Wondering

Our paths first crossed a little more than fifteen years ago when Glenn Haynes came to the Perry Church as the new Minister of Music.  In more recent years our separate journeys brought us to the same area where we bump into each other and touch our friendship again.  A few days ago I saw a painting on display in the lobby of a local bank entitled, "Where Two Worlds Meet."  My old friend was the artist.  It was a wonderful piece which invited the one standing in front of it to enter into the world of the painting.  Its invitation to stand and listen and experience with all five senses the place where river embraced the earth was unmistakable. 

 

If I were a wealthy patron of the arts, I would commission my friend to paint a similar work portraying the place where the visible world in which we live touches the invisible world which is surely around us.  My recent readings on Celtic spirituality speak of a strong belief that there are thin places where the eternal realm is opened to the finite earthly realm.  What I realized in the reading was that I had come to such a belief long years ago.  So many times it has seemed that I was walking here, but aware that unseen others were walking nearby.  The thin places are not in specific geographic sites.  They are all around us.  They are where we walk.

 

I have come to some awareness of this thin veil just beyond me and wondered as I saw my friend's painting how it might look through the eyes of an artist whose skills and spirit might enable transcending the world that is completely physical.  I have come to some understanding of it through my own soul's experience.  Like the heavy morning fog which shrouds and hides the earth we know is underneath it, so does this spiritual realm surely hover over us, around us, and, perhaps, even within us. 

The Unseen Plan

Sometime about late afternoon yesterday, another new calf dropped on the ground.  Just like her Moma, she was spade black with a white blotch on her face.  Throughout the day I had been watching the about-to-give birth cow pace back and forth all by herself over on the far side of the pasture.  From the distance I saw a spot of black on the ground and knew immediately the calf had come.  Despite the fact that quite a few calves have been birthed around here these past eight years, it is still a big deal.  We hurried to the truck, parked at the fence line, and for the next hour we watched Moma cow get her new calf ready for life in the pasture.

 

No matter how many times we have been privileged to share in these moments of new beginning, it is always a moment filled with amazement and awe.  I am amazed at the way a switch is pushed and a cow who has never had a calf suddenly knows all the right moves.  And, it is always a moment filled with awe and wonder as the miracle of new life unfolds in our midst.  Spending such moments at the fence line gives a different perspective on all that is going around us.

 

It is certainly true that life is filled with some hard-to-understand-difficult-to-get-through experiences and it is equally as true that given the choice, there are things we would never choose.  Life is not always as easy as it seems out in the pasture where things can go wrong even as they can go wrong on my side of the fence.  But, whenever I watch and behold I am always struck by the way there is such order in creation.  Creation is not something that just happens by chance, but something that works according to a plan.  Even though I am caught up in the plan, I cannot always see it in the moment.  And while I do not know the plan, I do know the One who created the plan.  In those confusing and difficult moments, I am thankful I know the One who knows the plan I cannot yet see. 

The Dwelling Place

I do not see ahead as far as I used to see.  When I was younger it seemed that the view toward the horizon was close to being eternal in length.  I even made plans for days and years I could not see.  Some of the plans actually came to pass, although, many of them had some unplanned twists and turns which were surprises.  Some of the surprises were pleasant and some, not so pleasant.  In those days I may not have said it to others, but I thought of myself as the one who directed my future.

Youth may be the time of strength and stamina, but it can also be the time of great foolishness.   The view I have now of those days that are past requires me to realize that I have never had any control of my life which is also a view that enables me to see what is left of the road ahead more clearly.  Actually, I no longer cast my eyes very far ahead, but work at keeping them more focused on where the next foot is going to step.  I wish years ago someone could have come along and caused me to see the importance of paying attention to the present moment.

More than ever it seems that God is experienced in the present.  There is no guarantee of a greater sense of presence due to reaching some set out goal which speaks of having arrived.  When I started with these JourneyNotes some ten years ago, I had no idea how much life was about the journey. I had spent most of my life trying to get somewhere, to reach some level of achievement, to become someone I did not see myself as yet being.  And while I have not figured it all out even now in this latter part of the journey, I have at least learned that the most important place to be is where I am and the most important ones are the ones present with me in the moment.  And, finally, I have also learned that the God who created eternity dwells with me in the ordinary span called the present. 

The Only Explanation

As we move along through our life and the years ahead seem smaller in number than the ones which are behind us, we begin to realize how indebted we are to others.  No matter how self sufficient we see ourselves as being, and no matter how much credit we give to ourselves for our success, it is all only an illusion. None of us get where we are going solely because of our own efforts, our own intellect, or our own ingenuity.   To be blessed with some extra years is to realize that life is not really as much about us, or me, as we once thought.

 

The truth is we are the results of what others have invested in us.  It is also true that we are in many ways the results of some one's prayers.  And, above all else, as we get older, we begin to understand how life has been so very much about the grace of God.  Grace really is what has brought us this far.  Grace and grace alone has brought us to this moment in our life.  One of the great mysteries of my life has been struggling with the early death of good friends who had so much to offer.  Why they are gone and I am still here is not something I have figured out.  The only explanation which makes any sense is grace. 

 

Of course, this is not to say that hard work and responsible living is unimportant.  It is not just enough to be blessed with years, but to live those years well.  But, the things I cannot control are far greater in number than the things I can control.  Though I can opt for a healthy lifestyle, I cannot really control my health.  Diseases are indiscriminate.  I cannot control how long my body or mind will function.  I cannot control the time of my death.  What I have come to believe through the years is that all of life is in the hands of God and that He can be trusted to tend to our life from beginning to end and even beyond. 

The Beginning and the End

In the narrative of the infant Jesus there is that moment when leaving all that is familiar and going to the unknown and uncertain becomes a reality to consider.  The need to leave is underscored in the beginning by the fears of the men from the East who came to worship Jesus and, then, later in a dream where an angel spoke to Joseph saying, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy Him."  (Matthew 2:13)  The world would see the murderous intent of Herod with the slaughter of the innocents described in the next few verses.

 

While there are many things which can be seen in this part of the story, one thing which surely stands out is the provision of the Father.  The men from the East came to worship, but also to bring expensive gifts which no doubt were useful for barter on the journey to Egypt and for daily care when they arrived.  From two different sources Joseph was directed by God to flee to a safe place.  From the beginning it was known in the heavenly place that Jesus would die for the sins of the people, but the time for that single act of sacrifice had not yet fully come.

 

It is strange that Egypt would be the place Joseph would take his family.  His ancestors had gone to that place generations before and become slaves.  It was a place of deliverance for his Hebrew ancestors and it would be a place of deliverance for him as well.   Like every part of the story, it is one which none of us would have thought to write.  Of course, we were not the writers of that story of salvation which opened that night in Bethlehem.  And, neither are we the writers of the story being written even in this very moment.  It is likely we would not write our story exactly as it is being written, but then, the God who knew the beginning and the end of the story of Jesus' journey on the earth knows ours as well. 

Time for Pondering

When those shepherds finally left the manger that night, the silence must have once again settled in like deep snow.  Surely, those men who were accustomed to talking out in the field created quite a stir when they arrived at the place to which the angel directed them.  Imagine for a moment the excitement which must have filled the place when they stood there looking at the child Jesus.  The nativity scenes always depict three shepherds, but who knows for sure how many might have come and crowded into that place filled with the holy.  Excited as they likely were, it is also likely that they all were trying to talk at once.  What a noisy fuss they must have caused!

 

When they left it must have seemed that all the air had been sucked out of the room.  Mary's response to all those men from the field brought with them is set forth in a few words in Luke's telling of the story.  "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."  (Luke 2:19)  Treasuring words is something we all have done.  Young lovers do it when separated from the one who is loved and old lovers do it as they remember the days which have gone by.  Words do and can become great treasures. 

 

But, that word "ponder" is not quite as easy to put in a box.  When was the last time we thought of ourselves as pondering something someone said?  And if we did ponder something, would we know we were pondering it?  Of course, it is possible to dig up a commentary which might bring us to a degree of enlightenment, but maybe the shortcut would shortcut our ability to ponder.  Surely, the experience of pondering something means carrying it with us and living with it for awhile.  People who ponder what they have heard or read do not  walk away from those things quickly.  Lest we miss out on something important God is trying to say to us, maybe we should pray asking the Spirit to help us ponder what we have been hearing from Him in our hearts. 

Christmas 2018

The light of the Star
    shined a night or two,
      most likely longer,
       just long enough
to get the travelers there.

The Light of the World
    born under the Star
      lighted a manger,
       next a village,
and then the wide world.

The all sufficient Light
     born that holy night
       shines into eternity
        bringing grace to all,
And hope to every human heart.

Praise be to the Light,
    the Light sent from God,
      the Light powered by Spirit,
        God, Christ and the Spirit
Blessing us all, everyone.