The law of entropy and faith
San Francisco de Asis, Ranchos de Taos
On our Taos ride, we both richly enjoyed the Ranchos Plaza Grill and visiting the historic San Francisco de Asis Church next door. Think of Saint Francis of Assisi. Dating back to 1772, enclosed in a plaza for protection from raiding Comanches, made of adobe bricks combining clay, straw, and oxblood, and plastered with mud; the church is among the most photographed in New Mexico. One pic features a wall with the plaster falling off. Mud erodes. The solution: they replaster with mud each year.
They make it a community celebration in June, church and community members and visitors add fresh mud and straw to protect the adobe bricks. Nice way to do maintenance together and preserve something vital. But the amount of maintenance needed did impress me, we found a number of places in need of fresh plaster. Another house next door had just the door frame with some crumbling walls and collapsed roof beams. No maintenance.
I couldn’t help but link that to our spiritual lives. Like the adobe, we came from mud. Like the adobe, we have flaws, physically and spiritually. Like the adobe, we shelter a spiritual reality. Like the adobe, we may start strong, but we need maintenance to remain functional. So what maintenance will maximize our lives, once we become God’s dwelling place?
First, we connect closely and regularly with God personally. Or, we care about the owner of the house we live in. I love John 17:3, “And this is the real and eternal life: That they know you, the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent” (The Message). We talk to him. We listen for his hints. We ask his advice. One person began his day with a prayer, “Dear God…” and ended it as he lay in bed at night, “…in Jesus name, amen.” We bring him into every dimension of our lives, and cultivate an awareness of his presence with us. That changes my decisions.
Second, we consistently get into his words, the Bible. Weekend worship messages are part of this, but do we study it with a smaller group? On our own? I’m convicted by “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Knowing and applying his word means we follow the directions for replastering.
Third, we cherish community in our maintenance, like the people in Ranchos work together. God created a body, not Lone Rangers, not an institution, and we need to live this life together to stay vital. It’s important that we “…not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25).
The law of entropy says that things fall apart, unless we take care of them. Let’s take care of our souls.
Kick Starting the Application
How intentionally do you do regularly spiritual maintenance? What works for you? How can you improve?
Top of a church wall with no plaster
An unmaintained house