The Who and the What

Is love the love of someone or the love of some thing? Do I love someone for the absolute singularity of who they are, I love you because you are you. Or do i love your qualities, your beauty, your intelligence? Does one love someone, or does one love something about someone? This is the question philosopher Jacques Derrida poses on the nature of love. These are some interesting thoughts and have really been on my mind this past while. Derrida says that love indeed begins and ends with a love of the what, which I think we can all agree to; it is the characteristics of the other that initially draw our affections. Our affections then end when we realize that the characteristic that drew our affections is not all that we thought it was. Love truly occurs when we love the absolute singularity of someone else. All of these things that Derrida notes are true. 

However, my question is, how do we define "the absolute singularity of someone"? It would seem that while a person is not defined by their characteristics, for example, somebody who is an alcoholic is not defined by alcoholism, rather we say that person is a person struggling with alcoholism. In the same way, a person is not "a schizophrenic" but rather, somebody who lives with schizophrenia. The individual characteristics of a person are not who the person is. I am a 19 year old, Caucasian, Christian, Canadian, male but not any single one of those characteristics define who I am. However, I think Derrida goes to far in his demarcation between the what and the who. It would seem that while we are not defined by any of our characteristics, and to simply make a list of all the different parts of another person is not the same as identifying the person, it is exactly those characteristics that define who we are. The singularity of the person that I am is the unique combination of every one of my characteristics bound together in my being.

Love should properly begin with the what, and as the what is explored, the who is uncovered and that should be the focal point of our love. The key is not to fixate on any one attribute or characteristic, or even a certain combination there-of. True love becomes a reality when one discovers, and embraces the characteristics of the other and realizes their limitations, yet still loves the other.

Awesome Tunes

It turns out that there are some musicians out there who simply love music and aren't just in it for the money. In fact they believe that music doesn't belong to anyone, it is a God given gift that needs to be shared. I'd like to feature two such musicians.

Anthony Sweet, a wonderfully mellow folk artist who played at Providence a couple times this past year. He has now moved to Quebec but thankfully he makes all of his beautiful music available for free online here.

Another wonderful musician is a guy named Peter Hochstedler. I've been listening to his stuff a lot this summer and the verbal imagery he uses is absolutely genius. His music is also available for free online here.

I hope you enjoy these tunes and may they bless you as they have me!

Cast Down Your Idols

Lately I have been quite frustrated and been quick to anger. I realized tonight that I have a lot of things that I put first in my life, and they are far from God. It's time for me to cast down some idols. Facebook, as I'm sure many of us can attest to, has become a huge addiction to me. I deleted my account once but re-activated it quite quickly after doing so. I was thinking about deleting it earlier today but decided the pros outweighed the cons of having it. Luckily for me, God decided to step in and help make my decision much easier. A recent status update of mine concerning my frustrations with Canada Post created some intense argumentation among friends with it climaxing with the suggestion that I commit suicide. Not going to lie, that hurt a lot, but I can see that it was exactly what I needed to free myself from that site. God remains good, all the time.

Just a thought, don't get so attached to something in your life that it requires some divine surgery to remove you from it. Self-control, my most favorite of the fruit's of the Spirit, perhaps now I will learn how to use it.

Ashamed of the Gospel?

As a college student, there are a couple of classic questions that I have to answer when talking to each and every adult I come in contact with. The first is, "So, what are you taking at college?"

To which I answer quite gleefully, "Biblical and Theological Studies!"

A glazed expression comes across the questioner's face at the mention of the word "theological" but they know enough about what the word "biblical" means to know that I am studying religion. I watch as they struggle to find words to say and inevitably the next question comes up, "Soooooo, what kind of job can that get you?"

At this point I am filled with shame. What I should do is confidently proclaim that I desire to enter into the ministry as a Missionary and proclaim the gospel around the world. What usually comes out instead is, "Well, I'm not too sure exactly, I think I want to be a missionary when I'm done, it would be sweet to help people and travel around the world and stuff..." To which the other person usually nods and tells me I seem to have it all figured out.

How pathetic is that? I know exactly what I want to do, I want to be a missionary, and I'm pretty sure I will be serving in South Africa, although that will be up to God. Why do I have such a hard time telling people what I want to do with my life? Is it because, this is a job that won't make me a lot of money? Is it because many of the people who ask me this don't believe in God and so I can tell they think I'm crazy to be dedicating my life to this cause?

If I am ashamed now, in a free country like Canada, to admit that I want to spend my life proclaiming the gospel, how in the world am I going to actually proclaim the gospel in a country that may not allow that sort of thing?

Just as the disciples were transformed into boldness by the power of the Holy Spirit of Pentecost, I pray that I may be transformed into boldness and feel no shame of the gospel of Christ risen.

Worship is the Words?

Worship is a huge concept, but the focus of this post is in regards to worship music.

There is a large group of Christians today that believes this misconception that worship is the words. There is a constant battle in my church between the people who believe this and those who realize that perhaps the music adds something to the worship experience. This battle is carried out by the sound-men as they either try and mix all the sounds, which usually ends up creating an unpleasant sound for all parties involved.

First, let's look at what words actually are. Words are a social construct that we use to express thoughts. Worship is a thought, or impulse that we seek to release somehow, language is the most natural, easiest way to express ourselves. But is that the only way in which we can express ourselves? There are a huge array of media which humans can use to communicate or express their thoughts. Classical music is especially good at telling a story without words. A well written song can actually produce a visual image in the mind of the listener, it communicates a message by virtue of the notes alone.

What would happen, I wonder if Christian songwriters began to write songs that told a story of praise and thanksgiving to God that used a combination of words and music to worship. What if maybe, just maybe, the music itself became just as much a part of the worship experience as the words. Who are we to say that the music isn't as glorifying as the words? Scripture says to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord" a joyful noise does not mean "words".

The Imago Dei Part I

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). 

Human beings are ikons or image bearers of God, there is something about humanity that bears the likeness of God. For centuries theologians have struggled with what exactly this could mean, I don't intend to fully explore the full meaning of this idea, but I think I've stumbled upon a small insight in this regard.

A verse that caught my attention was Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." I've always understood this verse to mean that whenever a few Christians gather together, Christ is present. But clearly Christ is always present, he is present in his Creation, in the Eucharist, in worship, in service, in everything. This can't be all that this verse means.

Often I have observed my friends and mentors and been encouraged or challenged in my faith. I see other people living holy lives and say to myself, hey I should do that. I then set my sights on the specific behavior of that person and try to emulate it. As you can imagine, this is often a disastrous exercise. 

Now, back to this idea of Imago Dei, as I was meditating on these things, I realized that part of being made in the image of God, is our ability to reflect godlike attributes. Metaphorically, people are windows through which we can catch a glimpse of God. I realized that to successfully engage in a holy, god-fearing lifestyle I must focus my sights on that which the window shows a glimpse of, not the window itself. In other words, I must look to God, the one who's Spirit transforms lives to reflect his glory, in order for my life to be transformed. To fixate myself on the actions of friends and colleagues in order to transform my life will always fail.

So to try and pull all of these strands together, I think that being image bearers of God has given us the ability to see him in the lives of our friends. We must be careful to not think that everyone is reflecting God perfectly, but when we are confronted with a behavior that is clearly affirmed in Scripture, we have seen an image of Christ. Therefore when Jesus proclaimed that when we gather together he is present, he was speaking in a quite physical, literal sense. When believers gather together we bring together a bunch of image bearers that ultimately present a picture of Christ.

Mutterings

A note about the following: this was inspired by the work of Kim Fabricius, the content is meant to make the reader think, the crassness and cynicism of it is for effect, and probably heavily influenced by the long day I spent battling mosquitoes and cattle while thinking about this stuff.

Defining what God can and can’t do and what he does indeed do are two completely different things. Using the retort, “Are you saying God can’t do that?” is always irrelevant.

Worship is not singing the newest Matt Maher song as passionately as you can and getting a happy feeling inside in return.

God is more than a feeling.

Happiness and joy have never been the same thing, why in the world would something as overwhelming as the Joy of the Lord have anything to do with putting a smile on?

The Catholic Church may need a bit of work, but Protestants, you’ve gone way too far.

The very gates of hell will not be able to prevail against the Church of Christ, never for a moment think that the Church is obsolete, this is only the beginning.

Every day millions of children die in a pile of shit, and you are more upset that I just used a swear word.

Even if God appeared to us and made it obvious that he is in total control and free will was obsolete, we would still look for a way to do our own thing, that’s the nature of sin.

The mystery of marriage is children, if we eliminate that aspect; nobody has grounds to reject gay marriage.

Falling in love with God is never enough, how many men have fallen in love with a woman yet continue to look at others, in that context it’s called adultery, in the context of God, it is idolatry.

If fear demonstrates a breakdown of faith, how are we ever to fear the Lord Our God?

It may be the work of loving hands that builds a beautiful cathedral, but a greater beauty is found in the feeding of the hungry.

Pessimism and optimism are both false, the truth lies in contentment.

Amen means "Let it be so" think about that before using it, ponder whether or not you really want whatever you are Amening to to happen.

God created the greatest piece of art for free and said, "It is good". Man charges thousands of dollars for a blank canvas and claims to be better than God.

Doubt is the consort of Faith.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12) The Truth is alway greeted by a raucous chorus of denial and slander.

Only when you realize the extent of your debauchery can you truly be filled with grace, a "righteous" man is graceless.

Mere Contentment?

Something that has been on my mind since coming home this summer is the concept of contentment. I want to truly embrace the moment that has been given me, not just tolerating an experience while frantically looking around for a distraction or casting my eyes ahead to the next new thing on the horizon.

The other day I was reading a blog and one of the comments used the phrase, "mere contentment"; I have to admit, I was quite startled. Mere contentment, I thought, wow, this must be a really easy thing, am I a complete failure for not achieving it yet, or is there perhaps more to it than is commonly believed.

Ecclesiastes has a lot to say on the subject, actually, the entire book could be summed up with the idea that it is good to find contentment in the work of your hands and the food on your table, don't stress, just live life. Crazy enough, Jesus echoes these same sentiments when he points to the lilies of the field and explains how the Father provides arraignment finer than Solomon's attire. He points out the birds of the air and how they never lack for food, because the Father provides for them, how much more will he provide for our needs?

Contentment is more than just positive thinking, it is seeing the beauty of the reality of a situation and glorying in the idea that God created it just the way that it is. This is incredibly hard to do, and I often fail, but seeing each day as a gift, instead of a right, is the first step on the path to contentment. "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people..." (Ephesians 6:8) If we are serving the Lord wholeheartedly we will find contentment because we are giving back to the one who gave us all we have.