Faith Stories

A good story is not something put away easily.  Some linger around in the mind for what seems like forever.  The ending to "Grapes of Wrath" fits into that category as does the ending to "Jayber Crow."   Back in the days of preaching every Sunday I would on occasion write a story and it would be the sermon.  I had heard others do it and it seemed like a different way to preach.  The temptation was to finish the story and then say a few words about it to make sure everyone got the point.  But, a good story needs no interpretation.  If it does not stand alone, it is not much of a story. 

 

What is interesting is that the Word of God contains so many powerful stories.  As a boy first learning to read the Bible, I was fascinated with those Old Testament stories of God at work in the lives of His people.  Later on as the years starting adding up, I came to a place of realizing that Jesus was a great story teller.  His stories were often parables, but they commanded our attention and filled our hearts and minds with memories and divine instruction.

 

Another story which touches our life is the story of our life.  Each one of us is living out our own story.  It is one never before written.  It is one with an ending that is not yet known.  And, it is also a story of how God has been at work in our lives.  In some traditions the story of personal faith is spoken of a personal witness or testimony.  In the days of the past it was a common thing for preachers to offer testimony time during worship allowing people to stand and spontaneously tell something of their story with God.  It is unfortunate the church lost this part of its heritage. It was often a powerful and life changing moment for the ones listening and the one telling the faith story. 

Gifts of Creation

A few chickens are spending their days here on the farm.  Not many roam around,  just seven hens.  Being able to get a warm egg from the nest and  having it for breakfast the next morning is a real treat.  No, it is not a treat, but a blessing.  When I put my hand in the laying box and pick up the eggs, I often speak a word to the hens, saying, "Thank you for your contribution."  While I have yet to have any of the animals here talk back as the Hollywood variety might do, I figure it is a way of expressing respect for the animals and paying attention to their place on the land.

 

Prior to my coming to the farm, I was only on a first name basis with a few dogs which were a part of the years.  We are fortunate to have animals as a part of our lives.  When we remember the creation story, we are reminded in the seven day story that they show up in the narrative before we do.  In the one which follows in chapter two of Genesis, the animals are created after the man.  As we put the two together we hear a word which speaks of man naming the animals and being given dominion over them.

 

From the beginning there was a relationship between those created like us and those created as the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the animals of the field, and every other living thing.  What joins us together is not some evolutionary process, but the fact that we all bear the mark of the Creator's hands.  As surely as you and I bear the essence of the Almighty Creator within our being, so do all the other living creatures He has brought into being.  In a sense it might be said that we are a gift to each other.

His Hands

These recent months of walking reluctantly in a new normal have caused us to re-think many of the nailed down things about our life.  As one who was accustomed to eating out several times a week, it now seems hard to even imagine not eating a meal prepared at home.  Now conversations are carried on long distance instead of just out of someone else's space.   The church which always seemed to be a haven of safety now must not just be cleaned but sanitized and anyone who dares to show up does so hidden behind the safety of a face mask.

Perhaps, the biggest pre-virus normal which we have been caused to re-think is the illusion of being in control.  Our memory of those days has us going and coming, talking and touching, and living without any fear of some unseen danger lurking a breath away.  Everything now is so different and uncertain.  While we live seeking to intentionally minimize risk, what we know is that minimizing is not eliminating.  And, so now we live with an uneasiness that speaks of knowing that control is not really about us.  Of course, it never was about us.  It was just a part of our reality illusion.

The One in charge is our heavenly Father.  We wonder at times why it is that the One in charge does not simply blow away the danger, but our experience as well as the divinely written Word we read tells us such is not the way He works.  One other thing we have learned about this heavenly Father is that He is the One who has set the sun in place, brought important people into our lives, and who knows how to take us to what is good in our lives even when danger and uncertainly swirls around us.  What has been true since the moment of our conception is the reality of His control.  From beginning to end and into eternity, we are in His hands. 

Holy Seasoning

One meal I have always remembered took place at Bible School in the Waverly Hall United Methodist Church.  It was a ministry opportunity which joined together several smaller churches, one of which I pastored.   Each day we had a sandwich lunch as a part of the program   My pastor friend, John, failed to bring his one day.  A young boy who was sitting with him pulled out his sandwich and gave him half of it with a promise that he would bring more the next day.  It was probably the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich John ever ate.

It often seems that a meal eaten alone is a meal half eaten.  Back some months ago when I was eating out more, it saddened me to see folks having lunch with a hand held internet device.  Food is good for eating and sharing.  Jesus was one who seemed to enjoy sharing food with those around him.  When He got old Zacchaeus out of the tree He spent the day with the tax collector.  (Luke 19:5)  If He stayed the day, He surely shared a meal.  Another day Jesus was at the home of Mary and Martha and while the text does not say explicitly that there was a meal, there surely must have been.  (Luke 10:38ff.)

There were many occasions which place Jesus with others at meal time.  The Emmaus Road story and the breakfast on the beach are two which are most memorable.  And, of course, there is the meal shared on the eve of the crucifixion which we still remember today as a Sacrament of the Church.  Regardless of how meager or abundant the fare on the table, it is always good to sit with someone and share the food.  It takes slowing down, paying attention to the moment, and giving of oneself to another which of course is the holy seasoning mixed in the meal. 

Food and Faith

I have been eating all my life.  Nothing new about that statement.  It is a common denominator for all of us.  Some of my eating has been what my oldest grandson would call a feast when our family gathered for Thanksgiving Day.  Most of it though has been more mundane than Thanksgiving as it spoke of a table filled with the normal necessary fare of everyday eating.  And, of course, there has also been a lot of fast food consumed while going from one place to another.  To be truthful is to declare such is not so much eating as it is consuming.

 

What I never really knew until a recent book was opened was a theology of eating a Duke School of Divinity professor named Norman Wirzba wrote a three hundred page book entitled "Food and Faith" which bears the subtitle, "A Theology of Eating."  All these years of eating and now I am finding out the theology behind it!  A primary statement which runs through the book as a theme reads, "Food is God's love made nutritious and delicious, given for the good of each other."  As he runs with this theme through those three hundred pages, it has introduced me to a lot of new theological thoughts, sent me to the dictionary more than just a few times, and caused me to think more about the eating I do every day.

 

As one who grew up at a table where there was always a table blessing, I understood that God was the source of all that was set before me.  What I missed was the way my attitude toward eating spoke about the way I viewed the creation around me.  Wirzba offers the idea that food is seen more as a commodity than a blessing of a kind and gracious heavenly Father.  Being on the farm during these retirement years has brought me to a new awareness of the power within the dirt, but as I begin to do my second read of "Food and Faith" I know there is still much to learn. 

The Community of the Faithful

No matter how long we have been on this faith journey and no matter how it might seem to us that we had no help or encouragement in the beginning, it is always true that our beginning has its conception in the heart or prayers of someone else.  My mother stands large in my memories of beginning.  In retrospect I am always amazed as she was so young and yet always made sure my sister and I were connected to the church.  Until my father came to an experience with Christ shortly before his death, she did it alone. 

 

While our stories are different, they bear this common theme of someone helping us get on the road of faith.  When the Apostle Paul wrote his second letter to young Timothy, he reminded him of this happening in his life.  "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure, lives in you."  (II Timothy 1:5)  What was true for Timothy was true for the elder Apostle as well.  He obviously had parents who made sure he was grounded in the faith of his ancestors and before the Damascus Road there was Stephen. 

It is a good thing for all of us to look back and see those who had a part in helping us find the way.  And even as there are those who come to mind in such a reflective journey, it is also true that there are many unnamed and unknown saints whose prayers have undergirded us from afar without our even knowing about it.  None of us have gotten where we are alone.  We are always connected to a community of faithful souls who chose to stand alongside us, pray for us, and pull for us.  May we remember them with thanksgiving. 

The Anger of God

Not too long ago a friend spoke of his anger with God.  It is not an uncommon thing for folks to experience.  More than one of us has shook our fist toward the heavens and given God an earful.  It is not surprising that it happens.  The truth is it happens in most of our relationships.  We get angry with the people we love the most.  Ask any marriage partner if anger ever rises between them.  Or, for that matter, we might even admit to it happening in relationships that are far more casual.

 The Word acknowledges the reality of anger, but tells us "Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,..."  (Ephesians 4:26)  What we often forget when we consider our anger with God is that it is a two way street.  Every relationship, even the one we have with our Creator, has within it the possibility for anger to be expressed by us and Him.  While we do not think often of God being angry, any casual reading of the Old Testament reveals a God who not only knows first hand the emotion of anger, but expresses it.  And, then there is also the record of Jesus cleansing the Temple.  Call it what you will, but somewhere in the mix of what happened, call it anger. 

What we can hope is that God takes His own Words seriously.  If He is angry at us, we do not want Him to hold it in his heart any length of time.  Like David we might pray, "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, or discipline me in Your wrath..."  (Psalm 6:1)   As surely as we might be angry at God, He might also be angry with us.  As He is quick to forgive, so are we called to be quick to forgive others for causing us pain and Him for not doing exactly what we wanted Him to do.   

Gongs and Cymbals

In these "do not touch me and stay six feet away"  days, it is nice to remember a different time.  Back in the preaching days, there was that moment of standing at the door after the worship service had ended to greet and shake hands with everyone who endured my sermon.  Actually, it was a habit of mine to go to the front door about fifteen minutes before the service time to greet folks as they entered.  Most folks said a positive word about the sermon, but once in a while someone would come through with a brutal word of truth about my preaching, or with an axe to grind. 

 

What happened at the church door happens over and over again in all our lives.  I could stand there and hear a hundred positive words and then one person comes along with a negative or critical word and all that can be remembered is that one word.  Why is it that we allow the hundred good words to disappear when one negative word is spoken?  Why is it that the critical word is all we remember on the way home?  Maybe we are made that way.  Maybe we are so hungry to be loved and appreciated by everyone that we forget the impossibility of such a goal.

 

God did not make us to please everyone else.  It seems to this one who seeks to walk the road of faith that He is more interested in what I do to please Him than what I do to please others.  It is not that He wants me to win the most unpopular guy award, or maybe He does.   He certainly seems to have done that with Jeremiah.  What preachers often forget is that if a sermon does not please God, then it is not worth the words uttered to preach it.  And, the same is true for all of us.  If we are not living to please God, then everything we are doing to please others sounds like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal to Him. 

Seasons

Those who live their lives thinking that there are only four seasons are simply not paying attention.  Or, maybe their view of the world is too narrow.  The Old Testament writer who penned Ecclesiastes had it right when he wrote, "For everything there is a season..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)   When we consider the word "everything," we realize that there is more to life than noticing the changes in seasonal temperature.  The Old Testament writer went on to name a few of those seasons which illustrate his introductory word, but it is surely not an all inclusive list of the possible seasons to be lived. 

 

Interesting time can be spent with the Word as we note each of the seasons he mentions and reflect on how it is that we have experienced them.  One of the things we quickly recognize is that the seasons as he described them come and go and sometimes come again.  In that regard they are like the four seasons which comprise our contemporary calendar.  Those who enter into a season of grief will find that it is a season which comes again many times during the span of our years.  It may not be experienced with the intensity that accompanies the death of someone we love, but it will return, nonetheless. 

Some of the seasons we live are very short.  Some stretch out into indeterminable lengths of time.  Each one is unique and brings into our life something peculiar to the plan of God for our living.  Being open to what is happening in our life is an important thing as we seek to understand the season which is opening before us.  And as it comes, whether it is difficult or joyful, an important thing is to embrace it, receive it, and live within as a part of the way the Spirit is at work within us. 

The Chicken Truck

It left a lasting impression.  It was one of those very hot humid July afternoons when the truck full of chickens loaded in wooden crates rolled along in the other lane.  As we stopped together at the traffic light I could not help but see dead chickens piled up in some of the crates.  It was not hard to imagine what life was like deep inside the stacked up crates.  More dead chickens.  The traffic flow kept me behind the truck until it pulled off the road and into the place where chickens go before they make it to our tables. 

 

It took away my appetite for chicken.  Some of these protectors of abandoned pets should add these chickens to their list of abused animals.  The sight of chickens suffering from deadly heat is not a vision that goes with culture's consumption of tenders, nuggets, strips, and white or dark meat.  The problem is that most of us are too far removed from the source of the food we eat.  Most of us who devour the fast food chicken would never mistreat or abuse an animal, but we just never see and never take the time to understand the real cost of getting food to our table. 

We have been conditioned to accept the abuse in order to get our appetite satisfied.  In this conditioning there is a lack of respect for another living creature which is surely something the Lord God never intended when He put us altogether in the Garden called Eden.  Becoming a vegetarian is not really the answer.  The answer seems more like something which comes from within us as we view our place in the created order.  Life is precious whether it is ours, another person's, or another creature that God has created and to ignore that basic truth takes us into a mindset where we end up closing our eyes to what would be intolerable in our backyards. 

Seasons of Revealing

The quietness of the last few evenings has been shattered from above by flyovers of large v-shaped groups of Canadian Geese.  They did not seem to be in a hurry to drop down on one of the nearby ponds, but instead, seem to have a Creator given GSP that was taking them to some unseen place below the southern horizon.  As I turned my head upward to see and listen, I realized they had been gone and I had not noticed.  It was their coming back which enabled me to realize they had been absent from these parts for some time.

Sometimes what is seen calls attention to what has not been seen and not missed.  How long the geese had been gone is as much a mystery to me as their arrival in the air above me last evening.  Perhaps, what is familiar becomes one of those taken for granted things in life, and thus, disappears from our consciousness to the extent that when it is no longer present, its absence goes unnoticed.  It can certainly happen with these honking geese, but it can also happen with any part of the creation with which we live in a relationship including the Creator of the creation.

Of course, the Creator God never leaves us for a season.  He does not depart.  But, there are those moments when something of His presence so jolts us that we realize we have not been paying attention to His presence in the present moments of our life.  Taking God for granted, assuming He is always going to be around is something easy enough to do.  Unfortunately, most of us have such memories.  Thankfully, there are seasons of divine revealing which remind us our not paying attention, cause us to remember His mercy, and to be renewed once again in the deep places of our heart. 

Holding It Together

It is a phenomena seen many times by most of us.  Families are often held together by one strong person who seems to have patriarchal power, or matriarchal power, over the whole crowd of kindred DNA spirits.  And when they come to the end of their life, it is also not an uncommon things for a kind of disintegration to take place.  Traditional family gatherings cease because they are no longer present to see those events planned and done.  With the powerful center gone, it is like everyone who orbited around them spun out and into a distant land.

 

Such thoughts come to mind as we encounter those word of the Apostle Paul in the Christology section of the first chapter of Colossians.  In the 17th verse of that chapter, we hear the Word of God saying about Jesus, "He Himself is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."  At this point the Word of God goes beyond what John wrote in the Prologue to his gospel, "All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being."  (John 1:3)  Paul goes beyond Jesus simply being the Creator of all things, but also the One who keeps everything that was made together and in order. 

 

What the Word of God is declaring to us is that the whole of the creation and every single part of it is dependent upon Jesus.  Without Him there would be a kind of universal chaos which would result in everything spinning out of control.  And in a like manner it can also be said that without Him the lives we live would move from order and purpose to confusion and chaos.  We can read the Word of God and come to this conclusion, or we can simply look back at the out of control moments of our own life. 

The Invisible Creation

Things that are invisible are always showing themselves.  All that is required to see is a measure of patience, the willingness to see without seeing, and an openness to what is happening in the present moment.  The sunset this evening is an example.  Prior to a single moment of stillness in the moment light is holding on midst the coming darkness, the brilliant display of colors in the sky was invisible.  However, suddenly what could not be seen was seen, but only for a few brief moments of time and then what was visible was gone.

I suppose Jesus is responsible for making things invisible visible to us.  In Colossians 1:15-16 the Word says, "He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible..."  Here is a new defining word for Jesus:  He is the Creator not only of the visible, but also the invisible.  His very life models this phenomena for us.  As Philippians 2:6-7 remind us, Jesus existed in the form of God; yet chose to empty Himself of this invisible existence to become visible to us through human form. 

He is the Master of creation, the one who creates all that is seen and known as well as all that is unseen and often unknown.  Things like electricity, radio signals, computer technology, and vaccines for viruses existed in the invisible realm, things that were created by Him, but only through the span of time did they become visible to those of us who dwell on earth.  As much as there is that is visible, it may well be true that there is more invisible parts of the creation waiting to be seen than ever we could imagine or dream.  The invisible He has created is waiting for its time which will surely come.

Followers of the Firstborn

The gospel writer John says about Jesus, "He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being."  (John 1:2-3)   In another place in the Word we hear the Apostle Paul bearing a similar witness as he says, "He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."  (Colossians 1:15)  And finally the writer of Hebrews offers still another affirmation as he spoke of Jesus being the One "through Whom He also created the worlds."  (Hebrews 1:2)

The Pauline phrase, "the firstborn of all creation"  speaks of Jesus in a way that connects Him to all of the creation.  Often it seems that we see ourselves more as the masters of the creation, the ones who have dominion over all things, rather than as one who is to live in a connected relationship with every part of the creation which surrounds us.  Even as we are linked through the thread of conception and birth with others, so are we linked through Jesus to all that is a part of the earth we call our home. 

 

As those who bear the imprint of the essence of the Creator, we are to live with respect and reverence for every other living and non-living part of the creation.  Jesus is the One behind Whom and with Whom we walk as disciples.  He is the firstborn of all creation which includes each one of us.  We are only a part of this created order that He has brought into being.  Such an awareness should not only shape the way we treat each other, but it should also shape the way we view our care for the land, the way we eat our food, and the attitude we carry with us as we benefit from the many parts of the creation which bring benefit and life to us. 

Scriptural Stop Signs

There are those moments for all of us when we run into a big red stop sign when reading the Word.  Such a sign showed up the other day in a reading of Colossians.  In the first chapter at the verse 15 marker, there was such a word which said, "'He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God,..."  It is the kind of Word which tickles the ear of the mystic causing a smile to come over the contemplative soul within, but also a Word which taunts the spirit of the blue collar seeker of black and white spiritual truths.

 

It is a Word which primes the pondering juices as well as a Word which speaks what is obvious.  What is obvious is that God is invisible.  He is not to be seen although He is ever present.  It is also obvious that seeing Jesus is seeing the Father.  (John 14:9)  Jesus is God become flesh and walking among us. (John 1:14)  What we see in the heart, spirit, and actions of Jesus reveals to us important insights about the nature of the Invisible One, God the Father.  Yet, as obvious as are these truths, there is still something about these word of the Scripture which leave our minds wrapped around themselves as we seek to understand more fully what cannot be understood completely.

 

How can Jesus be the image of One who cannot be seen and who is set forth as invisible?  In a search for insight I think of how I bear the image of my father and my mother, but both are now invisible to the eyes of those on earth.  Of course, it is a poor analogy in that they have not always been invisible, but they are no longer visible here even as I continue to be in the flesh in their image.  And, to go even further back is to realize that they both came from what was invisible.  Such is true of myself as well.  Could it be true as some suggest that everything visible was once invisible and that the coming of Jesus speaks to this truth concerning the God of creation?

Unfinished Stuff

These last days have been spent largely on getting the garden area cleaned up once again so that the fall garden can be planted without leftover summer weeds.  Since much of the gardening around here is done in raised beds, the work has not only cleaned up the beds where plants were planted, but also the walking and working aisles between the beds.  After the work was largely completed, there was a sense of satisfaction at having reached a finished stage, but then came the look back which spoke the reminder that there was still more to do.  Anyone who gardens knows there is always unfinished stuff.

 

It should not be any surprise that such is true of gardens when it is that way with life.  There are those moments when it might seem to us that everything is done and that there is nothing more to do, but such is rarely true.  Life is as much about unfinished business as it is about looking back and feeling good about what has been done.  To think of our spiritual life as a journey is to put it into a context of something always in process and not yet completed. 

 

The road we travel with Christ is always about unfinished stuff.  There is always room for us to grow in our understanding of what it means to walk with Him.  There is always another act of kindness and mercy which we can offer in service to others and to Christ.  And no matter how many years and miles we have travelled in faith, there are still more years and miles ahead of us.  Of course, it could also be true that the next step on this journey of faith will be the last one we take on this earth and if such is true, then there is still one bit of unfinished business before us, but it rest completely in the hands of Christ who has risen from the dead. 

Closing and Opening

When I started writing JourneyNotes back in 2008, I was in what would prove to be my last pastorate before retiring.  The blog was back then a means of providing another means of being in touch with those who were listening to me from the pews on Sunday morning.  Of course, that was then, and this is now.  Number one was back then and number just over nineteen hundred was written a few days ago.  And those who read are no longer pew bound by me on Sunday morning.  And while some who read now are folks from the past, many are strangers who bless me with a few minutes of reading. 

 

As is always the case when we start out with something new, I had no idea how the whole ministry would unfold into my future.  With a meager start of just five or so posts a month, it would have been impossible to conceive of this writing ministry being a daily ministry.  And although in my heart I have always thought of myself as a preacher, I know the preaching part of ministry is not an open door for me at this juncture of my life. 

 

God really does close and open doors of opportunity for us.  Some of the doors which are closed, we fight tooth and nail to keep open.  They are changes we do not want.  They are changes which are not according to our understanding of the plan which we have laid out.  And, thus, some of the doors God opens are hard for us to see because we are not looking.  We are too busy hanging on to what is behind us.  We can all see how this has worked in our lives as we look back.  It is in the looking at the present and the future where we struggle.  It is often hard to do the work of faith which is waiting, letting God's future unfold before us, and then tenaciously grabbing hold.

Prayers of Protection

While the encircling prayer of protection within the Celtic tradition may be a new way of praying for many of us, the idea of praying for protection is as old as dirt.  When we stop to think about our own prayer life, we realize we pray prayers of protection at many different times.  Many of us might pray such prayers before a long driving trip, or as we watch a powerful thunderstorm build out there on the edge of the sky.  In these days we might even pray such a prayer as we put on a face mask and venture forth in some public place. 

Of course, one of the prayers of protection that we know the best is prayed on most Sunday mornings when the church gathers.  Within the Lord's Prayer there are those words, "lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil."   And while it is not a prayer, there is that reminder from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians that our struggle requires the "whole armor of God" which includes "the breastplate of righteousness,"   (Ephesians 6:10-17) an image which brings to mind the breastplate prayer for protection attributed to St. Patrick.   It is a world full of all manners of divine revelation, but it is also a dangerous world.

 

However, we pray the prayers of our heart, there are going to be those moments when prayers of protection will pour forth from deep within us.  They will inevitably come from within because we know that we cannot handle the things which confront us and which can do us and those we love harm.  We pray these prayers because we know that our life is finally dependent on the grace and mercy of God.  And even though we may not always know exactly how to pray such prayers, we do know that Jesus taught His disciples and those who followed them to pray such prayers.  For the moment such knowledge is enough. 

Encircling Prayers

In the Celtic tradition there is a spiritual practice known as encircling prayers of protection.  It is a kind of praying which brings both our heart and our physical body to the altar.  In  her book, "The Soul's Slow Ripening,"  Christine Valters Paintner writes, "It is an invisible circle drawn around oneself and one's body to serve as a reminder of God's protection and the presence of love and safety even in difficult times."  One of the most well known prayers of protection in Celtic spirituality belong to the St. Patrick tradition.  It is often called the breastplate prayer.

Anyone interested in praying in this tradition will need to get off their knees and onto their feet.  It begins by holding the right hand out toward the east and then slowly turning sunwise to face each direction.  At each position the Spirit is asked to bring blessings of protection against the things which are raised up against us.  Once the circle of prayer is completed, the circle travels with you.  Maybe for some it seems like a lot of unnecessary spiritual hocus pocus, but it is a way of bringing everything which is a part of us into the act of praying.

These are certainly days for prayers of protection.  While some of us may be able to stay sheltered more safely at home, many of those we love find themselves exposed to the danger of illness which is common to all of us.  These family members of ours as well as those who serve caring for the ones suffering can be put inside this circle of prayer by us as we bring them before the throne of God and seek the blessing of a safety which would provide protection for them from all the sides of their lives. 

Garden Gifts

People who garden enjoy giving away stuff from the garden.  It almost seems like an unthinkable thing to do.  Anyone who tends a gardens knows about the investment of time, money, and energy.  It is mostly true that what is grown in the garden can be bought cheaper than it can be grown.  It is also true that a garden requires a good hoe, a strong back, and knees that can withstand a lot of kneeling and crawling.  Gardening is hard work.  It is a hard work over a long period of time. 

 

Yet, those who garden still do it mostly because it is enjoyable.  The fresh produce is a bonus.  Not even a bad season filled with dry weather, plant disease, and an abundance of bugs will keep a real gardener away from the garden the next year.  Gardening gets in their blood.  And it is also true that giving away, or sharing what is grown gets in the blood of the gardener.  Maybe it is a form of showing off, or bragging, but more likely it speaks of a desire to share something of value with a person who is of value.

 

Too many of our gifts are given only at some calendar event which calls for a gift.  A heart that knows about giving does not require any reason except a desire to share something of value with another.  It brings pleasure to the gardener to offer a neighbor a bunch of tomatoes, or some eggplants, or maybe a few ears of corn.  It is the joy of sharing and giving which takes the gardener to the neighbor's house.  Whatever the gift, if it brings us joy to be giving it, then God is surely pleased.

Wrapped in Light

There is no way to count the number of times I have turned to the Old Testament Psalms for personal reading.  It is likely the same for most folks.  They are like a powerful magnet which draws people to them.  To speak of all the different ways they have nurtured our soul is an impossibility.  My earliest recollections of reading the Scripture brings the 23rd Psalm to mind, but many more have been added to that list of often read Psalms over the years. 

In a recent reading of the 104th Psalm, I was struck by the powerful images created by the writer.  It is not necessary to get very far into the Psalm before we are brought to a place of stopping and allowing our imagination to soar.  At the beginning the Psalmist described God by writing, "O Lord God, You are very great, You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment"  (Psalm 104:1-2)  The imagery of being wrapped in light immediately brought to mind a New Testament passage from John's gospel,   In the Prologue the Word of God says about Jesus, "What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in darkness, and darkness did not overcome it."  (John 1:3-5)

Describing the Holy One was one "wrapped in light as with a garment"  brings to mind brilliant darkness breaking sunrises, glorious shades of late evening colors, a bright white that illuminates the dark hours of the night, and northern lights which seem like powerful probes searching the universe. And then there are other lights like the soft light of a burning candle and the light of life which shines forth from the human eye.  God is wrapped up in such lights as well as with light which defies visualizing.  He is majesty.  He is to be honored.  Describing the One who is, but Who cannot be seen is something we seek to do, yet, as we do, it is always an expression of what is impossible to describe.   

Connected to Creation

What is hard for many to see is the reality that life is lived midst the creation.  Perhaps, those who live in rural areas understand where life is actually lived, but the truth is, it can be missed even where concrete and asphalt does not seem to reign.  Whether we live in urban areas filled with monuments to architects, or in spacious countryside we can still hurry through life without seeing what is all around us.  While we are just learning to wear masks, we have been wearing blinders for a long time.

 

And a thing even harder than understanding that we live midst the creation is to know that we are connected to it.  Even the ones who live the most solitary lives are still connected to the creation.  The furniture in our homes connects us to the forest.  The food on our table connects us to the dirt and the water.  The breath we take to live connects us to every other living breathing creature.  The life we live is gifted to us by the Creator who brought all of us and everything into being.

 

The Genesis account of creation is an orderly telling of beginnings.  There is day one and so it goes until the rest of day seven comes.  Within the cycle of creation set forth in the early words of Genesis, we find the origin of our being.  We were not created separately from everything else that is a part of the creation but almost in the same breath.  Unlike every other part of creation, our living depends on the rest of the creation.  Our lives are connected to every part of it in a life giving way.  To understand and affirm that connectedness enables us to live in sync with everything that is around us which includes the Creator Himself.

A Priceless Legacy

As I think back over the Bibles that have been a part of my life, the first one I remember was the pocket New Testament given to my Father by the Gideons.  He carried it with him as he flew combat missions in the Pacific during World War II.  After his death in 1955, it became something I held in my hands often.  Over the years I have accumulated other Bibles which belonged to family members and each is a precious keepsake in its own way.  Reading someone's Bible is like having a window to their soul.

 

To read someone's  Bible is to realize that what is being held in the present moment was held in the hands of another sometime in the past.  The awareness that it provided comfort, direction, and strength to someone important to us makes it all the more precious.  To come across words and lines underlined by someone from our past gives us ample reason to pause and wonder how the words might have provided help and nurture for them.  To hold an old Bible in our hands is to know that we are holding an important part of a life we remember, love, and hold in an important place in our heart.

 

There are many things folks leave to others upon their death.  Some of the things are marked long before the moment of giving comes.  So often as we think of the special things we want our children to have at our death, we seldom think about the Bible we have read through the years.  The truth is the legacy of the Word is priceless.  It is life giving.  If we are remembered by those we love as one whose life was established and guided upon the pages of the Sacred Word, then we are indeed well remembered. 

The Prevailing Church

The Garden of Eden had a tree known as the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil."  (Genesis 2:17)  The Zoar Church had its tree which looking back I would call the fellowship tree.  It was a towering old Oak tree just outside the front door of the country church.  It grew out of a churchyard swept clean again and again through the decades to the point that nothing but sandy dirt was beneath it.  Where trunk met dirt were exposed roots big enough for children to play and men to use as sitting places when the pews inside were filled. 

 

But, mostly it was a place where the men gathered to talk, and in that day, light up a cigarette.  It was a place of fellowship as surely as some churches have their fellowship halls.   Out here in this part of the country a favorite gathering place is around the scuppernong  vine.   The scuppernongs are now ripening and full of flavor.  The only thing better than eating them is to be a part of a group standing up and down the vine, eating, spitting, and talking.  Whenever I go to the scuppernong vine alone, I enjoy the fruit, but miss the fellowship.

While I have not gone back to a church service since they were put on hold a few months ago, I know in some places folks are back in their familiar gathering place.  I wonder about the fellowship part of it.  Sitting apart from others, never touching, talking through face masks, and also wondering if there is some virus germ floating around in the air certainly seems like something which would hinder the sense of fellowship.  Fortunately, the church is a resilient spiritual community.  It may come out on the other side of the these difficult days looking different, but it will come out.  It will prevail.  It will prevail because it is a spiritual community put into our lives because of the unending love of God, the sacrifice of the Son, and the power of the Spirit.  Against such nothing can permanently prevail. 

The Doxology

While it may not be true in today's church with its obsession to do contemporary worship, back in the days when I was growing up and growing into faith in Christ, worship was predictable.  It was so predictable that it often caused folks to take mental holidays because they knew where they would be when their minds ceased from wandering.  One of the things that made my childhood worship predictable was its use of some of the liturgy of the church.  It was not just "The Lord's Prayer" which was deemed worthy of an every Sunday repeat.

 

One of those other parts of the liturgy was the Doxology.  At the appointed moment everyone would rise and begin singing, "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow..."  There is some good theology in those words learned early and remembered still even after a life time of living.  The reality that all blessings flow from the heart of God was mostly lost upon me as a child, but hopefully now after years of singing those words, they have taken root in my heart.

Blessings are like gifts.  To be blessed by God is to be gifted by God.  To be gifted by God is to receive from Him what He chooses to give and what we only receive because of His gracious kindness.  The blessing, or gifting of God does not come to us because we are worthy of it, or because we have earned it.  The gifting of God is about His grace being expressed in gracious, diverse, and surprising measures.  The more we realize this truth about the blessings being received in our life, the more loudly we want to sing the words of the Doxology, "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow..."

Blessing the Lord

A rather common word heard often in those moments of departure is "Have a blessed day!"   The frequency of usage makes it into something that robs it of any meaning.  Nonetheless, the idea of blessing is an intriguing one.  To look up the word in the dictionary is to find a variety of meanings and interpretations.  In the religious sense it generally refers to the favor and goodness of God.  And while there is nothing wrong with such a definition, we find often used in the Psalms the phrase, "Bless the Lord, O my soul..."  (Psalm 104:1) which seems to lend itself to a different understanding.

The Psalmist seems to be addressing the inner part of his life where the essence of his life lives.  He does not offer the blessing as one who raises hands toward the heavens and speaks words of praise, but as one who seeks the Lord to be blessed by the soul within him.  Perhaps, in this context a better definition of blessing is the response of gifting.  For us to be blessed is to receive a gift from God so as blessings come from the soul, is it not also a way of offering gifts to God?  As we are blessed by the unmerited gifts of God, so is God blessed by our giving good gifts to Him.

And how do we, in a practical way, speak of these gifts which our soul might give as an expression of our desire to bless God?  Certainly, one of the more obvious is to give Him thanksgiving and praise.  But, as we allow ourselves to probe deeper into our spiritual life, we begin to think of other gifts as well.  The desire to love, the willingness to serve, the eagerness to sacrifice, the openness to death of self, and joyful giving are but a few of those soul gifts which surely bring pleasure to the heart of God when He receives them as gifts, or blessings, from us. 

Journal Keeping

It has been some years ago that I started what I have come to call a "Gratitude Journal."  To be precise it was seven years ago and the inspiration was a book entitled, "1000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  The book encourages the readers to write down daily something for which you are thankful.  She reached a thousand in a year, it is taking me a little longer.  It is not that I do not see things for which I am thankful, instead, I am just a lousy journal keeper. 

 

It is a book I read several times and have recommended on numerous occasions to friends.  I even gave copies to my daughters one Christmas along with a notebook and pen.  You might say I am a fan.  One of the things the books did was to cause me to be more aware of the blessings which are coming my way.  A second thing is that the gratitude part of the journal expanded into a section of personal reflections.  And finally, it became a place to write down the names and concerns of people for whom I have been led to pray through the years. 

 

In addition to personal thoughts which I wanted to remember, the reflection section of the journal became a place to record things read which seem worthy of being remembered, dreams, and bits and pieces of poetry and other writings which came to me either through reading or from friends who shared them with me.  Maybe there are others who are like me.  Maybe there are others who would think of themselves as lousy journal keepers.  It is easy for it to become a source of guilt when long times pass without entries. but once that ego demand is laid aside, the journal keeping no longer is a chore and duty, but something which helps a wandering soul to stay on course. 

Giving Thanks

The Word tells us to give thanks in all things.  (I Thessalonians 5:8)  On the surface it seems like an impossible things to do.  After all, life can dump some pretty rough stuff in our laps.  Giving thanks in the midst of some tornado like upheaval in our life is more than just a challenge for most of us.  Such gratitude goes beyond the boundaries of self-improvement capabilities.  We often think that will power can accomplish anything, but a heavy dose of reality can rapidly change the way we view things.

 

Being able to give thanks in any and all circumstances is not something we can decide to do.  Instead, it speaks of a life style which is a by product of other choices.  We do not become filled with constant gratitude by deciding to do so, but by making other choices which move us in that direction.  One discipline which heightens our sense of gratitude is the practice of paying attention to everything God has put into our path which includes people, places, and the events within the time being gifted to us.  There is something about this view of life which cultivates a grateful heart.

 

What happens as we live with a desire to pay attention to everything and everyone around us is that we began to see blessings that are being poured out into our life and on the pathway we are walking.  Too many times we rush through life without realizing that every minute is filled with the blessings of God.  They do not just come to us on Sunday during worship, or when we are having quiet moments with God, but in every single moment of our days.  To see the field of blessings in which we walk creates a sense of gratitude that is beyond the scope of determination. 

Chicken Antics

The chicken yard has two groups of hens.  The Oldsters consist of a pair of two year old hens.  Predators got the rest of the Oldsters.  And then there are the Youngsters, a group of five young hens who came to the farm as chicks back in March.  Putting the Oldsters and the Youngsters together has been interesting.  When I put the feed out this morning in three separate feeding areas, the Oldsters could not eat for running from one feed trough to another to chase away the Youngsters.  And the Youngsters could not eat for running and looking over their wings at the coming Oldsters.

 

It could have been funny had I not seen myself in what was happening.  I can remember a time when I could not work the patch I had been given for watching what my neighboring pastor colleague was doing.  I could not do my work because I thought things might be better in his feed trough.  Of course, it was not like I could run over, peck at him, and take over, but my watching kept me from what was in front of me.  It might seem strange that there would be a sense of envy and competition among pastors, but it can happen in any profession.

One of the hard lessons for us to learn is the value and the imperative to be present in the moment God has given to us.  Not only is it the present moment that is important, but also the place He has put us in the present moment.  There are times what we become so focused on how well others seem to have it that we fail to see the way God is bringing blessings according to His plan into our life.  It is such a waste to let anything rob us of the gifts which God is giving to us.  Such is exactly what happens when we allow ego fed distractions to take us out of the present and into the world of what might be. 

In Everything

I never knew I would be here.  Long years ago when the road was stretched out so far in the distance that it was impossible to have any sense of where it was going, I still thought I knew where it would end up.  In the beginning the way forward seem defined enough and the destination was obvious.  I had chosen the way of faith in Christ and a call to ministry and with such carefully stored away, it seemed that the direction and destination was determined. 

 

And, there is some truth is such reflection.  The decisions we make do help set the course for the way which lies ahead.  But, the thing about the faith journey is that the Spirit serves as the director for all that is ahead.  He has plans not shared.  He leads without consulting those who commit themselves to the journey.  His purpose is to move us in step with the reason for our creation and to shape our hearts after the image of the Son.  It is not something we can do, but something our trust and abandonment allows Him to do.

 

Arriving at the farm in retirement I could have imagined.  It could be said such a life is a part of my DNA since both parents grew up on farms.  But, what was impossible to imagine was the way living so close to the dirt and so surrounded by the creation would transform my view of God and the way He is at work in the world and in our lives.  Everywhere I turn and walk there is a new page being written to read.  It is amazing for one who has spent a life time experiencing  the presence of God through the church and its ministry to come to a place where eyes have been opened to the reality that God is in everything around us. 

A New Word

Mindfulness is both a new word and new concept for this old Methodist preacher.  So often now as I read books written back in the day when I was giving leadership to churches, I am reading things I would have no use for now.  And the books I am reading now, I would not have bothered with back in those days of hurrying to get things done.  Getting things done in a hurry and mindfulness are not exactly like couples holding hands. 

 

I must confess to being in another universe back in the day before retirement.  I remember an Associate who worked with me in one of those churches who told me after we had spent some time at a prayer retreat that he could never serve at such a place because he would be too busy keeping track of how many people came each month.  I understood since I was a kindred spirit of his.  So much of this way of seeing the world began to change when the door was opened to the season of retirement.  Some might say the change was inevitable with retirement.  Others might say there is nothing else to do but live with an inner attitude of mindfulness.

 

The truth is that retirement came with a divine Word being spoken which simply said, "Pay Attention."  I suppose the words came out of an awareness that the days going forward were surely of a limited number, but I would rather think of them as a Word from the Spirit which was alerting me to the possibility of new doors opening on my spiritual journey.  I do know the discipline of paying attention, or being mindful, has slowed my life down enough that things not seen are being seen and things never heard are being heard.  And mostly, I know the change is not about me, but because of the grace of God which has no end and is so filled with patience and mercy that it is overwhelming.