holymeetsordinary An Ordinary Woman Ponders a Great God

Ashes – Dust – Sin – Nails. We are beginning the season of Lent –a somber season with harsh images, images I don’t like to think about: ashes – dust – sin – nails.

“Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” We are dust, you and me, and receive a grim reminder when we kneel at the altar rail on Ash Wednesday and feel the sooty black ashes marking our foreheads. Dust – nothing. And even those ash crosses don’t remain on our foreheads very long; they smudge, they fade, and are usually wiped away before we go to bed – the sign of the cross gone.

You and I probably will begin a Lenten discipline, and some of us will complete it through the 40 days of Lent but many of us will fail. Even if we exercise the willpower to finish, we will mess up in other areas. We might look pretty good on the outside, but each one of us, if we are honest, knows of moments in our lives when we have messed up terribly—mistakes we have made that we cannot undo. During those times, we might feel as if we are sitting in an ash heap, defeated and surrounded by our failures, our sins, our limited human condition.

In the Biblical creation story we read about God forming humans from the dust of the ground – but he doesn’t stop there. We are told that God breathed Life into the nostrils of man – and because of the breath of God, this dust person became a living being. In whatever way we want to interpret those early writings, I believe that God has put some of Himself – His breath, His Spirit, His Life – into you and me.

And he continues to breathe His life into us. At our lowest, most despicable moments – and we all have them whether in thought or deed – God meets us in the ash heap and says, I can help you – I am going to fix this – and he breathes his breath – himself – his Spirit into us. He resuscitates us, so to speak, reviving us and bringing us back to life.

Psalm 103 says, “As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we were formed; he remembers that we are dust.”

God not only breathed life into us, but he encased himself in human flesh and entered our world as Jesus who loved us so much that he was willing to die for us – even though we mess up over and over again. He came down to raise us up, and this changed us forever.

When we are at our very worst, God offers us His very best – if we are willing to receive it. So let’s not be afraid of these images of Lent – the ashes, dust, sin, nails – because Jesus loves us and is on our side – right here with us – in the middle of our ash heap, our failures. And because of his grace, when we think of the ashes, dust, sin, and nails – we are reminded of his resuscitation, redemption, resurrection, Divine Love.

Remember – it was not the nails that held Jesus to the cross, it was love – His love for all of creation, His love for each one of his dusty children, His love for you and for me.

Wishing you a holy Lent.

It seems everyone is getting ready for Christmas. Seasonal tunes stream from the radio stations; the Villages have been decorated since Halloween; Christmas catalogs and ads offer us the lowest prices ever on things no one really needs, but we don’t have to look far from the glittery pages of the catalog to see the dark, the despair, the hopelessness: parents having to bury their children, families who have no place to live, mothers and fathers losing their jobs and not being able to buy groceries for their children, poor education trapping entire communities in a dead-end existence – the ravages of drugs, alcohol, war, and disease consuming lives . . . sometimes it feels like too much, and life can feel grim, sad, dark.

But God did not wait until our world was pristine and sinless before coming to live with us. In the midst of our sad chaos, a Light shines. The God who created the universe, the atom, and everything in between, encases himself in human flesh and breaks into our planet in the form of a small babe.  The gospel of John says of this baby, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:4) This infant named Jesus grows into a man who tells us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). And He shines his light into the dark and shows us a new way of living, a new way of loving.

When light shines in a dark place, the dark is literally changed to light. Light is transformative, and the Light of the world came to transform the sick and the poor and the grieving and the lost – and he came to transform each one of us.

This One, described in the Psalms as being resplendent with light, is crucified and dies, and for a short time those who walked with him fear that the Light of the world might be extinguished forever.

But instead of the Light being quenched by his death, His light radiates even stronger in the form of His Holy Spirit. And when we receive Jesus, we receive the gift of His Holy Spirit so we, too, can be carriers of His light, His love

Every act of love, kindness, generosity, gentleness, reconciliation, patience, forgiveness spreads the light of Christ and helps transform the darkness of our world. Every loving deed has eternal value even when we don’t see or feel it.

Jesus is the light of the world, and He has placed his light – his transformative power – in you and in me. Continue to let His light shine, have hope, share his love and goodness, so others may shine, too—like candles being lit in a dark room. The light that Jesus ignites in you will never be extinguished.

Do not despair – this is not the end – the true light that gives light to everyone has come into our world, and he will come again and drive away all dark and sadness and evil and death, and he will live with us forever. This is the story of Advent and Christmas and Easter and of life and God and you and me. We are part of the story because He shines His light in us.

A blessed Advent to you.

I work in the Communications area of a large church, and as part of my job I take pictures of all of our parish events. I especially love taking pictures of the children – whether it be our Sunday school children, Day School children, little ones from our inner city program, or children accompanying their parents to services. Recently, I was organizing and cropping a large group of photos on my computer, and as I gazed at face after face of beautiful, precious children—bright eyed, trusting, innocent eager little ones—a mantra or a prayer began to play in my mind: Child, do you know your worth? As I pulled up picture after picture, I breathed prayer-like words for each of these children, “ Do you know you are a unique creation, dearly loved, and created in the Image of the all powerful, all loving God? Child, do you know your worth?”

Innocent little ones are pretty good at accepting this truth, but what about us? Do we know our worth? Most of us mess up day after day, but do we remember that our worth is grounded, not in our feeble attempts to measure up, but in the love that God has for us? I try to remember, but what I call THE BIG IF sometimes gets in the way of my fully grasping this truth; maybe you experience this too.

Let me explain: You probably remember the Bible story where Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. Jesus has just been baptized and God’s voice speaks these beautiful words: “You are my Son whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

But shortly after that Jesus is drawn into the wilderness where the devil taunts him, presenting him with various temptations, but in the first two temptations, he taunts him with THE BIG IF. “IF you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. IF you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” (Matthew 4:3,6) The devil tempts Jesus to question his identity, his relationship with the Father. He wants Jesus to doubt God’s words of love and belonging that were spoken during his baptism.

How often does your inner voice or our culture present you with THE BIG IF, causing you do doubt your worth, your identity, in God? IF you were really a good Christian, IF you were a better parent, IF you were a better spouse, IF you were cuter, IF you were more talented, IF you were thinner, IF you were a good person, IF you were loveable . . .

Of course we all can improve in the way we live, but our value in Christ is guaranteed by His death on the cross. In God’s eyes, there is no IF. You are loved, you belong to God, and your worth in him is secure. He has taken care of it. It is a done deal. Period. No IFs.

Beautiful children of God, do you know your worth? Don’t be lured into the lies of THE BIG IF. The Creator of the universe has called you His beloved child. Remember who you are. YOU are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

Years ago, I took my boys and their friends to the Atlantic coast for a vacation. One late afternoon I sat in a chair in the sand and assumed a mother/life guard posture as I watched active boys splashing in the wild ocean waves. They were not in deep water, but after a while I could see the tide shifting and the waves becoming more vigorous, so I motioned for them to come to shore. They came out immediately, except for one boy. I stood and yelled for him to come to shore, but within a few minutes the water had become rough and he was floundering and fighting to keep his head above water. I ran into the ocean and when I reached him I realized we were in the middle of an ugly rip current. I grabbed on to him and struggled to bring us to shore. With every stroke forward the waves forced us back even further, with the undertow yanking us down. It was sheer panic for more minutes than I would like to remember. I clung to this child, and with every ounce of mother-lion strength I unsuccessfully fought to make it to shore. Finally, the waves slammed us into the rocks of a jetty, and we were able to grab hold and crawl up to the beach – bleeding and exhausted – but relieved to be out of the water.

I don’t know if any of you have ever been caught in a rip current. I had not prior to that day, but I had been instructed what to do if it occurred. However, as I was thrashing in the waves, I did NOT do as I had been instructed. Some of you may know this: When you are caught in a rip current, you do not try to fight the waves and head straight to shore. Instead, you turn your body and float or swim parallel to the shore. Eventually, you will float gently out of the rip current and then be able to swim to the shore in calm waters. It’s true. The literature, the old-timers, the experts all tell us what to do. But, I did not trust those instructions, because – well – it seemed so passive, so counter intuitive. I was afraid to believe, and I felt the responsibility of saving a child, so I relied on my own limited strength instead of turning my body and trusting that we would gently be led out of the rip current.

Our Christian walk can be that way. We know we are to have faith. We are told our Lord is strong and powerful, that he loves us, delights in us, and will redeem anything we endure. We espouse this truth, but too often instead of trusting Him, I rely on my own strength to fight against life’s challenges. If only I would turn – turn and let Jesus peacefully carry me out of the struggles. It can feel so passive and counter-intuitive to trust God and not float with the waves of our human instincts, our culture, our intellect, and especially our deep down fears.
Sometimes I like to think of the Cross as a rescue tool—like the long pole that the lifeguards use. The Cross of Christ reaches down to us no matter how low or how far away we are from God’s will. We simply need to grab on, hold tightly, and trust that He will guide us through any crisis.
This life can feel overwhelming, and we tend to futilely expend our strength to scramble to the shore – to what appears to be a quick safety, a swift solution. But if we listen we might hear Jesus say “that is not the way – Turn – Hang on to me – I AM the way.

Trust Him – turn to Him – grab on to Him – He is the way – He is the truth – He is the life.

A verse in Psalm 27 says “My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Most of you have met the newest members of our clergy team, Katie and Josiah. They are incredibly talented and we love them, but we especially love their new family addition, baby Naomi. Our staff is very welcoming of babies; in fact whenever Katie and Josiah bring Naomi upstairs it takes them forever to make it to their offices, because all of us are “oohing and ahhing” over their daughter.

In the early weeks of Naomi’s life I would watch this little one in the arms of her mother and I was especially struck by something that I had seen all babies do – my babies did it with me – but this time I saw it in a different light. This tiny little being, not yet able to control her hands or form a smile, would spend much of her time staring intently into the face of her mother. A very intense, almost mature look as she would scrutinize her mother’s features, taking in, absorbing the one from whom she came.  As this little one grew older she began to soak up the world around her, offer smiles to those of us who fussed over her, and allow some of us to hold her. But while resting in someone else’s arms, whenever she heard her mother’s voice her little head would turn, and she would look around until she spied her mother; even from a distance, she kept her mother in sight.

I think infants are wise. At a very young age, they know the source of their survival, their nourishment, life, love. As Naomi continues to grow she is becoming more independent and is able to go to the Nursery downstairs. But as soon as she sees the face of her mother or father, a beaming smile lights up her face.

Those of us who are parents remember those tender years when our children would generously offer smiles and hugs, and spend hours cuddling. Of course my college age boys are not so generous with their smiles, and hugs are rare and most often initiated by me. I tell them with every text message, email, and phone call that I love them, but they probably cannot comprehend the depth of my love until they have children of their own. Do they know that they are never far from my heart? Do they know I shed tears over their sorrows – and am jubilant over their successes? Do they know that, in a heartbeat, I would sacrifice my life to save them? Sounds extreme, but that’s how mothers feel. That’s what mothers do. And that is what our Father God does for each one of us.

“My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’  Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

I pray I will become more like the newborn babe and scrutinize the face of my Father God, always keeping him in sight. As I go out into the world to do my work and spend time with others, I hope my head is always turning toward his voice—staying on track with him. And when I wander off, I pray that the compass of my inner spirit will show me the direction of his love and I will return to him with open arms. I hope when I am bewildered by this life, stressed and disappointed, that the image of my Father’s face is so imprinted on my heart, that I will maintain peace and assurance, trusting that his love will carry me through whatever I am facing.  I pray that in the midst of the world’s distractions that I will save my best smiles for him.

We are never far from God’s heart. He weeps over our sorrows and is jubilant when we find joy. He has sacrificed his life to save us. He is the source of our survival, our nourishment, our life, our love.

“My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’  Your face, Lord, I will seek.”