Leviticus 19 records God’s command to the Jews to treat outsiders with justice and compassion. Two reasons were given: this was God’s will; and they knew the pain of being “mistreated outsiders” firsthand. The same call to love the other is given to us, but here’s the rub: a 2013 neuroscience study found that self-centeredness, not empathy, is our brain’s default setting. It also notes that selfishness is kept in check by a section of the brain – the right supramarginal gyrus – that only operates on slow mode. In other words, empathy only kicks in when we slow down. Think: silence, prayer, reflection and listening.
Is this possible? Today?
Many agree that our noisy, hyperactive, digital environment not only pushes us to react (more than reflect), but feel that the whole thing is toxic. Is there a solution?
I’m hardly a posterchild for slow, but I have two thoughts:
- I can survive fast if I also get slow. My early mornings are invaluable. I need the quiet, calm, reflective, prayerful start of the day.
- When I fail to get solitude, I seek isolation.
Three Questions Worth Asking: During my preparation for an upcoming series on Galatians, I ran across three questions worth passing along. View them here.
A Favorite Definition: I love Frederick Buechner’s definition of grace.
After centuries of handling and mishandling, most religious words have become so shopworn nobody’s much interested anymore. Not so with grace, for some reason. Mysteriously, even derivatives like gracious and graceful still have some of the bloom left.
Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There’s no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.
A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?
A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do.
The grace of God means something like: ‘Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It’s for you I created the universe. I love you.’
There’s only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it.
Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.
On the Night Stand: Speaking of grace, the following Detroit News piece on Lary Sorenson, is a story of grace. It’s also a reminder to keep graciously extending grace to others.
From the Headlines:
- The Francis Effect is Not Working: In recent years many have hoped that Pope Francis was rejuvenating the Catholic church. I will leave debates about how and why alone, and simply note, if the goal was to inspire greater faithfulness or church attendance, a recent Pew poll suggests it is having the opposite effect.
- Cape Town’s Crisis: In the not too distant future, four million people in Cape Town may have to stand in line for drinking water. A combination of population growth and record drought have created a dramatic urban water crisis. One South African expert recently commented, “I’m afraid we are at the 11th hour. There is no more time for solutions. We need an act of God.” A city web site tracks Cape Town’s march to Day Zero.
Prayer Requests:
- I hate to sound like a broken record, but many of the staff at Christ Church are fighting some challenging battles. Please pray for their protection and strength.
- Tonight is Advance Commitment Night – when leaders gather to make the first pledges to the REACH initiative.
Prayers Worth Praying: Take me to you, imprison me, for I / Except you enthrall me, never shall be free / Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. John Donne