Shining Spirit

Yes, there is a path there. You just can’t see it. Yet.

Trailblazers are always faced with scenes like this one. To get from here to there is going to take some effort. You’ll need a plan, a vision of where you want to go. Then, bring along the right equipment; in this case a lot of it. That looks pretty dense to me. Next, it would be nice to have some help, so bring some friends. Finally, bring some basic medical supplies because there will be scratches, cuts, bug bites. Trailblazing can be tough.

Once there was a man who blazed a special trail, not through a thick forest like this one, but through the tangles and briars of life. He had a plan, a universal forever plan given to him by his Father. His equipment consisted of something he called The Word, the message that had power and purpose within itself. He was convinced that The Word could change everything, even the places where it seemed impossible to break through. And he had help. He brought a special group of people he called Disciples, but there were many, many more who supported his trailblazing efforts. The only thing he didn’t bring for the work was a bag full of medical supplies. Instead he talked about “sacrifice” and the willingness to give oneself to the project.

Jesus did all this because he was convinced that on the other side of that thicket was a beautiful place where all trail followers could sit by still water, restore their bodies and souls, and find, to their utter amazement, a picnic blanket spread and enough food for everyone. Everyone.

Well, the trail has been blazed and used by millions of travelers. I’ve been told that when you follow this trail you might hear his voice in the wind, his encouragement to keep going. The journey is its own reward; the beautiful place ahead is a gift. Who would turn down a chance to walk a pathway like this.

Not me.

I particularly like the parable Luke mentions in his 18h chapter. It’s about a blind man who waits at the side of the road, knowing that Jesus is going to pass by soon. And sure enough, the time arrives, the man hears the commotion around him, and he begins to yell: “Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy on me.”
Those standing around the blind man tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder. “Son of Davd, have mercy on me.” When Jesus heard the shouting, he called the man to his side and asked “What do you want from me?” “Master, I want to see again,” he replied. And it happened.

Jesus apparently never touched the man, but only said to him: “Go ahead…see again. Your faith has saved and healed you.” Interesting that the crowd and those who had tried to shush the blind man now “joined in shouting praise to God. So, the point?

Good old determination! Perserverance! In whatever you do to make this world a better place, stick to it. And, when your spiritual thermometer dips too low, remember the blind man and his tenacious spirit. These days it takes strong women and men to cause change, but together, and with the presence of the Spirit, change can happen

“I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious — the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” Phil 4:8

Paul, the author of the wise words above, is recommending in the present tense and thinking ahead in the future tense. “…you will do best…” if you do this now. Something like: think about these things if you want a happy and meaningful tomorrow. But what about those memories we file away, the past tense of yesterday’s successes and failures? Most of us could fill one of those fancy new storage facilities with the boxes of our memories. Climate controlled, laid out like little apartments in multi-storied buildings, the memory motel business is booming. Lots of reasons for the boom, I know. One is certainly that memories have a long shelf life, even the ones we don’t want to keep; and, memories are often powder kegs waiting for a match. If you give them any encouragement, they bang on the storage room door until you let them out.

Memories can take over and run the show. And that’s not always good. Thus Paul’s good advice: unless you really need a memory in the moment, fill your mind with lots of good and wholesome thoughts and let the memories rest. A word to each of us: I am responsible for what tumbles around in my mind. I choose the good thoughts and the not-so-good ones. How and what I think creates my reality of the moment. A word to memories: sit down and be quiet. I’ll call you if I need you.

What I think is most often what I do. Be very careful about opening the storage boxes of memories. The contents are life-directing. Be very intentional about what runs through the corridors of your mind in this moment. And in the mix of powerful memories and tomorrow’s unknowns, be sure to include determined faith in the One who creates all our tomorrows and calls us into them. Christ is the now of our lives, standing between the “was” and the “will be.” Fill your mind with Christ and the good, the just and the meaningful will follow. Press on.

It is very likely that Mary did not look anything like this. The same goes for Jesus who is looking at you from the lower right corner of the photograph. But does it matter how they looked? I don’t think so.
And that’s because looks do not define a person. Unfortunately, we categorize people by what they wear and how they look; we label them successes or failures by the way they dress.

Perhaps during this Advent season, you and I could work on that issue. Let’s resolve right now that first glances don’t reveal the whole person, that style of dress may tell me about home or circumstances, but style of dress does not reveal a heart. Every person is sister or brother because of the common heart beat that moves the world. Let’s get passed how we look and move to the more basic question: how much and how deeply do I love?

“…and they dressed him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.” Swaddling cloths?

So, again, I encourage you to use these days of Advent to address the major faith issues you carry in your mind and heart. Maybe one of them is how we regard the stranger. I believe the result of your Advent efforts will be a rich and meaningful celebration of His birth. Press on in faith, hope, and trust.

Simplify. Clarify. Sanctify. I have been thinking about how I can better order my life. These three words come to mind. To simplify how I live. To clarify how I think. To sanctify how I act. These are the first steps to a life of spiritual discipline. I share them with a prayer that we each be renewed by taking them. For it is in simplicity that we discover our center, in clarity that we hear our calling, in offering every act to God that every act becomes a blessing.

The words of Steven Charleston in his book Hope Older Than Fire. Read them again and use them as the backdrop for your own self-examination.

Today is a gift. Treat it gratefully.

I have tried to read Shakespeare several times, but I get stuck in that ancient language every time. I wonder what a re-casting of his language would be like? It’s the same thing for some people with the old translations of the Bible. As beautiful as the King James language is, it’s hard for some folks to grasp meanings and teachings. We are very fortunate to have several very good translations, some done with careful scholarship and others done with the intent of helping us hear the texts in common, everyday language. In fact, some efforts are more paraphrase than translation. One of those, The Message created by Eugene Peterson, is a very readable contemporary form that is often very helpful in pointing us toward understanding. I invite you to meditate today on the beautiful Psalm 23 as given to us in The Message.

God, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word, you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through Death Valley,
I am not afraid when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head:
my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

May you find comfort and confidence
in the new words of ancient scripture.

Today, when my family gathers around the Thanksgiving table, we will talk about all the things for which we are thankful. Things and people. People like you.

I think I’ve written eleven Thanksgiving Day messages for ShiningSpirit. And whether you have been reading since 2013 or just started recently, I want you to know how much I appreciate your participation, your support, your comments, and your prayers. Creating the posts is my personal act of devotion, and none goes out without a prayer for your welfare and blessing.

The wonderful season of Advent begins in a few days, a time when you and I will prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I am honored to walk that Advent pathway with you, a Way made bright by the Spirit that goes before us. May you find reason to be Thankful today and may that thankfulness give you hope for the future. God is with us. We press on. Roger

What if I told you that I was in a meeting with Billy Graham years ago. Right there with this giant of a Christian man. Billy and me. And 75,000 other people. Or, that when I was in London a few decades ago, I walked along the boulevard with the famous actor, Peter O’Toole. A memorable moment, as he passed me walking in the opposite direction, never saw me, never said “Hello.” Proximity doesn’t qualify as knowing.

In Luke’s chapter 13 we get a glimpse of what Jesus thinks about name dropping. In that feisty translation by Eugene Peterson, The Message, we hear Jesus making the point. A bystander has just asked him about who or how many will “be saved.” His reply: “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life–to God–is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying: ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’ You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing.”

At the risk of being redundantly redundant, knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus. Does hanging around the neighborhood make me a good neighbor? Does knowing all about the child of Bethlehem qualify as knowing him. I may know the chapters and the verses, the stanzas to lots of hymns; I may even be able to tell you the names of half a dozen saints, but hear it one more time: “just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives…” isn’t enough. Take him at his word: “the way to life, to God, is vigorous and requires your total attention.”

So, why not resolve on this wonderful Wednesday to be present to, not in proximity to, the One who offers us bread for the day and strength for the journey? Intentional. Vigorous. Total attention. Name dropping won’t get anybody a seat at the table.

Did I mention that I had breakfast with….never mind.

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of faith is to see what you believe.” St. Augustine
May it be so for me today, Lord.

“Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come.” Chinese proverb
May it be so for me today, Lord.

“It is the heart that experiences God, not the reason.” Blaise Pascal
May it be so for me today, Lord.

“As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude. It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.” G. K. Chesterton
Help me, Lord, to hope beyond mere flattery or platitude. May my sense of hope this day begin and end in You. Amen

I went to a movie last night. I discovered two important things: those theater seats are so comfortable and the pre-movie ads, previews, and promotions are as loud and generally obnoxious as the ones I saw the last time I sat in a theater. My choice: suffer through the offensive thirty minutes of promotional pandemonium or time my arrival to coincide with the actual start of the movie. O, the choices that present themselves!

The movie was the powerful story of a German man who, in the early days of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, was faced with an agonizing choice. I recommend the movie Bonhoeffer to you. It is well worth seeing and discussing. The movie led me back to the 1960s and Joseph Fletcher, the founder of a movement known as Situational Ethics. This way of thinking and making choices looks at a particular action and evaluates it on the basis of the context of the moment rather than on a universal code of ethics or morality. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who became involved in opposition to Hitler’s terror and who finally moved away from the universal moral code of his religion. When Bonhoeffer became part of a small group determined to assassinate Hitler, he crossed the line into Fletcher’s world of Situational Ethics and he faced the terrible dilemma of choosing between an ancient code of moral conduct or the needs of the immediate moment.

That same choice dilemma exists today and it will always be part of our human journey. Do I follow the mandates of my faith; is that code the authority that informs my actions. Or, do I choose to act on the basis of the moment’s particular circumstances. Is the Gospel of Jesus my source of ethical and moral responses, or can I step beyond those spiritual principles and act on the basis of “the greater good” or my interpretation of the particular moment. It’s a tough place to be, but you and I are there almost daily. As a spiritual exercise, become familiar with Fletcher’s work. Google it and grasp the basics of what he taught, and then consider the spiritual demands of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This puts the phrase “love your neighbor” in a whole new light.