from the minister’s bookshelf . . .

I recently finished The Shack by Wm. Paul Young.  I was given the book as a gift.  Books are fabulous gifts because they are so much more than the pages caught between covers.  Such is the case with this book.

The Shack is not a book for the faint of heart.  The book contains subject matter that is difficult to read.  However, for those who are curious about or compelled to wrestle with issues of theodicy, such as why bad things happen to good people, this is a particularly helpful piece of reflection.

I was especially taken with Young’s portrayal or God.  Without giving away the book, Young has a fascinating way of explaining the relationship of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  As much, I was up lifted by Young’s construct of God / human relationship.  While not a classic in the artful use of language, it is a keeper for its approach to the content.  I recommend this book quite highly, and am thankful to the giver of the book to me.

Who Is Being Blessed?

Who is blessing whom?  When I look into the eyes of a pet that seems to know only love and offer it a blessing, who is really blessing whom?  If you are a pet owner by choice, I think you know exactly what I intend.

Our congregation had never held a pet blessing celebration.  Our tradition has nothing official against such celebrations, nor anything particularly for such an event.  If you want to know more about that event, here is a link to the press release.

Nearly 30 pets were brought by almost 20 families to our first such celebration.  This even found only dogs and cats gathering.  It was a bit chilly.  From large and lumbering huskies and dobermans to small short haired kitties and bright eyed chihuahuas, we gathered beneath the sun on the front lawn.

After some opening remarks and a general prayer, I made the rounds to offer blessings.  As I approached, each owner introduced their pet.  And it was then that the magic truly happened.

I went straight for the pet, stooping or kneeling.  After a short greeting / sniffing, I would stroke the pet’s head feeling the soft fur.  With words that seem to ramble but full of intent I blessed the animal, their owner, the family and the relationship they share.  May God help the pet bring their family the joy God intended.

I was receiving so much joy in those moments, who was blessing who.  Jesus, in the gospel of Matthew, points to the birds of the air as models of faith.  They do not store up food but trust the creator.  These pets exhibited such trust in their owners, me and the scene.  Some might have been anxious but nary a one was ill behaved.  

Some weeks ago in worship, we discussed “thin spaces / moments”.  Those times when the distance between heaven and earth drawn thin.  A Celtic concept of moments when we experience God more fully than most of the moments of our lives.  

As I blessed the pets, I experienced a thinness between myself and the creator.  As I rose to give the pet owner a card with more blessing, their smile was like an affirmation of my experience.   A moment of magic was around us.

God has blessed us in many ways.  Through our pets we witness a model of faith.  Our pets are a declaration from God that creation is meant for our joy ... a fertile place for our faith to grow.  The relationship with our pets is a place for us to develop / hone the aptitude to love our neighbor and God.  

Thanks be to the one who gives us the responsibility and rejoicing as pet owners.

Epiphany

How does a color blind preacher express what is beyond words?  Epiphany is that season.  

Reading the various Gospel texts that relate to the season of Epiphany, I read authors at a loss.  How does one articulate in a few sentences the baptism of our Lord and Saviour?  How does one share with the reader what it was like when Jesus called the first disciples?  How does one place on paper the experience of the transfiguration of Jesus?  

I am color blind.  To me the world is not grey.  However, ask the optometrist how many of the dot charts I got right - 2 of 10.  The first time I held my dear’s hand was before Monet’s Waterlilies.  The massive triptyck that he spent years to create.  Did I see the same colors as her?  No.  Was the experience beyond words.  You know the answer.

When Andrew told Peter about Jesus, when Philip told Nathanael about Jesus ... it was beyond the words.  

When you share your faith, fear not of the words.  Fancy phrasing is not the key.  Proper pronouns do not succeed.  The authentic expression of that which transforms your life is inspiring.  

The first disciples were neither poets nor novelists.  Jesus called fisherman and tax collectors.  These are hardly the word smiths of their day.  And yet, the laid the foundation of a faith community that thrives today.  

The faithful are blessed to experience God in ways that are beyond words.  The moments when God blesses us, heals us, reconciles us, transforms us.... beyond words and yet our attempt to speak the experience is itself a powerful witness smiled upon by our Creator.

Blessed are those who dare to share the faith that feeds their souls.  Epiphany is the season of revelation.

A Christmas Reflection at the Edge

At the Edge we see Thee most clearly.  Weddings, birth of a child, graduations are among the many edge experiences where our vision of God gains a modicum of clarity.  I know in my soul that God is in me and through me, around me and beyond me.  Yet it is at the edges of my life where I see Thee most clearly.

A recent watching of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens reminded me of the edge experiences.  Scrooge is visited by a ghost, Marley.  He travels with the three spirits of Christmas; past, present and future.  Scrooge is made aware that Tiny Tim’s life is so fragile as to be in question.  Scrooge is confronted on his relationship with the poor who live on the fringe of life as he knows it.  

This fascinating tale is strewn with edge experiences.  Scrooge is made a spectator by the three spirits.  However, his journey to the edges is actually an invitation to transformation.  At the edges, more than Scrooge’s vision is changed.  

You and I are invited this Christmas season to travel to the edge of life, to the place where Jesus is born.   It is not an invitation to be a spectator.  Spectators stay in the back of the church and watch the journey of others.  You and I are invited up front to worship Jesus and to be changed, saved, healed.   The invitation is not to scare you.  Rather it is an edge experience found in a cradle of new life.

Imagine your Christmas morning following a journey of such magnitude.  No gift beneath the tree will compare.  All gifts will have more meaning.

Surprising Blessings

Today, a friend of mine delivered some Christmas cheer.  Actually it was a birthday present, for a 9 year old, who lived in a trailer, and whose parents had no money for cake and presents.  He wanted to deliver a cake but ended up getting a present - somebody else took care of the cake.  

My friend was not that cheery about making the delivery.  So hard to determine if the one asking for help was actually in need of help or working the system.  He didn’t know this family.  The amount needed was so slight that it seemed not worth the paper work and phone calls to round up the sum of money.  But he kept thinking of the little girl and her birthday and well you know.  He just went and bought the gift and delivered it.  Maybe it was the guilt that both made up his mind and hardened his heart as he drove to the trailer park.

Handing off the gift to the mom did not clarify the situation.  Could go either way - need or scam.  As he climbed into his vehicle, the birthday girl rode up on her bike from school.  Watching how eagerly she was bounding up the trailer stairs, the same stairs he trudged up a minute earlier, he knew he had done the right thing.  And what a treat to arrive early enough she need never know who brought the gift and on time to see the recipient.  Yep - he did a sports celeb point to the sky.  Touchdown!

And again, a giver was blessed beyond measure ... and this time quite by surprise!

Living Traction

Living Traction

“Rubber hits the road”  “Let’s get some traction”  “Measurable impact” 

These may profoundly articulate why our lives are so precious.

As a man of faith, I firmly believe that our eternal life in heaven will / is so much better than our time here on Earth.  All brokenness is healed in Heaven.  All disability is made able in Heaven.  A day in Heaven is better than a lifetime on Earth.

So why do we cling so to this existence?

1.  God values life and so it would be brokenness to end life pre-maturely.  Yep, this is a valid answer.  However, it is an answer that may not fully explain why “we” cling to life so vehemently.

2.  The 5 senses inspire the soul.  The breath and sight, sweat and touch all invigorate our souls.  In the best of times our extreme sacrifice of service for the other is so akin to that of Jesus Christ that our souls experience the eternal perfection of God - even if in a glimpse.  Our good works gain traction against the suffering and sadness of this life outside of Eden and we discover bits of what God intended when breathing life into us.  That moment of creation when we “became” is such a profound experience of God that when the rubber hits the road we are profoundly reminded of the moment.

3. The Golden Rule is even more true than karma.  The rule of karma would suggest that your actions return to you.  Or as popularly understood, if you treat other poorly than you will be treated poorly.  My experience does not bear this out, at least not in a way so consistent as would be necessary for me to bet my life on it.  Beyond popular understanding, the Golden Rule speaks that we should treat others as we wish to be treated ... because we have already been treated beyond our deserving.  God has so loved and embraced us beyond our deserving that our natural response is to thankfully treat others well.  Ingratitude is the sin we regret.  We cling to this life for more opportunity to live out the Golden Rule and thankfully treat others well.  Our soul understands this better than our 5 senses and our soul drives us where our 5 senses dare not conceive.

Cheer this life for it is a true blessing from God.

Groceries

by Dr. James R. Brooks

Our pantry is scant.  Not bare, but shelving shows through.  In part by design for we are preparing to move.  We hope we are preparing to move but that is another story.

Tonight we shopped for groceries.  The banks were closed and I carried the temporary checks my bank provided.  Preparing to move has left me uncertain of future addresses.  Purchasing hundreds of checks to be shredded seemed an unwise decision.  Temporary checks seemed so much more wise.

After 90 minutes, two grocery stores, two trips through the aisles filling a cart with food, two trips through the check out line, two rejections of my check, two explanation to my son I decided to wait till the bank opened and shop with cash.  The last experience was the worst.  As we walked away from our cart full of food with my rejected check in my hand, my son asks “no food?”  And I say, “no food.”

Honestly there is money in the account.  The grocery stores do not take a temporary checks.  It is a simple matter of access.  For me it is a simple matter of access.  Yet my son’s words haunt me.

A parent’s nightmares are many.  Hungry children is one.  My son’s words stood the hair on my neck at attention.  My explanation of how checks work and how banks work and blah blah blah quieted his mouth.  My explanation did not remove from my ear his simple words, “no food?”

When I began this reflection, I anticipated a sappy ending of compassion for the truly poor.  Sort of a mock humility as I claimed my status in the world and inspired myself to strive harder to meet the needs of my neighbor.

In truth, what would I deny my neighbor to remove my son’s words from my ears?  What  inequality would I create to insure that my son is never hungry?  Many a parent, like me, would dare not speak the next few questions that dwell within us along this line of thought.  The action we would take is unspeakable.

And God so loved the world that God sent God’s only Son.  And we crucified that Son.  The reasons were many.  Our guilt universal.  And on Easter, the tomb empty (as we fear for our children’s stomachs) and then the appearances such as Emmaus over a meal when bread is broken (symbolism that convicts).  We are saved.  My child saved by God’s child.  Even I who would do the unspeakable to save my child.  Even I am saved. 

Why do saints lie prostrate before God?  Unlike I, they understand their place and the magnitude of God’s grace.  My thanksgiving, I pray, be full of that understanding.