Reflecting...a take off on taking off.

I don’t like to think of myself as a “Helicopter mom” – a label to describe the kind of parent who hovers above the family, overseeing every detail. That is, I don’t want to limit the influence of outsiders, which often is positive and not something to fear despite what my fears may be yelling in my ear at any particular moment. I really don’t want to obstruct someone’s natural growth toward autonomy. But I do admit to being an avid “flight tracker.” I mean that in every sense, even literally! Everyone in my family will quickly tell you, I track their air travel online. (To be completely honest, I check in when they travel by train or automobile too!) I like to know where they are and that they are OK.

In the bible that’s compatible with shepherding, I think. I hope. I wonder if shepherding carried with it the same sometimes-negative reputation for hovering that we associate with helicopters. As far as I know, all a helicopter provides that might be used as a possible warning device is a loudspeaker or radio. I’ve often repeated advice as the kids went out the door. I’ve found that while a parent might feel frustrated when ‘talking to the hand,’ there’s a different, deeper fear when 'calling out to the backs' of those you love as they race off to what seems -- to them -- to be a great adventure. I remember from pictures in Sunday school that a shepherd carried a crook to physically pull sheep back from the edge of danger. Evidently that tool hasn’t survived in good enough condition to be handed down through the generations.

What kind of spiritual guides are we? How is that done today?

Right at this very moment, my son is is in a CRJ 200 poised for lift-off on a runway in Minneapolis. Poised is a poetic word that probably doesn't fit this particular experience at all! I actually think he may be gripping the armrests. That’s what I do. And hopefully he’s reminding himself to breathe, the way a personal trainer reminds everyone to breathe when doing a strenuous number of crunches or lats. Ultimately in life, we each self-monitor by remembering and applying what we’ve heard when the moment is right. That’s how it is to be interdependent, to have personal responsibility while at the same time to be guided by an all-seeing God. We remember, we trust, we go forward, and we breathe a prayer.

There are so many dangerous places in this world for a son or daughter to be. Danger rains down on Israel and the Gaza strip; it sweeps across Iraqi sands and makes the borders of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan collide and shudder. Danger that is more subtle or secretive is still danger. Abandoned alleys or wide-open city parks can be deceptive. Any door slammed shut drums a warning. We who live in safer places often don't realize what danger we are in. Sometimes even our own thoughts are dangerous.

The good news, however, is a discovery that, perhaps, we can only make out there -- that our Lord, our Good Shepherd, climbs aboard for the ride of our lives, whether smooth or turbulent. His mother knew my concerns. "And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2.35b) she was told and that was very true. Still, he faced danger and he survived death and he will accompany us all the way.

My son has lifted off. I stop holding my breath when I remind myself he's not alone. This is our bold claim: that everywhere God's grace and peace form spectacular, billowing clouds beneath and around us.

"Much Grace..." Pastor Shirley

Thoughts for December, 2008
Merry Christmas!
That greeting has generated quite a lot of debate recently, with some opting to switch to “Happy Holidays” in its place in order to avoid using the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But I am wondering if the first part of that greeting seems appropriate to those of us in the church, especially this year when we face more serious situations than we have for quite some time. To be truthful, I’ve often wondered, even before this, if we think that Christmas is really a time to be merry. Joyful – yes! Merry? I’m not so sure. Joyful seems to allow for a range of deeper considerations. There can be joys in the face of great sorrows as well as grateful exuberance. Merry sounds more like an old English version of happy hour. (I can envision a Merry Old Inn or Pub!) Just a step above silly. You know, “Merrily we roll along…” While the rest of the world is agitated by Christ in “Merry Christmas,” I’m wondering why the church hasn’t ditched “Merry” some time ago.

Still, personally, I like “merry.” For two not-so-frivolous reasons.

First, I do like that it reminds me of holiday gatherings that focus less on what is holy. Although the word merry isn’t a word we use every day, I'm sure it was more common years ago. However, even then, it was more of a worldly word than a strictly church-y word. 'Merry' can connect me to the broader world – to places where people, who long to have their spirits lifted as much as we do, don't yet understand that something critically significant happened at Christmas. Like that Bethlehem Inn, perhaps, where people who were so close still missed the event entirely. Shepherds from surrounding hillsides arrived, yes, but there are no bible verses about room-occupants coming out to the stable. I need to remember that people have always sought other, less gratifying reasons to be merry -- that they still do-- and that the Lord who came, came precisely for that reason. To communicate to those who do not seek God out. To make a way for them to know him and turn to him.

Secondly, I like merry because it reminds me of the tone that I hear much later when people of God consider Jesus' life. It's the tone I hear in Paul’s voice when I read, 1 Corinthians 15: 55, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" By all human accounts, we shouldn’t be feeling this good in the face of death. We have no right to be this assertive and bold and even impudent. But in Christ, we absolutely are this free, maybe even a little giddy with the amazing, surprising relief that floods over us when we no longer have to fear death and punishment for our sins.

I think merry is a little like that. ‘The Lord has come! God is with us. God is for us! Who would ever have expected this child? Oh, let’s be…merry!’

Merry – it’s a throw-caution-to-the- wind word. But is it an appropriate word for this Christmas when we are all so care-full? Not if we are trying to adjust the season to the cares of this world, but if we are shaping this holy day by the one whose name it bears, we might insist on that old word, merry.

After all, Jesus said, “"I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me. In this world you will have trouble. But cheer up! I have won the battle over the world" (John 16: 33, NIRV).

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Shirley

Purpose-ing

I am a Christian pastor and teacher. I 've decided to blog in order to share more broadly the kind of pastoral writing I regularly do for the churches I've served. To project my "voice" a bit more so that it might carry further, I guess.

So I envision that some of what I post will be written as a pastor writes. No preaching, however. Just talking to people I know and care about. (Actually, pastors do much more talking with folks than preaching anyway, but it gets far less attention.) Reading this might seem a little like eavesdropping on the conversation in the next restaurant booth. That would be a good thing.

Some of what I write will be written to my companion, the Lord Jesus. Transmitting my thoughts in keyboard clicks. That will work too. God is good.

I entitled this, "much grace..." from Acts 4:33, because it's about community. About becoming a particular kind of community shaped by God's grace. I once said to one of my own pastors that Grace was a nice place to visit, but I didn't live there. I've discovered since that it is the only place worth living.

"Much grace..." Pastor Shirley