I Wonder--April 30

I have spent a lot of time collating, editing, and managing my social media and news feeds on my iPhone. This process has take quite a while. This is not because I want to live or function in a 'silo,' but because there are just some topics that do not interest me and I do not want to spend a lot of time with them. 

You see, I do not have a great interest in fashion, or in pop music, and a host of other mainline topics that algorithms suggest that I will like. So I have 'clicked' them away. 

What remains though can be quite painful and polarizing--as it was today when my morning news feed was filled with stories that turned my stomach. Stories of violence. Stories of groups of people from around the world who cannot sit together and talk but choose to 'lob verbal grenades' at one another in passive aggressive threats. 

How does this behavior and choice serve the Lord? Are we not called to be the Church? To be more? 

In the book, "Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!" Kate Bowler says this to us: 

"The hard truth is that the most basic aspect of our humanity is not our determination, our talents, or whatever we accomplished during last year's resolutions. We are united by our fragility. We all need shelter because we are soft and mushy and irritable in the elements– and we will need so much more than a bank loan, sooner or later we are [all] left exposed."

I could not agree with Kate more. 

We are fragile. 

We are all Children of God who need to remember that truth and come together around it. Rather than shout and divide, perhaps God asks the Church to help facilitate a process of coming together. Instead of yelling and shouting the other person down, I wonder if there is a Christ-like way to sit with someone, to hold their hand, and see the fragility in their eyes, in their lives, and welcome them into communion as Jesus welcomes you? 

I Wonder--April 24

In the rush for productivity, we often rush too quickly. . . We rush to be effective and be thorough. But in doing so, we might just miss the opportunity to Be the Church that Jesus asks us to be. 

I wonder when was the last time you interrupted your well-laid, well-thought out, plans to reach out to someone and share good news with them? When did you last put aside productivity and to choose to dwell with the other person?

On each Wednesday at noon I have a zoom meeting with a group of ministers. We meet for 1 hour to discuss the sermon text for Sunday and talk about general worship plans that we are making. During that meeting my iPhone rang on the table next to me. I saw the call and I read the transcript of the voicemail sit came in. The transcript told me that there was good news waiting for me--but it never said what the good news was. It was up to me to call back. 

The meeting ended at 12:50pm and I got back to work while forgetting the voicemail which I imagine is a temptation that you might fall into. After all there are things to do, and tasks to work on. Yet something in the back of my mind kept reminding me "check the voicemail. Make the call."

It was only when I did that I heard the good news--and it was well worth it! 

I felt my heart swell and my spirit lift during that call. The entirety of the call was less than 2 minutes. But I had a choice to make. I did not have to call back. I could have waited; I was busy. 

Perhaps you have the same choice running through your mind today as you read this post. 

But I encourage you to resist that temptation. You are not too busy to interrupt your day and let God break in and change you, and by extension change the other person. Make the call. Listen to message. Be the Church. 

I Wonder--April 15

As I was reading today I came across the following entry that made me stop and think. 

Yes, today is Tax Day. And yes, I do not enjoy today either. It is a day that I too complain about. But perhaps these words that I share with you below might give you a reason today to pause. They might give you a chance to think differently as you seek to live out your faith as a member of the Body of Christ. 

While thinking about Tax Day, Ryan Holiday wrote:  

"Everything we do has a toll [or price] attached to it. . . Rumors and gossip are the taxes that come from acquiring a public persona. Disagreements and occasional frustration are taxes placed on even the happiest of relationships. Theft is attack on [the] abundance and having things that other people want. Stress and problems are tariffs that attached to success. And on and on and on [this goes]. . ."

There are many things we can complain about in life and many things that we cannot escape. Instead of just complaining or bemoaning them, as we are tempted to do. Perhaps today, we have the chance to notice where our energy rests, where our attention lies. 

And as we notice this could we focus our attention away from poor choices and back toward living and acting as God intends for us? Maybe the price that we need to pay is one of following the cost of discipleship?