Lenten Love #14

“Then he went a short distance farther and feel on his face and prayer, “My Father, if it’s possible, take this cup of suffering away from me. However – not what I want but what you want.” (Matthew 26:39 CEB)

This is probably a strange passage to find comfort in.  Here our Savior is at his most vulnerable, as human as human can be, and it brings me strength.  You see, I appreciate that I worship a God who is not distant and far removed from my situation in life.  That he faced life and said, “Why does it have to be this way?” just as I do and just as many of you do as well.  And where many of us stop, at the crying out part, he set the stage for us to us take the next step and say, “but not what we want, rather what you want God.”

I firmly believe that when we become less selfish, the world will improve.  When we stop insisting on always getting our way, when we actually sacrifice a little bit, like Christ talked over and over about, I believe the world will start following suit.  And day by day, the world will start looking a lot more like what God wants it to look like.  That is my hope.  That is my dream.  That’s what keeps me going. So when my mind says, “if possible take this cup,” my heart follows up and says, “Not what I want, but what you want Lord.”

Blessings,

Brad
<><

Lenten Love #13

“But what if I was wrong?
Oh what if I was wrong?
But hold on to what you believe, in the light
When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight”

-“Hold On To What You Believe”, Mumford and Sons

            I’ll admit, it’s easy to let doubts and fears creep into our hearts and minds.  God knows the headlines alone are enough to cause us great distress and worry.  Of course, those are the things that cause newspapers, television shows, and websites to succeed.  We let those fears get the best of us, and like a hungry child starving for food, we feed them, by reading and listening to more and more. The next thing you know, we have forgotten about the Good News altogether.

            I think Lent is a great time for us to turn down the cacophony of bad news, to realize that the worst word is never the last word, and to refocus our hearts and minds on the Living God.  I love the fact that spring is just around the corner when it comes to this challenge.  Soon we will begin to see signs of life re-emerging from its winter slumber and as that new life springs up around us, we can be reminded that God is still moving in this world. 

            In the meantime, like the song says, we ‘hold on to what we believe, in the light’ that we know as Jesus Christ.  Thanks be to God for the Good News, even when we forget about it at times.

Peace,
B

<>< 

Lenten Love #12

“…Yet my people have exchanged their glory for what has no value.” –Jeremiah 2:11b (CEB)

“They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that look like mortal humans: bird, animals, and reptiles.” Romans 1:23

These passages remind me of the story that Rob Bell tells in one of his NOOMA videos.  He and his sons were walking on the beach one day collecting seashells when they spotted this massive starfish floating in the water a little ways offshore.  One of his sons takes off running to go get it, stops part way out and turns back.  They yelled to him, “Turn around! Go, get the starfish!”  And so he does with more enthusiasm.  Again, half way out this time, he stops and turns back around to come in. They yelled again to him, “Turn around! Go and get that starfish!”  With even more excitement and vigor he splashes out, only to stop and run back in.  The young boy finally gets back to the shore with his brother and dad, tears flowing down his face.  Bell says to his son, “What’s wrong?”  And his son replies, “My hands are too full with shells to be able to pick up the starfish.”

The point he tries to make is that we settle so often for the ‘good enough’ in life that we miss out on the ‘really great’ stuff.  While Jeremiah and Paul are little harsher in their tone, to me the point is the same.  I’ve long thought that we just settle for things in our lives.  Remember, we were created in the IMAGE of God.  That’s powerful stuff.  God wants desperately to do great things in this world through us and for us.  Why settle for good, when we can celebrate, enjoy, and be great!

Blessings as you seek to see the Greatness of God!

B

<>< 

Lenten Love #11

“We can be encouraged by the faithfulness we find in each other, both your faithfulness and mine.” Romans 1:12b

“When the path is daunting

And every step exhausting

I'm not alone, I'm not alone”

-‘Carry Me to the Cross’, Kutless

I find that nearly all of life is a balancing act.  We walk this fine line in a lot of what we do.  For instance, many of us desperately want to be different from the norm.  We spend our life asserting our independence, trying to be different from every one else.  And I think that sometime this is a good thing.  We are unique.  Each of us are special and unique because God made us this way.  There is not another ‘you’ or another ‘me’.

But on the flip side, in that desire to be different and unique, we begin to believe that all that we go through in this life is unique to us as well.  So we struggle and face hardships and we think to ourselves, “No one will understand what I am going through.”  This leads us down the dangerous road toward isolation and loneliness.  

God’s word helps us to find balance by demonstrating our uniqueness as created as individuals, but also our dependence and communal nature in being created in the image of God.  It provides us with the encouragement that we do matter and are special in God’s eyes, but also with the reminder that we cannot do this thing we called life alone, nor were we ever meant to.

So on this rainy and dreary (at least in Charleston) Monday, know that you are unique and that you are also a part of a pretty special group that is never by yourself, no matter what you go through.

Blessings,

B

<><

Lenten Love #10

As I put the kids to bed last night, I pulled out one of my favorite books to read to them.  It’s called God’s Dream and it is co-written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  It’s more of a poem really.  Even though it’s a little long, I thought I would share it with you today.

Dear Child of God, 

What do you dream about 

in your loveliest of dreams?

Do you dream about 

flying high or rainbows

reaching across the sky?

Do you dream about 

being free to do what 

your heart desires?

Or about being treated

like a full person no 

matter how young you

might be?

Do you know what God dreams about?

If you close your eyes and look with

your heart, I am sure, dear child,

that you will find out.

God dreams about people sharing.

God dreams about people caring.

God dreams that we reach out and

hold one another’s hands and play one

another’s games and laugh with one

another’s hearts.

But God does not force us to be

friends or to love one another.

Dear Child of God, it does happen 

that we get angry and hurt one

another. Soon we start to feel sad

and so very alone.

Sometimes we cry,

and God cries with us.

But when we say we’re sorry

and forgive one another,

we wipe away our tears and 

God’s tears, too.

Each of us carries a piece

of God’s heart within us.

And when we love one another,

the pieces of God’s heart are

made whole.

God dreams that every one of us will

see that we are all brothers and sisters-

yes, even you and me - even if we have

different mommies and daddies or live

in different faraway lands.

Even if we speak different languages

or have different ways of talking to God.

Even if we have different eyes or different skin.

Even if you are

taller and I am

smaller.  Even if 

your nose is little 

and mine is large.

Dear Child of God,

do you know how to make

God’s dream come true?
It is really quite easy.

As easy as sharing, loving, caring.

As easy as holding, playing, laughing.

As easy as knowing we are family

because we are all God’s children.

Will you help God’s dream come true?

Let me tell you a secret...

God smiles like a rainbow when you do.

May God smile like a rainbow on you today!

B

<><

Lenten Love #9

So we have this one flower around our mailbox that refuses to go quietly.  With the warm weather from a few weeks ago, this daffodil believed it was time to pop out and bring a little color to the world.  And in spite of the rain, cold temperatures, and even frost from the last few weeks, it has remained upright and proud.

I find encouragement and hope from this little flower.  It greets me each morning as I leave and it welcomes me home as the sun is setting.  I love its unexpectedness. I love its resiliency.  I love that very soon, come springtime, it will be joined by other daffodils along with all sorts of other flowers and new life.

I’ll be honest, this little flower reminds me that I need to stand up straight and hold onto the promises and hope found in God.  Lord knows I see enough brokenness and darkness around me, in my own life and in the life of others, to easily be led down a path I shouldn’t go.  So even as the dreary days of winter drag on, much like life sometimes, we trust and carry on, knowing that color and life are waiting just below the surface to break forth and bring beauty and love.

Have a great Friday!
Peace,
B

<><

Lenten Love #8

“Fix It!” - Oscar Rogers, Financial Adviser 

Okay, so Oscar Rogers is not a real person.  He was a character on Saturday Night Live several years ago that came on the ‘Weekend Update’ segment.  With the country in a financial crisis, the character played by Kenan Thompson just yelled, “Fix It!” over and over again.  Check it out online if you have the time.

What I am finding in my own life and in the life of many people I know is that we want to do the same.  We want to ‘fix it!’.  We busy ourselves, moving from one thing, to the next, to the next, all in an effort to ‘fix it!’.  All the while, more problems and issues keep coming up.

I believe that Lent offers us a respite from the rush to try and fix all that is wrong with the world. By spending some time to think about our lives in light of Christ’s sacrifice, we find that in Jesus Christ, God did what we so desperately try to do as humanity.  God ‘fixed it!’ by conquering death once and for all.  And in the Resurrection we find our hope.

When we realize, like someone I know often says, ‘the worst word is never the last word’, we are given the strength to carry on.  Sure our issues still exist, but when the light of Christ shines upon them they begin to lose the strangle hold they have on our lives. We begin to breath a little easier and the next step becomes more manageable.  May we walk together in the light of Jesus Christ this day, in the days ahead, and into a future that is filled with hope.

Blessings on your journey, wherever that may be this day!

Peace,
B

<><