Some Days are Diamonds

An old John Denver song has frequently come to mind. The chorus says—

Some days are diamonds;
some days are stone.
Sometimes the hard times
won't leave me alone.
Sometimes the cold winds
blow a chill in my bones.
Some days are diamonds;
some days are stone.

Regardless of whether or not you like country songs, everyone can relate to diamond and stone days. Because stones are common, they fill most of our time making the diamond-days more precious.

Internally, I've been gathering the stones of late. Just because they're prosaic pebbles doesn't mean some are not of rare beauty in colour or design. Yet others are sharp and cut deeply.

But these thoughts aren't really where my mind has been dwelling. There's a verse in the song that describes it.

Now the face that I see in my mirror
more and more is a stranger to me.
More and more I can see there's a danger
of becoming what I never thought I'd be.

Please forgive the depressive tone. And bear with me, because I'm sure—if you've lived long enough—there has been at least once where these words have rung true.

That moment may have come when you've worked your hardest, only to be told your efforts aren't needed. You're being laid off.

Or maybe it's in marriage. You see a wedding photo and glimpse for an instant all the lovely dreams you had of the kind of spouse you'd be and the kind of spouse you'd have. Now those visions are so distant, you hardly recognize yourself.

I'm at a place where I'm believing this is one of the best positions in which to be . . . at least for a while.

Sure, it's much nicer to always be happy, to feel life is coming together, making sense. But that's not where humility grows. Those sparkling, beautiful spots are not where we come face to face with our need to be washed over with the love and grace of God, broken-off from our old sinful nature, and smoothed out on the lonely bottom of life's ocean.

No. It is when we face ourselves in the mirror without the amiable make-up we put on for others, when we face the flaws in our human nature and admit that they are a fault—it is then that we are broken down to the basics and God can begin shaping us, polishing us, preparing us to become—not dry stones in His Kingdom, but—glittering jewels, whose brilliance the earth could not host.

If you're there—if your life isn't what you planned it to be, if you're less than you dreamed you'd be, if your failures are greater than you can live with—it is now that you can be rubbed and tumbled to beauty. Now is when you can give your plain, dry-brown-heart fully into the Artist's hands and let Him make something beautiful of you.

Don't be discouraged! He who began a good work in you WILL carry it to completion (Philippians 1:6).

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ~John 12:25

When we think we know how our life is going, it's easy not to depend on His leading. But when life surprises us, we cling to Him. And that's right where we should be.

Can you relate? Has the face in your mirror ever seemed like a stranger? Are you there now or what happened to change things for you?

Review of "Love Wins"

Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Love Wins caught me a bit by surprise. From the many reviews of its damning content, I expected it to be persuasive in its "new" ideas. It wasn't. I also expected that it would vastly contain lies. It didn't.

On one hand, I saw Rob Bell making sweeping generalities with select verses without consideration of the context and with dismissal of equal or greater arguments contrary to his assertions. One example, of his leaping assumptions is his ignoring all scholarly debate on the identity of the author of Hebrews and authoritatively declaring the author a "she" (for which the evidence and arguments against this theory are more prevalent than those for it). This, though rather insignificant and seemingly-petty (to some), enforced the truth that Bell is no scholar, more or less a theological one. To go into detail about specifics of his errors is not my intention here. I'll leave that to true scholars, many of whom have already commenced to fight those battles.

On the other hand, I saw truth in what Bell presented. This is both dangerous and reassuring. Dangerous in that it is easy to overlook blatant error because of streams of truth running amidst the quicksand. Yet reassuring that the heart of his theory doesn't appear, to me (actually knowing Rob), to be merely to "tickle people's ears" (even if that is what it does for some).

Rob Bell reacts to an extreme in Christian circles--unloving attitudes and a sort of triumph over the unbelievers. This is not a good representation of Christians, but it is a representation of many or at least a reflection of the passionless love we have in contrast to our Saviour's love and our own salvation.

In conclusion, this book may be a good recommendation to those who have grown up in the church, to those too "familiar" with the salvation story. It needs to be balanced with the full truth of the Gospel, with the justice that those who truly love the lost will be compelled to share. But it also emphasizes God's love for all and our need to show it; something that may get lost in our self-centered religious lives.

I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. 
~1 Timothy 2:8

I sincerely hope and pray Rob Bell does submit to God's authority and not trust with pride in his own thoughts and talents.