A Prayer for My Boy

Lord, thank you for the safe arrival of this boy and the responsibility put into my hands to love and parent him and show him the greater path.

We all dwell in the Eastern Valley, East of Eden, east of unblemished creation, east of relationship with you our creator, redeemer, and restorer.

May he quickly and throughly understand his station and his need for grace.

May the light of salvation come to him quickly. May he see you, Jesus, as the light of the world and may that knowledge be a harbinger of heart change, regeneration. And may the light not terminate on him. He is a candle maker. May he hold the light so that others see the truth, the face of the king and see the path home…

To the high meadow. We have been low and away and, by your grace may we come up and closer to you. In the words of C.S. Lewis describing the progression into Aslan’s country we long to go “further up and further in.” May all this boy’s life be one characterized by the longing for a future home.  So often life will be reflective of the valley and in obvious need of light but may his station with you provide the remedy, vision, and hope for either malady.

May all who know him recognize a boy, and a man, who holds the light that leads to the high meadow.

Amen.

Henley - Of High Meadow

Chandler- Candle Maker

Estep - Dweller in Eastern Valley

Vaccines are Common Grace

One of the members of my small group mentioned he had an appointment scheduled to get his vaccine.

Another member blurted out, “Uh oh, they are going to take your brain.” This unexpected outburst was the voicing of fear from one who, despite compromised health, had previously said he is not going to get a vaccine.

We finished. I need to talk to him about that wild suggestion. “Where did you hear that stuff?”

“I heard it on the news. Well, on the internet.”

As a pastor who cares deeply for his health and his growth in wisdom, I shared that, on the internet, people may care more about him living in fear than having the truth. I pointed him toward common grace.

The vaccine is common grace given to us by God and that is a reason to receive it.

Sam Storm, a theologian from my Christian tradition, defined common grace this way: 

“Common grace, as an expression of the goodness of God, is every favor, falling short of salvation, which this undeserving and sin-cursed world enjoys at the hand of God; …all gifts that humans use and enjoy naturally.”

Common grace means there are good things in the world that are available to everyone which they do not deserve. God has graciously given us some great advantages beyond the saving grace of Jesus' work on the cross.

God gave ingenuity and wisdom to his image bearers to sequence the structure of the coronavirus and develop a vaccine that would literally teach our cells how to create the antibodies necessary to fight against the coronavirus when it intrudes our bodies.

Those with worn out, aged, and compromised immune systems can be given this key without having to develop the antibodies on their own. This is grace.

This is an undeserved, beautiful gift that we have been given.

We experience the bent nature of nature every day, Christian scripture says that all creation is groaning, and we have all experienced that groaning in particularly acute ways over the last 13 months. And yet, God has been gracious. I am amazed that we have tools to even combat such a natural evil like coronavirus. God has given us something to defend against the natural ramifications of the curse first unleashed in the garden so long ago.

Every day, since we went into lockdown in early March 2020, I have prayed, alongside my family, that God would quell the coronavirus. That he would graciously end its spread by abrupt stoppage or by giving his image bearers the tools to render it ineffective.

He has done that.

I have received my vaccine. I am a healthy young man, and I am so grateful that I can receive the vaccine as a clear bit of grace and a means to love my neighbors, and my fellow small group member, who have far more risk factors than myself.

I told him that I am ready to receive this bit of common grace for him, to protect him because I love him. I have not hugged many friends for a year so I could love him. I have worn a mask so I could love him. I have not thrown the door of our house open to gregarious hospitality so I could love him. And now I will accept a jab in the arm so I can love him. Because God has given me access to a common grace to love him in far more effective and final ways than the things I have been doing for the past year. Praise be to God!

I shared all of the above with the heart of a pastor, with a desire to see him live in this world with an understanding of its brokenness but also the redemptive, restoring character of his King who will one day make all things new.

A week later I received a text from him. “I am scheduled to get a vaccine next week.” 

My reply, “Wonderful.”

It is wonderful when one sees the common grace given to us - when a fellow image bearer accepts an unexpected gift given to us. God is not required to give us these advantages but he did. He does not have to be gracious to us in this suffering we experience but he is. It is in his character to be gracious and there is evidence of this truth even in the middle of a pandemic. 

This has been a hard year, a taxing year, but by God’s common grace it will be a memory.

Prayer for a son

Lord, thank you for the stewardship of this boy. Grace him with health and maturity, stature of character, a quick and decisive submission to Jesus, and the empowerment of the Spirit to serve and love your people. 

Give me grace to live and walk in a way that would be beneficial to emulate as he watches. Give me a steady posture in parenting so that he understands who his Heavenly Father is through my approximate example. 

Allow his name to be a definition of his life’s direction. There is much to fight for in the world. Give him the wisdom to discern what deserves his attention and affords his strength. Do not allow him to waste vigor or vim on endeavors that pale in comparison to the Kingdom and its virtue. 

Protect him from the lies of causes that do not deserve the actions of his energy. 

Give him eyes to see the King, King Jesus, and give his hands the ability to war for that kingdom against its myriad foes. Help him see that the destination of those who follow Jesus is not an ethereal existence in an unembodied realm but a home, a physical place of dirt and soil, where we will live and move, in new bodies, the way we were meant to-created to. Give the thrust of his actions an energy that is powered by hope in that reality. 

Make him a happy warrior, joyfully under the gaze and approval of the King. May his satisfaction be not in the mere fight he may engage but in his service to the King and the neighbors he is given to serve and fight for.

May all his actions bring glory to the name of Jesus. 

Amen. 

Lewis - Renowned Warrior

Canaan - Promised Land

Estep - Dweller in the Eastern Valley

Realism a la Chesterton

The last several weeks on the national political stage have been discouraging. The footage has rolled and my confidence in the actors and their methods has been eroded. The observers and their willingness to take the talking points of their preferred side has also been demoralizing. 

Time and again I was reminded of a passage by Chesterton describing pessimism and optimism. 

He spoke of the two evils of pessimism and optimism. The evil of pessimism is not merely that one chastises but that one does not love what he chastises. The evil of optimism is the willingness to defend the indefensible in that which one loves. 1

Both are a vice and both show their face in ugly ways. 

The vast majority of the participants played in these two camps. The senators lined up, the media lined up, and the people lined up as well.

When the Ford accusation came out, one side, at its worst, took it as an opportunity to attack Kavanaugh, whom they had already decided to hate.  The other side, at its worst, took to defending the accusation as no big deal, if it was true, or deriding the process.

Few seemed to care about what was true.  And what is true matters profoundly. I did not see many thoughtfully and carefully weighing accusations or reports. I saw any and all thrown as bombs to hurt and defame.

I did not see much kindness toward Ford. I saw a woman's pain being used as a tool on national screens. I saw deep hurt, pain, and trauma thrown into a public arena instead of being walked through in a private place. What a shame. We should be better than that.

I saw a man strive to defend himself, his name, to an audience that seemed to care more about the political expedience than the plausibility.

I saw great examples of pessimism and optimism. Two examples for how to live and respond. Thankfully, our choice is not a binary one. We are often told that it is. "Pick a side." But in this case, as with many others, their is a third option: realism.

Realism, a la Chesteron, is a desire for the truth. It is characterized by a vigorous effort to find it and a courage to stand with it. It also seems that the realists are less often the cynics and more often the kind ones. More often, the ones that talk with nuance and experience heartbreak in the midst of complicated situations. 

I long for the realists. The ones that see the broken people and hurt for them. The ones that long for truth and not just political points. The ones that will not allow the cultural moment to sweep them away and dictate their thoughts and actions, regardless of which side they belong to. I long for the ones that care about what happened, in any situation. I long for the ones that keep their eyes clear. 

These fights will not end. The past couple weeks have been escalated and vicious. There may be a hiatus but you can be sure this gridiron game will happen again.

And when that day comes it will be shouted again, "There are two teams. Two tribes. You must pick one."

As one who knows the maker of the universe and the mystery of Christ, I am responsible to search for truth. I do not get the luxury, or handicap, of being given a political playbook and a team jersey. 

Instead, I will sift for what is true, painstaking as that may be, and endeavor to stand there. Even though both sides will be shouting and demanding a binary choice. 

I have attached a video of one speech I noticed that longed for realism. If you know of others, regardless of party affiliation, I would like to see it.

  1. Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy, New York, Dover, 2004. page 61 ff

Three Minutes of the Beginning

I recently read two great books that deal with the beginning of the universe. One is a book of science and one a study in ancient hebrew texts.

 The First Three Minutes 

The First 3 Minutes is a fascinating walkthrough, by Steven Weinberg, of some of the observations and discoveries that explain to us the movement and expanding of the universe and also it's temperature.

With these observations established he explains how the first 3 minutes of the universe probably took place. A mass of energy, quickly moving, and incredibly hot. From that first minute that mass of energy expanded and cooled.

Those cooling atoms began to connect and form the lightest of molecules and, as they became cooler and slower, combined to become the heavier of molecules.

For most of the reading of this book, I could not help but think, "What a fascinating idea about the beginning of the universe."

The argument seem reasonable and likely.

My only disappointment was Weinberg's start and end of the book. He started describing religious creation myths and cited, as an example, the Viking cosmic cow myth. He then went on to explain that we can toss those ideas aside because of observations of heat and speed of the universe.

It is an unfair to use such a straw man for "myths". Not to mention that he explains in the middle of his book that he is not able to talk about the very beginning of the first 3 minutes. He does not know where the energy came from. This seems like a poor time to throw out some of the more reasonable "myths"

 Genesis Bound

My second book was John Sailhamer's book Genesis Unbound. Sailhamer, an imminent Hebrew scholar, does a slow walk through the first two chapters of Genesis (the Christian/Jewish creation "myth").

He sought to address some of the confusion present in the interpretation of the Genesis creation story.

Many interpreters have difficulty and misunderstanding trying to make sense of the 2 chapters and also speak coherently in a scientific manner.

It was particularly elucidating to read that the Hebrew vocabulary, often translated heavens and or earth, is better translated sky and or land. This frames the 6 days of creation as, actually, a week of preparation of a land that would be a major character throughout the rest of the Torah (first five books of the Bible).

He seeks too press into the ancient text to answer the questions the text sought to answer. He, as a result, is faithful to the text and does not need to resort to anti-intellectualism to make sense of the text.

Sailhamer did not reject the idea that the Judeo/Christian God created the entire universe. For him, that particular truth was relegated to Gen 1:1-2 and the preparation comes after that. He does not speculate how the universe was created or how quickly.

I found, with his explanation, the thrust of Genesis and the next four books becomes even more clear and thrilling as a narrative. And, unlike as it had been for me in the past, the first two chapters were no longer disconnected thematically from the rest of the Torah.

With these two books put together I can see a possible explanation for how God created the entirety of the universe: with a massive, hot, and quick ball of rapidly expanding energy. And also a further description of the intimacy of God who prepared a particular land so that he could pursue a people to love.

I have an incredibly creative and close God. One who can make a universe, in all its wonder, and pursue a people and individuals for real relationship with him. And because it is true. I don't have to dispose of reason to have a whole picture.

I will continue to seek and understand and I am glad to have read both of these books as they both endeavored to fill in a piece of the picture.

I would highly recommend both of these books in the conversation of cosmos.

A Prayer For My Son

Father,

Keller Clement Estep

Thank you for this son. It is grace to be given the responsibility to father him.

Take a hold of his heart early and decisively. Show him that you are the Creator and King of the universe and give him a confidence that is unwavering in that truth.

Grant my words and actions a clarity that elucidates rather than confuses a proper understanding of how you have ordered the world. As he looks at me may he more clearly see how I follow the example of Jesus and may the stumblings be limited and kept from him for copying.

Grant him, in his character, his name sake. May he be daring and courageous. Not just in physical endeavors but in walking in line with what you have revealed as true and noble. May he be courageous to stand in truth even if the world seeks to drown him out with shouts of lies. Let him know that when he stands with truth he stands with you.

Make him also a man of mercy. Those who have courage and confidence in truth often have a proclivity to hardness and a callous heart. Let him know justice but also mercy, responding as Yahweh, merciful and gracious.

May his life be one that points others to the redeemer of the world, Jesus, and may he direct with a courageous and merciful stance.

The rest of my life will be praying that you will raise my son up in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and men. Give me no time to doubt that you are working in and with his life.

Always to the glory of God. 

The Mismeasure of Measurement

In the Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould delivers a thorough and convincing argument, debunking many of history's faulty attempts at "measuring" and "ranking" mankind.

Science has been used for poor ends throughout its existence and needs skeptical and faithful scientists to do the work of confirming or debunking the studies that have come before.Through the "truths" of science the discrimination of men and women of darker skin color has been justified and deemed reasonable because of the bolstering of science. Criminals and the less intelligent have been slated for forced sterilization on the foundations of scientific findings.

Gould endeavors to show that our prior categorizing of people has been faulty. He describes and debunks past scientists' attempts to rank intelligences and value based on a people group's intelligences, skull sizes, brain sizes, criminal status, color, or IQ tests.

Gould does the testing and skeptical work of the scientific method work effectively and convincingly. He also brings a sense of justice to long-skewed beliefs.

Gould restores justice by redeeming the use of science to protect people rather than categorize them for nefarious ends. Where others have wield the method for discriminating outworkings, Gould properly applies it and lifts our understanding of the value of people back to its proper place.

Distance is a helpful partner in Gould's work. Much time has elapsed since these arguments were published, made popular, supported funding, and came and went as standard thinking. With distance, Gould was able to impartially look at how the experiments were conducted and where the faults were missed or ignored. 

I agree with the need for skepticism but it seems to lack the necessary sharpness the closer to the present we do the examining.

For more than a decade there has been a surge in popularity of science, on the lay level, fueling, and being fueled by, a plethora of popular level science books expounding on experiments in psychology, business, nutrition, and many others areas. Unfortunately, these books are published so quickly, or findings proclaimed on TV or podcasts, that many only hear the initial discovery and rarely hear the later clarification or debunking after the experiment is retried for verification. At this point, the finding has already been applied, or process and system reorganized, to account of the discovery.

In the past 10 years, I have heard amazing new studies, and have even tried to apply them, only to hear them later listed as unreproducible, and thus faulty, a couple years later. While I applaud the skepticism and scientific method that debunked the false claim I am wary of the uncritical love of science that proclaimed the "finding" before it was validated and confirmed.

At the end of the book, after summarily debunking the measurers, Gould reminds us of the need of skepticism in science. This should be met with wholehearted agreement and, in response, we need more scientists to join the ranks and engage the method with skepticism and a firm desire to find the truths of the universe. 

Let's verify and confirm our findings before we use them, and whatever practical ends they recommend, lest we be the laughable generation in a Gould style book a generation from now.

The scientific method is a wonderful tool. Let’s use all of its steps to search the universe for the answers of its workings.