Go With Your Favorite View in 2012

I'm a month-at-a-glance kind of guy. My default view on Google Calendar is the monthly view. When I used the FranklinCovey planning system I preferred a two-page view of the entire month instead of one page with really skinny rectangles in which to make notes. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate looking across a whole year or the hour-by-hour view of a day. But there is something about a monthly vision or view that energizes me. I see a month as a measurable, workable period of time for planning and organizing. Our church committees meet monthly. Most of my bills are paid monthly.

The Bible expresses monthly time frames in telling the redeeming story of God's love for us and the world. As our spiritual ancestors were being prepared by God to be liberated from slavery in Egypt in the first Passover "The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 'This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.'" (Exodus 12:1-2). The announcement of Mary's pregnancy has a month reference as well, "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God" to tell Mary "you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus" (Luke 1).

The liberating gift of Jesus is wonderfully described in Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children."

Part of the beauty of the Church is how God has given us different views of time. Some of us are long-range thinkers and planners; some of us are minute-by-minute people; some work by the week; and then there are the monthly people. Regardless of our time orientation, God uses us to accomplish divine goals.

Do you have a favorite life-giving view of time? What if we celebrated and served God and our neighbors in energizing and hopeful ways based on our favorite view of time in 2012?  527,040 minutes await us in 2012 (a leap year with 366 days). If that seems a bit overwhelming, how about an inspiring perspective from the song, "Day by Day", in the musical, "Godspell":

Three things I pray 

To see thee more clearly 

Love thee more dearly

Follow thee more nearly 

Day by day

May we experience the fullness of time together in 2012 from every point of view.

God is All In at Christmas

Special offers abound in the holiday shopping season. We dance in the tension of loyalty and benefits as businesses and customers. Loyalty cards and programs allow us to build up value points in the company's hopes that they will keep our current and future business. The thought is that if we find greater value elsewhere, we will simply go there. In other words, they doubt our loyalty and consider it fragile and temperamental. It must be maintained with vigilant customer service and daily special offers. And the funny thing is that this system works. Companies do keep our business by their offers and customer service.

On the consumer side, we play company offers against one another by threatening to take our business elsewhere in the hopes of securing a better deal for our money, commitment, or time. The whole process seems to be based on doubt, lack of faith and fear that we really won't maintain our commitments to one another as businesses or customers without constant reassurance and special offers. And the funny thing is that this system works. We can get better deals by using our loyalty and dollars as bargaining tools.

That's the retail side of life. But it produces some funny side effects when we try to use it on the faith side of life.

When we consider ourselves as customers/consumers in our relationship with God, the biggest retailer ever, then we end up acting in ways more characterized by scarcity and fear than love and trust. We make bargains with God for love and healing. We pray to God as if interacting with a vending machine to get our desired results. We pledge to change our ways to avert major consequences of our actions, hoping for some special offer to make it all better and stay on acceptable terms with God.

Knowing our fragile-fearful-hopeful-sinful condition, God turns our retail reality upside down by making a personal, irrevocable commitment to us in Jesus Christ. No loyalty cards or incentive programs are needed in God's relationship with the world, just the Good News that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it...the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth" (John 1:5,14).

In other words, God is All In at Christmas. There's no holding back better deals and value until we show greater loyalty or clean up our lives. God acts first in love at the intersection of hope and fear so wonderfully expressed in the Christmas carol, "O, Little Town of Bethlehem":

"Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

May our retail reality be wonderfully and lovingly redeemed by the great gift of Jesus Christ again this Christmas so that we may give appropriate gifts of love and loyalty to God, one another and the world. Merry Christmas.

After this post was published as my December 2011 newsletter article, I found this prayer by Rev. Dr. Ozzie Smith, Jr. at the end of his address, "A Sight for Certain Eyes":


Thank you, God, for giving us your All. Your All that the world would later see. We would learn later that a leper would see All in Jesus coming and saying, "You can heal me if you choose to." A Syro-Phoenician woman would not leave the table without having some of this All. Nicodemus would sneak in for a night class for this All. A bleeding woman would crawl to touch the hem of this All. Crowds would be fed by this All. Peter would walk on water towards this All. A dying thief would realize it and be welcomed to paradise by this All. Water would turn to wine by this All. Millions of men and women would accept calls to the ministry by this All, and slaves would sing, "Nobody knows the trouble I see," but this All. Teresa of Calcutta would be known as a saint of the gutter because of this All. And when evil thought that it had done all that it could do by putting this All away, All would get up again and say, "All power is in my hand." Saying, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men and women unto me." 

Thank you, God, for giving us your All, the Word made flesh in your Son Jesus. Lord, grant that we might have certain eyes in the midst of our present uncertainty. We thank you. We bless your name and we praise you for the giving gift of Jesus. Amen.

Behold the Grace of Your Life

What an incredible October. I have been blessed with gifts each week for Pastor Appreciation Month. Thank you (Hartford UMC) for valuing the role of pastor in the life of the church. We are just getting to know each other and you are continuing a strong tradition of gift giving.

And now comes November. Another great month that begins with All Saints' Day, traditionally November 1 (our worship celebration is October 30), and ends with Thanksgiving and the beginning of the season of Advent. I love this time of year because it bears so much spiritual significance.

The Kalamazoo District offered a Pastor's Appreciation Day yesterday at Westwood UMC. That congregation has special meaning for me as they were the home church for our family while I served the Wesley Foundation on Western's campus. The main speaker offered this insight in the context of reflecting Christ's glory (2 Corinthians 3:18):

What we look AT consistently,

we begin to look LIKE over time.

Where we focus our attention and energy greatly impacts the shape or dimensions of our existence. The value of thanksgiving or living gratefully is that it breaks the hold on our tendency to think we can provide for ourselves all by ourselves. For most of us, every day we live in houses we did not build, eat food we did not grow and wear clothes we did not sew. In other words, we are dependent creatures by design. We need each other and we need God.

The New Living Translation has this beginning to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: "God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them" (Matthew 5:3). In the version of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:1-21 (the other version is Exodus 20:1-17) the motivation for resting on the Sabbath is gratitude for God's liberating work in bringing our spiritual ancestors out of slavery in Egypt.

Living gratefully allows us to relax our bodies and release our anxiety, indeed frees us to love God and our neighbors. Such a view of our lives also renews our strength to prevail in the challenges of daily life.

Giving Rocks

Having prepared and officiated for the most weddings I can remember having in any year of ordained ministry, I can again affirm that the most common areas of power, potential, and pressure in marriage are relationships, finances, and sexuality. When those three areas are anticipated, talked about, and planned for, the couple is building a strong foundation for their marriage relationship. In premarital counseling we talk about these issues even though the couple may not be, and hopefully is not, in crisis about them. The conversations are insightful and give the couple the opportunity to consider the issues in non-threatening ways.

I hold a similar view in regard to stewardship and finances for us as disciples of Jesus Christ. That is, anticipation, conversation and plans for giving in a non-threatening environment contribute to strong faith in our life together as the Body of Christ. One early recognition we may make in talking about faith and finances is that our consumer culture leads us to view the goods of creation and community as commodities that can be bought and sold. When we have a "transaction" mentality about giving, then we might expect that our gift should be directly followed by faith, health or love.

I invite us to a "transformation" mentality about giving, where we realize that through giving we enter God's realm of blessing and abundance where strength may come from many directions and sources, not just as a direct result of our current gift. The wisdom writer of Proverbs noticed:

"One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:24-25)

In our life with God our giving is a response, not a stimulus.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth” (Genesis 26:22)

One cornerstone or solid practice in giving is a tithe, which is a tenth of some amount. I have shared in worship before that every gift we give is a tithe of something. Multiply your gift by ten and see what else it looks like in your economic world: a tank of gas; monthly electric bill; mortgage payment; weekly cost of groceries. Jacob's experience shows us a greater foundation for giving, "and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." One sign of growing in faith is that the basis for our giving is what we receive, not some other expense in our personal economic world.

The presence of joy also affects our giving and the perspective we have on our wealth. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field" (Matthew 13:44). Each Sunday in worship I conclude the invitation to give this way: "We pray that our giving may come from, or lead us to a joyful heart." May you find ways to rejoice in sharing a portion of what you have received and be refreshed by God's generosity.

Music, Money and Mission

Good morning and God bless you. September brings the familiar opening of a new school year and re-entry to lives committed to education. It also brings new, refreshing and challenging developments in our church and Hartford communities involving music, money and mission.

Music: Did you know there are Directions for Singing in our United Methodist Hymnal? The last of seven directions from John Wesley on page vii is "Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven."

Since arriving here in July I have appreciated the way we have been led in music by Pete Laman, Mikha Sitorus, Bob Lightner, and Lynne and Dan Farmer. On September 11 we welcome Jenna Johnson as our new Church Musician. She has most recently been a music leader at the Cedar Springs and East Nelson United Methodist Churches north of Grand Rapids. She is a first year student at Western Michigan University. One of the many reasons I am excited about Jenna is the spritual sense she has of the gift of music in the church and in her own life as a child of God. Part of our congregation's welcome for Jenna will be providing transportation and lunch for her on Sundays. We are asking a family or household to adopt her for a Sunday each month. Our plan is for her to arrive at the church by 9:30 AM to prepare for worship and rehearse with any musicians or vocalists. Let Cindy Kent (Staff Pastor Parish Committee Chairperson) know if you are interested in taking care of Jenna on a given Sunday each month.

Money and Mission: The economic landscape changed here on August 30 with the opening of the Four Winds Casino. The United Methodist Social Principles begin with an affirmation of our "long history of concern for social justice." The Social Principles call us to thoughtful and prayerful approaches to contemporary issues and are "intended to be instructive and persuasive in the best of the prophetic spirit." Under the heading of The Economic Community is this statement, "Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, destructive of good government and good stewardship. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice. Where gambling has become addictive, the Church will encourage such individuals to receive therapeutic assistance so that the individual’s energies may be redirected into positive and constructive ends."

I shared a prayer request with our West Michigan Conference Prayer Center on August 30: "I request prayers for Hartford and surrounding communities as the Four Winds Casino opens today, August 30, at Noon. I celebrate the strong community-related ministry of our congregation and pray for fresh strength to continue being the Body of Christ shaped by compassion, grace and justice." I also have talked with colleagues who serve United Methodist churches in communities with casinos, and had an initial conversation at the local Chamber of Commerce. What I appreciate about our United Methodist tradition is how seriously we take the community context of local church ministry. To only criticize the nature of the newest business in Hartford is to fall short of a faithful effort to understand history and economic realities.

The same Social Principles statement on Gambling continues, "The Church acknowledges the dichotomy that can occur when opposing gambling while supporting American Indian tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Therefore, the Church’s role is to create sacred space to allow for dialogue and education that will promote a holistic understanding of the American Indians’ historic quest for survival. The Church’s prophetic call is to promote standards of justice and advocacy that would make it unnecessary and undesirable to resort to commercial gambling—including public lotteries, casinos, raffles, Internet gambling, gambling with an emerging wireless technology and other games of chance—as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue or funds for support of charities or government."

While the economic landscape has changed, our calling to be the Church has not. I am challenged to see the threat to community stability, to encourage people overcome by gambling addiction to seek help, to create sacred space for dialogue and education on the tragic history of the United States and Native Americans, and to promote standards of justice that reflect God's gift of abundant life to all of us. How do you see us responding to these changes? I want to walk together with a renewed commitment to love God and our neighbors as we love ourselves.

A Couple of Good Things to Keep in Mind

My late father-in-law was a good, avid golfer. He felt that with a couple more rounds each week he could elevate his game, but he was playing at an enjoyable level and chose not to devote the extra time and money to such an effort. He told me that a quality golf swing includes more than 30 things you need to do correctly and that he could only be mindful of about 3-4 of them at any one time. I get that.

Last month my article was about the multiple dimensions and big picture of our life with God and the Church. This month I offer a couple things I am mindful of in my life and ministry as a disciple of Jesus Christ and your pastor. First, hospitality. I came to faith in Jesus Christ in high school through the hospitality of Three Oaks United Methodist Church. My family and I were welcomed into the fellowship of the Church. I was given opportunities to explore leadership through worship, administration and being one of the church custodians. Out of those experiences and the gift of a social consciousness for my faith through the Wesley Foundation at Central Michigan University I came to discern a call to ordained ministry. The late Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite authors. He wrote that hospitality is not meant to change people but to offer them space where change can take place (Reaching Out). Such space and change have profoundly shaped my ministry.

Second, compassion. I believe the current and long-established practice of demeaning and condemning persons who hold different beliefs, or who significantly question traditional beliefs, does great harm to our spirits. Such interaction shuts down faithful inquiry and rightful confrontation of exclusionary practices. With compassion we recognize the God-given value of the other person, and establish a connection that allows for real conversation and the possibility of healing and wholeness.

Third, generosity. As I mentioned at the closing of worship on Sunday, 7/24, my friend had encouraged me, "Don't be so stingy with the blessing, use both hands!" That statement characterizes an abundance mentality and reminds me that in God's economy we get grace which we don't deserve and cannot earn. We are asked to share a portion of what we have received for God's greater work of salvation in the world through Jesus Christ. In being generous we become more like God, in whose image we are created. I am grateful for the generous ways I see in our congregation and encourage us to keep going!

What kinds of things help you return to the center of your faith? What do you need to keep in mind when you enter or are faced with a season of change? May we be blessed with ongoing conversations and interactions that reveal the best that God has for us.

More Than One Section at Once

Before and during my seminary education I worked in accounting. It was my major at Central Michigan University. My first job in a regional public accounting firm came with the expectation that I would soon pass the CPA exam which consisted of four sections. Several of my co-workers had a review class as part of their university/college curriculum and passed the entire exam on their first attempt. I did not have such a class, nor did I pass the exam the first or second time I tried it. On the third time I passed two sections. And on my fourth and fifth attempts I passed one section each to finally complete the exam.

You see, to get any initial credit at all you had to pass at least two sections. This approach prevented you from focusing on only one section at a time. You had to have a multidimensional understanding of accounting from the very beginning of the process. Looking back I am glad that was the approach. While we are not equally skilled in all areas, having a broad view of our profession gives us a stronger foundation and an orientation for facing the challenges that come our way.

The writer of Ephesians encourages us toward a multidimensional approach to faith and our relationship with God: "I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18-19). Another version goes this way, that "you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God" (The Message).

In every major change in my life God has shown me new dimensions of faith, extended the boundaries of wonder and knowledge, and brought me in to new relationships. I trust that God has been working out such plans for all of us in this transition. May we celebrate the wideness of God's mercy and love, the power of grace and the joy of service, not separately but all together.

A Living Part of Something Bigger Than Us

Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life (1 Peter 2:5a; The Message)

The Grundtvig National Church in Denmark was started in 1921 and completed in 1941 by seven handpicked masons. The masons, in turn, rejected all bricks that were not perfect. There is an entire community surrounding the church built from the bricks which the masons rejected (Henry N. Huxhold, Access to High Hope). While we can appreciate the value of using quality materials for our physical structures, I am more interested in the people living around the church because I believe that we are their neighbors; people whose lives are built with broken spirits, ideas that don't fit or beliefs that are judged unacceptable. Thankfully the Good News is that in such a life we can get acquainted with and be welcomed by another neighbor, Jesus Christ, who the writer of 1 Peter describes using Psalm 118:22-23, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."

I am leaving White Pines and Courtland-Oakfield United Methodist Churches to begin serving at Hartford United Methodist Church on July 1. Our life here since 2002 has been full, challenging, blessed, burdened and beautiful. We have built up and worn down each other on the journey. The energy and potential of White Pines partnering with the Wolverine World Wide Family YMCA is exhilarating; and the country, traditional Courtland-Oakfield faith family truly offers "Hope on the Hill" along Myers Lake Avenue.

The heart of faith is accepting God's grace and love with a willingness to be built in to something bigger than us, a sanctuary vibrant with life. Building and restoring churches and communities calls for great investment, commitment and resources. Thankfully God has already provided a sure foundation for us in Jesus Christ, "a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame" (1 Peter 2:6). God bless you and may you find joy in giving yourself to a purpose that inspires and outlives you.

Winter Leaves While Spring Arrives

With the ice still glistening on the evergreens, prairie grass, bare branches and power lines, Spring has not exactly burst upon the scene. There is no clean break it seems between the seasons. Spring Breaks are alluring where we can make the change, usually to warmer weather, within a day. But the return home reminds us of the slower changes that are underway within us. In our human time and relationships we don't just turn our backs on the past and only move ahead.

Expecting something new (job, home, relationship) can come with some pretty intense pressure. "Out with the old and in with the new" sets us up for disappointment if we expect a sudden revolution and get instead a slower reformation. Author and educator, Parker Palmer, has observed that we act our way into new ways of believing. That's why I like the spiritual practices of the church like worship, baptism, open communion, prayer, funerals, fasting, service, reflection and Sabbath. They are reliable practices, in my United Methodist tradition we call them "means of grace", that shape our expectations and relieve our spirit-mind-body existence of unhealthy anxiety.

I like the wise affirmation Renita Weems, author and pastor, makes in her book, Listening for God: "I learned to trust the winter months of faith, when it's difficult to remember why one ever bothered to believe. I stopped being so hard on myself and demanding that, as a wife, scholar, and writer, I should always feel excited about what I was doing, or that I should, as a mother and a minister, always sparkle with alertness and insight. This was hard to accept in a culture where, at the first sign of dullness or tedium or monotony, it's all right to give up, walk away, or try something new in hopes of finding new meaning, new thrills, new satisfaction."

May God bless and transform all your seasons and changes with grace.

Keep Standing...Still Standing

So, how's it going with your New Year's Resolutions? Do you still stand by them? With the help of some wise advisers to consider a life of movement or training, rather than simple exercise, I am trying to work out three times a week at the YMCA. I achieved that goal the first two weeks and worked out two days last week. The odds are not good that we will keep our resolutions, whether they are tied to the new year or some other reference point. However, two positive factors involved in keeping resolutions are 1) having small, measurable goals and 2) going public with them to seek the support of friends. Pursuing general goals in isolation (get in shape, lose weight, improve finances) does not help us stand up to the pressure of daily demands on our time and attention.

Standing is a sign and act of perseverance. Years ago I attended the funeral for the child of a former member. The pastor led us in an encouraging two-part act of faith that still resounds within me. Early in the service as we entered the fullness of grief for the loss of this child, he asked us to turn to the person next to us and say, "Keep standing." Later in the service as we entered into the comfort of Scripture, song and prayer, he asked us to turn again and say to one another, "Still standing." The blend of encouraging one another and affirming our ability to stand was remarkable. It was a modern day reference to Saint Paul's affirmation, "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God" (Romans 5:1-2).

May you be resolved to stand in grace together with others in 2011. God bless you.

Move with Your Fire

In the early days of the Tennessee Valley Project (TVA), a dilapidated log homestead had to be abandoned to make room for a lake behind the dam. A new home on the hillside had already been built for the cabin's family, but they refused to move. The day of the flooding arrived and as the bulldozers were brought in, the family brought out their shotguns. A social worker was called in as a last-ditch effort to talk with the family. After hearing them repeat their refusal to move, the social worker pleaded with them, "Help me to explain to the authorities why you won't move in to your beautiful new home."

"See that fire over there?" the man asked, pointing to a blazing fire in the primitive hearth of the log cottage. "My grandpa built that fire over a hundred years ago," the man explained. "He never let it go out, for he had no matches and it was a long way to a neighbor's. Then my pa tended the fire, and since he died, I've tended it. None of us ever let it die, and I ain't a-goin' to move away now and let grandpa's fire go out!" This gave the social worker an idea and she arranged for a large apple butter kettle to be delivered. She explained that the family could scoop up the live coals and carry them to the new home, pour them out, and add fresh kindling. With that possibility the family agreed to move. But they wouldn't budge--until they could take with them the fire of their ancestors (Leonard Sweet, A Cup of Coffee at the SoulCafe).

We get attached to places. And when we further attach relationships and activities with those places, they become even more important and we feel even more threatened by potential moves. When change is proposed or chosen by someone else, we can't imagine leaving our current location. How will we function in a new place? What a graceful, creative invitation to think that we can take what is most important with us! The ability to move our fire and add fresh kindling in a new location means we can respond to new opportunities with less fear. We don't leave the fire behind or let it go out. By faith we not only take it with us, but we find it's inside us. The apostle Paul might not qualify as the most sensitive social worker, but he does offer the graceful, creative affirmation that "God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). May you feel free to move with your fire to the next place, and there find hope and glory.

Tell It More Than Once

At an Amish quilt auction many years ago I noticed a curious practice. The bidding for a quilt would be going at a fast pace. The auctioneer would declare it sold, in usual fashion. Then the winner of the sale would wave his hand in a circle and shout, "Sell it again!" The same quilt would then reenter the bidding process and the people would bid on it with no less vigor than the first time around.

I'm used to buying something once and taking it home with me. In only a few cases do I like re-reading books or watching movies more than once. I certainly enjoy them the first time around, but am not that motivated to return to them. I realize that I miss a lot by not re-entering the worlds they create. And stories do create worlds of thought, imagination and even healing.

Martin Buber, an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher, reveals the power in telling a story: "A story must be told in such a way that it constitutes help in itself. My grandfather was lame. Once they asked him to tell a story about his teacher. And he related how his teacher used to hop and dance while he prayed. My grandfather rose as he spoke, and he was so swept away by his story that he began to hop and dance to show how the master had done. From that hour he was cured of his lameness. That's how to tell a story" (quoted in Parker Palmer, The Active Life, 36).

Telling our stories accesses and releases energy that can heal or harm. The stories we choose to tell and remember can have a dramatic effect on us. The Christian faith is filled with stories that we keep telling again. They are about God's mighty acts of creation, liberation and salvation in Jesus Christ; stories that involve us and challenge us to change. In Vacation Bible Schools and Music & Drama Camp we participate in the great tradition of telling the stories of Jesus again. We do so in hope that we will be helped in telling the story, again. There is of course the chance that nothing will happen. But we won't know until we try.

Choosing to act with the power in our stories is the challenge from the great theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in this comment on prayer: "Has prayer transported (you) for a few short moments into spiritual ecstasy that vanishes when everyday life returns, or has it lodged the Word of God so soberly and so deeply in (your) heart that it holds and strengthens (you) all day, impelling (you) to active love, to obedience, to good works? Only the day will tell." May your summer be full of life-giving stories that you are willing to hear and tell again.

Catch and Keep

A turning point in the friendship of Denver Moore and Ron Hall, recounted in Same Kind of Different as Me, came when Denver commented on the style of fishing called "catch and release". He said it really bothered him because "we eat what we catch...in other words we use it to sustain us." He continued, "So, Mr. Ron, it occurred to me: If you is fishin for a friend you just gon' catch and release, then I ain't got no desire to be your friend." Ron felt like the world halted in midstride and fell silent like a freeze-frame scene on TV. Suddenly Denver's eyes gentled and he spoke softly: "But if you is looking for a real friend, then I'll be one. Forever."

In many ways we are disappointed by the failed commitments others make to us and the commitments that we fail to keep. We catch and release friends along the way. Sometimes we transfer that disappointment and lack of dependability to God. The ancient writer, Teresa of Avila, observed that our difficulties in prayer come from "Praying as if God were absent. Many of our difficulties in daily life are probably the result of living as if God were absent" (The Tree of Life, 212). Doubting God's commitment and presence with us may mean that we hesitate to move ahead in prayer, service or deeper friendship with God and others. It's at this point that we can be reminded by God's grace that a primary name for Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. That means God's got our back, front, and middle; past, present, and future because we are caught and kept in friendship by the Holy Spirit. And in this embrace we are sustained and set free to love. May God bless you and keep you in real friendships this summer and forever.

A Window Lets the Light Shine Through

One of my favorite classic Far Side cartoons has a young man looking down, book in hand, leaning against a door at the Midvale School for the Gifted. He is pushing on the door and the sign just above his hand reads PULL. Sometimes doors can be quite formidable for us. They may represent barriers or boundaries that we struggle to open or understand, let alone pass through.

The writer of Colossians asks directly for help finding a door to share good news: "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison" (Colossians 4:2-3). Making assumptions about doors and how they do or do not open, we sometimes forget the obvious opportunity to pray for God to open a door for the Word--that is, prepare the way by providing "windows of opportunity" for the gospel (New Interpreter's Bible). Sometimes opening a door starts with a window.

The Wolverine World Wide Family YMCA in Belmont has a small, lovely chapel. Many people are surprised that there is such a room in the facility. Offering a reminder that the organization's mission is to put Christian principles into practice helps a little. Until Good Friday, April 2, the chapel was separated from the nautilus machines, drinking fountains, and long hallway leading to the locker rooms by a solid wooden door. People hesitated to open the door for fear of interrupting people who might be inside; you also could not tell if anyone was in there. So, we decided to start the process of opening up the chapel by putting in a window with the YMCA logo. At the dedication we recognized that the chapel window now would reveal the light and people on both sides of the door, seeking spiritual, mental and physical strength. Now we could see each other getting better. An invitation was made to devote time on both sides of the door.

If doors are frustrating your spiritual journey, consider putting in a window first to let the light shine through. You also may find people on the other side who are on a similar journey. God bless you in finding and sharing light for your path, and when you enter the YMCA Chapel, PUSH the door open.

Behold the Life of Jesus, Then Believe

The Christian season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday (February 17) and ends on the Saturday before Easter (April 3). It is a 40-day period (Sundays don't count in the 40) of reflection and action based on our relationships with God, each other and ourselves. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week where the drama and conflict in Jesus' life reach an ultimate point. Holy Week is often the time when theological controversies about Jesus' life, death and resurrection surface as well.

Barbara Brown Taylor, author, preacher and former Episcopal priest, reflects on the effects of conflict in the congregation she served: Once I had begun crying on a regular basis, I realized just how little interest I had in defending Christian beliefs. The parts of the Christian story that had drawn me into the Church were not the believing parts but the beholding parts.

"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy..."
"Behold the Lamb of God..."
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock..."

Christian faith seemed to depend on beholding things that were clearly beyond belief, including Jesus' own teaching that acts of mercy toward perfect strangers were acts of mercy toward him. While I understood both why and how the early church had decided to wrap those mysteries in protective layers of orthodox belief, the beliefs never seized my heart the way the mysteries did (Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church, 109-110).

In conflict we may retreat to beliefs or standards outside us so that we are less vulnerable to others. That is not the approach of Jesus. Holy Week begins with Palm/Passion Sunday. It is a day that recognizes Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey; and his betrayal, arrest, trial, conviction, abuse and death on the cross.

During Holy Week we see that Jesus does not hide behind anything to protect himself in the conflict because of his deep, abiding sense of God's presence, and commitment to love. The story leads us to another beholding part while Jesus is on the cross, a day we call Good Friday,

"Now when the centurion who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, 'Truly this man was God's Son!'" (Mark 15:39)

Holy Week is full of divine-human drama. We experience a profoundly moving story that invites us to personally enter Jesus' final earthly days, and behold love's redeeming work in his death and resurrection. Logical explorations and explanations only go so far to describe God's love for us in Jesus Christ. We are then left to wonder at the amazing grace and mercy of God.

Throwing Snow Into Spring

Robert Falcon Scott, a British explorer, made two expeditions to the South Pole in 1901-04 and 1911-1912. On one occasion the weather conditions were such that a white haze blended with the unbroken whiteness of the snow and no horizon was visible. Wherever they looked there was simply one unbroken whiteness. There was no point on which they could direct their course as they drove their sledges forward. Before long they were coming upon their own tracks. Thinking that they were going forward, they were in fact only going around in a great circle. To solve the problem they began throwing snowballs ahead of them in the direction of true south so that they had something to fix their eyes on.

Without some vision of the future, how is it possible to direct one's course in a rational way? In practice we do what Scott did; we have projects, literally things we throw forward, long-or short-term projects, and we measure our progress by the degree of success we have in reaching our self-set targets. But where do these projects lead in the end? Scott had a compass to tell him in which direction to throw the snowballs. Without a compass, how do we know whether our success in reaching our targets is in fact progress or regress? (Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society).

In the northern hemisphere Easter is celebrated in the Spring, and in Michigan it is a time of unmistakable change from the snow of winter. The winter view is broken by sunshine, melting snow, puddles, mud, returning birds, new buds and a greening of the landscape. We are refreshed by the change of weather.

The struggle of Scott's expedition was against an unchanging landscape, and loss of depth perception and direction. Thankfully God blesses us and the world with a sense of the future. Prophets are the ones called on to announce such a vision: For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope (Jeremiah 29:11). As Christians we are entering the final stage of Lent, a time of reflection on the direction of our lives and God's call to return (repent) to God's way of life in Jesus Christ.

I find Scott's tactic of throwing snowballs and following them ingenious for the harsh circumstances they faced. While the external circumstances in our lives may appear to be an unbroken haze with no horizon, we may together follow "God's gift from highest heaven", Jesus Christ, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). May we be blessed this spring with a new or renewed sense of the future, and the gift of Jesus Christ going before us.

First Be Interested

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer, includes this reflection in his author's notes:

          During my first year on the Stanford faculty in 1988, I sought out professor John Gardner for guidance on how I might become a better teacher. Gardner, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, founder of Common Cause, and author of the classic text Self-Renewal, stung me with a comment that changed my life. "It occurs to me, Jim, that you spend too much time trying to be interesting," he said. "Why don't you invest more time being interested."

The ability to take an interest in each other and especially strangers is a great spiritual gift. With God's heart, Jesus responded to the people he met with compassion, understanding, interest, and God's perspective of love and justice. He demonstrated the relational, saving power of God's love for people in his life, death and resurrection. It is foundational for Christians to be interested in the well being of others. The new church start pastor known as the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:2, Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Elaine H. Pagels, author and theologian, observed that two sources of success for early Christianity were their theological understanding that people are created in the image of God, not just the emperors; and the concrete care they offered each other.

As one pastor serving two churches and actively volunteering at the Wolverine World Wide Family YMCA, I learned first hand this week about divorce, job loss, likely foreclosure on a home, death and the family tensions it reveals, a wedding request, life-threatening consequences of surgery, what a family wants to give and receive from a church, the renewal of church leadership, the search for a common statement on ministry directions, the openness to integrating prayer in swimming lessons, and the joyful possibilities of ecumenical worship.

How many times are we too concerned with what we have to give, what we want to say, and how interesting we think our message is instead of being interested in the people we come to know in the course of our daily lives? A helpful corrective for me is attributed to Plato: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." How much can we learn about God and ourselves by being interested in each other? Offering a listening ear before speaking may be a life-saving gift to someone in need. Receiving such care gives us the hope we can then offer to others. I know that is how God helps me.

Where is Easter at the Easter Egg Hunt?

On Saturday, April 11, we gathered the largest crowd for a single event in the history of our new church ministry. We estimated 350 people participated in the first Easter Egg Hunt at the Wolverine World Wide Family YMCA. We moved ahead with it with a couple of uncertainties: it was still Spring Break for the area schools; it was a first-time event with no prior experience; and several other churches were also doing Egg Hunts that same morning. Who would come?

That question was answered with the stream of children and families coming into the Community Room for face painting (this is simply always popular; high five to the corp of face painters), coloring pages, refreshments, and hugs and pictures with the Easter Bunny. We then moved to the gym to be a crowd and receive guidance on how the three age groups would proceed to their respective areas for staggered start times.

It was a special experience for me to welcome and address the crowd, obviously excited and ready to go outside with baskets or bags to find eggs. And there were a few moments to talk with them about the first word of the event, EASTER. These were my prepared remarks:

Good morning and God bless you. Welcome to the first Easter Egg Hunt at the Wolverine World Wide Family YMCA!

Are you excited to be here? We are excited to host you. You are among friends. I am Pastor Jeff Williams and I get to serve with the White Pines United Methodist Church. I am thankful for the friends I have and we have as White Pines United Methodist Church. The YMCA and White Pines UMC are friends. We do fun things together and this Easter Egg Hunt is the newest and one of the most exciting things we share.

Another exciting thing we do together is the summer Music & Drama Camp. We have registration forms in the Community Room.

I want to introduce you to a friend and the Executive Director of this YMCA, Bev Thiel…(Bev offered words of welcome and instruction)

Today’s Easter Egg Hunt is about finding eggs and feeling excitement. It is fun to look for them, find them, gather them together in a basket or bag, open them and find more good stuff. There are plenty of eggs for everyone. Everybody gets good stuff today.

The first word in today’s event is Easter. And that means we look to the special stories in the Bible about Jesus, who is God’s Son. The stories are about finding, but they are also about losing.

Jesus’ friends are sad because two days before the first Easter they lost Jesus when he died. He died because people killed him on a cross. They could not talk with, learn from, eat with, or go places with him anymore. And they were sad. They did not want to lose such a good friend who taught them so much about God.

On Easter morning some women friends go to his grave to take care of his dead body. And they don’t find him! The grave is empty and they are still sad, but now they are scared. What happened? They can’t find Jesus. One special friend, Mary, is crying. And you know what happens next? JESUS FINDS HER. She knows it is Jesus because he calls her by name, he says, Mary. SAY YOUR NAMES ON 3

Jesus finds his friends on Easter morning and helps them figure out what to do next.

That’s really exciting for Jesus’ friends. Not that they find something, but that they are found.

The excitement you feel right now getting ready to find Easter Eggs is like the excitement Jesus’ friends felt when Jesus, God’s Son, found them.

It is like the excitement God feels about finding us and loving us.

Have a great time this morning. Searching for and finding Easter Eggs. And remember how much God searches for you with love, how Jesus finds you and calls you by name.

Are you ready? Now I read in the program that another friend was supposed to be here to help us, someone called the Easter Bunny. Has anyone seen the Easter Bunny?

"Traces of the Trade" 3/26/09 Screening

I attended the "Traces of the Trade" reception, film screening and discussion on March 26 as part of the WGVU Campaign for Love and Forgiveness and posted this:

Great thanks to Steve Chappell and all involved in offering such a personal and powerful venue for walking further into the reality of racism and the hope of being changed. The prophetic and compassionate spirits expressed differently by Katrina and Paul helped us see the breadth of possible responses.

Coupled with my preaching on forgiveness during Lent using the Love and Forgiveness resources from the Fetzer Institute; the annual Bridges diversity event and dinner in Rockford; the recent Partners for a Racism-Free Community annual event; and an Institute for Healing Racism in December 2007, the daily benefits of white privilege and daily degradation of racism are more evident to me. What is also more evident is the incredible value of seeking community to confront them. I found the question and answer time energetic and chaotic which is what happens when we are deeply affected by a common experience. I agree with the suggestion of having people submit written questions. Hand out the cards as we enter the event so we can write throughout the presentation.

One significant insight I received was in Katrina's sermon at her home church in the movie when she witnessed to the grief that is a foundational part of her journey with her family and the film. Grief and sadness are often covered over by anger which seems to be a more socially acceptable emotion. Yet, I have found when grief is acknowledged, we find more honest energy to confront problems.

I look forward to organizing some kind of next step in the fall in northern Kent County related to "Traces of the Trade" and/or Fetzer's Campaign for Love and Forgiveness. I am grateful for recently meeting both Steve and Rick Wilson, and the opportunities I have had to already work with them.

Pray For Unfinished Business

As a creative act of teenage rebellion one young man in a highly musical family would return home late at night and play the first seven notes of a scale on the family's piano. As the last note hung in the air, he would wait for one of his parents or siblings to come out of their bedroom and finish the scale. Someone always did. His family had trouble coping with unfinished business (Melander and Eppley, The Spiritual Leader's Guide to Self-Care, 55)

Unfinished business can consume a lot of our energy, OK a lot of my energy. Leaving matters open-ended or unresolved means they are still potentially volatile. Like not tightening the bolts on a swing set and hopping on the narrow plastic (blue on our home model) seat for a ride, further movement or activity threatens the whole structure which could easily collapse. Unfinished business is unreliable since it is subject to change in the next moment or by the next meeting.

But what do we assume about things that are finished or completed? Aren't they subject to being reconsidered or reopened based on new information or changes in relationships? The nature of daily life seems far more fluid than fixed for me. What if there were a creative way to take care of unfinished business, as unfinished business, without finishing it? Melander's and Eppley's book referenced above offers this suggestion:

"As you leave your workspace say this prayer: O God, into your hand I commend those tasks that I have not yet completed. Until I can return to them, I entrust these tasks and all whom they affect into your never-failing care."

What works for you in living creatively with unfinished business?

Peace, Pastor Jeff