Comfortably Numb

Whenever I work with self-injurious clients I think of the line from Pink Floyd: “I have become, comfortably numb”.  Coworkers ask me (generally expressing disdain and/or revulsion) why people ‘cut’ and/or self-injure.  I tell my coworkers that it is because they want to feel something – anything.  Today during a discussion with a wonderfully skilled and compassionate caregiver and coworker I googled the lyrics to the song and read it to my colleague as if it were a poem – which it is.  Please read it for your own understanding and edification…

Hello.
Is there anybody in there? 
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home? 

Come on, now.
I hear youre feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.

Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts:
Can you show me where it hurts? 

There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what youre sayin.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again.
I cant explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.

Ok.
Just a little pinprick. [ping]
Therell be no more –aaaaaahhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick.

Can you stand up? 
I do believe its working. good.
Thatll keep you going for the show.
Come on its time to go.

There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what youre sayin.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

Quote…

Brian Jones…

Here’s a simple fact: most Bible consuming Christians I’ve met over the years have been painfully arrogant.

No-one is as spiritual as they are.

They confuse Bible knowledge with spiritual maturity.

They’ve turned the study of scripture into a recreational hobby, as if the act of studying the Bible itself is what pleases God.

And worst of all, they’ve committed the most subtle form of idolatry of all – they’ve replaced the centrality of the risen Jesus in their life with a book that talks about the risen Jesus.

Masai Creed

I was again listening to a Speaking of Faith podcast; this time with Jaroslov Pelikan on Christian Creeds.  He cited this as one of his favorites.  It was developed in the year of my birth (1960) and, I find it wonderful.  It speaks to the contrast between general vs. specific revelation; “We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know Him in the light.”, the fact that they knew God through creation before they knew God through Jesus.

I am also touched by the focus on love; “teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love…live the rules of love, share the bread together in love…”

We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created Man and wanted Man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the Earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know Him in the light. God promised in the book of His word, the Bible, that He would save the world and all the nations and tribes.

We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through Him. All who have faith in Him must be sorry for their sins, be baptised in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the Good News to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for Him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.

A Prayer

Thank you God for our food
Give bread to those who hunger;
and a hunger for justice for those who have bread.

My Well-Established Universalist Tendencies

A little over three years ago I posted this on Boar’s Head Tavern.  I’m not sure I’ve changed.

Since my universalistic tendencies have been well established, it seems that a few sentences, maybe a paragraph of explanation are in order.

First, I prefer to think in a universalistic manner because if it were my choice nobody would be left behind, I love the idea that all things can be reconciled in Christ. Second, by thinking universalistically I’m able to comfortably talk to everyone I encounter as if they’re a believer. Third, since I talk to everyone as if they are a believer I have no need to categorize everyone I encounter in life; I don’t need to keep a list in my head of who’s “in” and who’s “out”. This was always a tough thing for me, it caused a lot of stress, anger and sin (and I see that it causes a lot of stress, anger and sin in others). Fourth, I’ve come to believe (operationally) that salvation is God’s issue and task-at-hand, not mine.

This may be a reaction to my recent immersion in Robert Capon’s writings. It wouldn’t be my first reaction to what I’m reading. As a final note I must acknowledge that what I prefer has not always aligned with what God prefers, which is of course the genuine test of reality and truth. I’ve never been able to get my head around monergism, I just know that I made somechoices. The issue for me is that at some level of thinking about this kind of stuff my head starts making noises like it’s going to asplode, and when that happens I realize that for all of us it truly becomes like Robert Duvall’s character in Secondhand Lions, ”Hub” says: “Eventually, a man simply has to decide what he wants to believe.”

This may be why I’m likely PoMo, but that’s a subject for another post.

I found the following in the Wikipedia entry for Robert Capon:

“I am and I am not a universalist. I am one if you are talking about what God in Christ has done to save the world. The Lamb of God has not taken away the sins of some — of only the good, or the cooperative, or the select few who can manage to get their act together and die as perfect peaches. He has taken away the sins of the world — of every last being in it — and he has dropped them down the black hole of Jesus’ death. On the cross, he has shut up forever on the subject of guilt: “There is therefore now no condemnation. . . .” All human beings, at all times and places, are home free whether they know it or not, feel it or not, believe it or not.

“But I am not a universalist if you are talking about what people may do about accepting that happy-go-lucky gift of God’s grace. I take with utter seriousness everything that Jesus had to say about hell, including the eternal torment that such a foolish non-acceptance of his already-given acceptance must entail. All theologians who hold Scripture to be the Word of God must inevitably include in their work a tractate on hell. But I will not — because Jesus did not — locate hell outside the realm of grace. Grace is forever sovereign, even in Jesus’ parables of judgment. No one is ever kicked out at the end of those parables who wasn’t included in at the beginning.”

The Question Forms the Answer…

I was listening to a Speaking of Faith podcast this morning on the way to work.  John Polkinghorne was being interviewed; the title of the podcast was Quarks and Creation.  I heartily recommend it.

Rev. Dr. Polkinghorne was discussing how our questions form answers; he gave the example of the difficulty that physicists encountered when trying to determine whether light was a ‘wave’ or a ‘particle‘.  He (thankfully) simply stated that when ‘wave questions’ were asked, light behaved as a ‘wave’ and when ‘particle questions’ were asked, light behaved as a ‘particle’.

This resonated with me (there may be a pun there but I don’t know enough about physics to be sure).

Behavioral Skills Coaching for Christians

1. Self-Effacing Statements of Ignorance.

One of the most convenient ways to present yourself as deeply spiritual is to make self-effacing comments that enhance your spirituality. This is really quite easy, here’s an example:

“You know I have to confess, I’m really quite ignorant when it comes to evolution.”

This is a really simple example of how to deploy this skill. First you start with a confession, which everybody knows is ‘good for the soul’. Let’s first take a look at how this confessional opening is framed; “You know I have to confess…”. This is a personal and confidential aside that belies deep reluctance. You could as well have said “I really wouldn’t say this to very many people, but in order to be the fine, upstanding spiritually mature Christian that I am I really need to say what I’m going to say”.

Next, wow. The pivotal statement, the core confession; “I’m really quite ignorant.” Now here’s the spiritual juxtaposition; if one were to say “I’m really quite learned…” one could be rightfully accused of pride and self-centeredness. These four simple words turn this whole sentence around as we will clearly demonstrate in just a moment…because here’s the deal…

There are few things that are more spiritual to be ignorant about than evolution. I mean you could say ‘pre-marital sex’ or ‘the dating habits of lesbians’ but let’s face it, every Christian should know a bit about those two issues so as to effectively lament recent social decay.  The totally cool thing about being ignorant of evolution is that there is simply nothing you need to know about it other than that it’s bad.

It’s the most spiritual ignorance there is.

Skills or Gifts?

As a Jesus follower I often struggle with how to balance my thinking about my skills (i.e., what I’ve learned through experience) with my gifting (i.e., what God has sovereignly placed in me). Henri Nouwen, in this devotional, offers some wisdom on maintaining a thoughtful balance…

Being Humble and Confident

As we look at the stars and let our minds wander into the many galaxies, we come to feel so small and insignificant that anything we do, say, or think seems completely useless. But if we look into our souls and let our minds wander into the endless galaxies of our interior lives, we become so tall and significant that everything we do, say, or think appears of great importance.

We have to keep looking both ways to remain humble and confident, humorous and serious, playful and responsible. Yes, the human person is very small and very tall. It is the tension between the two that keeps us spiritually awake.

I Could Contract a Severe Case of Idolatry…

My iMac 24 Just Arrived…

OS X Here I Come…and Gmail here I’ve been…

Well, it’s not like this event pushed me over the edge. I’ve been hanging out on apple.com and saving my change for over a year now; but today this very cool event demonstrated just how hilarious and asinine Microsoft is as an organization.

I was testing some settings in Outlook (Microsoft’s PIM) at work; while testing those settings Outlook sent itself a test message to make sure that the email server was connected and passing messages. So far it all makes sense. Then I get a junk mail warning from Outlook; it had detected Junk Mail and placed it in my Junk Mail folder.

Yep, you guessed it. Residing in my Outlook Junk Mail folder is an “e-mail message sent automatically by Microsoft Office Outlook while testing the settings for your account“.

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!!!

It’s like when two departments in a company don’t talk to one another…but this time it’s part of the code.

Well Done Microsoft!!