Flossing No Longer Required

A friend loaned me a book by Anne Lamott (Plan B Further Thoughts on Faith) and it's a good read. Anne says that it's easy to stay on God's good side.

"It's not hard, " she writes, "God has extremely low standards. Pray, take care of people, be actively grateful for your blessings, give away your money." If you do these things, she continues, "You're cool. You're in. Nice room in heaven, flossing no longer required." (Apparently she does NOT like to floss!)

These extremely low standards are not that easy to meet. Often we are too busy to pray, would rather be cared for than to care for others, and are sometimes fearful of letting go our financial resources. We even forget to say "Thank you" for the many blessings we receive.

Anne's words are a friendly reminder to all of us. Want to be cool and on God's good side?
Live by His standards.

First Impressions Matter to Church Guests

Here is a thought provoking piece from Rev. Sheila Fiorella, United Methodist News Service

The people who come through the doors of our church have expectations. They're making decisions as consumers at first. Whether they return rests on their entire experience with our community. Those people leave asking the same questions they ask of businesses throughout the week: "Was this worth my time? Do the people care about me? Am I valued here?"

How will our guests answer these questions? How do you answer those questions? We're up against a competitor that is fierce, and I'm not talking about Satan or other churches. The other churches in town are on our team. They're leading and loving for the same reason we are.

Our competition, the rival that will keep people away from our church, is any business, service or experience our guests have encountered recently. That includes restaurants, malls, golf courses and amusement parks. First Bank (not First Church), United Parcel (not United Methodist) and Grace Medical (not Grace Community) set the bar for service.

One Hundred Years of Praying

National Geographic put out a video about the history of the Native American's relationship with the American Bison, or buffalo. Approximately 100 years ago, the vast herds of buffalo were slaughtered as a way of conquering the plains Indians. Now the Native peoples are bring back the buffalo by raising them on their reservations.

At the conclusion of the video, this documentary shows one tribe donating 5 buffalo to another tribe to help the latter increase their herd. This calls for a celebration as the two groups come together for the exchange.

During this joyous event, one of the tribal Elders, who is closely involved with raising and herding the buffalo, is heard to say, " The prayers we made 100 years ago are being answered today. Do you have enough patience to wait 100 years for your prayers to be answered?" He smiles broadly and then says, "We do!"

As Christians, as a praying people, do we have that kind of patience? Are we willing to wait that long for our prayers to be answered? Are we able to pray without ceasing for as long as it takes to hear an answer? Is this part of what is meant when we urge each other to "keep the faith"?

There are no easy answers, especially if our world is falling apart around us. The good news is that God always hears our prayers and always answers, no matter how long it takes. (photo courtesy of flickr/SigmaEye)

The Promise

The Grief Recovery group met this week and the beginning topic of conversation was riding the emotional ups and downs following a death. Day by day one's emotions are unpredictable and often uncontrollable. The same is true of any major loss, including the loss of one's job, divorce, catastrophic illness or accident, even the loss of a long standing friendship. The pain of such loss is devastating and seems never ending.

Where is God in all of this?

Right here in the midst of all the uncertainty, pain, and anguish, suffering with us. The good news is that we are never left alone to walk through life's darkest hours. He rides the emotional roller coaster with us. He carries us when our own legs are too weary to hold us up. Even before we cry out in prayer, reaching for Him, He is reaching for us.

He reaches out to touch us heart and soul. He holds a lamp for us during our darkest hours. He reaches out to comfort us through family and friends, especially those who have suffered a similar loss.

He promised; I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Archaic Words

"Abide in me." That is a phrase you don't here very often in casual conversation. Some might even call the words archaic. Yet these words from John 15:7 represent one of Jesus' most powerful invitations. In the parable of the true vine Jesus invites us to abide in him, and he will abide in us. More modern phrasing might say "live in me, and I will live in you".

Beyond the unusual words, this is an invitation to connection that stretches our understanding. What does it mean to open our lives so completely that we coexist with our redeemer? When the question is this big, sometimes it is easier to use old words. The unfamiliar phrase invites us to explore every possible way we can share our life. When we abide in Jesus we can "live in", "share with", "dwell" or "seek comfort". When Jesus abides in us he can "guide", "teach" and "nourish".

Whatever the modern words we use, there is no easy understanding. We are simply invited to a new way and a new path. With a little grace, the understanding comes from the day by day journey.

WWJB?

Driving across the state for a three hour meeting and returning the same day can be exhausting. Ten hours in a vehicle is not everyone's idea of a good time. However, good company and good conversation helped pass the time. We shared many ideas, not always agreeing.

However, an unusual bumper sticker, noticed at a traffic stop in Seattle brought instant unity. This one was based on the popular WWJD, What Would Jesus Do?

It read, WWJB. Who Would Jesus Bomb?

We three travelers, all from different churches, agreed: NO ONE!!