(an ADHD day) More Than Normal... the ReBo... if only-

Today has been my ADHD day [more than normal]... I have chosen not to attempt to focus in and work on what 'ought' to be worked on... instead spastically reading, listening, thinking, and helping Telly clean and do chores as she needed... Otherwise I just followed paths of thought where they went... it has been a creative, learning, motivational, inspirational, devotional, and even worshipful day.  


Example--- have you ever wondered what a bohemian is? or how it might relate to the mission of Christ?


define: bohemian 
[boh-hee-mee-uhn] (BoHo-informal)  a person, as an artist or writer, who lives and acts free of regard for conventional rules and practices, usually in pursuit of artistic or spiritual interests.  
[as opposed to the Bourgeois who are marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity] 


Yeah- so I reject that definition.  Even more so, I discard the need to label such creatives or even assume they can't 'fit in' to regular society.  This misses the reality that they are in fact beyond convention and normality and so often actually end up defining culture by excelling to its leadership. 


The problem is most of them then sell-out for influence or settle (mentally and artistically) for the BoBo life.  BoBo's are Bourgeois Bohemians, the Champagne Socialists as it were who possess both great faculties and relative means, but lack the motivation to achieve any expression of meaning.   So they then live out a life of relative ease of thought and action without artistic merit by abusing their giftings to feed only their comfort, but just enough not to feel guilty - to keep the peace, without any concern for any particular viewpoint - to make everyone equal, so no one has anything great to do or say.    


In Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche calls this type of man, the 'last man'... it is his antithetical example to his ideal 'superman', the 'last man' is an outrageous opposite meant to rail against the idea that we should ever create a society that should fall so far we can never then produce great and creative people, but only these 'last men' who have no passion, no commitment, "who merely earn a living and keep warm." You might know, Nietzsche as famous for writing about God's death, but oddly in his writing his main thought is that we have killed God, you and I, by our lack of faith and belief in such a Being as having any real meaning for our lives as we would 'live' them. 


Oh, but isn't all this just a sad picture of the American church... graced beyond grace, blessed with redemption, education, freedom, and finances - for what, but- to sit on that, -- their backside firmly in the pew without a concept of what to do.   Come on Sunday (some, but not too often), sing a song (but not too loudly or proudly), hear a lesson with a nice moral and story to make us smile and approximate what we think is laughter or happiness.  Living lives of quiet desperation because we have all we need or so we tell ourselves. Happy to not express anything more than our fineness, respectability, and acceptability  - otherwise we might seem oddly apart from the rest of the good sheep... like those other weirdos who 'go on Mission'... we pay people to do that here don't we?  and we don't have leaders around here... there aren't servants or shepherds (surely not those who are both at the same time), but just people like us <blink>.  Could these be the 'last people' of the church?  Where then are the 'Übermensch' - those that are more than mediocre, *More Than Normal or beyond the everyday, the SUPERNATURAL?  No we haven't killed God (as if we could), but we sure do live our daily lives as if He's dead don't we... at the very least we 'live' as if we are dead - to Him anyway.  'Last men' as we are.


By the way wasn't there a Shepherd who went in search of some lost sheep and asked us to do as much?


What then of the Redeemed Bohemian? (the ReBo!)
The follower of Christ who has no regard for the ways of this world or even the conventional methods and means of 'doing' church.  Rather, an intellectual mind dedicated to contemplating the unfathomable depths of God's righteousness and holiness.  A powerful & dynamic leader reduced to relying solely on Christ's mercy and grace for their strength and power.  The deeply creative expressive artist who is capable of breaking into the frame of popular reference and redirecting attention out of that box to where it belongs - the Creator of artistic expression.  This ReBo, a servant leader truly willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of the Message; a person of sorrows so unyielding in their despair over the worthlessness of all pursuits except Jesus to be undaunted by rejection from the world that they are in fact emboldened by it.   With a heart so wholly convinced of the need and necessity to be on the mission of Christ and so wholly committed to reaching the dull hearts and minds, that they are enlivened with the Spirit of life so much so that they are willing to become all things to all people so that all might hear and know Christ more fully.  Yet these ReBo are so brutally honest with themselves that they know even their own expression for such is beneath futile when compared to that infinite Creator.  Still they are continuously willing to slavishly profess faith and proclaim the Gospel with each breath, stroke of their pen, and click of the keys.  If only there were actually some like this, having truly encountered Christ and so been created new as to be worthy of being called a ReBorn Creation.


Yes, all the gods (the idols) which I have created for my worship must die, I must smash them myself by His aide for this Son of Man (the great I AM) that is more than man to be found wholly... and this man (the sad one I am) who is less than God to be found Holy. All my man-made moralities must die and be replaced with the life of the One True Over~man - Christ.   If only we wanted more of the ReBo, than the Tebow - when it came to our conception of a 'super-man.'  If only our need for conformity was to be conformed to the image of Christ.  For the ReBo to become so, I might kneel and submit - in fact I must.


(Now I know how Nietzsche felt!  Being able to conceive of a 'super-man,' which he could never possibly be.  Praise Christ it relies on His work in me, rather than me, but that ReBo, that really might be, something to see - even if only - in Glory, when we, are finally, free.)

Bohemian Rhapsody - (so bourgeois)

The lament of all that is lost >>> nothing really matters... Even the Bible records Solomon saying "“Meaningless! Meaningless!” “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Freddie and Queen sing: "Is it real or is it fantasy... any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me..." because who knows anything?

What a sad life to just end in failure and death... makes one, "wish I'd never been born at all"
Solomon continues on "Better than both [living & dead] is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. Ecclesiastes 4:3"

I can understand when in such a state, how one's very soul could beg...
Bismilah... let me go!
bismi-llāhi [r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm] (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم)
"In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful". --- just let me go from this empty life.

Praise Jesus that He is indeed the most gracious and merciful, the Name above all Names - God come in the flesh to bring us back to Himself and make all of it meaningful. He will not let you go, He will hold you no matter which way the wind blows.

In the end, Beelzebub and the devil, even death are put aside ... they are the Scaramouche... thunderbolts and lightning... very very frightening... but a distraction, they are buffoons meant to be laughed at in comparison to the real story of the might of God and redeeming power of Christ

Embrace Christ not meaninglessness or fear, that song has a happier ending than this one - just ask Freddie if nothing really matters.

[You just thought it was a cool song didn't you, never even wondered what a Scaramouche might be or Bismilah actually meant did ya... and yet have you, based on your limited knowledge, rejected the truth of the Bible and the Creator...? just say'n - might be beyond your qualifications.]

Artistic Partiality

A sculptor once laid his hammer & chisel on the ground, knelt quietly at the bottom of a large brick of granite, and asked God for a vision of a work that would express the majesty of the Lord’s Sovereignty, the grace of Christ’s love, and the mission of all who believed to so share that same message.  As the artist sat quietly in prayer, an image of what must be removed and what must remain began to slowly form in his heart and mind.  He began to reach for the hammer and chisel, but was stopped by the man who had given him the raw material for the work – he wanted to know what it would look like so he could tell a group who managed the arts project and they could approve of the final form.

The artist tried to explain, but not only were words not enough, no one seemed to care.  He could draw only parts of it and study models did not do it justice.  More than this, almost everyone that it was shown or explained to would add their view or concern or idea and very soon it was becoming something altogether different than the artist had seen in his mind.  He decided to try to find another place to do the work, but several of the people involved asked him to reconsider saying they would help to maintain the integrity of the work, especially one particular man who seemed to understand the vision.  With hope he relented and began.

As he worked diligently for a date that the group had selected to unveil the project, he could not remember all of the details of the vision clearly due to the stress of the time pressure and concern for whether the work would be acceptable to everyone involved.  He worked long hours trying to get completed, but the worry caused him to become ill.  Several members of the group volunteered to help finish the work based on the discussions they’d previously had and with his direction.  He tried to direct, but with so many involved and no vision to guide them most did as they saw fit.  The Chairman of the project would come in from time to time make a comment or two that didn't seem to make much sense and then leave. The sculptor found out later the one man who convinced him to stay and start the work had been run off by the others.  In the end, the work was completed on time, but was made into something so much less than the artist had seen. 

At the unveiling, everyone was very excited and many people acclaimed the artist.  Some even understood part of the vision that had been intended to be communicated, but no one saw what the sculptor had been given to show in its fullness.  On the day of the unveiling the artist noticed a plaque had been added to the bottom of the work noting the names of everyone involved in securing the resources, as well as a donation box and information flyer holder crudely attached to the side of the work.  These were ideas the Chairman had 'suggested' and everyone had agreed not to do this, but apparently at the last minute the Chairman insisted and personally made the modifications. As the project stood prominently for all to see and everyone seemed pleased with it, the sculptor was unsure how to respond except that he knew his heart felt betrayed.

Daily people enjoyed the project, in at least a shallow fashion, but never really understood the vision it was originally intended to communicate.  Without any genuine interest or understanding no one bothered to maintain the project, so the grass grew up around it and dirt gathered on it. People even began to vandalize it by chipping parts away for souvenirs or adding their own touches.  It eventually became an eye sore, but because of the plaque with the names on it and the fact that people still occasionally put money in the box, they would not remove it.  Without any real concern for its beauty or message, no one would fix or restore it either (as if they knew how or could decide to do so if they did).  Eventually they added another plaque commemorating its anniversary and success as a uniting project of the group, even though many of the original group had left because they were unhappy with how the Chairman had been running things lately.

The artist still wanders by occasionally, wondering what would have happened if he would have remained committed to the vision that the Lord gave him.  One particular night as he sat at the base of the monstrosity he helped to create, he closed his eyes and quietly asked God to let him see the vision clearly just once more.  Slowly but surely every detail came into focus in his heart and mind.  As the sculptor began to cry, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a quiet voice say, “It’s a shame you didn’t do it like you told me about that one time.  I’d give you a new block of granite and all the time you ever needed to do it just like you said if you could. That would have been beautiful to see.”

Standing up, looking into the eyes of the man who had been the lone voice of reason on the project group, the artist smiles and says, “It still will be, I just need to go get my hammer and chisel.”