2 Kinds of Wisdom - Do you know the difference?

The past two weeks have been a flurry of fast and furious activity in The Tracht Home. We flew home from Oregon and hit the ground running as we prepared to begin a new school year - me at MVNU and the boys at East Elementary and the Middle School (MIDDLE SCHOOL!?!?). I seem to forget how much energy it takes to get 2 boys to school for the first time each year. School supplies, endless forms, fees for everything, schedules, buses, "cool" clothes, and the list goes on.... In the midst of it all, I go back to work, as well. This fall, however, is different as I will be teaching in addition to my regular responsibilities. I have high expectations for myself, and I am nervous about meeting them!

One aspect of going back to work that excites me is the schedule it requires of me. I am so much more efficient when I have a schedule to meet - though I get tired of it and crave spontaneity, too. I am back to my morning routine of Bible study in the car - I love it! This fall I am beginning to read, study, and consider First Corinthians. This book addresses Truth - so you can see why I am drawn towards reading it. In addition, a group of ladies is finishing up a Beth Moore Bible study about Esther.

In I Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20 stands out:

"So what about these wise men, these scholars, these brilliant debaters of this world's great affairs? God has made them all look foolish and shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense" (TLT).

Couple these sentences with the example Esther provides us. Esther was nothing by the world's standards - an orphaned, Jewish girl. She engaged the leader in a culture where her uninvited presence could have led to her immediate death. Yet, by the power of God, she negotiated with King Xerxes and saved the Jews. As Moore (2008) says, Esther was "mannerly, feminine, sweet, smart, and shrewd" (p. 157).

As God reveals Truth to His children, let us be like Esther in the midst of useless nonsense:

• Available for God to accomplish His plans;
• A patient, mannerly follower of God;
• A smart risk-taker on God's behalf;
• A shrewd negotiator bringing protection to God's children;
• Wise - by Godly standards;
• An active, feminine woman who obediently serves God and brings Him glory.

Lord, I ask for Your wisdom in this world because I know the wisdom of this world is foolishness to You. Help me to differentiate between the two, and to know You better than I know this world.

Moore, B. (2008). Esther: It's tough being a woman. Nashville: Lifeway.

The Leaning Tower of Me

As today's preacher prayed that we'd all adjust our minds to EXPECT something from the Lord, I felt my mind tuning in for a special message. Yes sir, He did it again! Praise His name. The preacher also asked us to pray this prayer: "Lord, Help me to care more about the Spiritual well-being of others." Yes Lord, may it be so!

One of my spiritual markers is Proverbs 3:5-6:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

This may be a combo of translations, but it is how my long term memory holds the verses!

I first found these verses during my teen years when I felt so alone in trusting God, and in acknowledging His Truth through my actions. At the time, I felt like I was missing out on parties, relationships, and fun. I wholeheartedly believed there was purpose in my trusting, but it was so hard. Now, at nearly 40, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the trusting as a teen was a very good choice. The Lord did guide my footsteps between then and now!

During today's sermon, a new application of Proverbs 3:5-6 became clear to me. The second half of verse 5 is flashing before me: lean not on your own understanding. When I started my master's program over 2 years ago, I prayed and asked the Lord for special wisdom in my educational pursuits. I have witnessed many people radically changed via education, and from my viewpoint, the changes were not the definition of wisdom. At the same time, I prayed for Godly sensitivity in embracing necessary changes related to my intellectual understanding of life issues. Today's sermon reminded me of the seduction that education represents when it comes to human knowledge.

"Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by the world's standards, you will have to become a fool so that you can become wise by God's standards. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God" (I Corinthians 3:18-19a).

Lean not on your own understanding. In reading Kevin Roose and A.J. Jacobs, I was overcome by their pursuits of Jesus within their own understanding. For those of us who believe there is a God, we believe (and we need to remember) that God is bigger in every way than our humanness. As a result, we will never understand Him this side of eternity. To me, this is a relief because the life that I experience and witness on this earth makes very little sense sometimes. Eleven years ago, I unexpectedly lost a nephew at birth due to a heart defect. This week, one of my closest friends also unexpectedly lost a nephew at birth due to birth defects. Two friends from college are dealing with the children in their care being subjected to unsupervised visits with their abusers. Every day good people are subjected to more pain than I can comprehend - it makes no sense!

Lean not on your own understanding. There are so many issues facing this world that I just do not understand, even though I may have an opinion. The only option I know of is to seek Truth through a personal relationship with Jesus. It is not acceptable to rely on the relationships others have with Jesus. Each one of us is personally responsible for our own lives; the truths we embrace and act upon daily. Only Jesus can fully know and understand our hearts. Most of us (if not all of us) often confuse our knowledge for God's Truth. Ask God for His wisdom and pursue it with all of your mind.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" (2 Peter 1:3-4).

The fact is that the world is corrupt - we see it every day. Part of this corruption is the belief that we can gain knowledge apart from God; that we can understand our culture, and live God-pleasing lives, without truly knowing Him. I am striving to find God's Truth in spite of the corruption around me. I desire to help others pursue God's Truth, as well. First and foremost, I seek to be an example and guide for my children - the next generation. As today's sermon reminded me, there is a tremendous amount at stake in pursuing, finding, and living Truth.

Lord, Help me to care more about the Spiritual well-being of others.
Guide me as I invest in the lives of others to influence future generations.

Urgent Prayer Requests

I have two unconnected friends, who happen to live in the same urban area, that are both facing difficult situations in regards to foster children/child custody. Both families are caring for children who are not safe in their homes of origin. In both cases, "the system" is forcing the children to be in the care of their potential and actual abusers unsupervised. This is beyond my ability to comprehend and is an utter outrage! Please lift these families in prayer - this is a desperate situation.

Heidi

A Collision of Thoughts

I am experiencing a collision of thoughts today. Whenever this occurs, I sit up and take note because I experience God through His use of themes in my life. In the two previous posts, I have referred to the recently published books of A.J. Jacobs and Kevin Roose. I can not stop thinking about the experiences of these men as written in their books. If you have read a few of my posts, then you know of my personal pursuit of Truth this year. You also know of my memorization goal (i.e., two pieces of Scripture a month in 2009). And, you know that I am a church-going conservative Christian raised by multiple generations of believers. That said, my collision of thoughts today comes down to the question of whether or not God is real, and whether or not humans can experience God.

Jacobs and Roose apparently set out to test whether or not God is real, and whether or not believers in Christ are having an authentic experience with God. Both authors admit their lack of belief at the beginning of their experiences. Both authors admit the lack of support they received from their families and closest friends. Some of their family members and friends actively worried about the possibility of their conversions. Their experiences are enlightening (and to be fair, I am still in the midst of Jacobs' book). Something, however, is missing....

Today I worshiped at a church in Medford, Oregon, and listened to a sermon preached by Dr. David Grinder. During his sermon, Grinder quoted Brad Bright, son of the late Bill Bright, "Truth is always the first casualty whenever we start with what we want rather than with who God is." Most people likely struggle with this way of thinking. So much so that a psychological/sociological term defines such thinking: confirmation bias. Confirmation bias leads people to seek information and/or answers in ways that only confirm their initial thoughts. Contradictory thoughts are unknowingly overlooked. Confirmation bias is common; it is antithetical to critical thinking.

Last fall I deeply desired to vote in the presidential election as an informed citizen with a pure and righteous heart. I had a natural inclination for who would receive my vote, yet I put my mind out there in attempt to truly move beyond myself and hear a larger message. I prayed, and I studied Scriptures as I searched for answers. In the sermon this morning, Grinder featured many pieces of Scripture that identified my experience with this kind of search:

"And if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding. And if you look for it as if for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:3-5).

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock" (Matthew 7:24-25).

As I have read authors like Jacobs and Roose, and as I have read the posts of many people, Christ-followers and otherwise, I have continually been perplexed by the enormous chasm in belief systems. Some folks have clearly made their decision. I recently listened to a podcast featuring an atheist and a Christian debating Darwinism (Note: the two debaters are friends; it was a respectful debate). The atheist absolutely stated the falsity of an afterlife. How can a living person absolutely know there is no afterlife? Jacobs absolutely stated his unbelief in creationism. There are no absolutes in the scientific method (oops - that is an absolute statement). Roose said from the very beginning of his journalistic immersion experience that he would not convert, or at least that it was extremely unlikely. With such belief systems, these three men are extremely unlikely to experience Truth from a Godly perspective, or come to know God. One must have an authentic open mind towards the possibility of God in order to know Him and experience Him.

Lest I sound incredibly self-righteous, I have some work to accomplish, as well. Believing God, and living a Christlike existence is not mindless. Actually, it is the people who attempt to believe God and be Christlike without using their minds who give all Christians a bad name. Not everything done or said by a person claiming Christ is actually of God.... God created our minds to continually use in thinking, processing, and acting!

In light of these thoughtful collisions today, my 15th verse of 2009 is meaningful:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" (2 Peter 1:3-4, NIV).

Critical thinkers in Christ focus more on their knowledge of God than their bias towards cultural issues. Godly knowledge begets Godly wisdom which can then be applied towards cultural issues in ways that enrich humankind and please God.

Can there be a Same Difference?

For quite some time I have been thinking about the impact of childhood and family upon one's belief system. I'll be the first one to admit that my beliefs resemble my parents and grandparents. I admire my parents and grandparents; I've closely watched their lives; and I seek to model many of their beliefs and behaviors. Some of those beliefs and behaviors are quite natural to model.... A phrase I grew up hearing in the midst of an argument is: "It's the same difference!" or simply, "Same difference!". Hundreds of phrases and words are included in my vocabulary based on my home of origin. It's no wonder home is so influential in thought processing!

The idea of being most familiar with the beliefs of our heritage appears to be one of the motives behind the current book I am reading and the previous book I read - The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs and The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. Both of these authors are journalists desiring deeper understanding of people who call themselves religious. They recognize the "religious right" as one of America's stereotyped people-groups. To be enhance their careers, these two authors immersed themselves(sort of) in a religious sub-culture to gain personal understanding. I respect Jacobs and Roose (and I enjoy their writing).

From my perspective, Roose more than Jacobs held an open-mind throughout their individual immersion experiences. Both men had relationships to lose if they had turned to God - mainly important familial connections. Both men expressed the tremendous influence of their family and friends in developing their personal belief system. On a number of occasions, Jacobs expressed his inability to embrace even the possibility of Godly Truth and purpose in his experiences. Roose, on the other hand, at least led me to believe he was close to entertaining the impact of Godly Truth. This begs the questions: How much does our upbringing and family impact our personal belief system? And, is this right and good? Another author clearly expresses this phenomenon through her beliefs on abortion:

"But I am also humble enough to recognize that my own morality on a topic like abortion is constructed in context of two important facts: virtually all my friends are pro-choice, as is the social milieu in which I was raised, and a lack of access to abortion would significantly restrict women's autonomy" (Megan McArdle, 2009, found at www.meganmcardle.theatlantic.com).

I respect McArdle - for recognizing the impact of her heritage and friendships upon her belief system - even though I disagree with McArdle, just as I disagree with Jacobs and Roose.

I am currently spending 25 days with my parents in Oregon. One of my dearly held values is close connections with family. As a result, for the 9th consecutive year, I led my sons on a pilgrimage "home" (i.e., Grandma and Grandpa's house). It is a privilege, as well as a priority, because I want my sons to really know their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who live thousands of miles from Ohio and our daily existence. Naturally, this is a time for me to reflect upon my belief system and my pursuit of Truth, in relation to my heritage.

I'll be honest - I am socially and politically conservative. I am one of the folks that Jacobs and Roose attempt to understand. And yes, much of my belief system resembles my heritage. This heritage is not perfect, by any means, but it is good and pure and real. The belief systems of my parents, grandparents, and friends gifts me with stability, comfort, and security from the first day of my life to now. The church of my youth is not perfect (by a long shot), but it also does not offend me with threatening and legalistic messages (or, if so, then my God protects me and provides healing). As a result, I maintain a similar belief system as that of my family, and I rely on it heavily in marriage and parenting. Given my life experiences, why would I seek to overhaul my belief system?

At the same time, like Jacobs and Roose, I seek to understand those people around me who espouse radically different belief systems. If I resist this need, then I lack the understanding necessary to engage with a variety of people, and potentially impact (and be impacted by) the lives of people. I seek to be an active citizen of this world - relevant, thought-filled, fully engaged. For these reasons, and more, I consider myself fairly open-minded based on my nearly 40-year-old personal foundation. While I do not have much life experience outside of the USA (which is certainly a limitation), my childhood on the West Coast and my adulthood within the Midwest greatly influence my belief system and critical thought processes.

My relationship with God guides me (which is a Truth that both Jacobs and Roose discover in their immersion experiences). As a person, I can not be perfect, or even always right, but I am created to engage with other people regardless of our similarities or differences. This need to engage and interact fuels my thoughts and my writing. It guides my choices in Bible study, scholarly study, and reading. Placing myself in the position to thoughtfully engage with people is a significant part of who I am created to be in this world.

Differences really are not the same, but understanding differences helps build a foundation of relationship that emphasizes similarities.

Summertime Randomness

Both of my boys have taken to the word "random." They'll say, "Mom, that's so random!" It makes me smile when they say the word because I think most of what they come up with is so, ahh... random - especially during the summer. Apparently they come by this behavior honestly as I am feeling very random this summer, also. Don't get me wrong - a little randomness is nice given the level of focus I have had to maintain in the last few years. The by-product of this lifestyle is that I am not writing much. Again, it is a bit of a relief, but I also miss the flood of provoking thoughts rushing through my brain.

In the form of a few updates, I thought I'd let you know what I am doing with my brain this summer. I am reading book after book - books that are purely my choice in reading, and mostly rather light (I keep telling myself that I will pursue more academic reading when the school year begins and I am immersed in educational psychology). The lightest of my reading is by Robin Jones Gunn. She writes fiction for women my age, and I have enjoyed those books, but she also writes for adolescent girls. Strangely, I love The Christy Miller Series and her newest, The Katie Weldon Series. I highly recommend these two series of books for any young girls desiring a combination of purity and fun in their lives.

In my pursuit of Truth and cultural relevance, I read The Unlikely Disciple: The Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. I have some things to blog about from this read, but Steve grabbed the book from me immediately upon my finishing it, and it is from the library, sooo I may or may not get to write on this book. I will say, however, that it is a very good read. I desire to experience the thought processes of those who are very different from me - it is enlightening. I believe God uses this understanding to mature my own thinking and to make me more friendly towards differing viewpoints. A major theme developing within me is in regards to engaging all sorts of people in thoughtful conversation. In my life experience, mutual understanding and growth does not happen in the midst of emtional confrontation, anger, rigidity, etc. I seek to stand for God's Truth, but under the umbrella of love and care for people. Actually, this idea is one of the themes in The Unlikely Disciple. Kevin Roose, the author and unlikely disciple, experienced the love of God's children at Liberty University despite the vast differences between him and others. Such love surprised him, and in all honesty, it surprised me, too.

My next read is The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. A.J. Jacobs and Kevin Roose have a connection - thus my choice of these two books. I've barely begun this book, so I'll save my comments for later.

I've been engaged in a small group Bible study of the book of Esther. It is a Beth Moore study. Once again, her leadership is amazing and I am inspired to delve deeper in my Bible study and faith walk as she teaches. I have not been summarizing the process as I study - which is part of the reason I generally do not enjoy group studies - to keep up with a group means I feel rushed through the material. But, I love the relationships encountered in group studies.... One piece of Truth I am considering right now is the difference between how Satan views me and how God views me. To Satan, I am merely a number; a number he can add to his minion of evil doers in this world. To God, I am Heidi Leigh Winter Tracht - an individual with a history, and a future, and a specific purpose within His plan for the world and His Kingdom. What can one woman do? Well, read the book of Esther and discover. From this Truth, I embraced my next memory verse:

"for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." Romans 11:29 (NIV)

You may be noticing that my verses are becoming shorter.... I am struggling a bit more with memorization, and I was quite ambitious in the beginning. In order to keep up and still remember the first few months of memory work, I am intentionally seeking shorter verses now. And, you know what? God still blesses short pieces of memory work in His Word. Amazing, isn't He? It is a daily struggle to keep my mind from placing God in a Heidi-sized box.

Perhaps the last significant item I will place on my summertime list of randomness is an interest developing within me to learn more about issues related to Israel and Biblical prophesy. Over and over again in Scripture, God places special emphasis on Israel. In order to recognize God's hand; to recognize Biblical prophesy, I believe I must know and understand more about Israel. There are also strong connections between Israel and the U.S. that I believe will enlighten my understanding of culture and politics. My first stop will be taking a look at the work of Joel Rosenberg. Additionally, with my new i-pod, I am downloading podcasts from a variety of news sources (i.e., both conservative and liberal). All the while, I am praying and seeking Godly revelation for the ability to engage with all kinds of people. For a taste of Rosenberg, listen to the following broadcasts: Understanding the Islamic Revolution Parts One and Two. Another great listen is The Dangerous Deception of the New Spirituality Parts One and Two.

My thoughts are coming to a close. It is time to act on the to do list for today. After writing all this, and quickly considering my journey this summer, maybe it is not as random as I thought.... "Talk" to you soon!

I have fallen off the wagon....

Oh, for those of you who continue to check in with me, I have just been brainless this week. I have nothing to say.... Part of this is certainly due to the fact that I have not cracked my Bible study book for over a week. Oops! I have some catching up to do... tomorrow! I have fallen off the proverbial wagon and hope to hop back on soon.