Fracking

Fracking.

 

Sounded a bit rude when I heard it on the radio this morning.

 

Apparently it's a controversial method of extracting gas from under ground.  A mixture of water, sand and chemicals is pumped into a well, under high pressure to force the gas from the rock.*

 

One of the reasons that it is considered dangerous is the possible links to earthquakes: apparently, the splitting of rock which takes place in the process was linked to the Blackpool earthquake.

 

However, some are pleased with the decision today to lift the ban on fracking, as this naturally occurring shale gas is considered gold dust and will provide a much cheaper alternative to imported fossil fuels.  Whilst there are benefits to this process, many will wonder if extracting the gas is worth the risk.

 

It's the same with us: when we are doing 'deep' work in our own hearts and lives, when we are extracting painful lies or experiences and replacing them with God's truths, we have to accept that, often, it will create 'quakes' and shifts in the rest of our lives.  We can't expect to carry out this deep work and for it to go unnoticed.

 

Paul uses very vivid and violent language when he describes this process of replacing our lies with God's truth:

 

"We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.  Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity."

 

[2 Corinthians 10:5-6 MSG, emphasis mine]

 

 

This is powerful and uncomfortable work, and we have to ask ourselves if the discomfort is worth it.

 

I am someone who likes to get to the end of a process.  I am solution-based in many areas of life and am Queen of the to-do list.  So I struggle to be in the middle of a process.  I find it really uncomfortable to be part-way through something - part-way through the excavations and extractions - and to not yet be at the end of things.

 

But I know that whilst I am in this process, it is God who is completing me.  He is the One who is extracting the negative things and replacing them with His truths.  And He is trustworthy.

 

"May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together - spirit, soul, and body - and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.  The One who called us is dependable.  If he said he'll do it, he'll do it!"

 

[1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 MSG]

 

'Fracking' in our personal lives may be controversial, it may be dangerous, it may be painful.  But it may just be worth it.

 

 

 

* There's a very helpful 15 second summary of fracking here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20710481

 

 

 

The Wardrobe Of Our Thoughts

I bought the film 'Eat, Pray, Love' the other day and am just rewatching it this evening.

 

It's about a woman who is dissatisfied with her life in New York and decides to travel to Italy, India and Bali to find herself again.

 

At one point, when she is on a spiritual retreat in India, a man she has sort of befriended tells her she has to start choosing what thoughts to 'put on' in the same way that she chooses what clothes to wear.

 

I don't spend very long choosing what to wear in the mornings.  The formula is simple: always work from the feet up.  Is it raining or freezing?  Yes - boots and something that will go with boots.  No - heels (or sandals in the summer) and something that will go with heels.

 

But when it comes to our thoughts, too easily we let ourselves think things without thinking about them - we think without thinking.

 

We throw on any old thoughts, regardless of whether they are flattering or 'our size' or if they suit us.  We put our thoughts on without wondering if they are true.

 

I have recently challenged myself to stop using the word 'should' in my own thoughts and conversations with myself.  'Should' makes me feel as though I am obliged to do something and I don't measure up.  'Should' suggests I fall short.  'Should' makes me feel that there is only one right and perfect way of doing things.

 

As someone who is trying to break free from the hold of perfectionism and the feeling that there is always only one right way of doing something, eliminating 'Should' has been a big help.

 

Now, I find myself thinking, "I could have done that" or "I would like to do this".

 

I have started to rethink my thinking.

 

The Bible talks about taking control over our thoughts and rethinking our thinking:

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

 

[2 Corinthians 10:1-6 NIV]
 

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

If my thoughts - about myself and other people - don't measure up or match what Christ thinks, I need to change them, to make them line up with what God says. 

I need to rethink my thinking. 

 

Writing and Creating

I love writing. 

 

Stories, articles, blogs, essays, poems.  It doesn't really matter what I'm writing.  I enjoy all of it.

 

I never feel more alive than when I am writing.  It feels as though I am doing what I was created to do and I feel satisfied in the very depths of my being.

 

I have been working this evening on a story I'm writing and I've been really interested in the way that I think as I write.  I know what I want to say and I play around with the words until I am happy with them.  I feel confident and creative and I enjoy both the process of writing and the finished piece.

 

I love the feeling of creating new faces and places,  of describing a storyline unfolding and unfurling.  And I love how the characters seem to come alive in my hands.

 

But when it comes to my own life, I often forget that I have the same creative power.  I have the ability to change the way I see myself or what I believe about myself through my words.  I have the power to create new situations or scenarios for myself.  I have the power to alter how I see myself and how I value myself.  I have the power to decide what or who I will believe about myself. 

 

I have the power to create or destroy, to build up, or to tear down.   

 

Proverbs says,

"Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit - you choose."

[Proverbs 18:21 MSG]

 

So often I don't choose.  I forget that I have this creative power over my own life and, especially, over my own thoughts.  I feel as though I drift along through life, as a passive tourist, rather than as an active participant.

 

But Paul writes about the need for us to be active in constructing our identity and our sense of self and making sure that what we believe about ourselves measures up with what God says about us:

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

 

[2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV]

 

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.

 

It is with God's word that we demolish the arguments and lies we believe about ourselves: I am not worthless, I am not abandoned, I am not forgotten or forsaken, I am forgiven, I am loved, I am chosen, I am blessed, I am delighted in.

 

And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

 

If I only let myself believe the things that God says about me, I would have a deep sense of peace and security about who I am.

 

But we have to choose.  We have to be active in writing and creating our identity.  In the same way that a writer has to be active for the characters to live and for the story to unfold.

 

 

 

 

 

Uprooting

This afternoon I am undertaking an essential activity: catching up on the second series of Downton Abbey, in readiness for tonight's new series.

 

In the episode I am just watching, Edith - one of the Crawley daughters - has taken up driving and offers to help a local farmer drive the tractor.  One of the tasks that she is asked to do is to help uproot an old tree trunk  (which is about two feet wide), by attaching a chain to the tree stump and then to the tractor.  As she drives away, the viewer has the satisfaction of watching the stump being yanked from the soil.  It falls sideways and the deep roots are exposed.

 

Sometimes we have deadwood and old tree stumps in our lives which need uprooting too.  Things which have taken root down in the depths of our souls.  Resentment and bitterness and regrets and hurts and wounds and lies.  Things which have taken hold and which have spread through our hearts.  Dead things which have no use or purpose and need to be pulled up.

 

Jesus said,

“Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots."

[Matthew 15:13 MSG]

 

And Paul talks about destroying these dead things in our hearts and in our lives, the things which prevent us from knowing God properly:

"We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God."

[2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NLT]

 

But sometimes we can't uproot these things by ourselves - we need the help of others.  We need someone with a metaphorical tractor to help us to pull out the things that are deeply rooted in our hearts.

I remember someone praying with me a while ago about some 'dead wood' in my own life and the person I was with said,

The wonderful thing is that someday someone will come and take that dead wood and fashion from it something beautiful.  This won't be wasted.

Uprooting is never the end of the story.  It is simply a new beginning.