hooked

God speaks through stories. I recently got caught up again in watching Steven Spielberg's film "Hook"and was impacted by what I see as its remarkable prophetic implications. Robin Williams plays a grown up Peter Pan, who, in the process of becoming a highly succesful atorney ("Peter, you have become a pirate!" exclaims a saddened Wendy) has forgotten who he really is. Throughout the course of the film Peter gets back in touch with his true identity, learns to fly again, and returns to the "real world" to take on the adventure of life from a radically new perspective.

This story can be viewed as simply another nice fairy tale for children (and adults). Or it could be viewed as an inkling, a suggestion of what truly is. How is it that humans have this capacity to imagine things so way out there, so beyond the reach of what we think could ever be possible, that we automatically label them as "fantasy", as fiction. Yet, as a wise man once observed, it is truth that is actually stranger than fiction, because fiction is obligated to stay within the realm of what we can imagine, while truth isn't. No wonder reality always has a way of blindsiding us, of catching us totally off guard!

The story "Hook", is for me, a picture of God's people. Like grown up Peter, I suspect that we too have forgotten who we really are. Tinkerbelle represents the Holy Spirit, tugging at us to bring us back to what has been lost. I like the way Gary Wills puts it in his book, WHAT JESUS MEANT, when he compares Jesus to other greater-than-life figures from antiquity.
"[Jesus] is the fulfillment of the myths . . . they are a reaching out toward him. They are a hunger and he the food. They are an ache, he the easement."

The Enlightenment was (in part) a time of breaking out of a calcified and superstitious religious culture that needed to be challenged by science and rational inquiry. But in our "growing up", have we lost the child-like ability to dream and believe in the impossible? Jesus broke through the strictures of the religious system of his day and challenged his disciples to such preposterous things as being born again, or becoming like little children in order to qualify for entry into the kingdom of heaven. He even promised that if they had faith as a grain of mustard, they could command mountains to move. "Truly I tell you," Jesus said in his farewell address to the disciples, "the one who believes me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works (Jn. 14:12)."

Have we forgotten who we are? Are we too grown up to believe that such words of Jesus might really impinge on our lives today? Or will we be content to read the Biblical stories to our children and leave them there, as simply stories from the past? They might as well just be fairy tales.

Somehow, somewhere, I got infected with the faith bug that from time to time challenges me in the deepest part of who I am with those words that I am convinced are more than fairy tale: "All things are possible to them that believe . . . What is impossible for man is possible for God."

I am hooked. Are you?

overcoming whitewash

As Becky and I were recently continuing our reflections on developments/paradigm shifts in our life together, recounting again that experience I described in the last ("joy") blog, a picture came to her mind of an animal-like creature that looked like a cross between a cat and a bull-dog, and this thing was snarling in her face! Immediately I knew that this was a visual representation of the religious spirit, or at least one of its henchmen. As I understand the religious spirit, it is more than just a demonic spirit - it is one of the the most powerful anti-God forces out there, known as a principality (Eph. 6:12 KJV). The reason I figured it had to be a manifestation of a religious spirit was because the topic Becky and I had been arguing over was religious/spiritual in nature and I had been so convinced I was right (a classic sign of the religious spirit - "I'm right, you're wrong"). I have become convinced that the biggest struggle in my life is against this spirit/principality, and that it had once again reared its ugly head in this argument I had had with Becky. The bulldog speaks of a tenacity, a refusal to let go once it locks its jaws on its prey, and the cat speaks of its sleuth-like ability to come and go undetected.

Years ago, when we first became part of a home fellowship in Charlotte, NC, the leaders (husband and wife) invited any one who wanted prayer and counseling to meet with them privately. Becky and I took them up on the offer and we went to their place for prayer and counsel. After the prayer time was over, the husband told me that while they were praying for me he saw a serpent, as it were, coiled around my mid-section with its head coming right out of my chest! I don't recall a very clear explanation of what that was supposed to represent, but as I've reflected on that image over the years I've become convinced that that represented my own personal entanglement with the religious spirit (ugh!). And I've learned that you don't just cast out religious spirits. Principalities have to be wrestled with (Eph. 6:12) on a continual, ongoing basis; and this is certainly what I have come to experience over the years since then.

But my sweet, "pumpkin-patch" (her words, not mine) wife, has been God's sharpest tool in helping to cut me free from this dastardly, entwining serpent. God gave her one other picture of what it means to overcome the religious spirit. When we bought an old farmhouse about 20 years ago, and I tackled the job of painting it, Becky wanted me to use a variety of colors to highlight the unique architectural features of the house which had virtually gotten lost by the whitewashing (mono-coloring, all white) of the previous owner. Over the years, as I have painted other people's houses, it has been fun to point out to the owners how the appearance of their home could be enhanced by bringing out these unique architectural features through a variety of complimentary colors. It can make all the difference between a ho-hum house and a "wow, c-o-o-o-o-l !!!" house. Can you imagine what the original builder/architect would think or feel in regards to seeing his/her artistic designs uncaringly painted over and made to look like some cheap shack or storage shed?
God has feelings - deep feelings - about what He creates. Should we not honor the creativity and artistry of Him who makes no two snowflakes alike, who delights in the most intricate and mind-boggling diversity, as evident in His creation? How is it that we have so easily succumbed and remained content within the white-washed confines of a religion that all too easily feels threatened and unsettled by non-conformists that are trying to break free of the coils of that wily serpent that has been trying to sqeeze the Creator's life out of us?! Have mercy on us God! Set us free! Help us to overcome the whitewash and allow the unique colors that you have given each and every one of us to come forth and allow your glory to blaze forth again in your creation!