The Power of Presence

The 'power of presence' is terribly undervalued in our society.  I think this is so because we desperately want to be fixed, healed or delivered.  For moments requiring (or desiring) deliverance or repair mere presence seems simply insufficient.  As a husband and father I have learned the value of mere presence and the power it provides in life's most difficult moments.  There are three moments that stand out as the most difficult in my life; listed below in order of the difficulty:

1. March 2007.  The moment Melissa was not only told that she had cancer, but also experienced an excruciating extraction of bone marrow (taken from her spine) to see just how wide spread the cancer was.
2. July 2002. The moment Melissa was rushed to the Emergency Room as a result of a wreck on an ATV that I had been driving.  The impact collapsed a lung.  I was privy to the insertion of a tube designed to heal the lung.  They drove this two-foot long tube through the side of her body without the benefit of anesthetic - not fun.
3. Yesterday, April 2012.  The moment my daughter cried my name, 'daddy, daddy, daddy' as her badly broken right arm had to be 're-set' in order for it to heal properly.  She simply stared at me with tears streaming down her face.  Her eyes telling me what her mouth could not express: 'please protect me, please deliver me, please take me out of here so I don't have to endure this pain.'  AUGH!!

Painful moments.  In each instance I would have rather endured the pain myself.  In each instance I desired to do something to remove them from the experience; to take care of them.  In each instance I would have picked them up, wrapped them in my arms, and left in defiance.  In each instance I could do none of those things.  No.  All I could do was be with them.  Powerless.

Such experiences tend to mark a man.  But not as one might think.  I could easily be marked as impotent and insufficient in the greatest moment of need.  I could be marked as a weakling.  I could, in fact, be dogged at every turn by my lack of ability to change the situation and to deliver my loved ones.  Yet, by God's grace, I have been marked in a different way.  Upon reflection I have seen that my presence was the most valuable gift I could give.  It spoke volumes that my action could not speak.  In a world where doing is everything, these moments have reminded me that being provides much hope and surety in life's most difficult moments.

Yes.  Being with them enabled them to take their focus off of the situation at hand.  Being with them allowed them to squeeze my hand until it was purple.  Being with them allowed them to cry freely and to do so knowing that one was crying with them.  Being with them allowed them to know that they would not face this moment alone.  Though I did not do anything, being with them demonstrated love, loyalty and commitment.  Being with them demonstrated that I would not forsake them in their time of need (of course, fainting was not out of the question).  Being with them revealed that though I felt inadequate and weak in that moment I would not allow such feelings to imprison me and cause them to fear.  No.  I would be with them no matter what.

This experience of being with them elevates my awareness of and desire for He whose presence is so much more powerful than my own.  Even when He would not to change a situation or remove me from a situation, it is enough to know that He is with me in the midst of the situation.  I ask you the question this experience has caused me to ask myself . . .

"Is His presence enough? If not, why?"

The signature theme of Scripture can be summed up in three words: God With Us!  God with us is the experience of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the forefathers of our faith. God with us is the experience of  Moses and the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness.  God with us is the experience of those of us impacted by the incarnation; the birth of the Christ who is called Immanuel (God with Us). 

Through the ages this has been the message God has most longed to share.  Through the ages this has been the message we have been most eager to change.  Rather than God With Us, we have cried out, 'God Work for Us.'  When God doesn't work (as we define work) for us, then we cry out, 'God where are you'.  What bitter irony occurs when we confuse doing with being.  As such we are unable to see that being is the most important doing ever offered.

I speak from personal experience.  Desire being.  Desire His presence.  All other desires are off kilter and wrongly directed.

By the way.  When I tucked my daughter into bed last night she said, "Thanks, Daddy.  Thanks for being there with me today."  Moments like that provide the coal that fuels desire!

the shape of desire
Biz

What the 'Hunger Games Trilogy' reveals about Desire wrongly shaped

Desire wrongly shaped may result in a person wrongly aimed. A person wrongly aimed may result in a community poorly constructed.  A community poorly constructed may result in a culture badly disfigured.  A culture badly disfigured may result in a world marred beyond recognition, dripping with the blood of its youngest - sacrificed on the altars of greed and selfishness.  All this a consequence of Desire wrongly shaped.  This is at the heart of the lesson the Hunger Games Trilogy teaches and the warning it reveals!

You will not find this lesson in the film version of the first installment of this trilogy.  Yes, the movie version has been toned down to appeal to a wider audience.  As such, it has lost it's ability to reveal and warn.  Indeed, the movie falls into the tireless category of the modern day head strong heroine fighting against the odds for the salvation of us all.  Therefore, it is important to read this musing as a reflection on the Trilogy itself (which I read and thoroughly enjoyed (despite its gratuitous violence) - primarily due to its cultural commentary).

Allow me a moment to capture my impression of the trilogy to set the stage for my comments.  The Trilogy opens with at story of fear based upon the nightmares of a family - the Everdeen's - which turn out to be more real during the waking than the sleeping hours.  We find ourselves lodged in a world that has been subdued through centuries of violence and and life demeaning abuse of authority and power.  The penultimate example of this is the reaping - the annual 'offering to the capital' that simultaneously reminds the citizen's of their own weakness while providing for the only shred of hope they have - a victor's return with a year of the spoils.

The 'Capital' is the fullest expression of a community with misdirected desires.  Over time, the Capital (District 1 in the Trilogy), has become obsessed with self absorption and self preservation.  Their insatiable desire toward themselves has lead them to victimize every citizen of the land - most particularly those in District 1 - who, ironically enough, receive the most benefit of the Capital's excess.  In fact, inspite of the benefit of both proximity and pedigree, District 1 inhabitants are pictured as nearly human, almost functioning citizen's whose elaborate way of life and eccentricities are noticed by everyone but themselves.

The other Districts (2 - 12) are also victimized in different, but no less significant ways.  Ultimately (as is always the case) the greatest victim of them all is the children.  Any culture, during any time, that turns inward on itself and bases its moral compass on its own 'self direction' (which is mis-direction) will always victimize and sacrifice its youngest and weakest.  I have observed the following three ways I believe the Hunger Games Trilogy reveals a culture's mis shaped desires (i.e., desire shaped back toward oneself) lead to the sacrifice its youngest and weakest.  As you read them, ask yourself - do we experience some of this today?

Deprivation
By this I mean that those who are the youngest and weakest amongst us are deprived of the basic essentials that help form a flourishing and fully human life.  In the Trilogy this exists everywhere, save the Capital, District 1.  While everyone experiences this deprivation, we feel its pain through the story the children tell in the voices of Katniss, Peeta, Prim, Rue, and Cato most notably.

Detachment
By this I mean that those who are the youngest and weakest amongst us are detached from significant personal and communal relationships that help form a flourishing and fully human life.  In the Trilogy we note this at the turn of every page.  Trust is a commodity not afforded the children.  They are in every conceivable way detached from one another, adults, the authorities, themselves.  The only semblance of attachment is found in Gale and Katniss's relationship which is discovered in those moments when they manage to escape the Capital's 'ever seeing eye.'  It is a culture marked by mistrust, broken relationships, deception.  Its result is a life lived without dignity and without hope. 

Desperation
By this I mean that those who are the youngest and weakest amongst us are left without the hope of the righteousness and justice that help form a flourishing and fully human life.  Therefore, they are encouraged to act desperately, particularly if such action is the only means of survival available to them.  Katniss acts in desperation to save her younger sister, Prim, from being 'reaped.'  Gale acts in desperation to save his district (book 2).  Peeta acts in desperation to feed Katniss.  There is no sense of righteousness or justice to be achieved or even hoped.  No.  One must take matters into one's own hands and behavior must be justified by the ends it achieves.

The question this Trilogy has forced me to ask myself is this: 'Toward what (or whom) are my desires aimed and where might that take me?'  Indeed, where might that take us all?

the shape of desire

Biz

Earth Shaping

They were frightened and cloistered behind close doors.  The bitter irony: it was resurrection day.  Yes.  The first Resurrection Day.  The stone had been rolled away.  The tomb was empty.  The burial clothes left behind in the tomb. The body gone. 

Taken? 
Stolen? 
Misplaced?

Any of these options would have been easier to believe and, quite frankly reason for fear, than Resurrected.  The women had already seen him.  He had already confirmed what their eyes had told their hearts was a lie: He was risen.

So, why were they behind closed doors?  What possible reason could they have to be frightened if indeed this Jesus had actually accomplished what He set out to accomplish?  I don't know the answer to that, but I suspect it had to do with the reason we remain frightened even today.

We lack sight.  At the core of our beings - that part of us that is most central to who we are, that part of us that shapes our behavior - we lack sight.  We are unable to see that God's ultimate purpose is Communion.  He longs for communion with us.  This is how He began this journey (Genesis 1).  This is how He continues this journey (John 1) and this is how He will culminate this journey (Revelation 21 and 22).  We, however, are dulled by our fears and the distractions which so occupy our existence.  More than dulled; blinded.

The central and stand apart truth of the Christian narrative is that 'God is with us.'  He abides with us and He invites us to abide in Him.  This has 'earth shaping' power, yet we humans remain impervious to its power and continue to chase after desire shaped by fear; behind closed doors.  Indeed, this power literally shaped the earth.  It did so at creation: 'In the beginning GOD.'  It did so at the resurrection: the sky was blackened (mourning) and the stone was rolled away (release).  It will do so at the restoration (a new heavens and earth).  Why has this 'earth shaping' power become to us a faint whisper in a sea of chatter?  Because we are dulled.  More than dulled; blinded.  More than blinded; deafened.

Perhaps it will take a 'shock' to our system to shape us toward Him again?  The shock required, the one of which we are in desperate need, is that of 'being with Jesus.'  He is as He was and as He will be: standing among us (John 20:19 - 23). 

Why can we not see?

Whe can we not hear?

Why are not shaped?

the shape of desire
Biz

What do You Believe this Resurrection Sunday?

Have you thought about what you believe, lately?  Recently I ran across this 'resurrection creed' in Reformed Worship magazine.  The creed was presented by Ed Baker as a way to remind us of the great truths of the Gospel record.  Take a moment this resurrection day and consider what you believe!

Resurrection Creed

I believe in the resurrection.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross, his hands and feet held to the wood by metal spikes.  I believe that his body was pierced by the soldier’s spear, and even the sun was darkened as all creation grieved the death of God’s eternal Son.

I believe in the resurrection.  I believe that Jesus’ body was place in a borrowed tomb, where it lay for three days.  I believe that the power of God, his heavenly Father, brought life to his dead body and rolled the stone away from the entrance so all might see that Jesus was no longer there.

I believe in the resurrection.  I believe that the unbelievable story of the women was true, just as the angel had announced: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

I believe in the resurrection.  I believe that there is no force in the universe that could stop, hinder, contain or successfully oppose the risen Savior, my Lord, Jesus Christ.  No nails are long enough to hold him to any cross unless he wills it to be so.  No tomb can be sealed so tightly – by Pilate or Herod, or Caesar himself.  Were there any army of a thousand men guarding the tomb, it would make no difference.  Jesus said he would lay down his life and take it up again.  And he did.

I believe in the resurrection.  I believe that Jesus appeared to eleven discouraged, defeated, demoralized disciples in a room where the doors were locked and all hope was lost.  I believe that when he showed them his nail-pierced hands and his spear-pierced side, they fell at his feet and cried out, “My Lord and my God!”  I believe that in the days that followed, hundreds saw him alive.  All their doubt was removed; their fear was gone.  What could the world do to them?  Jesus was alive.

I believe in the resurrection.  I believe that Jesus lives today – as powerfully and perfectly alive as he was two thousand years ago, and for all time past and yet to come.  I believe he empowers his followers to follow in his footsteps, fight the forces of evil, and find their peace and joy and eternal hope in him.

I believe in the resurrection.  I believe that Jesus calls women, men, and children to join him in changing the world, one heart and life at a time, starting with their own.  One day soon, he will come again on the clouds of heaven with an army of celestial warriors whose numbers are beyond counting and whose power is beyond imagining.  Then Jesus will establish his eternal kingdom, where there will be no more soldiers or spears or sepulchers or battles or bleeding wounds or crosses.

I believe in all this because I believe in the resurrection.

May your desires be shaped by our Resurrected and Ascended King!

Biz

Check out Matt Maher's, Christ is Risen:
http://youtu.be/-mXeA0G_xKc