to end '08

Question 11.
Which of the religions of the world gives to its followers the greatest happiness?

C.S. Lewis:
Which of the religions of the world gives to its followers the greatest happiness? While it lasts, the religion of worshipping oneself is the best.

I have an elderly acquaintance of about eighty, who has lived a life of unbroken selfishness and self-admiration from the earliest years, and is, more or less, I regret to say, one of the happiest men I know. From the moral point of view it is very difficult! I am not approaching the question from that angle. As you perhaps know, I haven't always been a Christian. I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity. I am certain there must be a patent American article on the market which will suit you far better, but I can't give any advice on it.

(God in the Dock)

isn't she lovely

congratulations patrick and sarah!

             

***a must read***

hope for the wounded

By Patrick Lafferty

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10

Early in his quest to return the ring of power to the place where it was forged and there destroy it, Frodo is deeply wounded by one of the minions of evil who seeks to return the ring to its original owner, Sauron, the Dark Lord of Middle-earth.

Frodo, a diminutive and unassuming creature of the hobbit race, nearly succumbs to that wound but is saved by the medical wisdom of the race called the elves. He lives to continue his and his fellowship’s quest.

Yet even after he completes the momentous task appointed for him, he often feels pain from the blow he took a year earlier. “There are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured,” he is told by his wise, avuncular friend, Gandalf. He longs for a rest his wound will not permit. The elves invite him to a place where he can find enduring rest, from the burdens of his wound and his wearisome way in the world of Middle-Earth. And so he departs from those he loves, to find rest in the Blessed Realm.

In The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien wove a majestic fantasy that resonated with humanity’s unfading hope of a rest for those wearied by this world. Our hearts lift whenever peace and rest are rumored, yet they also steel themselves against disappointment, should those rumors be unfounded.

Every Christmas we find ourselves in a similar setting where those “rumors” of peace and hope are rehearsed.

The angels who appeared to the shepherds when Jesus was born assert many buoyant promises that, just like Tolkien’s work, evoke our seemingly innate interest in a joy that cannot be quenched. Yet, such promises also evoke inquisitive and incredulous questions from a world drained of the sacred and supernatural:

Why are the tidings the angels bring gladdening? Why is such news destined to bring “great joy”? Why shall “peace” come to those who hear the news of a Savior born in Bethlehem?

Gladness, joy, and peace attend to this news because whatever wounds this life inflicts, whatever losses we take which cannot be replaced, His coming meant a new, bright, and more bounteous hope than had ever been disclosed before. Now, a rest really does await those who trust in Him ― a healing balm for those who take refuge in His unparalleled work that began in a manger and was fulfilled on a tree.

Hudson Taylor, a missionary of 51 years to China, and a father who’d lost three children of his own, once wrote: “Love gave the blow which for a while makes the desert more dreary, but Heaven more home-like.” He believed that “there is a homecoming awaiting me which no parting shall break into, no tears mar.”

The hope of Christmas is too easily buried beneath the trappings of Christmas. Yet the wounds we bear, or the wounds we shall bear, require us to dig down deep for where the true hope of Christmas is found.

As the “rumors” of peace, joy, and eternal life are rehearsed for you this Advent, may you pause and ask for the grace to unearth the hope designed to sustain you on your sojourn.

* * * * * *

thanks to Marshall Brown for passing this along!

the restaurant.5

LS: Do you know what the guy at table 61 said? He asked me where I'm from and I knew where he was going with that, so I said, 'Seattle.' And then he said, 'No, but where are you from? Because I have a friend who's Vietnamese and she smiles a lot; so you remind me of her when you smile.'

NL: (as LEXIE) 'I have a friend who's racist and he makes a lot of racist comments; so you remind me of him when you talk.'


Lexie Scott
Niki LeVoy

intermission

As I was driving from brunch this afternoon, I witnessed a spectacular scene. Leaves everywhere, provoked by the wind, dancing and tumbling jovially through the air. Creation was at full play, truly a thing at which to marvel. I have a few hours before I set about my work for the evening - at the restaurant – donning my most hospitable face and hoping that I will take seriously the image of God in even the most insufferable guest.

I am revisiting The Weight of Glory and considering the significance of what Lewis suggests is part of such a glory: being “noticed by God.” I often don’t think much of how my soul’s vitality is to be found in being noticed and known by Him…until I entertain the idea of the Creator of the Universe, the most perfect of Loves turning His face away, saying He never knew me and ignoring me with unspeakable finality. Then my eyes get wide and with great effortlessness, I meditate upon Christ’s work on my behalf. Jesus’ gospel is the Story supreme. The most relevant and most true.

We will soon celebrate Christmas. God breaking into history. 

I will soon be in Alabama celebrating Patrick and Sarah's wedding. 

l'arbre de Noël

hebrew. espresso. art.

today i...

perused a psalm in hebrew with the help of my smart friend...

sipped starbucks espresso (questionable), mixed with danesi chocolate (delicious) and the (laughable) alternative to soy almond milk.

painted (acrylic on canvas) - for the first time ever.

a most unordinary wednesday afternoon. 

when i least expect it

Makato Fujimura, Still Point

you are brand new to me

i lay my head on the cafe' bar top
and with fixed attention search out this splendid,
everlasting child of the living God.

I 

listen,

               listen

listen...


to the story of a broken vessel arrested by time and flight,
rescued through sacrificial love.

you resonate - 

and i, a forgetful wanderer
passing through a drowsy afternoon

am assured;

strangers are indeed turned intimate when we are known by God,
found in Christ.

i hear an echo of paul to the church at ephesis: so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone...

imagined life party

for the first time in five years, i attended the Christmas party at the theatre where i take acting classes. 

a gift for the offender

"Any moderately perceptive and reasonably honest observer of humanity has to acknowledge that we are remarkably prone to doing bad things - and, more disturbingly, things we acknowledge to be wrong. And when we add to this calculus the deeds we insist are justified even when the unanimous testimony of our friends and neighbors condemns us - well, the picture is anything but pretty."*

*   *   *   *   *   *

Last night at work I intentionally punished my friend over and over again because I was in a sore mood. I coldly snubbed any attempt at communication and stormed out the door without offering an apology to the offended (my friend and God).  

Before I went to sleep, I acknowledged like a stubborn child that I was in the wrong but layered justification upon justification, crossed my arms and refused to repent. I went to sleep angry and full of grief. 

It wasn't until this late morning that I came to my senses - by the grace of God - and decided to ask for forgiveness from my friend...and make it up via dark chocolate. I later discovered that prior to receiving my gift and apology, he had come bearing a gift for me, the hardened offender. 

It was a sweet reminder of the gospel of Jesus. He reached out to me in my wickedness. His love, like my friend's melts my heart of stone. 

*Alan Jacobs, Original Sin