Easter in the Rearview mirror

This is a long overdue posting of a blog I began in late May -- I think it applies just as well now that we're looking at Advent in the distance as it did looking at Easter in the rearview mirror.

This is a quote from a book by Richard Russo called Empire Falls. We hear the story of the declining town of Empire Falls from the point of view of Miles Roby. In this selection, he speaks of a lonely teenage boy who is befriended by his daughter, Tick.

If Jesus had gone away, things in Galilee would have returned to normal, just as her father had promised they would soon in Empire Falls. ..No one could want this boy, this child who had dangled from a laundry bag inside a closet, not to exist. Merely for him not to exist here, because here has proven to be the wrong place. She feels like Jesus' disciples must've felt. They never wanted him crucified, of course, but what a relief it must have been when the stone was rolled across the entrance to the tomb, sealing everything shut so they could go back to being fishermen, which is what they knew how to do, rather than fishers of men, which they didn't. No wonder they didn't recognize him later on the road to Damascus. They didn't want to any more than Tick wants to welcome this poor boy back into their midst. (p. 446-447)

This is not a Christian book, but isn't that a stiking comparison? How would it have felt to be the disciples, to have had your life disrupted for 3 years, and then for it all to turn out so different than you had hoped ("we had hoped that He was the Messiah," they told Jesus)... how they must have wanted to just put the whole confusing thing behind them.

And us? How has Jesus disrupted your life? Don't you sometimes wish you could just live like the rest of the world, and turn away from what He's calling you to? It can be so uncertain, so unsettling, following that voice you think you hear on a way you think you might be called to... toward something you're not sure you can handle...Kind of like that feeling right before your foot touches the ground... most of the time you don't think about it, but there's that time when you forget how many steps there are, and the landing isn't where you expect it to be.

But then I think, "what else is there?" I could go back to living the way I was. It's familiar, so familiar that I can do it in my sleep. I have. I fill the emptiness inside with noise and sensations, then go back to mindlessly living. But I have known another way. I have known the feeling of adventure, and I wake in anticipation of what God will do next. Even if those moments are in the background faraway, there is a knowledge you can't unknow, a knowledge that God will show up, that actually He never left, and He's waiting to show me a better way, bit by bit, and He will walk beside me.

And so I determine to keep listening, to stay awake, to move, to watch and see.

Attitude of Gratitude

I heard a speaker on one of my favorite podcasts talk about gratitude. She said she learned recently that when a person "sits" in that place of gratitude, his brain chemistry actually changes. This change requires more than just a passing thought, but dwelling on those grateful thoughts for an extended time. Not just once a year while gathered around the table with family. Not just as you write the obligatory thank you notes. But instead intentionally recalling all the things that generate gratitude.
Whenever I got to feeling down as a teenager about how things weren't going my way, my Dad used to say, "Count your blessings." Sometimes it would say it in an exasperated voice, because teenage girls caught up in drama can be exasperating, and I know for a fact I was no exception. But other times it would be a more gentle reminder, and it brought to mind his granddad's table prayer, which we recited in part at our table growing up -- "Give us thankful hearts, Our Father, for all these many blessings..." it began. Gratitude was something he was taught, and he passed it down to me, as we hope to pass it on to our children.

That same speaker pointed out that in Old Testament times, the children of Israel were taught through the marking of seasons and festivals to recall all that the Lord had done for them. Psalm 103 is just one of the many scriptural examples of how David encouraged others to "count their blessings," to intentionally turn their thoughts to all the good things the Lord has done - here it is from the New International Version -


Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the LORD, my soul.

There are so many blessings to ponder in those 22 verses I cannot even begin to comment...but back to that speaker on the podcast -- just think what would happen if we read that psalm and "parked our minds" there for moments everyday? Would our brain chemistry actually change? Would we be less stressed, less likely to snap at people, more likely to smile?

And of course this is the most important question on my mind at my age,

Would my smile lines deepen and become more pronounced than my frown lines?

Spark

"It only takes a spark..." Raise your hand if you remember singing that song at church camps and youth group meetings in the 80's! It takes you back, doesn't it? But remember the refrain -- "that's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it. You want to sing, it's fresh like spring, you want to pass it on..." That's what I'm tying to remember -- We were made for more than this. I want to remember that buring in my belly that's like fire -- not like the acidy one I feel when I've over eaten, but like the stirring I feel when I'm passionate about something!

I've found that Sparkpeople.com is a good place to find motivation to live a healthy lifestyle, and interact with others who are doing the same. It's free, and it has thousands of members - Check it out -- my sparkpage is href="http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=LAURALOUPRIEBE">