Category: beauty

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Encouragement From a Lamppost

Last night was a night of fitful sleep and unsatisfying dreams. When I awoke this morning, I was feeling the weight of a number of things that are happening in this little conrner of the world. The events of the past few months and the strain that has put on relationahips of people that I know, the friend who is waiting for a possible diagnosis of cancer, and the friend whose mother just had a stroke, along with the stresses of helping lead a faith community to follow Jesus more closely. These are on top of dealing with Jan’s HD and all that goes with it, and trying to keep myself healthy.

When I went to the kitchen to make coffee, I looked out the window into our backyard. What I saw was similar to the picture above, minus the snow and fir trees. It was about 6:45, and the sky was just beginning to lighten. What I saw was unusual because the lamp had never stayed lit all through the night before this, and the previous day had been cloudy. I had bought that particular lamppost because it reminded me of the lamppost in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

When I saw the lamp still lit, the first thing that I thought (I believe it was God speaking to my heart) was, “There is still hope.” In the Narnia tales, the lamppost marked the border between Narnia and the wardrobe in the spare room. In some way it signified hope, because it was there that the story of Aslan coming and reclaiming Narnia began. As you read through the rest of the books, there is always an undercurrent of hope, no matter how dire the circumstances.

I have no idea what is going to happen in each of those situations I mentioned. I know I am praying for healing and restoration, but I also know that the final outcome is beyond my reach. But there is still hope. There is still the hope that no matter what happens, my loving Father has us all in his hands, and he always does what is good and right. There is still hope that the King of Kings will return and make everything right, healing every hurt and wiping every tear. There is still hope that Romans 8:18-39 is true.

You may be going through something similar, or worse. Things may well seem hopless to you. I would encourage you to look to the One who alone can give hope. Look to the King who has conquered death and who is bringing a new creation. Look to him because, to be honest with you, without him it is hopeless.

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Shadow and Hope

In The Return of the King, the hobbits Frodo and Sam are near the end of their journey into the land of Shadow in their attempt to destrtoy the One Ring. They have journeyed far, through hunger and thirst, battles with spiders and orcs, and the near overwhelming despair that lies heavy on Mordor. Now more than ever, the quest seems to be a fool’s errand. They don’t know if they will ever reach their destination, or if it will matter if they do.

One night, as Frodo sleeps, Sam looks up at the sky above him:

Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of that forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing; there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

There is talk going around in some circles that if (fill in the name) gets elected, or re-elected, a Shadow will cover our land and our nation as we know it will cease to exist. When you think about it, this has been the fear of some for a number of election cycles. The language used to describe candiates on either side comes close to the language used to describe Sauron and his minions. These people, whoever “these people” may be, are the scourge of the earth and are worthy only of hatred and contempt. We are told to fear those who disagree with us, because their ideas will enslave us in some sort of socialist, fascist, anarchist, dictatorial, etc. distopia.

What there seems to be a short supply of, is hope. People talk about what country they are going to flee to if a certain party wins (although I don’t know if anyone has ever actually done that). Now, I can understand a lack of hope from those who have all their dreams tied into a certain way of seeing the world, who have pledged their allegiance to a system or person. What I don’t understand is when some of that despairing language comes from the mouths of those who claim to follow the One who brings hope. I realize that some of that is done to raise money to put in the coffers of certain organizations, or because they want to keep a privileged position. That doesn’t make it any less sad.

Think of that Friday afternoon a little over two thousand years ago, when the disciples of Jesus thought that they had lost all hope. They had hitched their wagon to the star of this man they believed was going to restore the kingdom to Israel and make it great again. Now he was dead, and it seemed as if their whole world had come crashing down around them. They, like many today, had a misplaced hope.

If you are a follower of Jesus, if you have pledged your allegiance to the King of Kings, then whatever happens in this election or in any other year should not lessen your hope one iota. Our hope is in the One who went into death and came out the other side victorious. Jesus is King and no matter who occupies the White House, the Capitol, or the Supreme Court, our mission as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God does not change. We are still called to make disciples. That may well get more difficult in the years to come, but it is still our calling. If everything hits the fan and this nation does crunble, as all empires have so far, we are still citizens of the Kingdom that will never be shaken and have a hope that always endures. Because Jesus is King, the Shadow is only a small and passing thing and there is a light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

Hope in the Lord, and your hopes will never be crushed.

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Worth Advisor

A while back, I saw a sign at a local bank advertising the services of a “Worth Advisor.” I had never seen the position of worth advisor advertised before, so I began to think about what that might involve. I came to the conclusion that the only thing a worth advisor could help me with would be my finances. Now I know that is the job of a worth advisor. I may be crazy but I’m not dumb. Folks do need help with planning for the future and so on. The only thing I would say is that a person’s worth is not in the amount of money or possessions that they have.

What is a person’s worth? Considering that we are created in the image of God, I would say that the worth of an indivdual human being is inestimable. Psalm 139 tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Think of the beauty and majesty of this world and the compexity of all that is in it. Then, think that the Creator not only made human beings complex and beautiful, but that he made them in his image. You can debate all you want about what the image of God is. but the fact is; we are a special creation. When God created man, he pronounced that this was very good.

Now, that image has been broken and marred by sin. But it is still there. When we look at another person, we are looking at someone who is a special creation of God, who is of great worth. If we truly believed that, how would we treat others? We cannot say we believe that people are God’s image bearers, and turn around and say, by our actions, that it doesn’t apply to someone from a different country or different ethnic group. When we mistreat a person becasue of the color of their skin, or their citizenship status, or their country of origin, we are attacking the image of God and are turning our words into a lie.

When we look in a mirror, we are looking at someone who is fearfully and wonderfully made. With all our physical, emotional, and spiritual flaws, we are still individuals who bear the image of the Creator. Our worth is not in how we look, how high we have climbed, or in how much money we have. It is not in position or fame. Our true worth is simply in who we are as God’s creation. Think about it. You are worth more than all the wealth of this world. You are the part of creation that God pronounced very good. Yes, that image is broken because of sin, but Jesus died on the cross for you to restore that image and reconcile you with God.

Scripture tells us to not think of ourselves too highly. That is a result of the Fall. When we truly realize whose image we bear, we give glory to the Creator for what he has done. We have the ability to look at ourselves with clear eyes. We recognize that we are not perfect, but that we are being remade into something that will fully reflect God;s glory. When we truly realize whose image is borne by others, we give God glory for his wonderful work, and we are led to treat others with dignity. We realize that they are flawed, as we are, but we see the potential in them.

Look in the mirror. See yourself as in God’s image. See your worth. If you want to go to a financial advisor for advice on money, feel free. Just remember that those things are not where your true worth lies. Try to see others as people of great worth, as indivuals created in God’s image. I am convinced that if we did that, a lot of our problems would be solved.

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Forty Years and Counting

It was a different time. The nation had experienced some healing from Vietnam and Watergate. The economy was not in very good shape. Iran held Americans hostage. The Reagan Revolution was just a soon to be realized dream for the Republican Party. The Miracle on Ice was a recent memory and the Summer Olympics would take place without the United States, as well as a number of other countries.

We were different as well. We both were much younger and both of us had more hair. Jan’s hair is simply shorter, while mine is simply gone and my beard is now white. We were both teachers then, and while Jan has kept her hand in, I have bounced around among a variety of jobs.

During these last forty years, we have lived in a number of different homes in three cities. We began life as a couple in the Washington, DC area, spent some time in the Cincinnati area, where our family grew from two to four. For the last twenty five years we have called the small city of Rock Hill home. Our son and daughter grew up here, and left the nest to pursue their own path. In the ensuing years, we buried our parents, moved on to new jobs, and found a community of faith that has become a family.

Through the years, much has changed. We have been on the heights, and we have been through the valleys. This journey together has not always been an easy one, and the road has always been winding. There have been times of plenty, and times when we struggled financially. We have never been “wealthy” in the usual sense, but God has always provided. We have argued and been angry with one another, and made up and moved on.

What has never changed is our love and commitment to each other. As our lives took the twists and turns, we knew that the other one was with us and we were on this journey together, come hell or high water. We learned to communicate and that has been a major factor in our marriage. We still face the challenges of life. Both of us are growing older and dealing with those issues. Jan’s HD is a big challenge. But we are facing these things together, as we have always faced life. We are trusting our heavenly Father to take care of us, as he always has.

Forty years. It seems like a long time, over half of our lives, yet it somehow feels like a blip on the screen of time. We may celebrate another forty years, we may not. No matter how many more years God gives us, I know that I am truly blessed to be married to a beautiful woman who is a wonderful partner.

Jan, I am so thankful to the Father for bringing us together and allowing us to spend these years together as one, and I pray he gives us many more years to journey through this life.

I love you more than yesterday, and less than tomorrow.

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Blast From the Past: Thoughts on Les Miserables

This was first posted in March of 2013.

A little while back, Jan and I went with some of our church family to see the movie, Les Miserables. We thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one of those movies you want to see on the big screen and then want to see again on DVD because the story is so good. A lot has been said and written about the theme of grace vs. law and the triumph of grace. The movie was saturated with grace, and the embodiment of grace in Jean Valjean and law in Javert was thought provoking and emotion producing.There were a lot of tissues used, and hopefully a lot of thinking about God’s grace. My thoughts after the film, while still including grace, were a bit different than others that I heard.

There were many scenes in the film that made folks cry, and I choked up many of those times myself. However, what brought me to tears was the scene near the end when Javert dove off the bridge, finally holding on to law all the way to death and rejecting the grace that was offered. Now, keep in mind that I had not read the novel or seen any of the stage or film productions. In my wild-eyed optimism, I hoped that Javert would see the light and be transformed by grace as Jean Valjean was. It broke my heart.

My heart still breaks when I think about the many people who reject a grace that gives life and cling to law which brings death. Some don’t know any better, having been raised in religions that are all about human effort. I would include the American religion of pull yourself up by your own bootstraps self-sufficiency. Many however, should know better. There are multitudes of churches and organizations that will say they are all about grace but then proclaim rules to follow to be “right with God,” or any number of steps to be a better whatever. This includes those “ministries” who proclaim grace but then tell you what to do to have any number of “blessings” in your life.

If those things worked, churches would be full of perfect, completely fulfilled and whole people. Do you know any of those? I don’t. Law doesn’t work to bring life, whether it’s religious commands or simple human effort to get better. Our effort, whether it’s obeying regulations, following steps, or trying to have more faith, will not change us. It is only God’s grace that transforms us, making us into people who show love to others, who trust God, and who sometimes do the right thing. This comes about because the Spirit of the living God dwells in us and changes us from the inside out. We no longer live by law, but we live by grace, out of a heart consumed with love for our Father because he loves us with an unchangeable, everlasting love.

Let us reject law, with its striving and death. Let us embrace God’s grace, which does what we could never do and transforms us into the new creation God means for us to be. 

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Thoughts on Easter 2020

The Easter season was a bit different this year. Instead of gathering in person with our brothers and sisters to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we gathered around our computer for a livestream service via Zoom. In stead of greeting dear friends with a hug, we waved to the images on the screen. Instead of getting together with friends or family for a feast, we had an Easter dinner for two in our dining room. It was a very good day, and I am grateful for what we were able to do, but it was different, in a strange way.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has devastated much of the world, has changed the way we do just about everything. Many people have been at home for a number of weeks, as “shelter in place” becomes the norm. The great majority of churches have closed their doors, either meeting on line, watching services on television, or not meeting at all. Businesses have been forced to close, and social distancing has forced upon us a new way of relating with each other.

Jan and I found some positive things coming out of an Easter weekend during time of quarantine. We gathered on line with friends Thursday for an altered Seder, followed by an online Maundy Thursday service. Friday evening we watched a Tenebrae service online, and Saturday found us experiencing an Anglican Easter vigil on line. Even though we didn’t do the things we normally do this time of year, we were able to experience a little of the breadth of the the Christian tradition’s celebration of the resurrection.

As the pandemic continues, many of the things we have taken for granted will have to be abandoned or revamped. The ways we work, shop, relate to others, and do church may look totally different in the days ahead. I think that will turn out to be a good thing. There are things that we need to change as individuals, families, churches, nations. As we come to grips with what is really important in our lives, we can become more understanding people, who treat each other as persons made in the image of God. As we learn to work together, we can become more unified. Maybe we can conduct our public lives with an eye toward what is best for all, rather than for our side of the aisle. As churches are forced out of the routine, maybe we can rediscover that the church is not the four walls, but is the family of God who are called to love and serve our neighbors.

Easter is all about hope. The hope that all will be made right, and we will be resurrected. In the midst of tragedy and hopelessness, we can know that Jesus defeated death. Because he walked out of that tomb, nothing will stand in the way of our Father’s plans to restore his creation. Nothing can change that. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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Blast from the Past: Reflections on Ash Wednesday

This was first posted on February 21, 2010 and has been edited to bring it up to date.

Wednesday, February 26 is the first day of Lent. Ash Wednesday is celebrated by Christians around the world with a service that includes the placing of ashes on the forehead of the worshipers. The ashes are to remind that we are made from dust, and to dust we will return. In the tradition in which I grew up, Lent (like most of the church calendar) was not even on our radar. We celebrated Christmas, Palm Sunday, and Easter. I had a vague notion that other days were observed in other traditions, but we were taught that those days were not important. So, I’m a bit late to the keeping of the church calendar, and still learning.

As I go through the Lenten period, I am struck by the fact that our bodies are formed from the dust of the ground, and to that dust they will return. Because of the brokenness of Creation, we face the inevitable decay of our physical selves. As a more than middle-aged man who has tried to compete in sports at the same level he did when he was in his twenties, I can attest to that. At some point our bodies will wear out and no longer be useful to us. When they are then placed in the ground, they will return to the dust from which they came. As we look around us, we see that decay in every part of our world. Ash Wednesday and Lent are good reminders that we are broken and in need of a savior.

Thankfully, that is not the end of the story. During this time, we take a good hard look at our humanity and our brokenness, but we also look ahead to the time when our Savior will return and will restore Creation. We look forward to the resurrection and the Kingdom of God coming in all its fullness. When I think about Ash Wednesday, and the symbolism of the ashes on the forehead, I think of the song, “Beauty Will Rise.” In that song Steven Curtis Chapman sings, “Out of these ashes… beauty will rise and we will dance among the ruins We will see Him with our own eyes Out of these ashes…beauty will rise For we know, joy is coming in the morning… in the morning …This is our hope. This is the promise. That it would take our breath away to see the beauty that’s been made out of the ashes…”

As we go through this season of Lent, contemplating our sinfulness and our need of a redeemer, let us remember that we do have a Savior who has made us a new creation, and who will one day make all things new.

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A Challenge and an Opportunity

Conservative writer George Will, in an interview on CNN, said that he believes that President Trump’s effect on the civil discourse in this country will be more damaging than Richard Nixon’s activities during the Watergate scandal. Whether or not you agree with him, I think it’s safe to say that the public climate in the United States is not good.

Take a look at campaign advertising the past few years. Almost all of it is aimed at painting an ugly picture of the opposing candidate. If you do a bit of digging you can find out that much of the advertising is at best half truths, and at worst bald faced lies. There is usually very little talk about the issues. Actually, this kind of thing has been going on during most of our history as a nation. It’s more widespread today because media is more advanced and covers a broader area. It does seem though, that the amount of vitriol in the public square is quickly reaching toxic levels.

Honestly, I don’t expect folks whose lives are all wrapped up in the kingdom of this world, who believe that human government will solve all our problems to act much differently. If you believe that your favored form of government is the only form of government it’s natural to see the other party as a threat to your way of life. From there it’s a short step to seeing individuals who disagree with you as evil. Don’t even try to tell me that is not happening.

What saddens me is seeing people who claim to belong to Jesus acting like those who don’t. Christians on both sides of the political divide attack other Christians, each side claiming that their views are the only ones influenced by Scripture, and that the other side is of the devil. Take a look at any of the social media sites and you see posts, from people who call themselves Christians, that are filled with hatred and misinformation.

This toxic climate presents followers of Jesus with a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to begin to treat those who are our brothers and sisters with the sacrificial love Jesus commanded. Pagans in the first century recognized the love Christians had for each other as something unusual. Christians were also known for showing love to the pagans. When unbelieving citizens of a city fled an outbreak of disease, it was the Christians who remained, taking care of the sick. We here in 21st Century America are still called to show love to fellow Christians. We are not told to love those who agree with us and show hatred to those who disagree. Loving each other is a challenge because we have bought into the idea that government can be used to advance the kingdom of God. Whether on the right or on the left, we forget that the United States, as great as it is, is still a kingdom of this world. We need to remember that we are citizens of a greater kingdom, with a greater agenda.

The opportunity is great. As the civic discourse grows more vitriolic and the world around us grows darker, we have the opportunity to show a better way. The first century church showed the Roman Empire that the sacrificial way of the cross was the only true way to be human. Through simply living out their faith, they turned the world upside down. Imagine what it would look like if followers of Jesus decided they were going to show love to others, in person and online. What would it look like if Christians were known for their civility in discourse and their willingness to listen, not just “own” the other side? How about if, instead of shouting at people, we showed them the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Gospel?

May those who we deal with see, not partisans, but Jesus.

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38 Years and Counting

On this date thirty eight years ago, Jan and I were married. We have been through a lot in that time, most of it good, some it challenging, and some of it flat out bad. We have reared two children, and are grateful that they have grown into responsible adults. We have buried our parents and become the “older generation.” We have become grandparents. Not once, not twice, but three times in the past thirteen months.

We have lived in five homes in three different cities, moving from the bustle of the Washington, DC area to the more blue collar Cincinnati, Ohio suburbs, to the small, yet growing town of Rock Hill, South Carolina. We have each taught in four different schools. Jan is currently tutoring part time, and I am working as an assistant in a law office. We have spent most of our working years traveling together to the same place, and had the blessing of having our son and daughter in the same schools with us for a good bit of the time. Jan has stuck with me through the times I was without work, when we often wondered how we were going to make it and when I seriously doubted my self-worth. There were times when her belief in me was what kept me going.

I am grateful for a wife who has been a constant in my life. There has never been a time when I doubted her love for me. She has been a support and a blessing to me throughout the years. She is one of the people God has used to mold me into who I am. I am thankful for the privilege of being her husband, her companion, her love. I consider myself most blessed man on earth.

As we enter this new stage of our journey, being grandparents, and dealing with getting a bit older, I am glad to have such a wonderful woman to travel with. Jan, I love you so much more than yesterday, and so much less than tomorrow. Happy Anniversary.

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Following Jesus: Part 2-Loving God

If we follow Jesus, we will seek to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The problem is that we don’t often really know what it is that we love. We may think that we love God, but our love actually belongs to something else. We pursue a different version of what the good life is, a different kingdom. In You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, James K. A. Smith makes the case that we are primarily loving beings and that our love is formed by habits and liturgies that we engage in. Many of the things that we do in our day-to-day shape us and present a vision of a life worth living that is antithetical to the kingdom of God.

Smith makes the point that our love for God is formed and strengthened by the liturgy of the church through the centuries. Coming from a background where we said that we didn’t do liturgy (even though it really was a liturgy of sorts,), I have come to appreciate the parts of a worship service, from the greeting and call to worship where we are welcomed by God and called to come apart and lift him up, to the benediction where we receive one final blessing from God and are sent out to bring his Kingdom to bear in our day-to-day. In between, we sing praises to God, confess our sin and receive a reminder of his forgiveness. We give a portion of what God has given to us as an act of worship, and we hear the truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus from the words of Scripture. We gather around the table and remember what Christ has done for us and receive a foretaste of the feast to come in the new heavens and earth.

All of these things have deepened my love for God, his Kingdom, and his people. I have found that they have begun to work in me to wean my heart from those things the culture says we need to flourish. I have a long way to go, but I am confident that God will continue to work in me and give me a heart for him.

May we all come to love our Father more and more.