Looking With Deeper Eyes

We Sure are Mixed Up

2012-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday in the NYT Magazine I read a column called "The Ethicist." I like to read this column, as it is often very thoughtful and thought-provoking. Sometimes, though, I am convinced that we are just completely mixed up about what is important.

The reason I say this is because of some of the questions that come in. For example, one person recently wrote, wondering if it would be considered stealing to take the small shampoo or soaps from hotels at which one is a guest. Really? Does that person really wonder this?

On the other end of the spectrum we had another inquirer who was rather tortured by the fact that she had "sold" her eggs for money as a young college student. To her knowledge, some of these incidences resulted in the birth of a child. Many years later, she was getting married, and she was agonizing over whether or not to tell her fiance about this fact of her personal history.

I believe many of us have lost our compass. We worry about ridiculously insignificant things, and yet we cannot see the importance of major, serious issues staring us down!

For me, this is one of the huge benefits of being a part of a faith community. Learning together, talking about life's questions, studying the Bible, reading provocative and challenging literature, these things help provide a compass for most of us. All of us need a compass. That much is true. The question is, what will be our compass?

The Face at my Car Window

2012-01-25T12:20:00.000-08:00

Today I saw him again, for maybe the thousandth time. I dreaded the approach to the intersection, as I usually do. This time it was a man, disheveled and dirty, dressed in a ragged coat, holding the (usual) cardboard sign, "HUNGRY". My usual response is (a) lock my car door if it's not already locked and (b) avoid eye contact, at all costs. I help people in need by giving my money, but I do not give handouts. I just don't. Only every time this happens I have to wonder, "What would Jesus do?" I feel ashamed for looking down into my lap, my well groomed hands resting on my beautiful clothes, my wallet full of credit cards and cash. I have often wondered, "what if that is Jesus, there, and I have just now shunned Him?".

So today I did something I never do. I opened my wallet, and I gave him several dollars. I looked him in the eye, and he thanked me. He looked into me, too. I felt as though I had really been seen. He mumbled, "God bless you" and I went on my way. Tears welled up in my eyes, because this time, I thought, "What if that had been Jesus?" At least he could go buy himself a burger.

I resolved to give what I have to the need that presents itself in front of me. I don't know to what purpose those four dollars went. I don't really care. He needed them for something, and I needed to give.

Music in the Flesh

2011-12-17T06:11:00.000-08:00

This week I was reminded (again) of the importance of the flesh. In person, face to face, you know what I mean. Our technology is so sophisticated: we have world class music (ancient to modern, all genres) at our fingertips anytime we want to listen. And yet, there is something ineffable about live music.

Our choir performed the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah last Sunday. We are neither grand nor numerous, but what happened when 25 singers and 7 instrumentalists got together under the direction of our amazing music director, well, it was incredible. Moving and inspiring, at points it nearly made me cry. To watch their faces in concentration and joy, their bodies poised and attentive, to see the individuals and the group in action, it brings home the Incarnation.

Because the Incarnation ("enfleshment") is all about Jesus live, up close, in person. It is actually the exact opposite of technology! Jesus is not an app we can download if he appeals to us. God did not send an email, text, or tweet. Though some people think of the Bible as "God's Manual for Living," even that (low technology) concept is a huge stretch, and probably not accurate.

No, in Jesus God did something entirely different. Something unheard of in the history of the world (either before or since). God entered into humanity, fully, completely, naked, screaming, hungry, cold. God became flesh and shared our humanity with all its foibles and flaws.

If that doesn't get your attention, I don't know what will.

Goodbye to an Old Friend

2011-11-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

Old Friend,
You have been a part of my life for 45 years. Your presence in my life, as I grew from a child to a teen, a college student and beyond---through my numerous moves (Chicago, Austin, Georgetown, Fort Smith, Dallas)---has remained a constant.

The many hours we spent together, especially during my childhood and adolescence, were hours of much pleasure and relaxation. You brought out things in me which nothing else could. You challenged me. You were there, patiently waiting for me, no matter my mood. Our relationship was far deeper than words. It was a relationship of growing emotion, of maturing self-expression, of comfort.

In recent years we have grown distant, as I have neglected you. The busyness of my family life and my career have kept me from spending quality time with you. I have felt somewhat guilty for the neglect, and I know you deserve better than this from me.

So for now, dear old piano friend, I give you to another family who will love you, spend time playing you, and care for you better than I have. I will always love you, and the beautiful music we made together!

All of us can lead

2011-11-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” --- John Quincy Adams

I have been thinking a lot about leadership. I have been reading a lot about leadership, just having read five books on leadership during my recent study leave. I think most of us would agree there is a terrible leadership vacuum in our country. The concept of leadership has been co-opted and corrupted and more often than not seems synonymous with worldly power, greed and personal gain.

One of the things which I read recently stuck in my brain. It was this. The local church has the opportunity to contribute to the citizenship of the community by modeling, nurturing, and encouraging people in the ways of group decision making, compromise, and leadership development. I had never once thought of this, but it is a really interesting idea. The church is a laboratory for civic learning!

Imagine the impact on our country if people better understood and were able to actually live out the things necessary for growing leadership: listening, discernment, empowering, service to God and country, as well as the moral corrective which genuine faith delivers.

Each one of us has at least a small sphere of influence in which to act as a godly leader: to inspire, to encourage, to support others to do, to dream, and to grow. All of us can lead.

Gaining Perspective

2011-10-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

It's so easy to get caught up in our own lives and our own concerns. Sometimes there really are big issues---helping a loved one with a chronic disability, confronting cancer, dealing with a drug addiction. Much of the time, though, we are caught up in small annoyances---the dishwasher is broken, the elbow hurts, the teenager is whining.

Some of us at our church have begun to write letters to prison inmates who are in prison for life. Some are on death row. Their lives have for the most part been a series of disasters, even from a very young age. For many of them, they went the route that everyone around them went---drugs, crime, increasing violence. There wasn't much else to do.

It rather puts things in perspective when I am upset that the coffee pot boiled over and made a big mess on the counter. Yes.

Where is your accent?

2011-10-04T04:28:00.000-07:00

A friend recently told me about an encounter his son had at a so called "Bible" church. The young man was told, in no uncertain terms, that he was "not saved" because he "didn't belong to THIS church."

No where in the Bible does it say you have to belong to "a church" to be saved. No where in the Bible does it say you have to be "rebaptized" to be saved (or even baptized at all!)

It is by grace we are saved, through faith, it is a gift of God. It is God's doing, no our own. The accent is on God, not on us.

Thank God for that!

God's joy in a little Indian boy

2011-10-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Christpower, by Lucy Negus

2011-10-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Christpower
Look at him!
Look not at his divinity,
but look, rather, at his freedom.
Look not at the exaggerated tales of his power,
but look, rather, at his infinite capacity to give himself away.
Look not at the first-century mythology that surrounds him,
but look, rather, at his courage to be,
his ability to live, and
the contagious quality of his love.

Stop your frantic search!

Be still and know that this is God:
this love,
this freedom,
this being;

And

when you are accepted, accept yourself;
when you are forgiven, forgive yourself;
when you are loved, love yourself.
Grasp that Christpower
and dare to be

yourself!

Books I have been reading

2011-09-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

First, my newest spiritual mentor, Wayne Muller:
---Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives
---Learning to Pray: How we Find Heaven on Earth
---How, then, Shall we Live?

Next, a wonderful writer of historical fiction, Gwendolyn Brooks
---People of the Book
---The Year of Wonders

Thomas Foster, How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Don Allender, Sabbath
Albert Race Sample, Racehoss (a true story of the transformation of an imprisoned man)

David McCullough, Brave Companions (true stories of key persons in history whom we rarely hear about)

James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me (the problem with high school history texts)

Patterson et al, Crucial Confrontations

Add Time to Your Life

2011-09-13T04:25:00.001-07:00

There were times when I could not afford to sacrifice the bloom of the present moment to any work, whether of head or hands. Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a reverie, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sang around.

I grew in those seasons like corn in the night, and they were far better than any work of the hands would have been. They were not time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance.
---Henry David Thoreau

Leaving the Roots Intact

2011-08-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

We have had a terrible summer here in Dallas, weather-wise. I know it's worse in the rest of the state. I have actually been surprised people have not been nastier, given the heat and the drought and the unrelenting sun.

I did some gardening early Saturday morning, mostly cleaning up dead stuff. I did not pull anything up by the roots. It's taken me a long time, but I finally figured out that if I leave the roots, more often than not the dead will come to life again, come the spring and the rains and in God's good time.

It is a good thing to remember this when things seem devoid of life. God's good time has a way of bringing life back where there seemed to be nothing but death.

Long Term Projects

2011-08-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took two projects off the loom! They are beautiful, but I was ready to do something different. These were the most intricate weaving I have done so far, a project called "huck lace" with 24 thin yarns per inch. I keep a record of my projects, and this one had been a work in progress for five months! Five months! There were probably 8 weeks during these past five months when I didn't even touch my loom, but this project was still an exercise in patience and waiting. I learned a lot on the second project, because five times I made mistakes which required me analyzing the intricate pattern and figuring out where I left off. This took a bit of trial and error and also some problem solving with drawings and graphs. Where in the 18 step sequence do I pick up again?

The biggest growth for me was learning the waiting. The sustained patience and interest, the acceptance of time passing without much progress. The delight in small increments, little victories. These are the very good lessons about weaving that you would never know until you do it.

I am also looking forward to wearing that luxurious scarf.

"GOD" with a capital "G"

2011-08-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

I was sending a text to my husband on my Blackberry this morning (note the capital "B"). I wanted to let him know it was raining here at the house. We have had a long and terrible hot and dry summer, entirely devoid of rain. I said, simply, "It's raining here. Thank God."

The text message has some auto features on the Blackberry. Automatic grammar correction, automatic capitalization for the word "I" and even some select proper nouns. I checked to see whether it automatically capitalized "God". It didn't.

When did we lose the idea of God with a capital "G"?

Thank you God for my family

2011-08-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

God's creatures in Montana

2011-08-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

True Sabbath in Cool Montana

2011-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

Sabbath rest, disconnection from all the usual routines (including cell phone, internet, DVDs, news, and television!), reconnection with nature, God, and loved ones, getting back to basics (no hairdryer, makeup or fussing!), joy. Peace!

Long overdue

2011-08-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

The month of July just disappeared for me. I was out for almost three of the weeks on vacation, and one week in between two trips I was miserably sick with something I picked up on the first trip to a destination where, well, let's say, the water is not potable.

Though I did manage to work during that sick week, and write two sermons and meet the congregation on Sunday, most of my time in July was spent away from the office. I learned some things that I think will be good to remember.

encouragement

2011-06-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we think too much in terms of how much impact is this going to make? How do I prioritize my time? What do I do to reach the most number of people in the least amount of time? Time and energy are limited.

Yesterday afternoon we had a class on communion for four of our elementary age children at the church. I am always tired on Sunday afternoon after working full tilt Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. It was Father's Day. I would rather be home relaxing on the couch.

But for one of the boys at the meeting. His enthusiasm was contagious! I think he was as reluctant as I to come to this meeting. He'd rather be watching TV or playing video games. He came, though, and his dad came with him. Toward the end of the class he asked me, "Pastor Anne, can we do this more often?" More than once! "Pastor Anne, I learned so many new words today." "Pastor Anne, can we do this again for a special occasion?"

His words were like an energy shot for me! Encouragement, coming for a winsome ten year old boy. Amen!

He is Risen!

2011-04-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

We do not have to find him. He finds us where we live, in the mundane and the practical, in our everyday lives. He seeks us and He finds us. He is there, all around us. He lives.

Not Enough Son

2011-04-27T06:04:00.001-07:00

Last year I planted two knockout rosebushes in two different corners of my backyard. They are both doing well, but one is double the size of the other. The difference? Amount of sun. It has taken me most of my adult gardening life to appreciate the importance of the sun in growth (yes, I am a slow learner!).

So it goes with our lives. We do not thrive when we are "all about us." When our ego gets bigger and bigger and we put most our time, energy, thought and resources into "us and ours" we find ourselves diminished, oddly enough.

This is where the Son comes in. One of the great ethics of Christianity is its insistence on forgetting self in order to find our true selves. Christ did not give us a choice if we are to follow him. We must forget ourselves and love God and others AS OURSELVES.

So simple, and so hard. To thrive and grow, there must be more Son.

recent reading. . .

2011-04-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

I am re-reading some old favorites. . .

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (story of the passage of time in one family across generations)
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (great walk through life with two families)
The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder

And some new things. . .

The Social Animal by David Brooks
Effective Small Churches in the 21st Century by Carl Dudley
The Supremes' Greatest Hits: 37 Supreme Court Cases that most directly affect your life by Michael Trachtman

I must remember

2011-04-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

"I have a passion for helping people and a passion for science. Medicine is my probably profession" ---PCH 4/13/2011

Laundry Meditation

2011-04-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

It was a ‘hangin’ out the laundry’ sort of day. The absolute perfect temperature (not too hot, not too cool), bright sunshine, low humidity, the perfect flush of a spring day. Hangin’ out the laundry got me thinkin’ and rememberin’. When I was little girl we always hung out all our laundry, unless it was rainin’. We had a clothes dryer; I never could quite figure out why mom didn’t want to use it! I did a lot of laundry hangin’. I didn’t mind it much then, and now I rather like it.

It’s simple. It’s quiet. It’s humble. It’s slow. It’s pleasant on a day like today. There is an intimacy in hangin’ which you lose when you hurriedly stuff it into the dryer. Even today most people in the world don’t use a clothes dryer; (mostly) women hang it, drape it, lug it, fold it, on lines, on rocks, on furniture, across alleyways, in basements, attics, bathrooms. . .

Time for thinkin’. Offerin’ a prayer for my loved ones whose underthings flap proudly in the breeze in my backyard, I smile.

“Someone Knows My Name”

2011-04-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

In the gospel of John, we are told Mary Magdalene was the first to discover the empty tomb. She was, understandably, confused and upset, thinking Jesus’ body had been moved. In her distress she encounters a man, a man she mistakes for the gardener. It is the risen Christ, only she does not recognize him. It is only when he speaks her name that she knows who he is. In her shock of recognition, she cries out, “Rabbi!”

I have taken to talking to strangers at the gym. This is not my usual style. Last week I made the aquaintance of three beautiful Hispanic ladies: Gabriella, Yvette, and Marian. I learned their names and two of them didn't even speak English! I was able to communicate just a little in Spanish, and they were delighted I would try.

They were so complimentary to me. We encouraged each other. We were strangers and yet, in the learning of the names, we are no longer so.

I walked away with an extra spring in my step.

Moving through life too fast

2011-03-29T15:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I was visiting my sister in the assisted living facility she lives in. It is a place for the memory impaired and people with Alzheimer's. There are adults of all ages there, and most of them cannot carry on much of a conversation. That doesn't mean they don't have something to offer.

As I was striding down the hall, getting ready to leave, one gentleman looked at me and said, "you need to slow down." Caught me off guard, this gentle wisdom of the memory impaired. . .

Too Much Rocket Fuel!

2011-03-29T15:03:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I was deep into the yard work. Someone was helping me and working alongside me, so that made for a very productive day. I had him transplant three bushes from one spot to another. After he had planted one, I pulled out my "rocket fuel," which is a root stimulator for new plants or transplants. I asked him to use it with the second and third plantings.

Obviously he did. When I went to use it next, it was almost gone! Then I realized he had used way too much! Three weeks later those two plants are dead.

I think there is a lesson in here, a good one for me (and maybe for some of you!). Sometimes we are not supposed to push it to the max. Sometimes we need to just do a little. . .

We definitely don't want to get burned out and die on the vine. . .

Practice parenting

2011-03-09T05:01:00.000-08:00

my babies

2011-03-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

What I have read recently. . .

2011-03-08T05:59:00.000-08:00

The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein, fiction) A fun book written from the perspective of a dog!
Amaryllis in Blueberry (Christina Meldrum, fiction) A strange book about a dysfunctional missionary family in Africa. I didn't finish it.
Constructing the Ineffable: Contemporary Sacred Architecture (Karla Britton, Ed.) A series of essays on sacred space. I am reading it along with my college age son who is an architecture major.
The Hole in Our Gospel (Richard Stearns) A wonderful and challenging look at the need for Christians to reclaim the whole gospel and start changing the world. Written by the head of World Vision.
Attitude is Everything (Vicki Hitzges) A lovely little inspirational book by my dear friend and workout partner!
Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus (Robert Capon) A fresh and amazing look at the parables.
The Fingerprints of God: Tracking the Divine Suspect through a History of Images (Robert Capon)

Ashes to Ashes

2011-03-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

It is almost time for Lent, that season leading up until Easter. Yesterday I was talking to a woman at the gym. The talk got around to church. She is a Christian, but she did not know what Lent meant. It is good to know what Lent means. A time to prepare, to reflect, to look inward and to look upward toward God. To examine our relationship with God, and our relationships with one another. To anticipate Easter, not in the sense of shopping for new clothes or buying Easter candy, but in the sense of spring cleaning, from the inside out. In the sense of discipline: prayer, reading scripture, giving more. Even giving up something we like to eat in order to remind ourselves of all kinds of things: we depend on God for everything; everything we have is a gift; so many in our world rarely have enough to eat.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is Ash Wednesday. We get a mark of ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our mortality. To remind us that we are earth people, people made from the stuff of the earth (primordial soup?), and people whose bodies will return to the stuff of the earth. Sobering, but that is the point. When we realize how brief life is, and how much God loves us, it tends to put everything in perspective. Everything.

African Children's Choir

2011-03-05T05:10:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we hosted this amazing group at our church. Log in to our website Lhpres.org, to see the link for a video of the children singing and dancing. It will make you smile!

I Believe

2011-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

I believe that we are blessed, that all things are possible, that life is precious, that peace is reasonable, that laughter is special, that blessings are divine, that Love (who is God) is grander than we can ask or think. . .

Foot washing

2011-02-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight I washed my sister's feet. She cannot do it. She can barely get her own shoes and socks on. It's not the most fun thing to do, but she needed it done and I was there. It made me a little sad and teary and it made me think of Jesus. Those apostles' feet were probably pretty nasty. To add insult to injury, he knew within days they were going to be running scared on those same feet he had lovingly washed. I thought about the God of the universe dealing with filthy feet and I was glad I was on the floor washing my sister's feet. It felt good in a strange sort of way. Do it for someone you love and see how it feels.

The Power of Story

2011-02-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

from "Someone Knows My Name" by Lawrence Hill. This is an historical novel based upon the story of one African girl captured into slavery and transported to the "New World". The protagonist (at the end of her life) is asked to tell her story to aid in the cause of abolition. This is what she says,

"The abolitionists may well call me their equal, but their lips do not yet say my name and their ears do not yet hear my story. Not the way I want to tell it. But I have long loved the written word, and come to see in it the power of the sleeping lion. This is my name. This is who I am. This is how I got here. In the absence of an audience, I will write down my story so that it waits like a restful beast with lungs breathing and heart beating."

What I have been reading. . .

2011-02-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

in the last couple of months, includes fiction and non.

Raising the Roof: From Pastoral to Program Size (Alice Mann)
Invitation to John (Robert Kysar)
The Art of St. John's Bible (S. Sink)
Praying the Psalms (W. Brueggeman)
The God Part of the Brain (M. Alper) (an interesting look at anti-faith)
I Remember Nothing (N. Ephron)
Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (M. Luther)
The Spirit Woman (not very good but the setting interested me!)
Half Broke Horses (J. Walls)
No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics and the Future (J. Rieger)
One Can Make a Difference: How Simple Actions Can Change the World (I. Newkirk)
A Whole New Life (Reynolds Price)
Someone Knows My Name (Lawrence Hill)
Exodus from Hunger (David Beckman)
Kate Vaiden (Reynolds Price)

Check out my podcast

2011-02-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

on the justice series at Lake Highlands Advocatemag:

http://lakehighlands.advocatemag.com/2011/02/lake-highlands-podcast-justice-at-lake-highlands-presbyterian/

Snow Down

2011-02-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

You would think with all the "snow days" we have been having here in north Texas I would have taken the time to write at least a daily blog posting. Never fear! I used my extra time to get a lot of paperwork done for work, to clean out my office, and to do some planning for future events. I also managed to cook three different kinds of soup, two batches of cookies, and some homemade cornbread.

This gift of time allowed me the gift of snowing down, breathing, and catching up (even getting ahead). Let's hang on to the spirit of it, and allow the spirit of God to catch up with us!

Justice

2011-02-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

This week our church begins a series on the Christian Work of Justice. Our first topic is Hunger. Friday evening we will host a film viewing of “Food, Incorporated,” which explores one aspect of the hunger problem: the mass production and distribution of food. Each week in between services we will offer time to discuss questions raised in the sermon or presented in the Friday night program.

Our topics for this series address a sampling of social problems of concern to everyone: hunger, domestic violence, economics, and healing. We will look at what the Bible has to say in addressing such problems and we will consider the question of a Christian response.

Go do lhpres.org for more information on the series and events planned

Truth

2011-01-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

Our truth is an ancient one: that love endures and overcomes; that hatred destroys; that what is obtained by love is retained, but what is obtained by hatred proves a burden.
American Friends Service Committee

On this MLK day, may we remember the oppressed, may we celebrate how far we have come, and may we never be complacent about how far we have yet to go. Love is the turth and the truth will indeed set us free.

I am the Man

2011-01-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

Nathan dropped the bomb on David: YOU are the man! You're the man who took, who plotted and contrived. And for the rest of his life David lived with that aching, unalterable truth: He was the man.

Working the projects, I was white hot at police plots and politicians' contriving. I went door to door rallying: We must stand again the man! Blank stares. I wondered why. . . "Honey," a lady finally blurted: "It's 'cuz YOU the man!"

"But I care. I'm here. I'm on your side."

"And we appreciate that, but you still the man."

And for the rest of my life I have lived with that aching unalterable truth: I am the man. By Glenn Schwerdtfeger

Love Christmas

2010-12-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7

Primordial soup

2010-12-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

I remember hearing someone say the likelihood of sentient life being formed from the primordial soup is about as likely as throwing in a bunch of electronic parts and wires and silicon chips together and shaking them for eons and expecting a sophisticated computer will emerge. And we are so much more complex than a computer!

Not that God didn't create evolution to make all this process an ongoing thing. . .but there had to be a beginning somewhere back when, some plan, some Creator.

Babies

2010-12-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Carl Sandberg once said “Babies are God’s opinion that life should go on.”

There is a woman in our congregation who has probably witnessed hundreds, if not thousands of babies born over the course of her career. Recently, when we were talking about where do you see God, she said this. When you are present at a birth, when you are there, and you have the chance to watch a new life come into the world, to see this beautiful perfect tiny human being, how can you not believe in God? How can you not believe in a Creator who fashioned the incredible intricacy of the human body?

Wonder!

2010-12-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

When we were in Brazil last month we took a tourist train from Curitiba to the southeastern coast. It was supposed to be a 2 and 1/2 hour train ride. It ended up taking four hours, because there is only one set of tracks making their way through the Brazilian rain forest, snaking around spectacular mountains. At least ten times we had to pull of to a parallel track to allow a freight train through.

The first half of the journey was unremarkable. The second half was unforgettable. The lush, green, impenetrable rain forest almost within reach of the passenger cars' open windows. The myriad waterfalls tucked away, hidden at the last minute until you were nearly on top of them. The incredible sparkling jade canyons and soaring mountains.

We were the only Americans in our passenger car. Almost everyone else seemed to be native Brazilians: families, retired folks, and a lot of young adults. Everyone on the train acted like a child! The sense of wonder and excitement about the journey was infectious! People stuck their heads out of the windows and had friends take photos. Much cheering and gasping was heard as we came upon new vistas. People laughed, moving freely from one side of the train to the other to get the best photo.

I have never had an experience like this with a group of Americans. Never. The Brazilians' wonder and joy was even more spectacular than the scenary. I carry it with me, even now, over a month later.

Westminster, London 2010

2010-11-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

Commitment

2010-11-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

I just watched a PBS program on line (Bill Cosby receiving the Mark Twain Award for Humor). I love Bill Cosby. I have laughed at Bill now for decades! In his acceptance speech (short and sweet) he said something profound. Speaking to his audience who come to hear/see him, he said, "Every time I plant my feet, you are going to get everything I have."

Wow. What a way to live. Full tilt, all out, committed. That is my goal for my ministry, for my relationships, for my life, with some down time thrown in too, just for balance.

My sister

2010-11-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

My sister is mentally retarded, and she is not the easiest person to be with. I was not grateful for who she was, and for a long time I wished she could be different. There was a long time when I resented my sister. There was an even longer time when I prayed she might be made whole. This prayer was never answered, at least not in the way I thought I wanted it answered. But something changed, over time, bit by bit, and I began to be able to appreciate my sister. She wasn't changed; I was. I became more whole because now I am grateful for who she is, just the way God made her.

Heart Break

2010-11-11T05:05:00.001-08:00

"May our hearts be broken with the things that break the heart of God"
From The Hole in the Gospel

Bread for the Hungry

2010-11-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

Did you ever think of evangelism as feeding a hunger? Giving bread to someone who is starving? It is a powerful and truthful image.

We have something very precious---the love of God as expressed through the salvation story and the actions of Jesus Christ, enlivened and empowered by the Spirit.

Better than bread.

Trail of Lights

2010-11-08T13:22:00.000-08:00

This from my personal Ignatian retreat materials:

"Before the age of electricity, city streets were lit by gas lamps. Lamplighters lit these lamps with a flaming torch. One night an old man stood looking across a valley to a town on a hillside. He could see the torch of a lamplighter lighting lamps as he went. But because of the darkness, he could not see the lamplighter. He could seee only his torch and the trail of lights he left behind. The old man said to a friend standing next to him, "That lamplighter is a good example of how Christians ought to live. You may never have known them. But you know that they passed through the world by the trail of lights they left behind."

What trail of lights am I leaving behind?

Good From Evil

2010-11-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

Can you imagine what it would be like to have your sister murdered by her own husband? I cannot. I met someone recently for whom this horrible tragedy happened. It happened a long time ago, but it still affects this woman, as it always will. But what struck me most about it was how she chose to respond to this tragedy. She said this, "It affected every single one of us in the family. All four of the sisters who remained ended up doing something positive to try to make sense out of this, to try to combat this terrible evil."

She is now a well known researcher and political advocate to eliminate domestic violence, educate and employ both young women and young men, and to empower women to take better care of themselves and their children. She has been very effective in lifting young women out of ignorance and poverty, and of setting new standards and instituting new laws in her home country.

"I am only one. But I am one! I cannot do everything. But I can do something! And the fact that I cannot do everything does not absolve my responsibility to do something." --- Edward Everett Hale

Worship, Not Comfort

2010-11-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago when George and I were in Brazil we were invited to worship at a local Presbyterian Church in Sao Carlos. We could hardly refuse our gracious hosts, who came to drive us to the church for a Sunday evening service. The main worship services are held in the evenings on Sunday. We stepped into a pretty traditional church and enjoyed listening to the choir sing a familiar hymn in Portuguese. Our host sat behind us and translated in whispers. The sermon was about 45 minutes in length, and the pastor really got worked into a lather. It was hot! No air conditioning and an almost two hour service. It was not comfortable for us, and I could not help but think that most Americans would never tolerate such a lengthy service, and certainly not in a hot building! And this was only late spring. I was glad we weren't there in the summer!

I was surprised by how moving it was to sing praise songs together in a different language. We recognized 2 or 3 of the songs as the ones we know, and so we joined in by trying our best to read/sing the Portuguese words projected on the wall. Though not comfortable, there was a sense of the Spirit acting and moving in and through all of us. Music has a way of doing that.

We have a lot to learn about worship, and maybe one thing we can learn is that it's not always comfortable.

Baseball and God

2010-10-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

I love baseball. Probably because my dad loved it, and he took me to a lot of minor league games as a youngster. Now I do not watch it much, except during the playoffs, which I really enjoy. It's wonderful watching it on TV because you get to see all the great plays more than once, you see the players close up, and when there is an especially tricky play you see their faces, thinking, frantically strategizing.

God, you say? Yes. There is beauty in this game, and wherever there is beauty, there is God. Baseball is a game of heart, mind, body, and soul. That turns me to God, too. There is enormous skill involved and each player has to be excellent at throwing, catching, and batting. There is a level of equality involved. When you are on the team you have to bat and you have to play the field. It is tremendously mental. Patience is also required. It's quirky and unpredictable.

Watching baseball forces you to slow down, and this is God inspired, too.

Source Unknown

2010-10-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

Stressed?

2010-10-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

We just had a lock-in at the church with our youth. Because I preach on Sunday mornings, I got to pick which shift I wanted, which was the 'early shift': 8-10 p.m. I don't know if the stars were lined up just right or what, but these kids amazed me. We were going to worship together, but nothing was planned ahead of time. We wanted to "wing it" with the kids, let it emerge. I brought in a pile of books including books with poetry, art, and non traditional prayers. The youth planned the whole thing, which gave us time to talk about worship, prayer, what's important.

On their own they decided to have a "theme", which turned out to be "Finding God in our lives and dealing with stress." This opened up a whole discussion about stress. Fourteen to sixteen year old youth talking about how much pressure they feel: to perform, to compete, to do more in less time. They worry about grades, college, performance. They do not get enough sleep.

In some way, they each seemed to recognize God is an alternative to stress. To take the time to worship (what's productive about worship? nothing in terms of human productivity), to play, to be together, to be silly. Anti-stress. God inspired.

The Correct Tension

2010-09-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Now that I have been weaving about two months, I have discovered an overarching concept about weaving. The correct tension is absolutely essential. This may seem self-evident, but there is a difference between reading about this and actually doing it. Measuring the warp (not too tight, not too loose), warping the loom (even tension all the way across!), beating the weft (not too hard, not too soft).

It is a balance. The balance creates beauty. The balance is pleasing. The balance requires both striving and letting go, knowing when to tighten up and knowing when to relax. Just like life.

fruit of the loom

2010-09-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

What I have read lately. . .

2010-09-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
The Keeper of the Bees (Stratton-Porter)
Tithing: Test Me in This (LeBlanc)
Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Schnase)
Charlie St. Cloud (Sherwood)
The Sacred Meal (Nora Gallagher)
The Gift (Lewis Hyde)
The Christian Atheist (Craig Groeschel)
and several books on church transformation

and a few books on WEAVING!

I am afraid my weaving is going to interfere with my reading! :)

Getting better. . .

2010-09-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

"Sometimes being in the midst of creative activity, you don't always know that it's increasingly getting better. . ."

Celebrate small triumphs along the way! Things like (a) a record number of first time guests, (b) a record number of baptisms in a month (c) a record number of youth at youth group, (d) a record number of persons joining at the same time!

Work in progress. . .

2010-09-11T05:38:00.000-07:00

Now that I have completed one weaving project at home, I began another. This one isn't going nearly so smoothly. I realized soon after I began weaving that the weave was too loose. The solution? Take out what I had woven, re-sley the reed, and start over. (Translation= about four hours of re-doing things.) After tediously placing 144 threads through the 144 tiny "dents" in the reed, I realized I had put two threads in one dent! This requires fixing immediately, another hour added to the set up. :(
Got that done. Then I began weaving again. Still not looking like it's supposed to. I figured out the yarn was too bumpy, so I took out THAT weaving and tried a smooth yarn.

Whew. It has not been too fun, but I learned a whole lot more about weaving on this project than on the first! It really is true that you learn most by your mistakes (I definitely won't do some of that stuff again!) It is also great practice for patience. And then, once you get all this set up done, you get to actually weave, which is really fun.

You really don't ever get to do the fun part without all the hard work beforehand. Another lesson in weaving that is exactly like life.

Grieving

2010-09-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

I am so aggrieved when I hear the news about all these so-called Christians who are hate mongering, directing their fear and hatred toward Muslim Americans. I wonder how many of these people have actually studied Islam? What do they actually know about it? How many of them have a personal relationship with someone who is Muslim? Have they ever traveled to a Muslim country?

Islam is not a violent religion. 99% of Muslims are law-abiding, peaceful and faithful citizens. Every religion, including Christianity, has its fanatics and its terrorists. The KKK are a self-professed Christian group. Hitler, in his early writings, seems to have been a Christian. When his power grew, he denounced Christianity and declared Nazism to be the state religion.

And even though there are some crazy Muslims who hate America, do we as Christians help the situation by confirming their worst fears and adding fuel to the fire of their hatred?

Love those who persecute you, He said. Love your neighbor as yourself, He said.

We are not being faithful to our own beliefs in Christ when we hate "the other", no matter how frightening they are.

Love Letters from God

2010-09-09T04:31:00.000-07:00

Whoever says that God doesn't answer prayer either isn't praying or isn't paying attention. Two incidents in less than 24 hours have reassured me, once again, that God answers prayer. However, they also remind me that God doesn't do this on our timing, nor in the way we would have fashioned. God used a visit with my dear brother in Iowa to change me and to change him. I have been praying for both changes for a long, long, time. Years, in fact. When I read his (new) blog, I knew this was the work of the loving Creator. Had to be.

Second, I have been praying for many months for direction for our church and for its life, health, and growth. I have been mired down in the myriad details of church life, keeping far too many plates spinning. I have been tired and anxious. A phone call yesterday (one that I almost didn't return) may be exactly a direction that is needed, and the person that is needed. I don't know for sure, but I feel strongly this may have been another love letter from God. God will let me know, of this I am sure.

Hope

2010-08-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

33 miners trapped thousands of feet below the surface in Chile. The news story said they survived 17 days with just a sip of a drink and a spoonful of food EVERY OTHER DAY.

They now await an even longer ordeal as they sit and wait for up to FOUR MONTHS for the company to drill a rescue shaft and retrieve them. Now they have hope, sure and certain hope they will indeed be rescued.

The miracle of this story is not the rescue. The miracle is 33 men sharing a few tins of tuna and a couple of jugs of juice for seventeen days. Can you imagine what that must have been like?

If 33 miners can share what little they have, trapped in an absolutely life-and-death situation, how much more we can do with our enormous and comfortable abundance.

There is HOPE.

Counting Blessings

2010-08-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it rained here in Dallas and I think the high temperature was 79 degrees. The entire metroplex heaved a huge sigh of relief after nearly a month of 100 plus temperatures, relentless sun, no rain. I kept thanking God for the break in the weather.

We spend a lot of time asking God for the "miracles" we want God to perform for us, and we fail to see the miracles that are right there in front of us.

God, give us the miracle to see You in the raindrops, to feel You in the cool fresh air, to smell You in the fragrance of a flower.

Slowing Down

2010-08-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

A year ago when I went to Holden Village in Washington State, I got to do some weaving on a loom. I loved it. I signed up for lessons at a local weaving shop when I got back, wanting to see if I still loved it when I wasn't on retreat. There was a long waiting list.

I forgot about it until last week when the shop owner called me and said a slot was available. "Not now!" I thought. "I am way too busy!" I am working at least two Saturdays a month in addition to my regular work schedule. But I signed up anyway.

I stepped into weaving land Saturday afternoon and enjoyed every minute of the three hours I was there. I think God was in on this timing. Don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor. I was winding away, getting my yarn set up on this rack that measures it, really getting a rhythm, when I realized I had wound WAY too much yarn. Almost double what I needed. The instructor was busy with another student, so I figured I'd get this extra yarn off and wind it back on the spool. I soon found myself hopelessly tangled up! Another woman wordlessly, patiently helped me untangle the mess I had gotten myself into. I was really tempted to get a pair of scissors out and cut, but I did not dare. It took almost 20 minutes!

Lesson #1. Slow Down. Lesson #2. Wait for instructor. Lesson #3 You have a lot to learn. I think there's a sermon or two or three in there. Who knew weaving classes would be sermon fodder? I told you God has a sense of humor.

Feeding the Birds and . . .

2010-07-26T10:03:00.001-07:00

This summer we put up a bird feeder in our backyard, which is a great delight to me. I had envisioned more bird watching, getting to see a variety of small birds. I didn't plan to feed all the squirrels and pigeons. The feeder gets cleared out every two days! We could fight the squirrels, but I have decided to feed them. At $35 for a 50 pound bag of sunflower seeds, it is not worth our time, energy, and frustration. Better to just let them eat. After all, they get hungry, too!

It reminds me of a story a minister told me, how he had given some homeless guy $5, then shortly afterward saw in him walk out of the neighborhood liquor store. "Maybe he just needed a drink," he said.

When you give stuff away, you cannot control who is going to take it, or what they are going to do with it. Let it go. It was given to you, anyway, to pass it on.

Success in Guatemala!!!

2010-07-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Our four men have successfully installed the clean water purification system! They are on their way back today, and we cannot wait to hear their stories and experiences!
My husband (one of the group) telephoned me early Saturday morning to tell me of their success and to relate how wonderful the people were and what an incredible welcome they'd received. With tears choking his words, he said, "We really feel the presence of God here so powerfully." Amen to that. When we obey Him, he will reveal Himself in the joys and sorrows and in the struggles and trials we go through.

London experiences

2010-07-16T03:14:00.000-07:00

We just spent 10 days in London with our children. Though I had been there many years ago, much of it felt like something completely new (much of it was!). There is so much to see and do, and a lot of it is free. The museums are all free, and they are all spectacular! The famous ones tend to be crowded, but it is still a thrill to see the original works of art, the ancient artifacts, the royal accoutrements.

There are other things that are also free and not nearly so crowded. These were among my favorite experiences: worship at St. Paul's cathedral, with choir and orchestra leading worship with Mozart's Mass in C minor. I could imagine it sounded much like it did 300 years ago in that very same space. Stumbling upon an organ student practicing at an Oxford College chapel (which is enormous, much larger than most churches!) who so graciously showed off the beautiful sounds of his instrument for us. Walking through the nearly vacant Wallace House, a museum house full of 18th century French rococo furnishings and art. Breakfast with "Mad Mo", our crazy bed and breakfast host, spinning yarns of her years as a child during World War II.

We are glad to be back home, but our travels continue to remind us how small our globe really is and how similar we are to people we may perceive as very different from us.

grieving for the gulf

2010-06-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

it will be decades before we know the full extent of this ecological and economic disaster. how long will it be until we begin to realize our terrible thirst for oil fuels such activity?

25 days and counting!

2010-06-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

25 days until our church installs a clean water purification system at a small village in Guatemala! We cannot wait to hear how it goes!

Out of the mouth of a 17 year old

2010-06-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend the Dallas Morning News published some thoughts from area valedictorians. Tianen Li stole the show. Here is what he said:

In life, it is the small things that matter. The outcome of life is the summation of infinitesimal decisions of inaction or action. There is no such thing as a life-changing moment or life-changing decision. Because every decision, every moment, is life-changing in some way. The Zen Buddhists believe that every minute of our existence, we are continually dying and being reborn as a new person. You aren't the same person you were one second ago. And these small changes add up.

Li is headed to Harvard to study neuroscience. I hope he doesn't leave his philosophy behind.

Mystery Mystery Mystery

2010-06-05T06:47:00.001-07:00

Philip Simmons was only 35 years old when he was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. As a young husband and father, and at the start of a promising literary career, he suddenly had to learn the art of dying. He says, “When we stop seeing the world as a “problem” to be solved, when instead we open our hearts to the mystery of our common suffering, we may find ourselves where we least expected to be: in a world transformed by love.” (xiii in Foreward to “Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life”)

The Church and Self-Realization?

2010-06-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

The church has lost its ability to be a disciplined community because we're now, religiously, in a buyer's market. Christianity has to bill itself as very good for your self-realization, and that's killing us because we're not very good for your self-reliazation. We're good for your salvation, which is not the same thing. ----Stanley Hauerwas (United Methodist theologian)

So what is so unique about Christianity?

2010-05-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

It's not that we have a unique experience of God, it's not that we have a monopoly on God, it's not that our ceremonies and rituals are better (they're pretty terrible sometimes). It's that God knows what it's like to be a human being. God eats, drinks, sleeps, cries, gets angry, bleeds, dies, and then shows us that death is not the end. If we're to believe the whole "We are the Body of Christ" bit, too, then that means this mystery is continuing. Our eating, our drinking, our joys, our sufferings, and our deaths are all our participation in the life of God, and God's participation in ours.

(quote from a reader on the Daily Dish)

Give Us This Day. . .

2010-05-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

The rich entrepreneur from the North was horrified to find the Southern fisherman lying lazily by his boat, smoking a pipe.

"Why aren't you out fishing?" said the entrepreneur.
"Because I have caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman.
"Why don't you catch more than you need?" said the entrepreneur.
"What would I do with it?" asked the fisherman.
"You could earn more money. With that you could have a motorboat. Then you could go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you could make enough money to buy nylon nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you could have enough money to own two boats. . .maybe even a fleet of boats. Then you could be a rich man like me."
"What would I do then?" asked the fisherman.
"Then you could sit down and enjoy life," said the entrepreneur.

"What do you think I am doing right now?" said the contented fisherman.

Weeping for the world

2010-05-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Many people do not like opera. Some of these same people have never been to an opera! I am a fan of Italian lyric opera---the most beautiful music in the whole genre, in my humble opinion. Yesterday we saw Madame Butterfly at the Dallas Opera. It was the third time my husband and I had seen this particular opera. It made us both cry.

Somehow, even though we were way up in the 'cheap seats' (which are not, unfortunately, cheap) the music and the singers and the set itself managed to communicate the incredible yearning of one soul for another, the longing for love and fulfillment. . . At the end of the first act, Lt. Pinkerton is plaintively singing "vienne, vienne" ("come, come") to Butterfly on their wedding night, over and over again, patiently waiting to allay her fears. . . A single square of light hovered over a simple mat on the floor, as they finally embrace and recline. The curtain drops.

Then again, at the end of the opera, in a pathos beyond imagining, the end of Butterfly's hope and longing, the crushing of her years of fidelity and trust, as Pinkerton returns (now married to another) to collect their love child, a small boy. Alone on the stark stage, she kills herself, preferring to die with honor, as Pinkerton grieves, overwhelmed with regret which will never end.

What I've Read Lately

2010-05-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

Tales from the Expat Harem, A. (collection of stories of women living in Turkey)
The Help, Kathryn Stockett (amazing book on race relations in the 60s)
The Case for Faith: Visual Edition, Lee Strobel (beautiful & moving little book)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley (fun British mystery)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy (a downer, somber and unredeeming)
Listening to the Word, O'Day & Long (preaching text, a good one)
Several books on church growth, transformation & evangelism
by Nelson Searcy & Paul Borden

Lazy, Good for Nothing Jesus?

2010-05-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

"Jesus, unlike most responsible American citizens, appears to do no work and is accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. He is presented as jobless, propertyless, celibate, peripatetic, socially marginal, disdainful of kinsfolk, without a trade, a friend of outcasts and pariahs, averse to material possessions, without fear for his own safety, careless about purity regulations, critical of traditional authority, a thorn in the side of the Establishment, and scourge of the rich and powerful. . .

The morality Jesus preaches in reckless, extravagant, improvident, over-the-top, a scandal to actuaries and a stumbling block to real estate agents: forgive your enemies, give away your cloak as well as your coat, turn the other cheek, love those who insult you, walk the extra mile, take no thought for tomorrow."

And the church? "To the outrage of the Zealots, Pharisees, and right-wing rednecks of all ages, this body is dedicated in particular to all those losers, deadbeats, riffraff, and colonial collaborators who are not righteous but flamboyantly unrighteous."

---Terry Eagleton, "Reason, Faith and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate"

Shifting our Focus

2010-05-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

A change is needed. We are too wrapped up in achieving, doing, going, getting.

A community of faith---people who hold us accountable and who challenge, support, and encourage us---such a community helps us shift

from acquiring to developing
from the pursuit of happiness to the pursuit of well being
from breadwinning to caring for others and the earth
from wasting time to resting in God

Double Standard?

2010-04-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

When we travelled to India this year we visited a very famous open air mosque in New Delhi, called the Thursday Mosque. Everyone had to be covered when entering this courtyard. I had to don a huge caftan-like garment. Even though I thought I was fully covered, I discovered that wearing western jeans does not count. Even our son had to wrap a long skirt around his waist because he was wearing shorts. Seemed reasonable, both men and women had to be covered in this holy place. Then I noticed a sign leading up to a tower. Unaccompanied women could not go up the tower. Not sure what that was all about, but I didn’t like it.

The Power of the Written Word

2010-04-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

Last night I was discussing racism with a group of people and a woman told me her husband was an unreformed racist. Recently, however, he had read two books, John Barry's "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927" and Kathryn Stockett's "The Help." Reading these books, she said, had completely changed his outlook on African-Americans.

We tend to forgot how words truly can transform. Those of us who are believers also know the even greater power of the Word (which to us means both the Bible AND Jesus Christ the Living Word) to change lives.

The power of the WORD is beyond imagining.

2010-04-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

Breathe, Breathe

2010-04-29T15:25:00.001-07:00

in our rush to do more stuff in less and less time, we forget to center ourselves.

You know, the Bible says God breathed life into the first humans.
The Spirit of God is aka as "wind, breath, air."

So isn't it something that what we most need is so often just to stop, breathe, and allow a breath of fresh air into our lives?

In the quiet, that's where our soul is restored.
Breathe, breathe.
What's important become apparent
when we stop and settle down
and seek Your Face.

Leap of Faith

2010-04-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

Did you notice this photo and caption in the DMN a few weeks ago? There was a terrible accident where a tractor trailer went over a bridge railing, the tractor hanging off the bridge and the rest of the rig obviously destroyed by fire. The driver, though, survived, by leaping out of the cab in the nick of time. The name of the trucking company? LEAP OF FAITH

We take our faith for granted so much---we have forgotten we are supposed to be leaping sometimes.

How have you leapt lately???

Diversity in India

2010-02-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

Tibetan prayer wheels at a temple in the foothills of the Himilaya. One of the thousands of beautiful and diverse sights we managed to see and capture on camera during our two week visit to India over Christmas. We went to visit our daughter, but came back awed by the beauty and complexity of this strange place. We were not completely overwhelmed by poverty and beggars, though this was certainly prominent. We were awestruck by the historic, cultural, and visual richness of this land. Religious faith was so much more evident than in any Western urban area we have ever visited: lines of people waiting to enter a Hindu temple each morning, endless baskets of flower offerings, Sikhs feeding bread to the masses each day at their house of worship, Buddhists on pilgrimage.

Kennel Cough

2010-02-07T12:31:00.001-08:00

Almost two weeks ago we brought a new shelter puppy into our household. The new puppy, Bella, immediately gave a present to our dog Ringo. Kennel Cough. A highly contagious respiratory infection, complete with doggie cough. It is the first time Ringo has been sick in a year and a half!

Still, we hope Ringo won't hold it against Bella, as Bella is proving to be a great playmate and a fun companion around the house. Ringo is probably a little jealous, but we suspect her jealousy is outweighed by her joy at finally having a full time playmate.

Sometimes when you get close to another, you catch things.

Peace Peace Peace

2009-12-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

On earth and good will to all people!

And a little child shall lead them

2009-12-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

Two headlines this morning in the DMN: "Heart for the homeless" a heart warming front page story about a little boy who at age 8 decided to do something for the homeless. Every month, Casey's Heart delivers necessities to the homeless in downtown Dallas. "It's about doing the right thing. And it took a child to knock us over the head."

And in the Metro section: "Teen leads the way home: Chinese encounter in China become mission to find girl a family." Because of the efforts of Lindsay Adams (now 18) a disabled young Chinese girl has a new adoptive home in Allen.

Maybe we need to listen to our children more?

What I'm Reading Now

2009-12-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

"The White Tiger" A. Adiga (underbelly of India)
"An Altar in the World" B. B. Taylor (geography of faith)
"Finally Comes the Poet" Brueggemann (writing, sermons)
"Silas Marner" G. Eliot (classic tale of change)
"The Red Badge of Courage" S. Crane (classic Civil War)
"The Last Lecture" (death and hope)

2009-12-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

A tiny bird

2009-12-15T17:57:00.001-08:00

A tiny bird caught my attention just outside my kitchen window this morning. It was so close I could see every detail. Perfect sage green feathers, a small rounded breast, a pointed beak. It was perched on a bush inches from my window. Normally I hardly look out this particular window (not much of a view). But this morning, a fantastic view unfolded just inches away from me. Inches away and a world away.

This is what Christmas is, too, if we will just pay attention. A fantastic glimpse of the power of God to enthrall us, capture us, reduce us to tears. A perfect picture of beauty in the often unremarkable landscape of our lives. So close and yet so different from us. The word made flesh, come to our neighborhood, just outside our window.

UP

2009-12-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

Spoiler notice. This entry will give away the delightful surprises in the movie "UP". If you haven't seen it, go watch it. NOW!

Who would think that a Disney/Pixar animated movie would be a profound commentary on death and grieving? There's this tender, swift love story. Boy meets girl (literally, they are children). Next thing you know, they are all grown up and getting married. Both are adventuresome, and she in particular has really big dreams of going to Paradise Falls in South America. They settle for a job in the zoo. He is a balloon man and she is a guide. They first meet Grief when they are unable to have a baby. All of this happens very rapidly with few words. The viewer is soon reduced to tears.

The years go by. No Paradise Falls, but they enjoy each other tremendously. They grow old. And Carl meets Grief again when his dear Ellie dies. The movie captures his forlorn, bereft self perfectly, as Carl becomes more and more gruff and reclusive, grieving not only the loss of his beloved, but also his regret that he never took her to Paradise Falls for that Big Adventure.

Carl faces Grief again when he is about to lose his house (the container of all his memories) to encroaching development. Only this time he takes action! He ties thousands of balloons to his house and sets off on a floating adventure. Only he has an unplanned companion, Russell, a little boy who'd been trying to help Carl.

Russell is the catalyst who finally gets Carl out of his Great Grief. Carl finally realizes he did not rob Ellie of her dream of great adventure, but rather their life together WAS her great adventure! He finally forgives himself, lets go of the past that never was, and ends up in Paradise Falls anyway.

Shuffling through life

2009-12-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

Today as I was driving back from lunch I sat in my car waiting at a stoplight. Usually I am preoccupied with something on my mind, or checking my phone, or fixing my makeup, or some little task to pass the time. Occasionally I offer a prayer at the stoplight. Today a prayer presented itself to me. Across the intersection, a slight man crossed the street and waited at the median. He was clearly handicapped in some way, as he listed heavily side to side with each labored step he took. He was so unstable on his feet that he fell into the roadway from the median. My heart raced! What could I do to protect him from getting hit? Fortunately he was able to pick himself up safely back to the median before the traffic started up again. I gazed at him as I drove past him. A small, thin man in his thirties, forlorn and alone, with such a burden, not being able to walk well at all.

Though maybe I am the one with a burden. The burden of taking my health for granted. The burden of knowing I am privileged with health insurance and financial security, knowing that God has placed the care of such as these upon my heart.

Dog and God

2009-11-24T12:53:00.001-08:00

Some of you may have already seen the Utube clip on "dog and God". It is wonderful, especially if you like dogs!

When I look at my little puppy dog (she will always be a puppy to me---she's so small!) and I see those expressive little dark eyes, looking up at me with so much expectancy, well, I can see God, too! Something inside me just melts.

I know that is neither profound nor all that interesting. But the thing is, there are these little miracles all around us, all the time. All this evidence of God's fingerprints all over creation, everywhere you look. You simply have to look!

I give thanks this week for God and dogs and for the God whose fingerprints touch nearly every part of our blessed everyday lives!

Where did November go?

2009-11-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

I have no excuse. I was just too busy this past month at work to even THINK about this blog. For some reason I cannot access it from my home computer to update it (that's often when I think about it). Limited blogging skills.

Less burdens, not more?

2009-10-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't quoted the Bible yet on this blog, but as I was doing my morning meditations I was reading and meditating on Matt 11:28. Jesus says if we are burdened and carrying heavy loads, he will give us rest. What's astonishing, though, is he goes on to say how this will happen. Not by him taking over for us, but the contrary. We have to shoulder HIS yoke.

This antique language doesn't mean much to most of us, but a yoke is a large piece of old timey farm equipment, from the days of horse or oxen-drawn plows. Stepping in and picking up the burden of a yoke is a big deal. Yokes are not normally made for people power.

Jesus says, if you're overburdened, I will give you a YOKE and you will be less burdened. Because, he says, his burden is LIGHT.

I wonder.

Is his burden light? Or does he really pull far more than his share?

The Invention of Lying

2009-10-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

First of all, don't waste your money going to see this movie. The best parts of the movie are on the trailer, and then you can spend your time doing something else more important and fun, like cleaning out your closets or edging the lawn! The movie was a great disappointment. They could have done major humor with this clever idea, but they weren't clever enough!

The film has some interesting subthemes, one of which mocks faith and the transcendant. The main character learns he can "lie" to people, and he tells his dying mother of a glorious afterlife, clearly patterned after the Christian images of heaven. This, we are led to believe, is a lie.

The problem is others hear about this and demand he tell them more of what he knows about "what happens to us after we die" and so he is confronted with constructing this alternate "reality". In a scene clearly intended to evoke Moses coming down off the mountain (only in the movie our protagonist writes the 10 things I know about the "Man in the Sky" on two pizza boxes), he describes the afterlife and what people are supposed to do to "earn" it.

It both a distortion of the Christian message and a mocking of it. We are led to believe these things are either outright lies or a fantasy.

Or are they?

Shopping!

2009-09-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Ever since we went to Holden Village this summer I have been trying to cut down on my shopping. Actually I have gone even further than that. Now this is not super hard because I don't have time to shop and I don't even like to shop that much.

I am trying to not buy new stuff for a year. What this means is: if I can purchase the item used, or on ebay, or through craigslist, or at a consignment store, fine. If I cannot, then I don't get it.

There will be a few things that I cannot purchase used (toilet paper doesn't count!) and I will purchase those. But it's amazing how much less you buy when you actually have to locate it, and it's also amazing how much cool stuff there is for pennies at consignment stores.

Last week I bought a pair of Cole Hahn dress shoes, very stylish and in great condition, for $4.

Front Porch Neighborhood

2009-09-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

I live in Lake Highlands in a front porch neighborhood. Not that everyone has a front porch, but that's the kind of neighbors we have, and that's the kind of neighbors we try to be to others.

We get out there in the front yard, with our dogs and our kids or just our cup of coffee and we sometimes just pass the time a while, catch up, catch our breath, slow down.

We are so very blessed.