Category: Christianity Page 1 of 7

I finished C.S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy a couple of days ago. I liked it by it was different than I expected it to be. I do not know why, but after Mere Christianity, I had expected more of a mystical, deeply spiritual and emotional finale, but got what seemed to be a the idea that C.S. Lewis’s conversion was a dispassionate and coldly logical affair. I have no sense that I have the right take on that, but that WAS my take. That being said, there was one specific concept in the book that had to do with prayer and the concept of God–I think it was addressed in two different places, that were hugely impactful and worth the whole read. It was the idea that trying to analyze the nature of one’s conception of God gets in the way of praying to God as a person and focusing on the communication rather an analysis of the conception was what lead to a more fruitful relationship with God and a better prayer life.

I finished reading the Volume 5 of Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus last week and started on a collection of works titled The Beloved Works of C.S. Lewis. I have been looking forward to reading Surprised by Joy, the first work in the collection after having been impacted so greatly by C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity but wanted to finish the Jewish Objections series first. Dr. Michael Brown does an admirable job with this series and, just like Mere Christianity, I attribute God’s providence to the timing in which a read it. Mere Christianity seemed to apply directly to my own personal need for guidance on how to live a life of worship given my belief in Jesus and the scriptures while the books on Judaism helped me to understand toxic pathologies common to many varieties of religion, especially the judeo-christian variety, due to the enforcement of tradition by religious elites that has little or nothing to do with scripture. The reading of these both Mere Christianity and the Jewish Objections series were both timely and, I believe, necessary although I have to admit that the former was edifying and optimistic while the latter was a warning not to regress to how I have lived most of my life nor let it take hold again in some other form.

I have now read the first several chapters of Surprised by Joy. So far, it seems to be taking me on an optimistic path. I just read several paragraphs on prayer that were kind of a gut punch. C.S. Lewis, one more time, described a defect he felt he suffered in his effort to pray that mirror what I perceive to be my own defect. I am looking forward to reading what he did about it.

Lorena and I started in Genesis and have been reading through the Reina Valera 1960 version of the Spanish Bible together, two chapters at a time during the time we set aside for devotions on Wednesdays and Sundays. We are getting toward the end of Exodus and have been enjoying it immensely. We should have read straight through the Bible together a long time ago, but I guess better late than never. We want to kick up the number of days we do this, but we have not decided yet whether we want to use the other times for other parts of the Bible or topical studies. In that spirit, we read Psalm 37 last night. That Psalm is a true gift.

Big changes are about to occur in the lives of Lorena and I. God willing, we will be living in Mexico this time next week. Things will be be hectic until we finish the move and have some time to setup our household. The time spent at the Thrive Bioscience corporate meeting was excellent though very manic. The picture above is of the whole team sailing around Salem Harbor. It was a nice event with time to talk about things other than just work. A good number of my colleagues are close to my age and we talked a lot about what we will do as we move toward retirement. It was interesting that our consensus was that we wanted to keep working, at some level, as long as possible. I reflected on that and on all the projects I am doing as I move toward my 70’s on the flight home. I had no huge epiphany in all this, but operationally, it dawned on me that I need to do things that will not require a lot of ongoing maintenance when my projects are complete for very obvious reasons. It also came clear that all the things I read in my Bible in terms of my personal relationship with God, what is required of me at a personally level, and the scope of world events are immutable and good. I can either go along with His will and plan or suffer. Those are the only two options. That the former leads to joy and peace is a hard won truth in my life. What that means at this new stage will become apparent according to His timing and I am good with that.

I had occasion to call an old acquaintance in Oregon yesterday. The purpose of the call was to make a connection between people whose parents had been friends in the distant past. After asking the acquaintance about himself and his family, he directed his discussion toward his work, made misguided statements about the nature of God with which I am deeply familiar, and told me I had lashed out at him because I was offended about what he said. I was totally baffled by the aggressiveness as I had only expressed a quite calm thought about one of his statements and realized I needed to back out of the conversation. I said it seems like we have very different worldviews and maybe it would be safer not to discuss it, trying to get back to the purpose of the call.

He then started to talk about my beliefs. I am sure he has no clue about what I believe as I have had no contact with him for decades and we really never talked about that kind of thing anyway. I have spent all of that time studying these subjects deeply to the point where I have deep knowledge of what I believe and the reasons for those beliefs. I should have stopped the conversation then (due to the aggressiveness) but, in my weakness, told him my beliefs were not “leaps of faith,” rather they were reasoned understanding based on years of studying and reflecting on the scholarship. I did not mention that these reasoned understandings were bolstered by my own personal experiences of God, because that would have just gotten in the way and the reasoned understandings stand on their own. When he pushed back harder, I told him maybe we ought to just leave it at that. He stated that he would be willing to take the conversation back up again when I was willing to hear (as opposed to have a conversation). The premise on which he had started his diatribe was a false premise, so it is hard to imagine that being a meaningful conversation.

It made me sad. Not so much what he said–that tended toward the quality of argument you might see in an internet atheist forum and I have heard it all before–but because of the level of vitriol, lack of self-awareness, and unwarranted confidence in his ideas that reminds me of the baseness of the western cultural milieu.

Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus by Lois Tverberg arrived yesterday. It is a book Kelly’s boyfriend, Adam, gifted here. I think it will be a good companion book to go along with my current reading: Jewish Objections to Jesus by Dr. Michael Brown. I am not sure whether it is a scholarly book (it has some pretty heavy endorsers on the back cover) or a pastoral book–maybe somewhere in-between, but it certainly looks interesting. Time will tell. The (pretty big_ guy in the other picture was guarding the mailbox when I went out to pick up the book. Lorena and I love seeing the turtle, rabbits, and hares in our area during this time of year.

Lorena and I are embarking on an effort to read through the whole Bible together today. We have been reading through the New Testament 3-5 nights per week with Grandma Conchita over Skype, but just Lorena and I are going to start in Genesis and try to read the whole Reina Valera 1960 version of the Spanish Bible. This is as a result of some significant new changes in our church life. Depending on God is a good thing, but it is hard to remember that in times of turmoil and change. We are working hard to not lose our peace and joy. I actual ordered two, fairly high quality (goatskin cover) Bibles to facilitate the whole effort. I have made my way through various English versions (KJV, ESV, NASB, NIV, etc.) of the Bible over the last twenty years or so, I have never made it all the way through the Spanish Bible. Let’s see how we do.

I finished reading “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus–Volume One” by Michael Brown just a few minutes ago. It covered what Dr. Brown titled “General and Historical Objections” and was (trying not to be hyperbolic) enlightening, to say the least. I am now moving on to Volume Two which covers Theological Objections. I can only hope that the second volume will be as good as the first. If nothing more, my improved understanding of my place as a gentile in the spiritual ecosystem God created is very, very helpful to me in my understanding of how to worship better and to advocate for Jews and gentiles both.

Lorena and I drove a couple hours to a funeral today. We really did not know the person who had died, but I knew her sons really well. We had studied together at Texas A&M. It was really good for us to be there. This event and the passing of our neighbor that we learned about yesterday has given us a strong wake-up call that we are just passing through this life. It was great to have the drive with Lorena, too. We stopped at Hico, Texas–one time on the way there and one time on the way back and back. Both stops were spectacular. We had zero thoughts on the other handful of times we passed through there, but now realize that it is a MUST to stop there whenever we go to Austin, San Antonio, or when we drive to Mexico. The talks on the way there were challenging, and on the way back were reflective. Our conclusion, at the end of the day, was that some things are within our control and some things are neither in our control or even knowable. We don’t know what is coming in the next year or so, but we are willing to go wherever we are either led or compelled to go.