Saturday, January 31, 2015

The First Day

Saturday 1/31/2015 4:56 AM
A few years ago I had a very structured morning routine. I woke at 4:00, went for a four mile run, sat and had a time of Bible reading, reflection and journal writing after which I would eat breakfast, shower and get ready for work. I usually ran about five times per week, played basketball on Saturday morning, and I had my time of reading and reflection every day, with a rare exception.
During that time I was in excellent physical shape, I maintained a constant weight and felt close to God, as if he were directing every aspect of my life. A year and a half ago I had a teaching schedule that did little to facilitate my morning routine. I had class at 7:00 every morning and on Monday and Wednesday I had classes until 10:00 at night. I would usually get home around 10:45 and it would take me forty-five minutes to an hour to wind down so I seldom got to bed before 11:30 or midnight. The late nights did little to encourage a 4:00 wake up call so I began to skip my morning run during my teaching week. I found my time of reading and reflection also went by the wayside, replaced instead by a routine of checking on my Facebook news feed, playing words in my Scrabble games, doing the LA Times crossword puzzle, and going online to check on the latest news. My healthy morning routine had been replaced by a more sedentary routine and it didn’t take long before I slowly started adding pounds to my weight and I began to feel more distant from God.
Yesterday I read a blog entitled The Brutally Honest 6 Reasons You Are Still Overfat, at the website strengthcoachtaylor.ca that I had, ironically, seen posted on one of my Facebook friend’s page.  In the article Coach Taylor lists his six reasons but a couple of his points really struck home with me regarding the loss of structured discipline in my morning routine. Coach Taylor suggests that I am unwilling to sacrifice to achieve my goal and that I do not take responsibility for my failure, choosing instead to blame my difficult schedule or other extenuating circumstances. When I met with my small group yesterday morning I asked them to hold me accountable for my running and my time of reading and reflection in the morning.
Part of the reason I run is because my dad died from emphysema at the age of 42. He was a heavy smoker and was a farmer, an occupation that entails breathing a lot of dust. Those factors, in addition to a history of chronic bronchitis, contributed to his disease. I realized that I might also have a disposition to having weak lungs because of my genes so I chose not to smoke and to do everything in my power to keep my lungs healthy. If I expect to be in good physical shape, and to feel a connection with God, then I need to do everything within my power to make that happen. I need to sacrifice my Facebook time, my Scrabble games, my crossword puzzles, the morning news, and stop blaming my difficult schedule if I am to facilitate the return of my old routine.
Today was the first day. 

Friday, January 30, 2015

Crickets and a Rearview Mirror

Saturday 1/30/2015 4:38 AM
Over the past year and a half I feel as if I no longer experience the presence of God in the way I did previously. There was a time when it seemed that I received direction from God nearly every time I read the Bible. More recently I hear nothing but crickets chirping when perusing scripture.
I find this seeming lack of communication or direction from God to be somewhat troubling, longing for the intimacy I felt previously. Today I read an excerpt from “One More Door into God’s Presence,” by Anne Broyles, that is a good reminder to me. She writes, “There are times when God’s activity seems clear: a specifically answered prayer, the saving of a seemingly unredeemable situation, strength which is wondrously given at just the right moment. Other times, we recognize God’s interaction with us only in hindsight when we take time to reflect on our lives.” I have a feeling that I am currently in circumstances that will require the use of my rearview mirror.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Clothespins and Thankfulness

Wednesday 1/14/2015 4:39 AM
I am a man of routine, of habit. I get up at about 4:00, set the coffee, and go for a run. When I return I pour a cup of coffee, and then I have a time of Bible reading, meditation and writing in my journal. Then I usually do the LA Times crossword puzzle, read the news headlines and make my moves in the Scrabble games I play with family and friends online. At about 6:00 I go into the kitchen, pour a 6-ounce glass of tomato juice, a bowl of Cheerios with milk (no sugar), and proceed to eat my breakfast. I then take a shower and get ready for my day of teaching, leaving the house in time for my 7:00 class.
I love my Cheerios and want to keep them as fresh as possible so, when I open the bag inside the box, I carefully fold it over and secure it with a clothespin to maintain a relatively airtight seal. I do the same with potato chips bags, saltine cracker sleeves, pancake mix, bags of vegetables, etc., so I have a section in the silverware drawer solely for clothespins or other similar fasteners. Yesterday I opened a new Cheerios box and reached in the drawer for a clothespin. When I attached it to the Cheerios bag I noticed it had the words “Thank you” written on it with a pen. I think we got it from a neighbor who brought some Christmas goodies to our house.
As I read the “Thank you” on the clothespin I realized how little I consciously thank God for the simple, but important, things of life, like a glass of tomato juice and a bowl of Cheerios to eat every day. For the ability to run, eyes to read my devotional material, a mind that is clear and untroubled by depression or other maladies, my health and a job that I love. The list could go on. I spent the time I ate and got ready for school thanking God for everything I could think of. I’m quite certain I missed thanking God for more things than I actually thanked him for but I found that, as I went through my day, I had a greater awareness of God’s care for me throughout the day. I think I’ll dedicate the “Thank you” clothespin exclusively for the Cheerios bag as a constant reminder to live a life of thankfulness.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Fight Fire with Fire?

Sunday 1/11/2015 4:26 AM
This past week saw violence perpetrated in Paris by an Al Qaida terror cell against Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper that regularly ran cartoons that were disrespectful of Mohammed, and a kosher, Jewish market. A number of people were killed, including the three attackers. Nigeria also saw an attack of a village by the group, Boko Haram, an Islamic terror group, in which over two thousand people, mostly older people and young children, were killed, and the village burned.
There has been widespread condemnation of the attacks throughout the world and some are calling for an in-kind response. Some want to kill all radical Muslims or keep them from immigrating to other countries so that we can live in peace. Many, who call themselves Christian, are voicing the same message, “Fight fire with fire.
My reading for today includes both Psalm 114 and Psalm 29. Each psalm describes the mighty power of God and Psalm 114 begins with these words, “When Israel came out of Egypt, Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion.” It seems that God has chosen to live with his people. What would this all-powerful God do when faced with the current situation? Would he come down with a powerful hand and crush those who oppose him?
My reading also included Isaiah 42, which begins with these words, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” It seems that if the all-powerful God is living within someone their response to situations like those that occurred this week is not going to be one of violence, but one of seeking justice. In fact, violence will not be an option at all. Isaiah 42 continues, “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
I long for the day when Christians throughout the world, but especially those in the United States, spend their energies seeking justice for the oppressed, freeing those who are imprisoned, and enlightening those who have been blinded by power, wealth and fame. Too often Christians try to change things by employing the same tactics as those with whom they disagree. They seek to change our society by attaining political power rather than by seeking justice. They want to fight fire with fire.
I wonder what would happen if those who claim the name of Christ begin to live as servants of God like those described in Isaiah 42. What if we showed love to our neighbors and lived humbly with them, seeking their good and their prosperity rather than our own? What if we stood alongside those who are oppressed by the systems of power within our country rather than trying to maintain the status quo? I really don’t have to wonder what would happen. Psalm 37:6 describes it for me, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the sun, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” The way of love and justice runs counter to the ways of our world. The real question is, do I trust God enough to go against the flow and fight fire with love and justice?

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Embracing Poverty

Sunday 1/4/2015 5:23 AM
The theme of my devotions this week is the poverty of God. The opening affirmation in my devotional material is Philippians 2:7, the passage about Jesus emptying himself and taking on the nature of a servant. The closing blessing is, “May the Lord who has blessed our poverty by embracing it empower us to embrace the poverty of our brothers and sisters in the sorrow, sickness, or any other hardship.”
Over the past months there have been a number of issues that have occurred in our country and around the world that are examples of the poor being taken advantage of, being denied justice and oppressed by economic and political systems that are stacked in favor of those who are rich or in positions of power. More and more these issues make me angry and I have been looking for ways to become involved, to seek justice and equality for all people, regardless of their financial status or their social position.
This past week our family received word that the senior care facility where my mother is living is closing. She was understandably upset because she was just beginning to make friends there and adjusting to losing the independence she enjoyed living in her own home. We discovered that the reason for the closure of the facility was that it had been sold to a developer who is planning to replace the facility with luxury apartments. The land on which the facility is built is in the Biltmore District of Phoenix, where many of the wealthiest residents of the valley reside. As I read my devotional material this morning I thought of the residents of this care facility, like my mother, who are considered poor and undesirable by many within our society being moved out of their homes so that the wealthy and well-connected can have apartments in one of the desirable parts of town. I’m sure my mother’s situation is repeatedly played out in other towns and in other countries throughout the world. It is these types of situations that anger me the most.
I’m not sure how best to embrace the poverty of those being displaced, as the parting blessing of my devotional material suggests. I am planning to go to Phoenix in a few weeks to help my mother move to another facility but while helping solve my mother’s dilemma, it does little to address the underlying problem of corporate greed trumping compassion. I pray that God will give me insight regarding how to address this issue on behalf of others.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Nice and Not So Nice

Thursday 1/1/2015 6:01 AM
Today marks the beginning of 2015. I’ve stopped making resolutions but, at the beginning of each year, I stop to think about what the coming year might hold. This year I anticipate that, in a couple of months, I will become a grandfather for the sixth time, assuming things continue to go well for Ryan and Kate’s baby. Most of my thoughts are of positive things. I seldom think about what bad things may happen to me, or to those I love, throughout the year. For example, last year I never anticipated my mother’s fall, where she broke her hip, setting off many cascading events that ultimately resulted in her having to move from the house of my childhood into an assisted living care facility. While I recognize that bad things can happen during the coming year, there is really no way to anticipate or prepare for them.
My reading today includes Psalm 67:1-2. It seems to me that the psalmist might have written it at the beginning of a new year. “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us – so that you ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” The striking thing about these verses is that the psalmist desires God’s grace and blessing, not for his own benefit, but so that God’s ways could be known throughout the earth and that God’s salvation could be shared with all nations.
My reflections on the new year are pretty self-centered and self-serving. I do not always have the larger perspective of what God’s desire might be. My reading today also included John 3, where Jesus met with Nicodemus and told him that he had to be born again. In the course of their conversation Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” If I have the Spirit of God living within me he will take me to all kinds of places, some nice, some not so nice. The Spirit’s goal is not my comfort or my convenience, but the furthering of God’s kingdom and the molding of my character into the image of Christ. The good news is that, no matter the circumstances, nice or not so nice, God’s desires will be accomplished.
I pray that during the course of the coming year I will use both the nice and the not so nice things that come my way to display the ways of God to others. That is a resolution that only the Spirit of God working in me will be able to accomplish.