Drifting Grace

I was at the edge of the patio with a bucket of bird seed in my hand and I looked across the backyard, knowing that I had to cross the 2 to 3 foot drifts in order to fill the feeder that day. The wind was still blowing and it was pretty cold, but I knew that the birds at the edge of the woods would be looking forward to the food I held tightly in my gloved hand. As I set out to do my kind deed, providing a little food for hungry birds on a cold and blustery day, I paused before stepping into the drift and enjoyed God’s creative handiwork.  The snow continued to drift.  It was still cold and windy outside and I knew that once I stepped into the drift, snow would fill my socks and boots. In addition, I also knew that my footsteps would disrupt the snow sculpture that God so carefully planned for me to enjoy that day. I stood at the edge of the patio because I wanted to enjoy the beauty for the moment, and so I embraced the wind and the cold as God’s creation blew to completion.  

These are sacred moments that only the spirit within us can know and appreciate.At this time of year, we are tired of winter, the snow, the blowing wind, and the short nights, but sometimes we just need to let go and let God be God, finding beauty and joy even in the bleak mid-winter. One day the sun will shine and the temperatures will be warm enough to turn our snow paintings into water and each droplet will find its way into the earth and nourish the creation that God so carefully designed for us to enjoy.  So, at the edge of patio with a bucket of birdseed in my hand, I paused to worship the beauty of God’s earth and for a moment and I was at one with God’s creation. In a moment the designs in the drifting snow would change, never to be seen again. It was if God was creating that moment just for me. O Lord, my Lord, how majestic is your name in all the world. 

I soon stepped into the drifting snow, but not before taking a couple of photographs. My footprints to the bird feeder can still be seen, but God continues to create something new for me to enjoy. As I stepped through the drifting snow, I got to thinking about the ridges that added texture and design to the drifting snow.  The ridges that gave uniqueness to the drifts were created by millions, perhaps tens of millions of tiny snowflakes blowing in the wind. One small, miniscule droplet of frozen water, piling one upon the other, creating beautiful drifts that would take a bulldozer to move. As I thought some more about the tiny, frozen droplets of water, I thought about how the Church of Jesus Christ is like the three foot drifts around my house. 

  

It is the Apostle Paul who writes, “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” Romans 12:4-5. At this time of year, it may be appropriate to see ourselves as one small, droplet of frozen water that build up the snow-drifts that surround our homes. Each one of us may see ourselves as tiny and insignificant, but in the greater scope of life, we are each important and each are needed to do great and beautiful things for God.  A snow-drift only grows when hundreds of millions of tiny droplets come together to be a snow-drift. A snow-drift is only beautiful because each unique droplet of frozen water uses its shape and its gifts to add beauty, texture, and character to the drifting snow. And so it is with us. Let us in this time, not see ourselves as a meaningless snow-flake blowing, haplessly in the wind. Instead, let us see what we can offer to our church that can add beauty, texture, and the uniqueness to our faith family. This is the gift that God gives us today.

A Lenten Challenge

Listening to news and seeing what is happening around us, both in the United States and throughout the world, the earth and its inhabitants are in a very dark place.  Violence, disease, political, religious, and cultural wars continue to spread like Measles in Disneyland. Our human family is struggling to co-exist, one with another and we’re pushing our fragile planet to its limits.  The earth and all its diversity is struggling mightily to get our attention and we have fallen asleep, unwilling to hear the truth, amend our ways, and free our spirits to experience the joy that God would want us to know. Instead of doing something about it, we choose to close our eyes and continue to do the very things that, in the past, have been destructive and harmful to the earth and all that is in it.  Paul writes, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the Children of God…” Romans 8:19. I am not exactly sure who Paul is referencing when he refers to the ‘Children of God’, but I’m going to guess it’s not us. Instead, I think that he is talking about the kind of people who see the pain and struggle of this world and choose to do something about it.   

I have had many conversations about the condition of our world and the dark shadows that are hiding the light of Christ. In my conversations, I can feel the twin palls of indifference and helplessness covering our eyes and suffocating our spirits. How easy it is to turn off the news, disconnect from the world and disappear into our electronic games and allow sports and sporting events to distract and consume us so we don’t have to deal with the suffering around us. The cry of Jesus echoes through the generations, “Blind fools!” The more I reflect on these conversations, the more troubled and dissatisfied I become.  Are we to be counted among the Pharisees and scribes who have distorted a faith that does not choose to see the suffering around us, believing that our faithful connection to a worshiping community is all that is needed to find favor with God? If that is what we believe then perhaps we’ve earned the title, “blind fool!” I would count myself among the blind fools because I too want to close my eyes and detach from the world, but I don’t think that’s what Jesus meant when he sent us into the world with words and phrases such as, “Feed my sheep…” or the mandate, “Go and make disciples…” What about Matthew 25, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these…you did it to me.” I think that Jesus is very clear as to what the job of a confessing Christian ought to be.  

As I continue to think about my role as a Christian in this world, I can conclude that I do have the freedom and the ability to insulate myself from the suffering of the world. I don’t have to listen to the radio, watch the nightly news, pour over timely blogs, or read the newspaper. I can choose to be blind to the violence in our world, the deterioration of our cities, the insidious presence of systematic racism, or the absence of justice in our world, or the painful presence of hatred and indifference that disrupts our life together. I can do this, but is that what Christians do?  It seems I have a choice, I can be someone who is making every effort to make a difference, no matter how large or small, or I can make my peace with the disparaging title, “blind fool?” I don’t know about you, but I do not relish being called a ‘blind fool’. 

As the lengthening of days mark the beginning of the season of Lent, I am challenged, and will challenge each of you, to discern where God is leading your heart today? As I have said many times before, find your passion and do something great, not for yourself, but for the world. This, I believe, is the more faithful response to the one who died on the cross so that the world could know resurrection. As a colleague wrote in a recent article, ‘we can’t take on the whole world, but we can do one small part and someone else can do the rest.’ Maybe it’s time to take this to heart. 

Prayer at the beginning of Lent: 

God, the suffering of the world is great, my heart cries out, but I don't know where to begin. I want to run away, insulate myself from the troubles of the world, but this isn't what Jesus would have done and it isn't what I should do either. Help me to believe that I can make a difference. Help me to see the one small thing I can do to bring Christ's light into the darkness around me. Thank you God, for showing me a better way. Amen.

Resting in the Light of the New Year

“O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing.”  These are beautiful words that encourage us to take some time beneath life’s crushing load and hear the angels sing. It is a song that invites us to rest awhile and free ourselves from the slow, painful steps that keep us from enjoying the quiet, mystical, and surprising nature of God.  “O rest…” the carol implores,  “…Rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing.” 

 

As I write this post,  it is still two weeks before the Christ child is born. It is a busy time for most of us and we keep ‘toiling along the climbing way’, trying to get everything done so that Christmas can finally arrive into the hectic world we've created for ourselves. This portion of my personal favorite carol, acknowledges how easy it is for us to miss the miracle of Christmas. The carol asks of us, “have we stopped long enough to hear the angels sing?” 

At the time of this writing, I am still waiting to hear the angels sing. Still my spirit longs for something different, a future where the burdens of the past year can be forgotten and we can, once again,  gaze into the light of new beginnings.  Within a week of Christmas night is New Year’s Eve – the threshold of a future pure and bright and it is ours to have and to experience. How will your New Year begin? What kind of choices will you make? Will you make time to ‘rest beside the road and hear the angels sing?’ Or will you just slip back into the painful steps, toiling along the climbing way? How can you begin the New Year with real joy, real possibility, and real hope? 

 It is no mistake that within days of holiday cheer, the Christian Church recognizes the baptism of Jesus and the voice of God proclaiming to all the world, “This is my Son, the Beloved with whom I am well pleased!”  It is easy for us to compartmentalize the baptism of Jesus as a Jesus story and disconnect this act of grace as something that happened only to Jesus. Indeed, it is a historical fact andt three of the gospels witnessed to this event in their writings about Jesus. Yes, you can do this, but this would be a bad decision because the story of Jesus’ baptism is not just about Jesus, it is about us. Embracing the story as our own story ought to be the first best choice we make in the New Year. Yes, Jesus is the beloved child of God, but so are we. Yes, God is most pleased with Jesus, but God is most pleased with us too. The water of baptism has many meanings and we could explore all kinds of possibilities, but most importantly, the water of baptism is about resting long enough to feel God’s presence in our lives. The water of baptism is about promises made, promises lived, and promises that secure our future as God’s favorite child. The water of baptism is about resting beside the weary road and listening to the angels sing. 

As we begin this New Year, there will be changes in our life and life together. Some of the changes will be within our control, but many will not. Regardless to the kind of changes that confront us in the coming year, we must have a faith that can endure the changing landscape of our spiritual interior. Claiming the water of baptism as living water will give us the strength to step into the future with confidence, hope, possibility, and joy in spite of  ‘life’s crushing load’. This is a time to rest beside the weary road and make an important faith decision that begins, not with the New Year, but rather begins with the baptism of Jesus. This is the time to hear the angels sing. Let me end this post with the final verse from the carol that began my my post. The poet, Edmund Sears writes:

“For lo! The days are hastening on, by prophets bards foretold.

When with the ever encircling year comes round the age of gold.

When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling,

And the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.”

At year's end, the angels would like to sing the song that we are writing. I hope you will rest long enough beside the weary road and write your verse for all the angels to sing. Time hastens on, years come and go and there is still much work to do.  May you work diligently to write the song that is the story of your own personal faith, and may you also find time to rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing.