Another Trip Around The Sun

In my retirement I celebrated a birthday recently and my nephew, Cody, sent me an email that wished me a happy birthday and added, "enjoy another trip around the Sun." I think the "trip around the sun" thought for a year of life, has been used for many years. In our popular culture, there have been several songs written and sung by noted artists using all or a part of that phrase as the theme. While on the surface the "trip around the Sun" phrase is a cute way of expressing a year of our lives, it has a much deeper meaning that involves our creation and our belief system concerning a "creating spirit" in our lives. As the Gospel of John begins at verse one, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...........in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

As we ponder this gift of life and where it all comes from, we can come to understand our Creator God in a deeper way, just as the ancients did in their primitive way of observing the earth and sky above them. Not having a theology per se, they were able to have some understanding that the vastness around them couldn't be an accident. In fact, that their own minds and bodies were remarkable in and of themselves. While we think of long airline flights to different parts of the country or the world, we are actually always on a flight that makes a complete orbit around the Sun in one year, yet is never ending. While things go wrong in space and in our lives, it is hard not to feel the power that is all around us, and like the ancients we have continuous feelings of something great in our lives and feel comforted by His Spirit. Unlike the ancients we have access to many resources, including the Bible, that help us better understand this loving Creator God.

PROMISE - my psalm

Jesus, on your cross you have blessed me; God has lost all His memory of my life lived in Sin. Oh Your death brings forgiveness and a promise I see. Yes, Your light shines -- New life begins.

Save me from my many temptations; when I look at my sad self I see I've not begun; to turn to You as I know that You want me to.

Help me seek You, in my life.

Every time I turn to things that aren't desirable for me; Your angels fly over to watch and warn me, I know You won't ignore me.

Your light, is the light I must search for; I must look for the new life, that brings peace and ends Sin. Oh Your light shines and shows me that my darkness will end, and eternal life begins.

For all my days in my old ways You will not make me accountable; for when I seek You and turn my life on over, there's nothing insurmountable.

You find it so easy to love me even though I've strayed far from

all the ways that You've shown. You have touched me and now I know the promise You keep.

I will never be Alone.

(c) 1999 by Robert Halsey Pine, Pious Bob, LLC

Hang Up the Gloves

When we read 1-Timothy 6:3-8 we can pick out some characteristics of people that seem to engulf all aspects of our lives. We may even be contributors. Our churches are not immune from this. We see these locally, nationally and internationally. They are at the root of the problems in our lives and in the world. The list begins: conceit, a craving for controversy and disputes about words, envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, wrangling, mindful depravity, untruthfulness. St. Paul writes to Timothy that these do not, "agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness." We are called to love one another and as St. Paul reminds us as we try to control this natural life, "for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it;" Man's attempt to control up to death is folly and a huge distraction to a meaningful relationship with our creator God, that can be enjoyed here and now and holds the greatest treasure achievable.

The Everlasting Gift

Some say that our faith in God is based on made-up principles and stories that have been used to control human beings over the centuries. Others say that religion is like a drug that allows us to see what we can't understand about our existence. People of faith are sometimes viewed as weak in their fear of death and the need of something to help them understand their mortality. The fact that religion is sometimes practiced and preached for the wrong reasons, however, speaks more to the sinful nature of man than to it's truth.

We are beautiful and complicated creations of a loving God that wants us to love Him back. Unlike the animals He created, He chose to give us the gifts of reason and free will. He doesn't force us to love Him, but he is always there when we turn to Him for love and support. The pain that this gift of life sometimes gives us is negligible in His sight for He created us out of His love, loves us in our natural life, and will keep us in His love when we are finished in this mortal gift. If we can understand His love in this way, we can achieve His comfort and joy in this worldly life.

In The Heart of Christianity, Marcus Borg uses a metaphor from Celtic Christianity, "thin places", to describe those places and situations in life that are, "a means whereby the sacred becomes present to us.......a means of grace." Thin places could be physical locations as well as people, the arts, times of illness, and suffering.

Dear God

Dear God,

You sent Jesus our Lord to save humanity. In our sin we didn't know what life's meaning should be. In living this life we can grasp eternity. And when our world crashes in, we have a remedy. You are there for us in all things we do when we turn to you. Your love is like nothing else we can view and you want us to know it's true. Then, when we must die you'll lift us up, yes up into the sky and you'll show us your love like we've never seen, eternally.

Thank You,

Your Loving Child

(photo from Hubble Space Telescope "the perfect storm in swan nebula")

Moving Toward Peace

Our humanness carries with it pride, fear, anger, doubt, worry, envy and control to name a few. We have a way out from the impact these have on us, but we can't quite trust our Lord all the time. We can whittle away at these day by day, piece by piece, but we'd rather put up with them than move toward the best method for their removal. Yes, it's difficult for us, but we must be willing to give up control and turn ourselves over to the Lord. That means turning ourselves in with a "Self-Arrest". The problem for us is that we don't want to surrender. A Presbyterian minister of the mid to late 1800's named Theodore Ledyard Cuyler http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theodore_L,_cuyler/ once said, "Every step toward Christ kills a doubt. Every thought, word, and deed for Him carries you away from discouragement." And Jesus said, "For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." Matthew 16:25

The Uphill of Life's Journey in Christ

I was leading a Bible Study lesson at a Drug & Alcohol Rehab center. The lesson was based on 2Corinthians 5:16-21. St. Paul says in part, " So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" We talked about how when we accept Christ in our lives how we think differently and act differently. This new creation allows God to go deeper into our spirit, yes deeper than just our consciousness. We also talked about the challenge, not to let ourselves reach out or back to the old things and ways before we accepted Christ. One of the participants asked this question as we talked: "Does this turning to Christ and becoming something new happen in a short period of time?" My answer back to him was that our seeking God in our lives is a work in progress and is not attained easily without a huge commitment or our part. I said that we will never reach perfection in this. He seemed relieved.

I've converted an operations diagram to a spiritual one with the intent to show how challenging our journey in the Lord is. Even with constant study and spritual nourishment, it takes lots of effort and discipline to move up the slope of seeking God in our lives.

All His Children are Worth Loving and Forgiving

I have been involved in Kairos Prison Ministry Int'l, Inc. for many years. A significant part of this ministry has been 3-day retreats held inside a prison with 40 some inmates per retreat. Our team-cooks prepare and deliver six terrific meals and lots of homebaked cookies for the inmates and the team inside the prison over the 3-days. Our team bonds and trains in our specific retreat format beginning 2-months before the retreat with meetings (that include much prayer) totaling approximately 30-hours. The team recruits lots of outside prayer partners as we prepare and for support during the time we are with the inmates. The team brings it's love for God and for each other into the prison and directs that love to each of the 40-inmates. We never ask any inmate what he is serving time for. Many of them have never felt loved in their entire lives. They are shocked and blessed that our team members are willing to give up time with our families to come to prison and love them in the name of God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. By following Jesus' call in Matthew 25: 31-46 where He says, "I was in prison and you visited me..........Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me", our team provides a blessing and is blessed in doing so. Christian communities are building inside prisons all over our nation and the world. God knows no barriers when He seeks to love and be loved by His children. While many in the world want to take God out of everything, many inmate lives are changed and the recidivism rate for those who participate in the retreats drops significantly compared to the general prison population. Jesus' Great Commission to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations", includes the least of His children.

Is That You God?

Mark 4: 30-31 tells us that Jesus said, "With what can we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." Here he compares us to the mustard seed, that while starting off small and undeveloped, we have the potential to become the fullest as we are fulfilled in our growth experience in God's Kingdom.

My personal experience in understanding God's Eternal Kingdom came out of chaos. The events surrounding my brain tumor removal in 1993, which included the prayers of my Christian Community and my own prayer brought about a revelation to me from God through His Spirit. He gave me a glimpse into His Kingdom as His Spirit, our Holy Comforter, brought me a peace in which I was not concerned about living or dying, but joyful in the knowledge of His Eternal Kingdom. This was for me a blessing that confirmed His Word, the Gospel, that I may have sometimes doubted or questioned. A greater sensitivity for my need to seek God's Will in my life and in the World came upon me. My listening skills began to improve greatly concerning Him.

Participating in the Kingdom of God

The Gospel of Mark 4:26-29 works to help us understand how this finite 'skin & bones' of our natural life is converted and continues to become eternal. It helps us better understand God's Kingdom as Jesus says, " The Kingdom of God is as if someone scattered seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how................" My understanding of this is that Jesus is using a mystery of nature; that which results from the scattering of seed that grows out of the dirt into something useful and wonderful to be harvested. This is to show us how the miracle of our creation, our birth and life is also a beautiful mystery. However with God's children, the nourishment of growth is through God's Love and Grace not rain and sunshine. His Love and Grace is the Word He has given us through the Gospel. By partaking of this 'spiritual rain and sunshine', we grow in Him with our brothers and sisters in seeking His Will in all that we do. This brings us to the harvest, which is our moving on from this natural life that was the beginning of His Kingdom for us, to eternal life in His presence.

The Unknown Place And Road To It

In saying that He would go and prepare a place for the Disciples, and that they know the way to the place, Thomas was honest in saying, " Lord, we do not know where you are going." Jesus then nailed it down for them. He said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Thomas didn't have a corner on the doubting market. Phillip then said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus then went on to answer in a dozen different ways to get His message across to them.

So how do we as spiritually challenged humans dig our way out of this doubting posture? The answer is simple. We don't. God gives us the attribute of discernment. What is discernment? Webster tells us that it is, "the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure." Add a little Holy Spirit to this for fuel and we're off. But looking back to when our parents dropped us off at school for the first time, did we have doubts about what we were getting into? Did we find it hard to buy into the meaning behind all of it? Was it better the next day, and the next? It took longer for many of us to adjust, but at some point we discerned that the purpose was good and outweighed any discomfort, so we bought in.

Thomas Combines Seeking with Questioning

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 11, we learn about the time when Jesus announced to the Disciples that he was going to Judea to visit Lazarus who had been ill. Jesus knew that he had already died, although the Disciples did not know this. The Disciples warned Jesus strongly against such a journey, as the Jews were even then trying to find and stone Him. The scripture says, "Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with him.'" So Thomas didn't lack any backbone for the Lord, even though he questioned and doubted.

In Chapter 14 of John's Gospel we hear Thomas questioning again ~ a question with an answer from Jesus that gives us a basis for our belief and faith. Jesus begins by saying, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." After these comments by Jesus, John gives us the great and simple question from Thomas, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" This is the question that we in our time are seeking an answer to.

Fighting Doubt

Doubting Thomas, St. Thomas, has gotten some bad press. Some interpretations of the Gospel of John make Thomas appear to be an odd-ball. All that he wanted was to be certain that Jesus had been resurrected and had come to visit the disciples. Is that any different from the doubts or questions that most of us carry concerning many parts of our faith? Do we accept the virgin birth without question? Have we wondered if some sort of human trickery caused the body of Jesus to disappear from the tomb? It's natural for us to doubt and question. Virgin birth and resurrection are not easy for most of us to accept without question. But, we are human and our nature is to doubt and question. It's part of our survival posture. Of course, our faith is finally tested when we die. Many go to their graves questioning and unsure, so let's not be too hard on "Doubting Thomas." Maybe if we try to connect with God more regulary through prayer, meditation, study and ministry to others, we can come closer to being at home with God through His Son and Spirit. The more we can invite Him into the moments of our lives, the more our doubts dissolve and our comfort increases.

Making Sense of Creation

How do we make any sense out of all the explanations concerning Creation? We think that it's pretty certain; that humankind will never be able to scientifically explain all of the mysteries of creation. So where does that leave us? As Christians we have the Bible, which we believe to be the Word of God as inspired in and written by humans. Holy Scripture has been criticized and attacked from within and from outside the Church since it was available for reading. Our understanding of Creation is the foundation of our spiritual belief system, our theology. Maybe that is why we struggle so in our spiritual journeys. Maybe that is why it is so easy to take the wrong path and act as if God doesn't exist or is just not watching or listening. We are able to convince ourselves that we can hide from God, because we don't have a good understanding of belief in how humans, and all that is around us came to be. The Gospel message in the Bible is missing something without a firm belief in the story of Creation. Genesis and other books of the Bible teach us much about Creation and how we came to be, but we're challenged that we must believe it blindly because it just doesn't match up with our science. It is the natural state of man to doubt, but we must use our doubt in a positive way. We must use it to build better understanding.

Do We Need To Thank Anyone For This Life?

Did evolution begin before there were animals, birds and creatures of the sea? Is humanity the product of a chain of accidents or are we part of a natural and reasonable progression, given the consistency of matter? Is our sense of time a big joke that we are buying into? Was Einstein correct that time is relative? Have we always been living in one continuous present moment that has no past and no future? Is history only for constant reinterpretation of the present moment? Has science adequately and logically explained all of this for us? Just how accurate can science be? Given x-amount of time, is it possible for science to know everything there is to know? What do we do while we're waiting for the truth? What do the next generations do? Or does it even matter? What do the advancements in science and medicine mean in all of this. Is humankind taking control of more and more of the Universe/Creation with each passing year?
Are people better off spiritually today than they were fifty years ago -- 1,000 years ago -- 2,000 years ago?

After pondering on all these questions, are we more likely to think in terms of a Creator God than other choices? Can we depend fully on the Bible? It would seem that there must be something permanent/everlasting. Once we reach a decision that there is a Creator God/Spirit, do we then want to understand our relationship to and with this entity. At creation did God just figuratively "wind the watch", lay it down and walk away, never to return? We'd like to think that there's more of a relationship than that, wouldn't we?

Beginning in the Beginning

We are an inquisitive lot, we humans. Even the religious go outside the Bible to try to understand how it all began. Many professed Christians don't seem to understand and accept all of Holy Scripture ~ at least in their most private moments. We want to know when and how this thing we call the Universe began. Or is the term Universe too limiting and Creation is a better description. We need to confirm that there is a God and that we have a relationship with Him. There must be a way through science and history to confirm what the Bible teaches us about our Creator God.

What was this created matter before it became the substance of formation? Did it come from nothing, and if so, what was present when there was nothing? Was there some kind of spirit before there was anything else like matter? Has everything that we know exists today come from a spirit? How did this spirit come into being? Does the spirit have no beginning and no end? There had to be a starting place, didn't there? Did this spirit have the ability to create something out of nothing? If there wasn't a spirit involved in creation, was creation just an accident? Is creation ongoing? If it was an accident, what was present before the accident? Where did it come from? If there has always been matter out there, does it have no beginning and no end? Is it limitless with no boundaries? HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Bring your answers to class tomorrow!

Overcoming Our Nature

We don't have to look far to see that we humans sometimes have a difficult time getting along together. It's on all levels of living, from the family to the nation state, from culture to culture and religion to religion. Even in our own churches we have a need to improve our relations. There sometimes seems to be as many different opinions, likes and dislikes , as there are numbers of people. From the beginning of human time this has been our problem. We do, however, have many things in common. Not the least of which is that our days are numbered in these skins we wear. Some will live less than a year, while others will live longer up to a bit more than 100 years. But this worldly life is finite. How do we deal with this expectation?

As Christians we have the Hebrew scriptures and the Gospel message of the New Testament to inform and guide us. Through His parables, miracles and other means, Jesus brought us God's Word that reveals our relationship with our Creator and how we are to live our lives in Him. As the beginning of John's Gospel says, "In the beginning was the Word.......and He was in the beginning with God." Moment by moment we must seek the answer to the question, "What is the Kingdom of God and what must we do in this life to understand and participate in a new and greater life in God through Christ and the Spirit of God? (Click Here: Related thoughts by Oswald Chambers)

At home in our bodies?

As St. Paul says in part in 2Corinthians 5:6-17 "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." That is our challenge as we are at home in our bodies. We must live into God's Kingdom by trying to please the Lord at all times. We must discipline ourselves to bring God into all things as we live our lives. This human challenge has been considered by the 'Best' for centuries. Oswald Chambers calls it "Abandoning to God". He declares that we must put aside our egos and let God do His work. Jean-Pierre de Caussade and others have referred to it as "Present Moment" living. That each moment of our lives is a Sacrament and in living life in such a way we are achieving the best in being at home with the Lord. For us the beginning of this is by the daily nourishing of our spirit through reading and meditating on the Word, connecting with God's Spirit through the sounds and sights of His creation and through study. Then we are better able to live out our lives according to His Will. As we continue to ponder life and death and the hereafter, it is our challenge to see the beauty of our creation and stay in close touch with Him in our daily lives so that we might enjoy His Kingdom now and forever. AMEN.

Teach Me Mother

Dearest Mother,
I have come to know that I'm really going to die someday. I hope that this doesn't come as a surprise to you. I know that you must have anticipated my dying when Dad and you and God brought me into the world. You never told me that I was going to die, but I'm not mad or upset. I realize that it is something I had to find out for myself. Besides, who wants to talk about dying all the time anyway? The illness that brought me to this place of thinking is mostly over now, however, I'm not over what it changed in me. It made me realize down deep inside that I am not in control. God is in control of my life ~ my birth, my living, my dying and my salvation. He is in control in the sense that He created me and I am His when my life on earth is over.

As for earthly living, He is in control only to the extent that I let Him control my life. That's right, I have veto power over God until I die. If I trust myself more than I trust God, I can tune Him out of my natural life. There is a gamble, however, if I choose to take control myself. What happens to me if at the most critical moment, I weaken? At the point when I must be sharper than ever before, what if I slip? What if I can't quite put things together? What will I do? The answer is clear. I must seek God's Grace with faith in His love and power.

When we experience God, and He shows us the way and we see His light, then we have truly experienced death. Death is seeing God, and this is a miracle, a surprise. And so, this is the irony in the way we humans look at death. The very thing that we fear as we work to prolong life, turns out to be the greatest joy of all.

So we, in our lives can experience death years before it comes. We can do this by giving up control and having faith that God will redeem all that might happen to us. Of course, we must do our best to live our lives in our realities, by following the example of God's Son our Savior Jesus Christ and all the Saints. We can then experience God and His love and thus taste the beauty of death ~ that time when we become one with God forever.

We are here in the natural life for a very short time. In God's Eternal Kingdom, the length of our natural life is not important, nor is the way we die. Death is merely the doorway to a nearer presence of God. If we can make our reality here on Earth more peaceful and joyful by seeking to know God, it makes perfect sense to do so. Through God we are connected with all mankind, past, present, and future. As a husband and parent now, I know I must not fear my children's death or my wife's death whether or not it precedes mine. I must not fear your death or my own, Mother.

Above all Mother, I want you to teach me how to die and help me teach my children, your grandchildren. Your love of our Lord is shining so bright that all of us may now experience with you the miracle of coming into the presence of God. Armed with God's love, our earthly reality, no matter how long or short, will be a joyful experience. God is patient. He will wait for us. And we will be joyful in Him for He lives and reigns forever and ever.
Faithfully, Your loving son Bob.