JK Rowling's Autumn

J K Rowling

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year.

The morning of the first September was crisp 

and golden as an apple...”

Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows

Oh the gift of the story teller!  And Rowling flat out does it.  The sudden change of seasons signals foreshadows that we are off on the trail of Harry Potter INC. one more time.  The Irish--with apologies to this Brit--talk of the "thin air," or places where the supernatural enters the natural order. Such is the heart beat of the timeless story, the myth to carries us toward the source of life.  How ironic that in areas of "thin air" we hold our breath, then breathe deeply, and finally enter a place of new life altogether. 

How long does it take us to realize that what we live as Christians has the same power and more--and just happens to be true?  That was CS Lewis' claim to fame.  He too loved and wrote the master stories in which his characters entered a sacred place because it held their lives up to divinity that plays out in the supernatural world--so we can behold it in the real day to day world. St. Paul called it the fullness of time, in Galatians, as the birth of Jesus opened the way for the second birth of all people. 

The Day by Day Diet

Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day

From Godspell

Is it true that we are what we eat?  Maybe we look like what we eat!  In the same way that we feed our bodies, we must also nourish our souls.  A diet of Gospel... or rather, no diet--but life style.  Living the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Or in Godspell--see, love and follow with devotion.  And we become like the One we follow. 

Think of a spiritual diet as more like a rule of discipline.  By discipline we reshape the movements of our behavior--we literally see, love and follow in different ways.  The great Monastic Orders revised the rule of life or discipline with the goal of becoming Christ-like.  I'd like to say it this way--without the inner commitment to see, love and follow--what happens to the spiritual muscles that are not exercised?  We know all too well.  

The way to work into a rule of discipline or life is to take one line per week and focus on it. Look for ways to see in new ways.  Take time not to rush through the day and really look at things, especially your neighbor--and see Who you see looking back at you. 

One thing is for sure, slow down and take it ...well, Day by day. 

Doorways to Happiness

Happiness is most elusive because we do not know where to look for it. For me, I have loved TS Eliot in The Family Reunion as he reminds us: I think it might help if we make a word change.  What we are talking about may not be "happiness" in the sense that all is right with the world.  When would that day ever come? 

Happiness is not getting what you want,

or getting rid of what needs to go;

Happiness is a different vision altogether.

 How about the word contentment?To be content is to accept things as they are--and that means seeing things as they truly are;.  St. Paul talked about being content in all conditions because of Christ the center.  With Christ who needs to change the world to be content, let alone seek the world's happiness?  Maybe Jesus as the door walks into our world and once recognized, what need is their to seek another?

 

Central Casting

Ever watch the really old movies and the serial shows like MASH and realize how many characters got their start in those shows—and have grown into other characters?  Some get stuck in playing the same kind of character—others struggle to make the change—like Quincy, ME into The Odd Couple.  Still others stay in the same kind of role, scripted for like Burt Lancaster. 

Now that’s Hollywood—but is it true of us?  Are we scripted for life by others so that they cannot envision us in any other role?  Or do we script ourselves and limit who we can be?  Imagine Central Casting coming out and saying—here’s your new role and outfit—start memorizing those lines! 

Yet it is precisely that transformation that takes place when Holy Spirit touches human spirits.  Fishermen become disciples then apostles….    Lazarus talks not of a near death experience—but death itself!  A prostitute named Magdalene could easily be St. Mary ahead of the saints canonized to date.  Got the idea?  The change comes from Holy Spirit to enliven our spirits in a whole new way. 

The question is this—has Central Casting already showed up and we turned down the role?  There is this clue—when the calling comes, we taste life as never before.  The pages turn quickly and we find ourselves in a whole new production that none of us could have imagined that God has prepared for us (Romans). 

The Season of Death

"I'm afraid to die," Freddie told Daniel. "I don't know what's down there."

"We all fear what we don't know, Freddie. It's natural," Daniel reassured him. "Yet, you were not afraid when Summer became Fall. They were natural changes. Why should you be afraid of the season of death?"

Leo Buscaglia, The Fall of Freddie the Leaf

I love the contrast between the fall of Daniel or Freddie and the whole tree which changes to return in the spring--as well as this single picture of the one leaf falling against the background of the tree. One Life of the tree continues while the other life of the single leaf dies and falls off the branches.  Rather than a rational argument about life and death--we can "feel" our way into this contrast of images.  The whole Tree--the particular leaf.... Hold that thought please!

Unless those leaves fall to the ground, life withdrawing into the tree and root system--it would not survive the winter...even the tree itself must change. We are part of Life and its cycle with this one main difference--the cycle continues on with God, the Tree of Life.  What makes Christians a Christian is this incredible belief that Jesus as God enters the life cycle to show us the way through it to God.  He even dies to show how resurrection comes out of death.  We are not just part of the life cycle; we are related to God in a special way that takes us from a life cycle to Life itself. 

What REALLY Feeds You?

So I am walking around a local lake, and I heard geese way over on the other side.  I came to a clearing with a bench and out of the corner of my eye--I see that these geese are actually on the move and swimming my direction.  Now mind you, this was a very long way across this lake. So, I just stood there to see if what I suspect was true.  Sure enough, it did not take very long for them to make the trip.  And why?  Because of the constant feeding of these birds, they were that conditioned to swim for people!  Their food source....

The very sad truth is that these geese swim so far but are no feed with the right food.  Lacking the nutrition, they can become malnourished and sickly.  No parallel here is there with our modern age eating and condition, is there! 

Jesus was after the same point!  He multiplied the loaves, people crossed the lake to find him--and then he chastised them for seeking because they had their fill of the loaves.  Why aren't you seeking the bread of life...why are you not as persistent as those geese but seeking the spiritual food you really need?  Oh, of course, that requires knowing who to swim for! 

Taproot of our Lives

Rebecca Sedgwick

We have all seen Rebecca's picture on television--the victim of cyber bullying.  The 12 yr old jumped to her death. It appears that there was one very mentally disturbed 14 year, with definite anti-social traits, and a 12 year old follower.  The point is that the bullying was so agonizing that she took her own life to get out of that pain--in other words, she cut her taproot.

This story and analogy came to me while walking in the woods today. I cut two large poison ivy vines that were wrapped around a tree.  I only cut them in one place--but all the way through.  Weeks later, I look up the tree and all I see are dead vines from those two cuts--needless to say, through the tap root, the source of life. Very revealing to see the extent of those vines, especially as we consider how the taproot of life runs through all of our being.  Cut it and life ceases to flow.

We are that fragile.  The bullying cuts the roots of who we are.  What does it take to laugh and just walk away?  For teens, realistically--an opposing peer group which laughs the bullies to death instead of chasing others to their own deaths.

What is the taproot of your life that runs through your very being?  For Paul, that lifeline came from outside him in a highly legalistic faith that need to persecute others and lead them to their deaths.  That's how fragile his ego was...until Christ became that vine and he became its fruit.  Crucifixion has pruned the vine and given its life to all, including Paul the persecutor.

Pick Yourself!

The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for someone to give you permission; quit waiting for someone to say you are officially qualified... and pick yourself.
 
Seth Godin
American Author, Speaker and Entrepreneur




I wasn't the kid picked last at recess, maybe in the middle?, but there were always the kids picked last...and we all knew who they would be.  What a novel concept from Seth Godin to be proactive and choose yourself!  At the heart of that self-choice is a profound acceptance of who you are, embracing yourself as you know yourself to be.  In Christian worship, we confess our sins--and I like to think we lay before God far more than a laundry list of sins--but rather our whole selves --all that we are.  We "confess" ourselves like breathing in and out--life depends on it.  Can we lay our full selves before God -- find and know God's full acceptance by grace--and with it, choose to be who we are in the world?  Choose yourself as you have been chosen by God.  It's a game, life-script, that we all win at.  

October Road

 "October Road"

            by James Taylor

Keep me walking, October road.
Keep me walking in the sunshine, yeah
A little friend of mine
October road, October road ,
Help me now

I play James Taylor's "October Road" every fall to remind me of the seasonal journey through the year.  That "little friend of mine" for Taylor may be the sunshine itself....which begins to withdraw and leaves us in winter.  He sees the world in new ways through October light.  At least that is what it means to me and what I have learned about critiquing art is that all art is independent of its creator.  We can find new meanings despite what the composer intended because the work is free from the creator.

Better watch this "free of the creator!"  Remember that old saying from Art Buchwald, "And God saw it was good and then people got a hold of it!"  Nevertheless we are given free will--and as the light of the world changes through the seasons, we have the Light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has never overcome it."  We walk the October Road with the One who said, "I am the light of the world." 

 ‘I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

 but will have the light of life.’

                                      John 8.12

Tackiest Commercial!

Remember that tacky (slap-stick?) Christmas song--"Grandma just got run over by a reindeer?'  Well, she got run over again with the latest commercial touting electronic entertainment.  Seems that the kids don't want to go to grandma's and Dad explains that he knows her house is not alot of fun because she does not have all the FIOS entertainment.  Then, presto! they import all the FIOS stuff and now the kids want to stay with their "cool grandma."  Yup, once again, Grandma just got run over because who she is as their one and only Grandma got devalued by FIOS entertainment.  Now, I am enough of a Dad with 3 kids to know that their focus of interest is often preoccupied elsewhere--but how utterly sad--that technology would get out of perspective and place.  Culture critic does not mean getting rid of FIOS--just keeping it in its proper relationship to relationships. 

Jesus cut to the chase.  Order your life with two commandments.  Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.  Everything else is secondary to life as an instrument of love -- and never, ever as a plug in for the world of technology. 

Will you be my friend?

"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable."  Or, as the image shows, we are so open and transparent to each other that the sun (Son?) shines through us. Sometimes, the mystery of friendship dawns on us when we discover that silence between us and friends and invites us to be ourselves in the comfort of security.

¹⁵I do not call you servants^* any longer,

 because the servant^* does not know...

what the master is doing; 

but I have called you friends, 

because I have made known to you 

everything that I have heard 

from my Father.    

John 15: 15

Maya Angelou & Our Stories

There is no greater sorrow 

than failing to tell the story within you.

Maya Angelou

This blog is all about telling your story.  Look into the world. Ponder the mystery of how you are at once a part of the world and yet also a part of it.  It reflects the story of creation in your life, in your soul and the passion of your spirit.  The natural order is God’s created order, and since Christians believe that they are made in God’s image—well then, look into the world and see how it reflects your life back to you.  So I celebrate the joy of sensing and track the world through my dog, the fawn that cannot run far without stopping to see who I am, the ice enclosed, snow bound stillness of a world speaks in the silence of its beauty, the ocean’s movement like the waters we all came from in the womb---all of it—telling our story, for we are a part of all we see, and yet lifted out by the love of a God who gives us the rich privilege and pleasure to behold it. 

This blog is all about telling your story.  Look into the world. Ponder the mystery of how you are at once a part of the world and yet also a part of it.  It reflects the story of creation in your life, in your soul and the passion of your spirit.  The natural order is God’s created order, and since Christians believe that they are made in God’s image—well then, look into the world and see how it reflects your life back to you.  So I celebrate the joy of sensing and track the world through my dog, the fawn that cannot run far without stopping to see who I am, the ice enclosed, snow bound stillness of a world speaks in the silence of its beauty, the ocean’s movement like the waters we all came from in the womb---all of it—telling our story, for we are a part of all we see, and yet lifted out by the love of a God who gives us the rich privilege and pleasure to behold it. 

Maya Angelou

Alfred Morris Celebration

Alfred Morris does his Celebration Dance

 Alfred Morris of the Washington Redskins met a group of Little League Players at a hotel and they bonded so closely that he promised to do a celebration tribute after each touchdown--acting out a swing and a home run hit--which has been quite the hit with those players and their parents.  Said Morris--"They love it.  It brings real joy to my heart!"  

If it is true as Jesus says--"more blessed to give than to receive," than Morris is richer than his salary.  True riches lie in how we can validate others, affirm who they are, and recognize them above the crowd.  Over and over, didn't Jesus acknowledge the marginal, those who got lost in the crowd--and wanted to know who they were---"Who touched my robe?"  and "Zaccheaus, come down from that tree.  Let's have lunch!"  

Don't we share in that same joy as Morris as we find ways to recognize and affirm others?  Do we look beyond the crowd to let others know that they matter? 

Finding the Other Side....

Wanda was completing a charity walk to find the cure for breast cancer.  She apparently saw an easy way across to the other side.  Crossing the bridge--it suddenly went into operation, with the automatic control switching on.  Up went the bridge, and up went Wanda!  She suspended 22 ft up for 30 mins before being rescued.  Why did she choose to get to the other side this way?  Sounds like that old joke about why did the chicken cross over to the other side of the road!  No joking matter because a young man named Kyle did exactly the same thing--fall to his death.

The point is not her ignorance--or "forgive us our trespasses" for which she may be cited--but that common desire in all of us to get to the other side.  It's more than a bridge--it is the feeling that we are on a journey and are traveling somewhere...passing over.  Certainly the Tennyson poem "crossing the bar" speaks to the heart of it.  Stonewall Jackson talked of going over to the other side as he lay dying. 

In the Christian faith, we celebrate in worship by breaking the host wafer and saying---
Alleluia, Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast, Alleluia!

Our pass-over to the other side is Jesus Christ.
The pass-over out of storm to calm,
from fear to faith,
from crisis to resolution,
from anxiety to peace....

The pass-over from this life to the next.... Amen+ 

The Path of Life

Fredric Church--Twilight in the Wilderness

"The clearest way into the Universe 

is through a forest wilderness."

(John Muir)

So much has been made out of Church's Twilight in the Wilderness--including the anticipation of the Civil War with the blood red sky.  I like the Muir quotation coming together with Church's masterpiece, acclaimed as one of the finest 19c works.  The yellow horizon points us to an endless future--farther than the eye can see.  Even with the prediction of "wars and rumors of wars," from Jesus, what we have here is a glimpse of universal reality--at once of the inner human soul and of the soul of the universe, the pathway that lies ahead.  Google the work and see it in more clarity. 

Happy Columbus Day!

Nina, Pina, Santa Maria

"No one should fear 

to undertake any task

 in the name of our Savior,

if it is just and if the intention

is purely for His holy service."

 Christopher Columbus



History has not treated the patron saint of today's holiday very well.  He's been replaced by the Native American among others as the real discoverers of the new world. Jokes still abound:

"He was the first real politician.  He set out not knowing where he was going. When he got there, he did not know where he was.  And when he returned, he could not tell anyone where he had been...while doing all of this on government money!" 

He had a dream.   And he had the guts to make it happen.  May others joke about us in the same way!

The Greatest Commericial of All

Have you see the greatest commercial of all?  Google for "Guiness Beer Commercial Wheel chairs" and watch it--on YouTube I believe.  Here are all these guys playing wheel chair basketball.  Wow, that takes alot of guts to go out and try to live past your disabilities--to grow where we are challenged.  Then the commercial gets you. All but one stand up and walk away out of the gym. They crossed the line of disability--no man's land if you will--and then take the guy out for a beer.  Takes more gusto than a brew to enter that other world and so embrace a human being! 

Over and over, we see Jesus entering the worlds of those who are cast out by others.  Each time, he says that God is with you by really being there, offering who he is, and raising them to a new level of life.  Do we ever see ourselves being raised up to that next level where people are truly challenged?  Be it physical, emotional, spiritually--whatever--are we the ones chosen to carry out his ministry?  Or do we literally carry him with us? 

Emerson on Target!

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man (or woman) can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Essayist, Lecturer and Poet


I suppose that Emerson copies Jesus -- "it is more blessed to give than to receive."  In giving, we receive back what we have given and it becomes truly ours.  When we love another person, then that also love feeds us. Erich Fromm, in The Art of Loving, wrote a small classic that resonates with this truth.  He asks how many of us sit back and wonder when we will be loved.  The truth is that we receive love by loving--and it grows and and magnifies.  You cannot shake hands without clasping a hand--you cannot love without engaging and connecting with another person. 

Tracking God

J-Bell

This morning's walk was not different.  Jezebel (aka J-Bell) started for the path that I cut through the woods.  Then her nose hit the ground. Fresh scent....  Round in circles she tracked, then backed up and retraced the scent....quick, deliberate movement. The DNA test that revealed that she is 80% Lab came through in her hot pursuit.  We started up the trail.  She did not want to go and in fact stood behind me.  J-Bell pulled back, not wanted to go forward....any way but ahead!  That must be the 20% that is not Lab.  Finally just up ahead, three fawns crossed the trail and darted into the underbrush.  These must be the famous three that I have spotted before--only now the spots are grown out.  All three stopped and looked right at us. J-Bell's hackles shot up as if to say--Why are we messing with them?  Then behind us...the breaking of branches and three adult deer watching the proceedings.  Okay, J-Bell, let's not get into the middle of family doings! 

No question.  J-Bell had tracked these deer.  The signs were there.  And she came with the nose to find them.  

Walker Percy, the author and winner of the National Book Award, wrote in The Moviegoer that Binx Boling was "onto God...knew his scent, how to track him."  In the same way that J Bell has her nose for the news of what's ahead--we have our scent to develop like Binx to track God.  And it is the God who lays down a trail like those deer for us to follow and find him...or like Elijah, catch sight of his backside as he passes by. 

Bishop John Coburn says that the place to look for God is right under your nose--where life presses on you is the place where you find God seeking you out.  He is nailed to the cross...the ultimate pressure point, where death approaches and life seeks to be born in a new way. 

The First, Fresh Taste....

Joey Chestnut wins Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest with 54!

It is difficult to watch the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Context.  Oh, it certainly works as a publicity stunt.  People do watch others eating in such grotesque gluttony!  This year's winner put down 54 hot dogs in short order. 

I came across a wonderful concept that sharply contrasts with this eating contest.  Shakespeare got this one correct by saying--by misdirections find directions out!  Or, let the headlines point to what you really want to read. Namely, try eating very slowly and savor the very first bite.  It's called "first bite" by Pema Chondron in her wonderful new book, How to Meditate.  Make a meal out of the first bite...roll it around your taste buds, close your eyes--have you ever tasted this food in a such manner before? 
\

Here's the contrast.  Imagine the Last Supper.  Jesus takes the bread and passes it to everyone.  Then likewise with wine.  Hardly the Roman banquet!  This is not the epicureans, "eat, drink and be merry...."  Savor the presence of the Jesus in the meal.

I like where Pema Chondron takes the concept of "first bite"--or "fresh taste."  Slow down in what ever you do and savor the essence of reality.  She likens the "first or fresh bite" to tasting nature, a relationship, the first sounds of music...."  Enter its reality and live the essence, 

Spirit Airlines---People for Sale!

Well, the price did look low and it was the only flight that went non-stop to Dallas--about 2.5 hrs of flying time.By the time my wife got off the jet, she felt like she had been held captive at an auction.  Or, sitting a big league game and having people walking the aisles selling food.  But what happens around a sports arena gets very, very tiring when stuck in your seat on a long flight.  And in the last 30 mins., the flight attendants hit the aisles peddling credit cards--with a deal you MUST buy before the plane lands to take advantage of it.  Later on, we learned that there is a commission for these poor folk who make their money with these sales.  How about it?  All aboard!

A couple of thoughts...
If you are well aware of this environment--okay, don't fly them.  If you want the discount, then bring an MP3 Player and read.  Extinguish the toxic experience.  Just recognize that the flight attendants work on commission and you can choose to opt out...unless that is you are booking your spouse's flight and stick that person into that experience unknowingly.

Funny, they call it Spirit?  The gift of the Holy Spirit is exactly the opposite!  It lifts, opens and enriches human spirits.  Of course, that's a better way to fly!

Who Do You Believe?

Who are you likely to believe?  The salesperson or somebody who butts in and gives an opinion? 

I was walking through HomeDepot and overheard a salesman trying to talk to an Asian man (who had broken English).  He was explaining the use of the sonic wave deterrent which claims to drive out rats.  So I stopped, never ever having an opinion I could not share! 

"Oh, those things never work," I said shaking my head.  "Just go with the basic trap and peanut butter."  I took it down and showed him the illustration on the box.  I then pointed to where the bait would go...and placed the trap along the wall to show him where it would go. Although he had 5 traps in hand, I put three back and said, "just try these out first and see how they do."  The man was really appreciative. In fact, before I got away, he wanted to know what to use to kill flies! 

What is there about the peer who is a customer who gives an opinion?  What makes the peer, who is also the stranger, so believable?  Is it because I do not stand to profit?  Why do we all look at the ratings box for Amazon or any other customer reviews? 

State of the art literature suggests that we believe our peers, who are like us, instead of the salespeople representing the sale and the corporation. 

I wonder...
is that who we believe about our values and religious beliefs? 
Hmmmmm.....
In that category, the trust level drops because the peer has become the salesperson "pushing" (?) a particular belief.  They are in fact selling something....
However, the reverse is true when we are seeking something and find somebody who has walked in those shoes.  Is there something about Jesus because he has walked in our shoes?  And when have we consulted him on the real things we want out of life! 

Randy to the Rescue!

I have to admit that I enjoy watching Randy in "Just Say Yes to the Dress" (and the other person in Atlanta, Monte) as they help brides to select the dress for their wedding days.  Both Randy and Monte, dress designers, bring an incredible range of people skills to work for each person.  It is far more than what covers the exterior!  It must match the interior spirit.  Not easy work to do by any means.  No, let me say that not all motivations are necessarily those that I would affirm.  But the same point is there--to match the interior spirit with the external dress. 

Then I switch to Jesus and his saying about clothing.  He takes it one step further.  Match the external with God the Holy Spirit that abides within.  Clothe yourself with faith in the Spirit. 


And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  Matthew 6:28

The problem is one of taking off all that covers us up.  With trust, wear the clothing of faith in God alone--that you can truly be who you are.  Wear a smile, wear openness toward others, wear the reaching out of your life to help others--got the idea? 

I have often heard that the Christian wears things inside out--take the interior presence of the Spirit, your faith in God--and say yes to that dress. 

Move at the Speed of the Heart

Never give up
No matter what is going on
Never give up
Develop the heart
Too much energy in your country is spent
developing the mind instead of the heart
Develop the heart,
Be compassionate
Not just to your friends but to everyone,
be compassionate
Work for peace in your heart and in the world
Work for peace, and I say again
Never give up
No matter what is happening
No matter what is going on around you
Never give up.
 

Tenzin Gyatso
14th Dalai Lama

We move at the speed of technology---the faster the better!  We have bought the whole line, hook and sinker--connect with your tech and go as fast as you can.  So we become extensions of our electronics, the on/off switch--instead of the heart of our very being.  Driven by the newest "4g phones" and tera bite hard drives to save everything.  We breath through our technology and not through our spirits.  There is a saying about being the ghost in the machine.  We hollow out from within as the mechanical replaces the organic--living by the heart.

So take just a day....that's all.  Leave all forms of technology behind.  Breathe through your spirit, open the eyes of the heart--be the extension of God's life in this world.  Then set some limits for how you will use it....and go forth to live, fully.  

The Witness Tree

Behold....

The 
Witness Tree

They grow old before us and yet are we silent to what they say, blind to what they have seen?  The witness trees have seen life before we were born and will go on after we die.  They have seen years unfold, events rush forward, heard conversations that are silent.  Yet, do we take time to revere them and stand in their company? 

Prof Radford Wine came up with this intriguing concept with several DVD's about the civil war--at Antietam and Gettysburg.  Go and stand there at the bridge, the spreading sycamore that has been their since the bloodiest battle is still there--go to the trees at Gettysburg and learn about Picket's charge, a death march in futility.  The trees have seen and heard it all.

Perhaps that's a way of recapturing our lineage in time.  The witness trees connect us to a past that lives in them and still breathes through their lives.  You stand there just as the soldiers did...and stand with them and hear their muted cries.

It is a challenge for us in our spiritual lives to see ourselves as more than just an individual but as part of a family tree with branches of people that go back in time.  Even more so, to know that these trees shall remain as witnesses to our lives and the stories we write even now.

For Christians, there is this sense that we date our true stories from the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is our witness that extends through all time.  Though he himself hung on a tree, a witness to his life, all lives are connected to him and find their ultimate Story in his.

Go ahead.  Drop what you are doing.  God for a walk among the trees....

What Really Lasts?

One of numerous statues to Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Sonnet 55

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
'Gainst death, and all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
   So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
   You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.

Oh the ironies!  Shakespeare wrote Sonnet 55 to say that what really matters are the words of his sonnet—not a monument.  So what did people do?  They erected him a monument!  How terribly human—just cannot resist erecting the monuments to ourselves can we?

Yet what I gain from the Sonnet is that our lives are like the lines of his sonnet.  What we write on the hearts of others is what lasts.  We surely know how the opposite.  The painful truth is that we write the pain of memories into the lives of others—and those lines last. The profound difference is that when we dare to write the lines of love with our life—something happens that sets the other painful lines into perspective.  In fact, the wounds of those lines can become sources for loving others.  They teach us what really matters, what lasts.  And in the process, we too heal. 

Could this be the only monument that lasts, the love of God which writes the lines of love in us because his son died for us?  St Paul wrote:   

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: 

everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 

All this is from God…. 

(2 Corinthians 5:17ff) 

 

                                                            

World Peace and Harmony

Yellow Jackets Leaving their Nest

Okay, I confess.  How we expect to live in peace and harmony with the world when I cannot even find a way to live with Yellow Jackets?  Who does not recall getting into a nest of these little devils in the fall and finding them so aggressive?  Not all seasons--just the fall when food is scarce, winter is coming, and they lead with their stingers.  That's what happened to me out on the trail.  I was moving some sticks around to line my newly cut trail when WHAM! out of nowhere came the stings in my shirt, which I promptly slapped and got stung again.  There they were...right by the side of MY trail which the neighbors had started using.  Do I cut a new trail around them? Or is their something very human in us that hits back instead of lifting the shirt for the bees to fly away? Are you kidding?  Of course we slap at them--it's instinct that we hit back at what hurts.  So late at night, I poured the toxin down the hole, covered it--and presto, no more bees! 

Think about it.  If I cannot overcome my hurt to lift the shirt to let them go--why on earth not build the trail around them?  The Buddhist would tell me that the violence I perpetrate on the earth does me equal harm, and opportunity for me to live in peace.  The Golden Rule could be elevated for the natural world as well--in which we all have equal claim to the planet. 

Then again, those yellow jackets are little devils, aren't they! 

What Really Matters?

 80 Football Players Suspended 

to Teach a Whole Community!

“We want student-athletes that are humble to learn and grow through adversity and success on and off the field,We want a team that others want to associate themselves with and support; winning isn't the most important criteria for that to happen.”

The players at Roosevelt  HS got the shock of their lives when they were told to hand in their Jerseys mid-season--they were suspended for poor conduct OFF the field.  Apparently, character matters and to play is a privilege, not a right. And get this--before the action was taken, the coach contacted school administration and parents.  The community stood behind the action---and I would contend--probably learned what it means to act together to uphold community norms which the boys were grossly violating off the field--like cyber bullying, cheating, and insubordination.  It takes a community to turn that around! 

What were they told to do?  It was All positive--not negative punishment.  They were redirected into positive behavior to take charge of their lives to get their Jerseys back.  The letter read: 

They have to make an effort to attend every practice; be on time; receive no F’s or disciplinary problems in class; do an individual service project that helps their families; and memorize a quote about good character — and recite it to a coach.


And what else do we find in the Body of Christ?  We are adopted by grace--we cannot measure up to the Law, but we are taken in and redirected with a love we cannot earn.  New rules are given the game of life.  Play with these new rules because Christian character truly matters.  Only the Body of Christ can do this!

Do not be conformed to this world, 

but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, 

so that you may discern what is the will of God—

what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

Romans 12: 2

PS
Once they got the team back, they lost their first game by 20points.  Some would say that they won the only game that matters!