Inspiration Category

For the longest time a house just down the block and around the corner had a “Let’s Go Brandon” banner hanging from the eaves of their porch roof—it has since been removed. A couple of other houses in the neighborhood have equally offensive pennants draped near the entrances of their homes.

At one point in time, I felt quite angry about these objectionable displays of ignorance and imagined a midnight mission of mangling said malevolent manifestations. Thankfully, I did not follow through.

Now?

Some anger, still, mixed with sorrow and a healthy dose of not knowing.

Not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do, simply not knowing.

On an early morning walk as I rounded the block with my congenial canine companion, Polly girl, a young man of early to mid 20’s was exiting the house where once the streamer hung. Dressed in fatigues, army or national guard—I know not, I greeted him with a cheerful ‘Good Morning’ which he returned in kind. Respectfully, I then said, “Thank you for your service.” He replied, “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

Neither of us stopped, it was a brief interlude on the move, yet I could tell by the tone of his response that he was sincerely touched by my words of regard.

I know nothing about his household or the reason for the decision to hang the banner and its withdrawal. He knows nothing about me either. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time we ever had any kind of interaction.

That’s the thing, isn’t it?

We never know what is just around the corner.

Two things I read every morning are Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation and Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From An American. I subscribe to both online and devour them on my iPad, sometimes before my feet even hit the floor, much to my Polly Ann’s chagrin.

Professor Heather Cox Richardson is an author and “political historian who uses facts and history to put the news in context.” She has a B.A. and PhD from Harvard and “teaches nineteenth-century American history at both the undergraduate and the graduate level” at Boston College.

Father Richard Rohr is “American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality.”

Recently, in discussing the radicalization of the Republican party, Professor Richardson said:

“Democracy is a moral position. Defending the right of human beings to control their own lives is a moral position. Treating everyone equally before the law is a moral position. Insisting that everyone has a right to have a say in their government is a moral position.” HCR

On the same morning Father Rohr wrote this:

“Love is the lesson, and God’s love is so great that God will finally teach it to all of us. We’ll finally surrender, and God will win in the end. That will be God’s “justice,” which will swallow up our lesser versions. God—Love—does not lose!” RR

I have no idea in what direction HCR’s faith compass points, nor am I aware of RR’s political affiliations, yet these two profound statements seem to synchronize perfectly.

One idea both quotes highlight is the concept of free will or what Martin Luther called “free choice.”

Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Wikipedia

Back in the garden, when Eve and Adam ate the fruit from the tree of “knowledge of good and evil,” they exercised their free choice which had been given to them from their birth.

A Bible I was given as a child has an illustration of the scene where God “drives” them out of the Eden. In the picture, God looks REALLY angry!

There were times when I was raising my three sons that they did things which I felt angry about, but my true underlying feeling was disappointment. Because I loved them so much, I was disappointed that they would choose to do something that potentially could have been harmful to themselves or someone else; or chose to disobey because they did not trust me.

This is what is so glaringly obvious within our current culture. We seem to have taken extreme sides over free choice and how to control the way choices are made.

Wearing a mask takes away one’s freedom, but banning abortion does not? Social media sites have been abuzz with all sorts of memes and opinions comparing and contrasting these two issues.

What is THE determining factor when “defending the right of human beings to control their own lives?”

LOVE!

He said to him (a lawyer), “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

While neither political party is perfect, the truth of this Love and its awareness is what is most clearly coming through the current Democratic party into our culture and world at large. People are surrendering to the knowledge that “Love is the lesson, and God’s love is so great that God will finally teach it to all of us.”

NO, I am NOT saying God loves Democrats more than Republicans. NO, I am NOT saying God is a Democrat.

I am saying God is Love and God will use whatever means necessary to bring forth the awareness of Love.

I had a choice when I encountered the young man the other morning. I could have judged him based on the banner that once hung on his house, or I could have acted in and through Love.

Thankfully, I chose the latter.

Who knows what the effects of that choice will be down the road and around the corner.

What is really important to you?

Having been given the order to evacuate, my cousin put some things in his truck and waited. His apartment is located in Talent, near I-5 in southern Oregon, in the middle of where fires swept through beginning at the northern edges of Ashland and reaching into the southern edges of Medford, before it was stopped. With his truck running to keep his laptop and phone charged, he used his phone’s wi-fi hotspot to listen to fire & police scanners on his laptop, in an effort to discover how the fire and all the various efforts to stop it were progressing.

As he sat and waited, he could hear propane tanks and electrical transformers exploding, over and over. Over the tops of trees and the roofs of some town houses he watched the glowing orange light and billowing smoke of the fire seeming to be very near, pushed along by a strong wind, not sure for several hours if it was passing by or coming closer. The glow and light of the fire would flare up, the smoke even blacker against the night sky, whenever a structure burned – someone’s home or business.

Nearly all in his apartment complex had evacuated, but one neighbor returned, saying all the roads were a mess due to road closures and backed up traffic. The neighbor went to bed, knowing my cousin would come get him if the fire got too close.

He sent me several texts reassuring me he was fine and not to worry – that all was in God’s hands. Around 3 am, when it finally became clear the fire was not coming any further in his direction, he went into his apartment and to bed, after being in the front seat of his truck watching the fire for over eight hours.

When I talked with him on the phone early the next morning, he said he was happy to be alive, with his furnishings and personal belongings intact, and with a place to live. My father and I were happy about that too!

Through it all, I kept wondering, “what did he pack to take with him?”

What is most important to you? This seems to be the question the year 2020 is asking us. Fires, floods, hurricanes, civil unrest, COVID … all asking the same question.

Of course, that has always been THE question, but the rapid-fire succession of tragedies and disasters these last couple years seems to be heightening and intensifying our awareness of what really matters most. At least for some of us.

I find it difficult to assign degrees of importance to the items and furnishings in my home most of which belonged to my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Gifts from my sons and grandchildren have just as much significance and value to me as do the family heirlooms. Everywhere I turn, I am surrounded by mementos and keepsakes that connect me to the beloveds in my life. If I had to evacuate, what would I take with me? What would you take?

What did he take?

I was pretty sure I knew and my suspicions were confirmed when we talked and I asked — a few changes of clothing, a winter coat, sandals in addition to the shoes he was wearing, some bedding and pillows for the back of his truck, toiletries and shave gear, important documents, A Course In Miracles, laptop, cell phone, iPad, tea, water and means to heat water, and a little bit of food. That’s all.

He also said: “Even if I could have somehow chosen just the very few personal things I had room for beyond the basics, out of all the many and various sacred belongings that shaped, informed and gave meaning to the inner dimensions of my home and the long and intricate weavings of my life, it would diminish and dishonor all that I could not take. If my past and its symbols and representations were to burn, then all of it needed to go together, to keep each other company.”

Ultimately, the precarious nature of just having the very simple essentials—food, water, clothing, shelter—especially in light of cataclysmic events, should give all of us plenty of pause for gratitude.

After my cousin’s experience, and watching on-line through social media platforms how his community is coming together to help one another, my heart has been finely tuned to gratitude.

My father has always said the vast majority of people are good at heart.

My cashier at Martins on Monday morning was genuinely and sincerely kind as we chatted about life. She asked me if the number of canned fruits she placed in one bag was acceptable, not wanting it to be too heavy for me to carry. I have never been asked that before, which I said to her. She explained that she asked the same of a gentleman who appeared to be of a muscular stature and he had replied ‘no’ because of a shoulder injury. She gladly put fewer cans in separate bags to ease his burden.

Margie—that is her name—said, “we shouldn’t judge people because we don’t know what they might be going through.” I heartily agreed with her.

Additionally, I found out that both of her parents had died at the age of 66; so now when she and each of her siblings reach the age of 67, they have and will celebrate with a big party. Remembering this now puts a smile on my face.

After this early morning cheery conversation, I used my Martins points to get gas. As I was getting out of my truck, the attendant approached the pump with a bag of cat food. While we exchanged ‘good mornings’ she filled the bowl that was under a cinder block display of windshield wiper fluid. Her thoughtfulness was deeply touching.

Gratitude can heighten our awareness to kindness and goodness. Gratitude can make all our words and actions more poignant and every breath precious. Gratitude is an act of humility and selflessness that assumes nothing but compassion and generosity for and towards all God’s beloveds—all creatures great and small.

Just like a fish in water, gratitude should be the environment in which we walk out our trust in God.

This is a lesson the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk highlights. Known as the “complainer” by many Christians, Habakkuk spends most of his short book complaining to God about the coming destruction and judgement of the nation of Israel by the Babylonians which took place during the sixth century BCE.

After spending much of three chapters fussing and grumbling to God, he ends with this:

For even if the fig tree doesn’t blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines,
even if the olive tree fails to produce,
and the fields yield no food at all,
even if the sheep vanish from the sheep pen,
and there are no cows in the stalls;
still, I will rejoice in ADONAI,
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
ELOHIM Adonai is my strength!
He makes me swift and sure-footed as a deer
and enables me to stride over my high places.

Verse 19 in another translation reads:

The Sovereign LORD is my source of strength.
He gives me the agility of a deer;
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain.

Most of, if not all, the time …

It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world. Mary Oliver

When is enough, ‘enough?’

Our pastor came to visit us today and asked my 91-year-young father if I was taking good care of him. Do not let my father’s age fool you! He has the energy of a 60-year-old in good health and is of sound mind.

My father’s response was both adamantly noteworthy and praise-filled. He would most assuredly deny any false exaggeration in complete and utter humility, which he did when I asserted as such following the departure of our pastor.

I told my father that I did not feel like I was doing enough for him, or that I was doing enough for God. He responded in kind; even now I find myself shaking my head in thorough disbelief at his remark.

After retiring two years ago, I threw myself into volunteer work feeling somewhat guilty that I was not ‘doing enough’ with all this time I had on my hands. I made some great memories with two of my grandchildren as well. However, once the shelter in place orders went into effect due to the pandemic, I willingly gave up these activities so as not to endanger my father’s health—we live in the same house.

He prepares most of his own meals, does his laundry, vacuums, etc., leaving me little to do that is praiseworthy. And yet here we are, both feeling like we are not doing enough for God.

This last couple of weeks my father has been out in the yard spreading mulch, planting grass seed and landscaping. As I watched him, I thought to myself, “this isn’t just about getting the yard the way he wants it; this is also about preparing the place for me, his only daughter, in the time he has left.”

I had just finished reading Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright where I read the following:

Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Christ honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. This is the logic of the mission of God.

I think we can both stop worrying, Dad, because that sounds like more than enough to me!

“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” – Michelle Obama

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou

“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

To whom or what do you look for hope?

Friends? I am fortunate and blessed to have the love, support and encouragement of remarkable women friends …

… one recently had successful hip surgery. She never gave up hope that she would one day walk normally even after the procedure was indeterminately delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.

… several others are facing challenging health issues. Each unequivocally believes she will come through whole and healthy.

… others who are grieving the loss of a parent with grace and dignity during the pandemic. I cannot imagine how much more difficult this crisis may make their mourning.

… another who sends me messages for on-line classes to encourage me in my writing and in my journey as a woman.

Nature? Since Easter, Creation and Her bounty fill my heart …

… watching the Jenny Wren gather sticks as she builds her nest in the Wren box outside my kitchen window.

… laughing at the Common Grackles bathe in the bird bath in our yard. The way they splash water all over the place is hilarious!

… watering my 15 sunflower plants! Each plant is only about three to four inches tall and yet already following the sun across the sky.

The myriad of scientists, physicians, and researchers working on a vaccine for Covid-19 gives me hope. The global peaceful protestors give me hope. The Black Lives Matter organization gives me hope. Within these dark and desperate times, the Light of Goodness still shines.

My pastor frequently uses illustrations, book passages and quotes from authors to enhance his messages. Whenever he mentions a writer, I generally investigate him or her on-line, and more often than not, purchase a book by said author. Needless to say, I have a stack of books by my bedside I eagerly anticipate reading.

One such author he routinely recites is biblical scholar N.T. Wright. I am making my way through his book Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church—which I highly recommend and which has given me cause for great hope.

In it he writes:

“… the gospel of Jesus Christ announces that what God did for Jesus at Easter he will do not only for all those who are ‘in Christ’ but also for the entire cosmos. It will be an act of new creation, parallel to and derived from the act of new creation when God raised Jesus from the dead.”

Later he says:

“ Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Christ honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. This is the logic of the mission of God.”

Regardless of whether you agree or not with any or all of what is quoted above—engaging in conversation as God’s beloved children around such, would make me hopeful.

I will close with a poem by Hafiz.

TRIPPING OVER JOY

What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint?

The saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God

And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move

That the saint is now continually
Tripping over Joy
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying, “I Surrender!”

Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.
― Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

I surrender … to hope.