Nancy's Visit to Colorado Springs

Tonight Nancy leaves for Colorado Springs to visit Ched . . . and I'm not going. Nancy asked me this morning if there was anything special I wanted her to tell Ched or give to him. I thought for a moment and said, "Give him a big hug from me and tell him how much I love him."

There is not an ounce of resentment or jealousy in me that Nancy is going to the Springs without me to see Ched. It is just the way our calendars worked and I have other obligations to tend to in the days ahead. I am grateful and glad that Nancy is going . . . but, I do wish I was going with her. Somehow, giving Nancy a hug this morning and asking her to give that hug to Ched just isn't the same as giving him a hug myself. There is something about having your child in your arms, giving them a kiss on the cheek and saying to them personally, "I love you", that makes all the difference in how life itself is ordered.

Maybe that is why Jesus came into our lives. God sent all the prophets ahead of Him to tell the world how much they were loved, to give them a hug, to connect in a 'nearly-present' way, but it just wasn't the same. It's only when Jesus arrives that, at least for the parts of the world ready to receive it, we are given a sense of how much God loves us. Jesus is the embrace of God, the kiss of God, the "I love you" of God, to all who would enter into God's open arms. Jesus makes all the difference in how life itself is ordered.

Nancy and Ched will have a great time together this weekend. There's even a chance Ched will be trying out his new Soaring Instructor Pilot wings on Friday while Mom is watching (weather permitting)! Yet, I know the best part of the visit is not in all the things they will do, it is in the 'being together' in the midst of all the things they do. It is in the hugs, the kisses and the "I love you's", the connections, the touches which make all the difference.

So it should be for all of us, with family, with friends, with God.

The Compliment of Matt

Last night I was told by a friend of ours that Matt, our oldest son, is an incredible young man and a gift to the church. My first thought was, "Thank God our kids have Nancy's common sense!", and my second was, "I am so proud of him!" Of course, having been raised in a fairly humble German household, the first thought, "Thank God our kids have Nancy's common sense!", was an acceptable response to share with our friend, laughingly acknowledging the agreement I had about Matt in my heart, carefully deflecting any credit for who he is becoming . . . while the second thought was not something a father would ever admit to in public, even to a friend, lest you be considered haughty. Yet, all this day, I have been pondering on that very thing.

How does God react when someone says to God, 'You know, your Son is an incredible young man and a gift to the church'? Does God just try to shrug it off and humbly shift the conversation, all the while glowing inside that the Son is making a noticeable difference? Does God relish the moment, trusting that no-one will think God haughty in the glow of the compliment? Or does God just say 'Thank you, I think so, too!'? Parenting is tricky enough without falling prey to personal pride when one of our children is recognized for the work they are doing or the accomplishments they achieve. Lord, save us from pride in our living and parenting, yet . . .

Are such answers to be found in the resurrection? Faithful to who He was birthed and gifted to be, even unto death, Jesus' resurrection points us to a Parent's loving response to a world that sees Him, but does not know Him. The stone rolled away from the tomb is God's affirmation of who Jesus is, whether or not anyone else recognizes it. How much more is God filled with joy when we do recognize it? In resurrection we see God's joy made manifest in who the Son is and is becoming. In facing His doubters in the days after resurrection, we hear again God's words coursing the ages since His baptism, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." and, therein, may be my answer.

Affirming faithfulness to self and God, whether in one of our children or someone else, is not prideful. It is truthful. Stating the truth of the moment in an encounter which occurred at a meeting was what our friend did for me last night . . . our friend told the truth about his observation of Matt and who he is choosing to become.

I humbly and heartily concur - and, Matt, in you I am well pleased. As only a parent comes to understand, and as you will come to understand with your own daughters, not everyone sees what the Parent sees or believes as the Parent believes, but when someone does and names it in truth, it is like baptismal waters washing all else away. Only pure love remains. Such love rolls stones away from the tombs of this world's disbelief. Thank you for filling this parent's heart with such joy in these days.

Cardinal Baseball, 2012 Opening Day

The irony is apparent: The 2012 Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals has them facing the Chicago Cubs, which is a long and storied rivalry, rich in competition and full of stories told by fanatical fans on both sides. This is a game which was scheduled last year long before the Cardinals won their 11th World Series and who would have guessed in August of 2011 what Opening Day 2012 would include? Yet, there it is: the St. Louis Cardinals receiving the accolades of an adoring and energetic crowd, entering Busch Stadium as conquering warriors in red and white cars, which are following the Anheuser Busch Clydesdale's around the warning track of the stadium . . . while across the way are the Chicago Cubs, more than a hundred years removed from any such championship, watching as their arch-rivals are honored. There is one upside for the Cubs today: No ring presentation today. That is saved for tomorrow's events . . . no sense rubbing it into a Division rival all in one day!

As the Cardinal baseball team begins a new year of competition, as they begin the journey for their twelfth Championship in 2012 ("12 in 12" is the current mantra), am I the only one who senses that the World Series Celebration, though honestly and thoroughly deserved, has about it the sense of those who 'lord it over the Gentiles'? Especially among those news outlets and fans who are gathering for today's opener with a sense that, 'the Cubs dare not mess this up'? I have to hand it to the Cardinal organization as to the classy manner in which all of the festivities are being presented. I would expect no less. Nor would I expect any less of the Cubs than to be equally classy in their presence at the honors, as well as in the competition at game time. Still, I am left mulling: Might this be the perfect impetus the Cubs organization and new GM, Theo Epstein, needed to turn the corner, having to taste the sour wine of humility as the victor savors the spoils? There is a reason Jesus warned the disciples about overdoing that 'sitting on the left or right stuff', precisely because when you are at the top of the heap you make a good target for others who perceive themselves to be below you and resent it. Maybe Jesus saw this day coming with the Cubs, though I haven't read it anywhere in the Gospels, I'm not sure.

Bottom line, the irony cannot be hidden, neither can the truth of moment be left untold. The Cardinals won the 2011 World Series . . . and the Chicago Cubs, well they have had a tough run the last ten decades or so. Like revenge, humility is a dish best served cold, lest in the heat of the moment what gets cooked is a bird on a bat, rather than a bear. Hmmmm. Jesus might have seen this moment coming.

Go, Cardinals!

Good Intentions

Good intentions are often divided from action taken by the fine line of taking the time. I cannot tell you how many are the moments I have thought of giving someone a call, stopping by to visit a parishioner, one of my brothers or my Dad, listening with a willing heart to the entire story someone has to share, and, well the list goes on and on . . .

My life is riddled with good intentions whose memory hangs like the albatross upon my heart, for I have looked into the eyes of those whose fortune it has been to be one of good intentions. The haunting, forlorn, hurt that courses those looks will not quickly leave my soul, nor should they, for they stiffen my resolve not to live a life made up exclusively of good intentions. Easy are the excuses, hard is the reality. No-one, including me, ever wants to know they are little more than a good intention on your list of things to do.

Which is why God sent the only Son. God doesn't just intend to bring all of God's children home, God comes to us and shows us the way. Jesus is God's gift of faithfulness that overcomes our every good intention in faith, in life, in living. The stone rolled away from the tomb bears the tears and scars of generations who wanted to live such faithfulness, but never seemed to have time time or resolve. God's Spirit rolls up the grave clothes of our wanton disregard of God and each other, inviting us to a new reality, a new time of being who God has created us to be.I am grateful to those in my life who regard me as something more than a good intention and pray forgiveness for those moments I have not taken time for another. May God be kinder to us all than we are to each other in all of our good intentions.

Peace on the journey, my friends.

Post-Easter Day Ponderings

Garrison Keillor, in one of his News from Lake Wobegon monologues, referred to the month of March as God's way of helping those who don't drink to know what a hangover feels like. Paradoxically, from my humble perspective, the Great Vigil of Easter and Easter morning Worship Services are God's way of helping everyone to have a taste of what the Kingdom of God is like. Let me explain . . .

The Great Vigil of Easter and the Services of Word and Sacrament on Easter morning tend to be the unique times of the year when: a) Most Christians find time to attend a worship service; b) The kids are excited to be in Sunday School and Church Services; c) The adults in worship are excited to have children in church and are incredibly patient with those children who have seldom been there before; d)The 'regulars' in worship eagerly offer their seats to strangers; e) Worship bulletins inevitably run out and people easily share; f) All of the choirs sing/play/offer gifts; g) Only the very best of high praise music is offered by the musicians; h) People don't mind the service going longer than an hour; i) (at least in our tradition) The fact that everyone, absolutely everyone, is welcome to the Table, from the youngest to the oldest, is celebrated in loving fashion; j) The congregation reflects the diversity of our culture and that is reason for people to smile and laugh in wonder; k) It's 'standing room only' and people are okay with that; l) In the resurrection story of Jesus, people not only are given hope, but on this day claim it in profound and tangible ways; m) The people in the pews do their best to stay awake and smile at the Pastor during the sermon; and, n) For many, this IS the best service they will attend all year (irony intended).

I suspect that many of the more pious church-goer's are going to be really, really surprised by how broadly God chooses to be grace-filled in welcoming God's children into the Kingdom . . . and Easter worship services are God's way of warning all of us that none of us will ever have the perfect picture of that moment until we are there. That's okay with me. In these days, I absolutely adore what I am seeing of the gathered community in sheer praise of God's power and might in defeating death through the faithfulness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am in awe of lily-laced air, the squeals and laughter of 'untrained' children in worship, the hospitality of the 'regulars' for those who arrive just for the 'major moments', and the Spirit at work in it all. I am humbled by the capacity of God to make smooth the waters of division, to roll away the stones of intolerance, and to divide 'the way it has always been' with the staff of Living Bread that all God's children might go to safety on dry land. I love this foretaste of God's immeasurable goodness and long to drink deeply of its refreshing, nurturing nature always.

I pray it so for you, too. Until then, we have Easter morning memories to build upon and share. 'Go, tell the disciples and the others what you have seen and heard, and He will meet you in Galilee, just as He told you.' . . . and so I write this to you.

Have a blessed Eastertide!

Holy Saturday - Day 2

It's Holy Saturday. Day 2. Do you know where Jesus is?Sounds like the beginning of a bad advertisement with the answer waiting somewhere just around the corner, yet it is a legitimate question. Do you know where Jesus is?

The disciples knew where Jesus was. As far as the disciples were concerned, Jesus was dead and lying in a tomb, His body waiting for tomorrow when the women and the disciples would be able to appropriately tend to it. Yet, for today, the disciples were hiding away, afraid of the Jews, afraid of the Romans, afraid of their own fear. Jesus is dead. He isn't going anywhere.

Hmmmm. Funny, how God takes lemons and makes lemonade, how God takes fear and turns it into joy, how God takes death and turns it into life. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. It is so easy to slip into the 'post-resurrection' mode and just wait for what we know will happen . . . . just as the disciples thought they knew then what would happen. It's Holy Saturday. Day 2. Do you know where Jesus is?

New life, Easter life, is not ours to claim as an expected entitlement. New life, Easter life, is God's to grant. We already know that God is a God of great surprises, just ask the shepherds around Bethlehem, or Lazarus, or the ten lepers, or the man with the withered arm, or even Pilate. "What is truth?", Pilate asks. God is about to amaze creation with a truth I'm not sure that we can stand, even today. It is far easier to prepare for an Easter weekend party or worship service, than to prepare to be faithful to God in mindful waiting as we view the truth of Day 2, Holy Saturday, starkly present before us.

I pray for you a blessed and joyous Easter, filled with amazement, not smug in your own cleverness for having figured it out based on the experiences of others, but the kind of amazement that makes you sing for joy with angels above and saints below. I pray for you a blessed and joyous Easter . . . because you are coming to understand what Day 2 is all about.

What Makes Good Friday 'Good'?

The most frequently asked question on Good Friday: What makes Good Friday 'good', if it's the day Jesus is crucified?

Hmmmmm. Let's see: That Jesus is faithful in the face of tremendous opposition; That Jesus' faithfulness is what truly makes Him the unblemished Lamb of God; That Jesus understands death is not the final victor; That Jesus so trusts His life in the Hands of God that even death cannot separate Him from God's Love; That God, in Jesus' faithfulness, conquers death and opens the tomb that we might have hope; That Jesus' blood of faithfulness, much like the blood of the unblemished lambs of that first Passover, is that which covers our life and brings us through the valley in hope; That the Jesus' body, though badly beaten and given unto death for His unyielding faithfulness to God, cannot be held imprisoned by mortal means; That Jesus, in His love of God and all of humankind, will not let those who follow Him alone on the journey; That we are recipients of a grace-filled life of prayer summarized in the Gospel of Luke's recording from the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."; That, bottom line, Rome (and by extension, no other human government or religious institution in the world) can lay claim to or have power over life itself, no matter how much obeisance they may require of those they rule; and, That God has the final authority over life, declaring a definitive 'Yes!' to life everlasting through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What makes Good Friday 'good' has nothing to do with what humanity does, but has everything to do with what God is actively doing through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit that all people might know the fullness of life in God's Love. What makes Good Friday 'good' is that Jesus shows us the way home in faithfulness, that death in this world has no power over us. What makes Good Friday 'good' is God. All else is superfluous.

Others may give the goodness of Good Friday finer language and be able to cite chapter and verse in defense of their stance, but when I am asked all I can offer is my faith . . . and to be found in Jesus is all that I can hope on Good Friday. That is what makes Good Friday 'good' for me.

Have a blessed journey with Jesus on this Good Friday