March 25: God Created Humans with a Free Will
♫ Music:
Monday, March 25
God Created Humans with a Free Will
Scripture: Joshua 24:14-15
Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Poetry:
Boundary Condition
by Caoilinn Hughes
From the platform, iron iterates way into time.
The tracks are staples intervaled along my father’s spine.
Before me might be somebody’s father, waited for — white
choker of a condor, dry lips of lifelong acolyte.
I barely brush his arm, so as not to make him start.
Who knows how he might play out: cave in, tear apart?
He deeds toward me, wet wood breakable. All in all
of direst bark. This is how it starts, at last, I recall.
“I thought you were someone, otherwise.”
The rail lines rattle like beetle files.
He frowns. Establishes his palms.
“Tell me. Does that happen often, lamb?”
FEARFUL FREEDOM
Freedom is a great gift. It is one of the mysteries that makes us persons. God created us for his own reasons. He gave us this freedom. We have the kind of self-determination that allows us to bear moral obligation. We can choose to enter and stand in relationship. We can choose to walk away. We have been created, but in a sense, we have been given the gift of completing God’s creation task by the choices we make. Who I am and whom I will become is to a significant degree in my own hands. Freedom makes us bearers of obligation. It makes us bearers of the divine image. Freedom is a great gift.
Freedom is a great but terrible gift. I walk the razor’s edge between the Baal’s of my heart and the Lord of all things. Would God place such a fragile treasure in these trembling hands? Can I bear the burden of such choice? Why does my heart go after the worthless things? Why am I enticed by this darkness? I know my destiny lies in whichever path I choose, and I choose each day. Each day I choose. The moment of choice often passes in the whirl of noise on my way to work and family and that list of deeds I must accomplish. Freedom is a great but terrible gift.
Freedom is a great but fearful gift. Can it be evil in my sight to serve the Lord? What could be more fearful? Can my sight be so crooked? Am I turned so fully towards myself that I am blind to the fact that God is my great good? Can I see clearly enough to put away those gods- gods whom my fathers served; gods whom I have served? It is a fearful thing to recognize the choice before me. Freedom is a great but fearful gift.
But today, today I choose. Today, I fear the Lord; I put away the gods; I choose whom I will serve. The text calls to me to do these things today. Today, I fear. Today, I put away. Today, I choose. I fear displeasing the one who is my great good. I put away those things that are empty. I choose my path of surrender.
Today I choose the freedom of surrender.
Prayer:
Oh Lord, You have given me the great but terrible gift of freedom; the great but fearful gift of choosing whom I will serve. Those other gods are empty. You are Life Itself. To surrender to you, Lord of my life, is Freedom. Help me fear you. Help me put away those other gods. Help me choose each day the freedom of surrender. ‘For from you and through you and to you areallthings. To you be glory forever.
Amen.
(Romans 11:36)
Dr. Gregory E. Ganssle
Professor of Philosophy
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day,we have provided resources under the “About”tab located next to the “Devotional”tab.
About the Artwork:
Walking Away, 2017
Superhero Series
Stephen Eric Lee (E. LEE)
Mural on brick alley wall
Wicker Park Neighborhood, Chicago, Illinois
This mural found in Chicago’s Wicker Park Neighborhood was one of the art projects commissioned in the city by Lyft.com, the on-demand transportation company. Artist Stephen Lee says of the piece: “I wandered past this space and realized it would be perfect, Lyft contacted me to be a part of their [art] tour. They loved the idea. Things rarely come together so effortlessly.” With his Superhero Series, Lee explores the way we see popular cultural heroes, such as Superman and Spiderman, in situations where they become vulnerable. Their struggle provokes a sense of identification, but also the hope that we can overcome pain and adversity.
About the Artist:
Stephen Eric Lee, better known as E. LEE, is a visual artist living and working in Chicago. He received his B.F.A in painting with a secondary in printmaking from Millikin University in 2002. He has shown in Chicago and Paris, and created public works in the U.S.,UK, Japan, the Netherlands, and Spain. E.LEE's love of art history is apparent as he applies a minimalist esthetic and Trompe L'oeil techniques to our popular culture images. His Superhero Series captures our childhood heroes during their most vulnerable moments. Stripping the context from iconic comic book scenes, each superhero's story is reduced down to a single raw emotion. Seeing ourselves in their struggle allows us not only to identify with their pain but also with their power and ability to overcome. He lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Stay up to date with E.LEE at WorksByELEE.com or _E.LEE_ on Instagram.
About the Music:
“You Are Not What You Think You Are - Rival Consoles Remix” from the album Erased Tapes Collection IV
About the Composers and the Performers:
Codes in the Clouds are a British band consisting of Ciaran Morahan, Stephen Peeling, Jack Major, and Joe Power. Their heartfelt instrumental rock music is a perfect fit for cinematic music label Erased Tapes. The group weaves guitar melodies with an alluring and versatile combination of qualities: melancholic yet uplifting; polished yet unhinged; delicate yet powerful. Through relentless touring and determination, this band has steadily gained recognition since signing to Erased Tapes in 2007. Their first single Distant Street Lights / Fractures won instant acclaim and their debut album Paper Canyon (2009) gathered the band an international fan base and critical acclaim. Their much anticipated second studio album As The Spirit Wanes was released in 2011.
About the Poet:
Caoilinn Hughes is an Irish writer whose poetry collection Gathering Evidence (2014) won the Irish Times Shine/Strong Award and the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award. She is a fellow of the James Merrill Foundation, the Bogliasco Foundation, the Tin House Workshop, and has received a Literature Bursary Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. Her work has appeared in Tin House, Granta, POETRY, Best British Poetry, BBC Radio 3 and elsewhere. She has just recently published her debut novel Orchid and the Wasp. She divides her time between the Netherlands and Ireland.
About the Devotional Writer:
Dr. Greg E. Ganssle
Professor of Philosophy
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
Greg Ganssle teaches and researches mostly in the Philosophy of Religion and has authored three books. His most recent is Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations (IVP 2017).