What Color is Your Stone?

Hebrews 4:12-16

I named this blog what I did because sometimes I don't know what to say. Today is one of those days. I can't explain why I have no words except that maybe I feel a little disconnected from the world around me. I get like this sometimes, as I'm sure you do. Let's just put this day down as a mood swing.

I long for the days when a mood ring would tell us all we needed to know about ourselves. (Raise your hand if you remember mood rings.) One look at the stone's color would tell me exactly how I needed to make adjustments to myself. A black stone meant I needed to take a break, an orange stone meant you better back off. A purple stone meant I was in a lovey-dovey mood, a green stone meant all was as should be. 

On the rainbow of colors a stone could be, today it would be yellow; distracted, unsettled. Of course, as I write this it is possible that my stone would turn from yellow to blue because for some reason when I connect with you and God through Christ in these writings I always feel happy and a calmness comes over me.

Today's passage reminds me that God is like the mood rings of old. God can see our moods, God knows what we're going through, and before God "no creature is hidden." For no particular reason I find comfort in the knowledge that God knows me that well. It brings me a sense of inner peace in knowing I don't have to be, or behave in, a certain way other than the way that is true to myself. That, my friends is enough to begin to improve my mood.

Look, it's turning blue!

Which Way Did He Go?

Job 23:1-9, 16,17

Here's a clip of one of the most said sayings of my childhood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs-Q0JmWjj0

You can watch the full episode if you want, it's actually very funny.

Of course, in today's passage we see the opposite of funny. I don't know how else to say it except that Job is lost, completely lost. Not only is Job lost but he also feels alone. Job is in a state of despair, needing a word of encouragement from his God and it would seem his God is nowhere to be found. Not that Job isn't doing his best to find God, it's just that for some reason God can't be found.

Actually, if we read the passage closer we discover that Job cannot "perceive" him or "see" him. This passage doesn't say God wasn't there, it just says Job couldn't see God. A closer look at this passage has us realizing it's in the middle of Job's defense against his closest friends who are faulting, if not downright blaming, all of Job's recent downfall on his lack of faith and belief in God.

Things don't look good for Job right now and if we take a look at where we are in our lives we see that sometimes we feel just as lost as Job does. So, what do we do when we feel like we're at the lowest point in our life? We keep moving forward, that's what. The story of Job is well known to many Christians. The moral of the story is that no matter what if we keep our faith in God we will get through whatever our "trials" may be and in the end God will reward us with so much more than we lost.

There, my friends, is the most difficult thing to do. When we're at our lowest, when the pain is so deep we don't feel anything and when the numbness of a life with no meaning is all we understand we want very much to give up. The thing is we don't. Somehow we find that inner strength, somehow we begin to see those around us who are trying to help, somehow we begin to see the light through the thickest darkness.

If you find yourself wanting to vanish into that darkness, it's okay, we've all been there or will be there at least once in our lives. Just please understand there are people who love you and a God who stands with you along the journey.

Who's Leading

Psalm 126

Yesterday our church celebrated World Communion Sunday with more than just communion. In the spirit of being one family in Christ we also shared a rather large pot luck lunch where the food varied from baked spaghetti to Chinese chicken salad to homemade pumpkin crunch with macadamia nuts.

The talent show was just as varied with singing, ukulele playing, magic, and dancing, we even had someone blow a Shofar to begin the show. One of the most interesting performances was that of a couple doing an unchoreographed West Coast Swing. In the description of the dance we learned that this style of dance has the partners actually vying for the lead during the dance.

It was interesting to watch and try to guess when the lead changed and who was in charge. Of course, as the introduction to the dance taught us, a well performed dance is done in such a way that we won't be able to tell when the lead changes. This dance was done very well.

Today's Psalm reminds me of that dance. In the decisions we make for our everyday lives we sometimes let God lead and sometimes we take the lead and it can be difficult for us to see who is leading. My guess is that if everything turns out well and if everyone involved in the decision is happy, then most likely God was in the lead.

I have to admit, I m not always aware of when God is in the lead or when I am, so today I'm going to make an extra effort. Want to come along?

Joined

Mark 10:2-16

Wow, I can't believe it's already Friday. I have to say I had a great week. I've had time to rest, made headway in some of the projects I've set out to do, and for the most part am very satisfied with where I am and the things I've done. I didn't achieve any of this alone, though. I spent a lot of time with my wife, friends, and family. I also spent a lot of time with myself and with my God. Not that anything was different in the things I did, I was just able to do it at a more leisurely pace.

Maybe it was the week I had, the time I had to enjoy it, or the focus I've had on the passages from this week's lectionary but I have to admit I truly see more than ever how we, as humanity, are dependent on one another. Take a look at your life and the things you've done recently. Can you honestly say that you've done anything alone - anything.

The answer should be no because even if you were camping deep in a forest with nothing but a tent and a campfire, you were surrounded by God's creation and therefore surrounded by God. Of course, even if you spent the week in a complete vacuum you were still with someone; you. Many years ago when I attended college the professor in my logic class made a statement which I think is a quote from someone famous. He said, "No matter where you go, you are there." That statement was meant to remind us that there is no escaping ourselves, that no matter what happens we will have to eventually understand it is us, as individuals, who are responsible for the things we do.

You see, our lives are what we make our lives to be. When we make decisions we make them with at least a small thought as to what's in it for us. That's just being human and there's nothing wrong with that. I will say, though, that the less you think of yourself in making decisions the happier it would seem you are, at least in my opinion. And that, I think, is what today's passage reminds me of.

God has put us together for a reason, and we don't always know what that reason is. If we accept the fact that we are in each other's lives for a reason, though, and are willing to open our hearts and minds to what those reasons may be, we get to the heart of what today's passage speaks to; that God put us together and we don't have the right to divide that unification.

To live in unity we have to find peace with one another. To find peace with one another we need to recognize it's God who brings us together. To recognize it's God who puts us together we need to empty ourselves of any and all blockades in order that we can be unconditionally accepting of one another.

It's a journey, join me on the path.

Just Like One Of Us

Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

This passage is a wonderful bridge, if you will, between the message of God's intention for us having partners  to share our lives with and how Jesus' life is meant to mirror that. The wonderful imagery painted by the author of of Hebrews reminds us that God thinks highly about humankind. The writer also reminds us that God placed humankind as the primary caretakers of God's creation, stating that "God left nothing outside their control."

What we also see in this passage from Hebrews is how Jesus was sent to us by God to be an example of what God's intentions are.There is no doubt that Jesus lived life as a human and as such was fully exposed to all that humans endure; love, hatred, unity, division, companionship, loneliness, devotion, betrayal.

What I think we're to see in this passage is how Jesus truly was like one of us. The life of Jesus is filled with many of the same stories ours are filled with and for the most part Jesus reacted how we react. The difference may be that Jesus never forgot that God was always with him. Unfortunately, as the humans we are, we sometimes forget that important fact. There are times when we feel alone, unloved, unimportant, or non-existent. It's in those times we forget that God is standing right next to us, arm on our shoulder, ready to give us an encouraging word when we're ready to hear it.

Compassion is something we all crave. We want people to share in our life just as much as we want to share in the lives of others. It's just that sometimes, when we're at our lowest, we don't see how much people really care about us. This passage in Hebrews does well to remind us that "we do see Jesus", though. It's in our Christ we are able to realize that we're never alone in whatever we go through because in the story of Christ we understand that even in the end, when Jesus was facing death, he fully understood that there was still a God who loved him, and he still had himself.

It's in the 3-person approach to relationships we find peace. Never forget that as much as God and others love you, you need to love yourself.

A Partner In The World

Genesis 2:18-24

I was brought up in a Pentecostal home. Our view of religion was whatever the minister said it was. After all, their point of view was authoritative according to the words in the bible, right?

So, imagine my shock when I discovered there were actually two creation stories in the bible. Yes, I know, what the heck are you talking about? When I mentioned this to a group of youth at a church I served a few years ago they actually asked me, "Do you mean earth was created twice?"

It was a difficult idea for me to wrap my head around, but when my heart took over and allowed my mind to open enough to at least listen to what was being said I saw, without a doubt, that there were definitely two stories about the creation of the world. The first story, conveniently told in Genesis 1, talks about the way in which the world was created in a precise, ordered way, giving the Hebrew people the main reasons for following certain rules of the Law.

The second story, as told in (I bet you already guessed where it's told) Genesis 2 is a more poetic telling of a close relationship between God, humankind, and creation. Words such as partner and helper bring with it an image of God working with humankind to take care of our earth. Two other words, however, have been reason to bring division between humankind, and to an extent God; man and woman. It would seem that some people will use this passage as a reason to tell of God's intent for the male to be dominant over all things just as much as it is for the woman to be subservient as she is made last of all creation and comes from man's rib.

Nothing could be further from the truth. If we take a look at the story as told in Genesis 2 we see that man is created first and woman created last. When we look at the word used for man in the Hebrew, 'adam, we see that in a way it's a play on the word for dirt - 'adamah. In contrast the Hebrew word for woman is 'ishsha which literally translates as the opposite of man. A closer look at the two words also reveals that when 'ishsha is used as a pronoun the word defined isn't she, or her...it's every or each; 'adam does not have a pronoun form.

Could it be then that the creation of the opposite of the first created was a partner and helper who was not exactly like the first created, but someone that was an opposite but could still be compatible? Would it be fair to say that the creation of 'ishsha is a culmination of all things and all creation bringing to full circle all of God's creation? Could it be, then, that God's intent for us is to be in relationship with all of creation, all people, and with God?

Could it be?

Let It Begin With...

Psalm 8

If you follow this post you would remember that last week I bemoaned the Psalms and how they challenged me to find the glories of God amid the "God is our leader in war" talk. I did eventually understand how the Hebrew people needed to remember their history and how it was God who brought them through all of their trials and into a place of peace, even if for a while.

The string of Psalms hailing God as the one who defeats, the one who crushes, and the one who divides gives way this week to a God who is majestic. There's still a line in there about God being on "our side" in our victories, but the overall message is more one of how God thinks about us rather than how we think about God.

Sometimes we forget that we have a God who thinks about us as well as a God who cares for us. We spend a lot of time thinking about the things we need to do to make God happy or what the best way to praise God  is that we let the fact that God loves us unconditionally pass us by.

This Psalm reminds us that God put so much faith in humanity that God gave us the daunting task of taking care of God's creation. I use the word daunting because that task is both awe-inspiring as much as it is overwhelming. Taking a look at where creation is now - all of creation which includes the cattle of the ground and the birds of the air and the grass in the field and the fish in the water and the humans who all share it - I, for one, say we've not done as good a job as we should have.

The question now is, "Where do we go from here?" Remember, my friends, all change comes from within. As the song goes..."Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me." Take a hard, honest look at where you are, or better, who you are. Then ask yourself, "Do I love unconditionally, or do I pass judgment on others?"

If you believe we are made in the image of God I hope your answer is that you love unconditionally.