Yesterday morning on the way to work (very, very early in the morning) I heard an advertisement on WMHK. The announcer was proclaiming how God so often says exactly what you need to hear at just the right time, and how sometimes he even uses the medium of radio to do so. Then, of course, he proceeded to ask for money for the station. After I pulled into my spot in the parking garage, I picked up my Message to briefly read through the Psalm we are going to study this week for our Sunday School lesson. And here I am again, reading something I swear I've never read before but knowing that I have to have read it before because I've read all of the book of Psalms more than once!
It was Psalm 37. Maybe it was that I had never read it in The Message before, because when I read it in the NIV last night, it was very familiar. But reading it in The Message shed a whole new light on it and I knew right away that it was God, saying exactly what I needed to hear, at exactly the right time- just like the radio announcer said.
Psalm 37 talks a lot about how the righteous will fare in life, compared to the wicked. I've always believed "the wicked" were those people who intentionally do evil things. You know the type: they're the super villains in the super hero stories- General Zod, The Joker, Emperor Palpatine. They're the people in horror or suspense movies, like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. They're the meanies on the news who kidnap children or beat up old ladies. But that doesn't really fit the description of "wicked" that God uses. The Hebrew word used most in Psalm 37 for "wicked" is "rasha", meaning:
1. wicked, criminal
a. guilty one, one guilty of crime
b. wicked (hostile to God)
c. wicked, guilty of sin (against God or man)
Hmmm. Now who, exactly, does that last bit sound like? You? Me? The people I interact with day in and day out? That's why when Eugene Peterson translates wicked in The Message, he uses words like "braggart" and "those who climb the ladder", and "bullies". People who are self-focused and self-made. Self-centered and self-sufficient. Scary, huh? They sound like the people we work with, work for, live with, socialize with, and possibly, the people we are.
I'm not always perfect, not even close. But I know that more than anything, I want to keep company with God.
I want him to validate my life in the clear light of day.
I want to be God strong. To be happy while he holds my hand tightly, lest I stumble and fall.
I want to turn my back on evil and work for good.
To walk in step with God, close enough to hear his breath and his heartbeat.
The psalmist says that people like that chew on God's word like a dog chews on a bone. What a word picture there! Have you watched a dog chew on a bone? Dogs can chew on a bone for hours on end. Even when it looks like there's nothing left worth chewing on, they keep at it. It looks like they're not making any progress, hours and hours of chewing and the bone still looks the same. But eventually, one day it's devoured. Determination. Fascination. Obsession. Who knows? But try to take a bone from an enamored dog and you just may lose your hand. That's the way I'm to be with God's word. Possessive. Obsessive. Non-stop fascination.
And who knows? Just maybe I'll reap a few benefits along the way... say, maybe, a little less fretting, a spacious, free life, happiness at being held when the way gets a little rocky. And maybe even get to catch a glimpse of some bully slipping on the proverbial banana peel!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Blue
How can a heart be so heavy on a day so beautiful?
How can one doubt so surely everything that's good, and beautiful when it's so vividly real in front of their very face?
Why?
Why would one readily believe things that are negative, even detrimental when there is very little evidence they even exist?
How can one look at a smattered blue bird lying on the edge of the road and not believe there's somehow more to it than just that- a smattered blue bird?
Blue birds should never be smattered.
How can one doubt so surely everything that's good, and beautiful when it's so vividly real in front of their very face?
Why?
Why would one readily believe things that are negative, even detrimental when there is very little evidence they even exist?
How can one look at a smattered blue bird lying on the edge of the road and not believe there's somehow more to it than just that- a smattered blue bird?
Blue birds should never be smattered.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
He Who is Least Among You
"Once we have become poor, we can be a good host. It is indeed the paradox of hospitality that poverty makes a good host. Poverty is the inner disposition that allows us to take away our defenses and convert our enemies into friends... since we have nothing to lose but all to give."
-Nouwen
I stumbled across this quote on the blog of a friend of a friend this AM. I had never visited that blog before but I believe God wanted me to see this particular quote. I don't know who Nouwen is or where this quote can be found, but I found it extremely powerful- especially after spending the morning frantically cleaning and fretting. Why? Only because two women (who have been here before... several times) were coming over for a very informal Bible study.
I remember when I toured with a singing group from college and stayed in peoples' homes that the least wealthy were almost always, without a doubt, the best hosts. I didn't figure that out back then. Back then, I'd always wait with bated breath to see how big and fancy the house was. When we'd gather back together in the morning, stories would be flying to see who had stayed at the most extravagant home. There are specific things I remember: a home so large I couldn't find my way to my bedroom. One that had a kitchen so large you could fit the entire downstairs of my house in it. One family had a daughter in a private high school for politician's kids around DC. In one of these fine households, the family left before we woke, leaving us no breakfast and my roomie and I tried to figure out how to make "toast" in a microwave and went through half of loaf of bread before we trudged off hungry. (Yes, I can cook... now.) I don't have any pictures of any of my host families and I remember very little about them. But Rod has stories about a family who really couldn't afford to keep anyone but did anyway. We have pictures of them. They were so thrilled to be allowed to host kids and Rod could tell you details from staying there. And his stories aren't horror stories. They are stories about what good hosts they were.
I remember during my public health rotation in undergrad that the patients we would visit were always so thrilled to be getting nursing students. One elderly couple had barely enough to eat. There was one orange in a bowl on the table. But the precious lady insisted that we split it four ways, one quarter each for me, my nursing student buddy, herself, and her ailing diabetic husband. I have memories of children in Costa Rica bringing me tiny treasures that belonged to them as going away gifts when I visited there one summer. Villagers in Jesus de Otoro, Honduras, showering us with gifts when we visited my sister who lived there during her years in the Peace Corps. Every experience genuine and memorable- because the people didn't give things- they gave of themselves.
It's so easy when we have a lot of stuff to dish stuff out and feel like we've accomplished something. When I went to Moldova we handed out toys we had collected to the orphans. I was appalled at what some people had offered. Broken McDonald's Happy Meal toys... they couldn't part with the ones that weren't broken? Sheesh! I wanted to give them the very best and what we had looked like junk.
I don't want to offer junk. I want to offer my best; I want to offer me; I want to offer- not just me- but the very best me there is. I don't want to be embarrassed by what I gave. I pray that I will keep in touch with my own poverty so that I will only strive to offer my very best.
-Nouwen
I stumbled across this quote on the blog of a friend of a friend this AM. I had never visited that blog before but I believe God wanted me to see this particular quote. I don't know who Nouwen is or where this quote can be found, but I found it extremely powerful- especially after spending the morning frantically cleaning and fretting. Why? Only because two women (who have been here before... several times) were coming over for a very informal Bible study.
I remember when I toured with a singing group from college and stayed in peoples' homes that the least wealthy were almost always, without a doubt, the best hosts. I didn't figure that out back then. Back then, I'd always wait with bated breath to see how big and fancy the house was. When we'd gather back together in the morning, stories would be flying to see who had stayed at the most extravagant home. There are specific things I remember: a home so large I couldn't find my way to my bedroom. One that had a kitchen so large you could fit the entire downstairs of my house in it. One family had a daughter in a private high school for politician's kids around DC. In one of these fine households, the family left before we woke, leaving us no breakfast and my roomie and I tried to figure out how to make "toast" in a microwave and went through half of loaf of bread before we trudged off hungry. (Yes, I can cook... now.) I don't have any pictures of any of my host families and I remember very little about them. But Rod has stories about a family who really couldn't afford to keep anyone but did anyway. We have pictures of them. They were so thrilled to be allowed to host kids and Rod could tell you details from staying there. And his stories aren't horror stories. They are stories about what good hosts they were.
I remember during my public health rotation in undergrad that the patients we would visit were always so thrilled to be getting nursing students. One elderly couple had barely enough to eat. There was one orange in a bowl on the table. But the precious lady insisted that we split it four ways, one quarter each for me, my nursing student buddy, herself, and her ailing diabetic husband. I have memories of children in Costa Rica bringing me tiny treasures that belonged to them as going away gifts when I visited there one summer. Villagers in Jesus de Otoro, Honduras, showering us with gifts when we visited my sister who lived there during her years in the Peace Corps. Every experience genuine and memorable- because the people didn't give things- they gave of themselves.
It's so easy when we have a lot of stuff to dish stuff out and feel like we've accomplished something. When I went to Moldova we handed out toys we had collected to the orphans. I was appalled at what some people had offered. Broken McDonald's Happy Meal toys... they couldn't part with the ones that weren't broken? Sheesh! I wanted to give them the very best and what we had looked like junk.
I don't want to offer junk. I want to offer my best; I want to offer me; I want to offer- not just me- but the very best me there is. I don't want to be embarrassed by what I gave. I pray that I will keep in touch with my own poverty so that I will only strive to offer my very best.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
China or Styrofoam?
Do you ever worry that despite what God wants for your life that you just aren't making it? You know what a child of God looks like (or at least you think you do) and you know what their life must be like - their behavior, their thoughts, their hearts - and when you compare them to yours you simply don't see the resemblance? Do you sometimes feel like God must be shaking His head and wondering if you're ever going to "get it"?
My daughter and I are embarking on a new Sunday School class called Secret Keeper Girl. It's a Bible study of sorts to help young girls learn that their value is found in being a child of God, not in whatever society says of them. It's full of fun outings to places like hair salons, shopping malls, trips to get facials, and view art. The first lesson is about a china tea cup and the outing is for a formal tea.
At first, I was a little riled about the whole china tea cup comparison. I mean, what makes a china tea cup special? Why is it "worth" more than, say, a Styrofoam cup? Well, in my eyes, the china cup is worth more because it's fragile, decorated, delicate. That offended me! Those were worldly assignments of worth. Did I want my daughter to be valued because she's dainty and pretty on the outside? I have Depression glass tea cups. I have never put hot water in them because I'm terrified they will break. Did I want my daughter to learn that she was just a decoration, too fragile to be of use to the Kingdom? It seemed at first that the Styrofoam cup was more Christ like! It's functional. It doesn't detract from it's purpose which is to effectively serve hot beverages and keep them hot without burning your hand. It does its job perfectly well and in the end, the cup, the outer trappings, can be discarded. Why even the fact that it isn't biodegradable seemed Christ like to me! Just like Styrofoam, He lasts forever!!
But then I listened to the story about the china tea cup. I had forgotten that china is a type of pottery. I took a pottery class in college. We had to work the clay over and over with our bare hands until my hands ached. We worked out every bubble because even the tiniest bubble in the raw clay could cause the art to burst in the oven. We (well, most of us- not me) threw our clay on the wheel, spinning it until we got it just right. (I never got mine just right!) The project was baked at a high temperature, painted with high fume glaze and then re-baked. If the project had been human, all of that work to produce a lovely piece of art would have been quite painful! And I can imagine that the poor little piece of clay would have never believed that eventually it was going to be just what the potter had in mind.
So often, just like that piece of clay, I wonder if I will ever turn out right. I believe that I'm faulty clay- that there's not much even a Master Potter could accomplish with me. And then I read verses like Romans 8:29-30:
My daughter and I are embarking on a new Sunday School class called Secret Keeper Girl. It's a Bible study of sorts to help young girls learn that their value is found in being a child of God, not in whatever society says of them. It's full of fun outings to places like hair salons, shopping malls, trips to get facials, and view art. The first lesson is about a china tea cup and the outing is for a formal tea.
At first, I was a little riled about the whole china tea cup comparison. I mean, what makes a china tea cup special? Why is it "worth" more than, say, a Styrofoam cup? Well, in my eyes, the china cup is worth more because it's fragile, decorated, delicate. That offended me! Those were worldly assignments of worth. Did I want my daughter to be valued because she's dainty and pretty on the outside? I have Depression glass tea cups. I have never put hot water in them because I'm terrified they will break. Did I want my daughter to learn that she was just a decoration, too fragile to be of use to the Kingdom? It seemed at first that the Styrofoam cup was more Christ like! It's functional. It doesn't detract from it's purpose which is to effectively serve hot beverages and keep them hot without burning your hand. It does its job perfectly well and in the end, the cup, the outer trappings, can be discarded. Why even the fact that it isn't biodegradable seemed Christ like to me! Just like Styrofoam, He lasts forever!!
But then I listened to the story about the china tea cup. I had forgotten that china is a type of pottery. I took a pottery class in college. We had to work the clay over and over with our bare hands until my hands ached. We worked out every bubble because even the tiniest bubble in the raw clay could cause the art to burst in the oven. We (well, most of us- not me) threw our clay on the wheel, spinning it until we got it just right. (I never got mine just right!) The project was baked at a high temperature, painted with high fume glaze and then re-baked. If the project had been human, all of that work to produce a lovely piece of art would have been quite painful! And I can imagine that the poor little piece of clay would have never believed that eventually it was going to be just what the potter had in mind.
So often, just like that piece of clay, I wonder if I will ever turn out right. I believe that I'm faulty clay- that there's not much even a Master Potter could accomplish with me. And then I read verses like Romans 8:29-30:
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.And I believe that what God sets His mind to, He accomplishes (Isaiah 55:11), so maybe there's hope yet!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
If You Love Me
Scenario: One is busy doing what one does (working, playing, fishing, living...) and Jesus appears out of nowhere and cooks you breakfast. And then he asks you, not once, not twice, but three times, "Do you love me?"
I have pondered the verses of John 21:15-17 many times in my life. I've wondered what it must have felt like to have Jesus question you as to your love for him. Jesus knows everything! So He obviously didn't ask because he didn't know. There must be another reason he asked. Some people say he had to ask to make Peter say it out loud three times to nullify the three denials. I don't buy that. Sure, there's an obvious pattern there- three declarations of love to cancel out three denials. But it seems slightly legalistic to me. And besides, simply saying that you love someone never convinces them! It takes something more. Maybe the person who needed convincing wasn't Jesus, but Peter. Maybe Jesus asked him three times to make Peter assess his love for him. We don't know why Jesus asked him but we do know it hurt him that Jesus had to ask, it says so in verse 17. And know I would be hurt as well.
I would hope that Jesus could take one look at my life and see that I loved him. But you know, sometimes (maybe most times!) I believe that I'm out fishing, just like Peter had been. And no one at all can tell that I love him.
Jesus had appeared to the disciples on two other occasions before this scene since his death and resurrection. And it would appear that although the miracle has happened, it hasn't really had much effect on their lives. Peter's hanging out with his buds and says, "I'm done here, y'all. I'm going fishing." There are no stories of great miracles or overt demonstrations of love for Christ since he's appeared to them. Life has a rather stagnant feel to it.
Contrast this with Acts chapter 9. This is a different Peter we're seeing now. He's traveling all over the country, visiting the saints. He heals a paralytic named Aeneas and raises Dorcas from the dead. This is a man who is out and about the things of Christ. There would be no doubt in ones mind that Peter loved Jesus. Why? Because he's doing what Jesus asked him to do: taking care of His sheep.
In John 14:21, Jesus says that that's how he'll know if we love him- if we are obeying his commands. And his commands to us are very much like his command to Peter to take care of his sheep. We are to become holy like He is holy. (Three times in the book of Leviticus, God commands this: Lev. 11:44-45, 19:2 & 20:7) We are to love one another as He has loved us (John 15:12). We study the character of God and pursue Him. We learn to have a heart of compassion like His and we act on it. We learn in Psalm 72 that God has a heart for the poor and the needy; we see the Proverbs 31 woman must love Him, for she has that same heart (Proverbs 31:20). We learn by example and spur each other on to do the same (Hebrews 10:24)
And maybe then, He won't have to ask.
I have pondered the verses of John 21:15-17 many times in my life. I've wondered what it must have felt like to have Jesus question you as to your love for him. Jesus knows everything! So He obviously didn't ask because he didn't know. There must be another reason he asked. Some people say he had to ask to make Peter say it out loud three times to nullify the three denials. I don't buy that. Sure, there's an obvious pattern there- three declarations of love to cancel out three denials. But it seems slightly legalistic to me. And besides, simply saying that you love someone never convinces them! It takes something more. Maybe the person who needed convincing wasn't Jesus, but Peter. Maybe Jesus asked him three times to make Peter assess his love for him. We don't know why Jesus asked him but we do know it hurt him that Jesus had to ask, it says so in verse 17. And know I would be hurt as well.
I would hope that Jesus could take one look at my life and see that I loved him. But you know, sometimes (maybe most times!) I believe that I'm out fishing, just like Peter had been. And no one at all can tell that I love him.
Jesus had appeared to the disciples on two other occasions before this scene since his death and resurrection. And it would appear that although the miracle has happened, it hasn't really had much effect on their lives. Peter's hanging out with his buds and says, "I'm done here, y'all. I'm going fishing." There are no stories of great miracles or overt demonstrations of love for Christ since he's appeared to them. Life has a rather stagnant feel to it.
Contrast this with Acts chapter 9. This is a different Peter we're seeing now. He's traveling all over the country, visiting the saints. He heals a paralytic named Aeneas and raises Dorcas from the dead. This is a man who is out and about the things of Christ. There would be no doubt in ones mind that Peter loved Jesus. Why? Because he's doing what Jesus asked him to do: taking care of His sheep.
In John 14:21, Jesus says that that's how he'll know if we love him- if we are obeying his commands. And his commands to us are very much like his command to Peter to take care of his sheep. We are to become holy like He is holy. (Three times in the book of Leviticus, God commands this: Lev. 11:44-45, 19:2 & 20:7) We are to love one another as He has loved us (John 15:12). We study the character of God and pursue Him. We learn to have a heart of compassion like His and we act on it. We learn in Psalm 72 that God has a heart for the poor and the needy; we see the Proverbs 31 woman must love Him, for she has that same heart (Proverbs 31:20). We learn by example and spur each other on to do the same (Hebrews 10:24)
And maybe then, He won't have to ask.
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