Grand Kids

 Good morning, and welcome to this Thursday Thought.

Many of us who are of an older generation have extended families that include grand children.  Pat and I are two of that older generation.  We have eight grand kids all together…six who live in the Wichita area and two who live about fifty or so miles from here.  One of the six in the Wichita area is now attending Fort Hays, so we sometimes travel a bit to take in a concert or some other event.

We see all of them quite often as we attend various school functions, visit them for one reason or another, attend some kind of event, or they come to see us.  We may plan dinner together either at a restaurant or at one of our homes.  Or, we may be called to sit one or more  younger ones or act as a taxi service taking one or more kids to or from school, some kind of practice, or whatever.

They all have their own lives and their own families, but they are also interconnected with the larger families on both sides.  Not just Grandma and Grandpa, but they also know great aunts and uncles, cousins, and others in the families.  And, we also take advantage of any opportunity we have to let them know about our family history…where we came from and who they were who came before us.

We aren’t always one big happy family, but the love, devotion, and deference to one-another keep us together and respectful of our differences even as we share our commonality.  It is indeed a blessing to be part of such a family.

But I want to key in on our grand kids for a moment.  This is the end of the school year.  It’s also the spring of the year.  This is a time when we attend concerts at the schools.  It’s also a time when Grandpa and Grandma often need help with gardening, cleaning, or some other job.  It is these times when we often call on the older grands for help.  They usually don’t mind helping, and, as one of them has said, when she’s helping us she doesn’t have to do dishes, fold clothes or some other chore at home.  And, they usually receive some kind of pay and we often will take them by the Braums or Sonic for something to eat on their way back home.

I was struck, however, a couple of nights ago as we attended a band concert for one of them.  As I sat beside them, visited with them, and enjoyed their company, it occurred to me that, as was said by baseball great Lou Gehrig, I too “…consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

Six of our eight grands are girls.  The youngest is in pre-school and the oldest is, as I said earlier, attending Fort Hays as a Sophomore this fall.  The girls are all…every one of them…sassy and happy in their own ways.  They enjoy each other’s company…well, at least most of the time…and also like to be around us old folks…at least for awhile.  They are comfortable with us and we with them.  They are, for the most part, beyond any heavy disciplinary actions and usually listen to us if we ask them to do something.

I enjoy their company, and I especially am grateful for the help of the older grands as we get older and less able to do some things due to arthritic joints, painful hips, or other maladies of aging.  I sometimes wonder if the grands have any idea just how much they mean to us…not just because they can help us out from time to time…but because of the joy and love they bring into our lives.  All of them…every one of them…is a special gift of a loving God to older folks on both sides of the families who drink in their energy, their happiness, and their love.  They refresh and energize us as they grow, learn, and seek their own paths in life.

We grandparents are honored to be part of such a family and have the relationships we have with our grands and with their parents.  But I don’t want to mislead you into thinking we have the perfect family.  No family is perfect.  Every family has its issues.  Ours is no different.  But we have managed, somehow it seems, to make those issues and imperfections a little less important than the relationships.

The hugs from the kids…sometimes “just because”…are much of the glue that holds us together as a family.  A common belief and devotion to the God of the universe, however, is, I think, the foundation upon which it all is built.

Thanks for listening…may God bless your upcoming days.

Questions of the Heart

 Good morning, and welcome to this Thursday Thought.

In my role as a minister, I sometimes am privy to some of what one might call the “inner workings” of families.  I think you know what I mean.  There is the public version that families often portray to the outside world.  Then there is the private version of family dynamics that sometimes leaks out into the public view.  Those two versions are often at odds with one-another.  The private version is often a more raw and contentious version than the façade the public sees.

One of the events that often brings the darker private life of the family to public view is when someone…usually a matriarch or patriarch…passes away or is terminal and close to death.  Relatives who haven’t cared for the deceased, haven’t been concerned for the deceased, haven’t visited the deceased, or shown any inclination to have a relationship with the deceased suddenly come out of the woodwork.  They may want to make decisions regarding any funeral or memorial arrangements.  They show little or no respect for the spouse or closer relatives of the deceased.  They usually want something of value…jewelry, automobiles, money, or other property of the demised relative.  If the deceased was cremated, they want to decide what to do with the remains.  They resurrect old issues and family troubles.  In general, they cause havoc within the family, opening old wounds and creating new ones.

I’ve seen it all too often.  For some reason, the death of a relative seems to bring out the worst in some of the other family members.  There is tension, conflict, and there are even sometimes legal battles that go on within families when someone passes.  As if the emotional toll, making the arrangements for burial, taking care of the deceased’s possessions, and learning to live life without that person aren’t enough, now the family is saddled with additional trauma, generated and perpetuated by a few who probably shouldn’t even be in the picture.

I’ve often wondered why this is.  Why is it that families, at a time when the best behavior of everyone should be the rule of the day, why is it that sometimes the worst comes out instead?  Greed, jealousy, a struggle for power, opening old wounds…these seem to be part of an all-too-often occurrence in the lives of too many family units.

I’m not a Psychologist.  I am not an expert on human behavior.  I don’t know the answers.  I don’t know how to counsel grieving families who are going through this additional unnecessary trauma.  What I do know is that these kinds of behaviors are some of the most sinister and divisive...the completion of the tearing apart of the basic unit of society…the family.

I said “the completion of the tearing apart of the family.”  That was intentional on my part because those families have been in trouble for quite some time before the passing of the loved one.  They may well have managed to hide the quarrels, the jealousy, and the greed from public view, but when something traumatic happens, those things come out into the open in an all-out display of the reality of the brokenness of the family…and by extension the brokenness of humanity.  Because let’s face it.  Quarreling, greed, jealousy, anger, and lust for power are the natural and normal functions of human life.  It takes someone really abnormal to put those attributes away and instead display love, kindness, humility, and a servant heart.

The great apostle Paul had it right when he wrote to the Corinthian church about love.  The so-called “love chapter”…chapter 13 in I Corinthians…is what many believe to be a pinnacle of what it means to love.  Here is just a portion of that chapter.

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

This same Paul also, when writing to the Galatian Christians, speaks of the “acts of the flesh,”…that is, the natural and normal functions of human life…as being, among other things, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy.

What a contrast the acts of love are against the normal and natural human acts of jealousy, selfishness, and the like.  Are you the “normal and natural?”  Or are you someone who instead displays the acts of love toward others?  How do you behave in tense and traumatic family situations?  How many grudges are you holding right now?  What lurks in your heart?

Jesus said that the words one speaks comes from the heart.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord.

Blessings.

Some Days...

 Some days it just hits.  I think many of us know the feeling.  There are days and times within our days when we just don’t want to do anything.  Nothing.  Those times hit me just like they probably hit many of you.

Today, for example, I had a few things to do on my calendar.  Pick up some food for the food pantry.  Lunch with staff.  A dental hygiene visit this afternoon.  Nothing extraordinary for me.  But for some reason unknown to me, about mid-morning today as I was sitting by myself, something washed over me that caused me to deeply groan, move my hands through my hair, and wish I could just go home and sleep the day away in a dark, quiet room.  They call that anxiety, I think.  One definition goes like this:  A state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a realistic or fantasized threatening event or situation, often impairing physical and psychological functioning.

I’m not sure what I was anticipating today.  Nor do I suspect that it was anything realistic…whatever it was.  But at that particular time, I was basically frozen, unable to think of much of anything except wanting to just go away for the day into a cocoon.  Thankfully, it only lasted a couple of minutes, and I snapped out of it and continued on with my day.

Once I began to think more clearly and process, I thought that some of my apprehension might be coming from my work as an Elder of our church.  There are some heavy things going on with some of our members right now.  As Elders, one of our responsibilities is to help shepherd those folks through their difficulties as best we can.  Inevitably, we begin to feel the weight of what is on their shoulders as we work with them.  I presume that’s part of what Jesus meant when he told us to help “bear one-another’s burdens.”

Second, my calendar is usually pretty much open.  But today for some reason, it’s rather full.  As I thought about what is on the schedule, I began to anticipate any problems or issues that could come today, rather than the opportunities I had to help and serve.  I think that contributed to some of my apprehension and anxiety.

Third, I think older age may play a part.  I’m not as vigorous as I once was.  I hurt more.  I’m more careful when walking or doing anything of a physical nature, acutely aware of my limitations.  Some of what I had to do today was rather physical in nature.  My mind still thinks I can do some of these things, but my body tells me differently.  That can be somewhat depressing and lead to some kind of avoidance of the whole situation.

I have had these brief encounters with anxiety rather regularly for many years.  Sometimes, they come minutes before we set out on a long road trip.  I think about all the things that can go wrong, and whether or not I have planned appropriately.  Then, when I actually get up and go to the car, it all goes away and I once again look forward to the trip.

Other times, they will come maybe the night before when I know I’ll have a really busy day the next day.  I wonder how we’ll get through the day, but when that day actually comes and goes, I wonder what I was worried about.

And sometimes, it will just come for no apparent reason.  I’ll just have this “cloud” of sorts fall over me with an accompanying sense of dread and gloom.  Again, it doesn’t last but a minute or two and I sort of snap out of it and go on with life and living.

Based on some quick Internet research, it seems that over half of the population in the USmay have, at some time or another, low levels of anxiety.  Levels that need no treatment, or very little treatment, and can be managed effectively.  I don’t know much about mental health, and I certainly am no expert on anxiety, but have to think that I certainly am not alone.  I’m probably one of those fifty-some percent of people who report mild or low levels of anxiety from time to time.  That knowledge does little, however, to make things better.

I’ve lived with this phenomenon for years, and have never seen the need for help or treatment.  It’s just part of me anymore, and I’m guessing many of you as well.  I wonder if this is one reason why

There are dozens of verses in the Bible about worry and anxiety.  It was difficult for me to choose just one to share with you.  I really like Philippians 4:6 where Paul says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

I like the idea of “with thanksgiving,” that he mentions here.  Pray, ask God for relief, and be thankful for what He has given and will give.  Doing that changes the whole thing, at least for me.  When I begin to thank God for His gracious provision, and ask for relief, the cloud seems to lift and I can go on with life and living.

If you tend to worry or even if it crosses over into anxiety, you may well be able to manage it on your own with God’s direct help.  Or, it may be such that you may need appropriate treatment.  That treatment, too, is one of God’s gracious gifts.  Don’t think otherwise.  God often works through what we might see as the ordinary and the everyday.  Professionals who can help us cope with anxiety are provisions of God for our benefit.

Thanks for listening.  May your day be one of blessing.

Forming Opinions

 

Ryan Baty is a Sedgwick County Commissioner.  He is also a businessman, the owner of the Mattress Hub businesses in the area.  He is a minister, although not now active in that role in the traditional sense.  He’s a family man and former baseball player, having played for a season in the minor leagues in 2004.  Ryan serves now as the commission chair, a responsibility that is passed on to others following a one-year stint.

I don’t know Ryan as a close friend.  I’ve had lunch with him, after being introduced to him by others.  And I correspond with him somewhat regularly on matters pertaining to local government.  Ryan always responds, and does so with grace and good knowledge of the subject.

He has begun a video series, which he has on his web site as well as on YouTube.  In this series, he interviews various people in an extended, conversational fashion.  Former Commissioner Lacey Cruise and current Mayor Lilly Wu have been his guests, along with Ben Davis, Ryan’s campaign manager.  These interviews are interesting, informative, and give me a new perspective on people who I don’t know personally, but who I know about through the media.

They’ve also gotten me to consider just how I form opinions of others.  What information do I use to help me form my opinion?  Where do I get that information?  How accurate is the information I receive?  Are there other ways I can get information about someone as I come to some kind of conclusion regarding an individual?

I can tell you that my opinions of those Ryan has interviewed who are in public life…Lacey Cruise and Lilly Wu…have changed after seeing the interviews they did with him.  And my take on Ryan has changed some as well, but not as much as with Cruise or Wu.  I’ll explain.

The only information I’ve received about Lilly Wu and Lacey Cruise up until this time have been media sources.  I’ve only recently become a friend of Lacey on Facebook, and have not had any personal interaction with Lilly.  Media reporting locally tries to be unbiased, but as you know, there is no such thing as unbiased media reporting, whether local or national.  Additionally, the media prefer fifteen second sound-bites instead of extensive, several minute responses.

However, with hour-long interviews done in a conversational format, new information comes out.  People have time to flesh out their thoughts.  There can be a much deeper dive into the topics discussed.  Emotions and, if I can say it this way, an opening into the soul of the person become accessible.  These kinds of conversations tend to open up a whole other way of seeing the person in the interview.

With Ryan, I’ve been able to make an assessment from several fronts.  Our conversation over lunch.  His conversation with me via email as we discuss the business of the county.  These interviews.  The local media.  His posts on social media.  All of these tend to give me a much better and more well-balanced view of Ryan than any single source could.  I can’t say that I know Ryan well.  But I think I have a much better perspective on his makeup than I ever could have had if I had used but one source for my information.

This principle works the same way with anyone we might meet or know of.  I need to get several perspectives of a person before setting in stone my opinion of that person.  And if it’s not possible to obtain several viewpoints of a person, I need to understand that my opinion of that person may well be flawed, and I need to be open to readily and willingly change my thoughts about that person if and when I get additional information.

Think about it.  How often do we form some kind of opinion about someone just based on a brief encounter of some kind or some second-hand information?  And how often do we let that opinion become cemented in our minds, regardless of how accurate it really is?  How many times have we formed that kind of an opinion of another, only to find out later on that what we’ve been thinking about that person is totally wrong, based on additional information we receive from trusted sources?

This principle is even true in the church family.  Often, we see people in our church family only on Sunday mornings.  This is the time when folks are usually on their best behavior.  They’re dressed up, at least some from what their normal mode of dress may be.  It’s a time when we see people at their best.

This is one reason for what we call fellowship.  We see others in circumstances and situations that are different from church.  Having a meal with them, traveling with them, seeing them in their home, having them in our homes, visiting them if they are in the hospital, going to their kids’ school and other events…these kinds of interactions give one a much better idea of what someone else is really like than the one-sided viewpoint at church on Sunday morning.

I encourage you to refrain from forming permanent opinions of others unless and until you’ve had several ways to interact with and get to know someone.  I think you’ll find that first opinions based on limited knowledge are often mistaken ones.

May God continue his blessings as we navigate the future together.

Courtesy

 Good afternoon, and welcome.

 I know that many of the people I encounter in public are probably basically good people, I have to sometimes wonder if manners and deference are taught anymore by parents or others.  Or perhaps is it just a general lack of awareness on the part of individuals who seem to be going through life with blinders on.  Let me give you a couple of quick examples, both of which involve traffic courtesy.

 I was traveling down a residential street today where cars were parked on both sides of the street.  The street width was so narrow that only one lane was available for the through traffic.  As I was in this narrow area, another car turned onto the street from a block or so ahead.  They didn’t have a lot of room where they could pull over and let me pass, but I had a fairly open area on my side.  I pulled over into that open area and, since my driver’s window was open because of the nicer weather, I motioned to the other driver to come on through.-As she passed by me, she looked straight ahead and didn’t acknowledge me or my gesture of pulling over to let her pass.  It was as if I wasn’t there.

 A little later in the day, I needed to make a left turn into the church parking lot.  I was traveling northbound on Waco, and the traffic on the other side of the street was fairly heavy.  I pulled into the turn lane, which at that point had just become a left-turn lane for the southbound traffic, and turned on my left turn signal.  Because of the heavier traffic, I had to stop and wait for it to pass.

 It happened that the traffic light at the intersection turned red, and the southbound traffic began to back up.  One, then two, then three…it wasn’t long before a woman stopped in the southbound lane in front of me, blocking my path to turn into the parking lot.  About that time, another southbound car wanted to get into the left turn lane, but couldn’t because I was blocking it…and in turn was blocked by the woman in the lane who had stopped in front of me.

 When traffic finally started to move, she gave no sign that she even noticed that I was there, waiting to turn.  She could easily have stopped ten or twelve feet farther back and allowed me the space to pull into the lot, but that didn’t happen.

 Now, I don’t tell you these things for you to think I’m such a wonderful and respectful driver.  I have my moments just like everyone else.  Nor was I expecting great kudos from the woman I allowed down the single lane, nor do I expect great apologies from the woman blocking the lane so I couldn’t turn.  But it’s always a courtesy to acknowledge the good deed of another driver by a short wave or at least a smile and nod.  However, that did not happen with either of these two drivers.

 I suppose it could have been that the two drivers were otherwise occupied with some major thing in their life, or perhaps were somewhat frightened to make eye contact with a strange man in another vehicle on the streets of Wichita.  I get it, I think.  But it would have been a welcome gesture to somehow acknowledge my presence, and, I think, just the courteous thing to do.

 Those two examples remind me of times when I’ve flashed my headlights (yes, your vehicle has a headlight flasher built in to the turn signal…that’s the thing you may not use very often…check it out) at a vehicle trying to merge into the lane just ahead of me.  I flash my lights to let them know they are welcome to move in front of me and merge…that I’ll wait for them instead of rushing ahead to fill the space they wanted to move into.

 Most people understand what flashing headlights mean when they’re trying to merge and they see that in their mirrors, but very few acknowledge the courtesy by gently tapping the brake once or twice to flash their tail lights.  Again, I don’t expect any great thank you, but it seems to me that a courtesy extended generally ought to be a courtesy acknowledged.

 The roadways are far too dangerous.  Tempers sometimes flare.  Frustration often mounts.  Sometimes, I think the demonstration of courtesy and the accompanying acknowledgement of that courtesy could go far in tamping down the frustrations and anger on the roads.  Think about it.  Find ways to acknowledge courtesies, whether on the road, in a work setting, at a retail store, or even at home.  You might be surprised at the good that will come of it.

 Blessings,

The Poor You Will Always Have With You

 “The poor you will always have with you…”  Those are the words of Jesus of Nazareth toward the end of his ministry.  Although the context of the statement was made in connection with the anointing of his feet with expensive oils by a woman shortly before his crucifixion, and the consequent complaint by one of his disciples that the oil might have instead been sold and the proceeds given to the poor…it nevertheless is a statement worthy of consideration.

 By this statement, Jesus obviously did not mean that the poor were unimportant or of no consequence.  In fact, some of the most direct and meaningful teaching of both Jesus and other writers of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, is in regard to providing help for those who could not otherwise help themselves.  The commands and the examples are plain enough.  It doesn’t take a theologian to decipher the meaning of these words from John’s letter, “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?”  Or perhaps this passage from the book of Hebrews:  “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”  Or what about this one from the Proverbs?  “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.”

 There are dozens of places in both testaments that speak of the poor and our obligation to them.  There is no way that I am aware of in Scripture that allows us to dismiss the poor and refuse to help when we can and are able.  The question, however, always seems to be to what extent do we share what we have and how much we help those who have not.  For that I have no answer for you.  I can only answer for myself.

 I believe God does not expect me to place myself into poverty by helping others escape it.  I believe God does not expect me to fix the world.  And I do not believe that God wants me to enable bad behavior rather I think He expects me to be wise in providing needed help.

 With those things in mind, the questions of whether or not to help, when to help, how much to help, and when to cease helping become variable…as variable as the specific situation that presents itself.  Each one of those questions and each one of the situations that present are unique.  No one can, or should, second guess the efforts or lack of effort on the part of someone to help the poor.  Each person stands or falls before God…not other people.

 Scripture does tell us to be generous with what God has given us.  “Give generously to the poor, and do so without a grudging heart,” the Good Book says.  I fear that even though we may give, we often do so with less than a generous heart…and more so with a mindset that we have somehow met an obligation and that God should be happy with what we’ve done…as if we can somehow earn God’s favor by throwing some morsels toward the poor.

 Giving is as much an attitude and attribute of the heart and soul as it is the physical act of parting with some of one’s possessions for the benefit of someone who has none.  A generous and giving attitude will manifest itself well-enough in the physical act of giving.  A stingy attitude will manifest itself as well…in a dismissal of need, in a superior, haughty attitude, and in a smug sense of security and self-satisfaction at having provided for one’s own needs.  Such an attitude forgets that all one has ultimately comes from God, and that none of us are truly deserving of any of it…that all is given simply because of God’s grace and generous nature.  We all are at the mercy of a loving and generous God.

 “The poor you will always have with you.”  Yes, indeed we WILL always have the poor with us.  And because that is true, we always will have the need to help as we can and are able.  And we are to do so with a generous as well as a thankful heart…generous in giving…thankful that God has blessed us with the means to give.

 Blessings,

"Do the Things"

 Good morning, and welcome.

 Every time I sit down to write another Thursday Thought, I think back over the week’s highlights, and try to decide if I’ll write about one of those, or maybe select some other topic for discussion with you.  Most of the highlights of my week aren’t really what one would call highlights…they’re just points in time that for some reason, I recall.

Take this week for example.  Monday morning was occupied first with a visit to my primary care doctor regarding some lower back pain.  Later, at the church office, I began my notes for the Bible class I will be teaching this coming Sunday.

Monday also was the day after.  The day after keeping four of our grand kids for the weekend.  Pat and I were both pretty tired; however, we couldn’t rest because two more of the grands would be dropped off that evening to spend 24 hours with us Monday night and Tuesday.  So, we mustered our strength and welcomed them warmly.

Tuesday, I helped move some furniture for a client of ICT SOS…someone who had just moved into an apartment and needed some donated furniture moved there.  I volunteer for ICT SOS from time to time as I can, and they asked if I could help.  I was happy to do so.  I also pretty much finished my Bible class notes on Tuesday and started to review them.

And, I stopped at Office Depot and bought a new office chair.  The old chair was literally falling apart…having served me here for the past 13 or so years.  I took the new chair home and put it together…nothing comes already assembled anymore…to take to church the next day.  The grands went back to Dad and Mom Tuesday evening, and Pat and I pretty much were done for the night following dinner at home.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was a day of cold and wind…again…  It seems we have had more than our share of that kind of weather this year, but at least now the cold doesn’t last more than a day or so and the snow doesn’t stick to the ground…at least in southern Kansas.  Yesterday was also the day we found mostly expired food piled at our church door sometime overnight or early morning.  The food is so old we can’t use it and we certainly will not give it away to anyone else.  Instead, we will be throwing it away.  I was so irked I wrote a Facebook post about it and put it on my timeline.

I also brought the new office chair to work and exchanged chairs…throwing away the old chair as it wasn’t good for anyone or anything anymore.  The new chair sits higher and has a better lumbar support than the old one.  I am hoping I’ll soon become comfortable in it and my lower back will positively respond to the support.

I picked up some medication at the neighborhood pharmacy for myself and my wife.  We use a locally-owned pharmacy just up the street from the church.  It’s convenient and provides great customer recognition and service.  Public Service Announcement here:  Please use a locally-owned pharmacy if you at all can do so.  The service is better.  They need your business.  And prices are comparable and sometimes less.

Today, because the wind has died down, I was able to put out some bird seed on the upper deck, and also filled the bird water dish.  Yesterday, it was so windy that anything I would have put out would have blown away in a matter of minutes.  I don’t have a lot of bird seed left from the winter months, and would like to make good use of it in what remains of the late winter and early spring days.

I’m also typing this Thursday Thought for you today, and wondering what the rest of the day will be like.  It’s been quiet so far today, as it has been pretty much all week.  It’s bill-paying time for us right now, as we receive our retirement checks this week.  So I’ll be doing that this weekend.  Hopefully, there will be some money left to live on after the bills are paid.

Well, there you have it.  Those were the highlights of the week.  As you can see, there was nothing earth-shattering this week.  No skydiving.  No deep sea fishing.  No exotic vacations to even more exotic Pacific islands.  Just life.  Just living.  Just doing the things.  There’s an enjoyment that I get from being able to “do the things.”  Doing those things that are part of everyday life.

One of these days, I’ll no longer be able to do the things.  Someone else will have to do them.  Either that, or there will be no more things to do.  I suspect that I will eventually enjoy that, too.  Because eventually, I’ll have other things to do…things in the hereafter that God has promised for me to do.  Because I believe that the hereafter will NOT be a floating on a cloud in the great beyond existence…but rather will be in the new heavens and the new earth…that I will inhabit a body that will not break down or wear out…and that I will have meaningful and wonderful things to see and do.  I think I’m looking forward to that day more and more as in the here and now I can…and sometimes want…to do less and less.

 

May God bless you this week as you “do the things” that come your way.

 

Blessings.

How Do Insects Fly?

 

Good morning, and welcome.

 How do insects fly?  Now, you might question my sanity about now, asking this question at the start of my Thursday Thought.  However, I’ve been thinking about this for a short time…and the more I think about it the more I am fascinated by just how these little assemblies of tissue manage flight…some from the moment they are born.

 Think about it.  We humans send people to flight school to learn…not to fly ourselves, but to fly a machine.  We spend lots of time and money practicing and learning.  But insects…these little bugs that make up a huge percentage of the global biomass…many of them can fly, and can fly very, very well.  How do they do it?  How did they learn?

 Well, the short answer is that science doesn’t exactly know how to answer those questions.  We know what they do in flight.  We know how muscles move to make the wings beat in whatever patterns are needed.  We can see the acrobatics they can do when needed and necessary.  But when we try to figure out how they know what to do and how they learned, we just don’t know with certainty.

 We tend to say that they are born with that ability.  That they have the instinctive ability to fly.  That somehow the instructions for flight are impressed into their DNA such that those instructions are passed on from parent to offspring.  Instinct is defined as an inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a species.  We know that somehow the instructions, so to speak, for flying are somehow passed on from one generation to another.  But we have yet, I believe, to see exactly how that happens.

 Anyone who knows anything about the world around us knows that there are multiple thousands of things such as the ability to fly that are passed on from one generation to the next in virtually every species of plant and animal.  What Science doesn’t know is how this ability to pass on needed behaviors developed and how only certain behaviors are passed on while others are not.

 If you know me, you know where this is going.  No, I don’t know the answers to these questions directly.  But I do know that when there is a creative Mind behind all that we see and know, then there is indeed an answer…this didn’t happen by accident or chance.  This is the product of intelligence…of mind…that makes all of this kind of thing happen.

 I’m not a stupid person.  I have at least average intelligence, am educated, and have over seventy years in this world to look around and see how things work.  For the life of me, I can’t see how all of what we see and know…and all of what we can’t see and don’t know…has come about by blind chance.  From what I can see, chance leads to further disorder and chaos…not increased order and organization.  It seems to me that if there was no intelligence behind what we see and know, then we wouldn’t be here to see it or know it.

 I don’t know about you.  I don’t know what you think about bugs that fly, or even if you’ve thought about that at all.  I don’t know what you think about how insects obtain the ability to fly.  I don’t know what you think about how all that we see and know came into being.  I don’t know if you believe in an Intelligence or a Mind that has put all of this together or not.  I don’t know what you think about instinctive behavior or learned behavior, or any of the myriad of other related topics that we could talk about in this Thought.

 But I know that for me, there is an Intelligence that made it all happen and keeps it going.  And that for me, that Intelligence is the God who calls Himself “I AM WHO I AM.”  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The God who revealed himself in Jesus of Nazareth some 2,000 years ago.

 Call me ignorant if you want.  Call me deluded if you want.  Call me brainwashed if you want.  But before you do, I challenge you to look at the evidence…look at it with as unbiased of a frame of mind as you can.

 Then let me know what you have decided.

 Blessings.

Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly

 Good morning, and welcome.

 My friend, wife, mom, and author Kendra Broekhuis sends out a monthly email to those who have signed up for it.  It’s called Present Tense…embracing the tensions of faith in everyday life.  In the latest version of the monthly email, she speaks of Micah chapter 6, and especially verse 8…the verse where Micah says the words of God:  He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

 She speaks of the meaning of justice and mercy and the tension and relationship that is apparent between the two.  One of her comments was that where there is a lack of justice, there will be corresponding needs for even greater mercy.

 She has a point.  Think of some of the injustices that you know about in the world you inhabit.  Do you know of people who don’t have enough to eat?  Who want housing, but don’t have it?  Who are dealing with medical issues but don’t have the insurance coverage or the means to pay?  I’m sure you can think of other such issues that people face in their daily lives.  To act justly is to recognize and act upon these situations as we can and are able.

 To love mercy is to go beyond just the simple act of putting a band aid on someone’s hunger or housing situation.  To love mercy is to recognize all the times we’ve been on the receiving end of God’s mercy and compassion, and get into the weeds, so to speak, with those in need.  To do more than just toss a sack of food their way or give a few dollars.  To love mercy is to insert oneself into the messes of others…bearing burdens, wiping tears, and demonstrating the love and mercy of God.

 But when we do this…when we get “down and dirty” with others in their need, we often feel like there is so much need and so little we can do that it seems hopeless to even try.  Kendra addresses that with an analogy where she speaks of a puzzle.  Here’s what she had to say:

 I like the analogy of a puzzle, kind of like the 1,500 piece our family did last week:

 God knows and understands the bigger picture of everything happening today, even when to us it looks like a million pieces in a random pile, and those pieces are flipped upside down, and oh yeah, we lost the box with the picture on it.

One day, He will restore perfect justice and mercy into every piece of this puzzle that is our world.  In the meantime, He invites me to pick even just one piece of that puzzle and find ways to act justly and love mercy within that sphere of influence.  And, He encourages me with the last part of the verse He so kindly added, which is to walk humbly…fueled by the ultimate expression of both justice and mercy, which was Jesus taking up His cross for us.

 I have wrestled with the fact that anything I might be able to do in the way of justice and mercy is but a small drop in a very huge bucket.  I often wonder if I’m making any headway at all, or if the world is indeed any better because I am living in it.  These words from Kendra are helpful, and help me keep my bearings on what I and countless others do every day.

 And, as my friend Jennifer White has said, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something.”  That too is a good way to think of these things.  No, we can’t do everything.  But we can all do something.  I have many times been sustained by this thought.

 I’ve also found helpful the fact that Jesus Himself didn’t heal the world or feed every human being.  He did good deeds as he went along in life and met people on the way.  The blind man.  The man who couldn’t walk.  Others who he met or who came to him.  One.  Person.  At.  A.  Time.

 And that’s what we do as well.  And when we do, we fulfill what God requires…to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Lord.

 Blessings.

A Slightly Different Kind of Thought Today

 Good morning, and welcome.

 I was watching a video last night where Tim Mackie and N. T. Wright were holding a discussion in a weekend seminar that was recently held in Portland, Oregon.  Professor Wright is one of the leading theologians of our day.  Mackie is an outstanding theologian in his own right, and founder of the Bible Project, a crowd-funded effort to bring the Bible to the masses.

They were discussing a passage in John regarding the Holy Spirit.  In the midst of their comments on the passage, this snippet of conversation came out.  “The church is to be a working model of heaven on earth.”  For me, this was an “aha” moment.

I stopped the video, rewound, and listened to that portion of the conversation again.  I noted the place in the video where it was found and decided to look at it again today.  I have done so, and continue to be awed by the thought.

There are a couple of major concepts of heaven.  Without getting deep into the theological weeds of this, one of those concepts of heaven for Christians is that at the end of time, God will take all of the saved to some place in the great beyond…heaven, if you will…and earth and all  physical things will be destroyed.  There, we will play harps, float on clouds,  exist in some kind of ether-like state, and be in that kind of place forever.

The other major concept is that God will, at the end of time, reunite heaven and earth as it originally was in the Garden of Eden.  The saved will have real bodies and live in a unified, real, actual environment where heaven and earth become one.  We will have real work to do, will know others, and enjoy the fruits of God’s grace.

I believe the story of God’s love and redemption as found in the Bible points us to the concept of a reunited heaven and earth.  Consequently, when I heard this statement:  “The church is to be a working model of heaven on earth,” I was immediately caught up in the ramifications of the idea.

So, what do I believe this should look like?  Well, I don’t claim to have experienced any miraculous visions or dreams which might give me a glimpse into the afterlife.  But it seems to me that there are two or three things we might consider as we think about the concept of the church modeling what the new heavens and new earth might be like.

First, and perhaps most importantly, the church should model unity.  In Revelation, John speaks of those he sees in his vision of the throne of God:  “I looked,” he said, “And there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

Think of it.  People from every place on earth, from every era…from every century…all together before the throne of God.  It seems to me that we need to consider how we the church…the redeemed of God…model that in the here an now.

Second, I believe that in this new heavens and new earth, we won’t be idle.  We will be given things to do…work to do…work that is pleasant and fulfilling.  Work that is commensurate with our abilities and talents.

The church can and in many ways does model this now.  Each one of us has been given some kind of talent or ability.  That well-used statement, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something,” is pertinent in this context.  We may not be able to cure cancer, bring about world peace, or ensure that everyone has enough to eat, but we can each do our part.  We can work within our sphere of influence to bring about restoration, even if it is just in one small thing.

You may be able to think of other ways that the church can model the new heavens and new earth.  These two immediately came to my mind as I thought about it.

I know this Thursday Thought has been a little different than many.  I want these posts to give you a glimpse into my mind and heart as we all continue down this road together.  So, from time to time I may wander into a little deeper subject area such as the one today.

May God bless you and keep you as together we experience His love and care.

 

Blessings.

Spreading the Message

 Good morning, and welcome.

 Over the past several decades, the rise of the twenty-four hour news cycle, the advent of the Internet and social media, the demise of  the Fairness Doctrine, and the natural propensity of humans to want to take sides has made what was always present in our society even more pronounced.  The political and social divide has become the news of the day…all day…every day.  It seems we can’t get away from it, even if we wanted to do so.  It’s everywhere.

 Marriages break up.  Families become estranged.  Long-time friends are friends no longer.  Neighbors won’t speak to each other.  Sometimes the divide becomes violent.  Most of the time, it just festers, sitting there like the proverbial elephant in the room, waiting for someone to poke it and inflame it even more.

 Into this societal ill has come a number of ideas on how to not only deal with the divide, but to heal it.  Non profit organizations have begun to stress kindness and civility even more than they did in the past.  Politicians have begun to speak up to their constituents asking them to listen more and talk less.  Pockets of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” have sprung up in neighborhoods and in families all across the nation.

 And perhaps most importantly for people of faith, the church has stepped up more, I think, to recognize its responsibility to not only teach, but to practice loving God and loving one’s neighbor.  One can see many examples of that being carried out in projects large and small.  Some church families cooperate with many others to work with large-scale projects.  Others work in more individualized ways.

 But the basis for any church work in this area is the individual member.  Each person…each member of the church family needs to recognize that his or her God-given talents and abilities are there to be used.  That God expects each one of his children to use their gifts to redeem their part of the creation…especially as they are going about their daily lives and living.

 I was reminded of this by a post I saw a few days ago where a church in North Carolina has been buying medical debt for pennies on the dollar…then forgiving that debt.  The comments of the minister who is coordinating this effort is appropriate and telling:  “If every church would just sort of take responsibility for the square mile around it,” he said, “What a changed world we would live in.”

 Sometimes we are led to believe that there isn’t much we as Christians can do until we somehow have been able to “straighten out,” so to speak, our political differences, or until a certain brand of political ideology comes into power.  So, we pour all of our resources and abilities into that goal.  When we do that, we tend to lose sight of the fact that God has work for each of us to do, regardless of the political winds of the day.

 N T Wright made this comment about that very thing in a post he recorded a couple of years ago.  He said, “You don't have to live in a modern, liberal democracy to discern God's will (for you). Wherever we are, we are all living in fragile, and in a measure broken or fallen or corrupted societies. We don't first have to put the society right, then discern what God might want us to do. It may be that doing the little things that God wants us to do will accumulate, and will help our wider society make wise decisions.

 I think both Professor Wright and the North Carolina minister have something here…something that each of us needs to listen to and consider.  We may often think that the things we COULD BE doing using our abilities and talents doesn’t change anything or mean anything in the larger picture.  But I think that’s the wrong way to see this.  Bringing about God’s redemption to the creation begins with one act of kindness and love by one individual.  As my friend Jennifer White has said, “I can’t do everything, but I CAN do something.”

 We all can do something…as long as we have breath and life, we can do something in God’s kingdom to redeem the creation…ONE  ACT  OF  KINDNESS  AND  LOVE  AT  A  TIME.  And we don’t first need the perfect democracy or the perfect political ideology to do that.  Jesus and the apostles turned the world upside down in the midst of one of the most powerful and (in our modern minds) cruel governments that has ever existed.  If they could do that, certainly we can begin to spread the message of sacrificial love and redemption in our era.

Blessings.

Cake of Ice

 I have a niece who lives in Michigan with her family.  Theresa is, as most nieces and nephews are, younger than I am.  However, she has pretty much raised her family and, even though she might disagree, is rapidly becoming middle age.  I'm not sure what that says about my age, but we'll not broach that subject in this post.

Up until a few years ago, Theresa and nephew hubby Kerry were the typical middle-class family unit raising kids, attending school functions, buying groceries, and living the great American dream.  Yes, there were ups and downs in their lives just like there are in all of ours, but generally, things were going well for them as they made their way through life and living.

They still are living the great American dream, and even more so now that their kids have flown the nest.  But something has changed in these past few years that has created an ocean-change in how they think and what they do.  They have become aware that not everyone lives the great American dream.  They have become aware of societal issues like injustice, racism, poverty, and the silencing of opposing viewpoints.

And not only have they become aware, they have acted on that awareness and have...and continue to bring about great change in their community, their school system, and in the lives of others.  They and others in the community, through their activism, have brought about a turnover in the makeup of the city council, the school board, and the local police department.  They managed to have a discriminatory local city ordinance declared to be unconstitutional and of no effect  by a court of law.  They have “marshaled the troops,” so to speak, and have provided educational opportunities as well as opportunities for service and support to many in the community and beyond.  And they have begun to work on issues on a state and federal level as well as locally.  It has been an amazing thing for me to watch all of this take place in their lives.

Here's what Theresa said just a few days ago about herself on a social media post:  I've told ya'll about how I have realized my white privilege and ignorance over these years.  I didn't pay one bit of attention to politics and fell prey to the media.  I learned shortly there after that I contributed to the destruction of what we have fought to become.  I have great remorse. It haunts me to this day. Literally haunts me.

I don't necessarily agree with Theresa politically, and the social issues in my personal stable may be some different from theirs.  But this isn't a political post on my part.  This Thursday Thought is meant to awaken you to the truth that none of us lives in a bubble.  None of us has absolute protection from those societal issues that continue to nag at us for help.  None of us is an island...all to ourselves.  Each one of us is affected in some way by those issues.  Each one of us is touched in some way by racism, homelessness, greed, ideological blindness to truth, and other ills.  And each one of us has a responsibility to act...somehow...in some way...to bring about change.

It is incredibly difficult at best to make any kind of inroad into the labyrinthine snarl that is national politics.  Yes, we need to be aware of what's going on there, and do our best to work for change, even on that level.  But our best bet is working where Theresa and her family have been concentrating their efforts...at the local level.  City council people, school board people, mayors and others CAN much of the time be approached, and will in most cases at least listen to a local citizen expressing an opinion.  Citizens can rally, protest, march, attend meetings, speak during the public comment time, and yes, even go to court if necessary.  Theresa and her crew have done all of that and more.

You may not be in a position to organize a protest or march.  Maybe all you can do is write a letter or send an email.  If you are a person of faith, prayer is, or should be first on your list of things to do.  Christians are called to be difference-makers...to be a “peculiar people,” as the Apostle Paul puts it...to “Do justice, love kindness (read that “love mercy”), and walk humbly before the Lord,” as the Old Testament prophet Micah wrote.  We are called to love God and love our neighbor.  And, we are called to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  But to choose to be ignorant of what is going on around you, or to choose to ignore the truth when it hits you in the face is not an option.

I will close with an excerpt from a play written over 60 years ago by Helen Kromer and Fredrick Silver, called “For Heaven's Sake.”  It's a satirical musical that pokes fun at those who choose ignorance and it urges us all to be serious about our choices in life.  This excerpt is called “Girl In Ice,” and is a spoken part rather than a musical part.

It describes someone who has chosen to live “above” the riff-raff of society...who has chosen ignorance and apathy over “doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.”

Hear no evil...see no evil...speak no evil...NO!  I abhor it and ignore it...all that sin below.  All those creatured, ugly featured faces filled with sin might beguile me, and defile the temple here within!

I'm above it.  How I love it...where the air is pure.  For evil is as evil does.  And doing nothing's sure to keep my skirts so unbesmirched that anyone will fine...I'm lily-white and clothed in light, and deaf, and dumb, and blind!

I am not contaminated, for I've simply abdicated.  And I'm staying nice...by freezing up and squeezing up into a cake of ice.

May none of us ever become those…cakes of ice.

Blessings,

Listen To the Quiet

 For this Thursday Thought, I’ll be intertwining my own thoughts with some thoughts penned in a blog I found on line by a man named Joe Broadmeadow.  I don’t know Mr. Broadmeadow, but I liked this particular blog of his.  He says what I often am feeling nowadays.

I don’t know about you, but I think we live in a very noisy world.  And much of that noise is noise that we make ourselves, for ourselves.  We constantly have the television, music, game apps, earbuds, phones, or other noise makers on and running.  If we live in an urban area, we constantly are hearing car horns, sirens, street noise, and other sounds of the city.  We may have neighbors close by who turn up the volume of whatever it is they are listening to at the moment.  Even in more rural areas, there is an abundance of man-made noise.  We can’t seem to get away from it…or more likely, we don’t want to get away from it.

As Mr. Broadmeadow says, “It’s a rare moment when we can actually listen to the quiet.”

As I get older, I am more and more drawn to the quiet.  The back yard of our home butts up against the back side of Pawnee Prairie Park in Wichita.  Often, I can go into the yard or sit on the back patio and hear nothing but the occasional barking dog, someone walking on the park path, kids playing somewhere in the neighborhood, nearby birds, and rustling breezes.  The noise of West Kellogg normally doesn’t penetrate.  We live close to Eisenhower Airport, so we do hear the occasional takeoff or landing.  But those are usually short-lived events.  We might occasionally hear a far-off siren, and sometimes we can even hear a train in the far distance.  The closest tracks are several miles away, and it takes a certain atmospheric situation for that sound to travel that far.

I often have the radio in my pickup turned off.  My phone seldom rings or goes off.  I often have the television off when in the same room.  Or if it’s on, it’s in the background or my wife is watching it.  I don’t do noisy video games.  I sometimes go somewhere in the house where there is quiet and I just sit or lay down.  I’ll sometimes turn off my phone entirely.  If someone wants me, they can leave a message or voice mail.  When we have grand kids over, I sometimes will go to a quiet part of the house and “recuperate,” if you will, for a few minutes.  And, I’ve been known to, when we have company, retire to the bedroom and rest for a few minutes in a quiet environment.

I well recall many years ago, we stayed in a bed-and-breakfast somewhere in Central Kansas.  The place was out in the countryside in the Flint Hills.  We both had jobs that were rather intense and sometimes stressful.  We needed a break, so spent, I think, the weekend at this B & B.  One of the first things I noticed there was how quiet it was when we were outside on the porch.  The silence…the lack of any noise whatsoever…was deafening.  It was so much different from what we were used to…it was a place where we hadn’t been in quite some time…a place of solitude and quiet.  My senses perked up as I strained to hear something…anything that would let me know I was OK.  But I needn’t worry.  I WAS OK.  It was just this strange nothingness…this absence of noise…that had me worried for a bit.

Ever since then, I have at times looked for times when I could be still…quiet…and my surroundings were that way as well.  And as I age, I seem to seek out those times and places with greater frequency and stay in them for longer periods of time.

I now have hearing aids.  I remember when I first wore them at the hearing place, and they turned them on for the first time.  It was like a whole ‘nuther world opened up for me.  I could again hear the various squeaks, groans, and other noises in places like offices, vehicles, and at home that I hadn’t heard for years.

But, those aids also made it more difficult to find quiet…absence of noise.  So, instead, I learned to listen to the sounds of the quiet.  Birds singing, rain falling, leaves rustling, squirrels chattering, owls hooting.  It’s not quite the quiet of not being able to hear.  But it’s the quiet, I believe, that we were always meant to hear and enjoy.

I’ll end this thought with a quote from Mr. Broadmeadow, who says this about hearing the quiet.  “Taking a moment’s pause to walk in a snowstorm, anywhere away from the noisy cacophony of the world, one can actually hear the quit.  It may be hard to imagine, in a city or even a small town surrounded by modern society’s mechanism, that one can hear snow fall in a quiet forest.  But you can…and it will be magical.  To hear snow falling, it has to be quiet.  And to hear quiet, one must listen for it.  Shhhh.  Listen to the quiet.”

 

Blessings.