Peace.

This is what I looked like early this morning when my phone started making the Amber Alert noise.  I've never heard that noise before, let alone long before I should have been awake.  It certainly was one of those noises that makes you want to shoot straight up, not something I could just forget and go back to sleep.  I've seen some people complaining about the noise today on Facebook, but I totally recognize that if it were someone I knew that went missing I would want all the help I could get to make sure the child was found as quickly as possible.

Thankfully the situation that caused the alert this morning has been resolved and the young girl has been returned back to safety.  I know that while I tried to get back to sleep my thoughts and prayers went to the mother of this young child, and I prayed she would find peace in the midst of this scary situation.  It made me think about all the children that live in places of war where the sounds of gunfire and bombs are commonplace, and just how horrible it must be to live in fear day in and out.  It took a jolting horrible sound in the middle of the night to get my mind racing - maybe it was a good thing.

We get so comfortable in life, so used to having what we need, enough to eat, clothes to wear.  Most of us have a car to drive and are capable of keeping it fueled up.  It's easy to just rest in this comfort and lose perspective on God's call for us to take care of the orphans and widows, the poor, the oppressed.  We are called to be peace makers, but also to work for justice, to actively pursue opportunities to connect with those who have been ostracized.

Sometimes it can feel overwhelming and frustrating when we get the feeling that there is not much we can do - and it is then when I think we are called to pray.  We must pray trusting that our prayers are heard and received, that God is concerned with the people on our hearts and minds (whether we know them personally or not).

Psalm 36 says:

God’s love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.

How exquisite your love, O God!
How eager we are to run under your wings,
To eat our fill at the banquet you spread
as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
You’re a fountain of cascading light,
and you open our eyes to light."

For whom is God calling you to pray this day?  For what situations or people in the world do you have a deep concern? How is God calling you out of your comfort zone to pursue peace, justice and mercy on behalf of others?

Prayer:  God you have created us in your image.  Help us to see that sacred image in others, those with whom we disagree, those whom we love the most, and those that we may never meet but are in need of your presence in their lives.  Give us courage to trust in Your response to our prayers, hear us as we again cry out for peace in the world.  Amen.

Laugh!

A couple of my students sent me this video.  They promised to try these out and let me know which ones were most successful.  I cracked up when I watched this, and I hope you did too.  Sometimes it's ok to just laugh at ourselves.  

These days so much of what we do is serious.  We get up and work all day, come home and go through the evening routine we do our best to live out our faith day in and day out.  It seems like we can get so offended when someone gives Christians a hard time, we get pretty heated when we feel like we are being discriminated or picked on because of our beliefs.  I think we forget that the fathers and mothers of our faith were ostracized and truly suffered for their faith.  The crazy thing, is that most of them endured it without getting so offended.  Rather than use these incidents to fuel our desire to act in love in the world we often get pretty judgmental about what "God will do" to those who disagree with us.  When did we get so serious?  

Laughter is so good for us.  In fact there are lots of medical studies done on the healing qualities of laughter, not to mention that when we really laugh we even burn calories!  Children laugh 300-400 times each day, while on average adults only laugh 20.  

When is the last time you really  laughed?  How might you find joy in the midst of the seriousness of your responsibilities?  Are you taking yourself too seriously?

Scripture says in Psalm 126:

"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,  we were like those who dreamed.Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

What great things has the Lord done for you?  When we celebrate the movement of God in our lives our perspectives change, being positive can truly be rooted in gratitude.  Might you find more time for joy in your life?  For what are you most grateful this day?

Amen!

9 Months

The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898

Sometimes I get surprised by things that I probably should already know.  Tonight as I was reading through the Bible texts for the day I was sidetracked by the realization that today, March 25th, is the celebration of the Annunciation (the day the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was with child).  Surprise!  9 months until Christmas.  We'd better get busy, right?

No, I'm not telling you this so you start thinking about Christmas, we are in Lent so don't get distracted.  In fact, this Sunday is Palm Sunday so we are only 10 days away from Easter!  Time flies when you're having fun, or maybe for Lent time flies when you are examining your spiritual life.  Just when this time of examination and intentional sacrifice gets to be old-hat we are confronted by the praise of Palm Sunday.  Just as we prepare to turn our eyes to the cross, we are confronted by the thought that if Mary's pregnancy lasted nine months, today is the day she was confronted with the news that would change her life (and ours too.)  

Mary had some questions for the angel.  She wondered, "how can this be?"  Yet in the end she responds with "may it be as you have said, for nothing is impossible with God."  This very woman, though older by the time, knelt at the foot of the cross as that same mysterious child of hers gave His life up by saying, "let not my will, but Yours be done, God."  I am sure that throughout the life of her son Mary had many opportunities to reflect on the mystery of this God-child, yet nothing could prepare her for his death.  

Submission is not something that comes very easily to me.  I am far too stubborn to be told what to do, though many times if I just listened I would save myself a lot of grief.  There's this rebellious spirit in me that often wants to do exactly the opposite of what someone else tells me to do.  I can learn a lot from both Jesus and Mary in this example  can you?  Trusting that God has our best interest in mind can prevent us from letting our stubbornness get in the way of what God has in store for us.  If we really believe that nothing is impossible with God we can trust in those Holy Spirit insights and dreams that sometimes feel pretty lifeless. God brings life into the most barren of places, light into the darkness of doubt.  

So my prayer this evening is that we are open to the voice of God, and that before we can call it crazy we actually take a minute to trust and obey, for nothing is impossible with God.  Thanks be to God.

Sssssshhhhhhhhh.

Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."

Jesus says this a couple of times in Scripture after he has shared a parable in hopes that the gathered people will not only hear but understand in their souls what he is trying to say.  As we all know there are many levels of interpretation to the things we say.  Sometimes the intentions behind our words are misconstrued and taken the wrong way.  In these days of texting and email it can be even more challenging to decipher the motive behind the print.  There is something quite valuable about taking the time to listen, really listen to someone.

Listening is hard.  It's easy for our brains to jump into "response-mode" where we get concerned about what we should say back and we forget to listen to what is being said.  Many of us want to be fixers of the problems of those we love, so rather than listen we are ready to offer advice to fix everything.  Being a good listener is a gift, speaking to someone who is really engaged and listening is an honor.

I've been a great talker ever since I learned how.  I clearly remember parent-teacher conferences year after year when my parents would come home and let me know that my teachers thought I talked too much.  Eventually I think they just gave up.  Talking too much is problematic sometimes, especially when it gets in the way of listening.  I've always heard that there is a reason God gave us two ears and one mouth - we should listen twice as much as we talk!  How are you at listening?  Do you offer the gift of a listening ear to the ones you love?  How about to the stranger?  And to God?  When is the last time you felt you were truly listened to?

I love that Jesus tries to offer guidance and care for the people by sharing in parables.  I love even more that he ends by saying "if you have ears, hear!"  Rather than getting caught up in the confusion of trying to justify or defend we are simply called to hear, to listen.  When we really listen we are changed by the gift of other's willingness to share a bit of who they are with us.

Who is God calling you to listen to?

Godly Goosebumps.

It's been a while since I had those Holy Spirit goosebumps.  You know the ones that come upon us when we encounter the thin spaces, as a bit of the Divine sneaks up into our reality?  I remember when I was in college and worship was kickin, the gospel choir was steppin, and it didn't matter if we stood on the pews with our hands in the air, if we stayed in our seats, or if we just laughed out loud with the joy at just taking it all in - those goosebumps seemed to come a lot more often back then.  I miss those days.  

The more we are involved in the leadership of the church the more we come to realize that this magical holy place is made up of messy, political people.  Though we stay in love with the church and true to God's movement in our midst I think it's easy to  lose a little bit of that awareness of the Divine in our midst.  Ever get so concerned with the details or with who is/isn't doing this/that that you miss the message?  Ever get so focused on the words being said that you miss the Spirit's connection in prayer?  Maybe you've even found yourself making a to-do list for the week during the pastor's sermon, or in campus ministry that means sending snap-chats and texts while we're talking about grace! :-)

Last night I had the great joy of attending a Third Day concert in GR.  The last time I heard them live was when I was in Georgia.  Some of you may remember that night - our seats were actually behind the stage so we "had" to look at the butts of the guys while they sang.  Thankfully there was a screen in front of us so we could see what was really happening.  Last night I experienced every song with such joy - and I encourage you all to check out their latest album.  I loved the movement of the Spirit in the midst of that place - and in the midst of my own heart.  It was great to have those goosebumps again as I was able to just stand and worship without having to say/do anything.  Thank you Third Day!  (Thank you Holy Spirit!)

Where are the "thin" spaces for you?  How do you take time to intentionally open yourself up to the Divine in the midst of the practical everyday?  When did you last encounter the holy goosebumps?  I realized last night that I really need to cultivate these types of moments to stay in love with God.  How about you?