Thursday, March 27, 2008

Day 76 A day to remember...

This day is one of the highlights in my life as it is the birth date of my daughter. She is definitely the best thing that ever happened to me.

I have spent the last few weeks reconnecting with those I have lost contact with or just have not heard from in awhile. I wonder why we get so caught up in our lives that we do not stay better connected to those who mean something to us. I have many friends and family who do not live close. Yet, with stuff like the internet I still do a poor job of staying connected with them. What is wrong with me? If there is one thing I have learned in my almost 40 years of life is that family and friends matter.

Maybe eventually I will get my head out of the sand and be more diligent to connect with those I love using the gifts of connectedness God blesses us with.

Who in your life could use an email?

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Day 78 Back to the grind....

A great day off yesterday hanging out with my daughter. The older I get the more I see the need to be dedicated in taking my day off. Too often I answer the phone, do e-mail and other work related stuff on my one day off a week. Up until yesterday I could not tell you the last time I took a full day off. Definitely not the way to live as I approach 40 years of age. I hope to begin the process of detoxing from my need to think I always need to be available and working. I need to turn off the computer and more importantly my Blackberry.

As I journey toward for fortieth I ask God to intervene for me in my weakness and help me to take better care of myself, including taking my time off. I ask God to remind me that it is not all about me and that I need to take care of myself if I am going to take care of others.

Or at least not answer work e-mail on my day off. I know what you are thinking. All talk. I am trying. It will take some time to fully be in recovery. At least I did not post this message from my Blackberry :)

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Days 82-80 A drop of the ball....

Despite best intentions, I have missed the last two entries on this blog toward 40. I could claim a senior moment, too much for a pastor to do during Holy week (a personal pet peeve) or I could do what I have grown accustomed to doing as I mature, to say I have no "good" excuse, ask for forgiveness and move on.

He is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! A blessed Easter to all!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Day 83 Maundy Thursday

Today is one of my favorite days in the life of the church because yearly it reminds me how difficult it is for me to accept help from others. Sure, it is easy to be a servant, to serve others, but when it comes to being served most of us, myself included, head for the hills. I wonder why we are so reluctant to accept or ask for help from others. Why do we resist the help of others in such a dramatic way? After all, in order for us to be servant doesn't someone have to be served? Why can't that person be us? Why can't we open ourselves up and be vulnerable enough with each other to allow ourselves to be served.

Today, when we go to the water basin and have our hands washed, when we symbolically wash ourselves as Jesus washed the disciples so long ago, I wonder how many of us will be moved by what we say, "In order to be a servant we first must be willing to be served". If we don't get that, I am not sure how much of a discipleship walk we can be on. Jesus told us, if you want to be like me and live into what I call you to this is a must do. You must humble yourself in service first by being served yourself.

Easier said than done.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Day 84 Oh, my aching mouth!

Not much to report today. I am feeling the effects of my dental work on Tuesday. My mouth feels so sore I can only equate it to my old powerlifting days when I would barely be able to walk the next day. A promise of more engagement with the blog tommorow.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Day 85 A trip to my favorite place....

Today I had my third appointment with the dentist in as many weeks. The visit today was for the final gum scraping, plaque blowing cleaning I needed for the last three years or so. It took about two hours to complete and served as a reminder to floss. I always have good intentions when it comes to flossing but somehow it always gets put on the back burner. It leads me to think today, 85 days shy of my 40th birthday, why I don't take my health more seriously, especially my teeth. I know that I should floss, I know that my teeth will last longer but I do not always take the time to do this simple thing.
Today I ask God to remind me to take care of myself, to prod me into being a better steward of the body entrusted me with. With a new baby on the way it is even more important that I take care of myself. I ask the readers of this blog: how is God calling you to care for your body? How could you be a better steward of the body God has gifted you with?

Monday, March 17, 2008

Day 86 A thought for the day to be unpacked later...

Today I was riding around from place to place listening to a podcast through my new I-pod hook up in my Explorer. The speaker used a phrase that I have not been able to get out of my head. He said, "the more right you are the less nice you seem to be." And I wonder how often that is true in my life. I am on a journey of faith that constantly reminds me that I do not have to be right in my faith, just a participant on a journey. Yet I wonder if in the midst of that journey if my actions reflect that understanding. When I talk with people about faith in "something" or they try to convince me about how wrong I am to have a faith in transition I like to think that I remain as open minded as I can be, yet sometimes I feel this cynical "right" side coming out of me wondering when they will get it. It is the rather convincting notion "why can't they just get it the way I get it." That does not marry well with ideals that are supposed to reflect and openness and willingness to inform people how I experience something and never discount how they experience the same thing. I have come across people who are so sure they are "right" they turn me off. Today, on day 86, I hope and pray to God that I don't concern myself so much with being right that it keeps people from seeing the LIGHT.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Day 87

A wonderful Palm Sunday service today using the "Service of Shadows". It was a great way to center our folks for Holy week. Later in the day I was part of a team that served food at the Wayne County Family Center. Despite the awesome smells of the sloppy joe's I stuck to my new vegetarian guns and just served the delicious meat, I did not eat any.

But, just to beat a point, the sloppy joe did SMELL awesome. How many days till Easter?

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Day 88 Saturday Evening Post for the 21st century

Today was a day right out of a Normal Rockwell Saturday Evening Post painting. It started with French toast with the family, Irish dance class with my daughter and a walk at the dog park with our black lab. It was a picturesque day, a giant slice of Americana. The only down side was a few police cars in the park, so our dog needed to stay on her lease until we reached the woods(this park allows dogs off leash once you hit the woods).

The woods were amazing, almost "Ansel Adams" like. As we walked along the trail we came upon a scene we were not prepared for. Our friends from the police were in the woods a short distance away. As we closed the gap, one of the officers came over and asked to speak with us out of earshot of my daughter. The officer informed my wife that a man had taken his life in the park and the officer wanted us to take another direction around the bend away from where the man was. We were able to steer clear of the scene with my daughter unaware, wondering if the police were looking for the skunk we had seen a few weeks earlier. Even though our walk went off without a hitch, it was not the same.

I was hit today with the reality that is all around us here in Metro Detroit. That people are suffering and looking for ways out. People are losing their jobs and their homes along with any sense of hope. It is a tough time to be in this part of the country. It reminded me to be on the lookout for people in crisis and not be so caught up in myself not to notice those around me who are suffering. As we journeyed through the woods, I prayed for the man who perished and those who loved him. I prayed for all those who are on the brink of hopelessness. I gave thanks for the blessings in my life. I wondered who in my circle is suffering. I asked God to plant a seed within me to check in with those I love.

Not exactly what Norman had in mind.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Day 89 A day to give thanks...

Today I journeyed with one of the member's of our feeding team over to the Wayne County Family Center, a center for people in need of transitional housing. We have committed to serve dinner twice a month at the center, a worthwhile partnership between Wayne County and Lutheran Social Services of Michigan. Each time I am privileged to be present at the center I learn something and take away much more than I give. Today was no exception. The director of the facility is a wonderful woman clearly dedicated to the work God has empowered her to do for the kingdom. Being in her presence makes me want to help the shelter all the more. Today, as usual, I asked her if there were any additional tangible ways the our church could be a presence at the facility, and she relayed to us the need for electronic alarm clocks. She reminded us that often folks in transition needed the most basic things in life, including the reminder that when working or having responsibilities to be certain places at certain times that an alarm clock might be a great asset. She further said that one of the goals of the center was to model some realities that lay ahead when the families transition to their next home. Educating or re-educating people on the value of an alarm clock is just one of the many life lessons they attempt to instill in the residents while they are at the center.

Today, 89 days shy of my 40th birthday, I want to give thanks to God for all the people who have travelled in and through my life modeling and teaching me basic life lessons. It is not often that I have the opportunity to have such gifts in my life pointed out to me in such a profound way. So, for all those who gave of their time and wisdom helping to make me into the person that I strive to be, I thank God for your presence in my life. Today I appreciate each of you in a different way.

Thought for the day: Who are those wonderful people God placed in your life, individuals who participated in making you into the person you are today? Do they know the impact they had on your life? I wonder, could you be so bold as to let them know?

Thursday, March 13, 2008

90 day journey to the big 4-0

Friends:

It turns out that Thursday, March 13, 2008 is a significant day in my life. Today I am officially 90 days shy of my 40th birthday. I have thought a lot over the last few months about what it means for me to be turning” the big 4-0”. It leads me to wonder what God has in store for me as I live into my fifth decade as a member of this planet. New friend Doug Pagitt recently challenged me, when speaking about church work and life, “ask yourself if this is this how you want to spend your forties?” I had not really thought about my life in that way, breaking it down in decade long intervals. It makes sense, I just never thought of my life in that way before. As I journey through my life and try to walk in a way of faith I find myself wanting to create a list of hopes and dreams for the next decade. The more I engage in my walk with God the more I feel passionate about walking in and toward the light of Christ and making myself into an expression of the gift of life given to me by our Creator. Here is the start of the list I am creating about this transition in my life. I will be blogging daily about this walk toward 40, and invite you to join me as I attempt to discover if the passions I believe God is placing in my heart will translate into real action and change in my life and those whose lives I am connected with.

Church: I am feeling called to help those I share a calling with to journey the walk of a disciple rather than a member of a church. I sense God calling me to speak to and with those on a journey of faith rather than those “fixed” in a comfortable final destination. I feel passionate about traveling with those who are questioning their faith, life, and how faith and life connects within the context they find themselves in. I would like to help others, and myself, to change our view of what the church is and what it is called to be. I have been ruminating over a quote from one of my favorite authors, Brian McLaren, about the church and what he sees as God’s vision for the purpose of the church. McLaren writes of how the role of the church is not about meeting your individual needs but rather about inviting others to join the mission of God’s people to meet the world’s needs. I want to spend my forties exploring what living into that means.

Family: I want to spend my forties being the best husband and father I can be. I desire to be a role model for faithful living within the context of raising a family and nurturing relationships with those closest to me. I am committed to being intentional about investing in the lives of those who surround me.

Health: I have often attempted to convince myself that I was committed to healthy living. However, often my actions do not always reflect a commitment to that journey. God entrusted me with a physical body and charged with its care. Too often over the last few years I have taken this for granted. I feel encouraged to change this and model the life I speak about in a more definitive way.

Environment: God has really been convicting me lately to take a larger role in caring and advocating for our planet. I like to think I was interested in this before the recent buzz about “being green”, but only in the last year have I began to seriously look at how we are caring for the environment God has entrusted us with. I want to continue to strengthen my knowledge and voice about environmental issues and encourage others into care of this awesome earth we are privileged to reside in.

Justice: This concept is freshest on my radar. God is really working on me to be more of an advocate. I feel I have spent too little time in public ministry acting and speaking out for injustice in our world. I am dedicated to change that and lend myself in partnership with others as a voice for justice.

There you have it. This represents the ground floor of a list that will be ruminated over, molded, shaped and perhaps modified over the next ten years. I wonder, if you examined your life in the same way, how God is calling you to be His agent over the next decade. Remember, it is not a question of if, but rather how God is calling you. What things or issues is God placing in your heart to be passionate about?

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

ELCA's Environment Lenten Devotional

I have really been enjoying the Lenten devotional produced by my tribe, the ELCA. Check out the following sample:

Stop Global Warming
Saturday March 1, 2008
Abundant Living: Wendell Berry wrote, "To live, we must daily break the bread and shed the blood of creation. ... When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration. ... In such desecration, we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness and others to want." How can your life be a living sacrament to the wonders of creation? [Wendell Berry, "The Gift of Good Land"]
Stop global warming at home. Stop global warming at church, school, work.
Stop global warming in fields, factories, and governments.
Start.
This is a call to something extraordinary: a life of care and justice.
To protect creation we must make small and sweeping changes. But most importantly, we must begin. You can change a light bulb to conserve electricity. Business can reduce travel and use carbon-free technology such as teleconferencing. The United States can commit to treaties that take responsibility for our disproportionately high carbon emissions.
Jesus calls us to actively witness to a new order that recognizes the outcast and the broken. Jesus' message was radical because it transformed the earth through extreme love for the place where unity and harmony are missing. Global climate change requires that we embrace these dark places as well and find solutions that reconcile us to creation knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently.
Be Aware and then Act
ELCA's Global Warming Resources
National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Resource Guide
Pew Center on Climate Change
Prayer for the Day's Journey Let there be respect for the earth,Peace for its people,Love in our lives,Delight in the good,Forgiveness for past wrongsAnd from now on, a new start.Rev. Peter Trow
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Writer: Kathleen Wood. Design and editing: Brewer Communications, Inc. Produced by: Advocacy Department, Church in Society Program Unit, ELCA. Photo © iStockphoto.com/Daniel Gustavsson. Earth photo courtesy of NASA. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and used by permission. All rights reserved. Web sites linked from this message reflect the positions of the outside organizations and may not necessarily reflect an official position of ELCA. Copyright © 2008 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. All rights reserved.