26 February 2008

Half a lung...

Sorry for missing you last week. I was ambushed by strep throat, and spent most of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday laying in bed, taking medicine, and cursing the micro-biological invaders who had made my body their humble abode. Back to work this week with few side effects. I'm down to coughing up just half a lung in occasional spasms. And the doctor says that as long as I cover my mouth and wash my hands, I am no longer a walking plague dispensary.

A word of thanks to all those around Grace who simply stepped up and got things done. God has indeed blessed this place with talented and willing lay leadership.

By way of reflection on the experience, I'm reminded how thin is the ice on which we build our projects and lay out our calendars. Was it Keats or Browning? "The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee..." This is most certainly true. (Yes, Luther. That one I'm sure of.)

So all the good stuff I was to accomplish last week got lost in the fog and the fever. And guess what? The world continued to revolve. Sun up and sun down on schedule just as though I wasn't really in charge.

It's a tough lesson to learn, but one which in our wiser moments we might be privileged to grasp: a greater mind than ours holds the spinning worlds and blinking stars. Larger arms than ours cradle both a surging universe and the single body of a broken human being. Here the foolishness of the cross begins to make sense. It is in sickness and need when we most clearly see the power and grace of God...and can be thankful that we are its beneficiaries. This, too, is most certainly true.

11 February 2008

Break Fast...

It's the habit (or tradition) for many of us to fast during this Lenten season...to intentionally deprive ourselves of some pleasure or treasure as a way of learning to discipline our often insatiable appetites. The end result, hopefully, is that we are better able to focus on the Savior who disciplines his life for our sake.

So, not to be nosy, but...have you broken your fast yet?

Sorry to say: I have. I lasted all of about two days. And I really wanted to do better this year...to prove to myself (if not to God) that I had the stamina and the fortitude to be really good...to take control of my life...to be a better human being. All I've proven is how weak and broken I really am. There's not much comfort in that. You may have already come to the same conclusion.

But there is comfort in knowing that the Father's capacity for mercy is greater than my resolve. There is comfort in knowing that Christ's death and resurrection cover even my sinfulness. There is comfort in knowing that the gift of the Spirit does not evaporate as quickly as my own enthusiasm for doing the right thing.

It is a new day. Thanks be to God: I get to start over.

04 February 2008

Don't tell anyone...

What an intriguing conclusion to the story of Jesus' transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9). Just when Peter, James and John get a flash of insight into the true nature of their Lord, Jesus instructs them not to say a word...at least not until after "the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." Oh, please. How do you keep such an experience under wraps?

But Jesus knows something about human nature which compels his command: we are suckers for the spectacular.

It's true. We love the glitzy and the glamorous...the headline-grabbers and the mega-performers. Jesus...dazzling on the mountaintop, holding forth with Moses and Elijah...certainly fits in that category. We could hardly help but be impressed. But if we think we know the truth about God from one shining moment, we are not just mistaken...we are deprived. And our faith will never be much more than a wilted plant, thirsting for the next infusion of life-giving excitement.

If, however, we are able to see the Divine also at work in the healing of the sick, the inclusion of the outcast, fellowship with sinners, and finally on the cross...then we might begin to grasp (and give thanks for the fact) that Christ comes not merely to amaze us, but to save us. And he does so not by ignoring or superceding our ordinary existence, but by sanctifying it with his own blood.

Now...we've got something to talk about!