Are You a Grumpy Christian?

I find that in today’s world it’s very easy to be grumpy…with the economy, the state of our nation, the state of society, etc. But how we behave reflects how deeply we believe our faith and in turn how others view Christianity in general.

This last week at church we heard about the prodigal son. I love the concept that the father ran out to meet his son. One of our pastors pointed out that in context of Jesus’ story, a noble rich man wouldn’t run, he would calmly walk out if he walked out at all. But in this story, the master of the house runs out to meet his lost son, thereby showing us that our Heavenly Father runs to meet us. That’s how much He loves us! 

(And who better to explain to us how much we are loved than the Son? Jesus only told the truth, he never needed to embellish.)

So who was grumpy? The older son. He came out and said, “…all these years I have been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders…” In context, he was angry, disappointed and didn’t understand why his father would take back a son who had basically said he hated his father so much he wanted his share of inheritance before he died so he could live as if he was already dead. Who can’t agree with that hurt? 

But the real rub is in what the older son believed. You see, he thought following the rules were what would make his father love him. But in just following the rules, he remained a slave and missed the joy of what it meant to be a son, a child that would inherit his father’s kingdom.

Today, I would posit that we have many Christians that are grumpy. They are more interested in following the rules than knowing their faith. That stringent, sanitary attitude does not lead to true Christianity, only a big letdown. 

The last few weeks have been very telling for all Christians. With the stepping down of the current Pope Benedict XVI and the conclave of cardinals meeting to discern who should be next, every media outlet has taken its turn at potshots on that particular aspect of Christianity. Other Christians have lent a hand at throwing darts as well, perhaps forgetting that all Christians should step forward for each other. 

What people don’t realize is that their history becomes clear when they write about others. It is clear when a “recovering” Catholic writes about his previous faith because he is hurting and feels betrayed by his past. Protestant Christians are also unmistakable when they take potshots at things they don’t fully understand. However, the most transparent writers are atheists because they feel vindication in hopes that they don’t have to believe in God because now that a Christian sect shows human frailty. 

However, what is clear is this. Jesus told the truth. Always. To be Christian means to be Christ centered. Period. Christ, his Father and the Spirit come first. Always. 

What about the rules? Jesus gave us those too, but being human we tend to be literal and forget there is a spiritual aspect to our being. Therefore, we bend the meaning, or look at the words at face value, never truly diving into the meaning of the words Jesus spoke. 

As Christians we are obligated to understand history, in particular the history of the world as Jesus saw it, so we can be responsible for understanding his “rules.” Truly, to love God with your whole heart, whole soul, and whole mind, is to understand what it means to be Christian. That means to love without borders and love even when it hurts. 

So I encourage you to look at yourself. Are you following the rules to be following the rules? Are you digging deep to understand what it means to love at all costs? Or do you remain lodged deeply in your thinking because someone else told you this is what Christianity looks like? 

In other words are you joyful or are you grumpy?

Perhaps you’ve been away from Jesus so long you think that there is no way He will want you back. And that’s exactly why Jesus told the story of the prodigal son.

I have a secret. Mercy is at your doorstep. For just as the prodigal’s father ran out to meet him; our Father will run out to meet us in the form of the Spirit when we ask for forgiveness, for knowledge, for understanding or for love. Encountering mercy allows us to know joy. 

And there is no way you can continue to be grumpy if you know joy.  

Rules of the House

Growing up, I hated the rules of the house. Make your bed, clean your room, no phone after 8pm, Sundays with family. Ugh.

I remember rebelling against the rules, just because. I had no real reason except I didn’t want to follow them.  They didn’t make sense. They didn’t apply to me. I was my own person. 

That attitude worked for me when I left the house. I could make my own rules. Make my bed? Ha! Nope. Let the dishes pile in the sink? Why not! 

What didn’t work so well was other people's responses.  One roommate piled all my dirty dishes on my bed. She said she didn’t mind them but she needed to make room to wash hers. I had to rethink my plan. Maybe my rules infringed on others. 

Over time, I’ve come to realize the same thing with God’s rules. (Yes, I rebelled against those for a while too!) Perhaps they were designed with me in mind. Instead of believing they were made to hold me back, I took on the notion that just maybe they intended to strengthen me, boost me, and comfort me. 

God poked me big time with the recent news story: Stressed?Do Someone Else a Favor. 

The premise of the research was that, “…When you focus your attention on someone else's wellbeing, it actually reduces your own stress levels. As a result, that curbs the negative impact that stress can have on health, says lead study author Michael Poulin, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo.”

So the Golden Rule applies after all? Who knew?

God did. Jesus came and taught us the Eternal plan by laying forth the ground work with The Sermon on the Mount, the Greatest Commandment and the Judgment of the Nations (Matt 5, Matt 22, & Matt 25). 

“Whatever you do for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matt 25:40)

(And once he laid the ground work, he laid down his life. That sacrifice leaves me in awe every time I contemplate it.)

Now I begin to understand there is something even more foundational that our Father is trying to teach us with that ground work . He was educating us on how we were made. Yes, in His image, but something more profound in the fabric of creation. 

God designed us for community, for each other and for Him. Random acts of kindness are not so random. They are designed to help us help each other and in doing that we help ourselves. There is a circular connectivity, a “coming around” so to speak that enables all of us to reach beyond ourselves. 

I know many people who choose to live a solitary existence. Every now and then, they let someone in, but it’s very calculated and is usually accompanied by a self-made wall they have deemed necessary for their own protection. 

My mother used to comment, “They don’t know what they’re missing.”

Now I understand that wisdom with a whole new vision. 

Walls are built to protect. They safeguard those who’ve been hurt, lost or neglected. But eventually those walls become a prison and the owner wishes for escape. 

This is where God’s plan comes in. When we help others and do it on a consistent basis we help ourselves. We choose to live the healthy plan of circular love that God designed for us. 

Isn’t it fascinating that our Father chooses such quiet ways to reach out to us, to love us? Isn’t it fascinating that it takes us so long to get it? 

Maybe the “House Rules” really aren’t so bad after all…

I’m just thankful that God doesn’t leave my “dirty dishes” on my bed. I’d be in a world of hurt.

http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2013/02/25/17091596-stressed-do-someone-else-not-yourself-a-favor?lite

When to Pick a Flower…According to God

Life imitates nature. Nature teaches life lessons. Nature reflects God. 

Flowers are no exception. With Valentine’s Day this month, beautiful flowers are in every store. They symbolize love for another, attraction for another, and they are given to show affection. 

 

How then do you pick a flower? Well, for those of us in winter right now, the picking has been done for us! However, it’s good to know when to pick flowers from their environment so we can enjoy them to their fullest extent.

Experts give the following advice: 

"Choose flowers that are just coming into full bloom for picking. If you pick the flowers before this, there is a risk that they will be too immature to open their buds. And if they’re picked well into bloom or towards the end of blooming, they’ll fade fast on display in just water. Older blooms will drop petals and pollen everywhere, creating a mess in your house."

Recently I talked with a young person who was struggling with a loss of a friend in a car accident. She also just before lost another friend to cancer. She is having a hard time understanding how God works because she and so many people prayed for her friend with cancer and the girl still died. Why does God allow those things? It’s so unfair.

It is difficult sometimes for us to see the big picture and to remember that there is something after this life. The loss of a loved one has caused more than one person I know to turn completely away from God, blaming Him (to the point of denying His existence) for allowing it to happen. 

I’ve heard the phrase, “This life is not to be coveted.” That is hard to wrap our heads around, but it doesn’t make it less true. 

In many books, including Heaven Is For Real, the person experiencing the life after life moment does not want to come back. They have found a completely different world, a completely different life so rich, so comforting, that it is sometimes painful to come back to this restricted 3D existence of pain and loss.

St. Therese of Lisieux had this to say, “Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away from the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers.
...And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden…Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.”

So we are all flowers. And God picks us when we are the most beautiful to Him, the time when we are closest to Him. For some, this time is early on, for others, it is much later. But the important thing to remember is that God will pick us when we are ready. Instead of looking at death as a tragedy, we need to see it as a victory. 

When my grandmother was wheelchair bound after living 90 years on her own, she started to despair. No longer could she take care of herself. She relied on others and this was a constant heartache for her. At one point, she started to think God had forgotten her. What she didn’t realize is that in those last days, when she had to rely on others, she converted many souls to God through her example of prayerful suffering. Those people still remember her today. God took her at her best.

God never forgets us and He picks us at our peak…just as He picks the flowers of the fields.

The Last Piece

Over Christmas I decided to do a couple puzzles as therapy. My good friend, Michele Cushatt says, "it’s cheap two dollar therapy." She’s right. I needed to chill and this was it.

When I work on a puzzle, I always comment to my husband, “…the company didn’t pack all the pieces…I’m missing some.” 

Of course I'm not. I just say it to bug him. And make his eyes roll.

But this year, when I finished the puzzle, I was missing a piece. It was a new puzzle, just taken it out of the box to work on it, so it wasn’t one of my kids or my lack of putting things away. 

There was a piece missing. I looked everywhere…around the table, on the floor, under chairs, etc. Jeff even helped me look. Nothing.

So it’s been sitting on the dining room table for three weeks now because I need that piece to finish the puzzle. 

I.

Need.

That.

Piece.

I can’t put it away. It’s not finished! So there it sits. An eye sore on my dining room table. 

I’ve been struggling lately with too much driving. A good part of my day is spent driving to school, picking up and sports related activities. Because we are split schools right now, that car time has only increased and so has my stress level. I’m not getting to do my daily tasks of laundry or dishes as much as I should and my house looks like a hoarder’s house. Piles everywhere. I've basically dropped out of all my social groups, no activity except...driving. It's preventing me from helping my mom, preventing me from meeting my writing goals and keeping me from getting the exercise I need to keep my arthritis at bay.

It’s been happening since September, and though I try, I haven’t been able to keep up with everything. Add family health complications and I’m feeling overwhelmed. I’m upset that things keep happening that are not in my control. I’m upset that friends are dying. I’m upset that I need to help my mother with her brother and don't have the time to do it properly. I’m tired of driving when I think things could be easier. And they could. And I’m tired of blaming people who could help resolve the situation but don’t. I’m cranky and I’m mad. I want a clean house and to be organized. To get back to “normal.”

Yesterday I looked at the dining room table. The puzzle was sitting there like an eye sore. I walked over to it. I once again looked all around for the missing piece. No luck.

And right there and then, God said, “Yep. No luck.”

What?

“You’re not gonna get resolution in the way you want, Loretta.”

Why?

“Because life isn’t always neat and tidy.”

But I try so hard Lord.

“Put the puzzle away.”

But it’s not done!

“You are not going to have closure on this puzzle and you’re not gonna get closure with these circumstances.”

Really?

“Get over yourself. The missing puzzle piece is a lesson.”

What?

“There is no peace in this world. It is only through Me you will receive peace.”

I’m talking about piece, not peace.

“Ha ha ha. So am I. I will give you peace if you let go of that piece.”

I don’t know if I can.

“That is your choice. But no piece, no peace.”

I think God thinks He’s funny. He’s right. He is.

I’m putting the puzzle away. 

I need the last peace.

Fear, Fish and Dancing

 

We all got “stuff.” 

Stuff from our past that prevents us from moving forward.

Stuff in the present that inhibits us from living fully. 

The common denominator is always fear. 

Fear is a great motivator. It keeps us from changing because we are afraid of the effort it might take.  St. Augustine once said, “Give me chastity and give me continence, but do not give it yet.” He knew he would have to put in some effort and he wasn’t ready for that. It meant a struggle.

I believe we all struggle with something. Some of us worry about our lives or what God is calling us to do. Some worry about our families and if we’ll survive. Some worry about the safety of our children. Some worry about our country and feel the weight of its failures as the beginning of the end. 

But it’s what we do with that worry, that fear that defines us. We can stand frozen and let it devour us, or we can act and ultimately defeat it. 

How do we defeat fear? Look to the Word. How did Jesus deal with fear?

The gospel of Mark presents a very real situation of fear and anxiety when Jesus tells his disciples to feed a crowd of over five thousand people with five loaves and two fish (Mark 6:34-44). I’m sure the disciples’ response was, “Uh…how do we do that?”

But Jesus’ response is just as relevant now as it was then. 

“Bring what you have to me…”

There is more than one miracle in the story of the five loaves and two fish. The multiplication of the physical food was a miracle, to be sure. 

But the underlying miracle, the underlying theme is that when we give Jesus what we have, it will always be more than enough. When there are insurmountable obstacles, it is then that Jesus calls us to give him what we have and he will bless us abundantly. 

We all worry about different things because we are all made uniquely and different things affect us in individual ways. That is part of God’s plan. There’s enough to go around…

What would happen if we each gave God whatever gifts we had for whatever worry we feel called to fix? For whatever shortcomings we experienced? For whatever fear we felt? Can you imagine what would happen if we all worked God’s plan in sync each tackling a different problem within ourselves and within our society? Talk about “nirvana!”

And yet, that is what we are called to do. Each person in the body of Christ has a task and we can’t allow fear to take that task away from us because it is when we all work together that we create a symphony of love. 

A friend of mine reminded me of the manna that came from heaven every day to feed the Israelites lost in the desert (Ex 16). It was only enough for that day, but it was enough. And today we need to remember that God will feed us bread from heaven every day, and we will be satisfied.  Five loaves was enough for five thousand men. 

We may only have two fish but God promised, through the act of His son’s miracle that those fish will be enough. We can’t worry about tomorrow. We have enough for today.

It is the promise that we will be filled if we allow God to work through us.

My daughter introduced me to a YouTube video that says so much. It’s the “Everything Skit by Lighthouse.” I encourage you to take five minutes and watch it. It's very powerful.

What I noticed was the beautiful dance that Jesus does with us when we work with him. I also noticed how far we fall when we get distracted from dancing with Jesus. I felt the heartache when the dancer tried to get back to God. That is our struggle. All of us. Struggle. With. Fear.  

One of my good friends, Robbie Iobst has written a book about dancing with Jesus. It's called, Joy Dance: 52 Joy-votions that Free your Heart to Grow in Jesus. Robbie shows us the delight we receive when we dance with Jesus. 

We are all meant to dance with Jesus. How do we know?

The last psalm, Psalm 150 gives the final doxology, or final instructions for our lives. It says praise, play instruments and dance. Each day. And that will be enough.