Happy New Year

My father is in the other room going through his emails.  He's opened one wishing him a Happy New Year.  As he reads it, I hear a song playing that speaks of the coming new year and the opportunity for fresh starts and the importance of pressing forward.  The tune has a decidedly optimistic lilt to it. 

Whether you're young or old, the prospect of a new year brings with it the promise of new beginnings and fresh starts.  New Years resolutions abound, and though they are often met with failure, the impulse do begin anew is a good thing.  New Years reminds us that we need to be better people - we need to exercise more, lose weight, stop smoking, be kinder, etc.

This is the time of the year when newsmen remind us of all of the tragedy from the previous year.  This is also the time of year to review our own lives and the disappointments, difficulties - and sometimes tragedies we encountered.  The end of the year feels heavy with the weight of all that was difficult.  We long for better times.

It's too bad that the secular calendar and the church year do not end at the same time.  Christians end their year right before Advent with Christ the King Sunday.  The year is capped off with a reminder that, no matter how things look right now, Christ is on the throne, and is guiding history to an end point.  When that end comes, everything will be set right. 

For those who know Christ, even now, all things are being set right, whether we can perceive it or not.  In Romans 8 Paul reminds us that all things work together for good for those who love God, and that nothing can separate us from His love.  Now that's the way to begin a year - or a day - or a moment, knowing that whatever we encounter God will use for our good. In fact, He delights in turning things upside down - making lemonade out of our lemons. 

So, Happy New Year!  May God bless us all with a sense of His presence and purpose in 2014.

A Force to Be Reckoned With - Wanda Weese Perez

Mom’s health really declined in the last year, so I’ve been thinking for a number of months about what I’d say about her when this day came.  So many things about her come to mind...  Wanda Perez was a real personality.  After some thought and prayer I believe that Mom - and the Lord would like you to hear what the Perez kids have heard from Mother’s lips very often over our life time: Live each day like it’s your last.  That’s certainly the way Mom lived her life.  I could probably talk all day long about the many ways that Mom fleshed out the idea of living each day like it’s your last, but I want to focus on three in particular:

Life is an adventure-  Mom was an adventurer.  She loved to see new places and learn new things.  She wasn’t afraid to step out and try something new.  She always told us that we could do anything we wanted to do.   After nursing school she decided to buy a sewing machine and taught herself how to sew.  Those of us who’ve known mom for a long time have probably worn something she made.  When she was a young nurse she hung out in the phlebotomy lab and learned how to be an expert stick – and in typical Wandanator fashion, was telling the nurses and phlebotomists at DRMC where to stick her right up till the end.  She could also do basic plumbing, electrical, and some home repairs.  She had lots of tools (including a chain saw) and she knew how to use them. 

Mom loved to travel.  In 1974 she took the five of us and our cousin Nick on a cross country adventure of epic proportions.  That trip was formative for all six of us kids.  She instilled in us a love of beauty and whimsy, as we stopped to see so many of this country’s beautiful places – and it’s oddities as well.  I’m known to my nieces and nephews as the Queen of Fun.  Well guys… Abuela was the original Queen of Fun.

 Sometimes adventure comes our way through challenges or adversity. Mom was game for that too, and taught us to face challenges with a can-do attitude. When we were very little she’d quote the Little Engine That Could to us – “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can – I can!”  As we grew older, she’d simply say, “Can’t never did anything.”  The challenges that Mom faced were sometimes daunting, but her resolve and her love of adventure meant that she faced them bravely, and never as a victim.  She was – as one of her friends aptly put it, intrepid.  Even at the end of her life when faced with declining health and very real limits on so much that she loved, Mom never had a pity party.

 Life is an adventure. Whether you’re out there seeking a new adventure or if life has dealt you a very difficult hand to play, go for it!   – Mom would say, “Can’t never did anything.” Face life – even the difficult things - as an adventure. Be boldly courageous, and you’ll have a lot more fun whatever comes your way.

People are important – Mom loved people.  She was genuinely interested in whomever she met.  Mom asked lots of questions – not because she was nosy, but because she truly wanted to know who people were.  She had lots of friends, and people were naturally drawn to her – especially young people.  I think that the reason young people liked mom was because she immediately treated them with respect.  She asked their opinions and took them seriously as persons.  Mom saw the humor in situations – irony and absurdity – and appreciated it with laughter.  In most of my fondest memories of Mom she’s laughing.

As a nurse mom demonstrated strikingly how important she felt people are.  Even her presence was healing, and she cared for her patients tenderly and competently.  For years she served in Employee health at DRMC.  She took that job very seriously and found herself not only nurse, but sometimes confidante and therapist.  She was always faithful with whatever was entrusted to her – whether someone’s health or their secrets. 

Over the years Mother opened her home to many people.  She cared for people in very practical ways – offering the hospitality of her cooking and friendly conversation.  There was always room for one or two more at the table.  We were often dismayed at the amount of food she’d buy and put in the freezer, but those supplies made it possible for her to offer hospitality to unexpected guests without feeling stressed out.  For mom, it was always the more the merrier.

People are important.  Mom’s life demonstrates in very real ways what it looks like to love our neighbor.  Take a real interest in other people.  Be a faithful friend.  Treat others with respect- especially young people.  Offer hospitality.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words – The Wandanator was a woman of action.  As much as she liked to chat with people, when it came down to the nitty gritty of living, she’d rather do what she believed than talk about it.  Mom didn’t spend a lot of time talking in the theoretical.  In fact, I can’t remember a single time I heard her say anything remotely theoretical.  She was a practical person.  In her mind it was fine to tell someone you love them, but it’s even better to show them.  It’s fine to have principles, but better to live them out. 

We all know that Mother loved to have her say.  She didn’t mind telling us what to do or how to do it.  Now that she’s in heaven, maybe she’d be more apt to quote from Scripture than she was before, so I thought it would be appropriate to leave my siblings and myself – and all of you- with a final instruction about being a person of action – this one from Philippians 2: 11-13 : ¹² Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

For the last couple of years Mom was working on writing down her life story.  She only made it to the mid 1970’s, but the last word she wrote was Hallelujah.  I think that’s fitting.  We praise God for the incredible gift that Wanda May Weese Perez was to us.  We praise God for His work in and through her.  And we praise God that she has finished the race and kept the faith.  Hallelujah.

 

 

One Foot In Front of the Other

On Christmas Eve I watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town with my nephew.  It's a fairly modern classic for little kids, and it contains some great messages.  One of the songs animated is called "Put One Foot in Front of the Other."  It's sung by Chris Kringle and the newly reformed Winter Warlock.  Here are the words:

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

You never will get where you’re going
If you never get up on your feet
Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing
A fast walking man is hard to beat

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If you want to change your direction
If your time of life is at hand
Well don’t be the rule be the exception
A good way to start is to stand

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn
You mean that it's just my election
To vote for a chance to be reborn

 

There have been times when someone has asked me how I'm doing and I responded, "Putting one foot in front of the other."  During those periods I generally feel that I'm just plodding along, nothing great, exciting, or noteworthy.  However, as the lyrics above would suggest, putting one foot in front of the other is not a bad thing.  In fact, it's usually the way change happens.  So... if you feel that you're only plodding along, putting one foot in front of the other, maybe you should be feeling alright about it.  Dare I say, better than alright?  Putting one foot in front of the other is making a choice to move forward. 

 

I don't know about you, but I'd like for the reflection I see when I look in the mirror to change dramatically.  I'd like to look like Jesus.  But that doesn't happen over night. It is as Eugene Peterson says, a long obedience in the same direction.  Right after Paul exhorts the Philippians to imitate Christ's humility in chapter 2, he says this: ¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."

May God give us the grace to put one foot in front of the other in 2013 and come at least a few steps closer to the people God intended us to be.

O Antiphons - Wisdom

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God,
you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care:
Come and show your people the way to salvation

 Isaiah 11:1-9

¹A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
     and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
²The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
     the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
     the spirit of counsel and might,
     the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
³His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
     or decide by what his ears hear;
⁴but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
     and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
     and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
     and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
⁶The wolf shall live with the lamb,
     the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
     and a little child shall lead them.
⁷The cow and the bear shall graze,
     their young shall lie down together;
     and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
     and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
⁹They will not hurt or destroy
     on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
     as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11: 2-3 is one of the scriptures said to apply to the first O Antiphon (along with Isaiah 28:29, Proverbs 8: 1-36, and John 1:1-5).  I wonder if it wouldn't be more appropriate to read through verse 9.  Jesus came as the wisdom of God, and in his reign, all things will be put right.  Creation will once again be properly ordered and hurt and destruction a thing of the past.

As the winter solstice approaches and the days grow literally darker, the spiritual darkness of the world seems more evident. Every year by December it seems to me that the world has been sated with turmoil that has built up over the year.  It sags under the weight of all that is wrong and out of place.  Advent reminds us that all is and will be well in the Kingdom where wisdom and righteousness reigns. Come Lord Jesus!

Great Expectations

 Are you an optimist or a pessimist?  Is the glass half full or half empty?  In response to a question like that I once heard someone say cleverly that they were a realist: that there was a half a glass of water there – the full or the empty part could be left off…. 

One fairly accurate way to determine if someone is an optimist or a pessimist is to look at their expectations.  Expectations are mental pictures of the future, and they are very powerful influencers of actual future events. It isn’t uncommon to look at the life of an optimist and see very positive things going on.  In the same way, the life of a pessimist appears to be full of negative events and negative emotions about those events. 

I think that people generally get what they expect.  So if that’s true, are optimists just the lucky people to whom good things happen all the time because they expect it and pessimists those with the bad luck following them around like a shadow?    Though some outlooks are influenced by the temperament we’re born with, I think most of us begin life with great expectations.  Have you ever met a pessimistic toddler?  I think that we start out believing that we live in a sane and just universe and believe that folks will usually do what is right, and that we will ultimately be safe. 

The older we get, however, the scarier the world around us becomes.  We’re let down by the people in our lives, and events don’t unfold the way we think they ought to.  Do any of you remember the first time someone said to you, “Well, what did you expect?”  Whoever asked the question was beginning your reorientation to a world of changed – in other words, lowered expectations. Don’t count on things to work out.  Don’t count on people to come through for you. Don’t get your hopes up. 

It’s true, that if you’re counting on events to transpire the way you want them to or people to never let you down you’ll probably be disappointed. All kinds of unexpected and unwelcome things happen every day, and others will certainly fail to live up to our expectations.

I know that I sound a little like I’m contradicting myself by saying that I believe people generally get what they expect and in the next breath saying that events will likely not transpire the way we plan.  But is there a way in which both things can be true?  And could an active understanding of and participation in this truth be the secret to optimism and ultimately, happiness?

I think that David’s life is a terrific example of someone who lived an incredible adventure of faith.  Alan mentioned in last week’s sermon that David’s behavior was not always exemplary, and that’s true.  David made many bad choices.  But the Scriptures tell us that David was a man after God’s own heart. What was it about David that made him a man after God’s own heart despite his flaws?   I suggest to you that David’s implicit trust in God and surrender to God’s will is the answer.

Throughout his lifetime, David understood three important things about God and about life as one of God’s children:

1.      God is truly in control of every situation. 
2.       God is moving His plan forward in history.
3.      God is in control of David’s life.  His plans are good and can be trusted.

Our Old Testament reading this morning is a brief excerpt from the speech that David gives Goliath right before he kills him.  The entire Israelite army has been encamped before the Philistines for weeks, shaking in their boots because of the giant who comes out to taunt them daily.  When David hears about it he says, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  David doesn’t get it.  Why are the soldiers afraid?  They serve the living God.  David eventually faces Goliath.  Before he kills Goliath, he wants him to know exactly what’s going to happen and why.  God can fight his own battles and he can use a boy to do it.

David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"

Throughout the rest of his life David demonstrates an unwavering trust in God and in God’s plan.  The entire time he is on the run from Saul, David exercises amazing restraint and faith.  Several times he has an opportunity to kill his pursuer, but he trusts God to work out His plan in the right way and at the right time.  David realizes that God is both working out his plan for history and working out his plan for David’s own life.  As he humbly submits to how God is at work in both places, he is able to rest and enjoy the adventure.  The Psalms are full of David expounding on the amazing love, power, and plans of God.  Even the Psalms that are prayers for help or the laments contain assurances of God’s loving care.

In Christ, we can be even more certain of God’s ultimate victory in history and His tender care for us.  The final verses of Romans 8 paint a beautiful picture of what those who follow Jesus can expect.  There Paul assures us that everything that happens is used by God for our good.  In fact, the Father has our greatest good in mind: we will be conformed to the image of his Son.  Can you imagine anything better than looking like Jesus?  Neither can the Father.  Every resource in the universe will be used to make us like Him. 

 Nothing can separate us from God and his love.  Whatever happens, we can rest assured that God has us and has the situation under control.  If you’re like me, the nightly news is often a doorway to dark imaginings of what terrible things could happen.  The folks who went to the Batman premier in Aurora Colorado were not expecting to do anything but enjoy a movie that they’d been anticipating.  The night held something very different for them.  

                                                 

 All of us have known people who have faced incredibly difficult challenges that they had no idea was coming, and certainly would not chosen for themselves.  Some of us have been that person.  The difference between someone broken and bitter about their experiences of pain and those who are joyful and victorious in the midst of them is an understanding that God is in control and can be trusted to work His good plan.  Their eyes are watching for how God is blessing them in the midst of the struggle.  Paul says that in all of these things we are more than conquerors!  Those who are looking for blessing will perceive the blessing they’re being given in every situation.  Those who aren’t looking for it may only see hardship or suffering.  Which would you rather see?

            There’s a great hymn entitled Anywhere With Jesus.  It says:

Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go,
Anywhere He leads me in this world below;
Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade;
Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid.

Anywhere with Jesus I am not alone;
Other friends may fail me, He is still my own;
Though His hand may lead me over drearest ways,
Anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise.

So what do you expect?  Is the glass half empty or half full?  Do you envision a future full of hope and glory - or fear and dread?  I expect great things of God.  I’ve noticed that events rarely turn out as I expect.  I have no idea what will happen tomorrow - whether it will be pleasant or difficult, whether I’ll feel happy or sorrowful.  I cannot say that my life will go as I would plan it.  But what I do know is that God is in control, that He’s moving his plan forward in history, and that His plans for me are for my good.  We can go anywhere with Jesus, and expect a great adventure.

The Best Defense is a Good Offense

Many times over the past several months, I've heard folks trying to figure out how to stop some sort of negative behavior.  Usually the negative behaviors have to do with some relationship they're in.From a college student, "How can I be more positive with my roommates so that we can get along?"  Co-worker, "How can I deal with this person who's bad behavior is hurting the team?"  From a church member, "How can I deal with my bad attitude toward that very 'unlovable' person?"

When I hear anything like the above - or when I wonder them myself - I think about Pastor Joe and some very important things I learned from him.  Maybe I'd better begin by explaining who Pastor Joe is.  Pastor Joe served as an interim minister for our church for a year.  His ministry profoundly changed my life and the lives of so many members of our church.  How did that happen?  Love.  He loved us.

I don't have room on this page to describe everything in Joe's ministry that changed the way I think and approach my life.  I want to focus on one thing.  Something that struck me about Joe's prayers was the thanksgiving and praise.  Whenever he prayed with me or in a group, he spent focused time praising God for good: God's own wonderful qualities, the good things that were happening, and the good things that he saw in the lives of those he was praying for.  Though as a Christian, I'd received instruction about doing this, for most, this time of praise and thanksgiving was at best perfunctory.  In Joe's prayers it was profoundly powerful.

Praise and thanksgiving refocuses the mind and heart.  If you're praying about a difficult circumstance, and truly begin with praise and thanksgiving for all that God is doing, you're able to see the circumstance in its proper perspective.  A difficult thing is a part of the wonderful and gracious unfolding of God's plan - a plan that He is fully in control of.  We can rest assured that God's plan  means glory for Himself, and in a mysterious way is our glory too.  If you're praying for a person - even someone who may be giving you difficulties - and begin with praise and thanksgiving for that person's wonderful qualities, then your mind is refocused to view that person as a gift from God.  Focusing on the positive, changes the way you perceive the negative.

Anyone who has children can attest, that if you want a child to do something, then tell him not to... The thing you have forbidden becomes irresistible. We can't stop doing negative things by telling ourselves not to do them.  Instead, we must replace the negative with the positive.  If you are praising and thanking God for circumstances and people -- focusing on the positive -- the negative begins to lose its power.  It's hard (perhaps impossible) to continue to feel down about something or someone you've just been praising God for.  The best defense is a good offense. 

I've included in this post a picture of the front of a book Joe P. has written called An Unthinkable Marriage.  In it, Joe explains in a very entertaining and readable way, how he came to do the things he does. I have never encountered anyone as affirming as Pastor Joe.  The way he lives is transformational - for him and everyone he meets.  He wasn't born that way.  He followed a path leading to love and freedom, one that he invites his readers to follow.  I highly recommend it.

Finding What Was Lost

I had a very Luke 15 kind of experience yesterday.  My sister has a cat that she and her son love very much.  This cat (Tomas) reminds us all of the cat we had growing up (Tom - a.k.a. Amor, Amorcito, Royalty Redhead).  Two orange and white, long haired cats with very laid back personalities.  Well, Tomas had been missing since Monday.  My sister checked the Humane Society, several vets, and many of her neighbors.  No Tom.

I didn't find out about Tom being missing until Wednesday, but as soon as I heard, I began to pray.  Now you may be thinking, "Praying for a missing cat to be found?  Really?  Don't you think God has better things to worry about?"  It's true.  There are many things more "important" than a missing cat.  But in the Gospels, Jesus says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground outside of the rule of God. 

Yesterday afternoon, my sister in law, my niece, and four nephews decided we'd go looking for Tomas.  Which way should we go left or right?  Right.  Let's look in the woods nearby.  No Tomas.  On our way back, I called out one last time, "Tomas, kitty, kitty!" 

"MEOW!" 

All seven of us exclaimed.  The kids started to go crazy.  We shushed them. 

"Tomas.  Kitty kitty."

"MEOW!"

Tomas was in the back yard of a neighbor in a trap that had been set to catch squirrels.  The trap was very small - squirrel sized.  Poor Tom had been in there since Monday with no food or water.  He was very glad to see us and we were very glad to see him too.  Our short walk back to my sister's home was full of laughter, tears, and shouts from the kids, as they rushed into the house to tell my sister the good news. 

In Luke 15 Jesus tells the story of the "lost sheep", the "lost coin", and what many folks call the "lost son."  In all three parables something lost is found resulting in great joy.  The final parable in the chapter focuses on a father who never stops looking for his son to return.  It is the seeking, searching, love of the Father that is actually highlighted in all three stories, and culminates in a shocking picture of shameless love with the parable of the Prodigal Son. 

I don't think it's going too far to say that the exuberance we experienced yesterday was holy.  God understands better than we what it's like to lose something precious, dearly loved, and find it again.  The season of Lent is a time to reorient ourselves to a God who came looking for us.  The lengths He went to to "find" us are - well, I'm not sure I have words to describe it.  I only know that I'm humbled, awed, and bowled over by the love and devotion of God who would not let me remain lost.