There is a new ministry starting up in our congregation - a food pantry for folks in the school district. We live about 10 miles from a larger town that has a food pantry. It serves the entire county, but as always, there are those that fall through the cracks. So a group of folks in our congregation got together and are starting a food pantry, aptly named "Grace's Table." I say aptly because our congregation's name is Grace Lutheran.
As we were first getting started, plenty of people stepped up to offer advice and ideas. One piece of advice was offered repeatedly by almost everyone. "You will have to do something to make sure that you screen people so that they don't cheat the system or try to get food if they do not really need it. We can't have people abusing the system. WE have to make sure that the people coming to the pantry really deserve the food."
The organizers and I all agreed. No screening, no one turned away. That doesn't sit well some people. They are convinced that we (the congregation) will be taken advantage of. I have given some thought to that understanding of helping our neighbor. I keep coming back to that apt name - GRACE'S Table.
When I think of God's grace, I never think of it as being in short supply. Grace is the relationship that God enters into with us through the waters of baptism. The relationship is initiated by God because of Jesus' death and resurrection. Now we can abuse and take advantage of that relationship. We can ignore, reject, and take it for granted. We can repeatedly walk into the same pattern of sin over and over again and sometimes we will do it intentionally because we know we are forgiven. Martyr and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer refers to that as "cheap grace."
But from God's end of the relationship, the grace is always there waiting for our response. We may ignore the relationship and take advantage of the grace God extends to us, but God is a relentless God. God continues in the relationship. Nowhere in scripture do we hear that God sent his only Son into the world to save ONLY those who were not going to abuse the relationship of grace or try to cheat the system. Nowhere does scripture tell us that God offers the relationship of grace to ONLY the deserving. No God offers us the relationship of grace through Jesus to ALL, never takes it back, never suggests that we need to earn it or deserve it. In fact, St. Paul is very clear that it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us. In other words, God comes to us in grace when we are most undeserving, playing no favorites, keeping no score of the number of times we take advantage of the relationship or fall short on our end. God's grace is abundant and unchanging. The relationship is begun in Christ not because we deserve it, but exactly because we could never deserve it or earn it apart from Christ.
So I think that if God's grace keeps no count of sins, but instead is abundant and unchanging, based not on our deserving, but on God's mercy and love, then Grace's Table ought to operate under similar principles.
Will someone take advantage? Possibly. But I'll let them answer for that when their day to face God comes. In the meantime, the folks at Grace's Table know what it means to receive what we do not deserve with no fear of it ever being taken away no matter how many times we fall short. So they have chosen to to do the best they can to let Grace's Table mirror God's grace - abundantly giving without making judgments about who is deserving or not.
I think they just may be on to something here! Grace's Table: Food Pantry and More - a place where the hungry are fed; plain and simple.
It what ways does your life reflect the abundance of God's grace?
Come to the table of mercy ... Grace: abundant and unchanging
Blessings -
PK
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Soulful Slowdowns.
We sat in a circle in a small, sunny room at a nearby retreat center. Five of us whose lives had reached the point where we felt so in need of a respite that we actually payed $25 and scheduled a formal "Summer Sabbath Day." The facilitator was speaking briefly, reading from some article she had found in Christianity Today about a new 'sickness' that is infecting society. I admit that I felt frustrated - she was cutting into my sabbath time. I started to check out, but then I mentally chastised myself for being so impatient and began to listen better. That was when her words landed on me like a hammer.
"Do you find yourself speeding through the day; multi-tasking in order to get everything accomplished? When you attempt to schedule a meeting or event, do you look at your calendar and not know whether to laugh or cry? Do you experience sunset fatigue - the desire to do nothing but sit after the end of the day, energy depleted, compassion expended, ability to engage in meaningful relationships with your loved ones non-existent? Are you surrounded by clutter - your office, your, home, your mind? You probably have hurried sickness."
I would like to say that it is a bunch of b.s. that some psychologist or somebody made up, but she was describing my life. And I FELT sick - physically, spiritually, and emotionally. That was what had prompted me to pay $25 to come here this day when I really had no time to do so (or so I thought) to take a sabbath day. The looks on the faces and the gently nodding of the heads of those around me assured me that I was not alone.
The thing is, I think we were the lucking ones. We had the opportunity to get away for a day and breathe. And someone to affirm that we were doing a good thing by caring for ourselves. I think very few people get those luxuries.
But I do think that more people than I would have imagined suffer from hurry sickness and do not even realize it or imagine any alternative.
One of the most common symptoms of hurry sickness is clutter. Let me tell you, there is a LOT of clutter in our lives.
Our congregation had a rummage sale this past weekend, a fund-raising event for a food pantry we are getting started. I was amazed by the amount of stuff that filled our fellowship hall. I was even more amazed on Sunday morning when I walked into the fellowship hall before worship. The fellowship hall looked like we were getting ready to have a rummage sale, not having just finished one. "How," I thought to myself, "could we have sold enough stuff to raise over $600 and STILL have a fellowship hall full of stuff?" It took several women in the congregation and the better part of an afternoon to clear out the leftovers.
The 'after' version of that fellowship hall, has been nagging at me. All of that stuff that was cluttering up our fellowship hall, where did it come from? And if one family no longer needed it, but it didn't sell in the rummage sale, then was it really necessary in the first place? How much unnecessary clutter is there in all of our lives?
If clutter is one of the most common symptoms of hurry sickness, then one of the most deadly symptoms of hurry sickness is superficiality in relationships. Too busy, too tired to engage in meaningful relationships - especially with the ones who love us and need us the most, and whom we most need we can actually lose our capacity for love - the deep connectedness that is rooted in God's love for us.
As I reflect on my own life and listen to the tales of the lives of those around me, I know this to be so. I hear of families who are continually on the move split in three directions, flipping a coin to see which parent takes which child where. Shared meals are almost non-existent.
I am not sure what we are doing to ourselves or why, but I left the retreat center that day convinced of two things.
1) I need to slow down - every day.
2) I need to nurture relationships with those I love. It takes time - and I need to MAKE time to make it happen.
2) I need a sabbath day - a day set apart to nurture my relationship with God, because if I do not do this, then the first two are utterly impossible.
Because I believe that hurry sickness is neither a cultural phenomena nor a bunch of psychological hooha. It is a significant spiritual sickness. It is all things in life conspiring to separate us from God and love. Some would call it the devil. Whatever you want to call it, there are forces at work in this world keeping us from focusing on the most important and essential things - a relationship with God and relationships with others that grow out the first. Without those two things, life isn't really living at all.
There is only one cure for hurry sickness - SLOW DOWN. It can be difficult. It can be emotionally painful and we tend not to do well with that. But in the end - it is soul-restoring and life-giving. That is something we could all use.
"Be still and know that I am God." says Psalm 46. Jesus says, "I came that they might have life and have it abundantly." The two are not disconnected, my friends. One tends to lead to the other.
Try a soulful slowdown. Experience the healing that happens.
I am trying to schedule a sabbath day at the retreat center once a month as a result of my revelation. It won't cure everything, but it is a start. And we have to start somewhere.
Where and when will your soulful slowdown begin?
Peace -
PK (+)
"Do you find yourself speeding through the day; multi-tasking in order to get everything accomplished? When you attempt to schedule a meeting or event, do you look at your calendar and not know whether to laugh or cry? Do you experience sunset fatigue - the desire to do nothing but sit after the end of the day, energy depleted, compassion expended, ability to engage in meaningful relationships with your loved ones non-existent? Are you surrounded by clutter - your office, your, home, your mind? You probably have hurried sickness."
I would like to say that it is a bunch of b.s. that some psychologist or somebody made up, but she was describing my life. And I FELT sick - physically, spiritually, and emotionally. That was what had prompted me to pay $25 to come here this day when I really had no time to do so (or so I thought) to take a sabbath day. The looks on the faces and the gently nodding of the heads of those around me assured me that I was not alone.
The thing is, I think we were the lucking ones. We had the opportunity to get away for a day and breathe. And someone to affirm that we were doing a good thing by caring for ourselves. I think very few people get those luxuries.
But I do think that more people than I would have imagined suffer from hurry sickness and do not even realize it or imagine any alternative.
One of the most common symptoms of hurry sickness is clutter. Let me tell you, there is a LOT of clutter in our lives.
Our congregation had a rummage sale this past weekend, a fund-raising event for a food pantry we are getting started. I was amazed by the amount of stuff that filled our fellowship hall. I was even more amazed on Sunday morning when I walked into the fellowship hall before worship. The fellowship hall looked like we were getting ready to have a rummage sale, not having just finished one. "How," I thought to myself, "could we have sold enough stuff to raise over $600 and STILL have a fellowship hall full of stuff?" It took several women in the congregation and the better part of an afternoon to clear out the leftovers.
The 'after' version of that fellowship hall, has been nagging at me. All of that stuff that was cluttering up our fellowship hall, where did it come from? And if one family no longer needed it, but it didn't sell in the rummage sale, then was it really necessary in the first place? How much unnecessary clutter is there in all of our lives?
If clutter is one of the most common symptoms of hurry sickness, then one of the most deadly symptoms of hurry sickness is superficiality in relationships. Too busy, too tired to engage in meaningful relationships - especially with the ones who love us and need us the most, and whom we most need we can actually lose our capacity for love - the deep connectedness that is rooted in God's love for us.
As I reflect on my own life and listen to the tales of the lives of those around me, I know this to be so. I hear of families who are continually on the move split in three directions, flipping a coin to see which parent takes which child where. Shared meals are almost non-existent.
I am not sure what we are doing to ourselves or why, but I left the retreat center that day convinced of two things.
1) I need to slow down - every day.
2) I need to nurture relationships with those I love. It takes time - and I need to MAKE time to make it happen.
2) I need a sabbath day - a day set apart to nurture my relationship with God, because if I do not do this, then the first two are utterly impossible.
Because I believe that hurry sickness is neither a cultural phenomena nor a bunch of psychological hooha. It is a significant spiritual sickness. It is all things in life conspiring to separate us from God and love. Some would call it the devil. Whatever you want to call it, there are forces at work in this world keeping us from focusing on the most important and essential things - a relationship with God and relationships with others that grow out the first. Without those two things, life isn't really living at all.
There is only one cure for hurry sickness - SLOW DOWN. It can be difficult. It can be emotionally painful and we tend not to do well with that. But in the end - it is soul-restoring and life-giving. That is something we could all use.
"Be still and know that I am God." says Psalm 46. Jesus says, "I came that they might have life and have it abundantly." The two are not disconnected, my friends. One tends to lead to the other.
Try a soulful slowdown. Experience the healing that happens.
I am trying to schedule a sabbath day at the retreat center once a month as a result of my revelation. It won't cure everything, but it is a start. And we have to start somewhere.
Where and when will your soulful slowdown begin?
Peace -
PK (+)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
B-I-B-L-E
As a pastor, I get more than my share of inspirational or humorous 'religious' e-mails forwarded to me. Most of them I appreciate. A little extra inspiration or levity is often a welcome addition to my day. There is one e-mail that I get quite regularly. It is the one where a little boy tells his father that he knows what B-I-B-L-E stands for: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
I have to apologize right now to everyone who has sent me that e-mail, because I do not intend to offend you and I DO appreciate the fact that you think of me and send the e-mail. But I also have to admit that I find that one more annoying than I do cute.
You see, that just isn't the way that I see the Bible. The Bible is not a "how-to" manual for humans. It is a collection of stories about God and God's relationship with us. When taken together, the collection culminates in THE great story of God - the God who is faithful to us, has mercy on us, has compassion for us, and loves us enough to become one of us. Having become one of us, God becomes one with us and shares our life. What I find so amazing is that by dying and rising from the dead, Jesus alters our human reality. Through Jesus, God set in motion the restoration of the nation of Israel and the redemption of the entire creation. Now THAT is one heck of a story. In fact, there is no other story like it. It is a life-giving and life-transforming story.
Sometimes I simply read the Bible; sometimes I study it. Other times I read it in a way that can only be described as completely devouring the words I am reading. It is then that I am absolutely enraptured by this amazing God and the stories of faithfulness, steadfastness, mercy, grace, and love that I encounter in their midst.
When I read the Bible, what I encounter is the life-giving story of a loving God. What I discover are not so much instructions and as ways in which my life-story, with all of it's sub-stories, intersects with that live-giving God's story. My life is transformed in the process, not because of any basic instructions which I am following, but because it is opened up to being a part of God's story. And God's story is all about giving and transforming lives.
May you be transformed -
PK(+)
I have to apologize right now to everyone who has sent me that e-mail, because I do not intend to offend you and I DO appreciate the fact that you think of me and send the e-mail. But I also have to admit that I find that one more annoying than I do cute.
You see, that just isn't the way that I see the Bible. The Bible is not a "how-to" manual for humans. It is a collection of stories about God and God's relationship with us. When taken together, the collection culminates in THE great story of God - the God who is faithful to us, has mercy on us, has compassion for us, and loves us enough to become one of us. Having become one of us, God becomes one with us and shares our life. What I find so amazing is that by dying and rising from the dead, Jesus alters our human reality. Through Jesus, God set in motion the restoration of the nation of Israel and the redemption of the entire creation. Now THAT is one heck of a story. In fact, there is no other story like it. It is a life-giving and life-transforming story.
Sometimes I simply read the Bible; sometimes I study it. Other times I read it in a way that can only be described as completely devouring the words I am reading. It is then that I am absolutely enraptured by this amazing God and the stories of faithfulness, steadfastness, mercy, grace, and love that I encounter in their midst.
When I read the Bible, what I encounter is the life-giving story of a loving God. What I discover are not so much instructions and as ways in which my life-story, with all of it's sub-stories, intersects with that live-giving God's story. My life is transformed in the process, not because of any basic instructions which I am following, but because it is opened up to being a part of God's story. And God's story is all about giving and transforming lives.
May you be transformed -
PK(+)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Blood Brothers
Memorial Day is celebrated in the United States on the last Monday of May. It is a day when the country honors those who gave their lives in military service to the country. It began in the aftermath of the bloody U.S. Civil War and has continued since. Sadly, each year brings more lives lost.
It is not uncommon to see business and homes routinely flying the American flag outside their premises. The trend picks up considerably as Memorial Day weekend approaches. An American flag flying from the flag pole of the home next to the church where I serve is common. However, as Memorial Day weekend was drawing near, I was met by a very uncommon sight. Flapping from the flag pole next door, hanging alongside the U.S. flag, just as proudly as could be was the flag from Germany. Now THAT was a curiosity at best.
When I asked our neighbors about the significance of flying the flag from Germany, they shared with me the final chapter in what was already a remarkable story of hope and healing.
Several months previously their son, a young man in his 20's, had a recurrance of lymphoma. Our congregation and community had grieved with them and prayed for them. Many words of update and encouragement were shared across the church parking lot between them and me as I came and went each day. It was a typical roller-coaster of hope and disappointment, promise and fear, as treatments were attempted without favorable results. At long last, there was no alternative but to attempt a bone marrow transplant. Finding a donor proved to be exceedingly difficult. At long last, a donor was found. The transplant was successful and eventually, their son was able to come home.
The culmination of the story was told under the sound of the two flags whipping in the breeze on a sunny May day. What I had not realized was how exceedingly miraculous finding a donor had truly been. It seems that of all registered donors world-wide there were only two that had a close enough match to even attempt a transplant. The most likely candidate was a 20-something young man from Germany. He had registered some time before when a co-worker needed a transplant, but was not a match. Still, his profile was on file with a global donor registry concern and years later, some stranger whom he had never met, a continent away, would end up needing some of his bone marrow for a transplant.
That weekend, Memorial Day weekend, donor and recipient would meet. They would celebrate, spend time getting to know one another, and from a little bit of shared DNA a friendship that will span an ocean and connect two continents would take root and blossom. I have no doubt it will be a friendship that will last a lifetime. How could it not?
I was blessed to be invited to the picnic to celebrate the meeting and meet the donor. As I stood there and watched the two young men, the joy and laughter of all those gathered, and two flags flapping in the breeze, I could only shake my head and smile at the irony of it. On a day when we were honoring our war dead, we were also gathered to celebrate life. Two young men, strangers with nothing in common, share LIFE. They are blood brothers in the most miraculous sense of the word. Nationality, politcal ideologies, liberal-conservative - all of the labels that we can concoct to put barriers between humans fall away in the face of the connecting of these two young men.
I think that is just a little slice of what God is up to in the world. Teaching us humans to understand that what we have in common is so much richer and more deeply life-giving than any differences we may experience or create.
I am deeply grateful for the reminder that day. Here's to Memorial Day - and blood brothers, and life.
May the Spirit keep us grounded and connected in the one thing we all have in common - God's breath of life!
PK (+)
It is not uncommon to see business and homes routinely flying the American flag outside their premises. The trend picks up considerably as Memorial Day weekend approaches. An American flag flying from the flag pole of the home next to the church where I serve is common. However, as Memorial Day weekend was drawing near, I was met by a very uncommon sight. Flapping from the flag pole next door, hanging alongside the U.S. flag, just as proudly as could be was the flag from Germany. Now THAT was a curiosity at best.
When I asked our neighbors about the significance of flying the flag from Germany, they shared with me the final chapter in what was already a remarkable story of hope and healing.
Several months previously their son, a young man in his 20's, had a recurrance of lymphoma. Our congregation and community had grieved with them and prayed for them. Many words of update and encouragement were shared across the church parking lot between them and me as I came and went each day. It was a typical roller-coaster of hope and disappointment, promise and fear, as treatments were attempted without favorable results. At long last, there was no alternative but to attempt a bone marrow transplant. Finding a donor proved to be exceedingly difficult. At long last, a donor was found. The transplant was successful and eventually, their son was able to come home.
The culmination of the story was told under the sound of the two flags whipping in the breeze on a sunny May day. What I had not realized was how exceedingly miraculous finding a donor had truly been. It seems that of all registered donors world-wide there were only two that had a close enough match to even attempt a transplant. The most likely candidate was a 20-something young man from Germany. He had registered some time before when a co-worker needed a transplant, but was not a match. Still, his profile was on file with a global donor registry concern and years later, some stranger whom he had never met, a continent away, would end up needing some of his bone marrow for a transplant.
That weekend, Memorial Day weekend, donor and recipient would meet. They would celebrate, spend time getting to know one another, and from a little bit of shared DNA a friendship that will span an ocean and connect two continents would take root and blossom. I have no doubt it will be a friendship that will last a lifetime. How could it not?
I was blessed to be invited to the picnic to celebrate the meeting and meet the donor. As I stood there and watched the two young men, the joy and laughter of all those gathered, and two flags flapping in the breeze, I could only shake my head and smile at the irony of it. On a day when we were honoring our war dead, we were also gathered to celebrate life. Two young men, strangers with nothing in common, share LIFE. They are blood brothers in the most miraculous sense of the word. Nationality, politcal ideologies, liberal-conservative - all of the labels that we can concoct to put barriers between humans fall away in the face of the connecting of these two young men.
I think that is just a little slice of what God is up to in the world. Teaching us humans to understand that what we have in common is so much richer and more deeply life-giving than any differences we may experience or create.
I am deeply grateful for the reminder that day. Here's to Memorial Day - and blood brothers, and life.
May the Spirit keep us grounded and connected in the one thing we all have in common - God's breath of life!
PK (+)
Friday, July 1, 2011
Raspberries and Reconciliation
Five years ago yesterday I was ordained as a pastor. Shortly thereafter, I began my first (and so far ONLY) call in a congregation. In all honesty, the congregation had a reputation as being decidedly hard on clergy. Because I was an older, second-career pastor and hopefully a little bit seasoned, there were people that felt I was a good candidate for this call. I am now convinced that the Spirit was well and truly at work in the process, although I would not always have said so.
At any rate, it was a recipe custom created for tapping into my near-pathological drive for perfection and resistance to failure. I made my share of first-call pastor mistakes. (For the record, age and 'real-world' experience do not immunize one against those.) Combine first-call pastor enthusiasm with a tenacious Celtic spirit and add in a little over-zealous drive to do well and well - yeah, it wasn't always pretty. The landscape of a challenging congregation in a small community is littered with landmines and I found just about all of them. I am lucky to still have limbs.
Early on in my journey with the congregation, a number of people took issue with my style of leadership and my gender. Many ended up finding other communities in which to worship. One person, in particular had a very difficult time with those qualities. Over time, things became untenable for that person and in the midst of misunderstandings, miscommunication, and mishap they left the congregation. We both contributed our share of fuel to the fire that had apparently burned bridges. I tried to leave the door to conversation open, but eventually, I went on about congregational life having adopted a bit of an out-of-sight-out-of mind attitude. I held no grudge, but also made no further effort to reconcile.
Imagine my surprise to call home from a meeting and hear from my husband that this person had dropped by the house on a summer evening bearing a half gallon of ice cream and an equal quantity of freshly-picked red raspberries. A peace offering, they said. The news brought tears to my eyes.
Later, when I called to say "thank you" we both apologized and asked forgiveness for the things we had done and said that wounded. Will we be close? Probably not. But because we were able to ask for, give, and receive forgiveness we are reconciled to one another. Make no mistake about it - this was not an achievement of human might and power. It was an offering of humility and vulnerability made possible in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. I am decidedly grateful that one of us was able to be the initial instrument of the reconciling work of the Holy Spirit. That made it possible for both of us to experience the Spirit's reconciling work.
For those of you who wonder if or where God is at work in the world - it is through moments like this. We have been reconciled to God through and in Jesus Christ. That reconciling love flows like a waterfall into our lives and through them to others. We can experience reconciliation with God in the sacraments of the church - baptism, the Lord's Supper. But it needs to spill over into the daily fabric of our lives. And in my book - for this week, at least - nothing spells reconciliation like a little ice cream and raspberries on a summer evening.
Raspberries - an unofficial fruit of the Spirit.
Having been reconciled, may we bear fruit and be reconciling in the world.
Peace -
PK (+)
At any rate, it was a recipe custom created for tapping into my near-pathological drive for perfection and resistance to failure. I made my share of first-call pastor mistakes. (For the record, age and 'real-world' experience do not immunize one against those.) Combine first-call pastor enthusiasm with a tenacious Celtic spirit and add in a little over-zealous drive to do well and well - yeah, it wasn't always pretty. The landscape of a challenging congregation in a small community is littered with landmines and I found just about all of them. I am lucky to still have limbs.
Early on in my journey with the congregation, a number of people took issue with my style of leadership and my gender. Many ended up finding other communities in which to worship. One person, in particular had a very difficult time with those qualities. Over time, things became untenable for that person and in the midst of misunderstandings, miscommunication, and mishap they left the congregation. We both contributed our share of fuel to the fire that had apparently burned bridges. I tried to leave the door to conversation open, but eventually, I went on about congregational life having adopted a bit of an out-of-sight-out-of mind attitude. I held no grudge, but also made no further effort to reconcile.
Imagine my surprise to call home from a meeting and hear from my husband that this person had dropped by the house on a summer evening bearing a half gallon of ice cream and an equal quantity of freshly-picked red raspberries. A peace offering, they said. The news brought tears to my eyes.
Later, when I called to say "thank you" we both apologized and asked forgiveness for the things we had done and said that wounded. Will we be close? Probably not. But because we were able to ask for, give, and receive forgiveness we are reconciled to one another. Make no mistake about it - this was not an achievement of human might and power. It was an offering of humility and vulnerability made possible in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. I am decidedly grateful that one of us was able to be the initial instrument of the reconciling work of the Holy Spirit. That made it possible for both of us to experience the Spirit's reconciling work.
For those of you who wonder if or where God is at work in the world - it is through moments like this. We have been reconciled to God through and in Jesus Christ. That reconciling love flows like a waterfall into our lives and through them to others. We can experience reconciliation with God in the sacraments of the church - baptism, the Lord's Supper. But it needs to spill over into the daily fabric of our lives. And in my book - for this week, at least - nothing spells reconciliation like a little ice cream and raspberries on a summer evening.
Raspberries - an unofficial fruit of the Spirit.
Having been reconciled, may we bear fruit and be reconciling in the world.
Peace -
PK (+)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Hello? Is that you, God?
... lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. 3 Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace. (Eph 4:1b-3 NLT)
I have been spending a fair amount of time lately reflecting on the concept of call. When each of us is baptized, we are called to new life; a life lived in the Spirit and conformed to Christ. What we do with our lives is all part and parcel of our baptismal calling. It will play out differently for each of us. Many of us think that God's calling in our lives involves something out of the ordinary, or perhaps even a calling to a religious vocation - after all, pastors talk about being 'called' to the ministry.
In truth, God's call to us comes in so many more simple and common ways. The other day my spiritual director was telling me about her nephew. He made the observation that so many of his co-workers couldn't wait to get away from their families and it puzzled him. In contrast, he noted that he couldn't wait to get home to his family at the end of the day and even though he was tired, his greatest delights were the times he was able to spend with his three children. He concluded - "I think I am called to be a father." I suspect that he was quite correct about that - and so did his aunt, the nun.
That is the way our calls from God are. Calls to be in relationship with others in ways that reflect and express our Creator's own love. Relationships of intimacy and self-giving love that are played out of the fields of every day life. Reading a bedtime story to our children. Taking extra time with a student in our classroom. Visiting our friends or neighbors who are hospitalized or homebound. Each of these small acts of human kindness are love in action and they are responses to God's baptismal calls in our lives.
In that same conversation with my spiritual director we discussed my own discernment about my calling - as a pastor, yes, but also as a child of God first and foremost. I was struck by her challenge to me. "Open yourself up to what God is calling you to do each day and each moment," she said. "In reality the moment is all we have in which to live." I have been sitting with that notion for a few days now. I am finding a newly discovered sense of delight and purpose in discerning every moment what God is calling me to do. What I know is that is really not as tough as it may sound. God's call is always first and foremost to love. So any time an opportunity to act in love toward others presents itself in the common, ordinary fabric and moments of my life, I know that the Spirit is calling me.
The least, the last, the lost, the lonely, and the ones we called loved ones - we have only to look into their eyes and see Christ. In every moment, every decision, and every choice that comprises the fabric of our days we can listen for God's call. Discernment about the little things is relatively uncomplicated. When the opportunity is clearly an opportunity to love and/or serve others then ... Hello ... God is calling.
Make you discover the delight in the call of the moment.
PK (+)
I have been spending a fair amount of time lately reflecting on the concept of call. When each of us is baptized, we are called to new life; a life lived in the Spirit and conformed to Christ. What we do with our lives is all part and parcel of our baptismal calling. It will play out differently for each of us. Many of us think that God's calling in our lives involves something out of the ordinary, or perhaps even a calling to a religious vocation - after all, pastors talk about being 'called' to the ministry.
In truth, God's call to us comes in so many more simple and common ways. The other day my spiritual director was telling me about her nephew. He made the observation that so many of his co-workers couldn't wait to get away from their families and it puzzled him. In contrast, he noted that he couldn't wait to get home to his family at the end of the day and even though he was tired, his greatest delights were the times he was able to spend with his three children. He concluded - "I think I am called to be a father." I suspect that he was quite correct about that - and so did his aunt, the nun.
That is the way our calls from God are. Calls to be in relationship with others in ways that reflect and express our Creator's own love. Relationships of intimacy and self-giving love that are played out of the fields of every day life. Reading a bedtime story to our children. Taking extra time with a student in our classroom. Visiting our friends or neighbors who are hospitalized or homebound. Each of these small acts of human kindness are love in action and they are responses to God's baptismal calls in our lives.
In that same conversation with my spiritual director we discussed my own discernment about my calling - as a pastor, yes, but also as a child of God first and foremost. I was struck by her challenge to me. "Open yourself up to what God is calling you to do each day and each moment," she said. "In reality the moment is all we have in which to live." I have been sitting with that notion for a few days now. I am finding a newly discovered sense of delight and purpose in discerning every moment what God is calling me to do. What I know is that is really not as tough as it may sound. God's call is always first and foremost to love. So any time an opportunity to act in love toward others presents itself in the common, ordinary fabric and moments of my life, I know that the Spirit is calling me.
The least, the last, the lost, the lonely, and the ones we called loved ones - we have only to look into their eyes and see Christ. In every moment, every decision, and every choice that comprises the fabric of our days we can listen for God's call. Discernment about the little things is relatively uncomplicated. When the opportunity is clearly an opportunity to love and/or serve others then ... Hello ... God is calling.
Make you discover the delight in the call of the moment.
PK (+)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Glad and Generous Hearts
Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. (1Timothy 6:18)
Recently I have had regular occasions to consider what it means to be generous. I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. Often it seems as though those who have the least are actually the most ready to share with those in need. It is an easy explanation to say that it is because they know what it is like to do without, and I agree that is the case. But there is something unique about this characteristic of generosity that makes me smile and assures me the the Spirit is well at work in the world.
Anyone can give to those in need. Wealthy individuals like Bill Gates and Sam Walton can and do make large donations to a variety of worthy charitable causes. Most people I know couldn't approach that level of financial giving. In fact, I suspect that all of the people I know combined cannot make that large of a monetary donation. So I am very grateful for exceedingly wealthy people who support charities and worthy causes. Our society is greatly enriched through their charitable giving.
But I am awed and amazed by a different kind of giving. There is a woman in our congregation about whom I often say she never met an opportunity for helping those in need that she didn't like. She gives of her time and her abilities and her finances with such a sense of joy that it is infectious. And she is not alone. I never cease to be awed and inspired by the people in the congregation who have just enough to get by, and who will express their utter delight at finding sales at the stores so that they can pick up extras for the community food pantry, pregnancy center, you name it. While many of us are looking at clearance and "buy-one-get-one-free" sales as an opportunity to stock our pantries for the ever-nebulous "just in case", they see them as an opportunity to buy more to give away. That is what I call GENEROSITY.
It is also a work of the Holy Spirit. Generosity is not a matter of how much is given, but rather of the readiness to share what one has and the joy with which one does so. That kind of readiness and joy are matters of the heart and soul. They flow out of a life transformed by the Holy Spirit to be conformed to Christ. They are a sharing of love and faith and hope - love for others, faith in God's provision, and hope in the promise of a community that cares for one another in all circumstances and from all circumstances.
Our society needs wealthy donors who can support the arts, build museums, hospital wings, college campus buildings. But I'll take a community full of generous folks who take delight in getting an extra box of cereal for free so that they have some to share ANY DAY. Generosity is infectious and a generous community of common, everyday people can transform lives and the world. That is when we get a glimpse of the reign of God happening right here and now. That - as surely as a faith community gathered around the communion table in worship - is a foretaste of the feast to come.
When have you experience generosity lately? Did you notice the delight?
May you have glad and generous hearts.
PK (+)
p.s. - If you find a "buy-one-get-one-free" sale, may you shop till you drop and then drop your savings into the lives of those in need. The delight will amaze you and just may infect others.
Recently I have had regular occasions to consider what it means to be generous. I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. Often it seems as though those who have the least are actually the most ready to share with those in need. It is an easy explanation to say that it is because they know what it is like to do without, and I agree that is the case. But there is something unique about this characteristic of generosity that makes me smile and assures me the the Spirit is well at work in the world.
Anyone can give to those in need. Wealthy individuals like Bill Gates and Sam Walton can and do make large donations to a variety of worthy charitable causes. Most people I know couldn't approach that level of financial giving. In fact, I suspect that all of the people I know combined cannot make that large of a monetary donation. So I am very grateful for exceedingly wealthy people who support charities and worthy causes. Our society is greatly enriched through their charitable giving.
But I am awed and amazed by a different kind of giving. There is a woman in our congregation about whom I often say she never met an opportunity for helping those in need that she didn't like. She gives of her time and her abilities and her finances with such a sense of joy that it is infectious. And she is not alone. I never cease to be awed and inspired by the people in the congregation who have just enough to get by, and who will express their utter delight at finding sales at the stores so that they can pick up extras for the community food pantry, pregnancy center, you name it. While many of us are looking at clearance and "buy-one-get-one-free" sales as an opportunity to stock our pantries for the ever-nebulous "just in case", they see them as an opportunity to buy more to give away. That is what I call GENEROSITY.
It is also a work of the Holy Spirit. Generosity is not a matter of how much is given, but rather of the readiness to share what one has and the joy with which one does so. That kind of readiness and joy are matters of the heart and soul. They flow out of a life transformed by the Holy Spirit to be conformed to Christ. They are a sharing of love and faith and hope - love for others, faith in God's provision, and hope in the promise of a community that cares for one another in all circumstances and from all circumstances.
Our society needs wealthy donors who can support the arts, build museums, hospital wings, college campus buildings. But I'll take a community full of generous folks who take delight in getting an extra box of cereal for free so that they have some to share ANY DAY. Generosity is infectious and a generous community of common, everyday people can transform lives and the world. That is when we get a glimpse of the reign of God happening right here and now. That - as surely as a faith community gathered around the communion table in worship - is a foretaste of the feast to come.
When have you experience generosity lately? Did you notice the delight?
May you have glad and generous hearts.
PK (+)
p.s. - If you find a "buy-one-get-one-free" sale, may you shop till you drop and then drop your savings into the lives of those in need. The delight will amaze you and just may infect others.
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