Love and Approval

When children know that they are loved unconditionally, they move through their lives with confidence and a willingness to explore, take chances, and grow.  They make mistakes and learn from them.  They do not always need approval as they are confident that they are loved even if they fail.

On the other hand, children who do not believe that they are loved no matter what, will often engage in attention seeking behavior or in activities that seek approval, living in fear of failure, afraid to take risks and grow.  They are afraid make to mistakes and fear the loss of love and approval because of their failures.

I was reading an article in The Lutheran magazine (April 2011) by Peter W. Marty, a Lutheran pastor in Davenport, Iowa.  In the article he states, “Unconditional love must never be confused with unconditional approval.”

Approval is fleeting; unconditional approval is meaningless.  Whether you did a great job or a crappy job, hey it’s all okay, right?   Unconditional approval means nothing.  Actually, it means you don’t care.

Unconditional love is…well unconditional and unending; there are no strings attached.  It means you care for that person more than anything else, no matter what.

Most parents strive to love their children unconditionally.  I think that is part of the makeup of a parent.  However, I’m sure there are times when even the best of us fails to uphold that “unconditional love” clause in the parenting agreement we make with God when we are blessed with a child.  Our own sinfulness gets in the way of perfectly loving our children.

God does love unconditionally.  No matter what.  We are His children and His love is perfect; there are no strings attached.  We are forgiven when we screw up simply because of His Grace, His undeserved forgiveness and unconditional love.  God’s love is a perfect love.

This does not mean we receive unconditional approval from God.  He is rightfully and justifiably disappointed in us when we choose sin over love, when we choose the world over Him.  But like a perfect parent, He loves us still, no matter what.

He loves us so much “that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him might have eternal life.”  John 3:16.  That is a perfect love.

As we move through Lent and reflect upon our lives, contemplate this image of God as the perfect parent, loving and forgiving us, no matter what.  If we accept this as the truth for our lives, how can we not live as confident, adventurous, fearless children of God, loving others as He first loves us?

www.elcaAndy.org

A Butterfly on Her Finger

Are we innately caring or selfish?

I’d like to think that since we are created in the image of God that we are by nature caring and loving. God is love.

But we are also fallen sinners, separated from God by our self-serving sinfulness.

On my wall there is a photograph of my daughter when she was about 5 years old. We were at the Butterfly Conservatory at the Bronx Zoo and there is a monarch butterfly perched on her finger. As sweet as that photo is, the rest of the story is even better.

My son was in a stroller at the time and probably about 18 months old. Somehow, by that age, he had become afraid of bees and flying insects. I was not fully aware of this fear and didn’t put two and two together when we entered the butterfly dome.

My children tend to really care about each other. They are not normal in that they don’t constantly fight and bicker with each other. I know I’m very lucky that their relationship has turned out this way. I thank God profusely for this blessing.

On this day in the Butterfly Conservatory when this beautiful monarch landed on my daughter’s finger, my son, in his innate love for his sister, became frantic and desperate, crying “bee, bee, bee” and pointing at the butterfly on his sister’s finger. He was fearful that she would be hurt by the insect. His love for her at even such a young age was clearly evident, and stronger than any fear for himself.

While she was in her glory, he was beside himself with fear for her.

While we know that one of a child’s favorite words is “mine,” we can also see that their hearts were made for love.

Jesus knew how easy it is for a child to love. “And he called a child to himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-4

What can we do to become childlike in our love for others and our love for God?

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Come worship with us tomorrow night at 7:30 pm for a Taize service of prayer, song and meditation.

Forgiveness 7 X 70

Lent is a good time to bone up on an important life skill.  Forgiveness. 

As we spend our Lenten season reflecting on our lives, trying to change our thoughts and re-direct our steps back to the path God has planned for us, we should attempt to work on forgiving those who have wronged us and asking forgiveness of those we have wronged. 

If we take this season of penitent self-study to consciously make this effort, then perhaps it will not be such a hard thing to do during the rest of the year.

Forgiveness is often called a gift you give yourself.  By forgiving someone who has hurt you, you let go of the anger, hurt, and resentment that is so damaging to your mind, body and spirit. 

By asking forgiveness, you present a heart, mind, and soul committed to change to the person you have wronged, hopefully healing a rift between the two of you.  If he should choose not to forgive you, you should reflect upon whether you have made a just act of reparation to heal the grief you have caused….sometimes it’s as simple as an apology, other times specific actions are needed to restore the relationship.  However, if you have done all that is reasonable to right the wrong, you also need to let go of the hurt, guilt and self-recrimination until that person is willing to consider an option of forgiveness.

When Peter asks Jesus how often we should forgive our brother, Jesus tells us this: “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”  Matthew 18:22

Recently I have heard a song on contemporary Christian radio that speaks to this concept.  It has been stuck in my head today.  7 Times 70 Times by  Chris August speaks to the power of forgiveness and how even though that can seem oh-so-hard, that's where the healing begins.

Check it out for yourself.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5-Q1zAhqpA

It’s a great song to think about during Lent, and everyday.

www.elcaandy.org
Join us for Taize worship, Thursdays at 7:30 pm

What is God? Luther uses 11 words.

I was flipping through my copy of Luther’s Small Catechism and came across  Martin Luther’s answer to the question, “What is God?”

Luther answers, God is… eternal (without beginning or end), unchangeable, omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere), holy (sinless), just (fair and impartial), faithful (keeping his promises), benevolent (good, kind, desiring our welfare), merciful (full of pity), and gracious (showing undeserved kindness, forgiving). Each attribute is accompanied by Biblical citations to back up his answer.

As I thought about these descriptions of God, I was glad that my version of Luther’s Small Catechism included the synonyms for Luther’s words. We use these words so often in our worship, liturgy, and discussions that I think we sometimes loose some of their meaning. Sometimes it feels like we are speaking a language of a by-gone era.

Not many people today speak using the words omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Even the word “benevolent” seems like a word reserved for use by church groups, tax accountants, or charity organizations. We use the word “just” mainly in regard to our legal system, but ask any kid and he’ll look at you like you’ve grown two heads… “just is just a word that doesn’t mean anything” when what he means to say is that it is an adverb that means “simply.”

This question has me thinking about more of the words we use in church and how strange they must sound to the un-churched.

When I write our church newsletter, I try to remember to describe some of those church-y words like “narthex” or lobby, “sanctuary” or church, “sacristry” or kitchenette where we prepare the “eucharist” or Holy Communion, or bread and wine if we really need to boil it down. Altar preparation has another whole set of vocabulary that I won’t get into here, but if you volunteer for the altar guild you’ll need to know.

I’m glad St. Andrew does make the attempt to explain our church-lingo, but it also is nice to have a set of words that help to set these sacred places apart from the rest of the world.

Our communion table is not just a table, but an altar.

Our children are baptized in a font, not just a bowl of water.

These are special things, sacred things. They are separate from the world. They belong to a place for God.

So maybe instead of dumbing it down, we need to focus on educating people up. Not in a holier-than-thou kind of way, but in a “these are the words we use to take the ordinary, and make them extra-ordinary for God and His people” kind of way.

We need to show how our eternal, unchangeable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, just, faithful, benevolent, merciful, and gracious God takes the common things among us, including you and me, and makes them holy, sacred and special to Him.

Luther makes one final note at the end of his answer.  "God is love."  1 John 4:8

We are sanctified (made holy or sinless) just/simply by His Grace (undeserved kindness and forgiveness)...because He loves us.

Amen.

What church words do you think we need to do a better job of describing?  What are your favorite church words that set something apart as special for God?

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Taize Worship - Finding a Focus

I went to a Lenten Taize service at church tonight.  These services are quiet, contemplative, andmeditative with brief readings and repetitive music  from the Taize community in France.  They are meant to help provide you with an avenue for focusing on being connected to God.   They are peaceful and calming.

In other years I have found this service very fulfilling and helpful in finding that peaceful place where I can connect with God very intensely within a reserved half-hour time frame.  This year, I just can’t seem to find my focus.  I feel like I need it very much, but the beams in the rafters draw my attention as their construction boggles my mind; the grill in the ventilation system mesmerized me; the candles on the altar caught my attention one minute and wondering why there we only a handful  of people trapped my mind at another time.

It’s not the worship service.  It’s me.

The service is the same as last year and the year before.  It is continuity in a sea of uncertain times and constant anxieties.  So why can’t I block out the world this year?  Why was tonight so difficult for me?

I probably need this Taize service now more than other years.  I need to find that peace and calm.  So I will continue to attend each Thursday night at 7:30 pm and try to find my way back to that place I need my mind and heart to be.

The beauty of Taize is that even though I couldn’t find that spot tonight, the music gets stuck in your head, as it intended to do.  Hopefully, the continual soundtrack that will repeat in my head during the week will work in unseen and wondrous  ways  by the time Lent is over to help me find that peace and calm.

What do you do to get your mind focused when it doesn’t want to quiet down?

www.elcaAndy.org

Do you think Jesus made snowmen?



 Well here it is a beautiful Spring snow day. Just as we are tempted to think that gloomy gray days of shoveling snow are over, we are smacked with another dose of white stuff.

Which got me to wondering…did Biblical characters know about snow?

A quick Google search tells me that it does indeed snow in the Middle East….the coasts of the Mediterranean, especially Lebanon and Israel see their fair share of snow, as does Iran, and the mountains of Egypt and Afghanistan to name a few. How about that? When we think of Jesus and the wandering Israelites, we often think of deserts, but even the deserts have snow. When our family visited the Grand Canyon we got dusted with a light snow at that elevation. So why not snow in the Middle East?

Sometimes I use the web site www.BibleGateway.com to look up words or themes in the Bible. That site lists 23 citations for “snow” and I’ll share them here with you…from http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=snow&version1=31&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no

If you go to the link, there are hyperlinks to contextual verses so you can get the whole meaning of the verse.

1. Exodus 4:6

Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous —it had become as white as snow.

2. Numbers 12:10

When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous —it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,

3. 2 Samuel 23:20

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

4. 2 Kings 5:27

Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.

5. 1 Chronicles 11:22

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

6. Job 6:16

when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,

7. Job 24:19

As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.

8. Job 37:6

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

9. Job 38:22

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,

10. Psalm 51:7

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

11. Psalm 68:14

When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

12. Psalm 147:16

He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes.

13. Psalm 148:8

lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,

14. Proverbs 25:13

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master.

15. Proverbs 26:1

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.

16. Proverbs 31:21

When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

17. Isaiah 1:18

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

18. Isaiah 55:10

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

19. Jeremiah 18:14

Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing?

20. Lamentations 4:7

Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like lapis lazuli.

21. Daniel 7:9

“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.

22. Matthew 28:3

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

23. Revelation 1:14

The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

Were you surprised to see this many references?  Have you ever been to the Middle East and seen the snow?

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Joining Nicodemus on his Lenten Journey

In worship today we joined Nicodemus, a Pharisee (Jewish religious leader) in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, on his Lenten journey. Through Nicodemus we learn that God is calling us to change…to turn away from our old beliefs and our old ways of thinking and turn toward a new life with Him.


In accepting this new life with Jesus, we are born again, a concept that is puzzling to Nicodemus.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night to speak with Him for clarification and learning. The Pharisees’ encounters with Jesus during the day are hostile, but Nicodemus senses that Jesus has important things to teach him about God. He recognizes “You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:2 In his quest for knowledge and understanding about God, Nicodemus visits Jesus at the risk of the scorn of the other Pharisees who doubt Jesus is anyone special. His heart is already on the journey to being born again into a new life, but he does not yet understand.

In the following verses, Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Spirit moves throughout everything and gives new life to all. He alludes to the His death. He tells Nicodemus what a man must do/believe to have eternal life. John 3:3-21

Nicodemus’ head must have been reeling as he left Jesus that night.

His heart was on a Lenten journey.

The next time we meet Nicodemus he has had time to reflect on the things he has heard from Jesus. At risk of ridicule and chastisement, Nicodemus stands at the Jewish court debating the course of action to take against Jesus and proposes that Jesus was not guilty of anything. John 7:50-51 He was on his way to becoming a believer in the things Jesus was preaching and teaching. His heart was changing.

In our last encounter with Nicodemus on his Lenten journey, we find him helping another secret follower of Jesus (Joseph of Arimathea) to secure Jesus’ body from Pilate (the Roman ruler of the area). He brought with him about 100 pounds of spices to aid in Jesus’ burial. John 19:38-42

Again, Nicodemus risks his reputation for his belief in Jesus. He has come to believe in his ability to be re-born into a new life with God. He steps out of hiding, stands before Pilate to retrieve Jesus’ body, and provides for His proper burial. He is a changed man. His Lenten journey is complete.

Are you being born again on your Lenten journey? Leave a comment and tell us what you are doing to connect with the journey God has planned for you.

Read these above passages about Nicodemus in your Bible. Reflect upon them during your Lenten journey, and perhaps you will find yourself at Easter with a changed heart and a born again spirit.

http://www.elcaandy.org/

Thursday Lenten Taize worship @ 7:30 pm

What's tempting you?

What has been tempting you?

Many of us start the New Year with resolutions to do this, or stop doing that. By the 3rd week of January we’re lucky if we remember what we resolved.

Lent often also has a resolution type of mentality for some people. Giving up chocolate, getting up early to exercise as a means of penitential time for reflection and whatever other rationale we give it…and like our New Year resolutions, we often fail to stick to the plan we set out on Ash Wednesday.

We’re 10 days into the season of Lent…what has been tempting you?

For some people the act of giving something up during Lent is an exercise to remind them of Jesus temptation by the devil after his 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. Jesus was tempted by the devil to end his hunger by turning stones to bread, to test God by throwing himself down from the top of the temple, and with power and dominion in exchange for Jesus’ worship. (Matthew 4:1-11) Jesus’ denied the tempter and cast Satan away. And when He did, the devil left and the angels came and began to minister to Him. (v. 11).

Depending on what you set about to give up, or take on as the case may be, this week of delightfully unseasonably warm weather may have been helpful, or not. In either case, an early few days of 60 degree weather tempts us to forget that we are still in the season of winter. Yes, we are! Tomorrow is the first day of spring. Guess what the weather forecasters are saying? Snow!

You’ve been tempted into wearing those t-shirts and shorts. You’ve been tempted to put away those bulky winter coats. But Spring is not yet here! Even if the calendar marks the beginning of Spring, the weather report looks like winter still has a toe-hold.

Which just goes to show you that we can easily be tempted into thinking about things in the wrong way for today just because we’ve seen a glimpse of the ways we want things to be.

Lent calls us to reflect upon the way God wants us to be in relationship with Him each and every day…days when we screw up and days when we get it right, at times when we are desperate and lonely and times when we are joyous and reach out to others in love. He wants us ALL. When we give ALL of ourselves to Him, He will help us resist the tempter, and all his temptations.

He will give us strength for every day…not just the days of Lent.

What's tempting you?

http://www.elcaandy.org/

Beware The Ides of March!

Beware the Ides of March! While the day has come, it is not over.

I loved learning about Julius Caesar through the work of William Shakespeare; I think it was in the 7th grade (a long, long time ago!). What fun it was to learn history through literature and storytelling instead of history textbooks! I later learned, in college, how much we can also learn about history and culture through a study of art. Again, much more interesting than history books.  

History provides us with the clues for understanding our present time and preparing for the future.

While not part of the Shakespearean text, I remember our teacher telling us that Julius Caesar was reported in another historical document to have answered the soothsayer’s warning with “The Ides of March has come” and the soothsayer’s reply that “the day is not over.”

The Bible is full of stories that inform us of the history of the God’s chosen people, the Israelites. Many prophets warn the Israelites of the times when God will judge them and then again how He loves them. As in, “Beware, the Ides of March is coming.”

The New Testament expands the story of God’s love and offers Jesus as the sacrifice and blood price for our redemption and the cementing of our relationship with God. “The Ides of March is here.”

But we also learn in the New Testament that God will come again. “The day is not over.”

One day, we will all stand in judgment before God. Whether that day is a cataclysmic collapse of all that we know as a civilization, or as one sole life standing before His creator, we do not know. We are living in the time between the Resurrection of Christ and His Coming again. Just because Jesus has paid the price for the forgiveness of our sins, we cannot forget to reach out to those around us with love, forgiveness and compassion.

The Resurrection is not our “get out of jail free” card. We are obliged to love as God has loved us; to forgive as we have been forgiven.

There are people who will say that the destructive forces of nature and the devastating disasters, wars and uprisings that have filled our newspapers for the last few years are signs of the apocalypse.  The recent news reports from Japan certainly can stoke those fears. 

Yet we do not know when that time will be.  "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed; keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.” Mark 13:32-33 Caesar would have done well to stay alert. The Bible has warned us as well.  We are to be alert, but we are not to be afraid.  God is there; "He is near, right at the door." Mark 13:29  "...My words will not pass away." Mark 31

“It ain’t over till it’s over.” - Yogi Berra 

We've got a lot to do today.  There are people all around us in need of the gifts and talents and love God has called us to share.  Get out and do it.

What has God called you to do in your life? Are you working toward that goal? Will you be caught with your task unfinished? Or worse, not yet begun?

Intentional Re-Creation

Missed me? Somehow I don't think you missed me that much, but if you did, I'm back!  I took a few days off. My husband and I went out to Long Island to visit a bunch of local breweries and wineries. We took off and left town for a few reasons:

1. I was feeling really drained and tired.

2. I needed to spend time away with my husband.

3. I needed to pay attention to taking care of me.

4. I needed to pay attention to taking care of my marriage.

5. I needed to recreate in order to be able to create.

6. My husband and I haven’t been away together (alone, without kids) for over 2 years.

7. I was having some writer’s block.

8. We were doing “research” for a future enterprise my husband dreams about which included tasting wine and beer. How could we not have fun?

Sometimes we’ve got to take a step back from all the demands the world creates on our time.

Sometimes we’ve got to take a step back from all the demands we think are important.

So we can remember what is really important.

Scenes of the devastation in Japan were just the cement on the plan to get away, so we could find ourselves.

There’s a reason we are supposed to take a day of rest as God commanded. The problem is we often don’t really do it. We don’t give our lives a day of rest. We don’t give ourselves a day to truly be re-created.

We had a great time. We feel much more connected to each other. I feel like I can breathe again.

What recreation do you do to recapture the feeling of being re-created by God?

Time for Prayer - Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami

It after noon as I write this and we have been hearing the reports of the devastating 8.9 earthquake and the resulting tsunami in Japan.


Please pray for all the people of Japan who are scared, injured, fearing for missing people, or grieving the dead. The temperatures are cold, power is sporadic, drinking water safety is compromised, transportation is unreliable and help can’t come soon enough.

President Obama has pledged to provide American assistance. Please consider being part of that assistance. Listen carefully for ways to help as the disaster relief authorities gear up to reach those affected by this tragedy. Check the web site of Lutheran World Relief (www.lwr.org) for details on how you can help.

At this time, it does not look like the tsunami waves will create a lot of devastation on U.S. properties but there may be some. Please pray for all whose industries or livelihoods may be impacted by this event.

Lord, be with your children who are scared, hurt, or grieving because of this earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. Help them to feel your loving compassion in the hands who reach out to provide help. Move our hearts to be agents of love and compassion to all those who are suffering because of this event.


Amen.

Counting the hairs on your head

How many hairs are on your head? For some of us as we age, there are less and less of them. However, whatever number there are today, could you count them? God knows. He made you and He knows all about you. Even when you don’t know yourself.


Lent is a season of reflection, penitence and changes of heart. With due introspection we are to think about how our lives have diverted from the path God has set before us and contemplate what we need to do to set off toward that path again…that path that leads to a closer relationship with Him. Through various disciplines and exercises (like prayer, fasting, denial, reconciliation, worship and Biblical study, to name a few) we can move toward that enlightenment and a place where we begin to know ourselves as God does.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs on your head are numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

God desires us to be in relationship with Him. He gave His only Son so that we would not be lost to Him, but could be in a perfect relationship with Him forever.

The best parents have good relationships with their children. They know where their kids are, who they are with, and somehow (through the eyes on the back of their heads) know when their kids are about to get into trouble. Those parents warn of dangers, poke and prod for their children to make good choices, let them learn from their mistakes, and always make sure that their children know they are loved, no matter what…no matter how badly they screw up.

God is like that. He sees all our warts and flawed behaviors. He knows what we are thinking and how much trouble we find for ourselves. “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.” Jeremiah 16:17

Our Lenten penitence, reflection, and cries for forgiveness are not for God. He does not need them. We do. They are for us. These things are for building the relationship between us and God. They are to remind us that God loves us…no matter what…to the point of death on a cross.

In this way we learn to know ourselves. We can see the path we are to follow.

We begin to be able to know the count of the hairs on our heads.

Do you believe that God knows how many hairs are on your head?  Do you trust that He loves you no matter what? 

Please leave a comment and tell us what disciplines you use, especially during Lent, to help strengthen your relationship with God?
 
http://www.elcaandy.org/
 
Lenten Taize Worship Services: Thursdays, 7:30 pm

What they learned in New Orleans

Happy Fat Tuesday!

This got me reflecting on the experience my daughter had with the 2009 ELCA National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. Several youth from St. Andrew, Pastor Fred and our Youth Advisor, Karin, a.k.a. KTB (Karin the Beautiful), traveled to New Orleans in July 2009 to join 35,000 other youth and their chaperones for five days of worship, service and fellowship. It was an experience that they will never forget.

I called her at school and asked her to tell me what she remembers as her most cherished memories and what she learned. She told me:

The worship experience (in the Superdome, a place of prior misery and suffering) was phenomenal. All the music, every speaker, touched their lives and connected them to each other and the city of New Orleans and why they were there.

The welcome was humbling. The people of New Orleans greeted them with “thank you’s” and “God bless you’s” everywhere they went.

The service was uplifting and empowering. When 35,000 youth tackle over 158 service projects an amazing amount of work can get done. Our group of kids painted colorful murals to brighten the gray block hallways of the schools to which they were assigned.

My daughter told me today that the most important thing she learned was that no matter how small a thing you do, you can make a difference in people’s lives.

Now there’s something to consider as we head in to the season of Lent. If we each woke up everyday with the intent to do one small thing to make a diffence in someone else’s life, imagine what a change you could effect by the Day of Resurrection, Easter Sunday.

Amen! St. Andrew's Youth are going back to New Orleans in 2012. They’re going to have a great time that they’ll remember forever. They’ll make a difference in people’s lives.

What are you going to do?

Don’t forget to get your ashes tomorrow. Noon and 7:30 pm at St. Andrew.

Sarah's Key - St. Andrew Book Club Review

Tonight the St. Andrew Book Club met for its monthly book discussion. We discussed the book, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana DeRosnay.

The book tells the stories of Sarah and Julia, two girls/women whose lives intersect through a moment in history. The setting is primarily France, both in 1942 and present day and deals with the impact of a little known episode of French history called the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup on July 16, 1942.

It is a haunting and compelling novel which the group found definitely worth reading. In spite of the sadness of the tale, the horror of the history, and the distress of the repercussions of this event, the group felt that the story was important to read and enjoyed learning about a piece of history of which none of us had heard.

Each chapter alternates between the story of the two characters and most of the book club readers found that this did not detract from the story; they were able to switch back and forth between the characters without confusion. There were a few scenes (which I won’t reveal and ruin your reading) which different members of the book club were upset about how DeRosnay developed the story, but others liked.

We had a lot of very interesting discussions about how we might have acted if we had been in that situation in 1942, what kinds of situations are going on today, and what we might do if confronted with a choice to save a child at the risk of endangering ourselves or our families.

In general, the book was well liked, a quick and easy read, and everyone agreed that it was definitely worth reading, especially for the historical insight gained.

Have you read this book?  What did you think about it?

Distorted Images

“Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.”

Our eyes give us visual clues to how we perceive our world. A blue sky means fair weather. A grey sky means impending rain. BUT, have you ever been caught in a sun shower? Have you ever been pelted by hail from a bright blue sky? Sometimes what we see, while often true, is not an iron clad case of fact. But when we tell someone, “Wow I just got pelted by hail but the sky was bright blue,” if he has never also had that experience, he is likely to doubt our tale.

Take the example of a mirror. When you look at your reflection, you see yourself. But if you hold a paper with a word written upon it up to the mirror, you’ll see that the word and the letters are backward. Sometimes you need clues, or science, to understand what you are really seeing. A mirror, usually a thin film of silver or aluminum applied to glass, reflects back the light that hits it at an equal angle to the angle that the light approached the mirror, thereby reflecting the image back in reverse. So while that image in the mirror is you, it is actually a reverse image of you. It’s not an exact image of you.

Now consider fun house mirrors, concave and convex mirrors with varying angles that will really distort the light that reflects off you. If someone were to see you only as the image you present in the fun house mirror, they would have a severely distorted image of you and they might judge you to be very out of proportion. When you then speak to that person on the phone, having never met you in person, his judgment of you would be different than if he had seen the real you.

The same analogies work in our human relationships. What someone else shows us about someone can sometimes be a distortion of what we have seen or know. What we experience can be true to us but unbelievable to others.

A great example of this can be newspaper stories. How often have you read a news article and found mistakes in the headline vs. the text or the photo caption, or someone’s name is misspelled. Or, you answer questions for a reporter and when you read the story you wonder if he was listening when he interviewed you because half of the article reports some kind of distorted version of the facts, or you are completely misquoted, or taken out of context.

We give incredible power to newspapers, or other news media, and are inclined to believe what we read. Because of the incredible power we give to those who report the news, we are easily swayed from believing what we know to be true, to believing the incredible. The tabloids exist and are profitable for a reason. 

When we talk about human relationships, sometimes we need to rely on experience, or the conviction of our hearts, to reveal what is really true. Sometimes what we see in the flash of a moment is only a small piece of the picture and a distortion of the truth.

We need to take care to search out the reality. We need to seek out the origin of the light that gives us the images we see and look at the angles that have distorted our image, so that in searching we might someday find the truth.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, the then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

Have you ever been misunderstood because of a distortion of the facts? How were you able to convince others of the truth?

http://www.elcaandy.org/

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

Yesterday I wrote about forgiveness and why it is so important to work on it, if you hold a grudge against someone. (see yesterday’s blog post) Today, I want to talk about one aspect of forgiveness…our words.

Sometimes when someone has wronged us, we’re very quick to tell the world our tale of woe. We want everyone to know how we have been hurt, and in the process, to also tell the world how badly our antagonist has behaved. We seek vindication that we have been wronged and deserve an apology or retribution. We become gossips.

God commands us to forgive, to avoid gossip and to take up our transgressions directly with our neighbors. In Leviticus 19:16-18 “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord. Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

How do we heal ourselves when wronged? How do we allow ourselves to forgive? The Bible tells us to “rebuke our neighbor frankly.” Go directly to the source and tell the person that he has behaved badly. Ask for his apology. If he does not acknowledge his misconduct and refuses to apologize, that then becomes something for God to judge. You spoke to your adversary and got your hurt off your chest. Your job now is to leave it in God’s hands and move on. Be the bigger person. Ask God for help and healing. Let it go.

When we can not leave it behind, dwell upon how we have been wronged, and gossip about it, we become no better than the person who has wronged us. Our words condemn us. Our hurt and anger can consume us. Instead of offering forgiveness, we now need to ask for it. I have been guilty of this behavior, and it doesn’t feel good. I've worked on it and hope that I handle things better now.  I’m sure you’re guilty of it too. There is no healing.

We have a choice in how we use our words to create forgiveness and healing, or continue the spiral of hurt. Proverbs 12:18 says, “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” I suggest this applies to both the wrong-doer and the wronged.

Sometimes our moms did give some really good advice, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Exercising restraint from gossip when you feel that you have been wronged will go a long way toward healing and forgiveness, both for you and for the one who has hurt you.

When you have been hurt or wronged by someone, do you tell the whole world? Does it solve your problem? Does your heart feel better? What else have you done to resolve an issue of being wronged? Were you able to forgive?


http://www.elcaandy.org/

Lord's Prayer postscript - Matthew 6:14-15

When we discussed trying out a more contemporary version of our worship service (see my last blog post), I decided to visit some other area non-denominational houses of worship which tout a “contemporary” worship service to see how they did it.

In my visits to those churches, the things that surprised me most were the absence of some rather important items to our Lutheran order of worship. Those services were missing the Lord’s Prayer, a statement of faith or creed, and Holy Communion (to name a few). Whoa! Clearly those things were not leaving our worship service!

Today I was reading the Gospel of Matthew and looking at The Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:9-13. What many people may not realize is that there are two verses that follow the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples that are a kind of postscript to The Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

Now there’s a reason to work on forgiveness if there ever was one. Never mind that holding on to a grudge does damage to your mind and body. Never mind that refusing to forgive someone impacts the person who wronged you hardly at all. Not forgiving others will prevent you from receiving the forgiveness of your Father in heaven, no matter how badly you were wronged by others.

In my life I have mostly been able to forgive the people who have wronged me. It truly is easier to let it go, give it up to God, and move on with your life. That being said, there are also a few (truly only a few) people who have hurt me along the way, whom though I try to forgive, I seem to have a difficult time not being hurt all over again every time of think of them. They are long gone from my life, but my hurt is not. How does my not forgiving them get me any justice? Somehow I continue to nurse that grudge. I only do myself harm – mentally, probably physically, and according to Jesus, spiritually.

I’ve really got to work on that.

I’m glad our worship service includes The Lord’s Prayer every Sunday. Now I’ve got two more verses to ground me in the importance of that prayer.

Does your church use The Lord’s Prayer in worship each Sunday? Are there people in your life whom you have trouble forgiving? Do you want to forgive them? What keeps you from do so?

http://www.elcaandy.org/