Desert Living

If I'm ever asked to live in the desert, I'll hem and haw a bit, and then give a decisive "No!" I like the city, with all if its creature comforts and bright lights. I can't imagine living anywhere else. The closest I got to it was living in rural Iowa, but it wasn't overwhelmingly rural. The town I lived in was the county seat and had all the conveniences of a big city. Just not as much. It was alright, though. I didn't feel like I was lonely and isolated at all.

Eden was like that. Plenty of food, water, trees, wonderful irrigation, easy travel. It was a "garden" after all. Many of our urban areas are like gardens, but consisting of neon and concrete instead of chlorophyll and wood. But the idea is the same. It's paradise!

Sometimes we feel the need to get away from the urban jungle paradise and we go on vacation. Where do we go? Mostly to other places where we know our desires will be satisfied. Other places of paradise.

The Biblical narrative seems to imply that paradise is not where people think it is, mainly because people don't know what real paradise is. It has nothing to do with what we build to surround ourselves. It has to do with who surrounds us. Many times what people think is paradise turns out to be merely a cover and a cheap imitation of real paradise. This was the lesson the Israelites had to learn.

To them, paradise was the Promised Land. It was Eden. Jerusalem was the garden. The Temple was the Tree of Life. After 400 (or so) years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites didn't go directly to Eden. They were desert dwellers first. 40 years of desert dwelling. They were formed out of the dust and had the breath of life blown into their nostrils, not to be physical beings, but to be a people, a nation, put together by the Spirit of God, to announce to the world that the darkness of their ways has been overcome by the light of God. And they were living, breathing proof of that!

God had molded and shaped them in the desert for this task. In the wilderness they learned that God can be trusted, meeting their every provision and need, and leading them to their mission. There, in the desert, God stripped them of all pretense.

But when they get to Eden, to Canaan, the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey (meaning, everything they could ever want) they'll forget. Tragic. Their priority became doing everything they could to hold on to the milk and honey. How? They ate from the tree they weren't supposed to eat from.

They worshipped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, made high places, built altars and temples. Now, they knew evil. Again. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked very much like the tree of life in their eyes. They knew evil, but at least it was comfortable. And they kept eating. And hiding from God. So, this is paradise?

A voice from the past echoes forth, "Adam, where are you?" Lost. In paradise. Can there be any such thing?

It's hard to get lost in the streets of Jerusalem, but easy to lose your way in the wilderness. But it could be the other way around. In fact, that will be the Biblical claim.

"God does not live in houses made with human hands."

"They (the Scribes and Pharisees) tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders."

Why would anyone have the urge to try to save themselves if they think they're in paradise? That is being lost!

It was time for another Exodus. The Eternal One has left the building! Will anyone follow?

Sorry, Folks!

I haven't blogged lately because my brain has been running dry. Please excuse my lapse of dedication to the blogosphere, but I want to make sure I'm on-post and following the theme of this blog.

Meanwhile, I'm on a personal quest to become more organized. I purchased an organizer/portfolio/calendar today and I'm becoming an organization freak!!!!

The Story as I Tell It-- Part Two

Israel failed to do and be what God formed and created them to do and be. In that we hear echoes of the Garden of Eden. Man and woman were formed from the dust of the earth (the desert), placed in the garden, and were confronted with choices signified by two trees. They could go God's way or take their own way. Are we supposed to be surprised by their choice? When we're offered something that's pleasing to the eye, good for food, and good for obtaining wisdom, don't we go for it? As we can see, it isn't always the best choice even though it seems to be the most expedient. Who doesn't want to be like God? But the problem with being like God is that there isn't enough room for the both of you in the status of godhood. One of you has to go, and it isn't going to be God. Off you go, back into the desert.

We may be tempted to believe that the Garden of Eden was a veritable paradise. It was in some ways-- plenty of water, lush foliage, rare and precious gemstones, communion with God. Who could ask for anything better? We may mistake it for a scene from The Lion King, when Simba ran away from home and befriended a warthog and a meerkat living in a jungle filled with sensual delights. Hakuna Matata, no worries, as they say. Even God declared everything to be very good.

Two trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, were prominent in the garden. Eat from the former and enjoy lasting communion with God. Eat from the latter and be expelled from the garden. There's talk of expulsion in paradise? What kind of a paradise is this? Isn't paradise supposed to be a place of unconditional well-being and support? I didn't know Shangri-la came with an undercurrent of threat! What happened to Hakuna Matata?

So here's the deal-- If our first parents obeyed God they could stay in the garden. If they disobeyed God they would be expelled. Remember this because it will play prominently a bit later, but doesn't the choice seem obvious to you? Well, maybe it doesn't. That's alright if it doesn't. I'm starting to doubt if I would have wanted to stay in the garden.

But not so fast-- here comes a wily serpent to present the first couple with their options. Options in paradise? Isn't paradise supposed to be a place where one could be free of having to make choices. Having to make choices implies that there's something afoul here, especially when one of the choices had a penalty attached to it. Death. Separation from God. As I said earlier, the problem with being like God is that there's isn't room for the both of you. If you want to be God, and not represent God, you'll have to do it somewhere else.

The serpent analyzed the situation differently. "You won't get thrown out," he said. "God knows that, and God really needs you to stay and entertain him. He's quite an ornery old fellow, you know, and the only ones who can keep him happy are those who are just like him! He won't settle for anything less." How flattering!

They eat the forbidden fruit. Did they become like God? In a strange way they did, having the knowledge of good and evil. Even God admitted as much. But there can only be one God in the garden. Furthermore, no one can ever become God completely. The closest anyone can come to becoming God is to be, oddly enough, reduced (sic) to being a cheap imitation. Perhaps that's why God didn't want them to eat that fruit. God wanted them to be royalty, not court jesters.

Now they must die. This isn't a reference to physical and biological demise. If it were, they would've been struck dead on the spot. No, they must leave the garden to go back to the place from whence they came. To the dust. To the desert. It's barren out there. But there's hope out there, believe it or not. For in the desert dust they could be re-formed and re-created, to have God breathe into their nostrils once again and restore them to the life they once had. To become empty so that they may be filled with God's Spirit and Life. God will say as much through the utterances of the prophets.

Could it be that the desert is more of a paradise than a lush garden?

Part Three next time, but perhaps with a different title.

The Story as I Tell It-- Part One

As you can see, I've made some changes to my sidebar, as the purpose of this blog is ever-evolving. My thoughts on different theological issues are beginning to solidify a bit as I continue to piece together the many narrative threads that comprise the Scriptures. What I would like to do in this post is to give you an idea of the overall picture I see in the pages of the Bible.

Humanity has this uncanny notion that there is something really wrong with everyday existence. In light of the severe weather we had around here yesterday and overnight, our unease becomes more apparent with every flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. Yesterday on the Roe Conn Show on WLS, Roe was talking to a priest and was asking him if we've somehow made God mad that we're being battered by these storms.

That's the essence of what we think is wrong with our existence. God is angry and he punishes us with dangerous weather and other unfortunate events. People have felt this way from time immemorial. Ancient people figured that the only way to appease the meteorological wrath of the gods was to do things to make them happy. And so they invented rituals and religions, sacrificed animals and children, built temples, wrote myths, had sex, codified laws for living, etc. The will to survive is very strong. Personally, I think it's genetic, but that's beside the point. Genetic or not, we carry this angst of having a sense of being under the gun, as it were, to put things right or face the wrath. More often than not we choose to try to fix everything by trying to fix what we feel is wrong with God, or the gods.

"So, what's wrong with that?" you might ask. It seems to us to be a perfectly logical example of cause and effect. If the gods are angry, cheer them up. Problem solved! Right? Not exactly.

Things still don't seem to go right. We are vulnerable to a whole host of terrible misfortunes, even though we try our hardest to thwart them. We pray harder, burn more incense, and try to be good, hoping that the gods will see that we are indeed frightened of what they can do to us when they throw hissy fits. Well, angry gods produce angry and frustrated people who feel more insecure than ever before. And so the people begin to turn on each other. They invade, conquer, pillage, plunder, enslave, and slaughter each other in the hopes of compensating in areas where the gods have fallen short. Perhaps if the gods had more territory, then maybe they won't be so prone to temper tantrums.

Along comes an ancient people, called Israelites, who were given the task of telling a different story, thereby becoming a beacon of light to all of the nations on earth. Their story was about a God who loves people without having to be appeased. This God rescues people from their captors even though they don't build temples or give offerings to this God. This God provides crops without requiring anyone to do a rain dance. This God wants everyone to know who He is so that all nations would be united in Him. It was going to be hard sell, but God equipped the Israelites to be up to the task.

What did the Israelites end up doing? Just about everything the other nations were doing. Israel was supposed to be different. They ended up being the same. Instead of being a beacon of light they just blended in with the darkness. The end result was that God was being treated the same way the nations treated their own gods. God was not going to become known among the nations in that fashion. It's hard to tell who's who when everyone looks the same.

Part Two is forthcoming.

New Look and New Thoughts

I've given this blog a facelift. I like it, and I hope you do too, although I might lighten the text color a bit.

Do they have a mercy rule in the MLB? Did you see the final score of the Rangers-Orioles game last night? 30-3!! That's a football score! I know, I know-- never give up, quitters never win, the tough get going, yada yada. But 30-3? Sheesh!! God is merciful, but apparently human beings in the heat of sports competition will thoroughly spank the other team if given the chance.

Speaking of mercy, I received a question from a young parishioner today about attending worship on Sunday mornings. She wondered if it was bad that she skips worship on Sundays. Her life is frenzied and harried during the week, and she needs time to go somewhere to chill out. So she comes for Sunday School (not exactly a place to relax) and then goes home. She's wondering if this is bad.

What she's really asking, I believe, has to do with her standing before God. If we don't attend worship, does God count it against us? If we do attend worship, does God give us gold stars (or at least a pat on the back)?

I told her that I'm of the mind that people should come to church only if they really want to or if they feel they really need to. That's what people do anyway. But if people are forced to come to church through coercive tactics by church leaders or pastors (such as using Scripture to threaten or to heap guilt trips), they will grow resentful, perhaps even toward God. They may even begin to see God as a hard to please crybaby who has to have everyone's utmost attention. Who's going to want to worship a God like that?

God is not affected negatively by our choices. If He is, shouldn't we be busy thinking of ways to appease Him, or at least try to compensate for those times when we make God angry? What kind of a life would that be? Is that the way God wants to interact with us? Is it possible to be beyond the reach of God's love and mercy? I don't think so! What do you think?