yourweeklyhike

“What is Truth?” The timeless question that troubled Pontius Pilate has the same impact today. Photoshopped reality, “fake” news, and Facebook’s echo chamber algorithms make truth much more difficult to nail down. Most of us are familiar with what has been called “postmodernism” and the effects of rejecting the very notion of a “capital T” truth. “There’s no such thing as objective truth,” the post modern thinker would say, or “What’s true for you may not be true for me.” Despite its self defeating incoherence, postmodernism has been fairly resilient. But, as author Abdu Murray has observed¹, the luster of the postmodern era has dulled. Where postmodernism failed, the post-truth mindset may succeed because it addresses the question of truth head on. Unlike postmodernism, the post-truth thinker acknowledges objective truth but subordinates it to preferences.

If the evidence, or truth, fits our preferences and opinions, all is well and good. If not, the objective evidence is considered offensive and inadmissible. For affirmation, a post-truth thinker will look to are sources that support the narrative they have chosen because it feels right to them at the time. Those who question the narrative are immediately branded “haters” and condemned as bigots. Sources valuing and promoting the narrative (anything from The Daily Show, Facebook, and pretty much whoever holds the biggest microphone) win the day.

This post-truth thinker can actually be comfortable when the facts contradict their opinions because the “narratives” are more real than the facts that surround them. Consider the abortion debate. A postmodern thinker would say, “You believe it’s a baby, I do not.” The post-truth abortion advocate will eerily acknowledge the existence and even the value of an unborn child but will prefer a “higher” narrative over that reality. They may argue for example that feminism must include abortion to accomplish the vision of a socialist state or something along those lines. An activist protesting in front of our Oakland location of Women’s Choice Network recently demonstrated that even when her accusation against our organization was proven to be false, her narrative required that the truth submit to the higher vision of a world without pro-life influences. When I asked her what sources she had to support her vision, she proudly referenced the late night comedian John Oliver.

Simply put, the post-truth thinker has no North Star, no point of reference outside of themselves. They live in a boat whose rudder has been removed by an ever changing crew who choose autonomy over freedom. What is truth? Why does this matter? How do we address a world that puts preference above evidence? And how do we tell God’s story in a post-truth culture?

Imagine that you just dumped out one of those 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles onto your desk. Where do you begin? You start with the border of course. Once the little pieces with the flat sides are all in place, you refer to the picture on the puzzle box and the job of restoring the entire puzzle is much simpler. But imagine now that someone threw away the box and there is no border to this puzzle—no boundary.  How do you make the puzzle work? In a post-truth world, men and women seeking to make sense of sexuality are immersed in a borderless culture. Infinite genders, hook up encounters, redefined marriage, and open relationships distort and malign God’s intention for intimacy, covenant, and identity. In a post-truth culture, abortion becomes a right, euthanasia becomes compassionate, pornography proliferates, and sex workers are resourced and unionized while their “employers” walk free.

How important is the design and the border? According to author and demographer Mary Eberstadt, the decline of the family has actually powered and accelerated religious decline and the rise of secularism.² But when we ask others to live inside the borders of heterosexual marriage, we actually welcome God’s protection and provision. Christianity flourishes.

Only one person offers the source of truth and the final “picture” for our puzzle pieces. Rather than constraining or limiting our freedom, the person of Jesus Christ reveals the truth about who we are and whose we are. Truth plunges the rudder into the waves and fills the sails. The Good News is that there is a Truth, a Logos, the ground of all reality. And when our world finds the wellspring of Truth in Christ alone, the border is set and the journey begins.

¹ Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post Truth World by Abdu Murray. Zondervan, 2018.

² How the West Really Lost God by Mary Eberstadt. Templeton Press, 2013.

Well the feminists must be so proud. Caitlyn Jenner has just reduced the female gender to a sexy cover shoot for Vanity Fair. So much more than a “man in a dress,” Caitlyn now conforms to today’s rigid idealized version of what it means to be a woman. Caitlyn is free, rich, thin, hot, and will never even need an abortion. Turns out the ideal woman is a man.

The trans and pan gendered community is aglow but I’m not sure why. The bar has been raised. Those determined to switch teams will be forever compared to a man with infinite wealth, a bevy of stylists and surgeons, and closets full of designer clothing.

And the media is august. With their help and guidance, we’ve evolved into a truly accepting society. Rather than rewarding virtue, achievement, and hard work, we’ve been inspired to embrace a world where anyone with his own reality show can find happiness, get a clean slate, and set an example for young people everywhere. Makes me all misty inside.

Bruce Jenner can do as he pleases as long as it makes him, er, her happy. It’s a free country…for now. And as a Christian, I am required to say nice things about people I don’t agree with. (We mustn’t be perceived as the harsh, unloving, gender police, right?) But if I am silent, I advance the myth that peace can be found in a facelift. I simply don’t agree that an outward change will make a lasting impact any more than buying a new purse will solve my financial problems. You can dress up in a pale blue frock and matching hat and strike a pose saying, “Call me Elizabeth,” but that doesn’t make you the Queen of England. Whether we are born male or female, we all have a need for a lasting peace, a rescuer, a friend, a savior. Bruce Jenner’s “God-shaped need” is far more than a need for gender identity and will not be fulfilled by Caitlyn’s appearance. This is the true lesson of the week: “You should not be surprised at my saying you must be born again,” “…and not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (From John 3:7 and 1 Peter 1:23)

Call me Elizabeth. Well, actually this IS Queen Elizabeth!

“A good walk spoiled.”  “Being in love with a woman who hates your guts.”  “Men in ugly pants walking.”

Ahhh, the links.

Tom is unsuccessfully going through golf withdrawal. There is no 12 step program for this. So last night, as a really super fun alternative to an evening hike, Tom suggested we play the 9-hole “executive course” at a nearby torture facility golf course. And because it is heartbreaking to watch him progress through the five stages of grief, my answer was “I’m in!” So off we drove with wildly inflated expectations.

My cute green “Ping” logo golf bag was stuffed with an assortment of clubs that have not seen daylight for 3 full years (minus the putter which I believe is wrapped around a tree somewhere in South Georgia). It was a beautiful evening, green and sunny. Birds were singing in the balmy breezes. The fairways were lush and wide. What’s not to love about golf? I teed up at the bright red ladies markers, took a mighty swing and allowed my fairway wood to do it’s magic. Then I walked to where the ball had rolled, about 17 feet in front of me, and took another whack at it. Only rolling 7 or 8 feet this time, I was already looking back wistfully at the parking lot. Only 8.75 holes to go.

Between the 3^rd and 4^th hole, my full inadequacy was completely exposed.  I told Tom that no other human being on the planet would ever be allowed to watch me play golf. My disastrously uncoordinated swing and total failure as an athlete was reserved for his eyes only. In front of Tom, and Tom alone, I can be completely vulnerable, naked and unashamed. What a lucky guy!

I have told thousands of teenagers that the greatest thing about a healthy marriage is that you are able to spend the rest of your life with someone who really knows you and likes you anyway. Genesis 2:25 states this same amazing fact about Adam and Eve. (Golf came a bit later, and swearing emerged only minutes afterward.) In marriage, the goal is to be fully known, to love fully and be fully loved.  Once again, God is giving us a taste of His own overwhelming and unending acceptance. Because of His great love for us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We can live our lives completely open to Him, naked and not ashamed, because of that great love.

Whether or not you are married, be sure to occasionally do things that expose your vulnerability. Be silly, let people see your weaknesses. And I hope you find authentic God filled relationships with people who really know you and love you anyway.

Enjoy your weekly hike.

It is simple, primitive, and essential. It’s a wooden box with a latch. It’s a deep (I hope) hole. It’s equipped with TP and antibacterial gel, except when it isn’t. In summer, it’s a 95 degree Petri dish for bacteria and home to any number of insect larva. In winter, it’s a sub zero cryogenic chamber with a toilet seat. It is much maligned and known by an assortment of indelicate names. We fear it, we hate it, we need it.

Tom and I hiked at Laurel Summit yesterday, and because I knew that I had 5 miles of gorgeous scenery in front of me, I first headed toward the snow covered “necessary room.” Funny thing, I noticed that more tracks led to “hers” than led to “his.” Go figure. The door stubbornly gave way to the fresh 6 inches of powder from the night before. The “skylight,” which is an imaginative name for Plexiglas thrown over the hole in the ceiling, was also blocked by the 14 inches of snow on the roof. So I inched to the Siberian metal seat under the cover of darkness. Walt Disney could have stood right beside me in his frozen state and I would have never known.

The outhouse is a not-so-subtle reminder of the differences in the sexes. (Apparently transgender people have to squat in the snow because there’s only two choices in the park.) These differences (even the plumbing!) are part of the plan, God’s perfect design. The bright yellow paint signaling “men” and “women” is a sign that everything is as it should be. We are made for a purpose and our gender has something to do with that. While so much of the world is trying to sand down the differences, Christians have something to embrace here. We know the Author, we know His Story. We know that in male-ness and female-ness, God wants to show us something about Himself. We are created, male and female, in His image. Designed to be different, designed to be diverse, designed to be one.

So next time nature calls, rejoice in the differences and be thankful that there’s a “loo” on the trail.

As I listen to the familiar Christmas story this year, two words stand out like never before. Fear Not. Before Zechariah hears, “Your prayer is answered,” before Mary hears, “You have found favor with God,” before Joseph hears, “You shall call His Name Jesus,” and before the Shepherds hear, “Good News of Great Joy!”, they first are visited by angels and encouraged to “Fear Not!”

An angel must be an awesome sight. And the message they brought certainly rocked the world of all involved–a baby changes everything. But everything about the Christmas story should evoke some level of awe or fear: God incarnate. God putting on flesh and invading time and space. God entering a virgin’s womb to begin His earthly life as human–just as we do…two cells, then an embryo, then a fetus, and then a baby. This alone should shake-up our souls. Yet we are told to Fear Not.

At Women’s Choice Network where I work, our clients understand fear. Before we share the good news (sometimes perceived as bad news) that, “Your pregnancy test is positive,” we must first remind them to Fear Not. There is a way, there is help, there is a comfort. His Name Is Jesus.

Tom and I may face many fears in 2015. Our list probably looks much like yours: Financial cliffs, ISIS, Ebola, random violence, Middle East instability, depression, failure, etc. But before God reveals His plan, the Prince of Peace first says, “Fear Not.” We who know Jesus can understand this peace. We know that it’s all really true. We know how the story ends. There is Resurrection, there is victory. The baby is born to become our Savior, our Suffering Servant, our Salvation. Love conquers fear and death! Good News indeed!

As you hike through this Christmas season, keep your eyes fixed on the Good News and Fear Not!

There it was. A four leafed clover. I picked it up and put it with the others. Tom and I found five of these little mutants in five minutes. So how do we get so lucky? Simple. We look. Four leafed clovers are everywhere in the Springtime. But because most people don’t expect to see them, they don’t look.
God wants us to get lucky. He wants to be found. And to find God, we should expect to see Him. All we have to do is look. Here’s what David says in Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Clearly, God’s qualities are on display throughout His creation. He wants us to be reminded of Him as our “bridegroom” in the everyday sunsets, storms, and seasons. We can expect to learn more about His awesome power when we expectantly look for it. We who know Christ don’t worship nature, we worship the one who created it!
If you’ve got even three out of the five senses, you’re pretty lucky today. You’ll see, hear, smell, touch, or taste some of what the God of the universe is revealing about Himself–especially if you are on a hike.
So here are some of the ways Tom and I got lucky during our last few weekly hikes:

• We tasted peppermint plants, sassafras leaves, and crisp cold water from a pump in the park. (Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!)
• We felt the wind and rain, the burning of a stinging nettle plant, the cool of green grass on bare feet, and the stiff quill of a turkey feather.
• We smelled distant campfires, pine forests, lake water, and hiking boots.
• We heard all kinds of birds (the creepy mourn of a screech owl, the robotic gargle of a pileated woodpecker, the whirling buzz of a veery…) and we heard water bubble over rocks, wind through leaves overhead, the rumble of thunder, and the whine of mosquitoes.
• And we saw four rattlesnakes, a porcupine, a bald eagle, some cool looking butterflies, and blue skies through green leaves so bright it took our breath away.

So get out there and expect to get lucky this week. Open your senses to what God might reveal about Himself. Enjoy your weekly hike.