Steve-os Devos: Celebrating the Presence

For those of us who pay attention to the rhythm of the "Church," a rhythm which moves differently from the daily calendar we generally follow, this coming week marks a couple of important things.

First, this coming Sunday marks World Communion Sunday. This is a day that followers of Jesus can be called to remember that though we may all think about the presence of God in many different ways, we all celebrate at the same table. The idea that Christians can have differences of opinion about scriptural interpretation or specific religious practices is a stumbling block that those who desire a closer relationship with Christ have to overcome. The confusion that can happen if you are still seeking a faith community can be pretty intense from one church to another. When you talk to people who have become a part of a faith community, they often say that they decided one day to show up and that this just turned out to "feel right." This happens time and again to those new to the Christian walk, as well as those who may have left the Church and returned later in life.

But coming together to remember the unity we share in Jesus is what makes World Communion Sunday a vital part of the year. The more all the different adjectives of faith come together, the closer we are to understanding and celebrating the richness of Christ's message and God's grace.

And this leads me to the second thing you might see happening around town this week under the guise of "Blessings of the Animals." This celebration marks the ministry of St. Francis who discovered the importance of God's presence in the natural world and who was himself ministered to by animals. So we give thanks on these days for these creatures who occupy our homes, yards, and wild lands. Leading me to share a story that I think brings these two special foci's together in my own odd way.

I have two cats. One of them is 7 years older than the other. When I first brought the youngest one, Tigrah, home, my older cat, Mittens, was not happy. My thought that they could play together and keep each other company was obviously something that either of them had in mind as my older cat, set in her schedule and ritual life, was not willing to allow.

In my bedroom, I had placed one of those cardboard cat scratchers, the kind that is filled with catnip. Now, Mittens had discovered the overwhelming power and fascination of catnip and the need to partake of a good claw sharpening and roll around over this little box on a regular basis. Tigrah, on the other hand, being a kitten, had never really seen such a thing. She had been content to play with the fake little mice, often flinging them onto the bed in the middle of the night and expecting me to interact with her as she pounced about the bed.

So it was with some curiosity as she watched Mittens each day go over to this box and perform her ritual. The two had worked out the proper distance of toleration after a few days and weeks. Yet they each had there separate spaces and places somehow silently agreed to between them. One day, Tigrah, noticing that she was alone in the bedroom, decided to check out this curious box. She crept up slowly to it, her nose sniffing carefully to see if it was dangerous. As was to be expected, the catnip soon took on its effect and she began to rub her neck against the box and soon was perched on it not sure how to use it for scratching.

Out of nowhere pounced Mittens. Hissing along her path, she ran over to the scratching box and stopped abruptly. Tigrah, unsure just where this fit was leading waited patiently. Mittens, seeing her posturing had failed to impress, struck out with her paw, not using her claws, but just enough to encourage Tigrah to leave, which she did. Of course, soon neither cat really used the scratching box at all.

It was all a bit humorous, but it struck me as the perfect example sometimes about how each of us reacts when something we find precious is discovered by a stranger. Sometimes we can find a place where our own naive curiosity is embraced, where our new way of exploring and discovering the world is encouraged, or where we can come share in the delight that others have found. But sometimes we find ourselves in the midst of, well, sour pusses. Places where the rituals have become stale, or so formulaic as to lose their power to those who come regularly.

This is why we we focus on World Communion Sunday, a time for us to remember the mystery and excitement, the anticipation of being part of a practice as old as the faith itself, and which transforms and is transformed for each new Christian. And it's also perhaps why we look at St. Francis, a person who discovered God's grace and presence in an unexpected place.

I hope you have a chance to experience God's grace this week in unexpected ways and places and I pray that By the Way can be the sort of community that allows you to scratch below the surface to a deeper understanding of God's love for you. Amen!

Wednesday "Worship" Nights

Starting in October, we will host a little worship and prayer time at the Panera on 101A. This is pretty informal time for sharing and praying for one another.

Join us beginning Wednesday, Oct. 1 from 7:30-8:30 PM.

Where Are You... Right Now?

In her book, “Eat, Pray, Love”, Elizabeth Gilbert is spending several months living on the Indonesian island of Bali, as a part of a year-long experience of self-discovery. As she’s beginning her time amongst the Balinese, she realizes that there are 2 questions that are always asked when someone of the Balinese culture meets someone else:

“Where are you going?” and “Where are you coming from?”

Asking these questions, Gilbert says, helps the Balinese people to locate you, to see where you stand on their grid of comfort and security. The worst thing you can do, she says, is to answer either of those questions, “I don’t know”, because of the disorienting distress that answer might bring on.

Though we in our culture are much more likely to comfortably say that we have no idea where we are coming from and where we’re going, we also ask those questions of one another. But maybe our questions are more along the lines of, “What are your future plans?” and “What kind of dysfunctional family did you come from?”

Alright, I guess we don’t really say the second one out loud… but it’s become important for many of us to look back into our family histories to learn more about ourselves and what makes us tick. Unquestionably, it’s been a gift to many searching souls to ask, “Where did I come from?” in order to answer the real biggie, “And where am I going?”

But we know so well… every gift has its backside. Or every good idea can be taken too far. And some end up so stymied by what they find in the past that they can’t find their way to the future. Or even to the present.

Today’s Bible passage (click on the title to find the link) about God’s ancient press secretary, wildman Ezekiel, shows us that this reality is nothing new. When God’s people of old were taken from their beloved hometowns to the land of hated superpower Babylon, it was understood that the reason their country was defeated is that people screwed up and everyone was living the consequences of those mistakes. As the next generation was growing up, they felt trapped in the web of their parents’ sins. Our parents ate the bad apples, and we get a stomach ache. IT’S NOT FAIR!

Ezekiel’s got some hard words for the people. But in the end, they’re good news words. Yes, your parents made a bad investment and lost the farm. But you’ve also made some stupid mistakes. Look at your own behavior for a change. That may hurt like hell, but at least you can make some choices, if you dare to look honestly at your life. You can choose to turn toward God. Sulking is not your only choice.

The God you turn toward isn’t looking back. This God’s looking at you right now, for who you are in this minute, not for who you were or who you will be. And this God wants to give you life.

It’s plenty hard to take responsibility for your actions and make big changes. Downright impossible to keep it up. We can’t do it alone. We need God to love us into each new day. We need God’s people to hold us up and keep us strong.

Like Elizabeth Gilbert said of the Balinese, we need a grid to stand on, a community to help locate us. But most of all we need a God who takes us seriously in the moment, forgiving us, graciously turning us around, again and again and again.

Join Steve Wednesday next week

Next Wednesday, Steve will be at the Panera off Exit 1 (behind the Barnes & Nobles) in Nashua. Stop by to say "HI" and check-in.

We are in the process of discerning a physical location for our ministry this Fall so stay tuned for more developments!