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As I get older, I learn there is a natural rhythm to life where friendships come and go.  I have also learned to embrace this rhythm, not fight it.  Different seasons of life form and emerge, bringing with them the surprise and gift of new friendships.  It is like taking a road trip to a place you’ve never been, where everything is alive with newness and wonder.  That is what a new friendship is like.  Some of you reading this I consider such friends and count it a blessing to know you.  You have graced my life with your presence, your words and your laughter.  I trust the feeling is mutual.  Please hear me when I say “Thank You!”

One surprising friendship that has emerged is that of a seasoned writer, Laura Jensen Walker.  She works alongside me, currently writing web content for her “day job”.  She has been writing professionally for over 12 years and currently has 15 books published.  Her newest book, Daring Chloe, is scheduled to be released nationwide the end of May.  Laura is full of life and it has been a joy getting to know her. 

Can you do me a favor from one friend to another?  Pay her a visit, and, if you’d like, read one of her books.  She writes bothe fiction and non-fiction.  Some of her favorites are Thanks for the Mammogram—a non-fiction recount of personal struggle with breast cancer, Miss Invisible—a fictional book about an overweight women who felt “invisible” to the world due to her size (an interesting side note, a 14-year-old deaf girl recently wrote a fan letter saying that she feels “invisible” due to her hearing impairment), and Reconstructing Natalie—a story of a young single girl who develops breast cancer and how her cancer “reconstructed” her life.

Here are some of her covers (click to enlarge):

Have you ever been reading a book and got to a sentence—or thought—that stops you in your tracks? Where you try to continue reading, but the gravitational pull of the sentence keeps bring you back to its words? Then that moment comes when you resist fighting it, dog-ear the page, put the book down and let the words permeate your mind, replaying them over and over again. This was one of those sentences for me.

I was reading through the book, Dialogue-The Art of Thinking Together, by William Issacs, and was cruising along until page 169 crashed into me. The section was titled, “What Is My Music—and Who Will Play It?” It began (like all sections should, in my humble opinion) with a story. A pianist, Michael Jones, was tickling the ivory when an old man approached him and struck up a conversation. The old man asked about the music Michael just played and he answered, “That was an arrangement of Moon River”. “No, before that,” the old man asked. “That was some of my own music,” Michael replied. The old man then said, “You are wasting your time with ‘Moon River’.” He continued and asked, “Who will play your music if you don’t do it yourself?”

Stop.

Did you read his question?

That was the one whose gravity would not (and has not) release me. “Who will play your music if you don’t do it yourself?”

William Issacs then fleshes it out a bit more:

“People often say it is hard to know what their music is, no less find the courage to offer it. Sometimes we know what we would express but require the courage to bring it out. The resolve that wells up from within us first to find out what our music is, and then to give us the permission to give it, is the molten core energy of your voice.” Wow! Then he just keeps going . . .

“We all have a tendency for self-censorship, for withholding what we think for fear of upsetting others or disturbing the order of things. But finding our music involves listening in a deep way to what we may not have dared voice. [...] ask yourself, What do I most long to create in the world? And why do I long to create it? Setting aside all the counterforces that would tend to dismiss this question as impractical and irrelevant is an enormous part of this process. But holding Michael’s simple question in your heart can go a long way toward opening doors you would not expect to open. Finally, we must also ask ourselves what might be at risk if you do not bring it out—as well as if you do? What choices are you making now about how much of your voice you express?”

Wow.

This idea of finding out what your music is and having the courage to play it—’cause if you don’t, who will?—is crucial to what it means to follow God and the leading of his spirit. Why do I blog? Because it is my music. Why am I feeling led to help create a different expression of “church”? Because it is my music. Why do I love my wife and kids and God and neighbors? Because is it my music. Is it the only music? Nope. Is it the best music? Nope. Are there some who don’t like it? Yep. Are there others who are moved by it? Yep. Is it the correct music? Do you see how that is the wrong question when it comes to music? It’s my music (that God has inspired in my heart) and if I don’t play it, lean in to it, embrace it—who will?

Page 169 was worth the price of the book.

I really believe that if we are all busy courageously playing our God-given Kingdom-music, we will be too busy to sabotage, disrupt and hate-on others’ music.

And I have a hunch that the world will be better off from the musical tapestry we will create.

So the question begs to be asked, What Is Your Music—and Will You Play It?

“He who pulls off the masks in the comedy of life [ed. or religion] is ejected. What is the whole life of mortals but a sort of play in which each actor appears on the boards in his specific mask and acts his part until the stage-manager calls him off? He acts wrongly who does not adapt himself to the existing conditions, and demands that the game shall be a game no longer.” ~Erasmus

It is a lonely journey for one who decides to no longer play the games and wear the masks. For one to make a decision to ‘be true’ is to be culturally isolated, regardless the culture. Culture and society, religious or secular, applauds those who perform well on stage and ejects those who do not adapt or conform to the accepted script. To simply point out the games and masks is to be cast out by some. To demand that the games stop and the masks come off is to be slain by most.

To leave the stage and remove my mask is to ‘be true’ and to ‘be free’. The journey of such truth and freedom is often a lonely one, but worth it.

Post one of two…

Warning: Long post ahead.

Chapter five in Romans is the pivotal point of Paul’s letter. Everything prior is building up to it. Everything after is a celebration and a fleshing out of its conclusions. It’s conclusions and intent are direly important to the message of Romans that Paul is trying to communicate. To me, it is one of the most powerful and life-giving chapters in the entire Bible. But I need help. There seems to be a double-standard being applied in the traditional interpretation of its meaning.

For the sake of focus and time, I am looking primarily at verses 9-21. I chose to include the entire Text in this post, as opposed to only referencing it. I also removed the verse markers so it would read more like a letter. As you read this, allow scripture and Paul’s words to speak. This might be a familiar passage, but really listen to what it is saying. Read slowly. Chew on it. Read each word, each sentence. Don’t filter. Meditate on it if you’d like.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For the sake of ease and understanding, I uploaded a Word Doc (Adam / Jesus in Romans 5) that organizes both of Paul’s “thought-threads” into columns. Please open and read it for reference. Each column mirrors the other so read it like a book; top-left, then over to the right, then back to the left and down…etc. The emphasis is mine (though I offer it might be Paul’s too). (Now is the time when you open and read the linked Doc…I’ll wait ).

Now that you have read the linked Doc (you’ll need to in order to answer the questions), let’s continue. In this first post I am simply going to pose questions (you are welcome to pose yours as well in your comments); in the post to follow, I will share my answers and thoughts. These are the questions that I have personally asked of the text and invite you to do the same. Let me encourage you to pull out a pen and paper (or Word Doc) and write down your answers. Again, don’t jump to a hasty answer, really think about it and let scripture speak to you:

1. What column does Paul seem to be emphasizing?
2. Which column does Paul seem to be saying has more power?
3. Which column does Paul seem to be saying trumps the other column?
4. Which column do you interpret as Good News?
5. Which column applies to all men…to the many?
6. Which column is the result of a created man’s actions?
7. Which column is the result of God’s actions?

Those were the easy questions for me, now for the tough ones (same answering rules apply as with the previous ones…no cheating):

1. Which column do we traditionally apply to people whether they believe it or not?
2. Which column do we traditionally apply regardless of what they do or not do?
3. Which column do we traditionally say that a human only has to be born into this world to have it apply to them?
4. Which column do we traditionally apply to only the people who believe it is true?
5. Which column do we traditionally apply to all people?
6. Which column do we traditionally apply to only some people?
7. If we say one column applies to all people, and the other to only some, then based on this, which column do we traditionally say has more power (though perhaps we would never say it)?

Now compare your answers from the first set to the second set.

• What do you see?
• What stands out?
• What inconsistencies are there, if any?
• Do your answers line up with what Paul was saying?
• Do you see a dual-standard being applied to this verse? Meaning, do we interpret and apply parts of this passage one way, then apply and interpret other parts another way, sometimes within the same sentence?
• What was you experience like doing this exercise?
• How were you stretched?
• Are there any new conclusions or insights you have drawn?

The reason I am leaving my answers and thoughts for another post is so not to influence or skew your process or answers. I want you do go on a journey of “self-discovery” not “Jeromy-discovery” (I am not insinuating that God’s spirit is not involved in your, or my, journey of discovery).

I would love to hear your answers, questions and thoughts regarding this.