Hopeful

Pursuing Peace

I love reading TIME magazine.  They cover news from all around the globe, illustrate figures with infographics (oh, how I love looking at them!), and provide a bit of humor, too (thanks, Joel Stein).

This week, TIME's article, "2014 User's Guide" has some exciting predictions for this year:

• The U.S. Capitol building will begin a two-year restoration process.
• Google Glass will reach national levels of distribution.
• El Nino (Spanish for... "the Nino") will warm the Pacific to record temperatures.
• Kohlrabi will replace kale as the trendy, hipster vegetable of the year.
• More states will legalize recreational marijuana (OR, CA, AZ, and RI, in particular).
• Private space exploration companies will continue to probe the cosmos.
• Girls born in 2014 will have names ending in "-lyn, as in Marilyn or Madilyn."  Children born this year may, for the first time in history, have a shorter life expectancy than their parents... due to obesity.
• Skype will replace non-emergency doctor visits.  Doctors can asses symptoms and diagnose illnesses through "telemedicine" - a technology that's actually been used for years to serve remote fishermen along the Gulf of Maine, by the nurses of the Maine Seacoast Mission.

Besides all these global happenings...  What will you do this year?

It's a question I have been asking myself.

I've been pondering a statement that TIME quoted, from Pope Francis:  "True peace is not... a lovely 'facade' which conceals conflicts and divisions.  Peace calls for daily commitment."

Pope Francis echoes the words of Psalm 34:14:  "Seek peace and pursue it."  As I consider my goals for 2014, a life of peace seems a worthy endeavor.  More than that, a daily commitment to prayer and seeking Christ's peace will be my goal for the year.

Scripture calls us to live peaceably with our neighbor.  Again, peace isn't merely the absence of conflict, but a daily commitment to support and love one another.

Romans 12:17-18 - "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."
II Corinthians 13:11 - "Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you."

God reconciles His people to Himself; and He also wants His people to be reconciled to one another.  This can take place at the family level... and at a global level.  A huge part of living a wise, peaceful life is praying for our neighbors and our leaders.

"I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way."  (I Timothy 2:1-2)  This year, I will pray for those in need of reconciliation, and will work toward restoration with those in my own life.  Won't you join me?

Pray for peace in places like Sudan (where civil war rages) and Uganda (whose government has enacted violent land grabs from its agrarian citizens - see SolidarityUganda.com for more info).  Pray for the U.S. government to end its reckless policing of countries around the globe.  Pray for local communities to join in unity, strangers joining as friends supporting one another. Pray for the end of oppression and exploitation.  Pray for missionaries and churches to reach out, love those around them, and bring the peace of Christ to many.

My prayer is that God will change me, giving me more compassion for His people and endurance in prayer. Not only is prayer necessary for peacemaking, but prayer can indeed lead to a deep, godly inner peace. Philippians 4 tells us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I pray that God gives me the wisdom to work toward peace. As I enter a new season in a new place, it will be essential to lean upon the Lord and His wisdom as I seek peaceable relationships with new friends, co-workers, and neighbors. In the fall, I'll begin grad school - academically studying the Word of God. I pray that this new wisdom will bring me a softened heart and hands prepared to work toward reconciliation.

James 3:17-18 - "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

May 2014 be filled with the pursuit of knowledge, compassion, and humility... with much prayer... to better love and serve those around us in peace.

[Be sure to check out other bloggers' aspirations for the coming year at I Don't Have a Clue, but I'm Finding Out!]

Now Presenting....

Welcome to "Pearls of Wisdom!"

After - like - seven years.... I have changed the name of this blog.

"Deterioration of the fight or flight response" sounded cool (it's the name of an episode of Grey's Anatomy, which I watched religiously in my post-college years), but it was kind of long.  It also wasn't very concise.  I think I had written one or two posts in particular on the ideal of striving to act kindly, rationally, and considerately, rather than brashly and instinctually.

I think that topic fits into the broader scope of wisdom in general.  As I tend to write equal amounts of anecdotes, life lessons, and stuff learnt whilst reading... I decided to "officially" change the title and refine the purpose of my blog.

Therefore... Welcome, readers!  I'm looking forward to discussing and sharing tidbits of knowledge, and having some fun along the way.

Cheers!

At the Table

Saturday night:  I was cooking a pretty fabulous dinner.  Chicken and mushrooms were braising slowly in a rich, garlic-peppercorn sauce.  Saffron risotto simmered along, absorbing more and more broth by the cup-full.  The smell of brownies wafted up from the oven.  Then... VOOP!  The power went out in our apartment.  The sizzling sounds quickly faded to silence upon the electric stove-top.

This would have been a gastronomic tragedy; however, our current housing above the camp kitchen permitted us to transport our pots and pans downstairs to continue cooking the meal over propane.  God bless propane.  If we have a real house someday, I so wish to have a propane stove!

The other alteration to our plans for the evening was that we ate at the table, by candlelight, over a tablecloth, with clean, cloth napkins.  Our previous plan was to put food on the coffee table and hunch over it, scarfing down dinner as we continued watching episodes of Breaking Bad.

The candlelit dinner (with a nice Zinfandel) was a much better experience for my husband and me.

Sadly, the two of us often resign ourselves to eating in front of the television.  We blame our surroundings for watching television daily (our home is very remote from friends, and it is too dang cold to play outside!); and yet we look forward to beginning school next year, since our work and new friends will keep us busy.  We also talk about how we don't want to watch television in the future when we have children, and CERTAINLY don't want to eat dinner with them in the living room.

I hope to continue the tradition of family dinners.  My parents had us stop homework or tv-watching every night to sit at the table and eat together.  They'd ask us what we learned at school ("Nooothinnggg.") and catch each other up on the events of the day.  Little did I know that this ritual was the foundation of our training as civilized persons.

In our "grain-bag society," people eat anywhere, anytime they want.  It's why we have drive-thrus at fast-food establishments.  It's why people stuff their purses with granola bars and candies.  It is this ubiquitous eating that has taken away any sign of etiquette and communal enjoyment of meals.

As you head into your Thanksgiving family get-togethers, take time to appreciate the effort put into the meal by the cook, the beautiful place-settings, and the faces of those you love.  Enjoy the conversation, in addition to all that gravy!

All this has been brought to mind because I've been doing a little reading about etiquette.  A very convincing. witty book by Judith Martin has been causing me to consider the implications of a "grain-bag society," and how I'd rather implement solid training-in-eating to my future children (forks and knives, not fingers).  Read on for your enlightenment and amusement:

Emerging Adulthood.

When does one enter adulthood?

How does one know when the crossover has occurred?

What determines it - a biological or a social change?

One might say we become adult humans at the onset of puberty - which can be a slow process, for some.  Bodies slowly fill out in shapeliness; hair appears in new places; testicles and voices drop.  Some girls feel that womanhood happens when menstruation begins.  If that's true, I can say - this year - that I've been a woman for half of my life.  But I'm not sure that, even now, I feel like a true grown-up.

French Cooking!!

Some conquests for my upcoming personal adventurement:

aioli

Bouillabaisse

branade

cassoulet

confit Byaldi

Cozze gratinate

crudites

escargot

gratin Dauphinois
gratin Languedocien

gougere

hollandaisse

insalata Caprese

lobster Thermidor

piccalilli

pistou
quiche
ratatouille
remoulade

rouille

roux

salade Nicoise

Tapenade

Tourtiere

 
 
And now, to polish my skills in the kitchen, refine & awaken my palette to new flavours, discover wine pairings, and to learn how to properly accent the accents in these French words. Pronounciation as well?  A French language class, perhaps?  Julia Child, please!

A Season of Learning about Parenting, it seems

Each day I run into parents with kids in public, I become more grateful to the parents I know here in Kutztown [as well as to my own!]  who discipline their children.

I spent three-quarters of an hour at a large-scale retailer today, hoping to replenish my supply of argyle socks [with some success!], and whilst perusing the toothpaste department, I heard a sort of squealing and fierce screaming and intense whining/complaining.  The banter came from at least 10 aisles down from where I stood.  The volume of the screaming increased as I made my way toward the registers; it didn't sound as though the small demon even stopped to take a breath.  I expected to see perhaps a 24 to 30-month old toddler, very upset about not getting his or her own way; clutching to some junky item the parent didn't want to buy.

But no!

I saw a child that looked about 4 or 5 years old, lying on the floor, with a grandmotherly-looking woman pulling her by the arm to drag her squeaking sneakers across the linoleum.

Oh, it was awful.  And the screaming did not end.

I've gotten used to small-child-screaming from my landlady's toddler.  She screams when she doesn't get her way, or she'll become upset when she's caught doing something wrong, but usually she's done and over it within five to fifteen minutes.

This kid at the store kept screaming.  Grandma swung the kid up into her arms and had to carry the kicking & screaming beast out the front door.  Everyone in the area stared, but the child felt no shame in assaulting her grandmother to get her own way.

I wished the cashier a good day and went out to see a very, very angry woman [the Mom?] tell off the little banshee for her bad behavior.  This resulted in even louder screaming, to be heard by patrons of every business in the plaza parking lot.

I could see very clearly that the child was used to getting her own way, to wearing down the adults with personal-behavior-terrorism until she received what she wanted from them.  She had no fear of the adults.  She understood the anger, and felt upset by this, but there was no repentance for the awful behavior.  There was no, "Sorry mom, I was a real brat in the store.  Will you forgive me?"

So anyways, I'm real grateful to the parents who give their kids choices, to do as they're told or to face the consequences [be that a timeout, sent to bed without dinner, a spanking, more chores, etc].  They'll grow up to be socially functioning teenagers and adults.  The brats who complain til they get their way will probably become mean girls and dbag frat dudes.

I can see so clearly that a healthy fear of discipline leads to respect & obedience toward the parent. I understand that not all parents punish corporately, but my friends with the best behaved kids happen to do so.  It's no longer the day of, "Boy, bring me a switch!"  But the fear of The Wooden Spoon seems to drive kids toward more gracious behavior and more of love through actions in serving & obeying their parents.

So, mom & dad, thanks for spanking me when I deserved it.

discontent

Dear friend & college apartmentmate Meghan came to town to hang with me last night.  I rather enjoyed our conversation, catching up on life and ambitions and conquests and dreams.  She kept stating how she missed living in Kutztown, how quaint & quiet it is, how pastoral and friendly.

I find I'm becoming disinterested.

Many folk around here are quite happy and do good in marrying and making babies.  But there are others out there living what I dream about; traveling the country, getting a master's degree, homesteading, having decent full-time jobs.

When will I get there?  Living the dream?

wealth

i see a t.v. preacher promoting his 'financial breakthrough bible' and the 'four miracles god will release into your life'. before that, he proclaimed God's coming judgement on the u.s. for its inappropriate sex and abortion.

i look once more at this man, shouting into his microphone, wearing a great big red silk tie, an enormous gold ring on his finger, and an expensive-looking suit that covers his enormous body.

my confession:  i eat more than my body needs.  it's true.  where in my caloric intake does ice cream play a part in aiding the nutrition of my body?  it does not.  i call myself out: i'm a sinner who eats more than i need to.

the increasing reality of americans' obsession with food can be clearly seen in their volume.  cars become suvs [for suburban commuters] to accomodate the size of passengers.  rollercoasters now boast rows of larger seats for their guests.  tv channels that once provided science education now air programs about 800+ pound persons' addictions to take-out, their bed-bound lives, their gastric bypass surgeries, and their deaths.

it is easy to point out obese people and their obvious problem: food addiction.  but we must think on our own selves as well.  how much are we eating?  what money are we spending frivolously that could be used to help the poor - as Jesus asks us to?

if one person who purchases a cup of coffee three to four times a week gives up the java and puts that money towards a poor child; that person could sponsor a kid in africa for his or her education, healthcare, food and more... for years.

Jesus calls us to love God and love our neighbor.  more specifically, He calls us to do three things to honor God:  pray, give, fast.  i admit, i struggle to do all three of those.  it may be difficult because of the implications our western society puts on us as its citizens, fueling our selfish, sinful nature.

1. pray - prayer constitutes the simple act of quieting the mind and communing with God. listening to Him, and speaking with Him [beyond asking for trivial things & saying thanks for dinner].  how do we achieve quiet?  put down the crackberry, hush the tweeting, log off of facebook.  turn off the mobile phone, step outside, lie down in the grass and be quiet.  do that for more than 10 minutes and find out how much you hear.

2. give - God wants us to take care of the misfortunate because it brings honor to His name.
  instinct tells us that the man on the street asking for change will use it the next minute to buy booze or crack.  does Jesus ask us to judge what he'll do with that money?  if we're honest with ourselves, as much as we think we work hard to "earn" money, we can't deny that God gave us the skills... and provided education... and put us in the job... and He's the one who truly earned us our paychecks.  the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.  even two dollars in your pocket belongs to God - let His will be done when we give to strangers.

3. fast - this one is the most oft ignored among american Christ-followers.  we don't think about *not* eating, mostly because we have in our country a ridiculous abundance of food.  God spoke to the prophet isaiah, telling him that He wants a fast that's pure - a heart that wants to give up food so it can give that food to the hungry.  He says if we do this, "then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear.  then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard."  awesome, awesome things happen when we choose the righteous path.  what's holding us back?

deterioration of the fight or flight response

  Fight or flight.  It's what we've been told.  We're expected to do it.  Instinct, as they say.

And you can't say you haven't ever made the subconscious choice and done one or the other or (likely) both.  We're humans; we're confronted; our hearts are put on the line.  A situation arises and that slow burn comes upon our hearts, fueling anger or confusion - pushing us to counter the problem strongly or leave it and run away, hoping to clear our heads and forget it all.

And it can happen any time...

When folks start talking dissenting politics, it's likely a person will argue or leave the room.

At that breaking point, when your most important relationship is under attack, what do you do?  Fight the flesh?  Fight the wife or the husband or the best friend?  Or do you run?  Do you even look back behind you?

We're all succumbed to fighting.  We've all flown off, as well.  It's instinct.  It's human nature.  It's our flesh taking action for us.





But what does the heart say?


Our hearts know that malignant situations come upon us, and that we should solve them rationally, not hurting the other person or thing involved.  We should take time; figure things out.

So, how do we fight the instinct?

Could I do it by myself?

Certainly not.

Without the help and the drive of a perfect person, it's impossible.

How grateful, then, are we to be that the very Spirit of God rests within us.  The very Spirit that can cause mountains to crack & crumble into pieces lives inside you and inside me to calm our inner storms.  He brings us peace & serenity.

His presence moves us not to fight anymore.  We don't have to run away; we run only to Him.

The temptation to lean on our own selves for understanding is, of course, strong and with us.

But we can choose to fall on Him.

We fight and flee no more. 

Not even at a crossroads

Hello friends of the internet,

Now that NaNoWriMo is over (as well as No-Shave November, which I haven't personally concluded) I can do other things with the time I don't spend at work or with people. I ended at 50,062-something words, although my novel isn't near finished. I had kind of mapped out a plot in my mind, and would skip ahead to write different parts, bouncing back and forth so I wouldn't tire of a particular part of the story. Maybe I'll complete the story during next November.

Recently I read the first half of The Secret Life of Bees, recommended to me by Christine Barlow two summers back. Last night I began reading The Lord of the Rings, because this weekend a TV channel aired all three movies of the "trilogy" and I felt my brain could use some stimulation from Tolkien's adventures in language. (Writing my own wimpy book, I could see how awfully limited my own vocabulary is right now - which I attribute to only having been required to write about art during the past four years of my life)

Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. It's much more difficult to discern the call of God when I don't spend time listening. I read Brennan Manning's The Signature of Jesus, in which he described how to do a "centering prayer". It's meditative, and you do it for about twenty minutes at a time, before breakfast or dinner so your soul can connect with the hunger of your body. My problem is that I need a clean, peaceful space to do it, and my room is not in that condition at the moment. I miss the Christopher House in a time like this, because it had the chapel - small, intimate, quiet. Lined with a few chairs, stocked with diverse musical instruments for worship, and with candles always lit, it really felt like a sacred space where we as individuals or the whole fellowship could come for quiet (or loud!) time with the Lord, because that space was created specifically to meet with Him there.

Soon I'll be starting a youth ministry internship at my church, which I'm pretty ecstatic about. It makes me very glad that God doesn't call the qualified, but qualifies the called. I'll make curriculums for pre-school through senior high, teach, lead events, work on communications (don't I wish I took some graphic design courses?), and learn how to administrate. My pastor and the elder in charge of youth will be mentoring me through the process, so I'm going to ask that they also keep me accountable for my own spiritual growth, challenging me through this season (ooo, Christian vocab word).

Unpaid internships usually need to be paired with part-time jobs, so that's the thing I worry about. Working at Pier 1 has been a lot of fun, I actually enjoy it a lot, but I'm unure how long employment lasts after the buy-stuff-in-December season ends. (don't you hate having to associate Jesus' birthday with giving gifts to everyone but Him?) The career-building/resume-sending/connect-with-employers websites are okay. Without a degree in nursing or engineering, there aren't many jobs available. There are a few positions as postal workers or typists for the state, so perhaps something like that will hold me over. I feel like I just need a short-term job where I can earn some money to save up for a car; and once I have that, I'll have mobility and I'll be independent and I'll have peace about that.

Saturday was a really cool day because I got to hang out with a bunch of people I graduated high school with, whom I hadn't seen in maybe two or three years. It was hard not to feel discouraged, though, because they're all doing real things, having graduated with real majors that led to real jobs. More (?) importantly, they've all got their own places and aren't living with their parents. Of course, some of them received cars from their parents; something I don't have the luxury of, and also something that keeps me immobilized, tied down.

I know I need this transition period, this internship, because I didn't go to school for what I'm called to do - stupid - so I am hoping to put a lot of energy and effort into mentoring and loving on the kids in my church, and learning as much as I can from this experience so I can go do it, serve where I'm called to serve on my own. I'm still on the road toward the point of decision making, and that intersection seems so far off right now.

Fighting a battle against time is stupid. However, I seem to subconciously enjoy doing that. I feel tied down, like I want to start the great adventure of my life, but I have to save up some money before doing that. I have so many friends who are serving in different ministries around the country, around the world, because they had opportunities to jump out into the unknown in faith, following God with reckless abandon. I want that. I'm crushed under the waiting for it. Hopefully I can bear this all for as long as it takes...

Church

It has been brought to my attention that there are some ecclesiastical issues that must be handled. The church I've been attending for the past 3 years [and have recently joined as an associate member] is one of evangelism. This body of Christ can be quite welcoming and encourages members and regular attendees to invite many, especially nonbelievers. This is good. Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations..." However, what about keeping the ones you've got in the faith?

I have seen, and others feel this way, that our church hooks people in and then leaves them floating around, not being challenged or shepherded properly. A person should not have to ask to be discipled; those more mature in their walk with the Lord should seek out younger Christians to help them along their journeys. A friend told me that he hasn't been to this church in 5 weeks, and no one has called him to ask him where he's been or how he's been. This concerns me.

To expand upon the "Great Commission" at the end of the book of Matthew:

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Jesus taught a lot of things. His sermons and teachings make up most of the text in the Gospels. Can a church support its members and its believers without continuing to teach? He asked to make disciples, not just believers.

disciple: n. 1. religion
a. one of the 12 personal followers of Christ.
b. one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1.
c. any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime.
2. any follower of Christ.
3. a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another.
v. 4. to convert into a disciple.
5. to teach, to train.

If someone is not being taught or trained, and not being a pupil, are we truly making disciples? Converting people is not the same as making disciples, and I feel like this church has strayed from that original concept. If we are not continually growing and developing godly hearts and wisdomy minds, this is an opportunity for wickedness to enter. We must keep each other on track with our faith.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. - Matthew 24:12-13

For one's love to grow cold is an ugly thing. For one to lose zeal for the Lord and for His Word and to become lazy in caring about growing is an ugly thing. I have dealt with times like that myself, and when I drift away, I become physically unhealthy/exhausted, I have a worse work ethic, I am not as confident or friendly with others, and I'm simply less caring. I have seen firsthand the effects of walking away from God and it is simply an ugly thing. Our Father made us to be beautiful just as we are, as lovers and worshippers and as sons and daughters of Him, and if we have the desire to walk away from that, or if we have no desire to seek that, what could it do but break His heart?

We must persist in our faith. We must persevere. We can't let anyone, not Satan, not our own flesh, not the world try to tear us from our loving and perfect Father. We can't let ourselves, our doubts, our anger tear us apart from Him. He loves us too much to let us go. He let His own only begotten Son go in our place.

"For I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39

How can we ignore so great a salvation? It is so wonderful to be loved by God! Therefore we can't just ignore Him or be angry for the petty "bad things" in our lives. We complain because it's raining, because school is hard, because of family problems, because of friendships gone wrong. They are nothing compared to the problems of Ugandan children who fear being abducted every single night to be forced into being child soldiers for a terrible army of rebels who kill civilians and whose actions force the Ugandan governments to put their people into displacement camps without food, or clean water, where malaria kills more people than AIDS. And even in comparison with their troubles, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." [Romans 8:18] When we're with the Lord in heaven some day, we won't even remember our diseases, frustrations and hardships because it will be SO GOOD!!!

This is why I wish the church would focus more on building intimate relationships within the family of God, focus on growing these disciples closer to Him in a more trusting relationship with an eternity focus on life. Paul says best in my favourite book:

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:4-6

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. - Philippians 1:9-11

I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:12-14

ecclesia reformata semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei