You’ve seen too much to do nothing
In the beauty
In the brutal
In the church
In the margins
In friend’s lives
In families
In the loving
In the hurting
In the calling
In the yelling
In the blessing
In the cursing
In the welcoming
In the dismissing
In the running
In the crawling
In the dying
In the living
You’ve seen too much to do nothing
(For deeper understanding, view this message by Pastor Matt Cote)
I’ve found a podcast that’s growing on me. It’s called Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. Check out the link to see what it’s about.
One episode prompted me to think about some things I’ve given up. When we think about giving up, some things we give up are good loses; other things we choose to give up may cause people to question why. The latter is where my mind went. Not that I’m paralyzed by what people think, but I revisited two things I gave up that have often caused people to cock their head with a look of, “I’m not sure that makes sense.”
In 2014, I gave up tennis. Almost to the day ten years ago, I had my second neck surgery giving me three infusions most likely due to a car accident that happened around twenty years ago. What does that have to do with tennis? Both instances when the nerve pain surfaced was either the next day after playing tennis or during a season where I was playing quite a bit of tennis. It can’t be confirmed, but it makes sense to me that the motion of serving and other movements during a tennis match didn’t go well with the disc issues that surfaced. Thus, I gave up tennis. Exercise does include some pain, but being healthy doesn’t have to include self-harm.
In 2001, I gave up being a worship leader as an occupation. It became clear to me after 12 years of music being the basis of my work life that it wasn’t fulfilling. There was something else that was better. I didn’t have the answer, but step one was to give up doing something just because I can. A bigger purpose rose by choosing better over good.
In this vein, my pastor spoke this morning about giving up things in order to live in freedom rather than anxiety. When we are honest with ourselves, we often are quite aware of what’s binding us that we aren’t willing to give up. If you find yourself in this position, let me encourage you with this blessing from Kate Bowler. Each episode I’ve listened to, a blessing is how it ends. In the episode that prompted this post, she ended it with the following words. May they speak life into your soul that it’s okay to give up.
Blessed are you who have reached a new age, even if it doesn’t seem to fit. It may feel too big, too reductive, too limiting. It may be marked by a life you barely recognize. The kids who have all moved out or settled somewhere far away, or they’ve never left. And you’re wondering if you’ll ever get that home office. The work that no longer sets the daily hum. The life partner who is gone. And friends you’ve outlived. The body, which doesn’t allow for the hobbies you loved anymore. The monthly check that doesn’t provide the flexibility you’d hoped for. Wasn’t I young just a second ago? Will I ever recognize the person staring back in the mirror? What’s left to do that really counts? How do I know if I am or ever was enough? God gave us eyes to notice the ways life can still be beautiful and rich and full in the midst of so much that has been lost. Remind us that you are not done with us yet. For the God who spoke us into being calls us even now. Not to an ideal or a role, but to a moment. This one. In a world that equates age with liability, it’s time for a reminder that you are a gift. You give advice. You hold on to family recipes. You remember that thing that happened and honestly, we shouldn’t have forgotten. You think our kids are beautiful, and our bad partners should be soundly dumped. You kept the photo album. You hold our stories. Thank you. Even when the world isn’t paying attention. May you get a glimmer of a reminder that these little things add up to something that is and always will be beautiful.
Photo by Lucas Davies on Unsplash
Last month The Atlantic published an article Nine Books to Read to Understand the War in Ukraine. It moved me to expand my knowledge, to educate myself, and to better respond to other’s opinions on the current crisis.
Any of the recommended books sounded interesting to me. I decided to take a trip to the library and see what I could find. I had my favorites selected, but the reality was I was at the library’s mercy. Unfortunately, they didn’t have copies of most of the books. The book that most interested me that they did have I decided was too long of a read. So I browsed other books with related topics and checked out this one by a professor and former foreign policy analyst, Constantine Pleshakov. Turned out to scratch the itch.
One could certainly read this book faster than I did, but I wanted to sit in it more than just do a quick read. Truthfully, I would probably need to read it several times to fully grasp all the history and political nuances addressed. Yet, I’ve gained so much from this read that otherwise I wouldn’t possess.
My one trip to that area of Europe was ten years ago. I went to Belarus as one of several ESL teachers for a week-long schooling. That glimpse was a blink, but an excellent thumbnail into the mindset of those who face the dilemma between holding on to their past or ferociously determining their future. An individual making that life choice can be stuck for much of their life. Imagine the nth degree reached when it’s an entire nation or region.
For anyone facing that dilemma but more importantly for the leaders and citizens of Ukraine, I share this blessing from Numbers 6:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
The vast majority of us base our thoughts about this war on what we read online or hear on the news. I encourage you to do yourself and the Ukrainians a favor-take the time to do your own digging. You’ll benefit more from conducting your own dig that looking in someone else’s hole.
Photo by Marjan Blan | @marjanblan on Unsplash
Posthumous secrets.
Some are good. We find out things that the person did that mattered, that impacted, that altered courses, that showered generosity without attention. We read things they wrote, produced, created that uncover meaning. The world is blessed by unexpected surprise.
Some aren’t good. We find out things that the person did that shocks, that hurts, that damages, that produces unanswerable questions. We hear things they chose, hid, manufactured that defy understanding. The world is grayed by unexplainable bewilderment.
May we live lives that leave good secrets.
Photo by Nathan Hanna on Unsplash
Yesterday through a podcast episode I was reminded of the value of gratitude, even more so the importance of writing it down.
When I woke up this morning, I had a WhatsApp message from a pastor in Egypt sharing an update and requesting prayer. I met him in 2018 on a couple of trips to Jordan. Anytime I hear from those Jordanian contacts I’m reminded of the differences in our worlds. West vs. Middle East. Levels of freedom, finances, housing, opportunities, health services-basically every facet of life.
As I prayed for him I was convicted of taking for granted these life blessings that are better than most people in the world. So I followed through with the prompting to write down what I’m grateful for, but I did it differently than before. I made a list of sentences that had a fill-in-the-blank. The sentence was, “My is better than most.” Got a little more real, more thankful, more humbling, more worshipful.
Here are some of my sentences:
What words would you use to fill in the blank? How blessed are you better than most?
(Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash)
After reading Hebrews 12 and Galatians 1 this morning, here’s a simple summary:
Do what you do for God, not for man.
Do what you do through faith, till the end, eyes on Jesus.
In The Message, one phrase from Hebrews could be paraphrased, “Never Lose Sight of Where You’re Going.”
May your week be blessed in the how and why of your doing!
Today I heard a missionary talk about the power of blessing. She lives in a country where Islam is the norm, and she has learned that Muslims place importance on the practice of blessing a newborn. She was asked how Americans bless newborns. When she answered that people just say congratulations, she was told that congratulations is not a blessing. This made her think about the practice of blessing and how it could impact people.
As she read scriptures to find examples of blessings, the power of one word was evident. The word is may. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed hearing the use of this word by pastors, particularly when they are giving a challenge to their congregation. But when you read different scriptures that include may, you are reading some excellent examples of how to bless others. Here are three examples in Paul’s writings:
Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice. Romans 15:15-16
Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus-the great Shepherd of the sheep-through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Hebrews 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
May we share the power of blessing through spoken and written word. May we experience the power of God’s word spoken to us and through us.
John Gregory 