Paradox Porch: April 2007

simple

signs

GROWTH DOES NOT RESIDE IN A PLACE CALLED COMFORTABLE .....

"In times of change
the learners
will inherit the earth
while the knowers,
will find themselves
beautifully equipped
to deal with a world
that no longer exists."
(Eric Hoffer)

AWE, WONDER, & whatever

Awe - n. - A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might: We felt awe when contemplating the works of Bach. The observers were in awe of the destructive power of the new weapon.

won_der [wuhn-der] – n. – The emotion excited by what is strange and surprising; a feeling of surprised or puzzled interest, sometimes tinged with admiration: He felt wonder at seeing the Grand Canyon.

-- Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.

Something is sorely lacking in our culture today, and has all but vanished in the church.It is a sense of awe. As a high school teacher, I see it every day in the glazed-over look in the eyes of teenagers. They glisten like the hair of a politician or televangelist. They sit lifeless in their chairs, living out Thoreau’s quote about quiet desperation. Quiet because they either don’t want to be noticed, or they don’t have much to say because they don’t think much of anything anymore, or because talking isn’t part of the routine. Desperate because, with the utterance of a word, their teacher can ruin their afternoon, their weekend, their month by causing them to forfeit their plans of soaking in all the distractions an information-age culture has to offer them. This is why teachers are the enemy. They might have students channel that ability to ride the waves of the oft-cited superhighway for ends other than entertainment, which is the only thing that carries their interest anymore.

These are the children that grow up never having satisfied a primal urge all humans have: to be a part of something that is bigger than their own selves. How can they? They don’t even know who they are.

There is nothing anymore that seems to inspire in us a sense of this mixed emotion we call awe. Some have wondered if we’re capable of any true emotion at all anymore. I believe all of this to be one of the greatest tragedies of our time. In this we are not only losing something that is distinctly human, and, thus, a key element to our identity, but we are also losing a part of our make-up that provides a direct path to God. Consider what one biographer of Martin Luther says. Roland Bainton, author of Here I Stand, characterizes Martin Luther’s ideas on the subject this way: “The deficiency of faith is made evident by a lack of wonder, for nature is a revelation only to those to whom God has already been revealed.” He quotes Luther as saying, “If thou couldst understand a single grain of wheat, thou wouldst die for wonder.” We, on the other hand, have taken to behold the truly wondrous “like a cow staring at a new door.”

I fear something terrible has happened.

thanks to Jimmy Doyle

Double-take

One line from a book I'm reading has haunted my thoughts for the last couple of days...

"...through the excruciating circumstances of unanswered prayer...they...discovered how deeply redemptive it can be if our hurts can be harnessed for the care of others."

selah

Top Marks

Read the article here

verbage

We nuture it into our babies as we provide them with safe secure unconditional love.
We teach them through our unrelenting loving care what trust feels like.
We seek it out from the adults and caregivers in our lives as children growing,
knowing inherently how much it's needed as the fertilizer of our well being,
knowing deep in our gut when it's missing..........

when trust abounds we feel loved confident assured capable of trusting capable of sharing trust capable of opening up to be loved capable of feeling the naked vulnerability of sharing love. when it is lacking.........we feel

unsure confused unable to read relationships well unable to open up to others in a healthy way. we feel hurt......untrusting of all around. second guessing others actions always.

Full of conspiracy thoughts....

"they must want something from me........they are lying........they are mean spirited.....there is no goodness........the world is full of fakers............

"I'm not fooled"

"I trust no one...............no one can hurt me again. Screw them all."

When trust has never been felt we feel unloved unwashed vulnerably naked wrapped in a ripped sheet made of pain. When trust has been violated we feel deep gashes of ugly.

Jean Vanier writes,

"Communion is mutual trust, mutual belonging; it is the to-and-fro movement of love between two people where each one gives and each one receives..........."

"Trust is a beautiful form of love. When we are generous, we give money time and knowledge. In trust, we give ourselves. But we can only give of ourselves if we trust that we will be well-received by someone."

Trust is a double edged sword isn't it? In order to give and receive it, one has to choose to enter into a "communion" with another thereby opening up ourselves to feeling vulnerable. Sometimes it's a beautiful thing. Sometimes we experience a sense of woundedness. Deep gashes.......

Gashes do heal............we are left with some scars, but it doesn't mean we can't try again. Scars can add lustre to our individual identities, as well as reminders of hurt.

So, when do you know when to take a step closer to the precipice........to communicate to someone.......here is my trust........I am open to accepting your trust? And when you do decide to do that, when do you know when trust has turned to a sense of communion?

At what moment is trust born?

When conspiracy-like fear evaporates and is replaced by a smiling hand held out.
No strings attached.