Focus

My apologies for the graininess of the picture above. (Look! Do you see Sasquatch?!!)  Look closely at the middle of the picture, at that thick black tree branch.

After leaving church Monday afternoon, I took the schnoodle for a walk in Fleming Park in the blessed late October warmth. As I walked along the trail, I noticed that big black tree branch and wondered idly why it was so different from the other branches. The walk itself had been beautiful, with so many beautiful sights and smells.  The tree leaves were brilliant, and hawks and gulls wheeled about overhead. The woods smelled ripe and crisp. I found that as I walked and observed, I kept lapsing into prayer, thanking God for the beauty of the day. Other times, when my thoughts moved to people or situations of concern, I would lift them to God in prayer. It was that type of glorious walk that feels surrounded by the presence of God.

Until that moment when I came nose-to-nose with that unusually thick and black tree branch and realized that it was not a tree branch. 

It was a large black snake sunning in a tree.

All gentle and prayerful thoughts fled, and so did I.  (The picture above was taken from a safe distance, once I had stopped running and possibly screaming.)

As I write these words, I’m out of town at a seminar for pastors.  Ken Callahan is our leader, author of many books over the past decades.  His teaching today urged us to focus on and claim our strengths and those things that bring us joy.  He pointed out that to focus on those things that make us tense and anxious will serve simply to give those things power in our lives.

Case in point: my lovely walk in the woods became Death Encounter with Killer Snake in a heartbeat. My personal danger (which was, in reality, nonexistent) did not change a bit from the moment before I noticed the snake to the moment that I did see it. The snake was still sitting there, happily sunning, but his happy snaky sunning changed my experience only because I allowed it to.  My reality didn’t change, but what I gave my attention to did change.

I think Paul had it right in Philippians, when he said, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Another spider post

  I really do like spiders, except for when they’re chasing me or dangling from me. This time of year is the best time for spiders. It seems like they’ve spent all summer silently preparing and practicing for the day when they can spin an awesome web near a light source and feast to their little spider heart’s content. 

I’ve been watching this spider gal for awhile now. She first showed up between two lily stalks in the front yard. Before long, that web had gotten broken and she disappeared. A few nights later, she showed up with a nice web underneath one of our outdoor lights.  I would visit her and compliment her on her web.  I admit that I approached her a little warily, as she had spun her web right above the water spigot for the hose. After a week or so, though, the web stood empty. I wondered if she had chosen a different house for her home.

She surfaced last week with a new, magnificent web spread in front of the light closest to our front door. I watched her weave it, and each evening I watch as her web fills with small bugs attracted to the light.  When I come out to walk the dog in the morning, I see her busily cleaning up her web from the night’s prey and readying it for the new day.  She is yellow striped with long and graceful legs, a truly lovely creature.  I am thankful once again that God has filled our world with beauty in all sorts of different forms.

I hesitated publishing this post.  The kids will all be home next weekend, a fantastic treat for my birthday.  They are not, however, arachnophiles, and I don’t want them to feel hesitant about coming home.  I can’t wait to welcome them with open arms, and as for my spider friend. . . does she seem to be spinning an extra-large web?

Praying Imperfectly in a Complicated World

The power of a printed litany is that I put words into people’s mouths each week. That’s why I am so careful in what I write for congregational response. I don’t want people to find words coming out of their mouth that do not hold their hopes and dreams.  In fact, a couple of weeks ago, there had been a typo in transferring the words that I had written onto the screen.  Two of our services that weekend, instead of praying to an “unwearied God” prayed to a “wearied God” instead.  Oops.   I trust in the words of Isaiah 40:28, that God will never grow weary, and I’m sorry to the people who had to say the very opposite thing out loud in church. 

This Saturday night, I made a mistake in worship. Forty-five minutes before the service began, I opened my email and received a prayer litany written by some clergy who are living within the area of Ferguson, Missouri.  They have been walking with that community through the pain of the past week. Out of their experiences, they had written a prayer litany and requested that all Missouri Methodist churches use it in worship.

As I quickly skimmed the litany, I was a little troubled by it. Some of the language seemed loaded, and there appeared to be an overall bias.  I was also concerned about well these words would translate onto the projection screen, when we would only be able to see a phrase at a time without the entire context. However, I knew that this litany was birthed from those persons who had walked those streets, and so I heeded the request and used the litany, unedited, in worship that night.

Words that may speak to the hearts of people on one side of the state, it turns out, can cause pain on the other side of the state.  I discovered that as we are struggling to understand that truth of the situation and pray for justice from a distance, we need to be gentle in how we talk and pray together. And I was reminded once again that, if I am going to put words into people’s mouths, those words need be words of healing and hope. 

Immediately after worship, I edited the prayer litany heavily for use at our Sunday services. Sunday evening brought the release of the initial autopsy results and renewed violence. In light of the autopsy (6 gunshots, including 2 to the head, to an unarmed person?  Lord have mercy . . .), perhaps the first litany spoke the deeper truth. For those of us who do not have the entire truth, though, perhaps the best we can do is pray for one another, friend and foe, innocent and guilty, and everyone in between. 

Below is the edited prayer. I continue to pray these words, that justice and peace may come to Ferguson and throughout our nation.

For those who have seen their lives torn apart by violence of all kinds,

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For the family of Michael Brown, his friends and his community, and for all those who grieve the loss of life tragically ended.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For the officers and first responders that day, and for those who risk their own safety to continue to try to keep peace.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For those who have responded to violence with more violence, and for those who have pleaded for an end to violence.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For those who look at this situation from a distance, neglecting to get involved or too easily passing judgment, and for those people who are willing to step out and to lead in times of trouble.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For those persons in positions of power who have not used their power effectively, and for those persons who use their power to work for reconciliation and justice.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For the people of Ferguson and of St. Louis, city and county—north and south, east and west, and for all of the people of this nation who are affected by these issues.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
And for us, Lord—your body the church, that we may be agents of your reconciliation, peace and justice.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.  Amen.