My son figured out how to make my daughter laugh the other day. She was sitting on my lap and he started running at her laughing and making a scene and she responded by laughing too. It was the kind of laughter that was contagious. I suppose little child laughter always is. He just kept coming at her, and she just kept laughing, and soon I found myself laughing too. It was one of those near perfect moments in life. Then he did it again and she laughed and he looked up at me and said, “Daddy the baby loves me.” Perhaps that is perfect… at least I am not sure how it could have been more perfect and I pray to my God the memory of that moment never leaves me. It has already been my fuel for joy in moments of need.
Recently I have picked up a hobby. I like to take photos. While I am not very good I enjoy the hobby because it keeps me more aware of what is around me. There really is beauty everywhere! Last month I was asked to speak in Columbus and enjoyed the drive. Over four years I have lived here and I am still enamored by the beauty of this place. It was perfect day, at least to me. The clouds were high and white, the sky was blue, the sun was bright but the air was cool. Then there was the scenery, farms, trees, little towns, beauty and more beauty. I kept saying to myself I would love to have a picture of this or that. Finally on the way back as I passed by a pecan orchid void of leaves I could not help it anymore. I pulled over. Found a little road off to the side and got out. I discovered an angle I liked and took a picture. A truck came up and the man inside asked if I needed any help. I told him I had to stop to enjoy the beauty. He looked out with me for a moment and said, “Thanks for reminding me.” I wondered if he meant it… maybe not but I am glad I had the chance to share it and I pray to my God the memory of that moment never leaves me. It has already been my fuel for joy in moments of need.
A couple of weeks ago in church I was sad. I had heard the night before that my grandfather was not doing well. It is hard to be far from family sometimes. When the service started a twelve-year-old girl, or do we call them young women these days, came up front. I had no idea why, she just did. She said she wanted to ask us to pray for a friend of hers. Apparently she was sad too, and knew that church is a good place to go when one is sad. Someone said that we should pray right then. I ended up telling everyone about my grandfather, and we heard other prayer requests right at the beginning of the service. There were tears and it was good… I am sure that right then somewhere God was smiling that in Albany, Georgia a little church decided not to follow the order of service and to pray when the Spirit moved instead. I pray to my God the memory of that moment never leaves me. It has already been my fuel for joy in moments of need.
I was dropping my children off at day care last week. There I was looking like the frantic father trying to get my toddler and baby out of the car. Langston was stepping in puddles and Kensington was throwing up on me. It was hectic. Just about when I pretty sure I could not take anymore a woman who works at the day care was walking up. Politely I asked how she was doing. She simply responded, “This is the day that the Lord has made…” and then left it hanging. I finished the verse and suddenly the moment became holy. For a moment I thought maybe God would show up… God never did, at least not in person, but I pray to my God the memory of that moment never leaves me. It has already been my fuel for joy in moments of need.
What is your fuel for joy in moments of need? All around us there is reason for joy. The cynic would point out that there is also reason for despair, but I would counter there are only reasons to have people who offer fuel for joy so that joy abounds. To those who are hurting and in need, we must become their fuel for joy! God offers a world so full of beauty, a life filled with surprise, and moments of inspiration to each of us with the express intent that we in turn offer the world what God has given, joy!
Riding the Wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
No Favorites with God
For God does not show favoritism. – Romans 2:11 (NIV)
Why do think God may not show favoritism? How do you show favoritism? Why do you show favoritism? How great is it that God does not play favorites with you?
The following story was e-mailed to me about a soldier coming home from Vietnam:
He called his parents from San Francisco.
“Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve got a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring with me.”
“Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.”
“There’s something you should know the son continued, “he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mined and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”
“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.”
“Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.
A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.
We are not very good at accepting others for who they are. We are not even very good at accepting ourselves for that matter. Thank God we accepted by God! However, if we are to be true to the God we follow, worship, and praise, we would do good to ensure that others who feel unloved in this world might find that we do not play favorites too. In that way those who feel they have no place in this world might find a place in our presence.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Why do think God may not show favoritism? How do you show favoritism? Why do you show favoritism? How great is it that God does not play favorites with you?
The following story was e-mailed to me about a soldier coming home from Vietnam:
He called his parents from San Francisco.
“Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve got a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring with me.”
“Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.”
“There’s something you should know the son continued, “he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mined and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”
“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.”
“Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.
A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.
We are not very good at accepting others for who they are. We are not even very good at accepting ourselves for that matter. Thank God we accepted by God! However, if we are to be true to the God we follow, worship, and praise, we would do good to ensure that others who feel unloved in this world might find that we do not play favorites too. In that way those who feel they have no place in this world might find a place in our presence.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Looking On The Inside
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. – Matthew 2:16 (NRSV)
Why was Herod angry? Was it just because the wise men tricked him, or was it something much more? Was it fear? How much of anger is fueled by fear? What was he afraid of?
Our Roman Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters celebrate a feast day on December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents. On this particular day the Gloria is not sung and the Alleluia is not prayed, the clergy once again wear purple vestments symbolizing mourning even in the midst of the Christmas season. We recall that God became a helpless child and that children were slaughtered because of the helpless child God became.
Not an uplifting story, but one of caution in this New Year. It is easy to find the Herods of today. Those tyrants and despots who do anything to keep power and heard about in the news, read about in the wakes of their evil.
However the ancient story invites us to face the power struggles of in our lives. We have all found ourselves in contentious board meetings, gossiping about the lives of others, stuck in office politics, and much more. Our lives are in as much need for a Prince of Peace as during Herod’s time.
In this New Year we are invited to look within and see where we ourselves need the Prince of Peace to bring light into our darkness. We could bemoan the evil of others even while we lash out violently in our own ways, or we can confront the evil within and thereby become a vessel for goodness in this world. The story of whether or not peace or violence will win out in our lives is being written as we live. Let us pray that we live well.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Why was Herod angry? Was it just because the wise men tricked him, or was it something much more? Was it fear? How much of anger is fueled by fear? What was he afraid of?
Our Roman Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters celebrate a feast day on December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents. On this particular day the Gloria is not sung and the Alleluia is not prayed, the clergy once again wear purple vestments symbolizing mourning even in the midst of the Christmas season. We recall that God became a helpless child and that children were slaughtered because of the helpless child God became.
Not an uplifting story, but one of caution in this New Year. It is easy to find the Herods of today. Those tyrants and despots who do anything to keep power and heard about in the news, read about in the wakes of their evil.
However the ancient story invites us to face the power struggles of in our lives. We have all found ourselves in contentious board meetings, gossiping about the lives of others, stuck in office politics, and much more. Our lives are in as much need for a Prince of Peace as during Herod’s time.
In this New Year we are invited to look within and see where we ourselves need the Prince of Peace to bring light into our darkness. We could bemoan the evil of others even while we lash out violently in our own ways, or we can confront the evil within and thereby become a vessel for goodness in this world. The story of whether or not peace or violence will win out in our lives is being written as we live. Let us pray that we live well.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Minister's Minute from January Issue of the Journal of Hope and Joy
Are the holidays over yet? There is a part of me that is quite ready for them to end. Please do not misunderstand me I love the holiday season, which is that time of year that runs between Thanksgiving and New Year where we all seem in constant motion. I love the celebrations, the family, the friends, the travelling, the food, the goodwill, the gifts, the joy, the services, the darker nights, and all the rest. Part of the reason we have to take so many days off of work during this time of year is because if we attempted to do all we had to do and work a full schedule some of would die.
I am quite serious! I have more wrinkles in January than I did in November, to say nothing of my weight gain, and the lack of sleep. Without those days off to recover from it all I might just not be able to make it, and I suppose that is why I am ready for them to end. Surely it is mighty enjoyable, but it is mighty exhausting too!
I need a moment to breathe, to just be, whatever that means. Perhaps what I need is to sit, or stand, or lie down, and just pray and meditate, and listen to the deep silence in between words and notes of music where God speaks. “Be still and know that I am God,” the psalmist quotes from the Divine. But we are not a people who know about being still. We are people who are on the move. ADD is something we each have some problems with.
Let me be honest and admit that I have a problem being still even at a red light. That minute or two that I am sitting alone in my car waiting for the light to change is a moment where I can check my email or make a call or wonder what I should be doing when I arrive to wherever I am going. If I cannot maintain some semblance of stillness while in my car for a minute, with music coming from the radio, how on earth can I possibly be still enough to know that God is God?
That is part of a problem we have in my opinion. We do not know God is God. Surely we say we worship God. We go through the motions. Sometimes we even pray on our own, and when we do God better be ready for us. “Do you believe in God?” someone asks. “Why yes I do, of course I do,” we reply but what if someone asked us to explain something of God?
Children ask questions about God because, even if they go a mile a minute, in their innocence there is stillness, and they start to wonder about God. Most of the questions I field in my line of work about God either come from children, the parents of children who need help, or non-believers. Perhaps the rest of us are afraid to ask, afraid to search, or perhaps we cannot be still long enough to realize we are not sure.
I was speaking to someone from another church who was considering leaving the church behind. “It just doesn’t speak to me anymore.” “Why is that?” I asked. “I don’t really know, I’m just not getting anything out of it. You know what I mean?” “What are you putting into it?” I asked. Then I just got a quizzical kind of look in return like the person never considered about having to put something into it.
I had a friend, a really good friend. We were inseparable for a while, then one of us moved away. Someone asked me the other day how my old friend was doing. “I don’t know, we haven’t talked in years,” I said. “Really? You guys were inseparable, what happened?” I made up some excuses but the truth is we stopped putting anything into the friendship. If one does not tend to their relationships they rarely survive.
The same is true of our relationship with God I have discovered. I have been running so much during the holidays that I have not taken a moment to be still, to sit with God and catch up. I have talked about God, led people in worship of God, but I have not taken much time to sit with God myself. Today I will. I will take a moment and put something into my relationship with God. I am sure it will be refreshing; in fact it may even feel like a holiday.
Hoping to hop on the wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
I am quite serious! I have more wrinkles in January than I did in November, to say nothing of my weight gain, and the lack of sleep. Without those days off to recover from it all I might just not be able to make it, and I suppose that is why I am ready for them to end. Surely it is mighty enjoyable, but it is mighty exhausting too!
I need a moment to breathe, to just be, whatever that means. Perhaps what I need is to sit, or stand, or lie down, and just pray and meditate, and listen to the deep silence in between words and notes of music where God speaks. “Be still and know that I am God,” the psalmist quotes from the Divine. But we are not a people who know about being still. We are people who are on the move. ADD is something we each have some problems with.
Let me be honest and admit that I have a problem being still even at a red light. That minute or two that I am sitting alone in my car waiting for the light to change is a moment where I can check my email or make a call or wonder what I should be doing when I arrive to wherever I am going. If I cannot maintain some semblance of stillness while in my car for a minute, with music coming from the radio, how on earth can I possibly be still enough to know that God is God?
That is part of a problem we have in my opinion. We do not know God is God. Surely we say we worship God. We go through the motions. Sometimes we even pray on our own, and when we do God better be ready for us. “Do you believe in God?” someone asks. “Why yes I do, of course I do,” we reply but what if someone asked us to explain something of God?
Children ask questions about God because, even if they go a mile a minute, in their innocence there is stillness, and they start to wonder about God. Most of the questions I field in my line of work about God either come from children, the parents of children who need help, or non-believers. Perhaps the rest of us are afraid to ask, afraid to search, or perhaps we cannot be still long enough to realize we are not sure.
I was speaking to someone from another church who was considering leaving the church behind. “It just doesn’t speak to me anymore.” “Why is that?” I asked. “I don’t really know, I’m just not getting anything out of it. You know what I mean?” “What are you putting into it?” I asked. Then I just got a quizzical kind of look in return like the person never considered about having to put something into it.
I had a friend, a really good friend. We were inseparable for a while, then one of us moved away. Someone asked me the other day how my old friend was doing. “I don’t know, we haven’t talked in years,” I said. “Really? You guys were inseparable, what happened?” I made up some excuses but the truth is we stopped putting anything into the friendship. If one does not tend to their relationships they rarely survive.
The same is true of our relationship with God I have discovered. I have been running so much during the holidays that I have not taken a moment to be still, to sit with God and catch up. I have talked about God, led people in worship of God, but I have not taken much time to sit with God myself. Today I will. I will take a moment and put something into my relationship with God. I am sure it will be refreshing; in fact it may even feel like a holiday.
Hoping to hop on the wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
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