Each of us possesses an inner light
in bodies that have carried us
and cared for us
from the beginning
but rather than letting the soft glow
of that beacon guide us
we live from places
far outside of ourselves
from ideas and doctrines
from impressions and judgments
made by those far removed from our our hearts
and it has made us less human, less whole.
Let us return home
to the kindness and wisdom of ourselves.
Category: Uncategorized
What is Facebook for?
Facebook has approximately 3 billion users world wide. That’s a lot of people. Not surprisingly, there are innumerable reasons we come to Facebook. Facebook is used for connection, business, distraction, hatred, and humor. Every one of us likely has a slightly different reason for using Facebook. I’m not certain how long I’ve been on Facebook, but probably about 15 years and I have changed in many ways over that time.
So what are some of the reasons I use Facebook? First, connection. I am grateful that I am able to stay in touch with people who I otherwise wouldn’t hear from regularly including high school and college friends as well as certain family members. I also have developed friendships with people from around the world, which provides a broader cultural perspective. Second, I come for the comedy. Regularly, people will share humorous memes and videos with me, and I will in return. Recently, I look forward to my friend Chris’s “Dad Joke of the Day” videos to bring a smile. Third, I appreciate the encouragement and seek to encourage others. I suspect many people would agree with me in these.
On the other hand, I sometimes share hard things, controversial things, things that may make people squirm a little bit. Usually, when I share posts with some edge to them, it comes out of my own wrestling and desire to grow. I don’t even necessarily agree with these posts. Because I feel some connection with my Facebook “friends,” I am grateful for the dialog, even when people disagree with me. Some of the most beneficial and exhausting posts have been of this sort.
In the mid-90s, I co-authored a paper with a former mentor titled, Imagination, Exploration, and Compulsion: Discovery and the Loss of Self Through the Internet, which was nearly a decade before Facebook or Twitter were on the scene. One thing that Internet communities can lead to is presenting false narratives and, ironically, disconnection. When I share things that are difficult or challenging, they often arise out of my desire to continue to do inner work and to press into who I am and into who I am becoming. I share these things because I know that many other people experience these same questions, desires, and longings. I am grateful for dialog partners, but I also respect those who don’t come here to wrestle.
I guess I want my Facebook page to be a place of humor, but not mockery; of dialog, but not diatribe; of connection, but not divisiveness; of encouragement, and not attack; of questions before answers. Maybe Facebook isn’t a great place for this sort of thing, but I am out here doing the best I can, trying to be as truly “me” as I can be. If you have questions about where I am, please reach out. I don’t promise to have satisfactory answers, but I will gladly share a glimpse of my journey as I hope you will share yours.
Preparing for peace
keep seeking to love
Some continually seek wholeness. Wonderful. I do not have a list of demands for you to meet before I accept you. My Son came to usher in the truth that you are welcome as you are, yet I want you to keep seeking to live a life of love. You will discover that as you align your fragmented pieces with me, you will have an impact for my kingdom well beyond your imagination.
Revelation 2::24-26
Letters to the Beloved
comfort in mourning
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” There will be times when grief, sin, and incompleteness fill you. You may weep over losses you have endured, pains you have caused, or a general sense that this world is not as it should be. In your mourning, my Spirit is always with you. I want you to know my embrace, especially in difficult times.
Matthew 5:4
Letters to the Beloved
Some people become so wedded to a belief in their own sufficiency that they completely lose sight of who I am. They believe that if they hang around with the right people, go to the correct church, or live in the right country, they are entirely secure, but these things are all traps that lead to false security because they blind people to their errant thinking.
Romans 11:9-10
Letters to the Beloved
Letters to the Beloved fun facts
Letters to the Beloved is getting closer to its release date. Just for fun, I thought I would put together some fun facts about the book. Don’t worry, there won’t be a test later.
- Years I have been working on it: Six.
- Pages (7×10): 672
- Words: 266,801
- Paragraphs: 4147
- Footnotes: 408
- HTML color code for the cover: #ffed74
- Most frequently referenced author: C.S. Lewis, who has 7 bibliographic entries, followed by Martin Luther (5).
- Most seemingly out of place reference: Fredrich Nietzsche
- Old Testament Books referenced: 26
- Most frequently referenced Old Testament book: Isaiah, (38); followed closely by Psalms (34).
- Times I have read through it: five
- Hours spent writing and editing: thousands
- Copies I will likely sell: not thousands.
Let love define you
Love defines my essence, and I want it to represent you too. My followers often do well loving people who look, think, and live as they do; however, they ignore, criticize, and attack those who are different. Conservatives attack liberals, Christians dishonor Muslims, and pro-choice advocates smear pro-life groups. Every single day, my image bearers treat one another with contempt. Listen, hatred is evil. Love those who live differently than you do. Even if others continue to lie about you, attack you, or seek to tear you down, pray for them. You know that I am love, and if you are indeed my child, love defines you too. Do you not know that I made the sunshine and rain for everyone and not just for those who think like you?
Matthew 5:43-45, Letters to the Beloved
Romans twelve
In Letters to the Beloved, a project I have been working on for several years, Romans 12 might be my favorite passage. I have not shared an entire chapter before. I hope this is an encouragement.
(1–2) In light of the good news, how then should you live? Let your whole life bear the imprint of my mercy and grace. I desire that you would become whole and holy—body and soul, an offering of worship to me. To live that way, you must radically reorient yourself away from self–centeredness and toward God–centered adoration and other–centered love. Living this way involves daily renewal, continually refocusing upon good, true, and beautiful things. Wholeness and integration are the center of my will for you.
(3) Here are some ways to grow in godliness. Do not make too much of yourself, exaggerating your righteousness and leading others to believe that you are better than you are. I have invited you into faith, and I want your faith to bloom right where I have planted you. If I made you a daisy, be the best daisy you can. Do not pretend you are a sunflower.
(4–8) Consider the human body. Though it is one unit, it has many different organs and functions, each contributing uniquely to the greater whole. So it is with my church, which includes multitudes who possess distinct gifts, personalities, and abilities, all of which are important. I have called some to speak prophetically, some to exceptional service, some to teaching my word, some to speaking convicting words, some to generosity, some to leadership, and some to exuberant mercy. Whatever your gift, offer it back to me by loving well.
(9) When it comes to love, which is the heart of who I am, do not fake it. Fake love is no love at all. Instead, be authentic and genuine. Train yourself to discriminate between good and evil. With the help of my Holy Spirit, seek integration and reject what fractures your spirit and relationships.
(10) Make the effort to love others well, not with indifference, but with the caring, other–centered love that exists in healthy families. Go the extra mile to encourage, so they have no doubt that they are loved, valued, and accepted. Godly love is never about demanding your rights to the exclusion of others but instead recognizing that everyone is interconnected. No one is more or less valuable than another.
(11) Pursue love intentionally; do not just sit back and expect love to happen. Love is active and zealous for the good of another. When you love others in both word and action, you serve my kingdom.
(12) When you experience pain and suffering, which you will in a world that is not yet fully reconciled, do not feel hopeless. Instead, remember that I have promised complete restoration. Be patient with yourself and others, remembering what I am doing in you and the world. As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, “I want to beg of you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient with all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.”[1] Allow these unresolved bits of you, the nagging questions and self–doubt, to be kindling for prayer. Bring everything to me. It is our relationship that matters.
(13) Be generous toward others with your time, ability, and financial resources. If you cling too tightly to these things, they will shackle your soul. Instead, use them for love.
(14) Some people would like nothing better than to see you fail. They will speak negatively about you and may even seek your harm. Your carnal nature will urge you to retaliate; instead, respond with a blessing. Seek the good of others, even when they want to hurt you because that is the way of the cross.
(15) Be eager to join people right where they are. If they are celebrating, do not warn them about excessive happiness. Rejoice with them. When they are mourning, suffer with them. I never intended people to be emotionless but heartful.
(16) Live in harmony with one another. Harmony is not monotony, nor is it cacophony. It is not just one melodic line but many notes that mix uniquely to produce a wondrous tune. Heaven itself is a Trinitarian symphony.
Do not consider yourself to be better than others. Pride kills. Go out of your way to spend time with those who are lower in status and spirit. Encourage everyone you encounter.
Do not be especially fond of your own wisdom and insight. I have given you the ability to think, reason, and feel, but if you act as though you are some sort of sage, you have left me behind and are traveling a dangerous path.
(17) Do not practice retributive justice. There is an old saying that references Exodus 21:24— “If in this present age we were to go back to the old–time of ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ there would be very few…who would not, metaphorically speaking, be blind and toothless.”[2] Retribution is not the way of the cross. Following my Son means not only avoiding retribution but seeking to honor the humanity of others. I created every person in my image. Honor their dignity.
(18–19) If possible, live at peace with everyone. Some will continually reject your offers of peace; that is on them, not you. You cannot control others’ actions or reactions, but only your own, so seek peace. Do not try to avenge yourself by setting things right according to your own sense of justice. Instead, leave it up to me, trusting that I am perfectly just. When all is said and done, and you see my justice clearly, you will not doubt that I handled it correctly.
(20–21) In the meantime, do the opposite of what your sinful, self–protective nature tells you. If your enemy is hungry, share your food. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. Paul wrote that acting contrary to your sinful nature would “heap burning coals” upon your enemy’s head. Mercifully treating others can lead them to feel discomfort. Compassion is countercultural, and people who cling to evil do not expect mercy.
As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”[3] You cannot destroy evil by greater evil, but only by good; never by deception, but only by the truth; never through self–seeking, but only through the cross.
[1] Rilke, Letters to a young poet, 35.
[2] Graham, Official Report.
[3] King, Loving Your Enemies.
Jason Kanz 