Day-off musings, reading, and becoming...

My exchange student daughter is weaving her way further into my heart right now. She sits in my home speaking face to face with her real parents (thanks to the miracle of Skype) and her laughter and smiles are lighting up our living room. Her mother, father and sister are enjoying a conversation with her, and they seem to be having such fun. Skype is amazing.

This being my "day off," I enjoyed a breakfast with the family this morning. I held Laynie and ate eggs, sausage and homemade scones. It is still snowing outside, and it is beautiful. The northwest edges of the trees are outlined in white, and our German Shepherd is frolicking about as if it is dog-Christmas. The stove is hissing and putting out heat in our pioneer aged cabin.

I got some new books this week, gifts purchased with a little Christmas money. The first one I've started is The New Friars, which tells the stories of dozens of young people who are forsaking all wealth, and moving to live with the poorest of the poor in ways reminiscent of the ancient monastics. I'm gaining theological insight into what I've always heard termed "compassionate ministry." Last night I enjoyed a chapter about St. Francis of Assisi, and Sister Clare. These are amazing and adventurous stories of lives turned around. Next on the list is sub-merge: living deep in a shallow world, and Follow Me to Freedom: Leading as an Ordinary Radical.

If you have been following along here, you may know that I am in a bit of a personal reformation. It is like pieces of a giant puzzle in my life are coming together and creating a picture of a future that I had never envisioned. No, I'm not planning to go live in a garbage dump in Asia or South America. But I believe I can make a difference in the spiritual and physical poverty of world where I live. I am staying tuned and discovering that God is very willing to respond to my desires to serve, when they center around serving those in need.

I may even have a good idea brewing for what Trent of The Runaway Pastor is about to do with his life in the sequel...

Grace and peace to you.

Warm hands, cold hearts

It seems we can come up with all sorts of ways of trying to please God with our worship. The Old Testament prophet Micah employs some extravagant hyperbole to expose the ends we will go to impress God. Yet, he points out that God is impressed when his people humbly serve those who are crushed by life's injustices.

With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:6-8 (NIV)

Today, we believe we can serve him through extravagant and well orchestrated worship celebrations. Many such events boast laser-light shows, smoke machines, and high tech pageantry by every imaginable means. Competitions to provide the coolest Sunday morning entertainment come with high stakes...drop your moxy just a bit for a week or so, and church shoppers will move on to another nearby show.

We also serve God or worship God by giving our tithes and offerings at our weekly gatherings. We dream of them benefiting some poor soul who needs just what our church offers. Do we sacrificially give so that we can have?

And then, at the end of the day we wonder why we are left unsatisfied. We have given our rivers of oil--our thousands of rams on the altar. And they are sold and paid to the bankers who finance our altars.

And those who need justice and mercy, sit in the cold today. They no doubt wonder at the fact that the most grand buildings in their town belong to churches who built them for the glory of God.