Animal Cruelty as Entertainment

The seemingly ancient theaters of London once were new and struggling business ventures. Consider this quote from Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson...

The new theaters did not prosper equally. Within three years of its opening, the Curtain was being used for fencing bouts, and all other London playhouses, with the single eventual exception of the Globe, relied on other entertainments, particularly animal baiting, to fortify their earnings. The pastime was not unique to England, but it was regarded as an English specialty. Queen Elizabeth often had visitors from abroad entertained with bear-baiting at Whitehall. In its classic form, a bear was put in a ring, sometimes tethered to a stake, and set upon by mastiffs, but bears were expensive investments, so other animals (such as bulls and horses) were commonly substituted. One variation was to put a chimpanzee on the back of a horse and let the dogs go for both together. The sight of a screeching ape clinging for dear life to a bucking horse, while dogs leaped at it from below, was considered about as rich an amusement as public life could offer. That an audience that could be moved to tears one day by a performance of Doctor Faustus could return the next day to the same space and be just as entertained by the frantic deaths of helpless animals may say as much about the age as any single statement could.

This reminds me of a couple things in Scripture.

• First, the quick turnaround the crowds of Jerusalem made between shouting "Hosanna!" on Sunday and "Crucify him!" on Friday.
• Second, the words of James in chapter 3, verses 7-10: "For every wild animal on earth including birds, creeping reptiles, and creatures of the sea and land have all been overpowered and tamed by humans, but the tongue is not able to be tamed. It’s a fickle, unrestrained evil that spews out words full of toxic poison! We use our tongue to praise God our Father and then turn around and curse a person who was made in his very image! Out of the same mouth we pour out words of praise one minute and curses the next. My brothers and sister, this should never be!" (The Passion Translation)

Truth is...none of us should be surprised at the behavior of the British bear-baiters or the Jerusalem crowds. We all carry the same tendency.

I Can't Believe It!

Sometimes, even song lyrics that are meant to express spiritual truth cannot be taken for their literal meaning.

Case in point: Keith Green's second song on For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, "I Can't Believe It!" It's meant to be a confession of new-found faith, much like Randy Stonehill's "First Prayer," but it's titled "I CAN'T Believe It!" Whaaaaat?

There is nothing new

I could give to you

Just a life that's torn

Waiting to be born

Rivers overflow

Friends may come and go

But you've been by my side

With every tear I've cried

Oh, I can't believe that You'd give everything for me

I can't believe it no, I can't believe it no, no

I know You've never lied and so it's just my foolish pride

That won't receive it yeah

It's so hard to receive it in my heart and make the start with You

Help me, help me now

I just don't know how

You know, I've been so alone

Please melt this heart of stone

Lah, lah, lah, lah

Oh, I can't believe that You'd give everything for me

I can't believe it no, I can't believe it no, no

I know You've never lied and so I'm giving up my pride

So I can receive it yeah

I just want to receive it in my heart and make the start with You

©1977 April Music

https://youtu.be/dVkjWFv8zqw

Truth is...the overwhelming, neverending graciousness of God really is "unbelievable"...even in the midst of believing it.

Devotion vs Devotions

The reputation of 17th-century monk, Brother Lawrence, is that he was a very religious kind of guy, but while reading The Practice of the Presence of God, I'm finding that to not be the case.

I'm not saying he wasn't spiritually aware or that he didn't love God. I am saying that he didn't seem to care too much about outward forms and rituals that most folks would call religious.

Allow me to quote (and then translate):

I have quitted all forms of devotions and set prayers but those to which my state obliges me. And I make it my business only to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple attention and a general fond regard to God, which I may call an actual presence of God; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with God, which often causes in me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly, so great that I am forced to use means to moderate them and prevent their appearance to others.

In other words, Larry didn't bother with having "a quiet time" or a set-apart schedule for "personal devotions" beyond what was required of him by the fact that he lived in a monastery. Instead, he purposefully thought of God as his constant companion; silently talking with Him as he went about his daily duties. And it seems that consistent awareness of God's presence sometimes brought Larry such joy that it took some effort to keep from looking like a giddy fool to the brothers around him.

Truth is...I'm not necessarily recommending that we all discard any devotional habits we may have cultivated. Instead, methinks it would be a great advantage to add to them the awareness that we are with the Lord whether we're kneeling in prayer or weeding a garden or commuting to work.
  

THIS Explains a Lot!

I've often been accused of having no filter, but now I can see a positive side to that.

I am indebted to delancyplace.com and their sharing of a snippet from The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric by Shelley Carson.

From DelancyPlace:
Many highly creative people behave in ways that are viewed as eccentric. Why? Researchers are finding that their creativity and their eccentricity are rooted in the same cause -- a diminished ability to filter out nearly as much of the constant stream of information as the average person, and thus the need to process and organize this information in untypical ways. The term for this trait is "cognitive disinhibition".

From Carson:
Many highly creative people [display] personal behavior [that] sometimes strikes others as odd. Albert Einstein picked up cigarette butts off the street to get tobacco for his pipe; Howard Hughes spent entire days on a chair in the middle of the supposedly germ-free zone of his Beverly Hills Hotel suite; the composer Robert Schumann believed that his musical compositions were dictated to him by Beethoven and other deceased luminaries from their tombs; and Charles Dickens is said to have fended off imaginary urchins with his umbrella as he walked the streets of London....

In fact, creativity and eccentricity often go hand in hand, and researchers now believe that both traits may be a result of how the brain filters incoming information. Even in the business world, there is a growing appreciation of the link between creative thinking and unconventional behavior.

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Truth is...Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it. (Psalm 139:14 NLT)

When Love Was New...Wow!

Having looked at foundational "Jesus Music" albums from Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill, it would be remiss of this blog to ignore the force of nature that was Keith Green.

Keith was a musical powerhouse at an early age. For instance, have you seen the clip of his appearance on I've Got a Secret when he had signed a recording contract at the age of 11?

https://youtu.be/OCrpBnWTkaU

After years of spiritual exploring and experimenting, Keith fell in love with Jesus. That not only transformed Keith Green, but it ended up changing a lot of Christian musicians, as well. To be sure, his unexpected death in a plane crash (July 28, 1982) shortly before the release of his fourth album brought additional attention to his music, but his songs of worship, personal testimony, and John-the-Baptist-like challenge were making waves and changing lives long before he bid this world goodbye. 

Keith's first album, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, charges out of the gate with the infectious piano-rocker, "You Put This Love in My Heart".

I found it hard to believe

Someone like you cared for me

You put this love in my heart

I tried but could not refuse

You gave me no time to choose

You put this love in my heart

I want to know where the bad feelings go

When I'm depressed and I get down so low

And then I see you coming to me and it's alright

I want to tell you right now

I'm not afraid to say how

You put this love in my heart

There are sometimes when I doubt

But you always find me out

You put this love in my heart

Cause when I see all that you've done for me

It's hard to doubt, I just have to believe

Cause you follow up, proving all of your love

Well I know

the loneliness I had before

Is gone now

I'll never feel it anymore

Cause your love has released me

From all that's in my past

And I know I can believe you

When you say I'll never be forsaken

Your love is gonna last

There's so much more I should say

If I could just find a way

You put this love in my heart

Is all this real or a dream

I feel so good I could scream

You put this love in my heart

I want to know where the bad feelings go

When I'm depressed and I get down so low

And then I see you coming to me and it's alright

You put this love in my heart...

https://youtu.be/7wtZmkLmIPU

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Truth is...the love of God is certainly worth singing about; maybe even making you feel so good you could scream! It's good to be reminded of how it felt when it was fresh and exciting. Make it so again, Lord Jesus!

Have You Been Doing It?

It's one of the easiest things in the world to do. Almost all of us find ourselves doing it without even thinking about it.

And we need to stop it.

The "it" under consideration here is comparing ourselves to others.

Whether we're considering our job performance, swimming abilities, or usefulness to God, we always seem to be glancing around ourselves to see how well we're doing compared to those around us.

The problem with doing that, no matter how naturally we fall into it, is that we end up in one of two unhelpful situations. Either we start thinking too highly of ourselves or we start putting ourselves down.

Take the opening lines of the Rich Mullins song, "Hard", for example:

Well, I am a good Midwestern boy 

I give an honest day's work if I can get it 

I don't cheat on my taxes, I don't cheat on my girl 

I've got values that would make the White House jealous 

Well, I do get a little much over-impressed 

'Til I think of Peter and Paul and the apostles 

I don't stack up too well against them I guess

But by the standards 'round here I ain't doing that awful

More often than not, I see folks leaning toward the extreme of thinking their gifts, their abilities, and their skills aren't good enough to be of any use for the Kingdom...that there are way more people who can do way more impressive things and get way bigger results.

The sad part of that kind of thinking is that it usually results in the person not doing anything with their gifts, abilities, and skills. It gets left up to "all those other people who are more talented."

Paul had something to say about this in First Corinthians 12:12-21.

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ....

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

Truth is...We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. (Brother Lawrence)

Have You Found Brother Lawrence? (I Didn't Even Know He Was Lost!)

I enjoy browsing through the library.

Almost always, it results in finding something I didn't know I was looking for.

For instance, during a recent stroll through the 248 section of the Dewey Decimal System (no relation), I found a book that I had heard about countless times but had never read, The Practice of the Presence of God: Conversations and Letters of Brother Lawrence.

For something first published in 1692, it certainly feels up-to-date so far. I'm sure several quotes will be finding their way into this space. Such as this one:

In order to form a habit of conversing with God continually, and referring all we do to Him, we must at first apply to Him with some diligence; but after a little care we should find His love inwardly excite us to it without any difficulty. (Oneworld Publications, Oxford, England, 1993 p.15.)

In other words, when our first attempts at a spiritual mindset seem forced and done out of a sense of duty, we shouldn't fret. They will eventually become matters of the heart that we could never abandon.

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Truth is...if at first you don't succeed, pray, pray again.