14 to 1

This semester I am taking 2 courses for my Master of Divinity program. Each of these courses is online and actually entails more work, I find, than sitting in a classroom and taking a course the normal way. None the less, I was doing my reading and listening/reading the lecture notes for one my courses and I came across this stat.

14 to 1

The history of humanity who has lived on this earth and died outnumbers those alive 14 to 1. For every person alive today there are 14 others buried.

Why does this matter?

As I was reading and studying last night my professor concluded we ought to spend some more time listening to those who have gone before than we currently do; they have things to say about our world, life, religion, and society we need to hear. Following up with yesterday's post, I would conclude, he is right.

Yesterday I made the case for myself and everyone else, the world needs us to be uniquely and creatively us, not someone else. We have something to offer the world no one else has seen or heard before and the same goes for all those who have ever lived. Each of those people had/has something to offer the world no one else can. From writings, to lifestyle we can learn a lot from these people.

I used to think history was pointless. For me it was a lot of memorization of dates and things, which meant little to nothing about how I lived my life. I seriously didn't even much time for the past 100 years or so and was so arrogant to believe what we have now is all that matters. What I soberingly came to understand, thankfully, was all we have today, is because someone has gone before.

I remember going to Rome in 2011 with my wife and walking down the street, turning the corner, and seeing the Colosseum. We ventured a little further and visited the Roman Forum. Now, these are tourist sites for a ton of people and hold nothing more than 'cool ideas' or 'feelings' when people visit, but these two places represent much more than ideas and feelings. These two places represent the entertainment of the day and the mecca of arts and culture. As I looked into the history of these two places things started to become alive - I was walking the same steps and others 2000, 3000 years ago. Now this is cool.

Really, since this moment, everywhere my wife and I travel places aren't mere 'cool places' to visit, but are incredible places to be discovered and dig into. There are things to be discovered along the way about the people who have gone before us. Things as simple as growing up, maturing, getting a job, and having a family. All of these things are now alive as I actually want to study how it all was done and how it all happened.

The cool thing about the two courses I am taking is, I really already took them in my Undergraduate studies. I am not sure why my courses didn't transfer over to my current program, BUT I am thankful. I am thankful because nearly 10 years ago I learned about history, the history of Christianity to be exact, and I am a different person now. The readings I used to think were incredibly boring have now grown to be alive. I almost get a second chance at this and I am taking advantage of the opportunity.

God is "than, than which nothing greater can be conceived." - Anselm of Canterbury

"My heart heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee." - Augustine

These two quotes have resonated in my mind for a couple of years now. Each one beautiful. Each one written by people I never knew, but feel as if I know them a bit. These quotes were written within the history of the world. Quotes I probably wouldn't have thought twice about 10-12 years ago. Now they are incredible lines of adoration, praise, worship, struggle, and joy from both Anselm and Augustine.

I love history. I can't believe I am writing those words down, but I do, I love it. I love looking to the past, learning and honouring what has gone before and continue to write the book of history as I move forward. People will remember me, you, all of us. What will they remember us by?

The World Needs You

'If you buy this you will look just like me.'
'If you eat this it will make you act like me.'
'If you do this you will be cool like everyone else.'
'If you wear this you will look like everyone else.'

Working with students is a lot of fun. Unlike adults, students wear their emotions on their sleeves and are pretty transparent about a lot of things. I say, unlike adults, because adults have learned to hide certain things about themselves and, more often than not, only present the good things. Students, they haven't quite learned the craft and as such, are who they are. There is a lot to learn from these students.

The one thing which saddens me quite a lot with students is the constant new trends. It's been said by Youth Ministry experts, Youth Culture changes every 3 months. I actually think it changes even fast than this, maybe even every 2 months. New trends can be good, but when students change with the trend because they think the world needs this or that, or for them to be something more than they are, this saddens me.

I have been Created by a God who has designed me to be me, not someone else, but me. My journey has led me down the path of doing what I believed others wanted me to be and it ended horribly (see earlier post). I realized, instead of trying to figure out what others wanted me to be, I needed to start by asking the question 'what have I been created for?' God has created me for a distinct purpose, distinctly unique. There is no one else like me in the world, not a single person. There has never been a me and there never will be a me. I am it and to quote one of my favourite authors and speakers, 'the world needs me to be me.'

Just like the world needs me to be me, the world needs you to be you. The world does NOT need me to try and be like another person, or for you to be like another person. We have all been designed by such a creative God to be uniquely us. This means we all have something to bring to the table the world has never seen. Did you hear that? Did I hear that? We all have something to bring to the table the world has never seen. Ok, woah.

Pausing to take this in.

What do I bring to the table? What do you bring to the table? So many of us believe we need to have a lot of meat at the table. We all bring various different kinds, flavours, and presentations, but there are duplicates. People end up bringing the same thing. When we focus so much of our energy trying to find what we are made for by looking out and asking media, clothing, and food what we were made for they will tell us pretty quickly, instantly. What I am finding out and noticing is my Creator God is not revealing to me all at once what I am made for, but is constantly revealing things about my being every day, if I would only find the space and time to step away from the noise and be quiet.

One of the things I have discovered about myself is God has uniquely designed me, and desire me, too help people see and do things they think are impossible; to help open their eyes to the possibility and truth of more. This took me a long time to discover because I was trying to find it in all the wrong places. It's really quite simple isn't it? Shouldn't we all be listening to and asking our Creator for the exact thing we bring to the table? I mean, God did create us. God knows our inner most being, all the complexities (Psalm 139:13-16). God knows the very deep desires we have. God knows the exact thing the world needs from me and from you.

As stated above, it saddens me to see students blown here and there by people, places, and things telling them to be this, do that, and need anything. It saddens me because I see so many incredible things in students and children. I see things in them they don't even know about. As I tell them things I see they look at me strangely because I don't sound like what they hear all the time. As a Pastor I am trying to guide and give space to God showing the students what they were 'made for' (to quote Alex Street). My desire is to see each student I work with step into the very reason why Creator God has made them.

Here's the deal. When we all step into the very thing God has created us for we WILL be most alive.

Now I already hear the naysayers and people who say they may not have time for this, ok. How about this: can we all agree to do one thing? Let's all take the advice of Bob Goff and love people, ok? If you don't want to do anything more than you are doing and don't really care about what you were created for, can you love people? There is too much hate in our world. We need more love. I don't know the exact details about why Bob Goff (bobgoff.com) was created, but here is what I do know: He has inspired SO MANY people to love in ways we never thought possible and pretty much everyone who encounters Bob is inspired to love in ways never thought possible. This is his gift to the world and it is what we all need to do if we don't know what to do.

What are you created for? What do you possess, which the world needs?

The world doesn't need another version of another person. The world needs me and you to be uniquely us. The world needs uniquely us to do and be the person God created us to be. Isn't this such a great journey? Honestly. At least for me it is exciting to see things come out in myself and others, which are so unique to the setting we find ourselves in.

If we don't step into what we were created for, hear this, we are robbing the world of what it needs. You and I were made for something. You and I were designed by a Creator who invites us to give what we possess to the world which needs this very thing.

Take the journey.
Discover who you are.
Explore all the unique things.
Give the world what you have to offer because The World Needs You.

10%

10%.

It is a percentage filled with mystery.

At the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) you can miss this number if you aren't looking for it. There is a small sentence in one of the cases with a few animals on the 2nd floor. This percentage represents the approximate amount of species scientists know about.

90%.

This is the amount of scientists don't know and it is crazy. When I think about all the different kinds of species out there and recognize it's only 10% of what is actually in the world it humbles me. It humbles me because I think I know a lot. Yet, 90% of the Created species of God are still yet to be discovered.

Look up into the sky. Look down into the depths of the ocean. So many things above and below yet to be discovered and yet I often live my life as if I know things, as if I know what I am talking about when it comes to certain concepts and ideas. This may be true, I may know a lot of things, but I always have to put it in perspective of what I don't know because if I don't, things go bad.

Often times I catch myself looking out on the water or up in the air and simply marvelling at the bigness of what I am experiencing, realizing I am just a small person - a small person with knowledge, but a small person with a lot of learning ahead of me.

It's always important for me to start my day in this posture because it makes me a more loving, accepting, compassionate person. I don't go about my days wondering how a person can't understand this or that, because I don't understand this or that; I am able to listen and connect with others. If I start my day from the posture of arrogance I get caught up with what I know and simply can't connect with others.

I wonder what the world would look like if people lived their lives with this perspective. Instead of trying to prove how much we know or don't know, maybe we all need to start with a posture of "we are all just trying to figure this thing called life out." This makes it easier for us to come upon a person who doesn't know something simply and help them understand it. This makes it easier for a person to teach me something instead of thinking I don't need to be taught because I know it all.

I am still learning. I am still growing. I am still maturing. If I don't humble myself under the truth of the 10% I will hardly, if ever, be able to experience the 90%, but as I humble myself under the truth of the 10% it leaves me open to experiencing the other 90%.

This morning I am choosing to be a part of the 10% and look out into my day with awe and wonder, or with what Abraham Joshua Heschel calls "radical amazement."

Breath

Breath is wonderful. It is so natural to a body. More often than not a person is unaware of it. As talking happens, as TV is watched, as food is eaten breath is often the very thing keeping people alive and the very thing people forget about. In fact, as I sit here and talk about breath I have noticed every inhalation and exhalation, but if I weren't talking about it I would probably forget I was breathing because it is so natural.

Breath is life. It keeps a person alive. As a person exercised and the heart rate starts to increase, so does the breath; more oxygen is needed for the body to continue to function. The first sign of life when a baby is born is a cry and a cry is done by first taking in a deep breath and letting it out in scream form.

How often are we conscious of our breath during the day? I am conscious of my breath when I am in a tense situation as I try and slow my heart rate down by deep breathing. My breath becomes the very thing a focus on, but if I am not in this type of situation I seem to be unaware of it.

If find it interesting, breathing. I find it interesting because in the beginning of the Scriptures the writer of Genesis says God breathed the breath of life into humanity (Genesis 2:7). It wasn't until this breath was given did humans become living; without breath people are, well, dead. Breath is given by God, breathed from the Divine, and yet it is often the thing I forget about the most.

Taking a moment.

Could it be the very way to connect with God is through the very life source God gave to humanity in the beginning? Could it be as I breath in and breath out, and am conscious of it, I am interacting, communing, with the Divine? Could it be as I notice my breath I am slowing my body down, becoming still, and now in a posture and space where I can rest with God?

Pneúma is an Ancient Greek word most often translated spirit. It follows with the Hebrew word Ruach, which also means spirit. Yet, spirit, in both the Greek and Hebrew, can also be translated breath.

Every breath I take is the breath the Divine has placed into my body. It is also possible to even say every breath I take is the Divine breathing through my body. This is cool stuff.

Today I am taking more moments to notice my breath because as I notice my breath, I notice the Creator who gave me my breath and is continuing to breath through me just as with the the very first people to roam the earth.

Time to hit publish.

Natural Rhythms

A year ago this week marks the start of my 6-month long Sabbatical from my pastoral role at church. I was given the opportunity to take the Sabbatical to rest, travel, study, be a stay-at-home dad and become less cynical. The first three were given by the Elder Board at my church, the other two by me. I am thankful to have been able to do all five of these things during those 6-months and although it is impossible to be a stay-at-home dad and pastor full-time I do believe I developed healthier rhythms throughout this time.

Lots of people asked me what I learned over the 6-month period and I am not sure what people were expecting me to say. I personally imagined an incredible awakening to something I had never seen before. Maybe it would be the development or implementation of something which could affect many lives. Either way I felt as though people were expecting me to come back with some earth shattering discovery, but the truth is I learned what I went away to do.

I learned to rest.
I travelled.
I studied.
I was a stay-at-home dad.
I became less cynical.

Above all of these things there was something else I learned.

As the summer was winding down and the fall was beginning to emerge it was then I took my Sabbatical and had less noise surrounding me. It was brilliant. It was hard. No one really needed me. I didn't need to get anything done. No deadlines. No meetings. No emails. No voicemails. It definitely took some time to get used to. I stepped into a space I had never been and had to cultivate new routines and patterns. What I noticed though is after the noise around started to disappear I was noticing one important thing all around me: The Natural Rhythm of Creation.

We as people run at a torrid pace. Seriously. If we compare ourselves to the rest of Creation there is a stark difference in how we operate. We wake up whenever we want, we go to bed whenever we want, we abuse things all around us for our gain, and the worst part is we don't usually care. As the noise surrounding me started to disappear I had the capacity to look and see people around me. Always rushing, always hurrying, hardly ever enjoying. I made the conclusion, for myself - I was going against the very grain of the Natural Rhythm of Creation.

The sun rises at different times all throughout the year and it sets at different times as well. As the earth rotates around the sun we get longer days and shorter days. September went into October and the days started to get shorter, but it seemed as if no one around me cared. Everyone went as if nothing had happened. People would just complain it was getting colder and the days were getting shorter as if it is such a bad thing. Instead of trying to step into the rhythm of creation I noticed people all around me ignore it. They had things to do. They couldn't slow down. Some even chose to increase their busyness. As the rest of Creation started to prepare for hibernation and rest the people I saw just lived as if nothing was changing, well they did put on a jacket.

The fall season is a time of dying, per say. It is a time where we marvel at the beauty of so many colourful leaves here in Canada. These leaves turn colour because they are dying. They die in order for life to grow in the Spring. Creation starts to die, prepare, and hibernate in the fall. The speed of animals starts to slow down, the frequency of animals we see gets fewer: less birds, less raccoons, the squirrels.

As winter comes and the days are short it seems as though life has disappeared from what we see. The colour from the fall has no disappeared and white snow hits the ground covering everything which once bore a colour.

The natural rhythm fall told me was to slow down.
The natural rhythm winter told me was to nestle in, stay warm, and enjoy my wife and child around me.

It seems so natural does it? If we notice the days of the year move in a way which begs for us to join in. The sun rises, we wake. The sun sets, we rest. The days get warmer we spend it outside. The days get colder we spend it indoors.

The thing which struck me more than anything over my 6-month Sabbatical is how people, literally, run against the rhythm and fabric of Creation. We ignore, for the most part, this natural rhythm. It's a shame because there is so much goodness found in this rhythm.

As September has come again this year I feel more prepared for the fall and winter. I am not trying to get through it in order to get to spring and summer. I am prepared to enjoy each and every moment as I look into creation, see how it operates, and step into this rhythm knowing my Creator has designed it to operate is such a way.

It's amazing isn't it? I know I complain often of not being able to hear, feel, experience God in my life and more often than not refuse to step into the very rhythm of Creation. Maybe if I step into this rhythm I will be able to see, hear, and experience God more.

Well it's the time. 6:30am. Clicking publish.