2010 Archives

     For each month of the year, Dave would list the things in the world that had most dominated the headlines that month, ranging from world news to politics to sports and entertainment. He found the humor even in such tragic and saddening circumstances as Hurricane Katrina (“For several days chaos reigns, with most of the relief effort taking the form of Geraldo Rivera, who, by his own estimate, saves more than 170,000 people”), and turns the truly humorous aspects of life into absolute hilarity (“the finale of American Idol produces a shocking outcome that sends shock waves of shock reverberating around the planet when the winner turns out to be - incredibly - that guy singer, whatshisname, despite the fact that the overwhelming favorite was that OTHER guy singer. You remember – it was HUGE!”). We read his words and appreciated that even difficulties have a humorous and touching side, if only we are willing to look for it.

      Reading Dave’s Year in Review is always one of the highlights of the end of the year for me, not only because it is truly funny, but because it gives me a chance to put things in perspective a little bit. I am always reminded as I read through his words that no matter what happens in the world, in politics, in the economy, life goes on. Gaining some perspective with distance helps you remember that the things in life that seem most overwhelming at the time often fade into distant memories with the passing of time.

     Jesus encouraged his followers not to take themselves too seriously. “Look at the lilies of the field,” he said, “they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these.” Our lives are often dictated by the tyranny of the moment – the crushing weight of all that is expected of us at any given moment, and the burden of having to meet so many needs. If we are not careful, we can throw Jesus’ words aside as being frivolous, not applying to us because we are too important. Yet we are precisely the people Jesus most addressed with his words – those of us who have a tendency to think the world would come crashing down if we weren’t holding it up. Jesus was talking directly to us when he reminded us, as Dave Barry does every year, that nothing is life is so important that we cannot find a way through it, with the help of a little attitude adjustment and divine intervention.

     You are an important person. I know because Jesus said we all are. But I am equally convinced that the world would not end without you or I or anyone else in it. Sometimes the greatest gift Jesus can give us is the gift of a little perspective – that we are loved and cared for but not expected to be everything to everybody. So today, take Jesus’ words to heart and cut yourself some slack, allow yourself to be human, make mistakes, and ask for forgiveness. And read Dave Barry’s Year in Review. I promise it will be time well spent.

---

     Maybe it’s just because of the pregnancy hormones right now making me a little more sensitive, but I couldn’t help but find myself shedding a little tear or two of happiness over this month’s amazing news that all 33 of the miners buried underground for months in Chile were rescued alive. I for one am floored by this story. When I was a teenager my family and I were traveling through West Virginia, and we happened upon an old closed down coal mine that had been converted into a tourist destination. For a small fee you could go down into the coal mine to see what the miners lived through each and every day. It was cold and eerily silent except for the occasional falling rock, but remarkably spacious considering how far underground we were in a series of tunnels. I was actually growing somewhat accustomed to the space after a while, until our guide warned us he was going to show us what it was like when the lights were turned off.

          Being down in a coal mine underground without the lights on is the most profound darkness I have ever experienced, before or since. It was a total blackness without even the slightest hint of light, a bleak, stark reality that made you want to hold your breath as if the sound of breathing was somehow sacrilegious in the presence of such darkness. The total absence of light left you feeling hopeless, abandoned, and alone, as if every joy was sucked out of your body as the lights flicked off. The darkness lasted for mere seconds, but I can still remember the joy of seeing the incandescent light bulbs pop back on, and looking into the faces of my normally boisterous family, whose expressions were all sober and wide-eyed with the same fleeting feeling of being grateful everyone was still accounted for.

          I thought of that moment when the lights came back on as I watched the miners reuniting with their families. Their faces reflected not only the reality that their worst nightmare had just ended with the most amazing outcome possible, but that what had been weeks of sheer hopelessness was suddenly replaced with joy beyond belief. Although I can never imagine what emotions they must be going through as they adjust back to life above ground, their story reminds me of the reality of the world in which we live. Our world today reflects many things which suck the hope out of us. Financial circumstances remain a concern for many of us. Every day brings another story of violence and pain both at home and around the world. Illness, disease, and accidents change our lives and the lives of the people we love. At times we find ourselves standing in bleakness wondering where the joy went.

     I think there is a strong reason why Jesus chose to refer to himself as “The Light.” Into a world out of which all joy and hope had been sucked, our Savior entered, and continues to enter, to bring about a peace that passes all understanding. When we humans faced the reality that we couldn’t find joy and hope in ourselves and through our failures, we came to realize that true hope only comes from one source – the new life brought to us through being disciples of Jesus Christ. “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it,” proclaims the gospel of John. Truer and more joyous words have never been written.

          My hope and prayer for all of us is that we might more fully seek out the Light that shines into the darkness of each and every one of our lives.

---

     The problem is, I no longer need them. Mind you, I don’t really want to get rid of them. I love books and enjoy being surrounded by them. Libraries and bookstores are two of my favorite places, and I love simulating that environment at home. But owning the book is not what made it so influential on me; that privilege rests solely with the impact its words had on me when I read them. While I may not want to get rid of the book, its presence on my shelf isn’t what made me who I am today – it was the influence it had on me before.                         

      I wonder how many of our lives look like my bookshelves: filled with things that made some difference to us in time past, but whose presence now serves only to take up space. Too many times we choose to focus on clinging to those things of the past, thinking that if we hold on to them, somehow those times will return to us. Those past things – be they objects, relationships, or memories of bygone eras – shaped us into who we are today, and we desperately want to cling to the past in the hopes of its return. 

     Just like my bookshelves, the past is a part of what made us who we are today, but it doesn’t dictate what is happening in our lives now. If we spend our time focused only on the things of the past (the way we remember them being, not necessarily the way they really were) we might miss out on what God is doing in our lives today. I can cling to my books and refuse to get rid of them, in the hopes of reclaiming lost times of the past, but to do so would mean ignoring what is happening in my life now.  God promised us that out of all of the circumstances of our lives, new life would always spring forth by the leading of the Spirit. We are called to embrace what is behind us in life, as we look in eager anticipation toward the future. Is it time for a “purging” in your life as well?

---

     I have always been a big believer that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at how they behave themselves when pulled up to a stop light. For some reason, we humans seem to believe that when we are in our vehicles all alone, no one is really watching us. When you pull up to a stop light, if you happen to look around at the other people stopped nearby you, you can often get a very interesting window into the way they behave when they believe no one is looking. (Of course this logic also applies back in our direction as well, as others can view our behavior too.) It’s very telling about a person to see how they act when they feel as though they are anonymous.

          Spend enough time watching others at stop lights, and you can begin to categorize people into general groups. There are the tired, stressed-out parents, bags under their eyes and glossy stares wearily waiting for the light to change and take them to their next errand. Sometimes you will see the growling menace, angry at the people around him or her, glaring at other drivers, honking, gesturing, or even seeming to shout at them to get out of the way. You’ll find the distracted professionals, yakking on their smart phones while trying to take notes on a legal pad in the passenger seat and watch the light at the same time. You’ll notice people picking their noses, drumming along with their radios on the steering wheel, and desperately wiping the ketchup off their shirts from their take-out lunches. I’ve watched people let their pets sit in their laps and drive the car, seen people reading the morning paper as it obscures their entire view of the road, and observed people getting dressed (and, more disturbingly, undressed) while waiting for the light to turn green. We let our guards down when we feel like we are alone.

          Sometimes I wonder to myself if the people stopped at the light around me would choose to behave differently if they realized someone was watching them. Occasionally I stop to think how it might affect their behavior to know that God is watching them as well. One of the most common criticisms leveled against Christians is that we behave one way when we know other Christians are watching us, and quite differently when we believe we are alone. In fact, a mounting body of recent research has found that if you ask a young adult to describe a Christian in one word, they will most likely pick the word, “hypocrite.” Ouch. Not something Jesus would have us being particularly proud of, I doubt.

          The good news is it is within the power of you and me to change that perception. How we behave when we think we are alone says volumes more about us than how we behave on Sunday mornings or around other Christians. We have the power to change the perception others hold about Christians in general, simply by our actions. How we act toward the guy who cuts us off in traffic, the store clerk who treats us rudely, and the obnoxious relative who drives us crazy can help others to see that we believe it is important to behave as Jesus taught us, with dignity and respect for all of God’s children, even the difficult ones. Jesus asks us to commit to discipleship ALL of the time, even when we think no one might be looking.

     So the next time you are sitting at a traffic light, instead of mentally cursing at the kid honking behind you, or judging the guy reading the newspaper in the next lane, spend a little bit of time sending up a prayer and a smile for them. You never know who might be in the next car over, watching how you are behaving.

---

          “Because I’m tired of dragging your bushes in and out of the house, that’s why!” Andy said firmly, pretending to be angry. I put on my best sad-puppy-dog look and pleaded, “My gardenia is dying, and if you don’t take it outside and spray the mites off of it, they’re going to suffocate it. You don’t want to spend the rest of your life with a plant murder hanging over your head!” (Excellent guilt trip laying skills run deep in my heritage.) And it wasn’t like I was lying to him. For the past several years, I have been trying, largely unsuccessfully, to grow gardenias in our house. Gardenias are beautiful, milky white flowers that give off an intoxicating aroma. Remember the New Jerusalem in Revelation? The one with the streets of gold? The Bible doesn’t mention it, but I’m pretty sure the air there smells like gardenia petals.

          Gardenias are my favorite plant. They are rare and expensive in Kansas, but where I grew up, on the coast of Florida, they grow wild in the swamps and ditches. People cultivate them, so that during blooming seasons, the air in some neighborhoods is thick with the smell of gardenia flowers. But the problem is, they don’t grow well in Kansas at all. Especially in the winter they get crusty and dry and are particularly susceptible to mites. If you aren’t extremely careful, the bush can die in a matter of days. I’m on my third bush in the two years we’ve lived here in McLouth.

          After enough convincing, Andy lugged the bush outside and sprayed it down to rid it of the mites. We decided to leave it outside for a couple of days to let it air out. The next morning I looked out on the back deck and couldn’t believe my eyes. The once-droopy leaves were vibrant green and lush and the stems had perked up. Two days later a whole new crop of healthy, promising flower buds appeared all over the bush. I moved my tropical gardenia out of the air conditioning and into the 115 degree heat index, and it thrived as though finally taking a deep breath of its native air. All the poor plant needed was some heat and humidity like it would have had in Florida.

     Do you ever feel like you don’t belong? Perhaps you work in a job that in no way reflects your true passion in life. Maybe you are the black sheep of your family. Or it’s possible you may just know deep down inside there is a part of you that has never been allowed to blossom. Just like my gardenia plants, sometimes life puts us in circumstances where we are out of place, in an environment that quashes who we really are, forcing us to live in roles we never intended. And because we have no choice, we play the game, pretending for others and secretly dying inside. Some of us play this game so well that we even put up our masks when we deal with God. We pretend to be strong when we feel weak, put-together when we fear it is all really about to fall apart.

     But the problem is, God is the one who created us to be the way that we are. God knows exactly who we were intended to be, and how life may not have given us the chance to express it. God may not take away the circumstances that inhibit our full development, but when it comes to our own personal relationship with the Lord, we are to be nothing less than totally honest with who we really are: the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Lord knows all of that already, but it is only when we can truly be honest with ourselves and with God that we can move our relationship with the Lord to a deeper level. You may not be a tropical plant on the Great Plains, striving to thrive in a hostile environment, but chances are, there are parts of you that only you and God know about. Will you let down your hair before your Maker today?