Coincidences?

My longtime friend E. B. Smith was fond of saying that he did not believe in coincidences or providence. However, he would say, “It seems that the more I pray the luckier I seem to get.” Thanks E. B. for a wonderful lesson in theology and prayer.

My Squeaky Shoes

There are surely numerous reasons why these shoes squeak. They are old. They are what I used to call tennis shoes, although I have never played tennis so I really do not know what tennis player wear. I will not throw them out because they are full of memories and meaning. They were my brother’s favorite shoes. He wore them all of the time except when we went to Church and I would not permit him to wear them there. My brother, Bobby who was developmentally delayed, died in September 1997, although it seems only a few months ago. The shoes were his. The bottoms of the shoes are usually called the souls. That seems appropriate as our souls are what hold us together. The souls of those shoes have come loose in several places. However, guerrilla glue seems to mend them back together very efficiently—at least in my opinion. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that the shoes squeak. Their value is related to my brother’s memories; otherwise I suspect they are worthless and need to be replaced. An important life lesion is that there are some things in life that you cannot simply replace—my brother’s shoes are a wonderful example.

Margins

As a result of reading Dr. Swenson's book, MARGIN, I have used the word and concept much more frequently. I recommend his book. I realized tht I've been practicing margins for a long time. I don't like to make meetings or appointments back to back. I may want to hang around and chat. Keeping a margin in my schedule give my the option of such time. I may want to give myself some time to process things--that's a margin. I like to arrive early for meetings so I'm not rushed and that is a margin I put in my schedule. I've said to myself and to many others that we need to make our schedules carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully. However, we do not to become so obsessed with our schedules that it feels like we have to go through an emotional divorce when schedules change--which they will. I hope we can give ourselves the grace of some margins in our schedules.

Silence in Prayer

When we pray, it is important that we try to be quiet some of the time. We, who are in the church world, seem to be fond of words--especially our own. In prayer it is important to confess and share what is on our minds, even though God probably already knows. It is also important that we give God an opportunity to share with us what is on God’s mind. Perhaps God has a matter which God thinks we and the Holy Spirit need to work on. Those matters are often an attitude, behavior, spirit, etc. which is in one of our blind spots and one which God seeks to redeem. In prayer it is important that we listen to hear what is on God's mind.