Finding a balance

As a society, we are 'out of kilter, broken down, scared and unable to believe that

our ideals are feasible.'*

Wow!  That might cause you to lose what little balance you have, or for you, it might finally describe the fractured disconnect of your world.  Either that perspective causes you to run for the security blanket of 'How Things Ought to Be' or possibly it reflects the trepidation you have about where we are going as a society and how we are going to get there.  Somehow you know there is no stopping it.

At the same time, you are trying to raise a family (i.e. socially acceptable children who will one day be independent) and hold on to a job that is shifting from year to year.  Your life looks a great deal like your parent's life must have, and yet you know it is a whole new world out there.  The word 'pension' will soon have as little meaning as an old 'hi-fi.'  If you think about it all too much you get a headache; motion sick from the merry go round going around much too fast.

'Finding a balance' may be the primary source of spiritual seeking in our times.  Finding our place in the world; a place that fosters life and growth and joy; finding a place where our desire to be compassionate and kind can be expressed; finding a place where others share this same perspective.....finding a balance for ourselves and our families where our values can be expressed in a world that makes people dizzy with its spinning....often looks just out of reach.

How does your faith help you find a balance between now and the unknown?  Trust in the future?  Make it through the 'valley of the shadow of death'?  Bring life and live life?  Teach your children how to love?

These are tough questions.  We can tell the story of Jesus to everyone, but it will remain but a story if we cannot help our neighbors figure out how Jesus intersects with the craziness of their lives.  Folks want to know about you - your story, the realities of your life, and where Jesus walks with you.  They don't expect you to have answers - they just want to know about your journey. 

Tell your story.  Don't flinch - just tell it.  Don't ask for anything in return.  Offer up your story and invite the Spirit to be at work. 

Oh no! Jesus is at it again....

One of the important truths of the biblical story about Jesus is this:  very religious people often - frequently - rejected Jesus and the vision he brought of the future in God.  It was nothing personal, they simply couldn't conceive that God's work in this world would take such a radical and unexpected direction. Religious people today often feel the same way

The Jesus who upset the balance 2000 years ago continues to upset the status quo today as well.  We have a resurrection God and that means that what we see as a dead end, God sees as a place for new life, new possibilities, a new creation.  This means that all those clear answers and considered opinions we have held for so long might have to be chucked out the window to make room for God's new thing to happen.

The Spirit continues to move into new corners and bring about new life for the sake of the whole world.  The Spirit continues to form new communities around the God actions of mercy and compassion and serving others. 

We have to get out ahead of the curve to keep up with this creating Spirit.  Remember learning how to ride a bicycle?  If you peddle too slowly you simply can't find your balance - you have to keep moving with what feels like crazy aplomb  in order for it to work at all.  They say you never forget how to ride a bike once you've learned.  Let's pray that the same is true about working with the Spirit of God.

How do we balance the budget?

On this election day, it seems this is a pertinent, albeit a little late in the game, questions.

How do we balance the budget?  Candidates have presented a myriad of ideas about how to balance the budget.  The plans with the greatest potential for success combine increasing revenue and decreasing expenditures.  The arguments usually revolve around how to increase revenues (increase taxes is an all time unfavorite option) and which expenditures to decrease (not my program, only those other wasteful, needless programs).

My emphasis in this discussion is not on the balance but on the we.  How do we balance the budget?

If this nation is balancing the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable...the poor, elderly, the widows, then we need to say something about it.  We meaning people of faith.  We meaning those who follow Jesus. 

Jesus had already confronted a system that was built on the backs of impoverished and oppressed people.  He didn't like it then; it is unjust even today.

What are we doing about it?