Why Pray?

If you look around at bookstores in the spirituality section, you'll notice that there are many books on prayer. For many of us, prayer is a part of our daily lives, prayer before meals, bedtime prayers, the Lord's Prayer. But why do we pray? Sometimes, we pray for people we love, sometimes we pray in desparation, other times we pray for guidance, other times we pray in gratitude. Prayer has been talked about in many ways, as sharing our hearts with God, as talking to God, as resting in God's presence. Today, I saw another description of prayer that makes sense to me. It comes from Pastor Ted Loder:
"The prayers we say shape the lives we live, just as the lives we live shape the prayers we pray." May our prayers shape us today and each day of our lives.

Friends

One night this week at bedtime, Sophia was crying heartbroken sobs. When we asked her what was wrong, she said, "I have no friends." We went through her list of friends, other 3 year olds that she loves to play with, but she kept crying soul wrenching sobs... "BUT THEY'RE NOT HERE NOW!" She finally said. We all need our friendships to keep us going. Friends support us. Friends encourage us. Friends listen to our stories again and again and again. Friends know when we need to laugh, when we need peace and quiet, or when a trip for ice cream is most needed. Spiritual friends are important too, friends who pray with us and for us, friends who know how to help guide us through times of doubt and frustration. Faithful, faith-filled friends help point us to Christ who calls us friends, as he said in the Gospel of John. Remember the words of a traditional hymn: What a Friend we have in Jesus. We all need friends and we all need Christ.

Melanchthon, WHO?

Most of us as Lutherans have heard about Martin Luther, obviously a critical person in our Lutheran history. But very few people have heard about a man named Philipp Melanchthon who also played a crucial role in the foundation of the Lutheran church and belief. Melanchthon was a colleague of Martin Luther, working with him to reform the church. He was a brillant scholar, known as the "teacher of Germany". He was a professor of Greek at the University of Wittenberg, which is where be became a friend of Martin Luther. Legends recall that even his classes that were offered at 6am, early in the morning, often had as many as 600 students in them. He was crucial in writing the Augsburg Confession, one of the cornerstone works for Lutherans throughout the world. One of the gifts, I believe, of our Lutheran heritage is our well thought out foundation. We have a well articulated belief system and theology. We are clear on our identity and heritage as well as appreciating the value of educating others in the faith. I am grateful to be a Lutheran, following in the path of Luther, his wife Katie, and many others like Phillip Melanchthon.

Increase and Decrease

Today is the day that the church has often commemorated John the Baptist. The cousin of Jesus who announced the coming of the Messiah, the Lamb of God, is often most prominent for us during December and the season of Advent when we hear many lessons that include his witness about Jesus. John is the radical wilderness preacher who baptized many in the Jordan River. He wore camel's hair clothes and ate locosts and wild honey. He later lost his head for irritating and criticizing those in power. When he compared himself to Jesus, he said this: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) John knew that his ministry was to point to Jesus, who was the Lamb of God. He knew that his ministry had a greater purpose. For John, his preaching was not about himself, but it pointed to Jesus who was eagerly awaited by his people. May we live as John did, with ourselves decreasing so that Christ can be increased in us and in our lives.

Oatmeal, anyone?

Oatmeal is not my favorite breakfast food. In fact, I prefer just about anything with chocolate in it. Chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip pancakes, hot chocolate to drink... That would be my ideal kind of breakfast. But this weekend, at a wonderful wedding, I heard a touching and true description of human love that likens it to oatmeal... Or rather stirring the oatmeal.
The image comes from the book We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love by Robert A. Johnson.
"Stirring the oatmeal is a humble act—not exciting or thrilling. But it symbolizes a relatedness that brings love down to earth. It represents a willingness to share ordinary human life, to find meaning in the simple, unromantic tasks: earning a living, living within a budget, putting out the garbage, feeding the baby in the middle of the night. To 'stir the oatmeal' means to find the relatedness, the value, even the beauty, in simple and ordinary things, not to eternally demand a cosmic drama, an entertainment, or an extraordinary intensity to everything. Like the rice hulling of the Zen Monks, the spinning wheel of Gandhi, the tent making of Saint Paul, it represents the discovery of the sacred in the midst of the humble and ordinary."
May we all have our own moments of stirring the oatmeal love, even if it happens while we're making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or mowing the lawn. God is there in those ordinary moments; it's up to us to see him there.

Craziness

There are days, when things seem to all go on the fritz. You know those days, when nothing seems to work right, when everything you try seems to backfire. We can respond with frustration, we can respond with resignation, we can respond with humor. We try everything we know how to do and when it doesn't work, we call the experts. Maybe, we hope, they know how to solve the problem better than we do. Sometimes, the problems are fixable, sometimes we have to start over from scratch. Othertimes, we just have to live with the problem for a time that seems far too long. Yet, those are the times that God is in the crazy details, still by our side, still reminding us that he is with us no matter what we face. Listen to this passage from Isaiah Chapter 43 from the Message translation:
But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: "Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end. Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That's how much you mean to me! That's how much I love you! I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.
In this crazy day, I'm so glad God feels that way!

On Eagles' Wings

Today on the way to church, Boobear and I saw 4 majestic eagles. One was sitting in a field watching us drive by, another soared overhead a mile or so down the down. Considering that our opening hymn was "Eagles Wings" by Michael Joncas, it was a wonderful reminder of the strength that eagles have in their wings.
Psalm 91 also talks about God sheltering us under his wings. What stong, powerful wings eagles have. They are a mighty bird created by a mighty creator. The book of Exodus has God speaking to his people reminding them that he brought them to himself, bearing them up on eagles wings. May God continue to bear us up and shelter us just as he has born and sheltered his people since time began.