Jesus, Not Jesús: Finding The Divine In The Space Between Us.
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If God Has A Plan, Then...

3/29/2020

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What can be said about this pandemic is that it's certainly highlighted the uneasiness of being human in a whole new way. There is a tension between life and death that always seems to get the best of us. And yet, we are constantly surprised when it does.
 
A few years ago I got to experience such tension when I went from presiding over funeral of someone whose death was completely unexpected to officiate a wedding that had been planned months in advanced. I had less than an hour in between the two to shift gears. As I hustled my way from one venue to the next, I was reminded of the depth of beautiful life God has given for us to experience. 
 
Both of these events had its own set of emotions. Along with the expected outpouring of love, there was also a sense of hope and promise, that God was ever present taking care of things. This is the sense of assurance that we find in today’s reading from Jeremiah. 
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God has more of a desire and will for us then a plan. a way for everyone to live in the beauty of God’s grace and love.

some hopeful words from Jeremiah 29:10-14

As the story goes (Read Jeremiah 28), the Israelites are being held captive in Babylon where a wannabe prophet named Hananiah claimed their life would be back to normal within two years. The problem is, that’s not what God had in mind.

Instead, (Read Jeremiah 29) God told the prophet Jeremiah to write a letter to the captives and tell them it would be 70 years before relief would come. He instructed God’s people to settle in for the long haul –  find work, buy houses, get married and buried there.

In other words, “Buckle up, it’s going to be a long and bumpy ride.” 
 
That’s not what any of us want to hear -especially not with what we’re going through right now. We want God to get rid of this pandemic quickly, so we can get back to doing what we’ve always done. We wanted corona will be a beer again. In his letter, Jeremiah adds these words of encouragement that we can take to heart. Words that will help us cling to hope when those emotions of hopelessness come around. 
"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." - Jeremiah 29:11
How many times have you been faced with a bleak situation and someone tells you, “This must be part of God’s plan”? And how many times have you heard it and wanted to punch them in the throat for saying it... or scream B.S.?

This is not to say there isn’t hope in these words, there are. God’s not going to leave us out to dry. But when God’s plans doesn’t aligned with ours – who gets blamed? God does.  
 
Nobody plans for a life altering pandemic any more than one pencils in their own funeral on a calendar. We plan weddings, vacations, graduations and holiday festivities. But things happen. Couples break up. Hurricanes close airports. And pandemics cancel important events.  Are we to believe that this all part of God’s great plan?
 
It seem out of character for a loving God to have a “plan” that involves wiping out tens of thousands of people with a brutal virus. That’s Old Testament God, the one who killed first born males, and made it rain locus and fire. Maybe God had reasons for a massive flood, but it’s hard to believe it involved my brother in law getting cancer, or for a child to experience trauma and abuse. I once read “If every life event is being directed and controlled by God, then God is really bad at making plans.” (Cory 2016)
 
I do believe something bigger is going on. Whatever it is we just need to buckle up and be ready wherever we are. Jeremiah says hope is coming, but it’s not always going to come easy. God makes a promise for our welfare, but nowhere does the prophet say it will be comfortable all the time.

Is suffering part of the plan? Is that what God wants from us?
 
As Israel’s story reminds us, real hope often comes through a tremendous amount of pain and suffering; the hardest part of our faith. Maybe God planned it that way so we could experience life fully, ...with all the highs and lows and everything in between. I can’t pretend to know why there is suffering in our world. But I do know that our greatest strengths are often birthed from our darkest days. 
 
Even when I can’t see it, I believe hope exists, living in the tension between my plans and God’s purpose for me. And I say God’s purpose because to be honest, I don’t see any of this as “a plan” per se. It’s way too messy and unpredictable. I think God has more of a desire and will for us then a plan. A way for everyone to live in the beauty of God’s grace and love. 
 
Chris Blumhofer reminds us, “Whatever God wills and desires to bring into reality, is always beautiful.”  Which tells me we need to look at the beauty of what’s happening in our live instead of looking for blame. So perhaps it’s not that we need to escape our suffering, but learn to search for God’s beauty in the midst of whatever it is we are going through. 
 
What does God’s desire and will for us look like?  

​I think it’s safe to say it is to live in God’s love, and to be the love of God in the world. When we love others like God loves us then we don’t hoard toilet paper. Love is a great equalizer. A kind of virus that affects us all, and does not discriminate. It’s something none of should fear but should all catch. 
 
But just because we have love us doesn’t mean our life will be absent of suffering. Whenever we love deeply, we will also suffer deeply because of that love. No one knows this better than Jesus, the perfect manifestation of God’s love in the world. For him to do God’s will would cost him his life. Yet, ironically, it is what gives us new life, new hope.
 
I’ll admit that this doesn’t explain why suffering is essential or necessary. But if we look to Jesus as our example, then we know we’re given the assurance that God does not abandon us in our suffering, but instead God’s love remains with us, in the tension, making the experience beautiful.
watch the message here
​So next time you’re tempted to tell someone who’s experiencing a great loss that this is God’s plan, think about this:  

When you render someone’s suffering to a platitude that sounds good in a greeting card, you aren’t lessening their pain, you are merely diminishing the truth that our most fruitful growth comes while persevering through trials, not escaping them. 
 
As Jesus demonstrated, real joy and peace can never be reached while bypassing suffering and death, but only by going right through them. Before the wondrous beauty of the resurrection there was the horrific brutality of the cross. In spite of all the darkness in our lives, we must never lose sight of that light of hope and bright future that shines far beyond the parameters of this life. 
 
God is not winging it or making it up on the fly. The resurrection was not an afterthought, but was intentionally created for us, so that we could have hope in good times and bad. Yes, God is up to something, hard at work making life and love one in the same.

"This was the entire mission of Christ," writes Richard Rohr, “life morphing into love” until they become one with the One who gave us eternal life out of great love for us.  To be in and like Christ is God’s purpose for us. Christ is the One through which God revealed the blueprint of all life, where hope and grace and love were already included.
 
In the ancient book of Lamentations, it’s written, "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning" (Lam. 3:21-23).  

When everything is dark, and life seems hopeless or fearful, we can look to Christ and find salvation in God’s love which sustains us. We may not know when hope will come or how? But we can turn our eyes to the Cross of Christ and know what it looks like.  
 
As the Christ, Jesus lived into love by submitting his will to do God’s will. His purpose was to show us the way to live into love faithfully and fearlessly; in times of certainty and uncertainty, through joy and through suffering, in life and in death. In Christ we come to see and realize that “love is who we are and who we are still becoming” (Rohr). 
 
If God has a plan for us, I think it’s for love and life to become one with God. Love is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega and everything in between. So buckle up and settle in.  Life is going to be bumpy. And that you can plan on.
 

 
Works Cited
Bible: Jeremiah 29:10-14 (New Revised Standard Version).
Blumhofer, Chris. relevantmagazine.com. December 10, 2010.  (accessed October 13, 2016).
Cory, Benjamin. patheos.com. May 24, 2016.  (accessed October 13, 2016).
DeMuth, Mary. www.marydemuth.com . Sept 10, 2015.  (accessed Oct 13, 2016).
Rohr, Richard. Yes, And. (Cincinnati: Franciscan, 2013 ) p. 128.
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On "Being" With Another

3/28/2020

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On Thursday, Henry Freeman, who serves on the board of the Henri Nouwen Society sent out an email and asked us to share it if we’d like. I have been wondering if I should or not. Then I met my neighbor in the alley behind our house and he was beaming. I asked him what he was smiling about, and he said, “I have forgotten how beautiful our neighborhood is.” 
 
JB works two jobs in two separate areas of Los Angeles. If he’s not working, he’s commuting back and forth or sleeping in between shifts. Most of the conversations we have had over the years have been via text –  with me often asking if he will return the basketball that always finds its way into his yard every time my kids shoot hoops. 
 
JB’s comment, and really his smile, is a perfect reminder of how much beauty there is in our world, not just in the physical landscapes but also in the people we share this space with. For far too long we have been divided and angry at one another – we’ve pushed people out of our lives because they don’t think or speak or look like we do. 
 
This virus has been a great equalizer, tearing down the walls we’ve built around ourselves. Now we find ourselves shut out from the world. It’s like God or Mother Earth has put us time out.  We probably deserve this time out, and most likely we need it. We’ve wasted too much time focusing on ourselves that we have missed the beauty that is right there in front of us. Part of that beauty is connecting authentically with others, learning from our differences and finding solidarity in our suffering. Which is why I have decided to share Mr. Freeman’s email with you. He writes, 
Dear Friends,
     Like many of you I have spent the past week fearful for myself, my family and our world. This time of uncertainty and vulnerability offers each of us an opportunity to reflect on what is truly important and what is not.  In this spirit, I have found myself deeply appreciative for a gift I received from Henri Nouwen almost fifty years ago. It is a gift I now want to share with you.
     In 1973 I was a 23-year-old student from a small town in South Carolina at Yale Divinity School.  Sitting in the second row of a seminar-style classroom with fifteen other students, I remember a 43-year-old Henri Nouwen as he walked quietly into class, leaned against his desk and silently waited for an unusually long time before he spoke.  He then, out of the silence, asked each of us a question we had never heard before:
 
"What does it mean to truly and authentically be with another person?" 

      That was it.  No lecture.  No information or scholarly opinion. Only a single question that speaks to the heart of something very powerful in the human spirit-the need for deep connection with others who care about us.
      As we struggle to keep a safe physical distance from both strangers and loved ones, Henri's question reminds us that being "physically present"-as is often the case in many social settings-can never replace the emotional and spiritual presence that is at the heart of "being with" another person.  Indeed, what we all need-and what each of us can provide to another human being-is our desire to be present and our recognition of the privilege it is to share the burdens we all carry during this challenging time.
Both Mr. Nouwen and Mr. Freeman’s words hit home. Many of us have been in self-isolation long before the corona virus began. And most of us have forgotten how to “be with” ourselves, muchless another person. We fear being authentic, intimate and vulnerable. We can’t let our guard down and let people in, because we have been self-centered for so long that we’ve forgotten how to be hospitable. 
 
So God gives us a time out. A time to stop and see the beauty that is in you and all around you in others. A time to reach out to others whom you miss, or have pushed away. Maybe there is someone you know who is alone, or who you need to make amends with. Maybe you can do something nice for a co-worker or a neighbor that might brighten up their day. I would encourage you to use this time during the pandemic not just to see the beauty around you, but to be a part of that beauty for others to see.  
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"Prayer Just Happens, And Sometimes You Are There."

3/26/2020

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This addition to yesterday's post on prayer comes from one of my favorite writers and theologians, Fr. Richard Rohr. (He's a pretty awesome Fransican priest as well.) His work is vast and worth your time for sure. His book, Yes, And is a collection of his work that has been gathered and adapted into an amazing book of daily mediations. Today, under the same title as this post, Rohr writes,
Mary's understanding and full acceptance of her nothingness, is also saying somethign about all of us. Our worthiness is also and always given. It is not attained. It is God in your searching for God. It is God in you that believes and hopes and cares and loves. And there is nothing that you can take credit for. It is something you just thank God for!

The same is true of prayer and all spiritual initiatives. Eventually you realize that you don't just say a prayer by yourself. Rather, you recognize that prayer is happening, and you just happen to be the channel and instrument. When your mind, your heart, and your body are all present, which is always a gift, that full presence is prayer. At that moment God is able to use you because you are out of the way, and God is leading the way.
Yesterday, I suggest to practice prayer instead of panic. I think Rohr might add something to affect that prayer allows us to just be in the panic, to name it and welcome it because when you do, you are welcoming God into the conversation.

Prayer is that channel to God simply because, as Rohr stated "Prayer is happening" because God is already in you "searching for God."  
That's a very comforting thought, epecially in these new and uncertain times we find ourselves in.

So if I can make this suggestion, allow the words and everything else you are experiencing right now to be present, be open and available for God to flow through you, in you, and all around you.  

And as God moves remember that if the only words you can muster to say are "hello" or "thank you" or "what's up?" that will suffice.
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Moving beyond fear and panic

3/25/2020

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Prayer is not some magical remedy, just a way to recalibrate and realign the head and heart to the place of peace you desire and deserve.

There was a strange sound buzzing in our room. Three short buzzes. Then one. It was like some celestial Morse code was being beamed down to us. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Buzz. First my wife’s phone. Then mine. Notifications on our phones that let us know we both had received the same message just seconds apart. We both ignored it.

Kathleen stayed asleep. I rested awake. I stayed under the covers with my eyes closed trying to trick my mind into doing the same. But it wouldn’t. Instead it jumped on the bed in my head even more wildly, like a small child who had to go to the bathroom. So we got up and went to the bathroom. Thankfully, just in time.

In there I awoke with another weird buzz inside me. Like a small alarm was going off in my chest. It was a very odd, almost fearful alarm rattling and ringing in my chest. A fire started deep in my heart, and all the bells were sounding to alert me to get to a safe place. My first instinct was to pray. Yes, pray.​
When your house is on fire, the recommendation is often to get out, not pray. First move your ass to safety, then offer up some words of gratitude if and when you get out. Thats pretty much how it works. That’s not what I did. My mind is wired and conditioned differently now. Prayer not panic. It’s my idea of the evolutionary concept of fight or flight.

Prayer was my first instinct because I had woken up panicked way too many times and I was tired of feeling that way. So I worked hard to change that about myself. Now instead of myself get panicky, I just talk or listen or focus on God (whatever that looks like in that moment). I would try to breathe slowly and purposefully. Eventually the panic disappears, but not without doing the work. Now whenever I feel it return my first instinct is to realign my focus onto God. It’s a spiritual practice that nearly every religion uses, because it really works.

You might be in a place of panic right now. Your job has been shuttered, your investments have sunk, and you’ve been sequestered in your home with nothing but news of things getting worse before they can get better. You read social commentary that freak you out even more and pretty soon your panic become its own pandemic.

My suggestion? Pray. Say something to God, or if that’s not what you believe in say something to the air, the sky, the ground, or your dog. (We can debate later whether or not God is present in all those things). Just pray. Open your heart and begin the conversation. Call up what you’re feeling and have a chat with it. Let it know how you feel, or what you want. Talk to it instead of running away from it. I call this prayer, you might call it therapy. It doesn’t matter what it’s called as long as you do it. Trust me, it works.

What I have learned is this: prayer takes my focus off my fear and moves it towards my faith. I don’t pretend that this is some magical remedy, just a way to recalibrate and realign my head and heart to the place of peace I desire and deserve. It’s a spiritual practice that takes time to become instinctual. Well, you have the time!

I don’t want to get your blood pressure boiling but in California we’re in lockdown mode and will be for at least another 40 days. There’s a lot you can do to change the way you think in that time.

Maybe it's not such a surprise that this pandemic hit at a time when Christian churches are celebrating the sacred season of Lent. A holy time before Easter when believers are called to give up something for 40 days as a way to commemorate the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness overcoming temptation and discovering his truth as the Son of God. Lent is a time to “fast” from something that will challenge, push, and bring you closer to God. What better time to work on something positive and life changing than today.

I have written extensively on this Lenten practice and why it is also important to “feast” on something as well to help celebrate the coming closer to God. As I like to remind people, Lent is a time when it’s okay to fail. In fact it’s necessary. That goes against all that we have been taught. When most people fail with their fast, they give up or abandon it altogether. I say instead of giving up remind yourself what you’re feasting on.

For example if I am fasting from judging others, I will feast on excepting all people. Therefore, when I judge someone, I quickly think about excepting them. I repeat this action as necessary. In fact, this particular one I had to repeat over and over in every minute of my awake stage. I'm all but positive I also did it in my sleep.  Behavioral Psychologists believe that most behavioral changes can be made in 40 days if you put in the effort to make those changes. You might have done this with a 40 day diet, or 40 days to a better body. In 40 days we can change our eating habits, and have an exercise routine that sticks. Same is true about prayer. No surprise then that in the Bible the number 40 is significant (look it up here).

Jesus took 40 days of fasting, having had nothing to eat or drink. He not only survived the wilderness and tempation by being in prayer, but he also was enlightened to what he was being called to do in the world and how to do it. Or take Gandhi who made fasting a huge part of his philosophy of Ahimsa or Non Violence. During these fast, he focused his attention on the kind of meditation and prayer that would inspire changein himself and in others. This practice helped India reclaim their freedom from British colonist.

I would incurage you to take the next 40 days to rewire your thinking by keeping your eye not on the fast but on the very thing you want to feast upon. You will fail, but not really. Because each time you mess up you are reminded of how you are to succeed.

Think of a scale where there is a bucket full of fear weighing down one side, and an empty bucket of faith on the other one. It could be buckets of panic and peace if you want. The point is, each time you fail with fear or panic, remind yourself of your faith or the peace you desire. And each time you do that...take a little from the fast bucket and put it in the feast bucket. Before you know it, the scale begins to balance out. And then they begin to tilt in favor of where your head and heart desire and deserve to be.

You can use this time to panic or learn how to be at peace. You can spend the time in flailing in fear or practice ways to fortify your faith. It’s up to you to decide what you want to get out of your life and what you want to put into your life.

​Not sure what that is?

May I suggest you don’t panic but take a deep breath and pray on it. Talk to your heart. The answer is already in you.
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Dry Bones

3/22/2020

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This is what resurrection looks like. This is how our dry bones come back together, how we as a community and as a human race come back stronger and healthier than ever before. ​

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a weird thought on Ezekiel 37:1-14
Today I’d like to begin with a question that I often like to ask people. If you could possess just one of Jesus’ miraculous powers, which one would you chose? 
 
To heal the sick, cast out demons, make the lame walk or the blind to see? While it would be more profitable to possess the ability to change water into wine, I’d settle with having his patients and compassion. Yes, it’s not a miracle per se unless you're quarantined with teenagers during a pandemic.
 
I once asked this question to a group of ministers, and I was surprised no one chose resurrecting the dead. I couldn’t help but wonder why that was. Maybe no one wanted to initiate a zombie apocalypse. Or they just assumed God owns this power outright? 
 
As we begin the fourth week of Lent and continue our series on Hope and Resurrection, I have selected one particular bible story that point us towards God’s power over life…and death. It comes from long ago, long before the Easter miracle, back when God led a faithful prophet named Ezekiel into a vast, desert wasteland. Read Ezekiel 37:1-14
Imagine for a moment the Spirit of God carrying you to a place where the land is withered and the air is dead. There are no trees, no shrubs, no signs of water or life anywhere, except for a life that once was. All around you are piles of dried up tibias and fibulas, rib cages, skulls, and vertebras. Bones upon bones, as if giants had fed on smaller humans and tossed the remnants to the ground like a bunch of chewed up hot wings.

If that’s not weird enough, God tells you to prophecy over the bones. Convince them to take a deep breath and get up because God’s going to do something really cool, and they won’t want to miss it.
 
It’s one thing to talk to the dead. But commanding them to rise up is a whole other thing. It’s clear Ezekiel has never seen Night of the Living Dead, or any Rob Zombie movie, because like any prophet worth his salt, Ezekiel does what God asks his to do. 
 
He begins to preach. And preach he does. As the words pour out of his mouth, the bones began to rattle and lock together; their muscle and flesh and skin returned as they once were. And the breath of God sweeps over them and resuscitates an entire valley of naked zombies. 

The author of this story lets us know this is a metaphorical tale – a story of God’s promise to breath life back into the people of Israel who were being held captive in Babylon. After all those years imprisoned in a foreign land God’s people were spiritually dried up and parched like a desert wasteland. They felt as lifeless as dead bones.

But here’s the thing, God hears their cries, just as God hears ours. In one grace filled breath their hope returns, and so will ours. Just as God resurrects the life of his people, so too does God resurrect our lives even when the odds of that happening are stacked against us. 

As we progress through this pandemic, we will be faced with new and difficult challenges. We too will have to find a way to put life back together again. Especially when we feel as lifeless as a pile of old bones. 
 
As daunting and overwhelming as life might seem right now, must not lose hope. But be on guard because it’s in these moments doubt, depression, fear and anxiety sneak in and drag us away to a dry wilderness of hopelessness and despair. Just as God didn’t give up on Israel, God does not give up on you or me.

I recently read a pneumonic for the word faith that I think is worth sharing. It goes like this:  Feeling Afraid I Trust Him. Ezekiel trusted God. Even when all the things that he loved the most were taken from him, he still believed the bones could rise again. 
 
In the season of Lent, we are called into the wilderness not to wither and die, but to lean on God, to inhale the very breath of God deep into our soul. Wherever you are right now, faithful or faithless, God is asking you “Can these bones live?” In other words, do you believe God can restore us back together again? Our hope lies in the answer. 
 
If I am to believe Jesus then I believe God’s promise of restoration is real. This life, with all its unknowns, pain, and suffering, is not the end of the story. God hears our cries and comes to us, to breath new life in us.
 
If I believe in the incarnation, the very breath of God becoming flesh and bone in the man Jesus, then I can believe in his resurrection, and the new life that comes through him because of it.
 
If you believe that God’s promise is real, that these bones can live again, then you will find your hope – hope that will grow your faith and bring you closer to the very heartbeat of God’s love for you. But if you believe these bones will live, then you must ask yourself, what am I going do with my bones today?  Will I raise the dead? Make the blind see and the deaf hear? 
 
If that seem impossible, remember it was Jesus who said, the person who believes will not only do what he did but even greater things.  
 
In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for breath is also the word for spirit. God’s spirit is breathed into you for a purpose, not just so we can have life, but so we can live life abundantly, fearlessly, graciously – as one united people.  

Jesus gave us his final breath, the very Spirit of God, so that we could proclaim the truth of God’s love for all things. Like him, we are to take that Spirit and be the miracle God wants us to be.
 
With a single breath, we can heal the sick with compassion and care. We can feed thousands of people by sharing our resources with one another. We can forgive sins and bless people no matter what. With God’s breath, we can resurrect the dead by being resurrection people. 
 
God is calling us to prophecy to others by being people who show compassion and seek those who have been pushed out to the fringes and love them back into society.

This is what Jesus' miracles were all about… returning people back to God where we all belong. This is what resurrection looks like. This is how our dry bones come back together, how we as a community and as a human race come back stronger and healthier than ever before. 
 
As we walk and live amid the painful and death-dealing realities that plague God’s creation, let us not lose the hope that God calls us out to the wilderness, just like Jesus was called out from the grave, to bring new life to those whose spirits are withered and dead.
 
And so I ask you, “Can these bones live?” If so, then let them know.  
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Life is a River, Jump In

3/20/2020

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Life is a river you have to jump into. There’s no getting around it. It’s there and if you stand in one place too long,  it’s going to rise around you. So you might as well jump. ​

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A couple of days ago we said good bye to some new friends of ours who abruptly caught one of the last flights to Australia. They had intended to move mid-April, and in fact already sent most of their stuff ahead of them. The problem, however, is they planned to move back to England. Not Australia. 
 
Due to many complications with the pandemic they had no choice. Not only had to push their departure date but had less than 48 hrs. to pack the rest of whatever they could take with them and go. We broke health protocol to ensure they were able to make that flight. And we just got word that they did.
 
Before they left I took a few moments to text them a message, something they could read on their flight. Or whenever they needed to make sense of what they have now embarked on. I want to share with you what I wrote because I think it might help make some sense or distract you for a moment.
I wrote, “Life is a river you have to jump into. There’s no getting around it. It’s there and if you stand in one place too long,  it’s going to rise around you. So you might as well jump. 
 
Today is that day. It’s a day you have to believe that your faith can trust the river, to trust its flow and its movement. You don’t have to change the water, or coerce its currents, or try to improve its direction. You just have to jump in and enter the flow. Be one with the water, one that rises and falls. And rises again.
 
Richard Rohr writes, "You can trust the river because the River is God who flows unguarded." God is the water, not pulling you down but moving you with ease and flow. Just allow the flow to flow, not merely around you but through you as well. Become part of the river. Become a part of the flow. 
 
This will take immense faith and confidence in God’s goodness, especially when you are unsure or afraid. When I feel myself get panicky, I try to take control. I try to quickly make things right. But on my terms. And I lose my ability to be present. I spin out in the past and freak out over what’s to come. The problems right now, are right now. In the present, where the River flows. This is where we meet God, or where God meets us. 
 
Once you’re in the water it’s hard to swim upstream and return to your past. And it’s difficult to see what’s downstream at the surprises that await. If your past has taught you anything, it’s that there will be surprises to come. Thus, jump into the river. Be in the water and stay focused on navigating the currents with ease and flow. 
 
You have to enter the river. You will see that sometimes it will be turbulent, sometimes it will be calm, but all times you will be moving and flowing to exactly where you need to go.  God is the River. Trust the flow, be present in the movement, and know that anything unexpected is still part of God.

​Do not fear. Do not worry. Do not be afraid. These are some of the most common and most prolific phrases in Scripture. They sound nice and look good in needlepoint. But let’s be real. You will be afraid, and you will fear...we all do. But in our fear and worry, God is with us there too. With a contingency plan. It’s all part of the river of life. 
 
Jesus said, “Anyone who is thirsty come to me and let the one who believes in me drink. As the Scripture has said, out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” 
 
So don’t lose what little or great faith you might have. Instead jump into it. The overwhelming feelings you have in your stomach, the unbearable weight that sits on your heart, and the noisy confusion in your head, they are all part of the river. They are ways God is trying to speak to you, to help you navigate. 
 
In this madness promise me you will take some time to stop, breathe, and listen to what God is trying to say to you, and see where you are being directed to go. As you do, don’t forget to look at all that’s around you and see its beauty. For it’s there you will find your peace, your joy, and your faith...all splashing together in one endless flow of love. 
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Praying Psalm 51

3/18/2020

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The only thing that matters is that we begin the conversation... simply saying, “Hey God. What’s up? It’s me. Can we talk?”


This is a weird time, isn’t it? A lot of unknowns are happening, things that are new to us all.  The challenge for all of us is to figure out how are we to navigate this new way of life? 
​ 
It’s in times like these that people look to clergy and spiritual practitioners for guidance. That is a good place to be. However, do you ever wonder where we go to find our help or encouraging words of advice? I go to God. I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you. After all I serve this church. But it’s not like I can just hop on a plane and visit God. Instead I have to do what many of you do, I pray. 
 
For me, prayer is a way of having a constant conversation with the one who knows me better than I know myself. It’s also a way for me to find peace when no peace seems to be found.

​Prayer has come in handy, especially recently. 
In the book of Philippians, it says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6).
 
To an ancient prophet, God tells Jeremiah, “Call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you” (Jer. 29:12). “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jer. 33:3).
 
As we celebrate Lent, we are reminded of the words of Jesus, who spent forty days in the wilderness praying. He said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).
 
Of course, prayer is more than making a wish list for God to fulfill. God is not Santa or an ATM machine. God is better than that; calling us into a relationship where our hearts are emptied out only to be filled with more than we ever thought possible. 
 
Every major religion includes prayers as part of their practice. So that tells us it’s an important ritual. I look to Jesus as my example. He certainly prayed a lot. There are six references in the gospels that he spoke in prayer, and one instance where he directly gives us the words to pray.  We know he prayed in the morning and at night, and before or after something big happened. It wasn’t unlike him to skip off from the crowds to pray alone. 
​
In prayer Jesus kept a channel open to God. Like the red phone on the presidents desk that whenever you pick it up there is someone waiting on the other end ready to get you your Diet Coke. But like all conversation, prayer is a dialog not a monologue. We might have a lot to say, but we need to keep our spiritual ears and hearts open to hear what God has to say to move our hearts Godward.
 
People who are new to faith often ask me if there’s a particular way to pray. I tell them it’s no different than having a conversation with someone. Sure there are prayers that walk you through stuff you might be dealing with. I have a stack of books filled with prayers that are offered for birth to praying over the dead to everything in between. 
 
My mom’s the type of person who doesn’t like to read prayers. She hates it when everyone prays the same thing. She says she prays from her heart. That’s not to say other religious people don’t do the same, but I like to remind her about the power that is lifted up with 100,000,000 voices singing the same prayer to God’s ears.
 
If you ask me, the only thing that matters is that we begin the conversation. This can happen using a rote prayer from a book, or just by simply saying, “Hey God. What’s up? It’s me. Can we talk?” I like the prayer Nadia Bolz-Weber says every morning when she wakes up, “Lord help me not to be an asshole today. Amen.” It’s not your typical prayer, but it’s a prayer that reaches God’s ears. 
 
In Christianity there are different types of prayers. The four most common are confession, contrition, petition, and adoration. 
 
Confession is just that, naming your wrongdoing. Contrition is a prayer that asks God for forgiveness. Petition is asking God for a favor. Adoration is simply praising God, or showing your gratitude. You can pray one or all four or something you want. Meister Ekheart is to have said, “If the only prayer you say is ‘Thank you’ then that would suffice.”   It doesn’t matter what you say or how you say it as long as the conversation is happening.
 
When I am called to pray over the sick and dying, I use Psalm 51 as my template because it covers all four types of prayers in one beautiful poem. Let’s read it. 

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Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion

    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
You can feel the pain weighing on the author’s heart as he asks God for mercy and forgiveness. He knows and trusts God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy, so he feels ok to makes his case. We’ve all messed up, and perhaps that’s what’s gotten us where we are today. But the thing is, many of us do not know how vast God’s love is. 
 
You might be carrying the weight of something you’ve done in your past, or something that was done to you. But God wants you, no matter what. This love for you is so great that God is willing to take the pain of sin from you and put it in the expansiveness of God’s heart. The psalmist knows, trusting God’s love is more than enough to make you whole again.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict

    and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Without naming his sins the author knows he’s guilty and that God is justified to ignore his plea because of it. But that’s not what God wants. God wants you, your heart, your love. And God wants to give you the same. It’s hard to accept all that God has to offer when we’re holding onto the crap from our past. By naming your wrongs they become real to you again. In that reality, God is there to meet you so you can dump them into the expansive heart of God. 
 
Maybe during your home confinement, you can take some time to think about What you need to empty out of your heart so you can have room to take what God wants to give you…unconditional love.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.


​​More than just being made clean, the psalmist has other desires. He wants to understand God better. He wants to be filled with joy and gladness again. And he wants to be remade.

Too often we try to hide our sins, which make us feel guilty to ask God for anything. We don’t feel good enough to deserve to be in the vastness of God’s love.  

But as the psalmist knows, we cannot hide from the one who knows our hearts better than we do. 

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
​
Today, I challenge you to ask God to clean your heart and give you a new spirit, to have your joy restored and your strength sustained so you can have what you need to get you through difficult times.  

Open your heart, open your mind, your hands and your mouth. Pray.

The rest of the psalm is dedicated to adoration – about going out into the world to proclaim God’s glory. 

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.
 
​


​A new and transformed heart can’t help but sing the praises of God whose only requirement is for you to sacrifice your heart. To give God your love too.

This is exactly what Jesus did, humbling himself for the sake of others; giving his whole heart over to do God’s will. This is the kind of relationship God wants with us, the kind of relationship where our hearts beat as one.

​The best way to stay in that place is by staying in constant contact with God. And prayer is an avenue that keeps us moving Godward.
 
If you have trouble praying, or not sure you know what to say, Psalm 51, and all the psalms, are a wonderful resource and a great place to start. ​
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Goals: 1

3/15/2020

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Paul writes, “May the mind that is in Christ Jesus also be in you” (Philippians 2:5). This is the truest depth of our Christian tradition, what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus. We are called to recognize, surrender to, and ultimately be identified with the mystery of God utterly beyond all concepts, all words, and all designations. This is our destiny. —James Finley

Jesus started his life like all of us, as a vulnerable baby. He, like you and me, had to learn how to trust. Trust his mother and father, his community and peers. His God. This trust led him to be able to surrender. It allowed him to give over his self, to shed his ego, and be totally one with God. As James Finley states, “This is our destiny.”

A goal we must all strive for as we strive to be more like Christ and less like ourselves is to trust God enough to surrender our will to God. This requires entering into your vulnerability, as you did as a child. What can you practice today that will help you understand, and ultimately (and faithfully) trust God in the process? What fears do you need to let go of in your life to move into this mystery of God’s truest love?
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Empty The Shelves of Fear

3/14/2020

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When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien..."
If you haven’t heard yet the entire world has gone into quarantine. There is a pandemic happening. I’m not just talking about the one we’ve come to call Coronavirus, but the other pandemic that is spreading faster which is commonly known as fear.  
 
Fear is a germ we all possess. We need not be embarrassed or ashamed of it. I am not a doctor but I suspect a healthy amount of fear is good for us. It helps to keep us safe when there is an unseen danger lurking about. It also helps to propel us forward and to take risks, and it also keeps us from doing something stupid when we don’t think about the risks. 
 
Like normal bacteria in our digestive system, fear keeps us well-balanced. Of course, having too much of this bacterium in your gut can cause all sorts of health issues, so too can having too much fear. Both have proven to cause people to make buying toilet paper a sporting event. ​
If you’ve had the pleasure of going into a supermarket recently you might have noticed what fear looks like. Empty shelves and carts overflowing with toilet paper. Someone recently did a little math on how much toilet paper a person uses in a normal period. Let’s just say it doesn’t merit two shopping carts full. 
 
I met a woman yesterday who actually ran out of TP and went to the store to buy some. This is normal behavior. But when she got to CVS, there was none to be found. The shelves were empty. She went to other stores and discovered the same thing. Apparently, she was unaware that people thought toilet paper, and not soap, was the best way to combat Covid-19. Like any decent human being would, I offered her a roll or two. She, being human too, she graciously declined. 
 
I’ve been to different countries all over the world, and trust me toilet paper is a luxury. But it’s not gold. It’s not worth hoarding it hoping to corner the market and get rich by selling it in the black market. And it doesn’t stop the spread of viruses or kill them like washing your hands can.
 
As we stood in a line to get into Trader Joe’s, there was a sense of calm and peace that was present with our group. Yet there was also an uneasy air of panic and fear floating about. It ranged from “Don’t touch me” to “Oh man, I have an itch on my nose but I’m afraid to scratch it because what if they think I’m sick and won’t let me in the store. I need buttermilk, damnit!” 
 
I watched people push carts past my line packed with reusable bags that were filled with food and I began to fear the worst. What if there were no buttermilk? What would be the purpose for standing in line with all these potential sick people if my wife could make Irish soda bread for a St. Patrick’s Day party that we had to cancel?

​(On a side note: we did make multiple trips to the supermarket to stock up on corned beef. Now that there’s no party we should be fine with meat for a year. Having said this, let’s not negate what I am writing. Seriously, let’s just forget I said anything about the 45 pounds of corned beef that is taking up valuable buttermilk space in the fridge.)
 
As I stood there, watching people shuffle out of the store with what you would have thought were bags of money, I had a sense of calm in me because I knew that the last thing people run out to buy during a pandemic is buttermilk. That calm, however, lasted only until my group was allowed to go inside the store and saw all the empty shelves. 
 
I hurried to the dairy section, which was like carefully crossing a mine field while sneezy, snot-dripping snipers try to take you out. The section wasn’t as bad as the rest of the store. It was filled with perishables whose shelf life was quickly ticking away. I felt some relief when I saw that there was sill chocolate milk, coconut milk, silk milk, and even half and half. But as my eyes glanced over all the different containers, my heart began to palpitate. There was no buttermilk. Are you kidding me? 
 
I stood there quivering and shaking, unsure of what I would do or what I would tell my wife or the doctor who would have to eventually break the bad news to my family that I would have to be sequestered for two weeks in my own private room and bath. Yet, as I stood there among the people scavenging for the last soy sausages, something wonderful happened. Right where the buttermilk should have been, two people reached for the same thing at the exact same time. Their hands collided but the world didn’t end. And what was it that they were reaching for? Unsalted butter. Yuck. 
 
In the pandemonium of a pandemic we must set our priorities right. Life is too short for unsalted butter. Life is also too short to allow fear to take over control of who you are. Both of these people, two strangers whose hands have touched, stopped dead in their tracks to acknowledge the other and exchange apologies.
 
For just a moment, there was a bit of human decency in the chaos. While others were grabbing what they could get their hands on, these two just graciously offered the last remaining box of unsalted butter to the other. Yes, it was unsalted butter, but it was also a commodity that meant something to them both, but it wasn’t going to define who they were. They were human beings who chose to behave like human beings. 
 
Their action reminded me of something I had recently read in Leviticus.  Among the many words pertaining to the way we ought to conduct ourselves during holy festivals is a great little verse about sharing our resources with others. “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 23:22).
 
The gist of the passage is this: don’t hoard, even what is rightfully yours to hoard. Leave a little something for those who are hungry - specifically the poor, and those without a family or community to help out in hard times. They need to eat too. Even though most of us are not farmers, I think this passage speaks to us today; especially in this trying and testing time. 
 
When you’re shopping during a pandemic, don’t go in full-blown fear mode or worry that you won’t have enough. Just buy what you need and leave the rest for others. This takes faith and trust, I know. It’s easy to fear and harder to trust - not only God but each other. But I recently read that the most used one liner in the Bible is “Do not fear” which I think puts our tendency to hoard toilet paper (and corned beef) in perspective. Do not fear but leave some for those who need it.
 
Jesus often taught us how to share the blessings we have. Think about the miracle of the fish and the loaves that’s found in the gospels. We can debate whether it was a miracle or not. Did Jesus say some holy words and suddenly the few pieces of fish and bread that they took from a small boy produced enough food to feed thousands of hungry people? It’s possible. Or were the hearts of those gathered there that day changed when they saw a small child share all that he had so people could eat? That possible too. Either way, Jesus and the boy shared what they had with those who were there. 
 
In this story, like so many others, Jesus blessed the food not only with words, but with action too. He took what he had and gave it to those who had none.  I like to think those who watched Jesus and the little boy do this had a change of heart. Instead of hoarding their food for themselves, they took what they needed then passed the meats and cheeses to those around them. And soon, the great feast began to spread like the joy and well-being that followed. The kingdom of heaven is like a great banquet, a marvelous feast where everyone is invited to the table. 
 
This is important to note because later on Jesus will quote from Leviticus when he reminds his disciples that “the poor will always be among us.” This is true for those who are financially poor as well as those who are poor in spirit. Where there is poverty, fear will always be present.  It creeps in wherever a person’s faith is impoverished, or emotional support is empty, or when joy is diminished. Jesus reminds us that it is imperative that we share what we have to those who have none. 
 
If we can learn anything from this pandemic, might it be this. Viruses spread from person to person which can have a major impact on an individual as well as a community, a country, and the world at large. Fear also has the ability to do the same. But just as there is an antidote to counter a virus and diminish its powers, there is also an antidote to stopping fear in its tracks. It’s called love. 
 
Instead of spreading fear, let us focus on spreading love like a virus. Let us go and infect the world with forgiveness, mercy, grace and joy. Let us offer the hand of peace so we can pass it to on one another.  

I suspect people wouldn’t mind catching a little love and peace and joy in their lives. In fact, I doubt anyone would mind standing in line for it. The blessings we are given cost us nothing. But more importantly, supplies of it will never run out as long as we stay calm and love one another. 
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I Can See Clearly Now

3/10/2020

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Without My Glasses On Everyone Becomes equal...I see people Better.

I wear glasses. I got them sometime in my senior year of high school. But it wasn’t until midway through college that I wore them regularly. Now it’s hard to remember never having them.

One thing I hate about glasses is they get dirty. My friend Chad, who works for a famous eyewear company, said it’s because I have greasy eyelashes. He might have been joking but I now use Dawn dishwashing soap to clean them, because as their old tag line used to say, “Nothing cuts grease better than Dawn.” And take it from me, an aging ex-copywriter, advertising doesn’t lie.

Now, if you wear glasses you might understand this phenomenon. It happens when you take them off and for a few brief seconds the world is in perfect focus. Nothing is blurry. There are no smudges or fingerprints, just bright crisp colors and sharp lines. The world is exactly how the world is supposed to be.
Every time this happens my mind tricks me into believing, “Holy crap! I can see again! It’s a miracle! Praise God!” And just like that, just as quick as it happens, someone or something tweaks the lenses askew and everything goes all blurry again. “Damn!”

People often ask me why I don’t wear contacts. One reason is my prescription used to not allow them. Today, thanks to technology, I could if I wanted. But truth be told, I hate the thought of having to touch my eyeballs. It just seems gross.

​
Years ago, I used to tell people the reason was because I liked to be able to take my glasses off because it always made the girls at the bar look better. (Don’t judge me, I was single at the time) But you know what, and it’s okay for you to admit it to yourself... there’s some truth in what I’m saying.

Think about that for a moment, especially you who don’t wear glasses or contacts. Imagine for a moment what life would be like if everything were out of focus. Everyone becomes equally as beautiful because everyone is equally as blurry.

​In fact, the main reason I like to take my glasses off (other than going to bed) is it helps me see people better. The way we’re supposed to see one another.
I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day

I think I can make it now the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is that rainbow I've been praying for
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day
​

Look all around, there's nothing but blue skies
Look straight ahead, there's nothing but blue skies

I can see clearly now the rain is gone...
I like to think this is how God sees us. Not blurry, but all the same. I like to think God sees us perfectly, in sharp focus, and thinks about how beautiful we are. Each one different, and yet all the same.

Every now and then I like to remind myself of why I started this blog in the first place, or why I named it Jesus, not Jesús. Yes, the name is weird and it starts a good conversation with people, but that’s not the reason I began this journey to see Christ in the face of strangers. In fact, it was to be able to see Christ, in perfect focus, in all people equally. Just the way God sees us.

This has not be easy to do. I have learned that it will take the rest of my life to fail at this if I am going to truly succeed (it’s Lent after all). But I have made it a life goal to see life through the eyes of Jesus, who had no home or place to lay his head. He lived on the mercy of others, but gave generously to those who needed. He saw people with the same tenderness and kindness of God, who sees us all equally. No amount of grease, dirt, smudge, or fingerprints will distort the way God sees you or me. But is that how you see God?

Jesus teaches us to see through his eyes, which helps us see the circular love of God at work. That is to say we will see how to receive and how to give - how to allow God to flow to you and through you. This helps us when we are having trouble seeing people for who they really are - not as mean, or ugly, or as strangers with different color skin or smells, but as children of a God who clearly loves us just as we are.
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    Ian Macdonald

    An ex-copywriter turned punk rock pastor and peacemaker who dedicates his life to making the world a better place for all humanity. 

    "that they all might be one"  ~John 17:21


    “Prius vita quam doctrina.”
    ​~ S
    t. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)​
    * “Life is more important than doctrine.”


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