breathe

I finally broke down and watched a couple of episodes of Lost. It is not one I will be setting my schedule around but it does have a story line that speaks volumes about our day.
For those uninitiated, a plane crash occurs on a deserted island. The survivors are trying to make their way and gradually discover the island is not as deserted as they thought. The thing that makes it interesting is the gradual discovery of each character by flashbacks that give glimpses into key moments of their lives that help you understand some of who and why they are who they are.
It is true of all of our lives that the experiences of our lives are significant in the formation of who we are. The mistake of our day is the idea that if one can identify those significant moments, and with a little help, weave those together properly, then one can make sense of life.
The missing piece is the fact that our story is part of a much bigger story, which if we don't understand it, leaves us without the single most important piece of information that helps give meaning to our lives.
From the beginning of humankind's time on the earth, God has been trying to help us understand that bigger story. To make it really clear, he came in to our story in the flesh. Jesus, the Bible tells us, is God made understandable. If we welcome him into our story, then he not only helps make meaning, he guides us in the story's unfolding.
Got story?

thank god for truth

Thank God for truth.
Truth is a powerful and liberating force. When it is set free it cuts trough impression management like a hot knife in butter. But contrary to popular assumptions, truth is not loud, oppressive or showy. It is quiet, persistant and steady. Despite its appeal, we often avoid the truth. We sometimes prefer snap judgements, rumors or our preconceived ideas about the way things must be. To be confronted with the truth requires that we change. Sometimes its a change of opinion, often it is a change of life. Sometimes its a reorientation, often it requires repentance. Truth is massively inconvenient that way.

A commitment to be persons of truth can sometimes make us targets for slander or abuse from those who fear truth or have a vested interest in impression management. Vaclev Havel once remarked that all oppressive regimes are most violent in the final throes of their existence. I imagine that that is true in part because oppressive regimes, oppressive organizations and oppressive people depend so much on power, control and the use of half-truth.

What is our commitment to truth to look like? The Message says it this way, "God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love-like Christ is everything." (EPH.4:15)

Got Truth?

A New Experiment