Where's the Chocolate?

When I was studying music history in college, my imagination was caught by the early concept of the music of the spheres or musica universalis (music of the universe). It was thought that the movement of the planets and stars created their own music. It was more a spiritual and even mathematical concept than one of sound, but it has long fascinated musicians to think of what sound might be heard in space.

Now while some musicians have taken the math involved in the orbits and turned it into music, any science fiction nerd will tell you that there is no noise in space. It makes for great drama in movies to hear the big deep rumbles of a huge space ship going across the screen, but there is no atmosphere in space so there is no transmission of sound. However, before you think that knowledge destroys all imagination, scientists have now discovered the chemical (ethyl formate) in dust clouds in the Milky Way that smells like rum and tastes like raspberries! So space might taste good even though it is quiet.

So often, we are so busy making our own noise that we don't hear what is happening around us. I was reminded of that when I began serving in rural north central Kansas.

My first night in the house in Axtell was so quiet and dark. The parsonage (house for the pastor) was across the field next to the church in open country. As I turned off the television and the lights on my way up to bed, I became aware of the darkness and the quiet. That quiet seemed immense until I laid in bed and quit making my own noise. Then I became aware of the sounds of croaking frogs and rasping bugs, the wind in the trees, and the hoots of the great horned owls that nested in the yard. In the months that followed, I also heard neighboring cattle, coyotes, woodpeckers, and many other birds and forms of wild-life. The silence wasn't silent.

When Jesus enters Jerusalem (what is now observed as Palm Sunday or the procession of palms), not everyone is happy to hear the people cry out their hosannas and praises. Some of the religious leaders in the crowd ask Jesus to make the people stop. Jesus responds that if the people were quiet, "the stones would shout out". (Luke 19:40)

It is not always possible to get away from the noises that people make: traffic on even distant roads, the fan of the refrigerator or furnace, even the low hum of lights and electronics or the sound of our own breath. However, I invite you to the refreshing discipline of going to a quiet place (outside if possible), settling yourself in a position you can comfortably keep, and breathing deep and slow. At first the silence might be overwhelming but as you continue, you will begin to hear the sounds around you. The world is never silent. As you hear the sounds of God's creation around you, breathe deep and rest in the grace of God. Read Isaiah 44:21-23.

Opening the Book

In high school youth group meetings, I was introduced to two games; one we took seriously, the other was all in fun. Both games involved taking a book and flipping pages back and forth until landing on some undetermined page.

In the second game, a hymnal was passed around, each person taking turns flipping pages (without looking to influence your choice) and sticking out your finger, chose whichever hymn you had landed on. Then, you read out the name of the hymn (or the first few words which is the same thing for most hymns), adding "between the sheets". Depending on the hymn, the results ranged from boring to hilarious to slightly naughty. It all seemed like innocent fun until the night "Amazing Grace" came up and in the middle of our giggles, we realized that the new girl, Grace, was beet red and near tears. That was the end of that game.

The first game wasn't really a game but worked in much the same way, only it used a Bible instead of a hymnbook. When you had a question or needed to make a decision, you took a bible and flipped through the pages and put out your finger (without looking) and whatever verse your finger landed on, was supposed to be God's answer for you. We called it "Serendipity". Sometimes it seemed to make sense but more often than not, you read a verse and worked hard to try and bend the facts to get the answer you wanted. It was basically using the Bible as a "magic eight ball". This is not the way God intends us to use the Word.

The Bible is not a magical book with answers to our problems to be learned like the spells and charms in Harry Potter. Neither is it a book of rules, that if followed will get you closer to God. Does the Bible contain wisdom that can help us live? Absolutely. Does it give us direction on how to live in a way that benefits the people around us? Definitely. But as attractive as it might seem, it is not a book of hidden secrets that if you use or say these words in a certain way, you will get the result you asked for, the money you need, or the healing of every disease.

So why do we dig into this big, complicated and sometimes confusing book? The Bible says it best (go figure!). The writer of the Gospel of John puts it this way, "These are written so that you may come to believe... and that through believing you may have life in his name." The Bible is a book of history, stories, poetry, hymns, wisdom and more but first and most of all, it is a love story. The story of how much God loves us. Read John 20:30-31.

Eek! Can I try again?

I used to like bugs. At least I think so because I know I used to play with rollypollies (little grey doodlebugs) and once, in third grade, I took a tarantula to class. I mean, I had to walk just short of two miles to school and I had to carry it the whole way. I couldn't have been too freaked.

We were supposed to bring an "interesting" bug to class for science show and tell. I had one of my big brothers help me catch it. We put it in a quart mayo jar and poked holes in the lid. The body filled the bottom of the jar and the legs went up the sides. It was very hairy, scary and impressive looking. I thought for sure that I would get great marks for such a big bug!

Instead, I got sent to the principle's office for bringing something dangerous to school. My bug was banished (I don't know what happened to it) and I was punished. It must have been severe (at least in my eyes) because today, I can't stand bugs. And people who worked with me in disaster know that I can cope with most things (fires, tornadoes, floods, and worse) but I don't do spiders - I scream and start running!

I remember the dread I felt following the teacher and walking down the hall. I knew I was in trouble even though I wasn't sure why. I remember wishing I could do the whole day over again. In golf, it's called a mulligan, a 'do-over'. If the first time goes awry, you get to start over again; only in golf, it usually only applies to the first time off the first tee. It's a limited time offer.

How wonderful God is about such things! When the disciples ask Jesus how many times they should forgive someone, maybe seven times? Jesus responds, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:22) Some translations say "seventy times seven". However the translation, the meaning is clear, we are to forgive beyond the amount of times of which we can keep count. As for God, God is always ready to forgive - to give us a chance at a clean start and a new beginning.

The ancient offertory, "Create in me" quotes from Psalm 51: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a clean spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me". God is always ready and willing with open arms to welcome us back into God's family, greeting us with love, giving us another chance, a new beginning over and over. God doesn't say the wrong was right. God gives us a chance to start new, to live differently from now on.

With God, it is never too late to begin again. Read Psalm 51:10-12.

Time to learn

Time passes and seasons change. There are signs all around us that change is coming: the days are getting shorter, football players are practicing in the field, and teachers and students are back in school. These are the changes that are common for our society today - the changes involved in the school calendar. Of course, here in the rural parish, we are also aware of the changes brought on by the seasons of the earth and weather. It is harvest time: wheat is being cut and there are beans and corn and beets to come.

The combines signify harvest and food that is grown while the big yellow school buses also on the road are the signs that school is in session. Summer is over and the learning begins. Some people are happy to see school resume; some are not happy at all. Sometimes the thought of going back to school is cause for real trauma-drama!

The day my nephew came home from kindergarten, he was so happy to be home. "I'm all done!", he announced. "I never have to go to school again!" My sister gently explained that he was done with his first year but that he had twelve more to go before he graduated from high school (she didn't even get into the topic of college).

"Twelve years?", he cried. "Mom! You signed me up for twelve more years without even asking me? How could you?"

Aren't we ever done with learning? Can't we just go along on what we know already? According to doctors and recent medical studies, one of the best investments we can make in our own health is to keep learning new things. Using our minds by reading, solving puzzles, and even playing games, keeps our minds active and agile as we age and can prevent or lessen the affects of age-related dementia. It seems we are never to old to keep learning.

But it seems sometimes we are all to ready to call it quits at eighth or ninth grade (confirmation age) when it comes to matters of faith. I read an article on troubled congregations and the conclusion of the author was that too many churches are run by people whose faith was last challenged and nourished when they were in junior high. The author went on to make the point that adult faith requires us to continue to study the bible and theology as we grow so that our faith grows into adulthood with us.

That doesn't mean that we all have to go to college and seminary though. Faith grows through our reading, listening to, and studying scripture and contact with the Holy Spirit through study, worship and prayer. This we can do on our own, but I know for myself, that I am always blessed ten-fold when I do this with others. When we study and pray together, our faith is held up and strengthened by each other especially when we are living through times of questions and grief. And unlike academic studies, God is always ready, loving, and present as our tutor! Read Proverbs 1:1-7.

Time and Time Again

For several days in a row, every morning when I came out to my car, there would be a large spider web spun between both cars. It was actually very beautiful. Most mornings, it shimmered in the sunlight with drops of dew hanging like crystals from a chandelier. Then I would walk through, open the door and break the strands as I left for work. What was incredible was that every morning, it would all be rewoven.

Day after day, I destroyed this beautiful, fragile work. Even if I hadn't disturbed it, it was not going to stay in place. And yet every day for nearly a week, I was greeted with this beautiful sight. I don't know how long a week is in that spider's lifetime, but I am sure, the web was a lot of work. How many of us would have kept re-doing the work day after day in the face of destruction?

It is a faith story repeated time and time again in the stories of the Bible. People who persevered, wandering through the desert for forty years and survived and rebuilt after being conquered and exiled only to be conquered again. And yet the Bible is a book of faith stories; of the God who keeps faith with God's people even when they lose hope, give up, or turn away. God is always there, reaching out with forgiveness, making it possible for us to come back. "But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love". (Nehemiah 9:17).

This verse in Nehemiah comes just after verses that recount the ways the Israelites have NOT been faithful and in fact are labeled as "arrogant and stiff-necked". Stubbornness is not generally regarded as a virtue. However, the upside of being stubborn is persistence. Being willing to keep on trying, to work at it again and again; this kind of persistence is valuable and can even be life-saving for people who refuse to give up even in the face of illness and pain.

Jesus counts it as a quality that we ought to have in our prayer life as well. When the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, he gives us the gift of the Lord's Prayer. Then he goes on to give an example of persistence in prayer. It is after this that we read the words, "Ask, and it will be given you, search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you." It is a lesson inviting us to be persistent in our relationship with God. We do not need to carefully limit our prayers in case we are bothering God too much but instead, we are encouraged to "bother God", to be persistent in our prayers. We can do this knowing that God reaches out to us in love. Read Luke 11:1-13