Thursday, February 14, 2008
From AscensionNYC
Thursday in the First Week of Lent
by Sarah Johnson
Psalm 138
Esther 14:1-6, 12-14
Matthew 7:7-12
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7).
Has anyone else read or watched The Secret? To be grossly unfair, oversimplifying, and overtly prejudiced, I'll describe it as a new-agey, quasi-spiritual method of getting rich quick. The Nation, in its June 4, 2007, issue, was perhaps less kind, describing it as "self-help snake oil," but reports that the book, at $23.95 a pop for hardcover, sold 3.8 million copies last year and the DVD ($34.95 each) sold over 1.5 million copies. It's a genuine cultural something.
Here's the intro from the official Secret website:
"The Secret reveals the most powerful law in the universe. The knowledge of this law has run like a golden thread through the lives and the teachings of all the prophets, seers, sages and saviors in the world's history, and through the lives of all truly great men and women. All that they have ever accomplished or attained has been done in full accordance with this most powerful law" (http://www.thesecret.tv).
Sounds sweet, doesn't it? Basically, the big Secret boils down to "Seek, and ye shall find."
We're hungry for this. This is exactly what we wanted to hear. Some will pay good money to read this in a best-selling book, and the less literate will pay to watch someone tell them this on DVD.
So, I guess the question I would like to meditate on is this: If you can have anything you want, and all you have to do is ask, then why do bad things still happen when you ask God to prevent them? Sloan Kettering should be utterly vacant; unfortunately, it isn't.
What is the real secret? What is it Jesus wanted us to learn about our relationship with God as we ask, and seek, and knock?
Psalm 138
Esther 14:1-6, 12-14
Matthew 7:7-12
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7).
Has anyone else read or watched The Secret? To be grossly unfair, oversimplifying, and overtly prejudiced, I'll describe it as a new-agey, quasi-spiritual method of getting rich quick. The Nation, in its June 4, 2007, issue, was perhaps less kind, describing it as "self-help snake oil," but reports that the book, at $23.95 a pop for hardcover, sold 3.8 million copies last year and the DVD ($34.95 each) sold over 1.5 million copies. It's a genuine cultural something.
Here's the intro from the official Secret website:
"The Secret reveals the most powerful law in the universe. The knowledge of this law has run like a golden thread through the lives and the teachings of all the prophets, seers, sages and saviors in the world's history, and through the lives of all truly great men and women. All that they have ever accomplished or attained has been done in full accordance with this most powerful law" (http://www.thesecret.tv).
Sounds sweet, doesn't it? Basically, the big Secret boils down to "Seek, and ye shall find."
We're hungry for this. This is exactly what we wanted to hear. Some will pay good money to read this in a best-selling book, and the less literate will pay to watch someone tell them this on DVD.
So, I guess the question I would like to meditate on is this: If you can have anything you want, and all you have to do is ask, then why do bad things still happen when you ask God to prevent them? Sloan Kettering should be utterly vacant; unfortunately, it isn't.
What is the real secret? What is it Jesus wanted us to learn about our relationship with God as we ask, and seek, and knock?
