Huh??? Whoopee??? This ought to confound the diehard Christians a little. Hehe... ;)
Not that I've fasted or held any indulgence in abeyance over the last 40 days (though I did try to curb my dependency on tobacco; for which, I'm sad to report that I've failed miserably again for the umpteenth time), but Lent is not exactly a period of "easy living", especially when church sermons and/or the diehard bunch keeps "quietly" reminding one about it; or worse, it becomes ingrained into one's subconsciousness. Akin a pesky fly swirling over decomposing flesh. Eeewww... yucks!
As an aside, that last metaphor reminded me of the Monkey God swotting away the fly scene from a Stephen Chow movie titled "A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box". An absolute riot that movie was. Hehe... :D
I know, I know. I've a warped sense of humour. So please indulge this sinner and go with my flow. If not, you may deem this as a nonsensical piece and stop reading it.
Onwards.
So as I was afore implying, Lent is not the easiest of period within the Christian calendar year for a Christian to be living in. Don't do this, can't do that, refrain, abstain, dll. As a reborn yearling, I'm half clueless about the key answers to this. An absolute donkey, I am, I admit. Maybe it's time to engage in more theological studies. Delve into "intellectual masturbation" (IM), so said my pal Al (sorry dude, I just can't help dragging your name into this but this terminology is far too descriptive and to much of a hoot to be left out.) :D
But seriously folks, would more reading and learning help? Far too often for someone like me, the greater the overload of information attained from devouring "deep" books, the more inane (or insane) I become. Thoughts become clouded, choices irrational and judgment erratic. I'll choke. The thing is I'll probably become far too embroiled in the "fluff" of the philosophy than to embrace the more important aspect of practising it. Worse, I may not even possess the required rudimentary foundation for grasping it in the first place. And
so what happens next due to this unwarranted overzealouness is that I fall over the edge, plant a seed within myself to develop a 1st class skill for ranting, and eventually "de-church" myself and enrol into the darkside of the realm of Darth Vaders (or in this case, the pinky Hello Kitty Darths).Ok, ok. This is not a pretty picture....and the pink is a very scary thought for a piece of macho skybalonhead like me. So with that, we can safely scratch this option off.
Ok. What next then? What are the alternatives for me and those like me? Well, this is what I think is open and available. For starters, let's begin by believing in ourselves. That we do not need to be armed by reading tons of literature to adequately fortify ourselves before we can start the simple task (yes, it's very simple actually) of spreading the Good News for others. Believe it or not but a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there existed a school of thought that we begin best by beginning from where we are now and who we are now. That one need not be equipped by a vast ocean of God speak in order to touch the life of another and leave it better than when we found it. So, let's not give ourselves reasons that we can use to bind and stop ourselves. Let's not presume that without formal training or an overdose of theology, that we are handicapped from answering the Lord's calling. The Lord God has His reasons for everything that happens in each of everyone's lifetime. Who we are is just His instrument for making it happen; to bear and deliver His message.
Oh, by the way, when I made mention about a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was making reference to a period in time from the past that is slightly more than 2k years ago. Back then, there was this bloke called Jesus, who by tapping the "source" of love that is within His heart, started a ministry where He miraculously touched the lives of countless many. Not too bad for someone with no formal training, huh? ;)
Enough said. Tap your source. Go touch someone's life.
Happy Easter, everyone.
Warmly yours,
An IM-less donkey
1 comment:
There's a need to distinguish "intellectual masturbation" which lands up with no real life emerging to "genuine faith engaging with understanding" which gives birth to a healthier faith (mindless ranting about the church reflects more about our hang ups rather than real intellectual engagement at its best). While being "far too embroiled in the "fluff" of the philosophy than to embrace the more important aspect of practising it" is a good warning. Anti-intellectuallism is not the way to go ... We do not have a non-thinking faith.
What we need to move forward is a holistic faith where our head (thinking) our hearts (feeling/experience) and our hands (practical doing) is in a dance which invites people along to experience the Good News we offer.
you say .. "Tap your source. Go touch someone's life." Amen to that. Now the question is what source?
This is where we need to grow in all aspects (I am not refering to the stomach). for those who are tempted to hide behind their so called "complaints" because of overdose dependence on their own thinking, we need to get our hands dirty with "doing". For those who glorify "whatever works must be right", we need to learn to pause and listen to the "inner source" the Holy Spirit, guided by a healthy understanding of the Scriptures and checked by wise counsel from those who have gone before us. All in all ... humility is a must.
Having said the above ... here's some stuff I liked about your most. The monkey god thing was fun but let me settle for the following and say spend time developing these areas during Easter:
"Who we are is just His instrument for making it happen; to bear and deliver His message." - I'll add the God who "believes in us" is also the one who will change us to become more than what we are now.
"Tap your source. Go touch someone's life." - Here's the sources: Get back into a guided understanding of the Bible -especially the New testament for newbies, then work back to the Old testament. Read good recommended books not for "intellectual masturbation" but for spiritual transformation (there's a big difference) - after Rick Warren's book .. go for Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Learn from past experience in the light of the new lens you now have .. by the way, a good start would be Ken gire's Window of the soul. Watch out for "skybalon" rubbish Christian material (for reference: email me .. heheh)
Good to see you blogging again.
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