Foolishness?

There is a lot of foolishness around us. Do you sense it? Have you experienced it? Sometimes we might find ourselves acting and behaving "foolishly". But foolish behavior is all in the eye of the beholder, is it not? Foolishness can be countercultural sometimes. Foolishness might just be the key to discovering something deeper about our own expectations of the world and God's place in it.

So, let's reflect about this a minute. When we are passionate about something, some might see our focus as being rather foolish. We might be passionate about eating wheat grass, for example, but some would look at that as silly. Why? Well, the first hurdle is trying to figure out why anyone would actually eat grass. It is not like we go outside cut a few blades off the lawn every day and then go in a cook up some soup or drink with it. Already in that semi-explanation there are many misconceptions. First, the grass we have in our lawns is usually not the same grass we would buy at a health food store. Second, if we had discovered a personal health benefit that made adding wheat grass to our diet important, it no longer seems foolish to eat it. Third, others may not know the process of preparing the wheat grass for consumption and because of that look upon the whole idea as foolish.

Is it any wonder then that God often takes what is foolish and turns our expectations upside down? The group of Jesus' followers are often confused by his actions because they seem outside the realm of acceptable behavior. It rarely matters what the situation is, but Jesus just keeps moving on from person to person, from town to town, stirring things up, changing the way we think God is revealed to others. Jesus comes to people like you and me, the ones down in the dirt of every day life, struggling along trying to make sense of the world and finding often that there is none in it. And yet, once we have that encounter with Jesus, the world takes on a little different shape.

I always used to wonder about that whole idea of making the weak stronger. If you read through the Bible, there are many people that God uses to wake up others to a new way of living. Often, these are not the top of the rung folks. They are not the Donald Trumps of the ancient world. But God finds a way to engage peope through the most unlikely means. God takes a cross, a symbol of utter failure and turns it around to become a symbol of triumph. Weakness is redefined in God's kingdom in a way that no one can understand. The more we try to understand it the harder it becomes to make sense of it.

However, we can live in this seeming paradox without having to lose our minds. It means bending toward God to gain strength while being pushed by other forces away from God's calling on our own lives and loves. It means discovering ways to unite our passions with God's joy in seeing our discoveries along the way. It also means that it will look a little foolish to hose who just have not tasted this new way.

I'm sure it looked pretty foolish to the parents of the disciples who watched as their young men left good jobs to follow Jesus around the country. I'm sure it looked foolish for Jesus to take a break once in a while to just rest in God's presence. I'm sure it looked foolish for some that he did not amass a huge army and attack the predominant political system of Rome.

Here at By the Way, it sometimes seems we revel in foolishness. I'm sure it looks foolish to hang out at Barnes and Noble each week, talking to one or two people, or sitting there wondering if there will be a group that night. I'm sure it looks foolish that we hang out drinking a beer or two at Unos discovering things about the people who come each Thursday night to take a break from their busy lives. I'm sure it looks foolish to be available for spiritual conversations at Panera every week.

Yes, all these things look foolish. But there is something inherently amazing about the encounters that happen in these places. They are encounters unlike any one experiences in those normal churchy, set-aside sacred spaces. There is something foolish perhaps in pointing to God's presence in each of those places, and many more around Nashua. There is something foolish in seeing the joyful face of the server whose job it is to wait your table each week and enters into a conversation with you about life and faith......or is it?

The encounters we experience reconnect us to one another and to God in ways that are different from what we come to expect only if we have packaged God and set faith aside for a few moments a week. Instead, the challenge is to discover, or rediscover, God in everything we do, in each place we find ourselves, and with each person that comes our way. Foolish? Come and see.

You Are Not Alone

How do you connect with other people? The answer to that question really varies depending on your age and your access to current technology. I kind of like that new commercial for one of the local cell phone companies. You know, the one where a large crowd of people is standing together representing our "network." This network is our lifeline. It connects us immediately to friends, family, colleagues, businesses, etc. We are promised that if we just sign up for this service we will not have to worry ever again about being left out in the cold, or with a miniature pony, or some other odd gimmick meant to guilt us into wanting something.

What is fascinating is that two things need to happen in order for us to buy into the belief system of this product. First we have to begin to believe that maybe, just maybe, we are not as connected or close to our friends our family as we thought. And second, we must believe that being able to contact them right away will give us the sense of security we will need in order to make it through our horrible day.

Now contrast that to another commercial for a cell phone. You know this one too. The one where people wander around asking "Can you hear me now?" And the other one where a person asks a question only to have the call "dropped" and the silence is interpreted the way that person thinks is implied by the lack of an answer.

The truth is, many of us approach our spiritual and faith lives the same way. We all desperately want to connect, or reconnect to others, but often feel like we are all alone. If this was not true, companies would not constantly be trying to convince us that we are not alone and that their product will solve this problem. When we enter into a faith relationship with God in this way, we enter an adventure in missing the point. Believing in God may not always give you the sense of security you need. In fact, sometimes many of us get frustrated that God must not exist or be uninterested in our lives because of some event in our life that has caused us stress or discomfort. This is because most of us treat God like a commodity that we can tap into at our convenience instead of discovering and experiencing the multitude of ways God is present in our daily lives.

That leads to the other thread of today's thought. When it comes to our communications with God, often they sound a lot like the second ad mentioned above. We go to a church service and pray, "God, can you hear me now?" Or we sit in our own homes in solitude, "God, can you hear me now?" Or we find some spiritually rich natural environment to ask, "God, can you hear me now?"

Each time we ask this question we have an opportunity to enter into a deeper conversation with God. But often we treat God the same way we treat a dropped call:

"Hi, God? I was wondering if you want me to do something different with my life. You know, maybe change a few habits, not that I have a bunch of bad ones. Do you think I should give up hanging out with that bad group of friends that get into trouble all the time?....Hello? So maybe that is the wrong question...right?"

There is an interesting psalm that actually answers some of those questions and a host of others. Psalm 27 (click above to read it) has a way of helping us realize that we are not alone. Even if our own mother or father has thrown us out, God is there. When we seek ways that bring us life, God is there. When we are surrounded by people who wrongly accuse us, attack us, and try to destroy us, God is there. God is there to listen to the sighs to deep for words. God is there to guide you to others who can reconnect you to a new way of living. It will not always be easy because life has its ups and downs, but the great crowd of people brings perspective, support, and a sense of joy that is another reminder of God's grace all around us each and every day.

Reconnecting to one another opens a window to the kingdom that God wants us to see right in front of us, right here in Nashua, NH. Right where you are now, wherever that may be. You are not alone and if you are hungry to reconnect to the divine spark of life, or to perhaps take a little spiritual health check-up, stop by, grab a cup of coffee, and reconnect. By the Way is intended to be that growing crowd of people along the lifeline that leads to God. Ready to grab a hold?

Come and See (click for Today's Bible passage)

"What are you up to?"

"Well, every week, I head out to Unos. I sit at a table, enjoy the company of whomever happens to pass by, and talk with the servant staff and the people I meet."

"That's it?!"

"Well, yes and no. You see, as I talk with people you learn a lot. You discover a little about their family life, get to know who they are, and you start to call them by their name. It might seem odd but I know a lot more about some of the people I see each week, than I ever did sitting in my church pew."

"How is that possible? How can that even be "church"?"

"Come and see."

...................................

There is the conversation I have many times with so many different people. You might recognize them as the ones who head each week dutifully to their local church to be in fellowship with other Christians. For many this seems to work for them. But for many of the people I see each week, church is an empty place where they feel disconnected.

So, each week I head out to listen. Conversation might be about God, or who this Jesus guy really was/is for me. Sometimes we just check in to see how God might be at work in a person's life that week. That connection to a spiritual life is an important one for people. The connection comes when we discover how God is at work in our lives and sometimes it is worth sitting down just to figure that out together. Often the "figuring" comes in seeing God at work in one another.

These are the kinds of encounters BTW leaders have every week. Does this matter? Absolutely.

I'm reminded of this great German film, Run, Lola, Run. In this film, Lola takes off and as she runs seemingly out of control, she knocks into people (running over some at times). When this happens we get a series of snapshots that show a little bit about what happens next in the other person's life. Sometimes the actions that follow are comic, sometimes tragic, but we are meant to see how we are connected to one another when this happens. Subtle shifts in how we do things effect other people. Such is the case as we get three different possible storylines for Lola. Just when one thread ends, we somehow telescope back to the beginning and we are off on another kinetic journey.

As Jesus walked about, some saw something in him. The very first followers of Jesus were unsure about just who he was and what he was about. In fact, Jo (the guy I wrote about last month) even loses a few of his own followers when he points out how much more important Jesus is. Even then, these folks are skeptical. Jesus does not say, "Well, you have to sit in the synagogue for a few months each week and hear about God." No, his mission is to help people see God in the dirty, every day streets and alleys, in the fields, in the very dust that greets their feet, to reconnect to one another as neighbor.

"What are you looking for?" Jesus asks. The response is odd, "Teacher, where are you staying?"

Nice evasion don't you think? Isn't Jesus' question the same one we often hear asked of us? And the response is one of location not vocation. The response has to do with place setting, not life changing living. Yet, Jesus response is fascinating.

It is inviting, "Come...", and it is an opportunity to open our eyes to something different, "and see."

"Come and see." You are invited into a new way of living and experiencing faith in your daily living. Come, reconnect, and see where God is calling you.

A New Year

Doesn't it feel more like Spring than Winter to you? It sure seems like we have skipped right over the colder and snowier (traditionally) parts of the year and headed on to the next stage of natural life and rhythm.

Such is also often the case for those who maybe celebrated the birth of Jesus a few weeks ago, maybe reconnected with a community of faith, only to return and find out he's all grown up and headed on his mission to announce God's kingdom is here. Things sure seem to move fast sometimes.

There will be no surprises though for how we often spend the first few weeks of any new year. Many people make "decisions" about their health, relationships, finances, or other things during this first month of the year. Most of us who do will totally abandon those decisions within a few weeks. In fact, the Christmas candy discounts were still going on December 29th when the Valentine's Day candy was already on sale! It was almost like we commercially replaced on kind of love with another.

Maybe we are all just in need of a little spiritual check-in with one another. While many of us find ways to "make it" through the Christmas season, it often comes back to haunt us in January when the first credit card bill arrives to remind us of our over-exhuberant spending. It is one of the first signs of disillusionment meant to suck the joy and energy out of our spirits and forget why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

So, while nature takes a little cleansing warm-up and rain to wash the iced-up piles of snow away, why not take a moment to reflect on the many ways you are blessed. Maybe take time to reflect a bit on how you are connected to people, or desire to be connected to others so that you may discover a bit of the divine spark that binds us together as people.

Stop by for a spiritual check-in and together we can discover where God is calling us here in this place and in this new year.