Offering belief in suffering

Kumalo said, 

…so in my suffering I can believe.

How? In the face of what he had suffered: a child condemned to death, a sister forsaking hope for sin, starvation among his people, how could he believe?

Kindness and love can pay for suffering.

The body of Christ rose up and held his hand, supported his frail body and disturbed mind—with kindness. The body of Christ did what God designed it to do. They accepted their pastor and his family’s failures and allowed him to grieve. And they loved him in the process. What about me and you? Are we being the body of Christ today? Can kindness and love guide our actions? Or are we angry? Are we self-absorbed? Can we forsake our agenda for someone in need? 

And I come to believe that he [Jesus] suffered, not to save us from suffering, but to teach us how to bear suffering. For he knew that there is no life without suffering. 

The friend offers these words to Kumalo. They bring him joy for he knows that his friend understands that suffering is not to be shunned, not to be explained away, not to be trivialized. He knows his friend will not encourage him to just put a smile on his face and pretend all is OK for the sake of others. Kumalo knows he can suffer—and still be loved.

And he gave some as…pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12

Make no mistake. The body of Christ in Ndotsheni would not have acted this way unless Kumalo had taught them how. The actions of the community upon his return testifies to his Godly pastoring. And so the charge is laid at our feet, those of us who have children, employees, congregants. If God has placed someone under your care, are you equipping them to be the body of Christ? We must not disciple for selfish reasons, but we must disciple in a way that those whom we are seeking to equip understand the truths of suffering and kindness. If not us, someone will need them.

The power of love

I must confess that I was not looking forward to reading Cry, The Beloved Country. After reading Things Fall Apart, which I particularly enjoyed, I didn’t know if Paton’s could live up to Achebe’s. Seven chapters in, I am impressed. Paton does  great job of capturing the emotion of Kumalo’s first visit to Johannesburg. At the end of chapter seven, Kumalo is talking to a fellow priest, Msimangu. They are discussing Kumalo’s brother:

Because the white man has power, we too want power, he said. But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen if often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money. Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man’s liquor, he can speak to thousands and hear them clap their hands. Some of us think when we have power, we shall revenge ourselves on the white man who has had power, and because our desire is corrupt, we are corrupted, and the power has no heart in it.…Yes that is right about power, he said. But there is only one thing that has power completely, and that is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power.

And to this Jesus would give a hearty amen.

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of man did not come to be served to to serve and give His life a ransom for many.

And

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Who had more power than Christ? Who willingly gave up that power? Who now has more power than Christ? Through love we gain power. Through sacrifice we grow strong. Why? When we seek power, power enslaves us. Power, not us, becomes the master. When we freely give it up, the enticement, the lure, the enslaving power of power is broken, and we are strong. When we are not after power, we will not be tempted to take short cuts to retain it; we will not be tempted to put someone else down who threatens our hold on it; we will not be tempted to manipulate to get more of it. And just in case you’re not convinced, the great theologian Huey Lewis has this to say,

It don’t take money, and it don’t take fame

You don’t need no credit card to ride this train

It’s tougher than diamonds and stronger than steel

You won’t feel nothing until you feel

The power of love.

The purpose of people

I was reading John Shore today, and he was talking about God using people (imagine that) to share God’s message. I was reminded of the first time I read the story of Peter and Cornelius. I thought, “The angel was already there. Why didn’t he just fill him in instead of sending him to Peter, giving Peter this vision to help him understand, and then having the whole group travel back to Cornelius’s house?”

Well, it’s because God uses people to spread the gospel. Crazy huh? Wouldn’t it be easier to hire one of those sky writers and paint it across the heavens. Heck, why not just rearrange the stars. Surely even Richard Dawkins would be convinced by that! (oh wait, he doesn’t like our God, so even if he was convinced God was real, he wouldn’t worship him.)

John goes further though. It’s not just Christians who broadcast God. According to John, everyone does. At first, I was taken aback by that sentiment, but then I thought about all I write about here. I find God and His hand prints in so many things that I read. We are, after all, created in His image. So while the image may be damaged, blurred, crusted over with grime and sweat and goo, we still bear the image and still broadcast Him, often without knowing.

I am not advocating universalism in regard to salvation, just in image. His ubiquitous finger prints leave no doubt of His hand in creation. Yes, even Richard Dawkins and the rest of the new atheists bear that image, and so, as John adequately expressed, they too cry out to be loved.

Just one more…

Steinbeck writes in The Pearl, “It is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have.”

My cat is eating right now, basically the same thing she always eats. She never complains, always excited about what is dropped in her bowl. Her only dissatisfaction comes from not being let outside early enough for her liking in the mornings. But she can’t do anything about it. While she may want more, she has no ability to open doors, and even if we never let her out, she would never figure out how to open doors. She may want more, but she can’t have it. 

People are different. They can work themselves out of a jam sometimes. They can figure out how to get more. And that is a curse and a blessing. It is a blessing because we have the capability to feed so many people (and their animals), to heal so many diseases, and to find new ways to love our neighbors. Yet it is a curse. We spend unknown millions frivolously because we are not satisfied. We want the latest gadget, the newest this, and the upgraded that. Once the barrier is broken, and we see beyond what we know, the horizon of want stretches on forever. And this dulls our love for others. The drone of commercialism drowns out contentment’s sighs. 

How do you handle the “just one more thing” of life? Do you feel the need to keep up with your neighbor or co-worker or classmate in the latest gadget or fad or style? What would it take for you to be content? Are you sure? Where does true contentment come from?

Can you see?

At the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout has fallen asleep while Atticus is reading to her. While he is taking her to bed, she is recounting to him in broken sentences what has happened in the story to “prove” to him that she “heard every word.” The name of the book was The Gray Ghost. In the story people are after this boy because they think he’s messing with their clubhouse, but they couldn’t catch him because no one knew what he looked like.

Scout finished her drowsy rendition with these words, “…when they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things…Atticus, he was real nice…”

Atticus replied, “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”

Now, one might cry foul, having Atticus read a story that paralleled the kids’ experience with Boo Radley just so Atticus could make a point. (Of course, I’m not convinced that Scout isn’t mixing her stories here.) The point had to be made, though. The whole book is about perceptions: the kids’ of Boo, the town folks’ of Tom, the Ewell’s of Atticus, …

With the exception of Boo, everyone else could be seen clearly enough, I suppose, or could they? You see Boo is an anomaly. He wasn’t seen, but we see folks every day, and because we can see flesh, we think we know people. Atticus wasn’t talking about that at all. He was talking about standing in their shoes. That is why he could let Mr. Ewell spit in his face and wipe it off and go about his business. That is why he could defend Tom in the face of so much opposition. That is why he made Jem read to Mrs. DuBose. Atticus had the ability, no, the desire to stand in others’ shoes so that he could find the niceness in them. So he could love them. 

The church is shamed by people like Atticus. We can’t afford not to walk in people’s shoes. For if we don’t we can’t love them, and we are called to love people. Scout had a special privilege to overcome her misconceptions about Boo, and she took advantage of it. How often do we take advantage of the opportunities that we have to walk in someone else’s shoes? When was the last time you took that opportunity? What difference did it make?

Saving money or loving others?

I read an interesting article here and a fuller article here about the practice of hypermiling (adjusting one’s driving habits to achieve optimal fuel efficiency). While hypermiling can certainly save lots of money and gas, I have some serious reservations about the methods used. While the article did bring up some safety issues in regards to using your cruise control instead of your gas and break, turning off the engine at various times during your drive, and taking turns at high speed instead of using your break to keep momentum, the overriding message of hypermilers was “save money at any cost.”

On my way into school this morning, I was thinking about the article and my driving habits. I’m not one to speed or practice jack rabbit starts, but as I was driving, I wondered about the effect on other drivers if I put into practice some of the tricks of the trade of hypermilers. One, which doesn’t appear to be a safety issue is coasting for as long as possible, especially when you see a red light in the distance. Certainly, if this were practiced with consistency, mpg’s would rise. However, another issue came immediately to mind. I was a good distance from a light and wondered what it would be like to coast to it instead of having my foot on the gas the whole way and then applying the break at the last minute. A car was sitting in the left turn lane facing the opposite direction waiting for me to pass. Had I taken my foot off the gas, the cars behind me would have caught up to me enough to prevent this person from turning left after I passed. 

I would have saved a little dough, but I would have inconvenienced another. That is not driving in love. The attitude of the hypermiler who was interviewed seemed  to be that his saving money and gas and thus the environment was more important than someone else being inconvenienced. He commented on how he sees how long he can coast (at a slower and slower speed) as he approaches his house on the way home despite the line of cars behind him. 

Nor was he concerned about taking the off ramp at 50 mph to allow him to coast a greater distance even though the speed limit was 25. Boosting mpg’s trumps traffic laws I suppose. While I would certainly be in favor of adopting some of the recommendations in the article, being a good driver does not mean I am only concerned about my mpg’s. It also means I am concerned about those around me. Just because someone doesn’t see the need to conserve energy, doesn’t mean I can be unconcerned about them as I drive.

If they hypermilers are so obsessed with increasing mpg’s, can I suggest a bicycle?

Ignoring the tension

“It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people.” The Sun Also Rises Chapter 13

Sometimes people deal with others who disgust them by drinking: nobody quite as offensive that way. As I was reading this, a person came to mind. Now this person does not behave quite like the person Jake was referring to, but this person does get on my nerves. I’m not into drinking. (Can’t really stand the taste of the stuff. Someone once told me that it was an acquired taste. I’ve also heard that about foods like intestines, bugs, and dung.)

So how can I deal with people who get on my nerves? And what do I do with this sort of whiny person that came to mind as I was reading? Never ask the question if you really don’t want the answer. The next thought that came to mind was “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” Hmmm… This person is not my enemy, nor do I feel particularly persecuted—bothered, annoyed, but not persecuted.

And that is the point. If I am to do that for an enemy, why can’t I do that for the annoying person. So, because I will have contact with this person off and on over the next few weeks due to circumstances, I will do two things: 1) I will pray (daily), mainly for me and my attitude, but also this person. 2) Because love is an action and not a feeling, I will come up with some action that is loving. Don’t know what that is yet, but I am sure something will “come to mind.”