Every morning as I awake, there seems a compelling desire in my heart to write. Even this morning one so strong that I made it a matter of prayer. As I prayed, thinking perhaps I was taking this thing a little too serious, I simply heard, "Just Write!"
Maybe this digital journal will one day be read by a grandchild or better yet shared by the parents of a great-grand whom I will never meet. That kind of connection with my ancestors would have been helpful. Either way, it is quite a privilege to be read by anyone!
As well, the thought that one might be a conduit for some lasting message of truth to another generation, compounded by the fact that we seem to be alive during a truly reformational moment is reason enough for me
Though still churched, I am less and less convinced that church as I have known it will be a major part of my grandchildren's lifestyle. I didn't say they would not be people of faith, though likely demonstrating their faith in a different way.
My Pentecostal heritage once provided evidence of a powerful access to the gifts of the Spirit by anyone open to the "Holy Ghost." I have now witnessed that being greatly diminished even in my relatively short life time, and certainly since the initial founding of the movement by way of the Azusa Street revival in 1906.
I have actually experienced all the gifts of the Spirit, either personally or by way of association with others in the Body of Christ. Yet, the congregational freedom for expressing those gifts, apart from the pulpit or in some small room intentionally curtained off from common practice, has been tremendously reduced in my lifetime.
I get the sense of requiring that everything be done "decently and in order" (I Cor. 14:40), given the tendency of misuse in moments of emotional overplay, and worse yet passionate manipulation. Trust me I have seen it, both from pew and pulpit! That is likely the reason that the "Love vs. tinkling cymbal" chapter, I Corinthians 13 preceeds these instructions?
The thoughts of this Pentecostal boy are such that if those so given to following the Spirit over tradition, could so quickly succumb to cultural pressure for the sake of church growth, rather than risking the Spirit's capacity to nurture the Body, what would make me think that such a system would carry forward into the next generation.
I am even witnessing that as I write, given my conversations with Gen X, Millennials, Z's and Alpha's! What will the next look like, I don't know because I am not the next!
Some of my thoughts this morning were overshadowed by the grief of a soon to be lost wooded tract beside our development. Its mature trees likely "harvested" for the sake of a new and more dense housing development. As I pondered our likely loss, I recalled an abandoned shed on site, which most do not even know exists. It now means little to most, other than perhaps the offspring of the deceased who built it.
To me it has some true emotional value, as I recall walking my grandkids out there when they were about 4 & 6 years of age. I watched as this long abandoned, well-weathered 30x50 ft wooden shed became for a thing of ancient wonder. It seemed full of discarded relics of the past, a broken wooden carriage wheel, a rusty oil can, as well as "doddlebug" funnels in the dry dust floor.
One day, as they share my writings of how folk used to act in the Pentecostal churches of their great great grandparents may be that be an equal wonder, perhaps even fostering a desire for spiritual renewal.
Having said all that, my morning melancholy was actually set off first thing, while reading a few pages from a newly found essay by C.S.Lewis. It seems he had been asked to write a Christmas sermon for "pagans."
As only Lewis can do, he first rightfully defines the origin of both the terms, pagans and heathen. The latter, those who live in the Heaths, "out in the wilds", and Pagans as those who live in the "pagus" the village.
He then goes on to align those people groups with the rather arrogant thoughts of those suggesting the sermon, given their regarded opinions of pre-Christian and post-Christian folk.
Where the essay gripped me was when Lewis drew a connection between a street with a vacant lot where the house has been torn down, and a field where a house had never been built. Both vacant but totally different, as one has rubble, dust and rats, the other clover, thyme and buttercups! The link below is worthy of your read.*
We make value judgements as church folk at times, that those who come behind us will interpret as far less loving than we ever intended.
I'll let you think through this for application purposes.