Believing in the deep end

It is easy to believe you can swim when you are paddling around in the shallow end of the pool.  In a moment of panic you can put your feet down and touch the solid bottom again.

Deep water requires a very different level of confidence.  You cannot see the bottom in the deep end; you cannot keep your head above water and touch bottom at the same time.  It's one or the other. 

We live our lives in deep water - where much is unclear, outcomes are uncertain and we can either cling to the solid floor of what we know or we can keep our heads above the splashing water.  Neither approach will work for long. 

Eventually we will have to move our arms, paddle our feet and push out into the deep in order to get to the other side.  Water will splash in our face, we'll catch a mouthful or two of water but we will both move forward and be (here's the prize) held up by the water.

A life of faith is much like swimming in deep water: we push against the forces around us which try to pull us down (even though the most perfect swimming stroke does not prevent some water from mouth or eyes). Real effort is required to keep moving toward a safer shore. Pretending the water isn't deep will not make it so nor take the danger away.

We swim in deep waters.  We need a deep water God.  Shallow theology will prove to be ineffective while deep water will challenge us to trust (another way of saying 'believe'). 

The cross is the way Jesus said, "I'm there with you in the deep water" because there is nothing deeper than that moment when you must release this life and lean into the promises of God for the next.   Jesus stepped into the water of the River Jordan to show us he was willing to swim every step of the way with us.  Cling to that Jesus.

Using the poor for our own ends

Wow!  I never thought I'd write that sentence, but I heard the critique and believe there is truth in it.  I believe we (as people of faith) are guilty of using the poor as a symbol of our largesse....and therefore a balm for our conscience.   Our commitment to their welfare is a tiny portion of the energy we put into living each day: some cans for the food pantry; cast off clothes for the needy and a good feeling for us.

How deep does my love for these neighbors go? 

I believe some confession is in order.

A deep water God

We need a deep water God.

This is in contrast to a

.....bandaid God:  apply over wound and wait 5 days for healing

....bless and go God:  drive through a faith practice window [say prayer, reciting scripture, attending worship services] looking for a blessing but not wanting to get stuck in line for too long

....stained glass window God:  ancient, brittle, bright only in the sunlight, static, comforting

....facebook God:  pieced together from the bits and pieces of insight, inspiration and wisdom found (or not) in various facebook postings by friends

....divine Sugar Daddy God: who showers us with all those things we think we need and makes our lives better and better each day

....angry Aunt Sarah God:  who stands on the sidelines and lobs lightning bolts in our direction without any hope or expectation that good will come from it

....sentimental Touched by an Angel God: who flits about, giving a holy glow to everything and resolving life's worst dilemmas in 60 minutes or less.

I could go on.  We don't need one of these gods who are simply projections of our own desires.  We need a God who will be with us when the storms rage, the darkness falls, the shadows appear, the joy turns to weeping and when there are absolutely no answers at all.  A God who would go to the cross.  Jesus.

Bow your head, close your eyes....and shut out the world?

It is how we pray.

But I wonder if it is also a way to shut out the world; to create our own world in our own mind.  I wonder if we bow our heads and close our eyes in order to blot out the reality of the world we live in.

If so, we are not following Jesus - the one who stepped into the muddy water of the Jordan River and then walked out into his world to heal the sick, include the outcast, love the unlovable, free those who were held captive and seek justice for others.

Not just food and shelter and clothes and justice and freedom and a living wage for his own family.  No, Jesus counted every other person as family - and then he worked for the weakest of them.  We are called to do the same.

Joy....where does yours comes from?

laughing...especially with my children
engaging, challenging, energized conversation
playing with my grandson
listening to Dvorak
gospel music in worship
'in the park' home run
10 Tons of Love exhaustion
a long hike in the woods
Holy Communion
singing in harmony
Impressionist paintings

All of these things give me joy.  Some are about beauty.  Some are about the wonder of the moment.  Some make me a part of a greater good, a larger community, a gift for tomorrow.

What does your list look like?

Over the top

"Really, that's more than enough."

The last time I said that someone was dishing creamed spinach onto my plate.  I really don't like creamed spinach.  Really.

But beyond that last episode, when did I last say, with all sincerity, "No, really, that's more than enough."

I worry about my own acquisitiveness; my desire for more without any real insight into what I truly need more of and why I might need more of it.  Do I need more free time?  more exercise?  more retirement savings?  more clothes?  If those blessings fell into my hands today, would I be more content?  A better neighbor?  More able to contribute to the well being of another?

What exactly do I want more for?     Who will that more serve?

Ripe tomatoes and a rich man's barns

It's going to start happening any day now: the tomatoes will begin to turn from pink to red to luscious...and after about a week you will have more tomatoes than you can handle.  It's  a wonderful time of abundance and the best tasting tomatoes you are going to eat for at least another year.  Yet, enough is enough and eventually you will have more tomatoes than you can creatively use.

What are you to do?

The rich man had the same problem: the harvest was so heavy he couldn't fit it all in his barns.  What to do? His solution was to pull down the barns he had and build new, bigger ones.

I wonder if he ever considered throwing a party for all his neighbors (who knew he had more than he could store) and give away a bag of grain to each of them - "Take it with you!  I have more than I can handle already!"

Did he ever think that God had sent this amazing harvest into his hands so he would turn and share it with his neighbors in need?  So he could feed the hungry?  Did he ever consider that he was blessed so that he could bless others?  Not only that, Jesus tells him that this harvest was to be his last.  He would never again get the opportunity to spread the wealth around like this again, because tonight he would die.  The time had run out; there would be no more blessings received nor blessings to give.

What a shame!  What a crying shame.