Christmas, God shows up

25 years ago my wife and I were scheduled to go to the Middle East for a six weeks mission trip.  She was to help the Hospital Administrators with their new computers and system.  I was to be a "Pastor."  We were to leave in January.  Friends had questioned whether or not we should make this trip.  Our plans were really put in jeopardy when the Pan Am flight was destroyed over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December--25 years ago.  My wife was daily reading in Isaiah and I was reading in the Psalms.  One day she was reading Isaiah 41, when verses 8-10 caught her attention.  Those Isaiah verses read, "You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and called from its remotest parts, and said to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.  Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you for I am your God, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous hand.'"  On that same day, I was reading from the Psalms, when Psalm 121, verses 7-8 jumped off the page for me.  Those two verses read, "The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.  The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time and forever."  We made the trip to the Middle East and developed some marvelous friendships and memories. 

Maybe this isn't a Christmas story but, again, maybe it is.  Christmas is about God showing up.  Church people, like to use the big word, incarnation.  In Bethlehem, God showed up as a new born and helpless infant, who was birthed in an out-of-the-way place by a seemingly insignificant couple whose pregnancy was suspect.  God seems to continue showing up in unexpected ways and places.  God spoke to us while we were reading the scriptures, not especially looking for anything in particular, yet wondering about a trip to a country we didn't even know about until we had received an invitation.  It is a Merry Christmas because God keeps showing up.

 

"God's more-than-enough"

I rarely go to the malls.  I'm not a shopper because I don't like big crowds and long lines.  I'm grateful for on-line shopping.  Nevertheless, I ventured into a mall recently.  I neither stayed long nor purchased anything because I was "turned off" by the noise and the crowds.  This morning my scripture reading was in the 3rd and 4th Psalm.  I've been reading from Eugene Peterson's The Message. The ending of the 4th Psalm is paraphrased by Peterson as "Why is everyone hungry for more?  'More, more,' they say.  'More, more.'  I have God's more-than-enough, more joy in one ordinary day than they get in all their shopping sprees.  At day's end I'm ready for sound-sleep, for you, God, have put my life back together."   I think I've heard a Word from God for me this 2013 Christmas season.  My prayer for this Christmas is simplicity accompanied with more attentiveness to God's presence which is more-than-enough.

Emotional Intelligence

Recently I've been reading some of Daniel Goleman's work on Emotional Intelligence.  It is certainly important and not just because of the type of work that I do in counseling.   Goleman writes that emotional intelligence, or EQ, among other characteristics, has a lot to do with knowing one's emotions and being able to manage those emotions.  For example, some individuals seek counseling because they have an anger management problem.  Some are even sent by the courts to learn how to manage their anger.  Did you notice the phrase used to describe their situation; it was "anger management."  The ability to be aware of one's anger and, then, managing that anger or energy is an important skill.  The Bible says we are to "Be angry, and yet do not sin." (Ephesians 4:26.)  There are things in life about which we need to be angry.  I'm angry, for example, about the injustices in our world such as blaming the economic problems on the poor, racial and gender prejudice, global warming, etc.  To be angry is one step, but the next is how to manage that anger or energy as a way of trying to make a difference.  I think one of those managing ways is to speak up--"Don't let the sun go down on your anger" as Ephesian 4:26 completes the prescription.  Lord, may I not loose my voice when I see or hear injustice, but speak in a truthful manner and tone that "Lays aside falsehood and speaks the truth." (Ephesians 4:25.)  I like truth when I see it in a respected researcher such as Daniel Goleman and the scriptures.

A Visit To The Abbey

This past Saturday I took my Baptist Seminary of Kentucky class in Spiritual Formation to the Abbey of Gethsemani.  I've been teaching this particular class for 12 years and I've taken the students to the Abbey every year.  During the semester in the classroom, we read about spirituality.  The students write papers, book reviews and enter lively discussions about spirituality.  We talk about the various types of praying as well as ways of approaching scripture.  I've discovered that it is important for the students to visit the Abbey so that we can experience a place where spirituality is lived, not just discussed.  During our visit, the class meet with one of the Monks.  He has been at the Abbey for 50 years.  At the Abbey, he has prayed all of the Psalms every two weeks for 50 years.  He has lived very simply; he practices obedience and stability to the Abbey.  His spirituality is not only in his head but, also, of his heart.  When the students return to the Seminary classroom, they usually respond with an "Oh, that's what a spiritual life is really like."  It isn't that everyone is called to a vocation of prayer and a life in a monastery.  Nevertheless, as Believers we are called to a life that is centered in God's love for everyone.  That love is not just a head knowledge, as important as that may be, but, also, a heart knowledge that demonstrates God's love with everyone and all of creation.

50 years

Fifty  years ago Judy and I were married on August 16th.  Our wedding was in the First Baptist Church of Eufaula, Oklahoma.  The officiating minister was Judy's uncle, E. R.  Our best friends were in the wedding.  Our parents and grandparents celebrated with us.  I had just graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University and Judy had one more year before her graduation.  After the ceremony, we went to Branson, Missouri, for a honeymoon.  This was prior to Branson becoming a popular destination.  After our honeymoon, we returned to Shawnee, Oklahoma where we had a wonderful apartment which was in the county and over a garage.  Behind the garage and our apartment, our landlord kept a small herd of goats.  It was a wonderful first year.  Fifty years later we went to Amsterdam for our anniversary.  We spent a week making our way through Amsterdam's wonderful museums; sitting at sidewalk cafes watching the people and a variety of sidewalk entertainers.   We talked about our memories--which have been many.  It was a great 50th celebration and it has been a wonderful 50 years.  Deo gratis!

The Bird Feeders

I've two bird feeders hanging in a front yard tree.  One is full of feed that draws all types of birds whereas the other is primarily for the small, quiet and colorful finch birds.  I recently moved the finch feeder and the finches stopped coming to their feeder.  A neighbor who knows more about birds than I thought I'd moved the finch feeder too close to the other feeder.  He said that the small and quiet finches will feed only where they feel safe.  The other feeder draws all kinds of birds which are larger, busier and noisier than the finches.  They must make the finches so uneasy that they don't come to their feeder.  My life is often like those bird feeders.  What seems to be the larger, busier and noisier things in my life often  keep the smaller and quieter things away.  It happens in my mind a lot.  For example, I sit to be quiet in prayer and my mind gets busy with all of the activities that I think I need to do.  In his book, Into The Silent Land, Martin Laird recommends developing the discipline of not permitting one's mind to engage those distractions in prayer.  Easier said than done, but, nevertheless, a necessary spiritual discipline.  It is a discipline similar to moving the finch feeder away from the other feeder.

The Blessing

My Grandpa Landon had an old pickup truck when I was a youngster.  My cousin and I were often on trips with them.  Steve and I always rode in the back unless it was raining or very cold.  On this particular trip, we began to hit at each other with the small pillows that Grandma put in the back to soften the metal truck bed.  As might have been guessed, one of those pillows went out of the truck bed.  Grandpa turned the truck around to retrace the route and find that pillow.  An Indian was standing beside the road holding the pillow.  Grandpa stopped and offered the man a ride.  He got in the back bed of the truck with us.  Since I grew up in Oklahoma, I've always been around Indians.  Our new companion, however, was the biggest man I had ever seen. I still can recall his huge hands and long braided hair that went down his back.  He looked to me like he was very, very old.  Grandpa called him, "Chief," they talked briefly and it seemed that they knew each other.  I'd never been around a "Chief."  I have no idea how old he might have been.  When Grandpa or Grandma would tell this story they would say that Steve and I never said a word while the Chief was in the truck with us and furthermore, we stared at him until Grandma knocked on window and mouthed for us to stop staring.  Chief would smile at us.  He seemed friendly even if we weren't talking.  I don't think he rode with us very long but when he got out of the truck, he put his hand on my head and Steve's and said we were good boys.  There was something about his strong, quiet presence and his hand on my head that was a memorable blessing.  When I was in the Seminary, I heard the Profs talk about the ministry of presence.  When I heard that 'ministry of presence' phrase, I'd think about Chief.  I'm pretty certain that Chief's presence with us in that old truck bed was the cumulative result of the way he lived life.  I wish I could have known Chief for a long time but I don't recall that I ever saw him again.  Nevertheless, he left a deep impression, a blessing, on my life.