Faith, Death, and Perspective

Yesterday at church we had a guest speaker.  This was a man that had just won his battle with cancer and he shared about how his faith helped him through the scare, the pain, the disappointment, the questions, and all the other emotions that come from facing death.

I don't know about you, but do you tire of hearing the happy clappy version of life from people who have come through a scare like cancer, a car accident, or some other tragedy?  Somehow it just didn't seem authentic to me (and of course having never had to experience something like this I really don't know what I'm talking about).  But what I found so refreshing about what I heard yesterday was a man that relied heavily on his wife and family (community and family are so important in all areas of life) and didn't try to pretend all he needed was God to get him through it all.  That, and he really emphasized perspective.  Being able to step back and look at life from God's perspective.  You hear this advice a lot when you spend a good chunk of your time in the Christian sub-culture.  And its good advice.

The ability to step back and to see your place in the bigger picture, to see what God would see.  This is what separates someone who is in touch with another world and someone who is not.  And like most things in life that are worthwhile and rewarding, it is a skill that does not come quickly or easily or by following some little magical formula.  It takes time and discipline - to chase after God.

So my challenge - are you able to step back and see things from God's perspective?  When your life gets struck by some huge stressful event, or even harder; when your life is dull, monotonous, and tiring?

If not, time to chase after God.

Blogless

OK, here it is near the end of November and I'm just getting around to putting up a blog. I think somehow I missed the basic idea of blogging - to put something up on a regular basis. Thus I'm calling myself Blogless. Or as some of my more astute friends might say - Useless.

OK, so if I say that I'm going to put something up here once a week - does that then make me accountable? Well I'm guessing that based on the lack of regular posts I'm not getting a lot of readers :) So I guess that statement makes me accountable only to myself. Well at least that is a place to begin.

So besides my self-incrimination, what do I have to share today. A quote:

"Whenever I meet a Buddhist leader, I meet a holy man in touch with another world. Whenever I meet a Christian leader, I meet a manager at home only in this world like I am."

Ouch - but all too true.

I know when people meet me they certainly don't feel like they have met a man in touch with another world. So my challenge to myself and to other like minded individuals - work on getting in touch with another world!