Physical Unreality

When a physical event occurs, such as a medical diagnosis, we're always so sure of the fact, as if the condition is permanent. Yet even the most persistent conditions are often cured. They turn out to be impermanent after all.

We give so much credibility to what our eyes can see, but the world is actually unpredictable and unstable, not as concrete as we imagine. Change is the essence of physical reality. Change may take awhile, but rest assured, what seems permanent now shall be radically different in a matter of time.

On the other hand, with messages from God or prophetic dreams, we tend to double, triple, and quadruple check, then we still doubt. We like to give "logical" explanations for spiritual experiences, reasoning that they must be due to some physical event such as eating too much or not sleeping enough. Even if these explanations have no basis in fact, they seem more plausible than a spiritual experience.

Yet in retrospect the signs and premonitions turn out to be right after all, even after physical reality betrays us.

Searching for Agape

When I see how people long so much for love and acceptance that they spend their lives keeping up an appearance of "perfection" in front of others, I am struck with sadness.

For many people, sites like Facebook and Instagram provide ways to seek the approval of "friends" who are really hardly more than strangers. Though social media doesn't appeal to me, who can't relate to wanting acceptance and appreciation? Longing to be loved is an essential aspect of our nature. We all long for the love of God and fellowship with others, but this becomes tangled with the pride of our fallen nature.

Many of us spend our lives trying to obtain worth through outward beauty and accomplishments, indications of success as defined by this world. We seek "success" through the favorable opinions of fellow broken creatures who are often fickle and petty. The few who manage to obtain the appreciation of mankind -- celebrities, for example -- are they happy?

What if a truly successful life looks a bit different from obtaining what our culture has taught us to value?

Alpha and Omega: Names of God

God is...Abba (Father). Banner of Salvation (Isaiah 11:10). Christ. David's Lord. Elohim. First and Last (Alpha and Omega). God of Heaven and Earth. Hosanna. I AM. Jehovah. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Love. Mighty One. Nazarene (Mark 16:6). One True God. Prince of Peace. Quick to Forgive (Proverbs 19:11). Risen Lord. Spirit of Adoption. Truth. Ultimate. Vast. Wonderful Counselor. Xenogeneic. Yahweh. Zealous.

When creating an alphabetical list of God's names, I dreaded approaching the letter x. Sometimes I wonder why that letter exists, since it is so rarely used and quite redundant with z (at the beginning of words) and cs or ks or cks to take its place in most instances (though x does look cooler).

The list of adjectives starting with x is very short, and I didn't want to use a word like extreme because that seems dishonest.

However, the word xenogeneic -- which is so rarely used that my computer underlines it with a red line -- actually describes God quite well. The definition is "originating outside of the organism, or from a foreign substance that has been introduced into the organism" or "the supposed production of offspring completely unlike either parent." For instance, xenogeneic transplantation is the scientific term for organ donation or blood transfusion. When God enters the life of a person, he or she becomes a new creation; just as a blood transfusion saves a person's life, Christ's blood saves us and gives us new life.