Shining Spirit

May the mercy of God, the Spirit’s embrace,
and the presence of Jesus shine through your face
as you rise to meet this remarkable day,
committed to live in the same brave way
as Jesus, walking the earth long ago,
called to his side the smart and the slow,
rich and poor, weak and strong
to reveal to the world how to belong
to life in its most glorious ways
by living each moment of every day
on behalf of the wounded, the least, the lost
without thinking of self or counting the cost.

May the mercy of God, the Spirit’s embrace,
and the presence of Jesus fill this place
through all the things you say or do,
for then you will know the blessing, too.
If you choose today to give Love away,
you will hear deep inside a clear voice say:
Well done, beloved; by your hand and your heart
you have gifted creation; you have done your part
to be a light, a song, a dream,
living water in a quiet stream.

May the mercy of God, the Spirit’s embrace,
and the presence of Jesus shine in your face,
a sign to all of amazing grace.

A stranger approached me the other day;
you won’t believe what he had to say.
“You,” he declared, “are now my best friend!
My search is over! Let deep friendship begin!”
With that, he extended his hand to shake.
“Sorry, sir, but you’ve made a mistake.
I haven’t a clue about who you are;
you could have fallen from a passing star.
You’re a stranger to me; so how, in the end,
can I possibly be your very best friend?”

Friendships develop; they take effort and time.
I regret to tell you: “I respectfully decline
your offer to be your life-long friend.”
And that’s how our meeting came to an end.
I could tell he didn’t feel the same.
I don’t even know the stranger’s name.
But the chance encounter, and you will think this odd,
reminded me of my friendship with God.

Just like the stranger who approached me that day,
I once thought that I could honestly say:
“God is my rock; my very best friend,”
when, truth be told, at the day’s end
I knew nothing of God; I could only pretend.
God was a concept, an idea at best,
“why bother,” I thought, “with all the rest
of what it takes to be a friend:
time together, considered thought,
sharing the ways that friendship ought
to grow and develop, become mature;
but over time I became quite sure
that calling a concept, an idea, my friend
simply won’t work; that’s not the end
that I sought when I wanted to be
in love with God who, in turn, loved me.

I now understand that in order to be
a friend to my neighbor, anyone I see,
there is much, indeed, required of me.
Friendship does not come casually.
There is pain to share, times to cry;
a spirit willing to lay down and die
for the sake of the one known in the end
as my sister, my brother, my very best friend.

God is much more than a casual thought,
a distant acquaintance whom, I think, ought
to rush to my rescue as my last resort,
but who, in good times, stays apart
until my need grows strong again,
and I call out: “God, help me!”
to My Very Best Friend.

Wouldn’t it be strange if someone walked up to you and said: “You are now my best friend!” A stranger. Unknown to you. Out of the blue! None of that messy, time consuming “getting to know each other.” No shared experiences, common dreams. Strange, indeed.

I caught part of an interview the other day involving an Oxford University scholar named Alister McGrath, professor of theology, noted writer. All the credentials. And in the course of the conversation, McGrath alluded to the idea that the Christian faith is a “journey.” We’ve heard that before. That is, faith grows stronger experience by experience, encounter by encounter; by time spent invested in faith matters and activities. We start out with child-like faith and end up, hopefully, with a strong, mature faith. Journey. Progression. Development. Investment of self in the process of spiritual growth.

Why isn’t it the same with a specific relationship with God? In the human realm, my best friend is someone I know thoroughly, over time and experience, because we have spent extended time together. We share ourselves with each other. That’s a best friend.

It is a mark of an immature, undeveloped relationship that says “God is my friend” if we have never spent time together. Casual friendships are nice…they are called acquaintances…but to have or to be a friend is to spend time together in common experience. Most of us start out with a sandbox understanding of God, and that’s the way it should be. But to be a “friend” of the Holy One means investment of self over time…growing into the relationship. I truly enjoy being with friends, especially those who have invited me into experiences of common values. So, at this point in my life, I look back at the miles traveled with friends, and the deeper experiences of “best” friendships with those who touch my soul. All of this is to say: if you desire a deeper relationship with God, invest yourself and your time in reaching that goal. From the day of birth to the day of death, we continue to learn and grow…like being on a journey. A journey into the heart of God…best friends.

And, thank you, my friend, for the joy of the journey.

God, give me wisdom as I greet this day,
strength to face the imperfect way,
hope where all seems futile or lost,
a heart that is willing to accept the cost
of living my faith with courage and will,
today, tomorrow and each day until
by your Grace and Mercy all the world knows
what the cross and tomb are meant to show:
that hope always lives and love never dies;
so, help me, Dear God, in this day to try
to offer a cup of the water of life,
speak peace in the turmoil of impatience and strife,
demonstrate faith in what I do and say,
announce that Love will light the way,
give credit where all the credit is due:
and that’s not me; it is only you.

This is the day the Lord has made;
this is the day that I shall lay
aside all the excuses and reasons why
I am unwilling to even try.
I know Love is patient,
and I know Love is kind,
that the Spirit of Life is always blind
to human differences that keep us apart,
I pray for that truth to break open my heart
so that all I say and all I do
will announce the joy of knowing You.

This is my prayer as I wait for the Light
to break through the darkness and give me sight.

Amen.

I am a wounded man. I got this way because I live in a world that often promotes violence instead of virtue. A bullet of unkindness or greed or self-interest struck me one day as I walked down the street, and I’ve been carrying that wound for a long time. What I fail to remember is that there is a way back to the me that God wove together in my mother’s womb. If I make an appointment to see the doctor, the agent of all curing, she or he can treat my wound and set me on a course of recovery and renewal. The “badness” that I carry has nothing to do with my birth; it is neither inherent nor inherited. A good God makes good things. The God of the Christian faith cannot do otherwise. But, longing for relationships of trust and love, God opened up a clinic for the human soul. The lead physician in the clinic was given the authority and the means to treat wounds and restore health. He treats everyone who knocks on the door, provides the healing antidote to woundedness, and charges nothing for his service except a commitment to follow the treatmement plan. The recovery rate is astounding.

The concept of original badness at the hand of an all-loving God is a way to explain why bad people exist and why bad things happen to good people. Those things happen, not because my nature is bad, but because I am among the walking wounded. The Doctor at the clinic treats the wound and returns us to wholeness. “Once wounded, always wounded?” No, not if you keep your clinic appointments. Is it possible to be wounded more than once? Yes, but people who value health stay away from places and circumstances that cause the wounds. If you’re “asking for trouble” you’ll usually find it. Is there a limit to the times you can make an appointment with the Doctor. He publicizes that he is on call around the clock. This remarkable “Good Physician” does not do human nature transplants. He restores health! He binds up wounds, gives you a prescription and says: You’re going to feel like a brand new person, but truthfully you are going to be restored to the original you. And that, dear patient, is as good as it gets.

Think on this: If you are worried about protecting your human nature from the wiles of the wicked, then every morning you need to pick up your armor and be ready to do battle. Fine thing to do. Or, if your heart hurts for the wounded, pick up your bowl and towel and go find the pain. And while you are binding up wounds, show people your own wounds that have been healed. Tell them about the clinic and the Great Physician who always takes new patients. Your world is full of the walking wounded in search of a good doctor. Spread the word!

Six pieces of advice, one for each day of this week. This is day two, according to my calculation. Sunday is the first day of the week, but let’s don’t quibble about that. Quibble; where did that word come from? Have you ever quibbled in your life? Never mind; I digress. Ponder these life principles day by day. You’ll be better off for the effort.

The fundamental, basic, common life principle that is universal among all living beings:
Treat all living things the way you want to be treated. Captured in that piece of advice is the key to peace, to joy, to meaning.

Second: “To thine own self be true…” You can fool a lot of people a lot of the time. But, friend, you can’t fool yourself. You know, don’t you. Deny it; gloss it over; pretend it isn’t the way it is, but…

Third: Walk in the other guy’s shoes for a while. A soul without empathy is empty. And it’s not enough to just “know” about someone else’s situation; you have to feel it to understand it.

Fourth: Never trust a smiling dog. In the first place, dogs can’t smile. What you want to identify as a smile is really a snarl. If you can’t tell the difference, you’re in for some big trouble. Be discerning.

Fifth: If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably…. Pretending is a losing position. May as well face up to reality; name it for what it is. Evil likes to dress up in pretty clothes; likes to fool the foolish. Don’t be “taken to the cleaners” by those who are intent on shrinking the world to their size.

Six: Common sense, scientific inquiry, voices of history, these and more conclude that there is something to the notion that life is the creative expression of a moral hope. Whether you believe that or not is irrelevant. My disbelieve does not make it false. The advice? Act today on the proposition that the common good is much more important than efficiency, control, personal gain or lasting fame. Those things don’t have much staying power. You’ve heard the old saying: Put your mind to it… How about today putting your heart to it.

I can’t stop…just one more. I think it was the old baseball player, Satchel Paige, who said: “Aging is just mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” And “don’t look back; something might be gaining on you.” Figure those two out and you’ll have a better day. Press on.