"Pens with Name Tags," or "Different Ways to Love Your Neighbor"

I work in a church office, which makes my desk a very public space.  There are always people coming in and wanting something from it: a pen, scissors, some tape, and such.  And since people also look for these things when I am not here, I long ago got in the habit of putting my personal supplies away each day.  But people still need pens, right?  And they are the people who pay my salary and those whom I am here to serve - so I keep on the corner of my desk supplies for others, always there and ready for use.  Except… when the users carry them off and don’t bring them back!  Arghh!

And so, prolific labeling has ensued.  The pens have name badges, the scissors are adorned with little flags, and the tape and staple dispensers are tattooed – all in the hopes of reminding the users to bring these items back to the office.  On the surface it may seem the silly antics of a control freak.  But at heart, this labeling is not about some compulsive need I have to control the whereabouts of the office supplies, but rather an attempt to love my “neighbors” as myself:  I want them to have readily at hand the things they need, and to do that things need to come back to their proper places.

The dark side, though,  is to judge those who take and abandon and inconvenience the next person as careless individuals, unconcerned for anyone’s welfare but their own.  But if you think about it, you’ll realize as I have that that is not necessarily true.  We are all wired differently – fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together by our Maker in our mothers’ wombs.  And knit together as the Body of Christ, we all serve different functions.  All cannot be an eye.  All cannot be trackers-of-pens.  For some, it is that very ability to freely abandon an office pen any-old-where that allows them to serve others in ways that someone with different gifts and passions cannot. 

So be of good cheer!  We are all different and we all have different gifts and different ways we serve.

"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  Psalm 139:13-14a

Sometimes, however, we deceive ourselves.  Sometimes the “pen nametags” in our lives are not really for the benefit of others (even though we tell ourselves they are!), but rather to satisfy our own preferences and desires.  Sometimes labeling supplies becomes my passive aggressive attempt to shame others into complying with my sense of order and what is right and good.  Sometimes leaving things lie is merely carelessness, or thoughtlessness, or preferring to move on to the next thing rather than finishing up the last one first. 

As long as we do our best to use our gifts for God, though, it’s all good.  The key is to be attentive to what we do, and why we do it, and make changes as necessary.  And when considering the actions of others, it is imperative to give their motives and intentions the benefit of the doubt, assume they are actively intending for good (unless proven otherwise), and remember that they, too, are fearfully and wonderfully made - just different!.

What irritations do you experience from others that you need to re-evaluate?  Which ones may actually be caused by another person’s unique or different way of loving their neighbor, rather than just being an irritating habit? What actions of yours might others misconstrue as thoughtless instead of servanthood? or vice versa?)

Do All Dogs (and Cats!) Go to Heaven?

Last month, my dear little cat, Brownie, reached the end of her life.  She was always a very friendly little girl, and in her old-lady-hood (she made it to 17 years old) sometimes was downright pushy in indulging her affectionate nature.  It was Brownie and her affections who primarily inspired the notion of "cat gravity" in my household.  (You can read my post on that topic here.)

Not real, but still amusing!

Needless to say, her absence has been very noticeable.  And since Brownie is the first pet I've lost since coming to faith in Jesus, I've been thinking about what has happened to her, now that she has died.  Is she simply gone from existence or is her cat-soul in some sort of "kitty heaven" awaiting the new heavens and the new earth at the end of the age?  In a quickie survey of the internet for the opinions of Christians on this question, I found two principal positions: 1) pets don't have souls (or don't have souls of the kind that need to be saved) and so clearly won't  go to heaven; and  2) maybe... it's hard to say based on what is attested in the Bible.

I don't know about you, but as a person who has loved a pet, I find both of those answers inadequate.  The love and affection we feel for our beloved pets makes position (1) feel cold and heartless.  The love and affection we feel for our beloved pets makes position (2) feel simply not a good enough answer.  But why?  Why are those answers so unsatisfactory to us?  Why do I hope I might be reunited with Brownie one day, but I don't care whether I'll ever see again the computer or car or refrigerator or furnace or water-heater that just "died"?

It comes down to relationship.  Human beings are creatures created in God's image in a way that makes us intrinsically different from everything else God created.  We are created for relationship.  Mostly we find those relationships with God and with other people, but our relational nature also draws us to our pets, and we create relationships with them.  And because there is positive, loving relationship, we desire that relationship to be eternal.  It's only natural for us to desire that "all pets go to heaven," so that we can continue the relationship.

But what about you?  What about your family members? What about your friends and colleagues?  Will they (and you!) be in heaven?  For people, at least, we know that they might go to heaven.  There is no question as to whether it is possible - when people die, they "go to sleep" until the final day of judgement, at which time they are judged and either live out eternity in the presence of God (Heaven), or separated from God (Hell)..  The only question is whether a particular person has confessed Jesus Christ as  their Savior - that is the only thing that determines whether a person goes to Heaven.

Despite my short-comings and sins, I am confident that I have confessed Jesus as Lord and will spend eternity in the presence of God.  If, while living in the awe and splendor of God's presence, I have any capacity left to remember and long for my lost pets, then I trust that God will have preserved them and will restore them to me.

It is, however, much more worrisome to think about certain friends or family members or even acquaintances who may be choosing to live eternity separated from God.  My remembrance and longing for their presence in Heaven will not restore them to me then.  God will not override a person's free choice to live separated from God.

God will do what is right for Brownie (and Terra and Rosie and Blackjack and Barney and Angus and Bear and Kojack and Missy and Mikey and Cindy and Bessie and King and Nellie all the other pets that any person has ever loved....).

You and I need to do what is right for the people in our lives: pray for those you know who may not be saved, let your words and deeds and lifestyle show forth as a model worthy of imitating, and talk to them about your faith when God gives you the chance.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."  (John 3:16-17 ESV)

A Perfect Tulip?

 For Valentine's Day, my husband got me a pot of beautiful red tulips.  Because they are potted, and were in full bloom when he bought them, they are already "overblown:" the blooms are no longer the classic tulip shape, but have spread open into a sort of starburst shape.  As I was admiring those overblown blooms this morning, I realized that even though flower professionals would consider them past their prime, nevertheless they were not wilted and were quite beautiful in their own way.

"Perfect" Tulip?  Maybe not...

It occurred to me that this state, considered overblown and past its prime by most observers of tulips, is actually what these flowers are supposed to become.  It is the ultimate destination they are meant to reach, just before they begin to droop and wither: wide open, fully mature, doing everything in their power to attract pollinators to perpetuate their kind.  That is the ultimate purpose of a flower bloom.

Our culture has done a similar thing with people - holding up as the most beautiful, the ultimate, and the best, an "immature" state of being.  Young and dewy, tight-skinned, well-muscled, with a full head of (not in the least bit gray) hair: these are the characteristics to be maintained at all costs, an artificial definition of handsomeness and beauty chosen (rather arbitrarily  in my opinion)  from a narrow range along the path  of what God has meant us to become.

But I contend that so long as the spirit is lively and bright, it gives light to the whole person, and makes beautiful and handsome those badges of living that worldly standards may consider merely old and ugly, imperfect, undesirable  -  overblown.   Silvering and thinning hair, sagging and bagging, lines and wrinkles, stretch marks, scars, and everything of that sort serve as badges of honor - proof that the person sporting them has LIVED!

As creatures of God, what then is our ultimate purpose?  To live our lives from seed to bud to bloom and yes, even to overblown, as flowers in His garden, rejoicing in each and every stage of our being, not yearning either forward or backward to live in just one brief stage.  Ultimately, we each shall be cut, and gathered in God's arms, a riot of color and beauty to decorate God's throne room until the final coming of His kingdom.

"There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Until my gathering, I shall strive to keep my face turned to Jesus to reflect God's glory, so that I go to him a beautiful flower, mature and fulfilling my intended purpose (no matter if I appear overblown or past my prime to the world at large).  And that is my prayer for you also, my friend!

Some beautiful blooms  (Happy 50th Anniversary, parents!)

A little something to chew on:  what aspect of yourself do you consider less than perfect, but which may, in fact, be a beautiful aspect of the particular life journey God has given to you?  Try to make peace with that something; try to see it as God may see it!