Letter to Questioner...

This is from an email I sent to a seeker. Maybe it might speak to you...

A new favorite statement of mine (partly mine and partly adaptation of another’s thoughts) is – the law wants conclusions, and grace desires conversation. It seems to me, you are in the midst of the conversation, exactly where God wants you to be.

I like how you are wrestling with questions. I believe it takes some maturity to ask the question, ‘What does God need?’ Perhaps, however, that’s not the real question you are struggling with (presumptuous on my part for me to say, I know) at this moment. Perhaps the bigger issue behind your question is a sense of ‘calling.’

‘Calling’ is the song that God sings in our hearts. Calling is the sense of harmony with my world. Calling doesn’t mean that all is easy or that we have no anxiety, but calling speaks of an alignment of my voice with the melody God’s choir is singing.

When we are living in the midst of the melody of God’s song; allowing for our own expressions of harmony, a smile forms on our face much like a musician who is caught up in a difficult piece of music. We feel as if our talent, our task, and our temperament are working toward a tangible goal. It may not be any more real than the sound of a note that is soon lost in the midst of many notes, but it is real. It may not come easy but it gives us life, abundant life (Jn 10.10).

I encourage you, if you desire what ‘God needs,’ to reflect upon what has and continues to bring you joy. Think about what comes naturally to you and what others affirm in you. Give yourself the opportunity to remember what makes your steps lighter and your burden easier. Ultimately, God’s desire (because this is the way to the fullness of life for which we were created) is that you live within your gifts, yours alone, and that you use your gifts as you respond to God’s ‘calling’ upon your life.

I don’t know if this helps any, but I encourage you to stay in the conversation and don’t allow yourself to feel as if you have to come to some conclusion…ever!

Halloween - Trick or TREAT?

Right about now, I can imagine there are many in the faith community raising the hue and cry about the evils of Halloween. Some see only witches and demons, and others see a glorification of the occult. I, however, see the gospel of GRACE!



Perhaps my appreciation of Halloween goes back to my youth and the fact that my day of birth is so closely aligned with this holiday. The end of October meant good things to me. It meant presents, parties, and candy! What more could a kid want?



That's my point! On Halloween we get to dress up and become whoever we want, and not what the world demands of us. For one night we are no longer slaves to the perceptions of others, but free to be what only God could imagine. (Now I know that some abuse this opportunity, as is the case whenever we express our freedom, but that should not detract from the beauty of the gift!)



Secondly, without deserving it, simply by showing up we are showered with good things. What other night of the year can I just show up at a strangers house, be welcomed and given good things? What better image of God's GRACE. Candy is given not because we have earned it, but simply out of love for us knocking at the door.



Yes, Halloween can be used by others to proclaim the dark side of life, but that's no reason for followers of the light to run away and pretend as if it doesn't exist. Like our ancestors in the past, let us take this holiday and tell the alternative story, the story of light, love, and grace. Let us joyfully participate in this one night of the year when we as neighbors get out into our neighborhood and experience the joy of community. Let us celebrate the God is the God of all nights and days including Halloween.



(By the way... another reason I like Halloween is that on this day in 1517 a German monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis on the church door in Wittenburg and thus began what we now know as the Protestant Reformation. But that's another blog!)

Re-inventing Relationships?

Many a movie is about them. Almost every popular song has something to say about them. We pretend to have them on the Internet. Relationships, the deep and abiding ones are what we all hope to have.

What has happened, however, is that like Esau, we have sold our birthright for a bowl of soup. We are willing to be satisfied with a few lines on a social network site like Facebook or a TWEET from one of our 'friends.' We rarely have time to sit across a table and luxuriate over a home made meal because we have to get to some place where we will hang out with our 'friends' for a few hours.

Why is it that Rascal Flatts can sing songs about Mayberry and sitting on the front porch and we all go 'ahhhhhhh?' Could it be that we all wish for a time when people actually took the time to know one another and be known by one another? How do we put the Jeanie back in the bottle?

Maybe communities of faith could lead us back home...to a place where we are known and know others. Maybe, and only maybe, because it is far too easy for congregations to measure themselves based on numbers rather than friendships. Even in communities of faith we have lost the sense of what it means to be a 'sanctuary.'

I really don't know how to reclaim my birthright, because like all the rest of you I have drunk of the soup and it tasted good going down. The problem now is that I have acid stomach reflex and the pain is keeping me from doing anything about it.

BEST?

This weekend TdF winner, Alberto Contador, was outed as having performance enhancement drugs in his blood system. It was a minimal amount and his excuse was some steak a friend brought him from Spain. Later it was announced that in addition he has some 'plasticizer' in his blood stream that appears to be evidence of blood doping. AC's response was to threaten retiring from the sport if his claim of innocence is not sustained by the governing authorities.

This insane quest to be the best is not just killing road cyclists (the side effects are cancerous) and a sport I enjoy, but it is threatening the entire human race. We compete for resources so that we can have the best life possible. We go to war with other nations because they have something we feel we need to make our lives better. We are willing to skewer the economy and the livelihood of many just so we can claim that our investment company is outperforming all others (and by the way we secure for ourselves this great big bonus). It's not just greed, but it is the hunger and desire to be the 'best' at what we do that is threatening our civilization.

Now I'm not saying we shouldn't strive to do our best. I'm concerned that our self-worth and the worth others shower upon us is dependent upon being better than others. Once we lose this sense that God loves us no matter how we perform on the SATs we are easily manipulated by this fear of failure. Once our value is judged by the market rather than by the creator we simply become commodities ourselves.

Alberto is a great cyclist and a gifted athlete. In order to win, however, he felt he needed to go over the edge to gain an edge on the competition. When we have to win, be the best, with no sense of our identity in Christ, we are left with cheating ourselves and others in the scramble to the top of the pile. But honestly, is it really worth it?