Monday, April 30, 2007

Abiding

You know, I like to talk about my life lessons on here a lot. Things I have learned or am learning as I take walks, drive around, sit like a lump, or while working. I am sure just like normal people I wonder… why am I here?

So…Why am I here?

What am I supposed to be doing?

Where am I going?

To be honest, I don’t have an answer. Sorry to disappoint. What I have come up with…at least I think…is how we go about waiting to find out the answers to those questions.

I started thinking about the word “Abide”, it actually comes up quite a bit when you are reading. Think about what abiding means. The dictionary says it means to remain, to continue, to stay. Doesn’t that sound like what we are doing here? I mean we are abiding here on this earth; we’re kind of waiting for the next step, kind of wondering where we are going. If we were to look at the ancient Greek, the definition wouldn’t change much. It still means to wait, to not depart, and to endure. However, it also means to await or await someone.

So what? Where are you going?

I know, I know, we’ll get there hold on.

You see in ancient Israel, which is why I bring up the Greek (because a lot of the Jewish history is recorded in Hebrew and Greek) the custom went something like this. Two fathers would come together, one who had a daughter and another who had a son…get where this is going? The father of the son offered a dowry to the father of the daughter, if accepted they would have a huge party with both sides of the family, friends, etc. At this party they would…well…party, and at some point in the evening when the boy had worked up the courage to walk across the room he would. He would walk over with a cup with wine and set it in front of the girl who had the dowry paid to her father. When the cup was placed in front of her, she had the choice to drink the cup or to reject the cup.

MAN this is dripping with imagery.

If she accepted the cup, the boy would say in an almost verbatim speech that almost every young man would say if accepted, “I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may also be.” He would leave after the party and go to his father’s house and either build on to his fathers house or build somewhere on his fathers’ property. He would take about a year to do so, and at some point after about a year, but only when the father gave the go ahead, only the father (Grooms) could give the go ahead. The Groom-to-be would go to the Bride- to-be and say basically “HEY, it’s time.” And if I have the custom right, she had better be good and ready!
You may ask, “Well, what would happen if her bridesmaids weren’t ready?” Actually, if anyone came to the ceremony late, like after the doors had closed, they didn’t get in and missed the whole thing. Even if they had been waiting for a LONG time…they were left out.

So what!?!?!

Well here we go, you see I look at us as the bride, we are here and we have accepted the cup if you will. However, in this time we have a groom that is preparing something bigger and better for us. It is up to us to use this time wisely. So what are we supposed to do? Well, we may not know the details, but there are certain “duh” things we know we are supposed to do. A bride knows that when she is to be married, she needs to get a dress, a hall, bridesmaids, their dresses organized, and so many other things. She ABIDES in the understanding that she is taken, she is no longer her own but she is given to someone else. When you become engaged you don’t go out dating someone else, you are somebody’s spouse-to-be. There are certain responsibilities that go with abiding in the engagement period.

My proposal is that we are in the abiding stage even now. We know some of the basics, the “duh” things we are supposed to do, and so we should do them to the best of our abilities. As we do that and communicate, connect, and concede our desires to the desires of our Groom, we will assuredly get some of the guidance we have longed for.

I guess my question then is, how are you abiding? Are you abiding in a way that would please your groom? I have found myself to be a poorly abiding person.

So ponders the simpleMan.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Poverty

It’s defined as the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence; insufficiency.

“Are you willing to live in poverty?”

That’s the question I was asked yesterday, I have been wrestling with it every since.

I got up early yesterday @ 6 am to try to get on a schedule for walking, I walked in the fall/early winter & really enjoyed it. I found I had time to clear my head, think about some things & talk with God about some things. My enjoyment, coupled with my expanding waist, inspired me to start walking at the sacrifice of one of my most favorite things…SLEEP!


So I am half asleep, since I am not a morning person, & Denise was leaving at the same time & as I am walking out the door, I open the door & it seemed almost audible…

“Adam, are you willing to live in poverty?”

For those of you who know me, & my past, how I lived & where I have come from…you know I don’t take a question like that lightly.

So...what if?

What if He called me to poverty? What if what I was called to caused me to live in poverty? What if I was to lead my family down that road? Why would He call ME to that? Isn’t someone else willing? Are You serious? Why am I not willing? What’s wrong with me? Should I even be struggling with this? Or should I be “that guy” who just goes & sells all he has to give to the poor…but in the process wouldn’t that make me the poor? Or was He talking about physical poverty at all in that passage? I want to say, “Yes”, but would I REALLY mean it? I don’t want to answer in a way that just kind of snuffs the issue.

As I wrestled with all of that…the second question came…

“Why are you so willing to live in spiritual poverty then?”

Why is it so easy for me to settle? Why am I ok with taking my time seeking the spiritual things of this life? Why am I so anxious to find a better future & set goals for myself in the physical sense, but spiritually…what are my goals? Do I even have any? If so…

Are they big enough?

What do I mean by, “Are they big enough?” So many people are ok with saying what they believe & really that is the depth to their faith. From there, there is no depth to their seeking in the deep things of the faith. Not only that, but when someone is comfortable in the faith, what we need to understand is that we are sliding toward poverty. Think about it, poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence (Or destitution); insufficiency. If we walk through this life, or our faith, having no support, no “faith” currency to obtain any spiritual goods, & we are taking in an insufficient amount of “Bread” (so to speak) what does that mean?

We are in spiritual poverty.

I read, I pray, I do all the “good” things I am supposed to do. So, how can I be in poverty? Because, I am destitute in reaching the goals I am called to, what I am taking in is insufficient to get me to those goals, I have very little to support me to get to those goals, I could go on & on. One person’s poverty is another person’s riches, & we must realize that we are not all called to be the same carbon copy, cookie cutter person. We all have different goals, have different callings, and have different…wiring. My point is that maybe what I do to reach my goals and what I am called to is riches to one person, but is another person’s poverty.

So, what are you called to?

Where are you in all of this?

Do you know what you’re personally called to? You don’t necessarily have to KNOW. I don’t know fully, but are you seeking?

So wrestles the Simpleman.