To God be the Glory!

In an effort to get into the consistent habit of writing I have made a pact with a friend to post one blog a week. Granted it is supposed to be completed by 9:00 am Sunday morning, which, as you will notice was approximately 18 hours ago. But today finds Verbal Girl in a bit of a state; I have nothing to say. Alert the media. The earth must be spinning off its axis.

Why the uncharacteristic clam up? Depression mostly I guess; listless from dealing with a schedule dictated by chronic illness and apathy. My inability to motivate towards something healthy or useful (like spending time with my maker) finds me wasting another Saturday planted in front of the tv – eyes glazed over with a lackluster stare. I flat out hate days like this; knowing well the path to something fulfilling is just a choice or two away, but choosing instead to slide down the well-worn rut of defeat and subsequent self-loathing.

So, did something change? I am guessing, dear reader, you are hoping to see something other than several more paragraphs of the same blah, blah, blah. I’ll end the suspense - yes, it did. A friend came over tonight. A wonderful woman who has taught me more about humility and being authentic then she probably knows. So we talked. We talked about life for a couple of hours. And in that sharing with each other, we spent the evening gabbing about God and extoling his goodness. We examined his character and his tenderness. We shared stories about his love and the personal way he speaks to us. And you know what? Suddenly my weekend had a point. It was no longer fixated on poor me and my pitiful life; it was instead focused on light and life and blessings and mercy - and the wonderful joys of friendship.

Malachi 3:16: Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.

Here are some words from Sheryl Crow's I Shall Believe that seem particularly appropriate -

Open the door
And show me your face tonight
I know it's true
No one heals me like you
And you hold the key

Never again
would I turn away from you
I'm so heavy tonight
But your love is alright
And I do believe

That not everything is gonna be the way
You think it ought to be
It seems like every time I try to make it right
It all comes down on me
Please say honestly
You won't give up on me
And I shall believe
I shall believe

Packaging or Contents?

There's something I've noticed about living in America. We are obsessed with our appearance. I know this will not make CNN as new news, however, I have been struck recently with just how much of our energy is devoted to this pursuit (a preoccupation most of us will swear on a stack of catalogs we don't have).

We have closets full of clothes that we choose because they flatter our shape. We have “slimming” garments that pinch and bind so much that were we to put them on an animal we’d be brought up on charges by the ASPCA. We are fanatics about our hair and get it colored, styled, cut, straightened, curled, shellacked, etc. Travel ten feet and you can’t help but run headfirst into a day spa, where we get manicures and pedicures, facials, peels, injections and a host of things I don’t even understand. We wax, wage war on our cellulite, spend thousands of dollars on crèmes and potions, and hire gypsies to curse the day the little crows started roosting in the corners of our eyes. Even with my limited energy, rarely is the day I don’t get makeup on and comely attire pulled together before I go to work or to an event. Plastic surgery is at an all-time high; as is liposuction, fad dieting, and the list goes on and on. So engrossed are we in the packaging, it’s remarkable we don’t witness people regularly dining on cardboard ice cream containers or chewing on kit kat wrappers.

This post is not to condemn any of the things I’ve listed (well, plastic surgery, maybe). Wax and peel to your heart’s content. Apply crèmes until your skin resembles a baby’s touché. My point is this. We spend so much time preening and perfecting our outside; how much time is spent decorating and cultivating the inside?

I have some thoughts on the matter. (I know, that’s so unlike me, right?) We don’t want to give a sideways glance to our insides for several reasons, the most important being we don’t like what we see. Stop and look at your heart, what lies in there? When I look at mine – and am honest – I see all sorts of ugly little creatures; I see pettiness and jealousy, arrogance, self-righteousness, vanity, envy, anger, malicious intent and self-promotion – just to name a few. Whew that’s a mouthful. And I know I am not alone. All of us – again be honest with yourself – are prone to these qualities. Truthfully, there are millions of people more devoted to good causes than I am; organizations brimming with those dedicated to the good of others – and still, if you could inject them with truth serum, I’m sure they would proclaim the same bag of snapping turtles as me. Before you bellow, I am not promoting self-flagellation; simply taking truthful stock of what lies beneath. And so we go back to the surface; how much easier and less unsettling it is to overhaul the outside than the inner man. Slap another coat of shellac, put up new curtains; thicker ones so no one can see inside, least of all us.

Matthew 23:25-26 details what Jesus said about this very thing to the religious leaders of his day:

25Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

It just doesn’t get much clearer than that. Jesus is not impressed in the least with the outwardly show. He gets straight to it. How many of us cringe when we read this passage because we know our tendency is to do the same. I am wired no differently than a Pharisee. He goes on:

27Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Ouch!

So, the dilemma becomes, if all of us have this proclivity, what then is the anti-proclivity? I believe there is only one way to quiet the goblins of the dark side. The forgiveness and blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But there’s a catch (yeah, isn’t there always?) To take away the power of these pesky weaknesses, we must believe we are no longer condemned by them. That’s right – the catch is BELIEF! Romans 8:1 states, “1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus . . . .” What? That’s it? I don’t get it. Well, here is the Message version of verses 1 and 2 which I think help make it plain as day.

1-2With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

That’s what allows me to look inside and not turn away. I am accepted wholly by the one who died for me. I am free! Free to change, to examine, to atone and very importantly, to move on!

So the next time you find yourself obsessing about your appearance, see it as a red flag and ask yourself why. Go ahead, I double dog dare you! In the meantime, take a cue from the one that formed you.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV) But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

John 8:36 (NIV) So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:34-36 (The Message) Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.