Letters From the Field: Lenten Letter No. 5

Letters From the Field
Monday, March 10, 2008: Lenten Letter No. 5

What I Live For (Out of the Shadows, to the Eternal Light)

I once read a question: “And what do we live for if not to make life a little easier for others?”

As a follower of the Christian faith, I can’t think of a better goal for life.

Jesus often spoke of a coming Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom is described as a place of great peace, justice and beauty. That world will come into existence and be maintained because humankind will have become subject to the Mind of God (Isa. 11: 9).

As I have tried to explain earlier, we need not harbor a dread of God. Our Creator has but one overall goal in mind: that we should flourish in peace and security; He seeks our eternal well-being (Jer. 32: 40-41 and Rev. 22:2). If we work to create a circle of love between ourselves, our fellow human beings, and the God who means to do us good, we create an atmosphere of security and confidence. There is no longer any reason to fear our neighbors, for we see them as a “safe place” (Isa. 32: 1, 2).

“Let this mind be in you,” advises the apostle Paul. Why? Because the mindset that defined the character of Christ is the only way of thinking that will produce lasting peace, wholeness of mind, body and spirit (Philippians 2:5, then verse 4).

There are many in this world who believe world peace is impossible. Well, they are right! If people keep thinking the way they do and stay the way they are no peace will ever come to them.

As the saying goes, “No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.”

Jesus’ message, his Gospel, can be summed up this way: “Change your way of doing things. Change your way of thinking! The Kingdom of God is coming! All that is false, all that is destructive, will be swept away! Accept the Invitation! The Father who sent me is offering you an everlasting Transformation. We will bring you a clear teaching of real hope. We will prove this to all: Love works, now and forever. ‘The glory of the LORD (His transforming love) will be revealed. All the people will see it together. This promise is straight from the mouth of God Himself!’ (Isa. 40:5). The promise to Abraham will be fulfilled; his children, after the Spirit, will be a blessing to all the nations!”

Symbols are useful to most of us. They serve as little reminders of important ideas or principles. My personal symbol of the afore-mentioned hope is a royal blue ribbon with a six-pointed star attached to it. (I call it my “think the Kingdom way” ribbon.) It is a symbol that I am part of that “royal Priesthood” mentioned in Exodus 19:6 and 1Peter 2:9. Jesus, the living Word of the God of the Kingdom, is the star, the source of light and life to which I must look. Of course, I cannot put my trust in princes, presidents, or prelates. All too often, they are guided by another “star.”

I am convinced of this: if we truly devote ourselves to the principles of the Kingdom of God, we can overcome anything. By way of the Spirit (the very Mind and Life of God Himself), we will climb to unimagined heights. The seas will part before us and we will become the very People alluded to in my poem “We Only Dread Standing Still”

Brighter and brighter
Grows the Light of our understanding
Deeper and deeper
Reach the roots of our will

Into the fertile ground of Love.
Wider and wider
Spread our branches, laden
With the fruits of the Spirit
Over the fields where the hungry go a-gleaning.

The leaves of the trees of the LORD
Will heal the parched with their shade
Even the scorched peoples---
Who wilted in the dry winds of Sin---
Will no longer be confounded,
Will no longer be confused.

“Here are the People of the LORD!”
They will sing.
“Here are the People of our God!”
They will shout.
“Hosanna! Hosanna! The Messiah
---and His Anointed Ones---
Have come to us at last!
Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed are they who come
In the name of the LORD!”

The Kingdom and its King are coming. It is as sure as the rising of tomorrow’s sun, because the God who lives to do us good has determined it.

What else can I say to these things? Only this: immerse your mind in “Kingdom-think.” Give yourselves over to the Love, the Mind, of God. He is for us, who can be against us?

What do we live for? Why, to be the People of the Kingdom, of course! What else?

Peace to you all,

W. Arthur Herring, Jr.

Everything Is Waiting For You

Everything Is Waiting For You

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witnesses to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is signing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

~David Whyte~

Letters From the Field: Lenten Letter No.6

Letters From the Field
Monday, March 17, 2008: Lenten Letter No.6

Everything Is Waiting For You

So, now we approach the end of the period called Lent.

I have a question for you: Does “Lent” ever really end? In one sense, I hope not.

For the past six weeks, I have been trying to let go of the fear of revealing my inner self. At first, all I could think of as my “inner self” was that “old man” that Paul referred to in Ephesians 4:22. That is, that sinful nature that all of us have to battle.

However, I began to recall that God has begun to build a new nature in me. Instead of dwelling on guilt, sin, and death, I am reminding myself that I have been invited to partake of “the divine nature” (2Pet. 1:4). Now if this actually means what it says, there is nothing short of a complete transformation underway. God is actually in the process of making me into a literal Child of His! My distinct, unique personality is being changed and made pure for all eternity. I am being changed from flesh to spirit, from human to divine (Philippians 3:21 and 1Jn. 3:2)!

What bold claims! What an amazing promise!

With the promises, however, comes a great and shocking price: the transforming Work of God must, will, claim my life.

When I was a kid, the country singer Loretta Lynn sang a song: “Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die.
Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don’t wanna die!”

How true!

It has been written that Death is the “last enemy” (1Cor. 15:26). It goes without saying that most humans fear death more than anything else. Still, a person of true faith must face that enemy and pay that price---figuratively and literally. The supreme reward must cost the supreme sacrifice.

Abraham Lincoln said that the best way to conquer an enemy is to make him your friend. Seems a shocking if not bizarre notion doesn’t it, this business of making death a “friend” in order to overcome it. Somewhere in one of our hymnals (I haven’t the time to locate it at this writing.), this very idea is touchingly stated. It takes faith to accept the idea that death, instead of cutting us off from life, actually makes certain that we will receive it. The grave may put an end to pleasurable activity, but it also put an end to sin. Those who “die in the faith” have their character locked in. “Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints.” (Ps. 116: 15). We have to trust the Creator to raise us up.

How can I trust Him? When I look back on my life and count the many promises God has made and kept, I have all the evidence I need to prove He won’t leave me in the darkness of death and oblivion. I can go forward, paying the cost. I can be sure I will receive the promise. This is not blind faith; this is walking forward with my light-filled eyes wide open. “I know that my Redeemer liveth!”

Throughout history, we know of people who have died for what they believed in. Let me borrow a few words from “America the Beautiful”:

O beautiful for heroes proved/in liberating strife
Who more than self their country loved/and mercy
More than life…

Now if these brave souls died for countries that are fading, (The Kingdom we seek will replace all others and is eternal) can we not also “die daily” in hope, trusting our sacrifice is not in vain? Certainly, the above quote is an apt description of those who have devoted themselves to the Way that the Gospel promotes!

Throughout the teaching of Jesus, the concept of sacrifice---the giving up of comforts---is a recurring theme. As grievous as this may seem at first, the act of sacrifice should be seen as an exercise of great power: we have and are using an earth-shaking confidence; we know we will win! Each time we practice our faith we tell the world, and all “principalities and powers”, “We are sure we cannot be disappointed. WE TRUST IN THE PRINCIPLES WE PRACTICE. Therefore, we will not be stopped; your doubts and threats are useless.”

Each act of faith is a bold paying of the price. Each act of faith moves us closer to our goal. The more we let go of things which we thought would give us comfort, and cast off from familiar shores, the closer we come to the Light. The farther we go out to sea, the greater the warmth of the sun grows…

Once, when I was struggling with doubts about my self-worth, these words came to me:

Virtue and Victory comes to those who
Confess and conquer their weakness and fear.

Those who “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” have heard the call and accepted the Invitation. Drawing closer to Jesus, we learn more and more about what God and his love are all about there is less and less room for irrational fear in our lives.

I am glad I accepted the challenge of facing my fear. I have certainly come to a greater understanding and acceptance of the assertion “With God, all things are possible.”

Everything is waiting for you. (Romans 8:19.)

Peace to you all,
W. Arthur Herring, Jr.

P. S. I am sending a poem called “Everything Is Waiting For You”, by David Whyte. I think you’ll find it inspiring. Selah (Pause and think on this.)