Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

A crisp evening hints at forthcoming cooler weather. The wind breaks across the water and through the trees with gentle whispers that chill the skin and remind that seasons are changing. A perfect night for camping. Originally, the evening was going to be spent paddling down river with Bluevern and Clairence80 to camp along a set of magnificent limestone cliffs on the Tennessee Wildlife Preserve. Clairence80's weak immune system gave out on us though (just kidding, CB. Hope you're feeling better.), thus a needed and completely off-the-top-of-my-head update commences.

I just returned home from Bible study. I left early. It was all too frustrating with numerous people debating/arguing over something. I'm not sure that any of them were actually talking about the same thing, which could explain why they were still debating when I left due to frustration. I hadn't intended to leave, just grab a breath of fresh air, but I guess the experience sort of capped a day of battling disappointments. And all I really wanted was a cup of coffee and some Dave Brubeck. (Imagine a deep, all-satisfying sigh here) Twice I've seen Brubeck play live, which is apparently quite an accomplishment, seeing as neither of my professionally-trained musician parents have seen the master of jazz piano. Mr. Brubeck is truly amazing...and the coffee's not half bad tonight either.

I've come to decide that most of our discontentment in life is due to the fact that we're always either looking ahead to an anticipated better time, behind to a past better time or at someone else as a measuring rod for where we should be in order to be happy. There. Case solved. Go about your Christian lives with a smile on your face now. Seriously, though. This was on my mind a lot through the last weekend.

As many others have already noted, Bryan's held its annual homecoming, and the event was actually a pleasant experience for me this year. I say that because usually it's anything but pleasant. I usually get stuck talking to people that I never really knew while I was at school and we go through the traditional question-answer session of "What do you do now?" and "Where do you live?" which, if translated literally, could read something like "Do you make as much or more money than me?" and "Should I be worried that you may have done better in life thus far than I?" Yes, I admit, I have a tendency to err toward the cynical, but there's a great deal of truth to the matter in spite of my Mr. Hydeish habits. It often seemed in the past that all those people really wanted from me was a vindication of where they were in life compared to where I was, and thus, the situation, when dealt with honestly, basically boiled down to money, marital status and whether or not you have a dog.

Yes, a dog. I was only joking years ago when I said that if you returned to Bryan after you graduated without either a wife/husband, a dog or both you were assumed a failure at the game of life. Yet, as I look back over the years, I see many dogs making appearances at Bryan's homecoming game. Who knew that a canine could make such a difference in a person's outlook. I guess they really are man's best friend! (Disclaimer: I love dogs, generally think they are way cooler than cats and would love to have one if my house had a fenced in yard or some land to roam about. There. You have no reason to fill my inbox with "dog-hater" emails.) I saw someone brought a little poodle-ish/lhasa-apsa-like white ball of fur that I'm sure was such a blessing to ride with for however many hours in the car. I must admit I'm a tad bit prejudice against small, yippy dogs that shed a lot, pee on themselves and still expect you to think their cute.

Happily, there was none of the above this year. Except the dog. The Lord really blessed me with incredible conversations with people I hadn't seen in a very long time, and the time at the Point House was refreshing. We should make a habit of it.

Transitioning into the spiritual....

Studying the book of James in our Sunday school class, we came upon the passage in chapter 1 that deals with looking in the mirror of Scripture and seeing how we line up with it's standard. The image was really fascinating to me for whatever reason, because I started thinking about what things we do measure our lives against instead of the Word. Certainly we all agree that we often look in the mirror and simply walk away, but I'm not sure that I had really ever delved into the issue of what I replace Scripture with.

When I thought about this and discussed it with other people it seemed that it always came back to holding someone else in higher esteem that God. This was especially eye-opening to me when I pondered hero-worship, which I think in the Christian realm can easily morph from mentoring relationships. I know it's not right to idolize John Cusack or Dave Brubeck, but I wonder if it's not equally detrimental to make my aim to reach a state of spiritual maturity that I see someone else having. Don't get me wrong; we need mentors to help pull us along and direct our paths. There are several people in my life that I earnestly respect and would do well to pattern my life after spiritually, but what happens when I try gage my spiritual life alongside an image of Dr. Masoner's spirituality or that of Rich Mullins or C.S. Lewis or Mother Teresa, etc? I don't think that can happen, and I wonder if that's not a common, deceptive setback in the lives of many Christians. (i.e.-Since I'm still having problems in this area of my life, and Joe Christian is seemingly cruising along in the same area, I must be a spiritual failure.)

So what do we do instead? Looking further in the passage, James continues, "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does."

And there you have it. James is so blunt, but he has no reason not to be. The truth is plain. Read your Bible, do what it says and you'll be happy. Sure Scripture convicts and reveals. It tears apart and bares all, it separates. But it will also refine and build something better, and one day perfect. I wonder how Christianity would be different if we lived this, truly measuring ourselves against nothing else but Christ and his Word.

Mr. Brubeck's concert is coming to a close, meaning I've been writing for around an hour, so maybe I should close too. Though obviously not with the same style.

Currently Playing Late Night Brubeck-Live From B By Dave Brubeck see related