Wednesday, April 25, 2018

 “For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Psalm 62:5)

                 What’s that you say? Sorry, I can’t hear you over the noise.

                A recent magazine (Women’s Health) has come out with a story about noise pollution and its health risks in our world. Our environment is filled with a cacophony of noises, especially in our cities – machinery, traffic, our cell phones, radios, TV, etc.  How often do you see someone walking and who has a set of head phones in his or her ears listening to their music? It seems we don’t wish to go anywhere unaccompanied by sound? As I write this I have a Blues station playing in the background. Many of us, in fact, like to have white noise to help us or our children to sleep. The article says that we have become so accustomed to the constant whir of background noise that we don’t even notice it, yet it adversely can affect us.  One article which I googled quotes a study that “noise makes you nervous and nasty”.

                Way, way back in the 1660s, the French philosopher Blaise Pascal speculated, “the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.”

                A steady barrage of loud noise really bothers me. I am partially deaf in one ear and a very loud, noisy room, for instance, will eventually overwhelm me with its noisy confusion and loud chaos and may trigger mild, anxiety attacks.  A loud, sudden noise will put my nerves on edge. A constant noise – like the little French poodle who lives just behind us and is allowed to bark for 15 minutes - makes me irritable.  I like my peace and quiet which is odd because we have loud, boisterous family gatherings which are a joy and a pleasure and getting crazier now with four young grandchildren.  I love every minute of our family get-togethers but I am also glad to get home, too.

                Silence has become a hot commodity according to the first article.

                I wonder if Jesus was thinking of the noisy distractions of the world when he recommended that one should find a private and quiet space in which to pray and meditate. “Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” (Matthew 6:6, The Message Bible)

                The Gospels teach us that Jesus enjoyed getting away by himself, finding solitude and quiet for his personal times with God, away from the noisy, demanding crowds. It helped him meet the day and its demands.

                It is like the Psalmist’s prescription for seeking some serenity, tranquillity and one spiritual centeredness:  “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.” (Psalm 37:7, NLT)  That can be hard for us task-oriented Type-A personalities, or for the Marthas  of this world who are always so busy and always so worried and upset about the details or the Solomon’s of this world who are always working on the next big project, or those of us who are maybe just a little afraid of the silence.

                I am all for making a joyful noise every now and then, but it is in the quiet spaces that we find refreshing depths of renewal and regeneration. It is beside still waters that we discover restoration for our souls. It is in the calm hush that it is possible to hear and experience the still, small voice of God.

“Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.” (Psalm 107:30)

Dale

Wednesday, April 18, 2018 

“So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other’s welfare and then went into Moses’ tent.” (Exodus 18:7)

                Sometimes, it’s the smallest of things which catch one’s eye; the seemingly unimportant, the inconsequential, something so ordinary and mundane, in ways, that it would be easy to overlook it, especially when there are far more important matters to discuss and understand.

                There is possibly far more to the story as to why Moses sent his wife, Zipporah, and their two sons back to her family and her father Jethro. It also looks like Jethro is having none of it and arranges a family reunion in of all places the wilderness, at the “mountain of God”.

                Momentous things have been taking place for Moses and the Israelite people since they fled Pharaoh and their oppressive Egyptian slavery. The whole chapter  reeks of sacred power, powerful mystery and God’s personal hand in their deliverance, “everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and Egypt on behalf of Israel… all the hardships they had experienced along the way and how the Lord had rescued his people from all their troubles.” (Exodus 18:7) These amazing events seem to be the crux and focus of the story. Stunning. Electrifying.  Astounding.  It’s quite the story that Moses has to tell his father-in-law.

                But first and foremost – here is the small thing – they exchange pleasantries. They asked about each other’s welfare as our translation so warmly expresses it.  Before the great story is told, common courtesy, hospitality, civility happens as the cords of relationship and family take precedent before the bigger story gets even started. It is not something the story teller necessarily needed to record, but it must have struck the person as important.  

                I am not very good at small talk. Sure, I’ll talk about last night’s ball game, the weather (hasn’t it been something awful this week!) or a TV show I have watched. But it has always been difficult for me to patiently chat and converse, especially if there is a task at hand or a concrete purpose for getting together. I have always wanted to get right down to business, concentrate on the task at hand, and address the big picture. We’ll talk later.  I have had to work hard and intentionally to do the significantly social, heart-to-heart stuff that actually makes meetings and committees and groups function much better. How’s the family? How’s work? How’s your health? How was that trip?  How’s the dog?

                It is important, no matter the significance and import of the moment, to take a little time and ask about each other’s welfare, “for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” (1 John 4:20)  Perhaps, when he brought back Moses’ wife and sons, Jethro was reminding Moses  that no matter how world-changing his life was under God, there was still his ordinary responsibilities of being a caring husband and father. Moses was as much a part of “small” things as he was part of some great things.  

Here, let’s have some tea, break some bread, catch up on family news, hug your kids, kiss your wife; then we will discuss what God is doing in the world.  Who is to say that God wasn’t as much at work in that “small talk” as God was in mountain-top experiences, burning bushes, and thunderclaps?

Sacredness comes in many shapes and sizes. 

Dale

Wednesday, April 11, 2018 

“Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.” (Mark 4:5)

                 My backyard, which is, presently, no fertile oasis at the best of it, i.e. more of a weedy wasteland, may not grow much grass but it has been extremely proficient at sprouting rocks over the winter. I am not talking about little pebbles and stones – oh no, I mean large rocks, the size of grapefruits, some the size of loaves of bread, a few even larger.  Dozens and dozens of them. I don’t really know where they came from, except obviously from the ground, but why have they, all of a sudden, come to the surface? They weren’t there last year.

                I hope to rebuild my back yard this spring, but I will have to remove the rocks and stones in order to do so. The soil and land fill are obviously very poor quality and so, it is no wonder the lawn didn’t survive the drought two summers ago. This will be laborious work and I hate laborious yard work!  The subsequent weed-fest was bad enough, but now I have the multitude of rocks to contend with.

                My plan is to gather up all the big rocks and make a rock garden under a window, spread some fresh soil in the cracks and plant succulents like Hen and Chicks and others and hope and pray that the plants survive the heat.

                It is very tempting to be utterly lazy and put down sod or plant grass seed and leave the rocks alone. Leave them be. God put ‘em there; he can take care of them. But I would end up with a dead lawn again, and hazardous to mow.  So, it’s better to get rid of the rocks and prepare the soil and then sow the grass seed.

                Jesus has given  us this wonderful story about sowing seed and what can go wrong and what can go very right if the right conditions are met.  A lot of discussion has arisen whether this is a parable about the sower, the seed or the soil, but I don’t really see why it can’t be about all three.

                Today, it is about the seed that fell among rocky ground and couldn’t grow because the soil was too shallow and therefore had no nutrients or sustainability to grow and thrive.  It would have been easily susceptible to scorching sun, weeds and drought. Rocks don’t provide a healthy landscape, a fertile growing space, a productive environment.

                Now, I think that Jesus was thinking about the Good News of God’s gracious Love as being the seed in this case. This Good News can make such a difference in people’s lives, in the communities in which we live, in the relationships and responsibilities that we take on. When it finds its most fertile possibility in the lives of people who exercise this Love, who forgive, who are compassionate and kind toward others, friends and strangers alike, and who trust in this Love, and who thrive in its goodness and activity, then the seed of this Good News takes hold and it brings blessings and abundance to all of us.

                But there are times that we must clear the rocks and the small boulders which scatter across our personal, ecclesiastical or cultural landscapes.  Big rocks like judgmentalism, prejudices, hatreds, grudges, fears, worries, pride, gossip,  envy, addictions, obsessions, greed, consumerism, resentments -  to name but a few. These sorts of rocks are, sometimes, things we choose to pick up and throw at others. And we all should know what Jesus said about rock throwing: “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8: 7, NLT)

Go make a rock garden, but don’t be throwing those things at people! 

Dale

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 

“Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:22) 

                I read a news story, just last week, about a young mother who was suffering from empty nose syndrome. She had undergone some sort of nasal surgery which did more damage than good. The definition of empty nose syndrome is that it is a rare clinical syndrome in which people who have clear nasal passages experience a range of symptoms, most commonly feelings of nasal obstruction, nasal dryness and crusting, and a sensation of being unable to breathe. This woman said that it always feels that she can’t get a full breath and, at times, she feels suffocated or smothered. Experts are divided on what ENS really is, its causes and how it should be treated.

                In light of Jesus’ Resurrection, we sometimes have a spiritual version of empty nose syndrome.

                The disciples are huddled in a locked-up house, more frightened by the Resurrection and its consequences than joyful and empowered. Perhaps, they were still stuck in the events of the Crucifixion. They seemed worried that they would be the next ones arrested, tried and maybe meet the same fate as Jesus. They are confused, perplexed, anxious, mystified, and didn’t know what to do next.

                The Risen Lord enters into this stuffy, stale-aired situation and breathes upon them and offers them his Holy Spirit. They just need to breathe the Spirit in.

                As the opening of John’s Gospel has connotations of Genesis, “In the beginning”, so does this verse. God made Adam “from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.” (Genesis2: 7) Here is new life shaped into the very likeness of God, in his image.   With that life comes a full garden of possibilities, hopes, joys, satisfaction, well-being and fulfillment.  Literally - what more could a man or woman ask for?

                “When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.” (Psalm 104: 30)

                In effect, the Resurrection is the renewal of God’s gift of new life with all its potential, possibilities and responsibilities as well. If we are feeling smothered by our worries and our fears of what is happening around us, here is the gift that will set us free if we actually breathe the Spirit in. If we are confused, anxious and don’t know what to do here is the gift of life that throws open the shutters, allows clean air to sweep through the open windows, and blows away the dust and cobwebs, scatters the clutter, and invites us to breathe deeply, inhale the fresh air by which Jesus breathes life into the room.

I suppose that I am mixing my metaphors but “wind” “breath” and “spirit” are all the same noun in Greek. “You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God." (John 3:8, The Message Bible)

But I confess it puzzles me why God’s people act as if they have empty nose syndrome, spiritually speaking. What a gift we have been given, a source of new life, new hope, new joy but too often it seems we are suffocating ourselves with closemindedness, stubborn reluctance to change, and stifling creativity with musty traditions and dogmatic pronouncements, and draining the living energy right out of the Resurrection Hope.  This gift is more than just a promise for the someday life of a New Reality, but it is the immediate blessing for you and me in the here and now.

Breathe, Jesus is telling us. Breathe in his Spirit. Breath in his Life. Breath in his Power. Breathe in his Love.

“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!”  (Psalm 104:33) 

Dale