The Mix of Life

Yesterday morning I had an interesting confluence of two things. I was driving to work on my massive ten minute commute. One of the great things about working at WCU is the drive. It's always the same road, Highway 107, but you never know what the scenery will be. You go up some in elevation and through Catamount Gap, a place blasted through the side of a mountain years ago to make a way for the road. There's a curve there where you can't see far ahead with rock walls on both sides. But then you come through and see the Cullowhee valley below you and many of the buildings of main campus with the mountains behind them. It's a beautiful sight.  In the spring you may have wildflowers. In the summer you get clear blue sky and many layers of mountain views. In the fall you get the quilt of many colors covering the hills. In the winter you may see a dusting of snow and icicles covering the walls of rock. Sometimes, you come through the gap and can barely see the trees lining the road for the fog.

This morning, it was a gorgeous sight. I came through the gap and it was a bright and clear morning. There was a layer of bright white cloud just high enough to see the campus but low enough to still see the tops of the nearby mountains. My heart praised God for the beauty of what he has made in this place and allowing me to see it. 

But then, I looked over on the side of the road. There was a dead racoon. Very stiff, and (pardon the image) not quite all in one piece. Thankfully I had the windows rolled up and the fan off but the memory of smells from similar encounters came to mind vividly. It was a ugly, disgusting sight and I was glad it was over quickly. 

Life is this way. We sometimes get bursts of beauty, goodness, and truth. We get a small glimpse at the how-it-should-be world, a world without the curse of sin and death. We give and receive kindness and grace. We experience the beauty of holiness. We share good meals and hearty laughter with friends and family.

But sometimes not. Sometimes we get the mundane of aligning spreadsheet columns, sweeping the same floors, patching the same clothes. We must try again to fix the leak in the roof. And sometimes we must face the ugliness of death. The beeping machines, endless pills, people coming and going in a blur. 

And sometimes we have both of those at the same time. When a saint is dying, there is the ugliness of the body giving way, but there is often the beauty of love, care, and community. Even more, there is hope for the beauty, goodness, and truth of the world that is to come. 

We see it in small things also. Last night I spent two hours replacing a broken part in my refrigerator. It was frustrating to have a fridge that didn't work correctly, and then to contort myself to get at some of the screws, plus having to figure out (with lots of help from YouTube and a friend) how to go about replacing it. But, I managed and I (hopefully) now have a working fridge again!

Let me encourage you in this. Be glad for those times of beauty, goodness, and truth. They are from the Lord and his kindness and grace. They show his power, wisdom, beauty, and love for us. We rightly revel in them.

But those times of the mundane, sorrow, pain, and death are also ours. They remind us of our sin and that we are truly but dust. The Lord's curse and judgment are heavy, because our sin is a heavy, deadly thing. Be reminded to cry out for the Lord's mercy. He is slow to anger and will hear you. We might pray like the writer of Psalm 90:

¹² So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
¹³ Return, O Lord! How long?
    Have pity on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Image Source: Photo by Richard Wilson from Pexels

Overcome Evil With Good

We all saw the news of the pro-Trump protesters that overran the capital building yesterday. We’ve also seen the anger and strife of the past year over many political and social issues. I won’t try to enumerate all the sin and evil we’ve seen, which has come from all sides that people take. 

Instead, I've been thinking about what does a Christian do in times of strife and evil? Essentially, we do what we are always called to do: love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. That second one is hard when a neighbor is on the opposite side of an issue from you. But just because it is hard doesn't mean it isn't the right thing to do.

The Apostle Paul suffered much as he went on his missionary journeys, recounted in Acts and some of his epistles. Sometimes he used his Roman citizenship to call to account those persecuting them. So we can't say that his love for his neighbor meant rolling over and not seeking justice. However, let's hear what he has to say, speaking to ancient Christians (and us) about living as a Christian in ancient, pagan Rome (and now).

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - Romans 12:14-21 (emphasis mine)

To my brothers and sisters in Christ: we cannot overcome evil with evil, sinful means. We overcome evil with good. Paul used his Roman citizenship to pursue justice, but that is different from vengeance - actively seeking to harm someone else for a wrong done to you. I urge you, and myself, to consider  how to actively do good, even to those individuals that hate you, to overcome evil.

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/action-adult-affection-eldery-339620/

On Masks

I'm not sure how face masks became a controversial, contentious issue, but going by my Facebook feed, they are. I'm surprised at the level of rancor directed at the issue of whether or not to wear one, from both pro and con sides. And yes, there are rational voices also. I suppose the debate between allowing personal freedom and making boundaries for safety/care for life is ongoing and a passionate one in our culture.

For my part, I have to think about this as a Christian - what Biblical principles may apply here and where does that leave us?

First, the second greatest commandment calls us to love our neighbor. Our neighbor is everyone around us. And how do we love them? We put the needs of others first (Philippians 2:3-4). We sacrifice for them even as Jesus sacrificed his life to save us, his people, from our sins. So, I can't give much weight to a mask being uncomfortable or difficult in some way. It is the loving thing to do to wear them to protect others from harm.

Second, we are called to submit to rightful authority over us (Romans 13:1). In our state, we are now essentially mandated to use them in public. Even before that, they were recommended and some businesses already required them. The only claim we can make to not obey an authority over us is when they require us to sin. I'm going to assume no one is seriously arguing that wearing a mask to prevent the spread of disease is sin.

Finally, I won't offer thoughts on whether or not they are effective against COVID-19. My expertise is not medical. However, those in public health are strongly recommending them. I don't have a Biblical case for their effectiveness, but that's hardly the purpose of the Bible. It seems wise to trust the public health and medical community in their area of expertise, particularly when there is a logical case to be made as it is a physical barrier.

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, let me encourage you to love and submit well by wearing a mask.

The Downfall of Sauron

Today, March 25th is the day in Tolkien's Middle Earth mythology that Sauron fell due to the destruction of the Ring. It is the great, world changing eucatastrophe in the Lord of the Rings that brings light, victory, joy, freedom, and peace from the dark enslavement after war that seemed immanent. I bring this up as we are currently living through the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic is the real thing, not a story, the story can help us think through our real life enemy. Both are forces that seem beyond mortals to deal with, both may lead to suffering and death, the influence of both seems to spread without check, and both lead to much fear.

What ideals does Tolkien hold up in his characters in facing such an enemy? Courage certainly. But not blind courage - courage tempered by wisdom. Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo, and the others choose as best they can to go on fighting, but using the wisdom they have. In our day, we must listen to the wisdom of our medical professionals - wash hands, distance as we can, don't gather in large groups, etc. Doing even small things that are good has an effect.

But more important to me is to remember that evil has an end. The suffering due to COVID-19, though it brings death for many, will pass. And even more, for those of us who are in Christ, we know the end of evil and the curse on our world. To summarize the book of Revelation in two words: Jesus wins. He wins over the forces of Satan. He wins over our own rebellious, sinful hearts, he undoes the curse on our world, and brings in the new heavens and new earth. In the darkness of all sin, pain, toil, and death, even through the death of Christ on the cross, victory, grace, and peace come through in the end. His resurrection from the dead is the great eucatastrophe; victory in the face of sure defeat.

To my fellow Christians I say, be of good courage, but exercise wisdom. We need not fear, but we also need not be foolish. Even if suffering and death take us due to this, we know they must come on us sometime in our life. Our final end is still life, rest, joy, and peace. Look forward in joy and comfort, and do the good to your neighbor that you can.

To those who are not Christians, I hold out hope to you. No one is free from suffering in this life or from death. And no one is free from guilt for sin, our own moral failures. I can hold out freedom from guilt, the love of God who made you and has provided for you, and strength for your soul to walk through this life. I can hold out life after death, and rescue from the judgement to come that we all deserve. Feel free to ask, I would like to talk about nothing more than this with you.

Longing for Home

I am writing this post from Manizales, Colombia. More specifically, from the Juan Valdez outdoor cafe near my hotel.

Maybe you are a happy traveler, ready for the next adventure wherever, whenever. I am not. I am much more of a hobbit. I like regularity, home, second breakfast, and no adventures. Yet here I am, a non-Spanish speaker very far from home. I have no idea how many people I’ve offended; hopefully not as many as I fear.

Some things are the same as in the USA, yet strange even in their sameness. American music from the 80’s and 90’s is played everywhere. Ordering coffee and checking in to the hotel follow the same pattern, so I can guess when we’re talking about size of drink (grande!) or the WiFi password. The Subway restaurant smells exactly like a Subway in the USA, though I can't read the menu. I found a non-Catholic church near-ish my hotel and showed up. They did their very best to welcome me. They played a song that had the same tune as “Bless the Lord, Oh my soul” and I think was a translation.

But things are still so different. The architecture and streets are...different. The food is different. At the church service, the interpretive dancers came out at some point and then there was (I think) a prayer I couldn’t follow at all. I decided to give it up and slip out as it was simply unintelligible to me.

The people here in Manizales are home, have all the implicit knowledge of how to operate, and probably see Manizales as how things are. But I do not. In Sylva I am home in my own house and family. Someone from Manizales who was dropped in Sylva would no doubt feel the same sense of being out of place.

There are a lot of things I can take away from this experience, but the one that comes to mind on this Lord’s Day is my longing for my eternal home. That is, the place that I ultimately long for, and where I really belong. Even in Sylva, we have conflict, trouble communicating (just between my wife and me, never mind anyone else!), and so many things that are not as they should be. We have sickness, sorrow, pain, and death as a result of our sin and God’s just judgment. While this is our lived experience, we who are in Christ and trust him to forgive our sins and adopt us into the family of God, have hope for better. The book of Revelation gives us a vision of God making all things new.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21:1-4

To paraphrase Samwise Gamgee, my fellow hobbit, all the sad things will be made untrue.

It is my hope that this includes these barriers that divide us such as language, place, and culture, so we can worship and live together well in the new heavens and new earth, apparently in the one city of New Jerusalem. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.