Psalm 137
Our church is in it's 4th week of a new study group, also known as bible study. I had to get used to not calling it a bible study, because although we are discussing biblical topics, we are not opening a bible to do so. In this study group we've so far discussed biblical literalism, personal fundamentalism, and image of God. It's been an interesting journey so far, and we have about 18 more topics to go.
The study is done through a mix of short readings, video "testimonies", and discussion - lots of discussion. It's within the discussion those of us in the group are finding an awakening, of sorts. So far we've heard praises and self-realizations about how liberating it finally is to be in a group which allows them to ask the questions without having the fears that come along with not knowing the answers.
Yesterday, our group discussed the image of God. One of the video commentators mentioned that to him the image of God is likened to the first memory of his parents. I thought about that and went really deep into my memory for the earliest thoughts of my parents. The memory I came up with was that of my mom walking my brother and me along a busy roadside, trying to get us home. I might have been around 3 or 4 years old and all I remember is being very afraid of being as close to the roadside as we were and how the cars seemed to be whizzing by at rates of speed I just knew were dangerous.
In that memory, I also see my mother clinging to my brother, holding him in one arm while she held my hand tightly, standing between me and the road. On that day, as afraid as I was, I somehow knew that nothing would happen to my brother and me as long as my mother walked with, and held on to, us.
I hope that memory never goes away.
In much a similar way, today's psalmist is hoping for the same. The Israelites have had their city destroyed and are being held captive in a foreign land. In those days the people believed that their God lived in their land, and could not move freely with them. In other words, this psalmist understands his situation to mean that they no longer have a home or a God to protect them.
In a moment when they are resting alongside the road in their captor's home, the psalmist reflects on his God. He imagines the final days of being at home, of being in a time when things were better. However, things are not good now and the psalmist passionately expresses his sorrow of not being able to sing the songs of his people or his God in a home that belongs to the psalmist. Rather, he is being forced to sing a song in a place he doesn't want to be.
The psalmist also reflects how the thought of a song can bring hope that someday his people will return home and once again live in the safety and security of his God. I really don't remember much more about that walk along the roadside from my earlier days. What I do know is I must have made it home, and for that I am thankful to have had someone protect me from the danger I felt I was in.
One thing we're discovering in this new group is that God lives within us and speaks to each of us differently. Our songs go wherever we go, and can be sung anytime we want them to be. God is not going to be forgotten by us. God will not forget us. That's a wonderful reason to sing, don't you think.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Friday Finding
This story had multiple claims to authorship. As such I will be attributing it to anonymous.
Seasons of Life - Anonymous
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to
learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in
turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring,
the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them
together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and
twisted.
The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and
full of promise.
The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms
that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing
he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe
and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right,
because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life.
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by
only one season, and that the essence of who they are – and the pleasure, joy,
and love that come from that life – can only be measured at the end, when all
the seasons are up.
If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise
of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
Don’t judge a life by one difficult season. Don’t let the
pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
The Great Chasm
Luke 16:19-31
Our church is in the first month of a new study series. The purpose of this study series is to explore the many questions we have about our faith. The people within the study groups are encouraged to look beyond the literal interpretations of the bible, as well as the teachings of the early and more recent church, to discover what the truths within Christianity are to them as individuals.
It's been an interesting first month.
As we work through the material, we're challenged with the ideas that the bible is errant. We were shown that there are 2 creation stories in the bible. We were made aware that the flood story attributed to Noah may have come from another ancient culture. It was pointed out that nowhere in the bible does it say God is all-powerful and that one of Christianity's original theologians coined that phrase.
In the last few weeks most of the people within the study group have found a sort of freedom, if you will, from the bondage of having to believe that every word in the bible is perfect. These people have made comments to the effect of, "It's good to know the bible isn't perfect because I've never been comfortable with questioning the errors I see." For these people there is a renewed spirit within them, a new reason to come to church and study group. These people have had their hearts and minds opened to hearing God speak to them.
As with every group, there are those who will stick to the beliefs they have learned, and that's okay. These people find comfort in their knowledge that the bible is inerrant, infallible, and without question. As we've said week after week in the study group, where each person is on their journey towards God is where they are. No one person is right or wrong in the eyes of the others because it's their personal relationship with God that really matters.
Then there are the in-between people. These are the ones who are listening, watching, and waiting until they are ready to make the realization of just where they are on their journey. It's these people who sit within the great chasm of which Jesus talks about in today's parable. Jesus notes that people will either live in comfort or agony in the afterlife, the choice is yours and dependent on how you live your life on earth. The people living in the afterlife of their choice are at polar opposites of a great division.
Those of us who haven't yet found our comfort in God's love, whatever this love looks like, have yet to make a choice as to which afterlife they would like to live in. My hope is that whatever path you choose you will be accepting of, and open to hearing, different ideas. As we also noted in our study groups it's those who refuse to listen that may have stopped hearing the voice of God speaking.
Don't get stuck in the chasm. Don't stop hearing God speak.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Hold On
1 Timothy 6:6-19
This is one of those passages which holds so many words of wisdom. Adages such as "Fight the good fight" and "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evils" are words as to what the Christian life is about. If not in these exact words, at least in some of the rhetoric we hear or see. However, for as long as I've heard this passage, and others from 1 Timothy, I can honestly say I've heard a lot about the whats, but not so much on the why.
This first letter to Timothy is written at a time when the Christian way is falling apart due to some of the teachings, or claims, people who are going into the churches started by Paul are making. These people are making the claim that they are the true Apostles of Christ and they have the answers the church should be looking for. It would seem, at least from this passage, that what this letter is addressing is how these "false teachers" are preaching in the name of Jesus purely for personal gain.
This letter to Timothy is written in the hopes that the Christian church in Ephesus can ward off these false teachers and get back on track. The words written in this letter is meant to guide the church's pastor, Timothy, on how to do that. That being said, there are a few things in this letter I disagree with, but then again I wasn't in this church at this time and so don't have a full understanding of why this letter needed to be written.
What I can talk about is that there are many churches in today's cultures which are going through this same kind of onslaught by those who lead and teach for personal gain. In the very beginning of this letter the author writes to Timothy that the "aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith." The case is then made that anything less, or any other reason for teaching within a church of Christ, is going against what Christ himself lived and died for.
This letter to Timothy then ends with the words from today's passage: "take hold of the life that really is life." And there is the why. Life, in biblical terms, is to live with freedom. Not necessarily the kind of freedom from empirical oppression, but the freedoms from those things which separate relationships. If greed is getting in the way of love and acceptance, greed is an enslaving force. If forcing people to believe one idea or another is getting in the way of love, ideology is an enslaving force. If a strict adherence to a set of rules is getting in the way of love, literalism is an enslaving force.
As Christians we are called to fight against these enslaving forces, both within ourselves and those forced against others. We are asked to find a way to bring people into a life of freedom in God's unconditional acceptance. We are asked as God's family to grab a hold of those around us and find a way to rise above current culture expectations to simply live a life free from the things which separate us from God, each other, and our self.
We are expected to live a life that really is life.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Prepare And Verify
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
My dad honestly tried his best to ensure I did the things necessary in my younger days to be ready for the days when I got older. I wish I had listened and more seriously took his advice to heart.
When I got my first job at the age of 16-and-a-half years old my dad said to me, "Start a savings account and put as much money as you can in there so when you retire you'll have something to live on." I did what all teenagers did when their parents gave them sound advice and rolled my eyes while thinking, "Retirement is 100 years away."
Well, retirement isn't so far away anymore, and if I had done what he said I would honestly have a retirement account I could depend on, instead of draw out of.
As I look back on my younger days I really didn't have enough of a good reason to save the money. I was young, I was living on my own and doing well, I got married and lived well. I remarried and did well. I always had a job that provided for the things my family and I needed.
If you are under the age of 30 and read this, please listen to the next words carefully. Now that I'm over the age of 50 and reaching the age of retirement (even though it's still 100 years away) I find that preparing for the future of my family is much more important than living a life filled with daily comforts.
Jeremiah listened. He heard the voice of God tell him to prepare for the day when Jerusalem will return and to prepare in such a way that there would be no mistake as to how that preparation was being done. By buying that piece of land with as many witnesses as he did, Jeremiah ensured beyond any doubt that the future of the people of Israel would be guaranteed.
Our thought for today, then, is if we are as prepared as we should be. Whether the preparations are for a new job, or a new home in a new city, whether the preparations are for a new child in the family or taking care of an elder, whether the preparations are for you or your loved ones one thing is clear: God asks us to prepare and will be there to help our preparations come to fruition.
God calls us to be the caretakers of future generations. Let's listen to that call.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Safe And Secure
Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16
My wife and I were talking about the violence in our world and how it seems to be getting more and more prevalent. We talked about last week's naval yard shooting in DC. We talked about the Chicago murders. We talked about the mall takeover in Kenya, all of which happened in the span of a week.
As we began to talk more, and go further back in our collective memory, we took notice of how people reacted to these horrific events. We noted that in what was probably the biggest event in recent memory, the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11/2011, the first reaction was disbelief, followed by a need to be comforted.
Today, and sadly so, we tend to replace the disbelief with anger, followed by the want for action to happen. We are no longer satisfied with being in a state of shock, and are increasingly demanding the violence be stopped. I'm still undecided as to the approach currently taken, but I am glad action is being called for.
As my wife and I continued to talk, we noted that one thing has remained constant throughout the years: prayer and a want for comfort from a higher power. On 9/11, as night fell around the nation, millions of people went to churches or held neighborhood vigils to pray for those affected by the attack. They prayed for healing and understanding, as well as guidance for our community leaders. As recently as yesterday we held prayers for those in the Kenyan mall attacks; prayers for those affected by the killings as well as guidance for the community leaders.
Our psalmist reminds us that in times of struggle and pain we look towards our God. We are reminded that when the night brings fear and the arrows go flying by we have a God who will shelter us and keep us safe. So, whatever you may be facing today - the loss of a loved one, the foreclosure of a home, the inability to find a job, alcoholism, abuse, loneliness - remember that there is a God who sits by your side and shares in the suffering.
My wife and I were talking about the violence in our world and how it seems to be getting more and more prevalent. We talked about last week's naval yard shooting in DC. We talked about the Chicago murders. We talked about the mall takeover in Kenya, all of which happened in the span of a week.
As we began to talk more, and go further back in our collective memory, we took notice of how people reacted to these horrific events. We noted that in what was probably the biggest event in recent memory, the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11/2011, the first reaction was disbelief, followed by a need to be comforted.
Today, and sadly so, we tend to replace the disbelief with anger, followed by the want for action to happen. We are no longer satisfied with being in a state of shock, and are increasingly demanding the violence be stopped. I'm still undecided as to the approach currently taken, but I am glad action is being called for.
As my wife and I continued to talk, we noted that one thing has remained constant throughout the years: prayer and a want for comfort from a higher power. On 9/11, as night fell around the nation, millions of people went to churches or held neighborhood vigils to pray for those affected by the attack. They prayed for healing and understanding, as well as guidance for our community leaders. As recently as yesterday we held prayers for those in the Kenyan mall attacks; prayers for those affected by the killings as well as guidance for the community leaders.
Our psalmist reminds us that in times of struggle and pain we look towards our God. We are reminded that when the night brings fear and the arrows go flying by we have a God who will shelter us and keep us safe. So, whatever you may be facing today - the loss of a loved one, the foreclosure of a home, the inability to find a job, alcoholism, abuse, loneliness - remember that there is a God who sits by your side and shares in the suffering.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Friday Finding
I've posted this poem by Mattie Stepanek a few times. But, seeing how he's one of my heroes, and this poem really speaks to me, I don't think my posting it a few times more will hurt.
For Our World
We need to stop.
Just stop.
Stop for a moment.
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else.
We need to be silent.
Just silent.
Silent for a moment.
Before we forever lose
The blessing of songs
That grow in our hearts.
We need to notice.
Just notice.
Notice for a moment.
Before the future slips away
Into ashes and dust of humility.
Stop, be silent, and notice.
In so many ways, we are the same.
Our differences are unique treasures.
We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts
To nurture, to offer, to accept.
We need to be.
Just be.
Be for a moment.
Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,
Like children and lambs,
Never judging or vengeful
Like the judging and vengeful.
And now, let us pray,
Differently, yet together,
Before there is no earth, no life,
No chance for peace.
Just stop.
Stop for a moment.
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else.
We need to be silent.
Just silent.
Silent for a moment.
Before we forever lose
The blessing of songs
That grow in our hearts.
We need to notice.
Just notice.
Notice for a moment.
Before the future slips away
Into ashes and dust of humility.
Stop, be silent, and notice.
In so many ways, we are the same.
Our differences are unique treasures.
We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts
To nurture, to offer, to accept.
We need to be.
Just be.
Be for a moment.
Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,
Like children and lambs,
Never judging or vengeful
Like the judging and vengeful.
And now, let us pray,
Differently, yet together,
Before there is no earth, no life,
No chance for peace.
September 11, 2001
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Thank You For Your Dishonesty
Luke 16:1-13
One of the lessons I see many of today's youth learn is that friends won't always be your friends. I have been a witness to several incidents in which one friend turns against another, hurting deeply their now ex-friend's feelings.
It's not an easy thing to watch as some of these friendships were believed to be solid and unshakable. There have been times, however, when I've seen how the friend who is soon to be hung out to dry realize it's coming, and begin to make new friends. In those cases, what I've seen is that the new friends are almost always better.
It's an interesting dynamic which not only exists in high school, but in many other areas of our lives. Somehow we can see when something bad is coming towards us and we begin to think how we're going to rise above it.
Today's parable is a tricky one. It's placement in Luke is part of a series of stories in which Jesus is talking to a growing crowd of tax collectors, scribes, and Pharisees. The story is told in a way as to have us thinking the manager is being rewarded for cheating his master. And to tell you the truth, he kind of is being rewarded for that, but not for the reasons one might think.
The key phrase as I see it comes in verse 9, "And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes." That verse says to me that eventually all of your riches will be gone and what lasts forever are relationships grounded in love.
Yes, the manager cheats his master out of quite a bit of what is owed to him, but in the process the manager wins the approval of those who owe those things. In what seems to be a desperate act for survival the manager finds a way to ensure his future is, at the least, comfortable. In making that decision, the manager becomes willing to let go of what is already being taken away, and move towards that which may be unknown but welcomed.
In other words, the manager is letting go of the things which have been in control of his life to begin living his life free of those same things. Yes, he's doing it in a dishonest way, but who is he being dishonest to? And in the cheating, how much is he really hurting his master?
This parable has, and most likely always will have, more questions than answers. As I'm learning more and more on my journey it's not the answers that are important. The questions really are what the journey is about. So, that being said I'm going to stop here and leave you with one final question...
Is Jesus commending the manager for being a cheat, or is Jesus commending the actions of the manager for being willing to take a chance on cheating for the assurance of a future?
One of the lessons I see many of today's youth learn is that friends won't always be your friends. I have been a witness to several incidents in which one friend turns against another, hurting deeply their now ex-friend's feelings.
It's not an easy thing to watch as some of these friendships were believed to be solid and unshakable. There have been times, however, when I've seen how the friend who is soon to be hung out to dry realize it's coming, and begin to make new friends. In those cases, what I've seen is that the new friends are almost always better.
It's an interesting dynamic which not only exists in high school, but in many other areas of our lives. Somehow we can see when something bad is coming towards us and we begin to think how we're going to rise above it.
Today's parable is a tricky one. It's placement in Luke is part of a series of stories in which Jesus is talking to a growing crowd of tax collectors, scribes, and Pharisees. The story is told in a way as to have us thinking the manager is being rewarded for cheating his master. And to tell you the truth, he kind of is being rewarded for that, but not for the reasons one might think.
The key phrase as I see it comes in verse 9, "And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes." That verse says to me that eventually all of your riches will be gone and what lasts forever are relationships grounded in love.
Yes, the manager cheats his master out of quite a bit of what is owed to him, but in the process the manager wins the approval of those who owe those things. In what seems to be a desperate act for survival the manager finds a way to ensure his future is, at the least, comfortable. In making that decision, the manager becomes willing to let go of what is already being taken away, and move towards that which may be unknown but welcomed.
In other words, the manager is letting go of the things which have been in control of his life to begin living his life free of those same things. Yes, he's doing it in a dishonest way, but who is he being dishonest to? And in the cheating, how much is he really hurting his master?
This parable has, and most likely always will have, more questions than answers. As I'm learning more and more on my journey it's not the answers that are important. The questions really are what the journey is about. So, that being said I'm going to stop here and leave you with one final question...
Is Jesus commending the manager for being a cheat, or is Jesus commending the actions of the manager for being willing to take a chance on cheating for the assurance of a future?
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Prayer Is...For Everyone
1 Timothy 2:1-7
I've read this passage a few times before and, as is usually the case these days, I found something different. I've always taken this passage as a "who to pray for" message. Today I see it as a "why to pray" message.
As I went through my usual ritual of perusing Facebook and what my friends and family have been through in the last day or so, I came across a post from a high school classmate. I have to be honest and say that in high school we never really had a relationship. He hung around a certain group of friends and I had a completely different group. There really was nothing, nor any reason, for our groups to associate with one another.
That being said, whenever we saw one another in the halls or around town we always said hi and was at what my college psychology professor called a level 2 relationship - we asked how each other was and listened to the responses, not really going past that stage.
All of that aside, he's gone through a rather hard life of addictions and incarcerations, but now seems to be finding a new meaning of life as much as a new passion for living it. He has a son and there's no mention of a mother of the child or a relationship of any kind for either of them outside of one another. It would seem, and honestly so, that he is on another leg of his journey. And although this part of his life may be rocky and still have its pitfalls, at least he is grounded in love.
All of that being said, he is battling blindness. I've learned that in Facebook one chooses to reveal reasons for things in their own way and at their own pace, so the questions surrounding his blindness isn't known, but I don't see how or why the hows and whys are important just yet.
His battle with blindness is both a spiritual and physical one, and this morning he said just that. He's seeking a cure, yes, but when I read his reasons for a cure it isn't so much because he wants to see, it's more about wanting to teach his son about what truly matters in life.
In this morning's post he seemed to accept that nothing can be done for him through medicine or surgery to regain his sight. And so, in response, someone replied to his post to, "Pray to God because only his healing touch can bring the miracle you seek."
*Sigh*
My first thought was, "What happens to his faith in God if the miracle he seeks doesn't come?"
We should always pray for healing of the sick and the betterment of societies. We should always pray that the pain and suffering in this world ends. We should always pray for God's love to guide and protect our loved ones, friends, and neighbors, as well as our local, national, and world leaders.
That being said, we should also understand why we pray. Today's passage reminds us that we should pray "so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity."
When we pray for the healing of others, we also pray for the healing of ourselves through an understanding of that pain which they feel. When we pray for the guidance of others we also pray for the understanding of how we are being guided. When we pray for love to be spread throughout this world we are also praying that it can somehow be us that is the one to spread this love throughout the world.
Prayer is good. Prayer is powerful. Prayer is what brings us peace and understanding. Prayer is God's way of talking with us as much as it's our way of listening to God's voice.
I've read this passage a few times before and, as is usually the case these days, I found something different. I've always taken this passage as a "who to pray for" message. Today I see it as a "why to pray" message.
As I went through my usual ritual of perusing Facebook and what my friends and family have been through in the last day or so, I came across a post from a high school classmate. I have to be honest and say that in high school we never really had a relationship. He hung around a certain group of friends and I had a completely different group. There really was nothing, nor any reason, for our groups to associate with one another.
That being said, whenever we saw one another in the halls or around town we always said hi and was at what my college psychology professor called a level 2 relationship - we asked how each other was and listened to the responses, not really going past that stage.
All of that aside, he's gone through a rather hard life of addictions and incarcerations, but now seems to be finding a new meaning of life as much as a new passion for living it. He has a son and there's no mention of a mother of the child or a relationship of any kind for either of them outside of one another. It would seem, and honestly so, that he is on another leg of his journey. And although this part of his life may be rocky and still have its pitfalls, at least he is grounded in love.
All of that being said, he is battling blindness. I've learned that in Facebook one chooses to reveal reasons for things in their own way and at their own pace, so the questions surrounding his blindness isn't known, but I don't see how or why the hows and whys are important just yet.
His battle with blindness is both a spiritual and physical one, and this morning he said just that. He's seeking a cure, yes, but when I read his reasons for a cure it isn't so much because he wants to see, it's more about wanting to teach his son about what truly matters in life.
In this morning's post he seemed to accept that nothing can be done for him through medicine or surgery to regain his sight. And so, in response, someone replied to his post to, "Pray to God because only his healing touch can bring the miracle you seek."
*Sigh*
My first thought was, "What happens to his faith in God if the miracle he seeks doesn't come?"
We should always pray for healing of the sick and the betterment of societies. We should always pray that the pain and suffering in this world ends. We should always pray for God's love to guide and protect our loved ones, friends, and neighbors, as well as our local, national, and world leaders.
That being said, we should also understand why we pray. Today's passage reminds us that we should pray "so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity."
When we pray for the healing of others, we also pray for the healing of ourselves through an understanding of that pain which they feel. When we pray for the guidance of others we also pray for the understanding of how we are being guided. When we pray for love to be spread throughout this world we are also praying that it can somehow be us that is the one to spread this love throughout the world.
Prayer is good. Prayer is powerful. Prayer is what brings us peace and understanding. Prayer is God's way of talking with us as much as it's our way of listening to God's voice.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Help Me Understand
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
I really have no words to say how I feel about what is going on in our nation today. I don't really keep up with the news of other countries and I'm sure things like what happened yesterday happens in some places of the world on a daily basis. But, here in the United States of America we're not used to hearing about things like mass killing as often as we have been.
The online news outlet Mother Jones reported that since 1982 there have been at least 62 mass shootings in the States. Of that number 25 have happened since 2006 and in 2012 alone we had 7. These mass shootings have taken place in 30 states spanning the country between Massachusetts and Hawaii. The number of people killed in the past 30 years is over 1,000, with just over 150 people losing their life in 2012 alone. In an article on the D.C. naval yard shootings, The Huffington Post has a headline which suggests changing the name from mass shootings to mass killings.
When I read these articles I most certainly resonate with Jeremiah. Just as Jeremiah cries out, "My joy is gone", so do I. As Jeremiah proclaims "My heart is sick", so do I. I'm at a threads end when it comes to holding my composure and not falling to my knees in a cry out to God to make it all stop.
I cry in pain as I think of adding another 13 families to the list of thousands affected in the last 30 years. I find it difficult to keep the churning in my stomach from becoming anger as I think about the senselessness pouring out of the mouths of those who defend the shooter's right to carry a gun. Then, as I pause this morning to listen, I hear a voice on the television make the statement that what we are best at in the United States is making these things "go invisible".
I sit back and realize he's right. Atlanta - 5 killed, Oakland - 10 killed, Seattle - 7 killed, Aurora - 70 killed or injured, Oak Creek - 10 injured or killed, Minneapolis - 10 injured or killed, Newtown - 28 killed or injured. All of this just in 2012. How many of these did you remember? If you're like me, none until yesterday's shooting. They've become invisible to everyone except those directly affected.
I know the United States is in no way the only place on the planet where these things happen. I am not so naive to think that we're alone in the pain and suffering which comes from senseless killings. I also know I don't go through the pain and suffering alone, and neither do any of those closer to the senselessness.
Jeremiah reminds us that it's okay to cry out to God. It's okay to let God know you're sick and tired of all the hate, anger, greed, and division in this world. Jeremiah also knew that sometimes the crying out is what sparks action towards justice. And there it is. Are we simply okay with hearing these horrific stories come into our living rooms and letting them anger us? Or, are we going to do anything, something, to help make the world around us a better place.
There is balm in Gilead, there are physicians here. What is needed is for us to start the healing by reclaiming those around us in the love of God.
I really have no words to say how I feel about what is going on in our nation today. I don't really keep up with the news of other countries and I'm sure things like what happened yesterday happens in some places of the world on a daily basis. But, here in the United States of America we're not used to hearing about things like mass killing as often as we have been.
The online news outlet Mother Jones reported that since 1982 there have been at least 62 mass shootings in the States. Of that number 25 have happened since 2006 and in 2012 alone we had 7. These mass shootings have taken place in 30 states spanning the country between Massachusetts and Hawaii. The number of people killed in the past 30 years is over 1,000, with just over 150 people losing their life in 2012 alone. In an article on the D.C. naval yard shootings, The Huffington Post has a headline which suggests changing the name from mass shootings to mass killings.
When I read these articles I most certainly resonate with Jeremiah. Just as Jeremiah cries out, "My joy is gone", so do I. As Jeremiah proclaims "My heart is sick", so do I. I'm at a threads end when it comes to holding my composure and not falling to my knees in a cry out to God to make it all stop.
I cry in pain as I think of adding another 13 families to the list of thousands affected in the last 30 years. I find it difficult to keep the churning in my stomach from becoming anger as I think about the senselessness pouring out of the mouths of those who defend the shooter's right to carry a gun. Then, as I pause this morning to listen, I hear a voice on the television make the statement that what we are best at in the United States is making these things "go invisible".
I sit back and realize he's right. Atlanta - 5 killed, Oakland - 10 killed, Seattle - 7 killed, Aurora - 70 killed or injured, Oak Creek - 10 injured or killed, Minneapolis - 10 injured or killed, Newtown - 28 killed or injured. All of this just in 2012. How many of these did you remember? If you're like me, none until yesterday's shooting. They've become invisible to everyone except those directly affected.
I know the United States is in no way the only place on the planet where these things happen. I am not so naive to think that we're alone in the pain and suffering which comes from senseless killings. I also know I don't go through the pain and suffering alone, and neither do any of those closer to the senselessness.
Jeremiah reminds us that it's okay to cry out to God. It's okay to let God know you're sick and tired of all the hate, anger, greed, and division in this world. Jeremiah also knew that sometimes the crying out is what sparks action towards justice. And there it is. Are we simply okay with hearing these horrific stories come into our living rooms and letting them anger us? Or, are we going to do anything, something, to help make the world around us a better place.
There is balm in Gilead, there are physicians here. What is needed is for us to start the healing by reclaiming those around us in the love of God.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Not Us...Them
Psalm 79:1-9
As I write this, the television blares news about yet another shooting. This one took place in a naval yard in Washington, D.C. during what would have otherwise been a pleasant Monday morning. There isn't much information yet, so there really isn't anything more for us to know other than there was a shooting and some people got hurt. Unfortunately, there is at least one death from this shooting, and for his family, friends, colleagues, co-workers, and casual acquaintances I want to send prayers of comfort.
Comfort has become one of the words I've relearned. At its Latin root comfort is a combination of 2 words. Com is Latin for with and comfort comes from the Latin word fortis, which means strengthen. To comfort someone is to share with them in the process of getting stronger. When we help a family member or friend regain life after tragedy we are comforting them.
Today's Psalm brings with it the voice of someone in search of comfort. The psalmist cries out for God to stop those who have invaded God's place from killing everything. The voice with which the words cry out from this psalm seems to come from a place of not understanding how their God would allow these atrocities to happen.
The psalmist pleads with God to place blame where blame belongs - on those who are defiling God's place. This is something we still do today. Terrible things happen in our lives, and when they do we find it difficult to see any reason as to why those things are happening to us. It's not our fault when we lose our jobs. It's not our fault when our relationships fall apart. It's not our fault when the balance in our bank account is barely above $20.
The truth is that it's not always our fault. Sometimes it is, but not always. It's in the times when we know with absoluteness we didn't do anything wrong that we have a difficult time to see that God is in our lives. Yet, as we can witness from today's Psalm, God is always with us. Think about it; if the psalmist didn't believe that God was still listening, why would the psalmist cry out to God?
There will always be times when we don't think God is with us, especially when we're absolutely sure we didn't do anything to deserve the bad things which are happening in our lives. In those times cry out to God anyway, because the God I know is still there and wants nothing more than to comfort you.
As I write this, the television blares news about yet another shooting. This one took place in a naval yard in Washington, D.C. during what would have otherwise been a pleasant Monday morning. There isn't much information yet, so there really isn't anything more for us to know other than there was a shooting and some people got hurt. Unfortunately, there is at least one death from this shooting, and for his family, friends, colleagues, co-workers, and casual acquaintances I want to send prayers of comfort.
Comfort has become one of the words I've relearned. At its Latin root comfort is a combination of 2 words. Com is Latin for with and comfort comes from the Latin word fortis, which means strengthen. To comfort someone is to share with them in the process of getting stronger. When we help a family member or friend regain life after tragedy we are comforting them.
Today's Psalm brings with it the voice of someone in search of comfort. The psalmist cries out for God to stop those who have invaded God's place from killing everything. The voice with which the words cry out from this psalm seems to come from a place of not understanding how their God would allow these atrocities to happen.
The psalmist pleads with God to place blame where blame belongs - on those who are defiling God's place. This is something we still do today. Terrible things happen in our lives, and when they do we find it difficult to see any reason as to why those things are happening to us. It's not our fault when we lose our jobs. It's not our fault when our relationships fall apart. It's not our fault when the balance in our bank account is barely above $20.
The truth is that it's not always our fault. Sometimes it is, but not always. It's in the times when we know with absoluteness we didn't do anything wrong that we have a difficult time to see that God is in our lives. Yet, as we can witness from today's Psalm, God is always with us. Think about it; if the psalmist didn't believe that God was still listening, why would the psalmist cry out to God?
There will always be times when we don't think God is with us, especially when we're absolutely sure we didn't do anything to deserve the bad things which are happening in our lives. In those times cry out to God anyway, because the God I know is still there and wants nothing more than to comfort you.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Friday Findings
Blessed Homeland—Fanny
Crosby
Gliding o'er life's fitful waters,
Heavy surges sometimes roll;
And we sigh for yonder haven,
For the homeland of the soul.
Blessed homeland, ever fair!
Sin can never enter there;
But the soul, to life awaking,
Everlasting bloom shall wear.
Oft we catch a faint reflection,
Of its bright and vernal hills;
And, though distant, how we hail it!
How each heart with rapture thrills!
To our Father, and our Savior,
To the Spirit, Three in One,
We shall sing glad songs of triumph
When our harvest work is done.
'Tis the weary pilgrim's homeland,
Where each throbbing care shall cease,
And our longings and our yearnings,
Like a wave, be hushed to peace.
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope
that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used
everything you gave me'. – Erma Bombeck
Open Your Heart by
Lisa Ann Hill
When I look into your
eyes
I see your pain
I see your love
I see right through you
Open your heart
And let me in
Let go of the past
And try again
Even if you fail
You’re bound to succeed
Not all things are meant to be
But if you give me a chance
I'll show you
What you mean to me
Life without love
Is a meaningless life to me
Please let me love you
Like I think you should be
Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and
treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart
will consume you too. – Will Smith
Thursday, September 12, 2013
My Memory Fails Me
John 3:13-17
One of the things I disliked most about the Sunday school I grew up in was scripture memorization. We would have bible games followed by bible drills followed by bible quizzes followed by bible burnout. Seriously, how many times did we have to drill into our psyche all of the verses we needed to defend and live in our faith.
Let's see how well you do.
One of the things I disliked most about the Sunday school I grew up in was scripture memorization. We would have bible games followed by bible drills followed by bible quizzes followed by bible burnout. Seriously, how many times did we have to drill into our psyche all of the verses we needed to defend and live in our faith.
Let's see how well you do.
- Romans 3:23
- 1 Corinthians 13:13
- Proverbs 3:5
- Jeremiah 29:11
- Psalm 23
I have to be honest and tell you I had to do a search for bible verses in order to give that quiz. It's true - I do not memorize bible verses. I can recite stories, I can tell you what those stories mean to me, but I cannot tell you exactly where in the bible those stories are. The fact that I can't spew verses out from the top of my head is something I actually find peace in. Mainly because I can define stories from my heart, and to me that's a lot more important.
Let's use as an example today's passage. A simple glance at the verses chosen for today will tell you that John 3:16 is a part of the reading. (How many of you instantly quoted that verse in your head?) John 3:16 is probably the most memorized, most recited, most used verse in the bible. However, in my opinion it is wrongly utilized as the single most important evangelical tool by fundamentalist Christians.
Nicodemus visits Jesus in the dark of night, not wanting to be exposed as someone interested in the message of Jesus. Jesus engages Nicodemus in a conversation in which Nicodemus has no idea what is being said. "How is it possible to be born again? How can one be put back into the womb?", he says, completely missing the point.
Jesus' response is that being born again has nothing to do with a physical birth, rather a spiritual journey. Yes, a spiritual journey. When the Jews at the end of the first century heard this story they would understand that being "born from above" meant a journey towards God. John, in its use of light and darkness as metaphors for understanding or not, is emphasizing that those who come to Jesus in the darkness are not ready for the message of Christ.
As we follow the story into today's reading we find Jesus still in conversation with Nicodemus, but clearly stating that Nicodemus doesn't understand. Here's where some of you will have difficulty, but for the purpose of opening your minds and hearts I want you to try this...close the quotation marks at the end of John 3:15 and reread the story of John 3. Do not include John 3:16-36 as actual words spoken by Jesus.
When this is done we find that the writer of John is now turning his focus from the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus to the reader. As a result we can see that Jesus has become the one whom God has sent to bring light into a world filled with darkness. Jesus is the one who brings understanding into a world without understanding. Jesus has indeed been sent into this world through the love of God to bring into the world the love of God. John is trying to make the point that God's love is made understood in the life of Jesus.
Ok, I'll give those of you still reeling from my asking you to remove the quotation marks a while longer to re-read the passage. I also want to remind you that quotation marks weren't invented until the middle of the last millennium - around the 16th or 17th century. We really have no idea if or where the quotation marks in this, or any passage, truly belong. It's all an educated guess. All I ask is that you don't condemn me for suggesting that the single-most quoted bible verse may not actually be a quote by Jesus, but rather part of a story which is meant to tell us that sometimes we come to Jesus without understanding the love of God, and that through our journey with Jesus we will eventually come to understand.
For, you see, God loved all of us so much that God sent Jesus to guide us through the journey that will eventually lead us into the understanding of that love.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Saved?
1 Corinthians 1:18-24
I have to admit it's been a while since I've been asked if I've been saved. You know what I mean: you're sitting on a park bench or doing some window shopping at the mall and some person randomly approaches you to ask, "Are you saved?" Maybe it's a good thing I haven't recently been approached in this way because my reaction may seem un-Christlike.
Usually, when one is asked that question it's followed by a long, sometimes demeaning conversation about how much of a sinner we are and how only Christ can save us from our sins. According to those who evangelize in this way the argument is that because we are sinners God will destroy us, either in this world or the next. The only way to ensure we aren't destroyed is to be saved.
In reading our passage today we can see how the idea of being saved comes partly from the writings of Paul. However, it is my belief that Paul is a misunderstood apostle.
The Greek word interpreted as "save" is sozo which is defined as keeping safe from danger. This makes sense as we see how Paul contrasts the word "save" with the word "perish". Paul is helping us understand that our understanding of the message of the cross can be the difference between a life filled with peace, joy, and love...or not.
In today's reading Paul confuses us (as Paul does in such a wonderful way) to the point where we can only ask, "What is he talking about?" But, I think that's the point. Paul wants us to know that Greeks, Jews, and Christians alike don't understand. He goes on to say that even those who proclaim to understand or have been trained to understand don't get it.
What is it they don't understand?
The message of the cross. Not the message of what happened after the cross. Not the message of what happens on the way to the cross. The message of the event at the cross is what Paul is trying to help us understand.
So, you ask, what is the message of the cross. I will never be the one to say I have the answer, so you have to listen to what I say. I will be the one to say to you this is what I believe, maybe it'll help you find what you believe.
While hanging on the cross Jesus never stopped loving and never stopped trying to bring people together in that love. Until his dying breath he taught that we need to take care of one another and he never stopped trying to bring people together. Jesus, hanging on the cross with a broken body, never had a broken spirit. He showed us what it meant to love your enemy as much as he showed us how to love God as we love one another and our self.
Until the moment Jesus passed from this earth he was, and still is, the embodiment of a love which tried to unify us all under one God. That, I believe, is what the message of the cross is.
Therefore, I believe the question evangelists ask shouldn't be "Are you saved?", rather it should be "Do you know the message of the cross?"
I have to admit it's been a while since I've been asked if I've been saved. You know what I mean: you're sitting on a park bench or doing some window shopping at the mall and some person randomly approaches you to ask, "Are you saved?" Maybe it's a good thing I haven't recently been approached in this way because my reaction may seem un-Christlike.
Usually, when one is asked that question it's followed by a long, sometimes demeaning conversation about how much of a sinner we are and how only Christ can save us from our sins. According to those who evangelize in this way the argument is that because we are sinners God will destroy us, either in this world or the next. The only way to ensure we aren't destroyed is to be saved.
In reading our passage today we can see how the idea of being saved comes partly from the writings of Paul. However, it is my belief that Paul is a misunderstood apostle.
The Greek word interpreted as "save" is sozo which is defined as keeping safe from danger. This makes sense as we see how Paul contrasts the word "save" with the word "perish". Paul is helping us understand that our understanding of the message of the cross can be the difference between a life filled with peace, joy, and love...or not.
In today's reading Paul confuses us (as Paul does in such a wonderful way) to the point where we can only ask, "What is he talking about?" But, I think that's the point. Paul wants us to know that Greeks, Jews, and Christians alike don't understand. He goes on to say that even those who proclaim to understand or have been trained to understand don't get it.
What is it they don't understand?
The message of the cross. Not the message of what happened after the cross. Not the message of what happens on the way to the cross. The message of the event at the cross is what Paul is trying to help us understand.
So, you ask, what is the message of the cross. I will never be the one to say I have the answer, so you have to listen to what I say. I will be the one to say to you this is what I believe, maybe it'll help you find what you believe.
While hanging on the cross Jesus never stopped loving and never stopped trying to bring people together in that love. Until his dying breath he taught that we need to take care of one another and he never stopped trying to bring people together. Jesus, hanging on the cross with a broken body, never had a broken spirit. He showed us what it meant to love your enemy as much as he showed us how to love God as we love one another and our self.
Until the moment Jesus passed from this earth he was, and still is, the embodiment of a love which tried to unify us all under one God. That, I believe, is what the message of the cross is.
Therefore, I believe the question evangelists ask shouldn't be "Are you saved?", rather it should be "Do you know the message of the cross?"
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Snake Kabob
Numbers 21:4-9
Some passages in the bible are easier to read than others - this isn't one of them. As an advocate for the God of peace, love, and understanding I find difficulties with stories that portray God as vindictive, jealous, or wrathful. However, these stories exist for a reason, so instead of avoiding them and only looking for the passages which bring me comfort, I choose to read even the difficult ones to find God's message for me.
Along with the reading of difficult passages comes a lot of prayer to bring understanding to these particular passages. The prayer is good for me as it brings the peace I seek whenever I read and meditate on the scriptures within our bible. In fact, today I find a deeper peace than usual even though this passage has very little peace at all.
My peace comes from the teachings of a great theologian which I had the great opportunity to listen to a few months ago. Allan Boesak made the comment that the entire bible was written while under the oppression of another empire. Whether it was the Assyrians, Babylonians, or Romans these empires did all they could to quell the beliefs and practices of Jews, and later in history, Christians.
Mr. Boesak reminds us that because of the situations in which the Hebrew people found themselves, the writings of their God had to emulate the power of the empires they were being oppressed by. Not only did the God of the Hebrews have to be like the Gods of those empires, the Hebrew God had to be stronger.
Our passage today is just a small part of the history of the Hebrew people as they traveled from Egypt through the wilderness and into the promised land. Along the way the Hebrew people destroy cities, topple rulers, and claim lands as their own. It's a truly exciting story of the historical accomplishments of a group of people.
Also a part of the history as told in Numbers is the struggles of the Hebrew people. They have to deal with hunger, thirst, death, and extreme desert conditions. At times the people are so disgusted with what they're going through that they complain about it. Of course, if we know anything about how the complaining was done in the days the Numbers was written we will know it's more than a letter or an angry phone call. The people in those days yelled, physically fought, and downright verged on riots when they complained.
God has had enough of their complaining and does what any leader would do when they've had enough - God fights back. The end result involves poisonous snakes, a bunch of dead people, and Moses with some kind of concoction that can kill people with a single glance.
So, you might be asking, what does this mean for me?
There will be days when we feel as though our journey is pointless. There will be times when we say the place we've been was at least bearable if not comfortable. There will be times when we say we don't want to go any further, even if it is God that is leading us. It's in those times we find our own struggles too difficult to bear and we abandon God in favor of the easy way out.
It's in the times that we come face to face with the snake on a stick that we have to dig deep within ourselves to face our deepest fears and remember that it is God who has brought us this far, and it is God who is willing to carry us to the end.
So, as we stand face-to-face with that which threatens to stop us in our tracks we have to make a decision to keep going, or let the difficulties stop us. My hope is that you will keep going.
Some passages in the bible are easier to read than others - this isn't one of them. As an advocate for the God of peace, love, and understanding I find difficulties with stories that portray God as vindictive, jealous, or wrathful. However, these stories exist for a reason, so instead of avoiding them and only looking for the passages which bring me comfort, I choose to read even the difficult ones to find God's message for me.
Along with the reading of difficult passages comes a lot of prayer to bring understanding to these particular passages. The prayer is good for me as it brings the peace I seek whenever I read and meditate on the scriptures within our bible. In fact, today I find a deeper peace than usual even though this passage has very little peace at all.
My peace comes from the teachings of a great theologian which I had the great opportunity to listen to a few months ago. Allan Boesak made the comment that the entire bible was written while under the oppression of another empire. Whether it was the Assyrians, Babylonians, or Romans these empires did all they could to quell the beliefs and practices of Jews, and later in history, Christians.
Mr. Boesak reminds us that because of the situations in which the Hebrew people found themselves, the writings of their God had to emulate the power of the empires they were being oppressed by. Not only did the God of the Hebrews have to be like the Gods of those empires, the Hebrew God had to be stronger.
Our passage today is just a small part of the history of the Hebrew people as they traveled from Egypt through the wilderness and into the promised land. Along the way the Hebrew people destroy cities, topple rulers, and claim lands as their own. It's a truly exciting story of the historical accomplishments of a group of people.
Also a part of the history as told in Numbers is the struggles of the Hebrew people. They have to deal with hunger, thirst, death, and extreme desert conditions. At times the people are so disgusted with what they're going through that they complain about it. Of course, if we know anything about how the complaining was done in the days the Numbers was written we will know it's more than a letter or an angry phone call. The people in those days yelled, physically fought, and downright verged on riots when they complained.
God has had enough of their complaining and does what any leader would do when they've had enough - God fights back. The end result involves poisonous snakes, a bunch of dead people, and Moses with some kind of concoction that can kill people with a single glance.
So, you might be asking, what does this mean for me?
There will be days when we feel as though our journey is pointless. There will be times when we say the place we've been was at least bearable if not comfortable. There will be times when we say we don't want to go any further, even if it is God that is leading us. It's in those times we find our own struggles too difficult to bear and we abandon God in favor of the easy way out.
It's in the times that we come face to face with the snake on a stick that we have to dig deep within ourselves to face our deepest fears and remember that it is God who has brought us this far, and it is God who is willing to carry us to the end.
So, as we stand face-to-face with that which threatens to stop us in our tracks we have to make a decision to keep going, or let the difficulties stop us. My hope is that you will keep going.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Sing Something New
Psalm 98:1-5
I'm writing today's thoughts almost 12 hours later than usual, which gives me the opportunity to relay and relate what happened today. Our school teaches the juniors and seniors in what is termed an "academy" style. There are several academies, each of which focus on a career path. These academies carry such names as Health, Industrial Technologies, and Graphic Arts. Those of you familiar with "magnet schools" will have an idea what I'm talking about.
The academy I'm assigned to is Human Services. Our career paths include education, food service or culinary, and travel and hotel. Mixed in with those who identify with our academy are nurses, social workers, and other relational-related careers. The best way to describe the average Human Services student is to say they are thoughtful, caring, and energetic individuals - very energetic.
Sometimes the energy level in the classroom can be overwhelming. This year it's been more than sometimes that the class has been more than energetic and more than once the teacher has had to raise her voice to calm the students down. Today, on one of those occasions, I stood next to a table and quietly made the comment, "You guys are making her sound like a broken record."
The gaze of puzzlement alone was enough to make me smile, imagine my glee when one of the students replied with, "What does that even mean?" The students within earshot of my comment honestly had no idea what the adage "broken record" meant. I simply smiled and responded with, "You're making her repeat herself over and over." To which another student commented, "Don't blame us, she's the one that's broken."
That last comment made me laugh out loud which brought a glare from the teacher. I apologized and moved on.
When I read the passage this morning I wondered how I was going to best portray what it means to sing a new song, or why doing so is important. Fortunately, because of a technical glitch with this blogging website I had the privilege of a day's interaction with today's youth to help me make sense of things.
Sing a new song to let your God know of all the wonderful things God has done in your life.
I'm writing today's thoughts almost 12 hours later than usual, which gives me the opportunity to relay and relate what happened today. Our school teaches the juniors and seniors in what is termed an "academy" style. There are several academies, each of which focus on a career path. These academies carry such names as Health, Industrial Technologies, and Graphic Arts. Those of you familiar with "magnet schools" will have an idea what I'm talking about.
The academy I'm assigned to is Human Services. Our career paths include education, food service or culinary, and travel and hotel. Mixed in with those who identify with our academy are nurses, social workers, and other relational-related careers. The best way to describe the average Human Services student is to say they are thoughtful, caring, and energetic individuals - very energetic.
Sometimes the energy level in the classroom can be overwhelming. This year it's been more than sometimes that the class has been more than energetic and more than once the teacher has had to raise her voice to calm the students down. Today, on one of those occasions, I stood next to a table and quietly made the comment, "You guys are making her sound like a broken record."
The gaze of puzzlement alone was enough to make me smile, imagine my glee when one of the students replied with, "What does that even mean?" The students within earshot of my comment honestly had no idea what the adage "broken record" meant. I simply smiled and responded with, "You're making her repeat herself over and over." To which another student commented, "Don't blame us, she's the one that's broken."
That last comment made me laugh out loud which brought a glare from the teacher. I apologized and moved on.
When I read the passage this morning I wondered how I was going to best portray what it means to sing a new song, or why doing so is important. Fortunately, because of a technical glitch with this blogging website I had the privilege of a day's interaction with today's youth to help me make sense of things.
Sing a new song to let your God know of all the wonderful things God has done in your life.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Friday Findings
(This first poem has an introduction written by its author.
The words are his.)
I wrote this poem one day after me and my mom got into a
really big fight, and she began to bring things up. My mother doesn't like the
fact that I'm gay, she kicked me out when she found out, I really wish she
could see how much she is hurting me. We use to be really close, now we hardly
talk.
Dear Mom ©
Anonymous
This pain I feel inside
I can no longer hide.
Because of you
I just wanna die,
you told me you would always be here and never let me fall.
Why did you lie?
You denied me just because
I was who I wanted to be.
I
couldn't be happy,
I felt like nothing.
Remember when you said
you wished I was
dead,
I still keep that memory in my head.
You put me out on the streets with
nothing,
you caused so much hate in me
I'm not the person who I use to be.
You
changed me,
you turned the family against me.
I wish you could see how much I'm
suffering,
how much I feel lonely.
I wish I could be somebody important to you,
but I know that wish would never come true.
More poems and quotes for us to ponder:
Sharing – Author Unknown
Sharing is taking what's useful to one
and making it useful by two.
It can be hard
to give up what you have,
but it shows that you care
when you do.
Sharing – Emmy
Nielsen Reyes de Gaspar
There is a treasure in every human being,
It is in everyone's life.
It is God's gift - it is called sharing.
Don't ignore it in the course of your life
It will make you wealthier than money.
The lonely, the sick, the old,
The young and the child
Will be the receivers.
Sharing other's sorrow,
Kind words of understanding,
Helping others in need,
O what a comfort in suffering!
The will of sharing is in the human heart,
In the heart guided by God.
Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer
he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be
compared. – Mahatma Gandhi
The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather
to change the nature of the one who prays. – Soren Kierkegaard
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Let It Go
Luke 14:25-33
The time of year is quickly approaching where my wife and I take a look around our home for items we can donate. I call the items clutter, my wife calls them mementos. Whatever the name, these items are things that have been given to us, by others or each other, as gifts to commemorate a birthday or our anniversary or some other reason. There are also items which have been given to us for no reason whatsoever; just because we were thought of.
Over the year we accumulate clothes, stuffed animals, shelf-trinkets, small decorative items to place around the house, and the like. If, at the end of the year, we don't look for things which we can donate our home would become overrun with what I call clutter and my wife calls mementos.
Just last year I had a pair of perfect speakers in storage. I had these speakers for at least a dozen years and I was waiting to get the perfect stereo system to which I could connect my speakers. That stereo got more difficult to find as the years went by as almost every system comes with its own speakers. So, last year I had to let them go.
It's difficult to let things go sometimes, especially if you know what you're holding on to is perfect. So, imagine what the hearers of today's story in Luke felt when Jesus said that in order to be one of his followers you had to be willing to give up everything that was important to you.
Everything.
Family must be disavowed. Possessions cast aside. Friends can be no more. Life itself was to be given. It certainly takes a deep willingness to give away things to be a disciple of Christ. The question is are we ready to give it away?
As I watched my donations being unloaded at the thrift shop I overheard one of the workers say, "Wow, look at these speakers. These will really help us raise the extra money we need." Those words brought comfort; not from the pain of giving up my speaker, but from the knowledge that what I'm willing to give up is going to make someone else's life better.
Maybe that's what Jesus meant.
The time of year is quickly approaching where my wife and I take a look around our home for items we can donate. I call the items clutter, my wife calls them mementos. Whatever the name, these items are things that have been given to us, by others or each other, as gifts to commemorate a birthday or our anniversary or some other reason. There are also items which have been given to us for no reason whatsoever; just because we were thought of.
Over the year we accumulate clothes, stuffed animals, shelf-trinkets, small decorative items to place around the house, and the like. If, at the end of the year, we don't look for things which we can donate our home would become overrun with what I call clutter and my wife calls mementos.
Just last year I had a pair of perfect speakers in storage. I had these speakers for at least a dozen years and I was waiting to get the perfect stereo system to which I could connect my speakers. That stereo got more difficult to find as the years went by as almost every system comes with its own speakers. So, last year I had to let them go.
It's difficult to let things go sometimes, especially if you know what you're holding on to is perfect. So, imagine what the hearers of today's story in Luke felt when Jesus said that in order to be one of his followers you had to be willing to give up everything that was important to you.
Everything.
Family must be disavowed. Possessions cast aside. Friends can be no more. Life itself was to be given. It certainly takes a deep willingness to give away things to be a disciple of Christ. The question is are we ready to give it away?
As I watched my donations being unloaded at the thrift shop I overheard one of the workers say, "Wow, look at these speakers. These will really help us raise the extra money we need." Those words brought comfort; not from the pain of giving up my speaker, but from the knowledge that what I'm willing to give up is going to make someone else's life better.
Maybe that's what Jesus meant.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
What Should I Pray For Today?
Philemon 1:1-21
Every morning I spend a few minutes browsing through my Facebook feed to see who is doing what or how people are doing. I really enjoy Facebook for that particular reason: it helps to keep in touch with many people at the same time.
Social media allows for one to see expressions of people's feelings ranging from anger to happiness to sadness to peacefulness. I'll see pictures and posts from people that talk about being thankful for the day God has given them as well as political opinions that go from extreme right to extreme left. Pictures showing meals for the day, children on their first day of school, and babies doing baby things sit alongside recipes, descriptions of what's happening in line at the DMV, and moments of "I just hate/love it when..."
Inevitably there will be requests for prayer. Just this morning I read prayers for a family in crises, a classmate who is going in for surgery, and a family member looking for guidance. On other days, and throughout the day, I see prayers for healing or guidance mixed in with thanks to God for the day they've had, the job they just got, the ability to unconditionally love a child or spouse, or some other joyous milestone. I'm sure if I spent more time going through every line on my news feed and every page of the friends on my list I will see more requests for prayers of some kind.
All of these prayer requests make me think, "What do I pray for?"
The truth would be I pray for all of that and more. I pray for peace in my life and the lives around me. I pray for the healing of friends and family in crises. I pray for those close to me living in pain that the pain might be lessened or taken away. I pray for love and understanding. I pray for guidance. Sometimes I even pray for the rain to stop so I can get outside to trim a few trees.
I don't think there's a single one of us (among those who believe in prayer, anyway) who hasn't prayed for just about everything and anything. Prayer is an amazing thing. Prayer has a way to bring us the peace and affirmation we're looking for as we engage in conversation with our God. Prayer is truly a way for humankind to unite as individuals toward a common cause; the presence of God in our lives.
So, today when you pray remember this one thing: Paul writes to Philemon to say that when he remember's Philemon in his prayers it's because Philemon has found a way to keep alive the passion of the saints. Paul is saying that because of whatever it is that Philemon is doing, Paul is thanking him for moving forward the teachings and examples of Christ and Christ's followers.
As we pray for the healing of a friend as she reels from the pain of losing a loved one, as we pray for the guidance of a family member who just lost a job, as we pray with joy at the birth of a new baby let's keep one thing in mind: to thank God for the opportunity to be in God's love and that we trust in that love to help us do what is best in showing that love to others.
Amen
Every morning I spend a few minutes browsing through my Facebook feed to see who is doing what or how people are doing. I really enjoy Facebook for that particular reason: it helps to keep in touch with many people at the same time.
Social media allows for one to see expressions of people's feelings ranging from anger to happiness to sadness to peacefulness. I'll see pictures and posts from people that talk about being thankful for the day God has given them as well as political opinions that go from extreme right to extreme left. Pictures showing meals for the day, children on their first day of school, and babies doing baby things sit alongside recipes, descriptions of what's happening in line at the DMV, and moments of "I just hate/love it when..."
Inevitably there will be requests for prayer. Just this morning I read prayers for a family in crises, a classmate who is going in for surgery, and a family member looking for guidance. On other days, and throughout the day, I see prayers for healing or guidance mixed in with thanks to God for the day they've had, the job they just got, the ability to unconditionally love a child or spouse, or some other joyous milestone. I'm sure if I spent more time going through every line on my news feed and every page of the friends on my list I will see more requests for prayers of some kind.
All of these prayer requests make me think, "What do I pray for?"
The truth would be I pray for all of that and more. I pray for peace in my life and the lives around me. I pray for the healing of friends and family in crises. I pray for those close to me living in pain that the pain might be lessened or taken away. I pray for love and understanding. I pray for guidance. Sometimes I even pray for the rain to stop so I can get outside to trim a few trees.
I don't think there's a single one of us (among those who believe in prayer, anyway) who hasn't prayed for just about everything and anything. Prayer is an amazing thing. Prayer has a way to bring us the peace and affirmation we're looking for as we engage in conversation with our God. Prayer is truly a way for humankind to unite as individuals toward a common cause; the presence of God in our lives.
So, today when you pray remember this one thing: Paul writes to Philemon to say that when he remember's Philemon in his prayers it's because Philemon has found a way to keep alive the passion of the saints. Paul is saying that because of whatever it is that Philemon is doing, Paul is thanking him for moving forward the teachings and examples of Christ and Christ's followers.
As we pray for the healing of a friend as she reels from the pain of losing a loved one, as we pray for the guidance of a family member who just lost a job, as we pray with joy at the birth of a new baby let's keep one thing in mind: to thank God for the opportunity to be in God's love and that we trust in that love to help us do what is best in showing that love to others.
Amen
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Bring On The Papier Mache
Jeremiah 18:1-11
This is homecoming week at our high school. It's a week filled with daily dress-up contests, lunch-time challenges, and after-school float-making. The week will be filled with fun, each day marking the time as it gets closer and closer to the homecoming game. On that day dozens, if not more, of Kapolei High School alumni will come out to see one another to catch up on each other's lives and talk about old times. It will indeed be a spirit-filled week.
Of course, memories of my own high school days come to mind. I remember all to well dressing up in goofy get-ups, going to pep-rallies, and going to secret places to make the secret float. To be honest, making the float was the best time of all as we gathered to make our floats out of chicken wire and papier mache.
In our senior year we were lucky to have an artist in our midst that could mold the chicken wire into the desired shape. We were also spirited enough to have a lot of young, energetic teenagers come out to help mix the sticky gluey thing (I never knew what that thing was called), tear newspaper into strips, dip the strips into the goo, then lay them one by one onto the shaped chicken wire until it was covered completely. All that was left after we let the sculpture dry was to paint and decorate it as designed.
If it sounds like a lot of work, it was. It took over a week of nightly meetings at one of our classmate's home to shape, cover, paint, and decorate our parade float. But, if it also seems like a lot of fun, it was. In the hours we were together relationships were made, friendships solidified, and a spirit of unity was borne. We became closer as a people as we unified towards one cause.
In today's passage God, through the prophet Jeremiah, is asking the same thing from the Israelites, and to an extent us. God shows Jeremiah the potter's house as the clay-worker is making a jar of some kind. The jar falls apart and the potter tries again, this time making a jar with which he's happy.
God makes the connection between the potter and what God wants by saying the people of Israel are the clay, and God is the potter. God doesn't want a broken jar, and is willing to remake it, but the clay has to be willing to be molded. It's up to us, humankind, to be the kind of clay God can work with.
That senior year we unveiled our float which featured a life-size, white mustang standing on its two rear legs, its front legs reaching to the sky as a lightning bolt shot towards it. It was a great symbol of our school's mascot. We won the prize for best float that year, and from there we never looked back as we won every class contest from that point forward.
We came together as one people, unified for one cause. We relished in new and reinforced relationships. Most of all we allowed ourselves to be shaped by the one thing which made it all work - the grace of unconditional acceptance. As much as we molded that papier mache into an award-winning float, we were molded by the love with which we surrounded ourselves.
This is homecoming week at our high school. It's a week filled with daily dress-up contests, lunch-time challenges, and after-school float-making. The week will be filled with fun, each day marking the time as it gets closer and closer to the homecoming game. On that day dozens, if not more, of Kapolei High School alumni will come out to see one another to catch up on each other's lives and talk about old times. It will indeed be a spirit-filled week.
Of course, memories of my own high school days come to mind. I remember all to well dressing up in goofy get-ups, going to pep-rallies, and going to secret places to make the secret float. To be honest, making the float was the best time of all as we gathered to make our floats out of chicken wire and papier mache.
In our senior year we were lucky to have an artist in our midst that could mold the chicken wire into the desired shape. We were also spirited enough to have a lot of young, energetic teenagers come out to help mix the sticky gluey thing (I never knew what that thing was called), tear newspaper into strips, dip the strips into the goo, then lay them one by one onto the shaped chicken wire until it was covered completely. All that was left after we let the sculpture dry was to paint and decorate it as designed.
If it sounds like a lot of work, it was. It took over a week of nightly meetings at one of our classmate's home to shape, cover, paint, and decorate our parade float. But, if it also seems like a lot of fun, it was. In the hours we were together relationships were made, friendships solidified, and a spirit of unity was borne. We became closer as a people as we unified towards one cause.
In today's passage God, through the prophet Jeremiah, is asking the same thing from the Israelites, and to an extent us. God shows Jeremiah the potter's house as the clay-worker is making a jar of some kind. The jar falls apart and the potter tries again, this time making a jar with which he's happy.
God makes the connection between the potter and what God wants by saying the people of Israel are the clay, and God is the potter. God doesn't want a broken jar, and is willing to remake it, but the clay has to be willing to be molded. It's up to us, humankind, to be the kind of clay God can work with.
That senior year we unveiled our float which featured a life-size, white mustang standing on its two rear legs, its front legs reaching to the sky as a lightning bolt shot towards it. It was a great symbol of our school's mascot. We won the prize for best float that year, and from there we never looked back as we won every class contest from that point forward.
We came together as one people, unified for one cause. We relished in new and reinforced relationships. Most of all we allowed ourselves to be shaped by the one thing which made it all work - the grace of unconditional acceptance. As much as we molded that papier mache into an award-winning float, we were molded by the love with which we surrounded ourselves.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Until The End
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
This may be an unfortunate truth, but there are very few people who will stay with you through the absolute worse of times. Many will call you friend or lover, but when your life is at its worse, and the rest of the world has turned against you, even those who profess to be at your side no matter what will leave. It's a fact of life that has been and still is reality.
At our church's annual luau a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet a few of the youth who came to help. These youth were part of a program that helped them to get out of the gang life they found themselves in. Adult Friends for Youth (AFY), the organization which runs this program, doesn't make it a goal to remove a person from gangs but rather to change the mentality of the entire gang the person is in.
As I met these youth I heard stories of being from a different culture and having a difficult time adapting to school and community life. They were belittled by family, teachers, coaches, and other adults who these youth thought were supposed to help them be better people. Instead of feeling better about themselves they began to believe they had no place in society.
Because relationship in community is a very important part of a youth's self-identification process, these young people seek acceptance from whichever source they can get it. Unfortunately they found this acceptance from people who live on the streets and use violence as a way to get respect.
However, as these young people told me, when life really got tough, when they needed help because they had been arrested or worse, their friends were nowhere to be found. Once again they were abandoned by the ones they thought were supposed to help them no matter what.
Today's Psalm reminds us that there has always been someone willing and able to be our true friend. We are reminded that there is someone who knows us so well that no matter what we do with our life the love never stops.
The youth in AFY's program are building new relationships. These new relationships are based in unconditional acceptance and trust. Through these relationships they are finding their way out of a life of violence and crime. All of this is possible because they've traveled a journey in search of acceptance for the people they are; the same kind of love God has for all of us.
This may be an unfortunate truth, but there are very few people who will stay with you through the absolute worse of times. Many will call you friend or lover, but when your life is at its worse, and the rest of the world has turned against you, even those who profess to be at your side no matter what will leave. It's a fact of life that has been and still is reality.
At our church's annual luau a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet a few of the youth who came to help. These youth were part of a program that helped them to get out of the gang life they found themselves in. Adult Friends for Youth (AFY), the organization which runs this program, doesn't make it a goal to remove a person from gangs but rather to change the mentality of the entire gang the person is in.
As I met these youth I heard stories of being from a different culture and having a difficult time adapting to school and community life. They were belittled by family, teachers, coaches, and other adults who these youth thought were supposed to help them be better people. Instead of feeling better about themselves they began to believe they had no place in society.
Because relationship in community is a very important part of a youth's self-identification process, these young people seek acceptance from whichever source they can get it. Unfortunately they found this acceptance from people who live on the streets and use violence as a way to get respect.
However, as these young people told me, when life really got tough, when they needed help because they had been arrested or worse, their friends were nowhere to be found. Once again they were abandoned by the ones they thought were supposed to help them no matter what.
Today's Psalm reminds us that there has always been someone willing and able to be our true friend. We are reminded that there is someone who knows us so well that no matter what we do with our life the love never stops.
The youth in AFY's program are building new relationships. These new relationships are based in unconditional acceptance and trust. Through these relationships they are finding their way out of a life of violence and crime. All of this is possible because they've traveled a journey in search of acceptance for the people they are; the same kind of love God has for all of us.
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