Flying Pigs

Greenbank Telescope
(bigger than the one with the ball bearing)

This past weekend, Steve and I traveled around the state, visiting various state parks and interesting sites. We had breakfast at a restaurant in Thomas, WV called Flying Pigs. I wish I could quote the reason for the name that was printed on the menu, but I only have the essence of it. Opening a restaurant - any restaurant - is a risk. I imagine opening one in Thomas is even more a risk - it might even be called an impossible dream. But it's a great place to eat, and because of the tourist trade in the area, it was full of people. Great food - go there, if you get a chance. 

Later the next day, we toured the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Greenback, WV. So interesting! The tour guide, who had just finished his undergraduate work and is hoping to do graduate work in astronomy, told us that one of the telescopes contains the largest ball bearing the world. It was manufactured in Pennsylvania. As it was transported to Greenback, all of the bridges along the way had to be reinforced. It had to pass through a tunnel with only 3 inches of total clearance. Inside the the telescope, the ball bearing floats in oil. Imagine that - something so large that it sets the world record, and so heavy that bridges had to be reinforced - floats. To me it was a flying pig.

What are your flying pigs? What seems as impossible to you as a floating ball bearing that is over 17 feet in diameter? Is your God up to the task?

Forgive us our debts

"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"

In Ortberg's book, this chapter is based on the Matthew parable of the servant who owes a great deal of money to the king, who is forgiven, and who then will not forgive the man who owes him a pittance compared to what has been forgiven of him.

One talent (according to Bible Gateway) is equal to 15 years worth of a laborer's salary; therefore, 10,000 talents equals 150,000 years of work. A better way to look at it is "more money than the an average person could even dream of having." It could be equal to the king's country's entire net worth. A question arose last night: who in his right mind would LEND this much money to a servant?

It's a question I had never thought of before. What does it tell us about God? It brought to my mind the father in the Prodigal Son story. What kind of father would give his son 1/3 of his property only because he demanded it? And when he probably fully expected the son to waste it? What does that tell us about the nature of God?

God is generous beyond our imagining. 

And then - and THEN - the king forgives the debt. What kind of king forgives a debt equal to the value of his whole country? And then, the father welcomes the son back, without even a word of apology from him. What does this tell us about God? 

God offers grace beyond our imagining.

That, I think, it the story. Our generous God offers us tremendous and unimaginable grace. How do we respond? Do we do our best to offer forgiveness to someone else? Or do we say, "I can never forgive him."?

How do we respond to a God like ours?

Are we blessed?

Have you ever thought of the word "blessed?" Have you ever said, "I am so blessed?" What are your blessings?

We were having this discussion in Sunday school, and someone said, "I am conflicted by the idea that all that I have is a blessing from God when there are so many who have nothing. Why would I consider my home, my job, my belongs to be blessings? If they are, then why would God bless me and not the child who is hungry?"

There are many possible answers to that question. For me, I think it comes down to how we define "blessing" - what is a gift from God? Is it our house? Or is it our desire to share what we have so that the hungry child has food? Is it the material items that we have, or is it the gifts we have been given to do the work of God? The desire to do the work of God? 

If I win the lottery, is it a blessing or a curse? I think there is evidence to support either statement, but what I actually believe is that it is neither. The blessing from God is that I can be led to use the winnings in a way that is good and not evil.

And that's a blessing that God shares with all of us.

Day Two

In the book Rising Strong, Brene Brown talks about a certification program for those who want to facilitate her work called the Daring Way.  Day Two of the Daring Way is difficult. It is the middle space for the process, and during day two, you are in the dark - the door has closed behind you, and yet you are not yet close enough to the door to which you are heading to see the light. If you want to make it to the goal, you can't skip Day Two.

Day Two is the point of no return, it is the point at which the die is cast.  You are in the dark and there is no turning back.

It's the struggle.  It's the hard work between where we start and where we are going. Nobody wants to be in the dark in-between. The Israelites were in Day Two after they left Egypt and before the reached the Promised Land.  Most of them wanted to turn back - in fact, we often talk in churches about the Back to Egypt committee. Day Two is the wilderness.

The wilderness is the place where our only hope of change comes from the anticipation of where we think we are going. 

In your life, what is your promised land? Are you so afraid of the wilderness that you won't risk it, even with the hope of the promised land? In your church, what is your promised land? Will you risk the dark times, that you can't avoid, to get there?

What promised land is God calling us to reach, even knowing that we have to cross through the wilderness to reach it? Will you trust God enough to hold your hand in the dark while you struggle?

Working on a way out

The carpool arrived at work, and we backed into our assigned parking spot.  Across the lot, there are "double spaces" - parking spaces in which two cars park, one pulled up to the fence, and the other one parked behind. I'm glad I don't have one of these spots; I would hate to be dependent upon someone else leaving before I could drive away.

As we watched, someone was in just that situation.  He wanted to leave, but someone was parked behind him. The long space next to him was empty, but in the next space, two cars were parked. As we watched, he was attempting to move into the space between, turn around and leave. He had maneuvered his car to be parallel to the fence instead of perpendicular to it, and was continuing the small, inch by inch progress to freedom.

As I watched, I wondered (out loud) why he didn't just back up. I could not see that a pickup truck was parked on the other side. There is a lesson in that for us - we can't always see the obstacles that other people face, so it might be best to stop judging them.

He worked and worked, stepping out of his car to judge how close he was to the other cars, continuing to move. Although he tried to avoid it, he hit the truck parked behind him. I doubt it did any damage to the truck - it was a slow tap - but I imagine it did some damage to the car the man was driving.  Sometimes we can't get out without damage.

He eventually freed himself, only through perseverance.  Sometimes hard work and a no-give-up attitude are necessary to accomplish the goal. Once free, he got out of his car, inspected the truck he hit, and his own side door. He wasn't happy to see whatever damage had been caused, but he was free, and he drove away.

Sometimes life is like being parked in a double parking space and having to work our way out.

Blessed

Have you ever thought of the word "blessed?" Have you ever said, "I am so blessed?" What are your blessings?

We were having this discussion in Sunday school, and someone said, "I am conflicted by the idea that all that I have is a blessing from God when there are so many who have nothing. Why would I consider my home, my job, my belongs to be blessings? If they are, then why would God bless me and not the child who is hungry?"

There are many possible answers to that question. For me, I think it comes down to how we define "blessing" - what is a gift from God? Is it our house? Or is it our desire to share what we have so that the hungry child has food? Is it the material items that we have, or is it the gifts we have been given to do the work of God? The desire to do the work of God? 

If I win the lottery, is it a blessing or a curse? I think there is evidence to support either statement, but what I actually believe is that it is neither. The blessing from God is that I can be led to use the winnings in a way that is good and not evil.

And that's a blessing that God shares with all of us.

Give us Today our Daily Bread

"Give us today our daily bread."

I love bread. I'm watching what I eat now, so I eat less of it, but I still eat bread.  I can't imagine what meals would be like without bread. Because I'm eating less of it, it tastes better. It means more. I enjoy it more.

I think when I pray "give us today our daily bread," I'm not talking about actual bread. I praying that God will provide what I need - what we need - for life. Just as bread seems to be part of the heart of my meals, the bread of life is what enriches and defines life itself.

What is our daily bread? God's presence, the love of friends and family, purpose, good health, strength, self-worth. These are what create life. Give us all today our daily bread.

And notice the word US. What can we do to provide others with their daily bread? Maybe it is actual bread. Maybe it is compassion or grace. Maybe it is respect. Maybe it is being the face of Jesus, just for today, for that person.

Give us all today our daily bread.

Failure

Pipestem River

Brene Brown, in her book, Rising Strong, is speaking of her guiding principals - the basic tenets about being brave.  This first one is:

"If we are brave enough often enough, we will fail; this is the physics of vulnerability. When we commit to showing up and risking falling, we are actually committing to falling.  Daring is not saying, "I'm willing to risk failure." Daring is saying, "I know I will eventually fail and I'm still all in."

This is true in life, but I want to talk today about how it is true in the Body of Christ - in the work we call "church." I think in our church we are afraid.  We are afraid that not enough people are coming. We are afraid because we don't know what to do about it. We are so afraid, and so tired of the fear, that we do nothing. 

Do we fail to try because we are afraid of failure? Maybe sometimes. Is it freeing to realize that stepping out, and trying something, guarantees failure? Can we move forward with ideas if we give ourselves the permission to fail - not even that, but the expectation of failure?

1. Do we not ask someone to do something because we know they will say, "no"? Ask anyway. Knowing they will say "no," ask anyway. 
2. Do we fail to try an idea because someone says, "We've done that before, and it didn't work." Knowing that you will fail, the fact that it didn't work before is no excuse. Do it anyway - as long as God is leading and you are following, do it anyway. Or, if that doesn't seem like where God is calling you to go, then:
3. Do we fail to try something because someone says, "We've never done that before; it won't work." If you know you will fail, do it anyway.

The corollary to not trying is doing nothing. Do nothing will lead to nothing. Doing nothing is a failure. So try something instead. It's OK to fail - you are guaranteed to fail. At least fail at doing something instead of doing nothing.

On my mind

I wrote the following post on December 18 of last year. I didn't post it - not for any reason except that I wasn't posting anything for a while.  I looked at it today to see if it could be updated or used.  I decided that updating it would be impossible - it's filled with references to specific events in time. I decided to post it anyway, because I think the question at the end is timeless.

What is on my mind today?

I read about the president of a major Christian university speaking about using guns to stop the Muslims before they get here.  I read about Trump's frightening thoughts about discrimination and hatred toward Muslims.  I see Facebook posts from Franklin Graham that stir up hatred toward Muslims.  This is all on my mind.

Christ shared a radical love with us.  It is a love that does not leave room for racism or hatred of other individuals or groups of people. It is a love that does not leave room for the violent action proposed by Jerry Falwell, Jr.  The words of these so-called Christians (although I don't know if Trump calls himself Christian or not) are not Christian. They are not like Christ.

What's on my mind today?  How do we respond to people in a Christ-like manner, because that is what we are called to do.

Throwing Away our Failures

Our church has a Sunday evening worship service called Blueprint Worship.  In it, we explore different kinds of worship. One night last year, during Advent, we had prayer stations.

At each station, there was a different activity - different prayers, different thoughts to consider.  One of them was a nativity scene. We were asked to read the nativity scriptures, contemplate the nativity scene, and then use scissors, pens/crayons and paper to craft ourselves and place ourselves in the scene. 

My first crafty attempt didn't go so well, so I did it over.  After I finished, I gathered my scraps of paper, and headed to find a trash can.  I passed our associate pastor and said, "These are my failures. I'm going to go throw them away." I meant it as a joke, but God struck me with how profound the sentence was.

These are my failures; I'm throwing them away.  

We should do what I did with paper and scissors that night.  See our failures.  Learn from them.  And then throw them away in God's grace.

Wired for Stories

River above Sandstone Falls, near Hinton

Have you ever wondered about the power of stories? If you read this blog, you know I'm reading Brene Browns' book, Rising Strong. She says we are wired for story. This quote really caught me, and I think it has implications for our lives together in faith:

Neuroeconomist Paul Zak has found that hearing a story--a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end--causes our brains to release cortisol and oxytocin. These chemicals trigger the uniquely human abilities to connect, empathize, and make meaning. Story is literally n our DNA.

1. Have you ever head the question, "Why did Jesus teach in parables?" There is your answer, in this quote. Because we are created to respond to story. Being our creator, Jesus would have understood that. It wasn't only those who were listening to him then who will respond. We respond, too. Each in a different way.
2. This quote speaks to the work of those who preach. Tell stories that engage your listeners - God has wired his children to respond. What message is God leading you to tell? What stories can you use to get the message across?
3. Listen to people's stories. In them, you will find God calling to who you are. 

Stories - it is the reason we know that relationships are important.  In them, we hear the stories.

The Kingdom is near

Covered Bridge in Philippi, West Virginia

Our Sunday evening Bible Study is reading a book by John Ortberg with Kevin and Sherry Marney called Praying with Power. It's a chapter by chapter look at the prayer Jesus taught his disciples - the prayer we use as well and call The Lord's Prayer. I like the book because I think so often we rush through the prayer, not listening or thinking about the words we are saying.

"Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done."

One of my very favorite books about faith is Leslie Weatherhead's book, The Will of God.  You can read about it in this post.  In it, he says about that God's ultimate will is, God's final realization of his purposes" -- God will not be defeated, and his ultimate will for us -- redemption and reunification with God -- will happen. No circumstance can defeat his ultimate will."

I think that's what God's will is - and when we pray for God's will to be done, that's what we mean.

Ortberg says, "We can barely understand what this earth would look like if God's kingdom were to really break into human history.  It boggles the mind...Imagine everything God desires to happen actually happening - the time, place and reality when all he desires is what we experience.  That's God's kingdom"

I think we often feel pretty distant from that experience. We look around the world - we look at our lives - and we don't see God's kingdom.  But Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is near." Jesus' action 2000 years ago didn't just save me; his actions redeemed the entire world.  The kingdom of God is near.  Right here. Right now.

What can we do to see it? What can we do to help others to see it?

Vulnerability

A quote from Brene Brown:  Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.

Have you ever thought of that? I think we most often consider vulnerability as something that is thrust upon us.  We are vulnerable because we are defenseless, we are victims, we are not strong enough or not smart enough, so we are vulnerable.  We are vulnerable to frightening outcomes, like loss or pain or defeat.

Have you ever considered that vulnerability is something that we choose? We choose to be vulnerable when we give up control.  We choose to embrace vulnerability when we step forward even though we know we do not have control of the situation, and never did.

Think of times when you were vulnerable by choice. Having children makes us vulnerable to their pain, their loss, their hurt. Being married - loving someone that much - makes us vulnerable to pain. Stepping out of our own plans and saying yes to God makes us vulnerable. When I accepted the position I now hold a The Foundation, I stepped into something entirely new. I was very vulnerable to failure. Eight years later (today), I know more, I'm better at what I do than I was when I started, and I pray my work is fruitful. I never would have been able to say that if I hadn't said yes, first.

Our role model is Christ. He was incarnated as human, and allowed the vulnerability of crucifixion.

Vulnerability can be a choice. It is the courage to show up.

Fruit from Effort

Over and over I discover the relationship between reading and writing.  When I don't have time to read, I find the writing doesn't flow - it doesn't exist or flourish in a vacuum.  Writing without reading takes longer, and the fruit isn't very good. Changes in work and in life have made it difficult to find time to read or to write.

I'm telling you this to explain why I'm in and out of the blog, and why the blogging has become sporadic. I'm not stopping, but I'm not here as much as I was before.

All that said, I started reading a book this morning for a book discussion I'm a part of.  The book is Rising Strong by Brene Brown.  It's not a book about faith, but as I read the first chapter, blog posts about faith and life in church keep jumping out at me.  It was fun to highlight them and anticipate the post that the snippets would feed.

I'll start those tomorrow, but for now, my thought for today: fruit requires effort. We have to choose what fruit God is calling us to cultivate at any particular time, and put the effort we have into it - and then experience the joy of the work as we do it. I pray blessings on the fruit of your gifts, and your nurturing and caring of them.