A Candle Story

It's been a while since my last post. Posting every day through Lent was quite a difficult endeavor. But last Sunday, I shared with our church during a "Men's Sunday" service. Three of us gave a short testimony, and I shared a story that I'd written several years ago when I participated in a Bible study called "Companions in Christ." The story is a metaphor of my faith journey. It is about a ball of wax that grows up to be a candle. It lasts about eight minutes, so I thought I would link the audio here so that folks who are interested could listen. So here it is, "A Candle Story: the Faith Journey of Steven Turner." (click the title to listen, or right click to download)

Introduction

I know that I have at least a few people who check in on the blog regularly, so here is an introduction to what is going on. I haven't made an issue of it, but this year for Lent I have decided that rather than giving something up that I will spend time reflecting on a passage of Scripture each day and then writing about it in APOS (nice new nickname for the blog). I've chosen Psalm 37 simply because it has 40 verses. That makes one verse a day for each day of Lent. So look for a new reflection on Psalm 37 every day but Sundays between now and Easter. God bless, and please feel free to comment on any of these if you wish.

Awakenings

One of the joys of teaching youth is the ability to share with them the experience of truth, beauty, and goodness wherever it may be found. I recently shared the movie "Awakenings" with my AP Psychology students and it reminded me again of the depth of humanity that we too often disregard.

Jesus promised in John 10:10 abundant life, but too often we get stuck in an understanding of abundance that is stuck in the shallowness of the existence we know. God's commandments explicitly point us toward the poor and the oppressed, and they are easily identified in our world. But many people don't fit these categories so clearly, and because they make us uncomfortable we too often overlook them.

Whether it comes from the effects of succombing to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's while aging or cognitive impairments from Down's and other genetic disorders, most of us who don't directly deal with these individuals give them little thought. Some of the more callous among us may write them off and wonder why we bother with them. Because they don't experience the same type of consciousness as us we assume that their experience of consciousness is not relevant to the human experience.

Our obligation to the sick and the poor is about more than just making them well and rich. Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us. I'm convinced that our duty to the poor and the sick has something to do with our faith experience as much as the temporal salve provided others. Perhaps many of us are missing out on the sheer abundance of human life that God knows we can experience by passing over and avoiding those whom we assume have no soul.

"the human spirit is more powerful than any drug- and that is what needs to be nourished: with work, play, friendship, familiy. These are the things that matter. This is what we'd forgotten- the simplest things."

last lines from "Awakenings"

How Can This Be?

Greetings you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!

With this, the word of God comes to Mary. How difficult to think that God could favor one young girl so much that she would be chosen to bear the Savior of the world. What did this "favor" look like? A teenage girl had to deal with misunderstanding and scorn for bearing a child conceived without a husband. A young woman had to carry the burden of knowing that her son was not like other boys. A lady had to deal with uncertainty as her son grew to speak of a heavenly father. A mother grew to learn that while other mothers would release their sons to loving and beautiful brides that would bring them children and joy that her son would be released to world that would reject him despite his undying love for it. A mother watched her son suffer embarrassment, humiliation, and death for a cause that seems so lost. How unfair to the rest of humanity that God showed favor to Mary.

Is a blessing a blessing if it is not shared? As Christians, do we hear the words "greetings you who are highly favored." Too many of us hear those words and think that being set apart and favored by God means that we have somehow earned a place that sets us above the the drunkards, the pornographers, the gays, the fornicators, the greed of the market, the bigots, the poor, the illiterate, the prisoners, the thieves. A blessing from God on me doesn't make me better, it makes the world better. We pray for favor from God, we ask his blessing too often as nothing more than a selfish plea to give me a life of comfort, safety, prosperity. We should say, give me any life you wish. "I am the servant of the Lord, may it be unto me as you have said."

Advent is a preparation for the coming. Christ born into the world, Christ born in us. May you take the favor of the Lord as Mary and gladly bear the burden of Christ and the burden of His cross for a joy that transcends this world.

The Day After, And I'm Still Thankful

It is incredible that an entire nation would set aside a day to "give thanks." A thought that has stuck in my mind lately is the idea that if we approach life from a perspective of victory rather than defeat, what a difference it would make. I first encountered this thought when someone framed the recent election and its effect on racism with that idea. He said that if we compare it to Joshua and the Israelites, even when they occupied the land promised by God, they'd experienced the victory, but it did not mean that hardship was over and more work needed to be done. We've elected a president of African descent, racism isn't over and done, but we approach it now from the other side.

Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome this world. That is what I am thankful for. And with a thankful heart, we are freed from trying to win the game and commissioned to play with dignity and honor. Imagine a football team leading 49-0 in the fourth quarter. They still play to win, but they play now for the fun of the game. A classy team will begin to bring out the best in their opponent, but imagine the coach of this team getting called for unsportsmanlike conduct for arguing a close call. What kind of jerk would do that while winning by 7 touchdowns.

I'm thankful that our victory is won and that I can be freed to play just for the joy of life. It would be unsportsmanlike to just sit back and let things happen as they may, but I don't have to get caught up in the little frustrations the world sets in my path. I can simply take them and move on, all the while trying to bring out the best in those who oppose me.

Truly understanding thankfulness gives us the perspective to live life from the vantage point of victors. Respectful and honoring, but victors nonetheless, inviting all to join in this joy.

UnAfraid-The Election Edition

So part one of my thoughts on being Untangled deals with fear. Mainly, I think of fear as entangling for me because fear usually freezes me in my tracks. When I get afraid in life, I usually just stop. No going forward, no going backward. But lately, I've been focusing on fear in a different way. First, let me say, that my four year goal is that by the next presidential election I want to cast a vote that is an informed decision voicing my preference for the next leader of our nation. I would like to think that will be true this year, but like many Americans, I have allowed myself to become too emotionally involved in this race. I had hoped that by reading Shane Claiborne's "Jesus for President" that I would temper my political feelings, but alas, it did not. I remember 1992, my first presidential contest; several of my friends and I took pride in slogans like "don't blame me, I voted for..." and we even threw around the false threat of moving out of the country because of the election. Eight years later, I must say, my life continued much as it had for the previous 20. And the next eight years brought a change of administration and again, my life stayed much the same. My political sway has changed over the years, but why should I now fear that the next four or eight will be any different. Paul reminds us that we are not of this world, and Jesus had a pretty effective ministry under the rule of a government much more oppressive and brutal than ours. If Paul's words can be so filled with hope, while often writing from the cell of a jail, then how much more should ours be filled with hope in our time. This lack of hope and burning fear leads us to label a young visionary a terrorist and to hang an effigy of a public servant who has put herself out as a candidate for service to her fellow citizens. I will cast my vote, but I will cast it in hope that regardless of who holds the name President for the next four years, that my allegiance will be pledged to "Thy Kingdom Come". No more fear, because in this world we will have trouble, but take heart, this world IS overcome by He who knows not the difference in liberal and conservative.