You're In This Place

This week I have had the privilege to enjoy the company of a brilliant full moon on my morning commute to work.  One morning as I was considering the beauty of the moon I heard these words;

"Word of God speak

Would You pour down like rain

Washing my eyes to see

Your majesty

To be still and know

That You're in this place

Please let me stay and rest

In Your holiness 

Word of God speak"

My thoughts went immediately to Psalm 8 and I hear the words, "When I consider the heavens..." David, recognizing God is in this place. On this morning I recognized anew that God is in this place. And what is that place? Any place we might find ourselves. The place of lack and the place of plenty. The place of sorrow and the place of joy. The place of angst and the place of peace.

God is in this place I heard anew in my spirit. God was with me, with all of us in Austin and with all of us in our place; in our fears, in our calm, in our doubts, in our confidence, in the place we now find ourselves. God never leaves or abandon's us. A move, a change of employment, or a change of address does not move us closer or farther from God - he is in this place. God is with us, before us and after us.

This day I did not come to new revelation but what I call re-revelation. I have recognized God in my place and space many times. It is more like God's place and space. Circumstances often cloud the view of our hearts and we find ourselves in a place where we experience the absence of God. This period of absence has been called many things including "the dark hour of our soul." And as others before us, we find that even in our "dark hour of the soul" God is in this place.

It was good to receive re-revelation this morning and to be reminded that God is in this place. My place this morning was a place of being very tired but at complete peace. My prayer for me and for you is that whatever place we find ourselves that the word of God would speak and that we would know God is in this place.

"I Must Have Done Something Good"

In recent weeks I have been revisiting the story of the Puritan founders who came to America. They had many admirable qualities and risked their very lives traversing the ocean on less than adequate vessels. As an added bonus, children everywhere get to make construction paper Pilgrim's hats in school for Thanksgiving. The Puritan's also brought their dire Calvinistic faith to America. It can be best summed up by saying, "They only felt good about themselves if they felt utterly miserable." Nothing can make your mornings brighter than to get up and think I am a miserable wretch, not worthy of being saved and today I find myself in the hands of a Almighty God who may do with me as he pleases. And then you say to yourself, "Well, today may be actually good after all."

Along with this contemplation, one evening I was flipping through the TV channels and happened upon the Sound of Music. They were at the garden scene where Maria and Captain Von Trapp sing their sweet nothings to each other. I realized that the Puritan's prevail again - even in the Sound of Music. The song Maria sings is beautiful in voice but the words could not be more dire. Maria sings:

           "Perhaps I had a wicked childhood, perhaps I had a miserable youth,
           but somewhere in my wicked, miserable past there must have been a moment of truth.
           For here you are, standing there, loving me whether or not you should
           but somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good.
           Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could,
           so somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good."

Could any song be more pathetic? Great movie -  bad song - yea Pilgrims! They have even influenced the German immigrants Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.  It is sad that people think they can only be loved because they did something good, once, maybe even a long time ago. It is tragic to live by the belief that nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could. That is a repudiation of everything from Genesis to Revelation. Those who believe such a tragic hopeless gospel have the right to their opinion, but when I want to watch a singing, hopeful, love opera where everyone frolics through mountain fields, yodels and gets strudel in the end, all I ask is that you don't rain on my parade.

I have two daughters and of course I think they are the most wonderful girls there ever could be. They are grown but I will always think of them as my little girls. I can honestly say that as they grew up I never thought about what they would be, what careers they would choose, if they would marry, or any of those things. Not that those things were not important, I simply knew from the first day I saw them that I would always love them. Nothing from the day of their birth could make me more happy nor more proud. I knew from that day on that what ever life would bring. I would love them. I also knew that they would accomplish great things not by anyone else's standard but again simply because I would always love them. I am not canvassing for father of the year or advocating that I have always displayed perfect love. But in my own short comings and failures (I am not a miserable wretch but I have enough sense to know that I am not perfect) the one thing I do not doubt is that God has always loved me. Nothing does come from nothing - God simply loves me. And God simply loves you, simply because you are. Enjoy the day!

The Muddled Spirit: Fingerprints

The Muddled Spirit: Fingerprints: As we are cleaning today I have found our grandson's fingerprints on our pictures, computer screen and various items in interesting plac...

Fingerprints

As we are cleaning today I have found our grandson's fingerprints on our pictures, computer screen and various items in interesting places. I am reluctant to dust and rearrange because it is proof he has not only been here but enjoyed himself thoroughly.  The wooden Nativity from Christmas is still out and he has enjoyed that immensely. The Shepherd's staff is now broken but that is more realistic. Shepherds had a tough life - their staff's were probably a little worn.

I realized today, many people clean and arrange too much (I am not advocating we live in a hovel). Our homes need to look lived in and like they are places to relax, live, and share life. When did we decide to have designer homes that serve more as a museum of our tastes, not as comfortable dwelling places. We dust, decorate, and rearrange too much. It transfers over into our personal lives. We face lift, get beauty treatments, try wrinkle creams and a various assortment of other things. In advertising, they airbrush, crop and arrange so everything is beautiful and perfect.

Are we afraid of dust? Wrinkles? A bowl or dish out of place? A broken Shepherd's staff? What is it that we are really afraid of? We are afraid of chaos and we are afraid of life. Chaos is not to be feared; it is the place God hovers over most. Order and perfection does not come by our attempts to recreate Eden. Order comes because God hovers over our chaos and speaks life into our midst.

The Psalmist declares, "When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, Yahweh is rock-firm and faithful...I'm in the very presence of God - oh, how refreshing it is!" I say let's let our skin sag and the dust collect and just find out how refreshing life is in the presence of God. Go to a department store today and stand in front of the cosmetic counter and shout, "Hallelujah, my skin is sagging!" Go out afterward for coffee and a treat. If anyone asks what you are doing, simply say, "Just enjoying the day so some more dust can settle in my house." And if they ask, "Are you serious?" You reply, "Yes, It seems God does his best work with dust."

Enjoy the fingerprints, a book left out, a broken Shepherd's staff, a glass on the counter they are reminders that life happens and God declared that is good.

Modern Circuit Riding Preachers

Circuit riding preachers blazed trails across America bringing good news or bad news depending on your perspective. Several months ago I published a blog titled "JHN 3:16". You can reread that if you need to refresh your memory. It seems that my first encounter with this inscription on a bathroom wall would not only be my first but also not my last. In Starbucks's on the bathroom wall was neatly written once again in the grout "JHN 3:16". It has to be from the same pen it is too coincidental. This person is giving new meaning to circuit riding preachers in the 21st Century. Who ever it is, they are dedicated to their mission and in most causes I would agree graffiti of any kind is defacing public property but as I said before, can anyone deface a public restroom?

I know what you are thinking. Is this blogger obsessed with public restroom's? Is this blogger a germaphobe? No, on the first account and yes, on the second account. But now after four months sharing public facilities with thousands of factory workers, I am just about over it. I have come to realize there is no way to share human life without contact, some good and some bad. Many who pursue some type of vocational ministry have some choice in their placement but not total latitude in the arena of ministry. The bathroom circuit rider has intentionally chosen the domain of his ministry and seems quite happy to circuit Austin spreading the gospel in bathroom grout. This is the new writing on the wall. It calls forth images in the song 'The Sounds of Silence". Relive those words and hear the God of the ages call out through unlikely prophets who write on bathroom walls.

"Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.

"Fools," said I, "You do not know –
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you.
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the walls of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls (and bathroom walls)
And whispered in the sound of silence."

God's still small voice is not silence, it is simply a chance for the voice of God to echo off the walls of our heart. It is heard in the eternity that is set within our heart. The reverberation of this interior echo is heard in a life of justice and mercy and occasional bathroom scrawls of JHN 3:16.

Perspective

Perspective is an interesting word meaning to have a specific point of view. We have perspective on many issues and situations in life but God has view. View means to have a full range of vision - simply put God sees it all.

Perspective. On the interstate the other morning four cars were lined up behind me resisting the urge to honk at such an early hour. They wanted me to speed up, cars blocked their path forward in the other two lanes. I had a different perspective in the situation and they lacked view. They could not see the highway patrol car ahead in the other lane. When they finally had their chance to pass, they broke away in the far lane and one by one as they gained perspective, they all slowed down.

Perspective. The new year will bring star gazing (ground level) to see who will be the famous and the beautiful's next main squeeze. The Kardashian saga will continue and the monthly menagerie of who wants to be George Clooney's photo op for the month will continue. It is the age of the "selfie" in more ways than one. The short sighted perspective of the here and now leads to a life long search for love and fulfillment and the end result is bankruptcy on the emotional and spiritual level. Both for those actually involved and those living vicariously through what is in reality nothing but smoke and mirrors. I have a very different perspective. I have spent the past thirty-six years with the love of my life and best friend. We will never have our hand impression in the side walk in Hollywood, jet-set around the globe (while, paradoxically, campaigning for global warming) or throw elaborate dinner parties with A-list guests. But we have and will continue to share an extraordinary journey through joys and sorrow, through times of plenty and times of want, and through times of celebrating and times of loss. The writer of Ecclesiastes calls this a "season for everything." The writer also calls the love of this life vanity if you never gain the view of God. This perspective of life is very "seasonal" it includes some of all of life that is tempered by constant community established in the marriage bond and shared through the extended family. This perspective causes one to experience the depth and fullness of life buoyed by the intense love and affection of one and only one other person. It is a view dimly, through a glass, as the Scripture declares of the intense focus of God's love. I have shared that perspective for thirty-six years and it eliminates me from "star-ground-gazing".

In an effort to gain "view" in this new year I leave you with the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

"May it please the supreme and divine Goodness

to give us all abundant grace ever to know his most holy will

and to perfectly to fulfill it."

Before you go speeding around others in pursuit of happiness, this year gain some view and it may change your daily perspective on peace and happiness.