Category: Time with God

The Daily News

‘It comes the very moment you wake up each morning.  All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.  And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.  And so on, all day.  Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind’ – C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity

I blame the dang cell phone. 

I wake up in the morning, shuffle downstairs to make breakfast, and there it is.  I don’t know why it should be so enticing.  But before I know it, as I wait for my eggbeaters to cook, I’m on it, fussing and fretting over the morning news feeds.  On the one hand, it’s important to stay informed, especially in the dire times we live in.  On the other, it’s probably not the best way to start the day.  Especially since the daily news doesn’t seem to be anything particularly new.  Basically, and as per the Book of Ecclesiastes, there isn’t much new under the sun these days.  I can summarize the daily news as it has appeared for months, even years, as follows: 

The Pandemic

Covid is still here. Many function as if it isn’t. People won’t get the vaccine or wear masks. The government response is very often incoherent. You are basically on your own. 

Politics

Republican politicians and power brokers are working to end democracy because it behooves them to do so. They are willing to lie, cheat, shrug, etc., to hold onto power. They have no shame. (Yeah, there exceptions, but even these aren’t exactly profiles in courage, and so few they are scarcely worth mentioning). Oh yeah, and Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump…

Democratic politicians and power brokers can’t seem to understand that they have one job: to save democracy. Instead, they are fighting amongst themselves, fiddling while the torches that will burn society are lit. From the naive progressives who dream of the unattainable to the self-serving ‘moderates’ who seem to enjoy standing in the way of even a little progress, we see a party incapable of tying its own shoes. If you thought this ship of fools would save us, you had best think again.

Basically, the news of the day in the arena of politics comes down to this: ‘Autocracy! Coming to a country near you!’

The Environment

The earth is toast. Literally.

The Rich and Powerful

They are going to space, not paying taxes and unaccountable to anyone. They don’t care and there is nothing you can do about it. 

Violence

The nations still rage.  People still think violence is the answer to the world’s problems.  An ‘eye for eye and tooth for tooth’ is making steady progress toward the creation of a blind and toothless world.  Sorry Jesus.  Sorry Gandhi.  The world likes war. 

Racial Injustice

White supremacy continues unabated in America. For all the talk of making things better, it’s getting worse. If democracy falters, look for the return of Jim Crow.

Truth

Just kidding.  There is no such thing anymore.  You are now free to believe anything you want, no matter how divorced from reality it is. 

Entertainment

Some actor/singer/musician/influencer/sports personality just did something stupid. Another had a baby with someone else. Another got divorced. Someone else was arrested. Or gave money to charity. Or won an award and thanked Jesus. Oh, and whatever it is, it’s the most important thing in the world, far more important than ending the pandemic, saving democracy, stopping global warming, making a more peaceful world, ending racism, etc. BTW, who advanced on Dancing with the Stars last night?

White American Evangelicalism

A famous church leader who you should have known all along was no good has: (a) been caught in a scandal; (b) promoted Christian Nationalism; (c) said something racist; or (d) all of the above.  Oh, and Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump…

Sports

The Philadelphia [insert Eagles, Phillies, Union, Flyers…] let down their fans again last night.

Such is the daily news.  Has been for months.  Has been for years.  And probably will be for months and years to come.  Again, it is important to keep abreast of things.  Many of the things I have summarized are as serious as a heart attack, and it does no good to stick one’s head in the sand and ignore the problems of the world.  But at the same time, given that it isn’t really new, should we allow it to consume us?  Should the daily news be the first thing we run to in the morning, or would we do better to run to something else?

I think C.S. Lewis was right.  The first job of each morning, for everyone, but perhaps especially for Christians like myself, is not to immerse oneself in the news of the day, but to push back the noise of the world and listen to that other voice, that still small voice that counsels us to see things from another perspective, and to allow that larger, stronger, and quieter life of the Kingdom to flow into us.  To stand back from all the world wants us fuss and fret about; to come out of the wind once more. 

I think if I started my days like that, rather than riling myself up and only thereafter trying to listen to that other voice, I would be in a better position to face each day.  I would be in a better position to take on the challenges of an increasingly daunting world. 

So I think that’s what I’ll do.  No more daily news first thing in the morning.  And even throughout the day, I will do my best to keep abreast of things without letting them overwhelm me.  Instead, I will begin by listening to that other voice, and let the Kingdom flow into me.  And then, instead of driving myself nuts with what’s happening in the big picture world, I will simply practice my faith by doing small things in the circles of my little picture world that witness to another way. I bet that I will be better for it.

Maybe the world will be too. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent

Communion

‘Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere’ – Psalm 84:10

Today my family and I traveled to the shops at Rancocas Woods.  It’s a lovely spot we had recently discovered.  A friend had told us about his son’s secondhand book shop, Second Time Books, and we went to check it out a couple of weeks ago.  It’s a great store, you should go sometime.  And while you are there you should check out the other shops.  There’s a store for antiques, crafts, a snack shop, and a café with an amazing courtyard.  I hope to spend many days in the months ahead writing in that courtyard with a cup of coffee at my side.  It’s perfect. 

It was in that courtyard today that I had an encounter.  As we approached the café and neighboring antique store, we were surprisingly greeted by two dogs laying in the middle of the courtyard path.  Their owner was nearby pruning trees, and they were just the picture of contentment and happiness, lounging on the cool pavement and, seemingly, eagerly waiting someone to come by.  We did, and apparently suited their fancy just fine.  They were as loveable a couple of dogs as you could ever hope to meet (I think they were German Shepherd-Lab mixes, although their owner claimed they were part Collie).  They came right up to us, to me particularly for some reason, begging to be petted.  They didn’t have to beg much.  Having lost my best canine friend Corky in recent months (a story I have not been able to write about yet; it’s been a year of losses on too many fronts), I have been seriously dog deprived.  Perhaps that was what they sensed in their desire to be near me. 

The owner stopped his pruning and chatted with us a bit.  He explained how his dogs were friendly to everyone, which is why he didn’t have them on leashes.  He was a nice fellow; almost as warm and inviting as his dogs. 

The key moment that prompts me to write came when my family and I attempted to say goodbye to our new four-legged friends.  The male dog (there was one of each gender) allowed us to pass, but the female would hear nothing of it.  She nuzzled my leg, stared at me with her lovely eyes, wagged her tail, and otherwise enticed me to stay.  I gave her what I thought was a final pat on the head and began to move away, but it was then I learned she was dead serious about keeping me.  She literally sat on my foot as if to say, ‘Oh no mister.  You’re not going anywhere!’  The little darling enjoyed my company and intended to keep me as her hostage. 

The owner tried to call her, but she would not budge.  So he told me with a smile, ‘Well, there’s only one thing to do.  Stop petting her.’  It was then I realized that I hadn’t.  I had succumbed to her wiles and had given her what she wanted.  As long as I continued to do that, she was not going to move, even when called by her master.  So I stopped rubbing her head, he called, and the little dickens finally allowed me to move on. 

I considered the encounter just a cute episode in the course of an ordinary day.  But as I thought more deeply later, it dawned on me that my encounter with those dogs, especially the female, was nothing less than a parable of life with God. 

God always waits for us, doesn’t he?  Not just on courtyard paths, but on every path we travel.  God is also happy and content.  In fact, God didn’t have to create us humans to be so.  I believe it was Dallas Willard who answered, when asked what God did before he created the universe, ‘He was enjoying themselves.’  Father, Son, and Spirit, the three persons of the Trinity are fully capable of happiness without us.  And yet.  God seems to long for our company.  He eagerly waits for one of us (or all of us) to come by, and whichever one takes a moment to sit a spell will suit His fancy just fine.  If the Bible’s story of salvation history teaches us anything, it teaches that God, in each of His persons, practically begs for our company.  You could even say he’s dying to spend time with us, maybe especially those of us who need him the most. 

In my own life, I find myself so distracted at times, so eager to move on to whatever it is I have to do or wherever it is I have to go, that even when I run into him in the middle of my paths, I don’t always linger as I should.  I’ll spend a few minutes, but then try to move on, ignoring God’s efforts, his enticements, to get me to stay.  Such is my mania that I don’t even pay attention when he sits on my foot.  Maybe I feel as if I have received what I needed from God in the first moments of the encounter, and so move on to fill other needs.  What a shame.  I should be long to stay as long as possible, not only for my sake, but for His.

In his book, Love Big, Be Well, Winn Collier writes that prayer isn’t first and foremost about having our requests met.  It is simply communion with God.  When we spend time with God, the thing that matters is that ‘we have been with God, and God has been with us.’  What a remarkable thing it is that the God of Creation longs for this: to love and receive love.  Isn’t that what we were made for?  Isn’t that what we should long for too?

The next time God sits on my foot, I think I’ll stick around his courts for a while.  There isn’t anything I have to do that’s more important than that. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Brent