Grilled cheese and Messy Church

Folks have asked, "what's this Messy Church  stuff?"  Actually, we have done something like Messy Church for 5 years as we brought families with young children together on Christmas Eve.    But the movement called Messy Church began in  England with Fresh Expressions, a new way of looking at church.  Messy Church is aimed at intergenerational worship with lots of activity for young children, too.

Here is a recap from our Messy Church last Saturday:

By the numbers:  30+ people representing 10 families

By the experience:  casual and laid back, families arrived at 11:00 a.m.  Children made cheese sandwiches to be grilled later and then chose a craft among several valentine choices.  Families were encouraged to take a valentine to someone on their way home.  We sang songs about love and had a Bible story about how much God loves us.  Sam McAllister player the Dad of two sons:  Micah Sorli played the older son and Jacob Howard was the younger, prodigal son.  The parable was acted out as the Bible story was read, including the pigs oinking appropriately.  We learned that God loves us no matter what we have done. 

I loved watching the families interact.  Children chose colored sticks to be puppets of the Bible story characters.  In their families, they retold the story to each other.  We also memorized the verse from IJohn 4:10, God loved us and sent his son. 

Then we yummed up the grilled cheese (thanks to grillers Diane Dawson and Michael Peterson), apples, and decorated cookies. 

Challenge to the families:  invite another family and repeat what we did with them in your home.  Keeping it simple made for a fun time.  In a few months, we'll try another one. 

When run over by a Mack truck…or a stomach bug

Yep, I am not immune to illness and I am mad about it. I flirt with maladies all the time by hugging children, kissing babies, shaking hands with all who will offer one. I don’t always wear my coat; I miss an apple a day sometime; I like to stay up late hence I miss an hour or two of sleep. But this! What did I do to deserve 3 days of yuk and heading on 2 days of no energy?

As a child, I was so surprised that the rest of the world went on while I was home sick. How dare others have fun while I was confined to bed with tonsillitis or measles or whatever. I don’t like missing out.

As an adult, I constantly think of what I am not accomplishing. And then I have to ask people to fill in for things I should be leading, doing, helping. Being busy means you are important, right? So we fill our calendars so we can tell we are worth something.

I stand with Saint Paul, “He who doesn’t work doesn’t eat”! And yet, Jesus never measured a person’s worth by what he/she accomplished. Sure, there’s lots of going and doing written in scripture, but Jesus stressed “being” over doing. Our culture runs counter to that! I take pleasure and pride in accomplishing, creating, thinking up, planning, carrying out…and I like to thank God for making me a high-energy, lively person, usually. So what do I thank God for when I have to lie down to rest after taking a shower? Or when I have to muster the strength to go downstairs for a meal?

Sounds like pathetic groanings compared to what some folks deal with for much longer than a week! Someone paralyzed would love to walk down the stairs; someone homeless yearns for a shower, tired or not. But when one is accustomed to accomplishing and finds herself unable, what’s a person to do? My first step: gratitude. I am rarely ill and live in a country where medical help is easily accessible. Second step: relax and enjoy “being”: prayer comes more easily when unrushed; humility is practiced when a neighbor leaves you soup on the porch for your lunch; appreciation for a husband who helps is seen more easily.

I do not wish a virus on anyone; however, if (when) the bug bites you, think of the “being” part of following Jesus.

Joshua Bell and your Christian walk

Monday night, Jan. 23, Wayne and I went to Joshua Bell's concert at the Kennedy Center.  Along with 2500 other fans (all the seats were filled), we listened to  him play Mendlessohn, Brahms, Ysaye, Gershwin and Ravel on a 400-year-old Stradvarius violin.  Words to describe his playing sound as if I am trying to sell a set of Ginsu knives:  Amazing, Incredible, breath-taking, Stupendous!  At one point, he played legato and staccato at the same time--honest!  And once he played a note high on the bridge that, if he had gone higher, only dogs could have heard it.  Collectively, the audience held our breath for this perfect sound, totally unplugged, devoid of any mechanical helps.  Wow. 

So what does that have to do with you?  I'm thinking about how Joshua Bell got to this level of performance.  Remember the New York City taxi driver's response to the question, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?''...he repied, "practice, practice, practice."  Bell began playing the violin at the age of 4 years.  And I am sure there were (and are) days he dreaded practicing.   But every musician disciplines the self to do the mundane for the spectacular to occur.

When it comes to living out our faith there is no daily pill to swallow, nor is there surgery to implant a new method.  We learn to live out our faith by practicing, practicing, practicing.  When we give an unkind response to someone, we have to practice how we could have spoken differently.  When we are in situations unbecoming to Christ, we have to think through, and practice, how to avoid the snares again.  When we are letting our own comforts and desires  rule all those around us, we need to practice the humility of Christ, the love, joy, peace, patience kindness...of the Holy Spirit. 

This never comes naturally; it is cultivated.  Practice is the discipline to help make you more Christlike.  So I am going to practice reading the Bible, practice praying, practice serving others.  Betty Stacey, my drama professor, always warned, "the way you rehearse is the way you will perform".  She's correct.  So who will join me as we practice the faith? 

Remembering Roger Keyser

Some people never question God; that's not me.  Some people think you can get struck by lightning if you even hint at not agreeing with the way God moves in the world sometime; that would not be me.  Some people would like to serve God in an advisory capacity; that would be me. 

I"m  the kind of person that asks "Why?" a lot.  My parents got sick of it; my teachers didn't like it after the first few months; and my friends just stared blankly at me.  I saw Roger for the last time on a day when he came to take mail to the post office for me.  He talked of being honored for his retirement the next day or so.  And then, the next news I heard was that he had died. 

My string of "Whys?" instantly rose up.  Why did Roger die so soon after his retirement?  Why did it have to be so near Christmas, a rough time for a family to grieve?  Why was he ever born mentally challenged? What was his purpose on earth?

As I sat in his funeral, Dan asked folks to tell stories of Roger;  I laughed and cried at accounts of his teasing, regular attendance at church, his loving ways, his desire to be helpful...and it occured to me that the reason Roger ever existed is the same reason we are here:  we exist to glorify God.

Roger did that in simplicity and earnestness.  The family that hosted him in the summers to help run Funland at Rehoboth Beach spoke of the wonderful times they had together; Barbara, his sister-inlaw- spoke of the times they had experienced; Dale Seward told of receiving phone calls almost daily from Roger; he had spread joy to so many...he had glorified God in his way.  And then we sang "Jesus Loves Me" and I let go of the "Whys".  Thank you God for the gift of Roger; thank you Roger for the gift of showing how to love simply and purely in a complex world.

Advent devotional for Adults

This Christmas, the prophecies about Jesus written in the Old Testament have been making me think...and the words to my new favorite Christmas choral piece have been drumming in my head.  So I perused Isaiah,  particularly chapters 9 and 11. My suggestion is for you to do a little search yourself.  Read the following words to a song entitled

“The Dream Isaiah Saw”

             By Glenn Rudolph

Lions and oxen will sleep in the hay,

leopards will join with the lambs as they play

wolves will be pastured with cows in the glade

blood will not darken the earth that God made.

     Little child whose bed is straw,

     take new lodgings in my heart.

     Bring the dream Isaiah saw;

     life redeemed from fang and claw.

Peace will pervade more than forest and field;

God will transfigure the Violence concealed

deep in the heart and in systems of gain,

ripe for the judgment the Lord will ordain

    Little child whose bed is straw

    take new lodgings in my heart.

    Bring the dream Isaiah saw;

    justice purifying law

Nature reordered to match God’s intent,

nations obeying the call to repent,

all of creation completely restored,

filled with the knowledge and love of the Lord.

Now find the literary allusions in Isaiah 9 and 11.  Frequently we see the prophecy and assume Jesus didn’t fulfill it all—wars exist, brutality is rampant, peace is not reigning in individuals or in countries—YET.  Advent is a celebration of the first coming of messiah; yet the complete revelation is yet to come.  On the second advent of the Christ, we will all beat the metal of weapons into farming implements to feed a hungry world.  And peace and justice will reign.  Are you willing to ask the Christ to “take new lodging in” your heart?    Send me your thoughts on the poem and scripture!