The Spirit of John Muir

We all have heroes of the past that we admire for their exploits, writings and works.  Recently, I was talking with a friend about our heroes of the past and how they influenced us.  At one point he shook his head and said, "all my best friends are dead!" Of course it was rhetorical hyperbole referring to some of his heroes of the past. It got me thinking about who my dead best friends are.  I'd have to say the greatest of them all was John Muir.  By anyone's estimation he was special in his time and has become a great inspiration to many and certainly to me; especially for his spiritual view of nature.  Here are some of my thoughts about Muir's spiritual views on nature:

Muir was a prolific nature writer

Muir was raised by a devout Bible believing father. Young John was trained to work hard on his father's Wisconsin farm, as well as in his Bible lessons. But, John did not swallow the Bible whole, as his father desired for him. Rather, John took the atmosphere of the Bible and left behind its stories and theology. He had a love for God, which he learned about first from the Bible and then through nature. He ferreted out of the Bible what made sense to him about God and he left the rest behind.

He never developed an appreciation for organized religion of any kind. Nature and the mountains were his temple, the place where he went to meet with God. He once wrote, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. "  And, "Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." And, "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn."   The language of his writings remind me of the expressions of a Biblical prophet or an evangelist, evidence that he kept the atmosphere of the Bible. Indeed, Muir was a prophet and an evangelist, but of the wilderness rather than the Bible. Since Muir rejected the theology of the Bible I am more in line with the nature theology of another dead friend, Martin Luther, who said, "God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars." But, it is not clear to me that Muir ever rejected Christ along with his rejection of religion and the Bible.

There are many who have misunderstood Muir. He was not a pantheist, as nature pantheists prefer to interpret Muir's writings. No, from his writings we can at least see that he believed in a transcendent God who created the world. He believed that natural forces set in place by God created the glaciers, mountains and trees. God was at work in nature and you could see and experience God through what we call, nature.

He wasn't a theologian, nor a philosopher, but a naturalist. We can't go to his writings to get a clear theological treatment of God in nature anymore than we can go to the writings of Mother Theresa to learn about the Trinity.

Muir was a mountain mystic who painted nature with the brush of his words. In his writings he went beyond his naturalism to create word paintings that inspire us to look deeper in to nature than it's mere physical features and function. He illustrates God's work in and through nature, so that we might better partake of God's majesty and power. As a mountain mystic he exhorted us to see nature as he saw it, a sacrament of God. This is the spirit of John Muir.

Top Ten Cheers for the Bible

I read a blog post at Lady Atheist entitled, "Top Ten Grievances Against The Bible." You can read it here. I would like to respond point by point to that post with my, "Top Ten Cheers for the Bible." Here I go:1. The Bible has stood the test of time as the authority for God's people because it is remarkably accurate historically and has displayed an amazing unanimity between its authors. The transmission of the Old Testament text by the Masorites and the New Testament text by early copyists is a testament to the divine guidance of this holy book. No other ancient documents can boast such amazing success in its transmission. The copyist errors, and there are many, amount to nothing significant. 99% of them are spelling or word omission/misplacement. The Dead Sea Scrolls were a wonderful testimony to the faithful transmission of the Old Testament.

2. The Bible is remarkably consistent with itself. From cover to cover there is one message, God wants to redeem the world and the Bible displays his plan to do so. When I hear people speak of its inconsistencies and contradictions I find that they either have not studied the texts or they are projecting a bias against the text. In other words, they prefer to see contradiction rather than finding the natural harmonization. The two creation stories are only written with a different perspective in mind without being in conflict at all. the four gospels and the two genealogies of Jesus are not in conflict once you see why they were written and who the audience is that the writer is addressing.

3. The Bible's presentation of God is majestic and awe inspiring. He is worthy of worship, respect and adoration. It is wonderful to have such a God to worship and admire, because as humans we need and want such a God. A great God lifts humanity up in greatness. Sure, He's tough and at times wrathful. But, the same degree to which God hates sin and judges those who are unrepentant, he is amazingly loving, kind and forgiving. In the atonement of Christ we find both the fullness of God's wrath toward sin and his love for mankind. Both are startling.

Sure, we don't want to be on the side of His wrath. It's awful. But, we do want to partake of the amazing graciousness and kindness of God found in Christ's sacrificial death. There is nothing comparable to the love of God in Christ. Nothing!

I find that people who despise the Biblical God by citing certain texts that show his, so called "brutality," are only declaring a distorted picture of Him, because they do not see the composite picture of God that the whole Bible presents.

4. The Bible presents miracles that amazed the most skeptical people and substantiated the claims of Christ. I don't buy the argument that people in Biblical times were so steeped in superstition that we cannot trust their claims to have seen real miracles. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, was a physician and had a scientific mind. Just read his introduction! Of all the disciples Thomas was a hold out and doubted that Jesus was resurrected, but Jesus came to him and convinced him with evidence (I can identify with Thomas). According to Paul, 500 people claimed to have seen the risen Christ. People who were widely known to have been dead, such as Lazarus in John 11, were raised from the dead. The writers of these events, contrary to the claim that they were "superstitious," went out of there way to show that these miraculous events were substantiated by "eyewitness" observation. This is impirical evidence which is scientific, not superstitious.

Why don't we see these kind of miracles today? The best answer is that they happened at a time when it was important to establish the claims of Christ and the Apostles. Once the Bible was completed miracles disappeared. I call it a, "phasing out." The early church fathers did not claim miracles and they didn't seem to have a problem that they stopped. That's just history!

So, why weren't the miracles and resurrection of Jesus corroborated outside of the Bible? You don't find much in the secular historical record and that is a fact, as well. There might have been a lot of literature written about Jesus and the activities of the Apostles in secular writings, but they were lost to us. When Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in 70AD all literature in the city was destroyed along with the buildings. It's a theory, but I think it's reasonable to think that a lot of "secular" literature about early Christianity went up in smoke with Jerusalem.

5. The Bible is a reliable revelation of God's will for mankind. People malign the Bible as a divinely inspired book. After all, wasn't it written by men who wrote with different motivations, ideas, and from different perspectives? So, how can it be a book from God? I simply see that God used these differences to communicate what he wanted. People wrote from their perspective, in their language, within their cultures, and with their own intentions as they understood God. However, all that they wrote was all superintended by God so that what they wrote was God's word. God's normal modus operandi in the Bible is to work though people. Why is this so unbelievable? We are not robots, but free agents who are used by God. Also, those who want to reject the Bible as a revelation of God will often speak of people in Biblical times as superstitious, psychotic, or schizophrenic to account for miracles, dreams, and voices from God. But, that is purely an argument from silence.

6. The Bible is not contradicted by science, but substantiated by science! I'm not saying it's a science book, it's not intended to provide all knowledge of all things. It's a book intended to communicate God's will, period! However, as an example, Archeologists have successfully used the Bible to find ancient cities buried under thousands of years of dirt; cities that were once thought to be mythological.

It is often pointed out that the Bible reinforces unscientific ideas, such as the Bible referring to the sun rising and setting, rather than accurately communicating that the earth revolves around the sun. True, but the Bible is often written in phenomenological language, so it speaks of nature as humans experience it; not as it is scientifically. Nothing wrong with that, we still speak and write this way in our "scientific" times.

What about evolution? The Bible speaks of man as a creation by fiat, not evolution. As a matter of fact we don't know any more about the origin of man by evolutionary process than we do about the creation by fiat - scientifically, that is! Both the evolutionist and the creationist have to take the origin of man by faith. While the scientific method has displayed the possibility of evolution within species, it has not proven the origin of man by evolution.

7. In Jesus the Bible provides a solution to the problem that we humans have always agonized over. It's in all the great literature of ancient and modern history. Because of the short life we live, the suffering we experience, and calamitous world we live in, we naturally crave a hero to rescue us from this misery. The Bible displays Jesus as a dying and rising savior who rescues us from our plight. But, it's been well established that there were a number of ancient hero gods much like Jesus of the Bible, such as Mithra. but, to me, this does not destroy my faith by proving that Jesus was a copy or just another mythical hero. On the contrary. First of all, if there is a Satan, and I believe there is, wouldn't it be reasonable to think that he would counterfeit Jesus with other similar identities? Satan is not going to try to thwart Christianity with something totally opposite, but he's smart, so he uses counterfeit tactics. Also, it might be just as reasonable to understand these saviors previous to Jesus as simply foreshadows of the real thing to come, Jesus. Furthermore, these other characters were not historical figures, as was Jesus, who is rooted in history. And furthermore, the whole Bible, from cover to cover, ties itself to Jesus the Messiah and his heroic sacrifice for mankind on the cross. There isn't any story comparable in history. In other words, I am saying that all others are either counterfeits or foreshadows of the reality in Jesus.

8. The Bible gives hope of redemption to the worst offenders. The Bible records the conversion to Christianity of a Jewish Rabbi in training, who at one time was helping to execute Christians. Then, the Bible contains more New Testament books written by this man for the good of the Church than any other person. His name was Paul. Contrary to the growing popular belief that Paul never believed in a historical Jesus, Paul met Jesus and spoke more about his historical crucifixion than any other New Testament writer! Read Paul's letters for yourself, folks. Don't suck down the disinformation being spread around the internet about Paul. It's irresponsible.

Also, in Paul's books to the Romans and Galatians we have a tour de force presentation of the great doctrine of grace, of which we would know precious little without his exposition of this doctrine in these books.

This is the kind of God that I like, a God that would forgive a repentant murderer of Christians and then make him the greatest defender and proponent of Christianity in the New Testament. Paul has become the premiere example of salvation by grace to billions of Christians. The God of the Bible loves to take worthless, degenerate, obnoxious, prideful, morally ugly people, and then bring them to a repentance that changes both them and the world around them.

9. The Bible contains perhaps the most beloved book by Christians, the Gospel of John. It is so loved because of it's clear message of Christ's nature as God and his atoning death for us on the cross. This book smashes to pieces the popular liberal orientation that Jesus was just a great moral teacher, or an apocalyptic prophet, or the messiah who came to be the king of the Jews. The Gospel of John presents Jesus as God Himself breaking in to this sin sick world to lay down his life for mankind. John's Gospel is indeed, "The Good News!"

10. The Bible provides a needed moral compass for humanity. The 10 commandments were not just for Christians or Jews, but all humanity. Without the 10 commandments and the absolute moral standards communicated in the Bible we would be living in a sea of anarchy driven by what ever conflicting standards people choose to live by. The Bible's ethics, despite what atheists claim, is the basis for our modern jurisprudence.

In the last several years atheists against Christianity have been loudly charging that the God of the Bible is a brutal and capricious ogre. It seems to have become part of the Atheist's Gospel. It is claimed that He orders the executions of men, women and children, sanctions child sacrifice, and is blood thirsty. I almost have to keep from laughing when I hear of these charges, because these charges are caricatures of God, like one of those twisted cartoon sketches comedic artists draw of us at the fair. All of our features are distorted to make us look exaggerated. That's what is being done with God in this case.

God never sanctioned or condoned child sacrifice. The story of Jephtha supposedly sacrificing his daughter, recorded in Judges, is misunderstood. God explicitly commanded His people not to practice such sacrifices. In context there are other explanations of what happened. As for the "blood thisty" charge against God, I think it's misunderstood. It's not the blood itself that is important, but that the blood represents life. Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice for us, not his blood. Christians were never told to drink blood. The drinking of the blood of Jesus was symbolic and never to be taken literally. I guess one has to appreciate figurative language to understand this. As for the killing of the men, women and children in the book of Joshua, it was in fact commanded by God. How's that for not beating around the bush? But, just to put things in perspective let me add two things: 1) God was purging evil from the land to make way for God's people who were to be holy. They were to be a light of holiness and goodness and well being to the nations around them. Once in the land they were called upon by God to care for those around them by taking in and helping the "strangers" in the land, not killing all of them off but welcoming them. 2) The greater truth in this story is that every one of us ought to be condemned and snuffed out just like the Amalakites. The only reason God hasn't plowed all of us under is that he is gracious and long suffering with us. We ought to be glad we have any kind of peace, love and happiness in our lives, for by his standards we don't deserve it. We can either be angry at God for doing such a "brutal thing," or we can stand in awe of his justice and be amazed that he is so gracious with us to provide a path of acceptance and forgiveness.

I can go on and on with each of these top 10 cheers for the Bible, but I would rather answer questions or handle criticisms if you have any.

The Pursuit of Virtue Over Happiness

I listened to a great pod cast by Psychologist Jordan Peterson on, "The Necessity of Virtue." You can listen to it on line for free at, Big Ideas Podcasts. You can access it here. This is a lecture that everyone will appreciate who is interested in understanding and solving our most basic human problem, suffering.

Peterson's point is that our modern pursuit of happiness is an invalid goal for life, because life is inherently about suffering. We might experience happiness, but only at unique and special times in our lives. We all get sick, suffer emotional and metaphysical troubles, and eventually die. There is no utopian life or magic button to press that can provide happiness as a sustained experience in life.

He explains that all the great world religions and timeless cultural stories teach us that suffering is endemic to life. Buddhism defines life itself as suffering. Judaism and Christianity teach that the fall of Adam and Eve brought suffering to us as a constancy, rather than an intermittent or exceptional experience.

In light of this fact we ought to pursue virtue, which can give us a sustained sense of fulfillment, or overarching satisfaction about life, in the face of suffering. Trying to transcend our own suffering by pursuing happiness as a goal for life will only lead to self loathing, despair, and anxiety. Then, as a consequence of this personal "hell" of despair, one digresses so easily in to doing evil.

He sites Nazi Germany as evidence that normal people can slip in to evil by not accepting life as it is. During the 20s and 30s in Germany, when life was hard and national pride had been crushed by the first world war, the German people chose to live as deluded cowards by not accepting their own suffering as part and parcel of life.

Could this very problem be a factor in the genesis of Jared Loughner's act of evil in Tuscon? It has been observed time and again, "There is a thin veneer of civility in all humans."

What Peterson means by virtue is living a life of authentic goodness. To live such a life one must accept suffering as the price for life and transcend its despair by getting outside of self- consciousness and seeking to live truthfully in the context of the suffering life.

When one accepts that life "will be" a hard knock then there is no need to fool ourselves and others by trying to be something we are not, or cannot be. It is to accept ourselves as limited, finite, and vulnerable beings. Once we accept life as it is then we will be less prone to doing evil because we are finding fulfillment in being authentic and less self-absorbed.

As a Christian I appreciate Dr. Peterson's, accurate, honest, and realistic portrayal of life. It also happens to be very Biblical. It is the reason I became a Christian in the first place. Christianity has a satisfactory explanation for why life is the way it is and Peterson expounds it accurately.

However, while I think Peterson accurately identifies the problem, he offers an incomplete solution. It seems to me that Peterson can only go so far as to encourage us to "fool" reality. In his concept of pursuing virtue over happiness he is teaching Existentialism 101. Watch a Woody Allen movie, such as Hannah and Her Sisters, and you will get an entertaining picture of man's problem of suffering and the Existentialists solution, which amounts to masking it. One can cover over personal and social problems with Peterson's solution, but the problem is still there and the destination of death is ever present. So, who are you really fooling?

Without taking anything away from Peterson, I would add that we accept our lot in life as suffering beings and after realizing it's stinging truth, accept the life saver that God offers us. The life saver is Jesus Christ, who suffered, died and was resurrected to provide a way for us to escape the ultimate destiny of this life; death.

True Virtue is to live our lives with the life saver in mind. In this way we not only transcend suffering, but also its culmination of death.

He is There and He is not Silent

Many years ago I read a book by Francis Schaffer entitled, "He is There and He is not Silent." It is a philosophical treatment of the existence of God. Schaffer's argument is that God is real and he reveals himself to us in a variety of ways. However, he may not reveal himself as we would like.

I for one like evidence and I like tangible truth. Perhaps that's why I so much enjoy nature, science, and wilderness. In the natural world we see the results of God's creative power, as if he were a painter and the earth was His canvas.

The Scriptures tell us that God reveals himself in two basic ways: In The Scriptures and in creation. We distinguish between these two forms of revelation by referring to creation as God's General Revelation of Himself and the Scriptures as God's Special Revelation of Himself. Creation is a visible and tangible expression of God, but it cannot specifically tell us things about God and his will. The Scriptures do that for us. Psalm 19 is the great passage in the Scriptures that teach us this.

Is it any wonder that Christians tend to have a great appreciation for nature and wilderness education? When we head out in to the woods and mountains it's as if God were calling out to the Christian, "here I am, my beloved!"

When Job struggled with the issue of suffering he asked, as we all do in times of suffering, "God, where are you? Why will you not talk to me and explain to me why this is happening to me?!" God's answer to Job was, "Job, look at my creation! Look at what I have made!" God proceeded to give Job a tour de force of the greatness of His creation and it quelled Job's thirst to understand and know God. After that experience with God and his creation, Job found peace and restoration.

It was John Muir, the mountain mystic, who said, "let us go to the mountains and receive their glad tidings!" Indeed, when I want to experience the power, greatness, and majesty of my God, that's where I go.

Down Town Ministry in Portland Oregon

It’s been said that there are more dogs on the streets of Portland than there are Christians. At least that’s what one church planter in Portland has said. Portland has long been considered a bastion of political liberalism, social progressiveness, and eclectic spirituality. It’s a tough nut for Conservative Christians to crack, but it’s not without hope. No matter what the lay of the land is like, Christianity always has a place at the table, even in the most vile places. When the chips are down, both socially and spiritually, Christianity shines. Darkness is ubiquitous in down town Portland. On the one hand there is the darkness of spiritual wickedness, which manifests itself from the “rebels without a cause” who roam the streets from Burnside to Clay, to the surreptitious business man who plans his next scam while walking through Washington Park. On the other hand there is the darkness of spiritual oppression, which can be found from the down and out drug addict living under the Burnside Bridge, to the up and out high rise executive who has everything, including an empty soul. Christianity is a light for such darkness and in down town Portland there are several light houses bringing the light of Christ in to this darkness.

One such place is Grace Bible Church on 12^th and Clay, led by Pastor Ken Garrett. It was during a dark time in my life when I met Ken Garrett on the streets of Portland doing one of the things he loves most, street ministry. At the time, I was renovating a 13 story apartment complex across the street from the church. It was a Saturday, which happened to be both a work day for me and for the church. I was on the street supervising the placement of several pieces of mechanical equipment on the roof of the apartment complex, which required a massive crane that blocked the entire street, and Ken was on the sidewalk supervising a work group from the church performing a variety of exterior fix-ups around the building. We had an instant connection as we met on the street to discuss our common roll on the street that day. As we talked in the midst of the activities going on around us we found out that we had a lot in common, including a common Seminary heritage. I had coffee with Ken the following week and told him my story, which at the time involved some pastoral disappointments that were eating me up inside. I had a few issues to work out with God and Ken helped bring the light of Christ to bear upon my issues and my heart. It was a pastor pastoring a pastor. But, that is what Christians do and that is what churches like Grace Bible can be for places of darkness like down town Portland. Pam and I now call Grace Bible church our home church and place of service. It is truly a light house where the people of God are living testimonies of darkness turned to light. If you need the light of Jesus in your life, or if you need a place where you can join with others shining the light of Christ, come and check out Grace Bible Church.

Remembering Ray McMahon: "One of the Good Guys"

This past week I had the priviledge of officiating the funeral of my good friend, Ray McMahon, in Minco Oklahoma. When I moved to Minco in 1993 to accept a call to pastor Minco First Reformed Presbyterian Church I became fast friends with Minco resisident and church member, Ray McMahon. I think a lot of our immediate connection was our common "big city" upbringing. Ray was from New York City and I was from Los Angeles. We probably had some weird subconscious fixation about what blew us both on to the Oklahoma prairie. We were both outsiders who came to Minco in search of the good life. But, in the forefront of my mind was that I simply liked hanging out with Ray, because there was zero pretense with him. There was no, "perception becomes reality" with Ray. No hidden adgenda. Nothing phoney. You never had to wonder what Ray believed, or what motivated him. He was a genuine guy who could be trusted through and through.

Ray wasn't the theorist or the philosopher, even though he had a mind fit for any kind of academic discipline. I think church bored the heck out of him because of it's inability to tap in to what he really was all about. Ray was 100% interested in practical results and real world living. Not that church isn't real, but that a church service is very spiritual and theoretical by nature. We go to worship the unseen God and talk about how we are "supposed to live" in our church worship services. The sermons and teachings, while intended to elicit a practical effect, tend to be theoretical and academic by nature. Frankly, Ray slept through most of my sermons, but I didn't care, because I knew Ray's heart. In line with his practical life focus, he helped start the Minco First Responders and when it came to defending those who were not able to defend themselves, he was tougher than his fighting dog, Sampson. When the biggest crisis of his and his family's life struck he was at his best. He fiercely defended his nieces and nephew when they most needed it. He stepped up to the plate of responsibility and looked opposition square in the face. With unflinching principle he swatted out of the ball park the toughest pitches of evil that were hurled at him. During that time he was willing to put his life goal of becoming a CPA on hold for the sake of caring for his extended family and it lasted until his death this past week at the age of 61.

I will always admire Ray and hold him up in my life as a superior example of what it means to stand in the gap for the sake of what is right, good, and true. He will, for the rest of my life, be my life example of Philippians 2:3, where the Apostle Paul said, "..consider other's interests more important than your own...."

Pam and I were having lunch with Ray's wife Zelma a couple of days after the funeral and during our time together Zelma said of Ray, "He was one of the good guys." I like that statement and I will take it as the motto for Ray's legacy. Let it be known that, "he was one of the good guys."

Video Journal of Oregon's Eagle Creek Trail

(Click the Title to see the Video)

Narrative:

The Eagle Creek Trail is certainly one of the most popular trails in Oregon. It begins at the junction of Eagle Creek Canyon and the Columbia Gorge. Not far from the quaint town of Cascade Locks.

For an Oregonian the trail begins with ordinary features. A thousand Oregon trails begin just like this one. A tumbling trail side creek. A Densely forested terrain. Bridges traversing the canyon’s many tributaries. Thick thatched Paths. Grand Douglas Fir, Western Cedar and Broadleaf Maple compliment the trail. High tree covered canyon walls tower above. Even the usual Oregon trail companion, a Leopard Slug can be found here.

But, not long in to the hike the Eagle Creek Trail begins to show off it’s unique and spectacular features. The trail was built in 1910 by Italian Engineers to compliment the new Columbia Gorge Highway. Portions of the trail had to literally be blasted out of the steep volcanic cliffs of the canyon. At times, one has to hold on to the cables provided for stability while walking the precipice of the trail. Just one of the variety of opportunities to experience the exhilaration of Eagle Creek’s wonders.

Yet, as much as the amazing trail construction impresses one’s mind and senses, it is the creek itself that is the main attraction, drawing sauntering souls to its cascading call. Alfred Billings Street once said, “Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumines his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.”

As the Eagle Creek hiker encounters one cascading waterfall after another along the creek’s path, all the cares and worries of the world seem to melt away in her waters.

There is a dramatic theme to this trail, as if intentionally plotted out with the wilderness lover in mind. At four and a half miles in to the hike the trail rounds a bend in the canyon to reveal an unnamed deep narrow gorge. From the appropriately name, High Bridge, that spans the gorge, one can stop and look 100 feet below to inspect the geological features of the gorge. It is simply a massive volcanic crack at the bottom of the canyon, creating shear rock walls to funnel the passage of the creek.

In just 2 more miles the drama of the Eagle Creek Trail is realized as the hiker is rewarded with one of the greatest waterfall scenes ever to be experienced. Tunnel Falls. While the construction of this trail and tunnel are extraordinary, it is the natural wonder of the falls that draws one’s attention. As I reflect upon the entire length of the trail to this point, it is clear to me that Man’s best efforts can only compliment what God has already done in nature and the builders of this trail were wise enough to understand this.

"Never Rationalize Anything That Feels Wrong"

On my way home from work every day I pass a road sign that says, “Never Rationalize Anything That Feels Wrong”. It catches my attention every time and it makes me think deeply about its meaning. At first I thought that this was someone’s attempt to justify an “anything goes” philosophy of life. But, now I think the person who posted the sign is on to something. In my life the dominant thinking regarding “feelings” can be summed up in an opposite kind of slogan, “Don’t trust your feelings”. The idea being that we must follow a set of principles or code of ethics and then live by them whether it feels good, bad, or indifferent. It sounds good, sensible, and right. And, it usually is! If we just go by your feelings it is likely that we will become an ambivalent mess, right? But, the slogan, “Never Rationalize Anything That Feels Wrong” calls upon us to be in touch with our feelings as a barometer of what is right and wrong for us. And that’s good! If we “don’t” use our feelings to help guide us then we can succumb to personal misery and even open ourselves to becoming badly harmed physically and emotionally.

Science of the brain has shown us that emotions and deep seated feelings operate just like the physical sensation of touch. When you touch a hot iron you are going to get burned and it is going to hurt you. We teach our children to trust the sensation of touch because it exists to keep us from harm. The sensation of touch can also make us feel very good, as when we touch the soft and fluffy fur of our pet animal. The fact is, when we feel hurt emotionally it comes from the same place in the brain as the pain we feel from touching a hot iron. This is also true of our good feelings. Therefore, feelings “can” tell us whether something is good or bad for us.

I am sure that many a Catholic boy, had he trusted his feelings, might have been kept from succumbing to the seduction of a priest bent on sexual exploitation. As a Catholic child I was taught that the priest is the chief authority figure in our lives and that the priest is Christ’s representative to us on earth. So, naturally an obedient Catholic boy might not be inclined to follow his feelings of reticence and discomfort at the sexual advance of his priest. He thinks he is doing the right thing by putting his trust in the priest instead of following his feelings. This is precisely how so many children have been sexually abused in the Church, bringing upon them tremendous guilt, crippling them later in life. If it feels wrong it might really be wrong! God gave us feelings for a good reason and science has shown us a thing or two to confirm that feelings can be trusted.

I think about this slogan also with respect to everyday decision making and life choices. There are plenty of people around us who would be happy to tell us what we “ought” to do and how we “should” do things. In fact, what these well meaning people might be doing is simply imposing upon us what makes them feel good and right. We are all alike as humans, but we are all a bit different, too. What makes me feel good may not make you feel good. Don’t forget the well phrased maxim, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” So I say, Don’t dismiss your feelings when making decisions.

Hiking With Angels

Click on the Title of this post to see the video I made of the Angel's Rest Trail hike I did this past Saturday, June 6^th (stand away from your computer screen when you view it or you’ll get a head ache from the bouncing camcorder!).

This is a loop trail in the Columbia Gorge that takes in the scenic Angels Rest, The eerie Devil's Rest and the beautifully forested Wakeena Trail. It’s an 11 mile hike with an overall elevation gain of 3400’. This kind of elevation gain makes it’s a good training hike for the brutal ascents on the John Muir Trail that I am going to do with Tom Willard at the end of Summer. I didn’t film any of the grinding ascents during this hike. I was in too much pain to think about filming.

As you can see, the weather was typical of the Pacific Northwest; damp and cool. It was just a light mist today, but enough of a mist to wet my clothing and gear. I had to fight to keep my camera lens from fogging.

There are a number of Columbia Gorge trails that make great training hikes in preparation for the John Muir Trail. The ascents and elevation gains are similar. All these Gorge trails rise precipitously from the Columbia River, climbing the steep basalt walls of the gorge. I wasn’t able to film any of the ascents on this hike. I was in too much pain to think about recording the grind, although I now regret it. The only disadvantage I’ll have using these trails in the Gorge is that the altitude is much lower than the John Muir Trail, which is high up on the crest of the Sierra.

These Gorge trails have always held a sacred attraction for me. The glorious water falls, the old growth Douglas Fir and Red Cedar, the grand views of the gorge itself, and perhaps most impressive of all, the atmosphere of peace and serenity. I remember coming up here to a trail much like this one on a day off from work 5 or 6 years ago. I was feeling particularly stressed out from my job and I needed a respite. As I drove out to the trail I recall telling myself how foolish I was to move here from the Midwest. We were right in the middle of the rainy season at that time and I suppose a lot of people say that during a 30 day stretch of wet dreary weather in the Pacific Northwest. But as I walked the path in the cool mist of the Gorge, all the anxiety of life melted away as I listening to the water falls hiss and the birds call out to me under the canopy of the giant Douglas Firs. I felt an overwhelming sense of God’s presence up here. I wasn’t long on the trail before I was telling myself that I must never leave the Pacific Northwest, for God was meeting me here in this forest.

It was John Muir who said, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

Each section of the trail had its own character, which made the entire hike enjoyable. The Wakeena Trail portion of the loop hike entertained me with its array of wildflowers gracing the trail. There are over 800 varieties of wild flowers in the Gorge. On this trail I had a never ending show of Blue Lupine, White Cucumber and Red Columbine.

On the Wakeena Trail, from time to time, I was able to see and hear the highway far below me. It was a lesson to me that as humans we really do live in two worlds. I suppose we need both, but on this day I was glad to be in this one.

With only two miles to go I took my own rest at the rock outcropping appropriately known as Angels Rest. As I sat on the edge I thought that perhaps angels were at my side, taking their rest with me and enjoying this serene view of the Gorge.

If I were an angel, I know where I would take my rest.

The Wilderness Connection

I read an article in The Oregonian this past week entitled, “Nature in Our Nature.” (The Oregonian, 5/27/09, pg. B1) Researchers have discovered that we humans have a connection to nature that is vital to our existence. Evidently, people heal faster from surgery when exposed to the natural world than if not. Also, heart rate, mental well being, and anxiety all are affected by our exposure to nature. And, it’s not just the visual that is important, it is the experience of nature that makes all the difference. When patients were put in a room with a video presentation of a wilderness scence they did not respond as well as when they opened a window where they could see, hear and smell the outdoor environment.

What does this mean? We are interconnected with the natural world. Many tribal and indigenous cultures live very close to nature. They take names for themselves from the geography and animal world around them. Their religion celebrates and includes the natural world. They wear ceremonial dress that mimics the animals of the wilderness. In short, they see themselves as “part” of nature, not distinct from it. Genesis 1:28 tells us, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’...” People have often misused this mandate from God to abusively “lord over” creation. This passage does teach us that we are supreme in creation. We are the capstone of creation, but we are still part of it. We are told that God created us from the “ground” (Gen. 2:7), which is a fact in and of itself declaring our interconnection to nature. God put Adam and Eve in to the world to “tend” the garden, not rape it (Gensis 2:15). I applaud those who have sought to protect and preserve the garden from exploitation. Men like John Muir, David Brower, Edward Abbey and David Suzuki. These are the people that have understood the need for blank spots on the map and that, even if no man goes there, we need undeveloped wilderness. Why? God made us interconnected with the natural world. We are part of the ecosystem. It is not optional, but essential for us to experience wilderness and live as part of it. This is not my idea. I am not making it up because it sounds cool, or it’s politically correct, or it fits in to my personal desires. I am just a messenger reporting on what God has already said and what my fellow humans have found to be essential for healthy and wholesome living.

Transcendence: A New Way to Think of Selflessness

Yesterday I was at a memorial service for a young man named Bo Jacobson who went to school with my oldest son, Joseph. He died a couple of weeks ago in a tragic accident while snorkeling in Fiji. I remember Bo as a very lively and extroverted fellow, who genuinely loved people. During the memorial service a number of individuals went up to the podium to eulogize Bo, but one person in particular described Bo in a way that I have never heard anyone described before. It was his former college football coach at Puget Sound University and he described Bo as a “transcendent” person. He defined this term as, someone who selflessly rises above himself and does what is best for others in the community. Bo looked out for the best interest of the football team and not just himself. The testimonies about Bo went on for almost three hours, but that uniquely worded description of Bo as “transcendent” stood out to me among all the complimentary eulogies given about him. I so much like the term that I plan on using it in the future as a new way to think about selflessness. It is the perfect word.

In my Christian tradition “Transcendence” is a word reserved for God. God's Transcendence refers to his “otherness”, his "holiness", his standing “above” and “outside” all that he has created. No mortal being can even approximate this kind of transcendence. However, I think it is the perfect word when referring to a person who rises above himself to become conscious of a greater purpose than himself. Jesus was certainly the epitome of this kind of transcendence. The Apostle Paul said that Jesus stepped outside of his divine privileges and status in order to identify with us and sacrifice himself for us. He considered the accomplishment of our redemption a goal more important than exulting in his own divine position.

One of the ways we playfully poke fun at babies is to say that the “world revolves around them.” We expect babies to behave as though everyone around them exists to serve their interests. It’s part of their survival mechanism to be needy. But, when adults act like this we react with either disgust or pity for them. We expect adults to grow out of that immaturity and become aware of the needs of others around them. “Transcendence” is a word referring to the epitome of maturity. The mature person sees that there is interconnectedness between them and those around them. They understand that they cannot be truly happy, or fulfilled, or do their best to accomplish their life calling unless they transcend themselves and work for the interests of others, a purpose greater than themselves, and the common good. Abraham Maslow observed that it is innately human to crave fulfillment. However, isn't it ironic that to be fulfilled we cannot focus on our desire to satisfy it, but instead we come by fulfillment as a byproduct of our transcendence. This is one of those spiritual laws that can be tried and proven through experience. Don't ask, but observe anyone who is truly happy and fulfilled in life. You will see that for them fulfillment does not come from their money, power, influence, health, or satisfaction of sensual pleasures, but through their devotion to the well being of others and ideals greater than their own private desires. For me, Bo Jacobson's legacy will live on in one word, "transcendence".

People Want To Make A Difference In This Life

Today I went in to the office of Ted Jacobsen, Medical Division Manager at Howard S. Wright Constructors, and went on a rant about the City of Portland for delaying a permit for a project we are currently working on. I was frustrated. After a lot of brain storming Ted said to me and another manager working on the project, that we need to go down to the permit office at the city and get the bureaucrats to "help" us. "Help" is not a motivation or ethic I associate with people at the City of Portland. When I go down to the permit office at the City the bureaucrats behind the permit counter are some of the most sour and unhappy people I have ever seen. I have never seen them as helpful, but I have felt pity for them. Ted had another take on these folks. He said, "People want to make a difference in life. If you go down there and show them some appreciation, talk with them, thank them, treat them as people who are the only one's who can help you, you will probably find that they will go on a mission for you. Why? Because people want to make a difference."

About an hour later I talked with my friend Randy Dalzell about the procurement of property he is working on in order to build an indoor sports arena. Randy is the Head Track Coach at Concordia University and Howard S. Wright is trying to help Randy and Mac Wilkins with their efforts to build this arena. Randy also has a lot of potential people out there waiting to jump on the ship to help him get this project built. I don't remember why I said this, but at one point in the conversation I reminded Randy that everyone wanting to participate in this building project is looking for something to gain from it, whether it is money, status, appreciation, etc. But, it struck me after I got off the phone that Ted's explanation is a far better perspective about what motivates people. "People want to make a difference in this life."

After these two conversations I knew that God was affirming this principle to me through Ted. These two conversations today made me turn Ted's statement upon myself as a question, do "I" want to make a difference with "my" life? Emphatically, Yes! I think this is why Ted's statement struck a cord with me. Why do people want to help Randy get the arena built? Why will people at the city permit office help me get that permit pushed through their bureaucratic channels? Why do we serve at our churches and in our communities? Why do we work to help our family members achieve their goals and potential? Well, it could be that the motivation is purely money, fame, a job, appreciation or some other personal "gain". However, at the motivational core of most people I run across, and within the desire of my own heart, it is because people want to make a difference in this life and in the lives of others, pure and simple. And you know what? The greatest personal gain from helping others achieve their goals is that it just feels good to help others! By the way, wasn't it Jesus who eptiomized this ethic,

"do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:3-8)

Journey or Destination?

My motto is that life is about the journey. That certainly doesn’t say everything about my life, but it is an attempt to focus my life on the present process of life, rather than the future destination. This is not to say that the destination is unimportant. Rather, the destination is important, especially for the Christian. It is good that we live in the light of our future heavenly union with Jesus. The Apostle Paul, for example, tells us to keep our minds on heavenly things above, where Christ is (Colossians 3:1ff). The writer of Hebrews told us to fix our eyes on Jesus as we go though this life (Hebews 12:1,2). We are to keep the destination in mind because it helps us to be faithful through the thick and thin of life. And, it provides us with present joy to know that a divine union awaits us. However, the future does not exist, but the only thing that does exist on the time scale is the present. If we keep our attention on a future that does not yet exist we will miss the present which is all that does exist. This is hard for some of us to accept. I tend to be future oriented, or I tend to want to be somewhere other than where I am at the moment. Usually some idealized fantasy world that doesn’t include pain, struggles, and problems. So, my blog theme is an attempt to help me to focus on what I am doing right now. Jesus told us to not worry about the future, but to give our attention to one day at a time and one thing at a time. The future will take care of itself and it will come to us without any of our expectations or anxieties. Furthermore, the future will come to us as something far different than we plan or expect. This is the irony of being destination focused. It can be a wasteful exercise. We plan, worry, fret, play the future over in our mind as we want it to be, but it never unfolds as we plan. This does not mean we don’t prepare, plan, and set goals for the future, but it means that planning is “very” limited and overrated. We can have our heads so focused on the future that we miss the fullness of the moment and so not fully alive in the present. Recently, I listened to an interview on NPR of a neurosurgeon who had a stroke. The stroke took away her ability to think about the future or the past, but it left her with complete awareness of the present. She wrote a book about this and described how the present became a wonderful experience once she lost her ability to think about the past and the future. She was “completely” present. She described it as euphoric. She was able to fully engage and experience things that she missed before the stroke. Gradually, her perception of past and future returned, but she wanted to teach people through this book to embrace the present more fully. Our experience of the life that God has given us will more fully be enjoyed and useful once we become fully present.

In Defense of Seekers

About 8 years ago a fellow track coach complained to me about one of his athletes. It seems that this athlete was missing some practices, doing poorly in school, and was generally too much of a free spirit to be coachable. Since I was a pastor at the time, my coaching colleague came to me to see if I could help control the boy. After telling me his problem with coaching the lad he vented his final criticism with disgust in his voice, “he’s always looking for something!” I knew exactly what he meant and he wasn’t referring to the boy looking for his missing running spikes. This boy was one of those “lost soul” types. They go by various names and descriptions: Browsers, Seekers, Lost Souls, Restless Souls. The problem with them is that they usually never change. How do I know? I am one of them. I have always been a Seeker and at the age of 50 I have resigned myself to the “mission” and “pleasure” of seeking. God knows I have tried to stop it, but it’s like trying to change a physical characteristic. Have you ever tried changing your hair color? You can dye your hair, but your true color will always come back. So it is with Seekers. My motto now is, “If you can’t beat em, join em.”

But, is there anything actually wrong with being a seeker? Well, to those who are the Certainty types, which I will call Certaintees, there is a lot that’s wrong with Seekers. Certaintees, the opposite of the Seeker, are sure of most everything and don’t like to question authority from which they derive their certainty. And, they certainly don’t want others questioning their certainty. They want loyal and dutiful followers who conform to the certainty of the Certaintee. Certaintees are not bad people, but just like Seekers they are hard wired to be what they are. It’s hard for Seekers to live in the realm of the Certaintee because they are seen as lightening rods of doubt, skepticism and antiauthoritarianism. There is a fear that the Seeker will eventually upset the apple cart. And, they often will! Can Seekers and Certaintees cohabitate in peace? I believe they can, but an ethic of grace and peace must be at the heart of both types of individuals. The Seeker, for all his desire to know the truth, can deform his restless heart in to a dragnet that would take everyone around him in to his neurotic pool of doubt. The Certaintee also has his issues. He can become corrupt with a power-wielding narcissim; crushing and demoralizing all who oppose him. But don’t get me wrong, I am not arguing for a permanent rift between Seekers and Certaintees. One of the beautiful reasons that Seekers and Certaintees ought to cohabitate is that they can bring their strengths in to a common arena for the benefit of each other. The Seeker can help the Certaintee to look outside his box of certainty to see the prisim of truth. The Certaintee can help the Seeker by bringing him down to earth, out of the cloud of unknowing, by showing him that he can rest in the truth that can be known. Jesus spoke important words for both the Seeker and the Certaintee, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.” Both the Seeker and the Certaintee need the focal point of God in place of the Seekers skepticism and the Certaintees Absolutism.

Peace,

Joe