Watch out for stumbling blocks!

I have a t-shirt inscribed with the letters "YMBALI". The letters stand for "You Might Be A Lutheran If"... and on the back of the shirt are a variety of endings to the sentence. So you might read it as, you might be a lutheran if you... sit down to sing "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" or you might be a lutheran if you rush into the burning church to save the coffee pot or YMBALI if there are three jello cookbooks in the church library. We can make some laugh at yourself jokes about lutherans in general but we need to be careful and refrain from using those generalizations to judge others. We are not all the same nor should we be.

When my husband and I were first married, I remember finally being included in certain things at church as an adult, even though I had been living on my own for years and put myself through college. I was called and asked to bring fruit salad to church for a funeral. Now you need to know that even though I was a life-long lutheran, I had grown up all over the country. So I stretched our newly-wed budget and bought fresh fruit, which was an extravagance for us, and made fruit salad and brought it to the church.

I got to the kitchen and was greeted by an older woman who looked at my bowl and then turned to someone else in the kitchen. "Hey, Myrtle (I don't remember their real names). What should we do with this?"

Another woman came over and looked at my bowl (one of our nicer wedding presents) and then at me and said, "Put it in the back of the fridge, and if we run out of fruit salad, we can put it out."

I left confused between anger and tears. I didn't know that they had meant fruited jello with whipped topping. What I knew was that I had brought the best I could and it wasn't good enough. I have kept the memory on purpose; not out of spite or to nurse my anger but I have remembered and tell it now because it was a lesson. Whether those women meant it that way or not, I know that if I had not been as strongly connected to my faith and to service in the church as I was, I never would have come back after that day. I'm sure they had not thought of driving me or anyone else away from the Church. But the lesson I learned from that day is how little it can take for us to make judgments or pass comments that are enough to discourage especially young Christians (in age and/or faith) from feeling welcomed into Christ's community.

Sometimes those of us who are long-time or life-time members in the church feel as if we have a right to expect things to be done the way they have always been done. We have worked and given for years and so our wishes should matter more than new people and new ideas. So we complain, or comment, or without thinking, "correct" people who do it differently. It's probably not meant to be discouraging or to be taken badly and in fact often happens without a lot of thought. But our years of faith and service don't earn us that privilege. Instead, we are asked even more strongly to think not of ourselves but to think of how our actions and words might affect those around us.

Am I saying that Christ expects more of us who have been in the church for years? Yes. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:9 of those who are stronger in the faith, "take care that this... does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak."

We are asked to think always of how our words and actions may seem to those who are new to the faith and/or to the faith community and make sure that we are accepting and welcoming to them. This duty comes before any privilege that we may feel we have earned. The new and or young among us will learn more from our actions of love and charity than by any hasty words we may say.

When we live out our faith in gentle welcome, we find that our community will grow, and so will our faith because when we welcome those young in faith or years, we welcome Christ into our midst. Read Matthew 18:5-6

Smelling the Roses

      Summer as a season seems to be made for taking a break.  I remember when I was younger, that waiting for summer got harder and harder the longer the month of May lasted.  It seemed like school would never end; the closer summer got, the harder it was to sit still.  The teachers I know agree, it gets harder and harder to keep every one's attention towards the end of the school year.

      I still can't wait for summer - especially when winter throws one last cold, snowy blast in our faces.  The longer, warmer days of summer seem meant for picnics, sipping lemonade, and lazing in a hammock.  However, we have succeeded in  swapping one schedule for another and summer has become crammed with its own set of activities: sports, vacations, visiting, gardening, do-it-yourself lists, games, and so on.  They sound like leisure activities until they are added together and compounded by the work that still must be done.  We have turned summer into one huge item on the "to-do" list that must be completed.

     In doing that, we have lost something we desperately need physically, spiritually, and mentally.  We get so caught up in doing what comes next that we forget to take the time to enjoy what is happening around us and things begin to unravel.  When we don't really see and appreciate the creation around us, we lose the impetus to work at caring for the earth entrusted to us by God.  When we are so busy going from one thing to the next, concentrating on completing tasks, we can lose track of caring for our relationships with the people around us.  And when all of these things are happening at the same time, we can lose track of caring for ourselves and ignore the warning signs our own bodies are giving us.  We are human and sooner or later, we will be reminded of how frail our bodies are.

      We need sabbath time; time away from work to rest and to pray.  God modeled this truth for us even at the beginning of creation, resting on the seventh day.  We are physically and spiritually built so that rest is vital to our survival. When every Sunday becomes one more day to work at play and when summer becomes a long season of work and busyness, we endanger our well- being.  

      So how do we get that rest and still meet the demands of our lives?  It's not always possible to carve out entire days or weeks for rest; our responsibilities get in the way.  But here is a way to begin: take time to breathe.  As God breathed life into Adam and Eve, as Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples on that first Easter(John 20:22); in our breath is life.

      It only takes a moment to sit quietly, head held up, breathe slowly in through the nose and out through the mouth.  You can do it anywhere, anytime just for a moment or longer.  Taking time to "smell the roses" in small doses helps center us into the present and can help calm the mind and heal the body.  Combined with prayer, we are reconnected with God.  Read Mark 6:30-32

Prayer that cares

      "Good luck!"

      "Hope it goes well for you. You'll be okay."

      "I'll be thinking of you."

      Someone we know is going on a job interview, to the doctor or hospital for tests or surgery, or perhaps they are moving away, or being deployed to serve overseas.  We want to let them know that we care, that somehow our care goes with them, and that we want positive outcomes for them.  We hope that they will get the job, arrive safely, that the doctors will find no cancer or can cure what ails them, and they will come home safe and sound.  We talk about it in words of wishing or hoping like children getting ready to blow out birthday candles or pulling apart a wishbone.  If only our thoughts could change things or at least tip the scale towards the positive.  

      During my years of disaster ministry, there were many sleepless nights when I struggled with overwhelming problems, trauma and stress.  One night in particular, I remember finally sitting up on the edge of the bed and struggling with tears.  I was working with a family that needed help so badly.  It was something everyone I talked to agreed upon but deadlines were past, regulations had to be followed, and the problems seemed insurmountable.  I had spoken to regional and national directors, legislators including a governor, all on behalf of this family.  In tears, mentally and physically exhausted, I sat there thinking "If only there was someone bigger I could talk to, someone with more power who could make a difference".

      That's when I had my Homer Simpson "Doh!" moment.   God.  Prayer.  Of course there was someone bigger, stronger, with more power than anyone and yes, I could talk to that person.  I could talk to God.  I stopped turning in circles and prayed, putting the family and all their problems into God's hands and asked God to take care of it.  I didn't know what else to do.  God was going to have to be creative at this point.  When I was done praying, I laid down and got more restful and deeper sleep than I had had in a long time.

      I not only slept well that night, but over the next few days, things fell into place including a proclamation from the governor.  Most importantly, the family ended up getting the help and support they needed.

      There is power in prayer.  More than having good wishes or kind thoughts for someone, prayer is an act of faith that connects the person we are concerned about with the boundless grace and love of God.  Praying for someone makes a difference.  Telling them we will or are praying for them is a witness of faith.  

      Now it doesn't work like ordering from Amazon - if we put in the order, we get what we asked for.  Treating prayer like a purchase order makes prayer a form of magic, like in Harry Potter; you say the right words in the right way and voila! it happens.  But prayer is a matter of faith and not magic.  For whatever the reasons (the world's brokenness, our intentions, some future consequence we cannot see, etc...), sometimes we do not get the answers from prayer that we seek.  But always, we have connected ourselves and the people we pray for in relationship with God.   

      "I'll keep you in my prayers."  

      Like many of the things that Jesus asks us to do in his name: feeding the hungry or caring for sick and reaching out, praying for others is a double gift.  When we pray for others, we find our own troubles and anxieties are lessened even as they are given into God's care.  "Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)   A simple change in vocabulary from "I hope it's okay" to "I'll pray for you" takes our intention from a nice thought into action that also (gently) witnesses to our faith and God's power.  Read James 5:13-16.

God's Forest

      It seems like we spend most of the winter  waiting for the warmth of summer but once it gets hot, nothing feels better than the shade of a tall tree.  Sitting under the green canopy, the air is cooler and you can hear the wind rustle the leaves and the birds sing.  It's a great place for reading a book, taking a nap, or sipping iced tea while talking with a friend.  Trees clean our air, supply oxygen, keep our houses cooler in the summer, provide wind breaks in the winter, and provide shelter for many creatures.  

      Trees are a treasure; especially on the wide prairies of the Great  Plains.  Even from a long distance, you can tell where a homestead is or was by noticing the cluster of trees.  Settlers planted them to form a shelter around the house and yard from the worst of the cold winds.  That's why you find evergreens scattered in windbreaks; they give shelter from blowing snow and frigid winds when the other trees have lost their leaves.  Fruit trees were planted for preserving and canning to enrich diets even in the winter.

      You can see the curly paths of the rivers by following the tree line growing along the banks. It's often at the curve of a stream or small river where the water slows down that you will find a large willow tree hanging over the water.   In dryer areas of the plains,  you can see where water only runs during the flashes of thunder storms by looking for the trees.  It's not only dryer in the west, but the wind blows harder with nothing to get in it's way.  The power of the wind and the lack of moisture shows in the shortened and twisted trees but still, they grow where there is water.   In western Kansas, where trees and water are in shortest supply and limestone is plentiful, farmers and ranchers are inventive, cutting the limestone and using it for the mainstays of fence lines.  It's why that area is called "stone post" country.

      In Psalm 1, the writer compares faithful people to "trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither" (Psalm 1:3).  These are people who "delight ... in the law of the Lord" and who meditate day and night.  

      This night seem strange if we only consider "the law of the Lord" to be like the 10 commandments.  How do you "delight" in being told what to do and what not to do?  But the psalmist is talking about so much more than those few verses in Exodus 20.  What is being modeled in the psalm is following the will of God; shaping one's life by faith.  And like the tree planted by the water, our faith is fed by hearing, reading, studying, and praying the Word of God.  As we nurture our faith, we grow stronger and more able to withstand the storms and winds of life; even the dry times when we are not sure of our faith or when we are battered by pain or crisis.  It is at those times most of all, when the community of the church can uphold us.

      The tallest largest trees of all, the redwoods, have very shallow roots.  I have read that if they grew alone, they would not be able to grow so tall or so old because they would tear out of the ground and fall over in wind.  However, as they grow in groves, their roots intertwine and weave together, giving them a huge base much larger and stronger than any one or two could grow.   It is because they grow together that they are able to become the monuments they are.  

      It is the same for us.  When we grow our faith in community with others, we are better able to handle whatever it is that blows our way.  Read Ephesians 4: 1-6

     

Wherever You Go

      Somebody said one of my favorite sayings to me yesterday; 'life is what happens when you've made other plans".  There are days like that - sometimes it seems like there are weeks, months, or even years like that.  Just when I think I have my life organized and made up my mind about what comes next, life happens and there is a crook in the road I hadn't seen before.  No matter what my plans were, I have to deal with what is now ahead of me.  Sometimes they are small dips or bumps in the road, a turn in a completely new direction, or even a hole so big I can't see my way around or out of it.

      Those kind of things happen to us all.  But right now, there is a collective climate of uneasiness because of the economy and the world situation.  It makes it that much harder to make decisions and choices when we feel like we have no real control. That's when I wish I was like this friend of mine.

      She is one of those people that seems to walk with a sureness that I wish I had.  When she has a decision to make, she prays and sooner or later, feels that she has gotten an answer that allows her to say, "this is the direction God wants me to go".  With confidence, she then sets off in that direction.

      I wish God talked to me.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  I'm sure God has a lot to say to me that I haven't slowed down to listen to.  But when I have a big decision to make, I don't seem to get the kind of clear cut holy arrow pointing in the direction I need to go that my friend does.  I pray.  I try to listen.  I spend time with valued friends talking about the options, listening to advice, laying out the pros and cons, but it still comes down to my making a decision and praying it is the right one. I don't hear a voice saying,"Go here" but I do step off the curb with a promise.  Whatever way I have chosen to go, I know that God goes with me.

      In the end, that is the most important thing for any of us to know.  

      Many people in their weddings use the words of Ruth to Naomi, "Wherever you go, I will go..."  They are beautiful words of promise from one woman to another.  But the words of promise that I invite you to cling to come from Jesus.  Here and there throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus promises to be with us.  "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."  (Matthew 7:20)  And again at the close of the Gospel, "lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (28:20).

      Whether it is good news, something we've been waiting for a long time or bad news, something seemingly impossible to face, God is with us.  

      Like the poster on my eighth grade English teacher's wall of the road that diverges in the wood, life sometimes presents us with decisions to make.  Which path will we choose?  Unlike the poster, it isn't always clear that one path looks wide and sunny and one path less traveled.  Unlike the poem, the choice isn't "do I go the right way" but instead, the struggle is figuring out which way is the right way.  And some days, things happen that change the rest of our lives without any decision on our part.

      The promise is that God goes with us no matter which path we take.  When we pray about decisions , we may not get a clear answer the way my friend does, but we can hear again that there is no where we can go that is too far for God.  Read Psalm 139: 1-10