Babies = Creation

I like babies.... I can't help myself! I mean, how can you not like babies? We're not talking in some sick, pedophiliactic way. I just like them, ok? Let me see if I can explain. Let's start from the beginning.

Step One: The very act of human conception is supposed to be- and very often is, I'm told- the extreme act of love within the context of marriage. This seems fitting, seeing as we were made in the image of a God who created us, told us flat out in person that He is love, and then went on to sacrifice His very life for us to prove it. How could He have possibly made us to procreate in any other manner than a loving one? In this act, He gives us eyes through which to look at a newly born bundle of joy that has just wet herself all over us, or chewed on the remote to our brand new sound system, or done any number of other things that babies do on a regular basis. In this act, He sets the precedent for how a child ought to be raised; sex is one of a hundred evidences that children were intended to have two parents, male and female, and the structure of a family environment as they grow into adulthood.

Step Two: Pregnancy is interesting to me, but I'm profoundly grateful that I will never personally experience it. A woman finds herself, after nine months of... well... extreme discomfort, and what could be as much as a day's worth of "hell on wheels" in labor, with a baby. Notwithstanding, she ideally also find herself with a husband whom- although she may have been aware of a great capacity for stupidity before he was a father- she did not know could be such a bumbling idiot. Luckily for him, love covers a multitude of bumbling idiocy, and they take the poor child home. Are they prepared to spend the next 18 years (at least!) teaching that child freedoms and inhibitions, wisdom and heritage? Perhaps they think they are...

Step Three: This is where it starts to get hairy, and this step is really my strongest argument for liking babies. You see, there is only one thing wrong with babies, and this is also the greatest thing about them at the same time. It's like a paradox... Here it is: BABIES GROW UP. You can hold one and think, "How could something this small and fragile and beautiful ever grow to lose this innocence?", and just a few short months later, you're wondering how the world will ever survive the little terror they have become. Still, even as they grow, they serve to remind us of creation. Uh... I sound like I'm speaking from experience... Well, I'm not a father, but all these disjointed thoughts have come together, and I've finally decided that I hope to be one someday. :)

What's in a Name?

It's time that I explain the name that I have given to my blog. "The Wounded Warrior" is, first and foremost, a statement of determination to persevere. It is not the strange, sideways manifestation of a victim complex, and it does not necessarily speak to the violent part of my nature, powerful though it may be. What's more, your picture of a warrior that has been wounded is probably one of weakness, convalescence, and grievous, bloody wounds. I've been there, and I will be there again, but that's not what I'm striving for. I consider the wounds that I have been smote with in the course of my battle for Life to have armed me with far better weapons, trained me to fight far more fairly, and brought me to a higher ground on which to fight. They are- for lack of a better name- "wisdom wounds". That is, life experiences that have cut me deeper than any diamond ever could, and yet when polished by a Loving Hand, can cause me to "sparkle" more than I could ever hope to without them. For this reason, I thank God for the wounds that life has brought so far, and I when I am able, I consider my current, paltry trials pure joy. Please do not misunderstand me; I'm really, really, ridiculously NOT perfect. But that's my whole point! If I were perfect, I wouldn't have any of these precious wounds, and I wouldn't have any reason to fight for Life.

They're Way Better Than... Um... Almost Anything!

Call me inspired, but I gotta write right now. I've been thinking about women. What's that you say? There's nothing unusual about that, and why am I pointing that rather obvious fact out to my readers? Great question, and I'm glad you asked. Here's the answer that spawned all the questions that came from the thoughts that resulted from reading the words of someone I consider to be a good friend, and those thoughts fueled the inspiration with which I now write to you. We'll get to the "further ado...", but first, I just want to say one thing:

I LIKE WOMEN.

I do not say that because I have made a breakthrough in my own masculinity, having questioned it for a time. Quite the opposite: I say that because it's always been true; I can't help myself. It's how I feel, and as I strongly implied in my last post, I'm through with trying to deny that what is actually going on inside myself is actually going on inside myself. Well, except for digestion. I still deny that one, because I also like food, and sometimes I eat too much of it for that reason. But that's not where I'm going with all of this. Have you ever stopped to think about WHY you like members of the opposite sex? It's not because they're gorgeous, although they certainly can be and very often are (praise the Lord!). It's not because they give you flowers and chocolate, although I hear that rather cliche idea still gets astounding results on occasion. It's not because they can cook, repair, clean, drive, buy, remember, or help you in any way; these are just shadows of the true reason. Besides, if you averaged all cultures together, you might find that those things are surprisingly evenly dispersed between the sexes. These things are all almost peripheral compared to the real reason that men fall in love with women, and women fall in love with men. And the real reason is this: We make each other feel more like what we were created to be. In a healthy, Christ-honoring relationship, a member of the opposite sex can actually cause you to become more like what God intended for you to be before there ever was such a thing as sin. This applies to both friendships and romantic contexts.

My inspiring friend talks about her experiences being a woman in what is essentially still a man's world, and how when she and her husband go out to any public place, she asks him to ward off the unwelcome eyes that she knows will be on her if she goes out "undefended". That is, without his company. Her being one of the most independent women I know, I am not implying that she cannot take care of herself, and I'd have a REALLY hard time believing that she was implying that herself; instead, her contention was that she enjoyed being in his company and under his protection- whether it manifest through physical means or through simple eye contact with a guy across the room. On an even deeper level, she seems to be arguing that men were made to be pursuers, treasurers and protectors, and women were made to be pursued, treasured and protected. Yes, sin has warped this, as it has warped every one of God's creations. However, I've seen the healthiest relationships between men and women that I know of display this concept in profound ways. In many cases, both roles are played unconsciously after many years of practice. Somehow, our culture has brought the concepts of protection and control uncomfortably close together. If Christ is redeeming our hearts along with all of creation, He can certainly redeem the relationship between man and woman, as well...

Anyway, I'm beginning to sound like a popular-psychologist-turned-preacher, so I'll stop now. It's all been said before, anyway. It's just that it was on my mind- as women frequently have been since I was about twelve years old. I like 'em! :)

Feeling Like Feeling

Promise me something, will you? Whatever you may feel, feel it as honestly as you are able. If you are grieving, grieve with everything that you are equipped to grieve with. Comfort comes from He-Who-Makes-Whole, and with it may you come to a deeper, truer rest. If you are happy, relish it to the last drop as if it were a fine wine. When anger comes, make the most of the fuel that burns the hottest- but be prepared to do it without sinning. If you are uncertain, BE uncertain... and wait as patiently as you can for the peace that God brings. Please, please, PLEASE do not settle for anything less than experiencing your emotions with the "honestest" honesty, the most authentic authenticity, the exceedingly graceful grace that we find in Christ. The world will try to convince you that your emotions are inherently sinful, but be warned! This is a disgusting misinterpretation of what the scripture may at first appear to be saying. There is nowhere in scripture that says that we ought not to trust our emotions. Our flesh, our sinful nature, our pride... these are all things to be shoved away with a disciplined abhorrence, but NOT the emotions that seem to be inextricably tied to them. What about lust, malice, bitterness, envy... what about all these "feelings" that the Bible says to put off? Well, frankly, they aren't purely emotions. All of those things are what happens when our emotions are utterly out of context and not serving the purpose they were intended to serve, but instead feeding our sin. Take lust as the most popular example among these dissatisfied moral concepts; has anyone ever heard of lust within a marriage relationship? No, because in that context we call it "love". Has anyone ever heard of a person who knows that they truly have everything they need or want envying someone else their possessions? Of course not, because they have everything they need or want- if they are wise enough to realize it. How is it, then, that there are Christians everywhere lusting, envying, and wallowing in bitterness and malicious anger... ? We have everything we need and want in a loving, merciful God, and occasionally we are even wise enough to realize it. I beg you, don't throw the emotional baby out with the sinful bathwater! Should you choose to do so, you choose to lose a vital part of the incredible humanity that God intended for you from the beginning. He isn't just redeeming your mind, your body and your spirit, He is redeeming your emotions along with everything else. So, don't bottle them up, push them aside, deny them, or try to morph them into something more socially acceptable. Feel what you feel, nothing but what you feel, and exactly what you feel... and then ask WHY? In the grand scheme of things, why are you feeling what you are feeling? What is God trying to show you through what you are feeling? Is there something that God may want you to do or not do as a result of these emotions? If you fail to balance the gift of emotions against the other creative faculties and revelations that God provides for us, you may effectively be spiritually crippling yourself.

Jesus and Marmee Say It All

How is it that some people make us want to be "better"? You meet them, you might even be friends with them, and whenever you're around them, you have an inexplicable desire to be the best that you can be. It isn't a guilt trip, it isn't an obligation, it isn't a crush, it isn't necessarily that you're trying to gain their approval, and it isn't that you are comparing yourself with them unfavorably. They don't make you feel put down; they make you feel as though it's possible to become more than what you are. Somehow, they work their way into your thoughts and they become the muse of your integrity. There is no sense that they are trying to "fix" you, and they are certainly not perfect people themselves, but they inspire you nonetheless. Louisa May Alcott created such a character in "Marmee" in her book, Little Women. Marmee has her girls wrapped around her little finger, and they know it, and she knows that they know it. They simply trust each other so much that it doesn't bother them. May I suggest to you that God created the same for us in Christ Jesus? Scripture makes it clear that we are the "salt of the earth". I heard an author read excerpts from one of his books recently, and he made the point that salt is not a flavor in and of itself. It does, however, enhance the flavor of many of the things that it is combined with. When we are striving to be the "salt of the earth", we are not trying to produce some sort of artificial "flavor" or attitude. What we are doing is enhancing the presence of Christ in ourselves! When we are in Him, we are a new creation; to be the "salt of the earth" is to behave like what we already have been re-created to be. I don't know about you, but I want that more than I've ever wanted anything in my life- and that's saying a lot! I want to become the sort of person that has no need to guilt trip people, no cause to instruct others in holiness, no place from which to look down on others or judge them, and yet at the same time someone who has a profound impact on the people that he meets. Authentic to the max, down to earth, willing to say the hard words, and encouraging all rolled into one. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that this is who Christ is, and that delving deeper into my identity in Him will cause me to be more like Him.