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| |  | Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of m�agine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.
Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.�
Do you know someone
who might benefit
from our weekly email?
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The anonymous author of the New Testament's Hebrews epistle--okay, take a breath--curiously reported: "Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered" (5:8). Casual readers might assume the Father found it necessary to scourge Jesus into submission, nay, compliance. The truth, however, is far more deferential to Jesus and compelling to his disciples.
Consider the roots of our English word "obedience." As the fabled Spanish swordsman Inigo Montoya once challenged, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." The English word "obedience" comes from the Latin word audiere meaning, "to listen." (Think "audio"; the Greek supports this interpretation, as well.) Obedience is less about compliant resignation and more about attentiveness, or intentional mindfulness. We become that to which, or to whom, we listen. We are, as Pennington describes, "a listening."
And then there's suffering. The Greek word translated "suffered" in Hebrews 5:8 originally described a unique sensory experience, devoid of judgment. It is neither good nor ill; it simply is. We, however, attach tremendous judgment to pain and pleasure. We resist pain and pursue pleasure. What would it look like to reframe both pain and pleasure simply as unique sensory experiences that awaken our senses from life's white noise? Unique sensory experiences that call us forth to live with intentional mindfulness? To listen?
Jesus, then, in the days of his flesh learned--not merely intellectually, but experientially--what is required to live attentively, with intentional mindfulness--to turn up the volume on the holy, while turning down the volume on the profane, the common.
And, sometimes--as Jesus discovered--it takes a lot to get our attention, to encourage us to adjust the volume, or even to change stations. C.S. Lewis observed, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His mega-phone to rouse a deaf world."
Listen.
Think of the scripture's emphasis on themes such as looking, seeing, listening, heeding, attending, awaking, arising and other similar motifs. All of these themes are consistent with living attentively, with intentional mindfulness.
If you're feeling ambitious and up for a bit of research, try this..Jesus declared in the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the pure in heart." What's the meaning of this foundational truth? (Again, "I do not think it means what you think it means.") What's its relevance to this post?
Contemplate the transforming power of pain and pleasure. Distinctive sensory experiences made Jesus more fully a partaker in human nature and make us more fully partakers of the divine nature. How cool is that?
Okay, this next inquiry requires you to go "deep see fishing": how is it ironic when a parent, in exasperation, demands of a child, "Pay attention!"? What's really happening? What's the learning?
What's the tragedy when suffering merely compels us to focus on our own "stuff"?
Postscript: In the context of his observation that Jesus "learned obedience from the things he suffered," the writer of Hebrews added, "In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest"--our merciful and faithful High Priest (5:9; 2:17). And, "since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested" (2:17-18).
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Michael Fox
m�agine!
530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241 |
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In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--
as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.
Michael's books include
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.
Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.
Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.
View our archives!
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