A Messy Desk

My desk is a mess. I've tried cleaning it, but then find that I cannot locate the things I need when I want them. So, the piles multiply like rabbits and the papers spread out much as water runs downhill. I've heard it said that a messy desk is the sign of a busy person. I've also heard it said that a messy desk is the sign of a cluttered mind. I think I'll go with the former over the latter, after all, claiming to be busy opens the door for further accumulation. Right?! Claiming a cluttered mind seems a bit too personal . . . and far too accurate.

Maybe that's the reason Jesus didn't maintain an office: it would have been too much of a distraction. With having to constantly monitor the email requests for healings, the snail mail requests for motivational speaker appearances, the Facebook requests of folks wanting to 'friend' him . . . and the notices of those who are 'unfriending' him because of his controversial statements about the Temple and government, and not to mention tending to the telephone messages Mary Magdalene would have placed in his box from Concerned Citizens for a Renewed Israel and other assorted lobbyists who were demanding of his time and attentions, Jesus just would have never gotten anything else done! On the other hand, maybe having an office would have kept Jesus from being crucified . . . 'cause you can't get angry with or jealous over someone you never see! I guess we'll never know.

Maybe that's why my desk is such a mess: it's the cross I bear for Jesus. My desk is a mess so his never has to be . . . . yeah, that sounds good! I'll go with that. A messy desk is the sacrifice I make so that Jesus' hands are free to do the work he needs to do in our hurting world. A messy desk is my calling, my Via Dolorosa. The crowds may deride me, but I will keep moving forward in service to Jesus, regardless their animosity. The higher the piles, the closer the Kingdom. 'Father, forgive those whose desks are clean, for they know not what they do.'

Looking around this morning, Holy Week must be near. 'Not my will, Lord, but thine be done.' I'm going to grab a cup of coffee and do my best to do Your will, Lord. Grant me faith and strength waddle through the mess, while bearing up under the scrutiny of the Pilate's and Caiaphas' of the world who would judge my worth by the standards others would impose. 'A clean desk will not save you', is now my mantra. May I live it for You, Jesus, with all my heart, mind and soul!

Tilth

'Tilth' is the language of farmers and gardeners, referring to the materials (humus) in the soil which both make it loose and enable available fertility. Tilth. It is the way the soil feels, the manner in which the earth works, the capacity of the land itself to provide a home for the seed to sprout and grow.

Tilth isn't something which just happens. Tilth develops as the result of conscientious stewardship of the soil in the blending of last year's crop residues with what is to become this year's crop seedbed. Tilth takes time. One year, one moment of time, one effort is not enough. The development of tilth in the earth takes decades, even generations.

So, why are we surprised when soil which has been mined for every ounce of production it can offer, including the very life of the previous crop itself, doesn't produce well? Why are we offended when cuts appear in fields where water runs from one place to the next for lack of honest faithful stewarding? Why are we saddened when the methods we employ to raise a bumper crop fail for the lack of simple tending to the tilth of the land from which we hope to feed the world? Adding fertilizer only masks our pain, only meets the short-term goal. The earth requires the humus of the season's cycles to have the tilth required to build it for children yet to be born who will eat of its goodness. Tilth.

As it is with the earth, so it is with faith. As it is with the land, so it is with discipleship. As it is with the soil, so it is with the work of God's people. Tend to your faith, your discipleship, your service to the One who knows and creates you, lest in avoiding the need for tilth in your life, you end up with a barren spirit, a life incapable of receiving the goodness of God's Baptismal waters. God waits for the generations of tilth in your life to make all the difference in the journey and feeding of another. So the Kingdom grows. Tilth.

Pharaoh

“That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.” Exodus 5:6-9 NRSV
Seldom do we hear the name, ‘Pharaoh’, anymore, outside of history classes, museums and Egypt, yet often we see Pharaoh hard at work, giving orders in our current age as he strives to obscure people’s minds with labor so hard they cannot even think. ‘Heaven forbid people have time to worship the Lord our God. Heaven forbid people have time to think. Heaven forbid people have time to spend with each other. Heaven forbid that God should have a voice in how people behave . . .’
What Pharaoh does not understand is that God will not be obscured by the manipulations and treachery of any Pharaoh in any age, nor will Heaven forbid access to any of God’s children as they beseech the One who is Holy above all. Still, Pharaoh persists in Pharaoh’s commanding, exerting insidious influence upon those who are least able to speak for themselves, willing monuments and vast empires to be built upon the backs of ‘those people’ who make many bricks from nothing at all.
You don’t see Pharaoh today, you say?
What portion of your local community’s economy has been adversely affected by the advent of major discount stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart?
What portion of your local community’s economy has been eliminated by the exodus of neighborhood grocery stores bowing down to the presence of Schnucks, Dierbergs, and Wal-Mart?
What portion of every dollar you earn goes to pay Federal taxes, State taxes, local taxes (not that support of the government is a bad thing, but do you know?)?
What portion of your tax dollars are used to prop up a ‘free-market system’ riddled with mismanagement but in need of your bail-out ‘assistance’?
What portion of your leadership in local, State, and Federal levels, live with the same level of healthcare and cost as do you?
What are the interest rates you earn for the money you are able to save or invest?
What are the interest rates you are charged if you have to borrow money or use credit cards?
Now that we have been seduced by cheap travel and nearly every person having at least one car, how much of your income is being required pay for cars, gas, service, and roads?
How much of your insurance costs are a direct result of extravagant court settlements?
How much of your income goes to fund a union hierarchy that is meant to ‘protect you’?
How much of your income is handed to those who are able-bodied, but under/unemployed?
How much straw are you collecting and how many bricks are you making today?
The season of Lent is about reminding us that Pharaoh is not God and God is not amused by Pharaoh. Sometimes the cost of deliverance from such systems of oppression is the First-Born.
Sometimes we need to be reminded of Whose we are in the journey towards the Promised Land and at what cost has come our covenantal identity. Do not mistake this, God hears your voice and God comes to save. The question is, “Are you ready to leave Egypt?”
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Don

Shrove Tuesday

Televised clips of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans fill the airwaves of local newscasts as the culture embraces Shrove, or Fat, Tuesday and all the pageantry it entails. 'Dance today for tomorrow we shall be mourning', is given a whole new meaning as beads are thrown, gaudy and brash costumes swirl through the streets, and food and liquor are consumed in vast quantities, all because tomorrow Lent begins. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and a 40 day season (not including Sundays) of penance, reflection, fasting, and prayer begins. Quite contrary to what many newscasts will articulate tomorrow in referring to Lent as a 'Catholic holy season', the entire Christian community, the entire catholic community of Christians, will intentionally, even reverentially, join with Jesus on His journey towards Jerusalem. For many, this journey, this liturgical season of Lent, is the grounding point of faith for all that is the rest of the Christian year and, for many, contrary to what 'Fat Tuesday' may tend to indicate about Ash Wednesday, Lent is anything but 'lean'.

Lent is rich with meaning and fragrant with faithful living. Lent is flavorful in the Story and pungent with Love. Lent stirs the soul and pours out the heart of God. Lent feeds the masses with mercy and grace from the Hand of the Creator God.

The culture may love the 'fatness' of Shrove Tuesday, but I embrace passionate essence of Lent, that beautifully contemplative expression of God's meaningful faith in humanity. God Is With Us . . . and I pray we are responsive to Christ's Presence on the road ahead.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don

Good Friday

On this Maundy Thursday, as Jesus gathers with His disciples in an upper room, washes their feet, breaks bread and pours wine that is blessed to become new in His presence, I wonder: What does the face of betrayal look like? Is the face of betrayal dark and foreboding? Is it pock-marked with dis-ease and struggle? Does the face of betrayal glint like steel or is it gray like rock and cold with calculation? Does the face of betrayal catch the shimmering rays of candlelight and dull them, even deaden them, with dread? What does the face of betrayal look like?

And what of the face of denial? Is it the face of innocence that will simply never understand? Is it the face of the well-meaning, good-intentioned companion who, like the seed scattered upon the rocks is there one moment and gone the next? Is denial the ill-timed nervous laughter in the corner escaping at the precise moment the Master tries to explain why He is washing their feet? Is it the blank stare the never sees or the muted ears that never hear? Is the face of denial the one first to cry out allegiance, so anxious to be found worthy, yet so unprepared to stand? Is the face of denial the one that seems always to be looking around to see who is watching, worried who might notice their presence, figuring the distance to the doors? Is the face of denial in the one who encourages you to do everything the way they would do it, if ever in fact they ever did it? What does the face of denial look like?

As Jesus looks around the room on this night watching His disciples eat, listening to their stories, hearing their laughter, feeling their hands upon His shoulders in brotherly love . . . As the surreal nature of the moment deepens in His heart, He teaches us that the face of betrayal, as with the face of denial, most often is the very face of those most near to us. Can someone who knows us not at all really betray us? Can someone who has never shared a moment with us ever really deny us? No. It is only those who are closest to our souls who have the power to claim or betray, to stay or deny. It is only those who are closest to our lives who have the capacity to tear out our heart without ever making an incision. It is only those who are closest to our being who have the opportunity to make the decision: stand with or stand against; protect or betray. That is why it is betrayal; That is why it is denial: Because it comes not from someone outside, it comes from within. The face of betrayal, as the face of denial, is the face of a friend who shatters the bonds of trust with the kiss of death.

He sees their faces, even as He sees our own, yet in His face will be seen neither betrayal, nor denial. He is our Brother, He is our Friend, He is our Lord, He is our Master, He is our Savior, He is the Christ. To betray us would be to betray His own soul, to deny us would be to deny His own Being. So He leads us to the garden and as He prays for us we dissolve into the night, the burden of our faces etched into His mind, the weight of our choices upon His shoulders . . . and He turned not away from those who would smite Him, for He would not turn away from us.

Whose face does He see in you this night?

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don

A Life of Prayer

To quote Thich Nhat Hanh from the film, The Power of Forgiveness, by Martin Doblmeier, "A life of meditation is a life lived deeply." For those of the faith family who have so chosen, our shared Lenten journey has been to ponder 'forgiveness'. Drawing from Thich Nhat Hanh's observation, and remembering that he also calls us to consider that a prerequisite to being able to forgive is becoming compassionate, our Lenten conversation mulled the notion of moving towards compassion by living deeply a life of prayer.

In the Evangelical Catechism of my youth, the definition of prayer is, "Prayer is the conversation of the heart with God . . . " (No. 101) If one understands conversation as both speaking and listening, and if prayer is such a conversation of the heart with God, then living deeply a life of prayer is to participate in a conversation of the heart with God on an ongoing basis. Life so lived, as Thich Nhat Hanh so aptly and quietly speaks, is a deeply compassionate life. It is at this juncture that we can begin to understand Hanh's assertion that other people are not our enemies, but misunderstanding, discrimination, violence, hate, and anger are our enemies. A life lived deeply in prayer is a life moving toward understanding, toward acceptance, toward peace, toward love, and toward joy. Such a life, by its very nature, has the capacity to forgive precisely because it is a life lived at the crossroads of compassion and prayer.

Dare we to live in such a manner so completely, what would become the shape and scope of our world? How would farmers farm differently? How would pastors pastor differently? How would bankers bank differently? How would teachers teach differently? How would the members of government govern differently? How would merchants sell differently? How would courts execute justice differently? How would stock brokers transact differently? How would petroleum companies refine differently? How would administrators administrate differently?

The life lived deeply in prayer, the life lived deeply in conversation with God, is the life Jesus modeled as He walked the earth . . . and we crucify Him still for so living. For such a life is a life lived in the Light of God, a Light which shines upon all that it encounters. In the face of such a Light our unholiness is unbearable to observe, even by our own eyes. In the face of such a Light our unwillingness to be in prayer is made public and we are humiliated by our own choices. In the face of such a Light we draw ourselves into the darkness of the shadows and that which we will not change becomes the tomb of our dying souls.

And Jesus prays from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Forgive us for not walking deeply in prayer. Forgive us for not listening to You. Forgive us for striking out at your extended hand of Love. Forgive us for not meeting You at the crossroads of compassion and prayer, because the way we choose to live makes us too tired to stay up with You in prayer. How many times do we leave You in the garden alone in prayer because a life of prayer is, perhaps, the most demanding life to live? And, how many times are we left despising our denials of You because we don't want anyone to demand anything of us that we don't want to give?

Such notions give a whole new meaning to the disciples request of Jesus, "Lord, teach us how to pray." What Jesus teaches is more than a rote prayer, He teaches a conversation of the heart with God, even unto death on the cross. The empty tomb is God's answer for us to hear.

May we so live, today and always.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don

Winter Snows & Subsoil Moisture

In November, after all the harvest was done on the farm and as much Fall tillage had been completed as was appropriate, my brother, Larry, his son, Kenny, and Dad spent a few days digging up and working on field drain tiles. I had the good fortune to be in the area on one of the days they were working on the deep lines, 7 or 8 feet deep. They had excavated the soil with a backhoe and were replacing T-joints, which is usually a job guaranteed to get a person muddy and wet, but not this year. Between early June and September 5, the area our farm is in received one inch of rain. It was dry. The crops did pretty fair, all things considered, and we are grateful for what we received, yet our concern was not so much for what had happened in 2007, but for what was going to happen in 2008. The hole they had dug to work on the T-joint was dry, dry at 7 to 8 feet of depth. Dry. Crops can root down deeply, but as we stood there looking at dry soil 8 feet deep, our worry for next year was, 'Where will the subsoil moisture come from to feed the next crop?' Farmers prayers are, often, a type of subsoil prayer: deep and far-reaching.

Today, the temperature is in the mid-40's and the snow and ice received in the last days is slowly melting, the water patiently seeping into the soil. In a way that rain cannot hope to achieve, snow and ice melt seeps into the soil and trickles down giving life in the depths of the earth, offering hope for the coming days with an intentionality that only a farmer or gardener can truly appreciate. The very weather which has frustrated the building industry in the last few weeks, the very weather which allowed the building industry to boom in our area last Summer, is also the weather which acts in deliberate fashion on behalf of those who feed the world. It is not always what is on the surface which will make the greatest difference, sometimes it is precisely what we cannot observe that will, in fact, save our very lives. Subsoil prayers are powerful, meaningful prayers on the lips of those who understand the totality of life's cycle. The farmer working the surface of the field prays for the entire earth, understanding that what lies beneath is what energizes the life at the surface.

There are 19 days till Easter. Before you start getting all giddy about what is to happen on the surface at Easter, take time to stand still at Gethsemane and pray a subsoil prayer with the farmers of the world. Who knows what God will do to meet the needs of God's people when they pray? Don't let your life dry out for lack of prayer for what happens beyond what you can perceive.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don