Ruminations on Advent

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Contrary to my intentions, I'm not doing an Advent series this year ....there are several reasons why I just couldn't get it done this trip around the sun.  I've done what I consider to be some pretty good ones in years past...they're linked up on the sidebar if you're feeling in need of some Advent tradition.  I'm kinda reading through them again myself, because, well, I need to read them again.

But I did have a thought hit me this morning as I pondered on how we, as a society, have pretty much given up Advent as a distinct season.  Oh, I know, there are still some liturgical leaning churches who do the Advent liturgy and such, but ask any passing Joe on the street what holiday season we're in and they're most likely to say 'Christmas'.  Unless, of course, they're Jewish and say 'Hannukah'.

I think it's kind of interesting that both Advent and Hannukah use candles to mark the time.  Not that that actually has anything to do with what I've been pondering, but it is a nice little side note.

No, what hit me this morning has to do with the eschatological  nature of Advent...that we are not just looking for the birth of the baby but the return of the King.  We use the approaching celebration of His birth to also prepare for the day when he comes again.

And suddenly, I wondered...have we as a culture given up the observation of Advent precisely because we can't tolerate the idea of that return?  That it's ok to focus on Christmas and the sweet baby but...thinking about the King returning is...well, too much?   That the season of preparation is much easier to handle if it's not so much for the returning King but the return of Santa Claus?

Because we would, like, have to live as though what we did matters.   Not just the kids, who are hoping to be on the nice list, but the adults. The Scripture has a repeating theme about servants called in to give an account of how they conducted the king's business in his absence.

Oh, I know, I'm probably overthinking the whole thing, but...maybe...we each do need to consider what account  he or she will present on that day.  With no self-deception to hide behind, none of us will be able to claim we didn't know the truth we were shown.

O Come, Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things far and nigh
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go.   ("Oh Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel, verse 3)

And he that testifies to these things  says, "Surely, I am coming soon."  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus! - Rev. 22:20, ESV.

Is [Fill in the Blank] Sin?

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Ok, I know it wasn't an apple.  Work with me.

 My social media feeds are abuzz with controversy.  Who decides what's sinful and what isn't?  How can anyone possibly expect another human being to pronounce, 'Yes, [whatever] is sinful.'  It doesn't matter how many Bible verses spell out the certainty that [whatever] is clearly offensive to God and specifically named as not to be practiced by God's people, the public reaction is that '[Christian person] has declared that [whatever] is sinful!  How narrow minded and judgemental [Christian person] is!   Why, I know many people who [whatever] and they are fine, loving people!  Obviously, God won't condemn someone just because they [whatever]!'  On the other hand, if [Christian person] values relationship with folks who do [whatever] and wants to maintain that relationship with the possibility of having a positive influence on them and hedges around the question, the 'Christian public' responds just as negatively.  '[Christian person] missed a chance to Speak Up for Truth!  How could anyone who claims to be a Christian not know that [whatever] is clearly offensive to God! (lists Bible verses)'

To quote Admiral Ackbar, 'It's a trap!'

Stop expecting other people to make God-like pronouncements.  They are going to fail. Period.

Somebody could have asked Eve, 'Is it wrong to eat fruit?'

Oh, wait, someone did.  

And the answer, of course, was, 'No, it's not wrong to eat fruit. But it is wrong to eat  that fruit.'

Why was it wrong to eat that fruit?  How was it different than other fruit, which could be enjoyed freely?

That fruit, my friends, was poisonous.  It was forbidden because it was deadly. Hazardous.  Harmful.

Oh, it wasn't presented that way, no no no.  There was an agenda that resulted in it being presented as appetizing, aromatic, desirable. As something that would allow the partaker to become fully who they were meant to be.  

Which implied that God was trying to keep them from being fully who they were meant to be.  

The soul-killing sinful decision is hidden there.  And it is, really, at the core, completely a different issue than 'Is [whatever] sinful?' as if the action/attitude/ lifestyle, etc were the crux of the issue.  No, the crux of the issue is this...Who has the authority to determine what is right and what is wrong?  

If God is the authority, then it doesn't matter what the fruit is, what it does, how it smells or looks or tastes or anything else.  He said 'No', so we leave it alone.

If the individual is the authority for him/herself, then forbidding one fruit out of the whole orchard doesn't make sense.  If we can eat that one and that one and that one, why not that one?  If I think it's good for me,  well, isn't it?  It's not fair! Why should anyone...even God...tell me what is best for me?

And that, dear reader, is what is sinful.  Setting myself above God in the 'who knows best'  category.   EVERYONE has a [whatever] in his/her life.  Some are more visible than others, but we all have them.  And we all falter at them...sin is ubiquitous.  The question is...do we embrace the [whatever] as our identity and then get mad at God when He says [whatever] will keep us eternally separated from Him...and even more angry at the folks around us who are trying to point out that [whatever] is not good?  Or do we renounce [whatever] and believe that God has a better plan, even if we don't know what it looks like?

In the end, it's not about what you do...it's about who you embrace as God and the results of that decision. 

Embracing God does mean that you will leave that fruit...the [whatever] in your life...alone.  Because He really does know what's best.

For further reading, I suggest the first 3 chapters of Genesis, the Gospel of John and the book of Romans.

A Little Time Away

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Craziest thing in the world...head out of town between Thanksgiving and Christmas for a little 'Down Time'.

But sometimes, well, you take it when you can get it.  Our 38th wedding anniversary was in August, and, well, that was an exceptionally busy month,  followed by more busy months... around the middle of November I looked at the calendar and looked at My Sweet Babboo and said, 'If we're going to get away, we're gonna have to do it the week after Thanksgiving.  The next break after that will be February."

So he got online and began looking to see what was available.  He found a cabin on Lake Chewalca, a state park about 4 hours south of us.     We didn't know anything at all about the park, but it said the cabin had a lake view and, being a state park, it was affordable.  So he booked it, and last Thursday we headed out of town, with a rather rainy forecast.  But that was ok.  I was just ready to do nothing.

We had phone reception, but no WIFI.  Which was just fine.

The cabin was built in the 1930's.  The whole park, from the building of the dam for the lake to the cabins and other buildings, was a CCC project.

As it turned out, our lake view looked straight across the lake to the dam...which is barely discernible  in the gap in the trees.  We did a bit of hiking before the rain moved in, and discovered that the dam was actually at the top of a pretty little gorge, just above where a grist mill had been in the late 1800's.  We clambered over way more rocks than I probably should have, given that I'm on PT for Achilles tendonitis, going up and down some pretty steep inclines.  But it was surprisingly picturesque.

The gorge continued to drop at least twice as much again...the sound of the water rushing over the rocks was lovely.

We hung out in the cabin whilst it rained on Saturday.  It was, like, 70 degrees despite the rain, but the compressed fire logs add more ambiance than heat and we went through almost a whole box over the weekend.

Despite predictions of more rain, it was a gorgeous day on Sunday. After attending a church in the area pastored by some friends and having a lovely chat with them over lunch, we did a teeny bit more hiking, mostly to find evidence of how much the lake level had risen and dropped with Saturday's precip.  Looked to be about  6 - 8 inches...and it knocked a LOT of the color out of the trees.

Chewalca State Park is apparently a mountain bike racing venue;  there were  strange hazardous-looking features scattered throughout the trails, and I watched a couple of college guys go barreling down a trail that I couldn't have navigated on foot without a sturdy stick to help.  Amazing.

We really enjoyed our weekend and, despite some slight issues with the cabin, hope to go back sometime in the future.  When I'm not on walking restrictions for my ankles.

Now to shift focus to holiday happenings.  But at least I had a chance to destress and catch my breath a bit with my favorite guy.