Femininity

Femininity is dying and men are being blamed for it. 

I believe men are responsible for their leadership, and what they do directly affects women, children and the whole of society. However, it’s always been interesting to me that feminists proclaim their independence and power but when confronted with feminine failures, they continue to blame men for manipulating and oppressing. It’s no secret, I’m no fan of the feminist movement. Instead of holding the bad men accountable, I believe it tears all men down and harms women. But how can we tangibly fight the degradation of all things femininely beautiful?

Instead of blaming men for every failure, it’s time we take responsibility for our actions and bring back Godly femininity. Holding everyone accountable is not an issue of sex, but of character.

How many times have we asked “Where are the good men?”.

Maybe the question we should be worried about is “Am I a good woman?”.

How can we craft ourselves into feminine women in an age of feminists?

1. Take responsibility for your health; physically. It is not “body positive” to accept and celebrate obesity and other health issues that can be changed with lifestyle adjustments. I’m not talking about uncontrollable illness or normal weight fluctuations. I’m talking about willfully lazy and negligent choices. We know what those things are for ourselves, and we need to be honest about them.

2. Take responsibility for your health; mentally. Mental illness is not a personality trait that makes a person more interesting. Panic attacks are not tools to manipulate others. These things can and do happen, they are very real. But too many women use them to gain an upper hand or to make up for personality defects or feeling boring. Our society hates self control and sometimes the things that can help make positive change involve self control. Sleep more, or less. Pray through the intrusive thoughts instead of numbing yourself with social media. Notice what foods or situations make you feel worse mentally and avoid them. Journal. Learn to love and search God’s word. Listen to what your emotions are telling you but ask God to help you not be ruled and governed by them. Your future family will reap the benefits of your labor in this area, and you will be healthier.

3. Value beauty. Our world says beauty doesn’t matter. It says women who dress well and care about their appearance are under patriarchal oppression. But taking care of ourselves is a gift, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be attractive and bring beauty and softness into the world. This isn’t one size fits all and everyone has a different perspective of what is beautiful, but there is nothing wrong with enjoying inherently feminine things like styling your hair, decorating and enhancing the beauty all around you.

4. Learn to be a good steward of your finances. Just because you don’t make much money and you weren’t taught, doesn’t mean you have to be a slave to poor choices. Knowing and practicing how to live within your means is going to be a gift to your future, no matter if you marry one day or not. Read about and understand money. Make investments, even if they are small. Learn how to save for something you want. Avoid debt and if you have it, make a plan to pay it off. Buy items that will last you for years, now! You don't need to reserve your purchases to purses and makeup, just because you are single. Buy the high quality sheets, dishes, mixer, sofa, etc. now! You will be ahead, no matter what your future holds.

5. In a world of silly women, be a wise learner. There is no limit to educating ourselves these days, we have more opportunity than any generation before us. It is a beautiful thing to be educated and passionate about something. Take affordable courses and teach yourself about art, music, language. Study the law or medicine. Read about theology. Understand basic politics and become an educated voter, know what you believe and why. Education doesn’t always equate to college and being curious and consistent is of more value than any degree.

6. Learn to cook and create a home. Don’t assume that just because you have a bigger house, you will suddenly make it a welcoming home. Making a home requires effort, creativity and discipline. Hospitality doesn’t have to be within your home, you can bring meals to family’s who could use them, help them in times of need and learn how to serve others well.

7. Practice contentment. Paul talks about contentment in Phillipians. He said he has learned in whatever circumstances to be content. Life is full of painful seasons, how beautiful it is to be prepared for those times. I want to be a source of strength to those around me, not a drain, nag or cause of strife in hard times.

8. Grow a healthy and respectful relationship with your parents. It’s so common to have issues with your parents, especially with your dad. If your parents are around and your relationship hasn’t been severed by abuse or sin, thank the Lord and foster that gift. If I am blessed with children one day, I hope they show me grace. It’s a touchy subject and more complicated than not but if you are unable to have respectful communication with your dad when you are angry, what makes you think you’ll treat another man any differently?

9. Be trustworthy with what you’ve been given. Each of us has been given a portion of time, intellect, and resources, and each of us uses them differently. Learning how to multiply good things is an inherently feminine trait, as we find in Proverbs 31. We see that the woman in the scripture took what she had and made wise business moves. She was responsible, resourceful and strong. She made her home plentiful and beautiful. She was hardworking. Gone are the days when women kept the home fires burning while the men fought wars. These days, women seem overwhelmed by the task of homemaking. What if that’s not because it’s harder, but because we no longer find it valuable.

10. Strive for selflessness. The art of putting others before yourself will take a lifetime to grasp, and will leave no area of life untouched. There will be moments in your life when you have to serve when you feel like being served yourself. When sickness comes to a whole household, joyfully and kindly putting others needs before your own will be of more value than you can imagine. When looking for a spouse, we seek remember what is truly of value. At 3:00 AM when you are ill, when a loved one has died, or you are under financial difficulty, what will matter to you is not their good looks or fancy job. What will matter is his kindness, how hardworking he is, and if he loves the Lord more than you. These character traits aren’t just valuable to women, men need them too.

Instead of holding men to high standards while ignoring our own flaws, we need to look to God to meet our needs. He’s the only one who can satisfy. Having high expectations bathed in grace for both men and women, creates beautiful marriages and beautiful images of God’s love, no matter if you are single or married.

Suffering

All at once, all of life is changed.

The church, which was once a place of comfort and stability, becomes the last place you want to be.

Your life is turning, spiraling, and the people around you can only offer words that sting and fester in the gaping wound of your pain. They mean well, they love you, but they don't know what to say.

You probably remember being on both sides of that situation. Maybe you've been the one to offer trite words to the wounded. Maybe you've been the recipient of those words. Maybe you've been both.

No matter which you are, the truth is no one gets out of this kind of thing unscathed.

In my own darkest moments, I remember the tension of not understanding any of it. I was in a bleak and deep state of confusion, unable to understand what was happening to me, what to do, and what I wanted or needed. I remember wanting to flee from people, dreading every sympathetic look and interaction. And I remember days when I broke and longed deep inside me for someone to reach out and speak to me, touch me, and sit with me in my pain. I remember the days God answered those pleas with the kindness of a friend or stranger, and I remember days He answered with Himself.

It's normal to wish we had a rulebook for walking through devastating loss, something to help us navigate loving others well when we don't know how. God's word doesn't provide us with rules, but these are a few vital truths we can rest in:

• When searching the Psalms, Lamentations, and Job, we see examples of how pain is never linear. It ebbs and flows, sometimes to extremes. When walking through or with someone in hardship, remember that there is no correct progression. Be careful not to expect it to look a certain way. It almost never will be what you expected.

• I was often so shocked when people said extraordinarily insensitive things to me in the wake of my pain, but in Job, we see this is not an uncommon part of grief. If you are suffering, remember there have probably been times you've been Job's destructive friends. If you are walking alongside someone, remember how the words you say today will be etched in the memory of your hurting friend, for better or worse. In the words of someone, I greatly respect,

  "Job's friends, who sometimes said true things alongside their poor theology, were called "miserable comforters" with "windy words" and were rebuked sharply by the Lord. Jesus, on the other hand, shows us how wise and loving friends come alongside sufferers. He wept." - Clint Watkins

• There are certain kinds of suffering that leave us paralyzed. Sleep evades us or refuses to provide rest. Food no longer fills and satiates us. Our eyes are bleary, and we tremble with weakness. All we feel is numb. In times like this, a home-cooked meal and a tangible act of service can be the hands and feet of Jesus. Offer to fill the gas tank of the recently widowed woman. Bring food to the broken home. Cut their grass and wash their car. Instead of cliché words or gifts, offer physical help.

• Pain makes everyone uncomfortable, not just the sufferer. You may feel afraid to say something, desperately not wanting to say something that will make it worse, and that's a good thing. Jeremiah 6:14 offers a warning to those who offer false comfort, "They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace." Instead of always having to have something to say, pray. Pray for them even if they never know; sometimes, those prayers carry more weight. I will never forget the friend who lives hundreds of miles away, who wrote my name on the wall of his barn, and prayed for me every single day for years. He had no self-interest in my pathetic situation. He pleaded for me without thanks or accolades. He had no assurance his prayers would be answered, yet he continued to pray for me. When I learned this years later, I felt like the most wealthy person on earth.

• Pain and joy can go hand-in-hand, but that doesn't mean we abandon one for the other. We can live in the not-yet tension of acknowledging the devastation of the suffering we are feeling while being held in the hope that is coming. There are moments when we feel that being joyful means ignoring reality, but God never calls us to live in a dream world. He knows what it's like here, what you are walking through. He lived through it too. He calls us to rejoice because this is not the end. We can be sure that we will see the goodness of God in the land of the living because He promised us. None of His promises will ever fall void.

• The pressure to help the suffering, or even to help yourself in the midst of suffering, is not on you. Yes, you have the responsibility to love others well and to seek God in pain, but in the end, you are not the one who can bring hope, meaning, and healing. Only God, who was called The Man of Sorrows, can do that. Draw near when it is most uncomfortable and inconvenient. Offer kindness and love even when you feel clumsy and foolish. Don't be afraid to run to the hurting; God knows they need it. But, you are not able to save anyone from pain, and that can comfort you if you understand it. The God of the universe, who is the Author and Perfecter of Salvation, is mighty to save. Through scripture, we see that His beloved are almost always those who suffer greatly. Because we know this, we can consider it a mark of His special love for us when He calls us to walk with Him through something only He can help us with. There is treasure unfathomed in the special intimacy that comes when people suffer together. Imagine the intimacy that will come when you suffer with your Father.

Psalm 34:17-22 "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned."

Praying Annie's Song

I’ve had John Denver’s Annie’s Song in my head all week, with no explanation of why. This morning on my walk I turned it on, and as it streamed through my earbuds, I instinctively began to pray the lyrics to my Lord.

“You fill up my senses
Like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Come, let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let me always be with you
Come, let me love you
Come love me again

Let me give my life to you
Come, let me love you
Come love me again”

Now, this is not the first time I’ve prayed a love song, but to sing this song in praise was the most reverent moment I’ve experienced in the past year. Today is the anniversary of a painful event for me. I’m thankful for it because without it, I would’ve never started singing Annie’s Song in praise and worship this morning.

The words captured the glorious creation I was witnessing all around me, which seemed to be shouting His goodness and beauty.

Then came my asking Him to let me love Him. I asked that He would make me truly mean that.

I said I gave my life to Him but I could feel the inability in me to do that on my own. He already has my life, but daily I must lay it down. I felt keenly the dissimilitude in the desires of my heart, and the way I lived. The inconsistency in what I felt, and what I wanted to feel.

I want to hear the laugh of God again, where He has felt so silent for so long.

I want to die in His embrace, to die to myself.

I longed to lay down beside Him, to always be at unshakable rest with Him.

And the prayer ended echoing again, “Let me love You, come love me again.” This time is was truer than the first time I said it.

I listened to that song around 20 times. I am a firm believer that humans are so dense and hardhearted, it takes long repetition to wake up and mean what we say. It’s why I repeat the Lord’s prayer multiple times a day, and why I tell my family I love them so often. In saying it so often, I begin to believe it, and start to really live like it. I am forever discouraged at my lack to really love God, and my weak worship of Him. But today was a glimmer at truer worship. Today I am humbled and in awe. Amen.

Mark 9:24 

“… I believe; help my unbelief!”

The Second Week of Advent: PEACE

”And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men”

These words were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, on Christmas Day in 1863. They are the words of a man who suffered unspeakable loss and pain, and who felt the weight of this broken sphere, deeply. I resonate with his words, today especially.
Today, I didn’t feel like Advent. I didn’t feel like singing or remembering, or lighting the candles. I felt exhausted, and troubled. Stopping to grab something at a local grocery store tonight, felt like a great and difficult task. To be honest, I felt like the weight on my chest was so heavy, I needed to stop for a rest in the parking lot. Maybe you can relate. But this, dear reader, is the whole point of Advent.
I don’t have to carry the weight, and I can’t. The Perfect One, The Holy One, The Giver of All Good Things, came to do what I never could, for me. He did this, so I could have the PEACE that I shattered. Through Him, we can have the only real peace. And that peace reaches through despair, sickness, disease, pain, abandonment, loss, depression, and any other thing that vies for your mind.
That old hymn, so full of truth, ends with one of my favorite verses of all time;

“Then rang the bells more loud and deep God is not dead, nor does he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With peace on earth, good will to men”.

Praying for the truest peace, over you and your house.

The First Week of Advent: HOPE

The first week of Advent is focused on: HOPE.

This quote from Tolkien always epitomizes hope, to me;

”There is a place called ‘heaven’ where the good here unfinished is completed; and where the stories unwritten, and the hopes unfulfilled, are continued. We may laugh together yet.” • J.R.R. Tolkien

Hope is a tricky thing, it evades or springs upon you seemingly at its will. To have hope, you must tend your thoughts and what you feed your mind. But living in a fallen world means, to do that, you must go to war with your own mind.

As the months grow colder and darker, it's not uncommon for depression and sadness to overshadow the season. I was talking to a friend recently about how this time of year makes me softer, more prone to weeping, and amplifies all that is sad and joyful. My thoughts went to the suffering of my Saviour, and His coming to save us. Born to die for our sins, Christ came as a helpless baby, born in a barn. He grew and lived a sinless life on this earth. He lived a real life, with discomfort, disappointment, temptation, and horrifying pain. This season of Advent begins with hope, but Hope is only sought when it is dark and we need to be rescued by it. So, if you are sad today, don't brush it aside. Take the sadness, fear, grief, disappointment, and hopelessness to the Saviour, who knows it well. Then hope for what is coming, because He has conquered darkness.

1 Peter 5:10 ”And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Hebrews 10:23 ”Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

Advent & The Great End

We are quickly approaching the season of Advent. Advent was my original subject for this piece, but when I sat down to write, something else was ringing in my ears and it has been for sometime.

In the wake of a pandemic, a historically chaotic election, and the slurry of devastating storms that our world has recently been hit with, endings have been on my mind, even, more than usual.

Around this time, two years ago, a loved one died. This childhood, familial friend had influenced my family so much, that his death forever changed us all. I remember the day so clearly, and the feeling which came over me, of what I can only describe as; “a seal being broken”.

Now, I’m not so naive to believe what’s happening in my small corner of the world is of enough importance to point to the beginning of the End Times, but then again, isn’t it a part of it? All our endings point to the one Great Ending that is coming. Since that time, I have felt my death grip on control, loosen. It was always a facade anyway, and age and pain tend to make what’s true glare all the clearer.

Truly, we are all “breaking seals”, each day. Every step leads us closer to our end, and, as morbid as some may feel that is, it is needful to realize.

Our culture’s sterilization of death leaves us very little time to prepare for and process the fact, we will all end, someday. We are taught to not think of death, avoid the topic with loved ones, and shield our children from all that points to it. Funerals are cold, quick and and cleaned-up. Mourners are encouraged to speed the grieving process along, and only talk about the good in the deceased. Rumors of the “better place” and “afterlife” are thrown around as comfort, no matter how the dead chose to live, or the state of their soul upon death. We are encouraged to waste hours away, on devices that allow us to escape reality and forget our mortality. When my end comes, I am certain I will regret my eight hour per day phone time and sense the profound loss of those hours which could have been spent talking with my family, or someone who needed Jesus. It’s not how I want to give Him an account of my time. Thinking about my death, always wakes me up to the way I want to live.

So what does Advent have to do with death? Advent means “coming”, and though we usually think of it as referring to Jesus’ first coming, the word actually refers to His second. His second, glorious, triumphant coming, where the pain and suffering in the lives of His beloved, will be ended, forever. But that ending doesn’t come before the pain, which we will all suffer, in this life. I believe thinking soberly about this pain, will cause us to have peace in the middle of whatever we suffer, and cause us to live rightly and well, as we wait for that great Advent.

I also believe that if we stop lying to ourselves about our mortality, we will take better care how we live and walk. Perhaps we will live more as those who are on a quest, instead, of those who are on vacation.

Praying for sober, blessed, gloriously beautiful Advent, for you and yours.

Ephesians 5:15-21 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Feast of Saint Augustine

Today is the Feast of Saint Augustine.

Augustine has influenced my thoughts of God more than any other. He has been called a “Doctor of the Church,” and could be considered one of the greatest theological minds of all time.

Augustine lived a life of hedonistic searching, up until late middle age. He exhausted every avenue the world offered. He tried every addiction and sensuality in search of joy, fulfillment, and contentment, before being rendered powerless by the love of God. Augustine’s mother, Monica, is also a hero of mine. She prayed with faith for decades, that her beloved son would be brought to Christ, when despair must have been looming. Her prayers were answered, just before her death.

Augustine knew suffering, pain, and loss, yet his writings prove he lived a life satisfied in Christ. He gave up a long term lover when he came to Christ, and his son died at a very young age. He lived the cost of discipleship out daily and gave hope to anyone struggling with a hard-to-break sin. All believers should take a look at his life and read his Confessions at least once. I’ve kept a copy by my bed for years.

A few of my favorite quotes from Augustine:

[ “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” ]

[ “In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it dazzled me.” ]

[ “Christ is not valued at all unless he is valued above all.” ]

[ “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” ]

[ “In order to discover the character of people, we have only to observe what they love.” ]

[ “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” ]

Failure

My heartbeat quickens, palms get sticky, cheeks flush. These are a few things that happen when I realize I have let someone down.

I hate this feeling and would do anything to avoid it. But I can’t avoid it all the time, no matter how hard I try or how many things I can remember, I don’t have the capacity for perfect performance. Fear of failing affects us all in many ways, but all of it leads back to knowing we cannot measure up.

How can we cope with all the ways we aren’t enough? The first way is by realizing we don’t have to try and pretend we are. Our Lord is fully aware of how frail we are, and yet doesn’t shrink back in disgust at our failure. He loves to meet us in our wanting. What a peace this brings, for a work weary soul.

This knowledge frees me from the fear of failing or disappointing others because I’m secure in His unchanging thoughts toward me. I could disappoint everyone, yet still, He wouldn’t abandon me. The reason for this is not my worth, but His kindness.

Ironically, this confidence frees me to be more of who He made me to be. It makes sin less attractive and it makes me fight doing things I know He says not to, out of love for Him and knowledge of His love for me. It makes me work harder and the quality of my work better, because I know I really can’t fail. I’m secure in His love.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

In a Mirror, Darkly

About a year ago, I found this mirror in a dirty thrift shop, in a not-so-great part of town. After some research, I found it’s actually from the late 1800s and has seen a long history of faces.

I love it because it reminds me of one of my favorite verses;

1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

I live my life, not ever quite sure of where I am going. Sometimes, I look around and feel left behind. People seem to be going further, faster. They're moving to thriving cities, traveling, adventuring, breaking free, resting, loving, living… and, I feel stuck.

There never seems to be quite enough time or resources for me to “get there”. The answers for me seem to always be; “Stay & Wait.”

I’m currently reading “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Discipleship in an Instant Society”, by Eugene Peterson. In this book, he describes, in beautiful terms, the simple often exhausting life of the Christ-follower. This life looks like walking the same road faithfully, for a long time, almost nothing about it is instant. You might be the only one who stays when everyone leaves for the gleaming adrenaline rush of adventure. You may be the one who works, day after day, with the lowly at home, while you watch people making huge strides on a foreign mission field. You may wonder if you're wasting your life, but you're not. You just can’t see clearly, yet. I have a feeling that many lives called dull here, will one day shine all the more brightly, in eternity. All the patience, the prayer, the endurance, is going to produce a weight of glory. And when I look at the lives of the saints gone before me, I do see adventure-filled adrenaline, it just looks different than I expected. I bet you have some of that spark in your life, too. I’d encourage you to fight to notice it.

Jeremiah 6:16

“Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.”

Film Review: HOPE GAP

I watched Hope Gap two weeks, ago. A quiet, gentle film that plays through the final days, and ultimate end of a longterm, tumultuous marriage. The couple, whom we follow, couldn't be more different and, at first, I think you are shocked they've stayed together long enough to raise their adult son. She is a passionate poet, with a personality like a storm, blowing you over either with affection or frustration. He is a distracted and disconnected, defeatist, seeming to have retreated from life, by immersing himself in a never-ending project.

This film looks deep into what promises made to one another and God, mean. Like any good artist, the filmmaker never gives you the answer, but, asks you to find it for yourself and gauge the health of your worldview, by it.

The adult son is in an impossible situation. He is torn between both his parents and the responsibility of sole comfort to his lonely and suicidal mother. He watches as his dad ends not only their marriage but also the innocence of his views on marriage. All parties are irrevocably changed and forced to rebuild so much of the life they've known.

My favorite part comes just after the son finds his mom safe after he feared she'd ended her life. He says something to her about hope, that resonated with me so much.

Watch it and let me know your thoughts!

Pentecost

This is Pentecost, the feast day on which we remember the giving of the Holy Spirit, to the church.

Acts 2:2  “ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. “

Reading this passage today, made me long for the Holy Spirit to breathe into my life. I need the wind they were given, as they gathered together in the earliest days of church history. I need His refreshment in my life and heart, like cold water on a hot and humid day, like the fresh calm that comes after much weeping. As we end the month of May and begin a new month, full of unknowns, I pray you are refreshed and sustained. May His grace blow like a cold wind, into the stagnant parts of our lives. I pray you see Him work miracles, as He always does.

John 14:15-18 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Sacramental

I have been walking through a season in my life where I feel dry, empty, uprooted. The year 2020 has been so far, filled with constant change and uncertainty. I have not attended a church service in many weeks, not to mention, the transition of churches I was in the middle of, when Covid-19 began. I have seen all my failings and doubts emerge with vengeance, and have felt acutely distant from all that tethers me.

I say all this because of the grounded peace I have come to know, through the sacramental.

Sacrament is surely seen in the Eucharist, (or Communion), in the ceremony of marriage, or of baptism… But its reach and depth are larger than that.

Sacrament is the physical, tangible presence of the Father, in the world, as we know it.

Sacrament is found in the rhythms of your day, the waking, rising, washing, toiling, searching, falling, struggling, cooking, cleaning, paying, resting, playing, sleeping… Just as much as in your praying.

It is found in the darkness, the wailing, the repenting.

It is found in the romancing, the marrying, the raising of children, the weaving of a family. The feeding of a family… body, mind and soul. It is also found in the not-being-married.

It is found in waiting and listening.

The friendship, the friendlessness, the working to create something good in the world. The learning to be wise with money and resources. The nursing of a sick person, the cleaning up of vomit or dressing a wound. The holding of a hand, the kissing of a forehead. The kissing your lover’s mouth, or the refraining from kissing. In attending meetings, driving to work, choosing a birthday gift. It is desiring the good of another. The loving from far away, either by distance, or something more sinister. The making of a life loved.

It is living… and in the middle of living, knowing that this thing you are doing, whatever it is, belongs to Him. That you are in Him, and He is in you. It is knowing that the way you do this thing, will ripple through eternity like a pebble dropped in a still lake, on and on forever. It is knowing, He is here, and ALL of this matters.

It is the weighty knowledge, that you can do a Holy thing, in an unholy way, just as you can do a humble thing, in a Holy way.

It is feeling the weight, of glory.

This won’t be the last time you hear me speak on this subject, because it has become a reigning creed in my life. I hope your eyes are opened to the sacrament all around you today, and you know and feel grounded in Him.

Resurrection Sunday

Today, we enter the Easter Season, which will continue until May. Though it’s not certain where the word “Easter” originates from, it could be from a German word, “Ēostre”, which means, “dawn”. The church calendar coincides with the seasons, and Spring is a dawn of new life, and the light.

Wherever the word began to be used, Easter is the day the church celebrates Christ’s triumph over death, forever.

Let those words really soak into your soul. Be comforted, because, if you are in Christ, the worst thing that could ever happen to you, was eradicated on the cross. He stood condemned in your place, so you would never be condemned, alone, or forsaken.

1 Timothy 1:15 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

Mark 16:6 “But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they laid Him.”

I pray His words; “IT IS FINISHED.'“, ring in your ears today.

Mandātum

Today is Maundy Thursday. This day we remember when our Lord washed the feet of His disciples, ate His final meal, and shared the first Eucharist. “Maundy” originates from the Latin, “Mandātum”. The great mandate He gave, is in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

Jesus the Holy Son of God, in His final hours, washed the dirty, smelly, swollen feet of His friends, in humble service.

He showed us, a simple act of love is beautiful in the eyes of God.

Quiet acts of service, echo loudly.

Gentle touch, can change a person forever.

Our lives are not about us.

Though the disciples were lowly, He loved them.

So, if you are lowly, foolish, afraid, like Peter was… if you don’t understand, you are in good company. If in your heart you say, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”, read His words:

 John 13:7 “Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 

Quiet your soul tonight, our Lord is near the broken-hearted.

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week.

This day we remember our Lord, and His entrance into Jerusalem, the week of His death on the cross.

Though the Church is physically separated, we are united, always.

I’d encourage you to gather branches, palm leaves, or any greenery, and assemble them together. It’s a simple, unifying, reminder, as we welcome Jesus into our home, and heart, in preparation.

Zechariah 9:9-17

9 “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.  11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. 13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword. 14 Then the LORD will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, 15 and the LORD Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with slingstones. They will drink and roar as with wine; they will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling the corners of the altar. 16 The LORD their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. 17 How attractive and beautiful they will be! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women.”

Grace & Peace be with you.