put our money where our mouth is...

The cover story in the magazine Christianity Today of December:

Scrooge Lives

was quite a contrast to their previous

Hunger Isn't History

published a month earlier. After reading these two articles online (Scrooge lives vs Hunger Isn't History) was a reminder to me of the importance of budgeting over just casual spending. I myself have recently tried to implement a budget into my life. Actually I had to do this when my spending output surpassed my financial earnings (I'm in grad school, this is not hard to do!). Consider this, the next time you feel like you have eaten to much or find yourself tempted to say the common phrase "I'm starving" when you have skipped one or two meals that day; consider that this reality exists for millions daily. For simply 30 dollars a day you can keep a child from hunger... so what's you reason to keep food from a child? Starbucks? Drinks with friends? Vacation?

Regression to the mean... and Francois Fenelon

In statistics regression to the mean is a mathematical inevitability. I feel in my life this same inevideable pull towards normalacy. Two underlying problems emerge when I attempt to coincide this with my faith. The first is that Christ calls us to a standard of holliness that is quite far from the "mean" of this world, but rather a radical outlier, a data point that is not even on the same graph. Second, I seem to be unable to resist the pull towards the mean. What is the solution to my problem?

There is none. Well, no procedure that fits into the exact formulas that we find in statistics. In statistics we need control variables, but in life these seem to be few and far between. Still, I attempt to derive insights from a radical outlier who came before me: Francois Fenelon (1651-1715 AD). Francois Fenelon was a prominent member of the court of Louis XIV and tutor for the duke of Burgundy. His defense of the Quietist movement (which stressed the complete detachment from the things of this world) led to his eventual denunciation by Pope Innocent XII and banishment from the king. I have chosen these excerpts from his work "Christian Perfection", where discusses the path towards a "spirit filled life."

Christian perfection is not so severe, tiresome, and constraning as we thing. It asks us to be God's from the bottom of our hearts. And since we thus are God's, everything that we do for him is easy. Those who are God's are always glad, when they are not divided, because they only want what God wants and want to do for him all that he wishes... What God asks of us is a will which is no longer divided between him and any creature.. which wants with out reserve whatever he wants, and which never wants under any pretext anything which he does not want... Happy are those who give themselves to God! They are delivered from their passions.... from the crule remorse attached to wicked pleasures and in the end from the eternal condemnation of God. So let us scorn earthly things, to be wholly God's. I am not saying that we should leave them absolutely, because when we are already living an honest and regulated life, we only need to change our heart's depth in loving, and shall do nearly the same things which we were doing. There would be this only difference, that instead of being devoured by ... our overbearing passions.. we shall act instead with the hope in God.

We must be born again, renounce ourselves hate hourselves, become a child, be poor in spirit, weep to be comforted, and not be of the world which is cursed because of its scandals. These truths frighten many peole and this is becayse they only know what religion exacts without knowing what it offer, and they ignore the spirit of love which makes everything easy.

But woe unto those weak and timid souls who are divided between God and their world! they want what they do not want. They are torn by passion and remorse at the same time... How dangerous it is for our salvation... to want always to stay where we are! Our whole life was only given us to advance us by great strides toward our heavenly country. The world escapes like a delusive shadow. eternity already advances to receive us. Why do we delay to advance while the light of the Father of mercies shines for us? Let us hasten to reach the kingdom of God. One commandment suffices to blow away in a moment all the excuses which we could make for having reservations from God: Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they heart, with all thy soul, with all they mind, and with all they strength... He (God) suffers no division, and he allows us no longer to love outside of God except what God himself commands us to love for love of him. We must love only him not only with all the stretch and strength of our hearts, but also with all the concentration of our thought. How then could we believe that we love him if we cannot resolve to think on his law and to bend our energy to doing his will? Those who fear to see too clearly what this love asks fool themselves by thinking that they have this watchful and devoted love. There is only one way to love God: to take not a single step without him, and to follow with a brave heart wherever he leads. All those who live the Christian life, and yet would very much like to keep a little in with the world, run great risk of being among the lukewarm of whom it is said: they will be spewed out of the mouth of God.

(works taken from: Foster, R.J., Smith, J.B. (1993),Devotional Classics "Preparing for the Spiritual Life", New York, NY)

Do distractions keep me silent...

Andy Stanley talks about "living in the margins", which means being a Christian influence in whatever one is doing. While studying at the library today a student came up and asked me for my cell phone to call his friends for a ride. I thought it peculiar that he asked me as I was obviously not the first one on his path he could have asked. I agreed and as he left a message on the machine, I offered to give him a ride home if he did not have when I left. He came by in a half hour later with his ride, and thanked me as he smiled and then left. After he left, I immediately wished I had shared something about a God who loved and died for him, yet I did not feel any words from the Spirit.

Then I thought... well should I have any? While I in no way believe God works in an established equation (Bible + Prayer = predictable God), I couldn't help but wonder if by surrendering this week to Him I would have been prepared for that moment. two weeks ago I re-surrendered my walk to Christ, and the week following I began to pray and read his word. This is something I have neglected to do this past week. Why? Distractions of this world.... how numerous they have become. Why do I feel a pull in the unseen reality to keep me distracted so that I don't follow the Holy Sprits leading? I think a number of people who call themselves Christians in the Western World have this problem: movies, music, TV, relationships, friendships, work.... they all can be a distraction. Could this by why a number of those people have Undergraduate or Graduate Degrees and yet are infantile in their faith, not understanding the Christian world view, not thinking logically or apologetically, being unable to give a reason for this hope they have. I believe that these distractions can contribute to the missed opportunities to learn and share about our Savior. Lord, remind me that I am a pilgrims and not residents in this World. May I not be distracted by what it has to offer, but instead renew my mind on things above. Amen!