I have been reading from Thessalonians the past few weeks, and am struck by the number times I read the phrase: "encourage one another." In this short little letter in the Bible, it occurs 5 times.
There are days, weeks, even months that we really need encouragement. I just spoke with a member of the congregation that I serve. For well over a year now she has battled cancer. Her daughter is staying with her for a few days and on a day when she really did not want to leave the house her for a meeting at the church building her daughter encouraged her to go so that she could be part of a group that supports her and gives her life. After the meeting this woman said to me: "It's always good to have someone encourage me to do something."
Runners, it seems, and those who watch races, are extremely good at encouraging one another. I remember vividly watching the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when Derek Redmond pulled up in the 400 meter semi-final with a torn hamstring. He continued limping around the track, while his father pushed past security to join him. Derek's Dad told him: "You don't have to do this." Derek replied: "Yes, I do." At which point his father answered him: "Then we'll finish together." The two finished to a standing ovation. Encouragement in action.
At the 2014 Minnesota state high school girls cross-country race two girls stopped to help an opponent who fell just 50 meters from the finish. All three were disqualified because of a high school league rule against aiding another runner. Again, encouragement in action.
In some ways it is easier to offer encouragement to a runner than it is to encourage another person experiencing the ups and downs of life's journey. In running it is often easier to tell what type of encouragement to offer. A runner appears tired so you cheer. A hamstring is torn so you walk alongside. A young woman falls so you help her up. Encouragement.
In everyday life such encouragement, is, at times, more difficult. We don't often let our guard down to say how someone can help us. It is hard to ask for someone's help. We don't want to become a burden. Where do you need encouragement in your life today? How might you be a source of encouragement for someone today?
Should the church not also be a place where we receive and offer encouragement? Can it be a place where you can come and be renewed and strengthened to do the work God has gifted you to do; a place where you can come as you are, a place where we celebrate achievements and console following disappointment; a people who gather to give hope when hope is scarce, comfort when it is needed, and courage when we are afraid; a place where you can be the person God has created you to be.
In Matthew's story about Jesus, Jesus says: "You are the light of the world...Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to God." When your light is dim, I pray that someone will come alongside you to rekindle the flame so that the light of Christ in your life will shine for all to see.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
More than Wins and Losses
Last weekend I took a 12 7th and 8th grade confirmation youth to the movie: When the Game Stands Tall. The movie tells the story of a high school football team that has an incredible 151 game winning streak - 12 straight seasons without a loss! When the team finally loses, and their amazing 151 game winning streak is broken, the team starts to fall apart, until they are reminded of who they are and what they are about as a team. I enjoyed the movie and found it to be inspiring, thought-provoking, and entertaining.
Following the movie I talked with the kids and we identified three primary themes: teamwork, perseverance, and identity. No team wins 151 straight games and 12 straight California high school state championships without working together, without keeping at it, and without having a strong sense of who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. The team was about so much more than winning games.
When the DeLa Salle Spartans lost their first game in 12 years, the players clearly upset and angry, one of the coaches has some powerful words for the team. He says: Do not let this game define who you are; let your life do that.
How often do we let our failures (or our successes), bad choices, or the opinions of others define who we are? The core of our identity is not found there. The core of who we are is much deeper than even our actions. As followers of Jesus our identity is found in the claim God has on us. That claim is that you are God's child, deserving of love and respect, and God can use you to change the world.
As people who belong to God we work with each other for the good of everyone. We do life with one another. As we do life we will disagree. We will argue with one another. We will become angry with one another. Yet we are in this life together. We support one another. We forgive. We receive apologies with grace. The past cannot be changed and so we do not keep hoping that it somehow will change. We work to strengthen relationships knowing that the person with whom I disagree or perhaps not like very much is also an individual for whom Jesus died and whom Jesus loves and through whom God is at work.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God (Isaiah 62.3).
Following the movie I talked with the kids and we identified three primary themes: teamwork, perseverance, and identity. No team wins 151 straight games and 12 straight California high school state championships without working together, without keeping at it, and without having a strong sense of who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. The team was about so much more than winning games.
When the DeLa Salle Spartans lost their first game in 12 years, the players clearly upset and angry, one of the coaches has some powerful words for the team. He says: Do not let this game define who you are; let your life do that.
How often do we let our failures (or our successes), bad choices, or the opinions of others define who we are? The core of our identity is not found there. The core of who we are is much deeper than even our actions. As followers of Jesus our identity is found in the claim God has on us. That claim is that you are God's child, deserving of love and respect, and God can use you to change the world.
As people who belong to God we work with each other for the good of everyone. We do life with one another. As we do life we will disagree. We will argue with one another. We will become angry with one another. Yet we are in this life together. We support one another. We forgive. We receive apologies with grace. The past cannot be changed and so we do not keep hoping that it somehow will change. We work to strengthen relationships knowing that the person with whom I disagree or perhaps not like very much is also an individual for whom Jesus died and whom Jesus loves and through whom God is at work.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God (Isaiah 62.3).
Friday, July 11, 2014
When Death Comes too Soon
The other day I heard someone comment on the untimely death of 27 year old woman. I don't know how she died or what she may have died from. She was, in the words of this person: "a beautiful young girl who died too young."
Many of us have experienced when death comes far too soon. I remember being a sophomore in high school when my classmate and friend Scott was killed in a car accident. I didn't understand why he died. I didn't (and still don't) know what caused the accident. His death made no sense to me.
Anytime someone dies well before they have lived a long and full life, we want to make sense of the death. We want to understand why that person died. So when a young person dies, many of us - having good intentions - say something like: "It must have been his time." "God must have needed her." "Now we have another angel to watch over us." When this 27 year old died, the comment I heard was: "She died to help others change for the better...making this world a little more kinder and stronger."
Every time I hear someone explain the reason why an individual died too soon, I am troubled. The fact is that none of us can explain anyone's death. We might be able to point to a car accident or cancer that caused the death, but any time we have a reason for that death we are playing God, thinking that we know why. We don't know why one person dies tragically at a young age, and another lives a long and full life. Every death - no matter the age or the circumstances surrounding that death - means a loss to at least one person who loves that individual and are saddened that he/she is no longer walking this earth. God can take these untimely deaths and work to bring about good in other ways (even inspiring others to change how they live, making this world that God loves a little better).
When my friend Scott died, I didn't understand why. I became profoundly aware, however, that death can happen at any time to any one, and, as a 15 year old, decided that I would seek to live my life to the fullest.
When death comes too soon, please, don't try to explain the death. Be with the family. Say, "I'm sorry." Grieve with them. Let the death of a young person (or an older person) inspire you to change how you live. Take actions in their memory. Live the life they can no longer live. But please, don't play God and explain their death away.
Many of us have experienced when death comes far too soon. I remember being a sophomore in high school when my classmate and friend Scott was killed in a car accident. I didn't understand why he died. I didn't (and still don't) know what caused the accident. His death made no sense to me.
Anytime someone dies well before they have lived a long and full life, we want to make sense of the death. We want to understand why that person died. So when a young person dies, many of us - having good intentions - say something like: "It must have been his time." "God must have needed her." "Now we have another angel to watch over us." When this 27 year old died, the comment I heard was: "She died to help others change for the better...making this world a little more kinder and stronger."
Every time I hear someone explain the reason why an individual died too soon, I am troubled. The fact is that none of us can explain anyone's death. We might be able to point to a car accident or cancer that caused the death, but any time we have a reason for that death we are playing God, thinking that we know why. We don't know why one person dies tragically at a young age, and another lives a long and full life. Every death - no matter the age or the circumstances surrounding that death - means a loss to at least one person who loves that individual and are saddened that he/she is no longer walking this earth. God can take these untimely deaths and work to bring about good in other ways (even inspiring others to change how they live, making this world that God loves a little better).
When my friend Scott died, I didn't understand why. I became profoundly aware, however, that death can happen at any time to any one, and, as a 15 year old, decided that I would seek to live my life to the fullest.
When death comes too soon, please, don't try to explain the death. Be with the family. Say, "I'm sorry." Grieve with them. Let the death of a young person (or an older person) inspire you to change how you live. Take actions in their memory. Live the life they can no longer live. But please, don't play God and explain their death away.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Living Joyfully
The congregation I serve was in the midst of a week long Day Camp program. Four college-aged youth from Sugar Creek Bible Camp (http://wp.sugarcreekbiblecamp.org/) were with us leading our Kindergartners through 6th grade youth in a program of games, worship, Bible study, crafts, and general all around fun. In addition, we had about 10-15 Middle and High school youth helping. They worked with pre-school youth in the morning (9:00 - 11:30) and then with the older kids in the afternoon.
As happens every year, some of the helpers are not members of the congregation. They are friends of congregational members and they have done it in the past and know how much fun they have helping (and, since it's summer, they really don't have anything else to do!).
It was Wednesday afternoon and I drove two teenaged helpers home. They talked non-stop. They exclaimed the joy they experienced that day, some of the fun things they did, stories of helping the pre-schoolers. Then the 13 year old said: "Man I'm tired. I'm not used to having to get up by 8:00 in the summer."
I laughed. I asked him when he usually wakes up. "12:00 or 12:30" he said. And then this 13 year old unchurched boy who could not stop talking exclaimed: "But it's easy to get up early for this. Maybe that's what life is like when you have something you look forward to doing!"
Maybe that's what life is like when you have something you look forward to doing. Unfortunately there are too many people in our world who do not have something to look forward to doing. They might be unemployed or they might have a job; even a well paying job with great benefits. But they don't like what they do.
Dawn Trautman - a friend of mine - who has found her calling as a life coach, pointed me to a graduation speech by Jim Carrey https://www.mum.edu/default.aspx?RelId=694468. In his speech Carrey tells a story about his Dad who, for fear of failure, instead of becoming a comedian, took "a safe job" He was fired from that job when Carrey was 12 years old, and the family ended up doing whatever they could just to survive. But then Carrey adds: I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
Doing what you love...That's living joyfully. That's having something you look forward to doing. God has created each of us for a purpose. You belong to God. You are loved by God. And God wants to work through you to change the world. If you want help with the process of getting to the point where you do what you love and wake up looking forward to doing it, I encourage you to check out Dawn's blog and sign up for her ecourse - Big Picture, Big Purpose http://www.dawntrautman.com/onlineclasses.html
I've taken this course, and may do so again. It's life-giving, challenging, and well worth the investment of your time and money as you seek to live the life God intends for you - a joyful life that meets the needs of the world and gives you life in the process.
As happens every year, some of the helpers are not members of the congregation. They are friends of congregational members and they have done it in the past and know how much fun they have helping (and, since it's summer, they really don't have anything else to do!).
It was Wednesday afternoon and I drove two teenaged helpers home. They talked non-stop. They exclaimed the joy they experienced that day, some of the fun things they did, stories of helping the pre-schoolers. Then the 13 year old said: "Man I'm tired. I'm not used to having to get up by 8:00 in the summer."
I laughed. I asked him when he usually wakes up. "12:00 or 12:30" he said. And then this 13 year old unchurched boy who could not stop talking exclaimed: "But it's easy to get up early for this. Maybe that's what life is like when you have something you look forward to doing!"
Maybe that's what life is like when you have something you look forward to doing. Unfortunately there are too many people in our world who do not have something to look forward to doing. They might be unemployed or they might have a job; even a well paying job with great benefits. But they don't like what they do.
Dawn Trautman - a friend of mine - who has found her calling as a life coach, pointed me to a graduation speech by Jim Carrey https://www.mum.edu/default.aspx?RelId=694468. In his speech Carrey tells a story about his Dad who, for fear of failure, instead of becoming a comedian, took "a safe job" He was fired from that job when Carrey was 12 years old, and the family ended up doing whatever they could just to survive. But then Carrey adds: I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
Doing what you love...That's living joyfully. That's having something you look forward to doing. God has created each of us for a purpose. You belong to God. You are loved by God. And God wants to work through you to change the world. If you want help with the process of getting to the point where you do what you love and wake up looking forward to doing it, I encourage you to check out Dawn's blog and sign up for her ecourse - Big Picture, Big Purpose http://www.dawntrautman.com/onlineclasses.html
I've taken this course, and may do so again. It's life-giving, challenging, and well worth the investment of your time and money as you seek to live the life God intends for you - a joyful life that meets the needs of the world and gives you life in the process.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Grandad Half Marathon
Saturday May 3rd I lined up with my brother Dave and 1300 other runners for just my second half-marathon. The race began overlooking the city of La Crosse, at the top of Grandad's bluff. Because the race begins with a two mile descent, and I know how difficult it is to run down-hill, I had decided that I would take it slow.
It was a beautiful morning for the run. After a week of run the sun was shining brightly. Temps at the start of the race were about 50F. Unlike my first half-marathon, my goal in this race was simply to enjoy the experience and to finish with pride.
Despite saying that I would take the first two miles slow, I started out a bit faster than I should have. Somewhere on the descent I passed both the 2:15 pacers and the 2:30 pacers. At the three mile mark I was doing well. Stacey was there as a course volunteer cheering me on, and I shed my long-sleeve shirt.
Miles 3-6 went pretty well. I was keeping about a 10 minute pace. Although I didn't realize it at the time, I was running a bit faster than I had trained (that's a problem when I logged too many treadmill miles - because of weather - while soccer and Lent took precedence to following my training plan).
I reached the half-way point at just over one hour. I took my Gu as I walked up a slight incline. It was at that point the 2:15 pacers passed me by. And the second half wasn't nearly as good.
My time slowed. I stopped to walk from time to time. My quads really started aching around the 10 mile mark. The 2:30 pacers caught me and I started running with them. Dave was long out of sight.
At various points in the race the cheers from the crowd kept me going (even when I couldn't see them but could only hear their cheering). Following the water break at the 11 mile mark I was determined to finish the race running. So I did.
As I turned the corner onto Front Street in La Crosse I could see the end. It was still about a half mile away. But I knew I would finish. As I entered Riverside Park Stacey got my picture. In the last 100 yards or so I was able to pick up my pace and cross that finish line with pride. I finished the race!
I'm proud of that accomplishment. People have asked me how I did and my response has been the same: "I finished the race and I'm proud of how I did." My time was 2:27. Sure I would have like to run faster. But that wasn't my goal. My goal was to finish and to be proud of my run. And that I did.
Our life is similar. It doesn't matter how fast or how swift we are. We run to finish the race.
It was a beautiful morning for the run. After a week of run the sun was shining brightly. Temps at the start of the race were about 50F. Unlike my first half-marathon, my goal in this race was simply to enjoy the experience and to finish with pride.
Despite saying that I would take the first two miles slow, I started out a bit faster than I should have. Somewhere on the descent I passed both the 2:15 pacers and the 2:30 pacers. At the three mile mark I was doing well. Stacey was there as a course volunteer cheering me on, and I shed my long-sleeve shirt.
Miles 3-6 went pretty well. I was keeping about a 10 minute pace. Although I didn't realize it at the time, I was running a bit faster than I had trained (that's a problem when I logged too many treadmill miles - because of weather - while soccer and Lent took precedence to following my training plan).
I reached the half-way point at just over one hour. I took my Gu as I walked up a slight incline. It was at that point the 2:15 pacers passed me by. And the second half wasn't nearly as good.
My time slowed. I stopped to walk from time to time. My quads really started aching around the 10 mile mark. The 2:30 pacers caught me and I started running with them. Dave was long out of sight.
At various points in the race the cheers from the crowd kept me going (even when I couldn't see them but could only hear their cheering). Following the water break at the 11 mile mark I was determined to finish the race running. So I did.
As I turned the corner onto Front Street in La Crosse I could see the end. It was still about a half mile away. But I knew I would finish. As I entered Riverside Park Stacey got my picture. In the last 100 yards or so I was able to pick up my pace and cross that finish line with pride. I finished the race!
I'm proud of that accomplishment. People have asked me how I did and my response has been the same: "I finished the race and I'm proud of how I did." My time was 2:27. Sure I would have like to run faster. But that wasn't my goal. My goal was to finish and to be proud of my run. And that I did.
Our life is similar. It doesn't matter how fast or how swift we are. We run to finish the race.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Helping One Another Finish the Race
The 2014 Boston Marathon attracted much more attention this year. The one year anniversary of the bombing at the marathon made it a much more public event. Morning news shows broadcast from Boston. The evening newscast had a re-cap much more complete than a final segment. And for those of us in Caledonia, the fact that Linda Esch participated increased the interest locally. For me, having it on the Monday following Easter made it easier for me to watch. Following a full week of worship I always take Easter Monday as a day of rest. Which meant that I could watch much of the marathon online.
If you followed the marathon, you heard stories of individuals and groups of people for whom running the marathon or being present at the marathon was extremely healing. Some runners were present when the bombs went off and were not allowed to finish in 2013. Some runners were spectators a year ago and provided medical assistance to the injured. For such people, many of whom are suffering now from survivor's guilt or post-traumatic stress, just being on Boylston Street brought healing.
One of the stories that came out of the marathon happened long after American Meb Keflezighi and Kenya's Rita Jeptoo (and Caledonia's Linda Esch) crossed the finish line. At the 26 mile mark, just two tenths of a mile from the finish line, a Massachusetts runner collapsed. His legs were too weak to go any further. At that point, one by one - until there were five - other marathon runners, their own bodies exhausted from the run, helped the fallen runner get to the finish line. Wesley Lowrey of the Washington Post described it with these words:
As the runner was carried toward the finish, now just a few blocks away, the man cried out to his new teammates. “Let me walk it. Let me walk across the finish. I need to finish,” he urged those who carried his limp body. The five were now just a few hundred feet from the finish line. As they crowd roared, they set him down.
“We made a decision,” Meyer recalled. “Let’s put him down. Let’s let him walk across on his own.”
Then, individually, they each finished the race.
Even for runners, a marathon is a long run. It takes months of hardwork, training, and dedication. The goal is always to finish the race. Life itself has been described as a marathon. There are days/weeks/months/years that we struggle to keep moving forward. We want to throw in the towel. Give up. Wish it would end. Now.
Not everyday is like that of course. But when life does seem like a never ending marathon one of our tasks as people of God is to help one another finish the race. We stop focusing on ourselves and remember that God's call to us is to love one another. One of the ways we show that love to one another is by helping them finish the race.
As a pastor I've seen individuals and groups of people stop and help carry someone towards the finish line countless times. A word of kindness or encouragement is spoken to someone in the pits; a prayer shawl is wrapped around an individual facing cancer; a meal is brought to the home of a family who has suffered a loss; a listening ear is given to the person in the midst of a personal struggle; a teacher sits down with a student to help him learn how to read; $500 is given to the school so that children without funds for milk break can drink milk; the list is seemingly endless.
Thank you for the many ways you share God's love with others, and for the ways you exhibit the same caring done by the five runners who stopped to carry a fellow runner to the finish line.
The full story can be read here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/04/22/the-story-behind-that-boston-marathon-photo-of-runners-carrying-a-competitor-toward-the-finish/
Monday, March 31, 2014
Why Worship?
I served as an intern pastor some 20 plus years ago at Central Lutheran Church in Bellingham, Washington. A wonderful congregation in a beautiful city in a gorgeous area of the country. One of the conversations I remember having was with a woman named Cindy. Cindy and I talked about worship. Specifically we talked about why we worship.
For me, going to church was something that I had always done. I grew up as a pastor's kid. Sunday morning consisted of delivering newspapers, going to church, and then Sunday school. There was never any question about whether or not we would go. We went.
I also remember learning (in a rather painful way) that if I happened to be sick Sunday morning, I would be sick for the whole day. Even if I felt fine by lunch time. I had been sick in the morning so I just better stay in my room and rest all day just to make sure I would be healthy enough for school the next day. No TV. No going outside to play (I think I was only sick once on a Sunday morning).
During my college years I normally attended chapel on Sundays. I cannot really say that I found the preaching stimulating or the worship itself all that exciting. I went in part because going to worship had been ingrained in me. It was a habit. But I did find that I felt better about myself when I worshiped.
Cindy, who started this conversation with me, said: "Well I go to church because I figure I have nothing to lose. I mean going to church will assure me that I'll go to heaven. And if heaven does not exist, well then I haven't really missed out."
For Cindy, going to church was kind of a life insurance policy. If she found at the end of her life that she was in heaven, then going to church had paid off. And if there was no heaven (or hell), then she really had not missed out on anything.
Cindy and I had several conversations throughout the year about worship. It lead me to begin asking the question of others - "Why do you worship?" And I began to explore that for myself as well.
In our world today there are so many options available to us on Sunday mornings. Shopping centers are open. Children have basketball games and volleyball tournaments. There is the opportunity to sleep late; go to coffee shop and catch up with a friend; catch up on laundry and some of our home-keeping tasks. There are any number of options for us on Sunday morning that did not really come into play 25-30 years ago. And for many of us today, if worship fails to connect with my daily life; that is, if I fail to see a connection between what happens in a church on Sunday morning and what happens the other 167 hours of my week, I likely will not bother worshiping.
To answer my own question (why do you worship?) is simply this: After seven days are past, I need to be reminding again that God has created me, that I am worthy of love and respect, and that God is at work in my life to change the world. I just find it hard to believe that God actually cares about me for more than seven days at a time (and even that is difficult).
My colleague David Lose puts it this way: "Each and every week, we hear the news that the God who created and still sustains this vast cosmos not only knows that you and I exist…but actually gives a damn. More than that, that God cares deeply and passionately about our ups and down, ins and outs, hopes and heartbreaks, successes and failures. And even more than that, that God cares about us enough to send Jesus that we might know and believe just how much God loves us."
Pope Francis asked a similar question: Why do sinners go to Mass? And basically what he says is that we sinners go because we know ourselves to be in need of Christ's forgiveness and look forward to being renewed in worship. We go to hear of God's forgiving love.
So how about you? Why do you worship? Send me a note or an email and tell me why you worship. If regular worship is not one of your habits, I would appreciate knowing why not - why do you not worship? I look forward to seeing in worship!
For me, going to church was something that I had always done. I grew up as a pastor's kid. Sunday morning consisted of delivering newspapers, going to church, and then Sunday school. There was never any question about whether or not we would go. We went.
I also remember learning (in a rather painful way) that if I happened to be sick Sunday morning, I would be sick for the whole day. Even if I felt fine by lunch time. I had been sick in the morning so I just better stay in my room and rest all day just to make sure I would be healthy enough for school the next day. No TV. No going outside to play (I think I was only sick once on a Sunday morning).
During my college years I normally attended chapel on Sundays. I cannot really say that I found the preaching stimulating or the worship itself all that exciting. I went in part because going to worship had been ingrained in me. It was a habit. But I did find that I felt better about myself when I worshiped.
Cindy, who started this conversation with me, said: "Well I go to church because I figure I have nothing to lose. I mean going to church will assure me that I'll go to heaven. And if heaven does not exist, well then I haven't really missed out."
For Cindy, going to church was kind of a life insurance policy. If she found at the end of her life that she was in heaven, then going to church had paid off. And if there was no heaven (or hell), then she really had not missed out on anything.
Cindy and I had several conversations throughout the year about worship. It lead me to begin asking the question of others - "Why do you worship?" And I began to explore that for myself as well.
In our world today there are so many options available to us on Sunday mornings. Shopping centers are open. Children have basketball games and volleyball tournaments. There is the opportunity to sleep late; go to coffee shop and catch up with a friend; catch up on laundry and some of our home-keeping tasks. There are any number of options for us on Sunday morning that did not really come into play 25-30 years ago. And for many of us today, if worship fails to connect with my daily life; that is, if I fail to see a connection between what happens in a church on Sunday morning and what happens the other 167 hours of my week, I likely will not bother worshiping.
To answer my own question (why do you worship?) is simply this: After seven days are past, I need to be reminding again that God has created me, that I am worthy of love and respect, and that God is at work in my life to change the world. I just find it hard to believe that God actually cares about me for more than seven days at a time (and even that is difficult).
My colleague David Lose puts it this way: "Each and every week, we hear the news that the God who created and still sustains this vast cosmos not only knows that you and I exist…but actually gives a damn. More than that, that God cares deeply and passionately about our ups and down, ins and outs, hopes and heartbreaks, successes and failures. And even more than that, that God cares about us enough to send Jesus that we might know and believe just how much God loves us."
Pope Francis asked a similar question: Why do sinners go to Mass? And basically what he says is that we sinners go because we know ourselves to be in need of Christ's forgiveness and look forward to being renewed in worship. We go to hear of God's forgiving love.
So how about you? Why do you worship? Send me a note or an email and tell me why you worship. If regular worship is not one of your habits, I would appreciate knowing why not - why do you not worship? I look forward to seeing in worship!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Do Not Feed the Monster
Yesterday I headed out for what was to be a tempo run. Your first mile will generally be slower than your overall average pace but your last miles are faster than your overall average pace.
There are days though, when I just do not have it. After I had run one mile, I knew this was not going to be a tempo run. My legs were sluggish. My focus was not there. I had trouble maintaining good running form. No tempo run today. This was going to be a struggle to simply finish.
On runs like today's I hear a voice in my head: "Give it up! This run won't do you any good!" I call that voice Monster McHenry. Monster McHenry - also known as dementors* - is my negative voice which always tells me to quit. It doesn't matter if I'm running, working on a sermon, trying to find a new way to teach confirmation, or do work at home. Monster McHenry seeks to tell me that I am not enough. I am not good enough or wise enough or smart enough. Monster McHenry tells me I can't do it anyway so why try.
The good thing about running outside instead of running on a treadmill is that it is much harder for me to quit midway through a run. After all, I have to get back home again. And so I ran on. The miles did not get easier. But I kept going and I finished a 5.5 mile run. In spite of the run, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Monster McHenry did not win today's battle.
Walking the way of Jesus is sometimes like today's run. You wake up roaring and ready to go. You get to your place of work and all of sudden you know it's not what you had planned. The negative voice in your head tells you to give it up. That voice tells you that you can not do it.
Those days are some of the harder days to run joyfully the life of faith. When you hear that voice, do not feed the monster. Be reminded that you belong to God, and that God is working through you to change the world.
*Dementors: Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."
—Remus Lupin to Harry Potter
There are days though, when I just do not have it. After I had run one mile, I knew this was not going to be a tempo run. My legs were sluggish. My focus was not there. I had trouble maintaining good running form. No tempo run today. This was going to be a struggle to simply finish.
On runs like today's I hear a voice in my head: "Give it up! This run won't do you any good!" I call that voice Monster McHenry. Monster McHenry - also known as dementors* - is my negative voice which always tells me to quit. It doesn't matter if I'm running, working on a sermon, trying to find a new way to teach confirmation, or do work at home. Monster McHenry seeks to tell me that I am not enough. I am not good enough or wise enough or smart enough. Monster McHenry tells me I can't do it anyway so why try.
The good thing about running outside instead of running on a treadmill is that it is much harder for me to quit midway through a run. After all, I have to get back home again. And so I ran on. The miles did not get easier. But I kept going and I finished a 5.5 mile run. In spite of the run, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Monster McHenry did not win today's battle.
Walking the way of Jesus is sometimes like today's run. You wake up roaring and ready to go. You get to your place of work and all of sudden you know it's not what you had planned. The negative voice in your head tells you to give it up. That voice tells you that you can not do it.
Those days are some of the harder days to run joyfully the life of faith. When you hear that voice, do not feed the monster. Be reminded that you belong to God, and that God is working through you to change the world.
*Dementors: Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."
—Remus Lupin to Harry Potter
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Beginning
I've wanted to start a blog for some time now, but have not found the impetus to do so. This morning while on the treadmill listening to a runners podcast, the speaker mentioned that he likes to be able to run joyfully. I love that phrase.
Running joyfully. I see that in two ways. I think of the verse from Hebrews which says: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us." As I journey with Jesus through life, I like to think of it as running joyfully with Jesus. Not a demand. Not a law. Not in the sense of you are not doing good enough. Run joyfully. That is how I wish to live my faith. I hope that others see that in me.
Running joyfully. I don't know that I will ever win a race. I don't know that I will ever win many medals in my age category. But that is not why I run anyway. I seek to run joyfully. Not as drudgery. But enjoy the running.
So this blog will be about running. Running with Jesus and running for my physical health.
Running joyfully. I see that in two ways. I think of the verse from Hebrews which says: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us." As I journey with Jesus through life, I like to think of it as running joyfully with Jesus. Not a demand. Not a law. Not in the sense of you are not doing good enough. Run joyfully. That is how I wish to live my faith. I hope that others see that in me.
Running joyfully. I don't know that I will ever win a race. I don't know that I will ever win many medals in my age category. But that is not why I run anyway. I seek to run joyfully. Not as drudgery. But enjoy the running.
So this blog will be about running. Running with Jesus and running for my physical health.
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