Strivings

Bitterness is a historian. Forgiveness is an ambassador. Mercy is a nurse. Grace is a philanthropist.

Physical Beauty

 "I believe Satan is aware of the great power we have through faith in Christ's glory. I believe that ancient enemy works to coerce us to prefer the visually stunning to faith. By design he has clouded eyes of faith with eye candy. Satan wants you to prefer your HDTV and retina display to things that nurture your faith. Satan hates when we behold the glory of Christ by faith. Unfortunately, his strategy seems to be working. Many today are more prone to enjoy the beauty of this world by sight than enjoy the glory of Christ by faith.

If you are hungry to see more of Christ's glory, here are a few suggestions. First, spend regular time in God's Word. Open the Scriptures on a mission to see the glory of Christ in His authoritative teaching, compassionate healing, powerful miracles, and humble sacrifice. Let the Old Testament show you the glory of Christ in the promises, prophecies, and predictions about who He would be and what He would accomplish. Let the rest of the New Testament show you the glory of Christ in His compassionate love for the world and glorious mission for His people.

Second, spend time alone with God in prayer, pleading with Him to increase your faith and show you more of His glory. Create regular space and time to think about and meditate on the glory of Christ. Prayerfully set your heart on God's Word, enjoy more of Christ's glory and be swept up in joy unspeakable.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. "

 - By Andrew Hess

Something to put into practice

Bible Study

I love studying the Bible. It is one of my favorite things to do. For the last ten years, I have more or less faithfully studies Scriptures, and I think that it has paid off mightily. I love this verse: "Physical training has some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for the present life and also for the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8

I am almost done with another Beth Moore Bible study, which will be probably my 8th or 9th, with a few repeats here and there. Next, I want to start studying on my own. My friend Barbara is a great example for me. When she was in high school, she started writing Bible Studies for her sister. Now she is a bona fide scripture scholar, speaks Greek and Hebrew (!) and is getting her Master's degree from a renowned Bible college in Southern California.

This summer a friend and I are leading a Bible study for female interns on Capitol Hill. We decided to study the women in the Bible, and have so far studied Eve, Sarah, Deborah, Esther, and Ruth. The coolest part is that we decided not to follow a book but to come up with the study questions on our own, letting the Word of God speak for itself. I had never done this before, but it has worked really well.

I am also in a Bible study at my church where we are going through the book of Hebrews, chapter by chapter. It is really challenging, and we are studying the scripture and its text alone. It is really helpful.

I decided that as soon as I finish my current Bible study material, I am going to start studying Scripture topically, and my first subject will be "sin." I think it will be interesting to enter into that study for a few weeks and see what the whole of Scripture has to say about it. I pray that God moves my heart and washes me white as snow through the course of the reading.

Love It or Lose It

I am trying a new method of going through my clothes. Several years ago I decided to toss any item of clothing that I never or rarely wear, that had a prominent color or pattern that was not the most flattering, and that was ill fitting, unless I was willing to pay for alterations. That got rid of a lot of clothes.

Then there are some that still linger without my wearing them too often. Sometimes that is because they are "special" and cannot be worn casually. But there are others that sit on hangers week after month after year. I decided today to pick an item and either "wear it or toss it." If I cannot find a way to wear a particular item, it goes in the Good Will bin. If I decide after a day of wearing it that it is not something I love, then I will donate the garment to charity.

Either way, I must make a decision every day to "love it or lose it," or "wear it or lose it." If you see me wearing something that you don't think is particularly nice, please let me know, I really am trying to weed out things that aren't extra special.

The Age-Old Debate: Can Women 'Have it All?'

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-can-8217-t-have-it-all/9020/?single_page=true

This is a long article but the gist of it: can you be both a good professional employee and a good mother and wife? The article discusses how hard it is, and possibly impossible, to "have it all."

I guess I don't really have any practical thoughts on what it would be like to be an employee and a mother. But I want to have the mindset that I am not called to "have it all" but to "have Him all."

The only thing I "want" is to stand before the face of God; my career and my family life is only in service to Him. So there can never be a conflict, ultimately. It may seem that way, but at every juncture, I will just choose Him and the rest will take care of itself. I don't want to 'have it all.' I just want to 'have Him all.' I merely have to lay down my personal desires in service to Him..."I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me."

I know this is an extremely spiritual answer, but at the end of the day, I trust in God's sovereignty and I want to put Him completely in charge of my life and my will. This song lyric below shows how we don't have to choose between "having it all" if we singleheartedly choose the One right thing and let him direct our lives. There is no conflict.

I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King
I'm giving you my dreams, I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life
And I surrender all to you, all to you

Ultimately, where God guides he provides the will and the way to make things work.

The mystical land of my imagination

Habits and Destiny

Habits and Destiny

  "The long practice of Christian habits embeds faith, hope, and love so deeply within a human life that they can preserve our lives and our character and predict our future activity."

"We are becoming who we will be . . . "

—Dallas Willard

"What shapes who we will become? According to Charles Duhigg, "becoming" happens through a three-step habit loop: cue, routine, and reward. In his The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Doubleday Canada, 2012), Duhigg provides scores of examples of habits that have revolutionized individual lives and entire corporations. Habits have helped sedentary, unhealthy smokers kick the cigarettes, start exercising, and become fit, healthy people. Habits helped the Indianapolis Colts, a once-failing professional football team, become Super Bowl Champions. Habits revitalized Alcoa, a once-ailing aluminum manufacturer, transforming it into a Dow Jones top performer. From individual to corporate life, habits manifest change and perpetuate behaviours that shape our lives.

Who Gets the Real Presence, and Who Says?

As someone who now attends a Catholic Church and chooses to abide by the rules and perimeters established by the Church for the good of the flock, I continue to hear many people share that the reason they ascribe to Catholicism is because of the Eucharist. They claim that the Eucharist is the Real Presence, the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. Further, they claim that the Catholic Church is the only church that can enact transubstantiation because of their direct line of Apostolic succession. Apparently, people--many people--convert to Catholicism to partake of this Holy meal.

This is interesting to me, having been part of the Catholic Church all my life, as well as the Evangelical Free Church, Non-denominational Bible Churches, and the Anglican Church. I celebrated communion and remembered the Last Supper through the body and blood, bread and wine, frequently, in all of these churches. Never did I believe that the bread and wine was not the Real Presence of Christ. While I didn't think too much about it at the time, my default thought was that the elements were the true body and blood of Christ. I assume that many of the other members of those churches didn't consider what they were consuming merely symbolic, either. For the vast majority of Jesus-seekers, regardless of denomination or church affiliation, they view participating in Communion as in fact consuming the body and blood of Jesus, just as He stated emphatically at the Last Supper. To be clear--I have never been a member of a reformed or Baptist church, so I can't speak for their doctrine on Communion-- but in the churches I have experienced, I never considered Communion as a symbol but as the reality of the Eucharist.

This leaves the big question: is "thinking" one way enough? Is it the Real Presence because I think it is, or because the Church says it is, or because the right Priest of the right denomination makes the correct gestures and says the right words over the elements? I don't think so: it is the Real Presence because God makes it so...it is his spiritual law, and he can create and enact the great mystery at his will. Did I consume the Real Presence at my Anglican, Evangelical Free, and Non-denominational churches? I think so. But only God knows.

Big Problem

I am guilty on all counts! Lord, have mercy!


There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

• haughty eyes 
• a lying tongue
• hands that shed innocent blood
• a heart that devises wicked schemes
• feet that are quick to rush into evil
• a false witness who pours out lies
• and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Proverbs 6:16-19

Dream

Breathtaking Reflection on the Wings of God

Dear Friends, this morning I read the following reflection on God's wings. I had never considered this before, but from now on, every time I lay my head on my feather pillow or pull up my warm and snuggly down blanket in the cold weather, I will remember the protective and glorious wings of our great Heavenly Father. I hope this moves you like it did me today. Be Blessed! Love, Juliet

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. -Psalm 91:4

 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. -Psalm 17:8

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. -Psalm 63:7

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. -Matthew 23:37

“How perfectly Christ portrays the nurturing wings of El Shaddai, the Caregiver. God’s wings covered His children with safety, security, joy and affection. In His perfect parenting, God is both paternal and maternal, both the loving disciplinarian and the nurturing protector who covers His children with His life.

“An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God’s wings. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had singed her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live.

“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust.”-Psalm 91:4. Learn to experience the warmth and protection of life beneath the wings of the almighty.”

--Beth Moore, A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place

Great Op-Ed on the State of Women in the Republican Party

GOP: Real party of U.S. women By: 14 House GOP women May 15, 2012 10:16 PM EDT

There’s an old joke about a married couple that’s asked about their hobbies and interests. The husband says he’s focused on “important things” — like the federal budget, health care reform and peace in the Middle East. The wife says she’s focused on the “small things” — like their household budget, their children’s health care and keeping peace within their family. There’s an important truth here. The things that women focus on and the decisions they make are often unappreciated — but they’re the foundation of our society. A few facts should give you a better picture: Women account for 85 percent of all consumer purchases; they make 85 percent of all health care decisions; they start two out of three new businesses, and for the first time in history, they’re a majority of the U.S. workforce. Despite all the challenges that our nation faces — from the economy to health care to the national debt — this is an exciting time for American women. When it comes to our quality of life and the opportunities before us, there has never been a better time and place to be a woman than today in the United States. That’s what makes the Democrats’ message to American women so strange and unsettling. For the past few months, the Democrats have been accusing Republicans of waging a “war on women” as if some honest disagreements between the parties — over matters like how an “Obamacare” mandate should affect religious institutions or the proper scope of federal law on tribal land — constitute a deliberate GOP campaign to take away women’s rights. Nothing could be further from the truth, and Republican women have been at the forefront exposing these myths. Let’s face it: Republican women — like us — would never be part of a party that didn’t believe in women’s rights, equal pay for equal work and strong laws against sexual violence. The Republican Party believes in all of those things. We also believe in something else: We believe that women want to be empowered. We believe that women want independence. We want opportunities. We want an equal chance to succeed — no special favors and no glass ceilings. We want our daughters to have those same opportunities, that same chance to live the American dream. We want our sons to have it, too. What policies promote freedom, opportunity and self-ownership? Certainly not the Democrats’ Big Government policies. The Democrats showed their hand recently with their “Life of Julia” infographic. The Obama campaign used this to illustrate how a typical woman is dependent on government programs from birth to death — and how the GOP is supposedly undermining those programs. Leaving aside that everything the “Julia” campaign said about Republicans is either mostly wrong or totally wrong, “Julia’s” life is not typical of American women. Nor is it something that we aspire to. We don’t see our lives as a product of government handouts. In fact, we resent the idea that we owe our success to bureaucrats, and not our own initiative. The real reason Democrats manufactured “Julia” and the “war on women” is because women don’t support their policies. In 2010, Republicans won the women’s vote for the first time since Ronald Reagan. We fired the first woman speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, because we didn’t like the direction Democrats were taking our country — on the economy, on health care and especially on the debt. We still don’t like it today. When Republicans talk about freedom, entrepreneurship, patient-centered health care and fiscal responsibility, most women respond positively. And when Republicans propose policies grounded in those principles — reducing taxes on small businesses, shrinking the deficit through the Ryan plan, and repealing “Obamacare” — women see that it’s the Republican Party that’s advancing their values, not the Democrats. The Republican Party is the real party of American women. And women have played a huge role in our party’s success. We have a dynamic group of 24 women in the House, including a record nine freshmen. Four of the six women governors today are Republicans. We’re also the only party in the past 25 years to nominate a woman for vice president. American women have a right to be self-confident, and we have a right to be suspicious of politicians who say we should be dependent on government programs. We, the House Republican women, will continue to advocate for the positive solutions that women want — and America needs. If the Democrats think we’ll be silent on women’s issues — or any issue — they should think again. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.), Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.)

Instructions

I remember an idyllic time in my life several years ago now, where I really felt the power of the following verse:

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. (James 5:13)

I was really, really happy; there were no clouds on the horizon or in the past. We all have seasons of this. There was nothing troubling me to pray about. I needed to remember that it is in that period that I must sing songs of praise, and give thanks! That is the other side of the pendulum of asking for help or for your needs. Give thanks!!

Today I read the following, and it also provides a full range of instructions for any of life's stages..whether in a stage of hope, affliction, or prayer.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

Brilliantly True

"In learning you will teach; and in teaching you will learn!"

Pro Choice Obama Administration Requires Registration of Unborn Babies in Security Process

This afternoon, I started noticing a few people posting articles on Facebook about the pro-choice White House’s policy toward unborn children who will be visiting the White House with their parent(s). I gave it half a laugh, noting the irony. A few hours later, the staff assistant in my office forwarded me an email from the White House Visitor’s Center. I am pasting it below:

 

From: FN-WHO-Visitors Office
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 8:18 AM
To: FN-WHO-Visitors Office
Subject: Tuesday Tidbits!

Hi Hill!

A big Happy Birthday to San Francisco Giants legendary centerfielder Willie Mays who turned 81 on Sunday!

OK, now back to work.  We have received a number of calls regarding how to enter security information for a baby that has not yet been born. 

Crazy as it may sound, you MUST include the baby in the overall count of guests in the tour. It’s an easy process. 

The baby’s security information should be entered as follows:

·         LAST NAME: The family’s last name

·         FIRST NAME: “Baby” as a first name

·         MIDDLE NAME: NMN as in No Middle Name

·         DOB: Use the date you are submitting the request to us as their birthday

·         GENDER: if the parents know put that gender down if not, you can enter either M or F as we’ll ask you to update it at the time of birth

·         SOCIAL: As they will not have a SSN and are under 18, you will not need to enter this field.  Again if the spreadsheet asked for a social enter 9 zero’s (not the word nine zeros but 000000000 and yes it happens!)

·         CITIZEN/CITY/STATE: The citizen, city and state should be entered the same as the parents

Last_Name	First_Name	MI	DOB	SSN	Citizen	Country	Gender	City	State
Smith	Baby	NMN	5/9/2012		Y	US	F	Washington	DC

Once, the baby is born, you should send an email to the VO inbox with the tour request ID number, the baby’s given name, their actual birthday and gender. We can then update the newborn guest’s information within our system. Please note that any changes to security information for newborns must be made at least 48 hours in advance.

Keep being awesome!

E****

E*** S******

Director, Visitors Office

The White House

“This White House is yours!”  First Lady Michelle Obama

The Sleight of Perspective

We see things not as they are, but as we are. -- John Milton

Do you see the old woman or the young woman?

                 In 2011, I learned a difficult but essential life lesson in perspective. Someone shared with me the following quote, which I now try to keep at the forefront of my thought processes in interpersonal relationships: “We see things not as they are, but as we are.[i]” In this essay, I will draw from a literary strategy to convey the drastically disparate conclusions drawn from two or more perspectives, a biblical mandate to treat others as one desires to be treated, a social contract theory of authority and government, and also posit the dangers of judgment when operating in the schema of one’s own perspective. Ultimately, we must extend the benefit of the doubt to those who hurt us, offer grace, mercy, and forgiveness unconditionally where wrong has occurred, and most of all seek to understand before looking to be understood[ii]. This is the only loving and Christ-like response to offenses, great and small.

                Weaving a story through the lens of differing characters or images is a powerful means to communicate that the same event in the same space and time can be interpreted radically differently by different people. Where one may see a scene, conversation, or image and impute one meaning, someone else will see something differently. This is most simply portrayed by the dualistic images that simultaneously show both an old woman and a young woman, for example, and different individuals will naturally see different elements and design in the image. It can be difficult for the individual to find the alternate image after the first is already impressed in his or her mind.

                In Atonement,[iii] author Ian McEwen effectively spins a scene that occurs between an adult man and woman struggling insignificantly over a vase that then breaks and falls into a fountain. The woman sheds her outer garments and climbs into the fountain to fetch the broken glass pieces. The man stands in observation, shocked and taken aback by her unexpected and indecorous behavior. The reader receives the story first, “objectively,” receiving the scope and the facts of the situation.

                At the same time, a young, naïve and impressionable girl is watching, unbeknownst to the actors. She constructs a fantasy about the interaction involving her older sister (the woman) and the family’s gardener’s son (the man). While not inherently harmful at this time, the fantasy hardens into a reality for the young girl, who does not grasp the nature of romance and attraction between the sexes. This basis for her ongoing observation of the man and woman does spiral into dangerous and fallacious accusations that will later cause grave harm to the innocent man. The girl observes a later physical romantic encounter between her sister and the man, attributes violence and brutality to him, and when an unrelated murder or rape occurs, accuses him of committing the violent act, and he is found guilty based on her testimony.[iv] In this case, the girl’s erroneous misperception causes lasting and irreversible harm and injustice to an innocent person. Her following unachievable quest for “Atonement” is the namesake of the book; one can never atone for such an error, no matter how innocently made, in this life.

                While drawing conclusions based on one’s perceptions seldom have extreme consequences such as are found in this masterful story, the lesson to be learned is that, by no fault of one’s own, one’s perceptions are necessarily colored by age, experience, intuitiveness, culture, and innumerable other factors. One must be judicious in maintaining awareness that their sensory and experiential observations are filtered through self; the most effective way to overcome barriers of personal perception is to be self-critical of our subconscious and aware of our limitations.   

                We are given the following Biblical mandate in the Golden Rule: “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.[v]” This is the rule and the benchmark for our interpersonal relationships: how we speak to others, share sensitive information, praise or criticize, and how we treat other people’s property. Each person should behave in every possible situation toward others in a manner that would please and bless himself or herself: love your neighbor as yourself.

                Inevitably, though, this will lead to conflict, as every person will have particularities and differences in how they wish to be treated. One individual may want to be always “drawn out” into conversation, where another may desire to be left to his or her thoughts. Individuals may have different standards of reasonableness for household chores and duties. When each individual treats others and their objects as that individual would want his or herself and objects to be treated, one will encounter conflicts, bruised sensibilities, and problems. This is not a matter of disrespect, laziness, or acrimony, but is a true and honest result of someone trying merely to follow the sensitivities and standards one imposes on and desires for one’s own self.

                The Golden Rule as applied to human beings as social creatures also necessitates authority, hierarchy, and rule enforcement on a large scale. Man in its natural state of nature, absent hierarchy and authority and governance, will encounter incontrovertible conflict. John Locke has one of the most positive views of human nature, and his social contract theory is based on the notion that man, pursing his own good interests in a generous and benevolent manner will still encounter deep conflicts. One man pursuing his interests, respectful of others, will at some point conflict with another man pursuing his interests, respectful of his neighbors. This is why an arbiter is needed, and a centralized authority and system of rules arise to govern the conflict when two well-intentioned neighbors reach an intractable conflict. This is where government becomes necessary, and can be limited to instances in which cooperation must be brokered and enforced between two “good” interests that have reached a standoff.

                Even with the best intentions, and following the Golden Rule according to one’s best understanding of how others want to be treated (based on how one wants to be treated), conflicts still arise. Everyone will be on both ends of this dilemma at one point or another,  whether it is the person feels “picked on” by another’s well-intentioned attempt to “solve their problems,” or the person who is accused of a motive he or she is truly innocent of or oblivious to.  It is therefore harmful to relationships and limiting to oneself to draw judgments and conclusions as to another’s behavior without seeking to understand their perspective and motive. The truism goes: seek to understand rather than be understood. Sometimes people are motivated by selfish desires or the intention to hurt another, but often times they are not. It is the duty of one person to another to understand his or her perspective before casting judgment.

                There are few things more damaging to relationships between lovers and friends, parents and siblings, than the offended party projecting motives upon the other person(s) and being unwilling to entertain alternative perspectives, reasons, and motives behind the offense. Many times the offense may have been unintentional, or the motives were far removed from the intent to hurt the injured party. An unwillingness on the part of the offended to engage and extend the benefit of the doubt to the perpetrator of the offense is unloving and unkind, the gravest transgression in any relationship. Reserving judgment and maintaining openness to alternative explanations and the other person’s perspective is absolutely fundamental in a healthy interpersonal relationship of any kind.

                Most relational issues can be greatly resolved and reconciliation achieved when individuals approach a situation where an offense has occurred with a willingness to examine the perspective of another person. When an individual engaged in a conflict holds the mindset that “we see things not as they are, but as we are,” one maintains a comportment and orientation toward grace, mercy, and understanding—the building blocks of personal healing and wholeness.  These are the elements of the gift that Jesus Christ extended to us when we stood before him blackened by our sinful nature.

                Without Christ’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness, we don’t have the capacity to offer the same to our brothers and sisters. If we claim his grace, mercy, and forgiveness, however, we must without exception unconditionally offer the same to our brothers and sisters. As brothers and sisters, though we may tiff and squabble with one another, it is beholden on us to seek out the perspectives of others to enhance and fortify our own understanding and achieve reconciliation. Failure to do so violates the Golden Rule and keeps one trapped in the limits of one’s own perception and perspective. This is a barrier and cage of ignorance preventing personal growth and development in wisdom, insight, and understanding. Dear God, please explode the myopic little boxes of our minds and let us enter into communion, empathy, compassion, and understanding of the perspectives of others.

 

---

[i] (John Milton, Paradise Lost).

[ii] (Proverbs 18:13: He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame; Also, St. Francis of Assisi: Prayer)

[iii] Ian McEwen: NOTE- I have only begun reading this book, so any analysis is based on a small portion of the text and what I assume will come.

[iv] Again, I have not read this far into the book, but based on what I know of it, this is not too far from the plot. Regardless of how true it is to the book, it is a fascinating story and endpoint for the misperception.

[v] Matthew 7:12, NIV