Hearing the Music

Results filtered by “Andrew VanderMaas”

Presence

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As some of you heard, this past week we had to put down our faithful companion of 14 years, Daisy.  While the rational side of the brain knows that it was the right thing to do, for her and for our sanity, the reality is she is missed. Daisy was a great lookout at the window and greeter of guests. She loved to take walks, threaten local squirrels and stand proudly astride the bike cart as the wind whipped her ears back. But what I miss most is her presence. I can't tell you how many times in the last few days I have instinctively looked for her, moved my feet for her, thought I heard her, went to close the door so she wouldn't get out, etc ... only to realize she was no longer present.

The negative space, i.e. missing her presence, has highlighted for me a Presence that I may at times overlook, but will never go away. Listen to how David, a man who knew life on the run, put it: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7–10)". It will be many a morning until I forget what I am missing with Daisy gone, but I will let that loss remind me of the Presence I will never lose.

We are coming into the home stretch with the book of Hebrews. This week we finish out chapter 12 and take up the first 6 verses of chapter 13 (Hebrews 12:25-13:6). Here the preacher leverages the high theology he has been expounding into incredibly practical applications - be hospitable, care for prisoners, maintain a sexual ethic, and be content with what you have. It may be just me, but it seems pretty relevant for today!

Diminisher or Illuminator?

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Perhaps you know the story that is sometimes told of Jennie Jerome, who later became Winston Churchill’s mother. It’s said that when she was young, she dined with the British statesman William Gladstone and left thinking he was the cleverest person in England. Later she dined with Gladstone’s great rival, Benjamin Disraeli, and left that dinner thinking she was the cleverest person in England. It’s nice to be like Gladstone, but it’s better to be like Disraeli.

Such is the point made by David Brooks in his new book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. Brooks sees the world a little like this, "In every crowd there are Diminishers and there are Illuminators. Diminishers make people feel small and unseen. They see other people as things to be used, not as persons to be befriended. They stereotype and ignore. They are so involved with themselves that other people are just not on their radar screen. Illuminators, on the other hand, have a persistent curiosity about other people. They have been trained or have trained themselves in the craft of understanding others. They know what to look for and how to ask the right questions at the right time. They shine the brightness of their care on people and make them feel bigger, deeper, respected, lit up."

My guess is that your mind started rifling through people in your sphere and began to place people in categories. It is not that diminshers are necessarily bad people, but we certainly know when we have been in the presence of an illuminator, and it is sweet. Perhaps you next started to give yourself a personal inventory. Am I a diminisher or an illuminator? Is it that black and white? What about specific interactions that I have had recently? Did people walk away thinking about me, or did they leave feeling better about themselves?

It probably is not as black and white as dividing the world into diminshers and illuminators. It is probably more fair to say that some among us tend toward the diminishing side, while others trend toward illuminating. It is probably even more accurate to acknowledge that over the course of any given day we have a multitude of interactions, some in which we diminish our neighbor, and others in which our neighbor is illuminated. While that is a bit discouraging, it is also encouraging, because it means we are not stuck in a category, we can grow! Brooks puts it this way, " Being an Illuminator, seeing other people in all their fullness, doesn’t just happen. It’s a craft, a set of skills, a way of life. Other cultures have words for this way of being. The Koreans call it nunchi, the ability to be sensitive to other people’s moods and thoughts. The Germans (of course) have a word for it: herzensbildung, training one’s heart to see the full humanity in another." If you really want to dig into acting more like an illuminator, I would recommend Brooks book. But for today, maybe it is enough to pay attention to our interactions aware of the possibility of diminishing or illuminating.

Let me make one last connection. The basis for all illuminating is the Gospel. The Gospel is the truth that Jesus as the only begotten Son of God allowed himself the ultimate diminishment so that we, his adopted daughters and sons, could be fully illuminated. This is the message of the book of Hebrews that we have been studying. It is the message of our passage this week as we come to chapter 12:18-24. In these verses the preacher increases the wattage of Gospel truth, so that his congregation might radiate all the confidence, love, peace, and joy that being known by God offers. How do you illuminate in a world of Roman oppression? By focusing on the deepest truths of the Gospel. How do you illuminate in a world of political divisions, mental health crisis, and relational breakdowns? By focusing on the deepest truths of the Gospel.

 

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

 

Looking at You

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The story is told of a conversation between an 18th century priest and an elderly peasant. The priest was perplexed by the peasant who would sit alone for long hours in the quiet of the church. When the priest asked what he was doing, the old man simply replied, "I look at him. He looks at me, and we are happy."

There is a simplicity to the life of the peasant in the story that appeals to me. Perhaps because it feels as if it is a quality of life that is so foreign to where I am currently with a schedule filled with duties, obligations, meetings and events. Maybe it is the perceived quality in the relationship between the old man and his God that strikes a chord of longing in my own soul. Or greater still, perhaps it is the notion that as much as I could be happy beholding God, he could be happy beholding me?

Whatever it is that strikes a chord, I know there is a beauty here that accords with Scripture. We see it in Jesus inviting all who labor and are heavy laden, to come to him and find rest. (Matthew 11:28). We hear it in David speaking of his contentment in the Lord in terms of a child with his mother: "But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:2)". Most profoundly we experience this beauty in the testimony of God toward his people: "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17)." It is not hard to see where the peasant is coming from, "I look at him. He looks at me, and we are happy."

The peasant, the scriptures, David, Jesus, each of them inviting me further up and farther in. I know I am a long way from fully realizing a relational sweetness that I believe to be true, but I also know that this vision, this invitation, is just that, an invitation. It is not unmeetable condition that would bear me down and crush me. It is not a command that if obeyed is rewarded. But rather it is a light in the darkness, a cool drink on a hot day, a soft bed after hard labor. Holy Spirit, draw us all deeper! 

 

Photo by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash

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