Delay

I am very guilty of living in the future. My mind is sometimes racing with thoughts about what I need to accomplish in the next few hours, the next few days, the next few weeks--so much so that I really do forget to live in the moment.

Yesterday, my child "B" and I left from church to go for a ride. One of our favorite routes is a highway that goes from the valley up to Mt. Rainier. On a clear day, it is a gorgeous ride--and just long enough for B to maybe take a nap.

I was ready to go yesterday when a parishioner showed up just wanting to say hi. He only delayed us for about 5 minutes, but it may have been an important five minutes. As we left and made our way up out of the valley, several emergency vehicles passed us. Then more emergency vehicles passed us. I started counting and I'm not kidding, about 15 first responders (police, fire trucks, ambulances, etc) passed us by.

Just a few minutes up the road, we came to a stop. I could see all of the lights flashing up ahead. All I could tell is that there had been a wreck and it was pretty bad. As we sat there, two more emergency vehicles passed by. Clearly we were going to be sitting there for a long time, so I turned around and we went through to pick up some fast food for lunch (healthy, I know).

As we were pulling out, I saw two more firetrucks heading up to the accident scene and one ambulance coming back. I assumed the ambulance was rushing off to the hospital. As it passed by we could see the silhouettes of people standing and working on someone. I suggested that we pray. My little child agreed and we prayed for that person in the ambulance and the people who were working so hard to try to help them.

And I wondered, had not my parishioner, known for the gift of gab, stopped by to say "hi," would we have been in that wreck? or close enough to it that we would have seen what had taken place? I don't know, but it was a stark reminder of how life can change in an instant and how important it is to appreciate what you have right in front of you--even if it is the person who likes to talk a lot =). I must remember to thank him.

Journey on....

Rattle, Thunder, Clap!

The other day we had two rounds of thunderstorms in our area. When I lived in TX, I was used to those kinds of storms, but it never storms like that here. My child was upstairs watching TV, when a flash of lightening struck very close by, followed by a ground-shaking boom.

B screamed instantly. I think it was the first time B had heard a noise that loud. There were tears and then the persistent question, "is the fire coming back?" I guess that flash did look like fire.

We're just not accustomed to that kind of commotion anymore. And when something like that happens, we have to alter our plans, maybe do things a little more differently than we might have. I was working on something downstairs when that happened, but ended up spending the next hour or so cuddling with B. And that was okay.

I wonder, though, as the pastor of a long-established church, is it truly possible to alter plans...do things differently than we might have? I catch myself becoming entrenched in my own way of thinking and then realize that I need to be open to other possibilities, but I know that is not easy.

I guess the key is to try to focus on God, remembering the words of Christ, "apart from me, you can do nothing." And in Christ, all things are made possible, right?

Journey on...

More than just a bird

Peacock
Originally uploaded by johnrite.

This Saturday was a beautiful day and we decided to enjoy it by going to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. The zoo is small but very nice. In addition to the exhibits you'd expect at a zoo (elephants, tigers, monkey), Pt. Defiance has a roaming exhibit--the Peacock pictured above.

We had seen the Peacock at various points during our visit, but happened to come around the corner just as the bird was getting its ire up and boldly displaying its feathers. My husband captured this beautiful picture--and then the bird charged at us! We quickly moved on to the more sedate penguin house.

But this beautiful photo made me remember something that I learned on a trip to Italy...that Peacocks were symbolic of eternal life in the early church. I remember seeing the Peacock on frescoes in catacombs and mosaics on church floors.

The Peacock came to symbolize immortality because of an ancient myth that the flesh of a Peacock would not decay. It also came to symbolize resurrection as it sheds its feathers for newer and brighter ones every year.

The Peacock's spread of brilliantly colored, spotted feathers serve as a protection mechanism--making the bird look twice its normal size. The many "eyes" of the Peacock's feathers came to symbolize the many eyes of God--able to watch and see many things at the same time.

I'm not sure why the Peacock fell out of favor as a Christian symbol, maybe someone out there can answer that question. But I do know the bird is magnificent, perhaps pointing us to something divine even in the everyday setting of the city zoo.

Journey on....

Chiaroscuro

Happy Summer Solstice! It is June 21st--the longest day of the year. Before moving to Washington State, I didn't even know what the Summer Solstice was. In Texas, the days get longer in the summer and shorter in the winter, but not quite to the degree we see in Washington.

Here, on the longest day of the year, the birds start chirping at 4:00 a.m. and the sun is still setting at 9:45! And in the winter, on the shortest day of the year, we are lucky to get 8 hours of daylight. This swing between day and night is even more exaggerated in Alaska and places further north.

On the darkest day of winter, December 21st, we gather for a "Longest Night Service." We talk a lot about the light of Christ coming into a dark world. And from the darkest days of winters, you would think that the really long days are a welcomed thing. But sometimes I feel like all this sunlight is too much. Can you have such a thing as too much sunlight??

I am reminded of an art term that a picked up some years ago, Chiaroscuro, which is the interplay of light and dark in creating a work of art. If you have too much darkness, there is no light and life in a painting. If you have too much light, there are no shadows to create depth and texture in a painting.

As I bask in so much sunlight, I learn to appreciate the darkness of the winters...the darker parts of life that create shadows and depth in my being. Without both, we are not true works of art.

Journey on...

What was THAT?

Most families have at least one snorer, right? Stereotypically we always think it is the guy in the house making all that noise. But I must confess that I come from a long line of down right raucus honkers! And, for the record, the guy in the house snores too, but he has nothing on the nasal caucophony that comes out of my mouth when I hit the R.E.M. sleep.

As if the snoring is not enough, my child "B" will, from time to time, crawl into bed with us. This usually causes "the shuffle." B climbs into our bed and one of us climbs out of bed in search of a quieter, less crowded place to sleep.

This was the scene last night at my house. We had all settled back in for the night--dad in the guest room =) and mom and B in the master bedroom. This was all fine until I was startled awake by a big THUD! The moment every parent dreads had come--my child had fallen out of bed.


B immediately started crying, mostly because B was very scared. And who wouldn't be? When we are deep in sleep there is nothing like a loud snore, or a loud noise, or contact with the floor to scare the daylights out of you.

So what happens when we are shaken out of our daily slumber--when something unexpected startles us awake and scares the daylights out of us? Maybe the disruption is a unwelcomed diagnosis, or the death of a friend, or a change in work life. Whatever it may be, when the unexpected jolts us awake, I think God is especially present in those times.

The moment I realized my child had fallen, I instinctively lept out of bed and scooped her up in my arms to make sure B was okay and to comfort B. Is this not what God does for us? The Psalmist said it perfectly in Psalm 121: "...He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand."

God is like a mother who scoops her children up off of the floor and comforts us when we are hurt, confused or scared. Though we never outgrow the fear of the unexpected and the unwelcomed, there is something reassuring about knowing that God is always with us.

Journey on...

Eliminating Debt

It is really easy these days for people to get into financial difficulty because of debt. This is often the topic on talk shows and in magazine articles and books. We know, as a culture, what it is to be in debt financially.

But there are other kinds of equally destructive debt that we accumulate in other areas of life. Life debt is much less recognizable in a success-driven world, but it is as prevalent as financial debt.

As the parent of a soon-to-be three year old, I am constantly testing myself to make sure that I am spending adequate time with my child and giving my child an adequate amount of attention. I don't just do this because B is a preacher's kid and I don't want B to be maladjusted =)...but I do it because I know how easy it is to think I must first get this thing done, or attend to that thing...and before you know it I have missed out on opportunities to spend quality time with my child.

The book, Parent Trek: Nurturing Creativity and Care in our Children, quotes Arlie Hochschild, a professor at the University of California as stating "that time with children cannot be borrowed: 'Often parents...unwittingly create little debt collectors in their children. In exchange for not being available,...they will trade time on an upcoming Saturday for lack of time now. Thus, the family copes with Monday through Friday with the promise of Saturday. The children collect not bills, but love, payable at a later date.'"

Ouch! I really want to try not to do that. And hopefully we can all have the sense of mind to not put off the things that are truly important to us. There will always be work to do, tasks to accomplish, stuff to get done...but time with loved ones cannot be borrowed back once it is spent.

So make the time today to hug your children, converse with your spouse, call your mom or email a friend.

Journey on...

Are You Saved?

As a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), one of the things I prize about our identity is our sense of tolerance. One of the sayings from Alexander Campbell, one of the founders of the church, is: "In Essentials Unity, in Non-Essentials Liberty, in all things Charity."

I like the statement because it asserts that there are essentials of the faith that are non-negotiable and then there are non-essentials that are open for debate and discussion. And when we debate and discuss, we try to do so with an air of respect and tolerance for diverging views and opinions.

But what do you do when you have a hard time distinguishing essentials from non-essentials...what do you do when you have a difficult time tolerating those who are intolerant?

I have a hard time tolerating those who reject the legitimacy of women in ministry. I have a hard time tolerating those who simplify complex issues with one-liners and refuse to think or research the subject which the speak against. I have a hard time tolerating Christians who think that the most important aspect of faith is being saved by confessing Jesus as Christ. Am I sounding intolerant yet?

I guess recognizing areas of intolerance is the first step in opening the door to new learning and understanding. I must say that I really am annoyed by Christians who think that they have "saved" someone because they led that person to say with their lips, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ...my personal Lord and Savior."

I am annoyed not because I think that such confession is non-essential, but because I think that faith is about being and doing...about confession and action. This week I will be preaching from Galatians 2:11-21 and in that text, I am convicted of my intolerance toward my brothers and sisters who hold confession of faith as the primary essential.

The Apostle Paul says: "we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. " And what Paul is saying is that it is not strict adherence to the law that will make us justified before God, but believing in Jesus--salvation by grace through faith. Okay...so confession in Jesus is really important. But is the confession alone all that is needed. Can I say, "I believe in Jesus Christ" and go on with life as usual resting assured that I have been "saved?"

No. Paul goes on to say: "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. " Belief in Christ...belief that is felt at the core of one's being...changes life. Paul not only confesses Christ with his lips, but he lives by faith in the Son of God.

So it is not enough for me to say that I love my church tradition because it professes to be tolerant, I better start living that way too--even when it means tolerating that which I find intolerant.

Journey on...

That Gross Tree in My Yard

We moved into our first home last fall. It was September and Autumn was setting in. When we first looked at the house, we noticed this huge tree leaning against the neighbor's garage and wanted to make sure it wasn't on our property line (as it looks like it's going to cave the neighbor's garage in anyday now).



We have loathed that tree. It dumped a TON of leaves in the fall which collected on top of and killed the grass. It has gone through various phases of blooming, raining white dust on the yard and our cars and then dropping these weird seed-looking things. It is by far the messiest, grossest tree I've seen.



But to my surprise, I looked up in the tree and noticed little red dots on the limbs. This was no ordinary, gross tree...it is a cherry tree. Who knew! It's right up there now in esteem with those weeds we were going to pull out back that are now growing strawberries.



Sometimes we look at things, and cannot see clearly what it is we are looking at. The Apostle Paul described this experience when he spoke about "seeing in a mirror dimly." Sometimes in church life, in our personal life of faith, we feel that way--like we don't see things clearly. But if we are patient and able to work through "the gross stuff" that comes our way, we may find that God has a pleasant surprise in store for us.


Journey on...

Simply Living

We all have titles that help identify who we are and what we are called to do. My titles include: mother, wife, Pastor, daughter, daughter-in-law,sister, sister-in-law, aunt, niece, cousin, friend and neighbor...(listed not in any particular order).

It is hard, with limited time and limited resources, to not feel as though I am letting the duties of one area of my life slide in order to spend more focused time in another area. Finding a balanced, simpler way of living can be terribly challenging.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 states: "Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil, and a chasing after the wind."

It is imperative for all of God's creatures (mothers, fathers, Pastors and people of all walks of life), to find the time for quiet. I believe that sometimes, it is the only time to take a deep breath and to hear the still, small voice of God speak to us.

So today I pray for you, a few moments of quiet to rest and remember that no matter the number of titles you carry, your number one title is "loved, child of God."

Journey on...

What about the Trinity?

Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday. It's no Christmas or Easter...so there won't be beautiful banners, flowers or cantatas from the choir. But it is an important Sunday on a topic that we rarely discuss in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Recently I found myself struggling to explain the Trinity to a group of high school students. Wikipedia has a very helpful entry on the Doctrine of the Trinity: "God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons--the Father, the Son (Jesus of Nazareth) and the Holy Spirit." One God...three persons.

That all sounds good, but how can 3=1 or 1=3? Mathematically it just doesn't add up. Mary Anderson's 1998 Christian Century article (available through paid subscription to ATLAS) entitled "So explain it to Me."

Anderson says: "I was watching my grandmother sleep during her afternoon nap. As I contemplated her existence, I thought wisely. 'That's Grandmama, Mamma, and Odell.' She smiled in her sleep as I called her by the names used for her by her grandchildren, her daughter, and her husband. Three names, three relationships -- and yet the same person. Amazing!"

Maybe this is the best way that we know how to put words to the experiences that we have of God...to use the language of situations that are familiar to us. The Doctrine of the Trinity is one way that church tried to put words to the experience of a God who was One and yet interacted with creation in three distinct ways.

So in the end, mathematically 3 still does not equal 1...but in faith, the One God works in (at least) 3 different ways in order to meet creation in ways that are powerful and life-changing.

Journey on...