Saturday, November 21, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Life is like a bicycle Ride
Lessons learned from my bike ride:
There are basically three types of terrain when biking. Upward slopes, downward slopes, and straight stretches.
In straight stretches: We may be recovering from an arduous recent upward slope, still reveling in the joy of the momentum of the downward slope, or taking in the surroundings as we peacefully pedal along. These are important, yet complacency is a problem. In complacency we may forget to watch for the upcoming terrain, thus robbing us of precious time to prepare momentum for a coming climb.
In Upward slopes: I've found that if I focus my energy on getting to the top of the hill I do not bike to my potential. The length of the journey there, or the degree of the incline make my energy wane more than the work itself. Plus the difficulty of the biking becomes the focus rather than the journey or the surroundings. I instead set really tiny goals (regularly only a foot to a yard ahead of me). Today I biked from leaf to leaf on one such climb. When I do this I'm able to have more energy longer, bike in the moment, and enjoy the journey.
The Transition: This small step focus, however, would be a problem in other parts of the journey. A good biker will know the precise moment to switch from this small focus back to the big picture. Without returning to the big picture at the right time, we miss opportunities to gain momentum thus making the next hill harder or the ride down the hill less enjoyable. etc.
The downward slope: Sometimes, it's important to just revel in the journey! The wind in your hair the beauty of being carried along!
Enjoy the Journey!
There are basically three types of terrain when biking. Upward slopes, downward slopes, and straight stretches.
In straight stretches: We may be recovering from an arduous recent upward slope, still reveling in the joy of the momentum of the downward slope, or taking in the surroundings as we peacefully pedal along. These are important, yet complacency is a problem. In complacency we may forget to watch for the upcoming terrain, thus robbing us of precious time to prepare momentum for a coming climb.
In Upward slopes: I've found that if I focus my energy on getting to the top of the hill I do not bike to my potential. The length of the journey there, or the degree of the incline make my energy wane more than the work itself. Plus the difficulty of the biking becomes the focus rather than the journey or the surroundings. I instead set really tiny goals (regularly only a foot to a yard ahead of me). Today I biked from leaf to leaf on one such climb. When I do this I'm able to have more energy longer, bike in the moment, and enjoy the journey.
The Transition: This small step focus, however, would be a problem in other parts of the journey. A good biker will know the precise moment to switch from this small focus back to the big picture. Without returning to the big picture at the right time, we miss opportunities to gain momentum thus making the next hill harder or the ride down the hill less enjoyable. etc.
The downward slope: Sometimes, it's important to just revel in the journey! The wind in your hair the beauty of being carried along!
Enjoy the Journey!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Trinity
Just a thought by Elizabeth Johnson I wanted to preserve. I've struggled since I started seminary with the idea of the Trinity. How I'd always thought of it was three ways we understand the one God, or three attributes of God, or something like that. What's always been important to me was the oneness of God. When I got to seminary and started learning about the Greek words for the same substance but three persons I was a bit repulsed by it. That threatens for me the oneness of God.
Whenever I try to get someone to argue for the importance of the threeness of God they have not convinced me of anything other than that it's nice to have an image of divine community. Not something I think is necessary or essential. So anyway, this is the quote that is worth dwelling on and not forgetting:
"Three corresponding distinctions may be said to exist within one God. Why [this] insight? It is based on the conviction that God is utterly faithful, and does not self-reveal in any guise other than the one which actually coheres with the essence of divine being...Basic trust in the experience of God's threefold relatedness to us suggests that a certain corresponding threefoldness characterizes God's own true being." (pg. 199-200) In other words, since God isn't tricking us and God only reveals things that are in line with the core of God, and since we experience God in a threefold way, then that must threefoldness must somehow characterize God.
I still don't know that I agree, but at least I have a window of insight into why the distinction was deemed so important!
Whenever I try to get someone to argue for the importance of the threeness of God they have not convinced me of anything other than that it's nice to have an image of divine community. Not something I think is necessary or essential. So anyway, this is the quote that is worth dwelling on and not forgetting:
"Three corresponding distinctions may be said to exist within one God. Why [this] insight? It is based on the conviction that God is utterly faithful, and does not self-reveal in any guise other than the one which actually coheres with the essence of divine being...Basic trust in the experience of God's threefold relatedness to us suggests that a certain corresponding threefoldness characterizes God's own true being." (pg. 199-200) In other words, since God isn't tricking us and God only reveals things that are in line with the core of God, and since we experience God in a threefold way, then that must threefoldness must somehow characterize God.
I still don't know that I agree, but at least I have a window of insight into why the distinction was deemed so important!
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