I like books

I like books. No… I mean I REALLY like books. But don’t take my word for it… my wife will concur with a quick and hearty “AMEN!”

I hope books never go away. And while I am a big fan of e-books, I probably prefer the real deal even more. Heavy… hard… inky and papery books.

Some might think books are old-fashioned. They take up space. They take up time. They make you think. They don’t wrap up the mystery in 30 or 60 minutes. They ask you to make an investment.

But see, that is exactly WHY I like books.

We live in an age today that places an extremely high value on speed and volume. We want more and we want it FAST! Whether we are talking about our food, our entertainment, our information, or even our relationships… More is better… faster is better.

Books defy MORE and FASTER. We can only read one word at a time. We read one page, and then the next, and then the next. Every book we open represents a journey that we are invited into… to follow step by step.

I will admit that I regularly get frustrated while reading a book. Sometimes it doesn’t move as fast as I want it to. Sometimes – and this is especially true of theological books – the content they are trying to communicate is so thick and complex that I occasionally have to read the same sentence two or three times before the meaning finally sinks in.

The point is, I am convinced that the sheer exertion (is that the right word?) involved in taking the journey of reading a book helps create the value of the experience. To expand that same point to the world beyond books, it is really not too much of a stretch to say that the things we have to work for have a way of becoming more valuable to us.

And in many ways this phenomenon also applies to our journey in the spirit. I don’t know too many people who wouldn’t love to pop a pill or stand in front of a machine and then open our eyes to find ourselves mentally and spiritually transformed into DEEPLY COMMITTED CHRISTIANS. With the snap of a finger! But it just doesn’t work that way.

That is not to say that people don’t experience instantaneous spiritual awakenings. It happens all the time! But it always comes down to the question of how we will live our regular, daily, routine, everyday lives… even in the aftermath of an instantaneous spiritual awakening.

What can I say? It’s a journey! And it is a journey worth taking.

Praying for Pedro

Earlier this week I prayed for Pedro Gomez.

Pedro is a reporter for ESPN, my favorite channel on TV.

On Tuesday Pedro was assigned to cover the press conference in Miami where Ozzie Guillen – first year manager of the Miami Marlins – would sit before the assembled microphones and apologize to the world for his comments praising Fidel Castro.

It seems that Ozzie, during an interview with Time magazine, is reported to have said, “I love Fidel Castro! And you know why? It’s because people have been trying to kill him for 60 years and that old (expletive) is still around!”

For those of you who do not know Ozzie very well, a little background might be in order. Ozzie is from Venezuela originally. He had a good career in major league baseball as a shortstop prior to becoming a manager. For the last 12 years he has managed the Chicago White Sox, including their victory in the World Series in 2005. Just last year the Miami Marlins hired him to be their new manager.

Ozzie has always been known as a guy who talks first and thinks later. He is a bit of a media darling for reporters on the prowl for a wacky quote or something juicy or half-baked to use to spice up an otherwise routine story. On this score Ozzie rarely disappoints. And it doesn’t matter if the subject is baseball or world affairs or the price of gold… Ozzie has an opinion and it is almost always outlandish.

I have not read the Time story, so I cannot tell you how the conversation turned to Fidel Castro. The Miami Marlins have just opened a brand-new baseball stadium in Miami and it happens to be located right in the middle of the “Little Havana” neighborhood of that city. Maybe that was the connection.

But back to Pedro Gomez. As Pedro was standing in front of the camera, killing time before the press conference, the person at the ESPN desk asked him an innocent-sounding question. “Pedro,” the other anchor said, “Didn’t your parents come to the U.S. from Cuba?”

And in that moment, you could see the beginnings of a fierce internal war being waged in Pedro’s heart and mind. You could almost see that he wanted to scream into the microphone, “YES! YES they did! My parents fled for their lives from the brutality of the Castro regime while many of their neighbors were being pulled from their homes and imprisoned without charge. They watched as hundreds of acres of productive farmland were seized by Castro and turned into sugar cane plantations that he and his brothers farmed for their own personal profit while the landowners starved. My parents have lived in this country for over 40 years, but still love Cuba and consider it their true home. Their hearts break at the thought of never being able to return there as long as Castro or his family are in power. Yes, my parents are from Cuba. And for them to hear this clown talking about Castro as if he is someone’s quirky but lovable uncle is enough to make me vomit right here on the spot!”

But he didn’t say any of that because Pedro is a professional. He is a member of the Third Estate and as such is pledged to objectivity and the placid demeanor of an uninterested chronicler of events. But since the question asked WAS in fact personal, some measure of personal response would be appropriate. But how much is enough in front of a national TV audience?

And that internal turmoil is why I prayed for Pedro Gomez. It didn’t seem right that he had been put in a position of having to swallow – in my opinion – the justifiable anger he must have been feeling at that moment. That someone could brush so callously over that tortured history seemed to demand a prophetic RESPONSE!

Yes… our God is a God of love. But our God is also a God of justice. God’s anger over injustice burns brightly as we have seen in many, many stories from scripture. We humans also experience anger, but often misuse that anger with disastrous results. The sight of Pedro Gomez’ internal turmoil made me stop and realize that God still calls his church to be the spotlight that shines brightly on stories of injustice, or abuse, or innocent suffering wherever we encounter them. We do not have the requirement of a journalist’s objectivity when we encounter evil. In fact, quite the opposite; Christ commissions us to speak up and act on behalf of the victimized of the world, whether right in our back yard, in Cuba, or across the world.

As you go through the week next week, be asking yourself: where is God calling me to speak on behalf of the voiceless? And then ask him for the opportunity and the courage to do exactly that.

Perspectives

There are few times of the year I like better than this time right now. Warmer weather… (of course which brings growing grass and lawn mowing with it)… budding trees and flowers (of course, those also bring the sneezing and watery eyes of hay fever)… Spring Break family vacations (of course those can be SO expensive and crazy!)… NCAA basketball tournament in full swing (of course that can sometimes mean heartbreak and disappointment, especially if you are a Missouri fan)… longer daylight (which, of course, messes with your sleep cycles)… and everything else that is wonderful and joyous (or not) about the season!

Perspectives are important, aren’t they? Everyone’s got one. Look at the picture I’ve attached here; what do you see; a rabbit? Or a duck? Which is right?

The wonder of it all is that God freely gives us this world and the seasons and events of our lives and – in trust and love – allows us to choose the relationship we will take to all he has provided. My prayer today is that we can choose to say “thank you” for the gifts we have received so abundantly from God’s hand and wait to pass judgment on those that don’t seem so much like gifts. 

Furthering our conversation on fasting, I would like to share this item a friend sent to me. It offers two perspectives on fasting that I found particularly inspiring:

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them. • Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of life. • Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light. • Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God. • Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify. • Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude. • Fast from anger; feast on patience. • Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism. • Fast from worry; feast on divine order. • Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation. • Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives. • Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer. • Fast from hostility; feast on non-resistance. • Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness. • Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others. • Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth. • Fast from discouragements; feast on hope. • Fast from facts that depress; feast on verities that uplift. • Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm. • Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire. • Fast from shadows of sorrow; feast on the sunlight of serenity. • Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence. • Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that undergirds.

•   William Arthur Ward (American author, teacher and pastor, 1921-1994)

got fast?

I can’t really say for sure how it happens. I go to a brand new place, surrounded by brand new people, many of whom I have never met before and who know NOTHING about me, but eventually it happens. I somehow get tagged as “Likes to eat” guy. I suspect a conspiracy is afoot.

Or maybe it is just the pure power of observation on the part of the people around me.

Could it be that they notice that whenever a birthday cake is delivered, or the bulletin-stuffing ladies bring donuts, or the ice-cream truck drives within three miles of the church, I bolt immediately to the front of the line with my napkin tucked into my shirt, plate and fork in hand, barely containing the urge to drool?

I don’t know.

But the fact is I DO love to eat. Which is why I am so NOT a fan of fasting. But in the study we are doing for Lent, the primary emphasis of the book we are reading, “A Place at the Table: 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor” is on fasting as a critical spiritual discipline. The author Chris Seay makes the point that most of us who live in the developed world have no concept at all of scarcity when it comes to food. We almost always have it in abundance and in great variety at our fingertips. As a result, we become completely acclimated to a life in which we are able to gratify just about any urge the instant we feel it… never having to say “No” to a hunger, a thirst, a rumbling, an itch, or a physical yearning.

And then he starts getting a little too familiar when he asks readers to consider what a life of instant gratification might actually be doing to the health of our souls, not to mention the health of our bodies.

And so, both as an invitation to stand in solidarity with the poor of the world (even for a fleeting moment), but also as a way of reminding ourselves of what Jesus said while being tempted in the desert, “[You and I] do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” (Luke 4:4), Chris invites us to fast.

Some folks are doing it… me among them. And I will tell you quite frankly, it is not fun and it is NOT easy. But it is eye-opening. And it does put me, even temporarily, in a place of real vulnerability and weakness. The fast also brings with it a peculiar kind of yieldedness, accompanied by a strident voice that says, “You know… you are not quite as much in charge of things as you might imagine you are, buster.” This then followed very shortly thereafter by a gentler, more compassionate (though just as strong) voice saying something like, “Be still. Be still and know. Be still and know that I am God.”

I am not sure I will ever outrun the “Likes to eat guy” reputation. But my hope and prayer is that I will also add, “Knows that God is God and I am not, guy” label to that as well.

Pump a little spirit?

            The first week or two of every new year is a great time to turn our attention to our physical fitness. Gyms around the country report huge surges in membership and jam-packed exercise floors and weight room equipment. Fights have been known to break out over whose turn it is for the elliptical machine or the treadmill. Of course it all dwindles and shrinks back down to a more manageable size in early or mid-February as the energy of New Years resolutions is replaced by an awakening to the sheer drudgery and routine that exercise just is.

So here is the question I would like to pose to us today as we prepare for the first weekend of 2012: how does our attention to our spiritual health resemble or not resemble our attention to our physical health? Long before a person arrives at the ripe age I attained at my most recent birthday the awareness dawns that in neither case do these things just “take care of themselves.” In both areas we have to intentionally TAKE STEPS in the direction of positive health. There is no such thing as doing nothing. Doing nothing is, in fact, taking steps in a backward direction.

Just to be clear: we certainly do not earn God’s grace by going to the spirit “gym” and pumping up our souls. As the Bible endlessly reminds us, God’s grace is poured out extravagantly onto each of us every day (Eph. 2:4-5). The great unknown in this equation – as always – is our readiness to fully receive and live this gift. That’s where our “exercise” comes in.

I asked the question on Facebook the other day – and to myself in my time of devotion – “What things that you will do or encounter today will serve to BUILD UP your spiritual health? What things will ERODE it?” Your day – and mine – will likely offer examples of both… some of which we have a choice about and some of which we don’t. A quick example from earlier today; I like to listen to the “All Comedy” local radio station periodically and mostly find it fun and entertaining. But as I was listening to one particular off-color comedian I audibly said to myself, “This is just not good for my soul!” and hit the button back to NPR.

We have just passed the traditional date of the Feast of Epiphany. An epiphany is the dawning of a light… the explosion of an insight… the breaking in of a new awareness. My prayer today is that we can link arms as a church and further become a place where we dare to encounter new insights, apply those to our lives, and reinforce our commitments to lean into those things which build up my spiritual health and away from those which erode it. 

Working our moral muscles

I beg your indulgence for a quick reflection on the events surrounding the firing of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno last week. I am sure you are feeling as if you’ve heard about as much as you can stomach and are ready to move on to something else… ANYTHING as long as it is a little more positive and affirming.

I know exactly what you mean. I am sometimes a little too emotional about things, but I have to tell you… any event involving the injury or exploitation of children both turns my stomach and enrages me. But this one also caused me to pray and reflect on what we all might be able to learn as a result of this unspeakable tragedy and I decided that one conclusion was worth taking time to share.

During the flurry of media coverage and interviews surrounding this story, there has been one question that has seemed to baffle everyone who has ventured an opinion. The question is, “Why did no one speak out sooner? Why did it take so long, at the expense of so many more children, before anyone went to the authorities or confronted Joe Sandusky directly about the horror of what he (allegedly) was doing?”

Many theories about this answer have been put forward: some say it is the power of the Penn State football program, the fear of tarnishing the image of JoePa, the natural reluctance of people to intercede in an emergency, and on and on. The real answer – for me – goes right to the heart of why we are doing what we are doing as people who decide to follow Jesus Christ. You see, as most of us go through the routines of our daily lives, I would guess that we are not regularly faced with the opportunity to make dramatic, life-altering decisions, or to take actions that have the capacity to make a profound change in the direction of another person’s life. We see our lives as more of a collection of “small” steps and “small” decisions that have some consequence, but certainly not HUGE or LIFE-ALTERING consequence. And so as a result, our “moral muscles” get a little flabby and out of shape.

Then, when we suddenly find ourselves confronted – in the blink of an eye – with the need to dramatically speak or act to confront some monstrous evil that has just reared its head, we find ourselves weakened… unable to “rise to the occasion.” The heartrending result of our “moral flabbiness” is that evil goes unchecked. Lives are damaged, right there in front of us.

I believe that if our faith means anything to us at all, it should be a compass that guides us through every decision of every day. I believe we are wrong to label the moments of our life as “big” or “small.” I believe that for God, every moment is big. I believe that you and I – and every person alive – have the capacity to see God actively at work and to collaborate with God’s work in even the most mundane encounters of our day. I believe that “God’s will for my life” is not necessarily revealed in a huge master blueprint for the next 50 years, but through discerning and doing the right thing in this next moment, and then this next moment, and so on for the rest of our lives. I believe our faith should be not just the filling station where we fill up, but also the gas tank that fuels our every movement.

When we adopt this mindset about our faith, it is like doing the daily exercises – the curls, the pull-downs, the sit-ups, and push-ups – that keep our moral muscles in shape. And then, when that “moment of monstrous evil” confronts us, we are ready to meet it and respond as Christ would have us respond.

When Jesus said, in Matthew 24, “… be ready… for no one knows the day or the hour,” he wasn’t just talking about the time when he would return to the earth. He was talking – I firmly believe – about how you and I daily live as his disciples. 

So the question is: are you ready?

Basic instinct

I heard an amazing story on the radio today I wanted to share with you. I am sure manhy of you heard it also. It was about 23-year old U.S. Marine Dakota Meyer. Meyer was just presented with the nation’s highest honor for valor on the battlefield. He’s the first living Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor. Meyer was serving in Afghanistan in 2009 when his unit found out that another nearby unit – made up of both U.S. and Afghan troops – had been ambushed by Taliban fighters and were under attack. Four times Meyer asked his commanding officer for permission to go in and attempt a rescue, and four times his request was denied. Finally, in direct disobedience of his orders, Meyer and a colleague, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, commandeered a vehicle and drove into the fire fight to rescue the other soldiers. It is reported that Meyer and Rodriguez-Chavez were able to save more than two dozen Afghans, a dozen U.S. Marines, and also brought out the bodies of four Marines who had been killed in the battle. I found myself shaking my head in amazement as each new detail of the story unfolded. For me it is nearly impossible to relate to the level of courage and absolute disregard for personal safety that was in evidence through this story. My version of “risk” amounts to figuring out if I am bold enough to try and walk the dogs before the second half kick-off of the Chiefs game, or daring to drink the milk even though it is one day past the “Use before” date. This story caused me to want to look more deeply into the heart and mind of someone like Dakota Meyer. I wanted to try to understand the unique combination of factors that allowed him to take that kind of action. Was this the result of his upbringing? Did the Marines do such a thorough and complete job of indoctrinating him that any consideration of his personal safety was simply trained out of him? Did the heat of the moment just overtake him and cause him to act without thinking? I am not sure we will ever know the whole answer. Dakota Meyer might not even know himself. But one thing is certain: whatever it was that guided him out into the middle of those whizzing bullets was something that lived at the most basic and instinctual level of his being. I suspect that Dakota Meyer’s response that day was something that was an essential part of who he is rather than something he had to spend a lot of time thinking and wondering about. Few if any of us will ever face the need to do what Dakota Meyer did. And yet, when we talk about something as harmless-sounding as “faith development,” it strikes me that this very “churchy” pursuit might share some key characteristics with Marine basic training… characteristics that aren’t always obvious. You see, I have never believed that studying the Bible was meant to be undertaken just so you and I could accumulate some interesting facts to know and tell our friends… or so that we could be brilliant conversationalists. No, I am persuaded that the point of deepening our faith – whether through Bible study, through the spiritual disciplines, through corporate worship or Christian conversation – is so that we will be changed. It is meant to revamp and reshape our fundamental instincts and understandings about life.  To extend the metaphor of Dakota Meyer a little further, it is meant to embolden us to drive into the face of hostile fire and care for our brothers and sisters… regardless of their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or any other differentiating factor. When we embark on study and prayer with the full intention it requires, casual friends and acquaintances should have a hard time recognizing us when we finish. In our place, they should see a replica of Christ.

who IS my neighbor?

I heard a story on the radio the other day (yes, sorry… I am a HUGE National Public Radio fan) about the very robust health of small-town weekly newspapers. It said that contrary to the national trends we are seeing, small-town newspapers are more popular than ever and are actually making money.

If you are still one of the staunch minority who still subscribe to your big city, hometown daily newspaper you have no doubt noticed that it keeps consolidating, getting smaller and bringing less and less news to your doorstep. The speculation in this story was that most folks prefer to get their news electronically… whether by the TV or internet. By the time a news story has been reported, written, typeset, and printed on sheets of newsprint, it is as stale as yesterday’s toast.

So why are the small-town papers doing so well while others struggle?

The primary theory proposed by the person being interviewed was that people love the COMMUNITY created by those newspapers. The stories they carry are about the local high school football team, the winners of the “largest zucchini” competition at the county fair, the comings and goings at the Baptist Church ice cream social and the little scandalous bits of news about the calls the local police department responded to… news stories about people that people know and care about. In contrast, a story about a murder or fire or an earthquake in Chile doesn’t create nearly the same level of interest in the casual newspaper reader.

No doubt this is the same dynamic that is behind the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace and other social media. These are avenues that allow us to stay abreast of the events in the lives of the communities we care about most… the community of “people I know.”

As we each think about the news events that most capture our attention and contemplate our call to Christian discipleship, the question inevitably arises, “Who is my neighbor?” Or to ask the real question Jesus intended to pose, “Who are you and I called to care about?”

We are certainly called to care about the people nearest and dearest to us… beginning with our family and then radiating outward. But just how far “outward” can our compassion radiate before it becomes strained and weakened and ineffective? We ask ourselves, “Can I realistically care about everyone?”

And of course, we can’t. We are not that strong. We are not that compassionate. Most of the time, left to our own devices and inclinations, we are really not even that nice. That is the exact moment we come face to face with the need to be empowered by something that is distinctly “not us.” It is not just the addict or the alcoholic who faces the need to “surrender my life to God.” The need to be fully surrendered… to earnestly pray, “Not my will, God, but yours,” and really MEAN it is the faith challenge each of us face every day.

This is why we worship. This is why we gather in community. We come to meet God and we come to hold each other accountable to be the willing and surrendered disciples God calls us to be. I pray that God continues to work with each one of us and draw us into that bond of AUTHENTIC discipleship every day.

the mysteries of prayer…

Do you remember what you were doing one year ago at this time? I remember that Joan and I were spending our fourth or fifth night in a motel room after our central air-conditioning gave up the ghost in the middle of the Heat Wave of 2010. What blessed relief when the new one was finally installed and the house began to cool down from the 90 degree inside temperatures we had been experiencing.

I also recall that it was just about this time one year ago that we had our ears glued to the news reports of the 33 miners trapped underground by the mine collapse in Chile. The mine collapsed on August 5, 2010 and it was not until August 17 that rescuers were able to bore a hole that finally reached into the air pocket 2,000 feet below the ground where they were huddled. I remember the global cry of joy when the people on the surface pulled up a note attached to the end of their probe that read, “We’re all good in the refuge, the 33.”

“The refuge.” Interesting choice of words… they could have called it “the air pocket” or “the chamber,“ or maybe if they were in a more pessimistic mood, “our tomb.” But the main story that was told again and again during the ordeal was the story of the non-stop prayers, both of the miners themselves and of the friends and family members on the surface. It raises an interesting question about the nature of prayer for all of us. Does prayer change God’s mind, or ours? In other words, is there a “critical mass” of prayer that must be achieved before God decides to intervene to supernaturally rescue miners trapped underground (or anOverland Parkhusband and wife without air conditioning)?

Or perhaps is it more accurate to say that placing our trust wholly in God during the crisis points in our life is the critical factor that helps us see hope where things might otherwise look hopeless? Might prayer be the crucial ingredient that helps us call a tomb a refuge? I will be the first to admit that there is a whole lot I don’t understand about prayer. One thing that I DO know is true – without knowing why – is that “more is better” in matters of prayer.

In the days and weeks and months ahead I want to challenge us to continue and deepen our prayer life as a congregation. As we put more of our attention on what GOD has in mind for this church and less on what WE have in mind, I predict we will be led into some awesome and fruitful places. True, we might have to dare to let go of some treasured artifacts from the past along the way, but God is so incredibly good and faithful and will ALWAYS provide beyond our wildest imagination.

how precious

Joan’s daughter (my step-daughter) Jessica has just begun her first year as a medical resident in the OB-GYN specialty area. She is alternating time between Saint Luke’s on the Plaza and Truman Medical Center. The other day she entered a very excited post on her Facebook page that said she was about to do her first, unassisted C-section delivery. All apparently went very well, the baby and mother (and father) were overjoyed, and Jessica went on to the next task in her busy day.

But I had to stop for a moment and think about that baby. A new life entered the world at that moment. It brought with it a new history, and soon would have new thoughts and hopes and expectations and experiences. I know absolutely nothing about the family that received that new life, but I do know that nothing will be the same for them from this moment forward. They will do everything in their power to provide a safe, stimulating, and loving environment for little Baby New Life. They do not know what the future holds for them, but somehow they will do their best to deal with whatever comes their way.

The gift of life can be simultaneously miraculous and mundane… awesome beyond belief and astonishingly trite and trivial. We get to see, taste, and experience it every day and so we come gradually to ignore the miracle and wonder of being alive HERE and NOW. Not so for the “survivors” among us. People who have survived a life-threatening disease, or perhaps a terrible accident speak almost universally of their new-found appreciation for the absolute preciousness of the gift of life.

The fact of the matter is that life IS precious… whether we have survived cancer or not. Our faith and our time spent alone with God in prayer, study or meditation can be the doorway to kindling that awareness in all of us. And then we come to see that the heightened awareness of the preciousness of MY life leads to a heightened awareness of the preciousness of YOUR life. And that leads me to treat you with a new kind of dignity and respect… even if we have never met. And I am pretty sure that this is the kind of world Jesus had in mind all along.

My challenge every day – and I hope yours, too – is how will I both experience and express the love that is innately part of my being. Come to worship this Sunday and join together with a community of people who love life and the world we live in!