paravanes:meditations

In the middle of graduation parties, wedding anniversaries, and the general celebrations following the end of a school year, I wonder if Father's Day gets its due. Father's Day was last weekend, and my father (Rev. Thomas Evans)passed in April of 2002, so I no longer attach a lot of significance to the rituals of "the day", but I do use this time to reflect on my relationship with my father, and why it continues to be one of the best things in my life. I am one of those people who decorate gravesites--not because I believe the deceased are necessarily looking down and smiling ( but maybe they are )--but because I think of a gravesite as a sacred place, a place from which those who followed Christ will be called at the resurrection of the godly. It doesn't matter to me if that "rising" happens in five years, or five hundred years. It will come. I am grateful for having had a godly--not a perfect--father. The general orientation of someone's life...

In the gospel of John (chapter 10), Jesus Christ describes himself as "The Good Shepherd." Those listening to him speak understood the powerful meaning of the analogy he used. He is the Good Shepherd: the One who never abandons the sheep, the One who leads the sheep daily and hourly, the One who fights off the predators, the One who provides food and care for those in his charge. Despite my best efforts and the kindnesses of others, I am sometimes a wandering sheep. There is no logical reason for my "wanderer" status. I can truthfully say I have never regretted following the directions, teaching, and world-view of Jesus Christ. I cannot recall a time when I was worse off for doing what he wanted. In summary: when there is a conflict, he is always right and I am always wrong. I know this--from Scripture, from observation, and from my own experience. Still, from time to time, I wander. Perhaps it is in the nature of sheep to wander. Sheep are not known as part...

Traditionally, Christians have been assigned the character and responsibility of living as "loving people." We are supposed to love our enemies and our friends. How does that happen, and what does it look and feel like? I must remind myself that without God, it really isn't possible for me to be a loving person. I can be a "nice" person on my own. I can be a "generous" person most of the time. I can be a "kind" person on a good day. But a loving person? Living as a loving person means I look at someone honestly. I think of what their needs are, not what my desires for and with them may be . I make a distinction between loving someone (an active process) and feeling loved (a passive process). How I interact with the other is determined more by what I believe is good and true, and less by how they treat me. Living as a loving person means I say "no" when "no" is the best answer, not just when no is the easiest answer. ...

"There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain: Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave he rose again! And as He stands in victory Sin's curse has lost its grip on me, For I am His and He is mine - Bought with the precious blood of Christ ." --from In Christ Alone , by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend What I am and what I become is no longer a reflection of what others have done to me. Instead, who I am is a reflection of what I do, what I choose, as I live with and in Christ. Sin's curse has lost its grip on me. Sin may land, but it cannot hold and it cannot stay unless I allow it. I may experience pain and unfairness because of my actions or the actions of others. Still, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. I can be cleansed, rebuilt, restored, and made whole over and over in Christ. Even in my own faulty choices, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. I can see my faults and failures--God will show them to m...

Sunday, April 25, 2010 is Parental Alienation Awareness Day . Parental alienation happens when any trusted adult (ex husband or wife, former lover, aunt, uncle, grandparent, family friend, caregiver, etc.) carries on a campaign of words, attitudes, or actions which undermine a child's love and respect for a loving, well-meaning parent. This may happen in high conflict divorces in which one parent wants to appear to be "the good one" or wants to rearrange a court ordered custody arrangement. There is an ongoing debate about whether parental alienation is a syndrome. I am not entering that debate here. It is certain parental alienation is a process and creates a result of disturbed and damaged relationships between children and the targeted parent (the parent who is the object of denigration, ridicule, exclusion, or unjustified anger). Commonly, the "ex" in a relationship is the one who engages in trying to "win over" a child by alienating that chi...

From The Cost of Discipleship , by Dietrich Bonhoeffer : "Faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience." Another way of saying this is a phrase I heard one of my Bible teachers quote years ago: "Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone." We have celebrated Easter, or Resurrection Sunday. What does it all mean, and what does it have to do with the demand of obedience? Who is this Jesus Christ who rose from the dead? He is God. We have two options in how we respond to this truth. We can reject it, and say: "Not for me." Or, we can obey Him. Faith without obedience is faith in something or someone else other than Jesus Christ. Faith without obedience may be foolish presumption, thoughtless self-confidence, or mindless group-think. Do we want to be "saved?" What does it mean to be "saved"? Among many things, it means the freedom to do what is right, as def...

Eight years ago, this week, my father passed away. I always remember him more closely during spring, and during the time of Easter. It's common for children of all ages to say our parents' lives have inspired us. Now that both of my parents have passed, I can say it's also useful to see how the deaths of those we love inspire us as well. As much as I would like to doubt it, I realize I didn't know my parents as well as I imagined. So much of their lives were lived in places I didn't go, or couldn't see. Decisions were made in contexts and perspectives I didn't fully understand or appreciate. Outcomes were often misunderstood, or my perception of those outcomes was limited, skewed, or even absent. There is, however, something about watching someone die that gives you a deep insight into who they are. In the face of death, it's difficult (and some might say, needless) to put on and keep up the appearances we often feel are necessary when we are concerned a...