New Heart

Over the last weekend I went to the hospital where the doctors put stents into the arteries of my heart. We had discussed it and planned for it. It wasn't even the first time. But something about it put me on edge... it isn't exactly a vacation trip. Now I carry a card in my pocket in case I ever need to go to the hospital. Apparently before I get an MRI the technicians must fine-tune their machines.
     Sometimes we go on retreats, which means to take a few days to go off to a place apart and be with the Lord, the object being to let him talk while we listen and learn. I haven't been able to do that for awhile, so God sent me to the hospital and spoke to me through the experience. For the most part, it was a quiet time well-suited for contemplating things like mortality. Scriptures are firm on the point. Nobody gets out of this life in the body they started with. But we are told to live as people who expect good things, the best being the Company of God. What it must be like to stretch out our hand and let him take hold of us, leading us out into the night, into the quiet of the stars, to go wherever he is going. Apparently it is too much for us to imagine, but not too much for us to hope.
     Which brings me to an interesting point. We were created in goodness and meant to live our lives in goodness, but we weren't meant (as far as I can tell) to live in this physical form, but perhaps to be transformed to live a greater life. There are three things we can have right now that we will be able to take with us when we cross over into "the land of the living". We take our faith, as much of it as we can hold. We take our hope, whatever way it is. And we take love.
     These three things are forever. They are like the bag of gear we take when we go camping. They have everything we need. This life right now is about learning them and how to use them. It's taken me a long time to understand that they can all be used wrongly. We can put our faith in the wrong things, we can hope for the wrong things, and we can certainly love the wrong things. Misdirected, they become warped and harmful, not only to ourselves but to people around us and to our world.
     But when we understand these three eternal gifts and learn to use them well, marvelous things happen. The world and the people around us begin to change. I think this is what God always wanted. He wants us to participate in the work of filling out and completing creation, bringing it to its true potential. And this impacts everything we care about and do: politics, economics, ecology, technology, science--it all has a purpose in God's plan. It all has potential for good, for uplifting and transforming life.
     It's like, if you light a candle in the darkness then you can go a long way and see the light. If you get to a place where you can almost not see the light and light another candle, then you can go much farther and walk much longer in sight of the light. Imagine covering the world with candles, all placed closely enough that nomatter where you walk you will see the light. That is what God is doing, one life at a time.
     We walk with faith in God. We fill our hearts with hope for his work and we let his love shine forth like light. Everywhere we go we bring the light and when we look for it we see the light in others. It is a beautiful sight, to see the whole world glowing like one big Birthday Cake as it goes cruising through the cosmos. That's what God wants. He wants a light in the world...

BTW: I'm fine now. I have to take it easy for a few more days. I must watch what I eat and daily exercise--lots of it--is the plan. It's hard to describe what it's like... I really feel as if I've been given a new heart, or like I've been to the shop for an overhaul. But the real work comes from God's hand, who says "I will place new hearts in you, hearts made for loving."

That's a pretty good deal, don't you think?

God's Footprints

We have been offline for about two weeks because of a computer problem. We seem to have come out alright and are getting back up to speed, but it has been quite an experience in an unfamiliar world. These things tend to shake up my complacency. Trust me when I say a lot of praying was involved.

But the demands of solving this problem also made me reflect on whether or not I need so much technology in my life, particularly when I have to spend money maintaining it. How do I ask God to provide in this area? I am now fifty-six years old. On Friday night a woman called me "elderly". That was a bit of a shock, but fair enough, I guess. I'm certainly not a teen and by default, don't have a young person's facility where computers are concerned. If I could blog with my Royal typewriter, I'd do it in a flash.

Moses and Abraham and Isaac all knew what it was like to move from their homeland into unfamiliar territory. That seems like a running theme in the Bible and in Christian life as well. When we give our hearts to God, he may very well move us to new ground, and as I had to make choices about whether or not to proceed with technology in my life, I had to think about whether or not God had a purpose for it.

Because that's what conversion really means. We have finally, at last, "after many wanderings, many years of absence", come to a place where we can see into new country. We are seeing into God's country, God's kingdom, God's world. It's not whether God does or doesn't like computers. They are here. We have to learn to use them with the same faithfulness that we use money or power. God, of course, can figure a way--like this blog. Our modern tools belong to our time. We are meant to use them well. So, if you're there, I'm back. A little chastened, a little more humble (hopefully), and still willing to tell you about our journey.