Goodbye

 People are leaving.  Children are leaving home for college or new jobs.  Husbands are leaving wives for younger women.  Employees are leaving jobs for better situations.  Friends are leaving the area, moving to new places.  And people are leaving church to go and join another worshipping community, or none at all. 

 Leaving is hard, often more so for the one who is left behind.  The suddenly single spouse who has been tossed aside must feel used and worthless.  The questions that arise out of that situation are not unlike those that are asked by the people that remain behind when someone leaves a church.  It is similar to a divorce.  A relationship is ending.  No matter that everyone involved lives in the same area.  The relationship will change because as part of a local community of worship, the main focus and deep friendships should be within that community. 
 We are called to be built up, as a building for the Lord’s purposes.  If we are connected as building blocks we cannot have divided interests and foci.  That division of focus would only weaken each community; the new one and the previous one. 

 We are also told that as the builder, God places each believer where that person is needed and can use the gifts God has given.  God directs each of His followers to the body where He wants them.  And He places them there for as long as He determines.  Often, though, we followers become independent agents deciding when to leave a church, and often we leave for reasons which are not directed by God.   When we do that, we go AWOL.  We leave a hole in the wall God was building.  We leave the church lacking our gift and service for the Kingdom. 

  Those left behind must pick up the slack we leave behind.  They also suffer from the relationship which has been changed.   

So pray and listen before deciding to leave the body where God has placed you.  It is God’s call, not our own.  He is the Head of the Body.  We need to listen and obey.

Coincidence?

Do you ever find yourself wondering if someone has been eavesdropping, listening at the keyhole?  You have been thinking about a particular problem and then a friend mentions a new book they enjoyed and it is all about your problem.  Or have you ever wondered which avenue to take and a song comes on the radio which addresses your situation exactly?  We all have these moments, when it seems some greater hand has been directing us.  Either that or we say, “What a coincidence!”  But is it really just a random course of events that happened to meet at the right time and place?   It is possible that the God Who is all powerful and all knowing is directing events so that we can find the answers we seek.

If a friend of yours asks for advice, do you not do your best to be helping them with truthful and kind words?  Why should we think God is unwilling to do the same?  Perhaps He simply replies to our requests by using others.  Perhaps He uses the song on the radio when we are driving to work or the chapter in the devotional book we use once in a great while.

 That happened to me today.  The book has lain on the table for weeks.  Today I picked it up and turned to the reading for the day.  Amazingly, it was a reiteration of what I had read in scripture just minutes before and it addressed some of my questions and doubts.  How can that happen? How can it be anything but a coincidence?  It can be because the God of Scripture, the God of this world, the God I worship, is in control of all things and has the power and ability to bring things together in such a way that I can see and  understand the message.  But beyond that,  I can see His hand in it all, which is as good as the answer to my questions, because I can see His love for me in a real and tangible way. 
He is a good Father, He a comforter.  He is there.

In The Know

When I heard about the terrorist attack in New York this past Tuesday, I found my self reading and listening and watching every news source I could access in order to find out anything new, to be updated, in the know.  The unfolding events were horrible and the tragedy grabbed at me personally, as photographs of destroyed bicycles were broadcast and then rebroadcast, for hours.  The people riding those bikes hours earlier were gone, murdered.  How could this have happened? 
As I tried to take it in and figure it out, I continued to watch, listen and read the available news sources.  It gave me a sense of control.   Thinking that if I knew what had happened and what was discovered I could somehow protect myself, I continued for hours. 

I was in the need to know. 

Until, two days later, it occurred to me that my knowledge of the tragedy did not prevent a like tragedy from happening to me or anyone else.

My knowledge is just that.  I have facts, opinion and analysis, but what I don’t have is control.  I can know about evil, but I cannot control it in another person.  Often, I cannot control the evil in myself.   So why the thirst to have that knowledge? 

In Eden, the temptation was to knowledge.  As if knowing meant control and power.  Even today, we say “Knowledge is Power.”  But in truth, knowledge is just knowledge.  It does not dispense power or control.  Knowledge is a good thing and indeed helpful in many ways.   We all, for instance, want our surgeons to be knowledgeable in their field.  We want our lawyers to be up to date on their knowledge of the law.  But their knowing, our knowing, does not translate into perfect actions.  It does not mean that all will be well.  We are all limited creatures.  Knowing good and evil does not make for doing good and not doing evil. 

The lure of knowledge was to be like God.  I will never be God and never, by knowing good and evil, be like Him.  I will be crushed with too much knowledge, I will be undone.  I am not infinite, I am not almighty, I am human.  To acknowledge that bit of news is the beginning of wisdom

Inspiration

Paul the apostle gives the following instructions to the church at Philippi in the book of Philippians, chapter 2:

 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

  Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. “

His words encourage the Philippians to base their actions and choices on the fact that they are in Christ, being loved by Him and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.  The attitudes Paul highlights are those of the heart and mind; namely unity of purpose and love of each other.  The actions that proceed from these are selfless living, where others are put first; where one’s own dreams and hopes do not take over all of life.

      This is no small thing for anyone living in any age.  By nature and by culture we tend to put ourselves in the top spot, getting the bulk of the time and energy needed to live and achieve our ends.

But note that Paul does not say to just ignore our interests; he says to also seek to bolster the interests-hopes and dreams-of others.

You may say, as Paul, through the Spirit, anticipated, “How can I do this?”   As always the answer is to go back to Jesus Christ as our guide, our example, our Lord.

From Philippians again:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

  Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. “

What is instructive is that each of the commands at the top can be linked to what Jesus  

did for us, and so give us the power and strength to do what is called for.

We are told to do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Link that to the mind of

Christ as he “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied

 Himself...”  That attitude allowed Jesus to go forward in obedience to the Father.   So

we need not grasp or strive for some status or place of recognition, because God will give

us what we need for His purposes.

We are told to count others as more significant, in humility.  Jesus emptied Himself and

took the form of a servant.  That is a vivid picture of humility, of being of service to

another in one’s calling.  

We are told to look to the interests of others.  Jesus took our place on the cross, dying in

the place reserved for me.  His interests did not stop Him from suffering a particularly

ignominious and public humiliation and death.  His obedience to the Father let Him

put my interests ahead of His own, to include His life. 

That is a stunning attitude and awesome action, arising out of a love for the Father and a

love for us.  Because of His attitude, I can love, I can have joy and I can live.  Only in the

 example of Jesus is there power and instruction that leads to joy.

No Name

The Prophet from Away

Have you ever had trouble recalling someone’s name?  Name tags are a great help to me in that respect.  The face may look familiar, but the name escapes me.   I have found it especially true when I have moved to a new place.  Everything is different.  Routines are new, the geography is new, the weather is new, the people are new.  Being in a familiar place, where I am known and I know my way around is comfortable; it is easy to be there because I know what to expect.  Handling situations is nearly as easy as breathing. 

But when the place is new, all that certainty and confidence is gone. 

I was thinking about this as I was reading the book of Amos in the Bible.  Amos is about a man who was a shepherd and an arborist.  He worked outside with smelly animals keeping them safe and fed. Apparently, his second job was with sycamore-fig trees, keeping them healthy.  I imagine he looked like a farmer, with weatherworn skin and rough hands.   But then God called him to give His messages.  The twist came when Amos was not called to give God’s words to his own people, Judah, but to go to the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and give the message.  That country had separated from Judah and had made significant cultural and religious changes.  It was foreign to Amos to an extent. 

Not only was the Northern Kingdom foreign, but Amos was an unknown person to them.  He was a shepherd, which was not an exalted profession.  He was low class, uneducated most likely and a country bumpkin.  BUT God had called him to speak out to Israel, so Amos went. 

He was not welcomed, and in fact his preaching so annoyed the powerful in Israel that the king was told about him. The  people in power thought Amos was conspiring against the king and seeking his downfall.  Imagine thinking that a lowly shepherd would overthrow a king. But any threat had to be dealt with properly.  Prophecy and prophets are like that; God letting a person know what is going to happen and the prophet being rejected for telling the truth.  Amos was told to be silent and to go home. 

Unwelcome in a strange place and culture, an unknown with no social standing, prophesying to the king and high religious figures.  They could afford to ignore Amos, after all, who listens to smelly shepherds?  Certainly, Israel had prophets of their own, educated, cultured men who could speak the wisdom of God.  This no name prophet was unimportant.  The people of Israel did not even need to give him a hearing.

Yet his name was not unknown to the God of the universe.  In chapter 7 of Amos, God addresses him by name.  He speaks to Amos in a conversation because Amos is concerned for the people of Israel, and he asks God for mercy on them.  The no name prophet intercedes for the people that would discard him and his words.  The treatment Amos received at the hands of Israel did not stop him for seeking mercy for them.  They treated him as of no importance, but God knows his name and that was enough for Amos.

God knows your name as well.  He knows the days He has allotted you, the amount of hair on your head, your entire history.  This is how we exist and go on.  If God knows my name, may it be enough.

On An Even Keel

 

My husband and I went to the ocean yesterday.  The sun was shining and the temperatures were warm.  The leaves are just beginning to change colors, which made the ride to the shore beautiful.  It was an ideal fall day. 

We drove to a small town on the ocean, with a working harbor.  On this day, several boats were being moved from the water to winter storage.  The process requires lifts, cranes and large trailers and several workers to guide it all.  I watched as a smaller sailboat was hoisted out of the water and moved to the trailer waiting to carry it away.  As I looked at the boat, I saw the keel hanging down from the middle of the underside of the boat.  It looked like a flat panel and it ended with a large oval off the bottom edge.  The large oval is a weight.  It was probably made of lead making it very heavy. 

The keel is a counterbalance to the upper part of the ship, the sails and the mast. Its purpose is to keep the ship upright, when then wind would push it over.  The keel also acts to keep the ship from moving sideways allowing it to move forward.  That weight is what makes it possible for the ship to move in the water. 

I thought about how our lives are directed when the Spirit of God is what gives us the weight and balance to move forward.  How His presence can offset some of the desires we have that may lead us off course, or tip us over and lead to sinking.   His is a quiet, unseen presence, but utterly vital to life. 

Many times we have met others whose life and choices have led them to places they would never have dreamed of going, to places of sorrow and pain. It has even been called “making shipwreck” of one’s life. That weight of presence, that counterbalance to temptation was not engaged, not heeded. 

When a sailboat is in the water, the keel is totally unseen.  What is seen it the boat’s ability to maneuver and stay on course and stay upright.  The effects of the keel are visible and verifiable even if the keel is unseen.  Like the Spirit of God, our lives will reflect His action in us or our rejection of His weight and influences.  

What about the course you are on?  Is your keel functioning and in place?

Can You Hear Me Now?

I often walk early in the morning, when the streets are quiet and the world is just waking.

The time and the atmosphere are peaceful.  The sound of birds is audible and a welcome part of the morning walk.  At times I will pass another walker and greet them.  During the day, when life is in full swing, greeting another is not the norm, but in the early morning quiet of the day that we are both sharing, a greeting seems to acknowledge the common activity we share.

 A simple hello gets nowhere though, if the other walker is wearing earphones.  Often an early morning walk is a great time to listen to books, the bible, a lecture or a talk.  But just as earphones put in sounds, they also block out sounds.  What is not being heard?  And that is the question I consider.  What do I miss when I cover my ears? The choice to listen to something is also a choice to not listen to everything else at that time.  How often do I cover my ears when God is speaking?  What do I fill my mind with and so drown out the sound of God?  He does speak, in shouts and whispers, but if my attention and ears are occupied, how will I hear?   

I am reminded of Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God.   The command to be still relates to more than just physical activity.  Be still; nothing moving, not even the ear drum…be still.

 And a correlative verse from Habakkuk 2:20;

But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him."

Silence and stillness are also good behaviors.  They help to keep the soul in shape even as movement and sound help the body and mind to maintain health.   Both are good to practice, but I find the first to be harder to do.  Realizing I have the ability to choose is good and helpful, but I must also make that decision, not leaving it to chance.  That will mean intending for times of quiet and stillness, planning them.   It will mean listening when I have asked something of God.  Would I ever ask a question of a friend and then ignore them when they responded?  Why, then, do I treat God that way?

Building in times of silence and stillness is not hard, but it can take getting used to.  Our lives seem to have a soundtrack of noise, lots of noise.  Take time to choose stillness, to choose silence, and hear what God is saying.

Diversions

Diversions

Yesterday, I watched a commercial for a television news program while I was on my phone. A pretty and slender blonde woman, mother of two pretty blonde girls, shown working in a medical clinic, then shepherding the girls to soccer, then preparing supper, all the while smiling was presented with the caption; “You Can Juggle Life.”  And to help your juggling act, watch our news program at 7:00 PM.   
What this ad portrays is an encapsulated version of the lives many of us lead.  Juggling work, children, sports, chores, relaxation and sleep, we are on the go from sunrise to long after the stars come out.

So occupied are we that even to attend to the news requires timing and planning.  No longer is there a stretch of time where we allow ourselves to walk instead of run, to cook instead of order out.  We are busy doing many things.  Good things, important things.

BUT I wonder what I may be missing as I pass by in a rush from one activity to another.  What can I not look at because I am too intent on keeping all the balls I am juggling in the air?

It is true that each choice to do one thing is also a choice to not do everything else.  Choice is a good gift, a way to direct my actions and energy, but when do I have too many options?  And do I ever stop to ask “Why?”  Why do I need to do this?   Why should I do this?     What am I missing?

All those questions take time; time to ask, time to ponder and truthfully, who has that kind of time?

Have you ever noticed that no one walks or jogs anymore unless they have ear buds in and can listen to something?  Have you recently seen people out at an event and not seen smart phones in everyone’s hand?  We seem to crave the diversion of constant input.  Music, news, gossip, tweets, messages, all keep us up to date, and perhaps drowning in diversions. 

I believe it would be a good thing to assess our activity level. It would be a good thing to seek to understand why we feel the need to feed ourselves so much information, activity and stimulation.  But to do that, we will have to stop with the diversions.  Stop the noise, seek a quiet place and let the Creator speak to us, and listen with patience, for His answer.

A steady diet of diversion is not healthy, even as a steady diet of Oreo cookies is not.  We cannot binge on diversions and expect to become lovely and beautiful people.  That diet leads only to a frazzled soul.