A CALL TO WARRIOR-POETS (Pt. 1)

This is an account of (King) David's mighty men... and there was joy in Israel.

 Chronicles 11:11, 12:40

My first brush with the term Warrior-Poet came in the postscript of the movie Braveheart. In voice-over narration, William Wallace gives account of the Battle of Bannockburn, saying: "In the year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior-poets, they fought like Scotsmen, and won their freedom."

https://youtu.be/VFKdiU-ubuI
Bannockburn

The concept of warrior-poet struck me. It has been embedded since.   

The title of this little post is A Call TO Warrior-Poets. It is not, A Call FOR Warrior-Poets. (I learned a long time ago prepositions matter.) Why the distinction? Because warrior-poets are not specially made up heroes - out there somewhere. Unlike Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider, preacher-gunslingers are not going to ride in to save the day. Warrior-poets are normal men... suburban dads and urban millennials; guys gracing the aisles of the local Autozone, pulling daughters' ponytails through scrunchies, mowing lawns in out-dated cargo shorts (socks and sandals), and sitting behind desks.

This post is not intended to be a testosterone-filled rant advocating blood, guts and violence. Nor is the call to don kilts and paint faces blue, though it might be fun. This is a call TO warrior-poets. And the point - if I have one: There is warrior-poet in each of us. It is time to (metaphorically) paint our faces.


Our culture bows to would-be-warriors. These are ones who speak loudly, who make bold, blustery declarations. They seize and hold power they do not deserve. And they exercise that power to their own ends. We see them in every facet of culture. They hold political office. They run up and down fields and courts. They make and star in movies. Sadly, they sometimes stand behind pulpits. But these are not true warriors, and far from warrior-poets. They proclaim victories as their own that others have fought. Their self-aggrandizing boasts, means and motives damage others. And this is anything but warrior-poetic. 

The great thing about a blog is that I can be incomplete with it... and so I will be. These are just first thoughts - maybe not worth reading. Hopefully more will come. I'll wrap up with a couple thoughts on the distinctions of warrior-poets. (Please feel free to lend me some of your own.)

Distinctions of Warrior-Poets (a few... more to come)

Warrior-poets embrace peace, but will tenaciously fight for those they love.
Warrior-poets believe the only life worth living is one lived for something larger than themselves.
Warrior-poets bleed (sometimes literally, usually metaphorically) for the sake of others.
Warrior-poets are not self-professed.
Warrior-poets rise up when it is easier to bow down.
Warrior-poets are works in progress...

Oh, and the Bible reference at the top? We'll get to that next time.

From one WP (in progress) to another, for now...
D

JUST WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR...

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

- A guy named David... a long time ago; 

Psalm 16:11

This verse popped up on a friend's Facebook wall? page? feed? I don't know... anyway, I saw it this morning. As (too) often happens, I read the first words and familiarity caused me to skip the rest; on about my day. 

But for some reason I paused. Then I went back in for a re-read. (This is free, and not the point of this post, but a great thing about living is we always have opportunity to pause, then go back for a re-read. I realize we cannot truly go back; we cannot relive yesterday. But we can always reflect, learn, extract the joy and pain, and choose to grow.)

Anyway, I slowly worked my way back through this verse. I am always careful to not read into scripture what is not there. We each bring our experiences and biases to the Book, so we must take such care. If scripture has a living, breathing element to it - and I believe it does - we must let it breathe, speak and soak. 

In my re-read, I was struck. Impacted. You make known the path of life... Wait, I want to know I'm on the right path. I want my journey to count. I want my life's path to mean something. How incredible to be on the path cut by the Path-maker himself. 

In your presence is fullness of joy... Yep, that sounds pretty good too. Not kind of joy. Not happy when things are good joy. Fullness of joy. I'm in. 

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore... It is easy to miss something key here. Pleasure is not the point. Proximity is. The right hand is a picture of perfect fellowship. It is the place of closest friendship and intimacy. The greatest pleasure is that of relationship. 

Familiarity put me in fast-forward. I'm thankful something (Someone) pressed my pause button. And I realized:

God, this is just what I'm looking for... (and please forgive me for ending a sentence with a preposition).

For now...

D 

A Stumbler's Walk | WHO IS WORTHY?

"Who is worthy...?"

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain..."

--Revelation 5:2, 12

Where do I find my worth? Where do you? 

We are entrenched in a culture that cries out for worth. Get enough likes on social media... worthy. Score a touchdown... worthy. Make enough money... worthy. Busy... worthy. 

Each of these - and most places we search for worth - is based on performance. And that is a problem. 

The movie Urban Cowboy introduced us to the song Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. In much the same way, we look for worth in all the wrong places. 

The heavenly scene unveiled in Revelation is difficult to comprehend and is often interpreted with skewed perspective or motives (see the footnote on A Stumbler's Walk | THE DOOR). The central character and theme of chapter five, and the Revelation as a whole, is Jesus. When we strip away the apocalyptic and other-worldly pictures, what emerges is Jesus as the victorious Worthy One. 

You and I are worthy not because of our Instagram likes or net worth. We are worthy because we are worth something (everything) to the Worthy One. We are worthy because God created us with worth. And he finds us so worth it, that Jesus (The Worthy One) sacrificed himself for us - even when our worth was tarnished by selfishness, false proclamations of worth, and shadowy feelings of worthlessness. 

You and I are worth more than we can ever know. This, not because of of our performance, but because of who we are. You ask my why I'm worthy? Because the (only) One who is truly worthy in and of himself said so! And that's enough. 

God, The Lamb is Worthy! And because He is, I can truly find my worth. 

For now...

D

A Stumbler's Walk | THE DOOR

I stand at the door and knock... (Jesus)

-- Revelation 3:20

At what door is Jesus standing? And knocking? Christians have long referenced this picture as Jesus knocking on the heart's door of the non-believer in an invitation to faith. 

Though the balance of scripture supports the idea, that is not specifically what is happening here.* 

Jesus has given John a message to deliver... to whom? To the churches of Asia Minor. Real churches, with real leaders and real people (real stumblers, if you'll allow). To cut right to it, Jesus says to the churches, "I am on the outside of what you are doing. I am on the outside of your worship and rituals. You are continuing in your religion and have missed my presence. You have missed the point. You have missed ME." 

Jesus didn't come to simply bring religion. People can create religions. Incarnation is much more. The life and message of Jesus - his death and resurrection - transcends religion. Jesus was about redemption and relationship. He still is. 

To one of these churches Jesus says, "You think you are rich, but you aren't. You've put your faith in things that fade. I stand at the door and knock..."

To another he says, "You have a reputation of life and vibrancy. But you are dead. I stand at the door and knock..." (By the way, reputation is what others think of you. It may or may not reflect reality.)

But there is good news... Jesus stands at the door and knocks. We, just as the first century believers to whom John wrote, need only listen and open the door. And when we do he enters and hangs out. He brings what doesn't fade. He brings life. 

Paul McCartney had it right: 

Someone's knocking at the door

Somebody's ringing the bell

Someone's knocking at the door

Somebody's ringing the bell

Do me a favor

open the door

and let 'em in...

God, forgive me for sleeping while thinking I'm awake; for thinking I'm rich when I'm poor. Please come in.

For now...

D

*A basic principle of interpreting the Bible (Hermeneutics) states that our understanding of any particular verse or passage must be in line with scripture as a whole. This understanding counters some of the wild and misleading interpretations that pervade Christendom. In a nutshell, these are a few things to keep in mind when reading the Bible:

- Context, context, context.

- No verse/passage can be completely understood outside the entire panoply of scripture. 

- No verse/passage can mean to us (in our day and time) what it did not mean to the original recipients. 

(These understood, can even help us to understand why September 23 (my birthday) was not the apocalyptic end of the world - and did not parallel Revelation 12.)

"So... What's Important to You?"

(This short post is a coincidental follow up to "Eat Cake (after all the world is ending).")

I like Uber drivers. Most have a story, and I am interested to hear. Today Ubering home from the airport rental car facility I met an older gentleman on his second day as a driver (a nUberer). He had some trouble finding me; he was not very familiar with the app. I was mildly frustrated, but really didn't have to be anywhere. When I met him, the frustration immediately subsided.

Shortly into the conversation he asked me the following question: "So David, what is important to you?" I should have responded, "cake," just for the reaction. In a way, that IS how I responded. Specifically, I said, "I guess if you boil it down, I'd say faith and family are most important to me.

I've been asked several times following yesterday's post what my favorite cake is. Frankly, I'm not much of a literal cake-eater, though I can indulge at times. My cake?... FAITH and FAMILY.

It turned out that Uber Clyde and I have some commonalities: both have MDiv degrees from seminaries, both former pastors; both want to make a difference; both want to EAT CAKE.

Just a rambling follow up. No point really. But pretty cool.

So... what's important to you?

For now...
D

Eat Cake (after all, the world is ending)

My birthday is Saturday. That is really not all too significant. But Saturday is also the day the world will come to an end. So I think I will eat my cake early.

Astrologers and pseudo-astronomers, numerologists and hack Bible interpreters have targeted the first full day following the Autumnal Equinox as the end of everything we know. Planet X is to swoop in and collide into our blue ball (without allowing Bruce Willis an opportunity shuttle up and drop a nuke down a drilled hole). 

I am no astrologer, nor an astronomer. I guess I am a bit of a hack Bible interpreter. But I'm not convinced. I think odds are I will be having Sunday brunch with my son this weekend.

Don't get me wrong... I do think the world is going to end. As a matter of fact, I am sure of it; one hundred percent convinced. The world will end for each of us at some point. We don't know when our personal Planet X may come. Hopefully for all who are reading, it will be a long, long time from now. But the (our) world will end. So we should go ahead and eat the cake. 

Stop for a moment, and ponder: If we truly knew this world (and we) would be no more come this Saturday, how would we live the days until? I think priorities would change in an instant. Trivial things would suddenly be, well, trivial. People would become our priority. Hopefully, we'd stop staring at five inch screens and have real conversations. We would hug more and "👍,💓,😊" less. 

If the world were truly ending Saturday, I couldn't care less to what political party I belong, or you. I wouldn't think of myself as one race and someone else another. The car I drive, what I wear, or even my net worth would have no significance. If the world were ending Saturday I would care about only a few things. Among them would be my relationship with a God who made me and face time (the real kind) with the people I hold dear. 

The world may not end Saturday (even though I'll be another digit older). But one day there will be no more digits. One day the world will end for each of us. We might as well start living with that in mind. 

And I wouldn't wait to eat the cake. 

For now...

D

A Stumbler's Walk | I KNOW

I know... to the one who conquers

-- Revelation 2 (multiple)

Sometimes we feel forgotten. We feel like we are on our own. We feel alone. The feelings are real. The reality is far different.

Jesus tells the Apostle John to give messages to seven churches (four in this chapter). These are real first century churches, real people, real problems, real persecutions. And to each he says: 

I know...

Five times he says, I know your works... 

We often want to shine the spotlight on any good we do (and want to hide other things, thoughts and actions in a dark closet). God sees. But he doesn't see through frowning eyes. Jesus says, "...this I have against you..." (or something along those lines) to several of these churches. However, rather than following with condemnation, he gives correction: "You are doing this... now do this..." 

Once, to a condemning and murderous crowd Christ said, "Whoever has not sinned, cast the first stone." And to the woman who was the object of their vengeance he said, "I don't condemn you, now go and sin no more." In other words: I know you... who you are and what you've done. You have been doing this... now do this...

To one he says, I know your tribulation...

We never walk a valley too deep or through a night so dark that we are beyond the sight of our God. Trials and circumstances may at times block our view of God, but his vision is always clear and his eyes are constantly on his children. At times we may feel obscure, alone or abandoned - but we are not. Even in the shadowy valleys that smell of death, he is present. I wish he always made us aware of his presence. But maybe that is part of the beauty. Faith (in my experience) is often built retrospectively; it is in reflection that we see that we were not alone. 

To one he says, I know where you dwell...

Sometimes Christian answers are trite. When we don't know how to respond, or we are just too uncomfortable to face a difficult reality, we offer up pithy platitudes (usually well-intentioned, but powerless). When we are the one struggling, we want to know someone is with us. We need to have someone understand what we are living through, in, and under. We need someone... in our kitchen. 

Jesus sees the hidden places, the closets of pain and desperation, the attics of guilt, and the basements of regret. There is no corner of our dwelling place that he cannot illuminate with his light. (Note: you and I must be willing to be the light-bearers to others - even when we are struggling in semi-darkness ourselves.) 

There is a very personal and intimate sense to this thought: I know where you dwell. Go ahead and make the coffee - two cups; as Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "I'm coming to your house today."

...to the one who conquers...

The idea here is not one of (our) power. It is more of weakness that won't give in. God calls us to persevere; and he provides the strength to hold on. He is, as the Apostle Paul wrote, ...able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us... (Ephesians 3:20). Though we are weak, we are conquerors in the making. 

God, you know; enable me to conquer.

For now...

D