Sermon on Galatians 5:1; 13-25

This is my sermon from yesterday, 6/27; delivered at Salado Presbyterian Church... Oh yeah, the title is Freedom is found in Communion.

When I was 19 years ago and the first time being independently on my own, I lived on the central coast of California in a town called Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo county. Maybe some of you have heard of it. (I think the name of the town might have been referenced in a Beach Boys song.) My friend Paula and I made up this poem one day as we were sitting in my living room with its rugged cabinesque feel by virtue of its open wood beam ceiling and wood paneled walls. Heard in the background of our girlish giggles and the noise of the pencil as we scribbled down our enthusiastic rhymes were the sound of seagulls and sea lions. In this time of iconic communion, we wrote a poem on freedom. The first line of the poem started with the words, “Freedom rides on the wings of doves.” And the closing line, “Freedom beacons between you and me.”

The New Testament reading today comes from a letter Paul wrote to the church in Galatia. It can be divided into three parts: Christian Freedom; Things to Watch out for that can get in the way of Christian freedom; and, the Lovely things, the byproducts, Christian freedom provides. So to begin, what is the definition of freedom? In my research on this topic, I found that freedom can mean many things. Freedom is found in the ability to choose from many options. I am free to choose what I want to eat for dinner. Do I want to make home made tacos from scratch, which includes frying the corn tortillas in oil until it makes a perfect shell. Or do I want to go out to a restaurant. I have the freedom to choose between the hamburger and beer joint, or splurge on a restaurant that sells upscale Italian cuisine. Of course being a student, the latter is not always an affordable option.

Freedom can be the absence of social, economic or political oppression. Or, it can be in a psychological sense, the freedom found in the absence or removal of emotional barriers or stress. For example, when the woman in an abusive relationship is removed from that situation, and then placed in a safe environment, she experiences freedom. She is now free to spend time in healthier situations with spiritual and emotional direction to help overcome her former abuse.

And freedom, can be found through the ability to define a quality of controlling one's existence by a certain type of self mastery. Like recently, young Abby Sunderland who attempted to sail around the world. This same type of freedom might also include learning to master playing classical guitar, becoming an expert at growing vegetables, playing a round of golf, or teaching yourself to crochet. From the poem, Invictus by the English poet William Ernest Henley, “It matters not how strait the gate; How charged with punishments the scroll; I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”

Next week, next Sunday, one week from today, will mark the 234th time as a nation, we've honored Freedom. We've celebrated our Freedom as a nation that identifies freedom as the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. But, what does freedom mean for Paul, for the Christian church of Galatia, and for us today as Christians. What is Christian freedom? Paul writes to the Galatians, who are beset with bickering and inner fighting amongst themselves. He is trying to help them truly become free and not yoked, so to speak, with the harmfulness vicious bickering can bring. Paul writes in the first sentence of his letter that for freedom, Christ has set us free. We can now stand firm and do not need to submit to the yoke, the tight hold, of slavery found in self-centered behaviors that view others as rivals, instead of equally beloved children of God.

This first sentence of our New Testament reading today does two things. It sets up a precedent to serve God by trusting God; and by loving God. Hence, loving one another. Two things to remember: Trust and Love. When you accept the liberating work of Christ Jesus, you become a person who begins to trust the faithfulness of God. Once you learn to trust God 's faithfulness, then you learn to trust and take risks to serve your neighbor. The responsorial reading today was from Psalm 16. Psalm 16 starts with asking God for protection but then rests in a prayerful state of relying on that trust. Psalm 16 sets up the relationship of serving one another in the freedom of love, as it provides first and foremost our relationship with God.

Love. Love is to serve one another. Christian freedom through love is to be servants to one another. The writer of the gospel of Mark states in Mark 10:43-45, “But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you, must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you, must be slave of all. For the Son of Man (Jesus) came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Now the ability to serve does not mean to be a doormat. It's the ability to trust God's lead and be available for God to move you, to compel you in an instant to serve in love. One source I found put it this way, “To serve through love means that serving is done not to meet the demands of the law or even to feel good about ourselves.” Moreover, “Christ frees us not only from the law, but from the sinful self. Freed from the self, we're free to serve the neighbor in love.”

It becomes all about Leviticus 19:18, which even if you do not recognize the scripture reference, you will recognize the phrase. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” One of the professors on my campus says in her recent book that “...in fact, our service [to others] is the concrete manifestation of our love, and our participation in the love of God.” Freedom is found in communion with one another. My professor further writes on the subject, “God's promise, God's grace and God's love are the basis; justice, mercy and humility are operative; bread, forgiveness and freedom are the evidence.”

This past spring term I took Christian ethics and learned about some of the theories of 20th century philosopher Emmauel Levinas, who said that he liked to explore the wisdom of love instead of how the Greeks refer to it, as exploring the love of wisdom. Levinas talked about the face-face encounter with the Other (Other is what we might refer to as Neighbor). He said, in this encounter with the Other, we see the Face of the Other and we're moved to act in love for the Other. Let me say this again by substituting Other with Neighbor. In this encounter with our Neighbor, we see the Face of our Neighbor, and we're moved to act in love for our Neighbor. Reason does not enter into the equation. We are gripped, or seized, by love to act on behalf of the Other, our Neighbor. When the earthquake in Haiti hit this past January, our reaction to pray or to give monetarily came naturally. We were seized by love, uncontrollably. Now, one small clarification. What is the Face? The Face is an old, ancient term to depict the way of acknowledging God's presence in the other person. Simply put, we are all God's creation, so the image of God, the Imago Dei, resides in all of us. We can go astray in different degrees, and we often do, but first and foremost we're beloved creations of God. God's children, and we honor that aspect in others. Levinas' theory, what he called the Ethics of Ethics, is also based upon the Hebrew concept of Hesed. Hesed is what Jesus Christ came to fulfill. The definition of Hesed is two fold. It means love. But, it's more than just love, it means steadfast love, loving kindness, a love that endures. The second prong to the concept of Hesed: God's promises. Through Christ, God keeps the promises set of compassion and mercy, thus loyalty to be in loving relationship with us. God's love endures.

At the beginning, I said that this passage in Galatians can be sub-divided into three parts. The first being Christian Freedom, which we've discussed. The two other parts I want to briefly address. The second part are those things that prevent us from loving (how I like to think about it, honoring ) our neighbor as ourselves; and end up destroying our communities. Paul writes about reacting out of jealousy or anger. Additionally, he brings up the dire effects of purposely bringing about dissension. That's a hard one I know because I'm one person that just needs to pull aside a friend to “vent”. But that “venting” can bring about dissension when we end up separating one person from others. Sometimes even unknowingly. But the other side of the coin, the third part of this message from Paul, provides us with the lovely things God's freedom brings. The things that guide us to lovingly serve others. Such things become the attributes of joy, peace, patience, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the byproducts that come from acting lovingly to others.

As you already know, I am a divinity student. I am approaching my last full semester in seminary. Needless to say, I am excited at seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I equate seminary with law school in terms of its emotional and intellectual intensity. A year passes and it feels like you’ve been laid out flat by twenty trucks in a row. Yeah, God’s workings is just slightly tiring, as I jokingly say with a smile and an exhausted shrug of my shoulders. This past Friday, I worked in my school library until noon, came home and ate lunch, cleaned my home and then continued my preparations to come to worship with all of you. In the midst of the day, I realized something. I hadn’t talked to anyone all day. I mean yes I greeted people coming into the library and so forth, but I didn’t have a true sharing of my heart and soul with anyone all day. It wasn’t until that evening when I called a dear friend from my church to wish her a Happy 70th Birthday, and tell her that she was loved and special to me that I felt the yoke of my self-involvement lift. In thinking about today’s message after I got off the phone, I suddenly came to the conclusion that freedom was found through love.

Freedom is found in loving communion with one another. We become available for God to seize us, to compel us to act in lovingly service with one another. Our faith must carry imagination for loving service to take wing. How have you served in love recently? For that is where freedom lies.

Amen

Cyber-Bullying and School Responsibility

I came across this quote this morning out of the Times, "I have parents who thank me for getting involved, and parents who say, ‘It didn’t happen on school property, stay out of my life.’"
MIKE RAFFERTY, a middle school principal in Connecticut, on cases of online bullying.

As a former public educator this gives me great concern. What is a school's responsibility? What about technology. Has technology gone amok? Do we blindly accept it as a communication tool without truly understanding its limitations, harms, excesses, etc? I would love to know your thoughts. Here is the original article from the Style section of the New York Times. Clink here for the article.

Clean-up this blog...

I've really had the best intentions in writing consistently. I'm working on discipline, my greatest foe, so as us all in our imperfection, I'm still trying with a clean slate in my hopeful reach.

I left some things untied in my last blog entry. One of it was the church advertisement that was printed in Newsweek. (The original blog entry that shows the picture is here). So, last week was my home church's VBS. The theme was pirates and Treasure Island, building upon the scriptural verse that says, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also," Matthew 6:21. In light of what we teach children and remind each other, the advertisement has a couple of troubling depictions along with the connotations it evokes. Like for example, the palatial home. Home and the warmth associated with a home is wonderful. It can be a beacon for healing, nourishment, rest and hospitality. But, if the home denotes outside aesthetics associated with success in terms of a sign of wealth, then it's entirely a different matter. So this depiction maybe needs to be rethought out. What about a picture showing a family or groups people breaking bread in candle light as an alternative? Another photo...the family. Family should be treasured,of course, but the depiction shows a family, white, attractive and blond. Is this an indicator of a typical Christian family, or what used to be referred to as a WASP family? This family also looks affluent. What is this depiction truly saying? If you find some of these pictures troubling, how can some of the negatives turn into positives?

Now on to Abby. I admire this young girl and do not hold judgment against her parents. This young girl has character and grit. She is self-possessed and smart. For those who criticize, are they really saying a teen-age young girl could never accomplish something of this magnitude. Would this fervor be the same if a boy Abby's age, which there has been recently, tried to accomplish the same thing? Just a few things to think about.

In Defense of Abby and other good postings

I noticed two recent blog posts (listed on my blog scroll to the right)that were highly poignant to me, and ones that made me want to write about them. The first one I just noticed today, and the second has troubled me for the last few days. The first one is from a minister out of the Washington D.C. area, who writes under the blog title, A Church for Starving Artists. She writes on June 16 about what Christians value, that which plays out in the what they worship. The picture she uses is from a church advertisement shown in the June 21 issue of Newsweek. It shows a "perfect" affluent white family, a large suburban home, a nest egg piggy bank, stained glass depicting the two saints (I'm thinking Paul and Peter), a classic white church with pillars, and a leather bound bible. I'm thinking, does this portrayal really depict the gospel? The author of this blog writes,
"I've been thinking, too, about idolatry and the things we worship that are not God. Many of us worship the Bible. We worship our families (hence The Family Life Center.) We worship our churches. (Lots of people who self-identify as devout Christians worship the Bible and their churches.)....We also worship other stuff. At least I do. Idolatry is maybe the toughest commandment, even though we act like it's adultery." This makes me ponder what I do in terms of idolatry, what I worship that is not of God. Let's start with pride....Sidebar along these lines...I saw a display banner on the road for a church. The banner had a huge apple on it with one word in all caps, DECEIVED. Hmmm! That's a whole another topic for later, and I'm guessing the woman is blamed for the root of this deception. I found this funny at the time I saw it with the judgmental notion that crossed my mind, "oh how, theologically immature." Later, I wondered the value of my judgment.

Now to Abby...
I've been following this girl's story since her boat became severally damaged because of bad storms, leaving her boat, Wild Eyes, unsailable and her stranded at sea. I deeply admire this young girl. I remember how intrigued I was as a kid, when I saw the National Geographic story (and later reading the book)of Robin Graham and his boat, The Dove. Graham sailed around the world at age 16 too. What I wonder about is the huge backlash of criticism about this girl, and about her parents. One of the criticisms was about the cost of her rescue and who was to pay? What? Okay this makes me insane? Does saving someone's life cost too much? And the alternative would be to let her perish in the waters of the Indian Ocean! Well, some argue, she should not be out there in the first place. I'll continue this part of the discussion for another day. Look at the sidebar that links to Abby's blog for her answer to the critics. Tomorrow, I'll continue this discussion...

And One more

Another I found by Yeats. (My favorite Yeats poem is the Second Coming in all it's rich darkness, light and deep authenticity.)

The Indian Upon God

I passed along the water's edge below the humid trees,
My spirit rocked in evening light, the rushes round my knees,
My spirit rocked in sleep and sighs; and saw the moor-fowl pace
All dripping on a grassy slope, and saw them cease to chase
Each other round in circles, and heard the eldest speak:
Who holds the world between His bill and made us strong or weak
Is an undying moorfowl, and He lives beyond the sky.
The rains are from His dripping wing, the moonbeams from
His eye.
I passed a little further on and heard a lotus talk:
Who made the world and ruleth it, He hangeth on a stalk,
For I am in His image made, and all this tinkling tide
Is but a sliding drop of rain between His petals wide.
A little way within the gloom a roebuck raised his eyes
Brimful of starlight, and he said: The Stamper of the
Skies,
He is a gentle roebuck; for how else, I pray, could He
Conceive a thing so sad and soft, a gentle thing like me?
I passed a little further on and heard a peacock say:
Who made the grass and made the worms and made my feathers gay,
He is a monstrous peacock, and He waveth all the night
His languid tail above us, lit with myriad spots of light.

In Honor of William Butler Yeats

This is the birthday of William Butler Yeats. Yeats was born on June 14 of 1865. He died in 1939. Here's a short poem in his honor,
Gratitude To The Unknown Instructors
WHAT they undertook to do
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass.

Happy Birthday William!

Update: I spied this birthdate from the New York Times. I must have been looking at Sunday's on-line Times instead of todays. William's birthday is actually June 13, born in 1865. Thank you to Mike C.'s little sister, Julie for the catch. So...Happy Belated Birthday William Butler Yeats !

Kinda Cute!!

Saw this on Yahoo, and then on a blog site I frequent. It's kind of catchy. Now, if I could only stand on the vanity like that. :-). Enjoy.

One more class article...

I wrote this piece about one of the pastors at my church who passed away this past December. David was one of those people who touched many lives. His kind, gentle spirit and huge smile left people feeling loved and encouraged. This week his three daughters took his remains to Haiti, a place that stirred a deep passion for David to help and care for its people. So, in his honor, here is the piece I wrote for my writing class about David. The topical prompt was Moments and Lessons; the title of the piece was The Undisclosed Box.
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We do not know a significant moment until after it happens. It surprises us in tingling lucid stillness. This past Saturday morning I decided it was important enough to take a carload of “things” encompassed in a closed box from the duplex home of a friend to an unknown place of storage. Storage: also known as, “The girls only had like three days to make a decision before returning back to their lives. Right now they want to keep everything.” When I arrived lots of people were already there moving boxes onto the lawn to be loaded into cars. I went inside. Only undisclosed boxes marked by letter and number, and furniture stripped bare were apparent to the physical eye. Once most of things were out of the home, a Google map of directions was handed to each of the drivers for the goods future destination. And I was off to the place unknown to me, someone’s home in Round Rock. Before I officially left, I looked around the place someone once called home, one last time for anything left behind that my car could hold. Everything was gone, but then I noticed a cross still hanging above the light switch, left of the doorway. The cross was simple yet ornate, adhered to the wall by a simple white thumb tack. I took the cross down and mentioned to the people left in the room that someone forgot to pack this. I turned around and walked toward the kitchen and saw some other items not packed on the kitchen counter. I picked up a model of a 50s station wagon, an uncomplicated yellow cup and a ceramic vase with tiny flowers painted on the exterior. I mentioned I would take these things and put them in my car. On my way out the door, I picked up one more thing: an unopened canister of tennis balls I saw lying against the wall near the entry way that led to the bedrooms. As I got in my car, I set the items down in the front seat, wrapping my white cable-knit cotton sweater around the vase and the cross for safety. I started to drive off not wanting to think about the surreal nature of this moving of “things”.

It was only after I arrived to my home that I realized those items packed carefully and not as carefully marked the materialization of a revered one’s memory now gone from us. I stopped to think of where David might have gotten that cross, or the model car, or the vase, or even the cup. I stopped and smiled. What’s the reason for the tennis balls? I remembered. He loved tennis, and was part of a league, winning first place in his experience and age bracket. My mind went to the cross. Did the cross come from his missionary work in Russia? Did the other items have some semblance of specialness? Did it represent a young person whose life he touched, or just something that reminded him of his childhood? Or even, was it something that belonged to someone who mattered, to him? David who died exactly one week before Christmas day left behind three daughters, and testimony after testimony of humble adoration. To experience David was to experience the grace of God. He cleanly personified the definition of simple, uncomplicated love. David epitomized the attributes of patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. And those attributes rebounded.

People still write on David’s Facebook wall. Not long ago, one person wrote, “David, I am trying so hard and I wish I could be as good as you.” My memory of that statement struck something familiar within me. Wait, I want to be good. I want to be kind. I want to know the right thing to do, shown in a perfect way. I want to be like David too. But then, I remember that I cannot be another person. I am who I am. And, does Jesus want me to be good and right?

My education, my experience, my heart and my God tells me no. God wants me to be brave. By Jesus’ example, God wants me to be loving and thoughtful, all the while being mindful of hurt, pain, loneliness and oppression. Jesus shows me how to allow myself to become available to see the “Face of the Other“, regardless of who, and regardless of physical and historical characteristics. That was David’s example too. And just the same he was not completely good and right. He just remembered the humanity of others.

I drove way Saturday afternoon with David’s things laying on the carport organized by letter and number. My few odd items transported outside the barriers of an undisclosed box, now hand delivered to a friend. I sighed as I shifted from Park, to Reverse, then to Drive. In the midst of the sigh, I knew that I can not rest in a moment of giving up. I must try to revere the memory, the person; but let go, so the essence of the person and my memory of him can reverberate out. With God nothing is left behind, and with certainty, no one is forgotten.

Time will tell in what God will do with me

Last Sunday I was the guest minister at Grace Presbyterian church in Temple. My time worshiping with this congregation and its new interim pastor was such a huge blessing for me. And one which I was extremely grateful. I not only wore a alb for the first time but felt for the first time confident and affirmed in my role as emerging pastor. It was a good feeling. Here is the sermon I preached....

Ephesians 1: 15-23
Sunday, May 16, 2010


Marking time, we're in the seventh Sunday after Easter. How time flies, as they say. It seems as if Easter Sunday was just last weekend. People mark time according to the seasons of life. In this current time, spring has bloomed, and the evidence of the summer season approaches with the earmarks of school getting out, summer weddings, longer days, flowers in bloom and warmer weather. With longer days upon us, hope of relaxation gives us a much needed change of pace and the opportunity for a renewed frame of mind. It’s kind of like the last 36 hours. Friday gave us a stormy day, but about 11 a.m. Saturday morning, an abundance of sunshine poured in to establish a day with low humidity and an ending high in the low 80s. Absolutely gorgeous. I don’t know about you, but it definitely gave me a renewed sense of being. Parker Palmer in his book Let your Life Speak, says summer abundance is “...created when we have a sense to choose community, to come together to celebrate and share our common store (107). And, Summer is the season when all the promissory notes of autumn and winter and spring come due, and each year the debts are repaid with compound interest. In summer, it is hard to remember that we had ever doubted the natural process, had ever ceded death the last word, had ever lost faith in the powers of new life (109).”

Eastertide, as this time is called, is the season when we find faith in those powers of new life. Today marks a significant passage of time, but this passage is one of liturgical time. Today is what is called Ascension Sunday. A diffident passage of time both for Jesus’ disciples and for us. Today commemorates the day that Jesus leaves his disciples and gives them the command to act as witnesses on Jesus' behalf, carrying forth the legacy of his love and his life, and allowing a pathway for his saving grace to flow. As described in Acts 1, Jesus ascends to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. Acts 1 reads,

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men [people] of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus helps clarify how Jesus comes to us. How Jesus is in the midst of us as we learn to live out the seasons of our lives in love and hope. Paul reminds us, as he reminded the people of Ephesus, about the marks of the church, and how we should relate to one another in Christ. The church in Ephesus was not much different than us in many ways. They struggled to find understanding in their faith; and desired to live in a way that was honorable and pleasing to God. They wanted to share Jesus' love. They wanted to share with others in the life-renewing changes they had received in their own lives through Christ's grace. Paul sees the hearts of the Ephesians and provides encouragement to them when he says,

“I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”

Paul wrote this, let's just say, a long time ago. So, in virtue of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, how do we get to know God today through the marking of time? How does the church mark the divinity of Christ through time? The answer lies in the simple yet profound. One of the commentaries I read says that the true Church embodies two characteristics: loyalty and love for Christ Jesus being number one. And number two: to love all of God's children. In the work of all of us together, Christ's church, we can show this love by caring for one another. Let me say that again. We can show this love through community and caring for one another. The Apostle Paul gives us the metaphor that Christ is the head and we're the body. Paul says, “And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” We are Christ's hands, feet, heart and muscle, unique and separate, but all vitally important in working together to show Christ's love to others. We show our love for Christ by loving one another, by being community with one another. We acknowledge that we are the body of Christ.

One of the commentators I looked at had this to say, Christ is the head; the church is the body. The head must have a body through which it can do its work. The church is quite literally hands to do Christ’s work, feet to run upon Christ’s errands, and a voice to speak Christ’s words. The Church this writer says is the complement of Christ. “Just as the ideas of the mind cannot become effective without the work of the body, the tremendous glory which Christ brought to the world cannot become effective without the work of the church.”

Now I know that this is easier said than done. In our society today, individualism is at a height. The “I” can often be the central focus. My opinion. My feelings. What makes me feel good. Not to mention, the individualism as its rooted into seeing only the differences of the denominations that make up Christ’s church. It can lead to an us versus them mentality. At the time of this letter to the church in Ephesus, the world which Paul lived and witnessed to was in complete disunity. You had disunity among Jews and Gentiles; and among Greeks and Barbarians. It was Paul’s contention that Jesus’s death brought all the elements of discord back together. Jesus drives all that separates us to a point of reconciling person to person, people to people, and then not done, reconciles each person back to God. We need each other to do God’s work. Seventeenth century poet and Anglican priest, John Donne put it this way, “No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

And through this main, God works through us. Jesus works through us. It starts by doing small things. Small things have a way of making huge impacts. Each of us has a gift to give. Each of us can be the hands, the lips, the feet of Christ. Before I started seminary, I had an idea to write a book about the small ways people make huge differences in others lives. I spoke with and interviewed many pastors, leaders of non-profits like Impact Austin and Habitat for Humanity, and lay people who know that somehow their efforts make a difference because they give from a place of love. Almost every person I interviewed gave me this one kernel of truth. The idea that one kind act can change the world. One of my interviewees who is now a bishop in the greater Seattle Washington area told me a story. It was the story of a made for TV movie called Door to Door. Have you heard of it? The movie made in 2002 stars William H. Macy, and is about a man named Bill Porter. Bill worked as a door to door salesman for the Watkins company for nearly 50 years, as well as one of their top sellers. Bill’s genuine good nature and caring spirit helped make him successful. However, there was one thing that tried to limit Bill to what he was capable of doing. Bill suffers from the effects of Cerebral Palsy. This charming and giving man could not make a life for himself working in the world helping others, without the help of others. The movie has a sequence that shows others becoming a community for Bill. They support Bill by helping him in small, small ways like fixing his tie, making sure his hat was on straight, sharing some food with him, shining his shoes, or giving him a ride to the bus so he could start his route.

What are the ways you all become the hands and feet of Jesus? I was looking at your website and was noticing all the wonderful ways you all help become Jesus for the world. I noticed how you contribute to such organizations as Meals on Wheels, Church Touching Lives for Christ (CTLC), and providing Communion for those home bound. This is such a few among many other gestures of kindness and grace I notice you all bestow on others. In this season, find small ways to share what is common. Christ is in the midst of us. You can become God’s healing for the world through your kindness. Hope is renewed in this new season quickly approaching. The realization of that hope is seen by witness of the work of our hands. Dear Saints, how do you mark time? How can the hope found in Christ be renewed through you this summer?

Another Piece from the Writing Class

This was the first piece I wrote on becoming a writer, or at least my experience with becoming a writer. Enjoy.
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Several years ago I was waiting in a long drive-thru line at McDonalds. It was probably in the low 40s and slightly blustery. When my car was just about parallel to the front door, a man walked out of the restaurant and walked across the parking lot in front of me. As a watched him get into his Ford F-series pick-up truck, I hesitated at first glance, but then said to myself out loud, “Now that’s an image I don’t want to ever forget. That man has a story to tell.” This man wore a neat beard, a cowboy hat and boots. Not too terribly out of place for Leander Texas, 25 miles northwest of Austin. But it was the rest of his apparel that didn’t quite fit with the cowboy boots and hat. In place of jeans was a Scottish tartan kilt, complete with belt, buckle and Sporran. All this accompanied, of course, with the traditional linen shirt to top the outfit off. No added overcoat was necessary.

For me, when it comes to developing the art of becoming a writer, I need to remember the human character. Along with that, noticing the irony, humor, joy, even the sadness in life. No judgment; just recognizing that every person has a unique story, and almost never is it easily what the casual observer would suppose. It’s learning sensitivity to aspects that resonate the human struggle to achieve, to care, to love, to lose, to conquer, and to be ourselves. Case in point. The 2010 Winter Olympics is underway in Vancouver Canada. Twenty-three year-old Hannah Kearney won the U.S.’s first gold medal in the moguls freestyle event. She was coming back from many tough breaks and disappointments. Before her winning race, her trainer gave her a card. The card had a lighting bolt on the cover and inside the card, it read, “25,000 steps climbed, 14,000 jumps on a rope or off a trampoline, 1000 tricks off ramps into a pool of water and 126 hours spent on a bike.”*

My second point to remember: Purpose. Writing should have some kind of intent; albeit, one not to blame, shame or enslave but to educate, encourage, and maybe even, entertain. Lofty goals but well worth it, I tell myself. When I’m inspired and not looking, the words flow. When I know my audience, my fear enables my words to trickle, stumble, break; and thus, I use the excuse of one more online game of mahjongg and then I’ll begin once again. This leads to my third point.

In my donning of a writer’s stance, superstitions abound in finding the perfect introduction, middle and end to my piece. Mind you, even with typing on the computer, a perfectly sharpened pencil with eraser at tip must grace my right side along with pastel colored sticky notes, just in case. I love the energy, excitement and personal eccentricities of writing. The playing in the pattern and rhythm of words often give way to an infused refreshment of thinking, “Wow, I wrote that!” Phrases like, “Living life in desired yet imperfect earnestness.” Fourth reminder: Be honest, and be yourself. Wear your heart on your sleeve but don’t necessarily commit harakiri on the page. Resign from fear and have the confidence to write from instinct. Be also able to learn to forgive and find patience in the process. Perfection of a piece in the first sitting is a rarity. And, it takes courage to admit that the writing was not what was imagined. Like for example with such phrases as, “I hold on to the dignity to survive the obstacles that belabor me with the tenacity of my entire might. Albeit, I later realize that the downside surfaces in my ability to confuse suffering in silence with earnest and compelling humility.” Fancy yes, but did anyone quite get what I just said. Okay, the fourth reminder was a bit over packed. Perhaps, I could sum up this reminder with one pointed remark: Relax and let God’s grace align with my own heart to speak truth with compassion.

*Reference: Passan, Jeff. “A bumpy ride ends in gold for Kearney” Yahoo Sports: http: sports.yahoo.com/olmpics/vancouver/freestyle_ski. Feb. 14, 2010.

Back to Regularly Scheduled Blogging

Okay...my journal project for my writing class is complete. So, now I'm going to start blogging if not everyday, every other day. Well, at least a short term goal for the duration of this summer. Wish me luck because I need the disciple of consistent writing that's not for an academic paper. Yikes!!, right? So for my first restart for the hundredth time, here's the last article I wrote for my writing class. Let me know what you think :-).

How can I possibly fall when I know how to walk

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like not knowing. When I was barely out of my teens and on my own, I used to say, “Just let me know what’s ahead of me. I’ll be able to prepare and I can deal with anything that comes my way.” I must have certainty; for certainty leads to a life of self-control. This desired sense of fulfillment leads me to a favorite morning affirmation, “I need to get all my ducks in a row.”

Last spring term I was reintroduced to the idea of ambiguity. The word was used in the context of a seminary course on the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The declaration of ambiguity unfolded an idea that people live in the tension of knowing exactly who and what God is, how God operates, or simply not. I became aware that people must acknowledge this tension of knowing or not knowing, all the while leaning into this thing called ambiguity where faith rests. So a year later, I’m still struggling with the role of ambiguity in faith. I’m still struggling with just saying the word ambiguity, let alone the juxtaposition of faith to ambiguity. Does that mean that doubt embraces faith; and certainty brushes across the cheek of being non-faithful?

This past autumn, walking with purpose across the street from where I live, I fell. I could not accept the fact that I had simply fallen and hit my head. I built a whole story, with certainty mind you, of how the speed of my walk combined with the type of tennis shoe I was wearing allowed my toe to be caught in the uneven portion of the sidewalk. If nothing else, it made the story more interesting than the plainly spoken: In the act of not being able to regain my balance after stumbling, I fell. Falling was not part of the plan that day. Five and a half months later, I still do not walk with the certainty in my steps as I did before. I felt so dumb and at a loss. How could I fall when I know how to walk.

I’ve heard the Yiddish proverb, “Man plans; God laughs.” This colloquialism loosely based upon a line in Psalm 33 speaks of God frustrating the plans of the people. It leaves some doubt as to the assuredness in which we start each new day. But as for me, I’m learning that the faith in God does not come from a point of having to understand, but from the transforming fire of grace. The specifics of life are unknown. Many of us would not contest that notion. Events we’re looking forward to get canceled. Accidents occur. Work is not found. Cancer is diagnosed. Feelings are hurt. People are dismissive. And loved ones die without warning. However, in the midst of the doubt and through the ambiguity of faith, grace is found.

Grace is in the moment of exasperation that breaks into an unexplainable sense of peace, by a smile from a stranger, the phone call from the long lost relative, or even just the right advice that brings comfort in the moment. Theologian Paul Tillich said in a sermon, Struck by Grace, “In grace something is overcome; grace occurs in spite of something...Grace is the reunion of life with life...” We cannot have all the answers but in the midst of the tension of ambiguity, we can embrace the mystery of not knowing by finding the grace to be open to where the mystery calls us.