Seeking True Love

Relief! I survived one more Valentine’s Day. As a single female approaching middle age, this lovesick holiday is not my favorite date on the calendar. But the ads for online dating sites do make me think about true love.

If love were just a state of mind, I could manipulate the process. I’d analyze men’s profiles. What are they looking for in a wife? Someone pretty, athletic, outgoing? I’d create the perfect persona. They would fall for me. It would feel so good. But, no…I can’t. There would be no truth.

This seems so obvious when discussing online dating. Why do we forget it when talking about our faith? Many people tell us that all religions are basically the same. Pick the one that works for you, the one that gives you peace and hope. They might have a point if the main purpose of religion were to make us feel good. We could even entertain their proposal if the purpose of religion were to make us do good. But that’s not what Jesus said.

When asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replied “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NKJV). I cannot love God unless I know the truth about Him. This can be scary. What if I find something I don’t like? What if I have to give up a treasured belief from childhood? What if I have to stand against the values of mainstream society?

Love is frightening. But it’s worth it in life and in faith. My prayer this year is that God will reveal to me more truth about Himself, and I commit myself to following the truth whatever the cost.

The Power of a Name

I'm no good with colors. Are these flowers mauve? Or lavender? Periwinkle? Eggplant? I give up! Let's keep it simple and call them purple. Or is that too simple?

Research shows that our ability to name colors affects whether we can distinguish between colors and remember them. The Himba tribe in Nambia has one word, serandu, for red, orange, and pink so they don’t differentiate between these colors as easily as English children who use three separate words. There is power in a name.

When I learned this, one sentence came to mind: “I have called you by name.” I was pretty sure these words came from the Bible. I didn’t remember the rest of the verse. I didn’t remember the reference. But the words spoke peace to my soul.

God knows my name. I'm not just a person or a female. I'm not generic. I'm Jennifer. God made me unique and special, and He loves me.

                But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
 And He who formed you, O Israel:
 "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
 I have called you by your name;
 You are Mine." Isaiah 43:1  

Why Tannhäuser?

I play violin in the Chippewa Valley Symphony, and we performed Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture for our holiday concert this year. I didn’t get it. Other years we’ve played many movements from the Nutcracker Suite. (We just performed three of the dances this year.) We’ve played parts of Handel’s Messiah. We programmed festive dances one year. But why Tannhäuser? It didn’t fit.

In one rehearsal Nobu, our conductor, admitted that it was a bait-and-switch, or rather a bait-and-add. Draw the audience in to hear holiday music and a local artist. Then give them a real symphonic experience with one of our selections.

I still didn’t think it fit.

Then we got on stage. We tuned. Notes of Wagner filled the air. It worked. The emotions were right. This is what Christmas is about.

The opera Tannhäuser is about a man who seeks love in the wrong place, in the castle of Venus. Afterwards, he desires forgiveness for these sins. He joins pilgrims on their journey to Rome, but even the pope cannot forgive him. The pope declares it would be just as probable that the pope’s staff sprout leaves as it would be for Tannhäuser to obtain forgiveness.

The opera ends with Tannhäuser’s death. He asks a young lady to pray for him. And the pope’s staff sprouts leaves.

Yes, God can offer us forgiveness for things that no church can absolve. Religion in itself cannot wash away our sins, but Jesus can. He was born on earth 2,000 years ago to take the punishment for our sins so that God can be just in declaring us not guilty. That is Christmas.

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5 NKJV

My Fantastic Boring Day

A friend asked me last night how my day was. I can’t remember what I said. Something nondescript. Okay? Good? Fine?

He replied, “Not fantastic?”

Well, it was a pretty ordinary day. I ate the same thing for breakfast that I always eat – scrambled eggs and toast. I worked all day. I went to orchestra rehearsal in the evening. I guess that means I never go hungry, I have a fulfilling job that pays the bills, and I have friends who enjoy making music together. Nothing tragic happened. That’s pretty fantastic.

As we enter the holiday season, I think of my friends who are going through difficult times, those who have lost loved ones. If you’re one of those friends, please know I’m praying for you.

If you’re not facing tragedy, if you’re more like me, sometimes wondering if life is in a rut, join me in praising God this Thanksgiving for blessing us with so many fantastic boring days.

Forever Is a Beautiful Word

I just stuck a forever stamp on an envelope and carried it out to the mailbox. I’m not sure the stamp will be good forever. But I believe in forever.

I believe that the real Jennifer is not my body that will die. The real me is inside that body and will live forever. That is the reason nothing on this earth quite satisfies my soul. God made me for eternity. He made me forever.

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11 NKJV

The Power of [Or] in the Search for Truth

As I mentioned in my last post, my alma mater has embarked on an ad campaign about “The Power of [And].” However, I have found the little word or gets me much further in my search for truth.

In our pluralistic culture, we are nervous about saying one thing is right and another is wrong. Be tolerant. Keep an open mind. Relativism is good. Absolutism is bad.

But in The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom suggested relativism itself closed our minds. People always knew different cultures had different opinions about good and bad. The historian Herodotus considered this a challenge to study nations and their cultures to learn what was good and bad in each. Relativists say we must not judge. We must respect them all.

That leads to a problem. If all cultures are equally good, why should I invest time and energy to study all of them? I can learn about a couple. Enjoy their music. Eat their food. And go on with life. My life is fine the way it is.

But if absolute truth exists, if there is an ultimate good, it is worth searching for it. I will sell all I have for that priceless pearl. Education becomes a quest. My mind is open because I want to know.

What direction do we want to take? We can approach our studies with both/and logic. Diverse cultures are equally good. Let’s have an international festival and then go on our merry way.

Otherwise, we can take the either/or approach. Deep understanding of cultures reveals conflicting value systems. One or the other is right. They cannot both be. Am I courageous enough to dig this deep? Will I admit that my culture isn’t always right? Will I change the way I live when I find a better way? Am I brave enough to state graciously when an aspect of my culture is better? This is the only way to grow in truth.

I choose “The Power of [Or].”

The Power of [Or]

My alma mater, UW Eau Claire, began an ad campaign last spring. It’s all about their new branding, “The Power of [And].” There is some truth in the ads. Students at UWEC aren’t pigeonholed into one discipline. They can be a “business woman and bicyclist” or “entrepreneur and entertainer.” Reaching beyond our primary field, putting an and in our lives, takes us out of our comfort zone and stretches us as human beings. But we do our students and community a disservice if we forget “The Power of [Or].”

As a private music teacher, I watch my students reach the maturing stage of or. When they are young, they can do this and that and the other thing. In middle school and high school, they must make choices. Their time is limited. Will they do another sport or practice violin? Will they be in the school play or join the youth symphony? Will they pursue dance or choir or forensics?

We mature as we face the or decisions in our lives. These decisions force us to define our purpose and refine our goals. We confront tough questions. What is most valuable? What matters in life?

Every or question has an element of tension, maybe even conflict. It is in that tension where we grow. Do I have the courage to live in the or?