Now I might not be able to present this straight, but I shall have a go. { I have been listening to Dr David Field on an MP3 of the 2007 Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church (AAPC) conference. If your appetite is whetted, you could download it from the website like I did (only $1.99 each).}
The latest phenomenal thought which has gripped me (it's been being built up a bit at a time - I don't quite know where it is going to END yet!) is this:
we live our lives as though what we do here is a kind of test - to see, not whether we can actually gain entrance to Heaven - not if we're Calvinists - but to see where we will fit in when we get there. How about this : we've been WRONG in thinking this way. This approach leads us to the 'grin and bear it' approach to niggles and aggravations (personal or impersonal) and we just turn our eyes heavenwards and say something like 'how long o Lord' (ask me how I KNOW that?). How about, instead, everything here is a rehearsal - we know we're going to be in the performance. Daily we have various 'strengthening - exercises' (which often seem meaningless in themselves) as well as actual 'lines to learn' (the purpose of which it is easier to comprehend) and ALL of it is IMPORTANT. So (are you there Lucy?) the next time I am at a filter traffic light which has forgotten to change while all around have been through three cycles already, in a queue where the till has temporarily stalled, or the staff are about to slowly change over, or the child is unwilling to let go of the package he is clutching and which needs to be scanned before the previous customer can be finished...., I shall KNOW that it is not only a meaningful skill, but a meaningful event - something which is going to be of value HERE and HEREAFTER, the Praise of His Glorious Grace. Of couse when I am listening to lectures, reading books, singing hymns, catechising my children, worshipping God, advising distressed or struggling mothers, I shall see that they, also, have eternal significance - NOT just because they served the 'supreme' purpose of 'preaching the Gospel' (directly or just 'as a good witness') but because these things, in some way, will be remembered and become causes of eternal praise to God throughout the endless ages of eternity. WOW!
The practical and life-changing dimension of this is that I can feel much more positive (and less frustrated and victimised) when I encounter the people (and their actions) which distress and chafe my soul. Maybe (and I will have to think about this one) this is the key to 'esteeming others better than ourselves' - even when we are looking at someone who is EVIDENTLY an angry rotter (say) or a theiving liar (say). What I love about Theology is twofold - I get closer to my Divine creator and learn better to Praise and appreciate Him AND I learn to understand (or even when I don't understand with my head, I can still TRUST - which is understanding with my heart) why I'm here and why things are how they are.
Praising the Lord....