New Beginnings

Today is a day of new beginnings. My wife's 22 kindergarten students will all assemble in her class for the very first time as they begin their 13 year stint in public education. I'm glad these 44 students in her school have Superhero teachers (they got special shirts that say so!) to start them out.  In a few hours freshmen and transfer students at Friends University will enter into the "Alumni Auditorium" as they begin their trek to becoming part of a larger group, those who have studied at Friends with friends and, hopefully, graduating in a few more years.

One friend celebrates a birthday, beginning a new day of life, while others unknown to me will begin a new period of life mourning the passing of a loved one.  New Beginnings, what an opportunity.

New beginnings are not only counted in special occasions of life, those transition markers that lead us into a social realization.  New beginnings are available in a myriad of ways.  For those like me who struggle with attempting to intake fewer calories than we burn in energy, each meal is a new beginning, each snack, each choice of a beverage is a new beginning. For those who, like me, attempt to write or blog each momentary pause from activity to allow their brain to formulate thoughts, words, paragraphs, and even sentences. is a new beginning of creation.

Most importantly, for each follower of Christ new beginnings are available daily; listening to the Spirit, praying for and with another person, 'gooddoing' actions that derive from God's leadership as opposed to "evildoing" that derive from the selfish center that battles for control.

What will be your new beginning?

Keeping the End in Sight

The past two weeks have seen a rare occasion, two sons graduating from two institutions on two different weekends. With our first college and final high school graduations under our belts we stop and pause to reflect. Is graduation the end or is it actually a commencement and a new beginning? Something has been achieved and yet there is so much more to achieve. For those familiar with this blogger, such paradoxical thoughts are frequent.

But now to the larger point. On May 30, I will be presenting a biblical moment of praise and worship in support of my pastor's vacation. The passage of choice is Philippians 2. 1-11. My approach is to start with the end and to work backwards. It is extremely easy in biblical study to start at the beginning and read to the end, having forgotten what the beginning actually was about! By forgetting the goal, the actions become de-contextualized and take on divergent possible meanings.

The final phrase of 2.11 is "eis doxan theou patros", to the glory of God the Father. Everything presented in the Kenosis Hymn of 2.6-11 is for this single purpose. Everything Paul asks of the church at Philippi in 2.1-5 is for this single purpose.

If God is eternal with no beginning and no end, then this purpose never ceases to direct the thoughts and actions of the Godhead or the church. When that purpose is out of focus then those proclaiming to be "of the Father" aren't.