"Let Love In"

By Crystal Mohrmann

This morning, Kari sent me a scripture to consider before posting this blog. For those of you interested in reading it before reading my thoughts, it is Ephesians 3:14-21.

When I first read the scripture Kari sent, my mind instantly wandered back to three amazing conversations I’ve had this week. Each of these three conversations were very different in topic, yet strikingly similar in nature. But I’ll talk more about that in a minute.

Before I do, I wanted to reflect on last week’s topic of “getting lost” in connection to what I’m going to write about in regards to being “grounded by Christ’s love.” I’ve spent this summer job hunting since graduating with my master’s degree in May and in that time, I’ve managed to thoroughly confuse myself about what it is I’m even looking for in a job. For so long, I’ve felt led to do something specific, but recently have felt that that vision for my life has been blurred. I thus have found myself feeling completely lost and ungrounded. And I thought that was a bad thing…until I read Dustin’s post on Friday, in which he quotes Thoreau and then proceeds to ponder whether being lost really is a bad thing. He and Thoreau both suggest it’s not and the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve come to agree because it gives us the opportunity to find ourselves again and usually, the person we find is better than the person we lost.

Being lost also provides us with a unique opportunity to wander for awhile and sometimes that leads us to new places, new people and new conversations, which brings me back to conversations I had over a period of four or five days towards the end of last week. All three of those conversations seemed to focus on connecting. The simple act of having a conversation is a way of connecting, but we also considered out loud what it means to connect and the ways that we can connect to other people. Some of the ways I connected with those I talked with last week were through similar losses, similar feelings of uncertainty in regards to the future as well as a similar love for God and how that love in itself connects people and things. In discussing those things, I was reminded that amidst the uncertainty, God’s love also provides us with faith.

To be more specific, one particular conversation I had, involved a discussion of life’s “coincidences” or as we called them, “God incidences.” It reminded me that I have yet to find myself in a time or place in life that I haven’t looked back on and known that I was meant to be there. This helped me so much in remembering that even in my present state of confusion and uncertainty, I am where I am meant to be. It also reminded me that trust and love coincide and how important it is to trust in God knowing he loves me and will lead me wherever I am meant to go.

After having those conversations, my thoughts led me to a story someone once told me about trusting God. It goes something like this: A man was rock climbing one day when he lost his grip and fell. As he was falling, he managed to grab the end of his rope. Well he clung to the rope with all of his strength, he prayed for God to save him because he couldn’t see the ground through the fog below. God answered him and said, “let go,” but the man, worried for his life, continued to hang on. God then said to the man, “I love you, trust me and let go.” Unconvinced, the man ignored God and continued to hang on. When the fog below him finally cleared, he saw that he was only a few feet off the ground and if he had let go of the rope earlier he would have dropped a short distance to safety.

And so from three conversations, I’m left with a few important questions to consider:

Am I willing to let go of my worries and fears and allow God’s love to ground me, as it would have the man who refused to trust in Him? Or am I going to cling to my own rope worrying that I might fall and get hurt?

We all know love and trust can be risky business, but so is hanging on to the end of a rope, when you can’t see the ground below. I challenge you this week to think more about what ropes you’re hanging onto and whether or not you trust God enough to let go so that “Christ [can] dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17).

I hope you all have a wonderful week. While I have an important promise to keep to two little girls this Thursday night, I am going to try to be done early enough to be present at bread for your journey. If I’m not there, I look forward to reading the blog on Friday to see others thoughts about “being grounded by Christ’s love.”

-Crystal

'Just Waitin Till the Shine Wears Off'

By Dustin Wright

"Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves."

Henry David Thoreau

Throughout Bread for Your Journey last night, the quote above kept runnin through my head... and it's certainly informed everything I'll reflect on here.

For last night's reflections & prayers, please visit our new bread for your journey blog: http://breadforyourjourney.blogspot.com/

The reading from Mark in particular spoke to me- there's so much going on there. We discussed two major facets of being lost last night. First, the disciples needed to get lost for a bit... they had seemingly great success going out and spreading the Word, but to continue their ministry, they needed a break to reconnect with God (and as I'll speak to later, probably a break from success as well).

Second, the crowds on the shore were already lost, and they needed a shepherd like Jesus. In my mind at least, the crowds represent the best type of 'lostness.' When lost in life, it's easy to remain still and helpless, without ever trying to find a real solution. It's also easy to assume that we're not lost, to stay in the same spot, and to never keep searching for answers. The crowds in Mark represent a more active, searching type of 'lostness'- they hurried to the shoreline, arriving there even before the Shepherd did.

The central question of our discussion last night seemed to be whether being lost was a good or bad thing. In my opinion, being lost is almost always a positive... as Thoreau said, it's only then that we begin to understand ourselves. The song Lost! by Coldplay (feat. Jay-Z), posted below, in my mind perfectly illustrates that point and ties everything together:



While some might find Jay-Z's lyrics a little difficult (or Chris Martin's poor rendition of Mick Jagger-ish dancing very difficult), the song makes a really good point. It's important to remain lost both in life and in our spirituality. This song first came out last summer. I had recently graduated from a great college, with a bunch of great jobs lined up, in a great relationship, and with a great happy family backing me up... Essentially,
I thought I had it all, that I had it all figured out, and that it'd always be that way.

By about two weeks after graduation, my mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer, doctors thought I had cancer as well, I had broken up with someone I thought I'd be with forever, and I certainly couldn't start any of those jobs I had lined up with everything else going. Since then, I've certainly been lost, but I've learned and grown so much personally, and grown much closer to God as well... all things that I missed out on while I was assuming I had arrived at my 'destination.'

Much like how assuming we've "made it" in life can lead us to some of our greatest downfalls, I think assuming that we've ever completely figured out our relationship with God might make us miss out on a much deeper relationship with Him. If you do think you have life or God (or both) figured out... just wait till the shine wears off. Or as Jay-Z would put it,

'So it's tough being Bobby Brown
To be Bobby then, you have to be Bobby now.'

Thanks, and I hope you'll join us next week at Bread for Your Journey. God's peace,

- Dustin

getting lost

Like a GPS-dependent driver with no satellite reception. Like a surfer without a search engine. A story without a plot. A team with no coach.
Sheep with no shepherd. Pick your simile. You’re lost.

I know people who would be lost without Lost, their favorite TV drama and weekly emotional outlet. With its zooming from here to there — from present to flashback to present to flashforward — Lost has its viewers on the edges of their seats, piecing together the complex lives of 13 island-dwelling plane-crash survivors.

Not everyone escapes to the island of the Lost, but everyone has the need to occasionally “lose themselves” in something. To get away from it all, take a breather, get some perspective.

Even Jesus did.

Jesus’ followers had been out traveling in twos, visiting homes, bringing Jesus’ healing presence, sharing the hope that was inside them. And they came back all full of themselves and their adventures. Let’s get outta here, said their wise teacher. And they went for a sail to get lost for a while.

Hopefully the cruise was long enough and the breeze sweet enough that their time out on the water provided some retreat, some refueling. Because when the boat landed, the deserted place they hoped to find was far from deserted. Take a look:
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=113575309

This picture of Jesus looking out on the lost people all around him is one that I treasure. Because that’s the compassionate, take-me-as-I-am look I so often crave.

And Jesus’ next move? He taught them all kinds of things, the story from Mark says. Were those teachings just another entertaining diversion from their harassed and helpless lives? Just an hour of escape? Or did the people really ingest those teachings, letting the challenges sink in, letting the joyful news overcome them. Did they find God there on the beach, in a way that would forever change their lives?

I’m guessing there were at least some who found in Jesus enduring sustenance, not just temporary pain-relief. And that’s where I want to place myself in the story. I want to see myself continuing on with Jesus on his journeys, learning from him how to balance caring for others with stepping away for that alone time with God. I want to walk with him all the way to the cross, where I see him not only teaching me how to live but teaching me how to die.

For it is in dying to myself that I truly find relief from my lostness. The temporary getaways may be good for mental health. But the long-lasting shepherding means I’m accompanied for good, in every lost moment, from now until the day this body dies, and then well beyond that. “Losing myself” can mean finding myself in God, in God’s compassionate care for the world… and for me.

Let’s talk about how we get lost, in all senses of that phrase, when we gather on Thursday 7pm at the Crowne Plaza.

Peace,
Kari

More Haunting Thoughts by Heidi Jakoby

If you missed Bread for your journey last night here are the readings, and prayers by Kari Keyl and some additional thoughts by me.

Reading #1: A Spiritual Journey by Wendell Berry

And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles,
no matter how long,
but only by a spiritual journey,
a journey of one inch,
very arduous and humbling and joyful,
by which we arrive at the ground at our feet,
and learn to be at home.

Let us pray: God of love, take us on that journey to find you… and to find ourselves. Help us to face up to all those things that haunt us, all that keeps us from living our lives for you and for those around us… that we might learn to be at home in our own skins… that we might learn to be at home in your grace. In your name we pray… amen.

Reading #2: Mark6:14-29 from the Message
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206:14-29;&version=65;

Let us pray: O God, what an awful story. How horrible to hear of the messed-up lives of royalty, and how their insecurities and grievances ended in a gruesome death. Help us to sort out together what this story has to say to us, and how we might be able to handle what haunts us better than Herod did. Thanks, God, for people like John, who speak truth to power, even when it puts them in harm’s way. In your name we pray… amen.

Reading #3: Excerpts from Don Miller’s Blog (for the complete blog go to
http://donmilleris.com/2009/07/07/lessons-in-leadership-robert-mcnamara-teaches-the-most-important-lesson/ )

Yesterday [July 6, 2009], Robert S. McNamara passed away. McNamara was President of Ford Motor Company before going to work at the Department of Defense. He was instrumental in the bombing of Japan in World War II, and is often called the architect of the war in Vietnam. But toward the end of his life, McNamara began to reconsider his actions. He even wrote a book confessing what he felt were his wrongs. He left the Johnson administration and ran the World Bank, some believe, to make up for the many lives lost under his command.

I don’t have a strong opinion about the war in Vietnam. War is messy, and I tend to believe we had good reason to be there, though it certainly didn’t turn out the way we would have hoped. But hindsight is twenty-twenty. I am more interested in McNamara, though. I am more interested in a man with a distinguished career suddenly coming out and admitting he was wrong. It is so rarely seen by a government leader.

Perhaps it was the haunting memory of the soldiers who passed, or the protestors, one of whom, a married Quaker, burned himself alive outside McNamara’s window. The man’s wife would later write McNamara, after he admitted his mistakes, and forgave him.

In my opinion, the most important thing a leader can do is admit his mistakes. He or she should be competent, and should have integrity, and some mistakes really do disqualify you from leadership, but so should deceit, even if it’s self deceit.

Let us pray: O Holy Spirit, breathe into us your peacefulness and your purpose. Move within us a passion to tell the truth where it must be told, whether that means looking inside ourselves or out into the world around us. We give you thanks for Robert McNamara, for his example to admit mistakes, for the way he served people in need through the World Bank. We pray that all those who are still haunted by the realities of the Vietnam War would find peace, and that our country will never forget the hard lessons learned in that conflicted time. In you name we pray… amen.

It is interesting to think about what past memories and or experiences haunt our lives. Killing John the Baptist clearly haunted Herod and Herod eventually lost a lot because of his action. What things haunt you? Are there movies which you cannot even consider watching? For me I am creeped out every time I see a poster of a Chucky movie. Yes I know this is irrational but the feelings are real. At times do you instinctually react to a situation and wonder where that reaction came from. Then upon further reflection you can link it to your past?

Last week we talked about all of us being healers and how the simple act of listening to or sharing one’s pain can have a very healing effect. I know there is one story from my childhood that I always wondered about and I know it has fed into my need to be in control of certain things. I am the youngest of 3 and I have two older brothers one 4 years older and the other 6 years older. Anyway one day my middle brother and I were wrestling as we usually did and he was able to get his hand over my nose and mouth and put me face down into my pillow. That was truly scary, I couldn’t breath and my life was in my brother’s hands. He let me up and I was fine but we never really spoke about it until we were in our 30’s and I just needed to know he remembered that moment and he knew how close I was to passing out. There was great comfort in knowing he remembered and it scared him too.

A few weeks ago we looked at Mark 4:35-41 the story of Jesus calming the storm. The Disciples were afraid during the storm, even though they knew the son of God was in the boat. Even with Jesus in the boat the Disciples were frightened and after Jesus calms the storm he asks, “Don’t you have any faith?” We need to remember that our faith in God will calm the storms in our lives; with God there is nothing to fear. It is hard not to be afraid, afraid of not having enough money, afraid of being unemployed, afraid to help a stranger…..There are many things to fear in the world but we need to remember the healers and friends around us who are willing to hold our hands, listen to our stories and lift us up so we are not haunted by our past, so we can continue the journey God has set out for us.

One of the most interesting images from last night was comparing the head of John the Baptist on a platter and the loaf of bread symbolizing Jesus body on the plate. There is a parallel image here. We consider Jesus the “head” of Christianity and we honor his sacrifice through bread and wine. How does the suffering in these stories illuminate God’s grace? Do we need to suffer to feel God’s presence in our lives?

These are my thoughts and questions from last night, please comment and consider joining us next Thursday for Bread for your journey.

May you not be haunted by your past.
May you remember God’s love and care for you each day.
May you find your calling and joyfully follow your path.
Amen