The Importance of Proper Lighting

Several years ago, I was plagued with horrible nightmares.  In them, I would “wake up” in my dream and would feel a horrible darkness hanging around me.  I would reach over to turn on the light next to my bed, but it wouldn’t turn on.  More than anything I wanted to turn on that light.  It was a terrible feeling.  The darkness was overwhelming – it smothered me.  A few times in my dream I even got out of bed and stumbled through the pitch black of the bedroom into the bathroom and still, when I tried the light switch:  nothing.  No light – only that awful darkness.

I haven’t had a dream like that in a long time, but I remember the feeling of those dreams like it was yesterday.  Being lost in the darkness and helpless to do anything about it is the worst feeling in the world.  There is something about utter darkness, when there is not even a hint of light that is suffocating.  Darkness has often been associated with confusion and fear, hopelessness and despair. 

“It is always darkest before the dawn.”  That’s what they say.  Keeping someone “in the dark” implies that we are being dishonest.  Some people have experienced the “dark night of the soul.”  “Dark humor” is that which is morbid and cruel or offensive.  Even colds get worse at night!  After my last surgery, I had a night of pain that I thought would never end.  And when times like that occur, the morning with its rays of sunlight peeping over the horizon is the most welcome thing in the world. 

There is the darkness of the physical realm.  Night falls.  Shadows lengthen.  This is the world as God created it, yet even He set the moon and the stars in place to give some light at night.  But there is a darkness that is sinister.  There is a spiritual darkness that stands in direct opposition to all that is good and true and right.  That darkness is like the darkness of my former dreams.  Within it, there is no hint of light.  It is blacker than coal.  It is a force that is as real as you and I and it isn’t content just to “be”.  Blindness is its weapon and its ultimate goal is deception leading to destruction.  It cannot be defeated by mere mortals. 

Some people play around with the darkness.  They immerse themselves in dark things:  music, literature, the occult – whatever.  Most of them don’t really understand what they are dealing with which is why they are so easily overcome.  Oh, they believe they are actually controlling the darkness, but that is a deception of the oldest order, going back to the very beginning of time.  Paradise lost.  The Divine Heart broken.

The truth is we are all born into darkness, unable to deliver ourselves. 

Then came a Baby and everything changed.  First the Baby’s cries in a Bethlehem stable and then, “It is finished,” at the Place of the Skull, and Light, glorious Light, cut through the darkness and reached out…for me and for you.  And while the darkness still exists for now, it can exercise only the power it is given by those who choose to continue to live within it.  It is truly finished.  All that’s left is our choice:  darkness or Light?  Choose Light!  Choose Light and the Divine Heart rejoices!  And so will yours...

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  From the very beginning the Word was with God.  Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him.  The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to humanity.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.  ~ John 1:1-5 (GNT)

Do You [Phari]See What I [Phari]See?

In Jesus’* day, the Pharisees were a group of Jews who specialized in knowing every bit of the Jewish Scriptures, i.e. what we know as the Old Testament.  They could quote it chapter and verse.  Well, except there were no chapters and verses back then, but you get the idea.  Not only did they know it as it was written, but they’d made it their business to be the reigning authority on how to interpret it as well.  In fact, they managed to take the Ten Commandments and turn them into over 300 rules and regulations (kind of like what the IRS has done with the tax code over the years).  You could always tell when you came across one.  They wore stylish robes and had the best reserved seating in the synagogues and at the local banquet hall.  These guys were really proud of themselves.  They welcomed the paparazzi. 

Everything for the Pharisees was just rosy until they met Jesus.  When they exercised their mad Scripture skills in front of Him, He wasn’t impressed.  He didn’t applaud and marvel at how cool they looked or how many righteous rules they’d implemented.  Who did this guy think He was, anyway, God or something??  And if you look at the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), you get the definite impression that Jesus was thinking the same thing:  who did these guys think they were, God or something??  In fact, Jesus’* harshest words in His entire earthly ministry was NOT for the folks who were cheating on their taxes or their spouses, or even for the ones who were working the local “red light district”.  Nope, His harshest words were for the Pharisees.  What?  Why, you ask?  Let me tell you.  It’s because they were supposed to be representing God but they’d gotten it all wrong.  They cared more about their rules than the people they were supposed to be helping get closer to God.  Their rules had become their god.

For example, they cared more about their rules than whether or not a poor crippled lady or a guy with a messed up hand got healed.  They cared more about whether or not someone washed their hands before eating than they cared about whether a person was hungry.  They cared more about everyone conforming to their rules than whether or not that person even knew who God was.  And they certainly didn’t need this Jesus person messing with their system.  But He called them out.  Told them they’d missed the point.  Said that not only had they not entered the Kingdom but they were keeping other people from entering too.  Imagine their shock, since they figured they had the religious market cornered.  They became hostile.  They planned and plotted until they had trumped up enough charges to get Him killed.  Joke was on them, though.  Jesus really was God and so death couldn’t hold Him. 

The problem is, they’re still around.  No, really, I talked to one just last week.  Oh, they don’t call themselves Pharisees, but if you examine what they’re all about, you’ll definitely see the Pharisee in them.  They’ve made their rules their god, and they still don’t much like it when anyone suggests that maybe people can meet, serve, and worship Jesus outside of the confines of their righteous rules and sanctified schedules and sacred spaces. 

Truth is, introducing people to a lot of rules doesn’t have the same effect as introducing them to Jesus.  And telling them that they can only meet Jesus between the hours of 9 a.m. and noon or at 6 p.m. on Sundays or at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays is just straight out lying to them.  I mean, religious folks sanctifying a certain schedule and a certain space has already done a lot of damage.  Ask any pastor how many of his or her congregation confines their Christianity to those certain days and hours and then live the rest of the week without giving a thought to Jesus.  We wonder why there’s a disconnect in so many lives between Sunday morning and the rest of the week and maybe, just maybe, it’s our own fault.  We’ve taken God and put Him in a building, a schedule, a program, or even worse, we’ve made Him the business of the “professionals” (ouch!).  If it weren’t so, we’d be seeing the power of God manifested everywhere through His church (the PEOPLE, not the building). 

Look, all I know is it wasn’t a rule or schedule that changed my life (and it was an exceedingly messy life).  It was Jesus.  Just Him.  I met Him around a kitchen table with a Christian woman who took the time to introduce me to Him.  Didn’t happen on a Sunday or a Wednesday and wasn’t programmed by a professional.  Have I been blessed on Sundays and Wednesdays and by programs or professionals?  Sure I have.  But none of that would have mattered had the primary introduction not been made. 

Jesus is King everywhere and is present at every time.  Nothing – and I do mean nothing – matters more to me than introducing people to Jesus and helping them learn how to grow close to Him.  And quite frankly, I don’t care what day of the week it is or what time of the day or where I happen to be when an opportunity to love people and to share Him arises.  He is the main thing.  Jesus can and will be found when we seek Him – even in the marketplace or the fitness club or the next door neighbor’s house and on any day of the week.  Nothing the modern-day Pharisees can say or do will change that truth.  And that is Good News!

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”   ~ Matthew 5:20, NIV

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* or Jesus’s (just for you, Taryn)

[par-uh-dahym]

paradigm shift 

-n  “a radical change in underlying beliefs or theory” (World English Dictionary)

It’s a catchy phrase that surfaced in the last couple of decades.  It was used initially by T.S. Kuhn (1922 – 96), an American philosopher of science.  As you can see from the definition, it signifies a change in thinking.  A radical change.  The result of a…

revelation 

-n  “something revealed or disclosed, especially a striking disclosure, as of something not before realized.” (Random House Dictionary)

Both a revelation and a resulting paradigm shift can be a wonderful thing.  Such an experience can open new doors of opportunity.  It can blow a fresh breeze through a stagnant life.  It can be something that makes circumstances and situations better.

Then again…

What if you receive a revelation and it results in a paradigm shift that shakes some of your closest-held beliefs to the core?  What if it places you at odds with the generally accepted way of thinking?  What if that tension causes you to question some very important things in your life?  What do you do with that?

There’s more…

What if it’s such a radical change in thought that you’re afraid to share it with the people around you, lest they think you’ve finally gone ‘round the bend?  Or because it would totally mess up their plans for life with you based on the old paradigm which is their current paradigm? 

And then…

What if you do decide to gently broach the subject with one or two select people who you believe may have the most open minds, and they really do try and understand, but are so deep into the old paradigm themselves that the discussion turns into more of a “how can we fit what you’re thinking into the commonly accepted way of doing things” moment?  Or worse, they make subtle comments that indicate they believe it’s just a passing phase you’re going through and eventually you’ll come back around to the “right” way of thinking?  And in either case, when they look at you, you wonder if they’re sizing you up for an intervention.

Add to that…

What if you knew that the revelation was given to you by God?  Yeah, I know.  That even looks flaky on the page.  But what if God not only gave you the revelation which resulted in this paradigm shift, but what if you can look back over the last few years of your life and realize that He’s been preparing you for this revelation for quite some time? 

And then, as if things weren’t uncomfortable enough, what if you realized that God didn’t reveal all this to you just so you could ponder it to yourself in your spare time?  What if He actually expected you to do something with it?  How would you feel?  What would you do? 

Well, let me tell you…

You’d feel alone.  Completely alone.  And you wouldn’t know what to do.  And that, my friends, would make you one frustrated individual.

This is my world.

But you know what?  You’d also be really, really excited about what God might do if you kept moving forward with what you’ve been shown.  There’s something really exhilarating about throwing your hands up in the air and letting God take the lead even when what He’s showing you doesn’t match what you or those around you are used to.  Risky?  Yep.  Scary?  Most definitely.  Good?  ABSOLUTELY!

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ^ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”   ~ Mark 2:21-22