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I’d have to say, one of the first things that caught my eye about my wife = her eyes. I don’t think it’s a huge coincidence that the eyes are often referred to as “windows to the soul”. Her eyes still have the power to communicate wildly to my heart….whether to motivate me to help with a crying baby, or to send the message that I’m loved. 🙂 Both are pretty effective.

But a new realm of optical appreciation has hit me lately. The power of my daughters eyes. It’s ridiculous, and illustrates well the “Weak Force of God” as Caputo would put it. My daughters cannot force me to do anything, physically. Okay, so Sophie can sometimes grab my soul patch with a death grip…and yes, I would have to give in to her demands.

But with one look of their eyes, our older two girls have learned they can send a vice grip deep into daddy’s heart, and twist it whatever direction they want. Okay, maybe that’s not true. They’re still pretty innocent in this area. But it suuuure seems like it sometimes. Happens on a daily basis….sometime between 5 and 7am…..we wake to the words “I’m huuuuuungry.” We look over to see Addie standing there. As long as I keep my eyes closed….I can respond “get back to bed”. But one look into her eyes, even in the half-lit room…and I’m toast.

So am I saying the “Weak Force of God” occurs magically when we “look into His eyes”? Nope. But I think it’s a related kinda power sometimes. Jesus didn’t come into town with trumpets blasting, blazing crown on his head, and a list of “how things were gonna’ change” (said with a thick western sheriff accent).

He came as a baby. He lived towards the lowly. He loved unconditionally. He called “freedom” into the lives of humans who desperately needed it. He stood in the half-lit room, calling out to people who were hungry/sleeping, offering nourishment beyond the imaginable. Infinitely compelling.

We serve a powerful…powerful God….

“Jesus had some choices. He was not born into the worst possible condition. He would have had far fewer options had he been born a woman, or even worse, a woman with a crippling disease. The issue was not how far down on the pyramid he was born but the direction of his gaze.” – T. Richard Snyder

As a week of giving Thanks for all that we have, and all that we are collides with the birth of a new advent season…many of us have already begun speaking of baby Jesus. This past Sunday night my wife and I took our oldest daughter on a drive through a live nativity. The nativity took us from prophecies of Jesus, to his birth, through his life, crucifixion, and even the empty tomb. The narration spoke of Christ’s humble beginnings.

We often emphasize that, and then act as if that was the path Jesus was on. A humble one. Of course he was humble, he was a human from Nazareth, etc.

But Snyder reminds us of an important not-so-secret: Jesus CHOSE to associate/love/relate/”gaze” toward the lower rungs of the socio-political-economic ladder. Why is that important to remember?

In today’s world, we “gaze” toward the higher rungs. We want success, fame, health, fortune, power, prestige, etc. Snyder points out that the power of those in the “middle class” (he admits it’s a very fluid/flexible definition for a group, but nevertheless) is essentially the “power to consume”. That even if/when someone may achieve large success, as the case with many professional sports players, they do not make it to the “top of the pyramid. They can merely buy more toys.”

Philippians 2:7 uses the word “κενόω” (ken-ah-oh) to talk about Jesus “emptying” Himself. What if this year’s Thanksgiving was also attached to our anticipation of Jesus Christ, and all that He brings/announces/transforms? Let me put it more practically:

What if this year, as we spend time listing off each thing we’re thankful for, we also use that as a list of things we want to consciously “release” our possession of towards God? As we thank God for each thing/being we have, we receive a burden for those without it?

May we “gaze” with God’s love, and move toward where that Love is moving…

One of the aspects that couldn’t be captured well in this film, but I would have liked to see, is the film-makers’ return to his normal life. A life of traffic, cell phones, fast food, internet, and half-naked women in every advertisement. After spending 6 months sharing life in such simple, quiet, and holy ways.

In the Celtic tradition, there is a belief in “thin places”. Actual physical locations where the pursuit of God has occurred so often, or in such grand ways, that the veil between “Heaven” and earth are worn thin. If there is any such place, it seems the monastery from this documentary would be one. Life, ritual, and liturgy happening in very much the same way for almost a thousand years. To spend 6 months in this place, participating in this liturgical way of living….wow.

But then to return, not to a life and arena that one would consider “unholy”…..but rather, a creation that God is already involved in creating anew. Holiness breaking out all over the place. But still, very different from past 6 months in space and time.

Anyone who watches the film has a similar, albeit smaller, experience. Heck, anyone who attends worship services with a church family should probably have regular similar experiences. Many have had those moments….those experiences that make us want to stay doing whatever it is we’re doing because of how we are participating in God’s activity.

But we…we are not called to be monks. We are not called to sit and stare at video of a simpler life and drool over such freedom. We are not called to exist within the context and walls of a worshiping congregation. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) to live amidst a creation being renewed as people who have spent time in the presence of God. Who spend time in the presence of God. There is a similar “brotherhood” among us, as seen throughout the men of the Grand Chartreuse. When one joined their “family”, the new member would walk to each individual in the circle and they would embrace as kin.

Then the senior members would accompany them to their cell, and sing/pronounce blessings over this new one, and welcome them to a new way of living.

God is. We experience the presence of God. We experience the abandon that comes as both freedom and sacrifice. We are infinitely compelled by a Love that defines love. And we live from these, in and towards His Kingdom….”on Earth as it is in Heaven”…

I guess…all of that to say….it was a pretty good movie. 🙂