Saturday, June 13

Today’s Readings: Psalm 19; 1 Samuel 13:1-18; John 17:18-26; 2 Corinthians 8:1-8; Psalm 25

Every once in a while I run across a story in the scriptures that pushes every last one of my buttons. Today’s story from 1 Samuel is one such story. The story pushes my buttons because of the way Saul get’s treated in the story. In the story it is implied that Saul was left alone with his soldiers near the scene of the battles at a crucial stage in the military encounter. Samuel said he would return in seven days to help lead the Israelites on the next stage of their journey. Seven days passes and there was no sign of Samuel. So what did Saul do? He did what I think most good leaders would do; he stepped up to the plate, made an offering to God, and prepared to lead his soldiers into the next stage of battle. And what happened to Saul? He got in trouble for not waiting long enough for Samuel’s return?! Now if Saul had not waited for the agreed upon time, or if Saul had tried to rush into battle without seeking God’s blessing; it would have been easier for me to understand why Saul got into trouble. But as it is, the God portrayed through the words of Samuel comes across looking rather capricious and sadistic (neither of which are qualities I would associate with God). I know the moral of the story is supposed to be: “Hang in there and wait upon God – no matter how difficult that waiting might be”. Today, however, I come away with another moral for myself; I come away with a commitment to continue to wrestle with my understanding of God and challenge those portrayals of God that don’t seem consistent with the nature of God as I have come to know and experience it. There is one critical thing I would note here. I’m not continuing to wrestle and challenge others portrayals of God until I can simply mold God into a form that fits my narrow needs and conceptions. Rather, I’ll wrestle and challenge others portrayals of God until I grow in my capacity for truth and understanding – knowing that I’ll never be able to fully grasp the immensity of God. Who knows? Perhaps the wrestling and challenging will lead me to be more (and not less) sympathetic of God as portrayed in today’s reading from 1 Samuel. Go figure. Til next time…

Friday, June 12

Today’s Readings: Psalm 1; 1 Samuel 12:1-6; John 17:9-17; 2 Corinthians 7:10-16; Psalm 119:49-72

As I shared with our Tuesday night Sacred Grounds conversation group last week, I learned something in seminary that made me feel as if I were an odd duck compared to most people. The thing I learned in one of our theology courses is that the single most difficult question most people wrestle with is the question of theodicy (i.e. “Why do bad things happen to good people?”). I must have a warped gene because that question has never bothered me at all. For me, the whole issue of free will answers that questions. It suggests that God is not a puppeteer controlling each and every dimension of our experience. Because God does not control each and every dimension of our experience, what we perceive of as "bad things" are going to happen. Because of this awareness, I’ve taken all of the energy some invest in asking, “Why did this happen?” and formed a different question that has become foundational in my spiritual journey: “What am I going to do with what has happened?” That simple 10-word question has completely transformed my life by taking me out of a victim's role. In reading today’s passage from 2 Corinthians, Paul says some things that reinforced in my mind how important my little old question is. For in writing of what can happen to one when one faces adversity, Paul wrote: “And now, isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart” (2 Corinthians 7:11-12 from The Message). Talk about doing something powerful with something bad!! Today, I would invite you to look back on a recent setback and ask yourself, “What have I done with the experience?” You might be surprised what growth the event can spark – IF you open yourself to that possibility. Til next time…

Thursday, June 11

Today’s Readings: Psalm 28; 1 Samuel 11:1-15; John 17:1-8; 2 Corinthians 7:2-9; Psalm 56

I'm sorry I missed yesterday's posting. I'm in the process of adapting to a new schedule (writing late at night and not in the moring so I can walk the dogs in the morning while it is still cool). I was so tired last night that I posted my entry on a different web page. Sorry! With all that said, let me move on to today's post :)

Growing up, I thought my parents had a really strange marriage. I say that because it seemed that the only time my father would respond to my mother’s requests were those times when she got him upset at him and went off. Once my mother went off, my father would finally get around to responding to whatever request my mother made. “If dad really loved mom,” I remember thinking, “then he would readily do the things she asked of him and NEVER make her ask twice.” Fast forward twenty-five years. Now I’m in my own relationship, and I find some of those dynamics at work in my marriage. Mike, for instance, will gently ask if I’ve returned the movie I rented to Blockbuster. I’ll tune out his request a few times until he finally pushes the issue, and then I get around to doing what I had promised to do. So what’s going on in this scenario? Well, I’ve learned that when you are in an intimate relationship it’s easy to get so comfortable with one another that you start to tune each other out. The tuning out isn’t a sign of disrespect; rather, is a sign that you are incredibly comfortable with one another. There are times, however, when one or both of the partners need to be jarred out of their complacency to tend to the issue at hand. Paul was dealing with a similar dynamic in the community of Corinth at the time he wrote today’s passage from 2 Corinthians: he was dealing with a group of people who felt so comfortable and connected with one another and their God that they started getting a little lackadaisical in tending to their spiritual lives. Consequently Paul jumped into action to shake them up. “I know I distressed you greatly with my letter,” Paul reflected. “Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad – not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around.” So where are you at in your relationship with God? Are you in a comfortable place where perhaps you’ve grown a little complacent and tuned God out? If so, don’t feel too bad if something dramatic happens to upset your equilibrium and get your attention. That “something” might be just the thing you need to jar you into turning things around. Til next time…

Tuesday, June 9

Today’s Readings: Psalm 30; 1 Samuel 10:1-16; John 16:12-24; 2 Corinthians 6:3-13; Psalm 126

A few days ago, I connected with an old friend who is going through a painful time of transition. The transition involves his career. You see ten years ago my friend uprooted his family from the East Coast and came all the way to Denver in order to pursue his dream job. For several years he flourished in the position. The past few years, however, his relationship with his employer began to disintegrate until suddenly – promises were broken and the relationship was damaged beyond repair. “The pain,” he sighed, “feels totally overwhelming.” In talking further with my friend, I asked him a question that surprised him. I asked him what the pain might be signaling. “Does the pain you feel signal the end of your dreams,” I asked, “or could the pain represent something else?” “Like what?!” he asked. “Well, the pain that you feel might also represent the birth pangs associated with the birthing a new period of your life.” You see my friend had been thinking of switching fields for a while now. The comfort and security of his current position, however, had made it highly unlikely that he would have ever had the nerve to take the risk to change professions. But now – because his current job is ending – he’ll be able to pursue another dream of his. That realization helped my friend re-frame his situation and begin to move on. I was reminded of that conversation I had with my friend as I read today’s passage from the Gospel of John – for in that passage the evangelist quotes Jesus as saying: “When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar” (John 16:21-22 from The Message). Perhaps you – like my friend – are currently experiencing a time of hardship in your life: a time when the pain you feel makes it seem as if you are in the midst of death throes. If so, remember that pain does not always signal the end of life – it can also signal the beginning of a new life. May that realization give you strength to see beyond the pain. Til next time…