Laura Curtis

My husband and I had an odd conversation on the way to church this morning.  I said I sometimes wish we could be killed in a car accident rather than carry on living.  Thankfully, we’ve been married long enough, and he knows me well enough, not to take a statement like that as a personal indictment.  I’m one of the most blessed people you may ever know.  I have everything I need, and quite a lot of what I want.  I have a fantastic husband, a wonderful daughter and son in law, a home I enjoy, a church family I love dearly and satisfying work to do.  And pretty decent health, to boot.  I’m hardly suicidal.  And I knew that he wasn’t either, though he did agree with me that he sometimes feels the same way.  We’re just weary of our own sin.

Many people think I’m a nice person.  (Fools!  I know what’s in my heart.  Nice?  Hardly.)  Some people think we’re generous with our time and money.  (We know how much better we could be doing as stewards of what God has entrusted to us.)  I’m thankful for the fact that access to heaven is unrelated to my performance.  I know too well how far I fall short.  But the older I get, the more I’m looking forward to the rest of heaven.  Not rest from labor, but rest from myself.   Rest from my sinful nature.  Finally being able to put myself aside and really focus on God’s glory.  I’ve had a few samples of that here, usually during worship but sometimes in prayer, and I can’t help but anticipate the day when that’s the new normal.

I’ve got renovations on the brain, because we’re in the process of selecting a contractor to add a mother-in-law suite to our house.  At the same time, God’s renovations on me continue apace.

The home renovations are, I suspect, about to become a full time job for me.  I’ve mentioned before that we have a little house – about 1100 square feet.  We’ll convert a carport and patio to living space.  Before we can even start on that, we need to replace the fence we lost in Hurricane Katrina, so that any supplies and equipment we keep in the backyard are less likely to be stolen.  And we’ll need to build a shed to store the stuff currently in the carport. So there’s a lot of work to be done before we can really even get started.

The prep work for the renovations on me have included reading Paul Miller’s A Praying Life.  It’s been excellent. 

It’s not deep theology – while I heartily admire Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, for example, it’s not exactly daily fare for me.  That’s attending a fascinating lecture, enjoyable, but also kind of hard work. A Praying Life is more like coffee and a chat with a friend. It brought to light a problem I didn’t even know I had – a lack of faith to pray for big things, for fear that if they don’t happen or I don’t get what I want, my belief in God would be diminished. I’m not sure how or when I drifted into that thought pattern, but it was a really appalling revelation. My mind knows that God is not a Cosmic Vending Machine, and that sometimes God says No, or Wait. That’s not a matter of a prayer not being answered. It’s a matter of me not getting the answer I want. But even knowing, acknowledging that fact, I still drifted into that thought pattern and my prayer life changed accordingly.

So now I’m starting to get back into the habit of praying for big things, and preparing myself to thank and worship God regardless of the answer. I’ll praise him if his answer is Yes, and I’ll praise him if it’s No, or Wait. I’ll trust him to work all things for my good, and trust him to lead me according to his purpose. If you care to join me – there’s a situation that seems hopeless to me, and I’ve hardly had the courage to pray about it. S. is trapped in an abusive situation. J. is the abuser. (And yes, S. has other places to go… but it’s complicated and not really bloggable.) I’ve seldom prayed about this, and when I did, I prayed that the law would catch up with J. so S. would be safe. That’s a reasonable, rational prayer… one that stands a chance of being answered, right? Nothing miraculous in that scenario. Not much, really, that even requires God’s intervention. Now… I’m not just praying for a resolution that ensures S’s safety. I’m also praying for J.’s salvation.

My life is in such upheaval right now – this song just seems really appropriate at the moment.

And after viewing it, I saw this video posted on Facebook – the author of Reason For God, Tim Keller, talks about the main emphasis of the Bible. A paradigm shift for many, and a helpful reminder for all.

The Black Informant has an interesting post about supporting Black businesses.   I haven’t got anything to add to what Duane wrote, but it did get me thinking about how we tend to support our own “tribes” – whatever group we align ourselves with – and the ramifications of that.  No, I don’t shop racially.  I shop as seldom as possible, and my first choice is online because I hate shopping.  Shipping fees are an easy price to pay in exchange for avoiding parking lots, unhelpful sales clerks, and obnoxious fellow shoppers.  But I do support Christian-owned businesses when I can, for the express reason that I’m supporting “one of my own.”  I especially support the businesses owned by fellow church members whenever I can.  For Christians, the perceived benefits of patronizing a Christian-owned business usually include the fact that the money gets tithed on again, and the perception of being dealt with even more honestly and fairly than at a secular business.  The downside – if things go wrong, you can’t sue.

That is to say, if events occur under which you’d normally sue, but you and the business owner are both Christians, the bible says you must not sue, but rather, resolve the situation through a mediator or resign yourself to taking the loss.

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?
(1 Corinthians 6:1-7 ESV)

The Christian Legal Fellowship has some thoughtful guidelines to consider.   Other religions actually have their own courts – Muslims have sharia courts in England and are pushing to have them here.  (Jews have Beth Din courts – though unlike the sharia courts, they lack legal standing in England.)  There is no Christian equivalent to either.  At most, you could ask the pastor to talk to the other person and mediate between you.  So Christians conducting business within our own “tribe” require an additional level of trust that I’m not sure is required of secular consumers.   Even so, I think it’s worth it.