Spiritual Food from Soul Calibur IV

August 23, 2008

You don’t even have to buy this game much less play it – just ask yourself the question that is the slogan on the advertisement:

What’s within your soul?

This is such a cool question - because it can and should be asked of each of us and the institutions we belong to.

Everyone has four aspects to the self.

Physical or Body Intellectual or Mind Emotional or Feelings Spiritual or Soul

Bodies are shaped by what we eat and how we exercise (or not) Right now my physical self is impacted by the the fact that I am hungry and haven’t started dinner and the fact that I missed my exercise today.

Minds are shaped by what we put into them, too. Haven’t you played BrainAge2 or started doing crossword puzzles to keep your mind fit? My mind is shaped by my curiosity and all the mysteries I read.

Our Emotional selves need friends and connections so we don’t get isolated and lonely. Aren’t you grateful for your family, friends, and pets? I don’t know where I would be without family. And all of us agree that Sheba, our 140 lb Newfoundland dog, is a great therapist.

Souls need…what?
I am not the first to ask this, people have talked about it from the beginning of time. Most have concluded that our souls need to worship. And that need is so strong that we will worship even when we think we are not. The answer to What’s within your soul? is found in your answer to the second important question:

What do you worship?

The thing or things you worship are the things in your life that you put above everything else. Theologian Paul Tillich called those things our “ultimate concerns”. What are those things for you? Work, family, music, money, football, church, the way things used to be…

What do you put above everything else in your life?

What do you worship?

What’s within your soul?

Monsterquest, the Search for Faith, and the North American Church

August 21, 2008

I’m a Monsterquest fan.

I watch it on Wednesday nights (8:00pm EST on The History Channel). I admit that I have serious questions about the scientific rigor of some (okay – most) of their experiments. But I enjoy watching these intense people describe their encounters with the Hairy Beast, The Grass Man of Ohio, or the Super Rats in New York City.

They have something to believe in and - even though it might be scary – they have a peace about it. Their belief has given them a passion, a certitude and a purpose that isn’t possible without faith. Their faith is in Sasquatch, or The Black Beast of Exmoor, and mine is in Jesus Christ, the Hope of the World. But I am sure to Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins, we look pretty much the same.

Most churches in North America could benefit from more passion, more certitude, and more purpose. Churches that have these three characteristics are the ones that thrive. But for churches to change, the people in them have to change first and I think the most churchgoers in North America are afraid that they will end up like the people on Monsterquest facing humiliation on a national TV show as they discover that the tracks they believed were the Black Beast are really those of a neighbor’s Bernese Mountain Dog.

The problem is that we don’t even have the guts of the Monsterquest people who always continue in dedication to their monster even though their experiments don’t bring the certain proof they long for. Most Christians I know are not even willing to tell of their experiences of Jesus Christ – most Christians I know do not even expect experiences of Jesus – so – they don’t know them when they happen. Monsterquest people expect great things, most Christians sigh “Well … what do you expect.”

The first step to change is to expect great things – and the second is to have the guts of a Monsterquest person. After all faith in Jesus Christ brings transformation, and let’s face it, the Grass Man of Ohio doesn’t bring that.