99 To Beat

 

For the past few weeks, 

My mom and I have been watching a show called 

99 to Beat. 

The show started with 100 contestants and will eventually get down to 1 

Who will win $1000000.

The games are not complicated when not under pressure. 

Think party games,

Relay races,

Minute to win it, 

Stacking cards, 

Popping balloons, 

Stuffing a tent back into its bag. 

And the object isn’t to win. 

The object is not to finish last. 

 

The contestants have gotten close,

Which makes it seem that the show was filmed over the course of time. 

Yet they are in the same clothes every episode, 

Which makes it seem that the show was filmed quickly. 

Come to find out,

The show was filmed over the course of three weeks, 

With 15 hour days, 

And multiple sets of the same clothes were provided and laundered for show continuity. 

 

In other words,

There is a lot to the show that we don’t see! 

There are hours and hours of contestants waiting around, 

Talking, 

Sharing life stories,

Getting to know one another. 

As the show gets closer to its end, 

It’s harder and harder for the contestants to see one of their friends fall. 

There are real connections. 

There are real tears. 

 

When Jesus was crucified, 

One of thieves on his side mocked him. 

The other proclaimed he was Lord. 

How did the latter know this about Jesus? 

What led him to make such a bold declaration? 

Was it simply in how Jesus went about the process of dying? 

Or were there countless behind the scene hours that we don’t see? 

“Criminals” held together awaiting execution, 

Talking, 

Sharing life stories, 

Getting to know one another, 

So that as it got closer to the end, 

It was harder and harder to say goodbye? 

 

I think that sometimes we read scripture and forget that it was real people living the stories

And that all the details weren’t written down. 

There are time lapses and emotional connections and food breaks and rest breaks and 

Themes like clothes used for continuity

But real time passes and sometimes we don’t know how much. 

 

May we allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the words 

on the pages 

of the book 

that is increasingly being used 

as a weapon 

And may we connect our lives to the 

Greatest story every told, 

Jesus,

The servant King, 

The last one standing. 

Amen. 

May It Be So

 

I had a coupon for $1 off two bags of cat food, 

So I naturally bought two. 

Only one bag fits in our airtight cat food container, though,

So I put the other bag in the garage. 

Mistake. 

A happy cat found it, ate through the bag, and had a feast!

Unlimited cat food is not meant to be left within reach of an endlessly hungry cat.

 

…

 

I recently saw a little puddle of water on the floor at the bottom of the refrigerator. 

Just a few months ago, 

The water hose in the back of the refrigerator cracked and saturated the floor boards,

So I was afraid it had happened again.

I pulled out the fridge. 

Nothing. 

A day later, I opened the fridge and saw water standing on the bottom shelf.

I wiped it up.

Just a few moments later, I opened the fridge again and saw more water standing on the bottom shelf.

This time I decided to investigate.

I pulled out the bottom drawer and

Found a huge sheet of ice,

Half an inch thick,

Sitting there.

Half inch thick ice is not meant to be in the refrigerator.

 

…

 

When I came back to work after Spring Break,

There was a pair of socks on the floor.

Evidently, a kid had taken off his socks during music class

On the Friday before break.

Socks are not meant to be taken off and left on the floor of the music room.

 

…

 

When Mary realized that Jesus was not in the tomb,

She went to tell the other disciples.

They did not believe her and thought her full of nonsense.

Mary had seen with her eyes and felt it in her body

That Jesus was risen.

Yet the men did not trust her experience

And had to see for themselves.

Women are not meant to be doubted and questioned when we speak from experience.

 

…

 

Cat food should be put away.

Ice should be in the freezer.

Socks should stay on feet while at school.

And women should be respected and trusted just as much as men.

 

May it be so.

 

The end.

The Easter Story

 

How do you tell the Easter Story

In a way that is thought-provoking and engaging

To people who have either

Heard the story their whole lives or

Come to church for the first time?

 

How do you tell the Easter Story

In a way that is new and exciting

To people who have either

Stayed true to the story their whole lives or

Wandered away from its impact due to questions and doubts?

 

How do you tell the Easter Story

In a way that is meaningful and real

To people who have either

Known you your entire life or

Seen you for the very first time?

 

These were the questions I was asking myself

As I prepared to preach the Easter Story for the very first time.

My dad was able to go to church yesterday,

To welcome the congregation and to pray,

But he didn’t have the stamina to preach,

So Little Rev. delivered the message instead…

And I was very nervous.

 

Easter is highest of Holy Days in the Christian Tradition.

It’s the pinnacle of our faith and

The very promise of hope, redemption, resurrection, and life.

Easter is one of two Sundays per year that many people come to church.

Easter is a time of joy and celebration, and

Easter is a time of family togetherness and remembering.

 

So how does one prepare an Easter message?

One only needs to

Tell the story:

 

Jesus is not dead.

Christ is not in the tomb.

Jesus Christ is not trapped behind the large, heavy, immovable burden of stone.

And because of this,

Because of the power of resurrection,

Neither are you stuck behind the stone of hopelessness and death.

 

The stone is rolled away!

Christ is risen!
A new beginning is here!

 

Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.

 

Amen.

Real People

 

I cried at church on Sunday.

We were reading from 

Palm to Passion 

And the emotion of it all just got me. 

 

I think we sometimes go on autopilot 

When we read the story of Jesus’s last week of life. 

We read the events and see them as history 

And forget that real people actually lived them. 

 

I think, too, we sometimes dismiss Judas’s betrayal as preordained 

And forget how difficult it must have been for 

Jesus to receive that kiss. 

 

For that matter, 

I think we sometimes see the whole week as preordained 

And forget how difficult the whole week must have been. 

 

The ups and downs. 

The moments of beauty and of horror. 

The silence and the noise. 

The praise and the condemnation. 

 

It was all lived in real time

With real people who had 

Real emotions and real pain.

 

All of the ways that we’re human now

Were all of the ways that people were human then

And the mob mentality then was just as strong as it is now. 

The mob mentality freed a convicted criminal 

While it condemned an innocent Jesus to death. 

 

It was ugly.

It was brutal. 

They came at him with swords.

They used violence against a peaceful man. 

 

It didn’t have to be that way.

And yet it was.

 

And still Jesus found it in his being to say

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

 

Today, on Maundy Thursday, 

As we remember Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, 

Serving his disciples his last meal, 

Going to the garden of Gethsemane, 

And being betrayed, 

May we remember just how real it all was

And may we cry at the emotion and weight of it all.

 

Jesus was fully God, 

But he was fully human.

And we humans haven’t changed much in 2000 years.

 

Amen. 

Breathe Out

 

On Monday, I wrote about showing up.

Today, I’m going to share a practice that I often employ

When showing up for those I love.

 

Whenever I sense that someone is struggling and

I want to help them,

I simply breathe in and breathe out,

Letting my breath be my prayer.

 

Only, it’s not so simple.

 

Upon breathing in,

I imagine sucking in the

Darkness, heartache, pain, loss, and hurt—

Taking it away from them and putting it inside of me.

 

Inside of me is Jesus,

Who then takes the

Darkness, heartache, pain, loss, and hurt

And transforms it into

Light, love, strength, happiness, peace, and everything good.

 

I do this over and over,

Breathing in the dark, stank air,

Breathing out the light, fresh air.

Breathing in what I want to take from those I love,

Breathing out what I want to give to them in return.

 

I don’t know if it “works.”

I don’t have any scientific evidence saying that it does or does not.

All I know is that it “works” for me,

And it helps me sit in the midst of darkness, heartache, pain, loss, and hurt

And not be consumed by it all.

 

Is showing up always easy?

No.

Is breathing in darkness always easy?

No.

Sometimes it hurts.

But Jesus is there.

In my heart.

Working to hold it,

Working to purify it,

Working to transform it,

Working to do what I cannot,

And leaving me to do what I can:

Send out light, love, strength, happiness, peace, and everything good.

 

Regardless of whether this practice works for you,

I encourage you to find something that grounds you

And connects you to your breath, to others, and the

very Breath of Life.

 

Remember:

There is a lot we cannot do in this world.

There is a lot we cannot afford to give.

But just as surely as the sun rises and sets each day,

We can show up for one another.

And we can breathe.

 

Amen.

Dog

Jesus called her a dog.

The Syrophoenician mother in Mark 7

Was desperate for her daughter to be healed

So she went to Jesus and fell at his feet

And he called her a dog!

 

Scripture tells us that

Jesus hadn’t wanted anyone to know that he was in Gentile territory,

So maybe Jesus wanted a break.

But the mother didn’t give him one.

Instead, she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

In response, Jesus did what absolutely no one expected.

He said, “Let the children (the Jews) be fed first.

For it is not fair to take the children’s food and

Throw it to the dogs (the Gentiles).”

He called her a dog.

 

Maybe Jesus was tired.

And grumpy.

And he had a tongue slip.

As a Jew, he’d probably heard racial slurs for the Gentiles

And had them floating around in his head

Like annoying song lyrics that we wish we could forget.

And in this moment,

Maybe one of those slurs slipped out of his mouth.

 

Don’t fret. I’m not doubting Jesus’s perfection.

On the contrary,

I think that Jesus was perfect because he was perfectly human and

Perfectly divine.

We all have days when we’re tired.

And grumpy.

And have tongue slips.

Because we’re human.

But what Jesus didn’t do that so many of us simple humans do

Was stay in that negative space.

Because the woman answered with deep humility by saying,

“Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs”

Jesus changed his mind and employed his full divinity to  

Heal her daughter.

Maybe Jesus realized that he had been quietly called out

And responded by doing the right thing.

 

I don’t know.

All that I know is that Jesus called the Syrophoenician woman a dog.

And that it’s strange.

Yet, somehow, I love him all the more.

 

Amen.