On Email

“Never check your email before you start reading…There is something in the format of e-mail (its terseness? the sheer volume of messages? its tendency to reward skimming over deep reading?) that pulls the mind away from the contemplative, relaxed frame so important for good reading. If you get good news, you’re distracted by it; if someone writes you a nasty note, you’ll spend the next forty-five minutes mentally formulating blistering replies rather than concentrating on your book. If no one writes at all, you’ll be depressed because you’ve suddenly become invisible in cyperspace.“–Susan Wise Bauer, The Well Educated Mind

This made me laugh! Blistering replies? Overjoyed exuberance? Sudden depression (used mildly) at your own invisibility? :D Okay, I admit it; I have an affinity to this quote. Susan makes her point well (and in an amusing manner at that) about the mental distraction email can be .

In context, Susan is referring ‘reading’ as the intensive study of the classic literature –literature like Plato and his fellow sophists. I find it even more applicable to reading something far more important: God’s Word. We should not just be careful to a set aside time to read and study God’s Word; we should also be vigilant to preserve mental focus for our time alone with our Creator and his Word. After all, His law is perfect, converting the soul, his testimony is sure, making wise the simple, his statues are right, rejoicing the heart, and his commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes…they are more to be desired than gold, yeah, than much fine gold, and they are sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb!* Wow. Think about that!

So, If you’re having trouble concentrating on your Plato after breakfast because you just checked your email, maybe you should think about implementing the mantra Susan presents. Never check your email before reading. But far more importantly, if you’re struggling to focus on the precious, holy Word of God, just because you’re still mentally reeling from your visit to your inbox, then I challenge you. Never check your morning email before your time alone with your Redeemer and His Words of life! In my experience, any efforts to reduce brain traffic before my quiet time in the morning with God and His Word has always been worth it. He is worth it!

*Psalm 19:7,8,10, slightly condensed.

Where God calls us, there is a way.

Tonight as I vacuuming rows and rows of carpet between church pews, I realized something that many of my dreams have in common: people. The age old question that seems to baffles high schoolers as they look toward post graduation of 'what am I going to do?' has certainly perched on my mind too. However, tonight, I realized that I really, really desire to work with people--extensively. Face to face, hand to hand, touching lives as I share with them the hope of Christ. But there's a problem: I don't know that I'm very good at that type of thing. I don't have a lot of experience working with people outside the sphere of my upbringing. I thought of all this tonight as I vacuumed. But I also thought of Moses.

God called Moses to go bring forth the Israelites from captivity to the Egyptians. However, Moses didn't think he had the ability to answer the call of the Lord. He told God: "I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." And how did God answer him? He said, "Who had made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?" Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."

I was greatly encouraged by remembering these verses from Exodus, chapter 4 . My weakness is no excuse not to go where God leads. He is our Strength, and He is with us. Certainly, I will pursue where God calls. Where God calls us, there is a way.

Remember that, my friend. Where God calls us, there is a way.

Distraction and My Frustration

A million distractions can keep us from what we want to do. This morning, I hurried toward the computer with a bright idea for a blog post here. Oops. Little brother occupied the computer chair, clicking busily away at a computerized puzzle. "Oh, Jake," I said, "I need the computer." He whined back at me. "Oh, Kate!" So I consented to let him finish his game, hoping that it wouldn't take too long. At that point, Emily, my sister who is approaching the 2 year old mark and still not potty trained, bounced up. My nose followed a unlovely scent to her diaper, and I knew for sure that I wasn't going to be at the computer in the next 5 minutes. Sighing, I set my Bible aside, and marched her into to her bedroom for immediate attention. It was an ordeal--a very stinky one at that.

Finally, after many thoughts, a thorough hand washing, and a frazzled mind, I sat down at the computer. Writing a blog post, right? Home>>click>>RegenerateOurCulture>>click>>Network>>click>>Agent Tim's. Okay, today is Tim's birthday. I mused over this and commented, all the while trying to remember what exactly I was going to blog about in the first place. Jacob walks up again, chewing what smells like a strawberry starburst, right next to my right ear. Emily runs into my Bible, which was protruding off the edge of my chair and she starts crying. I throw into her bed--gently that is.

Now, here I sit. Jacob is quietly drawing, Emily is cooing over her books in bed, and the house is silent (for a very short while I'm sure). I can even hear the computer buzzing! As I meditate here, I realize that I can never blame all my distractions on those around me. Here I am, being distracted from my original purpose by this little frustration post. What in the world am I doing writing this instead of that!?

But that's beside the point. I realized that what I wanted to do isn't so important anymore. God wanted me to serve my family this morning.

I'm not so (notice the so) frustrated anymore. I know I didn't get that post up on Scripture memory that I had so much motivation for only 1 hour ago. But I also know that what I want to do isn't always important in the long run. I'm reminded of Philippians 2: 3-8.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

I'm going to close with this passage. Christ is the greatest example of servant-hood. Next time feel frustrated by the distractions of the needs of those around me, I should remember this passage. Next time you want to write a blog post and get distracted by other's wants and needs, you should too. Face your distractions and frustrations with the mind of Christ--esteem the needs of those causing distractions (unless, it's yourself) better than your own needs. Aren't you glad Christ did?

--
(Kaitlin Atmore's advice to me when I started blogging-"Keep it short, no one likes to read long posts." I'm trying to do better. This post is about 25 words shorter than my last post--at least it was at one point.

Also, be sure to tell Tim and Matthew happy birthday too!
)

No, this blog is not dead!

Dear Reader,
I thought it might be beneficial to share with you my thoughts on blogging. Obviously, you may have guessed by now that my purpose in blogging here is not to hang a new post up every other day. In fact, some of you have wondered if I really have intentions of blogging at all. :P (No, this blog is not dead, nor have I gone elsewhere!)

When I first came on the idea of an inspirational blog a few years ago, I was enthralled with the idea. I imagined it would be extremely 'cool' and fascinating to actually keep up such a project. I admit, I'm sure I had visions of posting everyday, having over 60 hits a day, and being linked to all over the 'net.

Yes. My ideas in blogging have changed since then.

Always having frequent posts here at Pursuing the Mystery is not my goal. Shocking, isn't it?

I hope you know the purpose of Pursuing the Mystery-- that those who read it and we who author it, may be drawn closer to our Christ by it. Personally, I really don't think this mission will be accomplished if all we do is add another blog for you to constantly keep up with. (And all I do is worry about trying to post something for you to keep up with!) The last month in my life I have really been convicted about some things (often considered 'good things' even so!) that I was doing which not only took away time, energy and focus from my life on Christ, but was also taking away the likewise from my fellow Christians. As I work on eradicating such things, I don't want blogging to become just another such thing. May we (you and me both!) never --ever-- let this blog or any another blog come between us and our personal time alone with God and his Word. (And yes, this is the paragraph for parenthesis!)

You must know I want to use Pursuing the Mystery as a tool to share from my heart. I decided a while ago that I'm not going to just scramble up something to write, just for the sake of posting. Here, I desire to be real--even if I only post once a month. There you have it. It is my desire to be a blessing to my readers with posts, but I do not want to share words with you that are meaningless. That would be a waste of words and a tragedy at that!

The 'problem' with this is that I often find it isn't easy for me to transfer my heart full of real thoughts into real coherent words. Sometimes it takes me hours of typing at the keyboard before I am satisfied with the result of a single paragraph! I realize this means I'm probably lacking some skills in 'Writing 101' which will only be improved with practice. Truthfully though, I don't have time for me to daily spend hours pounding at the keyboard, arranging the words of my heart to make sense to you all. For one thing, my family gets irritated at me. For another thing, I get irritated at myself for ignoring my family for vast blocks of time. (This my friend, is not the servant hood I called to live toward them at this time of my life!)

Let me close before this gets atrociously long. My philosophy on blogging, if I may call it that, can be simply stated. I blog when:

1. I have something to say.
2. I can say it without neglecting my relationships with my family and my God.

To wrap up, I do intend to blog here. Sometimes it may be often; sometimes you may count many moons in between posts. Above all, to Christ be all glory!

Sincerely yours,
Katie Marie

Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

The beautiful haunting melody of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel has always captivated me. This year however, I have not only listened to the melody of this beloved carol; I have begun to listen more closely to the text of this song. In particular, the single word of ‘Emmanuel’ has captured my interest and drawn my intrigue. Opening God’s Word to Matthew, I’ve rediscovered the meaning of the name ‘Emmanuel.' Let me share it with you:

Matthew 1:23
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Emmanuel—God with us.

Here, in the meaning of Emmanuel, we find the truth that’s the very basis of our Christmas celebration. Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, is God with us. Jesus, the baby born 2000 years ago, wasn’t born merely as a great prophet or a radical teacher. Jesus came as God in flesh. Jesus came as God, to reconcile us to Himself.

Looking back a few verses in Matthew we find verse 21:

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save his people from their sins.

He shall save his people from their sins.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave.

Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Emmanuel has come! The Son of God has appeared. He came to deliver us from bondage—and because of Him, we have victory. Let us rejoice!

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Merry Christmas! May your days be blessed as you rejoice in the coming of Emmanuel!

*The author of the words and composer to the music of O Come, O Come Emmanuel is unknown. This carol was a Latin text from the 12th Century.

Christ is My Extraordinary!

Lord, do not let my eyes fall to the earth! Keep my gaze lifted up, past the men who taunt and intimidate me, past the fleeting moments of this earth, straight ahead to You in all Your glory and majesty. -Jennifer's Musings

Jennifer's post, over at Jennifer's Musings, blessed me in an incredible way this week. I encourage you to read the post in its entirety.

I find within myself a desire and quest to lay claim to my own bit of brilliance or talent. I am intimidated and wearied when I find such a lack of any such greatness in myself. However, Jennifer's post helped me step back and lift my eyes away from self. In view of Christ and His majesty, my own extraordinary, or lack of, becomes as dust. The miracle of Christ cleansing my heart, dwelling inside of me, and being my God, is more extraordinary than anything I could every perform or be. Christ is my extraordinary!

Thank you, Jennifer, the encouraging post. Thank you, God, for Christ.

The Battle Against Apathy

Isn’t it funny how one of the biggest battles we find within our hearts is the war against apathy? I mean, why do we let apathy remain so persistent in the battle? Why do we fight so hard to prevent apathy from dying? Rather ironic, isn’t it?

Apathy is definitely not apathetic in its nature. In truth, my own heart finds it quite the opposite. The roots of apathy dig down deep and will not let go. Spreading like a loathsome disease, this persistent weed winds its tough strands of poison around every facet of my heart and life. I am almost persuaded to give up the fight. Or just switch sides—I could just fight for apathy to win instead. Surely life would be easier then. A short battle would ensue, apathy would triumph, and the struggle would be over. Life would be in a lull. How tempting it would be to shout to Apathy, “You win!” so that I could sit back and dismiss the battle.

But, no. That would not be right. These thoughts are ridiculous. A Christian’s calling is to pursue righteousness with passion and perseverance. Letting apathy reign in our hearts is a sin. In this battle of my heart, it will not do to let apathy have the upper hand.

But where is the encouragement to continue the fight? I am weak, and my strength to fight for passion is failing. Where shall I look for help? May I never forget the exhortation found in Hebrews 12.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (vs. 1-3)

Though the battle against apathy rages in a complex manner that I don’t understand, I will not give up. Christ fought the battle even more intensely than I am fighting, and yet He overcame. By His strength only, will I do the same. The sin of apathy, so easily besetting me, must be laid aside, no matter the cost. Apathy is not option!