God's Feminine Side

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
   those who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
   and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
   nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
   in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways,
   and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
   those who hold her fast will be blessed.

By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations,
   by understanding he set the heavens in place; 

by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
   and the clouds let drop the dew. Proverbs 3:13-20

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. – John: 1:1-4

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 3-5; 2 Corinthians 1

For a long time there was something that bothered me. Where was the femininity in God?

I was raised with the idea that there was God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; The Holy Trinity. How these three things come together can be confusing (and probably is so for most Christians… keep it real) but what I never understood was why the feminine side wasn’t represented.

Of course I too am schooled in the understanding of how male dominated societies have for years written their histories from the male perspective to the subjugation of women; but I always felt that there was a hidden truth here. I always felt that there was something tucked away in the passages that would reveal this truth.

Wisdom is God’s feminine side.

When I read the passages above from Proverbs 3 it became all the more clear. Wisdom is always referred to as “She”. She was there when heaven and earth were created. By her all that we know was created. When I think of this idea in light of the fact that every child was brought into the world by a woman… it really made perfect sense. Of course all of creation comes from God’s feminine side. How can it not? 

But then what is the role of man? Instantly I thought of the passage above from John 1. John is talking about Jesus of course but this idea of the Word being God and with God is fascinating. And then the Word manifests as a son which is male.

In the creation story it is said that God spoke the world into existence. “Let there be light” and it was. But it was through wisdom that God spoke these creative words. This marriage of masculine and feminine, Word and Wisdom is the seed of all creation. When we apply our wisdom to life and speak out into the world the things that we want to happen then we are planting our very own seeds of creation.

The important part of this is that both sides must be there. We must fully embrace the masculine and feminine within each of us. We must seek wisdom and boldly proclaim the desires of our hearts. And we must use our thoughts and actions together to fertilize and water that seed until it grows and blossoms into what we dreamed it would be.

This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. It is the fountain of God’s wisdom. We can search inside ourselves and find that little piece of God that we all share. And through this connection we can make the impossible possible.

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit… the masculine and feminine all wrapped into one.

God can be father or mother because God can be anything that we need God to be. But regardless of how you see God… never forget to embrace both sides of God, and therefore both sides of you.

Find the balance that works best for you.       

My Confession of Faith

Today’s Reading: Psalms 126-128; 1 Corinthians 10:19-33

I read Psalm 128 today and realized that it clearly articulates a lot of what I want for my life. This has become my confession of faith… the scripture I can use to speak my ideal future into existence.

Words are powerful. One of the most important parts of the creation story to me is that God spoke the universe into existence. He said “let there be light”, and there it was. In the book of John, Jesus is described as being the Word of God made flesh.

Most of us throw around our words carelessly but this is dangerous. The more that we speak with negativity the more negativity we will invite into our lives. Similarly, the more positively we speak the more positivity we will speak into our lives.

What do you want for your life? Who do you want to be? The first step toward being whom and where you want to be is to say it.

Choose your words wisely.

Psalm 128

1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
   who walk in obedience to him.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
   blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
   within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
   around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing
   for the man who fears the LORD.

5 May the LORD bless you from Zion;
   may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
   all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children—
   peace be on Israel.

Closed Mouths Don't Get Fed

I am the LORD your God,
         Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
         Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 

 “But My people would not heed My voice,
         And Israel would have none of Me.
 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
         To walk in their own counsels. Proverbs 81: 10-12

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 81-83; Romans 11:19-36

There is this old saying that I used to hear a lot growing up:

“Closed mouths don’t get fed.”

So you might imagine that I laughed out loud when I read the passage above. “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” sounds strikingly similar. But tell me this ain’t real as steel.

Have you ever noticed how a lot of times folks get what they want if they stay screaming for it? We see this in babies and young children all of the time. The perfect example is the kid at the grocery store. You’ve seen him. You remember that one time you were walking down the cereal isle and you passed a mother fussing with her child in front of the Lucky Charms.

Oh how I loved me some Lucky Charms…

As a matter of fact I have been that kid. Unfortunately for me “spare the rod and spoil the child” was the rule of law when I was a lil’ tyke. That was before all of these newfangled parenting methods they have today…

But I digress…

So I have stumbled upon such a scenario several times at the grocery store. Mom rolls the cart down the cereal isle. The kid sees the colorful box from their favorite cereal commercial and they start clamoring for it. Mom almost always says no at first. I mean really, who wants to have the kid in kindergarten that already has cavities?

Usually the kid persists and tries to test the parent and keeps asking for it. If the parent has the proper amount of intestinal fortitude they will shut the situation down and continue to put the good food in the cart that they feel will best nourish this child that they love.

I look at God this way.

When it comes to pursuing our dreams God is ready and willing to feed us but too often we don’t have our mouths open. We turn away and try to figure out our own ways of achieving our goals without bringing God into the picture. Of course we don’t just sit and wait like chicks in a nest for Papa God to save the day but I believe it is important to include God in the process.

How do I do that? Good question.

The way that I do it is through what we are doing here. I look at the things that I want to do and I bounce that up against what I know God wants for my life. So let’s say I have the following goals.

1. Have a family.

2. Be able to support my loved ones.

3. Write for a living.

4. Sell drugs to fund my writing till I get published one day.

5. Run a marathon.

Clearly most of those things are good food that God will help me receive. If I go to Him during meditation and continually seek out His guidance then he will show me the best ways for me to direct my efforts in order to achieve the goals in line with his Word.

But one of those things is bad… There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that God will “bless” me by helping me destroy my community. This is one form of turning away from God. Pursuing that path would represent me turning away from what is good and nourishing, and going for what seems fast and easy (though clearly it is not… just stating that for the record. Please don’t read this and start selling drugs called Lucky Charms.. dang it… stopping now).

When we choose to heed his voice by doing what is right, and go to God for help with our plans he will open doors and provide ways for our dreams to be fed.

So don’t be afraid to go to God with an open heart, good intentions, and a good work ethic.

We do the possible, God does the rest. 

In the Beginning (the Remix)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1: 1-5, 14

Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 7-9: John 1:1-28

Wow… what an opening line!

Let’s flash back to the very beginning for a second. This is an interesting twist on the first “In the Beginning”.

Remember the original creation story where God said let there be light and it was? Then God continued on to speak things into existence; the sea, the earth, plants, animals, etc?

The way that John is flipping it here is pretty profound. He’s saying that Jesus is the word of God. But what does that mean? I don’t think that anyone can definitively say but let me share with you my train of thought here…

So, God created everything through speaking it and Jesus on earth was the “Word of God” in the form of a man. Jesus walked the earth providing us with the perfect model for how we are supposed to live our lives. He performed miracles that healed, fed, and nurtured. Any time his disciples’ faith wavered he clowned them for having little faith. He suggested that we could do all that he did here (in terms of healing, miracles etc).

In essence… Jesus provided the example for how we can be the word of God…

Now before you holy rollers get all worked up into a tizzy…here’s what I mean.

When we look at the history of humanity we see that humans have the ability to build or destroy. We have evolved in both ways. As society has moved forward we have created new and more efficient ways of doing both things. We have developed agriculture to the point of being able to feed billions with just a few resources; very much like how Jesus fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and fish. On the other hand, we have created weapons that with the push of a button can destroy life on this planet as we know it.

We cannot create a blade of grass but we can nurture it so that it grows, or we can stomp it out and destroy it.

Jesus came to teach us how to nurture, how to build, how to heal. He came here to teach us how to love. It is through the love of God that all things were created and Jesus was the greatest teacher of that love.

So I see these few cryptic verses as a challenge to do my part to spread that love.

If God is love, then when we show love, we are messengers of God. We are active parts of God’s ever evolving creation.

Word is Bond!

Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: "This is what the LORD commands: When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. Numbers 30: 1-2

Word is bond son!

That is so self explanatory that it is almost cliché. But it is something that isn’t as commonplace as many might think.

I live in Los Angeles… enough said…

Well if you don’t live here then maybe it is different for you. But here, flakiness seems to be part of the culture. I know some people who make multiple plans for the same time slot in a day because they know that other folks will cancel on them.

This is a pet peeve of mine.

When I was growing up my dad always taught me the importance of keeping my word. He told me that my word is all that I’ve got. If he can trust my word in the small things then he can trust me when the big things come around.

Our reputation is a lot like our dreams. Both are built step by step, brick by brick. If we are consistent with each brick that we lay then they cannot be destroyed.

But if we are sloppy with our word, if we make promises that we don’t keep, or even back out on seemingly small commitments then over time we are seen as unreliable.

And when the time comes that we really need our loved ones to trust us, all of the sudden we are like that little boy who cried wolf. In our time of need help may not come. Faith will have already been lost. We will be alone, not because we were abandoned, but because we abandoned them. We severed those bonds of trust and faithfulness long ago.

So what do I do if I have already burned some bridges? Is all hope lost?

No!

We just have to start over again. It may be tough and we might be met with resistance; but little by little, brick by brick just about every relationship can be rebuilt again.

It just takes some love, forgiveness, work, and a lot of patience.

Today’s Reading: Numbers 28-30; Mark 8: 22-38