Liberty, Law and Monopoly Games

My sisters and I played "America the Beautiful" for church this morning. The second verse says:

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

How do liberty and law fit together? I love C.S. Lewis's illustration of a chess game in The Problem of Pain. It's okay to override the rules of chess once in a while. It's okay to let your opponent take back a move. But you cannot override the rules all the time. What if you let your opponent take back all the moves he doesn't like? What if you let him move his pieces in whatever way he wants, as far as he wants, in whatever direction he pleases? You would destroy the game.

It reminds me of how we played Monopoly when we were younger. When people went broke, we would loan them money. The game would never end. Needless to say, we don't play Monopoly anymore.

Many people today yearn for absolute freedom, but absolute freedom is not possible. Without law, we have no liberty. This Memorial Day weekend, let us praise God for our liberty and our law and for the men who gave their lives to preserve these blessings.

Small Hard Things

I just finished reading Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris -- for the third time. I love the chapter on small hard things. It's so easy to focus on doing big things for God and to forget about the little things in our lives. But God says, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much" (Luke 16:10).

What is one small hard thing that you are committed to doing? Please put your answers in comments to this post. I'd love to know what you are doing.

My answers:

#1 I am committed to pressing the play button on my CD player each morning. What's so hard about that? I am not listening to music. I am practicing Portuguese. The only time I have to practice is while I make my bed and pick up my room in the morning. Often I would rather enjoy the quiet and let my mind wander. Yes, pressing the play button is a small hard thing each morning.

#2 I am committed to getting my blood sugar under control this summer. I am not diabetic. My blood sugar is just erratic. It is so erratic that I despair of ever controlling it, "...but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). Feel free to hold me accountable on this one. I have a terrible sweet tooth.

So what are your answers?

Creativity

I recently discovered the website http://www.bloomthemagazine.com/ and their "Weekly Conversations." I decided to use the conversation starters there as an inspiration for my own blog posts. I would love to hear your thoughts. Let's make this a conversation.

The most recent question is: "Madeline L'Engle writes, 'Unless we are creators we are not fully alive.' Do you agree or disagree? How do you implement creativity into your daily life?"

I partly agree and partly disagree. I disagree because many people use creativity as a substitute for God.

Francis Schaeffer addressed this in the third chapter of Escape from Reason. Naturalistic science (denying God's existence or His involvement in the world) leads to determinism. If there is no God, we are a product of evolution, a chance combination of matter and energy. Then what are my thoughts? Random neuron firings? Are my actions a product of my environment?

People do not want to believe they are mere machines. They value freedom and self-expression. They value creativity. If I create something, I am more than the product of my environment. Or am I? How do I know I created it? Who am "I"?

I fear Madeleine L'Engle sought her identity and worth through creativity rather than finding them in God. When interviewed by Bob Abernethy, she said that she was not a Christian author. She said, "I am a writer. That's it. No adjectives. The first thing is writing. Christianity is secondary." (See http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week412/profile.html.)

In John 10:10, the Lord Jesus said, "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Christ gives life. Creativity never can.

However, Madeleine L'Engle might have a point. We will never feel our faith until we act on it. God made us individuals. He gave us personality beyond our DNA. As we live this out, we experience the life He intended us to have.

Creativity plays a great part in my life. I teach private music lessons. I am continually looking for new ways to inspire my students, explain difficult concepts and master challenging technique. Photography is my creative pass time. I love capturing the beauty God put in the world.

But I don't worship my creativity. I use my creativity to worship the God who gave me life and enjoys my friendship.