Happy Mother’s Day
May 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Later on, we’ll be talking about how Jesus changes lives, but I had to stop and remember the importance of today. If you haven’t done so already, call your mother!
I recently rediscovered a poem by one-time U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins entitled “The Lanyard”. The narrator of the poem remembers making a lanyard for his mother while at summer camp. Here is an excerpt:
…I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp…
I love this poem, because it’s such a fitting picture of the way things work. I love the contrast between the gifts of the mother and this one cheap, useless piece of plastic. Our mothers give so much. And nothing we give in return can measure up to the mountains of blessings they pour out onto us.
So today, on Mother’s Day, I hope you have been given something. I’m sure that whatever it is you were given in no way measures up to what you have given out. But I hope that it still reminds you just how important you moms are. May God bless you as you bless us.
Aliens In America
May 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It’s a sad time of year for me. Sure, the weather is getting warmer. Summer is just around the corner. Soon we will be going to the beach, Busch Gardens, Camp Idlewild (Woohoo!) and Tides games. And sure, the days have gotten longer, which means we can play outside with the kids after dinner. Everything is lush with color. When the wind blows, the leaves give off a green whisper instead of a brown crackle.
So why do I have this vague sense that something is missing? What’s with this creeping sensation that something’s not quite right? It’s as if I should be looking for something that I’ve lost but I’m not even sure what it is.
And then I see the calendar and I remember. Football season is sooo far away. It ended back in February. But back then I could tell myself that there was the NFL draft to look forward to. That happened last weekend. College football is done with spring practice, and the scrimmages are over. We have now entered the football doldrums. I can now look forward to three more months of pigskinless weekends. And that’s if I include the NFL preseason. We’re actually four months away from “real” games. Oh well. I look at this way-at least I don’t have to worry about missing SportsCenter. I mean, there aren’t any other sports being played right now, right? (Can you tell I’m a little biased?)
Ok. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’m not as bad as I used to be. I think Rachel would tell you I watch a lot less football than I did before (back me up here, honey). And when my teams lose, it doesn’t ruin my day like it used to.
This mania can all be explained by my Southern upbringing. In SEC country, football (particularly college football) just plain crosses the line into idolatry. I have actually heard of large numbers of people who didn’t go to a close family member’s wedding because it took place on the Saturday of the Auburn/Alabama game.
You have to see it to believe it. People so identify with their particular team, it’s all they can think about. They live for their team. The success of their life is determined by the success of their team. It is a classic example of groupthink in action. During football season people stop being individuals and start being fans. I’m sure there are some fascinating Psychological studies that could be done on the power of identifying with a sports team.
This morning, we’re going to continue looking at how Jesus changes lives. And we’re going to be looking at how Jesus calls for pretty dramatic allegiance, as well. Jesus calls on us to pledge allegiance to the Kingdom of Heaven. Paul says that, in Jesus, there are no Jews or Greeks, no males or females (Galatians 3:28). I would say there are no Vols or Gators, no Titans or Ravens. And where I’m from that’s saying a lot.
What about you? What affiliations do you think are really important? Which ones are important to your identity? Are they sports related, political, or maybe even religious? Whatever they are, Jesus will call you to a different kind of allegiance. The Good News is that we’re invited to identify with an infinitely greater arena.
Carrier, Politics, and Screwtape
May 2, 2008 | 1 Comment
I was on a roll and then I quit posting. Why don’t we get this thing going again with some miscellaneous items?
Did anyone else watch Carrier? I gave you a heads up about it last month. If you missed it you can watch a lot of clips at the website. A film crew embedded on the USS Nimitz for a full deployment. I have been enthralled. I’d love to hear from those of you who can speak with experience. How fair of a representation is it? I find it convincing, but what do I know? I love that you get a glimpse of all the different types of people who live on this floating city. It really shows how different people experience Navy life differently. Seems like so much depends on where you’re coming from and what your attitude is.
So did you watch it? Maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “Why would I want to watch what I do at work?” Rachel feels that way about watching medical shows. I’ve never seen a reality show based on a minister’s life. Because, well, how fun could it be to watch a minister write a sermon? Not exactly a ratings bonanza. Anyhow, let me hear from you if you’ve been watching.
Also, for all of you current issues/politics folks, I just listened to an episode of Speaking of Faith that features a discussion between three very different evangelical leaders about faith and politics. How should we as Christians engage in the political arena? Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne have their disagreements (one is a pacifist, another worked in the Nixon administration), but they manage to have a very considerate and thoughtful discussion. Give it a listen. You can download the podcast, listen to, or watch their discussion at the Speaking of Faith website. I’ll probably talk more about it at a later date. And I’m probably going to share one of Shane Claiborne’s anecdotes from the discussion on Sunday morning.
Finally, I just rediscovered this quote from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. You’ll recall it’s a fictional (of course) correspondence between an older managing demon and his apprentice/nephew demon about how to best tempt a man to stray. Here he is talking about how useful it is to tempt humans to spend a lot of time worrying about the future or the past and very little time living in the present:
He (God) does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We do. His ideal is a man who, having worked all day for the good of posterity…washes his mind of the whole subject, commits the issue to Heaven and returns at once to the patience or gratitude determined by the moment that is passing over him. But we want a man hagridden by the Future—haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth—ready to break the Enemy’s (God’s) commands in the Present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other.
May God give us this day our daily bread. And may we see what a blessing it is.