Powers and Principalities are personified in some literature, My professor said that by personifying it, we make it distant. In some ways it divorces us from the responsibility for the evil that exists. For example when we say "the economy" is the problem we divorce responsibility from ourselves and our actions. When we say "Satan made me do it" we're shifting responsibility off of ourselves. It can become an excuse that separates us from the need to change our actions.
I'm not sure that this is always the case, sometimes it empowers us to act when we can stop feeling guilty for our actions and instead consider ourselves fighting a battle with sin. On the other hand I don't tend to personify sin so who knows. It was an interesting idea though.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Joy in the Vision
So unrelated to actually school inspired insights this one is still church related.
I've been thinking a lot recently about what actually makes me happy. I'm good at a fair number of things including school, but often those things which I still enjoy, somehow bring me more stress and anxiety than joy. I love the church, but working in them is very hard trench work sometimes. So what in the midst of all this pressure that I put on myself to succeed, brings me the joy and energy to keep working at the things that are hard but important?
Today I'm thinking that what brings me joy is visioning. Perhaps that is why Prophesy came up on my first gifts inventory. I love to vision and dream about where we're going and where we could be going. I also love to just contemplate the what ifs of faith. I don't make doctrine out of these, I just have some pretty cool ideas that bring me joy and energy.
Perhaps getting away from this tendency to dream has been part of my stress. Perhaps I need to think less about how to keep all this stuff in my head, and dream more about what if a ministry incorporated this idea? What if I learned through dreaming. As a child I had a rich internal imaginative life, perhaps this is a way to utilize that as a gift.
Last thought, John asked me how I could make this joy more than something for myself. Perhaps my joy could be to reinvigorate, inspire, give permission, equip, help etc. others to dream too. Perhaps I can help others not feel so alone when they dream if I'm walking beside them. I'm gonna start with my pastor :) ...Well, maybe I'm already starting with myself.
I've been thinking a lot recently about what actually makes me happy. I'm good at a fair number of things including school, but often those things which I still enjoy, somehow bring me more stress and anxiety than joy. I love the church, but working in them is very hard trench work sometimes. So what in the midst of all this pressure that I put on myself to succeed, brings me the joy and energy to keep working at the things that are hard but important?
Today I'm thinking that what brings me joy is visioning. Perhaps that is why Prophesy came up on my first gifts inventory. I love to vision and dream about where we're going and where we could be going. I also love to just contemplate the what ifs of faith. I don't make doctrine out of these, I just have some pretty cool ideas that bring me joy and energy.
Perhaps getting away from this tendency to dream has been part of my stress. Perhaps I need to think less about how to keep all this stuff in my head, and dream more about what if a ministry incorporated this idea? What if I learned through dreaming. As a child I had a rich internal imaginative life, perhaps this is a way to utilize that as a gift.
Last thought, John asked me how I could make this joy more than something for myself. Perhaps my joy could be to reinvigorate, inspire, give permission, equip, help etc. others to dream too. Perhaps I can help others not feel so alone when they dream if I'm walking beside them. I'm gonna start with my pastor :) ...Well, maybe I'm already starting with myself.
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