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    theresa


    Theresa Lode or, simply “T”, had her world turned upside down and inside out when her son was diagnosed with ADHD and a few other goodies. Her choice- follow the doctor's orders....or trust her heart and delve into the world of Free Range Education. She chose the latter...

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Would Jesus cuss?

Posted on February 15, 2010 by therealmotherlode

What would happen if a scroll were discovered that shed a new light on the nuances in the words that Jesus spoke?

What if instead of calling the religious leaders, “white washed sepulchers” we learn that he was really saying, “You’re full of shit?”

How would King James handle that one?  “For verily, I say unto thee, thou art full of faeces!”

Why is this crazy thought so offensive?  I think it is because we’ve substituted a code of behavior for life transformed by his grace.  Because when you become a Christian, you’ve got to clean up your act, right?  (Which means no smoking, swearing, chewing or associating with those that do.)   And the first steps toward performance based Christianity are taken.

Truth is, Jesus was VERY offensive. He was a thorn in the flesh of the religious leaders nor did he mince words with them.  And I’m sorry, but Jesus did not speak the Queen’s English either; he spoke in the common language of the common man. He spoke so the uneducated and the simple could understand.

Somehow it’s much easier for me to think of the religious as those wearing tall pointy hats, swinging incense and chanting Latin.

No.  I need only look in the mirror to catch a glimpse of religion, try as I may to rid myself of it.  I find it anytime I sniff my disapproval at someone’s behavior.  I am confronted with it anytime I am offended because, after all, the Word of God says…...

And I know my tendencies well enough to know that if I lived in that earlier time, I would likely gasp loudest at Jesus’ heresy.  After all,we all know a good Christian would never swear.

Why is it that we gasp at outward behaviors and not at our own shortcomings and our need for grace?  You know the stuff…the stuff we work so hard at keeping hidden so we look good? 

Except for the love that transform me and frees me from the tyranny of Christian self improvement…I will remain on the treadmill judging others and remaining offended.   And also being judged and offensive myself.

Would Jesus cuss?  I don’t think he ever gave thought to his behaviors…his relationship with his Father defined who he was.  Living inside that love he remained holy; it wasn’t his committment to clean living.  But still- his extended invitation to enter into that same relationship with God sans condition was deeply offensive to the law keeper in us all. 

Living loved is the only thing that will make for the real changes.  Less gasping… more acceptance.  Less judgment and more love.

If anyone tries to tell you else wise, they’re full of….religion.

Filed under: church, church life, Spirituality, The God Journey | Tagged: , | 7 Comments »

The irrelevance of relevance

Posted on November 5, 2009 by therealmotherlode
balloons

Fun! Fun! Fun!

I was thinking about this the other day when we attended a community event sponsored in large part by a local mega church.  As I was walking around the bouncy things for the kids and navigating around people holding balloons that said, “Fun! Fun! Fun!” I had “What? What? What?” ringing through my head.

Here in the Bible belt the ingenuity to “reach the lost” never ceases to amaze.  Now don’t go thinking I”m not attacking these well-intended people; that’s not my heart.

Jesus was irrelevant on so many levels.  Take up your cross.  Love your rotten neighbor with the obnoxious teenager who guns his car.  Be nice to the jerk at Wal Mart.  And the one that makes my flesh crawl: Deny yourself.  Love your life and you’re going to lose it, Buster!

Somehow, I don’t think “Die! Die! Die!” balloons would be a good marketing move though.

How did what Jesus modeled and lived morphed into what we call the Gospel in the Western world?  Balloons? Circus Animals?  Rides for the kiddies?

Okay…so I get the idea behind this.  Lure them into a service so they can hear the Gospel.  Harness their over burdened schedules with meetings.  Guilt them into tithing for the new building wing even though they’re buried in debt and their marriage is on the breaking point because of it.

But by golly….we’re going to make disciples!  The Kingdom is a lot of work!

And according to the numbers, we wonder why people are leaving, nay, fleeing organized religion.  They know something’s not right but they can’t quite put a finger on it.  All they know is they’re tired….they’ve done the stuff….and they’re still broke, worried and harassed by life.

I sure don’t have all the answers but from my little corner I think it comes back to this quest to be relevant thing.  Jesus didn’t invite us to change our behavior or to try to make a message that was irrelevant to the masses relevant.  It isn’t about loving your neighbor or one upping your buddy so you can feel validated….He invited us into a relationship.

But because we’re so busy doing all this stuff…making disciples…attending meetings…passing out balloons….we forget that it all comes back to HIM.

If we don’t have time to sit at his feet and to learn of his love and allow it to transform our lives we’re going to continue on the same ole cow paths.

Everything Jesus did/say pointed to the Father.  His magnificent love for us and an invitation to enter into a relationship whereby we are transformed.  And then that love your neighbor stuff actually becomes a joy not another “to do” on the discipleship check list.

I certainly haven’t arrived at this but the little tastes of it I get on the way are indeed compelling.

Until we are willing to live loved and love others as we ourselves have been loved….well,  better stock up on those balloons.  theresa_sig

Filed under: church, church life, Spirituality, The God Journey | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Is it about school or learning?

Posted on August 20, 2009 by therealmotherlode

bookI love what Seth Godin said on his blog the other day:

Should this be about school or about learning?

School was the big thing for a long time. School is tests and credits and notetaking and meeting standards. Learning, on the other hand, is ‘getting it’. It’s the conceptual breakthrough that permits the student to understand it then move on to something else. Learning doesn’t care about workbooks or long checklists.

For a while, smart people thought that school was organized to encourage learning. For a long time, though, people in the know have realized that they are fundamentally different activities.

You can read the rest of here.

As I see the school buses back out in full force, I can’t help but wonder how many of the children will actually be learning today.  And how many are just in training for boring jobs that they will tolerate when the system says they’re done with school.

I don’t think it’s a foible unique to institutionalized schooling though.  Anytime we try to  systematize  mankind, something is lost.

I see it in corporate world….government…education…and perhaps the worst offender: religion.  Anytime I read about school vs. learning, I can’t help but draw a correlation with religion.

Textbooks don’t make an education any more than religious activity brings relationship with our Creator.

theresa_sig

Filed under: church, church life, Public schooling, Spirituality | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

What is your will, God?

Posted on July 28, 2009 by therealmotherlode
Oh speak to me, Jesus!

Oh speak to me, Jesus!

I love to rise early. This morning I settled into my chair on the deck with my cup of coffee….and a LOT of questions on my mind. Where should we move to next? What will homeschool look like this year? What about the many dreams I have….that haven’t materialized?

I don’t know about you but when I have so many things on my mind, it makes me want to go back to bed.

The prayer that I’ve prayed many times over the years, (yeah verily…I can pray it in King James,) without even thinking. Lord what is your will? Will you open a door for (fill in the blank)? Please send me a sign…a prophetic word…a Scripture…oh, for crying out loud, even a timely fortune cookie would be welcomed.

And I’m coming to the conclusion that here is his answer: What do YOU want?

Yep. You read that right. What do YOU want? Yeah…YOU! What is YOUR will? What are YOUR dreams?

Lemme explain. Much like institutionalized schooling has dumbed down the masses, I think institutionalized religion has dumbed us down in the dreaming department. We’re taught from the pulpit about this mysterious will of God. Told to pray for it, to seek it earnestly, to pursue at all cost. Of course, this “will” is never very well explained…it’s sort of a vague target out there.

(Unless of course the kid’s Sunday school needs a teacher….) ;)

I remember years ago as a foot-loose single. I would attend the early morning prayer time with a few others at the church. One morning, I was standing at the map of the world posted on the wall browsing…dreaming…praying when the pastor, a man whom I greatly loved and looked up to, gave me a squeeze on the shoulder and pointed to Montana and said, “Focus, focus…”

The tacit message was clear. God’s will for you is here.

Did the pastor dude have malevolent intentions? Of course not. But looking back at this as a solidly middle aged woman, if I had it to do over again, I should have told him to take a flying leap.

Religion confines people. It says, “Don’t do that!” and uses the fear of missing God’s will as a powerful control mechanism. And again, I’m not throwing rocks at people…it comes with the nature of any institution.
The value of the institution and its goals supersede that of the individual.

In its extreme, it’s Jonestown. (Remember that mass suicide?)
Or in a more recognizable form: For me it involves rethinking that nebulous topic: “God’s Will” and exploring in a new way the freedom that God has granted to every human being as we were created in his image.
Failure to do so is as deadly to the soul as that Kool Aid was to the lives in Jonestown.

Wanna live in the woods like Thoreau did? Go check it out. Wanna find a spouse? Do whatever practical steps you need to take and move forward. Find a job that makes you happy? Investigate new job options. You get the idea. I think God moves when we move simply because of that freedom thing.

I’m not trying to minimize any of these things, remember I’m the one that was up at 6:00 thinking of my own issues.
But I think we need to change our mentality from “God would you open a door” to something like, “God, I’m going to move forward and trust that MANY doors ARE open and I’m going to trust you to CLOSE the ones that are of no value to me in my journey.”

It’s taking me several years to sort this out and it’s by no means a done deal. But I will say this, the sense of freedom and joy it brings far, far outweighs the discomfort of setting aside old familiar, comfortable ideas.

“…..If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours…” Thoreau

theresa_sig

Filed under: church, church life, Personal development, Spirituality, The God Journey | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

The welfare state of religion

Posted on November 14, 2008 by therealmotherlode

I was talking with a dear friend last night.  She was telling me about the time her husband used to sell cars. “He loved selling to the g*y/homose*xu*l community.”

She saw my eyebrows go up.

“They didn’t try to get a discount,” she finished.  She went on to say how he hated seeing the Christians come in because they were always trying to get a “Brother-in-the-Lord” discount.

I recalled a time when another friend, a family man, was out of work.  He had a carpet cleaner and set about beating the streets to earn an income to feed his wife and two young kids.  The pastor of his church said he wanted to support his business, if… wink, wink…well, you know…(The man did clean the church carpets at a deep discount, trusting God to supply the rest of his need.) Oh please tell me you see the irony in this.

I used to laugh this off but as I get older I find it more grievous than anything because it doesn’t encourage relationships in a healthy, non-manipulative way. And I think it’s also very destructive because it sets up a welfare state: We’re in ministry so you should support us.  It’s a mentality that is imbued in much of our religious training.

This robs us in so many ways from seeing the full expression of God’s love in relationships.  Why? Because it’s love with a hook.  I have expectations…you have expectations… and when they’re not met someone gets hurt.

The other sad part of this is how it hurts those on the receiving end.  Lately, we’ve walked with some folks who are in a state of complete bewilderment.  Their ministry has dried up and that has been their lifeblood for 30+ years.

And you also hear the statistics of how pastors are leaving the ministry in droves.  (The expectations placed upon pastors and their wives is utterly mind-boggling; is it any wonder?)

I can’t imagine the pressure of feeling that my religious performance must be kept up for the sake of fiscal health.  (Imagine feeling you must deliver a tough sermon knowing you could alienate some of the big givers? How’s that for a conflict when the mortgage on the building is due?)

Every since Constantine professionalized the clergy umpteen years ago the Expectations Game has been hard at work. And much of it is fueled by a welfare mentality.

Only now with the gloomy economy and a growing number of believers leaving organized religion, the painful effects of this mentality is becoming more apparent.

So, am I advocating that we don’t give?  Absolutely not.  And actually, from my little window of the world, I see believers engaged in deeper and more joyous giving.  One might even call it a Brother in the Lord premium.

Filed under: church, church life | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

“Ah don’t like you!”

Posted on October 6, 2008 by therealmotherlode

Who likes dealing with criticism?  I sure don’t and I’ll admit—it sometimes bug me more that I should allow it to.  Sarah Palin as been a class act in dealing with criticism; I admire her moxy.

Listening to Dave Ramsey today  warmed my heart and encouraged me in how to react calmly and firmly with criticism.

Some woman called in and started frothing at the mouth.  When she finally got to the point she said, “Ah don’t like you!”  (She had a deep south accent.)  She went on to rail and rant.  All of America went on to learn of her good Southern Baptist roots which REALLY made me cringe.  Religion is so very ugly.

Anyway.  It was half funny…and half disgusting.  But Dave took it like a real champ and encouraged the woman to get the help she obviously needed.  (He was NOT being patronizing, BTW.)  He went on to talk about how they “bale” the piles of hate mail he regularly receives.

Good lesson to a gal who gets overly sensitive at times.

Filed under: Misc | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

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