O Thou whose tender mercies are over all Thy works, humbly and sorrowfully I crave They forgiveness for the sins of this day;
For every weakening and defiling thought to which my mind has given
harbour;
For every word spoken in hastiness or passion:
For every failure of self-control;
For every stumbling-block which by deed or example I have set in
another’s way;
For every opportunity lost;
For loitering feet and a procrastinating will;
For this…..
And this…..
And this…..
And grant that, as the days go by, Thy Spirit may more and more rule in my heart, giving me victory over these and all other sinful ways….
Today….we look at the church by using two words…..Two words that can overwhelm any church/parish or attendee. These two words come out of the dictionary….and their definitions are variable When it comes to seriousness. What I’ve found is that the degree of this seriousness is one of the main pitfalls in how churches act and react. This is our challenge…..
Word #1…..CONDITION/conditional….
Subject to or depending on a condition; not absolute
Existing state
Situation with respect to circumstances
Restricting, limiting or modifying a circumstance
(as in ‘only under certain conditions’)
Stipulation that would alter an agreement or an event
A diseased state of the body
To make something a condition
Word #2…..UNCONDITIONAL
Not limited by any condition…..absolute as in God’s love
Ever see those wonderul pictures that come from our friends’ email…cuddly, cute pets,….the artist that lays newborns in a flower, or in their father’s hand. Warm and fuzzy to the max.
Where does that go…we grow up, that’s where it goes. Like the line in South Pacific….’You have to be carefully taught’ to become conditional. If these thoughts make you sad, imagine how God feels.
We do live conditional lives, some conditions more degrading than others. “She’s divorced”…..”Unmarried and 2 kids and on welfare”….”They were baptized in _________ church but not here”…….”He always smells”……..”They just come on holidays”……”They only gave $_____last year”……..”Their son just got out of jail”…… and yes, it goes on and on.
But living conditionally doesn’t make it right…..it’s the ‘everybody’ or ‘they’ where we get this syndrome. “Well that’s the way we’ve always done it”…..”Everybody feels the same way”.
Now is when we spend some alone time wondering how we got this way…this lifestyle of condition. Paul wanted his new baby churches to work together….some did, but some felt it better to try to outdo one another….better food, better giving, better crowds. They missed the point didn’t they…..their church going became conditional. Baby churches also contended with new members not quite standing up to the “Christian way”….some were having affairs, some sill loved those idols, and on and on.
Paul was in the same mess then with new churches as we are today….
Not every new Christian was falling in line when it came to Christ’s teachings….Dang! (and I honestly think that’s what Paul said)
But Paul … in his frustration, along with his love of God….rose to the occasion. He did not what was necessarily the easiest, nor the most moral (conditional), but what was right in God’s eyes…he reminded his newbies that God’s love is UNCONDITIONAL and ABSOLUTE… There are no rooms in God’s house where conditions apply…..except that we do unto others as we expect others to do unto us….. and that we love our neighbor as ourself.
Imagine what would happen if our churchd decided to follow this idea? Now I know there are other rules about all kinds of things in the old and new testament, but loving your neighbor and doing unto others….seems to cover it all. I’ll give you a ‘for instance’……..I attended a Disciples of Christ Church in a small town in central Indiana….I had grown up going to a Disciples of Christ Church with my family, but in my late 20’s married and moved to another town. Little did I know, they had a ‘closed membership’. I’d never heard of it….wasn’t a rule in every church, but it was in this one. If one was baptized in other church, they had to be re-baptized again! I CALL THAT A CONDITION! I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now, 50 years later.
Funny, but I bet some of you are not agreeing with me…and this is just ONE itty bitty condition…..
So I’m leaving…..for now…..Think over God’s way of loving everyone and everything, and then take a look at how we love everyone and everything. MMmmmmmm
It ain’t over til it’s over….there’s still time to live and love’
UNCONDITIONALLY.
While gleaning old files, and shredding in front of the TV, I ran across this letter, attached to a policy that has been cashed in…….thought you would enjoy a little of the ‘old days’ of explanation.
I AM YOUR POLICY
You and I have purpose in this world, which,when broken down, are quite similar. It is YOUR job to provide food, clothing, shelter, schooling, medicine and sundry other things for your loved ones; you do this while I lie in your strong box.
I must have faith and trust in YOU, Mr. Policyholder, for out of your earnings will come the cost of MY upkeep. At times I may appear to be somewhat worthless to you–, but someday (and who knows when) you and I will change places.
When you are laid to rest, I will come alive and do YOUR job. I will provide the food, clothing, shelter, schooling, medicine and other things your family will continue to need — just as you are now doing. When YOUR work and toil is done, MINE will begin, through ME, your hands will carry on.
Whenever you feel the price you are paying for my upkeep is burdensome, remember, that I WILL DO MORE FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY THAN YOU CAN EVER DO FOR ME.
Mr. Policyholder, if you do your part, I will do mine.
“You may have a medical problem”……runs shivers up and down your spine. Even in the movies, those words make us tremble. We are all act brave, showing that ‘devil may care’ attitude, but deep inside our gut is churning and the sunny day goes to turbulent winds with the threat of rain.
It is checkup time…..an ultrasound for me and a colonoscopy for him. Been there more than once and yet it still creeps into our daily living, like the fog from the Pacific. Warm winds of serenity touching the cool winds of change…..cause us to become solitary, even though there is no prediction of doom.
So the bootstraps are pulled up…..as we become nonchalant in the face of our inner fearfulness.
We then begin to rationalize, and examine…..what are the odds…I take good care of myself….it doesn’t run in my family, and on and on. We do begin to feel better, and our sleep goes undisturbed.
The day comes for our tests…..and the phone rings for each of us…..”sure, we’ve done everything, we’ll be there, no problem”. The medical facility is warm, and friendly, and we are ushered to our rooms. We look into the eyes of the staff, watching as they take pictures, in hopes of finding reassuring glances that all is well. The procedures are over almost as quickly as they begin and we welcome the lifting of the haze of marking time.
The phones ring the next afternoon….and with certitude, we answer. “Just calling to say your test was negative and all is well”…..”We’ll see you next year”. The phone rings again. “The results of your procedure are negative”. We’ll see you in 5 years”. And the sun shines once more.
I read two papers this AM with 3 cups of coffee…..let me say it again, I READ TWO NEWSPAPERS this morning with 3 cups of coffee. My kids tell me I’m really ‘out of mainline journalism’…..I’m in ‘mail-line journalism…and that is further out. I’m sad if it is the truth….that the days of newspapers are fading. Yes, the word ‘sad’ is appropriate.
The better part of my 68 years I’ve shared with a newspaper…..When I was learning to read….the newspaper was always in my home. Mother and Dad read, and then I read. Sure, at the age of 10 I wasn’t all that interested in the front page, but there were always the ‘funnies’. Kind of like learning to iron…..first you start with the hankies and then you move onward to more difficult pieces of clothing. That’s how the newspaper and I made friends.
Then, in high school, sometimes things in my small brain began to gel….I would read something in the paper and low and behold…we’d talk about it in government or history. Dang!
And now, after all these years, I’m more of an avid reader than ever. I learn every day…whether it is a joke, a piece of history, a sale, a divorce, a birth, a death, and on and on. LIFE is the newspaper and the newspaper is life. It tells me the weather, the high school basketball scores, the time of the July 4th parade, the mass at church, the sale at the local dress shop, the fishing report for the local lake, and the local police beat…often and thank goodness, more humorous than scary.
I would be foolish to say the Internet has not proved to be another great spot for the news….I know we can hear it all on local TV stations as well as CNN and FOX, but that’s not the news I long for….We all live in little areas..they may be inside large cities or on farms, distant from neighbors, however, we all desire to be close to one another….The local newspaper, whether it is weekly, bi weekly, in the morning or in the evening, binds our hearts, our lives, our dreams, and it extends the hand of friendship to all.
When traveling thru Tennessee, I read about the lives of folks in Nashville, Knoxville, and all the little towns in between. I look at their housing, their taxes, as well as their squabbles with local, county and state government. It truly does my heart good to see that we are pretty much the same, regardless of our proximity to one another. Soccer might be hot in So. California, but football is the game in Louisiana. High school football barely makes it in some western states, however, in Indiana, and the Ohio Valley, the homes are empty on Fri. night cause they are at the game. In the assisted care facilities…..everyone is in their room…..not cause they feel bad….but in season….it is basketball and football that keeps the lights on late into the night.
And last but not least…I love the ads…Where am I going to find so easily…..the for rent and for sale section, the used car section, the misc. for sale section, the legal announcement section, the inside ads for carpet, granite, hot dogs. 2 for 1, picking fresh blueberries, and the editorial section, including all the letters to the editor. So much entertainment, so much knowledge, so much life…..and all available in the paper.
So go ahead, read the Internet, learn that Tiger won his 74th, that the Supreme Court did or did not make the right decision, and the high in Las Vegas will be 104…..but for me, I’ll use it as backup only…..cause it is the paper…..I truly love.
Here we are, bumping along. There are ‘up’ days, ‘medium’ days, (normal) and ‘down days’. (Really all three are normal, right) So here we are, bumping along, and then……there we go. Exit bumping. Exit normal days. Exit life..we’re dead!
Now what shall become of us…..woulda, coulda, shoulda thoughts ‘should’a’ occurred prior to the ‘exit’ sign above us, but sometimes our ducks are not just ‘all in a row’, if you know what I mean.
Wait, what about that little card? I had that somewhere…dang where is it, my wallet, my purse, my top left drawer in the bedroom, with my passport, dang!
Well, not to worry now……as in ‘Elvis has exited……”. But, for the sake of this article, you do (or did) have that nice card. This card is way past nice, it is the best of the best, the cat’s meow, the Taj Mahal, lotto, and more. “Why”, you ask? Simple……If you only have one kidney that works, if you are blind, if your liver is shot, if your heart only pumps because of a machine, or heavy medication, this little card will be all the above and more.
You, the one newly exited, offer the gift of life, with this little card. People and organizations world-wide have come together to offer those in need, a new chance at life, and you, my friend, are the integral part. It is you who have, at one time, usually when you renewed your driver’s license, made the choice to donate your useful organs. Of course, at that time, death was at least 10 light years away, so it was not thought about prayerfully, but now!!!!!…….as you move on to the beautiful place you chose….that decision made in life is making life for others possible.
The stuff worked for you while you had it and needed it, but now, it is surplus. For that child needing a new kidney, it is beyond words. For the soldier, blind from serving his country, it is the open door to life and work and family. For these thankful recipients, it is not surplus, it is opportunity………
Friends….they come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and years. I find in my case, most of my friends, didn’t start out day 1 being, what I call, a ‘friend’. I knew them in grade school. Their desk was beside mine. It didn’t matter if they were male or female. Either we clicked in second grade, or we didn’t. Maybe we shared recess and that was all…..never knowing anything else about each other. It wasn’t really important, was it? Maybe we played musical instruments together in the band….remember those ‘flute’ things we all started on…..before choosing the ‘instrument of choice’. Maybe we walked to school together and then went our separate ways to different classes. I remember how we would meet “at the corner’ and share our lives, as we knew them, til we got to school. Yes, we did walk to school, a mile one way, and we came home for lunch too. How wonderful it was, and still is, to grow up in a small town.
My grade school friends have become my life long friends……there were birthday parties, slumber parties, and chili suppers, and basketball games. We marched together in the band on the coldest of football Fridays, and sweat up a storm in the July 4th Parade.
In our neighborhood we had all ages of friends….some were 5 years younger and some were 5 years older. We all had come to the neighborhood at the same time when the little National Homes were being built in the early 50’s. Everyone had younger brothers and sisters, who were definitely in the way, so we girls had our private times sitting on the curb under the street light, taking walks around the block, sitting under the maple trees catching lightning bugs, and laying on a blanket underneath the stars before the dew fell.
From late spring til late fall we played ‘kick the can’ until our parents called us in…..or in my case, rang the bell. My mother had a school bell and we all knew that when the bell rang, that ment ‘come home and come home now!’ I think if someone would ring a school bell now, at age 68, I would suddenly become 12 again.
Later on the friendships seemed to solidify, and we all felt comfortable venturing outside our town to Girl Scout Camp for 2 weeks and then to church camp for a week where we met ‘boys’. I don’t know who was the most scared. Oh, thank goodness for friends.
As I continued on this journey, thru school, and jobs, and marriage, and kids, and divorce, etc, etc…..there are many acquaintances who have come and gone. The neighborhood I grew up in, transformed to the first apartment, and then house I shared with 4 other girls. My marriage brought me to a new town with our first home, and, as if in some large orderly plan, a friendly street, where my children would come to repeat the process. And so it goes.
My Christmas card list is full of friends. Even today there are those I meet who may become part of this precious list. As I address each card, thoughts of how we came to share our lives, some by mere coincidence, come to mind. Our babies are long gone, our work in the Jaycees, long forgotten, our church suppers and Sunday school teaching, turned over to the young adults, but our friendship, our memories, our defeats, and our successes, remain as bright and clear as if it were yesterday.
Friends…….I am so blessed they came to enrich my life….
They file in, greet one another, and begin to survive another day. They are troopers, united by their fight and in the fight. Their spouses or friends come because they need help in getting there. Their medicine makes them die, just a little….Each day they die a little more, and when the treatments end, their will to live is that of the bravest on the fields of war. They wear kerchiefs, sit in wheelchairs, walk with a cane, or move in moble chairs. They are wonderous in their dedication to die a little to live. I bow, as a humble bystander, to their courage, their steadfastness, and their spirit.
seriouslyscorpio 