Influence

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It has been a long while since I have posted anything here. I have been busy completing three years toward my B.A. in English and my senior year is underway. My current class (Creative Writing) has finally given me the space to take off the tight harness of academic writing rules, and it feels SO GOOD!! After reading my first assignment, Mom and Daddy gave it their thumbs up and suggested I make it a blog post, so here it is. It is my story and their story. It's a little longer than my usual posts, but as with everything I have ever posted here, I pray it encourages you to run "up the sunbeam to the sun" (C. S. Lewis). "Follow my example,  as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV I sat above them on the stairs. Looking down through the window-like openings in the partition between the living room and the stairway, I listened to the basketball players, football players, baseball players, wrestlers, track athletes, both the lettermen ...

The Beauty of Balance

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In Sausalito, CA there is an artist named Bill Dan who works with rocks in a very unique way. As this picture shows, he balances groups of rocks in formations that seem to defy gravity. In fact, the first time I saw his sculptures standing on the shore of San Francisco Bay like frozen sentries, I was sure there was some kind of wire or glue involved. As if he could hear what I was thinking, he turned to one of his creations and just nonchalantly took it apart, tossing the rocks into the pile, turning them back into ordinary rocks again.

Moments later, he began a new stack and I was completely transfixed as I watched him work. He held each stone carefully like he was listening to something he alone could hear. He would position stone upon stone, making almost imperceptible adjustments until suddenly he would just remove his hands and as if by magic the rocks stood still. Despite appearances, it is not magic, but his understanding of physical laws that allow this wonderful artist to do what only looks impossible. Clearly this man knows things about physics most people never imagine!

Just as there are physical laws at work in the balancing of rocks, there are spiritual laws needed to balance a human life. If Bill Dan accounted for the shape and mass of the rock, but ignored the effect of gravity, his sculptures would not stand. Similarly, if I adhere to my favorite spiritual laws, but ignore others, the structure of my life or my theology will not be stable either.

If I see only God's love, but forget His justice, I may be tempted to think He is a push-over. If I see only His justice and not His love, I will be afraid to draw near to Him. If I put my trust in God's grace and mercy, but ignore His call to holiness, I am in danger, as Paul warns, of "sinning so that grace may increase" (Romans 6:1 NIV). It is only when I recognize that God is BOTH loving AND just--fully, completely and simultaneously--that my view of Him will be healthy and my relationship with Him can flourish. Only when I am BOTH fully convinced that His grace exceeds my sin AND fully responsive to His call to holiness will I be in the sweet spot between joyous freedom from guilt and whole-hearted commitment to Him.

Equilibrium is not the stillness it appears to be, but the active, fully engaged, powerful and opposing forces of laws that are so perfectly calibrated that neither force out-pulls or out-pushes the other. Some of the biggest lies people believe are really instances of believing one truth to the exclusion of another. Lord, help me to stay balanced in all I do and all I believe!

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NIV)

Comments

  1. AtholNovember 12, 2009 at 6:39 AM

    "Some of the biggest lies people believe are really instances of believing one truth to the exclusion of another."

    This is rich food for thought, Shaunie. What it means to me is imbalance converts truth into lies, yet without changing the truth. That lack of change is what makes a disproportionate focus on one truth to the exclusion of another so enticing.

    Every form of sin is a corrupted good. Often that corruption arises through an obsessive focus on a good thing (if a little chocolate is good, a LOT must be better, thus . . . gluttony). In the same way, when we're drawn too close to one powerful truth, and through that excess further from another truth, like moths to flames we are destroyed.

    Thanks for getting me thinking this morning!

    ReplyDelete
  2. FridaydreamerNovember 12, 2009 at 12:18 PM

    What an honor to get such an encouraging comment from someone I admire so greatly! I love what you said about the fact that imbalance does not change the truth and that is why it is so enticing! So glad you stopped by!!

    ReplyDelete

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