Heaven and Coldplay

Since the spark to write this post happened while reading the lyrics to the song below, I suggest you look at them here before/while/after you listen to Coldplay's song. Either way, I hope you'll follow my trail of thoughts :)

The song mentions "heaven" and when I read this I was reminded of a discussion of heaven, eternal life, peace, salvation, and the Trinity in a book I am reading for my favorite class this semester, Theology Survey.

What I just said deserves a quick aside:

Now you may be thinking like Elle Woods' father in Legally Blonde that I don't need theology. Theology is for people who are boring and ugly and serious - and you, Brie, are none of those things. Well, the shock of my life has been (1) a theology class is one of my favorite classes not just of this semester, but of all time (2) theology, when applied, is anything but boring, ugly, and annoyingly serious. Surprisingly, this class is the class I laugh the most in.

End of aside.

So, back to heaven, eternal life, peace, salvation, and the Trinity. Topics like this should be short and easily summed up in a few sentences right? (note sarcasm) I'll try to keep it short and to the point. Also understand the vast number of conversations that can stem from what I will say and that I cannot possibly address all of them in this wee little post. Please know I am aware of the extreme complexities in each of these topics and I am only taking you on a train of thought I had earlier this evening. I am not attempting a discussion on how to solve or to ignore all of life's difficulties.

Heaven is sometimes understood as a peaceful place that good people will go to where they can do whatever they want and (my favorite part) eat whatever they want without the consequences (constant Pumpkin Spice Lattes for eternity - yes!!!). Simply drawing connections from Fairbairn's "Life in the Trinity", I think the world's idea of heaven is relatively equative with the world's understanding of peace, which Fairbairn explains as:

"the peace it [the world] gives us is merely negative - the absence of open hostility and conflict. All the world can hope for is a truce and this is part of the reason why most of us are conditioned to think that the best thing for us would be to eliminate the conflicts, concerns, and stressors of life." p. 69

He goes on to explain that this is not the type of peace that Jesus talks about giving us in John 14:27, rather the peace Jesus gives his followers is peace in the midst of the storm - a peace that does not depend on external factors:

"God offers a peace far more personal and more significant than what most of us even wish for - an internal peace that does not depend on eliminating the sources of stress and hostility." p. 70

Where does Jesus get this peace? It is the same answer to the question of how the Incarnation is possible in the first place, how God can be love and how He could love before he created a single thing. The answer is: the Trinity. As Fairbairn explains,

"For him [Jesus], the ultimate source of peace...is his relationship with the Father." p. 71

What does peace have to do with heaven, eternal life, and salvation? Jesus says in John 17:3 that eternal life is knowing the only true God and knowing Jesus Christ whom God sent. With an understanding that God's glory is not just His greatness, but also his presence with us, we can conclude along with Fairbairn:

"Eternal life is a deeply personal knowledge of the one who has shared from all eternity in the glory of the Father...Salvation is a person's sharing in the fellowship that unites the Father, Son, and Spirit."

In the Trinity is a perfect unity of substance (the Trinity being one essence and three persons) and a perfect unity of love. This second unity is what the Incarnation made available to all the world. It is the source of, and is in and of itself, peace, eternal life, and salvation. Christians do not simply model the relationship Jesus has with the Father, those who are "in Christ" possess this relationship - this unity of love. Sharing in this unity of love is possible through Christ alone because it is through believing in Him that anyone is adopted as a son or daughter of God:

"We are adopted into the same relationship [Jesus] has with the Father...incorruption and immortality (as well as other benefits of salvation) flow from the gift of God the Son himself; they are not the primary aspects of [participation in the divine nature]."

The benefits/gifts that flow from salvation in Christ are secondary. Our adoption as sons and daughters into the Trinity is first and foremost.

God's love never fails. Praise the Lord.

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The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." He [Jesus] replied, "...I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven...Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." -Luke 10:17,19-20,23-24

Simeon took him [baby Jesus] in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation..." -Luke 2:28-30

The Sweetest Place

I have recently been ministered to greatly through a song by Audra Lynn and I invite you to check it out for yourself here.

The following are the lyrics:

How I long to see the picture finished
Painted as a perfect portrait
Void of all the mysteries of my life
The cares of life bend every corner
Taking me in wrong directions
Can I walk despite the pain and strife

But what is life without all the yearnings of the heart
And who am I to doubt all You have in store for me

So I will take up my cross and I will follow, I will follow
Day by day, choice by choice, I will follow, I will follow

I will enter by the narrow way
For Your cross is the better place
I will follow, I will follow

Come and take me by the narrow gate
For Your cross is the safest place
I will follow, I will follow

Your cross, it is the sweetest place
Your cross, it is the sweetest place

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May I count the cost and find you forever worthy Lord Jesus.

A New Season

With a new academic year in full swing and it being a little over a month since I returned to the States from Europe, I now feel like I have the ability to blog again.

I would like to first say again how grateful I am for the wide array of support I received from my family and friends before, during, and after my OMP to Vienna. I am truly blessed by you all and I hope that through some of what I shared the Lord blessed you as well. Please feel free to continue reading my blog even though it won't specifically be about Vienna and Europe.

Just to get the ball rolling again after a considerable time away, I would like to share a few quotes and concepts from my devotional times and my current courses. The reason I share things like this is because (1) I am a scribe (as some of my closest friends have dubbed me) (2) it invites others into my internal processing world and (3) I hope they are as thought-provoking and encouraging for someone else as they are for me - sharing the wealth so-tis-speak.

Some of you might remember when I talked about a discipleship retreat in Schladming, Austria. During this time the Lord showed me some areas in which I was loving other things more than Him. I am so thankful that to God, ignorance is not bliss. Here, he showed me how I was loving the point of arrival more than Jesus Himself. This, as good as it sounds, is still idolatry, where a good thing becomes an ultimate thing. Dispelling the lie that I need to be perfect before I can be used in God's Kingdom is a hard thing to break. The following is a quote from Martin Luther shared during Schladming that helped start that break:

This life is not righteousness,

but growth in righteousness.

Not health, but healing,

not being, but becoming,

not rest, but exercise.

We are not yet what we shall be,

but we are growing toward it;

the process is not yet finished, but it is going on;

this is not the end, but it is the road.

All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.

When we give our lives to the Father, He can use us and can invite us to co-labor with Him despite our unfinished, under construction, messy, non-linear progressive state. We do not do this because we have arrived. We do this because we have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

Across the Pond

It's almost 5 am here in Vienna and for the second time in the past month I will be leaving Vienna. The emotions are raw, real, and are sure to continue as I travel today and return back to my home country. From Vienna I will fly through London and arrive in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon as I travel "back in time" today. In Philly I will have a short debriefing and then on Thursday I will fly to Boston where I will be greeted by my three lovely roommates whom I am very excited to see!! They are very sweet and all coming to get me at the Boston airport. :)

I am looking forward to the plane ride. I plan on looking over my journal entries from this summer and reflecting on God's goodness. I hope to share some of those over-arching reflections here as I will continue to blog even though my Vienna internship is done! Please feel free to continue following this blog past the summer. I hope to continue to put some thought-provoking posts up as the school year starts!

Here is a quote that is most prevalent for me today:

"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world, but a world lives in you."

- Frederick Buechner, Telling The Truth

Home Again Home Again

Home again, home again!

Well, almost.

After traveling to Germany to visit some dear friends of mine I met up with my dad in Edinburgh, Scotland to start a few weeks vacation with him through Scotland, London, and finally Vienna. After a day of travel and a short walk through Vienna's "downtown" we are currently resting in our hotel room which is much needed since it is 93º in Vienna today!! My time with dad has been wonderful and it's been kinda fun being a "tourist" again. It was also refreshing to be in the UK where English is everywhere, especially since they sound like William Wallace and Johnny Depp. :)

I apologize for not updating this blog during my time in Germany, Edinburgh, and London. I thought I would be able to, but to be honest, I was so busy that I never got the time to sit down and update you all. There were several nights where we would get back to the hotel at 9 in the evening after getting up at 6:30 in the morning! It was well worth it though, and we saw some really great sites, with many days of guided tours with delightful guides. Here are a few pictures of our time so far:

August 16: I meet up with Dad in Edinburgh and celebrated his birthday in style!

Boat tour of Loch Lomond

Sheep dog demonstration

Long-haired highland cattle in Scotland

King and Princess of Scotland :)

Military Tattoo Festival in Edinburgh Castle

London: Classic phone booth picture

Westminster Abbey

After our tour of Buckingham Palace

Views of London in the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel

Window reflections at Oxford University

Now we're off to get some dinner and check out what Vienna looks like at night :)

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"I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown,' and he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, that shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.' "

-Plaque in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle

This Just In...

Schladming and the Final Countdown

The team's discipleship retreat in Schladming was surreal and very raw at the same time. While we were surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever encountered, us interns went through discipleship lessons that challenged us to share our burdens, struggles, and failings with one another concerning our respective walks with the Lord. It was during these raw times of being honest with ourselves and one another that healing and growth occurred, and I am thankful for my fellow interns and the WHM staff who made this retreat such a powerful time!! I only wish that such a retreat were longer. Below are some photos of Schladming and the surrounding area:

Some of the most beautiful scenery I have encountered

On a suspension bridge

Sheep grazing on the mountain side

View after a ski lift

The lodge at the top was serving buttermilk with blueberries

Delicious apple strudel swimming in vanilla cream sauce

This next phrase will be difficult to type, especially since I am living in denial of this:

there is only one week left of the Vienna internship.

As I begin to realize that only a week is remaining, I can't help but think of all the support from back home that I have received from family and friends before, during, and I'm sure after, this summer journey. Although the internship is almost completed, my summer in Europe is not. After our last day on August 9 (next Tuesday) I will be traveling to Germany to spend a week with a German friend of mine and her family. I visited them two years ago and I am excited to see them in person again! Please pray for this time - it is a short time we have together, so please pray that the Lord enriches every moment and that it will be a fruitful time of conversation and fun :) After spending time in Germany, I will be meeting up with Dad in Edinburgh, Scotland where we will start our two week adventure which will also take us to London and then to Vienna. We will both leave Vienna on August 31 to return back to the States. Please pray for safety in our travels and that we will have a relaxing and enriching time together making memories :)

Bis Später