paravanes:meditations

“He chastens and hastens His will to make known.” –from the Netherlands folk hymn, We Gather Together God “goes out of His way” to make His will known to us. As much I as naturally resist the idea of correction, there are times when I need correction. God “chastens”, or corrects, me because I am not always on the right path and I am not always thinking correctly and I do not always respond to gentler methods of redirection. Sometimes the actions or inactions of others are required to correct me. Sometimes natural and oddly unnatural events or circumstances stop me long enough to redirect my thinking. Sometimes, the events of life speak strongly to me. Illness, a car accident, a lost income, a forced retirement, a foreclosure, or a necessary but unwanted relocation may be the means of God speaking to me in a forceful way. These things happen to all people, including those who don’t need chastening. I must be careful about making hasty assumptions regarding why things happen to me...

The question of evil is one that seems unwilling to be silenced. With all of our human intelligence, curiosity, creative expression, and ability to work toward a goal, why does the problem of evil (personal and corporate) continue to reappear in our discussions of what’s wrong with the world? Choose any political or economic system you like; it really doesn’t matter. Choose any culture: hunter-gatherers in New Guinea, or brokers in Hong Kong, or anyone in between. Choose any period in history you like. No matter what time or in what place we humans find ourselves, we struggle with the problem of evil for two reasons: 1) we know there is something better; we have an innate sense of justice (skewed perhaps, but innate), and 2) we expect righteousness because, for many of us, our God-given consciences are not fully dead. We refer to the “law of the jungle” when we speak of someone misusing power in an extreme way. This is not a term of honor. The ironic seduction of evil tells u...

This year, All Saints Sunday (November 6, 2011), came very close to the eighth anniversary of my mother's funeral. After living with multiple sclerosis for nearly two decades, she left this world to enter eternal rest and reward. At church, we always sing " For All The Saints, Who From Their Labors Rest " on All Saints Sunday. This hymn has been noted as one of the most beautiful in the English language. I love the message of the hymn because Jesus Christ is clearly exalted as the Founder and Sustainer of our faith, while all of us who have followed Him are honored and remembered. 1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia! 2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia! 3. For the Apostles’ glorious company, Who bearing fo...