{"id":865,"date":"2017-06-30T23:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-07-01T04:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=865"},"modified":"2017-08-24T20:03:23","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T01:03:23","slug":"more-where-that-came-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=865","title":{"rendered":"More Where That Came From"},"content":{"rendered":"

[The poem] \u201cMythopoeia\u201d was inspired by the 19 September 1931 conversation in which [J.R.R.] Tolkien and [Hugo] Dyson convinced [C.S.] Lewis that the Christian story is a myth that \u201creally happened.\u201d\u2026This conversation changed the course of Lewis\u2019s life. It also clarified and solidified Tolkien\u2019s concept of sub-creation, his conviction that human creativity is a reflection of the Divine. This poem contains his most eloquent expression of this concept:<\/em><\/p>\n

man, sub-creator, the refracted light<\/em>
\nthrough whom is splintered from a single White<\/em>
\nto many hues, and endlessly combined<\/em>
\nin living shapes that move from mind to mind.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings, Diana Pavlac Glyer, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

I think J.R R. Tolkien was on to something, and I\u2019m not the first to think so. A very practical disciple named James, who wrote a letter a couple of thousand years before Tolkien, put it this way, \u201cEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.\u201d<\/del> A lot of translators qualify the word \u201clights,\u201d rendering it \u201cthe heavenly lights.\u201d But the Greek doesn\u2019t hint at that meaning. It reads simply, \u201cho phos.\u201d<\/em> The lights. The Father of the lights.<\/p>\n

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told a crowd of people, \u201cYou are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Light shines indiscriminately. A lamp doesn\u2019t care who\u2019s in the room; it just does its thing. Likewise, the sun and the moon and the stars shine on everyone, deserving or not. Indeed, later in that beautiful sermon, Jesus said, \u201c\u2026I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be the sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s tragic, really, that as a group, we Christians are better known for making rules than streaming light. Rules are about Religion, with a capital R. But light, well, light\u2019s about love and grace and generosity. Light is good. \u201cShine a light on it,\u201d we say, when we want to make sense of a thing. Light helps people see what they\u2019re doing. People can work in the light. They can play in the light. Light wakes folks up.<\/p>\n

About 40 years ago, Pastor Jack Hayford taught a series of messages called “Released Unto Resource Fullness.” I expect they are available in the digital library<\/a>. In one of the messages, Pastor Hayford told the story of visiting a church that had a really good pianist. During the worship service, this pianist played a chord, a progression of notes, that Pastor Hayford had never heard before. He\u2019s a musician himself, so he went to the pianist after the service and asked him to show him the chord. \u201cOh, no,\u201d the brother said. \u201cThat\u2019s mine.\u201d Pastor Hayford said he thought the man was joking, but he was not.<\/p>\n

The point of Pastor Hayford\u2019s message was not the man\u2019s stinginess, but that God, whose abundance is without measure, at least any human measure, has an endless supply of goodies to pass to us and through us. Our part is to be willing to give it away with generous hands, as Jesus did when he fed a crowd of hungry followers. As a young boy did, when he willingly gave to the Lord his lunch of a few fish and bits of bread. Thousands were sated, with leftovers. Lots and lots of leftovers. Plenty for everyone. \u00a0Indeed, Jesus plainly said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” So there you have it.\u00a0Abundance with a capital A.<\/p>\n

Close-fistedness manifests in many ways, from the cook who won\u2019t share her secret recipe to the drug company whose medicine is priced exorbitantly high because of greed. None of it is helpful, and none of it is godly. I pray we recognize we are all, at best, recipients of God\u2019s goodness and light, and that we become better ministers of it to others. This I pray, beginning with myself.<\/p>\n

After all, there is always more where that came from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[The poem] \u201cMythopoeia\u201d was inspired by the 19 September 1931 conversation in which [J.R.R.] Tolkien and [Hugo] Dyson convinced [C.S.] Lewis that the Christian story is a myth that \u201creally happened.\u201d\u2026This conversation changed the course of Lewis\u2019s life. It also … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Mo02-dX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1741,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1741","url_meta":{"origin":865,"position":0},"title":"Lost that Lovin\u2019 Feelin\u2019","author":"lsimonds","date":"January 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cDear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. 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I\u2019d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2023"","block_context":{"text":"2023","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=24"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":258,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=258","url_meta":{"origin":865,"position":1},"title":"Close of Business","author":"lsimonds","date":"December 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cFor the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life.\u201d Proverbs 6:23 In his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire, a nation on the brink of war, King George VI quoted an excerpt from a 1908 poem by Minnie Louise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2012"","block_context":{"text":"2012","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":481,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=481","url_meta":{"origin":865,"position":2},"title":"Jacked Up","author":"lsimonds","date":"August 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThey do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable.\u201d Psalm 82:5 The clay of north central Texas is known to expand and contract, hence no basements to be found around here. 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