Senior 29: Health and Transformation
I'M VERY THANKFUL TO God for my health. Usually I stay pretty healthy even when there's a bug going around. Yesterday, though, things started to go downhill. But I slept about ten hours last night and feel much better, which is very good because I have Rugby and Football games to attend today, dinner with my D-group, church tomorrow morning, a philosophy party tomorrow evening, a group presentation on John Chrysostom for church history on Monday (for which I have a planning meeting on Sunday afternoon), and a structural analysis on Luke 4 and research on the history of the veneration of Mary, both also to be completed by Monday.
I think it was car problems that aggravated my equilibrium and sent me over the edge into malady and infirmity. I had to take my car in to a Smog Test Center and then to my mechanic in Alhambra. I wouldn't have been able to except that a number of my classes were cancelled yesterday. But it was an added stress. Honestly, how do people handle cars and car-maintenance.
Last evening, in contrast, was a lot of fun. For Sean's birthday, several friends went to a Japanese restaurant in LA and enjoyed very good sushi. We then wandered around the Grove for a while and had a very enjoyable time.
LAST SUNDAY WAS THE first Men's Chorale concert, at APU in Wilden Hall. The place was packed. The performance went marvelously. Unfortunately this was the only concert scheduled for October (and we had no concerts in September); I hope that the rest of the year is full of such good performances.
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THIS HAS BEEN A rather tumultuous week in the life of the University.
Actually that's all I'll say on that point in this blog. Much prayer is needed. Much clear thinking is also needed, but much prayer is needed more.
I like the Gospel of John because it has been reminding me, lately, of Christ's absolute indispensability for Life. (I also like Matthew for similar reasons. And as I study, I'm sure I'll come to appreciate Mark and Luke more.)
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I SUBMITTED ANOTHER LETTER-to-the-editor to the Clause (APU Student Newspaper). It has not yet been published so I am posting the letter here on my blog:
-----
In Monday-morning chapel (09 October 2006), Roberta Hestenes spoke about the plight of the poor and oppressed, the sick, the orphaned, and the widowed. Her message was one of many that I have heard around APU on this important subject. But I would like to step back from that issue and look at the larger picture for a moment, because I am afraid that these sorts of messages are being heard often enough that we are growing accustomed to them.
With repetition comes the danger of numbness, the deadening of our senses and hardening of our hearts. And if messages from the outside are not stirring us to obedience, then we need to look elsewhere for motivation—towards transformation from the inside. And if that is the case, then the question becomes: How do we soften our hearts? How do we open our ears? How do we become a community of people who are sensitive to the Word and work of God?
To answer this question, we must first recognize that the problem of spiritual deafness is not unique to those Scripture passages that deal with aiding the poor and oppressed. Rather this problem applies to almost the entire Bible. One example: in Matthew 6:25, Jesus says, "Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on."
And yet, how many of us find ourselves frequently preoccupied with our basic needs, distracted by anxiety about clothes and other necessities? How many of us fret over money and worry about so many things that are outside of our control? The problem is the same: we do not obey Scripture when it teaches us to help the poor; we do not obey Scripture when it teaches us to trust God with our basic needs.
But the connection goes deeper. When I am worried about finances and my own problems, I am not likely to be generous with money or considerate of other people’s pain. In contrast, when I am rooted in Jesus Christ, trusting Him as my source and provider, I am set free to offer myself—along with my time and resources and abilities—to others. More than that, when I am properly related to Jesus, he transforms me into a person that desires to reach out to others with His love. (see John 15:1-11.)
This is only one example, but I want to focus on it and carry it further: I think that we are surrounded, on this campus, with people who are plagued by worries, doubts, insecurities, fears, and pain. Telling them to help the poor and oppressed and needy can only go so far. They need to be touched by the love of God; we all need to be touched by the love of God.
And when we encounter that love—through interaction with the Word, communion with God in prayer, and the fellowship of the Body of Christ—we are changed. When we abide in that close relationship with Jesus Christ, the ‘true vine,’ then His Spirit transforms us into branches that bear much fruit to the glory of God.
And that, I believe, is our call.
Luis Montes
Senior Philosophy Major
-----
Blessings all,
-----
"God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world."
I think it was car problems that aggravated my equilibrium and sent me over the edge into malady and infirmity. I had to take my car in to a Smog Test Center and then to my mechanic in Alhambra. I wouldn't have been able to except that a number of my classes were cancelled yesterday. But it was an added stress. Honestly, how do people handle cars and car-maintenance.
Last evening, in contrast, was a lot of fun. For Sean's birthday, several friends went to a Japanese restaurant in LA and enjoyed very good sushi. We then wandered around the Grove for a while and had a very enjoyable time.
LAST SUNDAY WAS THE first Men's Chorale concert, at APU in Wilden Hall. The place was packed. The performance went marvelously. Unfortunately this was the only concert scheduled for October (and we had no concerts in September); I hope that the rest of the year is full of such good performances.
-----
THIS HAS BEEN A rather tumultuous week in the life of the University.
Actually that's all I'll say on that point in this blog. Much prayer is needed. Much clear thinking is also needed, but much prayer is needed more.
I like the Gospel of John because it has been reminding me, lately, of Christ's absolute indispensability for Life. (I also like Matthew for similar reasons. And as I study, I'm sure I'll come to appreciate Mark and Luke more.)
-----
I SUBMITTED ANOTHER LETTER-to-the-editor to the Clause (APU Student Newspaper). It has not yet been published so I am posting the letter here on my blog:
-----
In Monday-morning chapel (09 October 2006), Roberta Hestenes spoke about the plight of the poor and oppressed, the sick, the orphaned, and the widowed. Her message was one of many that I have heard around APU on this important subject. But I would like to step back from that issue and look at the larger picture for a moment, because I am afraid that these sorts of messages are being heard often enough that we are growing accustomed to them.
With repetition comes the danger of numbness, the deadening of our senses and hardening of our hearts. And if messages from the outside are not stirring us to obedience, then we need to look elsewhere for motivation—towards transformation from the inside. And if that is the case, then the question becomes: How do we soften our hearts? How do we open our ears? How do we become a community of people who are sensitive to the Word and work of God?
To answer this question, we must first recognize that the problem of spiritual deafness is not unique to those Scripture passages that deal with aiding the poor and oppressed. Rather this problem applies to almost the entire Bible. One example: in Matthew 6:25, Jesus says, "Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on."
And yet, how many of us find ourselves frequently preoccupied with our basic needs, distracted by anxiety about clothes and other necessities? How many of us fret over money and worry about so many things that are outside of our control? The problem is the same: we do not obey Scripture when it teaches us to help the poor; we do not obey Scripture when it teaches us to trust God with our basic needs.
But the connection goes deeper. When I am worried about finances and my own problems, I am not likely to be generous with money or considerate of other people’s pain. In contrast, when I am rooted in Jesus Christ, trusting Him as my source and provider, I am set free to offer myself—along with my time and resources and abilities—to others. More than that, when I am properly related to Jesus, he transforms me into a person that desires to reach out to others with His love. (see John 15:1-11.)
This is only one example, but I want to focus on it and carry it further: I think that we are surrounded, on this campus, with people who are plagued by worries, doubts, insecurities, fears, and pain. Telling them to help the poor and oppressed and needy can only go so far. They need to be touched by the love of God; we all need to be touched by the love of God.
And when we encounter that love—through interaction with the Word, communion with God in prayer, and the fellowship of the Body of Christ—we are changed. When we abide in that close relationship with Jesus Christ, the ‘true vine,’ then His Spirit transforms us into branches that bear much fruit to the glory of God.
And that, I believe, is our call.
Luis Montes
Senior Philosophy Major
-----
Blessings all,
-----
"God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world."
posted by Metaphysician_delta | 12:21 PM
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