Pang Pong

Wanna play some Pang Pong?

         

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”                                                                          Romans 8:22 (NKJV)

Creation Groans

It sure appears to me that the world I live in is writhing and contorting. If the world were an adolescent, it would appear as one squirming in his chair having the overwhelming urge to pee. Being too embarrassed to raise his hand in the middle of class to ask to go to the bathroom, he would rather tough it out till the bell rings and then sprint down the hall to the boy’s room. Oh damn! I have not been politically correct. I was supposed to write that description as he/she and the boys room should have been described as….err… what: the unisex room or transgender room? Now I have the urge of pulling the paper out of the typewriter, crumpling it up and throwing it at the wastebasket. Except this is not a typewriter!!!! Uggghhhh! Let the groaning begin.


Our scripture from the eighth chapter of Romans contains the word “pangs.” It is found in some classic translations including the New King James Version quoted above. In today’s world, the word “pangs” will likely not be recognized and even thought to be a typo by many readers. I also submit that by the next century the word might have already passed away from our spoken language. However, it is Webster’s second definition of the word that sums up the vibe of this “Pang Pong” post.

Merriam-Webster

Definition of pang
1: a brief piercing spasm of pain, the pangs of childbirth.
2: a sharp attack of mental anguish, pangs of remorse, a pang of guilt
    a pang of disappointment.

One thing I am certain of in our society and culture today is that there is a load of mental anguish whirling through our populace no matter what side of the political spectrum you may reside. When I begin to get caught up in the spin cycle of disappointment, I know that I must do some self-examination. I must refocus my attention on the Truth. I have many places that I can consistently find truth but the first and foremost location is in the Word.

Kilauea Burps

Allow me to put forth wisdom and guidance from the Word that helps me make sense of the creation groaning and pangs concept. In layman’s terms, ‘you can’t have it both ways’ sometimes expressed as, ‘you can’t have your cake and it too.’ (See Matthew 6:24, re serving two masters). First it is my human nature to want to depend on and be fueled by my will (ego driven) which is of this world and finite. By personal experience and a lot of faith, I am assured that when I align my actions with God’s will, the distressful pangs will roll away. Relying on the Creator of the Universe, I am now fueled by a groan-free infinite energy source.

What is happening in our country now, playing out on the political stage is a magnified manifested representation of what happens individually to us all. We can rely on our will fueled by the ego pushing God aside or we can search daily for the divinity within and rely on His will to guide us. To the extent we rely on the ego we will experience pangs of dissonance for the divinity within is our constantly burning eternal pilot light. As spiritual beings in a material body and world, we are continually engaged on one level or another in an internal battle between what is Truth and what is illusion. To the extent which we are fooling ourselves, beholden to our material delusions, will we be groaning. The house and kingdom divided cannot stand (Mark 3:24-25).

Which way do we choose?

The book “A Course in Miracles” frames our daily choice this way: “Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God?” We have this daily choice to make. To the extent that we land on the ego side of the net we will find ourselves playing Pang Pong.


Father God may it start with each of us individually choosing to be Host to your Son, so our growth pangs will come only from growing in Your Love.

Amen
Bradford Bosworth
June 2018

Not Forgotten nor Forsaken.

Sunday, September 24, 2017 (fourth in a series)

Haiti Deaf Academy

Deuteronomy 31:6 and Hebrews 13-5

Joyce and Michael Newsom

I often subscribe to the belief that we, the American people, are the same as the Israelites, God’s chosen people. Our ancestral pilgrims settled in a promised land, a land flowing of milk and honey. Oh how evident it is that we have forgotten from whence we came. But, you know what? These Haitian people, they too are God’s chosen people. Maybe they have just not found their Moses yet nor crossed through their Red Sea. Do you want to know something? These people are strong and courageous!

A few days ago our team arrived here on the heels of four ferocious hurricanes that passed by this island also known as Hispaniola. It is as if God has said to these people, I will not forsake you, my children, you have enough on your hands now and I have some of my other children who need a wake-up call! I’m not sure if Joyce and Mike intended it? A link exists that ties these two pieces of scripture together across a millennium or more. Moses’ exhortation, “Be strong and courageous.” is repeated by his successor (Joshua 1:9). In Hebrews, the writer is reminding his audience - Jewish Christians- that the covenant of Moses, carried forward by Joshua, has been superseded by the new covenant of Christ Jesus. Our presence here is now about the Love of Christ.

Our mission team’s humbly joyful interpreter/guides are mere boys content with what they have. Gel, Achka, Benson and Jhon are the vines bearing fruit that brings daily the new covenant Love of Christ to the poor. The chosen people of Haiti know the Lord has said to them, “Never will I leave you.”

Yahweh, through all the storms of our lives may we remember that nothing can separate us from your Love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

Bradford Bosworth

Seeking Our Connection Point

    Yearning to be Yoked

The story of mankind has been one of emigrational search and discovery. Columbus sailed to find new lands not certain that a fall over the horizon was imminent. The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 was a chance for one's own little plot of land. John Glenn showed the masses we might even be able to escape our own inhabitable planet. Many of us individually have  longed to find our somewhere, a place where we belong. We long to become whole, complete, One. This quest becomes so self centered that it sometimes boils down to a simple effort to be comfortable in our own skin.

Christmas tree and Syzygy?

No doubt we were meant to be in fellowship, joined together in common purpose, linked to one another, connected to something greater and more meaningful than our unsettled selves. What I experienced a week ago today was the most extreme example of this seeking I have witnessed in my sober lifetime. I would like to share with the special audience that reads this blog what the 2017 Solar Eclipse meant to me through the signs our creator placed before all for personal discovery.

In preparing myself for the mystery of this celestial wonder, I learned a new word: Syzygy. It is an amazingly spiritual yet scientific word. My understanding in relation to the 2017 Solar Eclipse is it represents a celestial phenomena where three bodies: sun, moon and earth reach perfect alignment.  (See:Syzygy) Wow, alignment, is not that something we hope for with the wheels on our car? We strive to keep ourselves on the right road smoothly in a straight line, correct? Sounds a bit synonymous with belonging and becoming whole, no? This past week's heavenly alignment does not occur often. In fact, where the path of totality crosses the entire continental United Sates- one coast to the other- well, it had not happened for ninety nine years, more than a lifetime!

Oh the richness of the symbolism in this gift of the Universe! It was estimated that about 20 million people could or would be in the American path of totality. This is where the moon blots out the whole sun. Totality, wholeness, completeness, peace, all of same import. Isn't this what we are searching for? Well, at least it is for me. So off I went -as I guess I do everyday- seeking the "Path of Totality."

I found myself in Andrews, North Carolina on Monday, August 21, 2017 amidst a festival day atmosphere with many a pilgrim young and old gazing upward in awestruck worship. Andrews is located in the exact center of this path of totality, point zero.  I discovered Syzygy is not complete, not whole. It does not reach it's fullness without us as receiving witnesses becoming one as our Creator's masterpiece. Our Father desires us to be part of His alignment. We will be at peace when we are aligned with His will. Right at the point of total eclipse it became very quiet and still, very peaceful.  On the exterior of the Andrews United Methodist Church there was a large sign. It spoke of the day. It yelled to me. It pointed to the path of wholeness, completeness, oneness, totality, if you will. It was a suggestion for a Way to peace from words of Christ to us:

Jesus's words on the sign from Matthew 11:28 were not the words that rung out to me that day. If you clicked the Syzygy link a few paragraphs before this one, you might have noticed the Greek origins of the word mean to "yoke together." Hear His words from verse 29-30

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Based on the experiences in Andrew's NC last Monday- now more than ever- I believe Abba's gift of Syzygy needed US to complete it just as He needs US now to complete the gift of His Son and Holy Spirit to carryout His will in the world.

Father may we make ourselves available to you as willing witnesses. May you guide each of us to our own path of totality that we may know your good and pleasing will for us.

Amen 

***********

Bradford Bosworth

August, 2017