Of Puzzles and Mysteries

Of Puzzles and Mysteries

I’ve come to learn some important distinctions in my life.

Things like the difference between discernment and judgment.[i] When we experience hurtful situations, it’s not like we don’t see flaws in difficult people.

But God looks at our response.

Discernment shows you have love in your heart, when it comes to understanding others. You can choose to pray instead of gossip. With discernment, we make better decisions.

Judgment carries the tone of condemnation and usually signals very little love. It leads to harsh words, name-calling and stereotyping.

If we resist judging others, God seems to increase our discernment—and not just the earthly kind. Rather, wisdom from above.

Funny how two words like that are used interchangeably. In my life, knowing the difference resulted in a new spiritual discipline—flipping negative thoughts into positive prayers.[ii] Though I still have to work at it, the effort changed my perspective.

iStock_000001825454SmallRecently, I learned a new and important distinction—the difference between puzzles and mysteries. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this idea in his book, What The Dog Saw.

For example, he said that national security expert Gregory Treverton famously pointed out that Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts had been a puzzle. We couldn’t find him because we didn’t have enough information. We needed more puzzle pieces.

In contrast, what would become of Iraq if our military removed Saddam Hussein from power? That would be a mystery. “It wasn’t a question with a simple, factual answer.”Continue reading

The Gamble

The Gamble

If you’ve been following my posts on Fyodor Dostoevsky, here is the final and perhaps the best one. Last week I challenged readers to read the famous chapter, “The Grand Inquisitor,” from Dostoevsky’s crowning achievement–an epic novel called, The Brothers Karamazov. It’s so remarkable that complete copies of the chapter are available online.

I wept, reading it again. I always do, even though it is a fantastical story in a fictional novel. Take a moment now in your busy week and ponder the deep questions in this famous piece of writing…

Imagine the wonder of Jesus returning to the earth. Not as promised in all His glory—yet. Rather, just to see what’s become of us in the interim, in the long lapse of time that started when He said, “Behold, I come quickly.”

The Seal for the Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition

The Seal for the Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition

The sub-story is set in Spain at the time of the Inquisition, a forceful suppression of religious freedom, punishable by death. Jesus came in ordinary clothes to the hot pavement of Seville, which on the day before, a hundred heretics had been burned by order of the Grand Inquisitor. Dostoevsky initially paints a beautiful scene…Continue reading

Furnace of Doubt

Furnace of Doubt

“I believe in Christ and confess Him not like some child; my hosanna has passed through an enormous furnace of doubt.”

– Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky as young manOrphaned at age seventeen, Dostoevsky had his whole life before him. Though he graduated from a military engineering school, honoring his father’s wishes, he did not want to be an engineer. With a small income from his father’s estate, Dostoevsky devoted himself to writing and achieved instant notoriety with the publication of his first novel, Poor Folk. That success gave him access to intellectual and literary circles in St. Petersburg, where he became involved in the sociopolitical issues of the day.

Now watch as God dramatically intervened in his circumstances…

Dostoevsky joined the Petrashevsky Circle, a utopian socialist group that secretly published propaganda against the Russian Tsar. In April 1849, he and others were arrested for sedition and sentenced to death. While he waited in prison for his execution, a small group of women brought him a New Testament. As he pored over the Gospel accounts, a profound shift occurred in his understanding of life.

Dostoevsky mock executionBut after eight long months in prison, execution day came in late December. Blindfolded and stripped, the first three prisoners were tied to stakes. Dostoevsky stood with the next group of three, waiting. A firing squad took aim. At the very last moment,Continue reading