So how is Lent going for you?

I got an email from a friend today (hello, OL FU!!) who has not seen me post for a while on an internet football messageboard. I could have responded that it is the off-season (if such a thing truly exists for diehard football fans) and beyond Wofford’s excellent recruiting class (minus a nose tackle or two) there is not much to talk about on a football messageboard. Of course, that is not entirely true--- there is usually a bunch of stuff to discuss: sports and politics to movies to theology (believe it or not). I told my friend that visiting AGS was one of those things I gave up for Lent. I also gave up SimCity. SimCity is a neat computer game that allows you to build a city from scratch into a thriving metropolis or blow it all up. It is a great stress reliever.

I am not the only one in the household to give up stuff for Lent. Staff Sgt. WE has given up sodas and LPCoolJ gave up chewing gum. I think Mamma Deacon gave up her health (since she has been battling pneumonia). Since the Patriots lost the Super Bowl (THE last football game of the year), I think the Athlete gave up football---although that was not a choice.

Seriously, why all this talk of giving up trivial stuff (minus Mamma Deacon's health)? What difference does it make if I don’t build a city of a quarter million imaginary people or discuss with D1B the finer points of the Incarnation through the church? What is really to be gained? For me, I have already gained the experience of finding other ways to relieve stress that work my body as well as my mind. I am now walking daily on the treadmill. It is a healthy, if meager, start. Doing without the trivial things helps me to focus on the important things I have lost or forgotten. I am developing a better prayer discipline that I had lost over the course of the past year. I know on so many levels how beneficial a prayer discipline is to have, but how hard it is to regularly practice. It is still early in Lent; there is still plenty to learn and areas of life in which to grow.

I will be back building cities and discussing football March 23^rd. But hopefully the things I have gained (and lost) this Lent will not be forgotten. I hope they will be part of who I am and what God calls me to be.

Tonto Was More Than a Sidekick

Tonto was more than a sidekick--he was a friend.

Throughout this past week, United Methodist clergy from the South Carolina Annual Conference gathered for day-long meetings throughout the state in places like Winnsboro. We gathered to listen to Garlinda Burton, the General Secretary for the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women. We listened once again to a discussion of sexual ethics; one might think that clergy would be immune from such problems---one would be wrong. According to Ms. Burton, millions of dollars have been paid across United Methodism in recent years for clergy sexual misconduct. Allegations of clergy misconduct are nothing new and are not limited to sexual abuse as recent South Carolina news reports indicate. Clergy, as with the general population, sin and fall short of the glory of God.

As I listened to Ms. Burton, it seems that one of the early signs of what could be later trouble (of many varieties) for clergy is isolation. My friends and I call it the “Lone Ranger Syndrome”—the belief that one can do it all alone. Sometimes it happens because of geography--we serve isolated or rural settings. Other times it happens because we work without much Sabbath time…we become the indispensable pastor. Regardless of the reason, it isn’t long until we don’t have many clergy friends we speak with on a regular basis. Clergy connections and friendships are important because our colleagues know the ministry in general and some of our friends know us better than we know ourselves. They know the journey we take and the people we are. Without that clergy connection or accountability, we can isolate ourselves into weariness, overwork, and a loss of perspective. With defenses and boundaries weakened by the lack of community support and care, clergy can find themselves in vulnerable places facing temptations that normally they might withstand.

Connection and accountability is important in our faith journey. We cannot be lone rangers in any Christian endeavor. We grow as Christians when we are connected to others who love and care for us as we love and care for them. Clergy have to have that connection, not just for their own spiritual growth or friendship needs (that is important as well) but to keep balanced and aware of their souls and the places and people they serve.

So the last paragraph is about the challenge:

If you are a layperson, ask your pastor when the last time he/she had a day off. Encourage them to take one regularly. If you are a clergyperson, call the pastor in the church/charge next to you this week and just chat. You never know how important and meaningful it might be for that pastor---and for you.

At the Cross

If you have been one of the few who have followed this blog's account of the highway construction and the heritage tree at India Hook late last year, here is an update on the progress made so far. The tree has been sent to a sawmill and then to a woodworker for the final work. We are scheduled to meet with the woodworker as well as the folks who are helping us install the cross next week. The preliminary plan is that the cross will be 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide, made of 8 inch beams from the heritage tree. It will weigh 300 to 400 pounds. Installation and securing it properly are very high on my list, since I will be preaching under it week to week. We may also put newer lighting in the sanctuary that will not obscure the view of the cross. A diverse group from the church will plan and implement the final decision. If all goes according to plan, we will dedicate the Cannon Heritage Cross on March 16th, Palm Sunday.

The presence of the cross will change the focus of India Hook's worship space. With the clear glass in the areas around and above the pulpit, the eye is currently drawn upward to the beauty of creation beyond the glass. The cross will hang from the rafters in the ceiling, high above the Pulpit and the Table. The cross will be a focus in the foreground, and creation will be viewed in light of that huge cross.

Although the dedication will be the last Sunday of Lent, my Lenten reflections seem to be pointed to the cross of Christ and especially the hymns that speak of the cross. Much has been made of the method of torture known as the Cross especially in Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. My pondering as of late has more to do with what Christ was willing to do, rather than the brutality of humanity in that scene. It is a love that acted in spite of the awful brutality... a love that still goes to the cross for us today... even when we want to leave the horror of the death of Christ to "back then" and the Romans and the Jews.

Yes, there is much to ponder still. We ponder what it means for Christ to call us to pick up our cross and follow him. Our crosses are probably not like the one that will soon be found in India Hook's sanctuary, but ours are just as big and heavy, and also invisible to everyone but our own souls. Our crosses bear the name of fear, greed, shame or a multitude of other sins and brokenness.

Still pondering...

Does your home have a story?

I found a blog recently from a friend with an interesting story. It seems a neighboring home was slated for demolition and before the house was torn down, he went in the house and found something amazing. It seems the former owner, or at least someone who lived there, wrote memories of each room on the walls. If your house could talk, what would some of the memories be? Here is the link to Seattle Griz's Blog. Scroll down to see the pictures and read the story.

The home by the way, has now been demolished and replaced by a housing development. Thank goodness our memories are not made of concrete and wood.

Lent ----More Than the Stuff Caught in the Dryer Trap

When I was growing up, lent was the stuff you pulled out of the trap in the dryer after you removed a load of clothes. As thick as lent gets in the dryer trap, I have wondered at times whether it could be used to fill a quilt or a down jacket. If one got really desperate, could you make clothing out of lent? Anyway, I digress.

Once I became a United Methodist, Lent took on whole new meaning. Lent is a season of the Christian Year that begins on Ash Wednesday (in 2008, February 6) and ends on Easter Sunday. It is to be a time of spiritual reflection and renewal as we draw closer to God through the lessons, leadership, and love of Christ. Lent usually starts much later, but this year will be the earliest we celebrate Easter (March 23) for the next 150 years. What this means is, our Lenten reflections come sooner in 2008 as we seek to live as Easter people.

I am thinking about lent/Lent because we are planning for our Lenten observance at India Hook UMC. Lenten discipline involves looking into our own souls for those problems or obstacles that keep us from full fellowship with Christ. Often we hear about "giving something up" for Lent, like chocolate or cheeseburgers, and we may not know the reasons behind it. One reason, among the many, is that we replace the passion or the habit we have forsaken for a time of prayer or some other means of grace that draws us closer to Christ. As Easter approaches and by the grace and guidance of God, perhaps we have shed those things that have hindered us. At India Hook, I am asking people to use part of their Lenten observance and discipline to consider the use of our time and money in our personal and corporate lives and what their use (or abuse) reveals about our life in Christ. Hopefully, we will be led to live lives of better stewardship.

Maybe their is a connection to the lent in the dryer and the Lenten season after all. Just as lent is something we don't need on our clothes, perhaps Lent helps us see the things , habits, and thinking we don't need in our lives. May we all move closer to Christ.

Some gotta win, some gotta lose

Saturday is sports day--- the Athlete had a wrestling meet and LPCoolJ had a basketball game. Mamma Deacon and I split duties on days like this. Each of us follows a kid. The Athlete was in a double elimination bout. He lost the first one to a very quick, very experienced wrestler. Then came the second match; he was wrestling a kid of equal ability. My favorite wrestler was ahead on points going into the second round, victory was in his grasp (so to speak). Then something went wrong...he was pinned for a loss. Needless to say, he was crushed.

On the other side of town, LPCoolJ and his church basketball league cohorts were playing. I made it just in time for the start of the game. CoolJ's team only had five players show up. The other team had eight or nine. I thought for sure they would not have the steam to make the whole game and win, but LPCoolJ's team won by 14 points. CoolJ scored a bucket or two. His source of pride was that everybody on his team scored. I agree!

I am not writing this to give the Sacramental Dude's sports report, but to reflect on this day. As the Athlete and I drove to his brother's game, I tried to console him. I can remember my dad doing the same thing when I played centerfield and the baseball went sailing over my head in little league. My team lost. Boy, did that loss sting. At some point, my son will discover that the only way to get through losing and/or failure is to learn from it. Perhaps that is a skill we learn as we get older. Those reflections and lessons are for future days; for now, today, the sting is enough.

On the other hand, LPCoolJ is on cloud nine. Victory suits him well. He has not always been on winning teams when it comes to organized sports, so today is very special. He has recounted his made shots and forgotten about the times he missed. He has taken pride in his team's success. At some point, my son will discover that the only way to keep winning and/or succeeding is to learn from it. Perhaps that is a skill we learn as we get older. Those reflections and lessons are for future days; for now, today, the sweetness is enough.

At various times of life, we deal with loss and failure; then there are those times of success and victory. We cannot escape the bitterness or the sweetness of those moments. Nor can we dwell on them. We take our contests of life with us, hopefully learning and growing from each one, always claiming more than the moment, trapped in a memory. Hopefully, that is not true just of sports, but of fatherhood, and work, and church, and life.

The only way to go through life well is to learn from it. Perhaps that is a skill we learn as we get older. Those reflections and lessons are for future days; for now, today, the experience of this day is enough.

May there be many more days of wrestling and basketball and life from which to learn.

Peace.

Simeon, Anna and the Business of Waiting

As part of some of my post-Christmas reflections, I have been pondering the passages about Simeon and Anna in the Gospel of Luke. Many preachers skip from the birth stories straight to the visit of the Magi and the Baptism of the Lord. But hidden in the middle verses of Luke's second chapter, we read about the Holy Family's visit to the Temple. In those brief verses, we read about a man named Simeon and how he "looked forward to the consolation of Israel." When he finally sees the Christ child headed to the Temple, he takes the child in his arms and blesses him. In a separate but similar episode, Anna blesses the child within the walls of the Holy Temple.

These short verses do no justice to the long wait of Simeon and Anna. They spent a lifetime waiting and watching for the Messiah. How many times did they get their hopes up, only to have them smashed by reality? We will never know. I imagine Simeon searched the faces of those he met in the street, hoping that the Holy Spirit would reveal to him the One who would bring consolation to his people. Anna, prayed and fasted, waited and watched in the Temple. Would she know the One when He came, after waiting for so long? Finally the blessed event came, the Holy Presence was made known to both of them. Their joy was complete; their presence and purpose in the Gospel passes and we are left to learn from them and apply the lessons to our own lives.

Waiting and watching are never easy things for us. Humans tend to be impatient, searching for distractions as we try to rush our waiting to an early end. I doubt that is the way that Simeon and Anna learned to wait and watch. I believe that as they waited, they made the most of the time they had as they drew closer to God, the source of our true consolation. Perhaps in the waiting they understood that as moments pass, divine fruition draws closer.

Waiting for the Holy in each moment also frees us from the tyranny of the next big thing. For the next big thing rarely meets our expectations and it never brings us true consolation or salvation. That is true of the latest gizmos or the next blockbuster movie that will supposedly entertain us or the latest CNN Presidential Preference Poll that will inform us. If our hope is in the passing of time or in the unrealistic expectations of what we think should happen next, the only thing we will gain is wasted time and an empty reality. Our salvation cannot be found after the next commercial, the next job, or whatever the next "It" is.

Perhaps it took Simeon and Anna a long time to discover this. Maybe it takes us years of experience as well. For as my family gets older and the community and the church I serve change, I find myself at times lost in the looking for the next thing, the next stage, the next important date on the calendar, the next event. Yet, thanks to Simeon and Anna, I realize waiting and watching in this time of my life cannot be about what happens next. It has to be about making the most of each moment--- of searching faces and places as Simeon and Anna did---for the presence of God in the here and the now even as we hope for the future. Salvation and the abundance of life happen more often in the now rather than in the later. For our unrealistic expectations of later rarely match the reality that will come. Even as we wait, watch, and hope for tomorrow, we cannot overlook today.