On Turning 50

I don’t remember jokes very well.

And I don’t usually remember exact quotes either.

But many years ago,

My brother said something I’ll never forget:

“There’s nothing much less useful than a cold French fry.”

😊

 

I’ve always looked up to my brother.

So many of my childhood memories have him in it,

And, oddly enough, a lot of those memories involve sports!

One of my favorite memories is playing football.

My brother drew out the plays on his hand,

With x’s and arrows.

We were very serious about the execution of those plans,

And to this day, I live by his subconscious advice:

“Make a plan, and execute it well!”

 

Other memories involve band.

My brother was a trombone player,

And he once told me,

“If you’re going to play an instrument, play it well.”

So I listened.

I was asked to start high school marching band in 7^th grade.

That meant three years marching with my brother.

I always thought that was neat.

 

I also think it’s neat that

It’s because of my brother that

I am now an avid art collector.

Daniel once told me that if I had the money to afford a piece of art

That spoke to me,

Then I should buy it.

(That was in the beginning.

Now I must ask if I have the money AND the wall space :-p).

 

It’s also because of him that I see so many musical and theatre performances.

He says that we put our money where our values are—

That if I value musicals and theatre performances,

Then I should go see them.

So I do.

 

And he also once said that

When given a choice to do something that you really want to do vs. sleep,

Choose the thing you want to do.

He said, “You will likely remember the event or activity—

But you won’t likely remember that nap.”

Now. I like sleeping. I’m a nap taker.

But sometimes people and events are more important than even naps.

And Daniel’s words help me remember that.

 

Daniel’s 50^th birthday is today.

So today I am especially grateful for the boy that he was,

The man that he is,

And the person he is still becoming.

 

May we all influence others’ lives for the better…

Especially in our passing words and wisdom.

May we eat fries when they are warm,

Make good plans,

Enjoy good art,

See meaningful shows,

And make lasting memories with those we love.

 

Amen.

Bee Sting

Bee stings hurt!

I learned that fact yesterday

After one of my sister’s pet-honeybees stung me.

 

I was standing in the yard,

Thinking about bees,

Watching them fly,

Listening to them buzz,

Pondering their lives together in the hive,

When one of them flew a little too close to me and

Got stuck in my hair.

 

I didn’t freak out.

I simply said,

“I think I have a bee in my hair.”

My sister tried to get her out,

But in her frustration at being trapped,

The bee deployed her one defense mechanism:

Her stinger.

 

It hurt!

 

And then I heard,

“Yeh…she’s going to die now.

She won’t sting you again.”

And I couldn’t be mad.

Instead I was sad.

 

Poor bee.

Poor Dee.

 

When the bee stung me,

It was her last resort.

She was scared.

She was mad.

She was desperate.

So she did the only thing she instinctively knew to do:

She stung me,

Which ultimately led to her demise.

 

I think sometimes we do this, too.

When we get stuck,

When we feel frantic,

When we are scared or mad or desperate,

We do the only thing we instinctively know to do--

Whatever that is in the moment--

And it’s sometimes not the best choice for the long run.

 

Oh God: When we get stuck. When we are in a bind. When we are frustrated and don’t know what to do. Help us to use our abilities to breathe and to think and to make decisions that do not lead to our demise. And God? Thank you for people like my sister who have a heart for the bees. Help us, as a human race, to stop destroying the peaceful pollinators and to provide an environment where they can thrive and do the work that You created for them to do. Amen.

Heightened Emotions

 

Last week, 

When I parked my car to go into Starbucks, 

I parked beside another car. 

Crazy, huh? 

Even though I was in my parking space,

I opened the door carefully to make sure not to bump the car beside me.

 

As I was getting my cup to go in,

I heard someone beating on the window of the mattress store in front of me 

And frantically pointing at me as if something was very wrong.

I looked and didn’t see anything weird,

But the next thing I knew the guy was coming out of the store to speak with me!

He exclaimed, “Please do not let your car door touch the car beside you.”

I looked and it was not touching the car beside me, so I said, 

“It’s not.”

He said, “It was! We saw it!”

Annoyed, and someone shaken by the confrontation,

And afraid that the customer that the mattress store worker was defending would come out before I had finished my coffee 

And intentionally open his door to hit and dent my car,

I moved my car all together. 

 

Now, if the car would have been a brand new, expensive, spotless, scratchless, and dentless car,

Then I might have understood the disrespect with which I was spoken to.

Maybe.

But it was an old Nissan with plenty of wear and tear.

There was no reason for the owner to be that concerned about someone gently opening her car door to get out. 

I didn’t dent his car.

I didn’t scratch it. 

I didn’t have my key out, actively keying the side of the car.

But that mattress store worker sure made me feel like I had done something really bad and wrong.

 

We live in a society of heightened emotion,

Where the smallest things cause the biggest reactions

And insignificant things escalate to the point of violence. 

 

May we be a people who know when to argue back and when to walk away.

And may we somehow balance out the crazy with our sense of peace. 

 

Amen. 

 

---

 

By the way,

I don’t understand the point of the mattress stores in general, 

And I’ve hardly ever seen anybody in that particular store at all. 

But I can guarantee you that I will not set foot in that store to buy a mattress after being scolded by one of the workers

For an infraction that I did not commit.

The Word of God

The way I understand it,

The Word of God is alive and active.

It is not a static Bible to be read as a dictionary or rule book.

It is a dynamic text to be read by the guidance of the Holy Spirit,

In the context of community,

God’s body on earth,

With the same Jesus as the head

As the Jesus who is considered the Word himself,

Alive in the beginning,

And still alive and creating today.

 

The biblical Word of God should be read with an understanding of historical context,

As an overarching whole,

Centered on the main themes of God’s love, grace, and redemption

Throughout all generations.

 

When possible, the biblical Word of God should not be read in isolation,

And never should the biblical Word of God be used to proof-text beliefs.

Read like this, the biblical Word of God becomes a weapon for harm

Instead of a tool for guiding and building God’s Kingdom.

 

The Word of God is more powerful than the words written on the pages of the Bible

That was curated and canonized by humans many thousand years ago.

The Word of God is alive and active today,

In 21^st Century America and beyond,

Still speaking,

Still guiding,

Still working, and

Still creating

In ways that may surprise some of God’s people.

Try Again. Later.

 

Sometimes things come easily. 

Sometimes they don’t. 

Saturday was an example of the don’t’s

And it was very frustrating. 

 

I was trying to make a tin art quilt square pattern that I had made before. 

I cut the one-inch strips,

Trimmed them into one-inch squares, 

Cut the squares into triangles, 

And then started piecing together the design.

 

For some reason, it would not make! 

Every time I placed a piece, I knocked another piece out of line. 

I worked steadily for about 45 minutes.

I even took off my glasses so that I could focus more carefully!

Finally, I got the design to where I liked it,

And I was getting ready to tape it down,

When suddenly my example square fell over,

Hitting my working square, 

And knocking all the pieces out of place. 

Ugh!

 

I tried to tweak the mess and get the pieces back in line,

But each time I adjusted one piece,

Something else messed up.

After about 15 more minutes,

A lot of frustrated noises,

Walking away a few times,

And giving up hope,

I finally just dumped the whole thing and decided to start again.

Later.

 

…

 

Sometimes things come easily. 

Sometimes they don’t. 

But thankfully, when they don’t, 

We can always try again 

And hope that the second time, 

Or third, or fourth, 

We will have success. 

 

So in the times when things don’t come easily, 

Hang in there, friends. 

Keep going. 

Keep trying. 

Keep doing your best, 

Even when your best means surrendering in defeat 

And trying again later.

 

Amen.  

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

 

I have my last program of the year tomorrow night.

It’s a Kindergarten and 1^st Grade program and will feature eight songs,

Including The Greenwood Song and a song about Earth Day.

As per usual, the program songs have been playing nonstop in my head.

One lyric, in particular, has been on repeat

Because it is such a good reminder of what I need to be doing:

“I am an Earth Day helper, I like to lend a hand,

I pick up trash and water plants, recycle when I can.”

 

Unfortunately, my county does not recycle.

And unfortunately, my plants are now in the back room where I don’t remember to water them.

But. I’m pretty good at picking up trash.

And I’m pretty good at reducing and reusing.

And I’m pretty good at being amazed at people who are ingenious in their ideas of

Reducing, reusing, and recycling.

 

Take these two ideas that I garnered from Facebook and a conversation with a friend:

 

Instead of donating gently used clothes to a thrift store,

You can contact a local nursing home or long-term care facility to see

If there are any residents in need of new clothes.

Some residents have no family or friends to visit them or provide for their basic needs.

Clothes become thread bare and worn as residents re-wear them each day.

Having new clothes can make a person feel better about themselves

And help with their dignity and quality of life.

 

Instead of throwing away cut flower arrangements

(From weddings, church services, company events, school celebrations, etc.),

You can rearrange them into smaller arrangements and deliver them to shut-ins, nursing homes, or hospitals

For persons who need a boost of encouragement.

While we may not all have an organization around us that does this,

There ARE organizations that exist for the sole purpose of repurposing cut flowers for

Random Flowers of Kindness.

Who would have thought that this would be a thing?!

But it is.

And it inspires me to be creative in how I reach into the world.

 

May you be inspired, too, and

May we do all that we can to

Reduce, reuse, and recycle…

And brighten someone’s world in the process.

 

Amen.