological prowess to save us, ignoring the warnings that might have saved a few had they been heeded, seeking the solace of government funding, resorting to blame for gain as a final reminder of the horror that was. Until the next time.
When will we learn that technology is not our savior? Higher, stronger levies post-pone – but do not prevent – disaster. Better building codes minimize, but do not eliminate collapse. Heeded early warnings reduce life loss, but can do nothing to soften the blow of the life that is lost.
We stand teary eyed, heavy hearted, numb, powerless in the face of natural reality. It is truly terrible. But we should have expected nothing else. Only in God is our security.
Katrina did not happen as punishment. It did not even happen to teach us a lesson. But it would be wise if we learned from it. Or it will have been wasted. And that would be a crying, dying, shame. A truly soul soaking sorrow.
Perhaps that is as it should be. We are, after all, not really built for the full experiential knowledge of the good and evil we have chosen to know. We can only take horror in small doses. It takes something of magnitude to galvanize us to response – and even then it has to be concentrated and focused. We are not exercised by the countless, even though counted, deaths as a result of drunk driving, for example. That doesn’t mean that we don’t care – it means that we can’t care. Until it effects us. Or until it is too big on our emotional radar screen to ignore.
But even then, we move to “normal” as soon as we can, moving back into flood plains, depending on our technological prowess to save us, ignoring the warnings that might have saved a few had they been heeded, seeking the solace of government funding, resorting to blame for gain as a final reminder of the horror that was. Until the next time.
When will we learn that technology is not our savior? Higher, stronger levies post-pone – but do not prevent – disaster. Better building codes minimize, but do not eliminate collapse. Heeded early warnings reduce life loss, but can do nothing to soften the blow of the life that is lost.
We stand teary eyed, heavy hearted, numb, powerless in the face of natural reality. It is truly terrible. But we should have expected nothing else. Only in God is our security.
Katrina did not happen as punishment. It did not even happen to teach us a lesson. But it would be wise if we learned from it. Or it will have been wasted. And that would be a crying, dying, shame. A truly soul soaking sorrow.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Expanding the Kingdom
Kingdoms are not something we think about much – except when the British royal family has done something gossip-worthy. And even then, our thoughts are less about kings and queens than they are about a peculiar kind of celebrity. The idea of a king with a kingdom just seems anachronistic to a democratically informed mind. The English model is moderated by a parliamentary structure, but there are monarchies in the classic sense in many places in the world – with real kings who take themselves and their duties very seriously. Their word is law – they define and arbitrate justice. They have “say” over people and property.
Pilate was well trained in the classic model. For him, Caesar was Lord and Sovereign – his word was law to the farthest reaches of the empire. You can imagine his confusion, then, when a simple Galilean peasant, accused of treason, stood before him. There was no imperiousness in His stance – but an unmistakable authority rested lightly on his bloodied shoulders. When pressed, He simply acknowledged Pilate’s assessment. Pilate was by equal measure confused and comforted by Jesus’ statement that His kingdom was not of this world. He would probably have been stunned to know that Jesus fully intended to take this world over.
Had Pilate been paying a bit closer attention, he might have gotten a hint of Jesus’ strategy. His kingdom would not be extended by means of force on the part of His followers. Rather, they would extend the Kingdom as He did, by bearing witness to the truth and gathering those who resonate with that truth into a community. In that way, the Kingdom will be extended and expanded.
The goal is to increase the area over which Jesus has “say.” This will be accomplished as Jesus’ followers live and speak in such a way that their spheres of influence are brought, one at a time, bit by bit, under His control – as their individual kingdoms become part of the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ.
As followers of Jesus, we begin by submitting our own spheres of influence to His control – by considering how to live our lives as He would, were He us. It might begin as simply as cleaning up a mess – picking up trash – putting things where they belong. And who knows what faithfulness in those little things might lead to.
Pilate was well trained in the classic model. For him, Caesar was Lord and Sovereign – his word was law to the farthest reaches of the empire. You can imagine his confusion, then, when a simple Galilean peasant, accused of treason, stood before him. There was no imperiousness in His stance – but an unmistakable authority rested lightly on his bloodied shoulders. When pressed, He simply acknowledged Pilate’s assessment. Pilate was by equal measure confused and comforted by Jesus’ statement that His kingdom was not of this world. He would probably have been stunned to know that Jesus fully intended to take this world over.
Had Pilate been paying a bit closer attention, he might have gotten a hint of Jesus’ strategy. His kingdom would not be extended by means of force on the part of His followers. Rather, they would extend the Kingdom as He did, by bearing witness to the truth and gathering those who resonate with that truth into a community. In that way, the Kingdom will be extended and expanded.
The goal is to increase the area over which Jesus has “say.” This will be accomplished as Jesus’ followers live and speak in such a way that their spheres of influence are brought, one at a time, bit by bit, under His control – as their individual kingdoms become part of the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ.
As followers of Jesus, we begin by submitting our own spheres of influence to His control – by considering how to live our lives as He would, were He us. It might begin as simply as cleaning up a mess – picking up trash – putting things where they belong. And who knows what faithfulness in those little things might lead to.
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