Changeless Love

God is changeless.

Not boring and monotonous sameness, but changeless, I believe.

Changing seasons, even changing vistas hourly scroll as the backdrop of our days so that constancy can be a difficult concept.

We make distinctions about 'the God of the old testament' and 'the God of the new testament' as though God is changing costumes during intermission and playing the role of another in Act II. In fact, some like to distance themselves from that old testament God; a kinder and gentler God sells better.

Marketing experts know people love puppies and babies, so Jesus in a manger scene can bring folks on board. Then just when we think we can handle reconciling those two like an out of kilter bank balance, the Holy Spirit shows up and we have another person to define. Some just want God to get in the right box and stay put.

But God will not be leashed. The creator of the universe will not sit and stay in order to appeal to one's notions of theological propriety. Try as we humans do, we cannot diagram the actions of God, Jesus, and the Spirit so that they fit neatly into a compact travel size paragraph of Christianity.

God is bigger than that.

Far bigger.

God is still in the business of calling and redeeming humankind. That mission has taken many turns through the centuries, and it continues still. In God's economy nothing is ever wasted. God can redeem and restore what we would throw away - and whom we would throw away.

Yes, it may take a long time, but God operates outside of our time and space constraints.

Learn from the blessings and promises of the scriptures of the old covenant just as we receive those of the new: God is the god of them all. And I ask daily for a larger understanding of this unsearchable Greatness:

"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a [worker] who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15

Happy Mother's Day and Happy 81st Birthday, Daddy

One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. Psalm 145:4

I am thankful today for two parents who began a long road together in December 1952. Armed with all the energy and innocence of youth, fueled by love and unflagging determination to a shared purpose, fortified by their families who stood behind and beside them cheering on these two barely-20 year olds, they charted a course together. 

And then there were three....then four....five, six, seven and so on, each one coming in due time until there were nine of us piled in that Ford van or that Mercury wagon. Now we do not fit in any vehicle. Numbering 37 strong, we await the arrival of three more this month to swaddle the same way she taught us how many years ago. 

One generation teaches the ways of wisdom to the next, and if we are wise, we take it to heart. 

They say it started over  mom's homemade white cake with white icing and a first date to First Baptist Church of Hattiesburg's revival. It only takes a spark to ignite a fire, but much more is needed to sustain and manage the blaze over the long haul. The time will come when each of us is road-tested and battle weary. When we run out of steam. When it's not fun anymore. What do we do then?

There's got to be more than cake and preachin' to see us through.

I look upon the example of dear friends and family God has allowed in my path whose faithfulness is marked by forgiveness in good measure, grace to give space when needed, courage to face an uncertain future, perseverance when we see more road blocks than road ahead, and love whose limit has yet to be found.

Someone asked me 30 years ago, "How can your parents divide their love by all those children? I know how much I love my children, and I could never divide it up that way." 

I found the question odd, but answered it the only way I could. "They don't divide."

"They don't divide. It's not a pie where there is a fixed amount of love and each one gets a smaller share. Love multiplies."

Love grows when shared. Love--with all it attendant joys and heartaches--expands. That's the nature of love; We simply cannot contain it or limit it if we tried. Knowledge will fail us. Understanding will fall short. We need something beyond our math operations and management skills to help us navigate this life. I find that being rooted and grounded in love is essential.

 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

Thank you for hanging in there with all of this crazy bunch all these years. We love you dearly!

The living, the living--they praise you, as I am doing today; parents tell their children about your faithfulness. Isaiah 38:19

Rising to the Challenge

Our point of view matters.

Are we looking inward or outward? What defines our frame of reference for life's experiences? If we are always expecting happiness and health on the horizon, the outcroppings of disease and distress will devastate every time, leaving us fumbling against failure. If we open wide the lens to take in all that real life offers--sickness and health, better and worse--we learn to appreciate times of respite and grow through adversity.

That's my plan anyway.

What do I know of adversity? There are so many who have experienced deep losses and great heartache that I cannot imagine. Shayne. Carrie Ann and Alan. Jesse Anne. Katie. The list grows as I pause... I dare not put myself in such company. But I believe our preparation for life and our self-talk matters as we set our default position for how we view life.

What informs our beliefs, ultimately?

What anchors us when the storms toss and fear threatens to overtake us?

When we steadfastly pursue a course of walking in faith, we can learn how to take the next step when we think we cannot.

We can learn not to take credit for great joys in life, but to give thanks.

And I have so much to learn....so train me, I pray, Lord, in the ways that are for my good and for your glory.

We do not rise to the level of our expectations. 

We fall to the level of our training.

 

~Archilochos, Greek Soldier, Poet 650 B.C.

He did not say: You will not be troubled, you will not be belaboured, you will not be disquieted; but he said:

You will not be overcome.

 ~Julian of Norwich

 

Peace Rose Offering for Nicholas

Spring: when buds turn to blossoms.We expect that; It is the order of things. But then life happens and turns predictable patterns on end.

Vibrant colors and beauty still surround us, even on the fraying hem of a week that quickly came unraveled by bombings and unexpected events in our nation--and more private grief and loss this weekend among dear friends that the news feeds would never pick up--and we still move forward. We inch toward a new day, "...inch by inch, row by row" in  "Garden Song":  nice and slow.

Sometimes there's no other way.

We press on because we have to, because there is no going back.

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own
'Cause the time is close at hand

Sometimes in the garden of life--somewhere between the dreaming and the coming true--those dreams collide. We face the hard reality of the dry bones portion of life and too many abrupt endings.

While some friends are grieving tonight, others are rejoicing with loved ones, anticipating weddings and births to come in a matter of days, and giving thanks for joys shared today. How can it be that we learn to live well with the point-counterpoint of birth and death, marriage and divorce, joy and sorrow? It is the nature of the rhythm of life, we are told.

We carry these two seemingly-opposite loads of joy and pain as though in invisible twin water urns lashed to ends of a pole on our backs. Sort of a Libra-meets-Gemini as we remember the constellations without attaching any unintended weight to astrology. The two are held in tension always, and we learn to live with the ever-changing contents of the loads we bear.

We  manage pretty well if we can keep life's tempo and stay in step. But when the music stops and we are left standing, or when we falter under the unbearable weight of loss and become set off balance by the load, we unravel quickly.

When we risk coming apart a bit ourselves and opening our hemmed-in lives to share the load of others, we can help bear--even if ever so slightly--the cares of another.

So we roll up our sleeves.

We get on with the business of being a friend, of loving and serving with abandon, of risking becoming disheveled and tear-stained. Because there is no other way to share a heavy load on a long road with many a winding turn.

I believe two truths to be bedrock: God is good, and Life is hard. They do not cancel each other out. They do not render each other null and void by operation of law. They are both true. At the same time.

And it is in giving thanks for the goodness of God, experiencing the Presence of God, in the midst of the searing white-hot edge of life that cuts us to the quick, that we find the grace and strength to move forward. Inch by inch.

God hears and answers those who call out to Him in distress:
“I relieved his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from carrying the basket. You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the thundercloud.” (Psalm 81:6-7a).

 No distress is too big for God to handle.


Brother, let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey.
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you;
Speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I'll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of Christ's love and agony.

Brother, let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.



Written by Richard Gillard, 1977, Servant Song

Needs and Wants...

“God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want.” ~ C. S. Lewis

As trite as the message board illustration can appear, its visual clarity has lingered with me lately. The image of offering to meet our human needs publicly--for all passersby as well as identified believers--stands as a ready snapshot of God's freely-offered grace. Though our faith will not be reduced to bumper stickers and posters, we may let an image remind us of what scripture takes volumes to say: we are beloved.

God has used the Law and the prophets to call us to relationship and to draw us unto Himself, and continues to draw us through the Spirit.

A favorite statement of faith is known as the Modern Affirmation:

We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, power and love, whose mercy is over all his works, and whose will is ever directed to his children's good.

We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father's unfailing grace, the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death.

We believe in the Holy Spirit as the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and find strength and help in time of need.

We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth.

Amen.

Seeing is Believing?

The reading for Sunday, December 11, 2011

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1: 26-38

Connie said today in regard to this passage, "Perspective matters."

I agree. Having an eternal perspective gives one a different view of life at any age. It may not remove the fear factor for us--notice how each angelic visitation I can recall in scripture is accompanied by the 'do not be afraid' words, perhaps because we tend to startle easily in their presence--but seeing with the spirit allows us to take in a bigger picture than merely the scene our human eyes see.

An analogy that comes to mind: If we could change the aperture of our eyes, if we could alter the length of rays we see and change our ability to focus on near and far distant objects, then we might grasp the power wrapped up in perspective. Yes, it sounds super-human. It is the stuff of fantasy books for many, the idea of e-ray vision or peering through closed doors. But daily we use lenses to sharpen our focus while reading or typing or driving and to allow us to see much farther into the distance than our eye can see alone. Why then do we all not apply the lens of the spirit which aids in seeing what we cannot otherwise see clearly? That is what the spirit is made for. May we learn to see with eyes of the spirit.

May the Spirit of God touch our lives with truth and beauty through the unexpected events of the coming week.

May God grant wisdom liberally--superhuman insight that enables us to see beyond our circumstances.

And when we encounter those moments when we, like Mary, can only ask How can this be?...How can I live with this? ...How can we move on beyond this crushing loss of all that we had planned? may we, too, yearn to see a bigger picture. It may seem like looking through a glass darkly for we are not made merely for the limitations our bodies experience in this life, but one day, we shall see clearly and know fully, even as we are fully known.

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. I Cor 13:12

We expect God's divine intervention while we choose not to look at the things that are seen but at the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are subject to change. 2 Cor 4:18

Thanks be to God. Let it be according to your will.

Nativity Facade of La Sagrada de Familia, Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona.