"To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God; because He is what He is,
His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled by certain stains in our present character
And because He already loves us He must labor to make us lovable."
We must allow ourselves to be changed if we would become what He has in mind. To stubbornly continue on at our pace and direction is to ignore the reality of his love and plans for our eternal welfare...
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Our Amazing Heavenly Father
God’s nature is dualistic. He loves ALL of His children equally, at the same time. Across the universe and in all corners, He loves us all.
At the same time, surpassing our complete understanding, He loves us individually as well. Knows our individual daily battles and petty worries perfectly. Knows the nuanced ways we try to combat life. Loves our quirks and our weaknesses. Knows them all.
His True Nature grasps all of us AND me individually. Tender mercies, therefore can bless and strengthen and grow me—and those around me. And do it at the same time.
Amazing, huh?
At the same time, surpassing our complete understanding, He loves us individually as well. Knows our individual daily battles and petty worries perfectly. Knows the nuanced ways we try to combat life. Loves our quirks and our weaknesses. Knows them all.
His True Nature grasps all of us AND me individually. Tender mercies, therefore can bless and strengthen and grow me—and those around me. And do it at the same time.
Amazing, huh?
Ideas to ponder...
During the 1952 Christmas season, C. S. Lewis invited Joy Davidman Gresham—an American with whom he had corresponded for over two years—to spend the holidays at his home, The Kilns. Joy asked Lewis to autograph her copy of his book, The Great Divorce. He wrote, "There are three images in my mind which I must continually forsake and replace by better ones: the false image of God, the false image of my neighbours, and the false image of myself. C. S. Lewis 30 December 1952 (from an unwritten chapter on Iconoclasm)."
Though the planned chapter was never written, this simple inscription captures an idea central to Lewis's life and work: the idea that reality is iconoclastic—it breaks images or idols. An image of God (or of another person, or oneself) formed after reading a book, hearing a lecture or sermon, or having a conversation with a friend may temporarily give greater clarity of thought. But if it is held too tightly, it becomes an idol that must be broken in order to allow a better image to take its place. One might say that Lewis's entire relationship with the woman who eventually became his wife was encapsulated in the words he wrote on that December day.
Though the planned chapter was never written, this simple inscription captures an idea central to Lewis's life and work: the idea that reality is iconoclastic—it breaks images or idols. An image of God (or of another person, or oneself) formed after reading a book, hearing a lecture or sermon, or having a conversation with a friend may temporarily give greater clarity of thought. But if it is held too tightly, it becomes an idol that must be broken in order to allow a better image to take its place. One might say that Lewis's entire relationship with the woman who eventually became his wife was encapsulated in the words he wrote on that December day.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
His Image
The covenant to "make man in our own image" is not just a promise to create our physical body. Our road to exaltation requires divine intervention to remake us from our fallen selves into His image. The result is engraven on our countenance. It is His committment to our eternal progression.
On the other hand, if we are left unchanged, we try to reconcile our behaviors with our view of God. In order to pacify our guilt, we immediately set about creating god into our own image--we imagine Him in a way that condones our destructive behavior. He wouldn't judge me on this! God would send me to hell for this!
In the end, it still remains for us to accept His creation of us, daily, or begin the work of reinventing Him. There is no middle ground.
On the other hand, if we are left unchanged, we try to reconcile our behaviors with our view of God. In order to pacify our guilt, we immediately set about creating god into our own image--we imagine Him in a way that condones our destructive behavior. He wouldn't judge me on this! God would send me to hell for this!
In the end, it still remains for us to accept His creation of us, daily, or begin the work of reinventing Him. There is no middle ground.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Perfectionism
The disease of perfectionism is an especially nasty disorder. There's no medication that I know of, but it can be terminal if not careful. To those struggling with its insidious death grip, I offer Elder Maxwell's wise suggestions...
May I speak, not to the slackers in the Kingdom, but to those who carry their own load and more; not to those lulled into false security,
but to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short. …
There is a difference … between being ‘anxiously engaged’ and being over-anxious and thus underengaged. …
We can distinguish more clearly between divine discontent and the devil’s dissonance, between dissatisfaction with self and disdain for self.
We need the first and must shun the second, remembering that when conscience calls to us from the next ridge, it is not solely to scold but also to beckon.”
May I speak, not to the slackers in the Kingdom, but to those who carry their own load and more; not to those lulled into false security,
but to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short. …
There is a difference … between being ‘anxiously engaged’ and being over-anxious and thus underengaged. …
We can distinguish more clearly between divine discontent and the devil’s dissonance, between dissatisfaction with self and disdain for self.
We need the first and must shun the second, remembering that when conscience calls to us from the next ridge, it is not solely to scold but also to beckon.”
Monday, August 9, 2010
CS Lewis Quote
I have a new favorite CS Lewis quote-and its fairly deep. He said,
Every idea of Him we form, He must in mercy shatter.
What he is saying, I take it, is that we see God through our eyes. In a sense, he is an extension of our limited view of life. This view was formed by our experiences and by our relationships. Therefore, he is a God of our own making.
If our experience with people who are intended to be our caretakers has been a positive one, we tend to see a Father (in Heaven) in the same light. He becomes what we know and expect. If, on the other hand, we've been damaged or left by these father figures, we expect similar treatment from a God in heaven. Regardless of what we may profess or think we believe, a more remote part of us expects to be damaged or abandoned in the end.
In the same way, our dealings with our Creator is first and foremost a relationship. Relationships are filled elements such as love and trust and commitments and loyalty. If our relationships have been fairly positive, it becomes easier to draw closer to a relationship with deity. If we still carry pain from past interactions, we might be more reluctant to trust God, regardless of what we read.
It is for all these reasons that He must, MUST, in total mercy, shatter our ideas of who He is and why He does what He does. Our myopic human viewpoint makes it a certainty that we will be wrong; that we've somehow misunderstood Him and His love for us. For that reason, He will act contrary to what we expect, for He is not like anyone we've dealt with before. He is motivated by different things and driven by reasons we scarcely understand.
The bottom line is that He is who He is, not who we have imagined him to be. Only when we become completely honest with ourself, will we see the God we've created. This image He will shatter as learn more of Him. And this is the part where we can finally prepare to see Him as He really is.
Every idea of Him we form, He must in mercy shatter.
What he is saying, I take it, is that we see God through our eyes. In a sense, he is an extension of our limited view of life. This view was formed by our experiences and by our relationships. Therefore, he is a God of our own making.
If our experience with people who are intended to be our caretakers has been a positive one, we tend to see a Father (in Heaven) in the same light. He becomes what we know and expect. If, on the other hand, we've been damaged or left by these father figures, we expect similar treatment from a God in heaven. Regardless of what we may profess or think we believe, a more remote part of us expects to be damaged or abandoned in the end.
In the same way, our dealings with our Creator is first and foremost a relationship. Relationships are filled elements such as love and trust and commitments and loyalty. If our relationships have been fairly positive, it becomes easier to draw closer to a relationship with deity. If we still carry pain from past interactions, we might be more reluctant to trust God, regardless of what we read.
It is for all these reasons that He must, MUST, in total mercy, shatter our ideas of who He is and why He does what He does. Our myopic human viewpoint makes it a certainty that we will be wrong; that we've somehow misunderstood Him and His love for us. For that reason, He will act contrary to what we expect, for He is not like anyone we've dealt with before. He is motivated by different things and driven by reasons we scarcely understand.
The bottom line is that He is who He is, not who we have imagined him to be. Only when we become completely honest with ourself, will we see the God we've created. This image He will shatter as learn more of Him. And this is the part where we can finally prepare to see Him as He really is.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Teach me all that I must know?
When 'I Am A Child of God' was first composed, it read, "teach me all that I must know". Later, it was changed to 'teach me all that I must do'.
However, at the Bar of God, are we saved based on what we do or on what we know?
The answer might surprise you...
However, at the Bar of God, are we saved based on what we do or on what we know?
The answer might surprise you...
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