Dale Cresap's blog

My word teaches you to resist not evil, even to the point of turning the other cheek to one who would strike you, to make it easier for them to do it twice. I used a very physical illustration to get the point across. Have you ever had the chance to respond in this manner? Have you ever done it? Can you apply the same principle to verbal assault? You probably have many more opportunities to respond to mean things spoken to you than to physical assault. Even here you have the choice to respond in kind or to decline the chance to escalate the conflict.

How well do you sleep? Do you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you find the world to be so full of great injustices that it is detrimental to your wellbeing? Is this beneficial in solving the problems of the world? I came to give you peace. There are burdens that are assigned to you that you are able to carry, and those that are for me or others that you cannot. You can recognize the ones meant for you because they are suited for you and therefore light. One aspect of peace is knowing that you are not in charge, but that someone is.

Do you strive for victory? You live in a competitive culture. This is the nature of your economy where you must prevail over others to succeed. Even in areas that are not related to money you structure games to be competitive so there are winners and losers. Neither of these is in itself evil, but is there anywhere that the competitive approach is not beneficial? How well does it work in human relations? You can win an argument and get your way at the expense of alienating your brother. Can you see how win-win is a better goal than win-lose?

Have you ever had a supernatural encounter with me? Moses did, in the form of a burning bush. You may have seen a burning bush before, and this isn’t normally supernatural, for in due course it is consumed and dies down. But in this case the bush was not consumed. How long do you think that Moses looked at the bush before he realized that something was different in this case? For it would not be obvious at first glance. So we return to the question of whether you have ever had a supernatural encounter with me. Could you have had one and not been aware of it?

The Bible speaks of those who are in darkness. Do you know what this is? Do you assume that it applies to people who are not spiritual? To the most extreme sinners? Who do you know that isn’t spiritual? Didn’t I make everyone in my image? There are certain human longings, such as those for identity and meaning, that are present in every person whether they affirm any belief or profess any doctrine. You are inherently spiritual as a part of your intrinsic nature and there isn’t anything you can do to change that.

Do you think that I am silent, or that I speak only briefly on special occasions to selected individuals? What do you observe in your communications with other people? If you inquire of someone, even a stranger, and give them your full attention, how often are you met with silence? It is so rare as to be considered a social blunder, and even if they don’t know what you want they will speak. Am I not even more willing to communicate with you? You refer to me as the living word.

You live in a competitive culture, one of striving for victory and dominance. Are you aware of the effect this has on you? But yours is not the only one. This has been the experience of all of history. I said as much when I told my disciples that the gentiles seek position to lord it over others if they may, but I told them that it should not be so among them, but they were to be the servants of all. So are you to cease to seek success? No, but you can do it according to a transformed understanding.

I taught you to love your enemies, to go the extra mile, to turn the other cheek. Do you put these concepts into practice? Do they seem strange and extreme in the real world? Do they appear to have no relationship to your reality; being abstract spiritual ideas of no practical benefit? There are good reasons to avoid making enemies, to not escalate offenses. Life circumstances change and you don’t know when you will need to ask a favor from someone you did not previously consider being a friend. This will be easier if you have resisted the temptation to tell them off.

Do you believe in the value of growth? It is a property of all living things and you see it in effect in the natural world around you and it happens incrementally. You know that there is spiritual growth as well. Do you pursue this in the common Christian practices of Bible study, prayer, and church attendance? These produce incremental growth, but there is another way. A caterpillar becomes a butterfly by metamorphosis. This is transformative growth; a complete change that doesn’t occur incrementally. Is there a spiritual parallel for this? The Bible speaks of it.

Do you follow the first commandment? Are you thinking that you shall have no other gods before me? But the very first commandment was that you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Did you notice that there was no commandment against eating from the tree of life? Yet when the man and woman ate from the wrong tree, it was necessary that they be denied access to the tree of life. Do you realize that this same choice is being offered to you? Do you want to live in relationship with me or do you want to figure it out on your own?