LIVING OUT MY BIRTHRIGHT

There is never a moment when I am apart from God.  He is the very Life within me. God breathed live in the human being.  God deals personally with every human being, which is absolutely amazing when I think of how many of us there are, have been, and are still to come.  John writes of Jesus that “He was LIFE and the LIFE was the light of men.”  When I look into a child’s eyes, especially a baby, I see that light, still as bright as if it was straight from God’s Presence and glory.  It is so clear to me that the life of God is within them as they innocently come into this world.  The Spirit shines out onto everything and it is sacred, as all life is.

I was born innocent, but eventually the dust of time, circumstances, and events grows thick and settles onto this flesh I am contained in.  The Spirit is still there but gets covered over and somehow that connection is interfered with by the things of the world.  I forgot where I came from and wondered around trying to find something I knew I was a part of and usually carried my search into all the wrong places.  God searches for his lost sheep and when he finds them the Spirit without quickens the Spirit within and they make the connection once again. “To all who did receive him, and believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  It is my personal choice to accept this original birthright, squander it, or reject it altogether.  When I choose to accept it I commit myself to live out the responsibilities that come with it.  On Palm Sunday, 15 April 1973 I chose to accept it.  At times I squandered that birthright just as the Prodigal son did in Jesus’ parable.  Thankfully, like that son, I found my way back, returning in repentance, and finding my Father’s open arms welcoming me home; no condemnation, just celebration.

God will not force himself on anyone.  Paul tells what happens when people reject their birthright, when they reject God.  “God gave them up to the lust of their hearts; God gave them up to dishonorable passions; God gave them up to a debased mind.”  God gave them up to the life they wanted to live, doing what they wanted to do.  God gave up His Son to give us life.  But He will not force Himself on anyone who chooses not to receive, believe, and accept that Life.  Out of love He accepts the choice made to live one’s own life, just as the father in the parable let his son go. But the cost is great if one is not repentant and return to the Father.  The spirit is diminished and dies.  I believe this grieves God’s heart.

I know how I feel when I look into the eyes of someone I love and care about and they say to me, “Frankly, I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks.  I am doing what I want to do; it is my path to walk and I choose the path I want.”  It grieves my heart because in their eyes I see only darkness and a void emptiness.  The light is gone, extinguished by their own breath.

It is God’s business to determine the final condemnation and judgment for this refusal of the birthright.  But I know there is no celebration in the Father’s house for any lost soul.

I, like everyone, am God breathed; but I am far from perfect.  But I believe that God isn’t as concerned about perfection as He is about presence.  He created us to be with Him, to dwell with Him, and commune with Him.  How can anyone choose anything else?

COMPOSTING WORDS IN SOLITUDE & SILENCE

I don’t want my words to be just my opinions, built upon my prejudices and preferences.  I don’t want my words to be a recitation and regurgitation of the opinions of others.  I want my words to come from deep within, where my experiences and knowledge have been composted with the energy and heat of the Spirit of Truth that resides there.  When I submit to that process I can be sure that my words will be true and that they will be few.  One true word can do much more than many opinions or recitations, just as one apple seed can produce many more apples.

God created the whole world with three words; “Let there be light.”  God redeemed the people of the world with one Word; Jesus Christ, His Son.

Jesus was a man of few words, as was His Father. Their recorded words fill up one fairly small book, in comparison to the multitude of commentaries and books written about them and their words; a drop in the bucket, but those words fill the earth with life.  Their words are seeded with authority and have the power to transform lives.  The other words are read and relegated to their homes on book shelves, lifeless and gathering dust.

Don’t get me wrong; I love to read and study these books.  Over the years I have devoured many of them with great enjoyment.  But they are limited in their scope; they simply fill my head with information, some good, some garbage; they lack the power in the words that God speaks; the power to inspire and transform my life.  While they are beautiful for a season, they become like the fallen leaves and dead debris that gathers on the ground during fall.  In themselves they are worthless, but composted, broken down, and worked on by the Spirit of Truth they become fuel for new growth.

Solitude and silence are my compost pile.  They are the place I bring my experiences, my thoughts, and my knowledge to.  They break down deep within me to be worked on by the energy and heat of the Spirit of Truth and will then be the words I can speak; words that like seeds will be scattered to produce good fruit in the lives of those who hear and who read them.  That is my honest intention; that is my hope.

PREPARING A PLACE FOR US

For five years I worked on the Operations Team at Pendle Hill, a Quaker Retreat Center in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.  The mission of that Team was to provide “radical hospitality” to the people who visited there for rest, reflection, and workshops.  We prepared the space where people could be free from providing basic necessities of their physical lives and focus on meeting their spiritual needs with little or no distractions.  We cooked their meals, cleaned their rooms, and made them as comfortable as possible.  We worked hard so they didn’t have to; we ran quickly so they could walk slowly.

I loved my job.  I worked with and met some truly wonderful and amazing people who influenced my life and provided some wonderful memories.  One of the greatest lessons I learned was the importance of preparation. This lesson has done me well in my personal life, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Preparation for anything I do is the key to its success.  It is the process of building a good foundation from which to safely build everything I do on.  It generally takes the most time, attention, and work; it generally is the work that is unnoticed, unacknowledged, and unappreciated.  The house cleaners, sou chefs, cooks, and maintenance people remain hidden in the background, behind closed doors; or in Downton Abby language, downstairs from the upstairs.  Of course, this is true in other places as well.  The training an athlete does, the drudgery of playing scales a musician does, the hours of study a student does seems insignificant to the trophy won, the concert performed, or the degree earned.

The person I am in my mind, soul, and spirit, is the result of preparation.  Just as a garden will remain barren if the soil isn’t cultivated and the seeds are not sown, so I must work to prepare a life to my liking.  I cannot reap what I do not sow.

As I grow older I become more reflective of my years that have past by me.  At times I can feel worthless because of my inability to do as much as I could when I was younger.  But if I look again with a perspective of seasonal living, I see that now is what I prepared for; the days I walked quickly allow me now to be fulfilled by walking slowly.  Years of conquest of every idea about God have now led to a greater sense of communion; years of exploration have now led to enjoyment; years of filling have now led to fulfillment; years of struggle have led to simplicity; years of preparation have led to Presence, both with God and with my true self.

I see God as One who honors preparation.  In the beginning He prepared a place for me to live; His creation.  When I got lost God prepared a way back to Him; the crucifixion of His Son.  In the end He will do something new, something Jesus left this earth with the promise to prepare a place for me to dwell with him forever. 

I love to wonder about what kind of a place he is preparing.

GOD WORKS IN MIGHTY & MYSTERIOUS WAYS

When Jesus was born it was in a stable because there was no room in the Inn.  Angels heralded his birth which brought shepherds to see him.  A star in the sky led wise men from the East to come to see him.  Other than those announcements no one would have known the Word of God had come to earth. After the invited guests left he went into obscurity; unknown, no one special, just a good boy who followed his father’s trade as a carpenter, waiting for his appointed time to come.

When Jesus died it was on a cross, nothing out of the ordinary for those who had disobeyed the rules of the day.  He did not die in obscurity or unknown.  He had left his mark on people across the spectrum of society. Pilot, the ruler of Rome, publicly acknowledged him as King of the Jews on the sign he put upon the cross.  A Centurial in the army acknowledged him as the Son of God as he watched him die.  Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who had met with him early in Jesus ministry, now had become a follower assisted   Joseph of Arimathea, also a Pharisee and member of the council, a good and righteous man who had now become one of his disciples.  These two men fearlessly and in public went to Pilot and secured his assistance to give Jesus a proper burial.  And of course the women who had followed him, one from birth to death had remained fearlessly loyal in his presence.

Jesus touched individuals, relating to them face to face.  A small group of individuals who loved Jesus and faithfully followed him would grow into a worldwide acknowledgement of this man who died for all their sins.  The seeds he planted in a few would grow into multitudes.  He came to earth as nothing out of the ordinary, taking the form of a servant, being born into the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5-8)  He left earth a victor over sin and death.  He will come again as the one who is glorified and sits on the throne of God in His kingdom.  He is returning, not to stay, but to come for those who receive him and believe in his name, to take those who are children of God to the place that he has prepared; where there is always room in the Inn for whosoever will come; where his Father dwells, and rules over His creation as it was from the beginning and now shall ever shall be.

There are life lessons in the events of those days that changed the world.

One was for his disciples, the ten who had abandoned and deserted him in his hour of need; who ran and hid in fear.  After all those years of being with and learning from their Master, the disciples were helpless, powerless, and useless at his death.  Their pride and arrogance was finally broken.  They now knew experientially that without him, they are nothing.  Finally they became who they were meant to be and would be able to do the work that God through His Spirit would lead them to do; the work Jesus had trained them to do, but could only be done by broken men.  They had now been crucified with Christ.  It will be no longer they who live, but Christ who lives in them.  That lesson is for all who follow Jesus as well, as Paul points out in Galatians 2:20.

Another lesson for all who follow Jesus is that one should never despise small and seemingly insignificant moments and events; they have the potential to grow like the mustard seed or spread like leaven.  One quiet word, one small deed; one may never know what great and abundant fruit they may bare; so be faithful and hopeful, always aware that it is God’s Spirit working, and His Spirit works in mighty and mysterious ways.

IN OUR SENSE OF LIBERTY DO WE TAKE TOO MANY LIBERTIES?

Something is lost in this day and age; the concept of solemnity, in life and in Religion.  In the quest to be all to all we can be, we have dummied down and become frivolous with things that once were held in high esteem.  This thought came to me as I was reading about the events in France this past week around the Charlie Hebda incident.  There was something missing in the response to that horrible and tragic event that has been working in my mind.

I don’t consider myself a prude.  I enjoy fun and lightheartedness as much as most people.  I believe in free speech.  I don’t condone killing people as an answer to anything. So what has been nagging me about the overwhelming response to this event is that my conscience may be troubled abit about stepping over a line of decency in my actions in the past.  Have I considered something as fun that indeed was frivolous that has tied to it a lack of respect?

The response I observed was a support of publicly printing anything under the guise of free speech.  I also observed a failure to understand how serious some people take their Religion.  I also saw how disrespectful people can be, to Religion and to people in high office.  It is like being rude and being disrespectful in what we print and in what we say are ok, no matter what.  I don’t believe that and have to look at my behavior and change it if I fall into that trap.

The lesson I want to learn from this; being disrespectful of anyone’s  Religion is not ok, ever.  Let’s take Religion off the table of entertainment, especially satire magazines, sit coms, and talk shows known for their no holds barred attitudes.  With free speech comes responsibility; with responsibility comes respect of things considered solemn to people.  I am often offended at the treatment of God and Jesus in these arenas but I don’t want to appear to be a prude.  Well, maybe I am and maybe it’s time to admit to that.  I want to bring the solemnity back to Religion because it has gone way over board into frivolity and I don’t think that is helpful to anyone.

It is important to study and be aware of the Religion of others and be respectful of them.  Religion is dealing with the inner being of a person and with the God of the universe.  That should bring sobriety to our thoughts and actions, not frivolity.  My Religion involves joy, happiness, lightheartedness, and a childlike attitude; but not at the expense of the holiness of God and Jesus.  I believe the same is true of most Religions and especially the Religions of the Middle East.  So I need to pay attention to that.

I think we Americans in our sense of Liberty take too many liberties.  We are not free to disrespect others.  We are not free to write or say hateful or hurtful things to or about others.  We need to use discernment in our words about our government officials, whether we agree with them or not.  I took issue about the responses of many to the fact that President Obama did not go to the demonstration march.  There was so much disdain and meanness in what I heard and read about this.  Personally I am glad he did not go into a situation where there was a clear and present danger.  Call me over cautious but that situation could have turned on a dime in a second.

All in all this world has become a dangerous place to live and I think it would behoove us to not add to the danger by being disrespectful and frivolous with our words and actions.  We are at a point where everyone loses as the violence in the world increases.  If it means not printing or saying something that could be hurtful or disrespectful of others, it seems like a small step that could help be a solution to the problem.

DON'T DUMB DOWN...AIM HIGH

I have personally experienced a behavioral trait that seems to be prevalent these days.  In order to make people feel good about themselves people lend themselves to lies and deception.  It is no longer acceptable to say something is wrong or bad.  So we speak in relativistic terms to one another saying if it works for you then it’s good, or if it came from within you then it’s ok.  The person feels good and that seems to be more important than hearing constructive criticism on how to improve something that really isn’t good and really isn’t ok.

I was working on a term paper for a class I was taking in Grad school.  When I chose the topic I thought it would be interesting. As I did my research I discovered that the founder and leader of a religious group I was writing about was really a very disturbed person.  I had difficulty in figuring out how to deal with that and then how to write the paper.  I wrote a paper that was truly awful and I knew it.  I hemmed and hawed, not wanting to tell the truth that I was discovering.  It was one of those papers I was not happy about turning in but did not want to fail the class either.  The teacher was way to general and way to kind in her grading, not wanting to make me feel bad.  Then I felt even worse because she didn’t call me out.   I wrote her a steaming letter venting my frustration at not being told that what I knew was a really bad paper was a bad paper.  Thankfully I did not send that letter, out of respect for her and I knew she was doing what was expected of her by the school.  Some time later I ran into this teacher off school property and we ended up having a discussion about that paper.  I told her my dilemma and she told me how disappointed she was that I didn’t write the truth, and settle for a substandard paper.  That was what I wanted to hear when I got my paper back.  It made me respect her even more, but also become very dubious of a school system where that would happen.  The second experience was the same but I knew I was up against a way of responding in the world today so I was quiet.

This behavior was not new to me.  The general acceptance of it was and still is.  I saw some of this happening while I was working at Camp.  Our Camp had various activities that were competitive sports. During the season we would have competitions between the Girl’s Camp and the Boy’s Camp that included Air Rifle/Archery, swimming, and various Lake activities.  The kids found it fun and learned how to be good winners and good losers, which I believe are useful life lessons. We would end the season with ways to show parents what their kids had been working on all summer.  The Girl’s Camp had a Horse Show, complete with ribbons being awarded to first, second, and third place.  The Boy’s Camp had a Red Shirt completion that was made up of Lake and Rock Climbing Activities.  A Red Shirt was awarded to the campers who mastered these activities by the end of camp.  The kids had no problems with these achievement oriented competitions.  The whole camp would clap as these awards were given out at assembly and the kids who didn’t win anything left camp with a resolve that next year they would be standing up on that stage receiving these awards. The parents were a different story.

Our Camp had been built on these strong traditions.  We didn’t change much over the twenty five years that I worked there.  My first 13 years were from 1965 – 1978.  Back them the parents would come out and cheer their kids on and fully supported our philosophy of working hard to achieve something and being rewarded for that achievement.  My second 12 years were 1995 – 2006.  Something had changed.  The parents called and lodged complaints that their child did not receive a ribbon, because everyone should be given a ribbon just for participating; everyone should be given a red shirt if they tried really hard but didn’t complete the requirements.  Competition had become a dirty word and unacceptable because it made kids feel bad.  My snarky response to the complaints I was getting was I think they were more hurt because their parents didn’t take time to come out and watch them as they performed, but those words stayed in my head.  I simply explained that the philosophy of the Camp is that being rewarded for accomplishments is a good thing for kids; it honors those who receive them and it gives those who don’t something to work towards next year.  I explained that we, as a staff, want every child to master the activities at Camp, and in life, and we work hard with the kids to allow that to happen.  Many of our staff gave up their lunch time and free time to work with kids that needed it.  At the end of the day the kids knew that when they got that ribbon or red shirt, they deserved it because they worked for it; it wasn’t just given to them.  I think that is a much needed life lesson, especially in the world today where we dumb down rather that aim high in life.

INTENTIONAL INTIGRATION

I believe that intentional living is important for a satisfied soul.  It is too easy to let life slip away like sand slips through the fingers.  I work with goals in mind and I write with outlines in mind.  The goals and outlines are the methods, not the meaning to my life or my work.  I spent many years being rigid and ruled by the method and that affected the meaning and the meat of what I was trying to accomplish.  I have learned to be flexible with my methods, leaving empty space for the Spirit to flow through my plans so they integrate and become consistent with God’s plans for me.  Life got a bit easier and much more fruitful.  Once the foundation is firm the growth can be free.

As I said earlier, during Orientation week at camp I used Goals to build a firm foundation for the successful summer I envisioned for the campers and staff.  I wanted these Goals integrated into every activity and every interaction the staff had with the campers.  The four Goals became a daily mantra so that they would become internalized in each staff member and not just written in their Staff Handbook somewhere on at home on a bookshelf.  Every day I would run the drill…Goal 1-Love Camp; Goal 2-Learn new skills, activity and life skills; Goal 3- Learn to be in a group; Goal 4- Learn to be a leader.  Throughout the day we would go from one activity site to another, not only being trained for that activity, but also spending some time talking about how the Goals could be manifested and worked out at each activity .

The Goals were intentionally integrated into everything we did at Camp, not only in the activities but in our interactions with one another, from me, the director, to the staff, to the campers.  It made for a successful Camp season, but more importantly, it made for successful people coming out of our Camp program and living successful lives as they grew into responsible people in their communities and in their world.  I keep in touch with generations of our Camp people and it makes me proud of the work we did as I hear about who and what these people have become.

I am not a camp director anymore but I still live my life the way I led Orientation week at Camp.  I set my vision, I create my goals, and then I intentionally integrate those goals into all I do and all I am as I walk through this life.  It makes a full life for me, one with true meaning.  Every morning I run the drill…Goal 1- Love God; Goal 2- Learn new skills and life practices; Goal 3- Learn how to live with and love others; Goal 4- Learn to be a good steward of all that God has given me.  I live to hear God say, “Well done faithful servant.”

High Ideals…High Praise…Keeps me on the High Road to Life

HIGH IDEALS & HIGH PRAISE

The week before Camp opened was Orientation week for the staff.  This was work week; preparing the facility and preparing the people who would be taking care of 400 kids throughout the summer.  I would begin the week with my vision of what I wanted the camp season to look like and what I expected from each member of the staff.  I believe that once people know their place in the world they have entered, once they are given the tools to work with, and once they see what their work is suppose to accomplish, they will become invested in the process of the program and will do their best to help make it a success.

I am not a “dummy down” advocate.  I put forth high ideals and then work hard to have them realized.  I believe people feel good when they have accomplished something worthwhile, especially when the work is difficult, especially when they may fail at first and then get up again and keep trying.  There is something in the human psyche that wants to hear “well done”, first from ourselves and then from others, especially those we are working for.  High ideals and high praise keep folks on the high road to success, both internally in their self esteem and externally in their every day dealings with the world around them.  It isn’t about empty pride and arrogance; it’s about working hard and knowing you have produced something good. 

That seems to be a pattern God puts forth.  After He created the world He stood back and declared it “very good”.  When Jesus was baptized and beginning his mission on earth, God spoke from heaven, saying He was “well pleased with His son”. Jesus completed his mission while hanging on a cross, and said “It is finished”.  The work was done; the goals were accomplished; life was ready to be lived in fullness and abundance by Jesus as he returned to his Father, and by those who believe in him and follow in his ways.  His ways are not easy; they are high ideals and will be met in the end with high praise, “Well done faithful servant.”

I started our first Orientation meeting by telling the staff what I wanted the last day of camp to look like.  I wanted every camper and staff member to love camp; I wanted every camper and staff member to have learned new skills, both activity skills and life skills; I wanted every camper and staff member to know how to live well with others, in a group, in a community; I wanted every camper and staff member to become good stewards of all they had learned and experienced over the summer and to grow into good leaders, in their schools, communities, and the world.  These were high ideals to be sure, but goals that could realistically be met.

I worked at this camp for twenty-five years.  I was around long enough to see the fulfillment of year upon year of these high ideals being implanted in generations of campers, as they grew into being staff, and parents, and responsible citizens in their communities, and in the world.  High ideals and high praise keep folks on the high road to success in life.