We're All in This Together

 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.    Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited. (Romans 12:13-16 NIV)

When you go to worship, you never know how you will be fed that week.  Sometimes it's the sermon.  Sometimes it is a particular song.  Sometimes it is communion, or the scripture reading, or the children's sermon, or even in the fellowship.  For me yesterday, it was the quote by Lilla Watson that Pastor Chad used in his sermon.  It stuck with me all day.  The more I thought about it, the more profound I found it:

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

 This is what, at its core, is wrong with the world today... or at least our country.  "Help" mostly comes in the form of the "greater" person coming to the aid of the "lesser" person.  I've even seen spiritual illustrations of sharing our faith as one person (at the top of a pit) helping the person at the bottom of the pit out.  Doesn't that say in an unspoken way that the person at the top has all the answers?

Our own liberation truly is bound up with every other person's.  And the only way to attain it is to work together as people all hurt by the same problems.  There are problems in this world and in this country that are not being solved because we think we have to give what we have to those who don't have it.  No!  We need to understand that when there are millions who don't have, then neither - really - do we.  There truly is a connection between all humanity that when one suffers, we all suffer.  To solve our problems, we have to start to feel that suffering again.  There is so much of it that we have become desensitized, even paralyzed to it.

I see beautiful signs of what the world should be when I work with Holy Cross in outreaches like Project Matthew or Hesed House.  It really feels a lot less like we are "helping" others and a lot more like we are all liberating one another.  It's not one group giving and another taking.  It is everyone sharing the grief and joy that brings us all together.

No one has all the answers.  Therefore no one can stand at the top of the pit to give the hand up.  Really, the best we can do is to work together to build some steps from the sides of the pits and walk out hand-in-hand.

Father,
Help us to truly feel our connection with every other person in this world.  Only when we feel the grief and despair as our own will we be moved to work together to solve the problems. Amen.

Joys:  A Sunday school room full of toddlers and preschoolers; both my granddaughters on my lap; Kevin's excitement about starting his new job on Friday.

ALL That is Within Me

Bless  the  Lord , O my soul; And all that is within me,  bless  His holy name! (Psalms 103:1 NKJV)

What a beautiful thought... praising God with ALL that is within me.  Well... as long as we are talking about all the generosity and love and forgivness and kindness and peacefullness.  But unfortunately, that is not ALL that is within me.  There is also greed and jealousy and anger and a lot of other ugly stuff too.  Do we praise God with that stuff too?  And if so, how?

Do we just refuse to acknowledge our negative feelings?  Do we pretend that we don't have them?  Would that honor God?  I think most psychologists would tell us that refusing to acknowledge our feelings would be emotionally unhealthy.  It is the kind of thing that leads to addictions as we search for ways to make ourselves feel better.

I think we CAN use these negative feelings to praise God by acknowledging them and working through them in a faithful way.  We can admit that our greed makes us not want to give a little extra when a need arises, but when we do it anyway, we bless God.  When we are angry because someone has hurt us, we honor God by praying for that person instead of retaliating.  We don't cover up the feelings, but acknowledge them and act faithfully in spite of them.

In return, God honors us.  We find forgiveness a little easier when we pray for those who have hurt us.  We find generosity a little easier when we find that giving doesn't really leave us with less for ourselves.

God knows us inside and out.  He knows what we are really feeling, so we can't really cover up our feelings anyway.  Bless God with ALL that is within you by taking all that ugly stuff and laying it before him.  He can work through that too.

Father,
Help me to integrate my selfishness with my generosity; my anger with my love; my spite with my kindness.  Let me come to you as a whole person and allow you to work within me and all that is me. Amen.

Joys:  a sleepover with Cecelia; U-verse back up and working (sure miss my technology when it's gone!); a warm home

Social Justice

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24 NIV)

I came across this quote by Helen Keller:

Until the great mass of people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.

Very true.  There is no law that we can write that will bring about real social justice.  Legislated morality only causes those who are fearful to be more afraid.  It causes those who love money to hold on to their wealth all the more tightly.  It gives a sense of justification to those who hate.  Legislated morality only brings the opposite of what it seeks.

If we really cared about the welfare of others we wouldn't need guns.  We wouldn't need to be taxed to provide for the least of these. We wouldn't need laws making abortion or certain kinds of marriages legal or illegal.

We only need a change of heart.  And the only way to attain this change of heart is to offer it to God.  I don't mean that we should offer our heart to a selected system of theology or a set of church doctrines. No, these all too often only consist of more moral legislation that teaches fear, anger and judgement.

Instead, we should offer our heart to God and ask him to cleanse it from all the junk that has been put there by the conditioning of our environments... Government, church, family, schools, workplace, etc.  We should ask God to let us feel the pain of those who have been marginalized, pushed down, judged as unworthy, or just plain ignored. And then we should be about the task of bringing other hearts to God... Not to save them from "eternal damnation," but in order to eventually remove hell from the earth we now inhabit and bring about God's kingdom.

Changing our hearts is the only way.

Father,

Give us hearts filled with true compassion and love for one another.  Amen.

Joys: an appreciation for a usually flawless home wireless, now that there is an outage: staying home on a cold, cold night watching "I Love Lucy" series DVDs; productive day at work yesterday.

Moving the Piano

For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.  The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless  (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.    Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. (Hebrews 7:12, 18, 19, 22 NIV)

In case you've never heard this story illustration about resistance to change in the church:

A young pastor began his first weeks in his new parish on the wrong foot.  He moved the piano to the other side of the sanctuary.  The folks had a fit!  It had always been on the left side!  So the pastor moved it back.  But he knew the acoustics were so much better on the other side... and there was a bit more room and it would just look better.  So on the advice of an older, wiser pastor he moved the piano one inch.  Nobody noticed.  So once every few weeks, the young pastor moved the piano another inch.  It took a few years, but eventually the piano ended up on the other side of the sanctuary, and no one even noticed that it had been moved.

We've undergone a lot of changes at Holy Cross over the last 15-20 years and not all of it has been gradual.  We've changed our worship style.  We've changed the look of our sanctuary.  As a greater ELCA church we have changed things at a more fundamental level, by changing who we welcome as full brothers and sisters in Christ.

It's been harder for some than others.  We have even lost some members to churches that prefer their piano moved more slowly.  But generally speaking, Holy Cross has handled change very well!

The fact is, it is no longer a matter of what we want.  The piano MUST be moved.  Not just in our churches, but in our communities, our country and in our world.  The world has changed so very much!  There are so many more people; much greater technology; great leaps in scientific knowledge.  And there are so many more opportunities to misuse and abuse all of this technology and knowledge.  It is useless to point to the past and say, "This worked then, it will work now."  No.  The world is that different.  The piano won't even play on that side of the church anymore.

Like it or not, we have to think differently.  About our faith.  About the world.  We have to let our minds out of the boxes we've held them in for the past 20+ years.  We have to be willing to solve new problems  and old problems with new solutions.

Over 2000 years ago, God saw that the Law wasn't going to work any more.  So he did a new thing... completely out of the box!  He came to earth to fulfill the Law himself and make a way for us.  Who would have thought it!  God tried moving the piano little by little by sending his prophets, but there came a point when the world was different enough that the piano just kept slipping back to its original position, so God just picked it up and put it where it needed to be by sending Jesus.  And there were people who would not accept such a radical change.  They were sure God was too conservative to do something so radical.  But they were wrong.

It is time again for something just that new... just that wild and crazy and out of the box.  God will send someone  or inspire someone or some group to bring that change too... if he hasn't already.  We just need to make sure our hearts are open and grace-filled enough to receive it.  Don't let yourself get stuck with the old piano that doesn't work anymore.

Father,
The world is ripe for a new thing from you.  Open our instinctually hard hearts to receive it.  It might seem heretical at first... just like Jesus.  It might fly in the face of everything we thought we knew... just like Jesus.  Help us to embrace it and not reject it.  Amen.

Joys:  a really great weekend with the love of my life; time with the rest of the family too; Long weekends.

Abundance

and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside  and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” (John 2:9, 10 NIV)

The story of the weddding at Cana and the water turned to wine is certainly in my top 10... maybe even five most loved Bible stories.  It's not just because I love wine, although that is certainly part of it.  I love that Jesus loved wine enough to make it "choice wine."  I love that Jesus wanted others to enjoy wine too.

But what I love most about this story is that it is about abundance.  There is always enough in God's world.  No one on earth should ever want for anything.  God has provided enough to go around.  No... not just enough... an abundance!  The problem is... us.  There is not enough to go around to everyone in the world only because we refuse to see it.  And because we refuse to participate in God's abundance.

If we look at this story we see that others had to participate and we have to be willing to see the miracle.  Unfortunately, most of us are so afraid that someone else will get our share of the abundance unless we grab it up along with as many other shares as we can.  But the best miracle of abundance is the opposite of that.  It turns out that the more we give away, the more abundance we receive.  Sometimes it is material and sometimes it is the real abundance of life... the stuff that comes from really living unconformed to the world.

Father,
You are a God of abundance.  Help us to figure out what that means for us in this world.  Amen.

Joys:  fun day at work with Rickie and Pat; quiet night at home; possible snow!

Breaking Free

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get  wisdom. Though it cost all you have,  get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7 NIV)

A story:

        As I was passing the elephants at the zoo, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not. 
I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Of course this story's obvious moral is that even when we have been taught to believe that we can't do something, it shouldn't keep us from trying.  But we are conditioned in other ways too.  So many of the things we are certain of are beliefs that have been conditioned in us through our communities, families, friends, schools and even churches.  Bigotry is a result of condtioning and once we begin to question it, we can break free.

Questioning is a good thing!  God gave us brains and expects us to use them.  Pick one of your beliefs and ask yourself why you believe it.  Is it a result of your own regular experiences?  Or have you been condtioned to believe it?  If you have been conditioned, the belief isn't necessarily wrong, but it is certainly worth examining.

Father,
Help us to look to our experiences with you as our basis for faith.  And help us to continually question those things we have been simply condtioned to believe... just in case we need to break free. Amen.

Joys:  Pedicure; good day off; a warm, dry home in a cold, wet winter.

Mini-gods

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21 NIV)

Our idols today don't have names like Baal and Molech, but we do have our "mini-gods."  All week long we worship them and then come to church on Sunday to remember the one true God.

What are your "mini-gods?"  What are the things that use up your time, energy and thoughts during the week... the things that keep you from the things that God would rather you do?  They might be things as big and important as your job or your family or they might be the harder to point to things like the need for approval or your self-image.  It might be all of them and more.

We struggle with these things all week because the t.v. and radio and internet and magazines and our friends and family all say we should.  It's a battle we are all bound to lose more often than we win.  So what can we do?

Keep a mental list (or a written one!) of each mini-god as you recognize it during the week. Then on Sunday, lay it on the altar of the one true God.  You'll probably have to do it the next week and the next week and the next....  but being aware is half the battle.  Maybe we will be able to rid our homes and our lives of our idols one mini-god at a time.

Father,
You know we love you, but sadly, we love the things of this world just as much and sometimes more than you.  Help us to get our priorities in order.  Help us to find and root out the idols in our lives.  Amen.

Joys:  plans for a weekend getaway with Richard; a day off... I think I see a pedicure in my near future!; sleeping in a little.

Dream a Little Dream

Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about,  but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: (Daniel 2:27, 28 NIV)

Often when someone is called a dreamer it is done so with a snort of derision.  "Dreamer" in our busy, get-er-done minds is usually synonymous with "slacker."  But the Bible is full of dreamers: Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, Daniel....  These dreamers were taken seriously.  Joseph's brothers took Joseph's dreams so seriously, in fact, that they threw him into a pit to die, relenting only to sell him into slavery.

We don't know a whole lot more about dreams all these millinea later, but we do know they have a lot to do with our subconscious.  Does God speak to us through our dreams?  I don't see why not.  If it is an avenue whereby God might get our attention, I believe he wouldn't hesitate to use it.  But in our modern "enlightenment" we don't place as much significance on our dreams anymore.  They flitter away as soon as we awake and we don't even try to remember them.

Dreams... sleeping or waking... are important.  They help us to think outside the box.  They can take us in directions our consious mind would never think of.  They can bring out our individuality and uniqueness.  They can help us remember who we were created to be.

Dream.  Hold on to your nighttime dreams a little longer after you wake.  Think about them and what they might mean.  Maybe God is speaking to you.  And go ahead and daydream too!  Maybe it is all you need to help you find your passion and what you can be doing to help bring God's kingdom to earth.

Father,
Dreams are a mystery to us still.  Help us to use them for the good of your kingdom.  Help us to listen for your voice in the midst of them.  Amen.

Joys:  Tracy's shower on Saturday; Emma's baptism yesterday; wonderful family time all weekend.

Emma's Baptism

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened  and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21, 22 NIV)

My 4-month-old granddaughter, Emma, is being baptized this Sunday.  It makes me smile with a warm feeling in my heart just to type out those words.  I'm excited about the ceremony of it.  She will wear a pretty baptismal gown and her whole family is invited and we will go do lunch somewhere afterward.  But I am also thinking about the act of baptism itself and what it means FOR Emma and what it will come to mean TO Emma.

Most of you know that my theology leans decidely liberal, so I don't think baptism is "fire insurance."   I see a lot of merit in "believer baptism" and just love the symbolism in full immersion baptism.  Nothing says "you are cleansed"  better than that.  But there is something really wonderful about infant baptism.  It says in the clearest way possible that it is not of our own doing, but it is God's work alone.  After all, what can an infant do to help in their baptism?... they goo and gurgle or cry or spit up on the pastor.  But God still receives them and welcomes them.

When Jesus was baptized God said, "You are my son whom I love; with you I am well pleased."  I believe that each time a person is baptised, God says that again... with the word daughter when appropriate.  God is well pleased with each of us, even when we mess up.  He already knows we are going to, and he is there to help us learn and grow and get through it.

We need baptism.  We need that point of grace to look back to again and again... when we feel alone... when we've messed up... when the really scary things in life happen to us.  I don't have my baptismal candle (and don't know if I ever received one).  But if I did, I would get it out  and light it occasionally just to remind myself that God cares.... that GOD chose ME before I could ever choose him... and that I am his unique, miraculous creation.

I am so glad Emma will have that.

Father,
Thank you for this special "welcoming time" for Emma.  Fill her with your love and grace and with your Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Joys:  Baptisms of all kinds; Job offer for a friend and for Kevin; a very special wedding shower coming up

Winning Christmas

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NIV)

I love my preschool Sunday school class.  You just never know what they are going to do or say.  They are so innocently honest.

Yesterday we were talking about all the great things they got from Santa Claus.  They were so excited to get to talk about it one more time to a new set of ears.  Cecelia was particularly vocal and probably remembered every item she got under every tree she visited.  By the time she got to the end of her list she said... "I got so many presents that, actually (her new favorite word), I think I won Christmas!"

Ouch!  So cuttingly, convictingly honest!  Isn't that what Christmas has become in this country?... A contest?  Even a 4-year-old can see it.  It's a contest to make sure our kids get the hottest, most sought-after gifts.  Remember the "Tickle-Me-Elmo," "Furbie," "Power Ranger" and "Cabbage Patch Kids" hunts of former years.  People would trample each other to get the latest and greatest.  If that toy was under your tree that year, you won Christmas.

It's a contest to see who is loved most.  I've seen women compare gifts from their boyfriends or husbands.  The ones that got the expensive jewelry won Christmas because obviously their significant other loved them most. It's a contest to see who has the most Christmas spirit.  We all know some men who tend to go overboard with their outside decorations... need I elaborate...? :)

Don't get me wrong... I think the gifts and the generosity and the excitement of the season is great.  But like everything else, we tend to compete.  It's human nature.  But perhaps we should refocus the competition.  Maybe we should compete with how many Random Acts of Kindness we complete throughout the holiday season... or the percentage of our income we give to those in need... or how many lonely people we visit.

Now that this season is over, maybe we can think ahead to next year.  What shall our focus be?  Will we teach our kids that they need to have the most stuff?  Or shall we teach them to help those who never have enough?  If we could teach the next generation to love others more than themselves, we would truly win Christmas.

Father,
As another Christmas season ends, keep us mindful of what it is really about.  Change our hearts and change our focus.  Help us to truly win Christmas next year.  Amen.

Joys: my Sunday school kids; baby showers; time with family over the weekend

Being Ourselves

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.    I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.    My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.    Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16 NIV)

A story from the Talmud:

Once, the great Hassidic leader, Zusia, came to his followers. His eyes were red with tears, and his face was pale with fear."Zusia, what's the matter? You look frightened!""The other day, I had a vision. In it, I learned the question that the angels will one day ask me about my life."The followers were puzzled. "Zusia, you are pious. You are scholarly and humble. You have helped so many of us. What question about your life could be so terrifying that you would be frightened to answer it?"Zusia turned his gaze to heaven. "I have learned that the angels will not ask me, 'Why weren't you a Moses, leading your people out of slavery?'"His followers persisted. "So, what will they ask you?""And I have learned," Zusia sighed, "that the angels will not ask me, 'Why weren't you a Joshua, leading your people into the promised land?'"One of his followers approached Zusia and placed his hands on Zusia's shoulders. Looking him in the eyes, the follower demanded, "But what will they ask you?""They will say to me, 'Zusia, there was only one thing that no power of heaven or earth could have prevented you from becoming.' They will say, 'Zusia, why weren't you Zusia?'"

The best resolution we can make for this new year is to be the person God created us to be.  We waste so much of our lives trying to be the person our parents or spouse or children want us to be; or we try to be a copy of someone we admire.  When we try to be what others expect, we only find frustration and unhappiness. Whe we try to be like someone we admire, we usually fall short, but even more sadly we deprive the world of the gifts that our uniqueness brings.

We are so different.  Our genetic code makes us completely different from anyone else ever born, but it is even more complicated than that!  Our life experiences since birth make us different and even the way we have processed those experiences make us different.

Let's embrace ourselves fully for who we have been created and grown to be.  Let's allow our inner passions flourish into the gifts and talents God intended for us to use - not only for the good of his kingdom but also that each of us might experience abundant life.  May we each experience truly abundant life this year.

Father,
Open our hearts and minds to find the person you created each of us to be. Help us to uncover our true inner passions and be fruitful through the gifts and talents that make each of us unique.  Amen.

Joys: a good time with friends; a new year with new hopes and expectations and exciting things to look forward to; holding both my granddaughters on my lap