Pushing Back

 

1 Peter 4:19

So then, those who suffer for obeying God

should commit themselves to their faithful Creator

and continue to do good.

A caveat to begin.  

The kind of suffering experienced by Peter's original audience was extreme and traumatic.  It's easy to forget that, when the Christian movement was first beginning, to claim that you were a follower of Jesus could very easily result in overt, empire-initiated persecution, torture, or loss of life.  That's just history.

For me, and most of my believing friends in this era and this part of the world, we have no sweet clue about suffering 'for obeying God.'

That being said.

It's probably true that most of us, at one time or another, have had the "aggravation of spirit" that rises up when, despite clearly having done 'the right thing,' somehow the consequences have come down hard in a punishing kind of way.  Instead of being rewarded, we are criticized, demoted, demeaned, overlooked, suspected, taken advantage of, mocked and/or out right attacked.

• Standing up to a bully on behalf of the bullied, and having the snot kicked out of you.
• Refusing to bend the law or cross ethical lines for an employer, and getting fired for it.
• Refusing to keep a secret that needed to come to the light, and becoming a target for vitriol.  
• Turning down the drink because you have your reasons, and being painted as the party's buzz kill.
• Refusing to lie for a "friend," and then losing that friend.
• Struggling to breastfeed your baby while fielding degrading comments about your ability as a mother.
• Protecting the reputation of someone who turns around and slanders yours.
• Declining to take reimbursements you're entitled to, and being accused of financial abuse anyways.
• Being laughed at by the one who broke your trust for trusting them in the first place.
• Offering a gift with genuine intentions and being accused of manipulation.
• Offering assistance with grace to someone who caused their own difficult situation, and being pulled into a black hole of ingratitude.

I could go on.

Maybe you could too.

I feel you.

And here I need to add that Jesus wanted us to be "as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  And Paul was clear that we should "watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way" and to be "wise about what is good" (Romans 16:17,19).  Way back in Proverbs, there are so many cautions about how we engage with certain folks (eg. Proverbs 14:16).  

So to "continue to do good" can't mean to continue to allow ourselves to be abused, or used, or bullied, or manipulated, or otherwise harmed.  Indeed, when Peter was writing this, there was no such thing as an understood Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or any legitimate, legal means by which those human rights could be protected.  

What Peter is getting at here, though, might much harder.  Because it's about the deeper, kind of gritty conviction that good is still the right thing to do.  That, even if we have to remove ourselves from harmful situations, we don't give up on goodness.

We don't give up by succumbing to revenge.

We don't give up by hanging old stuff on new people.

We don't give up by becoming suspicious of every new situation.

We don't give up by caving in to joining in doing harm.

We don't give up by despairing of doing good since life doesn't always seem fair, so what's the point?

Instead.  We commit ourselves - we trust ourselves into the hands of - our faithful Creator -Whose faithfulness is legendary by the way - and just keep doing the right thing, no matter what.

It's a resolve.  Doing good because it's the right thing to do.

Friends, let's not give up.  Because the world badly needs gritty doers of good.  People who truly believe that there is something right about doing the right thing.  It will, if we let it, push the the bad stuff back.  If we just keep moving forward, one good thing at a time.

And now, what can happen this week?  

Can't wait to see.

And oh.  The flowers picture.

As much as I would like to have a clever illustration or connection to the blog content...I got nothin.'  

This is just one of several hyacinths from our 'bonus' front garden, where spring flowers show up every year courtesy of the former owner.  

We just enjoy.  

Friday "Feels" (or maybe Friday "Thinks")

 

You will keep in perfect peace

those whose minds are steadfast

because they trust in You.

Trust in the LORD forever,

for the LORD, the LORD himself 

is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:3-4

And here we are.  The wrapping up of another work week.  At least for those of us who do the Monday to Friday thing.  

I think Friday has a special feel for everyone though.  It's a echo of all those years in school perhaps.  Or Friday night family times.  Or getting away for the weekend times.  Or whatever makes the rhythms of life work for us.

It's been a decent week for me.  Enough checked off the list to feel good about.  An even balance of the work I relish and the work I have to do.  A positive start on something new.  Traction on all four of the upcoming sermons I'm working on.  Life giving conversations outside in the sunshine.  A little bit of yard clean up in the warmer at-last weather.

There was also 'hard news' from two distant, unrelated friends, frustrations about sensitive matters that mean a lot to me but over which I have zero control, and the need again to self-advocate on an important value that I thought was fully embraced by everyone but apparently not.  These things don't show up on the list, but bang around in my head, and require significant energy to "keep every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5), and my mind "steadfast because [I] trust in You" (Isaiah 26:3).

Shalom, shalom.  Perfect peace.

So I get to this particular Friday morning grateful for

a good night's sleep

a willowy sunrise

a new list to create, fresh for next week

the anticipation of lunch with a friend

the anticipation of running some happy errands with Ken

the many, many abundant gifts of my life

and reminders of God's long faithfulness.

Hope your Friday is good to you.

And if you need it, sending some peace your way.

Morning Moments

 

Getting me a little blast of free Vitamin D before heading inside for the morning.

Like how the sun is reflected in the corner of my glasses?  Wish I could say I did it on purpose, all creative and artsy.  But, no.  Only noticed it after the picture was taken.

Love how our main door opens up into the morning sky like it does, so it's not unusual for me to come out on sunny days and just enjoy being fully present in the moment.

Today I am excited to share in the company of some women who will join in on the very first Practice Makes Possible online workshop, exploring together practices that can help deepen our connection with God.  Let's see how this goes.  Curious to see what we will learn together.  

Have a fabulous Thursday, everyone!

Gramma Brag - Zachary

 

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged.

Proverbs 17:6

At our Easter dinner this past Sunday (delayed due to sickness on the actual weekend), I asked Abby to take a picture of Zachary and me, since I knew I didn't have a recent one of just us.  I seem to get into the frame more with the others, and I needed to round out my family picture files.  

Plus, I on purpose wanted to be able to show off how tall he is.

And just now I feel a strong compunction to include a picture of him and me when he was a baby, but that will take me down a small rabbit hole with copious fond sighs of 'aw cute!" and I won't spend the time on that this morning.  Maybe later.  Just to compare.  Because...such a cute baby!

By now, I barely come up to his shoulder.  And, to be honest, that's just fun.  I'm not yet the shortest in my family, but it's coming.  The only ones shorter than me now are Jayden and Timothy and they are 9 and 5 respectfully, so it's just a matter of time.

Zachary's height is not his only defining feature.  Going on 17, he's got quite an impressive work ethic on him.  Give him a task and he'll do it to 120%.  And with a good attitude.  He's aiming for an engineering degree at this point, and we have no doubt he'd succeed.  And also, there's still good time to figure out this whole vocation thing.  He's in swimming right now, aiming for a bronze medallion, and then on to lifeguarding perhaps.  I could go on.

Best part for me is that he's great to talk to.  Has solid ideas.  Asks insightful questions.  Exploring the next levels of his faith with clarity and mindfulness.  And what a bonus that he still wants to chat up his Gramma!

I remember holding my first newborn, my daughter Kristyn, Zachary's mother, and asking, "Will you still like me when you're thirteen?"  It was a wistful wondering into a future relationship that I was hopeful for but I knew back then, is never really guaranteed.

Same with my grandchildren.  It's an uncertain thing.  How will we grow together?  Who will you be?  Who will I be by then?  

So when it happens well; when we morph and grow together; when all the spoiling didn't actually ruin them (not that I thought it would); when you have a solid connection with the humans who share your DNA...it's golden.  For all my foibles as a Mom and as a Gramma, this feels like so much grace!

If nothing else is sacred for a Gramma, it's the very real expectation of being 'fair' to them all.  So, while I have started with a how-much-taller-is-Zachary-than-Gramma photo here, and then gone all braggy on Zachary....I do intend, of course I do, to include the others.  One at a time.  In no particular order. 

Okay, now on to other blessings.

 

Sunday's Aniticpation

"Come let us sing for joy to the LORD;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song."

Psalm 95:1

"Why do Christians sing when they are together?

The reason is, quite simply,

because in singing together it is possible

for them to speak and pray 

the same Word at the same time;

in other words, because here they can  unite in the Word.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I think in music there is just something inherently spiritual 

in singing together and harmonizing, 

and gospel is the trust form of that.

Luke Pritchard

I believe in kindness.

Also mischief.

Also in singing,

especially when it is not necessarily prescribed.

Mary Oliver

An interesting article to consider in any discussion about Sunday morning worship.  The Psychological Benefits of Singing Together

I am always and especially grateful for our 'music guy' Derek, who faithfully leads us into a corporate awareness of God's presence Sunday after Sunday.  Oh how we need this orientation, increasingly so as the world gets wilder.  

Looking forward to being together soon. 

Happy singing Sunday to everyone, no matter where you'll find yourself.

The Strange Hello

Here's a quirky little observation.

When I'm out for my walk, I am inclined to simply say hello to anyone I come across.  Call me weird, but it just doesn't feel right to walk right by someone and not even acknowledge them.  A quick little hi costs me nothing, and it just helps make the human connection more, well, connective.

At least, that's what I'm thinking.

The thing is, not everyone is as into this as I seem to be.  In fact, I would say that it has become my expectation NOT to receive a hello in return.

This has been true in two different neighbourhoods now.  When I did my walk up in Waterloo, and now, here close to the Belmont Village area of Kitchener.  Both good communities with good people.  

And yet.

I honestly don't think I look dangerous.  I mean?  A 5 foot 3, 68 year old woman with a very understated fashion sense out for a walk in the early afternoon could hardly be perceived as a neighbourhood meanace.  Right?  So I doubt the lack of a response is that I'm scary.

Awkward maybe?  Is it simply weird to say hello to strangers?  Maybe.  Maybe I'm even embarrassing myself without knowing it by letting you know this is something I do.  We live in strange times and strangers can be strange sometimes, so maybe I should be more mindful of that?  Or maybe everyone else knows about the walkers' code of conduct to never ever say hello, which no one told me about.  

Sometimes I think I should leave it alone and do what so many do, just stroll on by as if another human being wasn't even there. 

But.  No.

There is another human being with me right within this quickly-shared space we occupy as we pass each other on the way to wherever we're going.  And you never know what someone's going through.  You never know if a simple hello from a stranger might be the best thing to happen to their day.  

Which is why I don't really care that much if I get a response.  Because sometimes I do.  Sometimes it's a smile in return, and maybe even a little still-walking conversation about how great a day it is, or how well behaved their dog is.  And there we are, human beings connecting in a neighbourhood, and being all cheerful and positive in a news-weary world that seems desperately devoid of joy some days.

So if you see me out walking, I'll say hi.  And if you say hi in return, well then, we did something good for each other in that moment.  And if you don't, I won't judge.  I don't know what's going on for you and won't presume.  But I'll still say hello to the next person who passes by.  Because I didn't get the memo that we shouldn't.  

And hey.  I'm looking forward to getting back up to the cottage where everyone waves at any boat going by whether you know them or not.  Just sayin'.  

Little Flowers, Weird Hymn Lyrics, and Prayers Where I Brace Myself

 

1. 

   Scilla Luciliae

   Glory of the Snow

   
   

   Before we get to things, there's something you need to know about these small purple flowers that are popping up behind our house.  The gizmo ap thingy I have on my phone tells me they are called Scilla Luciliae, or "Glory of the Snow."

   
   

   Whatever they're called, they shouldn't be there.  Or at least, as far as it would have depended on me.  These are plants that have a more or less wild and unintentional beginning in the yard far before anyone in our family has lived there.  

   
   
2. It could very well be that the previous owners of the property planted them on purpose.  But it's more likely, judging from the mature yard just behind us, that they have migrated towards us on their own.  
3. 
   
4. Also, and this is significant, they have survived the construction project that resulted in our new little house being all cozy and quaint back here.  But before it was that, it was a mess. Yet all the tromping and digging and upheaval; none of it has deterred this small but feisty little lovely.  
5. 
   
6. And I, the non-gardener, marvel because I know that I do not deserve it.  I have done nothing to create this little bit of springtime joy, but here it is just the same.  
7. 
   
8. This needs to be said, before we get to the hymn.
9. 
   

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above;

Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

1. 
   
2. by Robert Roberston
3. In the category of "why didn't I ever notice this before?" a phrase in an old hymn we sang at worship service on Sunday caught my attention.
4. "Tune my heart to sing Thy grace."
5. I guess I'd always thought it was 'sing Thy praise,' which not only rhymes a little, adding to my mistake, but would also be a more expected way to end that thought, I think.  We sing praises, sure. More than we sing grace, right?
6. But noticing it on Sunday, it got me to wondering what it actually meant to 'sing grace.'  Not just sing about grace, but to sing grace itself.
7. Grace is a pretty big deal in the Bible.  And this hymn will keep circling back to it.  A thorough study would certainly yield much, not the least of which is the role of grace in God's big story of reconciling us to Himself.  And speaking of old hymns, how amazing grace is, in all its astonishing, soteriological layers!  For now, and at the risk of oversimplifying it, let's just define grace as being bestowed gifts or blessings or favour we most certainly didn't earn or deserve.  Like my little purple flowers out back.
8. And if that's the case, to sing grace, in a poetic sense, sort of sounds to me like we might spread that around a bit.  Share it into the spaces around us.  Just as we have received grace from God, we now pass that along to those in our orbits.  Like little splashes of springtime joy migrating from one yard to another.
9. Interestingly, the first examples of 'singing grace' that come to mind have to do with simple interactions with strangers.  Allowing space for that car that "didn't see" the lane closed sign way back there and is now trying to nose in.  Being extra friendly and patient with the cashier who's obviously tired and just a little bit grumpy.  Staying pleasant with the customer service associate on the phone, even when you're calling in a legitimate complaint.  Those are the easy songs though.  I can do, and write about, these and feel quite full of grace in my own little heart.  (Or full of something, anyways.)
10. The tune can get a little off key when things are closer to home, it seems.   Like when someone doesn't respond to an email and I am tempted to assign not so nice motives.  Or the repetition of a small but annoying habit begins to wear a groove in my patience. Or a well stated boundary is overstepped, yet again.  All of these things require relational attention for sure.  But with what song? 
11. [And here is interject a nod to the big and awful things that happen that require the kind of grace that can only happen because there is a God.  But this is not about that.]
12. Then there's the part about 'tuning.'   I'm not assuming to know the meaning Robertson gave this phrase, but I like this image a lot.  It speaks of spiritual formation, I think; that process of listening and adjusting and listening again.  
13. If my heart was an instrument to be used of God in His grand mission of making things 'on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10),' of moving us ever closer to a state in which His will is perpetually carried out and all the tears are wiped away (Revelation 21:4) and no one is afraid (Micah 4:6), and oh how glorious it will all be by then!!!....If that's what my heart is being tuned for, then it would sing of grace.
14. Out in the backyard yesterday, when I discovered my little glory of snow, I felt the Spirit make all the connections.  The little blue flower that I didn't deserve.  The grumblings of my spirit when wronged (perceived or real).  The way my heart is still off key and needs Divine tuning to help me sing His grace when it really counts.  
15. I hum the hymn.  I pray the prayer.
16. "Tune my heart, Lord, to sing Thy grace."
17. It's one of those dangerous prayers, of course, so I best brace myself.
18.