Life – Journeys of Heart and Mind

Fallen Rhododendron flowers

He invites us to share in his spiritual life, a gift since we cannot deserve or earn it.

Fallen Rhododendron flowers lie on the ground – they are still beautiful. If you follow Jesus, perhaps you might say the same of fallen people (ie all of us); fallen people are lost but still beautiful too. But unlike the flowers, for fallen people hope remains; there is a Way, a Truth, a Life.

Rhododendron flowers lying on the ground where they fell

Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

The Way

Jesus is the Way because he is the only road to safety. We are free to follow any route through life that we wish, but the only road that promises and ensures safety is the road that Jesus travelled. Like us, he was born, lived as a child and went through the process of growing up. Unlike us he didn’t mess up.

If I want to walk in safety, I can only do it by walking with Jesus. I need to get to know him better, listen to what he says, say what I hear him say, do what I see him do.

The Truth

Jesus is the truth because he doesn’t hide from us. How can we define truth and falseness? Well, people sometimes say of a person, ‘What you see is what you get’. This is never literally, reliably, always true of any other human being. We hide things for a variety of reasons, even as children. If we’re ashamed of something, we hide it. If we break something, we might say someone else did it, or pretend we weren’t there at the time. Human nature is to turn to what is false when the truth is inconvenient or embarrassing or dangerous. Jesus is the exception that proves this rule of human nature. Not only did he always stick to what is true, he is truth personified.

The Life

We are alive because we are self-sustaining physical systems carrying out physical processes. Anything that destroys the systems or stops the processes causes us to die. If I’m not allowed to breathe, I will die. If I’m not allowed to eat or drink, I will die. Jesus, during his time with us, was just the same. But he was nailed to a cross which made it impossible to breath unless he could support his body weight, and he was not allowed to eat or drink and when, finally, he was offered something, he refused it. As he grew weak, breathing became impossible and he died. Yet he also has a spiritual life, and physical life was restored to him for a time as well (though bodily he was different in some very significant ways).

He invites us to share in his spiritual life, a gift since we cannot deserve or earn it. And he doesn’t want to wait, he chooses to give us spiritual life now, while we are still physically alive. For a time we can have both as he did, and later we retain the spiritual life even after our physical life is over.

Yes, it’s a mystery. No, we can’t explain it. But Jesus is not only the Way, and the Truth, he is also the Life!

If you want to follow the Way, discover the Truth, and live the Life, you really need to get to know Jesus better. One way is to read the book called Luke. It’s in the Bible, and it’s available online for free.

A coffee mug from Israel

Shalom is not just peace as in absence of war, quietness, or a chance to think. It means much more than that.

Back in 2007, Donna and I visited Israel. The day we arrived it rained torrentially and our plane had to circle while water was removed from the runway at Tel Aviv airport. But the weather quickly improved and we had a very interesting trip. Much of it I still remember vividly, and the notes I made and the photos I took fill in much more detail.

While we were there, we bought a coffee mug at a tourist site. We still have it, and I enjoy using it now and then. The vivid colours remind me of the bright sunshine and friendly people we met, the colours of items in the market in Jerusalem, the colours of the clothes of the people in the streets.

This mug is special, it carries the word ‘Shalom’ in Hebrew and in English, it means ‘peace’. How I wish for peace in 2023 in Ukraine and around the world. Shalom is not just peace as in absence of war, quietness, or a chance to think. It means much more than that. It means joy, completeness, health in body, mind, and spirit. It means prosperity and a fragrant life.

(I was prompted to write this by Yaroslava Antipina, perhaps to use on her Twitter feed or her blog. Please click the links and leave her some kind thoughts. Thanks!)

My Father is a farmer

Some have argued that living things depend on structure and order. And of course, there is some truth in that; but it’s a limited kind of truth. Look at a forest, a coral reef (or any ecosystem) and you will see the most amazing and thriving mess. Colours and shapes intermingled haphazardly, lots of competition for space and light. Every single organism doing its own thing.

Coral reef, a rich mix of species (Image from Wikimedia)

Human society seems to bring a certain amount of order to the scene, but it’s a deceptive kind of order. Anyone who has a garden will know that order demands great effort to achieve and continuous effort to maintain. And much of that effort will involve destruction – rooting out things that grow where you don’t want them, trimming hedges to keep them straight, cutting grass to maintain a smooth lawn, poisoning unwanted insects and fungi. A garden has structure and looks nice, but that structure comes at great cost to nature and requires constant effort from the gardener. Jesus said his Father is a gardener.

Farmer is really a more appropriate English word. And not ‘farmer’ as in a modern monocrop system of extensive wheat or mile after mile of beans or peanuts. Papa isn’t bothered about measured lines and neat grass; his interests are more to do with fruitfulness than with structure. He is not a park attendant, he is a grower of vines and olives in the way they were grown 2000 years ago in Israel, sympathetically and naturally. Farmers in those days were helpers and encouragers of the abundance of the natural, not at all like today’s farmers who are more like dictators armed with diesel fuel, big machines, and farm chemicals.

For those who want to function in a structured environment with clear and appointed leadership roles and a liturgy – be my guest, feel free. Sometimes Papa calls me to be involved in those situations too. But mostly he calls me to the freedom, glory, and abundant life of his original garden. This is a place where you will rarely see a straight line, where men and women do not control the show, where there is no architecture and there are no roads. It’s a place where he invites his children to come and run free and shout with joy in his presence. There is no liturgy, just an outpouring of praise and worship from rejoicing hearts.

And out of the ‘disorder’ of this garden comes a deeper knowledge of the heart of the Most High and a richer walk with him. And the life I experience there in his presence with my brothers and sisters, that life is something I can take into this struggling world. Truly he is the way, the truth, and the life. HalleluYah!

Evolution and behaviour

A computer program that simulates coding and inheritance on the one hand, and neural function on the other, permits the emulation of simple animal-like organisms

Today I want to share two striking YouTube videos that I found recently. Maybe you’d like to watch them yourself.

Introduction – The animation shows the molecular structure of DNA, rotating so you can visualise it more easily. Watson and Crick famously published this structure in April 1953.

DNA contains the genetic information that specifies the nature of plants, animals and other life forms. Each species has it’s own form of this DNA ‘instruction book’. Amongst other things, a species’ DNA controls the basic structure of the brain just as it does for other body parts. But here’s an interesting fact: The coding and behaviour of DNA can be simulated by strings of characters stored in a computer.

Brains involve cells called neurons with connections between them, and neural networks running on a computer can behave in a similar way to a very simple brain. Building a computer program that simulates coding and inheritance on the one hand, and neural function on the other, permits the emulation of simple animal-like organisms, and there are applications out there that do just this.

First example – One such program is Minute Labs’ Evolution Simulator (check out their YouTube to see it in action).

Second example – Another program, and I want to focus mainly on this one, is from David Randall Miller. He wrote a particularly fascinating simulator, see his YouTube demo and explanation below for some quite deep insights. It’s a long video, but breaks into logical chunks for easier viewing; I suggest viewing the first section and continuing if it seems interesting.

It’s a really helpful approach for anyone wanting to better understand evolution. It assumes only fundamental levels of the topics, but will enhance your appreciation of maths and computing while also demonstrating the basics of genetics, inheritance, simple neural networks, and animal behaviour. That’s quite a lot of benefit from just one video!

Some questions to ask yourself…

What new understandings did you gain?
Did you disagree with anything?
- If so, why?
What conclusions did you draw about the nature of living things?
Was anything surprising to you?
What questions do the videos cause you to ask?

Life together

A fluid environment, the individuals free to move in every dimension, yet always aware of one another and responding to one another.

This morning, swilling out the cafetiere, watching the dark coffee grounds fan out and spiral down the drain, a word popped into my mind – ‘murmuration’. This word is used for a flock of birds flying together, swirling hither and thither, flying together as one yet moving independently and in smaller groups within that one flock. Starlings are particularly known for this behaviour as they go to roost in the evening light, and the dark specks of coffee reminded me of a murmuration of these birds.

Take a look at this video of a starling murmuration. It’s stunning!

Murmuration

But looking at those coffee grounds made it very clear to me that only living things can form a murmuration. Not only that, the individuals must all be alive with the same kind of life, don’t expect to see seagulls and starlings together in the same formation. The living entities must also be in a fluid environment (air or water, large shoals of fish can exhibit the same phenomenon). And they must be aware of one another and able to respond rapidly to one another’s movements.

So it should be with the church. A formation of individuals all alive with the same life, the life of Christ, all filled with his Spirit. Church should be a fluid environment, the individuals free to move in every dimension, yet always aware of one another and responding to one another.

When the church flows like a murmuration, individually alive with Christ, individually free to move yet mutually aware, responding to one another’s presence and movement, unconstrained except in obedience to Christ, then, my friends, we will see her transcendent glory revealed and the whole world will gasp. People will say, ‘Oh wow, how can this collection of individuals flow together with such transcendent beauty and grace?’

If not, we are little better than coffee grounds swirling into the drain. Not alive at all, merely acted on by random currents as gravity draws us ever downwards. Paul expressed this when he wrote to the church in Ephesus,

We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Valley of dry bones – INDEX

Is it now time for dusty dryness to be transformed into vigorous, vibrant activity? This short series examines the implications.

Ezekiel’s writing about the valley of dry bones has much to say to us about life and death in the church.

Is it now time for dusty dryness to be transformed into vigorous, vibrant activity? This short series examines the implications. (First written in 2011, currently under revision.)

A desert scene — A dry and dusty desert (Image from Wikipedia – original and copyright details)

Ezekiel in exile – Ezekiel’s words about the valley of dry bones seem significant.
Dry bones in the valley – Ezekiel 37:1.
Taking a good look – A question in the middle of the valley.
Speak to the bones – Is there any point in speaking to what is dead?
The word of Yahweh – The bones are to come to life!
The bones come together – Ezekiel begins speaking to the bones.
Sinew, muscle and skin – He watches as the bones are covered.
Prophecy to the breath – Ezekiel is called to speak again.
An overwhelming army – The bodies come to life and stand.
The dry bones of church will live – A prophecy for the church today.

Taking a good look

Yahweh looks at Ezekiel and asks: ‘Can these bones live?’ Only a wise person would answer this correctly.

Part 3 of a series – ‘The valley of dry bones’

< Dry bones in the valley | Index | Speak to the bones >

‘He guided me back and forth amongst them and I saw a huge number of bones lying on the ground in the valley – very dry bones indeed. He asked me: “Son of man, is it possible for these bones to be alive?” I answered: “Yahweh Almighty, only you know”.’ (Ezekiel 37:2-3)

Take a really good look – Ezekiel is there in the valley and Yahweh leads him about amongst the bones. This is not just a casual look, it’s a really thorough examination of the situation. Notice how Ezekiel is guided back and forth, this is not ‘Go and look and I’ll wait here’ on Yahweh’s part. It’s an intimate togetherness in which they both go, we can almost imagine Ezekiel as a child hand-in-hand with a parent.
I should warn you that the rest of this article might seem very gloomy. But please remember, this is a low point in a deep valley and things get better – much better!

Dry bones lying on the ground — Dry bones lying in the desert. (Image from Wikipedia – original and copyright details)

For Ezekiel this is all about Israel in captivity under Babylon. For us it should also speak about the church in captivity under the thinking and dictates of the world. We can no more shake ourselves free from the influence of the world than Israel could have shaken herself free from Babylon. Yet we need to be free.

Because we are in the world it is very, very natural to apply processes like planning, teaching, organising and structuring, hierarchies, and leadership. We emphasise great presentation and engagement. There is nothing wrong with these methods in themselves, but they do have the sneaky potential to intrude on an intimate walk with Papa day by day. Methods alone are death, Jesus alone is life. Where would you rather be? If you choose both, be aware there may be some conflict – tread carefully!

We can learn from Ezekiel’s thorough examination of the bones. We really do need to be ‘guided back and forth’ amongst the remains of church. How can we encourage abundant church if we don’t first understand the nature of the problem? It’s time to examine the situation very, very carefully and thoroughly. A casual glance is not going to be enough. Father’s guidance is essential, not optional. The good news is that there are people being guided back and forth today; I am aware of some of them but I’m certain there are many more. This is not something we initiate, it’s something Father is initiating, guiding us by the Spirit of Christ to become aware of our situation. A study of church history can open our eyes to the sorts of error we may be tempted to make.

Consider, for example, some of the great movements of the past – the Reformation, the Celtic monastic movement, John Wesley and the beginnings of Methodism, the Welsh Revival, Azusa Street. The pattern is clear; it begins with revelation and fresh ideas, these are widely adopted, there’s a period of stagnation, then fossilisation, then there’s fresh revelation and the pattern repeats. Do we think that our generation is different? Is church today in its final and perfect form? Are we now the pure and unblemished Bride of Christ? Or are we, in our turn, waiting for fresh revelation?

Dry as a bone – Ezekiel sees that there are huge numbers of these bones, but he also notices that they are very dry indeed. This is significant. These are not the remains of something that was recently alive. Think about the process of decay – the muscle and other soft tissue is the first to go, skin and hair takes much longer, sinew and cartilage require even longer, and to get to the stage where the bones are disarticulated and scattered and powder dry takes a very long time indeed.

This is true of the church too. Please don’t miss the point – I’m not saying that individual believers are dead or dry, this is about how we are fitted together and active together – church. What should be a mighty army is dead, dry and scattered; church has been in that state for a long, long time.

So here is Ezekiel, arm in arm with the Almighty Power behind the universe, checking over the state of the remains. And Yahweh looks at Ezekiel and asks: ‘Can these bones live?’ Only a wise person would answer this correctly. Reason tells us dry, scattered bones cannot live – ever. They have already had their chance. But Ezekiel says: ‘You tell me, Lord!’

If only we would stop talking to one another and begin listening to Father together instead. If only!

Death is in the world but life is in Christ. If careful inspection shows dry bones then we need to know that Jesus is our only hope. Every time we have come off the church rails it’s because we’ve turned away from Christ and trusted instead in mission, or training, or… fill in the blanks. We do not need a new programme, we need a new vision of Christ!

When we examine the state of the church and how it needs to change, are we walking arm-in-arm with the King or are we going on our own, for our own ends, in our own wisdom and strength?

How about you?

< Dry bones in the valley | Index | Speak to the bones >