Being Human

I’m writing a paper for a Leadership class I’m taking. It’s on King David –specifically his humility. This summer, I read a book entitled, Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God’s Guidance and Grace. At the same time, the Lectionary (which I read devotionally) was working its way through 1 & 2 Samuel. It was natural that I would read David’s story with the rubric of humility superimposed. I truly believe that David’s humility was an integral part of his effectiveness as a leader, and as a man after God’s own heart.

Three weeks ago I preached at a nearby Presbyterian church. One of the elders asked me who my favorite Bible character is. I promptly replied, “David” (though I’m not one to usually have just one favorite, so it’s subject to change). He found my choice odd, since I’m a woman and David was a scoundrel and a womanizer.

While David did have these aspects to his personality, he was also a humble man. I love that about him. When David did wrong, he admitted it, repented and moved on. He was prepared to accept from God’s hand whatever it pleased God to give him. Check out what Eugene Peterson says about David in his commentary on 1 & 2 Samuel:

“In the long history of Israel, ‘king’ is not a term that excites admiration. Except for David. David’s life is narrated as pivotal in the history of salvation…. Notice the way the story keeps us immersed in and attentive to our human condition. For it is not easy to attend to ourselves; it is more attractive to try to rise above our human condition (like the angels?); it is easier to sink below our human condition and live like animals. But ‘human is unique, and we require a long growing up to realize who we are and the way we are before God (p.137).”

I’m not a scoundrel or a man-eater (isn’t that what you call the female version of a womanizer?), but like David, I’m far from perfect. My leadership at home, church and at work is affected by my sin and brokenness. But the great news is, that I can still be a woman after God’s own heart. So can you.

God has a preference for human agency, even though he knows how sinful and broken we are. Why? 2 Corinthians 4: 7 holds the answer: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” All praise to God, who uses vessels of clay like me and you to serve Him on this earth.

Entertainment

How Sweet the Sound: The company I work for sponsored a celebration of church music in Memphis on October 6. It's pretty interesting to me that VZW decided to sponser a church choir competition, but I'm glad about it. If you have VCAST you can watch clips of the 3 winners. The choir from the medium sized congregation won from the perspective of the audience (which voted via TXT message). You can hear all six minutes of their song, and it sounds great! To view the clips go to Get It Now > Picture & Video > V CAST Video > Showcase > How Sweet the Sound-Memphis

Bella: I just read a review of the movie Bella in World Magazine. It stars Eduardo Verastegui (the Latin American version of Brad Pitt) as a Latino man with character. You don't see that too often in movies - typically they're either the bad guy (bandito) or the Don Juan (womanizer). A Latino man who wants to do the right thing and is a normal, understated guy seems interesting. The movie's produced by Metanoia Films, which aims to produce Christian themed films that are uplifting and inspiring. It's a love story, and I admit that I'm a sucker for a love story... It's only playing in 30 cities...Nashvegas is a relatively inexpensive plane ride. I may have to treat myself for my birthday...Then again, I guess I could wait for DVD.

Charlie Dodrill - playing in Statesville, NC in November. A much more reasonable BDay treat. I've never seen him live, but want to. I went to Columbia S.A. with his dad last summer. If Charlie's anything like his dad Randy, he's got to be a great guy, and his music is very fine.

Andrew Petersen & Sara Groves - in Charlotte on December 12! I'm probably most excited about this one. I saw Andrew Petersen a few years back when he traveled with Nicole Nordeman. He's a terrifically quirky, and very bright, poetic soul (right up there with Chris Rice). I've never seen Sara Groves live, but wow!!

OK, so not much is on my mind, but entertainments. Oh, well...

I Cannot, I Will Not

Happy Reformation Sunday!

"I cannot, I will not recant..." Martin Luther, tormented by an awareness of his own sinfulness rediscovered the wonder and miracle of grace for all of us. Once he knew the truth, there was no going back. Thankfully, we are made right with God by grace through faith. Knowing that changes everything. We're left to live out of gratitude rather than fear.

Grace us getting what we don't deserve. It's unmerited favor. All of us need grace. Those of us who have received it, should dispense it as generously and freely as it was given to us. Grace leaves us free to love God and our neighbor with a whole heart.

We live in a performance based world. At work perhaps, it has to be that way. But in our relationships, grace is what we need to give and receive. May God grant us hearts to love Him and others with the generous grace with which we've been loved.

And thanks, Martin Luther, for the courage of your convictions.

Simple Pleasures

Thank God for simple pleasures! The autumn is typically a time when I focus on simple pleasures. Maybe that's because the Fall is when it becomes clear to me how over-extended I am (and my kids too). October has been especially busy - the last two weeks exceptionally so. There's still been time for fun -- there's always time to have fun. But sometimes you can even over-extend yourself with fun (last weekend I carved 10 pumpkins for nieces and nephews).

This weekend's different. My sister came in from Charlotte for a visit. It's great just to sit around and talk. My daughter and I spent the day together. The weather was perfect, the clouds amazing, the moon gorgeous! I couldn't have asked for a simpler or better day.

Don't forget to savor the simple things!

Being Certain

Certainty is helpful when you're facing a tough time. My daughter is 'pledging' a high school sorority. This week she's a 'rat'. She's joining the cerebral sorority, so there's nothing too terrible (in terms of messiness or dirtiness) that she has to do, but it is testing her resolve.

Here's some of what she has to do:
- Give the current members candy.
- Dress however they tell her too - which usually involves looking silly.
- Provide 'entertainments', by which they mean songs, dances, skits, etc.
- Refrain from talking to boys at school.
- No make-up.
- Projects - like writing something on each sheet of a roll of toilet paper and each marshmallow in a bag of marshmallows.

The current members of the sorority give (and take away) points for 'rats' that either please or displease them. Apparently, there's also yelling.

I'm going to admit that I don't get it. I wouldn't subject myself to even this mild (by comparison) initiation. Girls who like you ask you to join their club and then mistreat you for a week... Somehow, my daughter is convinced that it's worth it.

But what I do get is that there are many things that we decide to do - we're certain of - that require us to endure hardship. If you're a Christian, discipleship will sometimes lead down roads that you probably wouldn't choose for yourself. Though I'm not sure that my daughter's sorority experience will be worth the trouble in the end, I'm certain than whatever discipleship requires will be.

The Girl in the Other Room*

When I was a little girl, I would sometimes look into the mirror - not at myself per se - but into the other room. The girl (myself) would be the girl in the other room. It was a room where everything was 'backward' or 'opposite'. I would imagine what life was like in that room. How was it different? In a similar way, sometimes I would lie on my back and imagine what it would be like if the ceiling was the floor. What would that be like? It would still be my house, just different.

Do you ever have dreams about houses? I do, fairly frequently. Psychologists will tell you that in dreams, houses (as well as cars ) are metaphors for the self. Sometimes I dream that I'm in my house - only there are rooms I didn't realize were there. Usually, they're really fantastic rooms - rooms that I'd like to live in all the time, if only I could remember how to get there... I wonder if these dreams are related to the 'other room' in the mirror.

I suspect that there is one way that they're related. We all know on some level (Christians in a very specific way) that there is more to life and reality than meets the eye. There's also more to us than appearances suggest. The truth is, there are many 'other rooms' where things are even more 'real' than the rooms we normally inhabit. Sometimes (like in our dreams or imaginations) we get an inkling of some part of that reality. Occasionally, God chooses to give us a glimpse of His Kingdom. Sometime God chooses to give us a glimpse of ourselves as we really are - or are becoming. Either way it's a glimpse of glory.

A God Sized Adventure

Any good story - even a good love story (maybe especially a love story) - has an element of adventure in it. My sister is living that kind of adventure right now. It's a great story, really.

She became reacquainted with a man she dated (and broke up with) 20 years ago. The truth is, she always wondered if she missed Mr. Right - by breaking off her relationship with Vince the Prince (we've always called him that - and he is, a prince of a guy). They got married almost two years ago. That's the romantic part.

The adventure part is that he has 5 kids that he has custody of. After the second set of twins - that's right - 2 sets of twins - his first wife decided that she didn't want to be married any more, or be responsible for raising 5 kids. When the marriage broke up the youngest twins were still in diapers. Vince entered survival mode. He quit work to take care of his kids - something few men would do. Still, it was survival mode.

Some of the finer points, like well balanced meals and sitting together at the dinner table went by the wayside. It had to. It's also difficult to have quality time with 5 kids when you're the only stable influence in their lives. But they made it through. God brought my sis and Vince the Prince together. Now there are two adults in the house, and truly, no one is better suited to love Vince and the kids than my sister.

She has the patience of Job. She listens - really listens. She doesn't like to cook but she does it anyway so that the kids will learn to eat well-balanced meals. She's bringing the finer points back into their lives. But it's slow going. Today my sister was tired and frustrated. She's an introvert who needs time alone to recharge her batteries, and today her batteries were running low.

Though it's hard going sometimes, this God-sized adventure is making a profound difference in the lives of 6 people for sure. Those 6 influence the lives of others, and on and on... So, my sweet sister, hang in there. Keep at it. Beyond, behind, and below the fatigue and frustration there is glory.

Always, Joyce