Yawning And The Tragic Epidemic

I was on my way to work the other day. 7:30 can be kind of early. At a stoplight I glanced across the intersection and a woman in a dark grey Suburban pitched back a huge yawn. The light changed and even before I moved my foot onto the gas my jaw dropped and I let out a yawn.
That got me thinking...

Yawning is an interesting thing. Doctors have a hard time explaining the actual purpose of a yawn to the human body, so they're left to their speculations...
Some think that we do it because the body is in need of more oxygen in the brain and lungs.
Others think it's because we get bored and our minds and not quite stimulated enough.
And the most common speculation is because we're just plain tired.
There really is a whole lot of other theories out there, but we do know two things about yawning for sure.
1. That it' purely involuntary. Even babies still in their mothers womb have been known to yawn
And 2. Yawning is extremely contagious. In fact, if you're standing in a large group of people and one person lets out a yawn over half of that group will yawn in the next five minutes and the rest of you will think about it.

All those facts make yawning a very interesting subject to me. It makes me see the unique similarities between the epidemic of the yawn and the tragic epidemic of sin.

Now here's a theory. It's pretty much all my own and it could be thought of as ridiculous but it's fun and I thought I'd share it anyway, besides it kind helps make a point, so just go with me on this. I believe yawning has been around since Adam and Eve. As it happened, one day (after "the fall" of course) one of them let out a yawn and ever since we've been yawning because of the contagious nature of it.
Think about it...
Go back to that morning with me. in the car, on my way to work. That woman probably yawned in response to seeing, remembering, or even subconsciously recollecting the image of someone else yawning not too long ago. (those yawns are what I like to call "sleeper yawns") I then saw the yawn and through mental contagion I was infected and yawned. Now it is quite possible and in fact very likely that someone else on the road that morning passed my car, looked through the window, and saw my yawn. and what happened? I passed the epidemic along. Think of that. That very yawn, that morning, was a result of Adam and Eve yawning so very long ago. An Epidemic. The very same yawn for thousands and thousands of years has reached billions and billions of people. Babies in their mothers womb hearing them yawn. contagious. seeing the action of someone yawn across the room. Contagious. Across traffic. Contagious. On TV. Contagious. And there is nothing we can do to stop it or even protect ourselves from yawning again, because the very action is ingrained into our being and it sneaks up on us. We don't know when the person next to us might yawn and infect us. In fact, when they do yawn we see that and as much as we might not want to yawn our subconscious says "oooh, we need that too!"

And all of this even in it's humor and farce is exactly like the tragic epidemic of sin.

Sin began with Adam and Eve and has been in our bloodline ever since. We are in fact born into sin and though we are covered by grace up until the age of accountability our lives both in young and old are laced with sin. And interestingly enough sin seems to run a strikingly similar course to yawning.
Sin is contagious. without the Spirit and the Word to guide us we are brought quickly to the threshold of sin. Can you remember the first sin you aknowledgably committed? I'm guessing ninety percent of us committed that act with someone else or on the account of someone else prompting us to do it.
"stealing is fun, it's easy, I get away with it all the time!"
"You don't have to tell your parents where you've been or what you're doing, just make up a lie"

And it goes on.
Sin, if left to it's own vices is pretty much an involuntary action. Now you my be offended to hear that but give me a chance to explain. Does it take more will and determination to sin or to do what is right? is it easier to lie or to tell the truth? to be mad and vengeful, or forgiving and compassionate? We are a sinful people and it's in our very nature to sin. It's interesting to note that like yawning, if one person in a group of people sins, more than help will follow suit and the rest will have at least thought about it. take the teenagers of this generation for example. It is so much easier to follow the crown than to rise up and go against it.
We are fallen and broken, sinful and yawning. We, like yawning, sin when we're bored. allowing our minds to wander into places it was never meant to go. Depression, negative thoughts, envy, lust, hatred...

But there is hope. And truly, sometimes, hope is all we really have. In Christ Jesus there is a forgiveness of sins and a release from this generational curse. We will always be prone and lean towards sin as long as we occupy these shells, but it is in Christ who gives us strength, and opportunity for a way out. A second chance, a better shot.
To seek for the heart and mind of Christ. To see our life as he would see it, looking at the widows, orphans, the lost, broken, poor, and needy through His eyes. With compassion instead of disdain. To realize we are blessed beyond compare, that the freedom of God is not only a freedom from sin, but a freedom to worship, a freedom to give and a freedom to receive love and blessings, correction and brokenness, joy and tears. Leaning into Christ is leaning away from sin. It doesn't mean sin disappears or is no longer an issue, it just means that where sin abounds, grace abounds all that much more. Grace too is a choice, a choice that the Father lavishes on us His broken sons and daughters. In hope that by His example we might choose to lavish that grace to everyone around us. not just our friends and family, but moreover to our enemies and those who mean ill will towards us. the opportunity for grace is always there. And grace, if we choose it, can be contagious too.

And as for the yawning, well, I guess we'll just have to live with it.

Aaron

Marriage Wisdom for Mophead and Awnna

We had a great time sharing funny stories and bits of marriage wisdom that we have learned along the way last Sunday. If you can remember what you shared, or thought of something after the fact, please post it here so that we the lovebirds can access it when they really need it....after the honeymoon!

Continuing the Vision conversation

A couple nights ago Aaron and I were playing Halo 3 and the conversation turned from eradicating evil in the world (by shooting it) to talking about what God is doing in our midst. We both decided that we needed to somehow keep our "Vision" conversation going as well as to finish this book that God seems to be using to reorient the lenses through which we SEE.

I thought Aaron ended our conversation at home church two weeks ago on a wise note. He reflected back to us that the conversation had noticeably veered away from it usual topic of "us" and toward who God was calling us to be for other. While affirming this leg of our conversation he also challenged us to spend some time further exploring what this more general birds eye view of God's vision might look like in practical terms for us as a community...how we might structure ourselves, practices we might share, priorities, dreams, hopes, fears, etc.

So I would like to start this post as one avenue of re-sparking this conversation. Have you had thoughts on this topic that you have not yet had opportunity to share with the group? Have you read the proposal that Jen and I put together 6 months ago that got this thing rolling? What resonated with you, what didn't? Do you have specific hope and dreams for the way church "should be" if Jesus was its primary leader and the Kingdom of God was its only goal?

Maybe we can link this with our name discernment process and spend the whole night of Nov. 4th on these related topic? What do you think? Like the name process, if we are honest, respectful, and prayerful about this conversation I think the Spirit will have something to say to us on this topic!

What's in a name?

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it."

Revelation 2.17

Names seem to be very important to God....names he gives himself to describe his attributes, names he give to the children of his prophets, new names that he give to apprentices who risk journeying with him, even the name he gave to his Son through angelic pony express. This verse most likely references a prophetic hope expressed by Isaiah toward the end of his book, "The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow." Isa. 62.2 "You" here in the Hebrew is plural, like y'all...referring to his covenant people, not you personally. This prophesy comes just after "The Year of the Lord's Favor" chapter (Jesus' inaugural sermon text) and as a prediction of restoration after the doom that was to befall Israel, the "choice vine" that chose to become wild and unproductive, because they rejected (or lost track of in the business of life) their destiny and design (Ch.5)

Names convey meaning. Our greatest hopes and desires. To God they foreshadow both destiny and purpose.

God is doing an amazing work in our midst. His fingerprints are all over us, individually and as a newly formed/forming body of Christ follower. He is not just bringing us together for our own health, enjoyment and well-being, but so that we might learn to live in His blessing so that we can be equipped and empowered to be a blessing to all we encounter (and all we will never encounter this sided of heaven as well). We are called into his presence to be blessed so that we would be a blessing to the nations!

Several people in our group have suggested that it is time for us to tune our ear to what the Spirit might be saying in regards to what our new name ought to be. I believe they are right. It needs to be a name that is reflective of what God is doing in our midst, personal to who we are and what he is shaping us to become.

So I am asking us to prayerfully start dreaming and brainstorming ideas...anything that comes to mind, no filtering required. But do share why you think your ideas might represent who we are becoming...a scripture, what evoked/inspired the idea, what impression or emotion this name represents to you. Put them in a post on this blog, and then lets start pondering and sharing our reflection as we respond to each others posts. Share what strikes you positively from each persons submission, and then share any new ideas that emerge from this exercise. I really believe that if we do this honestly and prayerfully that God will whisper something into the midst of this conversation that will resonate with all of us and will become a commissioning for us.

Lets spend the next two weeks leaning into this, and then we can talk more meaningfully as to what name God might be giving to us on the November 4th, when Aaron an Awna rejoin our group as man and wife....yippee!

Let the listening begin!