The Double Mirror Experiment

Most people look at the world through some lens--their worldview. These are ordinary people. A few take the time to examine the different worldviews people have. These people we call philosophers. They hold up a mirror and allow us to see ourselves and the worldview we have. Even fewer people take the time to examine the worldview with which they look at other worldviews. These people we call mad. They hold up two mirrors so that you can look at one through the other.

If you value your sanity, I suggest you stop reading now.




Before you is a table. On the table is a plate. What you see on the plate depends on your perception.
Supermodel: Calories.
Five-year-old: Yummy chocolaty goodness.
Mom: A mess waiting to happen.
Torah thumper: A symbol of the pagan moon god.
Chef: A cake.

These are our worldviews. Now, this is not an exhaustive list by any means...but it will do for illustration. Each of these people are ordinary people looking at the same object on the plate--but perceiving it in different ways. Now, three philosophers enter the room. We'll call them Bob, Larry, and Steve.

Bob: See how everyone looks at the cake differently. They all see different aspects of the cake--like the different ingredients used in the cake. They are all present, but the sum is a cake.

Larry: Are you saying that the chef's worldview is superior to the others because he sees the sum whereas the others only see part? I think that all worldviews deserve equal treatment. What is right for you may not be right for me and what is right for me may not be right for you. It does not make any one worldview better than another.

Steve: No, the five-year-old holds the correct viewpoint...what is on the plate is yummy chocolaty goodness. The supermodel, the mom, and the Torah thumper are blinded by their worldviews to the yummy chocolaty goodness in front of them--and the chef is just shallow.

In analyzing the different worldviews, it is shown that the philosophers have different ways of looking at the collection of worldviews--each one has their own "worldview on worldviews." Now, let's give our philosophers a healthy dose of insanity:

Bob: Larry, Steve...you both see aspects of the truth, but we all know that my view encompasses the whole. It is the blending of your two views--the balance.

Larry: Ha! Your view is no better than my view is no better than Steve's view. They all have equal merits.

Steve: Nope...I'm definitely right. You guys are wrong.

I'm really not sure how to comment on this one...


Bob, Larry, and Steve continue to fight with one another, arguing over who is right, who is wrong, whether anyone is wrong, whether anyone is right, etc. Meanwhile...

The super model leaves the table having no interest in the plate of calories before her.
The five-year-old makes a grab for the plate of yummy chocolaty goodness, while the Mom tries to stop him from digging into the mess she see waiting to happen.
The Torah thumper preaches against all of them for allowing this pagan symbol to exist.
The chef simply admires the cake he baked.

Beloved of God

I heard Jason Gray on the radio the other day talking about his song "Remind me who I am." The inspiration of the song came when he was thinking about sin and why we sin. Jason describes sin as an "addiction" or an attempt to satisfy our hunger for significance. We want to feel "loved, desirable, and worthy." So, "We run to affairs. We surround ourselves with symbols of status that we hope will convince us of our worth."

If only we could learn to run to Christ, the One who calls us His beloved, His bride, the child that He chose to welcome into His family. We would hear Him tell us that we are enough because He says so. We would hear Him call us His treasure, and we would come alive. -- Jason Gray

Our worth does not come from what we do or what we think. We cannot earn the love we so earnestly desire. When we look to the world or look to ourselves for fulfillment, we will be let down every time. But when we look to God--He calls us beloved. He calls us beautiful.

Consider that for just a moment.

When you mess up. When you struggle with sin and temptation. When you act like a hypocrite. When you speak out of turn and when you cause hurt. When you stumble and fall and bring shame to the Name of God. When you feel worthless and deserving of hell. There is forgiveness and mercy--you are the beloved of God.

No matter how much you know. No matter how many mysteries you have solved. Now matter how well you can recite Scripture or read Hebrew. No matter how strict your standards or how perfect your observance. No matter how close you feel to God. None of that matters. God created you and He loves you as His treasure.

How often I forget this. How often I feel like I need to do better, I need get my life straight so that God can use me. There's always something I'm missing, somewhere I'm failing. And then I find a bit of knowledge and shout "I got it right!" when in reality it is God who chose at that time to reveal a piece of Himself to me. I forget that as a friend once told me, "I know nothing more and nothing less than what my Master has revealed to me."

I'm finally starting to understand why the church repeats the Gospel so much. We need to hear it often. We need to be reminded of our inadequacy and of His abundant love and mercy. We cannot earn God's love nor do we have to. We need to be reminded of who we are--the children of God, the beloved of our King.

Forgiven, beloved
Hidden in Christ
Made in the image of the Giver of Life
Righteous and holy, reborn and remade
Accepted and worthy
This is our new name
This is who we are now...
-- Jason Gray, "I am new"

Worship

I've never really studied worship in much depth. I've heard a few teachings on it, but I never considered the topic important enough to study on my own. Now I'm finding that not only is it important, but it is central to life.

What is worship?

In our modern culture, worship is often associated with music and emotion. It's that thing you do before the pastor gets up to give the sermon. If that's your idea of worship, then it does seem easy to dismiss it as extra. But I think it goes much deeper than that.

I looked up the word "worship" in Scripture, and found that most of the time worship occurs at the Temple. At first, I couldn't see how this could help me understand worship. Israel offered sacrifices at the Temple--we can't offer sacrifices today. How do I worship without a sacrifice?

Take it back to the Hebrew though, and things become a bit clearer. The Hebrew word for sacrifice literally means to "draw near." The Temple was not built for sacrifices--the sacrifices were offered so that one could draw near to God at the Temple. Worship is drawing near to God.

How do we draw near to God? Well, if we look at the Temple again, I see four things: sacrifice, prayer, music, and awe. Sacrifice is pretty self-explanatory. The incense altar is closely tied to prayer and the daily prayers are recited at the times of the morning and evening offerings. Many of the Levites who served in the Temple served as singers and musicians. And awe--that's what happens when you see fire come down from heaven to consume your sacrifice.

Enough of the technical stuff (I love tying things to pictures and Hebrew words, but we mustn't lose sight of the forest for the trees). I've been learning lately how important it is to take some time just to worship God. This can be through music. I've made myself a playlist of songs that I can honestly sing with and that remind me who God is. It can be through prayer. Reciting the daily prayers from your heart can be an awesome form of worship. It can even be something as simple as taking a walk and standing in awe of God's glory. 

How do you worship? How do you draw near to our Creator?

Starry Night

I had more thoughts on this sleepwalking idea. There is a passage in Matthew about keeping watch and not falling asleep. It is near the end of the book, just before Yeshua is captured by the Roman guard.

What struck me the other day is that this all took place at night. Ok, so maybe that fact isn't meant to be a big deal, but I'm gonna use it as a midrash tool anyway. The sun doesn't rise when you wake up. We are called to keep watch through the night.

Through the night we have the moon and stars for light--sparks of eternity and the mere reflection of God's glory. But we must wait for the dawn. We must wait for the coming of our Glorious King. And it will be like the rising of the sun to one who has never seen day.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 
(Psalms 130:5-6 ESV)

Waking Up

I've decided my last post (Sleepwalking) deserves a bit more explanation. A lot of it has to do with this book I read. So, here is my combo book review / blog post (more blog post than book review...but you should read the book).

The book is called "The Journey of Desire" by John Eldredge. I find I have a hard time describing this book, so I will defer to some of my friends:
http://www.emidrash.net/NewsLetter/February2012.pdf
http://brokenbarsoflight.blogspot.com/2012/01/great-honeymoon-in-sky.html

So, essentially it is about the Kingdom (and, in particular, our desire for the Kingdom). That's the message--what's been weighing on me lately. But, of course, life isn't so simple that you can just read and believe the message and then be good. No, you have to live it too. You can't just know you need to wake up--you have to actually wake up and stay awake. But it's hard because the blanket is warm and the pillow is so comfy...and just five more minutes...

You know...one of the most spectacular photos I have ever taken was when Dad woke us up at 5am on a camping trip. Sunrise is really an amazing show of God's glory. But you gotta wake up to see it.

Sleepwalking

Lately, I've felt like I'm in that state between sleeping and waking. Like there is something I am supposed to hear, something I am supposed realize--but my head is in a fog. Like God is trying to teach me something--but I am sleepwalking. Is there too much noise? Am I lost in my own worlds of my mind? Or am I simply waiting?