Playing Games

Yesterday, the Lord decided to show up in one of my classes. My professor said:

"Success creates opposition." 

In the past year and one month, I have been pondering hardship, spiritual attack, and spiritual warfare, and what my teacher said yesterday sums up my experience over the past year and a half quite well: in the spiritual life, success creates opposition - it brings attack. Why is this? Because we're not playing a one-person game. It's a two-person game between the Lord Jesus Christ and Satan. Game theory applies to the Christian life. Our righteous, good decisions don't weigh neutral on the eternal scale; they throw the balance in the Lord's direction, and they also often create opposition and invite it. 

Why do many Christians and others "lose" this game, any particular battle, they find themselves in? Because they don't believe they're playing a two-person game, and they aren't anticipating their opponent's actions. This is the art and necessity of spiritual warfare: it requires some game theory; it requires taking into consideration and trying to anticipate your opponent's actions and reactions. Not that we should become preoccupied with studying or thinking about Satan (!), but we also cannot live and act as if we do not have an opponent. We can pray that the Lord protects us and intervenes when we experience hardship, but consider that most of the time, He does not intervene with a lightening bolt from the sky or a thundering voice to scare away our problems or enemies but gives us His Spirit, so that we can fight the particular battle, play the particular game, that we find ourselves in. That is part of His gift and inheritance that He gives to us in making us His children. We have been made in His likeness, to play in His likeness. There is something of benefit to us, and there is glory given to Him, when we fully engage the battles, the games, He sends to us. We become more like Him when we play and think like Him. 

Alongside my game theory course material, I continue to reflect on one particular article. When things have gotten a bit patchy over the past year, I have re-read this piece. In the article entitled "The Lord Loves a Good Game" Deacon Douglas McManaman writes: 

"...we have to enjoy the battle, stay calm and play with wit, that is, with a shrewd mind. Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say that discouragement is pride. It's God's world and it is His battle. Our task is to enter into the game, but we're His pieces, on His board, in His hand. Our job is to battle with joy, with peace, and with magnanimity, with charity and humility, and to rely on God, because He alone is in control." 

McManaman also considers playing games alongside the Lord Jesus's command that "Unless you change and become as little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." For further study, one could meditate on the child-like faith that Jesus Christ describes and how it does not mean having an ignorant, weak, or immature faith as contemporary society would have us think but a strong, courageous, game-playing faith. 

On a more biopsychosocial note, I also consider and wonder that the Lord has made us so that the foundation of who we are is formed when we are young, and that when we are young, we perhaps most often learn for the first time how to play many "games"  of all kinds; engaging in game-playing, in playing, we know is actually central and a part of human development - for one's brain, muscles, etc. Think about babies, children, adolescents, and young adults - the act of playing is central, integral. Lessons are often taught through games; important work is accomplished through play. There is unanimous agreement that play is an important part of human development process. 

The most important game we play is that in our life with the Lord. Our Father loves a good game as McManaman points out. The Lord cheers us on and loves teaching and shaping us through the games He lovingly and intentionally sends to us. Many people, sadly, have been manipulated, broken, and discouraged through the kinds of games that humans often play with other humans and the games that our Opponent plays with us. Our Lord does not play these kinds of games. He sends only those to us that will be for our well-being. 

It's a true fact that no one ever taught me how to play volleyball, so to this day, I still can't play it. I have the slightest inkling that I might be missing out every time I attend a certain lakeside Christian training academy and sit on the sidelines (here's a half-hearted side appeal for someone to give me remedial v-ball lessons!). And it's not fun for me because I waddle my way through it. Let not our spiritual life be similar to my experience of v-ball. Let's not rue the spiritual life because we'd rather not take the time or fear to learn how to engage it. I think the Lord would encourage us to not miss out but to engage the games we find ourselves in, confident that He has already won victory for us through His Son Jesus Christ who is our teacher, peaceful as we bask in the Father's provident love for us. 

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Sources: 

Deacon Douglas McManaman. "The Lord Loves a Good Game." Accessible at: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0407.htm. 

Work, work, work

This past academic year, I spent a lot of time reflecting on the place of work in the Christian life. I had to think and pray about the thing I found myself doing so much of the time. I held a part-time job, an internship out of town, and a full load of classes in a field I'd never studied - I wasn't bored. I was utterly overwhelmed first semester. Can't tell you the number of days I dragged myself into God's presence and prayed for Him to give me the strength to get up and do it all again another day; He always did.

If I 'feel' overworked, sometimes, this is pointing to a need to step away from work. But it could mean that I am called to look at my work in a new way and to hand it over to God because this surrender is what holds the key to me being able to do all the work that God has for me to do, that is, the Father's will. I recommend the chapter in Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot on work, "The Discipline of Work."

If anything, this year the Lord told me to 'Get busy! Get moving - do something!' I had lots to keep me busy; labor was on my 'plate' of life, so I had to let Him teach me how to be grateful for it all.  He has taught me how to thank Him for the labor He gives me, how without gratitude and faith, I cannot carry the Lord's "easy yolk" and "light burden."  I think a misconception that people have is that us having to work is a consequence of the Fall or that working hard is a kind of suffering when in reality, work existed before the Fall - man was made to work just as man was made to rest. What IS a consequence of the Fall is the struggle we face in balancing work and rest and the way in which we humans work and relate to work. But labor was a part of God's original design and is a part of who He is and what He does. We are made in His image, and so we are called to labor like Him and in relationship with Him, which is really fun sometimes!

There's a lot more I might say and still want to know about this topic. This post is just a meandering meditation/reflection on the area. Some of the Scriptures that have meant something to me this year on the topic have been:

-Genesis - meditating on how the Lord creates everything - that was work, and I've no doubt God delighted in it.
-Haggai 2 - the rebuilding of the temple - very inspiring and hard work that was only accomplished when everyone stopped focusing on their own work and focused on God's. The Holy Spirit inspired individuals to drop their own individual works and instead gave the people inspiration and strength to work, and work hard, toward the establishment of the temple.
-Revelation - part of what we see in Heaven is that God's people are "serving" Him day and night before His throne. When I read this some years ago, I was shocked and pondered. God's people aren't laying around on a beach drinking cool drinks in Heaven; they're worshiping and serving Him, for all eternity. Their work is a part of their worship; there isn't a separation between the two.

Speaking of the connection between work and worship, here is one last thought about surrender, about our inner disposition and how that can so transform our dull labor into restful, worshipful labor: Thomas Merton in No Man Is An Island writes this about work:

"With a right intention, you quietly face the risk of losing the fruit of your work. With a simple intention you renounce the fruit before you even begin. You no longer even expect it. Only at this price can your work also become a prayer."

What's our intention in our work? Do we have one, with every task we are given or take on? Do we aim for 'right' or for the 'simple' intention that Merton implies is the better intention? I take Merton's 'simple' intention to mean this: that we are made to work simply because we love and are always aiming to love and worship God. We are free to work very hard and to even take pleasure in it if we do so with this deep sense of rest, love, and adoration dwelling in our hearts and minds, that which, in Heaven, we will have in full. Merton's idea of a 'simple intention' is another way of saying that we are called to surrender our work to God, not even expecting 'fruit' from it but for God who can bear that fruit.

This is total abandonment to God's will. The paradox, of course, is that when we cease to expect fruit from our work, when our work becomes a prayer, this is the same moment in which our work bears the most fruit and when we are most free to work for God.

Many times, I asked Him this year, "Remind me, why am I doing this?" when I could have chosen to pray, "Remind me, I am doing this for You." There's no precedence for my "why's" because my "yes" is sufficient. I ask "Why" when I doubt, and I say "yes" when I have faith. With one year down and one to go in my graduate program, a year that will be again filled with: classes in a field I'm still just getting to know, another internship out of town doing new things, new ministries and services, and living in a place I've never lived, He has prepared me for more - more practice at setting aside my "why's", more practice at turning over my weakness, and more opportunities to see His Spirit at work in my life and others'. Last year, I was dreading it all. This time, I marvel at, thank, and praise Him for the work HE has quietly done in me, so much so that I am so looking forward to the adventure and cannot wait for it all to begin again. With His help, I know it will be a lot of fun and that He will be glorified! :)

Check this out - a summer plan

What are you doing this summer?

This is what I'm doing. Check it out:

http://youthworksdetroit.tumblr.com/

Whatever you do this summer, do it for the Lord.

On Humility

1. "Bless them; change me."

What a great four-word, four-syllable prayer of humility.

A friend shared this a couple weeks ago - they heard it at an event, and they passed it onto me, and now I offer it here.

This prayer has been haunting me and has had a great impact these past couple of weeks on me.

So I offer it here.

2. The Litany of Humility

by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

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When I moved into my house, this prayer was hanging, very appropriately, on many a mirror. This year, next to the "Our Father" and a couple other prayers, this "Litany of Humility" has been a prayer I pray daily. It has taken some rehearsing and took some time to warm up to. I've become quite grateful for it now. On different days at different times for different reasons, various lines have kept me rooted and in the Lord's path.

3. Psalm 119

Finally, I pull in Psalm 119.

The longest Psalm, it's a 'litany' of devotion to walking in the way of the Lord, of committing oneself to Him, of obedience. My favorite verse:

"I shall run in the way of your commandment, O Lord,
For you have set my heart free" (v. 32).

On Thanksgiving

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you...” - 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Easter greetings!

The Word of Life Community spent the 40 Days meditating on the Holy Spirit, and the third meditation in a series had a focus on thanksgiving. As I studied the 1 Thessalonians passage, I was struck by how nearly every letter that Paul writes begins with a genuine note, a sizable portion, of affirmation and thanksgiving. I sat down, and I started reading the opening portion of every letter he wrote, and I was blown away by this disciple's ability to see the good and to have genuine expressed affection for all those whom he was serving and, often, writing to exhort to a greater degree of holiness.

I thought, wow, what might it be like if every email, text message, phone call, conversation, and letter that I, that we, wrote began with at least some kind of genuine note of thanksgiving and brotherly affection. What transformative power this cultural and Godly practice of frequent thanksgiving might stir among people today!

Try this: a friend once challenged me, when discouraged, to pray an alphabet of thanksgiving - begin with 'A' and thank God for something that begins with 'A,' then 'B,' and so forth until I find myself genuinely grateful and joyful once more. I'm not sure if I have ever reached 'Z' but I think I have gotten close! I continue to use this practical tool today.

Paul's gifting for affirmation, or his discipline of seeing and acknowledging his brethren's and his flocks' goodness, allowed him to see more clearly God's hand in their lives and to see their character with true clarity, discerned and inspired by the Holy Spirit. I imagine that this allowed him to exhort in love, made him an effective evangelist, and allowed him to live his life in this world with hope.

Many times, even daily, I am brought into broken places, broken lives, and how necessary I have found it to live more in thanksgiving and hope. I have found that continual thanksgiving and a "strengths-based" mindset (what we talk about in classes - very helpful) have born a steelier kind of hope and joy than I have previously experienced. Praise the Lord!

A good day and Good Friday

Good Friday:

I attended a communion service at St. Aloysius in Detroit: www.stalsdetroit.com
-> very inspiring. takeaway from the sermon: until we enter into our own fears of abandonment, death, and loneliness, we will not be free to go out and seek those who have been abandoned, are dying, and are alone. Jesus Christ came for us, to free us from our fears!

I read the poem "Broken Vessels" at the YouCharist event at Real Church's Courage Coffee, a coffee house in downtown Hamtramck: http://www.hope4detroit.com
-> stories of young people moving to Hamtramck for mission, families hearing a call from the Lord to move to Detroit
-> really good coffee!
-> art.music.words.witness.videos.worship.prayers for Detroit.prayers for young people to give their lives to Jesus.fun.friends.strangers.laughter.brothers and sisters in God's family.surrender.beauty.the Cross.power.Holy Spirit.Gospel.hope.transformation.change.

God is moving in the city of Detroit, in His beautiful sons and daughters who are there. What a great Good Friday!

True Pain and True Joy

Recently, I was walking alongside a beautiful, still lake, and I asked the Lord, "What needs to happen between us between now and Easter? Is there anything you'd like me to do, to offer up, to repent for?" The answer I received, "Lynne, there is nothing I want you to do for me, and there is nothing to be done."

Nothing to be done. It's the line a loved one of a sick or hospitalized relative may dread hearing most.

One thing that we do during the 40 Days is take extra time to consider Jesus Christ's passion, his suffering and sacrifice of his life for us. But what does that mean? In the Lord's response to me, I heard Him say, "My pain? Consider your own."

Sometimes, in my flesh, there is nothing more painful for me that to sit by and watch Him do everything - bring everything into existence, bring me into existence, appear as both man and God, live for me, die for me, and rise again, all for me and the rest of humanity. The pain is contained in my own helplessness and lack of role in the fundamental work of salvation. Dying to self-reliance and pride is painful - truly painful.

But faith in Him can transform this pain into the greatest joy. He can give us the courage and humility to receive His love.

Praise be to Him, for there is nothing to be done; He has done all.