In my younger years I was continually listening to music. Later in life it was listening to news but I’d always read papers, magazines and such. Records gave way to tapes, then cd’s and now mostly Mp3s.
Playing in bands my entire life meant a fair bit of loud music-making and on rare occasion mellower stuff.
I began reading more than listening to news on radio as the internet kicked in and because I not only became used to quickly getting news, weather, sports and historical study info., Bible studying and commentaries via the web but also discovered I was really enjoying quiet spaces as the days progressed.
Living in intentional community most of my lifetime meant loudness a fair bit though there were always places and moments I found and now find quiet spots with little to distract.
Some folks get distracted easily and this does relate to me at least to a degree. I never liked to have media or conversations going on around me while I was trying to read -the more important the material the more essential to concentrate in order for actual comprehension.
In my school days I did almost zero homework (being lazy, focused on music and girls and hating what I believed to be irrelevant educational work -then…) so was never the typical kid with music playing while doing it.
A good part of my love for the outdoors, woods and waters is the typical quietness but for wind, rain, critters and the occasional airplane passing overhead. Peace- a real gift from God in Jesus and sometimes via a quiet space, a good cup of coffee or tea and a read or two or three, yup!
I’ve written in blog posts about this before, but it was simply on my mind today as I think some might want to consider their loudness consumption and get a bit deeper study/peace going in their life.
There are drives if I’m alone on the road when I blast a bit of music, sometimes news, but over the years quiet praying as I go is very much part of my chosen journey.
Wishing all who visit my site here a grace-filled (whether loud or quiet) and peace-filled 2023.
Deut. 8.3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. -NRSV
Mt. 4.4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” -NRSV
The humility of faith, of trusting God to provide in/as/when we seek Him in accord with His Word which reveals His will. Of course this includes following Him in accord with what He has said to the best of our current understanding flawed as our understanding often is.
The ignoring or worse, discarding of His Word is not only arrogant but to our own undoing regardless of what we may state as our true faith. Unless and until we live out, walk in what we say we believe we are in effect living by our own thoughts/word, not His.
I ask you what I ask myself: do you think it best to live by His Word or your own opinion?
I suggest to you we ultimately worship and serve the true God on His throne or the false one we see in our bathroom mirror.
Note what Jesus quotes to the devil when tempted including the actual incident in which the temptation came when He (like the people of Israel in the desert) was tired and massively hungry. They grumbled and complained. He did the will of the Father’s Word.
Not a popular message but then a fair bit of what He says has never been that…
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” -Isaiah 9.6
What Christmas truly is. As always, thanks for stopping by. -Glenn
I’ve a number of such friends. One is my bud down the hall Jon Trott. Another is David Bunker.
David is a thinker, scholar, sometimes professor and a poet who loves Jesus, people and words well. He recently pointed to a book where one of the authors included is Northrup Frye.
As you read this or other things I post, please know I don’t fully agree with anyone and yet regularly find what I and perhaps many if not most, brilliant positions, bits of truth and inspiration from people in all sectors of history and the present world.
I don’t always agree with myself having found change, learning, growth is accumulated via wise people, deeper study long considered, discussions with others, the experience of living for years and therefore time itself. All of these and more sometimes create an absolute bedrock I’ll not move from having been convinced and continually affirmed in my belief. The veracity and essentiality of the Bible is one of those.
Ok, on to Frye and a quote of his w. a bit of commentary from the peanut gallery (the admittedly not brilliant thinker/writer- me).
Unpacking his life and work I discovered quotes such as the following:
“The Bible is not interested in arguing, because if you state a thesis of belief you have already stated it’s opposite; if you say, I believe in God, you have already suggested the possibility of not believing in him. [p.250]” -Northrop Frye, “Biblical and Classical Myths: The Mythological Framework of Western Culture”
From my non-authoritative understanding of all things (including logic) I posit he’s right. And also wrong. Overall correct to my way of thinking. And rather binary at least in the sense of an either-or fulcrum if this is all he ever said about the matter he mentions. He said a great deal more, but Frye’s thinking at core places myth and imagination as the ground of pretty much all thought. He is in my view correct in the sense of us having to constantly imagine things in our own mind to construct an understanding of life, death, etc..
The Bible’s human writers indeed offer many lines that strongly connect to belief, that is, faith, salvation and which bring reason and logic in view of human life as well as revelation of God’s Person, His desires, commands and what scripture refers to as sin.
Where I think N.F. was wrong here (and I am admittedly only discussing this one quote out of a bazillion of his illustrious critical writings) is one could say the entirety of the Book is fully laced with an argument including the reality of God, His choosing people, His dealings which we judge loving and kind as well as harsh and even brutal.
It does seem to me myth formed by imagination often reflects truth or at least lower-case truths that are more than mere myth.
IS there analogy, parable and actual myth found in it’s pages? Of course. It is not in every/all it’s writing to be taken literal in that sense.
My point is that fiction, a term not entirely synonymous with “myth” also often reflects Truth or certainly truths… but is “made-up”, imagined and often tells a story which is not directly a mirror of reality and everyday life but rather a metaphor.
No metaphor came into our world, walked among humans on two feet which were later pierced along with His hands (perhaps actually, wrists) on a cross- and raised from the grave… for your sake and mine that we might inherit eternal life in relationship with Him.
Voicemail, (Meta/Facebook)Messenger on my mobile phone? NOPE. Twitter? Nah. I don’t need any of these. Further, I regularly scroll past the zillion requests in Facebook seeking to get me to link w. groups or respond to general “if you really care you’ll respond and re-post this on your page” stuff.
Let me explain.
Stewardship of our time and life is in our hands -mostly. Sometimes we have to respond to emergencies or a right-now request for someone’s needs to be met. There are those things that are truly priorities, even time-certains on the calendar.
I use several different computers daily. All are older, even “boat anchors” where others wouldn’t bother but I use various Linux distributions that rock on ’em all.
Both on my machines as well as phone I leave Facebook “on” so look as if I’m online live which often I’m not. IF I want to link re. direct messages in FB I do so when at home or online via laptop but as most all if not everyone reading this I’ve plenty to do beside computing or phone chats/texts.
Due to all this I made cuts or never installed various programs to keep my own sense of organization and balance. And yep, well-being!
I won’t get into details of why I left Twitter behind but in the end it comes down to what I think was a tragic mess in it’s changes. I used it off and on daily for years but have found it’s one less time-eater not using it and don’t miss it whatsoever.
I was recently in a chat online w. a bro who was talking about the glut of adds in trying to read an article. Some of you may know most web browsers with a little study and toggling/changing in the setup of the browser itself have the ability to render most (not All) websites text-only with zero photos and adds.
I regularly (as in DAILY) use text-only browsers/browsing to quickly and simply read words… to get the actual content without all the rest. This is not only my practice on computers but on my phone.
If enough peeps ask I’ll post a bit of info. on what apps and sites may be of interest re. news and other info. on various platforms (computer, phone).
Alleluia for peace! Figuring how to remove distractions is so helpful to getting good work done, not to mention the grace of silence when corporations want to have acce$$ to your time, attention and wallet! Some of the free apps I use still track you and send info. to them but there are some that do not.
In the main, I like control over the sheer amount of spam and click-bait as well as distractions via my life.
Peace comes from Jesus -and a little education, thought and application regarding how you use tech!
I have joined others in prayer for many in deep need during this Christmas season.
Just this morning I learned of a pastor’s son who lost his wife last night in an unexpected medical emergency after they rushed her to hospital. She has died leaving her husband and two 3 year olds to a Christmas and beyond without her… Whew! What a sad, tragic, shocking Christmastime event. Praying.
The local church, other family and friends will surround that grieving family and do best they can to comfort and meet needs during this season and later -but not everyone has such support.
We know that those struggling in a wide range of ways often are hardest hit during holidays. Those losing loved ones or in other crisis often see such seasons as dark and not light.
Regardless of mental, emotional and other struggles, I think this is a truly important and immediate help for people rather than adding ever more tragic options: Dial 988 for help!
Prayer, seeking God is in my view essential yet the practical issues of denying self-or-other-induced stigma at one’s deep pain is no answer. Self-medicating is no real solution. Believe me, back in the day I tried and it was -not-.
There are many other online helps, and I found this one some years ago:
Not all our questions will be answered this side of heaven. Not all believe there IS God or heaven for that matter. What I know is that peace doesn’t come without seeking Him regardless of circumstances.
Consider Christmas in Ukraine, in an American slum with desperate, violent situations, injustices a daily matter. Suburban homes with people addicted to opiates, some to gambling, families ripped apart on many levels regardless of wealth or other details where the idea that “all is fine” cannot possibly be true because it flatly isn’t.
I remember sparks of joy but also holiday seasons of grief back in my lost/without Jesus days, when family was a thin concept rarely practiced.
For me the light of the Risen and REAL Jesus Christ has made all the difference.
Yet boots-on-ground needs are met in the practical as we reach out… and up.
God have mercy on those in suffering during these days meant to reveal the Love and Light of the world -Jesus.
In Luke 10 Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan (note those people were hated and considered truly unclean by most of the religious leaders in that time and place). Jesus responds to the dude who asked “in order to justify himself” – “And who is my neighbor”? Jesus had already asked him what he thought were the most important commands of God and he’d answered rightly to love God supremely and love neighbor as self all in accordance with God’s commands (see Deuteronomy, also repeated in Matthew and Mark’s Gospels).
At the end of this particular discussion Jesus asked him “v36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” v37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Mercy is so core to God’s love it’s inseparable. So… what does scripture tell us about loving others? Here are only a few key verses to meditate on. Franky, I have and do fail at these plenty but this is a serious part of the mirror I look into as to whether I’m reflecting my Lord and Savior. Note the term “commandment” though such a word gets up the nose of all sorts of people be they professing Christians or not.
1 John 3.23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. -NASB
1 John 3.23 This is His commandment, that we believe [with personal faith and confident trust] in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and [that we unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, just as He commanded us. -AMP
John 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
1 John 4.21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him. -AMP
1 John 4.21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. -NRSV
Does God commanding us to love pose a problem for us? ProblemS actually… many. It means we no longer choose to live self-centered, self-gratifying, self-focused lives in the present world. What’s interesting is it’s a rare atheist or agnostic who doesn’t recognize the importance and need for love. Sadly, sometimes in history professing Christians have been the worst reflections of Jesus in living this out.
Seems to me there are at least 3 major sources of conflict: inside us as individuals, disagreements with others, ourselves or others deciding violence provides an answer to what ails us.
My take on that is violence and war regularly adds yet more ailing to what already ails us.
I have often quoted the Book of James on the origin of wars (you can web search and find it easily) and nothing has changed since Adam and Eve disobeyed God to now, so there’s that.
What must change- as I reminded the bros I was with last night bringing music and message in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, is our heart. Our attitude. The willingness to quickly pull the trigger when we’re triggered.
As I think of the many wars currently happening in the world and at the moment particularly Europe and Africa- it all simply repeats over and over again in the history of greedy, angry and sometimes desperate humans. We want, don’t get, choose violence and warfare tactics to take hold, grasp or maintain power to our ends whether the ends are truly good and positive for all or merely some sort of gain, on occasion merely an idol, a trophy for our own excessive, lying egos.
I fully admit to wanting OUT of my addictions (dope, booze,sex) that had finally brought me to the end of myself, indeed trashed me such I was finally open to God and the Lord Jesus those many years ago. The Spirit showed up in powerful ways and I finally surrendered. Well… not 100 percent but over the course of nine months and now over 50 years, closer, continuing the process of growing up spiritually, etc..
Recently reading about a book from a friend dealing with trains (some of you may realize I’m a fan of those) my mind immediately went south… as in the U.S. South.
So many blues musicians, individuals and entire families of color as well as poor whites headed North to escape poverty, racism, harsh treatment, the judgments of others who disdained them for these and other reasons but often merely for being poor. If there was a way to a train ticket out of the struggles of life where they were, they hit the rails.
Black folks getting out of those situations created what is called America’s Great Migration within our borders.
Which reminds me of at least three other mass-movements.
In the Great Depression dirt-poor hobos jumped into boxcars (and sometimes under them hanging on for dear life) in order to move from place to place with no ticket. They were hounded and sometimes jailed, even shot for their efforts.
When survival is the issue, one does what one creatively considers possible. Nothing new about that in this often unjust world!
Migrants due to poverty, war, racism, economic upheaval and strongman/military dictatorships in places far less than truly democratic have overwhelmed many and I say MANY nations in our world. How often our own fear, suspicions, racial and ethnic prejudices along with the thought of possibly having to face ourselves being a minority, the concept (real or imagined…) of “competition” for jobs and everyone’s need for a living wage all construe to a boiling point.
We seek to escape drugs, dealers, violent robberies, gangs and for those owning land/homes -property value changes (as in down rather than up) conspire in our minds, sometimes to the extent of harsh, angry, no-love-of-Jesus-for-THESE-people attitudes, let’s face the truth of this!!
Then we have political leanings that fully demonize anyone who seems to vote differently because it is WE who are also seeking to escape changes, re-ordering of power, wealth and position -and I indeed mean largely white folks who call the shots -sometimes literally so.
The Word of God (Bible) is positively full of God’s comments, not mere commentary or suggestions about how to escape a hard heart, a closed mind, a grasping at what one has. In a word, it’s sharing and yes, doing so with those who we don’t believe deserve mercy or grace.
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” -Jesus in Luke 6.36
I’ve loved trains because they have brought me to others who need to escape. Some of those peeps were in other nations but many have been right here in the U.S.. Lots of them left where they were to get out of truly horrible situations. Many, desperate, didn’t count on the struggles, pains and even some of the very same issues to show up in their new locale, miseries they thought they’d left behind.
Escaping isn’t always simple or easy. Sometimes it can prove be fatal.
In the 20th century United States Northern cities including Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and others became magnets for people of color and poor whites as they’d always been to foreign immigrants due to their willingness to work jobs others didn’t want. They chose and were segregated often by law into poor neighborhoods. This is clearly verifiable history. With political red-lining, gerrymandering and more this is continuing as I write in 2022.
Lastly, with natural disasters such as fires, droughts, landslides, earthquakes, pandemics and political polarization and even gun violence including mass murders spiking, a good many people have learned that no place is somehow automatically safe to move to!
In light of these things and matters related I personally find only one real sense of peace- being in genuine, intimate, intentional relationship to the One who said “Because I live you shall live also.” He also said “In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer- I have overcome the world.”
I proclaim to you that it is not mythical escapism but truth that the One Who IS Truth (and Way and Life) is the risen Jesus Christ Whom I walk with daily regardless of where or in what circumstances.
In chaplain’s work I have regularly met people I’m convinced are more free than those seeking to escape by whatever means. I have found only One Who has the power to both transform and transport to the positive, even eternal end!
Believe me, I understand the desire to escape all sorts of temptations, evil people, unjust society. I also have come to understand the “peace that passes understanding” and that no matter where you live- you take your own inner mess along and often discover new troubles as well.
I thank God for Jesus and the peace He brings!
As always, thanks for stopping by. -Glenn
This train is bound for glory, this train This train is bound for glory, this train This train is bound for glory If you ride on it you must be holy This train is bound for glory, this train
Even as a small child I was always enchanted by the decorated Christmas tree, usually some sort of pine we chopped down or once moving to the “big city”, bought at a “tree lot”, the scent, lights, ornaments, tinsel and in Wisconsin where I grew up, nearly every year a fair bit of snow and cold outside while we sought warmth inside.
Some of that magic wore off as I grew older, learning much from history as well as being a paperboy so daily reading the news, hearing it on radio and tv. The peace, quiet and beauty were often somewhere other than in my world.
Still there were those quiet moments, usually late at night when my Mom was in bed, dog lying asleep at my feet and me just sitting in a chair enjoying the silence and beauty of that tree.
The first Christmas I spent as a follower of Jesus brought a much deeper understanding of what God’s love and grace was about, Jesus’ incarnation, and certainly for my own life that amazing reality hit home in powerful ways.
The beauty was deeper -and included the knowledge that this little Christ Child would become a grown man, tempted in all points yet without sin, unjustly arrested, then condemned to death -for us-. For me even. Wow.
Easter and His resurrection essentially took the place of Christmas for me, at least in a sense it did. With Christmas, I realized the greatest GIFT ever was Jesus Himself and His love for me. Me, of all people!
Every year I take all sorts of pictures of our various decorations at Advent and Christmas. It’s still visually a treat to sit in a quiet, decorated room, and it has also been great fun with our dear kids and grandkids so animated, our growing, noisy family laughing, surprised and smiling when gifts are opened.
Yet: “In the peace between the stillness, when quiet is the sound, I remember not believing and yet the joy that now abounds…”
Yes, the grace and truth, the incredible love of Jesus for me, you, us -continues to astound me.
I hope you find quiet time to consider the Light of the world as you sit in the silence at various points of this Christmas season. Contemplate where the real beauty is and Who shares it with us!
Or perhaps bundle for the cold, take a walk in the woods (or if “down under” dress less and walk along the beach) in the quiet and meditate on this reality:
glennkaiser.com 