Lack is not having enough of something. Lack is falling short of something. We experience lack when we fall short of actual or perceived tangible and intangible resources we need for living: spiritually, financially, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually, experientially. Lack affects our joy and is experienced in the form emptiness, doubt, uncertainty, anxiety, worry, fear, perplexity. And these are emotions and feelings that we are always running away from, and are naturally inclined to seek abundance, sufficiency, growth, comfort, and productivity—the absence of lack. But what do we do when we experience lack, when we experience emptiness and doubt, when we fall short of our goals in our pursuit of spiritual, personal, relational, emotional, professional excellence? After all, lack is the natural familiar state of all humanity, for Christian and non-Christians alike. There is bad and good news for you Christian.
I was reflecting on what it must be like to be a fully intelligent, free-willing being in a place other than earth, let's say heaven for example. In my reflection, I first pondered on the purpose of humanity and the meaning of existence. I realized that in life, we are preoccupied with items and cares, which on one hand define our living—for these items we live for (e.g. family, health, education, religion, charity, etc.). On the other hand, these very items, some more than others, consume our being until the day we are rendered fully inconsumable in death and are emptied of life (i.e. physical, emotional, temporal). For a lifetime, however long that might be, we toil in the establishments and maintenance of romantic and familial relationships, personal health and well-being, intellectual and career pursuits, religious activities, charity towards our fellow humans and society, and many more. In one sense, we spend our humanity in these life items and activities— placing our affections, hopes, and energies in these activities more than we would like to admit. In the other sense, and ironically, we are spent by these very items as they draw out all of our affections, hopes, and energies. I will come back to that point later. But before I do, I will mention one important point. If we lived in a perfect world, we would find the pursuit of those life actives and the results thereof to be perfectly satisfying and perhaps less painful, less disappointing, easier to achieve, requiring less of our energy, and delivering more of the happiness we hoped for. We are continually disappointed, in some life activities more than others.
God, I just came out of an experience that I can’t explain. Where sin took me, it is so deep for my words to not suffice. Where your grace has lifted me, it is too high for my intellect to comprehend and joy to express. I have experienced your grace and mercy as you have lifted me to the heavens from the pits of hell, accompanied with supernatural peace and holy spirit given strength. This grace that I often acclaim in the songs of public assembly yet having little private and personal meaning has nonetheless come to reach me in the valley of the shadow of sin’s death. My soul was parched, I thirsted in the desert. Now as I have come to reflect upon this, I am reminded of the time Christ was led in this same desert. However, out of the desert, through perfect obedience and holiness to the life-giving and guiding Word, He came. How inverse this is to my desert experience. Like Peter sinking in the storm waters, I was almost scorched to my death with the desert drought. Instead of coming out of the desert as Christ did, I let my soul believe empty promises of joy in this desert. Unlike Christ, I disobeyed the holy life-giving and guiding Word. On the desert floor, I lay dreaming of the land that I once inhabited, overflowing with rivers of waters that bring and sustain life. There, my thirst was quenched, my soul filled, my every desire met. O Great God, how you came to my rescue as you couldn’t rejoice in my death. As I feasted on this desert sand, you brought forth a brook to my heart’s desperation and you quenched me with the oasis of your grace, even in the desert. As I gained strength to walk, You then led me out of the desert, unto the land overflowing with the river of life, that quenches my deepest thirst and washes me clean. O Great God, how immaculate is your promise of salvation and the means to this salvation—through you, and you alone. And through you, do I find the desire and strength to love you and to offer my whole being as a sacrifice of thanks for your saving grace. My soul thirst no more, and drink to your filling for this river's source is God Himself, and never runs dry.
We entertain and investigate the possibility that there is life outside of earth and invest billions into this scientific pursuit, but yet scoff at the idea that there is life after death, and that God is the author of life, and has the ability to create life within any dimension or environment and define the biological, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, experiential qualities of that life. I believe that the question of whether there is life outside of earth only points to a greater question of whether life can exist beyond our humanity.
Thank you God for you. Thank you for your love. Thank you for providing for me. Thank you for being with me at such a stressful time in life, work, school. Thank you for forgiving me of my big and small sins and that no burdens have to be on my back. You know I would break, I would fail. But you saw my need before I could even tell you about them. Thank you for the supernatural knowledge, wisdom, and skill I am experiencing with my work. Thank you for this path. Thank you for this year that I cannot even begin to explain. God, take over next year. In my weakness I will boast from now so that your strength maybe made known to me, and to the whole world. You are real, and I love you.
I will be writing a post on this in the next few months. Here are the thoughts that inspired this (as I was taking a shower).
Is it a coincidence that the first sin happened to be in the first human love story?What can we learn from this? What led to this downfall? What does this say about the state of romance, love, marriage, and sex today?
I was recently engaged in a conversation with a colleague regarding race, specifically on the importance of the race of Jesus. The conversation is posted below. His argument, in summary, is that the skin tone of Jesus is of great importance in knowing "the truth". In other words, Jesus was Black or descended from blacks (which I am not interested in arguing), and that knowing this is TRUTH and it will set you free (which I am arguing). You’ve got to be kidding me. I had no plans of sharing the conversation, but I decided to just because it really infuriates me. It is so sad. This points to a greater human problem of drawing boundaries between itself based on trivial human matters like race, and other physical, economical, and ideological characteristics—the same boundaries that the theologically, spiritually, and historically true Christ came to erase. The only boundary Christ upheld was that one which divided evil from good. Historically, Jesus was one of the first, if not the major, influential people to stir controversy by going against societal and cultural norms in views regarding race, nationality, gender, economic class, religious class. And he was HATED and killed for that by Pharisees, who were the intellectuals and the religious Ph.Ds of the time.
I am realizing that in life you have to be confident in order to take risks and make the right and hard decisions that come with living. Either find that confidence in God (which I strongly recommend) or find that confidence somewhere, based on personal convictions and knowledge. People will give you very much needed and sometimes unsolicited and not-so-needed advice. Some of these people do love you and have your best interest at heart. But always know that advice given is subjective and greatly dependent upon a number of subjective human experiences, characteristics, and viewpoints. Only God is omniscient (all-knowing) and has the ability to advise with no bias, or at least with a bias toward his ultimate will (Himself) which is always for our own and other’s greater good. If you want to be lost and confused in life, be a consistent people follower or pleaser.