Truth Tickle

 When we read scripture, our tendency is to interpret it in a way that is consistent with our current understanding or interpretation because this is the least effort and the most comfortable. We prefer to stay in our comfort zone. But there is still part of us, buried deep within, that yearns for a seeks objective truth. That part of us sometimes give us the slightest tickle when we bend the interpretation of the scripture to our current understanding. If instead, we learn to be sensitive to that tickle and meditate through it, considering the scripture from other (sometimes uncomfortable) perspectives, asking the Holy Spirit to open our minds and hearts to the truth or to a deeper truth, then we will grow.  St. Paul teaches us in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 to "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil." This is not easy to do at first, but if we persist, like a child learning to ride a bicycle, we will get better at it and it will become more normal. This is the same pattern that we see in the path towards contemplative prayer, as described by many saints, such as St. Teresa of Avila in The Interior Castle.  This is the path to enlightenment by the Holy Spirit.

Imagine a Country...

Imagine a country where there are no borders or walls, and foreigners, minorities and the poor are cared for and treated with dignity. The citizens, though diverse, are all aligned on a common goal, and every single citizen wants to be there; the desire to be there is a requirement of citizenship that is tested daily. Surrounding countries are at war with this country, but there are no borders at all, so the main mission of the ministry of defense is to broadcast an invitation of immigration and citizenship to the non-citizens. In this country, taxes are voluntary because every citizen is also at least a part-time member of the government, carrying out the various works of what is required to build the country and keep it working, and there are very few full-time government workers, the knights and handmaids. In this country, the leader is not elected, but is a king, but not the evil, tyrannical kind of king that is corrupted by power like you read about in stories. He is a good king who truly cares for each of the citizens. He is such an amazing king that the citizens meet with him daily to stay aligned with his vision for the country and to deepen their friendship with him. It is a country powered by love and in thousands of years, no enemy has ever overthrown it.

The enemy countries spend their time trying to convince the citizens that the country doesn't exist, and that the enemy is really in control, and that they should spend their time on transient, petty worries. The citizens hear what the enemy is saying, but it mostly is a muted, dull background noise since they are so focused on their own country and their own king. Occasionally, a citizen will be lulled into the lies of the enemy and shift their focus things of little worth, but they come back around and are reunited with the king and the vision soon enough through a process of healing that is available regularly.

Would you like to be a citizen of this country?

You Will Be Saved

If I told my kids "if you invest $1000 per month in a fund that returns 10% annually, then you will be a millionaire", does that mean they will be millionaires the first month they invest $1000? Of course not.  If I told my kids "if you invest $1000 per month in a fund that returns 10% annually, then you will be an investor", does that mean they will be investors the first month they invest $1000? Yes! Does it mean they will be investors if they only invest once? No! Both statements use the future verb tense "you will be", but one implies that they will eventually reach the end state, and the other implies they will immediately be in the end state for as long as they continue to meet the condition.  I have to pay attention to the future verb tense and discern what the verb tense and condition implies.

Romans 10:9-10
For if you  confess on your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your hearts that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Faith in the heart leads to justification, confession on the lips to salvation.

I might think that I will be saved immediately if I confess on my lips and believe in my heart; this is the doctrine found in some protestant denominations. I might also believe that when the condition is met once, it lasts forever, which is the once-saved, always-saved doctrine, also found in some protestant denominations. I could even think that eventually, enough belief and confession will earn me salvation, this is a merit-based salvation doctrine that many Christians fall into but that no denominations officially teach to my knowledge. But in order to understand the intended meaning of this particular verse, we should look deeper at what the term "be saved" means, and look to other verses to help us discern. The second sentence gives us a little clue, in that it separates being saved into multiple aspects.  To understand the different aspects of salvation, we must ask the question "what are we being saved from?"  The simplest result of salvation is that we're saved from the consequences of sin, the eternal separation from God; this is justification.  But another result of salvation is that we are also being saved from sin itself, through a gradual process, being healed to the point where we eventually commit no sins and fully love God. This is the part of salvation called sanctification.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling

2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time 

Titus 3:5-7
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 

John 15:2-7
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

These imply that salvation needs to be worked out, that it is an on-going process, that it isn't an instantaneous result of a single prayer, that it isn't guaranteed, that the condition "if you remain in me" is an on-going condition.

Looking at it this way, salvation is a three-part entity, a state of being (justification), a process (sanctification), and an end goal (eternity with God, free from sin),

Cold Shower, No Shower

Last year, I fasted for most of the year from hot showers for an Exodus 90 fast. Let me tell you about the benefits of avoiding hot showers!

• I used a lot less water during my showers, and the water wasn’t heated, so I saved money on water and electricity. For comparison sake, let’s assume you normally take a 15 minute hot shower with a 1.5GPM showerhead, and the water costs $5.00 per 1000 gallons.  Let’s assume that it takes 0.13kwh per gallon to heat the water, and that electricity costs $0.08/kwh.  This 15-minute hot shower costs 11.25 cents in water, and 23.4 cents to heat that water, for a total cost of 34.65 cents. That’s $10.39 per month.  Switching to a cold shower, I have the water running 1 minute (15 seconds to get wet, then I soap up without water running, and 45 seconds to rinse).  This reduces the cost of each shower to less than a penny, for a monthly cost of $0.23, a savings of $10.16. This money can be better spent on charity!
• I spent a lot less time in the shower. This freed me up to spend more time in prayer. 12-13 minutes more!
• It toughened me up. Dealing with suffering is part of the Christian life.  Taking a cold shower is minor suffering compared to what many Christians are dealing with, and my cringing at the cold shower early on showed me how soft I had become.
• This one didn’t apply to me since we have a tankless water heater, but if you have a tank, you won’t as easily run out of hot water for dishes, laundry or other family members’ showers.
• Cold showers are healthier for you.  Some websites cite improvements to metabolism, testosterone, blood circulation, mood, breathing, and your immune system. (http://www.thehackedmind.com/7-reasons-to-take-cold-showers-and-1-that-really-matters/   http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/07/21/the-health-benefits-of-cold-showers-video/)
• Occasionally on Saturdays, I wouldn’t feel the need to shower at all since I was just doing projects around the house.  This is less severe than taking a cold shower, and is in fact more in alignment with the rest of the world than taking cold showers every day.

Franciscans Unplugged

Franciscan Challenge for the Week: Live without electricity for 24 hours.  Why would we want to live without electricity for a day, you ask? There are a few things to consider, here.  

1. Living without electricity is a way to live in solidarity with those in poverty around the world. According to the U.N., 1.4 billion to 1.6 billion people around the world live without electricity.
2. Living without electricity may give you some peace and quiet that you didn’t even realize you were missing. When we eliminate some of the noise, we're left with ourselves and God. "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls."-Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta.  "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10
3. Living without electricity may show you how dependent you are on “the system” and help you depend more on God. "What consolation! The Book of Exodus is our story as we will see! This ancient text is a metaphor for modern men; whether we are enslaved by lust, or technology, or food or drink, or to any other thing, we find ourselves helplessly enslaved all the same." - Fr Brian Doerr
4. Living without electricity can help you care for creation a bit more by not consuming energy created by fossil fuels. In fact, many aspects of simple living are aligned with care for creation.

So how would you go about living without electricity for 24 hours? You can accomplish this simply by turning off the circuit breakers in your house, all except for the one or two controlling your refrigerator and freezer; I don’t recommend turning them off since wasting food is not part of this exercise! You may also want to only do this during warm weather so you don’t risk freezing water pipes in your home.  To prepare a bit for this exercise, make sure you have a way to cook food that doesn’t require electricity (wood stove or campfire), have a few gallons of clean water handy if you are on an electric well, and a few candles or oil lamps with matches to see with in the early morning or late night.

An Inconvenient Life

As Franciscans, we are called to live a simple life.  And by choosing to live a simpler life, we are caring for creation whether we realize it or not.  We end up using less electricity, gas, and oil.  Fewer disposable containers go into landfills.  Fewer agricultural chemicals are washed into rivers and aquifers.  Don't confuse a simple life with a convenient life, though; in fact, it often is often a very inconvenient life. But it is a life that is more intentional, often less costly, slower, healthier, and better for creation, all at the same time.  Simple living is getting rid of the television and the microwave.  Raising our own vegetables, eggs, and meat.  Building a “green” home with cash.  Limiting trips to the store, and rarely if ever eating at restaurants.  Freedom from attachments, owning one car for a family of eight.  Eliminating debt in our lives so we feel the freedom to follow the next step of God's calling.

There is also a sense of slowness that is involved in simple living; the long processes.  The slowness of waiting six months for each coat of plaster to cure on the straw-bale walls.  The slowness of waiting three months for a tomato to grow and ripen. The slowness of soaking shell beans overnight then simmering them two hours instead of getting them from a can.  The slowness of cooking a meal instead of eating fast food.  The slowness of walking a couple miles to work instead of driving. I don't always find myself meditating during these long processes, but they do offer a sense of the sacred – the respect for creation that comes from being less wasteful with toxic building materials, disposable packaging, refrigeration and transportation fuels.  At first, these long processes might test our patience, but if you choose to embrace it and meditate on it, you might also discover the presence of God.

What is particularly interesting to me is that choosing a simple lifestyle is also a form of solidarity with the poor; it ties the “J” and the “IC” from JPIC together.  I have a friend who is on welfare due to a medical condition, and over the years he has complained less and less about how bad he's got it because he knows that I live a simpler life than he does; that I raise a garden and livestock, that we cook most of our meals, and that we built our house ourselves.  He's comfortable around me because of my lifestyle.  When I visited Haiti a few years ago, I felt right at home, and felt like I shared so much in common with our brothers and sisters there.  I didn't fear them or pity them – I just loved them and worked alongside them because my lifestyle was already so close to theirs. 

What are some simple lifestyles that you admire, either from history or from modern times?  What aspects of these simple lifestyles can you adopt this week and continue throughout your life?

The Second Coming of Christ

What would you do if the second coming of Christ happened today? If you heard that Jesus was back and on his throne in Jerusalem, would you clear your calendar and make preparations to see him, talk to him, and be in his presence?  When you got there and saw him, would you recognize him, even if he came in humble form, with humble attire with humble surroundings?  Would you fall to your knees before him in worship? Would you join with the heavenly host of angels and archangels surrounding him, proclaiming "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts"?  If He offered you his body and blood in communion, would you first repent of your sins and beg him for healing?  After visiting with Jesus, worshiping Him, and feasting with Him, would you rush out to go back home, or would you linger a while?  If he asked you to go and tell others that He had returned, that he was really here, would you do it?

Friends, Jesus is back.  He is here on earth, physically. I went to visit Him, worship Him, and feast with Him yesterday.  Just like 2000 years ago, most people don't recognize Him, even when they see him.  They expect Him to come with military might and overthrow governments.  Most people that see him treat Him casually when they see him, and only go through the motions of worshiping Him. Most visit out of a sense of obligation rather than joy, awe, or love.  Most who do visit Him leave in a rush so they can see the ball game on the networks.  Many heartfelt Christians refuse to believe that He has come back, so never even go to visit Him.

The Kingdom of God is at hand and Jesus has returned, just like the Book of Revelation describes, in the Mass.  Come and worship our King!