Stuffed with Fluff - Oh Bother!: A Clearing Season

“In the balance of law versus grace, what matters most is not our detailed, pious observance of the law but the heart with which we fulfill them.”

Houston to Atlanta to Houston to Atlanta to Richmond, IN to Atlanta.

This week’s chapter centered on developing natural rhythms for our days to try to come up with practices that bring us closer to God in our Lenten Journey. This will provide us with a new discipline foundation to build on. I have attempted to develop my natural rhythm in the airplane and in my hotel room by focusing on “A Clearing Season” and focusing on my weekly blog about my Lenten Journey.

I must confess, this has been hard for me. One of the difficulties for me has been committing to writing about my Lenten Journey each week. I have had my blog for several years now, and my practice is fairly simple. An idea for a blog post comes to me. When I go on my morning runs, I “write” it in my head. It usually takes a good month or two for me to write it, just like with my running, I’m slow. Once I finally commit it to computer, it usually takes maybe an hour or two to finish it because it’s pretty much already written. Since my practice is based on when something moves me rather than something under a constant rhythm, my writing over the last few weeks has presented a challenge for me, but a good challenge. As Dave Carr would say, it has taken me from my comfort zone to a creative zone (but not a panic zone!).

When I write, I largely do it for myself because I enjoy creating something since much of what I do every day is not creative (I’m probably being too harsh). I really don’t focus too much on who reads it or doesn’t and as I often joke my readership consists of mainly two people, my Mom and Laurel. Once in a while though, a blessing occurs, and just as my analogy about teaching goes, if you can reach one or two students a semester, I consider it a success.

In this case, I reached two very old friends (not in age) from my past, and it really made me feel good that two people who I had no idea read my blog, read it, and got something from it. One was our first neighbor from when we bought our first house. We “grew up” together as new parents many years ago, and it made me feel good to see she had read my blog and enjoyed it. The other was an old friend from high school and college. He reached out to me to express his gratitude for my post, and it was so nice to hear from an old friend from growing up. I will have to say that this really made my week. If one or even two people get something out of what I write over this Lenten Journey, I will consider it extremely successful, particularly since I am getting so much out of it.

The sermon this Sunday was based on Luke 12: 35-40 about being ready when God comes knocking at the door. Bradley Kibler, Shallowford’s Director of Youth and Program Ministries, delivered the sermon, and it was incredible. She was poignant, she was funny, she just delivered a great message, I was so impressed at how she tied it all together. She maintained the theme of our Lenten Journey, and she focused on what can happen when we free up space and create room for growth. When we free ourselves up, when we are ready for that knock, we are better able to become instruments of God in the world. If we keep our eyes open, it’s amazing what we can see. When we create space, we create better opportunities for surprise, for showing love and for creativity. She even ripped a page out of her planner as a visual for us of not being bogged down in our daily schedules and plans, but maintaining the opportunity for greater connection with God through freeing up space. While I had a strong feeling she really didn’t rip out a page of her planner, I still had a mild panic attack when she did this.

It reminded me of two powerful times in my life when God came knocking. Once, I wasn’t ready, and I failed miserably, and once I was ready and made room, which made all the difference.

Several years ago, and I did write a blog post about it, I was sitting on a bench in front of a music store waiting for Patrick to finish his music lesson. I was busy (crazy busy!) doing some work, and a gentleman, who I mistakenly thought was a street person sat down next to me and started talking to me. I couldn’t give him the time of day, and I became angrier and angrier as time wore on and he wouldn’t shut up. He began talking after a while about losing his wife a short time before, and how much he missed her. He told me that this is probably why he talks so much to people, he’s just lonely because he misses her. I stopped in my tracks at that point and realized how badly I had erred. When I left, he looked me in the eyes, deep into my eyes, and I truly believe I was looking at the eyes of Jesus Christ. And I realize how badly I failed. To top it all off, it happened to be Easter Week.

The second time was several years ago also, and it was shortly after Patrick had come back from his second trip to a mental hospital. Late at night, when we were almost ready to go to bed, Patrick came downstairs and said Allen Hoskyn (our Associate Pastor at the time) was coming over. Laurel and I were shocked, we were tired, probably in our pajamas, definitely not ready for company. But the doorbell rang, and there was Allen. Patrick essentially invited Allen over to be the “mediator” between us. It wasn’t that we weren’t getting along, it was that he had things he needed to tell us, and he needed that moral support to tell us. I will never forget Allen’s willingness to pull himself away from his family late at night to play broker in our family. It was helpful, we got a lot out on the table, and we had some honest conversations. Allen was that welcome knock on the door many times in our trials with Patrick, and I will never forget him for that.

The other thing that jumped into my head listening to Bradley’s sermon was that we need to love others as the beautiful child of God that they are. As I was flying this week, I asked the flight attendant for a coffee, and she brought it to me, but I had forgotten to ask for cream. As she came back, and I apologized for my mistake, she started laughing, and I looked up, and I saw a beautiful child of God with a wonderful smile. Delta gives its Medallion members these forms that you can give to a flight attendant or other employee, thanking them for whatever they may have done for you, and the Delta employee get 500 free miles. I gave Latrice one of those forms, and wrote a note on it explaining why I gave it to her. I simply wrote a few sentences about what a nice young lady she was and what a wonderful smile she had. She was so appreciative, mainly for what I wrote, and I thought to myself, how simple is it to make someone’s day? Thank them, tell them they have a beautiful smile, be kind, it really doesn’t take much. When we free up space, when we create room, we can show more love. And we can tell them and remind them that they are a beautiful child of God.

Just a few more points, and I’m done:

We again had a wonderful Adult Education class about creating space, and in this case, hospitality. I have to say, Shallowford is an amazing place for hospitality, and I can’t believe that we’ve been attending there for about a year, and people treat us like their best friends.

Clinging Cross Ministry - This week’s Clinging Cross went to Bradley Kibler for pitching a shutout with her sermon. For those who don’t know, I love baseball and I love pitching. For me, a shutout is a masterpiece. That’s what Bradley did. I was so pumped up after hearing her sermon, it really inspired me. She gave me the inspiration to create space, to love, to create, to encounter surprise this week. Bradley also does something that I really can’t do, she serves the youth of the church. Years ago, Laurel and I served as youth counselors at our church for one year. At the end of one year, I told the pastor in charge of the ministry, “I know I have many gifts, but this isn’t one of them.” I’m amazed at what Bradley is able to do, and many others are able to do, in working with youth. It’s definitely not my calling. It is Bradley's calling. And, she is a beautiful child of God.

Last thing, in line with the natural rhythms. As I was running this morning, the song “Break Every Chain” came on my Ipod. If you don’t know this song, it’s very repetitive and very rhythmic. As we enter another week of Lent, keep in mind that –

There’s a power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain