A Volley of Words
Friday night I played volleyball with my youth group. I had contemplated not going, but there was nothing else to do that night and I had a free ride for the 1.5 hour trip. I know that I need practice with my volleyball skills.
It did me good to go. I practiced the proper, not-so-stupid-looking method of serving the ball and it actually went okay (as long as I compare myself only with my performance and not with that of others).
Saturday morning I met a fellow vet student at a Corvallis diner to help her study cardiology (which I took last year). It was one of those places with old men sitting along the counter probably drinking coffee and talking about the news. That's one of those cultural things that one can just sort of appreciate (not the positive/negative type of appreciation); it goes along with the perceived culture of life in a large city, or life as a Cornish miner, or something. They've got flavor.
I found myself enjoying tutoring and was somewhat surprised at what I was able to explain after a year's absence from some of the subject matter.
My hope is that through tutoring I will be able to strike up closer relationships with some students here. That could lead to increased opportunities to share the Gospel with them. Well, on Saturday such an opportunity may have arisen and I didn't rise to meet it. At one point the two of us were mentioning about how neat cardiology was. It would have been close to a prime opportunity to mention something about how I see God in the intricacies and beauty of living things (which is something I feel deeply about). I wasn't sure if I should/wanted to mention that and the opportunity passed me by. I hope that is not the last of such opportunities.
In Sunday school yesterday the topic was the resurrection of believers from the dead. I guess it was because of that I got to thinking about how Christians believe heaven is going to be free from pain, suffering, etc (because that is what the Bible teaches). On earth our reality involves pain and suffering. I think our feelings of enjoyment and appreciation for good things may largely be defined negatively - in other words, by the "absence of that which is bad". I appreciate sleep more when I have been up late cramming for a test than I do when I have slept 8 hrs/night for a week. Trials increase our appreciation for the smoother times. "Absence [of good] makes the heart grow fonder."
The enjoyment we realize is to some extent based on a baseline, a reference point. It's strange for me to think of a continually good existence.
Another element to this subject is that as Christians we are to "rejoice evermore", give thanks in everything, return good for evil, and work for peace - and we derive pleasure from rising above our carnal instincts and responding to the bad as Christ would. It is fulfilling. In the absence of anything bad, that fulfillment will not be generated.
But it won't need to be, because our existences will be blessed and joyful even if my mortal mind does not currently understand (isn't it a wonderful thing that truth is even though I may not grasp it with full understanding?).
Yesterday we had communion at my church. At the service, I was trying to be in the right mind-set, wanting to partake in a "becoming manner" and appreciate (with my cursory understanding) the sacrifice Christ made for me (it is difficult, no, impossible, to fully appreciate what he went through). We sang the song "Arise, my soul, arise" by Charles Wesley*, and I was strongly affected - "a bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears" - "forgive them, o, forgive he cries" - "five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me" (do you sense the love of Christ? does it just fill your soul and send blood to your face, making it more than tingle?). I said this phrase from the song for part of my public testimony "My God is reconciled, His pardoning voice I hear, he owns me for a child." It seems that I received a deep sense of the love of Christ that night (think about it - "he owns me for a child") - is that why I was so deeply moved when I am usually rather stoic with that sort of emotion? (Or was I very afraid that I was not worthy to participate?) Did I receive a glimpse of the grace of God granted to me? Did I see my forgiveness more as something Christ grants to me rather than something I worked for myself? There may have been a sort of spiritual break-through that evening, although I will be careful to declare such with certainty.
*http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/12146.htm - I am not condoning anything on this website by placing it here - it is where I got some of the lyrics, and the author name, from "Arise, my soul, arise"
It did me good to go. I practiced the proper, not-so-stupid-looking method of serving the ball and it actually went okay (as long as I compare myself only with my performance and not with that of others).
Saturday morning I met a fellow vet student at a Corvallis diner to help her study cardiology (which I took last year). It was one of those places with old men sitting along the counter probably drinking coffee and talking about the news. That's one of those cultural things that one can just sort of appreciate (not the positive/negative type of appreciation); it goes along with the perceived culture of life in a large city, or life as a Cornish miner, or something. They've got flavor.
I found myself enjoying tutoring and was somewhat surprised at what I was able to explain after a year's absence from some of the subject matter.
My hope is that through tutoring I will be able to strike up closer relationships with some students here. That could lead to increased opportunities to share the Gospel with them. Well, on Saturday such an opportunity may have arisen and I didn't rise to meet it. At one point the two of us were mentioning about how neat cardiology was. It would have been close to a prime opportunity to mention something about how I see God in the intricacies and beauty of living things (which is something I feel deeply about). I wasn't sure if I should/wanted to mention that and the opportunity passed me by. I hope that is not the last of such opportunities.
In Sunday school yesterday the topic was the resurrection of believers from the dead. I guess it was because of that I got to thinking about how Christians believe heaven is going to be free from pain, suffering, etc (because that is what the Bible teaches). On earth our reality involves pain and suffering. I think our feelings of enjoyment and appreciation for good things may largely be defined negatively - in other words, by the "absence of that which is bad". I appreciate sleep more when I have been up late cramming for a test than I do when I have slept 8 hrs/night for a week. Trials increase our appreciation for the smoother times. "Absence [of good] makes the heart grow fonder."
The enjoyment we realize is to some extent based on a baseline, a reference point. It's strange for me to think of a continually good existence.
Another element to this subject is that as Christians we are to "rejoice evermore", give thanks in everything, return good for evil, and work for peace - and we derive pleasure from rising above our carnal instincts and responding to the bad as Christ would. It is fulfilling. In the absence of anything bad, that fulfillment will not be generated.
But it won't need to be, because our existences will be blessed and joyful even if my mortal mind does not currently understand (isn't it a wonderful thing that truth is even though I may not grasp it with full understanding?).
Yesterday we had communion at my church. At the service, I was trying to be in the right mind-set, wanting to partake in a "becoming manner" and appreciate (with my cursory understanding) the sacrifice Christ made for me (it is difficult, no, impossible, to fully appreciate what he went through). We sang the song "Arise, my soul, arise" by Charles Wesley*, and I was strongly affected - "a bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears" - "forgive them, o, forgive he cries" - "five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers, they strongly plead for me" (do you sense the love of Christ? does it just fill your soul and send blood to your face, making it more than tingle?). I said this phrase from the song for part of my public testimony "My God is reconciled, His pardoning voice I hear, he owns me for a child." It seems that I received a deep sense of the love of Christ that night (think about it - "he owns me for a child") - is that why I was so deeply moved when I am usually rather stoic with that sort of emotion? (Or was I very afraid that I was not worthy to participate?) Did I receive a glimpse of the grace of God granted to me? Did I see my forgiveness more as something Christ grants to me rather than something I worked for myself? There may have been a sort of spiritual break-through that evening, although I will be careful to declare such with certainty.
*http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/12146.htm - I am not condoning anything on this website by placing it here - it is where I got some of the lyrics, and the author name, from "Arise, my soul, arise"
posted by Claire at 17:49
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