Yogurt, Texture, and....God

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6, NRSV)

By way of some background, two or three days a week I am privileged to get to be with my granddaughters in the morning before they start their day. My daughter and son-in-law are nurses and leave the house by about 6:10 on workdays. So, on days they both work I have been going over so they can go to work without getting the girls up so early.

For the last few days I've been there Hallie, the youngest, has taken to eating her "biteys" (a.k.a. cereal) with her yogurt. Mind you, I don't mean the yogurt and the cereal on the tray together. No, she has decided that the biteys and the yogurt must be mixed together. Until this morning I haven't really given it much thought and, in retrospect, I realized that every other day she's done it both girls have been there so my attention was divided. This morning, however, I only had Hallie while Mabrie was with her father. So I was able to observe her a bit more closely this morning and quickly realized why it is that she wants the cereal IN the yogurt.

Can you guess?

It became obvious to me after just a moment or two. I had set the cereal and the yogurt out separately on the table to see if she wanted to mix them together. At first she began eating them separately, with a spoon. But, the spoon and the yogurt container were somewhat frustrating so she did what I suspect lots of toddlers do: she plunged her hand in there, pulled it out and tried to eat a handful of yogurt. To her dismay, the yogurt resisted being eaten by the handful. But you probably knew that. After a few more attempts she realized the cereal was there and got a big smile on her face. She reached over, grabbed a handful and dumped it into the yogurt. After a couple more handfuls she proceeded to reach down into that yogurt container and grab a handful of yogurt covered cereal, pop it into her mouth, and then sat back and gave a sigh of contentment. Ah ha, I thought. The cereal gives her something to grab onto. It provided texture to the otherwise fluid nature of the yogurt. Mind you, it wasn't neat and tidy, but it surely was satisfying!

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believe, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:14-17 NRSV)

And that, my friends, is what we need to do! Immerse the Bible in our lives and then plunge in and hold on! Life and the Bible, like Hallie's biteys and yogurt, just go better together.

Jai Ho!

Coming off a weekend where I was privileged to see a great performance of the play "Shenandoah" at the DeSoto Family Theater and then, last night, to spend quality time with my wife watching a movie, I must tell you that my heart is heavy today.  I can certainly relate to Jo Dee Messina's song "Even God Must Get the Blues."

"Pick up any morning paper,

turn-on the six o'clock news,

The devil's been so busy lately,

Even God must get the blues."

Now, you might ask, what prompted this fit of melancholy?  Well, I'm glad you asked. Pull up a rocking chair and let's have a chat.  First, as I mentioned, we watched a wonderful performance of the play Shenandoah. Without giving much away let's just say it's about a father trying his best to keep his family together during the Civil War, all without taking sides in that bitter conflict. However, despite his best efforts his youngest son is taken prisoner by the Yankees. At that point he says that since the war has now come to his family it is time to get involved and he, along with four of his six sons set out to find "the boy" as they call him. Speeding along in the story, they cannot find him and sadly decide to return home, losing one son during the trip and returning home only to find that another son and his wife were murdered by bandits during their absence. As they make their way mournfully to church you see "the boy" limping up in the background, making his way painfully back to his father.  Let me just tell you, if seeing that doesn't put a lump in your throat then we need to have a talk.

We went home and after supper I put in the next movie received from Netflix. I don't really know what's in my queue, I just add things that seem interesting and wait for them to arrive, and then send them back only to wait for the next one. Anyway, we opened the envelope to see "Slumdog Millionaire" as the current selection. Bless my wife's heart, she tried to watch it, but the subtitles loose something on the TV screen and after awhile she gave up and went to bed.

I, on the other hand, sat mesmerized by the tale of Jamal, his older brother Salim, and Latika, the young girl he first meets as just another street orphan. Again, not to give away the whole story if you haven't already seen it, let's just quickly say it's the story of the boys life as slumdogs and how Jamal keeps trying to find Latika. He ends up on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and then, through a series of flashbacks, we see his life up to that point and how he was able to know the answers to the questions despite the lack of formal education.

Anyway, you could be taken in by the romanticism and at the end feel happy that Jamal and Latika were together at last. Or, perhaps you would have the reaction I did: a degree of happiness, yes, but with a large dose of fear. Fear? That's right -- fear!  My mind was racing with images of "the boy" making his way home after the war in Virginia; of little Jamal so desperate for an autograph that he would jump into an outhouse pit; and the pitiful image of young Latika standing in the rain, wanting so badly to get out of the downpour and into the container the boys were in, but not without being asked.

"The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, "You are just, O Holy One, who are and were, for you have judged these things; because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve." (Revelation 16:4-6, NRSV)

How many slumdogs went to sleep last night on a pile of trash? Think about that sentence for a minute....then let's rewrite it: How many children went to sleep last night on a pile of trash? That makes a difference doesn't it? When we see them as just 'slumdogs' they don't merit as much of our attention, do they? As I tried to go to sleep I lay there thinking to myself, how many "boys" are wandering aimlessly around Africa, child soldiers or AIDS orphans, with no home or parents to return to?  How many Jamals and Latikas.....or, as I struggled with my emotions, how many Mabries or Hallies were lying out there, in the cold, on a trash heap. How many of them drifted off to sleep with a growling stomach and a tear on their cheek, wondering why they have been forgotten? How many lay there dreaming about a mother, a father, or perhaps an "Opa" to give them hugs and kisses? As I lay there, snug in my bed, a really frightening throught came to me: How many of those children have given up, lost hope, and have settled for their current reality as the only possible option for themselves?

"...but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." (Matthew 19:14, NRSV)

Well, I told you my heart was heavy.

Maybe that's the first step. Now we just need heavy hearts to become helping hands.

Peace,
Neville

Look, a Bentley...and no, I'm not talking about Dierks!

As I made the turn onto South Germantown Rd. my eyes were drawn to the left. Now, I guess I should tell you that I like cars. My Dad worked for GM during the glory days of the sixties and I could not get enough of big American V-8 motors. There was no better way to spend time than with my Dad when we would go to the dealership after hours so he could do some work and I would have free rein to drool over those beautiful Oldsmobiles with their Rocket V-8 power (positive valve rotators anyone?). Later, I hated the advertising slogan "This is not your father's Oldsmobile" -- there was nothing wrong with my father's Oldmobile thank you very much!

I still long for the days when new model year introductions were a big deal; cars covered with sheets until the official day of release, storage lots full of new models locked away from prying eyes, and gala open houses at the dealerships. While I liked the sporty models (and my dream car is a 1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 with the W-30 package) I always liked the big cars, with big V-8s, cars that could "cross continents at pace" as the Bentley website says.

Which brigs me back to where I started. As I sat at the traffic light my eyes were drawn left by the unmistakable silouhette of a large touring sedan. At first I thought it was a Rolls-Royce, but as I focused in on it that unmistakable mesh grille gave it away. A new Bentley, and a convertible no less. Wow, that's one of the new Azure T models I thought to myself and as I made the turn it wasn't but a minute before it was beside me, the "Le Mans inspired front wing vents" clearly visible to my left and the deep tinted glass keeping the prying eyes of the world away from the sumptuously sequestered occupants.

However, to my pleasant surprise, I did not find myself as envious as I once would have. We went different directions at the next intersection and as I made the turn I actually heard myself saying, "Isn't that a waste."  As I drove further, trying to decide how I felt (my earlier comment had seemingly come out of left field) I realized that I felt sad. Sad for the values that allow us to spend almost $400,000 on a car. Now, the owner might be a great Christian, tithing ten-percent and maybe more. I don't know. But I do know that, despite the allure of the prosperity gospel, we are to set the example as stewards of God's gifts. If we live our lives to excess should we be surprised that young people see us as hypocritical and want no part of our church?

This is yet another example of John Wesley's wisdom when, in his sermon "on the use of money" he said: "The fault does not lie in the money, but in them that use it. It may be used ill: and what may not? But it may likewise be used well: It is full as applicable to the best, as to the worst uses."  So, as much as I love cars, the Bentley has to be placed in the "worst" use column. Maybe the tittle of this post should have been "Should all United Methodists drive Chevrolets?". I don't know if the answer is yes, but I do know that there are far too many of us that aren't walking in the way that we talk.

In closing let us listen again to John Wesley: "If, then, a doubt should at any time arise in your mind concerning what you are going to expend, either on yourself or any part of your family, you have an easy way to remove it. Calmly and seriously inquire,

(1) In expending this, am I acting...not as a proprietor, but as a steward of my Lord's goods?

(2) Am I doing this in obedience to his Word? In what Scripture does he require me so to do?

(3) Can I offer up this action, this expense, as a sacrifice to God through Jesus Christ?

(4) Have I reason to believe that for this very work I shall have a reward at the resurrection of the just?"

At this hour, and from this hour, do his will: Fulfil his word, in this and in all things! I entreat you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, act up to the dignity of your calling! No more sloth! Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with your might! No more waste! Cut off every expense which fashion, caprice, or flesh and blood demand! ... employ whatever God has entrusted you with, in doing good, all possible good, in every possible kind and degree to the household of faith, to all men! This is no small part of "the wisdom of the just." Give all ye have, as well as all ye are, a spiritual sacrifice to Him who withheld not from you his Son, his only Son: So "laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may attain eternal life!"

Now, if I could just find that verse that says I need a Bentley.......

10th Grade English or, "Noun vs Verb"

Let me just say at the outset that, had it not been for Literature and a truly grace-filled teacher, 10th-grade English and I were bound together on a one-way monorail ride into the Waste Lands. I still get anxious just thinking about sentence diagrams, and don't even get me started about past-participles! But, I made it and do you want to know something? That dear lady told me not too long ago that she thought all that diagraming wasn't really necessary after all!  Free at last, free at last, thank Webster almighty I'm free at last!

But, I digress, and I can hear you saying 'get to the point.'  So, I will!

Three books among the stack that I am currently reading (or re-reading) have really set my brain abuzz:  'The Eight Blessings, Rediscovering the Beatitudes,' by Shane Stanford; 'Change the World, Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus,' by Mike Slaughter; and, 'John Wesley's Message Today,' by Lovett Weems, Jr.

Mike Slaughter says, "Our faith practice has...become a distortion of Jesus' gospel of the kingdom of God. We often embrace a disembodied "saved for heaven" theology. We have overemphasized getting people into heaven to the neglect of getting heaven into earth."  Wow!

In 96 short pages Lovett Weems' little book deftly mines the nuggets of Wesley's theology and provides useful support for Jim Walker's thoughts in his book "Dirty Word" where he says the United Methodist Church is "perfectly positioned with a very relevant theology and message, but with a missiology that is...frozen in time."  And then, as I re-read Shane's comments on the Beatitudes, I was struck by his thoughts on "significance" as he analyzed Jesus' words, "blessed are the meek."

All of this found itself in the blender that functions as my brain these days and, when combined with some extra ingredients from the UMC Re-Think Church campaign (http://www.rethinkchurch.org/ ), made me sit up and ask if 'the church' is salvageable?   Are we (not just the United Methodist Church) on a steady downhill path to stagnation and death? Have I signed on to be part of the crew of a sinking ship?

I think the answer is yes, the church is salvageable. But, there are significant challenges ahead. As Rev. Ken Carter puts it in his blog (kenatprovidence.blogspot.com) "...increased social mobility and dislocation; the explosion of sports cultures that have become normative for many young people and their families on weekends; a lower birth rate among Caucasian families and as yet unwillingness to assimiliate immigrant families into our mission.", are but a few of the factors we have yet to come to terms with.

But, you know what? Solving this may be as simple as understanding the difference between a noun and a verb, between Effect and Affect. If the church continues its present ways the effect will be further decline.  If the church will positively affect the community growth is the likely result.  Watch this video and then start thinking of ways you can "become a verb" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uydwJpSHx4 )
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Or, as you would find it in literature, "To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor." (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

Be a Verb!