MOMENT BY MOMENT LOVE

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God does not have a blueprint for his creation. There is no fixed plan but rather God is moving with his design. God is in his creation as evidenced by Jesus in an historical time. God is the potter who refashions a piece of clay in his loving hands. God is alive in every part of his creation. As Paul said, agreeing with some Athenians, ‘In God, we live and move and have our being. We are God’s offspring.’ 

Many ask where God is in our times of suffering. He is within that suffering. God experiences the tectonic movements of the people and the land. In the groaning of the creation, God is groaning with us, praying in us, connecting himself to us through his Holy Spirit. (See Romans 8) When Jesus agonized in Gethsemane and cried out from the cross, ‘My God why have you abandoned me’, he did that in solidarity with you and me. 

God, because of the nature of love, has no choice but to let his creation be free to choose his love. His creatures rebelled and then God decided (changed his loving will) to come alongside his children to woo them, draw them, court them, and pursue them. He changed course to bring his family back home, back to the Garden. He became one of them and dwelt with them in tents and tabernacles. He cooperated with them to rescue them from bondage. (See Exodus 3)

The Psalmists testify to the living, loving, and present God. Oh, for sure, they questioned God, even railed at God from their places of exile and despair, but they always returned to this truth:, ‘the love of God endures forever’.

 There is no place where God isn’t. (Read Psalms 136 and 139) God is not an absentee landlord setting up the creation and leaving it to run on some predestined plan. (Uh oh. Now I have lost the Reformers.)  God is no puppeteer and this life is not a pre-scripted drama. No, God weeps, feels joy with all the angels and deeply feels our sorrows. And God changes his plans. Not his character but the everyday moment-by-moment relationship that moves his creation closer to him. Recall that Paul wrote, ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.’ (2Cor. 5:19) At this very moment God stirs within each of us believers and non-believers, helping us to flourish, for God is a lover. John Wesley captured this sentiment in his hymn, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” (See Jeremiah 31:3)

Maybe I’m more Methodist than I thought.

One more time: Romans 8 tells us there is nothing, nothing at all in all creation that can separate us from this moment-by-moment relational love which is from and for God. In Christ, God makes that evident through Christ.

That’s grace.

COMMON GROUND

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Once upon a time in a restaurant far far away, my friend and I were seated in a booth to enjoy a meal and conversation. Our server came to the table and we placed our order. Then my friend  said to her, “We’re going to say a prayer before lunch and we’d like to know if we could remember you in our prayers?” She responded, ‘That would be nice, thank you.’ She went on to tell us something that was going on in her life for which we could pray. It was a beautiful moment of faith sharing in a non-dogmatic, non-religious way.

I learned from that moment that when we pray for another, we are sharing God in our hearts with the God who is in their heart. We are on common ground with them. We all have concerns and it is no trite thing to say to someone, “I’d like to pray for you.” We can do that in the grocery checkout line. We can say it over the phone or in a written or emailed note.

We are actually loving the other person with the love God first gave us. Oh, it’s a bit intimidating at times. The mailman stops by your house. You know his name and you might even know something going on in his life. You say, “Dan, I’d like to pray for you or keep you in my prayers if that’s all right.” 

God is in that moment. The Kingdom of God has arrived at the door of both your hearts. You are not some holier-than-thou saint but rather an ordinary God-dwelled person caring for another. 

A long time ago I was standing in the middle of a side street talking with a neighbor, telling him of a concern. He said, “I’ll pray for you.” I thanked him and started to walk away and he took my arm saying, “I mean right here and right now.” I will never forget that moment. The Kingdom of God was right there on Franklin Street. It can happen anywhere at any time. 

Common ground. Where two souls meet together with God. What a blessing. That’s grace.

THIS ONE’S FOR THE BIRDS…..AND OTHERS

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As I have written, my wife loves birds and cares immensely for the little ones. But there is one thing that she doesn’t do. She does not let the birds into our house. 

I recall Ed and Marie, members of a church I once pastored. They let birds into their home. They loved birds. They rescued birds. People brought them wounded birds. The first time I visited them I noticed all their furniture was covered with plastic. Birds were flying around the house. These weren’t just parakeets. There was even a seagull in the mix. They were pooping all over the place. I chose my seat carefully and tried not to breathe in too deeply. Some would say that Ed and Marie were not living in healthy conditions but they loved the birds. They didn’t have children and needless to say, they didn’t have many visitors. But I loved them for their concern, and yes, visited again.

We read in Psalm 84 that in God’s house, his Temple, even the ‘sparrows found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may have her young- a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.’ (Verse 3 NIV)

The Apostle Paul wrote that we are the Temple of God’s Spirit- it’s where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live. So am I the place that welcomes others in Christ’s name? Is my life that place?  Together we are to be a sacred place for all people. Jesus said that God’s house is a place for prayer for all people. It’s within that sacred space of our hearts and minds that others find God and love and acceptance. But I confess that my heart is not always a place for all people. There are some I let in and others I keep out. Some say it’s good to have boundaries so that you don’t have poop all over your house but what I have done is build a moat to keep others’ kingdoms from encroaching upon mine.

I know who the people are in my life that are ‘outside’ and just maybe by the grace of God someday I will put in a bridge with a welcome sign on my little door. We’ll see. I just don’t want to have to cover the place in plastic. May God rest the precious souls of Marie and Ed and all their little bird friends.

NEVER APART FROM OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

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My wife loves to sit at our kitchen table and watch the birds bathe, eat, feed their young, and flit from tree to bush to the sky as they delight in their lives. And sometimes they have been observed ‘meeting their maker’.

It put me in mind of words from Jesus to the disciples as he assured them of God’s care for each of their lives:

“29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10 (ESV)

The point is that God does not send these little creatures spiraling to the earth any more than he purposely would send us into harm’s way. Rather, we are told time and time again as the old song goes, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” God is in all the details, circumstances, coincidences, joys, and sorrows of our lives.

We are NEVER outside of God’s loving care. As the Apostle Paul once said, ‘In Him, we live and move and have our being.’ Acts 17 When you or I see suffering in this life and care so deeply about what happens to soldiers in war, shooting victims and their families, helpless children, the sick, the homeless … please know that our Father cares more than we do and his heart breaks more than ours. And God will act, is acting, through any possible means, to bring his love to bear in the form of healing, justice, and redemption.

In the meantime, we wait and keep faith knowing that there is not a moment when we are outside the life and love of our heavenly Father. That truth revealed through the Bible gives us the mission to live this life as the agents, the missionaries of God’s love to a hurting world until the Kingdom comes in all its fullness. 

FRAZZLED, RATTLED, AND STILL LOVED

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The other day I was at my wit’s end. I forgot a doctor’s appointment. I couldn’t figure out an important password. I had started an Amazon account by mistake. Then some code came to my phone and I had no idea why. So I’m pacing around the house. My wife, who is watching me, asks, ‘Do you need help with something?’ How did she know? Was it the profane word I used? Was it my gesture of pulling my hair out? Going out of my mind? 

Well, she saved me, got me out of the mess, helped me with codes and passwords, and even made up a couple of new ones.

Whew, how does she do it? Not the computer stuff but rather how she still loves me after fifty-two years of dealing with me: a type A firstborn who can’t sit still and is often melancholy? I swear. Oops. 

But she loves me. She gets frustrated with me. But she loves me.

I think about God this way. God knows me inside out and I’m sure gets frustrated with me. ‘Settle down, George’, I can hear him say. I want to pray more but many times find some project I need to do or some book I need or want to read. ‘Be still, George.’

But God loves me. He’s said it so many times. Read Psalm 139. The psalmist tells us how God put us together. And we’ll understand that while  God may get frustrated with us, God never disappointed in us.  

It is our helplessness that causes us to come to our Abba who reassures us that no matter what, nothing will separate us from God’s love. Not our bad moods. Not our hair-pulling moments Not our around-the-house moments.

If we listen for a moment we will hear, ‘Do you need help with something?’ And then comes the time to grow up a little more.

By the way. Happy Birthday to my wife, Gigi. Yesterday. Too frazzled to get it done until today.

THE LAST WORD

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Some people like to be in control. I like to be in control. I like to know things and help others to know what I know. I like giving advice. I don’t mind taking advice as long as I get to share my ideas with someone. When there is a discussion, I enjoy being able to answer people’s questions and even their arguments about a particular subject. And sometimes I just can’t let the conversation end without having my ‘say’. All of that is a ‘pride’ issue that needs attention, especially in my spiritual journey.

So imagine my delight when reading about a conversation that the late Dallas Willard had in one of his classes. Dallas was a spiritual role model for so many people and in this particular session shared a great piece of wisdom.

Here’s how it unfolded:

   “At the end of a class Dallas was teaching, a student was feeling arrogant and antagonistic. He raised his hand and mentioned a disagreement he had with Dallas that was both obnoxious and wrong. 

   A person who was in the class was waiting for Dallas to demolish the guy, which he could easily have done. I joke sometimes that I never get into an argument with Dallas because I am afraid he will prove I don’t exist. So this student was waiting for Dallas to lower the boom. Dallas said, “Well, I think that’s a good place for the class to end. Let’s just stop there, and then we will pick it up next time.”

   Another student asked him, “Why did you do that, because you could have just let the guy have it? Why didn’t you let him have it?” 

   Dallas’s response was, “I am practicing the discipline of not having the last word.”

(As told by John Ortberg in the book based on teachings by Willard entitled ‘Living In Christ’s Presence’.)

Give it a try and see if it doesn’t make room in your soul for God’s life to be more active.

OUR CHILDREN DESERVE BETTER

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“Three children and three staff members were shot and killed at a private school in Nashville, Tennessee, according to officials.”– news from March 28.

This comes from my heart. My mind is tired of all the stats and arguments.

I have 5 grandchildren ages 7 through 13. I love them, and their lives are precious to my wife and me and more importantly to God.

It is hypocritical that books are banned because some people feel children ought to be ‘protected’ from the subject matter while these very same people do not take steps to protect children from attacks with assault weapons by calling for a ban.

We vote against abortions in order to protect the rights of the unborn, but leave children vulnerable to mass killings by not taking any steps to protect them. It makes no sense to me.

Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Expressions of sympathy are not enough. At the very least, we need to have the courage to ban assault rifles. These guns can take so many more lives in a matter of seconds. 

I don’t believe that God will hear our prayers if we are not willing to cooperate with God. God will not act alone. But I pray that God will stir the hearts of those who can make a difference to act.

God tells us to be careful how we treat our children, the least of these, the innocent ones whose lives are cut short. Thank God for the brave first responders and volunteers who save lives by their own bravery. Now let the rest of us be brave by at least calling for the banning of assault weapons.

I pray for those who died yesterday to rest in the arms of our Savior. 

P.S. I just finished reading an article in the Washington Post that depicts vividly the lethal damage an AR-15 did to two children in separate shooting incidents. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-damage-to-human-body/

OUT OF THE DARKNESS

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Darkness has a way of causing us to search for the light of Christ. A month ago I found myself in the ‘valley of the shadow of death’, haunted by its ever-present reality. So I attended a nearby church worship service where intercessory prayer was offered. My wife gave me a nudge and urged me to go forward. A very kind woman gently prayed for me in my darkness. It was a God-inspired moment for which I am most grateful. And eventually, by God’s grace, I found myself walking in the light of God’s love once more. 

God won’t leave us in the darkness and while it hurts miserably under that shadow, God will walk with us until we can again see. That is called HOPE. It’s the same hope Jesus had when he too endured times of darkness. 

There is a great verse at the beginning of John chapter one. Speaking of Christ, John writes that ‘the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can’t put it out.’ 

I know others who have walked in the valley of the shadow of death but have held on to the next part of that verse in the 23rd Psalm. ‘I will fear no evil for you, my Lord, my Shepherd, are with me.’ 

This is the beginning of Lent, an appropriate time to remember our own weaknesses and walk with the one who knows our weaknesses.

THINKING ABOUT DEATH

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Now that I’m in my mid-seventies I’m thinking more about my own death. I used to say, “When I die I’m really going to miss myself.” Not so funny anymore. I’m actually troubled by death. I sometimes find myself in the ‘dark night of the soul’, to use a phrase from St. John of the Cross (ancient guy now dead). 

If I don’t write these thoughts down I fear they will haunt me. Two months ago my brother died. Then several friends. And many obituaries I read list more people my age and younger. My body parts are aging and need more attention. Doctor visits are becoming a part-time job. My wife tells me I need a hobby that takes me out of my head, whatever that means. 

Faith? Yes, I have faith in God. I trust Jesus whose own death surely weighed heavily upon him at times. I read the Psalms that often begin with complaints about being forgotten by God but end on a more thankful note for God’s providence. Perhaps I have yet to embrace an acceptance ‘with joy’ that enabled Jesus to endure the cross because he was so assured of God’s eternity.

This death preoccupation is the shadowy part of my trust in Christ. “I believe”, I say resoundingly, “but Lord please help my unbelief.” And just maybe this darkness or emptiness I am feeling is preparing my soul for God’s spirit to find a better dwelling within me.

I know God is not angry with me over my doubts. God loves me right here and right now in the depth of my despair. There is no place I can escape his gracious gaze and encouragement. Even as I write these words I am feeling some sense of peace.

I long for other Christian people to walk alongside me on this journey for in their grace and understanding comes the hope that eternity will become more real than any dread.

In Hope

George

P.s. More to come…….

MY BROTHER DIED

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On November 22, 2022, my next younger brother, Bob, died at 71. I cried. 

We grew up together two years apart in school.

We shared many sports activities together. We clammed together. We worked together farming and mowing lawns as kids.

He taught me how to find my ancestors and create a family tree going back seven generations.

He was a more avid Yankees fan than me. 

He was quieter than me, read more books than me, and remembered more movies.

Separated by almost 2000 miles we talked by phone nearly every day for the last year having grown closer through ancestry searches. We were less close before. These past ten years changed that.

We studied the Bible together when I lived closer to him.

Bob was kind, easygoing, and reluctant at displays of affection. I was grateful for the times he could say, ‘I love you.’

He was an expert chess player. I never learned. 

My brother died 59 years after the assassination of JFK. We won’t forget that date or this one.

I watched him draw his last breath and I trust Jesus that Bob is in one of those dwelling places that our Lord was preparing for him. 

It wasn’t easy to believe at that moment having watched 71 years of earthly life with its joys and sorrows ebb from him. All the memories, love, successes, and failures are gone. Perhaps.

I don’t really know. I trust Paul’s words that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord but I’m not exactly sure how, since this life is what I mostly know. Is my brother with my mom and dad? Does he know them? Maybe faith is found in the many questions and less in the answers so quickly given. 

It’s Advent now, a time of hope and waiting. I wait with tears sometimes, and laughter other times.  I look at memorable photographs and think of times when life was simpler and seemingly more joyful. Age brings troubles of many kinds. “Bound to come some trouble in your life,” is how Rich Mullins put it. Seems that thoughtful Christians know how best to grieve best. Love will do that.

Could more have been done for Bob? Or me or you? God knows. This life is fragile at best, its strength coming from God’s grace and earthly relationships. I am richer for the one I have had with him.

Someone told me that my brother would want me to be happy now. Maybe.

Bob never complained about his illness or any other troubles. Maybe he wanted to but I prefer to think that he carried the burdens well. I think he had help.

I think in some mysterious way Bob surrendered his life to bring a more meaningful life and love to those closest to him. That’s Christ’s way and Bob walked in that way silently and sometimes stoically. We all find our way. 

I will remember my brother and learn from him about living and dying. Joys and sorrows. Faults and forgiveness and then one day we won’t have to search for our ancestors. We will see them.

I hope. Cause I miss my ancestry partner. I miss my brother.