Free Falling.

You are already free falling by the time you become aware of what is happening.  It's a screaming, kicking, sensory overload when you find yourself already living without any recollection of how you had gotten where you are.  Life, the act of living, is like being pushed, unconscious, from an airplane and only coming to in mid air.  You try to process what it happening, but things are already moving so fast.  The only certainty is: the ground.  We all hurtle towards the ground, our eventual end.  We have free will in the sense that while we are falling, while we are living we can do whatever we want.  We can move in the direction we please, we can believe what we wish.  But no matter what we do, we cannot stop the ground from getting closer, and right quick.  If we have any sort of blessing, we have people around us to give us comfort and structure and hell, we even have a chance to enjoy this fall, to see the beauty and experience joy.  But for most of us, at least at times, the impending impact can feel so near that it is the only thing we think about and that makes the fall hard to enjoy.  

Somewhere along the fall, through the guidance of others or perhaps our own self-discovery, we get a notion of salvation.  It is a sense that though the ground is inevitable, there may be a way to be saved.  Maybe it is just fear of impact that forces us to delude ourselves into seeking this salvation.  But then, what do we have to lose.  Some want to be their own saviors.  They flap their arms, or perhaps they steer themselves towards apparent safety, or maybe they try to use their pants to break the wind.  There are others that are sure that it is their mind that is the way to be free.  If they can will themselves to peace, they will be free of the fall.  There are those that realize that we have been given something in this fall, something inherent to our journey.  Strapped around us is of course a parachute.  It is the only way to be saved.  It will not deploy itself, you must choose it.  Certainly there are those that feel the straps of the parachute and call it a hindrance.  They believe that if they could just be rid of the straps, then they would really be free to fly.  Of course this is foolishness to shed the one thing that could save you.  

Choosing Christ isn't as simple as pulling a rip-cord.  You must have some inkling, some belief that if you pull then you will be saved.  And you must look to him and ask for his help in believing.  But it is available to all.  No one is thrust into this crazy fall without a parachute, but you do have to act in faith to make it open.  

As I am now half way through my fall I look around at the conditions.  I see so many beautiful things.  I also see so much pain and self destruction.  People are falling to their certain death, seemingly rushing to do so.  But in this a pain and across the horizon I continue to see white billows of hope.  Countless others have reached for their ripcords and sought refuge in the great Grace of Christ.  White dots go on and on and give hope to an endless falling humanity.  Dear Christian, may your chute shine bright, that those falling might understand and be saved.

The Lie (3).

If you know the truth and choose to alter it or omit it intentionally, that is a lie.
How should a lie be measured?
By it's consequence or impact?
By it's intentions, either good or bad?
If you only lie to yourself, does that mean there are no victims?
If your lying to protect others from harsh truths does that make it okay?  If that is the case then, who judges whether the protection is justified?

If we step back and look at any scenario in the light of God's Grace, we see that he does not leave room for interpretation.  Grace, our own acceptance, bought by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which removed our accountability for our sins, cannot be measured.  We cannot do enough to earn Grace, we cannot calculate our good deeds and weigh them against our bad.  Grace is an all or nothing equation.  God gave all.  We either accept it on his terms, which are wonderful but hard, or we get nothing.  This should be good news, but our desire to seek our own will, our own control, and our own power makes this Grace feel unnatural.  Scenarios that should be black and white, are made grey by our own desires.

A lie is the result of the calculation of the consequences of the truth.  And what is a lie but the promotion or protection of your own will over all others?  Even the best of intentions, a sincere effort to guard the emotions of someone you care about betrays an arrogance.  If you determine that you cannot tell someone the truth, you have concluded that because you possess the truth, that you have an understanding that is above everyone else.  If you lie to protect yourself, to protect your own will, that is a betrayal of faith.  You have seen the consequence and failed to trust that Christ will sort out what's best for you.  A lie is an admission that you question God's sovereignty, or perhaps you choose your own sovereignty over his.  A lie is the removal or keeping out of light.  A lie declares a space: Dark.  If a lie and the darkness is to remain, then that will require great effort to keep out the light.  Darkness cannot drive out light, it can only hide.  It is the purpose of light to drive out the darkness.

Light in this case is Truth.  Truth is like Grace in that it is relentless.  Our efforts to avoid it damage our communion with God and each other.  This darkness creates a separation that doesn't just separate us from a specific person but from everyone.  And if choose to share my lie with one person, I don't cast light in their direction, but instead we bring them into our darkness.  The beginning of Evil isn't about pledging allegiance to Dark forces, it is first about pledging allegiance to yourself.

This is simple really.  The commandments tell us, "Don't Lie."  Ever.  End of story.  Why does this then seem like such an impossible task?  Well we must understand who Christ is to give this command power.  If we tell our kids, "Don't Lie.", then that becomes merely an effort of will.  And will power alone is not sustainable.  If we tell our kids, "Don't Lie...because it is not good for you or others.", then we get a bit closer to real power.  If we can, over time and repentance, demonstrate that we serve a loving and powerful savior who will always protect us and do what is best for us even when we can't see it, then the command goes from the very Old Testament "Don't Lie." to the very New Testament "You don't have to Lie."  In those moments when Christ seems real and we have surrendered to him, our calculations of what we think is best tend to disappear.  In those moments we are able to say, "This Truth is hard and painful and I really don't want to face it.  But because I trust you Jesus, I will shed light in all the dark places in my life.  You sacrificed for me, therefore I will sacrifice my comfort and control and power for you."

Without Christ, we are on our own to determine what is good and right and what is bad.  Our deception is always properly justified, because it is in our very nature to protect and promote ourselves over all others.  Even our Charity is tainted by our desire for status and recognition.  It is only in surrender to Christ that the dissolution of the self is possible.  In that dissolving surrender we get to experience the Grace and Healing and the formation into the person, into the being that we were always meant to be.  We shed our will in order to discover his.  God's Will has been formed in us since before time, like stardust from the beginning of the Universe.  Lies prevent the discovery of his will.  Light, of course reveals it.