Random Reflection on Love

There is a fierce independence amongst some Christians,

Yet God calls us to be the Body of Christ,

Intertwined,

Each with different functions,

All serving together toward one common goal:

Love,

For God IS love.

 

Love does not haphazardly

Discard differences or

Throw away challenges.

 

Love does not discriminate

By color or age or gender or status.

 

Love does not make swooping changes

Without considering long-term affects.

 

Love does not boast about its accomplishments.

 

Love does not gloat in hurting others.

 

Love is not red.

Or blue.

Or black.

Or white.

 

Love is not inciting battles that turn to wars.

 

Love is not money.

 

Love is not greed.

 

Love is not a business.

 

Love is people,

Real people,

With real needs,

And hurts,

And feelings,

Trying to make it in this world,

And, in America,

Trying to live into the creed

That all humankind is created equal.

Love is a choice.

And an action.

And an outpouring of a heart grounded in

Love that comes from God,

For God IS love,

And anything less than love

Does not come from God.

 

It is that complicatedly simple.

90 Minutes

 

Once upon a time, 

There was a woman named 90 Minutes. 

90 Minutes got her name by spending 90 minutes of a 405-minute class talking. 

She dominated conversation

With stories, interruptions, and certainties that contradicted even the professor. 

When others spoke,

She didn’t receive their words. 

And so they wrote. 

And thought. 

And breathed. 

And prayed. 

And remembered a wise sage’s words:

She can be your teacher. 

Pay attention to what you can learn. 

 

And so they learned, 

With 90 minutes as their guide. 

 

They learned to remember that there are people who are truly opposite from them. Some people really care about scholarly things like history and word origin and statistics and data. When you don’t, you still need to give a scholarly nod to those who do. 

 

They learned to remember that some people process out loud and/or struggle with boundaries and/or self-awareness.

 

They learned to remember that some people have deep wounds that come out in wonky ways.

 

They learned to recognize that stress levels increase in their bodies when they hear crinkling snack wrappers and crunching during the middle of class. 

 

They learned to recognize but not judge their pride. 

 

They learned to identify their judgmental limits.

 

And they learned that, in general, they really are gracious people who give others the benefit of the doubt. And when they can’t, they at least have the intention of grace. And that intention can go a long way. 

 

Yes, they learned. 

And 90 minutes was their guide. 

 

She taught them everything they were not expecting to learn. 

 

And more. 

 

The end. 

Keep Going

 

Just before the feeding of the 5000,

Jesus and the disciples were going to a solitary place

Because they were exhausted and needed to rest.

Rest didn’t come, however,

Because people followed them and

Jesus had compassion on the people.

 

On Friday night,

I reflected on Mark 6’s telling of this story.

First, I wrote down what I imagined Jesus saying through the text.

Then I wrote down what God was saying to me for this time of history.

Maybe one of these will speak to you.

Maybe you need these messages, too.

 

…

 

Come.

Rest awhile.

Eat with me.

Drink with me.

But no—

Nevermind.

There is more work to do.

Look at them—

The people—

They are hungry and hurting.

Compassion runs over.

And it’s up to us to show them a steady presence—

To teach about love and

To heal through being together.

So keep going.

I will make it possible—

Even when you need rest.

And when it seems impossible—

I will feed thousands with

5 loaves and 2 fish—

And still there will be enough.  

 

…

 

Keep going.

Keep giving.

Keep showing up.

Keep writing.

Keep praying.

There will be moments of rest on the boat—

The journey with me can renew and restore.

Just keep going.

I am greater than

The country going backwards

Eating disorders

Cancer diagnoses

Deportation

Broken justice

Misplaced blame

Fear

ALL can be fed.

But you have to keep going.

Let me do what you cannot.

 

Amen.

Nosebleeds

 

My nose has been bleeding a lot lately. 

The weather changes and the dry air have combined to make daily nosebleeds a reality. 

It’s okay. 

It doesn’t freak me out. 

I’m a lifelong nose bleeder. 

My mom and my sister are too. 

When it starts, 

I just get tissue, apply pressure to the nose, and wait for it to stop. 

No big deal. 

Unless you’re leading worship and all eyes are on you. 

Then it might be a big deal. 

 

Such was my fear this past Sunday morning. 

I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle it if my nose started bleeding in the middle of the service. 

And to make matters worse,

I knew that my sermon was going to be evaluated by my peers in my preaching class

So I was even more worried that something would go wrong.

 

Thankfully, my fears did not come true

During the service. 

But you know what happened on my way home? 

Yep. 

My nose bled. 

 

I think what worried me the most was knowing that I was being filmed.

A nosebleed at home is not filmed.

A nosebleed in my classroom is not filmed.

A nosebleed in my car is not filmed.

But a nosebleed in the middle of a service that is live-streamed every week is filmed.

It is broadcast for the world to see from now until who knows when.

People were watching live. 

People will watch again on a delay. 

To see a regular service is one thing. 

To see a nosebleed is another. 

It freaks some people out! 

And I didn’t want to be the person who freaked people out. 

I didn’t want to be the person known for creating an awkward pause of worry in worship. 

 

Like I said, 

My fears didn’t come true during Sunday’s service 

And I am grateful. 

But my worry put me in touch with my pride. 

Yes, my pride was mixed with humility and the genuine desire not to disrupt worship. 

But my pride made me concerned about how I’d look

And I didn’t want to look stupid. 

Especially on film,

Especially when being critiqued. 

 

I know. 

This is normal. 

And I’m not beating myself. 

I’m just confessing my humanity in a way that I hope will connect with yours. 

 

Because, friends, we are all human. 

We all have fears. 

We all have hopes. 

We all want to be liked and appreciated. 

We all want to look like we have it together. 

We all struggle with pride and 

Many of us have nosebleeds that we don’t want filmed for the world to see. 

 

Yes, we are all human. 

So let’s treat each other as such. 

Especially now when it is so easy to hate. 

Especially now when not only the weather is cold 

But also attitudes and hearts. 

 

Amen. 

JellyCats

 

Some of you may remember my failed Christmas gifts:

Sentimental fancy jewelry for a 3^rd and 7^th grader?

Well, I made up for it yesterday when I somewhat randomly

Sent them JellyCats.

 

What are JellyCats, you ask?

They are stuffed animals.

I have no idea what makes them different than other stuffed animals,

But the girls love them

And hold them in high esteem

And so I went to The Amazon and sent two JellyCat foxes their way.

 

Their mom wrote yesterday to tell me that

She had two very excited girls with new JellyCats!

 

I smiled.

 

Then I asked:

Did they get the gift tags that went with them?

 

They didn’t.

 

To me, it was the most important part of the gift:

The literal reminder of what the gifts were meant to show—

“You are both loved so very much.”

 

To me, that’s what a gift is:

A tangible reminder of an intangible love.

 

We show love by showing up.

We show love by saying it.

We show love by listening.

We show love by taking out the trash.

We show love in the little things,

Day in and day out,

But sometimes we need to show love in an extra way,

And so we offer simple gifts,

Ones meant to shine light in times of darkness,

Ones meant to lift spirits in times of confusion,

Ones meant to bring a smile when it seems that tears are all that will come,

Ones meant to ground a person in reality when it seems that the world is slipping away.

 

I know one day the girls will come to appreciate their Christmas jewelry.

But for right now, in the bleak midwinter of January,

The girls needed to know through JellyCats

That they are so very loved.

 

Friends:

The hurts of this world are palpable.

May we offer soothing balms of love this week

Through jewelry or JellyCats or

Showing up or sending a text or

Making a phone call or sending flowers or

Doing someone’s lunch duty or

Listening when we ask, “How are you?”

Or…

 

Amen.

Anyway

 

“for the measure you give will be the measure you get back”

 

Monday was MLK, Jr. Day.

 

Because I teach about him each year,

I know a lot about Martin Luther King, Jr.

And while I know that he was not a perfect man,

I consider King to be a modern-day prophet.

And like many prophets of old,

King suffered.

He endured multiple death threats,

Jail time, and

Beatings,

For his work that centered on Jesus’s belief that

There is neither Jew nor Gentile,

neither slave nor free,

nor is there male and female,

for we are all one in Him.

 

As best as he could,

MLK did not judge.

He did not condemn.

He forgave.

And he gave.

Yet he was judged.

He was condemned.

Some people could not forgive him for his message of equality.

Some people did not care how much he gave.

And in the end,

His life was taken much too young.

 

The measure he gave was not the measure he got back…

So why bother?

 

Why bother to do good?

Why bother not to judge?

Why bother not to be selfish?

Why bother not to say horrendous things about our enemies?

Why bother to give to the poor and needy?

Why bother forgive?

Why not hold grudges and get even?

Why not amass wealth for ourselves?

Why not slander our neighbor?

Why not mock those who differ from us?

Why not be manipulative and wicked?

Clearly, those things get you far in this world.

 

Why take the hard road when there is a much easier path to follow?

 

Why?

 

Because it’s the right thing to do.

 

The Love of God

Is a redeeming love that is open to all

through the cross and resurrection of

Jesus Christ.

 

THAT is why MLK, Jr. did the work he did.

 

And THAT is why

Those of us who follow in the way of Love

Do the work we do as well.

 

But it is so very, very hard sometimes.

 

Especially when the measure we give

Is not the measure we get back.

 

…

 

Yet we do it anyway.

 

We do it

because we must.