Monthly Archives: April 2023

“The Contentment and Joy of Beginnership”

On April 24, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Do you feel like a beginner in an area where you should be a master? Well, join the human race, dear heart! “Impostor syndrome” (which is often a result of feeling like a beginner) is something we all struggle with in one way or another, in one area or another. Feeling like a beginner is not generally a comfortable feeling.

However, at the ripe old age of seventy-two, I have realized that I can choose to be contented and even joyous with the feeling and the reality of being a beginner.

Here is an excerpt from my 12-step report to my sponsors and accountability posse this morning:

“Dear ___________________________________,

. . .

Today, by God’s grace, I am cultivating awareness of God. Good things for me and for others will come about as I consistently do this.

It was a good affirmation, but I am not sure how much I followed through on it. I am a beginner at cultivating awareness of anything. However, Thomas Merton said that God loves beginners. I hope Merton was right, and I suspect he was.

Today, by God’s grace, I am content and joyful to be a beginner. By the end of the day, I am planning to be a little further along on my beginnership.

Daryl”

I thought that I might be coining the word “beginnership”, but I was quickly disabused of that notion. While it is not yet an official word, it was used in an article in Forbes Magazine in February of 2022 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/02/09/the-power-of-beginnership-as-a-business-leader/?sh=1cfff9f17bf8, accessed 04-24-2023). So much for originality!

Some Buddhists also speak of keeping “a beginner’s mind”. This strikes me as being incredibly wise.

And why is it wise to recognize and cultivate beginnership? The answer is simple: Because we all are beginners. If we begin to think otherwise, we are already off the path of wisdom and into a thicket of bad results.

I had a fascinating exchange of emails with a student. He was responding to one of my comments on his assignment. His email invited me to think more deeply about the whole matter of biblical interpretation. I was able to encourage him, I think, by admitting that I myself am a beginner when it comes to interpretation. I also raised his grade a bit for his prompt and thoughtful response.

If the Bible is God’s Word, as I believe that it is, then we should not find it difficult to believe that we are beginners in interpretation. After all, if God is infinite (in other words, if God has no boundaries), then we ought to be humble beginners in trying to understand what God has said. We can be content and even joyful in our beginnership.

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“Seventy-Two and No Fresh Regrets”

On April 10, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

DTEB, “Seventy-Two and No Fresh Regrets”

“The old, stale regrets I’m throwing out. By God’s grace, I won’t bake any fresh ones today.” (Down to Earth Believer: An Affirmation)

“Phil. 3:12 ¶ Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Phil. 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

Phil. 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Phil. 3:15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

Today is my seventy-second birthday. By the power vested in me by me, I am declaring it a no-regrets day.

Regrets are a terrible waste of time. Therefore, they are a terrible waste of life. In fact, regrets are a slow form of suicide.

Mostly what I regret is wasting time and life, wasting opportunities to love Sharon and our children much better than I did, treating my friends and everyone else more kindly, learning more, developing better character.

However, my regrets are holding me back from doing the very things that I regret not doing in the past. So, the regrets and very regrettable, and they have to go!

Today, by the grace of God, I am focusing on present opportunities to live and love fully, to develop a character that is more capable of love, to learn. This is the birthday gift that I am giving myself, God, and others today. I plan to celebrate my birthday for an entire year, if I get to live that long. If I do get to live another year, no regrets! If not, still no regrets!

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“Just Like He Said”

On April 9, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Mateo 28:5-6

El ángel dijo a las mujeres: “Ustedes no teman. Sé que buscan a Jesús, el crucificado. No está aquí; ha resucitado como había dicho.”

Matthew 28:5-6

“The angel said to the women, ‘Don’t be afraid. I know that you are seeking Jesus, the crucified one. He isn’t here; he has been raised—just like he said.”

According to the Gospels, Jesus had spoken to his disciples several times about his death and resurrection. Unfortunately, the comforting words about Jesus’ resurrection fell on deaf ears. The disciples didn’t understand, didn’t believe. That is, they didn’t believe until the resurrection forced them to do so. Even then, it wasn’t easy.

Why were the disciples so blind? Well, to be perfectly frank, the Gospels portray the disciples as (how can I put this delicately?) not the sharpest tools in the shed. There was a lot of what Jesus said that they simply didn’t understand. We tend to put the first disciples (except for poor Judas) on a pedestal. The Gospels themselves don’t do that. In fact, the disciples are pretty much portrayed as stumble-bums. I take great comfort in their portrayal. At least, they were trying to stumble in the general direction of Jesus. Maybe you and I are too.

But there is another thing: Perhaps they didn’t, and maybe couldn’t, hear the words about resurrection because they could not fathom Jesus’ words about the cross. Apparently, Jesus’ first disciples wanted a king who would set things to right—right now! And, of course, that might involve some violence. If there were to be any crucifixions, it would be the Roman occupiers and their “Jewish” (??) collaborators who would be the ones hung up to die. Certainly, the Messiah wouldn’t be the one to die! Right?

Wrong. If Jesus was the Messiah—and this is widely debated and denied by many—Jesus wasn’t your garden-variety king. The kind of king that we long for is one who will destroy our enemies. Instead, Jesus died for his enemies.

So, it may be that the disciples couldn’t hear the blessed word of resurrection because they couldn’t understand the hard word of the cross. In any case, they didn’t understand and believe. Even the courageous women who came to the tomb did not make that journey to see a risen Lord. They came to anoint the hastily buried body of their teacher and friend. Everybody seems to have been blindsided by the resurrection.

The angel who spoke to the women told them not to be afraid. The Greek verb for the command “Don’t be afraid” is in the present tense. This suggests ongoing, persistent action. The angel was telling the women, “Now and always, there is no need for fear.”

Then the angel gave them the reason for not being afraid. “He is risen.” It is a wonder that the shock of this didn’t simply kill the women outright. You go to take care of the dead body of a dear friend, and discover that there isn’t a body!

But then, the angel can’t resist saying that Jesus was risen, “just as he said”. It would seem that even angels cannot resist the urge to say, “Told you so!”

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“The Corrector in Chief”

On April 3, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Gal. 6:1 ¶ Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Gal. 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Gal. 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Gal. 6:4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.”

One of the many problems with going to church is that God may get a word in edgewise. God’s edgewise word to me yesterday was not very consoling. I was made aware that I have a critical, fault-finding spirit that does not honor God or help others or myself.

This critical spirit (which I prefer to call “the Holy Spirit gift of admonishing others”) manifests itself in many ways. I give my wife unasked for “advice” (criticism) about her driving, even though she is an excellent driver. I give “advice” (criticism) to other drivers on the highway who can’t even hear me, using descriptive words that I don’t need to use. I “comment on” (criticize) politicians of both parties. I give my students lots of “comments” (criticism) when I grade their assignments, but not much encouragement. In short, I am the Corrector in Chief.

There is a time and place for correcting others. In fact, we have a responsibility to do so. But, as Paul says in Galatians 6:1, this must be done—this can only really be done effectively—in a spirit of gentleness. I am greatly afraid that most of my “correction” is way too ungentle to be worthy of the name “correction”.

One more thing: I also need to practice a lot more gentleness in correcting myself. Self-correction is an important part of healthy self-care. Self-flagellation is not. I need to resign from my self-appointed position as Corrector in Chief. Gentleness is a good quality we need to extend to ourselves as well as toward others.

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