Drowning

Recently I finished reading a fantastic book. You may have heard of Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis before, but if you've never taken more than a five minute look at it, I'd suggest that you do at some point. There's something about how C. S. Lewis words things and gives graspable illustrations that really helps me understand what he is saying. Points he makes regarding humanity and Christianity and many other topics really hit home not only spiritually, but logically and realistically as well. With an attitude that speaks of partial dedication to Christ being worse than zero dedication, and willingness to take time to clear up any discrepancies that may come up, Lewis has impacted yet another life even after his death. Mine.
So, I decided to thumb through my underlined and annotated copy of Mere Christianity and share one topic or another that struck me.

I've included a reference at the end of the post, however, to give a brief run-down about what topic that I'm about to share that Lewis tackles, here is a bit of background:
The overarching topic is atonement, however, most of the time in the chapter is focused on the fact that Jesus was God. The idea is raised that being submitted to God, suffering and dying must have been a lot easier for Jesus since he was God (and I personally insert that he IS still God and always will be). But the truth clashes with human perspective when people think that it might have been easier for Jesus to go through all that he did since he was God, and as a result, a sense of unfairness comes up. It's that sense of unfairness that Lewis nails with the following illustration.

If I am drowning in a rapid river, a man who still has one foot on the bank may give me a hand which saves my life. Ought I to shout back (between my gasps) 'No, it's not fair! You have an advantage! You're keeping one foot on the bank'? That advantage -call it 'unfair' if you like- is the only reason why he can be of any use to me.

When I read this, I actually laughed out loud. Not because I was amused at the mental picture of myself drowning in a river, but because of the glaring truth that my corrupted human mind had failed to really see. It is a ridiculous idea for a drowning person to reject help from another because the other had some advantage that could aid him. Ridiculous. But if we take the perspective that some advantage on the part of the savior is unfair, then we definitely fail to see that it's really us who are drowning in the river. If I were literally drowning, I'd be fighting pretty hard, but there would come a moment when it finally sank in that I couldn't save myself. That I needed someone to save me.
The reason I need Jesus is because he isn't in the same predicament as I find myself in. The reason I need him is because he knows what he's doing. The reason I need him is because if -cough,- I mean when I'm drowning in bad choices, sin, hurt, and all those other rampant, human nature diseases in this life, he isn't drowning with me. He's in a position that, because of his grace and mercy, benefits me. Thank God that He isn't like me!


So, yeah. It's "unfair" if that's how you want to see it. But from the perspective of someone
I'm drowning in a river every day. I need help. I can't save myself. I can't do it alone.
 He also said, "The perfect submission, the perfect suffering, the perfect death were not only easier to Jesus because He was God, but were possible only because he was God."
No mere human can save you. No level of ambition however high or low can rescue you. No amount of pride is going to help you to the shore of the raging river that you're stuck in. If anything, pride will sink your body faster.


Lewis concludes the illustrations by saying, "To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?"

I know the answer for myself. I will look to the hills and see that my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. I'll look to him who is stronger than I am. I'd like to encourage everyone to take the outstretched hand of the man who has an advantage for being on the shore while you're in the river. His hand is never out of reach, and he will never pull away. Once you have clasped hands, just know that he will never let you go either.

(For reference sake, this quote is taken from the latter portion of a chapter entitled The Perfect Penitent)

Lull Me

Lull me into your sweet
Embrace
Where I can taste your love
And grace
I know there is a deeper
Place
Where we see each other
Face to face

This I want: to be only
Yours
of this I desire to
Be sure
No other love is such a
Cure
And no other is near
So pure.

Declaring Dreams

Whenever the opportunity arises, I love to go swing dancing. For years now I've made it down to the Casaloma Ballroom to try out my dancing and have fun with friends. Recently having started school at a different location, I managed to connect myself into the Swing Dance Club here. Being a part of the group here has been fantastic because not only do I learn so much from these guys and gals, but they are great people to spend time with. So the other night, we went adancin'.

There we were, our own group of 10 or so people, among scores of others there for the same purpose. Having fun. It turned out that an extension of our group managed to make it that night as well, so there were many people that knew one other if only vaguely, but all were happily introduced. After the brief refresher course was given, we all got down to it. The gentlemen wasted no time in swinging with their gals and those of us who were there without designated partners (like me) didn't have to wait long before people switched partners. That is one great thing about swing dance. It is an unspoken rule that you dance with several different people. Not that you haaaave to if you and your partner don't want to, but everyone typically takes advantage of learning from other people's moves or styles. It's great. 

So we're all dancing the night away, right? Yup. Then I was asked to dance by a friend of one of my group members. Another thing you should know if you are new to swing dance is that it is a social dance. Which, yes, that means you can do it with loads of other people, but it also means that you talk and dance at the same time. Again, not a rule, but it is typical to carry on a conversation as you swing around to the upbeat music. After we'd introduced ourselves, we skipped out to an open space and started talking and dancing. After a little while once we'd gotten past where we went to school, what year we were in school, majors, and all that normal stuff, he asked me a question that surprised me. "So what is your dream?"

[insert dramatic pause as I mentally scrambled around for some coherent answer.] I can't say that I often get asked that question, so for one, I was surprised. But for two, whenever I do get asked that question, I always feel lame as I say "I don't know," or "Wish I knew." In fact, even when I did have something that I dreamed of doing, I was strongly encouraged by leaders to "dream bigger" and I can't tell you how many times when someone has prophesied over me their words from God have been "don't be limited, dream dream dream, it's okay because God's imagination is bigger." For some reason, dreaming a night in my sleep is not rare and certainly no difficulty, but releasing myself to imagine what I amazing things I want to do with the time that I have here on earth...erg. I smack into the brick wall of my own disbelief in what God can do in me. 

So ya know what I said? I said, "I'd like to write a couple books and be a mom someday." Both perfectly good and honorable things to do in one's life, but as the words came out my mouth my mind rushed back to all the times I'd been encouraged to really dream about what I wanted to do, and that as great as those things were, my answer didn't show much proof of careful thought or creativity. Not only that, but when I asked him the same question, his answer put mine to shame. He said, "I want to show the hand of God through the arts." Simple, great, and so much more descriptive of the dream of a God-honoring individual than my answer. I have to laugh at myself because this guy showed me up in a really good way. He showed me up in the sense that he had no idea I am a Christian as well, but was willing to just throw out there what he wants to do with his life. He didn't know that the time we spent dancing to a song would turn into a brief but encouraging discussion about our similar views on God (just like I didn't know either), but he was willing to toss out his question and springboard the conversation towards God. 

I was impressed and encouraged by his example. Not only that, but I realized something about myself. If I want to glorify God and make him known to others throughout my lifetime, I need to be able to express vision for my life beyond the desire to getting published and chase kids around. I need to have a ready answer. What is my dream? What do I want to be remembered for? How do I want to show God to the world? What wild things could my imagination come up with, that God doesn't either have something better in mind, or that He couldn't make happen? 

I'm still thinking on this. I'm taking my time to come up with an answer that more fully expresses who I am and what I am working towards. Since my life revolves around and is (I hope) more increasingly more in love with Jesus, His name should be mentioned in my statement of purpose. At the very least, my answer should be, "I want to glorify God through writing books and being a mother," but I have a feeling that if I seriously take the words of my leaders to dream bigger into consideration, my answer will evolve into something different. 

Like I said, I'm still thinking on it, but I wanted to share my little story and encourage you to not only dream bigger for yourself, but to have an answer for any stranger who might happen to ask what your life is about. I hope you do what I failed to do, which is to name the Maker of your life in the desired purpose of your life. 

Collection of Two-Liners

The darkest shadow that is cast
Will one day cease to last.

And when all time of greif is spend
Joy is given, not just lent.

When friends clasp hands they never part
Not always in body, but in their hearts.

The miracles that grace the day
Are not fickle, but are here to stay.

When time is up and life is spent
Then we'll know how things really went.

Smooth as butter, sweet as milk
Your love glides over me like silk.

Happy in the sweet divine,
I am Your's and You are mine.

Cartoon on Time

God is outside of time - which means he isn't limited by it the way I am. To me, that is a truth that brings me much relief.