In need of a protector: V1 B3 C8

Tags

fantine, les miserable, love, manhood, rescue

Fantine’s murmur is a plea for help: “Do not be too long; we are waiting for you.” And the compassion she felt and expressed for the fallen horse foreshadows her very own demise at the hands of a self-occupied, and therefore cruel, man. She is in need of a protector – someone to speak up and stand up on her behalf as the enemy moves in. But the time passes and no such protector arrives. Yes, down the road of life, one man is being prepared for a mission of rescue, but the time passes and even God allows the moment-void of compassion when it’s need most for her sake. We get to watch it all happen, knowing that the fiction is so real in so many lives. We see the young men who were never taught to be men and the young ladies who long for a real man, but cannot fasten their longing on any flesh and blood example – so they cling to false hopes and moments of affection.

So Fantine will sell her teeth and suffer. But she will herself will protect another life just long enough to pass that soul into such protection. And that new soul will benefit from not just one, but two true protectors.

Ahhh, To give myself away; To lay down my life; To cherish and protect; To speak up truthfully in the silence against the false notions even when it means my personal downfall. And to hold my tongue when it’s aim is pure self-protection. It’s this noble example of Christ’s Love in Jean Valjean that makes this story so powerful. There are many lives victimized in the battle, but the ones I touch can be protected and encouraged.

And as a robbed man, which by search doth find; His stol’n stuff sold, must lose or buy ‘t again:The Son of glory came down, and was slain, Us whom he’d made, and Satan stol’n, to unbind.

John Donne

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Words without knowledge: V1 B3 C7

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Job 38:2

I saw myself on video recently speaking at my son’s wedding reception. Then came an uncomfortable realization that, when viewed from the outside, I am not what I look like from the inside. I remember what I was thinking only a few months ago when the video was recorded, and yet the external appearance lends to such a different judgment. Let’s confess some selfish motivation. I want people to enjoy being around me. I want to be comfortable. I want to be respected for my competence. I want to be needed. To dwell upon these selfish relational needs leads to a place where reality and perception diverge. That’s why seeing myself objectively can be so surprising. Tholomyes has a smooth tongue and a quick mind, but his words are without knowledge. People often talk to hear themselves; whether there is knowledge or not, the purpose is selfish. There are some easily identifiable characters who have no clue about these dynamics. Beyond ourselves, we are Invited to join a higher chorus with the angels who were created to speak and sing about the Glory of the Son. His Kingdom shall have no end and we can choose to use our voices in this world to resonate along with His purpose of redemption: even in simple office coffee conversation. For what purpose do you speak?

Favourite’s favorite: V1 B3 C6

Tags

les miserable, romantics, teenagers

At the table in this chapter sit a sad group of four couples – eight people at a table all interested in themselves. Four young men indulging in hedonistic self-gratification, and four young women consumed by their present desires to be happy and loved. Favourite’s cogitations about which man it is she really loves discloses her hopes for the secure steadfast man who thinks outside of himself. Fantine seems to have been caught up in the wrong crowd, but is clearly unprotected, having been left alone without a true father.

And noticeably absent at the table, is any sense of guilt, or mention of a nobler life of purity. We in our modern day suburban Bible Belt know that at least our teenage youth sitting around a similar table at Starbuck’s after an evening out would at least be legalistically uncomfortable with the disparity between immoral suggestions and the teachings of their parents. But perhaps in the early 1800s the French aristocracy and it’s parasitical class had already lost awareness of the higher life of love. Yes, the horrible ravages of the Romantics who legitimize license to use and abuse as long as it suits their personal journey of experience.

But wonderful Romantic thought that flows with eternal love! Celebrate the small joys and unseemly triumphs that cannot be sufficiently expressed in words, but must be experienced. Celebrate the story of a new acquaintance. Celebrate the excitement of another day on a steady path of service and faithfulness. Celebrate the latest brushstroke on the partially painted masterpiece! Celebrate trust in the Lord.

A cat into a lion: V1 B3 C5

We are told that the people of Paris were capable of so much more than they appeared in the time of leisure on the Champs Elysees. The 100-days of Napoleon had elapsed, but soon there would be more uprising.

I am stirred in two directions by this chapter: first, that the people are capable of so much more than even they themselves might believe; and second I am led to question whether people can really substantially change at all, or whether they simply have more temporary reactive force that they might believe – in other words, that the apparent changes are circumstantial.

Have I changed through my life? I think yes, but the changes have all been gradual and come alongside the experiences and mature perspectives. How have I changed?

1. I am more bold and confident as a leader. Another way to phrase this one is that I am not afraid of leading as I used to be.
2. I am less dogmatic about life, especially in my personal faith. I have come to appreciate the great chasm that exists between my behavior and God’s standard, and the hopelessness of crossing that Grand Canyon in my own effort. I find myself resisting certain stereotypes of Christians like politics or trite vernacular usages because they feel empty to me. I wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.
3. I am excited about my life’s work, and calling, in science and engineering. Whereas I used to view my vocation as merely an occupation and kept my head down to work hard and remain less invested in the big job picture so that I could get home to my family, I now have a much broader vision for which those earlier years have prepared me. I used to feel it necessary to add the bulk of my spiritual obedience as church activity. Now I see that I have been gifted in my calling and can bring Jesus into moments without English words and without coercion, but in love and creativity.

Complaining and Judging v. Gratitude and Affirmation

These first two verbs are the bane of happy living. They are so easy a path that some could not converse without them. And it’s no wonder with our flesh urging us on for self-promotion and for ease and comfort that we disdain anyone that blocks our goal or makes us feel “put out.”

For spouses and family members it is a quite easy thing to complain and judge by calling it another name, like being honest, or correcting in love. But I believe in the practice of examining a truth by exercising it to the extremes, and to see where it leads. If I were to live my entire life without complaining or judging, it seems that it would be one happy life and would enhance the joy of those around.

“But how could a parent raise a child without correcting” you say. First I would respond that the parent side of the parent-child relationship is not at all what this debate is about, for parents complaining and judging their young children could certainly be a problem, and may even be related to the same root causes, but here I stay in realm of peer relationships – and older children certainly would qualify. Second, I would reply that almost all of parental training is by example, not verbal.

And in my positive extreme, I could see that a spouse might not ever know that they were offending unless they were told. If she is standing on my foot, perhaps I should let her know. If it hurt me for her to stand on my foot, I might wince, and it would be evident to her that something was amiss. It is then likely that she would ask, and I could reply in love without it qualifying as a complaint. So the offense may surface due to the signs of discomfort. But still there is a slippery slope between genuine wincing and going around all day sighing as if one was suffering a great deal because of the hardships foisted upon them by his spouse.

The opposites of our pain are “gratitude and affirmation.” Wow, what a difference. One could hardly go wrong with these two. Ideas and lifestyle habits that we let rise like a hot-air balloon do not need us to shoot them down; rather we should blow and lift them to encourage, for perhaps they will fly after all, and by our encouragement, more ideas and new habits will come. If not, they will fall due to gravity on their own, and we can console and encourage the next design.

Usually, the good things come by hard work, and the deleterious happens naturally. Indeed, it is easy to react with complaint and judgmental criticism, but thinking outside of ones self to encourage another with a well-timed compliment takes hard work of observation. The critical comments come naturally for everyone that we need not “worry” about the danger of the extreme – eliminating them all. For it would be “preaching to the choir” to tell a wife that she needs to admonish her husband, indeed a teaching that is not usually needed. But respect and love should be the working goal of us all and the gratitude of true observation, it’s motivation.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing. Apostle Paul, Philippians 2:14

The Embarkation for Cythera: V1 B3 C4

Tags

Cythera, gratitude, joy, romance

Look at this painting which is hanging in the Louvre. The line of lovers leaving the very spot where their love originated, the intensity to diminish and love to fade after they leave the Island of Cythera. The temporary nature of human happiness in love. But this romantic love is not just for the lovers! So it’s passing away is so much greater a loss. Enthusiastic new romantic love changes the perceptions of the cosmos contagiously; eternal love that produces contentment instills something right and true in our day that puts our serious business into proper place. But need young love pass away following the embarkation? Perhaps the intensity of the heart-beat must diminish, but it remains possible for those who have tasted to enter again if they choose. How can love be refreshed? First by meditation: taking the time to contemplate the wonderful miracle of our beloved and of the freedom to love and experience together. Second by gratitude, for the diminution of our love is greedy expectation that objectifies the beloved. We unconciously surge ahead in life looking for the next fix of dopamine, but our joy is waiting all the while for us, through the realization that we do not deserve such wonderful goodness of life itself, let alone life lived in the companionship of our beloved.

It is lucky to go out early: V1 B3 C3

Tags

hugo adventure liberty freedom

The morning breaks with the excitement of what this day can be. SO much to create and to enjoy. So much to explore without an agenda. And to have friends that are excited about the adventure as well! This is youthful vigor. No worries: only opportunities. A romp through the fields, a game on the bridge, and tasting all sorts of delights: what do these require? Freedom and faith.

This is our life to be lived and children of light, but only to lay down the heavy collars of responsibility worn with prideful pattern. For there is comfort in hiding behind a respected role.

What will I do new this weekend? What will I explore in the adventure? Let me shed my snakeskin of habit to grow a new and more beautiful life. Let me make new mistakes instead of the same old ones. Its OK to mess up now, but it is not OK to hide.

The foreboding of Hugo’s description of the delightful day looms with Fantine’s immenent fate, but I want to live with the story. And I find this chapter an invitation to exploration and walking in joy and energy. This is the word of God to me today. I think I will make a plan for the weekend.

The wise love of innocence: V1 B3 C2

Yesterday I sat in the wooden fort in our backyard woods with my 3-year-old grand-daughter sipping imaginary tea and riding in an imaginary car to Target. Her enthusiastic play was God-like in its wisdom. And she would play this way for a very long time without tiring. Again and again. It was only I, in my intolerance for repetition, that smooth-talked her down from the fort to find similar joy in the swing.

My crawling grandson clambered off the picnic blanket from my wife, son, and daughter-in-law as they enjoyed the pleasant afternoon and conversation, only to be lifted back on to the middle portion of the blanket, where he would re-engage his mission without the slightest discouragement. His fascination was to reach the grass where he could lay hold of those brown oak leaves that stood out starkly and temptingly against the green field – perfectly sized and weighted for grasping by his little hand and tasting by his tongue. Again and again.

Hugo in this chapter refers to Fantine’s love which is wisdom by Solomon’s judgment, “for it was a first, an only, a faithful love.” I think this truth is what Chesterton referred to in Orthodoxy as he discussed the God-like capacity for persistent glorying in the christening of each new day in a sunrise. Again and again.

Let me engage in glorifying you again, without the distraction of a pragmatic agenda and schedule, to see your smiling eyes and to trust in your goodness and provision.