Asceticism

Noun

asceticism

1. The principles and practices of an ascetic; extreme self-denial and austerity

- Thanks to Wiktionary for this definition

To be ascetic for Christ. To deny oneself for the sake of spiritual growth. Monks throughout history have done it, some of them successful. Others have just decided it's too hard and fall away.

So, is ascetism a good or bad thing? Well, I've thought about it quite a bit. Not like I sit there and think, "I need to become an ascetic." Rather I think that humbling myself to God to the point where I have nothing will require me to allow Him to provide for me. Does that make sense? Let me try it this way:

1. humble yourself until you have nothing
2. God must provide

OK - so, to what degree should we deny ourselves? I've read writings by Christians who are offended when they see other people claiming to be Christians driving around in fancy cars. Heck, if I believed that, I'd be offended by nearly every member of my church! Many Christians become ascetic to a degree during Lent - though some do it because it's tradition and have missed the point of self-denial completely. Some believe Lent to be a competition "I can hold out better than you can!" Boot camp was asceticism for a different reason.

Another example of asceticism would the Amish people.

Amish people interpret linking with electrical wires as a connection with the world - and the Bible tells them they are not to be 'conformed to the world' (Romans 12:2) In 1919 the Amish leaders agreed that connecting to power lines would not be in the best interest of the Amish community. They did not make this decision because they thought electricity was evil in itself, but because easy access to it could lead to many temptations and the deterioration of church and family life.

- http://www.800padutch.com

But why? And how? Those questions are probably better answered by each individual. Why would you want to deny yourself earthly pleasures? Why would I want to deny myself a motor vehicle or the occasional beer or (heaven forbid!) my blog? Well, the answer lies in my desire for spiritual growth.

I want nothing more than to be close to God. Sometimes, that means I must deny what I want - especially when my desires conflict with His. So - am I ascetic? I don't know. I desire a nice color TV (mine died), rather than a 5" black and white, but to buy one means I would be denying food for my family. So, I deny my desires for a TV to fulfill God's desires in my life - feeding my family. Am I ascetic? Nah - I'm not extreme.

But, if denying the TV brings me closer to God, will denying myself other things also bring me closer? Maybe, maybe not. I think it all depends on my focus for denial. When I deny myself these things, will I focus on the fact that I miss them? That focus leads to the "Forbidden Fruit" mentality. I become so engrossed in what I can't have that I can't focus on what I do have. That happens when I try to fast. I can't think of anything except the gnawing pain in my empty tummy.

For asceticism to work, there are many factors that must come into play. One day, I hope that I will be happy with whatever I have, and not desire to have more. God will fulfill all of my desires, and I will be left not wanting more. That likely won't happen until the day I meet Him face to face. 'Til then, I'll keep working on it.

It is Well With My Soul

The old hymn - kicked up a notch by Todd Agnew - really holds true for me. Whatever my lot, you have taught me to say 'it is well, it is well with my soul'. I can't say it any better than Mr. Horatio Spaford did 133 years ago.

I have weathered some storms - some that many people in the same situation have hung it up. In fact, I tried. But I made it through, and only by the Lord's peace.

I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief." You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear." O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life.

Lamentations 3:55-58, NIV

My pit was bipolar disorder. The depths of the pit was wanting to join Him as quickly as I could (read: enditol - suicide).

But by honestly seeking Him and His Presence in my life, I have escaped the pit. He said, "Do not fear". He redeemed my life.

When the future looks dark and scary, I can turn to Him and feel peace. When it seems as if it just can't get any worse, I look to Him and see the blessings. When I feel like I just can't go on, I find motivation in Him.

When peace like a river attends my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot
You have taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul"

My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought.
My sin, not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross
And I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll!
The trump shall resound
And the Lord shall descend!
It is well, it is well with my soul!

More blogging

OK - so maybe I'm blogging too much. Hey - you can never have enough blogs, right? Well, I started one about homeschooling. It's at http://homeschooldadrambler.blogspot.com. Check it out! Let me know what you think!

I'm outtahere...

Providence - God Provides

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Providence (definition 3) as The care, guardianship, and control exercisec by a deity; divine direction. Definition 4 says simply, God.

God does provide. God knows the future and guides us to it, if we will only listen.

The weekend of April 28, my wife asked me to 'whack and re-load' her Windows '98 laptop. 'Whack and re-load' means to completely erase everything from the hard drive and put everything back on. With early versions of Windows, it's actually routine maintenance to do this periodically. The reason? The machine was running slowly. So, the first step was to back up all the data. I painstakingly searched for every bit of something that she may want to keep, and put it in a safe place. I then 'whacked and re-loaded' the laptop.

A week later, the hard disk died. No way to recover the data - it was gone. But, apparently because of God's prompting, all the data was backed up. All I had to do was pop a new hard drive in and restore the data I'd backed up on April 28.

See, God knows what He's doing, even if we don't understand it. To many people, the prospect of backing up the data would have been more than they could handle. Me, being a tech-support kinda guy, it was part of the routine maintenance. When He prompted us to re-load the computer, He knew that backing up the data would have been part of the procedure. That way, when the drive died a week later, everything was there.

Now, I was really upset about the drive dying. Here, God gives us stuff (a friend of mine had a bunch of 'junk computer equipment' he wanted to get rid of so it's filling up my garage!), then He takes it away. Why does He do that? Well, before He took it away (time did that, not God), He made sure we didn't lose anything except the physical asset of the drive. All the intellectual property (the projects my wife is working on) survived.

Not to mention the fact that I couldn't get the computer to recognize the new drive for a day or so. Well, if I'd pushed the drive all the way in so it made contact with the connector... DOH!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, sometimes you bless us in ways we never see. Sometimes you guide us to do things that don't even register - they look so routine. But behind every little thing You do, there is a larger reason. Help us, Father, to see what you are doing in our lives. Help us to be thankful for even the smallest gifts You give us.

In Jesus' Holy Name we pray,
Amen.

Random Ramblings

Just 'cuz it's been a while since I've posted.

Proud Papa Moments

My youngest is finally potty-trained. That alone is reason for celebration. But there was an extra bright spot last Friday when we were shopping. I had put a diaper on her for her nap, and as soon as she woke up, we went to the store. I didn't change her, just left her diaper on. She said, "I need to go potty". I said, "Just go in your diaper" since I didn't have a change with us. She wouldn't do it. She held it. I found a change in the car and we went back inside and took care of business.

My oldest is learning (among other things) about telling time. We were working on half-past yesterday. She was having trouble getting it, I'm not sure exactly what was the hold up, but we kept plugging away. Suddenly, the light came on. I could see it on her face. She was able to get the whole page of half-past questions in about a minute. I remember moments like that. I remember how it felt. I reached down and hugged her.

Why am I a Christian Moments

I'm a non-denominational Christian. I have issues with denominations. In fact, I'm asking my church to change their name to simply 'church'. As you know, if you've read much of this blog, I would like to see the Body of Christ reunited into one body - not a bunch of folks who can't agree. Then I run into someone who's so wrapped up in their own truths that they think it's gonna be only them and the angels in Heaven with God. How the heck do they figure they're so righteous? And they tend to cram it right down your throat, too. "I never touched a drop of booze. I never went to a school dance. I was never naked until I was married." So, I try to talk to them, but I'm not good enough for them to listen.

The church behind my house keeps scheduling construction in the wee hours of the morning. They don't seem to understand that people live and sleep near their facility. This morning at 5:00, I have no idea what they were doing. But I hear a loud diesel engine running then the "beep beep beep" as it backs up and goes again. Last summer they were putting in a parking lot and everything started at 3am. 3:00 in the morning. I didn't even get up that early in Boot Camp! What's up with that?

Then I remember, "Jesus died for them, too." They may be in Heaven with me, and I have no right to be hard on them. I would sincerely like to dialogue with them, but if it won't happen, I won't lose any sleep over it. I'll just keep praying for them.

FINALLY!!! Moments

In February, I posted about the sewage coming up in my house. Well, in early March, we moved all the furniture from the area of the house that's getting new carpet. We painted and waited for the carpet to move everything back. The only things that remained was the living room furniture and our master bedroom bed and dressers. Everything else went to our spare bedroom and dining room. So, we haven't had access to our spare bed or dining table since the second week in March.
Well, last Friday (April 28) the carpet was finally installed. FINALLY! This week we started moving everything back. It's a slow process, especially since the wife has to be present to supervise the move and make sure everything gets exactly right. She does listen to my suggestions, she's not bull-headed, but I better not do anything when she's not here.
By the end of this weekend, we should have everything put back where it goes.

In March, I posted about my upper GI. Last Wednesday (April 26), I had an esophagogastroduodenoscopy. I asked the nurse how to pronounce it - she said, "EGD". I laughed. Well, they found a hiatal hernia. This isn't like a hernia from lifting something wrong, this is where the stomach actually pokes up into the esophagus. There is a sphincter there that is supposed to keep acid in the stomach. If the stomach comes through that sphincter, acid comes up into the esophagus. What causes it? I can't find that information. So the doctor wants me on medicine that my insurance won't cover. I would appreciate prayers that this will heal - soon. It hurts.

HMMMmmmm moments

I read the news and I can't believe some of the stuff I read.
A Kennedy crashes his car into a security barrier by the Capitol building. Though he appears intoxicated, "Someone over the rank of patrolman said to take him home."

Associated Press, 05/04/06

Yeah, right. If I tried that, I'd be taken to jail with a broomstick as my best friend. He's a Kennedy, though, and he can get away with murder. Happens all the time with them.
Moussaui gets life in solitary confinement. 23 hours a day without human contact. I can see the human rights freaks swarming all over this one saying, "It's cruel and unusual punishment!" Well, I think the punishment fits the crime. He tried to attack the United States. As far as I'm concerned, he's an enemy combatant and shouldn't even be in the civilian prison population. Put him in the same cell as Terry Nichols. Let them live it up together.

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OK - I'm starting to get a little hot under the collar. Gotta stop this one before I get out of hand. Just remember - there is no justice in this world. Adam turned it all over to Satan in the Garden when he chose to disobey God. Maranatha! May Christ Return Soon!