"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!

Christmas Presents for Christmas Presence

(The following is adapted from the sermon I preached for St. Peter’s Church, Purcellville, VA, on Dec 30, 2012)

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I always used to enjoy without question all the facets of Christmas: the giving and receiving of gifts, decorating the house, the special church service with all the great carols, gathering with family for a special meal, and doing all the other things that we only did at Christmas.  And did I mention getting presents?  I have always been particularly fond of getting presents....

But in the last five years or so, after I finally found and embraced a saving faith in Jesus and had some time to really think about all the things we do at Christmas, I've become rather conflicted over most of the traditional Christmas festivities we engage in. Faith made me feel rather Grinch-y: looking down from the great height of Mount Crumpet at those foolish Whos, engaging in the sound and fury of their pointless Christmas revels (Jing Tinglers and Pan Tookahs, indeed!).  As a Grinch who already knows and understands that the “Spirit of Christmas” isn't tied to the stuff, the “stuff” seems pointless!  So why not just let Christmas come WITHOUT boxes or ribbons or tags?  Why bother? 

After all, the presents I love are just consumerism and greed, encouraged in our hearts by marketers and advertisers, right?  Decorations and lights and travel and family gatherings and parties and presents are just reasons to spend money we wouldn't spend otherwise, and all to benefit the bottom line of stores and other businesses.  Have you ever felt this way about Christmas?  Have you ever considered going to that extra worship service at Christmas and skipping all the rest?

As I struggled to make peace with our typical Christmas observances, especially the gift giving part, I finally reached an uneasy truce: at Christmas God gave us the gift of Jesus, so we give gifts to each other;  it’s Jesus’ birthday, so we give gifts to each other because we can’t give them to him;  the Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus, so we give gifts…  Those seem rather trite and flimsy reasons (or should I say “excuses”?) for our American-style Christmas Extravaganza, but it’s the best I could come up with… 

Then earlier this week I read an interesting article called “Putting Mary Back in Christmas” by Robin Philips.  The article was primarily about finding an appropriate middle ground between what many consider the Catholic extreme of an all-but-deified Mary on the one hand versus a common Protestant attitude that is so very careful to keep Mary a mere ordinary human being as to make her (Mary) even less important than any other ordinary Christian. 

In his article Mr. Philips says this: “Mary is the supreme example of God’s grace reaching us through the stuff of the created world. By saying “yes” to God, Mary’s womb became the means by which the God-man could come to earth and rescue us from the curse of sin and death.”  What that statement is saying is that God works through “means” (of stuff) to convey his grace to us; He uses the world to act for Him; He uses creation to bless His people.  And God’s use of creation is not simply a matter of miraculously manipulating inanimate objects, but also of using the actions of people. 

Of course, it shouldn't surprise us that God uses creation to bless.  In our reading from John, we heard this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”  (John 1:1-3)
God MADE all the “stuff” and substance that we call the world.  The Earth, the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, all of these things from the very beginning of creation are “stuff” and that stuff is God’s. 

We fell because of stuff (that whole unfortunate incident with the apple that we heard about), but we are also blessed through stuff.  Israel was a nation made of stuff – people, land, houses, possessions.  And from Israel came King David, and from David’s progeny came Mary, and from Mary came Jesus – who is both God AND “stuff”, and the ultimate blessing upon humankind. 

God blesses through stuff – not mere ideas or thoughts or words.  God acts by means of stuff, for example plaguing Pharaoh with actual frogs and locusts, feeding Israel in the wilderness with real food, giving Israel actual land as a home, and being born into this world of stuff as a baby to act here for the benefit of his people. 

God created the stuff, and then created himself within that stuff through the cooperative womb of Mary.  And from that life as stuff came our salvation!  Now salvation itself is certainly an intangible “idea” - a “concept” - but it was got for us by means of stuff… a human body born from a woman, living in the world, then dying on a wooden cross, pierced by iron, and wrapped with linen and spices in death and placed in a rocky tomb.  And that’s all stuff, stuff, and more stuff!  (and all this talk of stuff reminds me of the comedy routine by George Carlin on “stuff”….)

So how can all this “stuff” make sense of our Christmas celebrations?  It goes back to Mary, who is not merely to be remembered as the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, but who also serves as the supreme example of God’s grace entering the world by means of His people, who are stuff he created.    And we also are means God uses to bless others.  None of us is likely to bless the world so richly and universally as Mary did when she obediently allowed God’s Son to enter creation through her.  But we – both individually and as The Church - are just as important for conveying the Good News of God’s saving grace, and serving as a conduit of His Blessings. 

Because think about it: when is the last time you felt richly and compellingly blessed by a mere thought or idea?  I couldn't come up with anything for myself….  But when have you felt richly and compellingly blessed by someone’s actions or gifts or presence – by those things that rely on actions within the “stuff” of the world? 

Now there is fertile ground where I can think of all sorts of examples in my own life:  unexpected gifts large and small, acts of service, kind words, a smile, an acknowledgement, and just the warm presence of another person beside me.  All of these things rely on the activities of another person to convey blessings from God.  Because you know that ultimately, all those blessings are from God, no matter what person may physically provide them to you.

And that, I think, is our basis for all we do at Christmas.  Of course, we remember and honor God and Jesus and what has been done for us.  But that’s history and ideas – intangible concepts.  It gets real when it becomes flesh and dwells among us; when our thoughts and feelings become actions and gifts and service to one another; when we make it real by representing it in the stuff of creation, here and now.

Our Christmas Presents become a way of demonstrating and paying forward God’s Christmas Presence.  The gifts we give one another – whether wrapped in paper and bows, or consisting of the acts of love we perform for others - are a way of making Christ known.  And that is a perfectly wonderful reason to continue to keep Christmas well.

Our Christmas “Presents” show forth Christ’s Christmas “Presence,” and in that way God blesses us, every one.  Merry Christmas!

Viral Compassion

You can always tell it's been a slow news day when all the media outlets are reduced to reporting on the latest thing that's gone viral on the internet!  Of course, that's the only reason I heard about the NYC police officer who got his 15 minutes of fame by being "caught" giving a new pair of boots and socks to a barefoot homeless man a couple weeks ago.  A photo of the incident went viral, becoming so popular the news media felt compelled to jump into the fray, reporting the "story" and asking people's opinion on what the officer did, how to help the homeless, and so on.

Now the man is shoeless again!  When people noticed the man some days later, barefoot again, he said he didn't feel safe wearing such expensive boots, and hid them so they wouldn't be stolen.  Further investigation revealed that the man was not homeless, and has an apartment paid for by various benefits he receives.  He just has a history of refusing help.

Where does this sort of story leave us when we are  asked - especially at this time of year - to help the needy?  The Pollyanna optimists believe they can give a shoeless man a pair of boots (or put a dollar in the red kettle or give a tot a toy...) and change his life.  The Scrooge-like cynics see just another person unwilling to take care of themselves and expecting a handout in the name of Christmas.  The story of this shoeless man shows that neither end of this spectrum is true in this case; neither Pollyanna nor Scrooge have got it right.

Where, then, does the middle ground lay?  How should we orient our hearts to those in need?   Helping others in order to feel good about your own charity will most often lead to disappointment when your gift does not yield the anticipated transformation and/or gratitude from the recipient.  Refusing to help others so that they must learn to help themselves will most often lead to being cut off from humanity and with a withered capacity for compassion.

We can't expect to permanently "fix" poverty.  Jesus himself states that the poor will always be with us (Matthew 26:11).  But neither can we ignore the poor.  Jesus expects us to help them (James 1:27).


The solution is to keep our eyes on Jesus when we serve others.  Give chiefly because compassion for humanity demands it, and with no expectation of any reward  (whether in the form of gratitude from the recipient or the form of satisfaction at doing a good deed).  That, after all, is what Jesus would do!  God's compassion for Humanity is, after all, the reason for the season.

An epidemic of "viral compassion" is what I want for Christmas!  Can you help?

Get Some Help!

The image that comes to my mind when I'm feeling over-worked is that of a busy waiter working a crowded, noisy dining room, bringing orders to the diners from the kitchen.  This server is carrying a large tray, heavily laden with plates of food, hoisted high and carefully balanced.  When another waiter approaches and says "let me help," the answer is always "Thanks, but I've got it."  Why?  because it is more effort to lower the tray and try to balance it on one hand to pass some of the load to another, than it is to just press on and finish the job yourself.  At least, that's how I often feel!  The things I most need help with are the very things that seem to require MORE effort to hand off than to just complete on my own.

And then there are all those other reasons for not taking help: pride (can't let others think I can't do this myself!), perfectionism (no way can someone else do this the way I want it done!), distrust (she's only helping so she can try to take my place!), and so on and so on....  We are some seriously broken people, aren't we?

But we don't have to be!  I heard a very striking sermon last month reminding us that Jesus wants to help us. In all things.  At all times.  Jesus is a helper and his desire is to help us.  He watches us in our self-imposed struggles, trying to catch our attention so he can say "I will HELP you!"  The help he offers is not help that we have to direct, either.  Unlike the well-meaning waiter trying to offer help but needing action on my part for the help to be effective, all we have to do to receive Jesus' help is to ask for it.  He is God, after all, an he can do anything.

Right now, take a moment to close your eyes, and bring to mind an area of your life in which you need help. Now imagine Jesus has entered into the room.  He is looking intently at you, his desire to ease your burden is clearly written on his face.  He speaks, saying "let me help you."  Say yes, my friend, say yes!

And you don't have to figure out HOW to "let" Jesus help you.  My waiter may find that the restaurant has gotten less crowded so the trays are lighter and easier to manage.  Maybe the management has hired more waiters.  Or bought lighter plates!  Perhaps the next diner he serves will offer him a job somewhere else that doesn't involve balancing heavy trays.  Or perhaps the same trays with the same plates for the same diners just doesn't feel like such a difficult load any more....

Just say "Jesus, help me" and watch with confident expectation for something to change.

I look up to the mountains—
    does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth!
     (Psalm 121:1-2)

Just say yes and Jesus will do the rest.

Plates

I've noticed lately that my everyday dinner plates are looking kind of rough: several are chipped, and the paint is looking worn and faded.  As I've started considering an upgrade, I remembered a study I'd heard about relating the size of your plate to the amount you eat.  This is a link to a fascinating article on the topic.

The bottom line is that the same amount of food looks smaller when served on a larger plate.  Especially telling is that even when people were specifically tasked with serving the same amount into different sized dishes, they consistently over-served when using the larger dishes, showing how strong and unconscious this bias is.  Combined with the fact that American-made dinner plates have grown some 23 percent since the 1950s, it's little wonder that we're all getting heavier!  I'll definitely be looking for some smaller plates when the time comes.

All this musing about plates naturally turned my mind to offering plates and from there to church pledge campaigns, since many churches (my own included!) have their pledge in-gatherings in the Fall.  So what bearing might this plate-size business have on our perceptions of generosity when we are giving to God through our local church?

At first thought, it might seem that we all would recognize how abundantly God has blessed us and thus see ourselves as having "plates" filled to overflowing with God's generous provisions.  From that sense of abundance we would then readily and joyfully give a heaping helping to the church, confident we'd still be left with more than enough for ourselves.  The truth, however, is that  the rich communities in which so many of us live comprise a vast enormous plate on which our individual blessings often seem tiny and small....

Seeing our portion on such an unrealistically large plate makes it harder to give.  The total of what we have feels small on the "big plate" of the lifestyles around us: a mere pea on a platter.  It makes us less inclined to give generously, because we feel poor by comparison even in our extraordinary wealth!

The answer then is to get yourself a new "plate" on which serve up your blessings.  Like the more-than adequate servings that fit on a smaller dinner plate, we need to evaluate the abundance of God's provision against a more appropriate backdrop.  We need to see the circumstances of our lives on a smaller plate, in order to more readily and easily share what's on that plate with others.

Rather than comparing ourselves to the rich and famous as shown in news and entertainment and to observations of our neighbors, instead we need to consider the whole range of the human condition - around the world and throughout time.  And instead of focusing only on the "stuff" we have, we also need to remember all the intangibles - family, friends, church community, health, faith, well-being, the beauty of creation, the wonder that God made you and loves you!  All the money in the world won't fill a plate the way these things can.

With the confidence of knowing our plate is full, our generosity is more easily released.  We just need to know how to look at things.  What aspects of your life do you need to look at differently in order to recognize how abundantly God has provided for you?  Can you share more of that abundance with your church?

The King-Sized Bed Effect

My husband and I recently took a lovely vacation on Ocracoke Island, NC.  We rented a tiny but adorable little house, and its one and only bed happens to be a king-sized bed.  Hubby and I have spent the last 24 years sleeping in a queen-sized bed, so I was looking forward to the spacious treat of a really big bed, even in a tiny house.

What I discovered though, was that that large bed felt rather TOO large.  We naturally spread farther apart when we laid down, and I found that when I reached my hand out to tuck it under hubby's torso as I often do, he was no longer in easy reach!  It really was more like sleeping alone than with someone, what with all that real estate between us and the wider sheets and blankets, too.

Thinking about our experience with the big bed got me to thinking about other things that come with so much space.  First and foremost, we don't have to put up with each other!  Blanket hogging, tossing and turning, snoring, coughing, one reading in bed when the other is trying to sleep - these are all things hubby and I have learned to tolerate (and even love and appreciate) in one another.  But we've only learned to do so by staying close; as the bed gets wider, the amount of tolerance needed decreases.

Similarly with living in large houses: how does one learn to tolerate the irritating habits of those with whom they live, if they are so far apart that they don't HAVE to learn to tolerate?  According to US Census data, the average square footage of single family homes in the northeastern US increased from about 1,600 to about 2,600 square feet since the 1970s.  That's a 1,000 square foot increase, or about two-thirds larger!  Ironically, average household size has been decreasing during that time!

What we found in the big bed is surely also true of the big house: when more space is available, people will naturally spread apart.  The farther apart we are, the less we use our "tolerance-muscles."  Our character gets weak and flabby, and we lose both tolerance AND intimacy with others.

Is it any wonder, then, that Christianity in the US seems to be waning in many places?  We who want our personal space and have limited tolerance for others being "too close" would naturally also find it difficult to embrace a Lord who lives WITHIN us, as close as our very breath.  Or to live closely in a tight knit Christian community as the body of Christ - not just occupying the same room on a Sunday morning, but knit together into a single community.

Galatians 4:1-7

I say it's time to down-size!  Where in your relationships do you have "too much space"?  Is it between you and your spouse?  Or perhaps a sibling?  Maybe it's with a friend or someone in your church fellowship.  Find some small way to begin drawing that person closer.

Or maybe...  maybe... it's between you and God that there is too much space.  God may seem a world away, but God is always as close as your breath - just a prayer away from your heart.  Pray now for God to grant you the tolerance to let Him live closer to your heart.

What Makes a Weed?

I've always loved when the violets start blooming in the spring.  As a child I used to love when I found myself somewhere with enough of them to pick for a little posy. When we built our house some years ago, I was delighted to find that there were many violets in the lawn.  It seems, however, that the violets are flourishing more than the grass is, and our flower beds quickly become overrun with large violet plants when weeding gets overlooked - as it frequently does!

In fact, I pulled pounds and pounds of violet plants recently from around the base of our above-ground pool.    On the one hand, I was sad as I pulled up the roots and rhizomes and saw all the buds the plants were preparing for later. On the other hand, it felt so good to clear out the overwhelming mass of unwanted vegetation.

cleistogamus "flowers"

That bit of weeding got me thinking about how my beloved violets had become such unwanted pests.  I discovered as I was doing a bit of research that what I thought were next season's flower buds were actually this season's cleistogamous [hidden] flowers.  These hidden flowers produce seeds with no other violet plant needed, and the seed pods are sort of "spring-loaded", so they get flung away from the parent plant when they drop.  And that's what makes the little blighters so good at spreading!  

It's that same sort of unexpected ability to reproduce itself that makes some our habits so troublesome.  Reading, for example, is a good thing.  But getting hooked on reading novels, newspapers, magazines, blogs and so forth, day in and day out to the detriment of other responsibilities, IS a big problem.  And the same thing can happen with any and all of the  good things God has given us in this world.  It's not the thing itself that is a problem, but its ability to take root in our lives and overwhelm all the other things in the garden.  

To be an effective disciple of Jesus, one must root out everything that gets in the way of  taking up the cross and following him.  The difficulty is that so many of the things that get in our way are not bad things by their own merit, but only because of their ability to crowd out discipleship.  Violet flowers are, after all, quite charming and lovely.  It is only when they have the chance to take over the garden or the lawn or the flower beds that they become a problem.

"Then [Jesus] said to the crowd, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.'"  (Luke 9:23)

What weeds are crowding out your discipleship efforts?  What keeps you from prayer, Bible reading, worship, service, giving?  Weeds can be hard to identify and heart-breaking to dig out when they seem as harmless as a little violet flower.  Ruthlessly "weeding" our lives is the only thing, though, that will allow us space to develop fully into disciples of Jesus Christ.  So get out your gardening gloves, and start pulling!

Choose your Satisfaction

I have a little swimming pool in my backyard.  It's an above-ground-model that was given to us by friends, and they weren't the first owners.  We've had to replace parts of the side that rusted out, the bottom is lumpy because our install wasn't the best.  The liner has at least a dozen patches that are starting to come off, and I can't seem to keep ahead of the algae...

But despite all that, I do love it!  I like to float in it and just watch the sky, or enjoy the feel of hot dry sunshine on top and cool wet water below.  One day recently I was reveling in the glory of the world as I floated in that pool, and it occurred to me that a lot of people in the wealthy part of the world where I live probably think I'm foolish to find such satisfaction in something that by any standards (even my own!) is quite dilapidated and second-rate.

And sometimes I might agree that I'm too easily satisfied: choosing the easier path, deciding to settle for less, passively accepting what's available rather than pursuing something else, something that represents "better" or "more."  The world says that I am not living up to my full potential when I leave these possibilities on the table, un-striven-for.  After all, if I'd spent more effort advancing in my job, I might have a beautiful in-ground pool now, and wouldn't that be better?

But I think we all have to choose our satisfaction.  To choose satisfaction means to acknowledge that what you have RIGHT NOW is enough - to look into the depths of your soul and say not only "this is good enough," but "this is good and more than I deserve." It's not a matter of "settling" for something that is less than your heart's desire.  Rather, it is a matter of allowing yourself to be satisfied with what's available in the here and now.

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray this: "Give us the bread we need for today." (Matthew 6:11, Common English Bible)  To choose satisfaction is to acknowledge that whatever we have now, today, is what God has provided to us - for today.  "More" or "better" may be coming our way later, but to disparage what we have now is to disparage the Giver.  To not find a full measure of joy in our current circumstances is to judge God's provision as inadequate...

So, my friends, choose to be satisfied!  What unlikely or overlooked circumstance can you find RIGHT NOW that satisfies your soul?