A fair beginning would be to explain the name of my blog: "T-L-P". Each initial corresponds to a theme I anticipate will run through my postings. I cannot promise every posting will fall exactly under one of these themes; rather I hope the themes will be recognizable in the overall flow of writings.
T: "trust". (You might be forgiven for thinking it should stand for "truth". I see truth and my search for it, is an umbrella arching over all I write.) Trust, trust in "God", trust in Spirit, trust in the universe, is a concept I have been growing in over the past few years. During our present age, trust is not something we specialize in. We tend rather, to rely on our own resources. To throw ourselves off the cliff, trusting the net will appear (as a popular poster proclaimed some years ago!), is considered supremely foolish in today's world.
"Trust", faith, belief, confidence in, all stem from the same root word. As any of you know who can communicate in more than one language, there is often not a direct one-to-one correspondence of a word in one language to a word in another. Thus we have three or four English words all stemming from one Greek concept.
I will share more personally some of the lessons learned recently in "trust"-ing that we are taken care of in a loving, beneficent universe.
L: "love". This theme almost needs no explanation. "Love" is the central message from the divine to us mortals. We live in "love"; we are to spread "love". We experience "love" in every aspect of life.
"Love" as opposed to "fear". Fear is used to undermine love. Fear is used to control. Fear is used to get us to do things which are not loving. Much of my vehement disagreement with the GW Bush reign stemmed from the fact that his administration used a conscious, deliberate policy of fear to increase its hold on power. Government people actually sat down to discuss policies and make decisions which would increase fear in the population. The fact these policies were covered in a veneer of religious piety made this especially diabolical.
P: "problem of the Pharisees". I debated long and hard with myself how to phrase this last theme. I wanted to try and come up with some way of expressing this with a "C" word so I could make my title "T-L-C". My preacherly training in alliteration failed me here!
At any rate, this is a problem I see as major in todays churches, especially ones calling themselves "evangelical", "conservative", or "fundamentalist".
Some years ago I joined a church and was told at the outset, "We are followers of Jesus Christ; we are not biblicists." Too many of today's Christians are biblicists. The problem, as I see it, is that the biblicists of Jesus' day were the Pharisees. And according to the gospel record Jesus' harshest words were aimed at the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were a group dedicated to the study of the Word. They devoted their entire lives to studying, teaching, practicing the Word of God. Nothing was as important to them as being obedient to the Word. And when God appeared in their midst? They missed him! I consider it supreme arrogance on our part if we think ourselves any better than they. So, if our religious/spiritual lives are based mostly or solely on a study of the Word of God, we are in deep danger.
I will share more detail in subsequent postings.
