Dale Cresap's blog

Do you make a distinction between religion and spirituality? Some faith traditions refer to themselves as religions and for others this is a dirty word. These are still useful terms and I make reference to the same concepts as wine and wineskins. Religion gives organization and structure to your faith. You need a community and regular practices to support your spirituality. If the wineskin bursts the wine is spilled and there is a spiritual reality that corresponds to this imagery. The wineskins only exist because of the value of  the wine so you should not be confused about which is more important. Don’t accept a religion that doesn’t serve your spirituality, but don’t resent the religion that does serve to support it.

Do you see things the way they are? Or do you see things the way you are? Could you tell the difference between clear perception and distorted perception if it was your own perception? No one thinks that they do not see clearly, but how would you know? Would you know if you had a log in your own eye? I recommended that you remove the log from your own eye before you volunteered to assist your brother in removing  the speck from his eye. This is a strong illustration and should get your attention. If you want to see clearly start with the assumption that your own views are influenced by something and make no judgments until you know what it is.

How many people do you trust? Do you see that the concept of trust has many dimensions? At one level is trust that people will not attack or steal from you. Above that is the trust that those you confide in will not violate your confidence in passing sensitive information about you on to others. Still higher is the trust that those you confide in will not reject you for the vulnerability of your confessions. It is possible for someone to be trustworthy at lower levels and fail at this level. If you tell someone your secrets and it changes the basis of your friendship it is not an expression of the highest level of trust. How many people do you trust at this level? How many trust you?

Do you like to get gifts? Do you expect them on special occasions such as Christmas and your birthday? Have you ever received gifts at unexpected times? Did you find these to be more special than others because they came as a surprise, and you knew the person giving them was truly thoughtful and not feeling obligated because of the occasion? You ask me for things in your prayers and I answer your prayers. Do you know that I am also thinking of you when you are not praying and give you gifts you did not ask for? I want you to be watching that you may be aware of everything I do for you that you may know how special they are.

My word teaches you to love your enemies. Do you resent this, thinking that you are letting them off the hook for real offenses and deserved judgments? Perhaps you are, but is this your judgment to make? Have you ever avoided any deserved judgments yourself? Beware of going down this road. For you will either love your enemies or judge them, and in judging them you cannot avoid internalizing things that are detrimental to you, and become negative characteristics in yourself. So in loving your enemies are you really letting someone off the hook? Yes, but it isn’t them, it is you.

My word speaks of taking every thought captive. Do you realize what a beautiful concept this is? You understand about people who are captives. Do you have perfect control over your thoughts? Have they ever gone in a direction that you did not want, that did not serve you, that did not reflect your deepest values? Has your mind ever had a mind of its own? If this has ever happened to you then you can appreciate the value of this scriptural practice. Abide in me and let me teach you to control your thoughts so they are subject to your control rather than you being subject to them.

Are you aware of the essential humanity of everyone you meet? This may be the most obvious in newborns who are ‘fresh from heaven’, but the same concept applies to everyone. Failure to regard the essential humanity of your enemies makes it easier to kill them in war, and to disregard them in peace. What army doesn’t dehumanize its enemies, saying they are not like us? But at the most basic level they are. You use the phrase ‘sanctity of life’ primarily in opposition to abortion, but it should not be limited to that. How can you live your life to regard the sanctity of life in everything you do?

Have you heard the proverb, when the student is ready the teacher will appear? Have you ever encountered something that at the time you could not comprehend, but when you encountered the same concept later you found it to be true and important? You need to be positioned for comprehension. You need to have the depth of soil for truth to take root and grow. It is a greater expression of humility when encountering unfamiliar ideas to consider that they could be true but you are not ready to receive them yet instead of rejecting them outright. This leaves the door open and makes it easier for you to receive them when you are ready.

Have you ever had your teachers tell you that there is no such thing as a stupid question? They were trying to encourage your involvement in the educational process, but they were wrong. There are stupid questions. My own disciples argued among themselves as to which of them was the greatest. This was an opportunity for me to teach them a lesson. How many questions of the same type do you hear discussed, or variants such as whose church is right, whose political party or candidate is the best. These are not really answerable and they engender strife. Let your questions be about redemptive purpose. Those are not stupid questions.

Are you eager to throw things away, or do you put some creative thought into ways in which they may be used for other purposes before you discard them? Humans generate a lot of garbage, but in the natural world there is no such thing. Do you see any spiritual parallel for this situation? Have you ever seen me use things that you would throw away? Joseph told his brothers that what they meant for evil God meant for good. And in my case the stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone. Nothing is wasted in nature or in the Kingdom of God. What are you eager to discard that I have a purpose for?