A Wonderful World

I see trees of green….red roses too. There are skies of blue and clouds of white. Bright blessed days and dark sacred nights. The colors of the rainbow…so pretty…in the sky and the faces of people passing by, shaking hands are saying I love you. These words express how one song writer and singer’s view of the world that we know and love.  This world is wonderful, but it is also a fragile sphere of interdependent life forms that create beauty for our senses and gives us the quality of life that we would want. 

Fifty years ago, before global warming and concerns about the melting ice-caps, Rachel Carson wrote her bestseller and classic reading today, Silent Spring. In much detail she writes about the dangers of chemicals on the environment and the impact our humanity has had and continues to have on the world that God so proudly and carefully knit together for our joy and appreciation and for God’s joy and appreciation also. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4

What are human beings that you are mindful? Louis Armstrong in his gravelly identifiable voice sings about a beautiful world and his joy in living in God’s bountiful creation.  Rachel Carson writes about a beautiful world and the importance of being careful and responsible with this fragile, magnificent world that is lovingly imagined and created by God. The psalmist marvels in its beauty and we think to ourselves, what a wonderful world.  

 In his letter to the Corinthians Paul writes, “All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful, but not all things build up.” 1 Corinthians 10:23.  These are thoughtful, cautionary words that remind all of us of the importance of caring for and being good stewards of God’s amazing world. May the choices we make today build up God’s wonderful world so that generations to come can look to the heavens and say as we have said what a wonderful world.

 

Prayer:

           God you created each detail of the earth with love and greatness. Help us to live our lives with thoughtful prayer as we embrace the wonder and joy of this awesome world. This is a gift that you’ve entrusted to our care, O God. Help us to be good stewards of the earth so that many more generations may enjoy the mystery and awe of your wonderful earth.   Amen.

A Kite Named Joy

I shared a cute story about a kite named Joy on Sunday morning. Let me recap the story. There was a kite whose name was Joy. Joy loved the freedom of flying. He loved to fly high into the sky. Catch the updrafts and go higher into the blue, blue sky. When the down-wind came, it was like riding a roller coaster and he would giggle and laugh uncontrollably. He loved the freedom of flying. He loved seeing the puffy white clouds against the blue background of God’s beautiful sky. He enjoyed listening to the birds that sang high in the trees. He loved flying.

There was one thing that Joy did not like and that was that he wasn’t totally free because when he got too far away, he felt a tug on his tail and when that one below got tired of flying Joy, the little boy would reel the string in and Joy knew that his fun would soon be over. If only he could be free of the tug of the tired little boy so that he could fly higher, higher into the sky.

One day, much to his surprise, while flying into the blue sky, the tautness of the string broke loose and Joy realized that he was free, free to drift along the wind currents. He laughed and giggled when the updrafts took him higher into the sky. He screamed when the down winds pushed him closer to the earth below.  He realized he was free! No rules! No responsibility! He was free from the little boy who held his tail tightly in his clinched little fists, but within minutes his laughter turned to sorrow and what was once shouts of joy became cries of despair for Joy found himself hopelessly entangled in the branches of a tree and he knew that his life would never again be the same.

How often doesn’t this happen to us. We think that things are going really well and then suddenly the circumstances of our life change and we become hopelessly entangled in life’s gnarly branches. With Joy our cry sounds like the Psalmist, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!” (Psalm 130:1-2) When we find ourselves in such a situation, the Lord will hear our voice and as Jesus once said, “…I will send an advocate, I will not leave your orphaned – alone” tangled in the gnarly branches of life. So when you find your life tangled in the unforgivable branches of living, we have an advocate – a counselor – one who will not leave us in the clutches of death, but will set us free to experience joy and when it seems we are forever lost, God will show us a new way.

Prayer:

             God you hear my cry! You surround me with your strong and mighty arms – the arms of grace that bring us close to you. When I am anxious and troubled, when life seems hopeless and meaningless, help me to trust you and show me a new way. Amen.

A Better Message

We get the message. The subliminal messages of the media makes it pretty clear to us what our society expects and prefers.   You are familiar with its message -- we have to be fit, bubbly, and sexy. Movie after movie, television show after television show gives us the message that good looks, a winning smile, and a bubbly personality will serve us well. We’ll find good jobs, good mates, and happy families. We get the message. It’s loud and clear. If we have these things, life will be good, but what if we don’t meet these expectations? Then who am I? 

At a recent worship service, we were blessed with the lyrics from the Christian song, “Come as you are” by a Christian group that calls themselves, A Pocket Full of Rocks. The lyrics of this song gives us a different message, a message that may leave us feeling differently about ourselves than the messages we’ve gleaned from the media that surrounds us day after day. Here are the opening lyrics to this “Come as you are”.

 

He's not mad at you
He's not disappointed
His grace is greater still,
than all of your wrong choices
He is full of mercy and he is ever kind
Hear his invitation, His arms are open wide

This song reminds me of a Psalm that has helped me through more difficult times.  The times when we've felt unworthy, imperfect, or alone. This psalm speaks to us when we have been bullied or scorned or the times that we've been overlooked or ignored. The times when a best friend hurts us with words or actions or those times when we're so confused, and we don’t know where to turn to find a warm embrace, a word of love or the voice that says to us do not worry for you will not have to make this journey alone. The words from Psalm 139 hold me close to God when the rest of the world seems to be pushing me away. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14. 

I am fearfully and wonderfully made…I know this full well. The message is clear. May we find strength and peace in knowing how much God has carefully, thoughtfully, and lovingly created our very being and may we hear this message above else. 

Prayer:

                God I am fearfully and wonderfully made! You created all of me and you love me for all that I am. Today, my spirit will sing to your glory for your arms are open wide and you welcome me into this new day. Amen.

Empty Spaces

How many times have we walked in our homes, noticed an empty space and think of something that would be just the right object to give the room a different look. The opposite is true when we’re doing some shopping and out of nowhere we spot an item that would fill an empty space in our home and we buy it or put it on our gift list for someone else to treat us with just the perfect gift.

The summer has been very hot and very dry. My flower beds, like many of yours are probably finishing up and we’ve begun some late summer, fall clean-up a little earlier this year. In the midst of the clean-up, I find myself looking at the empty spaces in the garden and planning for next spring and what I might do differently as late winter breaks forth spring’s potential. The empty spaces ignite my imagination and I see something different.

As I think about that perfect item that will set off a room in our home or the right kind of plant, shrub, or flower that will fill in that empty space next spring, I can see how empty spaces allow for new things to happen in our lives. In spiritual disciplines throughout the centuries, we know that there are mystics and monastics that live their lives, engaging in a spiritual discipline of emptying themselves so that they might be more receptive to the new ways in which God’s Spirit fills their souls and gives them new life.

It is easy to look at empty spaces and feel sadness and grief, but the empty places that we feel may be a way in which God is about to show us something new. New things can happen only when there is space for the new things to bubble up and grow. When we crowd our lives with the familiar, we lose the power to see the newness that can be. When we lose a spouse or a loved one or even a job or something else that is significant for us, we feel emptiness. Sometimes we call this emptiness, grief. Each one of us grieves our losses differently. There can be unhealthy grief that leads most often to depression, but also self-pity, or a growing sense of isolation, and perhaps even lead to death. This is unhealthy grieving. When we can grieve in healthy ways, we can celebrate our memories, but still allow the Holy Spirit to bring us new things, filling our empty space and enabling us to embrace the new life that God is giving us today. The empty tomb, like empty spaces, is not a place of death; it is the place where new life can break forth and show us a different reality that reminds us of God's ongoing and  abundant blessings.

Prayer  

           God of empty spaces, fill our darkness with the joy of the resurrection. Just as the seed is planted in the dark shadows of the earth, a seedling breaks through the earth filled with potential and possibility. Help me to be the seed that finds life in the darkness. Amen.

Recess with God

The first day of school is now recent history for our children. For our elementary children, recess is still an important part of the school day. I heard a report recently about a community that was beginning year round school and they had interviewed a child who really didn’t have a concern about year round school, but what was bothering him more than anything was that his recess time had been shortened. 

As a young child, recess was planned time during the day in which we could set aside our school curriculum for fifteen minutes and unwind for a time. Recess was a time to play tag, dodge ball, football, jump rope, jacks or sit under the Oak tree sharing stories and tales with your school friends. I remember enjoying rounds and rounds of marbles with my friends; we exchanged baseball cards, and brought our model cars and airplanes to show off to our friends. Recess re-energized and re-focused us and we returned to our classrooms a little more prepared to read, write and do arithmetic. It was a planned time-out. 

Just as our children need time away from the rigor and order of a school day, so do we need to have recess with God? When you think about your day, you know there are things that must get done and you will do them. There are work responsibilities, family activities, children’s schedules and a multitude of distractions that break us down and wear us out and these are the times that we need to step out onto the playground, sit under an Oak tree and remember who we are and to whom we belong. Just as our schools plan recess for our children, we need to plan time with God every day. 

Recess with God will help us to be more effective workers in the work-place, more attentive to our spouse and our children, and we’ll have a healthier, happier outlook on our own well being. Yes, I think that God could be a wonderful friend to have on the playground of life. 

Prayer:

              God my life is busy and I am so easily distracted. You are important to me. Help me, O God, to plan time everyday with you. Amen.

Turmoil of the Possible

Today there is Animal Planet or the Nature channel that demonstrates before our eyes the conflicts that exist in the natural world. In my day, we watched Animal Kingdom and I still remember how I would leave the room or cover my eyes when I suspected that there would be a kill – a scene that would depict the strength and skill of a stronger predator against the hunted, more vulnerable prey. In nature there is conflict. 

In classical literature from Homer’s The Iliad to the Brothers Karamazov to 1984 or America’s classics such as the To Kill a Mockingbird or The Red Badge of Courage are stories that are memorable and endure through the decades because of existing conflict that is a part of our lives everyday. Popular literature such as the Harry Potter series to the Hunger Wars are stories that are powerful and transforming because of conflict.  

 In the realm of science we learn how chemicals react with one another. We learn about the good things that happen and also the bad things that happen because of conflict between chemicals. Stars collide, meteors fall from space,impacting the earth through the aeons.  We know that  hurricanes happen, drought is a reality and we can see how moving water has carved the earth into what we know today. All of this happens because of conflict– conflict brings changes to the earth, strengthens the plot of a story or creates a dissonant chord in music that challenges the musician. Conflict exists all around us. 

God created the earth out of the conflict of light and darkness; family stories that make up much of the Hebrew text are held together and extrapolated in the midst of conflict. Prophets spoke of coming conflicts and God’s judgment upon a conflicted people. Our faith in Jesus Christ is shaped in the midst of conflict between the way the world looked at Jesus and his vision for a new world that Christians call the Kingdom or Realm of God.  Paul understands that within the Christian community there can be unity amidst conflict. The Christian faith has been shaped in the midst of cultural, social, political, and religious conflict.

So it is in our life too. Conflict is something that will not go away no matter how many times we push it under the rug, postpone it for another time, or read self-help books that minimizes conflict and creates the more perfect you. Our life, whether personal or communal, gives us ample opportunity to use conflict to strengthen our relationships and our communities. How we use that conflict is key to a better, more fulfilling life. If God can create order out of chaos, Jesus can talk about hope in the midst of conflict, and Paul can leverage conflict to shape stronger believers and communities of the faithful, then we to should be able to use the conflicts in our own life that shapes and transforms our own life together.  

Prayer

God help us today to see conflict and turmoil as opportunities to grow and become all that you want us to be. Instead of running away from the pain, help us embrace it as a way to grow in faith, grow life, and grow together as people of God. Amen.