on strength and gentleness

The journey of ‘living gently’ continues. It’s been a bit of a meander, winding here and there and lingering at spots before moving on again.

One lingering spot – maybe not surprising for a former English major and a fan of good writing – was a reunion with G. K Chesterton.

I discovered Chesterton years ago. He’s described as an “English critic and author of verse, essays, novels, and short stories, known also for his exuberant personality and rotund figure.”* How can you not linger with someone of this description? He has also been called “the best writer of the 20th century. He said something about everything and he said it better than anybody else.” Adding to this, Chesterton was a profound Christian thinker. So, there you go. An English major stumbled across Chesterton years ago and he has lingered in the libraries of her mind ever since.

What reunited me with Chesterton on this journey was his ability to engage with paradox. Chesterton saw paradoxes in Scripture but wasn’t bothered by them. In his mind they were ‘twin truths’. Two realities living together without contradiction. Both true and both to be embraced. His writings constantly touched on seeming paradoxes in the Christian life.

Chesterton once described paradox as ‘truth standing on its head to gain attention.’ I like this picture of a pair of legs wiggling in the air, both part of the body, both commanding our attention. Creating balance.

Gentleness and strength are among God’s ‘twin truths’. The God revealed in Scripture is both fiercely strong and tenderly gentle. We see this in the Old Testament, in how God speaks of himself and how others describe him. We see this in the gospels as Jesus interacts with those around him. I see this in my own life as God is firm in his commitment to my wholeness and gentle in his patience as I grow.

The next lingering spot was also literary. I thought of Gandalf, the character born from the genius of J. R. R. Tolkien. Gandalf hardly needs introduction, especially after being immortalized onscreen. I was introduced to Tolkien’s classics during a long-ago hospital stay. As with C. S. Lewis’s tales of Narnia (not discovered until my university days), I wondered where I had been all of my life that I had never heard of Tolkien or his novels. I also remember vivid dreams of orks spilling over walls. Whether these were due to hospital meds or an over-active imagination, I don’t know. I suspect a bit of both.

Now the images in my mind come from someone else’s imagination as the story was brought to life onscreen. Gandalf will forever be strong hands wielding a staff with an uncompromising declaration.

And he will be those same hands gently holding a moth without crushing it.

These ‘twin’ pictures of strength and gentleness echo Biblical truths. Gandalf’s real strength is not in his wizardly power but in his uncompromising stand against evil. To the balrog he declares in a commanding voice ‘you shall not pass’. His hands grip the power at his disposal. The same Gandalf holds the moth, but his instructions come in a whisper and his hands remain gently open.

I, for one, am glad of both in the God I have come to know.

His greatest “You shall not pass!” happened at the cross. ‘No further,’ he declared to Satan. ‘No more,’ he declared to sin’s power. Scripture is clear that when we trust the work of the cross and the resurrection power that is ours through Christ*, sin no longer has power over us.* This is an amazing truth to live by. There is genuine rest in this.

I need God not to compromise when it comes to sin’s destructive work. I need him to care deeply that I live as I’m created to live in all of the wholeness and freedom this means. But I also need him to be gentle with me while I’m not there yet. And here is the twin ‘amazing reality’. God is gentle with me. He knows me. He knows what it means to be human.* He understands.

Which is why Philippians 1:6 is among my favorite verses:

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

God has an uncompromising commitment to holiness…the holy whole life he created me to live which is now possible in Christ. At the same time, he knows this is a process. The good work he began at the cross is an on-going work. He knows I’m not yet there. Not yet where I want to be, long to be, in my love for him and in my image-bearing. But…and here’s the hallelujah to sing…he’s doing something about it. He is at work in me through his Spirit*. The finished redemptive work of the cross* will one day become his finished restoration* work in me.

Two more legs wiggle in the air to command our attention. Life in Christ is both pursuit and rest. Active pursuit of the holy wholeness that is ours in Christ and rest in his grace in the process.

What a wonderful God who loves with such fiercely uncompromising strength. It took this kind of love to endure the cross. What a wonderful God who loves with such gentle grace. I highly suspect it takes this kind of love to never give up on me.

I, for one, am deeply thankful for this God I have come to know and love and serve.

*Wikipedia’s words

*Ephesians 1:18-21; 3:16-21

*Romans 6:6-7, 14

*Hebrews 4:15-16

*2 Corinthians 3:18

*Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:21-23, 2:10; 1 Peter 3:18

*1 Corinthians 13:12; Philippians 3:12-14; 1 John 3:2

Living Gently

On our coffee table is a book called The Charm of Simple Things. It’s a collection of quotes and illustrations meant for perusal at leisure, which is maybe why I haven’t looked at it in a while. But on this morning I had moved from office to living room with a fresh cup of coffee (a commitment to be more intentional about rest) and spied the book. I picked it up and read these words by W. Phillip Keller:

“Most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, will admit that we live too fast, too erratically, too crudely, and too thoughtlessly. The remedy or antidote for all this is to live gently.“*

The phrase ‘live gently’ caught my attention. I pulled it off the page and into my mind and sat with it for a while. As the phrase rolled around in my mind (gently, of course), I knew God was extending an invitation. He wanted this to stay with me, perhaps even to change me. How like God to take a random moment in the day and insert something profound. And so He and I began a conversation. These kinds of conversations with God usually begin, for me at least, with a question like:

What does it mean in Your eyes, Lord, to live this way?

God often responds with His own question, something like:

Do you really want to know?

And I understand what He means is…do I really want to change? And if I do, then will I be open to what He shows me about myself that needs to change? And, even more, will I be willing to do my part as we work together on this?

He knows me well.

Because I truly want to live as God has created me to live, and because I truly believe He means it when He says we will be transformed by the Spirit into His likeness*, my answer is, “Yes, Lord, I really do want to know.”

This is an ongoing conversation. What I am learning so far from God is this…He is gentle with us. He has led me to places in Scripture where His gentleness is expressed, both in the Old and New Testaments. And as I learn about the gentleness of this holy and redeeming God I love and serve, I understand that He means for me, as one who is made in His image*, to live this way as well. In learning about the gentleness of God, I am learning to live more gently with myself and, beyond ‘self’, with others.

I’d like to explore these truths more in future blogs, but for now I am enjoying the conversations with God as we walk and talk together each day. Hopefully I will be living a bit more gently as well, as the days go on.

*from W. Phillip Keller’s book, Taming Tension

*2 Corinthians 3:18

*Genesis 1:27; 5:1