Dusty or Not

One of my favorite books of all time, probably in my Top 3, is Thorleif Boman's "Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek." I use it almost like a devotional, reading parts here and there, finding different things in one reading that I never noticed before. He talks about the Hebrew tendency to attach a meaning or attribute to anything physical. "Flesh," "flowers," or "grass" is used to convey weakness, the transitory, or the temporary. The "sun" and the "moon" are signs of God's daily grace and mercy, while "gold" naturally conveys opulence. But the one that usually interests me the most is their use of "dust."

Dust carried with it a very related spectrum of ideas. To show extreme grief, they poured it on their heads. It was equated to death, Sheol, and the grave. When speaking to a superior, it seemed common to refer to oneself as no more than "dust and ashes" to communicate humility and smallness.

And man was created from "dust."

Prayer

I believe that some of us struggle with prayer.

There are a few things that can get in our way when it comes to having a great prayer life. It might be the expectations we have on the when to pray and what to pray about. We might be confused about the sort of “prerequisites” needed before we can pray (is my faith strong enough, was I good enough today, etc.). It might even be the doubts that can plague us; doubts like what if it doesn’t happen or what if it’s not in God’s plan.

But I believe the biggest hindrance can be us not understanding the purpose, or being confused by it.  The “why we pray” part. I mean, the outcome of a situation has already been determined for the most part, right? So what’s gonna happen is gonna happen. Time has been laid out, the plan has been made, so am I just praying so that my will aligns more with his? Am I praying for myself to be more accepting of his will and what he wants to do? And God already knows and supplies what we need, so what things am I asking for?

Frames and Foundations - 4.23.11 1145

Picture by Darren Robertson

Thirty has been on my mind for many years now.

I know mid-life crisis things happen to people normally around 40, but I've always felt 30 would be that point for me. Where am I at in life? What have I accomplished so far? Can I still accomplish some of the things I wanted to? Are there doors closing? Are there doors opening? Am I old?

Sometimes it feels like leaving my 20s means leaving behind fresh opportunities. Almost as if once you hit 30, that's it. Life is established. The road is set, the path taken. I'm fighting this mindset because I know it's not true, but it has settled pretty deep in my mind and I'm having a hard time rooting it out.

Have You Considered Job - 4.5.11 1110

Have you ever gone through the book of Job?

I’ve been reading it with some guys on (some) Monday nights, and not only has it sparked some lively discussion, but it has really gotten me to think about how old some biblical concepts are, specifically the concept of a Christ.

Job is allegedly one of the earliest written books of the bible. And while he is reputedly Semitic, he’s not an Israelite. So what we have with this book is an ancient perspective on God, as seen through the eyes of a non-Israelite, meaning we also have a nearly undeveloped image of God. Job does not have the Exodus event to draw on, or the Law to refer to. There is no Abrahamic covenant or promise of reconciliation through the seed of that covenant. All Job has is the raw, unrefined, basic understanding of God’s operation with humanity. If for nothing else, this book of poetry offers us a fascinating insight on, what is essentially, the old testament equivalent of a non-believer, and how this “Gentile” (for lack of a better word) sees God.

With a specific variable. Suffering.

Stations of the Cross

a friend of mine is promoting a daily devotion and meditation on his blog by inviting fellow writers to write about one scene of the passion week. this one is my contribution!

take the time to read the submissions. i know a few of these guys and they have some really awesome things to say.