Don't Tiptoe

It’s been said that all around us people are tiptoeing through life.

Staying close to shore. Not taking chances. Allowing their dreams to visit them only when they’re sleeping.

However, to tiptoe through life in order to arrive safely at death is not a good recipe for contentment, much less meeting the potential we’ve been given.

A far better way is to run, hop, skip, dance, create, and imagine our way through life – anything but tiptoe.

What makes us tiptoe is fear. And much of our fear is so deeply ingrained we can’t begin to name it. But it rules and dominates us in ways we really don’t like.

This is why you and I desperately need Pentecost.

This Sunday we are celebrating this church feast, which commemorates the coming of God’s Spirit to be with us. This is not to say we didn’t have God before, or that we now have some sort of double-dose. What it does say is that you are beloved by a God who is in you. You are watched over by God. You are not alone. No matter what happens all will be well because you have God and God has you.

In what ways are you tiptoeing through life? In what ways do you need to get more risky? How might you better grab hold of the fact that God is in us and with us and isn’t going anywhere?

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Reading
Thin Blue Smoke – David Worgul

Switch – Heath Brothers

The Online Teaching Survival Guide – Boechtter/Conrad

How to Really Honor Mom

The most difficult time for a mother is arguably not giving birth.
But it is that time in a child’s life when Mom has to say goodbye.

Whether it’s a high school graduation, college graduation, or when the moving van pulls up to the house and (finally) moves junior away from the basement bedroom.

This Sunday Jesus talks about Him and the Father being one. And no one understands the oneness of two better than a mother.

Yet, just as it was ordained that the Son would leave the Father to do the work that only the Son could do, so too, do we know that it is ordained that our children will leave us to do the work they have been called to do.

And just as the Father looked with joy upon the accomplishments of the Child, so too, do we - knowing that it is not forever, but that there is a great reunion planned that will bring us all back together to live as one, in One. And at that reunion all things will be repaired - whether we have had a good mom or a less than good mom.

Yes, on Mother’s Day we give thanks for the role that only moms can play. But it is also a time to challenge children everywhere that there is work to do. There is a plan for redeeming the world that the Father has ordained - and every one of us has a role to play in that.

So, honoring mom isn’t just about giving her a flower and a card, but it’s about seizing the life she’s given us and doing the best we can with it. Yes, let us give thanks to God for our mothers, recognizing their role in God’s work of restoration - and that the work we do brings honor and glory to all of those responsible for getting us here.

My Functional Atheism

OK, I admit it. I’m a functional atheist.
 
While I say that God is with me all the time – guiding, protecting, and working alongside me, too often I find that I live my life as if everything depends on me. I make decisions and commitments as if I’m the sole arbiter. I don’t take time to consider that God really does have a plan. And in doing so I act like the God I say is here, really isn’t.
 
Actually, I don’t think I’m alone here. I think many of us suffer from the same misguided thinking. I think the Church, as a whole, has a hard time owning the promise Jesus gives us in Sunday’s Gospel: ‘The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.’
 
So what IF God really is here? And God knows everything I’m facing? That God has gone ahead of me to provide and protect? And that the decisions I’m making really aren’t as determinate upon my own action as I think they are?
 
So much of the Christian journey is about letting go, letting be, and letting God. It’s as if God is saying, ‘Relax. I’ve got it covered. Be at peace. There’s nothing that can happen to you that I don’t know about. It’s all going to be OK.’ Lord, help me trade my atheism for your provision and realize that you do have the whole world in your hands.

What You Love is Why You're Here

What do you love to do?
 
I love the process of testing new ideas –
My staff will tell you that our central pursuit here at St. David's is to throw things against the wall and see what sticks.
 
I love beautiful things. Cars, photographs, and my wife.
 
I love to read.
I love to cook.
I love to be with people.
 
And I answer this question because I want you to.
 
What do you love to do?
Spend a moment on this.
 
It’s important because what you love to do is why you’re here.
 
It is the mark of the Gospel work you’ll contribute to the world.
 
You and I understand that somehow our existence is not of our own making. God was up to something when God made you and me. And the fullness of God’s plan can only come about through every one of us being who God created us to be. And God created us to love. To be love. To do love.
 
So what do you love to do?
 
It’s more than just your passive preference.
It’s your mission.

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Reading
Thin Blue Smoke - Don Worgul
God is Red - Liao Yiwu
Damn Few - Rorke Denver