October 30th, 2008
You could say this is “Part 2” from last week’s article. We have returned from our camping trip and, as always, there are more tales to tell along the hiking trail. This time I had company – my family. It was Amy’s idea that she and the boys join me and I thought, “Wow, that’s neat. We will hike into the mountains together as a family just like they do in the movies.” I picked out a trail loop that was just under six miles and followed one of the creeks. It also had several beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. Around mile two things were not going so well. Amy failed to factor in that mountain trails are, well, hilly. She was getting tired, did not bring water, and by mile four was wondering did the trail ever go down hill. She looked at me as if I designed the mountains that way on purpose.
At mile four I leaned over to Aaron and said that in a few minutes we would reach the top and then begin a rapid decent back to camp. I was planning to move ahead “double time” and fetch some water for Amy. At about the time I shared my plan a heard a bumbling commotion alongside the trail and a black blur rush by. I turned around to Amy and Clark and said “catch up with me, there is a bear.” About that time Clark was staring at the bear’s face and Amy just passed all three of us on the way back to camp.
A little motivation goes a long way!
The stock market fluctuations motivate some to spend less and save more. An illness in a family can motivate loved ones to put aside petty divisions and spend more time together. A death can motivate one to take inventory of their life.
Jesus motivated an adulterous woman by forgiveness. He motivated fisherman hungering for something bigger to go and change lives. Jesus motivated through stories, through miracles, through presence and most of all through the good news of God’s love.
What motivates you each day? How does the kingdom of God, the new order of God, motivate you to change your life and work to change the world?
Grace be with you,
Greg
October 30th, 2008
Earlier this month Amy, the boys and I camped somewhere in the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains. We try to camp there at least once a year and every year has a new adventure: poison ivy from the firewood; an unexpected rain coming through an unexpected hole in the tent, ants in the smores, and of course bears. Many of you have heard me recount the bear story but it “bears” repeating (sorry, I know it was an obvious pun but it begged to be written).
Last year I was out hiking by myself on one of the back-country trails. The views are always glorious and the trail is nearly always peaceful. I am armed with a walking stick, some water and a pocket knife. A cell phone is not much good on such long hikes since there is no coverage, but I carry one anyway just in case there is a need to identify the body.
Around mile five of the hike I began to smell the distinct odor of a wet dog and in my mind I thought, “Oh great, there is a bear in the vicinity.” The odor would not go away and so I developed a mental plan of action of what I was to do if I met a bear on the trail while so far away. I decided my first plan was to turn around and head back to camp. Still, the smell of the wet dog followed me and so I assumed was this heretofore unseen bear. As I was walking and pondering my mortality as well as my escape plan I would mindlessly readjust my hat. Ironically every time I raised my arm to readjust my hat I would once again detect that wet dog smell. Finally it occurred to me that the smell of the wet dog was not a bear, but me! In fact, after a few days of camping without a bath or shower there was a good chance the bears were avoiding me.
That is camping for you – one adventure after another. In a previous article about a year ago I wrote that one of the things I like about camping is the mobility. All you need is a tent (and you don’t really need that) and a good map (which I usually ignore – it’s a man thing). Most everything else you need to enjoy a few days in the woods should fit right on your back. Mobility and flexibility is the key to happy camping.
Not a bad metaphor for the faith. A faith on the move…going places. It is too bad so many are content with just staying put in their relationship with God. Never changing, never growing, never blossoming into anything more. Like water, such a faith is in mortal danger of stagnation. Water that is not allowed a place to flow becomes putrid and useless. That is why you hear me speak so often of our faith as a journey, or pilgrimage. As the people of God we lean across the next horizon for the opportunity, the next possibility.
Let’s break camp and move on – a church on the go, a people on the move and God who is out there in front.
Grace and Peace,
Greg
October 8th, 2008
Last weekend it was out with the old and in with the new. I am referring to my small raised-bed vegetable garden. I cleared out the old tomato vines and pepper plants and reconditioned the soil with a mixture of horse manure and organic fertilizer. Finally it was ready for my fall planting and so I set out a few cabbage plants and scattered seed for collard greens.
Collard greens! I love that plant; especially boiled on a stovetop with a healthy slab of fatback or ham hocks (I am not picky). We eat them on New Year’s Day because it is tradition, but from Fall through Winter we eat them because we like them. Actually, just Amy and I like them. Neither of my boys can get past the smell. I was the same way when I was their age, but one day they will grow out of it. Collard greens may smell bed, but they are good for you and a meal unto themselves if accompanied by a generous wedge of cornbread. They are, as my daddy is fond of saying, “good for what ails you.”
The best part of keeping a garden is the anticipation. Every day I walk out and look at the seeds half expecting full grown plants. Of course at the time of this writing the seeds have only been in the ground a few days. Still, the waiting and the expecting is part of the journey.
Much of what we do in this world is about planting and anticipating. Too often we rush to the end result not realizing that God has not asked us to be successful, prosperous or “winners.” God has asked that we be faithful. Faithful – what a liberating word. It means the future is not in my hands. It means my observed successes or failures are not how I will be measured. It means that my talents, gifts or the lack of my talents and gifts are not the sum of my worth. God has simply invited me to be faithful in the living of my days.
It is our invitation as a church. This Sunday we conclude our stewardship focus and I am giving you my invitation early: Let go of the graven images of the old – definitions of success, struggles for power, notions of triumphalism – and enter into God’s call for faithfulness.
Paul writes to the congregation in Corinth: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (I Corinthians 3:6-7)
Live the life God has called you to live and do not worry how others will measure you. That is God’s business. May it be so for each of us and our beloved community we call the church.
Peace be with you,
Greg
