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.

Surprised by God

 

If I understand correctly,

To be a Christian is to

Believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is to believe in the transforming power of Jesus’s love and

To try to live on earth as one day we believe we will live in heaven.

It is to seek to follow the way of the cross

That was transformed and redeemed through a life lived less in judgment of the poor, outcast, and socially unacceptable and more in welcoming grace.

One’s standing as Christian

Is not dependent on one’s perceived sinfulness

Or one’s perceived holiness.

It is not dependent on

Rich, poor

Black, white

Gay, straight

Jew, Gentile

Man, woman

Pro-life, pro-choice

Political party or anything else.

To be a Christian is to trust Christ with our lives and

To follow our understanding of the Living Word of God,

Revealed to us in Jesus Christ,

Still speaking to us through the Holy Spirit.

God is alive and active.

God is bigger than human comprehension.

So maybe those of us who claim

Christian

As our name

Should spend less time condemning and

More time accepting

That we might be surprised at

All the people God loves.

Music

 

It was a weekend of music for me.

Friday was the first ever Elementary Honors Chorus Clinic during the day.

Friday night was Amelia-the-Niece’s girls choir concert with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra.

Saturday was the Lee County Arts Festival,

Including the Elementary Honors Chorus performance.

And yesterday was Charlie-the-Nephew’s All-State Band concert in Greensboro.

I feel very cultured!

 

I walked away from the weekend with a few thoughts:

 

Musicians tend to be resilient. One of the Elementary Honors Chorus students got too hot, locked her knees, and passed out. Two songs after she left stage, she walked back onto stage and finished the concert sitting down. Everyone clapped.

 

Musicians tend to be kind and encouraging. Even though the competition is stiff for a spot in an honors band, once a person makes it in, they tend to be encouraged by the other people in the band. During the middle school performance yesterday, a couple of trombonists had solos. After they finished, another trombonist gave each of them fist bumps to tell them they did a good job. It made me smile.

 

Musicians tend to know how to work together. Evidently, at the rehearsal for Amelia’s concert, the orchestra and the choir weren’t balanced. So, the orchestra worked to play quieter, and on the night of the performance, the two groups sounded amazing together.

 

Musicians tend to come together from all walks of life to focus on common good. It’s really a beautiful thing to hear and watch.

 

And…on a different note (pun intended)…audience members can be very rude with talking and gum smacking. Please do not smack your gum in the middle of a classical music concert—or ever 😊.

 

Music makes this world a better place.

 

May we all learn to be

Resilient

Kind

Encouraging

Able to work with others

Part of something bigger than ourselves

Good

And non-gum smacking.

 

Amen.

Labor Trafficking

When I worked in vocational ministry over a decade ago,

One of my areas of focus was human exploitation.

My job was to teach people about the subject and

To equip church members and organizational leaders from across the state to do the same.

During those years, I was very mindful of

How my actions affected the environment (land exploitation),

How media was using its power to influence society (media exploitation), and

How products were harvested, made, distributed, or sourced (labor trafficking).

I was involved in boycotts and petition campaigns and

I had my own compost bin in the backyard of the apartment that I was renting.

While years have passed and my mindfulness has faded a bit,

The lessons I learned during those years are still with me.

When I can, I still do my part,

And I when I can’t, I feel guilty…

 

Which leads me to the guilt I recently felt when I realized that a company I had purchased from most likely uses child labor and is involved in questionable ethical practices.

 

I didn’t know.

If I had known, then I would have steered clear of the deals that sucked me in.

And boy did they suck me in!

After I’d ordered so many things—

For myself, for friends, for school, for home—

And spent way more money than I should

On deals that seemed too good to be true,

A friend said,

“If it seems to good to be true, then it probably is.”

 

That statement both humbled me and brought me back to reality.

 

I should have known.

I should have known that such deals come at a price—

And the price is human lives.

It is forcing underage children to work in sweatshops.

It is not paying workers a fair wage for working in unsafe, inhumane conditions.

It is promising workers one thing but not living into that promise.

It is taking immigration documents and holding persons hostage.

It is labor trafficking.

 

God: Help us to be mindful of the things we purchase and the ways our actions affect people we will never meet. We are all part of a broken system much bigger than ourselves. Help us, however small and insignificant we may feel, to do our part to heal it. Amen.

Wealth

We have

Enough to go

Around.

Love should lead us

To share rather than

Hoard.

Hurt Feelings

 Hurting someone’s feelings is different than insulting someone’s existence.

 

Hurting someone’s feelings is saying no when they really want you to say yes. Hurting someone’s feelings is not supporting a new hairstyle when a person wants to get their hair cut or dyed. Hurting someone’s feelings is not being appreciative of the hard work they’ve done to help you. Hurting someone’s feelings is disagreeing with someone on an issue that they feel strongly about. 

 

Hurting someone’s feelings is NOT insulting someone because they are differently-abled, Mexican, poor, gay, female, or non-Christian. Hurting someone’s feelings is not taking advantage of or manipulating them because they are perceived weaker than you. Hurting someone’s feelings is not joking about physical harm, lack of emotional boundaries, and abuse. Hurting someone’s feelings is not about using God’s name or conservative Christian values for personal gain. Hurting someone’s feelings is not using your voice to promote fear and hatred. Hurting someone’s feelings is not promoting patriotic freedom over universal decency. 

 

Hurt feelings pass. Damning character does not. Hurt feelings are not a matter of life or death. Attacks on identity and worth are. Hurt feelings stem from fatigue or oversight. Chronic insults stem from arrogance and heartlessness. Hurt feelings come from being human. A pattern of judgment comes from deep brokenness. 

 

I am white. I come from a position of privilege and power. I come from a place where I could let fear overwhelm me. God forgive me when I am blinded by privilege, power, and fear and fail to see that there is enough love and wealth and freedom to go around. Amen. 

Dirty Car

 

I spend a lot of time in my car.

Despite my best efforts to keep it clean,

The mess inside sometimes gets out of control.

This has been the case recently.

 

It started back in March when I went on a weekend retreat.

I took my keyboard, keyboard stand, guitar, and guitar stand,

And then I was too lazy to unload them when I returned home.

After a couple of days, knowing that I was going to need the instruments again in a month,

I decided to just leave them in the car,

This decision meant taking down the trashcan from the back of the passenger’s seat and

Not having access to the back passenger’s-side seat at all.

This reality meant cramming everything into the back driver’s-side seat

Or into the cracks of the cargo space.

And boy did I have it crammed with

Papers, hats, shoes, clothes, tins, bags, programs, a French horn, trash, and more.

 

Thankfully, after my April retreat,

A friend came to the house to help me unload.

She knew that I would be exhausted and not want to do it,

So she showed up and propelled me forward.

We unloaded all the big instruments and did a quick clean of accumulated trash,

But we left the little stuff—

Papers, hats, shoes, clothes, tins, bags, programs, and more.

We also returned the trash can and put up the backseat.

 

On Saturday, my parents rode with me to my nephew’s soccer game.

Before we left, I consolidated all the “stuff” into the back driver’s-side seat.

Little did I know that when we’d get to the game,

My brother would walk to the car to greet us,

It would begin to pour down rain,

And we would need to make a place for my brother to sit.

 

As he was throwing a field day change of clothes, my bookbag, a hat, a raincoat, a stuffed animal, a world map, and seven pages of French horn music to the cargo area,

My brother joked, “My goodness, Dee. Are you living out of your car?!”

I was slightly embarrassed because I knew the car was dirty,

And I hadn’t been prepared to take in a passenger.

 

I think this is how it is with our lives sometimes.

We get so busy and accustomed to living with our messiness  

That we aren’t prepared to offer help when someone outside us needs help.

…

 

May this week be the week that we clean out our cars

And hearts

And minds

And make the space for others

When they need us.

 

Amen.