Meet Me There

So I finally did it. I bought Plato’s collected works. I realized yesterday that I’ve been reading about Plato for some time—mostly summaries and introductions in larger books—but I’ve never actually read Plato. So, I tried at the public library yesterday to find some of his dialogues, but their entire philosophy section consisted of two (small) introductory summary-style books. I was very disappointed. So when I got the Borders 40% off coupon in my email this morning, it seemed obvious what I needed to do.

One reason I’m not taking classes for the Summer term is because I have so much I want to read to get ready for classes in the Fall. For some reason, I feel like I’m so far behind where I need to be. So here are (some of) the books on my Summer Reading List. If I can make some progress in these, maybe I’ll add a few more.

Oh, and there is always the reviewing I need to do for the next Hebrew class I’ll have. (So I moved my coffee maker into my bedroom… you know… so I can get an early start on it all.) The way I figure it, the more work I do now, the easier time of it I’ll have in class later, and (hopefully) I’ll also get more out of it. That’s really the main goal.

When daylight savings time came in late March all the clocks here at school went a little haywire. Most of them just had the wrong time on them, but it wasn’t just an hour off; these were really wrong. If it was supposed to be 12:30 in the afternoon, the clock said something like 9:45. I have no idea how they got like that.

But the truly bizarre one was in the classroom where I had Hebrew. Most minutes it would just stay frozen at the top of an hour. But every three or four minutes it would run through an entire hour in a minute. I saw people take three or four glances at it when it first started happening, and their mouths would drop. It was rather comical.

Anyway, I mention it because it seems a metaphor for the semester just finished.

I’m faced now with a summer “off” — although I have more to do than I can possibly get done. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the subjects I’ve just finished. And I would like to go back and reread all of the books and notes and really grind the stuff into my brain. I just realized yesterday that all of the subjects I just finished are not primarily content/informational classes; they are how-to type classes. So that means if I don’t practice the how-to part it will atrophy quickly.

But at the same time I want to start getting ready for the semester coming up in the Fall. I have some great classes and (hopefully) some great professors. It should be interesting. And I think I’ll get so much more out of them if I’m a little more prepared than I was before this past one.

Then there are some other things that I just want to get read over the summer for my own edification and enjoyment. How do I mix all that in? Sounds like I’m going to have to make some priorities and try to stay on top of things. I’ll write more if I can fi

It should be interesting all the same. Hopefully I’ll find some time to write about something sometime.

We had our first membership class at church last week, and it was really, really helpful. We covered a lot of material, but it isn’t really hard to sum it up: the gospel. The gospel is the central focus. It’s central in our own lives. It’s central to community. And it’s central to ministry.

This diagram presents the message in a way I’d never seen before:

And it basically covers the three essential areas of content in the gospel:

1. God is holy, absolutely separate from evil.
2. People are not.
3. The cross is the bridge between the depth of our sin and the height of God’s holiness.

When we first become Christians, we are at the point of the diagram. We understand the basics of those three truths. But… and this is the really helpful part for me …as we continue in our faith, our understanding of God’s holiness increases and our sense of our own depravity deepens. In our experience we see the gap grow wider and wider.

What should happen when this disparity becomes more clear is a magnification of the cross and the work of Christ in the eyes of the believer. The power of the cross grows in our understanding and we give more glory to Jesus for what he’s accomplished for us. So the gospel is not something that we get down when we become Christians and then outgrow. It is central to the everyday walk of faith.

Well, today I’ve reached my Mosesian half-life.¹

That’s probably exaggerating a bit. Modern medical technology is making the average life span ever longer. But on the other hand, we are never guaranteed another day or even minute.

It’s strange to think about all the same. By one measure, my life is half over. Aren’t I supposed to be having a crisis now? I said this to a friend the other day and his reply was, “You are. You quit your job and came back to school.” If that’s so, well, it’s kind of tame, isn’t it. No Harley or leather jacket or tattoo or anything. Oh well. Such is me.

There are many regrets, of course. How could there not be when I sin like I do? But I’m not dwelling on them. Mostly today I’ve been thinking about the Lord’s kindness and mercy to me despite all of those things. I’ve been praying for the coming years: that God would help me shake off the burdens and redeem the years I’ve lost and make me fruitful as his follower (to the praise of His glory).

The following song really sums up how I feel right now. It both looks forward to the end and aims for what might be accomplished in the interim. It’s very others-focused. [listen]

The Invisible Choir by Kris Delmhorst

lyrics adapted from: George Eliot, “The Choir Invisible“

Oh may I join that invisible choir
I want to join that invisible choir
Made of those sweet immortal voices
That lift our hearts up higher

Oh may I reach the heaven most high
I want to reach that heaven most high
And be a little star a shining
In someone’s darkest night

———————————

¹Psalm 90: A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust
    and say, “Return, O children of man!”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
    are but as yesterday when it is past,
    or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
    like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
    in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
    by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty;
    yet their span is but toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12 So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
    Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!
(English Standard Version)