Sunday, June 24, 2018

Do You Take?

Back story - was reading a twitter thread yesterday and one person was discussing a very painful medical procedure he had just endured. He punctuated the point with 2 words. The first beginning with the letter 'g', the second ended with the letter 'm'.  And one of the guy's nearly 30,000 followers decided to reprimand him on his word choice.  She said it was offensive to her and that, for his best interests, he needed to stop taking the Lord's name in vain, that he was in danger of being eternally damned and she wanted to help the twitter post author stay in God's good graces.  I won't even begin to dive into the irony. Instead, let's explore what I believe is a fundamental fallacy. 

What if the commandment she referenced doesn't mean what we've been taught it means?


Traditional thought has told us 'thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain' means we aren't to say the word god in an inappropriate manner. Doing so, in my fetching-up years, would incur the mouth-washing-with-soap punishment. (Nearly as bad as the going to bed with no pillow punishment, but that's a subject for another blog).  The implication?  'Take' equals 'speak'.  

Ok, I learned to chalk that up as yet another  Biblical conundrum.  Who am I to question the experts? If you're like me, your brain has learned to automatically make the necessary definition adjustment from 'take' to 'speak' when it comes to commandment number three of the big ten. 

But, what if it means a whole lot more?

In the insistence that 'take' means 'speak', what if we have surrendered the true significance of God's wisdom and instruction on the sacrificial altar of inconsequential? 

What if take means take?

In any wedding ceremony, there are a couple of things that must be included for it to be considered legal and binding.  Think  matrimonial equivalent to the Miranda Rights.  One of those components is the 'do you take' query, when the wedded wannabe's are asked if they will take one another and become so connected that moving forward their identities will be forever intertwined as husband and wife. So much so that when people think of one spouse they are reminded of the other.

38 years ago, when I said, "I do" the person I was in the morning was not the person I was at 3:30  that afternoon washing down cream cheese mints with Hawaiian Punch. (Nothing says top-notch wedding reception quite like cream-cheese mints.) I took his name.  We did not take our new identities as husband and wife in vain.

What if that's the true meaning of the third commandment?  Don't approach or enter the process of adoption into God's family if you have no intention of embracing a new identity rooted in His; without every intention of living a life that honors and reflects His ways, His truth, His glory, His love, His laws?  You know, the kind of stuff that demands a lot more than a bar of soap to rectify.  


Tuesday, June 19, 2018

The Three Thing Challenge

A few months ago one of my teachers (yep, went back to school) made a suggestion in passing.  He said, "before falling asleep at night, ask yourself, 'What 3 things went well for me today?' "  I thought, why not?  Sounds simple enough.  Here I sit, 5 months later, and I don't think I've skipped  a night since.

The first week or so was kind of crazy.  Why?  Because my mind wasn't used to such an oddly focused question.  I've spent several decades recounting the the day's missteps, faux pas, and failures.  So wrestling back the controls from the Negative Nancy  so firmly ensconced in my brain took a little more effort than I'd anticipated.  

My head would hit the pillow, I'd pose the question, and before answer #1 could congeal into a cohesive sentence, little miss negative would be ya, but blah this and blah that.  "Maybe so", I'd say,  "but that has nothing to do with the question I'm currently seeking to answer, which is, 'What 3 things went well for me today?'  Tonight I'm not looking for a recap of the day's failures. I might look into it later but for right now I want to recall, 3 things that went well for me today."

Sometimes my mind would offer things that went well for others, or me 15 years ago. Nope, don’t fall for it!

After a few days of concerted effort, I no longer struggles to stick with the question. Synapses began forging new pathways in my brain. I could almost feel it happening. I know that sounds like an overstatement, but I kid you not.  Good things were happening.  I’d wake up throughout the night  aware of my mind still searching for things that went well.  In fact, I had a little trouble staying asleep when this experiment first started.  But I'm over that hump now. 

These days I find myself making note of the good things that happen throughout the day, just so I can report and recount them before falling asleep. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 encourages us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ for the purpose of demolishing arguments and pretensions that are contrary to the knowledge of God. And this simple challenge exposed an overlooked area in my life that wasn't enjoying the rewards of having that principle applied.  I encourage you to take the 3 thing challenge if you dare