Two Things I Cannot Do Without

I recently finished the book American Lion by Jon Meacham, a biography of Andrew Jackson that is focused on his years in the White House. At one point in his second term in office, Jackson was enduring a bout of poor health, which was a recurring issue in his life. He was encouraging the doctor to be straight with him, to tell him clearly what action he needed to take. He was a strong willed man and he considered himself fully able to do whatever was necessary. He did put one limit on the doctor, however. He told the doctor that there were 2 things he could not do without: coffee and tobacco!

I laughed out loud when I read that, though I am sure the doctor did not! In my case I would say the two things are coffee and chocolate! That little vignette gives a key insight into the man in a few words, though. He was in many ways the quintessential American, a self-made man. He had been orphaned during the Revolution and had made his way in the world through sheer willpower and force of personality. He was both stubborn and self-reliant to a fault, which resulted in a great many fights and duels along the way. The fact that he survived long enough to be President is a marvel in itself.

Like many 'self-made' men, he came to see his view as the only right view. You were either for him or against him. If you were against him, he could be severe and haughty; if you were in his inner circle, no one was more loyal and caring than Jackson to you. As a result, his life was an ongoing battle. He was not a man convinced by reason and argument; once he decided, he doggedly pursued his goal no matter if he was shown to be incorrect. As a result, he accomplished a lot, though some of those things were right and some were wrong.

I began the book with a low opinion of Jackson. He had forced the eastern American Indians onto the Trail of Tears for no good reason, destroyed the national bank creating economic problems for the country for several generations, and defended slavery. I leave the book with a much greater appreciation for his humanity and his contributions to the Union in fighting off the early attempts of South Carolina to secede, and in his being the first President to use the veto to confront and lead a belligerent Congress. His legacy is mixed. In reading the book, though, it also became clear that bitter and extremely partisan politics is nothing new in our country. The battles that went on in his time and continued through the Civil War appear even worse than today. And the violence we recently saw in Tucson is also nothing new: Jackson was nearly assassinated himself, but the gunman's pistol's both failed to fire.

He strikes me as quintessentially American in another way. He would have viewed himself as a Christian throughout his life, and his beloved Rachel encouraged him to follow the Lord with her dying words as he entered his first term in office. Yet after he left office and retired he appears to have had a conversion experience. Apparently a sermon that used his own life as an example of Providence got his attention, forcing him to see that he was not as much in control as he thought. Shortly after that he did what he had never done before: joined a local congregation and stood before them to make a profession faith, leaning on his cane as he did so. As he neared death he apparently made special effort to talk about Christ to his household, telling them his conversation on this topic was for them. I have to wonder, had this happened earlier in his life, if there may have been a few more things that he could have done without.

Snowbound

First wet snow, then snow, then freezing rain on top for a total of about 5 inches, which has shut down Atlanta and most of north Georgia for 3 days now. Today I managed a test run of about a mile down the road to the Publix grocery and found the roads passable at low speeds for low volumes of traffic, but speeds over about 25 mph would have been a disaster. The major intersection by the grocery store was solid ice and had to be crossed at about 5 mph. It was good that the schools were closed and traffic very light. Even at that several major roads were shut down on and off still today. Most have some lanes clear, but if the volume gets high at all, accidents multiply quickly. Still, 3 days being home bound has reminded me of some important things:

• Those panics that clear out the grocery stores just before winter storms in the south, times like this make them seem not so unreasonable.
• After shoveling my driveway, but taking about 4 sessions to get it done, reminds me of why short driveways are common and practical up north.
• Thankfully few trees fell so power outage has not been a big problem. I should be more grateful every day for blessings like reliable electricity!
• When I started my career I could basically get no work done at home at all; now I can do a great deal by computer. The productivity difference is startling.
• I am amazed at how many folks do not have so much as a viable shovel for snow.
• The government continues to confirm for me that they don't handle anything out of the routine effectively, even when it is predicted every day for a week in advance.

It has been a strange week, but the Christmas decorations did get taken down!

Waiting for Christmas instead of Making it Happen

I was given a book with readings for Advent recently for my birthday (thanks Ashley!) and the reading for Nov. 28 was by Henri Nouwen and is about waiting. He discusses how Mary and Elizabeth went through their pregnancies expectantly (pardon the pun) waiting and supporting each other in that waiting period. He also points out how this was not passive and was hopeful for a promise to be fulfilled, but in our age we view waiting as passive and as the very opposite of hope. Hope has to do with making a plan, doing it, and hoping it works, not with waiting. As he says in the reading, 'We want the future to go in a very specific direction, and if this does not happen we are disappointed..we want to do the things that will make the desired event take place.' We want to take charge, make it happen!

Clearly there are times when we should take action. As C.S. Lewis has noted, some things only happen by our work. Our hands will not come clean by praying for them to come clean: we must go wash them. The dinner will not get prepared by praying for dinner: we must get up to cook it. But Lewis also points out that while some things only get done by our work some things only get done by prayer. Some only get done by marriage and family. Some only get done by humility and waiting.

It  struck me in reading this that some areas of our lives have clear boundaries and others do not. In my work in R&D we are limited by the laws of physics and chemistry. No matter how often Marketing says, 'just go invent something: here is some money, go invent' that does not change the boundaries. Once we find an area of technology that looks to have promise for our applications, we are still bounded by what it can do within it's boundaries. We can only go where the technology is able to go. That may not be where the business wanted to go.  In that sense we often 'wait' for the next thing, the breakthrough. Waiting is forced on us by our boundaries. This seems foreign to some other functions, though, where they decide to 'make it happen' and put on an ad campaign, run coupons, offer incentives, and so on. Money seems to be the only limit or boundary. But in science, more money will not necessarily get you where you want to go. You may need to wait, or you may need to realize it can't be done.

Many of us bring our 'make it happen' approach to Christmas. We will not take time to seek the Lord, to contemplate His coming, to make room in our hearts for that Coming to be refreshed in us. We just make it happen:  we decorate, buy gifts, cook, send cards, go to events, and so on. But I, for one, need to wait, to set aside some time to just wait. Expectantly.

The Promise and Thanksgiving

We are studying Hebrews in our Sunday morning Bible Study (aka, 'Sunday School') and this week in chapter 6 God's promise to Abraham is recalled, and the word 'promise' is used over and over again. This emphasis on the promise of God to Abraham is not just here, but is also talked about by Paul in Romans. In the Old Testament, the first inkling of this promise occurs as Adam and Eve are evicted from the Garden, and recurs over and over in both the Torah and tbe Prophets. We are often told that the Old Testament is about Law and the New Testament about Grace, but Dr. Walter Kaiser has proposed that a better understanding would be that the Old Testament is about the Promise and the New about fulfiling that Promise. I like that. Law is a sub-plot of the Promise.

Does this matter? Kaiser insists that it does, and I agree. Too many folks have understood the Law versus Grace dichotomy to mean a fundamental difference in how God deals with mankind between the Old and New Testaments.  It almost looks as if the basic relationship of man with God is different, being accomplished by Law in the O.T. and grace through faith in the New. Not so says Kaiser. It has always been a matter of faith in God's ability to keep His Promise. During the O.T. the fulfillment of that Promise stood at a different place, but the issue was the same: will God keep His Promise, or not?

Thanksgiving marks the start of Advent. In the U.S. it stands as a day of thanks for our blessings, but as the start of Advent is ushers in the season of remembering the greatest blessing: the anniversary of God taking on flesh to make Himself known in the keeping of His Promise. He has kept His Promise. Let us give thanks!

White Space

In the recent online version of Christianity Today magazine there is an article about viewing productivity in a Christian manner. One comment in the article is that to be truly productive we need some 'white space' in our schedules, unscheduled time that allows us time to think, ponder, and create as well as downtime to rest and recharge. I have always found that to be true, and I think it is more true for us introverts who need time alone to recharge than for extroverts who often can recharge with other people. I find the need for white space increasingly evident as I grow older.

The reason for this is that as I grow older, stress shows up more visibly. I was reminded of this again this past week.  When I get overly tired or stressed, a condition called 'Iritis' in my eyes flares up, causing red and inflamed eyes. This is an autoimmune problem and it isn't really known what causes it,  which makes it somewhat like psoriasis. As my eyes turned red this past week, I realized that I was more tired and stressed than I had thought. This sort of thing never happened to me until after about age 45, though I no doubt had as much or more stress in those earlier days.  However, nowadays my phyical frame doesn't deal with that stress as well as it once did so I get stronger signals when I need to get some additional 'white space'. I am certainly less productive when I am forced to take time out to let my eyes recover!

So I have no choice at times but to leave some white space in my life. Good thing. I obviously need it.

Boston, the American Revolution, and the Current Election

I recently visited Boston for a training conference and took an hour to visit the Old State House building downtown, which was the colonial capital building for the colony of Massachusetts and the seat of the first legislature after independence. When we had been here on vacation to walk the Liberty Trail we got to the statehouse just as it was closing, so this let me complete that part of the Trail. I have often pondered the American Revolution and wondered whether I could have supported that war. Going to war over taxation (Taxation with Representation!) always struck me as not a very good reason to go to war; war is a very extreme remedy for high and unfair taxes. However, in  going through the Old Statehouse museum there were some quotes from colonists about how 'it isn't the taxes so much as the taxability' that angered the colonists. As I have pondered my own anger at the current direction of our government I think I have gained at least some insight into how the colonists felt.

The museum had displays about things like the Writs of Assistance (which allowed search and siezure of personal property at any time for any reason), forced housing of troops in homes, the Stamp Act to tax all pieces of paper, and other things that generally made the colonists angry. It was clear that the throne did not trust them, and they did not trust the throne to act for their common good. They felt abused and without recourse. A poll that was released this week on election day indicated that 75% of Americans were either angry or very dissatisfied with the government (about 25% angry, about 50% dissatisfied). Another 20% or so were neutral, and only 3 percent were satisfied. It seems that Americans neither trust the government to do what is right for the country nor feel that the leadership either trusts or represents them. Many just feel the government is not listening and does not 'get it'. The government treats the people as if they aren't smart enough to know how wonderful their direction really is. After all, we are 'hard wired not to think clearly when we are scared' and are 'clinging to guns and religion' according to the President. All of this results in anger, which I think must be how many of the colonists felt.

I for one am not scared, but I am angry. The election results were intended by the people to send a message to Washington. Listening to the news today, I am not at all sure that they will get the right message. I think many voters are angry for reasons similar to the colonists: a government that is out of control and limited ability to set them straight. That anger in the colonies grew over time due to a number of things, not just the taxes. I think that is the case now as well.  It is not just the economy. It is an accumulation of things. If the next 2 years does not show an improved ability to 'listen' in both Congress and the White House, even stronger messages will get sent.

The Wall Street Journal today included an editorial by Daniel Henninger that discusses how this election has repudiated the direction the Democratic administration was forcing the country to go. It is not yet clear whether the GOP will do any better. The article ended this way: 'If the GOP blows this, one would just as soon not go where a volatile and angry electorate will take the United States.' I agree. It is time for both parties to get in touch with reality.

Arguing with Ourselves

I recently read the book Radical by David Platt. It is a call to change for American Christians and has the subtitle 'Taking back your faith from the American Dream'. He makes a good case that the church in America resembles the 'American Dream' more than it resembles Christ and the early church. He has a lot to say about his ambivalence toward the megachurch situation in the U.S., and I share his ambivalence. Many of the very large evangelical churches have such opulent buildings, such entertainment-driven programming, and such rampant materialism in their membership that they are difficult to differentiate from some vacation resorts.  The materialism espoused by Creflow Dollar, Joel Osteen, and others of their ilk are not the only megachurches with this problem (though they are the worst); it does seem to come with the 'success' mentality that drives the American dream and most of American culture. Growth, numbers, and prosperity are the measure of success both inside and outside the church. He contrasts that with much of what Jesus said which at times seemed to be intended to drive away those who were not ready to follow Him to crucifixion. Numbers were clearly not His goal.

There is much to agree with and to be challenged by in the book. I certainly agree with his proposal that we set a cap, an upper limit, on our lifestyle that we will not go beyond regardless of income we may earn. This has been espoused in the past by Larry Burkett and others but does not get enough play in the church in my opinion. He also espouses something C.S. Lewis recommended back about 50 years ago: when it comes to giving, if it doesn't cramp your style, if it doesn't hurt a bit, if it doesn't cause you to give up something, then it isn't enough. God prospers us so we may help others, not so we can over-indulge on ourselves.

What the author doesn't do enough of, however, is argue with himself. For instance, while the megachurch has its flaws, so do small churches. I  have observed in past blogs that my parents generation was less interested in megachurches because they had more interest in pastoral care from the pastor while my generation has placed a premium on good preaching, and there aren't all that many good preachers. Will the next generation still support megachurches? Or is it just a generational thing? I don't know, but I would have appreciated a bit more discussion, more argument, on the pros/cons of megachurches.

Similarly, while he decries the way Americans apply their 'we can make it happen' attitude to church while ignoring the Holy Spirit, he then seems to imply that we should apply this same ' we can make it happen' approach to missions.  That was a big disconnect for me, partly because I have commented before that it seems to me that missions have failed in some areas of the world, and I think much of that is due to misguided missions work where we have done exactly that.

Still, his challenges at the end to practice discipleship and giving to specific need areas around the world are compelling and the book is well worth reading.