Life is Divine Chaos

My friend went to a bar because he lost his ticket to the concert.

The rest of us went inside and enjoyed an amazing show. Afterward we met him at the bar. He was chatting with a terrific young lady. They got married.

It was English poet John Keats (1795-1821) who is credited with saying, ‘Life is divine chaos.’ He was apparently trying to describe the reality of the disorder that surrounds us as it relates to the faith that there’s some higher purpose to it all.

This weekend begins the holy season of Advent. And on this first Sunday we are told to ‘be alert’ to the divine chaos of life.

We are challenged to be aware of the hand of the Almighty in the seemingly random occurrences in our lives. Be attentive to the fact that all that’s happening around us has heavenly meaning and purpose. Be alert to the divine chaos that surrounds.

While Advent is about awaiting the arrival of something new, it’s also about looking out for what’s new in the familiar – in what’s going on in the everyday.

Where’s the divine chaos in your world? How does that motivate us to love God and serve others?

France Attacks: Making Sense of Crazy

Once my dear friend Judy, a nurse, told me a wild story about a patient suffering from mental illness. After the story I asked her to explain the behavior. She told me, ‘you can’t make sense of crazy.’

This comes to mind in the aftermath of the barbaric attacks carried out in France by the Islamic State. There has been much talk about the role of religion in these attacks and in modern public life, given the caustic behavior of a few, regarding how religion should be evaluated.

It is important to remember some of these basics that Episcopalians, and many others adhere to:

1) We must affirm that religious people obviously do evil things. There are few motivators that can be as dangerous and deadly as religious ones. However, it’s all the more important to remember that religion inspires far more good than evil.

2) We should never judge a religion by its extremists. These will always be a minority who will take their religion superficially and literally, bringing their own motives to the table. Instead we should judge a religion by its moderates who compose a significant majority.

3) We must remember that followers of every religion believe their tradition provides them with a genuine path for truth. We need to not only respect this, but value every religion that is not our own.

4) The vast majority of people who hold to religious beliefs and practices do so to improve themselves and the world around them. In most cases, religion provides a channel of positive energy and action in the world.

As long as there is humanity, there will be brokenness. A small number of us will do despicable things to one another in the name of most anything. Sometimes the motives will be understandable, many times they will not. But in these times of pain and chaos, let’s avoid the temptation to distance ourselves from the very thing God gave us to better cope with them and to assist the victims: our faith.

Collect for France

O Lord, whose love for France surpasses all human affection; Comfort those gripped by pain and grief; blanket hearts that beat with fear; enlighten them with the assurance of love's victory over death. Strengthen aid workers, families, friends, and strangers, whose work it is to assist and rebuild that which has been brought down. Grant us the wisdom and courage to shun vengeance and embrace justice, that those who do evil may be held accountable, so that peace and tranquility may reign. We ask this in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, who with the Father and Holy Spirit live and reign forever. Amen.

The Path

Humans are programmed to follow the path toward these:

comfort

ease

status

wealth

power

prestige

and safety.

And we are programmed to avoid the path toward these:

discomfort

difficulty

low status

poverty

powerlessness

humility

and danger.

Yet following Jesus is much more about the second path than the first.

Name a decision we’re facing today and ask yourself which of these paths it takes you down. It may help you make the right choice.

The Top Ten Things You're Likely to Hear in a Sermon from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

The Top Ten Things You are Likely to Hear in a Michael Curry Sermon (assembled by our Standing Committee and presented at a reception the Diocese of North Carolina held for the new PB in D.C. the night before the installation.):

10: “This morning I lift my text from…
EVERYONE: Anywhere but today’s propers!”

9: “Now bear with me, I’m going somewhere with this!”

8: “God didn’t put you on this earth just to use up oxygen!”

7: “I’m not going to be up here long”

6: “If you’re breathing, God’s calling”

5: “We have a God! And that God raised Jesus from the dead.”
EVERYONE: “I don’t know how he did it, but he did!”

4: “When Israel was in Egypt land,”
Everyone (singing): LET MY PEOPLE GO!

3: “One more thing and then I’m going to sit down.”

2: “There is a balm in Gilead…”

And the Number one thing you are likely to hear in a Michael Curry sermon:

GO!!

Are You All In?

My friend Chris is an amazing copier salesman.

He makes an average of 240 phone calls a day in an industry that averages 30. He wakes up early and goes to bed late. He wins awards. He gives speeches. He’s a millionaire. When it comes to copiers he’s all in.

The temptation for you and me to do 20 mediocre things versus 6 great things is huge.

Most of us don’t do it.

Yet it doesn’t mean we can’t.

Each one of us has the ability to go all in on our relationships, our careers, our families, our hobbies, and most importantly, all in with Jesus.

In Sunday’s gospel we will hear the story of rich people putting lots of money into the temple treasury and about one woman who gave her last cent. We will hear Jesus commend this woman because she was the only one who went all in.

Jesus is looking for people to go all in.

What are we waiting for?

What’s holding us back?

What does this look like in our lives?

Isn’t it time we go all in?

Chris Yaw

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