Can't We All Just Get Along?

Can't we all just get along?
Good question, for sure.
But history doesn't offer much hope.

Cain killed Able.
Aaron crafted the Golden Calf.
The king threw Jeremiah into the well.

The Apostle Paul's vision of inclusion:
Met heavy resistance in the mother church.
Paul choose grace; others choose to build a wall.

Luther and the Holy Roman Empire and its Holy Church.
The Colonies and Britain.
Hitler and Churchill.

FDR and Big Biz.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and segregation.
Franklin Graham and William Barber.

The fault lines are real, and mostly severe:
The kind of world we choose to own.
The values we uphold.

LGBTQ rights?
Or condem them to exclusion?

The right of a woman to choose abortion?
Or criminalize all of it, and its providers?

Women's rights to life and liberty and limb?
Or the men who would abuse them for power?

NRA?
ERA?

MAGA? or ...
"America! America! God mend thine every flaw"

"We need more time to help some resolve the matter,"
Said I of LGBTQ rights some many years ago.
When a dear friend, said of her gay brother:
"But he has no more time."

Everyone told Martin Luther King, Jr. to be patient.
But too many people were ending up as patients.
Clubbed senseless, or chewed up by dogs.
Burnings, bombings and lynchings.

The Apostle Paul and the mother church never found the middle way.
And the fault lines of exclusion/inclusion remain frustratingly tense.

The Book of Acts tells the tale:
The Mother Church on the one hand.
The Roman Imperial Cult on the other.

Rome and Jerusalem were good together:
When it came to getting rid of Jesus.
And when it came to crushing the gospel.

The cults of Rome and the righteous cicumcized loved large gatherings: where the mob could
Outshout Paul and call for his death.

I hurt for those who seek a middle ground.
A middle way ...
Things upon which we might agree?

Or are we fated/determined/sin-driven:
To be at odds in our quest to be free?

She Made Us Walk Slowly

A good many years ago, a funeral.

A young woman.
Down Syndrome.

She'd taken ill, one of so many illnesses that came her way.
And she breathed her last.

Family members spoke with tenderness.
Telling of her love for them, and their love for her.

Her good cheer and laughter.
Her eagerness and energy.

Of course, her shortness of temper.
And her stubborn ways, too.

And, then, this from a brother:
"She made us all walk slowly."

Obviously, she couldn't keep up with them,
At their regular pace.

They had to slow down their walk, for her.
Because she couldn't walk with them.

Are there not lots of folks like her?
Folks who can't keep pace with us?

In our bustle and hustle.
Our self-impressing ways.

So, we can either leave them behind.
Or, we can slow ourselves down.

I think it's good thing to keep in mind.
To slow down, sometimes.

So we can walk with the slow folks.
And with them, enjoy the day.

Who knows what gifts they have for us.
We might be surprised.

Good cheer and laughter might come our way.
A smile and a hug.

Or, maybe, just the look of gratitude.
For paying attention to them.

Seeing them in their reality.
A slow gait, a hesitant step.

Some can't go all that fast.
Some hobble through the days.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
I fear no evil," wrote the Psalmist.

"For thou art with me."
The LORD slows down.

Because I can't run, sometimes.
I can hardly walk, sometimes.

I can't even move, sometimes.
Frozen in time and space, sometimes.

The LORD stops walking, sometimes.
The LORD sits down beside me, sometimes.

Those times where I set the pace.
Because it's the only pace I can pace.

Sure, there are times when the LORD says.
"Get up and go."

Like the LORD said to Elijah, at the mouth of the cave.
But only after a time of solitude and listening.

Elijah had to get it out of himself.
And the LORD was patient.

"The LORD walks with me.
And talks with me.

Along life's narrow way."
Says the hymn.

And, then, too, those times.
When the LORD says, "Come, follow me."

And I surprise myself with the pace I can keep.
For the work of life and the demands of the day.

Yet never to be so impressed with myself.
That I harshly expect others to keep pace with me.

I have to pay attention
To the pace of others.

It's not always: "Keep up with me."
As if I were the one in charge.

I have to slow down, sometimes.
Pay attention, sometimes.

Walk with them.
Sit with them.

Go nowhere with them.
Because nowhere is somewhere.

And somewhere has life.
For those who are slow enough to see it.

Slow folks do their best, as everyone does.
So, it's a good thing:

To let others.
Slow ... us ... down.

When Moses Takes God to Task

The PCUSA Lectionary today (2.26.15), Deuteronomy 9.23-10.5 ... 

Is, in its own way, hilarious ... as Moses recounts his intercession on behalf of the people when God was ready to give up on them, send 'em packing, and start all over again with Moses, and from him, make a new nation.

But Moses has to remind God that the "other nations will talk" ... God will look bad if an obstreperous people were too much for God to handle. "What will the neighbors think?"

But the point is made: We can't always choose the optimum moment; we can only work with what we have. And as for people? Well, damnit all, they're pretty much, mostly, just like you and me. As I once heard about marriage success, Harry stands in front of the mirror every morning and says, "Harry, you ain't no bargain!"

Well, the people were no bargain, and working with them, no cakewalk. And not even God can choose an alternative universe. God is stuck with this one, this realm, this moment, this people. This is the only story there is, and God has to work with it. No matter what. There is no walking away from this one!

And Moses says to God: "This is all there is; there ain't nothing, or no one else. Work with what you have, or give up on being God."

Delightful in the brusque manner in which Moses takes God to task - there isn't any time left, and Moses doesn't mince his words.

If this were a stage play, I'd see and hear God pause, take a deep breath, and mumble to Moses, "All right. Let's get on with it. Make two more stone tablets, and I'll rewrite the words as I did before." And, then, with a little more confidence, "You're right Moses. You know more about this god-thing than I sometimes do. Thank you ... now, let's get back to work."

Patience and Dreams

Ever feel like giving up?

Sure, we've all been there, and sometimes it right to give up and change course, but I suspect a lot of good things have been lost by quitting too early.

If there's ever a lesson about hanging in their and following the dream, it's this fine little story from the September 14, 2010, LA Times - "There Reward Is a Long-Time Coming" ... about long-term minor league ball plays who are finally called up to the majors. Click HERE to read.

Reminds me of something Jesus said: “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest ina very little is dishonest also in much" [Luke 16:10].

So hang in there friend ... keep the dream alive ... you may have to slug it out for years in the minors. But who knows when the time will come for you're call to the majors.

Tom

Merciful God, I pray thee to grant me, if it please thee, ardor to desire thee, diligence to seek thee, wisdom to know thee and skill to speak to the glory of thy name. Amen (Thomas Aquinas)

Problem Solving

I just solved a problem.

Not a big one … had to do with TV, DVDs, programming, etc.. You know, the kind of stuff that drives ya’ nuts.

But with some googling and experimenting, I got it. And was I happy!

People are problem-solvers; it’s our nature, and I’ve learned the three Ps pathway to problem solving: Persistence, Patience and Prayer.

Persistence – stay with it; try alternatives.
Patience – don’t lose your cool; there IS a way, and you will find it.
Prayer – a simple “Jesus my LORD” to stay in touch with God.

My “problem” was a small one, but it taught me a lesson I’ve learned and had to learn so many times.

There IS a way.
You WILL find it.

Maybe not today, or even tomorrow … and some problems require months and years – ask a scientist or an engineer working on a satellite launch.

Anyway, no big deal for me, but I’m happy to have solved the problem.

Whatever your problems might be today – and some of them are huge – you WILL find a way through … you WILL work it out … you WILL succeed.

Persistence, Patience and Prayer.