What I'm Learning from Listening rather than Reading

If you've been by Trish's Dishes a few times lately, you know I'm listening to a lot of inspirational talks these days.  Princess Peach has put the royal kibosh on my quiet morning routines of reading, journaling and praying through things as a means of seeking wisdom...now it's pretty much just snippets of podcasts while attempting to parallel park.

I'm not complaining (even though if you'd told me in advance that this would happen, I'd have panicked).  But I'm learning that listening is different than reading, and has some advantages.  When I listen, it's is as if the ideas go in through the side doors to my brain, rather than through the front.

It's kind of like this: When you enter someone's house through the front door, it tends to be rather formal.  It usually involves some awkward standing around in the foyer while you make small talk and wonder if you should take off your shoes.  It takes awhile to settle in. 

But come in through the side door and you're thrown right into the mix and put to use right away.  Your coat gets tossed over the back of a chair and before long you're stirring the soup or washing some dishes while catching up on all manner of important conversational tidbits.

In similar fashion, the ideas I'm hearing are making their way right into the mix of my life, rather than being piled in my mental foyer in the hopes that I'll consider them later.

Yesterday, for example, I heard this gem:  "Your life purpose is not held hostage by your life circumstances." (Jordan Seng).  I liked it so much that I pulled over to post it on Facebook and Twitter.  And I decided right then that I wasn't going to worry anymore about how or if I'll accomplish the things I believe God wants me to do.  The truth of that statement - that my life purpose is not held hostage by my life circumstances - burst in through the side door of my brain and made itself at home.

This weekend, if you have a chance, listen to someone talk about something wise.  Take note of what makes itself at home, changing you in some way.  (And on a similar note, notice what you hear from people, radio, tv, etc. that pushes you in an unhelpful direction, and remember: doors work both ways!)

If you need a place to start, some speakers I enjoy on the spiritual front include Joyce Meyer, Jordan Seng, Tim Keller, and Mark Driscoll (when he's not ranting and raving).  If you have podcasts you like, drop me a comment below. I'm always looking for new ones to try!

Happy Friday, all :)

Getting Unstuck

Yesterday I was listening to that sermon series I mentioned, and heard this (I'm paraphrasing):

"If some area of your life isn't working, do something different. Try something. Often, we're reluctant to try something new because we're afraid we'll make things worse.  But as God's people, we have a promise that we won't make it worse, because we're heading towards things getting better: our lives being more fruitful, our attitudes being more synched up with Jesus, the experience of more miracles and unexplained grace and power in our lives."- Jordan Seng

Interesting, right?  What if it's true that if we prayerfully try some new things to get unstuck, we have a promise from God that we can't make it worse?

Pondering this, I thought of two things:

First, Charlie Sheen. As clear an example as I've ever seen that indeed, one can try something new and screw up the rest of one's life in epic and theretofore unimagined fashion.  (See: "Winning!")

But before the snark got the best of me, I remembered (or was Divinely reminded; make of it what you will) that Sheen never claimed to be one of God's people. He claimed to be god.  If you're going to try something different, becoming your own god is a bad way to go.

My next thought was more helpful: a snippet from one of the Psalms that about how God's people (who may or may not have any overlap with Charlie Sheen's followers) are "blessed" and "go from strength to strength." Nice idea, right? So I looked it up to get some encouragement.  You can imagine my surprise when I saw that in my Bible, this passage (Psalm 84) is covered with notes from a conversation with my friend Lisa about how this is a prayer of disappointment and heartache. Here's the full verse:

Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; 
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

So I prayed, asking God to sort me out. Here's what I saw:  God sets our hearts on pilgrimage - a journey we're called to that is designed to lead us to Him.  And yet part of this journey includes passing through the "Valley of Baka," which translates to the "Valley of Weeping." It's dark and sad and yes, disappointing.  But still, there should be a sense of progress. We don't stay there.  If we do, we can find ourselves going a little berserk, worshiping ourselves and talking about how we're invincible and filled with tiger's blood.

I'm guessing this was not at all what Jordan had in mind when he made this comment in his sermon.  But as I consider Psalm 84 (and the array of celebrity examples we have of what it looks like to be well and truly "stuck"), it seems that God does promise that life should involve progress, and if I don't see any for a long, long time - if I'm stuck in some area - then I can go ahead and change some things in an effort to get going again.  This may lead to more Baka moments - change usually does.  But on the other side will be strength and blessing...and God.  He promises.

What does this have to do with Advent? As we wait - in joyful hope or hopelessly stuck - we can ask: Is there anything I should change? And then respond with courage, trusting that God has us covered.

My prayer for today: Dear God, show me when to wait, and when to strike out and try something new. Give me wisdom and discernment. Help me believe Your promise that my journey will be from strength to strength until I appear before You.  Make me brave, even when I'm weeping.  And bring the morning, when the joy comes.  In  Jesus' name, Amen.

Bright Spots

In some seasons, certain books or songs come along that are like monkey bars for me - I reach for them over and over again as I make my way across the day. They hold me, somehow supporting not just my weight, but the emotional/spiritual burden of everything I'm carrying, too.  I think of these things as bright spots: bits of light to reach for when there's darkness all around.

Here are three bright spots lighting up my Advent season:

A book: Enuma Okoro's memoir, Reluctant Pilgrim.  She writes long, beautiful, sarcastic, candid, challenging, FULL sentences that poke at me and say, "Remember when you were brave enough to do that?" For example:  "I am a well raised, charming, highly educated young woman who can get even a mute person to tell me her or his entire life story in less than an hour. But that doesn't mean I know about neighborliness and servanthood. It basically says I know how to work a room."  Love it.

A song:  Stand, by Rascal Flatts. I first heard this when a contestant on The Voice performed it.  The lyrics make me tear up because they're so true and I need to be reminded: "Every time you get up & get back in the race, one more small piece of you starts to fall into place."  Amen to that.

And a sermon series:  Are You Stuck? by Jordan Seng. (Scroll down to 11/4/12 for the first one).  It's a series about waiting (and praying and working toward) a breakthrough. Jordan is a man of genuine, delightfully low-key wisdom.  I listened to this series in the car as I drove all over Cambridge this month, and the temptation to try and take notes while driving has been very real.  I resist, of course (If you've driven here you understand how truly stuck - or wrecked - that sort of multitasking would get me). But this is good enough that I'm hoping to rope off an entire afternoon soon and listen again, car in park & pen in hand.

My prayer today: Dear God, thank You for these bright spots. Please send more. Help me to see You in them. And bless us all as as we fumble about hoping to be bright spots for one another.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

What are your bright spots this season?