Schadenfreude

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:43-44)

Have you ever realized that your own thinking is really flawed, really foolish? I have often read the above verses from the Bible and thought "I don't have a problem with that."  And why would that be? Because I have always reasoned that I don't have 'enemies' like the ones that are in Bible stories. I am not David OR Goliath, responding to one another with frightening threats of impending death. I am not a fighter in Israel's army going into battle against an opposing army. I just don't have any enemies.  I'm not fearful that someone will hurt me physically, maybe even take my life. If ever I get a real enemy, then I'll take that particular Scripture more seriously.

WOW. 

So what would be the next level down from 'enemy' be? Someone I don't like or someone who doesn't like me? A really annoying person? Is it a person that I find judgmental or whose views I very much disagree with? Hmmm... maybe I do have a few of those 'types' of people around me. If I need to love my enemies, surely I should have a merciful disposition toward the merely annoying.

I recently read a blog post that helped me to see the ugliness of rejoicing at the misfortune of another. Our friend, Bob Bjerkaas, a PCA minister in California, wrote about the book of Job and something called "schadenfreude." Bob's insights can help all of us to learn the beauty of mourning with those who mourn and rejoicing with those who rejoice. You can read his entire post here.

May the Lord be our help as we seek to be more like Jesus, who died for us when we were still His enemies.

Car 54, Where Are You?

I love to laugh. Actually, I thrive on laughter. In fact I may have primarily married Steve for his sense of
humor! (Well, truth be told, I also loved him. 😉) But as we have gotten older, Steve and I have realized how important it is to laugh at ourselves in daily life. We try to turn our 'senior moments' into 'moments of mirth' in order to lessen the disappointment that our brains are not what they used to be. 

But I digress ...

This 'funny' article was written by Andrée Seu Petersen who has a weekly column in World Magazine. As always, Andrée combines humor with theology in a wonderful way. She is able to honestly assess the underlying fears that often debilitate her (our?) witness to a watching world. 

This particular blog post hit home for me: How about for you?

Concerning Attitude Adjustments

Now that I've captured your attention through the use of a humorous meme, I'm going to turn serious once again. 

😀

The subject today is one that is familiar to many of us: being 'moody' or having a 'bad attitude.'  It seems to be the default feature for most humans to occasionally (or frequently!) get ourselves into a state of unhappiness, fear, grumpiness, and irritation. The trigger for these emotions can be large or small. We're driving behind a very slowwww car; we can't find the necessary ingredient we need to make our meal; OR, we're writing a blog post at this very moment as someone we live with (no names mentioned) spills seltzer water all over my planning book ruining it for future use (true story!). HA!

It would be easy to blame our 'moods' on those around us, but we are reminded by Elizabeth Elliot that "The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances." The truth is that it is our reaction to the events of life -- the sin within us -- that causes us to grumble and murmur. 

I recently read a helpful article that encourages us to identify and examine biblically the thoughts that are behind our feelings. As the author says, "We are not, however, victims of these moods, and we certainly must not make others victims of them, either. Instead, we must develop the skilled habit of challenging them, ruling over them (Romans 6:12), and laying them aside so that they don’t weigh us (or others) down in the race of faith (Hebrews 12:1)."

Perhaps we can take advantage of opportunities in our own lives to fight against bad thinking by rejecting what is plainly false and embracing the truth. This is what God urges us to do when we are told to "take every thought captive" to Jesus Christ. His way of thinking is right. Our way may need an occasional adjustment. 

Here is the link to the full article. As always I would love to hear your thoughts, either below or via email.

Look, Look, Look

 

"Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace." (Genesis19:27-28)

Imagine what it would have been like for Abraham to return to the very place where he had asked God to spare the city, and to see the destruction that came from the Almighty on a very wicked group of people. What did Abraham think about this devastating scene? What should our thoughts be when we read these verses today? More generally, how are we to feel about the day of judgment that will come upon the whole earth when our Lord returns? 

Spurgeon's thoughts: "What must Abraham's meditations have been? What should be the meditations of every godly man as he looks toward Sodom and sees the smoke of its destruction? It might do some men great good if they would not persistently shut their eyes to the doom of the wicked. Look on that place of darkness and woe where every impertinent and unbelieving spirit must be banished forever. Look till the tears are in our eyes as we thank God that we are rescued from so terrible a doom. Look till our heart melts with pity for the many who are going the downward road and who will eternally ruin themselves unless almighty grace prevents." 

May God guide us to look, look, and look some more at passages such as this one. Let us feel sadness, thankfulness, and pity, and then resolve to live our lives with a present awareness of His eternal justice and mercy. 

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you and therefore exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him."  Isaiah 30:18