Treasure in Earthen Vessels

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels . . ." (2 Corinthians). So often we focus on the "earthen vessels" and the depravity of our humanity. Augustine conceived of "original sin" wherein we are tainted with sin before we are born. This caused the need for infant baptism to assure that the blighted, newborn is cleansed from his/her genetic depravity.

Anabaptists believed that children were innocent until they reached the age of accountability. Pelagius, an originator of Celtic Christian thought, was declared a heretic for attacking Augustine's doctrine of original sin; instead emphasizing the goodness of our humanity through being made in God's image. Sin entered through the development of an individual's ego and socialization into fallen systems.

Because of Western Christianity's emphasis on original sin and the Calvinist corollary of total depravity, I grew up with the focus of being an "earthen vessel." My church, especially during the revivals of the 50s and 60s, reinforced this notion. How I believed in my worminess!

On the other hand, we are made in God's "image and likeness" (Gen. 1:26). This is the "treasure" that we carry in these earthen vessels. Throughout my adult life, I've had to work hard to see this treasure within and to quell the socialized voices that keep appearing. Through work with my dreams, contemplation, music, and other spiritual disciplines I have come to recognize how valuable this treasure is.

But we can't stop with just recognizing our own treasure. We have to see the treasure in others as well. Because of my own socialization, it has been easier to see the earthen vessel in others rather than their treasure. By seeing others' treasure within, we focus on their potential rather than their behavior.

We cannot deny that we are earthen vessels. But let's not get stuck there. Let's focus on the treasure within and our potential as God's good creation.

Imagination, Myth and Dreams

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts.” ~Robert Fulghum

I have been ruminating on this quote for several days. Something about it resonates in my soul, but not in my head. There’s the rub. Imagination, myth and dreams are all left-brain activities, while knowledge, history and facts are right-brained. The first group of adjectives belongs to poets and musicians, while the second belongs to historians and scientists. 

The reason that I call it a rub is that as a Western male, I have been socialized to believe that the second set of adjectives are more important than the first. That right-brain functions are worthier than left-brained ones. “I think, therefore I am” (Rene Descartes) has been the ruling principle of the Age of Reason. Westerners would contend that, “Knowledge is stronger than imagination. History is more potent than myth. Facts are more important than dreams.”

Fulghum turns that Western thinking on its head. Carl Jung, the great Swiss psychiatrist, also turned that thinking on its head. He studied the areas of imagination, myth, and dreams, and discovered a deep reservoir of paranormal phenomena within  our psyches. These were not accepted as science, because much of what he discovered could not be explained, let alone proven. Yet, for those of us in tune with our souls, what he discovered touches us deeply. 

He found myths and symbols that crop up in our night-time dreams to be similar around the world. He called the source of these images our collective unconscious. I call it the place where God stamped his image into our souls. 

The more I have experienced God through spiritual disciplines, the more I have been able to understand the truth of Fulghum’s quote and Jung’s discoveries. I also am more able to draw from the depths of my psyche all the good, the bad and the ugly that is me, hold them together and let them be my teacher. I am much more open to mystery, ambiguity and paradox.  

Post-moderns are actually beginning to embody Fulghum’s wisdom and move beyond the Age of Reason. Post-moderns are becoming more open to mystery, ambiguity and paradox. But those who are entrenched in their black-and-white, either-or, creedal thinking, will continue to hang on to their “truth” with a vengeance. 

“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). The historical Jesus as God incarnate; holding both historical “fact” and myth in tension.

Will the Real Me Please Stand Up?

I teach Spanish at Eastern Mennonite University. The other day while awaiting for all the students to arrive, a few began to engage me in some small talk. “Do you know that you are different when you speak Spanish?” one student asked. “You are more laid back; funnier. You seem to be more serious when you speak English.”

I asked other students who had arrived if they experienced the same difference in me. I was a bit non-plussed at how vigorously several students nodded their heads. Now, I had been told before that I act differently when I speak Spanish, but this was back during a time when I was struggling with faith issues and had become quite cynical. My responses to questions in English tended to be dripping with biting sarcasm. My Spanish persona wasn’t as hard edged, perhaps because I used it mostly in teaching situations or social encounters. 

When I was in high school, I was a class clown. I was knocked for not taking anything seriously. That silliness was replaced by cynicism through the severe realities of poverty and oppression that I witnessed in Latin America where I learned my Spanish. I have worked hard at overcoming my cynicism and snide remarks and thought that the class clown and cynic had resolved their differences. I guess the class clown still resides in the Spanish side of my brain while the cynic still influences

the English speaker. 

I know for a fact that it is easier for me to give compliments in Spanish than in English. Part of the reason is that I never received many compliments in my own upbringing, while I was overwhelmed with compliments when living in certain parts of Latin America. Another reason is because giving compliments in English, especially to someone of the opposite sex, depending on the recipient, can be seen as harassment. In Spanish, a compliment is always accepted with huge grins, unguarded thank yous, and often a hug; from either male or female. 

I am also more polite in Spanish. I use more words to express my thanks; many that would be too flowery in English. I use more hand gestures and touch more while speaking Spanish. Do these examples make me be more laid back and funnier in Spanish? 

I have known quite a few multi-lingual people over the years, but I can’t say that I observed a wide variance of personality in them when speaking different languages. One, a native speaker of English, has converted his way of thinking and use of language completely into the mindset of the second language he had learned. Another is exactly the same in all three languages. Each language is pronounced with the same cadence and the same personality comes through no matter which he is speaking. 

I do know of one example of a woman who speaks Italian and a rural dialect of German.  When she speaks Italian she seems to be a fashion model, but when she speaks the dialect of German she comes off as an ordinary farmer’s daughter. This example seems to be more like the differences my students were pointing out in me than others I have cited.

So this begs the question, do I have two distinct personalities depending on whether I speak English or Spanish? Wonder if I would score differently on the Myers-Briggs scale if I took it in Spanish. I have not even addressed the fact that I have to deal with a third reality, Swiss German, the language of my wife. Do I act differently when I speak in Swiss or is the German more akin to English so that not such a drastic difference in personality can be detected? 

Will the real me please stand up? I really don’t think twice about how I am acting when I speak a certain language. Whatever I speak or however I act, it is me. I am not two-faced. I do not have a split personality or an evil twin. I am not Jekyll and Hyde. I think I am simply emphasizing certain aspects of my personality as I embody the cultural and linguistic nuances of each. My soul, stamped with the image of God, is just reflecting more of God’s wonderfully diverse mosaic of people.

The real me stands up no matter what I do or say. 

The Collective Unconscious, Mandalas and DNA: Preparing Our Souls

I am extremely intrigued by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s theory on the collective unconscious. He believes that as human beings we inherit images, myths and symbols that are shared across time and cultures. These collective manifestations appear in our legends, dreams and art. 

An example of a symbol that Jung found in most cultures around the world is the Mandela symbol. This symbol is a circular image which meant wholeness for Jung. “A  mandala is generally a circle with dividing lines separating it into several quadrants. Each quadrant represents a different theme and starts at the center of the circle working outward,” according to a site on mandalas. (source: http://www.meaningofmandalas.com/) 

His initial discovery of this symbol came from India where they are quite prevalent. Here is an example: 

(source: http://www.exoticindiaart.com/details/buddha/mandala_of_tantric_symbols_tm20.jpg)

From Europe, we have appearing in many cathedrals what is called a “Rose Window.” These windows have the same circular shape and quadrants. 

(Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Rosace_cathedrale_strasbourg.jpg)

From Latin America, we have the Aztec calendar which also meets the definition of a mandala symbol. 

(Source: http://fortheloveofchristi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/aztec_calendar.gif)

From Africa comes this image, which is not exactly a circle, but it has the same quadrants, and a circle can certainly be imagined by rounding off the corners. 

(Source: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/0b/fd/d7/0bfdd7049cca9163cb80f5cfc83b6bb1.jpg)

The Christian cross can also be imagined as a mandala symbol since it has four quadrants. The Celtic especially designed the cross with a circle in the center, making it more like a mandala symbol. The following image of a celtic cross shows that relationship.

(Source: http://th00.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/071/c/d/Celtic_Cross_by_LordShadowblade.jpg)

Now an interesting find. There are images of our DNA that look like mandala symbols. Here is an example of one from the website http://www.blazelabs.com/f-p-geom.asp. 

Not only are these images in our collective unconscious, but also in our DNA. Apparently there are mandala-like patterns throughout the universe; from DNA to galaxies. 

According to Jung, the mandala symbol comes from our collective unconscious. 

I believe that the collective unconscious is the stamp that God has put on our soul. In Genesis 1:26-27, we read that we have been created in the  “image and likeness” of God. Within that image and likeness resides a holy longing for God. Symbols that well up from our unconscious (soul=psyche), like the mandala symbol, are reminders of our need for God. They are also reminders of what we as humans across cultures and times have in common. 

Ultimately, I believe that good missionary work is to listen to the stories and the symbols of each people to whom we want to share the Good News. These stories and symbols, rather than being cast off as “pagan,” are the groundwork that God has laid in each of our souls to prepare us for the final revelation of Truth; God’s becoming flesh and dwelling among us. 

Is Your God a Puppeteer or a Novelist?

In his book A Grace Disguised (Zondervan 2005), Jerry Sittser uses two metaphors for God on pages 156-157: God as a puppeteer and God as a novelist. The puppeteer is an all-powerful God who predetermines our every move. We are passive victims of God’s whims; we have little freedom to choose. On the other hand, God as novelist is in overall control of the writing of the book, but as the story line develops, the characters change as their characters develop. Rather than being manipulated and controlled, they have a freedom to choose their own destinies.

In thinking about these two metaphors for God, I came up with a list to describe each one and their contrasting characteristics.

God as puppeteer

•       God of much of Christianity, especially fundamentalism

•       All-powerful God

•       God of justice (fairness-we get what we deserve)

•       God of sending Hebrews into exile

•       Story of Job

•       Causes fatalism (I’m stuck)

•       God of creeds and “isms”

God as novelist

•       God of Nouwen, Sittser, many other writers on spirituality

•       All-loving God

•       God of grace (mercy)

•       Story of Prodigal Son

•       God of allowing Hebrews a king

•       Causes hope (I can change)

•       God of mystery

My first claim is that the puppeteer metaphor is the one that most of us grow up with in our black-and-white Sunday school faith. Many stay stuck with this image of God. This stuck-ness results in rigid belief systems that produce fundamentalism. Most writers on Christian spirituality show us how to grow and mature in our faith by moving us more toward the novelist metaphor.

The puppeteer God is all-powerful while the novelist God is all-loving. I have written about this difference in a previous blog post: "God: Almighty or All-loving?"

The puppeteer God is a God of justice and righteousness. This God judges us for our faults; dishes out what we deserve—if we are good we get a reward, if we are bad, we get punishment (Deut. 28).  This God is the God who sent the Hebrews into exile for their disobedience. In contrast, the novelist God is a God of mercy. The best example of this is the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:32). This God loves and forgives no matter how egregious the straying and the sin.

The best biblical story that portrays God as a puppeteer is the story of Job. Job is seemingly at the mercy of the forces of good and evil, and Job is a mere marionette on a string being manipulated by God. The best biblical story to illustrate the God as novelist is the story of the Hebrews’ desire for a king (1 Samuel 8). This was not in God’s original plan; It was an outright rejection of God’s sovereignty. However, as the novel developed, and the people’s characters changed, God allowed for them to have a king.

The puppeteer God causes fatalism. “That’s life.” “It was or wasn’t God’s will.” We get stuck in the blame game with no way for movement out. On the other hand, the novelist God brings us hope. We can change, we are not stuck.

The puppeteer God is the one that has the followers develop creeds to believe in, doctrines to follow, and institutions to be preserved. The novelist God is mysterious, beyond rational explanation and characterization. This is the God that mystics through the ages and in all religions traditions have experienced.

Of course, as mentioned above, there is biblical evidence for both kinds of “Gods,” and the categories are probably not as neatly defined as I make them. Nevertheless, the lists can give us some food for thought in how we experience or view God.

During my crisis of faith, I became very cynical about the church, God and religion in general. I was stuck on the institutional God of creeds and “isms.” My faith was restored and my cynicism conquered by the mysterious God, mainly through the spiritual disciplines. I learned to “know” God rather than just to “believe” in God.

A Needed Break and a Reminder

Every fall for the past 15 or more years, a group of men gather for 1-2 days somewhere in the mountains of the East for fun, fellowship and exercise in nature. At the beginning it was an all-day hike, later a day-long bike ride was added.

This year there were ten of us gathered at a camp ground on a Sunday evening outside Jim Thorpe, Pa. The huge campfire not only helped cook the evening meal, but provided the warmth necessary to be outdoors on this late October evening. It also formed the backdrop for guy talk; rarely do we deal with weighty subjects, we just catch up on each other’s lives and tell the standard jokes.

Indeed many of the jokes were repeats from previous years. Someone came up with the idea of numbering them so that all we would need to do each year is repeat the number and we could laugh without having to hear all the details. At our ages, however, few of us could remember the details let alone the number of the corresponding joke.

Monday morning saw us preparing for a 50-mile bike ride along the Lehigh Gorge State Park Trail; from Jim Thorpe to White Haven and back with lunch in White Haven. I hadn’t been riding much, so I decided that I only wanted to do about 30 miles. I ride a recumbent stationary bike regularly, and wasn’t worried about my legs and lungs, but other parts of the body—indeed my shoulders, pectoral muscles and elbows felt it the most. I drove my car to White Haven, then rode my bike toward my companions until I met them, turned around and rode with the pack until we arrived in White Haven for lunch.

What a lunch it was; 14 oz. hamburgers at a well-known greasy spoon diner. When we men are together, we tend to eat foods not allowed on our home table; at least not three times a day! One companion quipped, “that was a three-Lipitor breakfast.” He could have added, and lunch and dinner. But we had to load up for the upcoming bike ride.

14 Oz. Hamburger

The weather was perfect for the ride; cool enough to ride in comfort without sweating much, and warm enough not to freeze the extremities. The sunlight filtered through the remaining leaves on the trees, and I rode in and out of shadows depending on the location of the ridges skirting the Lehigh River. The leaves were a bit past their prime, but there were still some brilliant reds and yellows to delight the eyes from time to time.

The trail

Riding in a pack is lots of fun with conversation and jockeying for position. It also helps the length of the ride to seem shorter. However, on this occasion, I was glad to be riding alone. I took in every sensation: the sounds of the river, the water falls passing over rocks, the wind rustling the leaves of the trees making various whistling sounds, the pounding of my heart and the sharp sensation of my lungs filling with cold air. I was at one with nature. I was at peace with the universe. I experienced the presence of God.

My two-day experience was a wonderful break from my normal routines. I experienced community through male bonding; I experienced a rare oneness with nature; I happily abandoned some of the strictures of my normal rhythm and rule. I experienced mellowness of heart; a topic about which I am writing a book and that I do not enjoy often enough. Oh, and I didn’t check my email for 36 hours.

As wonderful as the time away from my regular routine was, it was only good because it wasn’t normal. We need such breaks to keep us healthy both physically and spiritually, but we also need to find ways to have small retreats and breaks every day during our more regular routines. That’s the challenge of developing a healthy lifestyle—and a mellow heart. 

A waterfall behind me

God: Almighty or All-loving?

Recent reading for an upper-level Spanish class, the author contrasted an all-loving God with an almighty one. I did a straw poll of my 14 students on which best describes their perception of God. Thirteen responded with all-loving, while only one said almighty.

What a contrast from the perception of God with which I grew up, and I suspect many of my contemporaries. Fueled by an authoritarian father and a strict church discipline, I imagined an almighty God sitting on his throne watching my every move. Any misstep and he would zap me, if not immediately, surely at the final judgment. The resulting guilt was exploited by regular revival meetings leading me down the sawdust trail many times as a pre-teen and a teenager.

Henri Nouwen grew up in a similar environment (without the revivals) and openly wrote about his search for acceptance and love from God. Over and over again in his writings and sermons he repeats the mantra, “You are beloved of God.” His books have sold millions. After the Bible, both Protestant and Catholic pastors consult Nouwen above any other writer. Apparently Nouwen’s message has gotten through to this generation of students.

How did this happen? When I was growing up, I never heard the words “I love you” from my parents. Even though many of their actions showed me their love, it was never stated. In bringing up our children, my generation went the other way. I love you here, I love you there, and I love you everywhere. In fact I heard the story of a young adult child who said to their parent, “Ok, I know you love me, but you say it so often that it doesn’t mean anything anymore.”  

Have all-loving parents turned our perception of God into an all-loving one? Does this explain the “anything goes” attitude so prevalent in our society even among Christians? God loves me, like the Prodigal son, so no matter what I do, God will still love me. This is a subject for another time.

One could ask whether Nouwen’s books will have as much appeal to this generation as they did to mine. Interestingly, I think they will. Not only did Nouwen write about his struggle with feeling loved, he also wrote about feeling inadequate in spite of having taught at Harvard, Yale and Notre Dame and being a highly successful writer.

While this generation has heard the message of all-encompassing love from their parents and perceive an all-loving God, their society tells them that they are inadequate. Through advertising, they are told that they are not pretty enough, they are not talented enough, they are not athletic enough, they need the latest in every new form of technology, and that they are not successful enough in their careers. Social media shows them how everyone else in the world is doing so well while I am wallowing in self pity. They are forced to compare themselves constantly with their peers. So I think Nouwen’s books will speak to this generation as well.

However, the question stills remains, is God almighty or all-loving? I think God is both. We need a sense of a being beyond ourselves that has not only created the universe, but has also set up universal laws that when disobeyed cause problems. Within these immutable laws, there is a sense of right and wrong. God is just. On the other hand, God is all-loving. God extends unlimited grace if we acknowledge our need of it. God is both almighty and all-loving. God is both just and merciful.

What is your perception of God on the almighty to all-loving continuum?