Bumper Land

Recently while on my drive home from work I found myself stuck in traffic. While waiting for my turn to move five feet only to come to complete stop number sixteen, I began to survey bumper land. "My kid is on the honer role," south carolina flags, and parking decals were the predominant scene. I proceeded my surveillance until my eyes caught a blue and red Kerry and Edwards sticker. At this point my mind took over. Why is it that someone would continue to display an advertisement for a Presidential election loser? I do not mean anything negative by "loser" only simply stating the fact that they lost. The election is over, the propaganda has been removed. I began to consider the options. Perhaps they have had no time to remove the sticker. The sticker would not come off. They think the election is not over. The sticker is to display their profound dislike of the choice made by the american people. They really, really like Kerry. They have not seen the back of their car. The list goes on.
I thought about it so much I was ready to pull up beside the car that boasted the adhesive banner and ask the question. Suddenly traffic began to move and the bumper sticker left my thoughts and was replaced with thoughts of home.

Think On This

"Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it."

C. S. Lewis

Accompaniment on the Avenues

Apparently I am not alone in my realization that I am horrible at loving people. I have recently shared my thoughts with a friend who shared a quote with me. No preface, here it is:

"Love is a desire and an affection for the welfare of another that moves one to a commitment to ACT on the other's behalf."

The quote is by Robertson McQuilkin the former president of Columbia International University. I couldn’t believe it when I first read it. Let me explain… I have been reading Piper’s book Desiring God, in which he talks about remembering the reward when loving others. Bamm! There it was, plain as a glass of water. McQuilkin says, “love is a desire.” If by saying that love is a desire, desire meaning “conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment,” then love is hedonistic (McQuilken seems to be in agreement with Piper and Lewis); thus making the “Labor” for love a means to an end. The love itself, or the loving action is not an end; rather, it is a means to enjoyment or satisfaction. Therefore, is it right to say that the best way for me to love another person is to think about my pleasure? For surely the end will be further intensified by more of the means.

All you need is duct tape and a good arm

It is amazing what one will do to oneself when under pressure (i.e.) on a roof with no way to get down. I guess sometimes in life when placed under pressure by external circumstances we do things to others and ourselves we would not, under normal circumstances, perform. For the sake of my ego I will leave out the means by which I found myself on the roof of my house with no logical way of getting off. I will only offer the conversation I had with myself before I found my way off the roof. It went something like this:

“There is no way I can jump an not break something…”

“Force equals mass times acceleration. Acceleration of gravity is 9.8 meters per seconds squared. Mass,165 pounds. Force should be in kilograms in order to have force units in Newtons…”

“What am I thinking…there is no way…”

“Porch height, at least eight or nine feet…roof, at least another one or two feet…porch height from yard, four or five feet…total at least thirteen feet probably closer to fifteen…plus I have to clear the bushes…”

After a moment of silence I proceeded to throw myself off the roof. I will not deem it an action of “jumping,” for at no point did I freely decide to “jump.” I threw myself off the roof. Although sometimes we do things to ourselves in amplified circumstances that we would not normally do, in this specific situation I am better for it. Someone might say “it will happen when pigs fly,” sometimes in life you have to take the pig, duct tape wings on him, and throw him in the air or… off the roof. All these words to say, sometimes the unexpected will occur; however, not by the presumed theory.

More on the Avenues

It is interesting, almost selfish at first, to consider or remember the reward (i.e. your reward) when loving others. Immediately my mind reguritates 1 cor. 13, where I learned that “love seeks no its own.” In other words, love is not selfish. I would venture to say that the church is inidated with this mentality, that we should not consider or remember the reward when loving others because it taints the act of “love” by securing a wrong motive. I think that my thoughts on loving others have far to long found rest in that mentality, only now to see a possible means for coexistance between having a pure motive and remembering the reward when loving others. C.S. Lewis wrote that there are two different types of rewards, one “which has no natural connection with the things you do to earn it” and one “that is not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consumation.” Therefore, in loving others my reward is finding joy and satisfaction in the joy and satisfaction of another. Still more to follow…

Click here for a more thorough explanation

That's right, it shakes

New Suspension Bridge Downtown Greenville S.C. I have to say that the bridge is pretty awesome and provides a fantastic view of the Reedy river falls. The bridge in some way is like the christian life: a wonder that does not support itself from below, but one that is sustained from on high.

Picture from my hiking trip last weekend 

Avenues of Grace

I have begun to discover what I will call avenues of grace in regards to the burning question, “how will you grow in loving others.” I have revaluated opportunities that have already been placed before me and have realized that, “when our hearts are filled with joy in the grace of God, we not only want to cause the joy of others (by loving them because love delights to cause joy in those who are empty), but also contemplate it when it exists in others”(because love delights to contemplate joy in those who are full)(John Piper, Desiring God) C.S. Lewis wrote this, “The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation.” My perspective on love has not included the latter part of Piper’s quote and moreover an essential truth on “loving others”. Therefore, the avenues of grace have not only brought forth a deeper passion to labor, but also a new passion to leisure. More to follow…

Conversation With A Friend

During a conversation I had with an friend yesterday, I was asked the question, “what has God been teaching you lately?” To which I responded, “I have learned that I am horrible at loving people.” (I am not speaking of the romantic type of love, but rather, “love your neighbor as yourself” love). One thing I know for sure...if I loved people the way I love myself, my life would look very different. As if these thoughts weren’t depressing enough, I read a quote by John Wesley today that said, “Beware that you are not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.” I often find myself swallowed up in books and maybe that’s part of the problem.
I am currently searching myself for an answer to the second question I was asked: “how are you going to grow in loving people?” Maybe I’ll find a good book on that topic...