Pay Attention!

Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

When my children travel, I always say to them: “Stop, look and listen; see, smell and taste, and tuck it away in your memories.”

Pay attention! Don’t be inward; be outward.

The disciples where weary and ready to hit the sack, but they stayed awake, and look what they saw: the glory of Jesus and the “two men” with him. A moment of profound insight and energy. They saw Jesus in a new light (that’s a pun – read the story: Luke 9:28-36).

Today, practice alertness; don’t be inward; be outward.
Really see the person next to you in the checkout line … pay attention to their face (don’t stare. Ha!).
Turn off your radio while driving to work, roll down your window and listen to the sounds of LA.
Look up and see the mountains (if it’s clear); look at a tree and study it’s shape.
Look at the folks waiting for the next bus.
Watch your hands type something.
Pay attention to the food you’re eating – flavors, spices, texture, temperature.

It’s said, “the devil’s in the details.” So is goodness and beauty, truth and wonder, joy and marvel. So is God!

Today, “Stop, look and listen; see, smell and taste, and tuck it away in your memories.”

Who knows? You may see Jesus and the two men with him.

Don't Be Too Sure

They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, “Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened (Luke 8).

How certain they all were, that it was all over with, hope gone, no way through, or out.

Have you ever been “certain” about something only to discover later on that life was moving in another direction, with possibilities and options galore? If only you had been a little more alert, a little less convinced of your own take on things, a little more open, you might have gotten on board a little sooner.

Paul the Apostle writes of God: Who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do no exist.

It says they laughed at Jesus.

Cynical … scornful … the laughter of the “knowing” – “Who does he think he is?”

The next time you hear yourself saying, “I know for certain,” remember this little story from Luke’s pen, and remember that God has plenty of things up the sleeve, more than we can ever imagine, for helping us through life.

Holiness

To be holy - which is what God wants for us - is to be wholly devoted to God! Whole-devotion not the easiest thing in the world ("take up your cross and follow me"), but failing to try for whole-devotion is the hardest thing in the world!

Night Shift

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands to the holy place,
and bless the LORD.
May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.

Lots of folks work the night shift … the donut maker, the police officer, the fire fighter and the pilot; the nurse, the doctor and the bus driver.

Psalm 134 celebrates those who “stand by night in the house of the LORD” – specifically, those who said the nighttime prayers and maintained the various candles and incense offerings.

As I write, I hear a helicopter overhead … a Sig Alert on the 405? a police search for a suspect?

Do you know someone who works the night shift?

Send them a note of thanks.

Three Things ...

Amazing things happen when I meet new people.

Recently, an artist, a tai chi instructor and thinker-about-life (Tommi) gave me three things she teaches:
Let go
Keep it simple
Flexible

I grabbed a piece of paper to write ‘em down.

Let go … wow! … I sometimes hang on to old idea, memory, hurt … I turn it over and over again, examining it as if it were a piece of fine glass, when what I really need to do is wrap them it and throw it into the trash like fish gone bad.

Keep it simple … life can be reduced to some pretty basic things: love consistently, forgive quickly, remember God, you are always more than you think you are, and appreciate the world around you.

Flexible … change with changing circumstances. Nothing stands still, always something. I wonder how much time I’ve spent wishing things were different. Flexibility allows us to discover the good, the promise, the possibility, in everything, even the hard stuff. A good shortstop never waits for the ball to come to him, though it sometimes does, but is ready to go to the ball.

Thanks Tommi for putting these three things together for me.

Luck and Work

I’ve know some wealthy people – two men stand out in my mind, both friends, both Christians, both members of churches I’ve served.

My thoughts on this were triggered this morning by something I heard on TV: “Ya’ know how to spell luck? W O R K.”

I’ve heard it before, and all around the town, and from one of the men noted above.

When he said, many years ago to me, I was uneasy about it, and hadn’t heard it for awhile until this morning.

I’m still uneasy about it, because it’s not true.

Millions, if not billions, of people work hard, from sunup to sundown, and then some. Year after year of grinding hard work, and nary a break to be had, and just a heartbeat away from abject poverty, and no hope of ever breaking free.

The family in Sudan … the beggar in Calcutta … the farmer in Nepal … and a lot of folks right here in the US of A.

The other rich man spoke at the Rotary Club one day and told of all the free lunches he’s enjoyed: the parents he didn’t choose, the intelligence bequeathed to him in his DNA, the spirit of the family, its faith and its love. The college professors who encouraged him. The first banker who believed in him and loaned him seed-money. And all along the trail, one free lunch after the other. Did he work hard? You bet he worked hard, but he was a man who understood grace and was himself a gracious man.

The other man, the hard-work-equals-good-luck kinda of a guy was a charitable man, but with an edge that revealed itself ultimately in an unrelenting self-centeredness that destroyed his family.

He didn’t understand grace, and thus no grace was given. Everyone and everything in his little world had to fit into the niche of personal achievement. And so it goes. Did he work hard? Yes, morning, noon and night and then some, and fabulously wealthy.

Two men, both super-rich. The one who turned it all on himself, and the other who recognized the free lunch.

9/11 Remembered

Tragedy is always personal.

3000 lives were lost in the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings ... a lot of families and friends were sent into the Valley of the Shadow Death.

For them, let us pray:

Eternal God,
To whom we all belong,
Grant mercy to the sorrowing.
Heal shattered souls.
Restore hope and rebuild faith.
Especially for the children, O God.
Amen!