OUR Father...

Readings: Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:1-4

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there. Traditionally, this is the day of bad ties, naps in the hammock, and adoration. Dad is in the spotlight...as a dad should be. It's not an easy job. What, keeping up with kids' schedules, daily work duties, fix-its around the house, etc...it's not for the weak.

Now, for a moment, think of OUR Father...who is in heaven.

He, too, has some kids to keep up with--frankly, the whole WORLD. And his kids are some doozies! We're enough to wear anyone out--thank God He IS our Father.

Repairs needed around the house? Look at what we've done to our "house"...this poor planet has been pummeled, polluted, and roughed up to the nth degree. We're not very good kids when it comes to keeping our house in a neater state then when we found it.

Bad gift? A tie can't hold a candle to the lousy gifts we've given OUR Father. Although we know what's right and what's wrong, we still don't do a very good job with honesty, we don't treat our "siblings" as we'd like to be treated, we don't share our toys, and we don't do a very good job of keeping in touch with Him. In short...we're kind of weak in the faithful kids department.

Dads in general don't get much extra rest--those occasional naps on the couch or a hammock or a special "sleep in" time some morning can be pretty nice, but we all know they're pretty rare. Now just think of OUR Father--it's only 24/7/365 that someone needs Him and is calling His name for comfort, assistance, or rescue. No hammocks in His world.

So, on this Fathers Day, when Fathers are honored in person or in memory, let's remember OUR Father who is in heaven and keep His name hallowed.

Peace be with you.

"It Was Never Between Them and You"

Reading: Deuteronomy 15:10--"Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to" (NIV).

We generally have a tendency to be concerned with what those around us think of us. We start hearing this as kids and it embeds itself in our minds and in our actions throughout our lives. We want to be accepted by others--it's human nature. All is fine with this, until it starts infringing upon our need to be, first and foremost, concerning ourselves with God's will.

Mother Teresa, one of the most loving and giving of God's servants in modern times, is quoted as saying the following:

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. 

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. 

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” 

How exhausting it is to try and keep unreasonable and self-centered people happy? How many hours have each of us spent thus far in our lives trying to accomplish the impossible by making truly unhappy people happy? How about from now on that we do as Mother Teresa suggests and forgive them for being as they are rather than falling into the trap of becoming unreasonable and self-centered ourselves?

While living our lives simply and practicing active kindness, we occasionally find ourselves being accused of having ulterior motives. We are caught by surprise. Upon further examination, the accusation against us of practicing something less than pure kindness may have little to do with our gestures and much to do with the soul of the accuser. Our true test--are we being true in the eyes of God? If so, all is well.

We've all been cheated, one way or another, in our lives. Our feelings are greatly hurt when we know we've been honest; how could someone do this to us? And when a friend or relative is the one doing the cheating, the hurt is all the deeper. Our consolation? God knows. We don't need to point out all the errors. We can, however, pray for those who find honesty a difficult task.

When something really nice happens to us, we might find ourselves floating along in a mood where the sun seems to be shining just a bit brighter and the birds are singing just a bit more on key. We catch ourselves smiling--what a great feeling. And then, out of nowhere, comes a cutting remark or an arrow of ill-will shot in our direction. What happened? Why do people need to bring us down from our happiness? It could very well be jealousy--nothing more. It's a truly "human" nature. Don't let it spoil your moment...it's not between you and them anyway, remember?

I once had a professor that asked the class how important we thought we all were. We weren't sure how to answer. He further suggested that to see just how important we were we should take a bucket, fill it with water, dunk our hand in it, swirl around liberally, and then remove it to see how big of a hole we left. Yep...it's the same with the good gesture we perform for others. It can quickly be forgotten by the recipient. It's the chance we take in being benevolent. We should, however, look for every opportunity to help one another. I do believe it makes God smile.

We work and work, practice kindness, give our best...and people continually ask for more. It's okay--truly it is.

When we work as a hand of God, we will naturally give without ceasing, practice kindness on a daily basis, act honestly, and accept the fact that we will probably never meet the needs and wants of our fellow men and women. And, at the end of the day, it's all okay.

"For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” 

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Psalm 4:8--"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe" (NLT)

  "Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep;

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take."--New England Primer

Sleep...elusive sleep. That simple, wonderful restorer of life is becoming more and more rare in our society. As a result, more diseases are attacking more people of all ages. Bodies are unable to successfully perform and keep themselves in good health when such a large part of restorative health is missing.

Simply put, we surely need our sleep.

Kathy Gruver, PhD., writes in an article entitled "The Disruptive Nature of Chronic Stress" (Well Being Journal, May/June 2013) that we have become so stressed on a daily basis that this stress now never leaves us and creeps into our precious hours of sleep. When stress takes over our sleep, it takes over our dreams. Our dreams become more and more vivid and memorable. When we wake up feeling more tired than we did when we exhaustively fell into bed the night before, stress has won out and the body suffers further damage.

How did we get to this point?

Perhaps we got away from the simple, yet profound prayer taught to us as little kids.  "Now I lay me down to sleep...I pray the Lord my soul to keep...if I should die before I wake...I pray the Lord my soul to take".  Maybe if more of us started saying this prayer at night again, we would discover that the troubles of the world can stay with the world, allowing us to drift into blessed, restorative sleep. This little prayer said at night once we're ready to truly rest, is a true testament to our faith that all is truly in the Lord's hands.

So, tonight, when the lights are out and the day is done, take some long, deep breaths and try this little prayer. And remember, "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe".

Peace be with you.

The New Normal--Panic Mode--Part One: Panic Parenting

Ephesians 6:1--"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

Proverbs 29:17--"Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart."

Anybody noticed lately that Chicken Little seems to be the role model of the day? Maybe a modified version, but it's a Chicken Little world out there for sure.

How so, you ask?

How about parenting? Tom and I were watching a vintage episode of "Leave It to Beaver" the other day. As usual, the Beave was in a fix...this time he was the only boy invited to an all-girls birthday party. Through the usual channels of story line and lack of information, Beave was reluctantly marched upstairs to don that blue suit and make a b-line to the party. And he did. Once there, however, the birthday girl's parents made arrangements for Beaver to hang out in the study with the birthday girl's dad. Beaver had a great afternoon looking over and pretending the shoot many of the guns in birthday girl's dad's collection. We had to laugh--not only at the actual show, which was funny--but also at the 21st century response of a parent to this happening. My guess is that about half the original guests would have been no-shows in current times, knowing that the parent kept guns in the house. The other half (including the Beave's parents) would have completely alienated birthday girl's friendship by now as a result of such as atrocity as allowing a child to "play with guns" in a home...and without Beaver's parent's permission. Who is this nut of a father?? Thus ensues the panic mode.

To us baby boomers who grew up and survived (quite nicely, thanks much) these environments, the guy isn't a nut at all...in fact, he was just doing a very natural thing. He was being an adult and showing a child a collection. There were no  schemes of ill will, no lack of thought, no stupidity involved. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Adults became adults and stayed that way. Once they crossed that threshold, they no longer tried to go back and be kids again. As a result, the panic mode was somewhat unheard of...only a few folks ever slipped the phase of going from kid to adult. The adult assumed the responsibility. The kids, throughout their lives, were in safe training modes of becoming adults.

Actually, it was all quite clearly defined...unlike today.

Somewhere between there and here, things got loopy. Adults decided it was more fun just not to grow up so, instead of taking the path from kid to adult, they created a loop so they can  repeatedly--at will--loop around from adult to kid and back to adult. I don't know about you, but that sounds exhausting. It also creates panic mode. How does anyone have time to be a parent, a bestest buddy, a #1 fan, and a provider of not only basic necessities but also every desire? Pretty big plate, if you ask me.

And what happens when it's time for the next generation to step up to take over and take care of the older folks and the younger folks? They don't know how? Their every need and want has been attended to (sometimes before they even realized there was a want or need), and now they're in charge?

That's when we'll see a REAL panic mode, folks.

Let's face it...not all kids are going to grow up with the perfect lives--at last count about 0%. It's not our life's work to protect our kids 24/7/365. They have to grow up; they have to stumble; they have to make nasty mistakes that sometimes leave some pretty deep gashes. And, sadly, some kids will just pretty much blunder all throughout life. But parenting in panic mode isn't going to make their lives any less messy...in fact, it will more than likely get all the messier. 

We adults have a serious job in just being adults. We don't have the time to be our kid's friend...we're their parents. They have to know there are lines drawn and if those lines are crossed, there are consequences. We've blurred the lines between loving our kids and feeling the need to be their best buddy protector and it's darned confusing to those little guys...that's what their peers are for. And, let's face it--we're not very good at it. It keeps us in panic mode. And, when we're in panic mode, we're not in control. Birthday girl's dad was totally in control...he was the adult in the situation with a kid. Beaver had a neat experience holding a gun and pretending to shoot it. He didn't go out and directly try to hustle one off the street or steal one before he left birthday girl's house. There was an adult in control that was calling the shots, no pun intended.

Are we in panic mode, or are we the adults in control? Let's lose the panic button and see if things get a little better for everyone.

Plant Wisely and Grow with God's Grace

"So neither he who plants is anything nor he who waters, but (only) God Who makes it grow and become greater" (I Corinthians 3:7).

This spring I've had my first experience with growing tomato plants from seed. I've always admired how people have grown massive tomato-bearing behemoths from tiny seeds; I've always made myself content with buying a more mature plant at the garden store that, many times, had small yellow blossoms already. My fascination with watching them grow from "little sprouts" to the more mature plants was increased ten fold last year when I bought a tiny plant and brought it to my little greenhouse. Given its size, I had no idea if it would even survive, much less grow into a healthy fruit-bearing plant. I watered it, put it in a big pot to match the size I hoped it would achieve before planting it in the ground once the dirt warmed, and then tried to be patient. That plant grew almost before my very eyes. It was incredible how it grew each day.

I was hooked.

This spring I had every ambition to start from scratch...or seed, as the case may be. I knew how well the plant enjoyed  and thrived in the greenhouse environment, so I knew that seeds would find the perfect environment for germination and becoming healthy seedlings.

Then the greenhouse was destroyed.

I found myself with a bunch of "orphaned" tomato seeds and little good experience with growing anything indoors. In the past, I would have lots of good intentions and leggy, thread-like wisps of seedlings that never survived. This time I needed to grow more wisely. So, I read a good book on germination and seedlings, bought some decent germination trays and planting medium, and invested in a good grow light. After following the directions carefully, the seeds did germinate, and they did grow under the encouragement of the glow of the grow light. In fact, they grew out of their little germination squares pretty quickly.

I was in new territory again.

So, back to the research and the wisdom of others who suggested I "cook" some dirt to sterilize it, and then transplant the tomato plants. I had read originally that the roots of a new plant are exceedingly delicate and the transplant process can destroy them. Apparently, leaves grow back freely...roots, not so much. So, I took the greatest care I could in separating the "twins"--the two germinated seeds originally planted together  that had both grown into seedlings. So delicate, so tiny… Into the new planting medium they went in their new "homes"...the peat pots. Each were carefully watered and placed back under the grow lights to get accustomed to their new growing environment. The next morning I hesitated to look at them, fearing that I would see wilted little green messes rather than the healthy little plants I'd seen the night before.  Happily, they were all still standing and looked okay...no worse for the wear.

A pretty humbling experience…

We can plant, we can water, we can feed...but it is ultimately God's incredible wisdom and grace that makes anything on this glorious planet truly grow and thrive. And, it's kind of the same way with all of us. We can plant the seeds of faith, love, and trust within ourselves and then share with our neighbors, but it will need God's consistent input to make it truly blossom into the healthiest  kind of harvest.

Peace be with you.

Love for our Enemies

Luke 6:27-36: "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

It's been a tremendously rough week on a lot of people. I'm writing this as I watch Bob Sheiffer and "Face the Nation"--not my usual routine, but it's not exactly been a "usual" week, either. There is, of course, a great deal of coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings as well as the gun control vote this past week. Two extremes in our country with, what would seem to many, mind-boggling outcomes. In one report, we  now know that an American citizen and his younger brother did the unspeakable by killing and maiming just plain folks who were out on a spring day to participate in an innocuous event. In another report, we have our own Congress voting down any measure of protection for our citizens in violent outbreaks; in a discussion, three family members of three of the deceased at Sandyhook Elementary were feeling very betrayed by the representatives of their own country.

Our country is hurting...hurting...hurting…

What a paradox we face--in our gut, we want to lash out at the three men who caused unimaginable pain in these two incidents; yet, as Christians, we are called to a higher command: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

The first response will be that they should be tried by our courts--I agree. That's how we handle the earthly transgressions in our time. However, the greater test is for us individually. We have been commanded to love our enemies. This great challenge is where we need to not divide as Christians, but unite...we NEED each others' support for this one! I invite you to join me in being very careful in what is written, posted, or said about these tragedies. It's extremely easy to make it our mortal battle without  heeding Jesus' words. I need to constantly remind myself that it's not my plan, it's not my rules, it's not my say, it's not my planet...I'm just here for a visit. It is, however, my call as a follower of Christ to follow his words. Not always easy, and, for the most part, I'm guessing I do a pretty lousy job...but to know the peace of Christ makes it all worthwhile. 

Peace be with you.

A Good Tired

"The old has passed away; behold, the new has come"--2 Corinthians 5:17

Happily, happily spring has arrived for real. Coats are being shed as the sun gives us some warmth...what a treat! Yesterday was the first real work day in the gardens and around the yard. Limbs to be hauled, flowers to be transplanted, garden beds to get ready. It's incredible to see everything coming to life, yet, by the end of the first week, it becomes pretty overwhelming to keep up with the pace. There's always something needing attention, and a finite amount of time in season to get things going before the weather gets too hot to do what is needed. Besides, after a winter lay-off from physical labor, it's just plain tiring to dig, hoe, haul, and keep moving all day. This wonderful feeling has its price.

As I was getting ready to head out to transplant some huge chunks of day lilies I dug up yesterday, it occurred to me. how our spiritual lives can emulate our first days of emerging from the winter season. When we are immersed in God's perfect love, we are exhilarated...we feel fresh energy and ageless...we soar with happiness. Then, once we get bogged down with our daily routine, we begin to feel somewhat overwhelmed with this wonderful gift. We have a misunderstanding here, an uncomfortable decision to make there. We start to feel the enormity of the gift. Will we ever get things done in our finite time here on earth?

In gardening as well as in life, probably not. But I think it's okay.

As we start getting a little dirt on our jeans and on our shovels, we get into a smoother routine. We realize that there doesn't need to be the frantic rush; what will get done will get done. Anything that we get accomplished toward growing those beautiful plants is a good thing...there will be a payoff of good eating in a few weeks. We can relax and enjoy the experience. We can share the fruits of our labors with others. The same applies to our freshening of the soul...we can share our love of God and all His creation with others. We're not going to be perfect at being a Christian--but it's gloriously okay. During our finite season during our lifetimes, we can expand God's garden of love...one nurtured seed at a time. Do we get tired? You bet. But, in both cases, it's a good tired.

Peace be with you.