In the Moment

I have written a previous post regarding the Dog Whisperer , Cesar Millan and I’ll confess I have become a devoted follower of him and his techniques for “rehabilitating dogs and training people.” It fascinates me that he can take an out-of-control dog and within minutes bring that dog to a “calm submissive” state without using physical punishment or harsh words.

Now bear with me here….

We have several dogs in our neighborhood that are not contained. Consequently, on more than one occasion when walking our dog, we have been confronted. There are also dogs contained by an Invisible Fence, similar to what we use, but when they approach the boundary in our direction, it causes anxious moments. In fact, our dog basically goes nuts. No matter how much I attempt to correct him, he often squeals and jumps around.  I knew there was a problem.

What I have come to realize that it is not my dog, but me that needs correction. I am still living in a past experience of a dog attack that was being transferred to my dog. For you see, dogs live “in the moment.” They don’t dwell on or catalog past experiences. They simply live in the “now.” Humans don’t. We catalog past experiences and use them often as reference points for present experiences. Even though, for example, my wife and I have moved to several different states, we often compare those living environments to where we live now and how our life is. According to Cesar, dogs would never do that.

Living “in the moment” has certain advantages. Naturally one of them is putting the past in the past and not agonizing over the future – just living in the now. The moment I have is the moment I should cherish. For, as we all know, we cannot change the past, nor to any large extent, influence the future. What we have is now. Right here, right now – in the moment.

For me, I love that concept and am attracted to its benefits. The only problem is this. My dog may do that instinctively, but I have to work on it. It is not my nature to do that. I often find myself living my life engulfed with questions and doubts. “What if I had made this choice or that choice? Moved here instead of there. Took that job instead of the other.” Etc, etc. Consequently, I seldom enjoy the moment – the present – the here and now.

The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven (Eccl. 3:1 ESV). That is probably the quintessential “in the moment” statement in Scripture. It tells us that the here and now is what matters. It’s not a matter of time in a bottle, but time that moves forward. Time that says with each ticking of the clock, if you please, there is an appropriate behavior or circumstance. My objective is to embrace and live in that moment.  I cannot plant before the soil is ready or harvest before the crops are mature for harvest.

Living in the moment is a challenge for me. It will require both thought and behavior changes. Perhaps my dog Eli can help me to master that.

God Thoughts

What do you think about when you think about God?

Is your God a personal God, similar to the God of the Bible, or is your God other than the God of the Bible?

The relationship of Israel to God was more one of fear than family. It was based more on a “do this” otherwise “experience this” regardless of how much Moses, Aaron, and Joshua wanted and encouraged it to be otherwise. The fear of God had Israel on edge. So much so that when the the tribes of Manasseh, Reuben and Gad built an altar of remembrance on their way back “home” the other tribes flipped out and planned to go to war against them for violating the “one God” rule (Joshua 22) - Something they had experienced the consequences for often.

It is my thought that many people avoid the Old Testament simply because they cannot reconcile their concept of God with what they read about in those chronicles. That doesn’t make God less God, it just makes Him a bit one-sided. After all, the God Jesus refers to when identifying himself with that figure, cannot be a different God than the one we read about in the Pentateuch. A changed God perhaps, but not different, as in another of a different kind.

The result of this is a contemporary culture that neutralizes or even diminishes the God of the Bible to such a degree that He may no longer exist as viable for many – even believers.  Its as though we have switched our concept of God to strictly that of our concept of Christ.

There is a wonderful post on Al Mohler’s blog entitled New God or No God. He discusses an approach outlined in Mitchell Silver’s book A Plausible God.  As Mohler points out, “Silver’s work is an attempt to construct a concept of God that modern secular people will find plausible.”  I would contend that this goes beyond “secular people” to many people who place their butts in the pew each Sunday morning. They too want a plausible God. One they can wrap their heart and mind around and make sense of. A good example of this is the chorus I’ve Got a Friend in God. It has been sung in most every church my wife and I have attended over the past several years. James 2:23 may be its basis, but when you listen to it or even here comments on it, the idea behind the chorus seems to stretch far beyond obedience that results in God’s affection, rather it focuses on a familiarity with God that is more bosom buddy-like than disciple-like.

Wrapping our arms around God – a wholly other spirit – is a difficult thing. It’s similar to what Jesus said to the woman at the well, God will be/must be worshipped in “spirit and in truth.”  Concepts we may be able to define theologically, but often allude us rationally or even spiritually.

What do you think about when you think about God?

Now therefore, fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served…and serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:14)

Brag a bit

I have had an opportunity to share this with some, on a personal level, but now I’ll post a general – GEE I’M PROUD!

My son in-law, Ben Blackwell, is doing his PhD studies in Durham, England, on the Apostle Paul .  That, I have mentioned before. However, recently he received an appointment as N. T. Wright’s research assistant.  How grand is that? 

Here is a post on Ben’s blog of how the whole thing transpired. 

http://dunelm.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/nt-wright-research-assistant/

Now, if I can just get some of Ben’s smarts to rub off on me, I would be totally delighted.

Rain — Rain At Last

It’s raining in the south-central part of NC!  And around my house, it’s raining big time. Sometimes a gentle spring-like rain, other times it seems like an old fashioned gully washer. Nevertheless, it’s raining and Lord knows we needed it.

Having lived in West Texas for a few years, I learned something about rain. Or at least, how people approach the idea of rain and prayer. The farmers there, seek fervently and request prayer often for rain when there has been no rain. Then, when the rain comes, they seek fervently and request prayer that the rains end because they have too much. That always struck me as being an odd approach to prayer – not to rain.

Here in NC there have been many that have been “praying” for rain. Now, if not today, surely tomorrow, they will be saying they have too much rain. Streets are flooded, rivers have over-flowed their banks, so on and so on.

It seems that perhaps God can’t quite get this amount-of-rain-thing down.

Naturally, that is not true. Unless of course God is in some way disciplining us and saying, “Okay, you want rain, here, have some rain!” Similar to what He did to the Israelites when they complained they had no meat (Numbers 11:18ff). They complained they had no meat, He responded with meat until it came out their nostrils.

I suspect there are times when we best leave things as they are. If God is God, He certainly knows what He’s doing. Why should we think it’s in our interest, or that of any one, to intervene or even intercede to change God’s direction. Our prayers might be better directed toward accepting God’s sovereign will and adjust OUR lives accordingly, not praying that somehow God adjust His.

As Winston Churchill apparently said, “If you are going through hell, keep going!”

Field of Dreams

“One of these years, I’m going to make the journey to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.”  I keep saying that to my wife each year while watching the series. I am a huge fan. I’ll watch as many games as possible, from the regionals to the final championship game. 

To me, it is the purest form of baseball. No multi-million dollar players. Just kids who love the game of baseball playing with all the emotion and skill they can muster. And believe me, there is plenty of raw emotion and some wonderful baseball skills demonstrated in these games.

This past weekend when Hawaii beat Mexico in the championship game, I noticed something that I had not seen in the past 10 years watching this series. The boys from Mexico did not cry when they lost the game. Usually, the loser will have a host of players crying and burying their heads in their hands. Not Mexico, the boys took the loss for what it was, a good game played and the best team won.  I was really impressed.

I am not certain why they did not show more emotion at losing. Perhaps their coaches told them “there’s no crying in baseball,” and that was sufficient. Perhaps they learned the essence of the game and that losing was a part of the game and a part of life, so crying served no purpose. Perhaps, the impact of it all had not hit them yet and their tears would come later. However, it was nice to see a team that conducted themselves with a certain level of decorum and a level of maturity that Little League is designed to instill in boys that age.

It is unlikely the loss any of the teams experienced in the series will impact their “field of dreams” much past the next hot dog or video game. These boys seem not only to love the game, but enjoy the journey just as much.

Often times we all have our field of dreams shattered by a loss, an unexpected set back, a diversion or even a catastrophic event. It is at that point that we need to ask ourselves, “What really matters?” Is it the dream, the journey, the anticipated outcome? What motivates us to play the game in the first place and can we recover from a loss? Answering those kind of questions is what tests our metal and plumbs the depth of both our dreams and desires.

Yes, one of these years, I will make it to Williamsport, PA for the Little League World Series. In the meantime, I need to do some upkeep on my own field of dreams.