Thanks be to God!

I know this is two posts in one day, but this was important to me. After weeks of waiting for diagnostic testing to follow up my bad mammogram, today was the day. Long time coming to be sure. And I was there for almost an hour and multiple views but the end result is that the all clear has sounded-Thanks Be to God! What happened while I was there was also very moving. After the check-in, and put the robe on, and have a seat in the waiting area, it is clear that I have now taken the last chair and there are 8 women all there for diagnostic work. Just as in the elevator, no one wants to be too close to strangers and yet, there we all are. I pick up the People magazine and sit down. The woman across from me smiles. So I comment on how I would never actually be seen buying the magazine but I can catch up on the beautiful people. Laughter. The woman next to me asks if there is anything good in there. We joke about Suri Cruise having her own stationery. Then the woman next to me says she is tired of the testing because this is a callback appointment. I offer that she must feel frustrated. She shares her story. Which prompts another woman to chime in and soon we are having our own little sharing session as we each of us in the room takes turns going in for tests, coming out and waiting, more tests and waiting. All with the "I know exactly how you feel" about healthcare, what we are here for, a little fear, and a little joking. A woman next to me also has other tests down the hall after this. But she emerges with the news she is free to go, as, fortunately, most of us do. One woman does not, and we all kind of sag under the weight of what is next for her. Our appointments ran slow and took longer than we wanted, but there in that place, God brought us all together to get us through that hour. This little impromptu group that just happened.

Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something!

Poor Martha. She may or may not have known much in advance that Jesus and a dozen or so of his followers were stopping by. After all, there were no cell phones, or any phones for that matter. The house is a mess, and I don't have anything ready. There was no Turkey Hill or 24 hour supermarket. So she might have been absolutely scrambling. Go to the well and draw water for cooking, build the fire and bake the bread and prepare whatever else there may be. Tidy the place up, maybe change into something else to wear. And then they arrive, and there may be feet to wash in true hospitality of the day and serving the food and maybe the wine, and …SIGH. What is Mary doing? Well, apparently when she hears Jesus is coming, she gets excited, she can't wait to see him and hear him teach. And she greets him warmly. Sits at his feet, rapt in suspense, hanging on his every word. For Mary, hearing that Jesus will be here at her house is like scoring tickets to the big concert you have been dying to see. You drop everything and enjoy.

And this is not the first time Jesus encounters Mary and her sister Martha. Mary is the woman who anointed his feet with expensive perfume and dried them with her hair. And of course later Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead. There may have been, and probably were other occasions that are not recorded. There is a closeness between Jesus and this family. But he is still company and he has a posse with him everywhere he goes.

So Martha is in overdrive preparing to welcome Jesus into the home. And she is doing, and doing, and when will she just get to sit, and doesn't Mary see how much there is to do?! Why should Mary be the one to just sit, I want to sit, but of course that wouldn't be right- there are all these things to do.

It reminds me of a T-shirt I once saw in a catalog with three sayings. "To do is to be " attributed to Plato

"To be is to do" attributed to Camus

"Do be do be do" – Frank Sinatra

Viewed slightly differently, the do/be cycle is where we usually end up when considering this passage. Do-be-do-be, looks like a dog chasing its tail. And Jesus looks like he is rebuking Martha for choosing doing over being. But is that really the message here?

In breaking down the interaction, it sounds like Martha, who is on familiar terms with Jesus, treats him almost like family, like one of my kids coming and saying "It's not fair, I am doing all of the chore-make Mary help." Tattling and venting all at the same time. While Martha would never have talked this way with a stranger, she is comfortable enough to tell Jesus, "Mary will listen to you, tell her to get up and DO something." We have things to do to welcome you. Rather than get sucked into Martha's lament, Jesus changes the paradigm. It is not about doing versus being, and he is not really rebuking Martha, he is trying to comfort her, redirect her, and get her off of the spinning hamster wheel.

I can picture him placing his hand on her tensed up shoulder, and calming her. For he says first, "you are worried and distracted by many things." And who hasn't been there? We live in a "to do" world. Our world measures us in terms of our tangible accomplishments. We need to "Git 'R Done." And we have so many techno-gadgets to keep track of all of our stuff we have to do. PDA's, web calendars, buzzing Blackberry's. In our churches we often carry over the same things, into committees, agendas, long-range plans, formalized ways of doing almost everything. We are so busy doing. Some of us then excel at this by taking on too much of the things we are sure must get done. People burn out, ignore self-care, and ministry stops being done out of love or devotion and becomes a drudgery. Martha in today's world, like some of us would be a good candidate for chronic fatigue syndrome. But for Jesus' intervening comment, we can imagine his entire visit happening without Martha ever really experiencing its purpose. We in turn, become so focused upon the doing of our lists that we lose sight of the purpose.

Which leads us to the second thing Jesus says after he tells Martha she is distracted by many things. "There is need of only one thing." That one thing is being in God's presence. Talking to God, listening to God. Learning from God. Getting fed. And the way we welcome God into our midst is not the same kind of active doing that populates our to do lists and forms. "Come, spend time with me, let's enjoy each other's company, for I will not be here long," Jesus is saying to Martha. "I know you care for me, relax." In our busy world, we meet Jesus in many ways. In worship, in prayer and in others brought into our midst. Walter Wangerin, in his series, "Four Acts of Prayer" shares that there are four parts of prayer. Step One, we talk. Step Two, God listens. Step Three, God talks. And here is the one we all sometimes skip out on. Step Four, we listen. This is what Mary was DOING.

For me, the story of what Mary is up to is that she was not doing nothing. She was doing something. She was listening and sharing with God. And the third thing Jesus says is that for this, this doing, she " has chosen the better part, the thing that cannot be taken away." The things we do to welcome God into our midst, come and go without feeding us, when we do not stop and listen. Talk and listen, and then allow this to lead our actions.

If we give God the rightful place of priority in ordering our days, we will be choosing the better part. And we will be making more personal connections instead of gestures that feel superficial. And we will let God call the tune rather than getting caught up in our lists.

I recently attended Seminary Weekend at LTSG, and in the Saturday evening worship service, Pastor Mark Oldenburg preached about ministry. Let's be honest, there are meetings, there are agendas, and there are forms that clutter our days. "Blessed are the forms for they will always be with you" could characterize our lives. Paraphrasing the part that hit home for me in his sermon was a statement that when you are on your way to "do" the ministry that needs to be done, that is where you will meet Jesus. And so it is for each of us, pastors or laypeople. On the way to fulfilling your to-do list of calls and visits, and all of the above, you will meet Jesus, in unexpected ways. A person will cross your path who was not scheduled but you will meet Jesus. It may happen at a time that is not of your choosing. You may have all of these other things to do. But in ministering there, you will choose the better part as Mary did.

Of course, back to Martha, she is hard to change. When Lazarus has died, she rebukes Jesus for not getting there sooner, "Where were you?" After all, there was work to be done. And now it is too late, and don't open that tomb, it's going to stink in there, and then I'll have that to deal with." Jesus, repeats the same theme. Relax, "Did I not tell you to believe?"

And so it is for us. Even if we want to be more like Mary, many of us find habits hard to change. But even when we fail, God's grace is there for us. Even when church is running long and at the communion rail you are really thinking about what you need to get at the store for dinner, or half a dozen other things distract you. God is there for us at the table, saying, "you are worried and distracted by many things, but you only need one thing." And he feeds us and sends us out to try anew.

Quebec trip Part II

Quebec City is all about walking, and stairs. We rented an apartment for the week. It was less expensive than a hotel, gave us laundry and dining abilities, and a chance to be right in the heart of the city. Our landlady and her husband were gracious and it was nice to get to actually interact with people and be grateful they were patient in communicating. Sadly no Lutheran church.

This is the view from in front of our apartment in Lower Town Quebec.

In Quebec City, there is Upper Town and Lower Town. You have two choices for how to get from one to the other. The Funiculaire on the left $2.00, or the Breakneck stairs on the right. At the top of these stairs are steep hill and two more flights of stairs. Being there for a week, we did some of both. Knowing that there were chocolate hazelnut crepes to be eaten in Upper Town, a certain amount of rationalization occurred. If I walk, I will have earned the tasty but bad for my waist treat..

When left town for a day trip we went to see Montmorency Falls which are 80 feet higher than Niagara ( of which the Quebecois are VERY proud.) You can take the cable car, and then steps up the rest of the hill to the suspension bridge, or just take the steps. Cable car, on the left, stairs on the right.

There was no way I was walking those stairs, but the falls are really gorgeous and standing on the suspension bridge over them is pretty cool.

Taken from the cable car leaning out the window.

Taken from the middle of the bridge

What I wish I had good pictures of are any of the 70 whales we saw in the Upper Saint Lawrence river. But I am not a professional photographer as you can clearly see. So the best I can do is show you what my digital camera can capture of truly amazing and majestic creatures.

The whales and porpoises and just being on a river that is over a mile wide and cannot be bridged make you marvel at our Creator.

(Wish I had captured the tale splash of the humpback whale)

The power of faith

Well, we have returned from a truly amazing family trip to Quebec, more on that later. Among all of the fantastic touring, dining and attempting French, one thing that stood out was a trip to Saint Anne de Beaupre. This basilica is up the Saint Lawrence river from Quebec city and is more than just a place of worship, but is a shrine to which Catholics make pilgrimage. The brief history is that the church was built in the 1700's by fishermen who survived a bad storm, and attributed their survival to Saint Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom they prayed. The current basilica was built in the 1920's and is magnificent architecturally, from enormous copper depictions on the doors, to every aspect of the worship space. But this is not what depicts the power of faith. What strikes the eye upon entering is that each of the columns at the rear of the nave have crutches, canes, braces and orthopedic shoes mounted upon them. These are placed here by people who have traveled to the shrine and prayed for healing, and believe that St Anne has interceded, leading to their healing. While I contemplated this display, I heard the shuffling of feet and turned to see a sighted person leading a chain of blind people, linked hand in hand, who were headed to pray to St Anne. Their faces were those of people with hope, maybe even a glimmer of joy at the thought their prayer might be answered. Regardless of your thoughts about veneration of saints, or intercessory prayer, these people were a modern depiction of those who hoped to merely touch the hem of Jesus' robe. And their statement of the power of faith, without a word ever uttered, said more that day than anything anyone could have written.

It's Vacation Time!

We are off to the Adirondacks and Quebec. The person knowing the most French is our 15 year old, so we hope the guidebooks mean it when they say that many people know some Anglais. In the spirit of adventure we have rented an apartment in Vieux-Quebec which I found from the Frommer's travel message boards. We have had great luck with tips from there before. Less pricey than a hotel in July. No torturous B & B eating and talking in the morning for the teenagers. Within walking distance of the Farmers Market and lots of places selling chocolate and crepes and all the things I should eat less of. One friend helpfully shared that if the apartment turns out bad, remember it is only a week. We would add that chocolate and wine solve many issues.

The Importance of the word "As"

Recently I was reading another article in The Lutheran in which the writer, Bishop Mark Hanson focused upon faith practices, "Living in the Light of Jesus." Reading his article led me to my own take on the scriptures he outlined.

In the last year, our community has been rocked by three senseless murders. First, a troubled young man killed multiple members of his family, and then was apprehended on his way to another state to kill another family member. Who could make sense of this wave of violence? Another murder happened when three young men were driving around looking for someone to rob. They randomly picked a house and asked the man in his driveway if they could use his phone because they were having car trouble. For his courtesy they shot and killed him at his front door. A man who had devoted much of his life to bringing clean water to third world countries, the equivalent of life itself, slaughtered after offering help. Gut-wrenching. Finally, a young man goes to his best friend’s house and kills his friend and both of his parents in violent slashing and then goes to school crying about the loss of his friend. Evil that cannot possibly have any rational explanation that is responsible for life-altering desperation for the surviving families.

In each case, the immediate cry has been for the death penalty. These macabre events demand retribution. There must be justice. These heinous murderers do not deserve to draw breath. Forgiveness is impossible.

Yet, in the first of these three cases to work through our Court system, the family asked the Court for mercy. The young man has had a history of troubled thoughts and had seen much that had affected him. Killing the killer would not restore one life. They ask for his life to be spared. To the mind of the “eye for an eye” crowd, this is incomprehensible. The victim, the surviving grandfather is vilified by some for the request. And think of all of the taxpayer dollars that will be “wasted” on this young man when killing him would be so much more fiscally responsible. As if a life can be reduced to the cost of one’s existence.

Into this fray comes Jesus, “ I give you a new commandment to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” John 13:34. Paul in his epistle to the Colossian church similarly teaches, “Forgive one another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

Of what are we forgiven? Murder. Return to the Passion of our Lord. Taken into custody, beaten, denied food and drink, tortured, ridiculed and killed. By people to whom He offered love, teaching, and a mission of treating others with respect. And what was God the Father’s response to our actions? Did we receive death? Did we suffer “an eye for an eye?”

If it had been so, you and I would not be here today. Instead, the law was fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We were not only forgiven, we were set free!

So when we read that we should love AS we have been loved, is there really a limit to what we should be willing to do for another in the name of Christ? When we are confronted with any insult from the most petty slight to violence and death, and we are called to forgive AS we have been forgiven, do situational ethics change the equation?

Was it just lucky for us that we as a people are spared for killing God’s Son?

While can never understand the heart of evil, the work of demons in our midst, we are not called to match hatred with hatred, but to love and forgive AS the Lord has done so for us.

Doing so does not change the fact that sin has entered in; it does not mean that there is no consequence at all. We can hate the sin. But we are all children of God, and we are not appointed to play God and dispense life and death in a way that He has not.

Our God gave us the example. While it may hard for us to fathom such boundless and infinite love that God shows to us, a fractured people, nonetheless it is His example that we must model, growing into maturity of faith.

God knows we will falter, in small and monumental ways, but AS He shows His grace and mercy to the least of us, so too we must strive to do likewise. Even in the darkest of times we must cling to Christ, the perfect example of love, humility, grace and forgiveness and to render “justice” with that little word “as” in mind.

A prayer for a walk of faith

The legal profession is trained to "fix" things, find solutions and get to the bottom line as soon as possible. I confess that one of my weaknesses is getting ahead of the situation. I have been known to see what needs to be done ( at least in my opinion) and begin singular race to get it done. While enthusiasm is appreciated, we are called to many fruits of the Spirit, one of which is self-control. One of the lessons I continually need to learn is to be still, listen, and let God be God. So I was inspired to know I am not alone when I read the Reflection in the July 2007 Lutheran magazine, entitled "Pedestrian Crossing." Kurt Lammi, a seminarian at LTSPhiladelphia writes

God, may I never step out in front of you.
May I never block your path
and put myself in your way again.
And if I ever decide
that I'm the one in charge,
run me over with your bus again.
Apparently, I haven't learned.

From Lammi's anthology, Bread for Beggars, published by Lulu Press. (www.lulu.com)

Amen.