transpositional education

Fair warning, this is one of THOSE posts.

Yes, some of you will read this and just knows for sure I'm a nut job.

Others will read this (like pastor friends of mine) and wonder where do I get this stuff.

Others still will wonder what I've been tokin' and where can they get some.

Sorry, but the following post is just my life ( my spiritual walk if you will) the way I see it at the moment. I am certain my heavenly Father beats His Holy head on the golden walls when I do this and I am wrong, but its just the way I see it right now.

First, let me define the title, transpositional education....................

Education: to educate, IE to teach, to impart information.

Transpositional, two parts.

Trans from the Latin Transpose (okay not really but it sounds good) means to switch from one to another.

position : ones place, ones spot, ones current location.

Transpositional means to switch places or spots.

Transpositional education then means to teach by switching places, simple enough me think'th.

One example is when we do things like teaching our child not to bite by biting them or teaching them not to pinch by pinching them, it switches places with them and they learn (quickly) why not to do what they were doing.

Now, for a biblical example of transpositional education. ( I am already tired of typing my new fancy word, so from here on I will call transpositional education T.E. )

Do you remember the story of Abraham and Isaac? God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave his folk and take his son ( Isaac ) off to a far place, and offer him up as a sacrifice. Abraham didn't really want to do this but he really didn't have much choice in the matter so as he was want to do, he obeyed the word of God. He packed up what was needed to make this sacrifice and he and Isaac set off. Once arriving at the spot God had sent him to they stopped. Right about now Isaac starts gettin a case of the willies because he noticed that good ol' dad brought all that was needed for a sacrifice, except one really important thing, the item to be sacrificed. He then informed his dad that he was gettin' kinda creeped out by this whole thing, dad having a knife and all, but no sacrifice. Abraham calmed his son with these words, "God will provide his own" (and then God promptly did so by providing a lamb)

This is the classic example of T.E. God teaches Abraham about what real sacrifice feels like. He foretells of the great sacrifice of His son for our sins and gives Abraham a glimpse into the future of man by revealing a little of Himself to Abraham and the pain He will endure for us in the future. Its a tale that tells us not only of the great pain Jesus suffered to cleanse us, but tells us also of the great pain the Father endured in this as well.

Just a few posts ago I mentioned that I had suffered an attack of lack of faith and I have been busy repenting from that for a while now. In my last post I mentioned that my pastor had just reminded me of what I should be doing and haven't been. These two things combined lead me to come to the conclusion that some further events were intended to teach me something, something else that I should NOT need reminded of but do anyway. What is that something?

God loves me, and He is with me still, from now till the end of the age.

Not something I should need reminded of, but the flesh is week ya know.

( place all of the above into your short term memory, I will now abruptly shift gears, but don't worry, I will tie the end into the beginning, or the alpha into the omega if you will )

Many years ago we received a phone call from a friend who was a vet tech at a local vet clinic. She called because someone had left a little dog ( a bichon frise ) there and she wanted to know if we would come rescue it. We already had two dogs so I said no, we don't need a third. Angie said , " lets just go look at it" I just fell victim to a women shopper. You cant ever just go look at something, you have to obtain something, so we went, we looked, we came home with a third dog and we named it Bo. Bo was named after Bo Schembechler, former Michigan coach. We chose the name because we already had Woody named after Woody Hayes and Rosie, named after the Rose Bowl. And thus the story of Bo begins.

Bo was the best natured dog you would ever have the luck to meet. He was playful, and he was cuddly. He loved nothing better than to curl up in your lap and take a nap, but if someone came home, he was up to greet them, and greet he did. He would run in circles and jump twice his height just to say hello and to let you know he was happy you were home. His love was unconditional. Bo never really got angry and even had difficulty defending himself even when it was appropriate. As Bo aged, he slowed down a bit, he snuggled more and played a little less, but his ability to love was never diminished in the slightest. Several months ago Bo developed some eye problems, which led to his eyes collapsing and thus we had to have them removed to stop the pain. We did so at the vets urging because Bo was perfectly able to adapt to this new situation and live several more years. He would still provide love to us, and receive large quantities of love from us. In the beginning he adapted pretty well, he moved around the house and the yard and began to explore things using only his nose and ears. He would still stand up and wiggle every time I came home from work. Bo was not nearly as independent as he used to be though. He needed a lot more assistance from us. He became totally dependant on us for everything. We had to put him outside like clockwork because he couldn't find the door to ask, we had to figure out what each woof and snort meant without having any of the usual clues because he could no longer show us what he wanted. Also, I don't mean to paint Bo as the perfect little dog either, he was a first class sneak thief. He would get into the pantry and get down things like muffins, once he ate almost a whole box of those things. He would raid the trash cans or anything else he could find a way to get into. He ate a bag of mini-Resee cups one time. Even after he went blind he could reach up and snag your fries right off the table in front of you. Oh, and lets not forget the pee, he would pee on anything, the bed, your shoes, your foot, whatever was handy.

Well, to bring this story to its ultimate conclusion, Bo's health didn't hold up as well as we had hoped. He began going downhill fast just a few weeks ago. Angie stayed up with him on Tuesday night because he kept moaning and she wanted to be available if he needed anything. He was refusing food entirely at this point. Things didn't get any better, so Wednesday night I stayed up with him all night. Bo couldn't seem to find a place to be comfy so he kept trying to stand up. Standing was a chore at this point, so I would help him get to his feet. He was getting sick often now, but he wasn't even drinking so there was nothing there. I finally got him into a spot he was comfy, in my arms laying back on a pillow with his body partially under some covers. He seemed to be content and well snuggled at this point. He lay there and labored to breath for a while, maybe an hour or so. Then at 3:22 AM he stopped struggling. I could feel his heart beat in my hand and I could feel it slow until it stopped entirely. Bo passed quietly in my arms, it was the only thing I could do for him, love him unconditionally, just like he loved me.

This was painful for me, but it was what I needed to do, its what I should do, its what I had to do. All said and done, I wouldn't have it any other way, but it still hurt like the dicken's.

Now, back to transpositional education (T.E)

One of the toughest questions pastors get all the time reads something like this:

"If God is real, why does he allow such suffering, if he loves me, why does he do these things"

Its a tough question for a pastor because it always gets asked at the toughest of times. Its a tough question for your average Christian as well. Its a really tough question you might get from your child at some point as well, most likely when your least able to give an answer.

Well, for my circumstance, I have an answer, and the answer is (T.E.)

God gave us Bo, and he took Bo away. I learned a lot from this, most of it I learned in the wee hours of the morning.

Transpose me with Bo, and the Holy Father with me and it tells a different story.

I loved Bo, God loves me.

I would get angry with Bo for peeing on the floor, in my shoe and on the bed. It would drive me nuts when Bo kept me up all night just because he wanted to. I hated it when Bo would get into things and make a mess of things that I would have to clean up for him. He was forever making messes of things. Bo wouldn't listen to me to save his life, but he was always happy when he knew I was there.

God gets angry with me when I do things I shouldn't. I drives God nuts every time I keep Him up all night just because I want to. He hates it when I make a mess of things and leave it for Him to clean up after me. I make a lot of messes. I don't listen when God tell me to cut it out, but I am always thrilled to know He is with me.

It hurt my soul when Bo passed, but I held him close and loved him with all I had.

When my time cometh, God has assured me that He not only will hold me close and love me with all that is in Him, but he let me know that it will hurt Him as well.

I also believe God allowed Bo to become so dependant on us as T.E. lesson for me. It is to remind me just how dependant and helpless I really am. When I am too weak to even stand, God picks me up and holds me like I did for Bo. When I cant find the door, God carries me outside. Now, it might be raining out, and I might not want to go out, but God takes care of me. God let me know I am His and He knows my voice.

I also know I deserve that swift whack on the buttocks when I sneak into the pantry and eat all the muffins.