transcendental castration

How many people have given up on love in our culture? There is such a longing for meaningful, loving connections within all of us, and so many wrong attempts at satisfying that deeply spiritual drive. The world is good at providing false avenues (cheap flings, porn, fantasy, prostitution, material things, power, wealth, etc.), which seem for a time like valid measures of happiness/pleasure, but the reality always turns out to be painful, lonely, isolating.

Jean-Luc Marion suggests that those who have become cynical, destitute and hopeless of ever finding the love of another have, "in proportion, lost their humanity." According to Marion, this transcendental castration renders individuals basically an "artificial intelligence, a mechanical calculator or a demon, in short, very likely lower than an animal." (pp. 20-21, The Erotic Phenomenon)

Pretty harsh description of what happens with an absence of loving relationships in our lives. Certainly we all know of someone or have heard stories of those who appear to have slipped into this loveless, hopeless worldview, and have committed atrocious crimes against others, or just slipped into a miserable, hidden, droning existence. I would argue though that because of a loving Creator God who is near everyone, it is impossible for someone to be completely destitute of love. It is possible for individuals to become so enmeshed in the despair of seeking eros in the wrong places and never finding what they seek there, that they buy into Satan's lies and believe that they will never find that which they seek. It is possible for individuals to so reject the love of their Creator that they become hardened and refuse to recognize that love or are so conditioned by their circumstances that they have a very difficult time ever coming to a place of discovery.

Sin plays a huge role in keeping us from discovering that pervasive love that surrounds all of us, our sin as well as the sin of others. But the church's message is this - it is not hopeless! God has overcome the deception of Satan and the sin of the world. He has provided an amazing picture of what true love looks like, and has left no one out! We all are loved, no matter what. We have free choice, but we are loved unconditionally. Jesus is God's gift of love to humanity. We no longer need to fear the results of transcendental castration. This erotic message is worth sharing to a society hungry for love.

Diversification of Faith

“We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.”

– Marcus Aurelius

“Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.”

– Galatians 6:10

According to Webster, a devotional (n.) is a brief worship service, and a devotee (n.) is a person strongly devoted to something or someone / or religion, a zealot. The better I get to "know" God, the more creative my acts of devotion become. Early in my faith journey, when I was still suckling on spiritual milk, my perception of devotional time was simply the discipline of waking up early, during the quiet hours of the morning, reading Scripture, and meditating on it. Now, I continue to highly value that form of devotional time, because I have experienced God's leading and direction, as well as a profound filling of His Spirit. And yet as I have begun to grow in my faith and relationship with the Lord, I have found my devotion diversifying with the Spirit of God. I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but am learning that God provides all kinds of meat for the spiritual carnivore to devour. (I know that the last thought probably turns off any vegan devotees, but the image is biblical).

Two brief examples of diversification of faith: SPIRITUAL ACTS OF KINDNESS as devotion...

1) Yesterday before worship, I received two cards made in Sunday school by a couple of young men in 6th grade. They were handwritten -
Thank you Brother Keith - Thank you for welcoming me and Raney (sister) and teaching us about God. - from Taylor -
You are a funny guy, and I like coming to your church - it is a fun church - (look on back) - God loves you Keith, from Justin.
What a great Sunday school lesson for these kids - what a great gift of encouragement for me! These cards are acts of devotion not to a teacher or preacher, but to God, the one who inspires a loving, kind spirit and produces such fruit in our lives. Within this form of devotional, God is glorified, and the body of Christ is built up. My devotional early this morning was writing each boy back, with a special verse and quote for each, along with the teacher, and placing the envelopes in their classroom so they will find them next week. Simple acts of kindness, yet who knows what God can and will do. I know this should be natural, but for some of us this kind of engagement with others takes intentionality and discipline. And my engagement in this simple, yet worshipful experience this morning has been uplifting and I sense God's presence and pleasure.

2) A few Sundays ago, after preaching about God's generosity and His expectation that we live that way, God tested me (as usual). We have about 7 amazing pecan trees around our yard, and this year they are producing a bumper crop. I was mowing the back yard, where the dogs stay during the day, and an older Hispanic man who lives across the street, sent a neighbor to come ask me if he could come inside the yard and pick up the pecans before I ran over them. I asked her to tell him that he was welcome to pick up the pecans outside of the fence, but that our family was going to pick up the ones inside the fence. My wife picked up a few, and then gave up because of the mess the dogs had made. As I started to mow again, I began to wonder how the gentleman must have perceived my response. Was I acting with generosity? How would God have me handle this situation? I stopped the mower and began gathering pecans. I filled a BIG bag full, and walked across the street and gave some to my neighbor Juanita, and then went over to the older man's home, Senor Gonzalez. When he opened the door and saw the pecans I was giving him, the biggest smile spread across his face. In very broken English he thanked me profusely, and shook my hand about 6 times. Then he ran to the back of the house and brought out his little chihuahua, obviously his pride and joy. He told me that she was 16 years old, I could see that she was blind, and he showed me her scars from surgery and the tumor growing on her belly. Suddenly, Mr. Gonzalez and I had a relationship. He shook my hand again and told me he would be over to my house the next day to do some work. I had no idea what he was going to do, but could tell that there was no stopping him. It turns out that he was retired after 27 years of working for a lumber company in town, and feeling pretty useless. Each day now for about 3 weeks, Mr. Gonzalez comes over to the house and bags up leaves (while picking pecans), he has bagged about 30 bags which he has supplied. He asks for no pay, although my wife and I have brought more pecans and fresh baked bread. Honestly, we haven't known what to do in response. It has been very humbling. He has mowed and weed-eated, even the neighbors yards, and cleared tree limbs and vines off the fence. It has been amazing to see the transformation that a simple act of kindness has made.

Devotional acts of worship can come in a variety of forms, but the essence is this - because of our devotion to God, the better we get to know God, the more creative our worship becomes, and the more like Jesus Christ our behavior looks - like a horse running, or a bee making honey, or a vine bearing grapes - the more zealous for God we are, the more diverse our faith becomes through Him.

2 Timothy 1:9 - It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began-- to show his love and kindness to us through Christ Jesus.

All Out!

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws..." (Ezek. 11:19-20a) "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with ALL THEIR HEART. (Jeremiah 24:7)
From Rufus Jones (1863-1948): "There are stories of painters who have mixed their own blood with their paint. They probably are fanciful tales, but the idea is worth something at any rate. Until the very life stuff of the man goes into his task, until he grinds himself into his paint, his work will be ordinary and will lack the mark of inspiration. What a splendid sight it is to see a young man, who has been drifting along with the flow of the current, and who has put no blood into his work, suddenly wake up and throw himself with passion into his daily task as though his life depended on doing it. Everybody discovers that something has happened. A new spirit has awakened. There is some power behind him. What is the explanation? He is in love. He has found an inspiration. He is working for the sake of somebody, and this passion of love gives him joy as he works to make a home and a livelihood. His whole self goes into his task, because his life has become consecrated by love. His face shines, his eye flashes, his step is quick. When he puts his hand to a task, it moves, for there is power working in him. We need to get a love which will melt down our lives and send the spirit of our entire personality into our work. We shall stop playing at religion, and the glow and rapture of service will make our faces shine when once, out of love, we pour into the task of saving the world all we are and all we have."

Lord, I don't want to lose that passion and excitement of the discovery of your love and purpose. I want to press forward with an unseen but obvious power driving every step - Your power! Help me to avoid slipping into the mundane. My time here is too short not to risk and sacrifice - fully living - fully loving! Amen.