June 2, 2022 – Words of Wisdom, Alvin Toffler

Unlearn and Relearn

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Alvin Toffler.

“Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven…””  Matthew 19:21-23

Unlearn and Relearn

Alvin Toffler was an American writer (Future Shock) and futurist, known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution. When I read his quote today it really hits me hard. We are truly a society that cannot relearn our place in society – or we have too many who choose not to consider that everything changes.

The power of the story from Matthew 19:21-23 comes in the young man’s inability to realize he must unlearn his view of life – and that begins with his comment “What must I do to earn eternal life?”  You get a sense from his comment that he is uncertain – uncertain about his present and his future. Jesus tells him to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor, and then he can follow Jesus. And the man goes away in sorrow because he is rich and Jesus has told him to dispossess himself from his many possessions.  In first century Judaism, much like it is today, to have wealth and possessions was considered by many to be a sign of G-d’s blessings. To have money and possessions puts one into a different class.  No one would consider it a good idea to sell your possessions and give all that you have to the poor. The poor were the poor – they were a class all to themselves and were never considered able to change their status. What Jesus was asking the young man to do was unthinkable – it went against everything he had learned about his society, his class, his status, his position in life, and his place on the “blessed” scale.  Jesus was trying to teach a radical new way of being.

We have seen many societies over the millennia who were unable to unlearn and relearn their place in the world. But the bible is filled with people who did just that – Joseph when he is sold into slavery; Job when he lost everything; even Nicodemus and the other disciples. In fact his disciples will go on to ask Jesus “If what you are teaching is basically impossible for any of us to “achieve”, then who can be saved?”  Jesus then drops the most important lesson on them: “For people it is impossible – for G-d all things are possible”. In other words they must forget about their former teachings about who is considered blessed and righteous, and learn a new lesson – especially about whom G-d loves.

It takes daily focus on the Grace of Jesus Christ to remind ourselves to “unlearn” how we “think” G-d works, and to “relearn” the idea that G-d loves everyone – not just white people, not just Jews, not just Christians – G-d loves all people.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, we come to you with eternal concerns – and with our fears that we are losing our place in society. Help me remember how much you love all people, and give me the strength to share that love. Amen.

Pastor Dave   

June 1, 2022 – When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron

Exhaling  Space

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and, making her stand before all of them,they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.” John 8:3-8

One of the ways to practice patience is to do tonglen*. When we want to make a sudden move, when we start to speed through life, when we feel we must have resolution, when someone yells at us and we feel insulted, we want to yell back or get even. We want to put out our poison. Instead, we can connect with basic human restlessness, basic human aggression, by practicing tonglen* for all beings. Then we can send out a sense of space, which further slows things down. Sitting there, standing there, we can allow the space for the usual habitual thing not to happen. Our words and actions might be quite different because we allowed ourselves time to touch and taste and see the situation first.” Chodron, Pema. When Things Fall Apart (Shambhala Classics) (pp. 135-136).

* Tonglen is a Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice that is known as “giving and taking or sending and receiving.” On the inhale, you take in the pain and suffering of yourself and others and on the exhale you give space, compassion and healing to yourself and others.

Exhaling  Space

Life comes at us pretty fast. One day we are feeling pretty secure about where we are in life, and then someone walks into an elementary school somewhere in our country and kills 19 ten-year-old students – and all the wheels fall off our sense of security and sanity. Who are we?

I have been thinking about our country and our society a lot lately. We began immigrating into this country in the early 1600’s. As such we are about 400 years (give or take) into the establishment of this country. The Mayan culture lasted about 650 years before they disappeared. The Aztecs lasted about 200 years and the Incans lasted about 130 years before their demise. How much longer will we be able to exist without tearing ourselves apart?

One of the reasons we are struggling, at least in my opinion, is that we can no longer listen to the others in our lives – and by others I mean those who do not look, act, think, and love like us. We are so quick to react if we believe our egos have been bruised. If someone takes our parking space, we ram our cars into their car rather than consider their day and their struggles in that moment. If someone cuts us off on the highway we pull out a gun and threaten them or worse shoot them without taking a breath and considering their emotional state.  

Next time you feel your blood pressure rising after someone has “wronged” you, take the time to exhale some space before sharing your anger. You may just slow down your anger enough to allow the love of Christ to be your voice.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, because life is fast, so too is our reaction when we are angry. Help me today to stop, drop and pray before I stomp on another soul. Amen.

Pastor Dave