Over in one of the corners of my mom’s house sits a grandfather clock. She had had it since 1980. If you asked me if I like the clock I would have to say yes and no. “No” because the chiming that takes place every quarter hour simply annoys me. I don’t know why, it just does. “Yes” because there has always been something mesmerizing about watching the pendulum swing back and forth.
The pendulum has weight at the bottom of it that causes it to swing to and fro under the action of gravity. Since I started following Jesus some 40 plus years ago I’ve seen many pendulums of spiritual truth swing from one end to the other. In the late 1960s and 70s there was the Jesus Movement that sprung up as a result of young people wanting some more real and genuine than the stuffy suit-and-tie hymnbook religion of their parents. There was the word of faith movement that rose up as a reaction to a passive, whatever-will-be-will-be religion. We saw the home school/Christian school movement grow as a reaction to public education and God being “removed” from it. I won’t take the time to mention the political pendulums that have swung to and fro. I’ve been a part of each of these swings and many more.
But alas, the pendulum swings again to the other side as a reaction to a truth turned heresy, a reclaiming of something important to the neglect of something else equally important. The pendulum only stops when it ceases to react. When it is centered and still, only then is it held by that gravity.
The gravity that holds me is The Truth. Not a truth, but The Truth Himself. Jesus. God Himself as revealed in His Son. Going back to the simplicity of the gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and embarking on a more contemplative way of thinking and praying has empowered me to begin the climb down from the pendulum.
Gone are the Fox News junkie days of watching the know-it-all pundits yelling at each other as I sit in my chair hoping my side gets the upper hand in the debate. Here to stay is a new way of seeing. This contemplative way has required an “unknowing” on my part that is strangely new, yet strangely comfortable. I will be sharing more about this contemplative way in some future blogs.
Stay tuned…
Kevin