Making Room To Grow

              (Picture - Judean desert)
       I was first introduced to compost when my dad retired from the Air Force and we moved back to the family homestead.  There was a heap out near the garden and everything from potato peels, dead flowers, to coffee grounds went out on the compost heap.  It was often one of my jobs to carry stuff out there.  It was one of the things I didn't understand and didn't like about moving back on the farmstead.
       I felt like I had been torn away from my best friend, the things I loved doing, and civilization where everything was a short bike-ride away.  Here I was stuck out in the country on a gravel road and going into town meant waiting for a ride and going where my parents were going.  At the age of 16, I milked it for all the drama it was worth I'm sure.  That smelly, ugly compost heap was just a small part of the things I didn't understand and hated.  I felt like I was going to die.
        As that first year went on, the empty spaces left by the things and people I had left behind began to be filled with new things.  I began to be changed by the space around me.  City lights became replaced by the enchantment of a full moon on new snow which lit the night bright enough for skiing or walking.  The summer nights were filled with the sound of croaking frogs and buzzing crickets and the miracle of northern lights.  And as time went on, I saw the compost heap turn earthy smelling and become part of the garden; there were strawberries, new peas, carrots, potatoes, and beans.  I rediscovered the four seasons, the Milky Way, silence, and myself.
        The first three gospels tell us that immediately (their word) after his baptism, Jesus was driven out into the wilderness.  (Luke 4:1-4)  He was there for 40 days which is traditional bible-speak for a long but necessary time.  Things often happen for 40 days or 40 years in the Bible.  The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert during which time they were taught to trust in God came together as God's people.
       There are strong ties between both of these desert stories with some major differences.  The Israelites are forever trying Moses' (and God's) patience because they keep turning their back on God and forgetting or refusing to live as God's people.  Where they and we always fail, Jesus remains faithful.  Jesus fulfills and completes the story by remaining faithful and without sin.
       The forty days of Lent are a time for us to empty our lives of at least some of the excesses so that there is room to fill up our hearts and minds with God.   Lent is a time to give up some things so that that space and time is then filled up with the activities and disciplines that bring us closer to God and feed our faith; things like prayer, study, worship, and acts of service to those in need.
       We do not need to punish or sacrifice ourselves for Lent, hoping to somehow make ourselves worthy for God.  Jesus has done all that is required.  Our wilderness time of Lent is a time to become closer to the God who loves us.   In coming just as we are to God, in confessing our sin and brokenness, God takes even that and makes new growth, new life.  Read Romans 6:1-4

Washing in the Light

         I will always remember seeing my daughter in white coming down the aisle at her wedding.  But my favorite photo of her in her wedding dress was actually taken in the bridal shop.  It took more than one trip and she had tried on many dresses without finding a dress that fit her physically or in spirit.  But another day, we went to a small owner-run shop and began trying on dresses again.  Nothing was working until the woman remembered a dress that had just come in.  She apologized because it wasn't pressed yet but she thought it might work.  The picture shows my daughter in that dress in a spontaneous pose of joy and confidence.  She is just beaming.
        Some of my most treasured memories of my children are when they were dressed in white. At their baptism, each one wore a long white baptismal gown and was wrapped in the soft delicate white blanket knitted by my mother.  I hope that one day, a grandchild will wear the same gown and tiny hand-made booties.  Certainly with my boys, it was probably the only time they will wear so much lace, ribbons, and frills (not their style!).
       The day of my oldest son's baptism, I waited until just before the service began to change his diaper and dress him in the long white gown baptismal gown with its sheer over dress, tiny tucks, lace and ribbons.  Even though he was only a few weeks old, I knew how likely it was that he might leak out of one end or the other and I didn't want the dress messed up before he was even baptized.  In spite of all my precautions and preparations, we had barely left the church basement before he spit up all over me and himself.  Back down we went and I frantically worked to clean us both off for the service.
        We don't often dress up only in white, especially our children; probably because they wouldn't stay white very long.  This was even more true in the old days of laundry not just before automatic washers but also before the changes in the soaps,  stain removers, and even in the materials with which our clothes are made that make it easier to wear and clean whites.
        Unless you're me.  I'm very hard on whites - white shirts or blouses only last so long before they become permanently stained by what I drop on them.  No matter how hard I try not to spill, or what new gizmo I carry in my purse to take out spots before they stain, my whites do not stay white.
        Just like my baptism and yours.
        This season of light ends with the celebration of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  Found in Matthew (17:1-ff), Mark (9:2-ff), and Luke (9:28-ff), these verses tell how Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the mountain to pray.  While there, Jesus is transfigured or changed.  His clothes become dazzling white and his face shines with glory.  This story, along with the symbolism of white as purity are behind the traditional use of white for certain church festivals.      It is also tied to the stories of Moses who reflects the glory of God when he comes down from the mountain.
         We wear white at baptism as a sign that we have been washed clean, forgiven through God's grace.  In a sense, our lives of faith are to be a reflection of God's glory.  But like my white shirts, we get dirty and stained by our sinfulness and the muck of the broken world we live in.  The good news is that we can wash again constantly in our baptism and be renewed. There is no sin strong enough to stain and separate us  from God's love.  We don't have to try and hide or cover up before God, Jesus washes us clean again and again.
        So unlike children dressed up in our Sunday clothes, we do not have to worry about not going outside into the world lest we get our clothes dirty.  Instead, Jesus calls us to come down the mountain with him and into the middle of the people who need hope and good news.  If we listen to Jesus' words to care for the least of the world we will meet him face-to-face.  If we listen to his words to show his love to the world by how we care for others, they will know the love of Jesus.  If we listen to Jesus and follow, the light of faith will shine brighter.  Read 1 John 1:5-9

Gathered in the Light

        I blame my "night owl" tendency on the time spent growing up in Texas.  Everything wasn't automatically air conditioned yet and summers in Texas can get really hot.
         When it would get so hot that it was unsafe to be outside in the afternoons, all of us kids were forced to stay indoors with the blinds and curtains drawn to block out the sun.  I don't remember anybody having to work real hard at calming us down because it just got too hot to move much.  Besides, there was a conspiracy.  If we were quiet in the afternoon, even going so far as to take naps, then we were allowed to go out when the sun went down and the day cooled off.
         It seemed like the whole neighborhood gathered in our yard because we lived on the corner.  We had three things going for us: a big yard, the streetlight was in our yard, and with seven kids in the family, we had a good portion of the quorum.  We would play games like kick the can and tag.  When it got real dark, we would play hide and seek.  Playing in the dark added an extra thrill to the game because you didn't want anyone to find you but it was scary to wander too far away from the edges of the streetlight.  Sometimes the night ended with sitting on the porch and the older kids would tell stories designed to keep the younger kids awake all night or give us nightmares.
        There weren't a lot of those turned around days.  That kind of playing late after dark was only allowed during those times of record setting heat and when the grown-ups or at least the oldest teenagers were around to supervise (when they weren't telling the scariest stories)!
        Except for those kinds of days, there was a time when day and night activities were very different and when night came, most work stopped.  There was a give and take to the pace of life; times of rush and times of quiet, light and dark, noise and quiet.   We have lost that.
       Today lights, computers and other electronics follow us where ever we go.  Even farmers have joined the 24/7 workweek.   As more farmers work off the farm to support their income, the more likely you are to see farm machinery running from evening into the dark.  This is especially true in areas of the Great Plains where farms are smaller or nearer to town.
        No matter how high tech the world gets though, we cannot escape the fact that there is only so much time to do what needs to be done.  Our time is finite; we have a limited time in which to live, work, and be with the people we love.   There is not a device invented that can or will change that fact.  It is an important fact to remember as we make daily choices on how to spend our time.
        Jesus reminded the disciples that their time together was limited.  He knew that he was on his way to Jerusalem and to the cross.  He kept reminding them but they didn't or couldn't understand.  The same thing is true for us.  We have limited time to spend with Jesus; in worship, getting to know him in prayer, through the Word, and through the people who need help.  We need to spend time with Jesus while we can, doing the things he has asked us to do and reaching out in love.
        So often I hear people say that they don't have time and that besides, they can be spiritual on their own where ever they chose.  Why do we need the Church (Church with a big 'C')?  What I know is this: the more you know and spend time with Jesus and the Church is the gathered body of Christ, the more peace, sureness, and comfort you have.  Faith grows stronger together than it does alone.  Read John 9:4-5