Stretch Yourself
THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
THE LONG TAKE: Stretch Yourself
I don't like to stretch--never been good at it. And I'm not just talking about physical stretching (although I'm close to being able to touch my toes) but in all areas of my life. I'm a creature inclined to his comfort. This is one of the reasons why I write The Long and Short of It. It forces me to engage with my life and learning in a meaningful way (at least to me). It would be easier to play a game on my iPad or watch something on the History Channel. The act of writing stretches the boundaries of my thinking and application. The concept of stretching oneself is, for the most part, good advice.
One area where it would help Christians is to understand how to stretch ourselves in regards to how we view our time. Here's a small backstory to set up my point. During the 2016 election cycle, I was heavily active on Twitter. The constant onslaught of absolute negativity, conjecture, and projection drove me to a state of anxiety. I was overwhelmed by the tyranny of the immediate that characterizes both social media and the current news cycle. While I'm sure people were just as opinionated throughout America's history, the advent of social media brought all those opinions to the glowing screen oriented 8 inches in front of our face.
While I gave surface treatment to God's sovereignty, in reality I was paralyzed; maybe THIS REALLY WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIME!!! If our person does not win X election, then life will be over as we know it. History will record THIS DAY as the time when it all turned.
So I made one the best decisions I've made in recent memory--I got off Twitter (yes, it can be done!). Around the same time, through God's providence, our Sunday school class spent several months working through the book of Isaiah. That book study taught me to view time through God's perspective, in that there is an earthly time that we work through as well as a heavenly time that we work for. Several times (e.g. 14:24-27, 40-41), God declares that it is His plan that will unfold in the future. Israel can trust in that plan as He has demonstrated His faithfulness throughout their history. Israel had a choice: be captivated by the current moment or trust in the One who can tell the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10). God operates in our earthly time and space, but is not constrained by it (Isaiah 40:12-28). In fact, He rules over it.
So it is with us: if our lives are oriented solely in earthly time, then our lives will center on the next event, whatever that would be. But if our lives are oriented in heavenly time, then we will be centered in God's redemptive plan for human history, a plan that has been set before the beginning of time and that will continue for all of eternity. For those not good at math, that is a time slightly longer than a presidential election cycle, even one proclaimed as the MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE.
James K. A. Smith emphasizes this concept in his book Desiring the Kingdom where he discusses how observing a liturgical calendar trains us to consider time in a different manner. Lamenting the current state of how Christians view the passing of time, he writes:
In particular, time becomes one-dimensional, issuing in what we've called presentism...we might describe this as the CNN-ization of time: a frentic pursuit of "breaking news" that merely fixates on what has just happened before other have got the scoop. The thrilling drug of novelty is drunk deeply by such presentism; but it is a narcotic with diminishing returns.
Smith's point is that there will always be "breaking news". We are a people not oriented to the future, but only what happens next. Thus, the most important event soon will be superseded by the next "most-er important-er" event, neither of which give us the hope we so desperately desire.
The solution? According to Smith, we need to stretch ourselves to become what he terms a stretched people, a people who live with the reminder of God's past provisions right along side the expectations of God's future promises. Take our current position in the liturgical calendar, for example. During this time of Lent, we are called to remember the redemptive work of Christ on the cross; at Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ as security for our own future resurrection to a life free from sin, corruption, disease, and death as we fellowship with God in the new heavens and earth. When we take communion, we simultaneously reflect on the past (the Cross) and future (the marriage supper of the Lamb) while we worship with fellow believers in the present here and now. Our time is not dominated by the mere passing of minutes, hours, days, and weeks but we use our time to enter into God's sacred calendar. Smith summarizes:
We are called to be a people of memory, who are shaped by a tradition that is millennia older than the last Billboard chart. And we are called to be a people of expectation, praying for a looking forward to a coming kingdom that will break in upon our present as a thief in the night. We are a stretched people, citizens of a kingdom that is both older and newer than anything offered by "the contemporary". (emphasis mine)
So, when you are overwhelmed by the tyranny of the immediate, focus not on man's calendar, but God's. Rejoice in His past provisions; rejoice in His future promises. Do both here in the present. His plan is eternal, absolute, for our good, and for His glory. Stretch yourself...
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Many years ago, I gave up on the superhero movie genre. It grew tiresome to keep up with all the plot nuances, character development, relationships (is this Marvel or DC?), and the seemingly endless reboots. For me, the high water mark of my frustration was the third different Hulk in as many movies--from that moment, I was not about to waste mental effort on something as trivial as a movie. Outside of the Dark Knight trilogy, I was done.
Or so, I thought. Avengers: Infinity War brought me back into the fold. For once, I saw a harmonious plot with characters that have remained constant over the course of this narrative. It has made me want to go back and watch the totality of what many refer to as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some I have seen; many I have not. That will change in due time.
On a related note, in spite of all that was said, Captain Marvel was a plate of hot garbage...
THIS AND THAT
If you follow music from the 80's and 90's, I'll bet you have been influenced by Jim Steinman without even knowing who he is. His fingerprints are all over those decades. Now, I'm a Meatloaf fan. By Meatloaf, I do not mean the mixture of egg, bread crumbs, and ground beef baked in a blanket of ketchup, but the rock opera "legend". I don't celebrate his entire catalog, but there are a half-dozen or so songs of his that I enjoy. Several of his songs are marked by certain similarities: driving piano intros and interludes, combinations of loud and soft choruses and verses, melodramatic lyrics, and an often monosyllabic background chorus. (Examples include the epic singles Rock and Roll Dreams Come True and I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)). The reason for this continuity is simple. Many of his songs were written by the same songwriter: Jim Steinman.
Soon after I learned about Steinman and his music, I was listening to a song by Celine Dion when it hit me: the same piano structure, the same melodrama, the same monosyllabic chorus. Sure enough, the song was written by Steinman. So here are three popular songs from the 80's and 90's that you never knew were Steinman's. Who's to say that in some alternate bizarro universe that these songs aren't on a Meatloaf album somewhere:
- It's All Coming Back To Me by Celine Dion
- Making Love Out Of Nothing At All by Air Supply
- Total Eclipse Of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler
Jim Steinman, everybody...
MY CURRENT INTAKE
-
What I’m Listening To: Scott Mulvahill, a recently discovered (by me) artist who has played for some of the top bluegrass guys in Nashville. He plays the stand-up bass, and he plays it well. Great album and worth your time...
-
What I’m Reading For Fun: Getting along with Frankenstein. I'm not able to get as much reading done currently as I would like. Must be the end of a grading period or something like that...
-
What I’m Reading For Betterment: Have glanced through On Reading Well. See above...
-
Recommended Spotify Playlist: The classic movie Back to the Future was a major influence in my appreciation of the 1950's. So here's a playlist that celebrates the best music of that particular era: Back in the Day. Leather jackets and Frankie Valli's falsetto not included...
Soli Deo Gloria,
Mitch Evans, Ed.D.