Today was Father's Chapel at St. Mark's, so all the dads were invited to join us for chapel. I really thought about what my lesson would be today. What does the Bible say about being a father? And finally, I put a calendar in my box. For this talk I could have put a stopwatch, or an alarm clock, but I thought a puppy dog calendar would most illustrate my point.
I love to read, on a wide variety of subjects, and when I thought and prayed about what to say today I started thinking about the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers is about what makes some people so successful in sports or business or other aspects of life, and Gladwell's argument is that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to really master a subject. That's 10,000 hours where you are working to get better at something, whether it's golf or piano, mathematics or law. When you think about all the demands on our day that is an incredible amount of time. What Gladwell does well is tell story after story of the lives of those who are successful and show how they spent those hours. Sometimes those hours came by chance, in that certain individuals were in the right place at the right time to have an opportunity for that much practice. Others worked to make the time. But each success story started with 10,000 hours of practice.
At this point I am sure you are thoroughly confused as to where I am going. How does this have anything to do with fatherhood, or the Bible? As a parent, we have the opportunity for lots of practice at loving our children. There are 8765 hours in a year. Even taking out say, 8 hours a day for sleep, (wishful thinking), that's still 16 hours a day to love our children so in 625 days or just 1.7 years we have reached the 10,000 hour mark. And I'm not even including the 960 hours of pregnancy that came before that. So just think... in just two puppy dog calendars, before the second year or your child's life you were an expert in loving him or her.
For our Father, 10,000 hours is but the blink of an eye. God loved us before we were born and will love us after we are gone and the Bible is full of compelling stories that illustrate just how great God's love for us truly is. We are called to model our lives after God's only son. Which is an awesome task. We are called to become experts in love.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Healing Touch
Over the weekend we had a wonderful St. Mark's Women's Retreat. Our speaker was the Reverend Becca Stevens from Nashville, TN. Becca has done many things, including founding a program called Magdalene, which provides women trapped in lives of drug abuse and prostitution a way to escape and regain their lives. The women have created Thistle Farms, a cottage industry which creates bath and body works and provides jobs for Magdalene graduates. One of the many products I bought was a tub of lavender body butter. It is thick and as it melts into your skin it makes the whole room smell like lavender. As I showed it to the children and rubbed some into my hands I spoke about the power of Christ's healing touch.
When Christ called his disciples and began his public ministry, healing was a central part of his work. In Mark 1: 40-42 Jesus touches and cures a man of leprosy, in Mark 7:32-35 he lays hands on and cures a man who is deaf and mute, and in Mark 8: 22-25 he restores sight to one who was blind. Jesus travels the countryside healing those who are sick, and preaching God's kingdom. He takes the hand of a girl who has died, calling to her to get up, and she does. (Mark 5:41-42). While Jesus can heal without the gift of touch, as he healed the woman who simply touched his cloak, Mark 5:25-29, it is clear he was generous with his physicality, allowing a broken and sick world to feel the embrace of the God they had seen only previously as a plume of smoke or a pillar of fire.
And so in chapel today we reached out and touched our friends on our left and on our right. We then touched our friends who sat in front of us and behind us. Teresa of Avila told us, " Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours". Our world is still broken. Many of our friends need healing. They need a hand, a hug, a reminder that their faith can make them well.
When Christ called his disciples and began his public ministry, healing was a central part of his work. In Mark 1: 40-42 Jesus touches and cures a man of leprosy, in Mark 7:32-35 he lays hands on and cures a man who is deaf and mute, and in Mark 8: 22-25 he restores sight to one who was blind. Jesus travels the countryside healing those who are sick, and preaching God's kingdom. He takes the hand of a girl who has died, calling to her to get up, and she does. (Mark 5:41-42). While Jesus can heal without the gift of touch, as he healed the woman who simply touched his cloak, Mark 5:25-29, it is clear he was generous with his physicality, allowing a broken and sick world to feel the embrace of the God they had seen only previously as a plume of smoke or a pillar of fire.
And so in chapel today we reached out and touched our friends on our left and on our right. We then touched our friends who sat in front of us and behind us. Teresa of Avila told us, " Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours". Our world is still broken. Many of our friends need healing. They need a hand, a hug, a reminder that their faith can make them well.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Caught
Today I told the children I brought something that was full of holes. It wasn't a barbie, or a fire truck, instead I brought a casting net. I didn't grow up in Florida and I think that the children who grow up along the coast have such an advantage when visualizing the many scenes and parables that involve fishing. When I was a child I had never seen anyone throw a casting net. I'm not sure what type of fishing I imaging the future disciples were doing, but I am sure as a Tennessee girl it involved bait, a hook and a pole.
The gospel of Luke shares a great fishing story. Jesus is already being followed by crowds, so he asks Simon (Peter) to row him a little way off shore so that he could teach the crowd. After he finishes he asks Simon to row to the deep water and lower his net for a catch. Simon objects, saying that he and his partners, James and John have fished all night and caught nothing. But he agrees, and lowers the nets, which become so full of fish they are close to breaking.
Although I loved this story as a child, I appreciate it so much more, and in so many different ways now. Fishing with a pole is often a solitary experience. A lone fisherman or woman, heading out to his or her favorite spot, reeling the fish in one by one. If an unwanted fish is caught it can be carefully removed and released. In contrast, Simon Peter and James and John were partners. They typically rowed out with two boats, casting the nets between them and hauling up everything they managed to swim into the net. Everything in the net, the good fish, the bad fish, all are brought back on board. They will be sorted later, but at first everything is kept.
At different times I'm in different places in this story. Sometimes I'm Peter, complaining that I've worked hard and yet going out again one more time. Sometimes I'm the friends, called to help with the abundance that can only be found through Christ. Most often I'm the fish, caught with so many others in a net that is cast wide.
The gospel of Luke shares a great fishing story. Jesus is already being followed by crowds, so he asks Simon (Peter) to row him a little way off shore so that he could teach the crowd. After he finishes he asks Simon to row to the deep water and lower his net for a catch. Simon objects, saying that he and his partners, James and John have fished all night and caught nothing. But he agrees, and lowers the nets, which become so full of fish they are close to breaking.
Although I loved this story as a child, I appreciate it so much more, and in so many different ways now. Fishing with a pole is often a solitary experience. A lone fisherman or woman, heading out to his or her favorite spot, reeling the fish in one by one. If an unwanted fish is caught it can be carefully removed and released. In contrast, Simon Peter and James and John were partners. They typically rowed out with two boats, casting the nets between them and hauling up everything they managed to swim into the net. Everything in the net, the good fish, the bad fish, all are brought back on board. They will be sorted later, but at first everything is kept.
At different times I'm in different places in this story. Sometimes I'm Peter, complaining that I've worked hard and yet going out again one more time. Sometimes I'm the friends, called to help with the abundance that can only be found through Christ. Most often I'm the fish, caught with so many others in a net that is cast wide.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Second Chances
This week we continued our talk about calling. God's call is often unexpected in our life. It may involve paths we didn't even realize were there. And as a close friend once told me, "if the call of God is easy, if it is to something you have always wanted, or involves money or status, you might want to listen harder". So to talk about this week's story of calling I brought a life jacket.
The Book of Jonah is only 4 chapters. You can hardly call it a book. It is more like a parable, or fable, because like those such large truths live within such a small story. Jonah was a man who was called by God to go to Nineveh and preach that the city would be destroyed if they did not repent their evil ways. And instead of accepting his call as prophet, Jonah runs away. He flees. He tries to escape God, first on a ship, and then by jumping into the ocean in a sacrifice we must assume he thinks will end his life. Jonah chooses death over God. Luckily for Jonah, God chose him. God gave him a second chance. God threw him a life jacket. A smelly, stinky life jacket in the form of a belly of a great fish, but it saved him nonetheless. Jonah was stubborn. He lived in that belly for three days and nights, before finally he surrenders and turns to God. And the fish spits him out on the land.
So the word of God comes to Jonah a second time, calling him to go to Nineveh. And this time he answers the call. He preaches of the city's destruction. He calls upon them to repent. And then...surprise, surprise...they do. From the king down the people surrender to God's will and change their ways, and ask for forgiveness. God sees their response and gives them a second chance. And at this Jonah is incensed. He throws a temper tantrum, sulking outside the city walls. He is embarrassed that what he preached did not come true. He is angry that God threw them a life jacket. He doesn't like being their whale.
The four short chapters of Jonah make us think about calling and mercy, about surrender and pride, and they don't end with an answer, but with a question. What is the nature of God?
The Book of Jonah is only 4 chapters. You can hardly call it a book. It is more like a parable, or fable, because like those such large truths live within such a small story. Jonah was a man who was called by God to go to Nineveh and preach that the city would be destroyed if they did not repent their evil ways. And instead of accepting his call as prophet, Jonah runs away. He flees. He tries to escape God, first on a ship, and then by jumping into the ocean in a sacrifice we must assume he thinks will end his life. Jonah chooses death over God. Luckily for Jonah, God chose him. God gave him a second chance. God threw him a life jacket. A smelly, stinky life jacket in the form of a belly of a great fish, but it saved him nonetheless. Jonah was stubborn. He lived in that belly for three days and nights, before finally he surrenders and turns to God. And the fish spits him out on the land.
So the word of God comes to Jonah a second time, calling him to go to Nineveh. And this time he answers the call. He preaches of the city's destruction. He calls upon them to repent. And then...surprise, surprise...they do. From the king down the people surrender to God's will and change their ways, and ask for forgiveness. God sees their response and gives them a second chance. And at this Jonah is incensed. He throws a temper tantrum, sulking outside the city walls. He is embarrassed that what he preached did not come true. He is angry that God threw them a life jacket. He doesn't like being their whale.
The four short chapters of Jonah make us think about calling and mercy, about surrender and pride, and they don't end with an answer, but with a question. What is the nature of God?
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Communication
Today I brought a maraca in my box. It was given to me this summer, when I was fortunate enough to travel to Cuba as part of a mission team from St. Mark's Church. While there we worked with our sister parish of St. Mary's in Itabo, Cuba to put together a Vacation Bible School for their children and youth. Each morning we enjoyed several hours of songs, Bible study, crafts and snacks with preschool and elementary age children, and after a break for lunch we did the same thing with teenagers in the afternoon. Although we had a wonderful translator with us, SMEDS graduate Cathy Hardin, most of us in the mission team spoke little to no Spanish. And most of the residents of Itabo spoke no English. Everything we did had to be either translated by Cathy, or worked out by communicating with a combination of limited Spanish and hand motions to indicate what we needed, or were going to be doing, or eating. It was challenging, but an incredibly rewarding experience.
Over the week, as we spent more and more time with the children, youth and adults at St. Mary's, an amazing thing started happen. Even with the language barrier, we began to understand each other. We shared information about our families. We learned what the volunteers there did for a living. We ate together and played together and prayer together and by the end of the week we had formed a wonderful community.
Our story today was about the Tower of Babel. Often the focus in that story is on the division of humanity into different cultural and ethnic groups. God splintered our language and made communication difficult so that we would separate and fill the earth. What I reminded the children, was that when we allow God to work through us, when we share God's love and grace with others, no communication barriers can keep us apart.
We can experience difficulty understanding each other without traveling to a foreign country. Are there people in your life with whom you have a hard time communicating? Think about those relationships as your "mission". Bring Christ in as well. See what happens.
Over the week, as we spent more and more time with the children, youth and adults at St. Mary's, an amazing thing started happen. Even with the language barrier, we began to understand each other. We shared information about our families. We learned what the volunteers there did for a living. We ate together and played together and prayer together and by the end of the week we had formed a wonderful community.
Our story today was about the Tower of Babel. Often the focus in that story is on the division of humanity into different cultural and ethnic groups. God splintered our language and made communication difficult so that we would separate and fill the earth. What I reminded the children, was that when we allow God to work through us, when we share God's love and grace with others, no communication barriers can keep us apart.
We can experience difficulty understanding each other without traveling to a foreign country. Are there people in your life with whom you have a hard time communicating? Think about those relationships as your "mission". Bring Christ in as well. See what happens.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
In the Image of God
When I was a child I had curly blond hair, blue eyes, and tan arms and legs. My husband had straight brown hair, a light smattering of freckles, and brown eyes. Our three boys are a mix of both of us, a genetic spreadsheet of our various characteristics, but looking at pictures of me as a young child and at pictures of my daughter you see almost a mirror image. Every family has funny stories about what is passed down along the generations: dimples, near-sightedness, red hair.We also inherit other traits from our families, such as musical ability, a love of reading or a passion for football. As we mature we are constantly being formed and reformed in the image of those who created us, raised us, and loved us.
Today I brought a picture of myself as a child and compared it to one of my children. Our lesson was that we are created not only in the image of our parents, but in the image of God. Being made in God's image has nothing to do with our messy hair or the color of our skin or our ability to sing on key. It is our soul that is created in God's image. And just as I have my grandmother's nose, I hope to have my Lord's heart.
What are you passing along to your children? While you have no control over whether they have your eyes, you can pass along a love of worship, a passion for service, and a heart for prayer.
Today I brought a picture of myself as a child and compared it to one of my children. Our lesson was that we are created not only in the image of our parents, but in the image of God. Being made in God's image has nothing to do with our messy hair or the color of our skin or our ability to sing on key. It is our soul that is created in God's image. And just as I have my grandmother's nose, I hope to have my Lord's heart.
What are you passing along to your children? While you have no control over whether they have your eyes, you can pass along a love of worship, a passion for service, and a heart for prayer.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Back to School
It has been a busy, dusty and chaotic summer around St. Mark's as the construction on our campus took place. My office window provided an unobstructed view of everything from bulldozers to cement mixers as the work crews scrambled to get everything ready for the start of school. On Sundays it has been fun to escort the children going to children's chapel to a spot where they could view the weekly progress and listen to what they noticed had changed from the previous week. And for those of us who work here the construction provided us with a new dress code of closed -shoes and hard hats if we needed to walk through any of the areas where demolition or construction was happening. Thus it seemed only fitting that I brought a hard-hat to the first week of chapel.
Our Bible begins with a construction story, that of God constructing the world. The Master Architect designed light and darkness, land and sea, sun and planets and filled our world with plants and animals of all kinds. And after each stage of the project was completed, God saw that it was good. I brought the hard hat to remind all of us that unlike the rest of creation, we are still under construction. We are created in God's image, but none of us is a completed project. Instead we must participate in our own development, and through prayer and study and action we should try to follow the blueprints that were written for us. Construction can be messy. It can cause headaches. Some mistakes are made, causing delays, and fixing those mistakes may take some time. Luckily God is with us, guiding us through each stage of development, loving us at all times.
Where are you in the construction process? Are you willing to endure some dust and debris in your life? How do we support our children, our families, our friends as their lives are constantly being constructed and reconstructed to be more like God? This week wear your hard hat with pride. God is at work in your life.
Where are you in the construction process? Are you willing to endure some dust and debris in your life? How do we support our children, our families, our friends as their lives are constantly being constructed and reconstructed to be more like God? This week wear your hard hat with pride. God is at work in your life.
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