Choice

Everyday begins with a choice. Get up or sleep in. That choice leads to another and another and another until the last choice of the day- go to sleep or stay up a while longer.

Choice characterizes our existence, but how free to choose are we? I mean, if God is mapping out our destiny, do we really have free will?

Where the Destiny view of things gives us comfort that God is in control, it lacks the idea that we do things out of love or concern, rather than being forced. I mean, I really don't think God wants us to love Him because we have to. If that were the case, there would be no sin, but there would also be no benevolence.

So, looking at choice, we see that we are free. Free to choose what we do, when we do it, and how we do it. We sit in the driver seat. I do as God says because I love Him, and I choose to give Him my devotion.

Do you choose to love your spouse or significant other- or is it out of obligation? Sometimes the obligation part might seem the way it is, but people have a choice of who they love- at least in most cultures.

The problem with this view is just how much choice do we have? Can we, through our choices, overthrow the will of God? The scary thought that then comes on the heels of that question is- are we more powerful than God?

Choice is no doubt one of the most powerful forces known to man. Choices can effect an individual or an entire planet. Jesus chose to accept His call to cross- but He did ask the Father if there was any other way. I believe it was possible for Jesus to choose to run. To escape that terrible death. But He chose to stay and face it. If He couldn't have chosen to avoid the cross- there was no sacrifice, it was just a thing that had to be done. But He agonized that night in the Garden, we sweat blood. He knew the decision He made would change the world. Accept or Reject God's will.

That's where now find ourselves daily.

"Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!"

The immortal words of John Locke, yelled at a Walkabout guide as the man walked toward a waiting bus. Locke is left sitting in his wheelchair, denied his "destiny." See, Locke believed his purpose, the greater plan of his life, was to go on Walkabout. No one else could see it happening, since he was, you know, paralyzed.

I think believing in destiny (or the more religious sounding 'predestination') takes equal parts faith and stubborness. You have to believe deeply in it, and you can't ever let doubt tear it down. In the irony of ironies- Destiny is a choice.

Locke chose to believe the unbelievable was his destiny. And, he got it, by way of crash landing on a mystical island that gave him back his legs. Which brings the question- did Locke have the right destiny in mind- a Walkabout- but just had the wrong island destination?

If we as Christians beleive in destiny as designed by God, how often do we get the broad strokes of what our destiny is right, while landing in the wrong destination? Is getting it wrong a few times part of that destiny, so we appreciate it all the more when we reach it? Of course, that supposes that our destiny we're pursuing is the end all be all of our existence.

How does God know and plan our our lives? Does He see all possible choices we make, and therefore know what all possible outcomes are? That doesn't really seem like God is all that in control to me. We are dictating His response.

Does God actively guide our lives, ever steering us toward His plan? If so, what about God's talk of freedom? Where is that? This idea makes it seem we have no choice whether or not to love God- we are simply automatons following, without conviction or devotion, our orders.

The irony of "Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!" is that John Locke was choosing which destiny to believe. Had something told him what his destiny was, or was he just choosing a destiny that would make him feel whole? If our destiny was to be trapped in a wheelchair, or a bad job, or in a boring day-to-day, wouldn't we want a destiny that called out "You are more than this!"

That's really the hope of believing in destiny- that we are more than this current state. That there is a great calling on our lives. Just the other day, my friend Jeff posted this on Facebook: "If we are not shooting for the ideal, we are settling for mediocrity." Belief in destiny is our crying out, in the midst of mediocrity, for the ideal. To believe in destiny is to believe that there is a greater option out there.

To believe in destiny is to believe in the possibility of a better you.

Smokey

I walked into a Barbecue place today, and the smell of 60 plus years of smoke hit me like a wall. It was a pleasing, mesquite tinged smell, but overpowering, as if the smoke had managed to embed itself in the panel lined walls and refused to move. It was choking me.

I managed to escape this smoky locale, but many of the castaways from flight 815 never escaped the clutches of Smokey, aka The Monster. He too seemed to be ingrained in the fabric of the island, he too had a (literal) choking effect on those he encountered. But he was also sentient. No amount of time was going to allow the smoke in the BBQ place to suddenly become self aware.

Smokey pursued people, he watched them, he unraveled the mystery of who they were. Some he let go, others he crushed the life from them. But make no mistake, everyone was playing by his rules.

As the series developed, so did the Monster. He began to offer promises, make deals with, and basically tempt people. He would appear in a pleasing form, a form that would put his target at ease. But it was not for the benefit of the target- it was only for Smokey.

We have smokeys in our world as well. They draw us off the path with the promise of adventure or shortcut, they pull us into situations that are in fact not for our best. They themselves have more in common with the BBQ joints smoke that the Smokey of the Island. They are neither benevolent or malevolent, they just draw us in with their pleasing aroma then choke the life out of us.

But behind these temptations, we have the living Smokey. AKA Lucifer. AKA Beelzebub. AKA Satan. He uses these baits to lure us in. He appears to be that which we desire the most- money, fame, power, sex, religion. He watches us for our weakness, plans counters to our strengths, sets a trap. He is, as 1 Peter tells us, a roaring lion stalking us like prey.

Smokey, and for us, Satan, is the ultimate Other. While the other Others are human, Smkoey/Satan is not. We don't really understand him, we are afraid of him, and truthfully, we would rather dismiss him as a fairy tale, a bogey man designed by the Church to keep us honest.

That's the disservice, the smoke-screen, if you will, that Satan has allowed us to put up. The world may put up with us believing in an unseen God, but the Devil? Please, that's ludicrous. Because if there is a devil, then there is real evil. If there is real evil, man can commit it, and that make us uncomfortable. I've heard people say that those who beleive in demons and possession are not in their right mind, or that they are morons. Why is it so hard to believe that there is an evil supernatural force in this world?

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." was made popular in the Usual Suspects and was a paraphrase from a poem by Baudelaire (do I get artsy points for that?). It is being lived out today. To deny that Satan exists and is actively seeking the destruction of what God calls good is to hand him victory. Conversely, to see Satan hiding behind every misdeed is to reject personal responsibility. There must be an acknowledgemnet that we have an enemy, but also a realization that that enemy is sometimes ourselves. The Losties did just as much or more damage to each other than Smokey did, even when Smokey had not interfered. Sometimes we are just jerks.

I beleive that there is a war in spiritual realms unseen. I believe there is a war over the souls of those uncommitted to God, and a war over the souls of those committed to God as well. We need not live in fear of our Smokey- we can't. That lets him win as well. Instead we must live in the shadow of God- fancy church talk for trusting in God to see us through. We will be attacked by Satan- we will be tested by him. When this happens, we must let our response come not from us, but from God. When Jesus was tempted by Satan, he quoted scripture. We need to know what the Book says. We need to pray when we feel tempted. We need to band together in prayer, and worship.

And we need to be aware that the noises coming from jungle of our life are not to be trifled with.

The Others

From the first time Crazy French Lady Rousseau eerily called them "The Others" we knew they were bad news. And as soon as saw Ethan kick Jack's butt, it was confirmed: The Others were not to be trifled with. Then they took Walt and it got worse. Lost had created the latest entry in the time honored tradition of a story about 'us vs them.'

Their very name, 'The Others,' spoke to just why they were bad news. They were not like the castaways we were used to. They dressed different, behaved differently- there was something almost ghost-like in their sudden appearences. The fact that they were not like 'us' made them the enemy.

You and I have our own Others. They may be Muslim or Hindi, black or white, educated or not, rich or poor, popular or geek. Others simply are that- other than us. And in the narrative of our life, it's often easier to simply label the Others as the bad guys. Their ways are, after all, contrary to our ways. They don't look or dress like us. They don't think like us. And since we can't be the villain in our own story, they must be.

Lost did something else great. The more we got to see of the Others, the less we were able to simply dismiss them as typical bad guys. Their motivations- murky as they were- seem to come from genuine concern about being 'the good guys.' Sure, there were bad apples- revenge driven widowers, Machiavellian plotters, cold-blooded killers- but given a simple twist of fate, our castaways could have been them. Heck, our castaways were torturers, killers and con men. And they were the 'good guys?'

Do our real life Others have to be the bad guy? Does the fact that they are not Christians make them evil? It would be easy to say that if you are not with me, you are against me and therefore evil. But it would not be right. Nor would it be Christian. Christianity is not about being right. It is about being like Christ, living for Him as we imitate Him. And what did Christ say about the Others in His life- the ones actively killing Him on the Cross? "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Is it wrong to reject God? Absolutely. And as hard as it is to admit- that alone makes one deserving of Hell, no matter how much philanthropy and good work one does. But how can people not following Christ be expected to abide by the rules of a King they do not know or whose authority they do not recognize? Who will show them? It won't be us if we view them as an enemy, rather than as a fellow human struggling along a road to redemption and life.

I believe most people on earth are searching for validation- that their life ahs meaning. Some find it in Christianity or Islam, others in science or art, still others in various forms of relationship. In this, none of us are Others. All of us are in pursuit of meaning. If we believe that Christ is the validation- the redemption- of our lives, should we not desire to appeal to the 'Others' in love and respect instead of judgment and from a position of moral rightness?

It is not my job or yours to convert someone to a way of thinking, especially when it comes to faith in Christ. When we argue a person into submission for Christ, we are saying we don't really trust in the working grace of God to speak into that person's life. This does not negate apologetics, or give us liscense to say "Well, if God wants them, he can talk to them." Our role is to be present in the person's life, be available for the Spirit to use us as He sees fit. There will be times where we have to defend why we believe what we do- we must be ready and compassionate.

The thing about Lost is that it allowed us chance to see a story as told from the persepective of the Others- and it turns out that they, like the real life Others we know of- were not so other after all.

Sci-Faith

I had never seen anything like it. A television show that took faith as seriously as it took it science. Lost would make arguments- sane arguments, I might add- for being deeply devoted to the spiritual. In an episode that took just as serious a look at quantum physics. For Lost, it seemed science and faith need not be at war- the Island was big enough for the both of them. In fact, the Island NEEDED both of them.

That's part of what makes the dynamic of Man of Science vs Man of Faith so intriguing. Jack was all science and saw no need for faith, Locke was all faith and saw no need for science. The Island was telling them both to open their minds.

Faith and science can and do co-exist here in the real world as well. I know of numerous individuals in the medical field who are deeply devoted to their faith. I know pastors who love to talk about biology or astrology. Yet there seems to come a line that never gets crossed between the two fields.

Usually, that line is evolution or creationism. Faith refuses to beleive we came from lesser organisms and science refuses to allow for a divine hand. Each side taunts that the other is making childishly ridiculous assertions while desperately trying to prove that their belief is fact.

Personally, I don't think we evolved as Darwin had it pegged. More of a (documented) adaptation as man was longer on the earth. I don't doubt that man looked different in the beginning than he does now. And I bet we'll look different in a few thousand years, as well. But our scientic adaptations- even evolutions- do not mean there is no God. God himself talks about an ultimate evolution- when we are made new in his presence at the end of all things. We will all be changed, that much is sure.

And what of healing? Jesus did it regularly. Now? Not so often do we see it. And when we do, it is easily ascribed to medical advances, not God. I see medical advances as very much a way God heals us. Matter cannot be created or destroyed- that's scientific law- aka as close to fact as it gets in science. So all the stuff needed to make the cure for polio was here before we found it. And if you beleive that God made all of man, that includes his creativity and desire for knowledge that led us to find cures. Sure, it would be whole lot cooler, not to mention less politicized, if we could just touch a sick person and make them well, but God has still given us the chance to see the miracle of healing through modern science.

Lost did something cool. It created a genre of entertainment I like to call Sci-faith. Part Science Fiction, part redemptive faith drama. Imagine a world where large stores of electromagnetism existed side by side with mysterious dieties with a mission.

Wait- that's OUR world, too, isn't it?

Man of Faith

Unlike Jack, an open book from scene 1, John Locke is a mystery. He seems at times quiet and reserved, others he is boisterous. He seems a simple middle-aged man until he pulls out his knives. He seems to be a commando/rugged outdoorsman until- well, you get the picture. What John clearly is, even if his motives are not clear, is a man of faith. He believes in something. Something happened to him on the island, and he jumped at the chance to believe and have hope.

Locke believes in what is really incomprehensible. He talks about the island like it were a person- a person he really wanted to be friends with. A person he would sacrifice himself and others for. A person, Locke beleived, was benevolent. And honestly, his faith seems rewarded. He can tell when it is going to rain, he is able to find food when needed. But really- Locke has purpose and a seeming certainty of his path.

But then, he doesn't.

Unlike people of science, people of faith are given to fits of doubt. They wonder if they really are right, is this really the way to go? When you live a life that doesn't always get answers, it's tough to not fall away from time to time. To wonder if it really is real.

Locke finds himself doubting himself at one point, and he questions the island. The island seems to respond by turning on a light in the mysterious hatch Locke is working around. He takes a leap of faith and is renewed. He interprets an a event as a sign. Just like we do. A song, a quote, a picture, a story, a random thought- all of these and more can set us on a path, a vision quest of sorts. If we choose to believe that we are being spoken to.

A lot of people, especially people of science, have a tough time with this concept of hearing God. Is it an audible voice? How do you know it's not just your thoughts? What if you're wrong and it is not a sign?

These are the dangers of faith. So it is, when Jack asks Locke why it is so easy for him to believe, Locke responds forcefully- "It's never been easy!" Living as a person of science isn't easy either, but living as a person of faith is not easy. We serve an unseen God who demands more of us than we can give, and He rarely demands it in a straightforward-road map kind of way. Faith is as dangerous as spinal surgery- but we are not trained for years in the specialty of it. We are all amateurs, all just stuggling to figure it out.

Sometimes we believe in the wrong things- we place our faith in the wrong person or thing, we step out to do what we think is God's calling only to find that it wasn't. Faith can be watered down, and decieved. People of faith can be too trusting, too easily taken in- they can be suckers. This is why faith is dangerous, and faith should never be simply an ideal we hold in regard, but never test.

See, thats the deal. Faith must be tested and tried. There comes a point where faith must be experimented with- not unlike a scientific theory. I know of people who have an inherited faith- they believe what they grew up being told to believe. It is a form of faith, but is a faith that will not stand the test of adversity. Faith that comes from personal exploration, personal experience, this faith will waiver and stumble, but it will possess the connection to God to enable us to rise. Real faith admits it does not know it all. Real faith leans on the one who does know it all, and trusts that He will lead us on.

Man of Science

From the moment his eye opens on the island, Jack Shepard is the quintessential Man of Science. He rushes to and from the fuselage littered beach administering medical aid to people, being aware of the physics of disintegrating plane wings, and choosing "basic black" for his color of stitches, foregoing all the frilly fancy types of thread.

Jack believes in what he can see, what he can learn, and what he can fix. He has a method, he has a plan. He doesn't have time for questions about things he can't answer, like what that giant thing in the forest is all about, or why he keeps seeing his dead father. He needs to find water. He needs to heal the sick. He needs to get everyone rescued, and in the mean time, he needs to keep everyone alive.

People of science are direct. They are often planners, detail people. They often grow frustrated with abstract thinkers because they dream and dream, but not in a way that can be tested. Science people love to test, because testing proves things. It gets them answers. And answers are what we want, right?

Jack has a problem with John Locke, because Locke doesn't need answers- he just acts on faith. To Jack, this is dangerous to everyone. And Jack has seen the proof- one castaway dies in Locke's pursuit of vision. Jack knows this kind of faith can be deadly because he has seen the proof when Boone dies on his makeshift operating table.

There are a lot of science minded folks that view faith as dangerous in the real world, too. They think faith makes people less inclined to see a doctor when needed. They think faith makes people take foolish risks. They think faith stirs up wars and arguments. And they are often right.

But they are also wrong. And a bit hypocritical. Men of science do in fact have faith- just not in the spiritual sense (this is a generalization- in upcoming posts we'll talk about the ability to be both a person of science and of faith). They have faith they can figure things out, faith that their pursuit is the right pursuit, faith that their method works. They have faith in science. But they view their faith as safe because it can be tested- unlike faith in some unseen deity.

If you are a person of science, it's possible that spiritual faith is harder for you to come by. You need verification, you need to see it, feel it, touch it. You are not unlike Thomas who refused to believe the risen Christ until he could touch his nail scarred hands. And really, in this day and age, desiring verification is a good thing. There are some people who will try to deceive you, even people claiming to be of faith, so they can get your money- or you. We should be discerning, we should be wise and almost scientific in our examination of people and ideologies.

But there comes a point with God where proof is not now, nor will it ever be, provided. The answer so desperately sought does not come. What do you, oh Person of Science do then? Do you right God off as unverifiable? Or, do you do the unthinkable- do you trust the unseen, become sure of what we hope for?

Live Together, Die Alone

I've got to admit, I'm a little excited. For the next few weeks, The Gate is going through a series about finding our way, using LOST as a backdrop. So, I'm excited because I have a chance to spout off on the show, and relive some of my favorite moments. Oh, yeah, and talk about the spiritual and philosphical blah, blah, blah.

(Seriously though, if you have never seen an episode, that's OK, I promise there will be something of value to you for the next few weeks. At least, something with a value similar to what you normally get here.)

Early in the first season, the castaways were still getting used to their new lives crash landed on the island. They came from very diverse backgrounds- an Iraqi Muslim, an addicted British Rock Star, a black New Yorker and the son he barely knew, a Korean couple- the husband in the mafia, rich white step siblings, a Hispanic lotto winner with bad luck, a southern con man, a Midwestern fugitive, a mysterous bald knife wielder and a surgeon with a fix-it complex. In the midst of creating their new society, there are hiccups. Culture clashes based on prejudices and percieved slights. Oh, and out and out theft, torture and beatings- just like real life, right?

In the midst of this, water runs out. Jack, the surgeon, runs off to find water and, well, his dead father that he seems to be noticing on the island. He returns to find a camp in turmoil, fighting amongst themselves, ready to lynch Boone, the rich white guy. Jack gives a famous speech about how they all got a fresh start, and how they had to learn to work with each other, to contribute to their new society. To "Live together, or die alone."

At the time, Jack meant physical "Live together, or die alone." They needed food and water and shelter, and they needed each other to do it. This theme returns often in the show as new obstacles pop up- like Others, Smoke Monsters, Freighter People, etc. It also returns in the way they come to need each other on a more personal, a more intimate level. They need people that will see them as they are, not for the show they put. They need people to fight for them, when they won't fight for themselves. Slowly, these totally different people begin to love each other.

Imagine we landed on an island. Well, really, just imagine your life. Most of us left High School and went to work or college or the military, and found ourselves surrounded by different people, new situations, and scary but promising opportunities. Some of the people we initially couldn't stand in our new 'island' lives eventually become dear friends. We changed, because we had a fresh start. These new people became the most important people to us, and we wondered how we ever got by without them.

I hope you have friends like these. They will call you on your phoniness. They will shout with joy with you, and shed their tears with you. They will pray for you, fighting spiritually and physically for you. They will sacrifice of themselves to see you survive and even thrive.

See, even loners need others. I like alone time. A lot. But if I don't spend time with people, let them in and involve myself with them, I lose my humanity, my compassion. I lose sight of the fact that I am still on this earth for the purpose of loving and serving others. The biggest loners on the island eventually become intrinsic parts of the island life- they found a way to contribute.

What about us? Do we contribute to our "island?" Do we pray for each other as we should? Do we really listen to each other? Do we defend each other's honor? We cannot live, truly live, without others. We will shrivel up, withdrawing into ourselves until there is but a shell of who we are meant to be. We will never be who God meant us to be until we let others into our life to refine us, to help us mature and become. And our friends need us to be that for them.

It is our moment to "Live together, or die alone."

Spiritual Amnesia

I really think my memory is going bad. I can't tell you how many times I walk into a room and instantly freak out because I can't remember why I walked in there in the first place. Twenty minutes later, in front of the TV, I freak out my wife when I blurt out, "Notebook!" having finally recalled the reason for my quest.

I often find myself plagued by this. Whatever it was that was so vitally important that I seek it out right then is now gone. It hangs there like a cloud, a dark spot in my conscious thoughts that will not let me rest until light is shed upon it. Or I give up and let it go.

Forgetting a notebook or a spoon or the remote is one thing, but what about forgetting the important things? Things like our love for others, or our faith, or even our devotion to God. I have so often heard a waking truth, revolutionary and life altering, that seems to fade as time goes by. I settle into a rut again and life goes on. Too often, the memory fades before I've had a chance to apply it.

James 1: 22-25
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 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.

How many people do this every week? They here the word at church and think that is good enough. Like a person (read: me) who is told by a doctor that they need to eat less salt then goes and gets a burger and large fries, we go out from church feeling better that we know something, but we don't apply it.

I know stuff. I know a lot of unimportant trivia, biblical and pop-cultural. Doesn't make me a better Christian or qualified to be on VH-1's "I Love the ____" (Apparently, I must be a sub-par failed musician or comedian to get that gig.) I think maybe that is our problem with this verse. We memorize scripture or learn the names of all twelve tribes of Israel and we think that makes us better, more holy. But our lives show no signs of change or growth. We have deceived ourselves into thinking we good because we know. And knowledge is power, right?

So if we know facts, why don't we apply them? Is it too much work, or do we jsut not get it? None of us are immune to this Spiritual Amnesia, even the most faithful have their lapses and failures. Maybe it is that we know too much.

"Knowledge puffs up." We may have grown a bit conceited in this Age of Information because we do know a lot of things about a lot of things. We like being able to throw out little facts and correct our friends when they have made an error. But does any of this newly acquired knowledge really help us? What does help us?

We must not forget the "perfect law" that we have such great opportunity to look into. We must do it. Knowing stuff is useless if it is not used to better our fellow man and ourselves. I'd rather forget all the great details that I know, if it meant I could better live out the things that truly matter. I'd rather be considered a simpleton if it meant I could be more compassionate, more giving, more humble, and more selfless.

See, the difference between us and Christ is not that He knew more than us, it is that He knew to do more than us with that knowledge.