Long Before the Finish Line

I just stood in 83 degree heat, on the edge of a a sun-soaked highway for twenty-five minutes waiting to see someone I've never met, nor likely ever will.  And I missed him.  He had already gone by. 

Long Race
And so, I grabbed lunch with my wife, then ran off to the same highway, and this time had to wait only minutes to cheer and encourage someone else I don't know.  His name is Mark Pattinson, and he is from the United Kingdom.  He, and many other men and women are passing through my hometown as they compete in the RAAM--Race Across America.
 
They started at noon, one week ago today, and have ridden from the west coast, covering just under 2,300 miles (so far), and are on their way to a finish line on the east coast at Annapolis, Maryland.  A race--on a bicycle--of 2,996 miles.  So far, the ones passing me today have traversed roughly 330 miles each day.  Desert, mountains, heat, and only catching a hour or so of sleep per day....want to sign-up?

Once when I ran a  mini-marathon (a tiny, inconsequential accomplishment by comparison), a gentleman of a different race, from a different city ran alongside me--long before the finish line--for a full minute shouting encouragement into my broken spirit.  He must have seen it in my eyes. He clapped. He told me I was doing great! He shouted: "Great job!" He told me I was almost there.  He was not a participant in the race, yet, he was. His encouragement got me to the finish line. 

Today it is my turn.  I'm following the racers online, and when they pass the bottom of my hill--long before the finish line--I'm going down and cheering them on.  To Mr. Pattinson I said, "You're doing great!"  I clapped and screamed: "Great job!"  And he waved with a weary hand, looked at me and smiled.  His support van was right behind and some inside said to me:  "Thank you."

Thank ME?

I reflected on what I yelled to the rider.  They were the same words that a sixty-plus year old black man shouted to me when I wanted to quit on a 13.1 mile run.  Somehow, in the great big picture, I was able to give back what was once given to me.  And as cliche as it may sound, I had to hold back tears of joy.

We Can Help
I'm reminded that somewhere in my life--every day--there is someone trying to accomplish something, and they may doubt that they can finish. Some are friends that I know; and others I may never know, or ever see again. Some are tired, some are tempted to quit, or doubt that they are really making a difference. They need my assurance, they need my encouragement that they are doing a great job!

I guess I'm just asking you to keep an eye out for someone doing something...maybe for a cause you are not a part of. You may just give them the shove they need. Your encouragement may be what gets them to the finish line! Who can you encourage today?

By the way: you can track the racers by clicking on this link: http://www.tractalis.com/raam2013/ .

Let me know if this gives you any encouragement targets the rest of us can use.

Faith's Channel Markers for the Spiritual Journey

Sometimes, I fear we drift about the sea of faith, not knowing for certain where we are going or have gone. How do we measure loving God with "all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?"

There are many willing to set buoys, marking religious channels for us to follow. Some offer us checklists for the voyage. It is all so simple, definable and settled. "Pray (instruct God about what God needs to do and how to do it), journal (in this $14.95 blank book with a cross on the cover), read scripture (from a specialized bible for 'grandmothers who crochet,' for 'teenagers who are cool' or for 'fishermen who have a bass boat,' or from one of roughly seven-hundred and sixty-seven other bibles) and all should be well."

I'm looking for channel markers of a different sort. For now, I've decided to look for some "fruit" the first missionary said will show up in my life if I'm intimate with God. Love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, patience, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. (Galatians 5:22 & 23a) Although I can think of plenty of that fruit born from my living along the way, the baskets aren't really overflowing in my life right now. I need help. I'm going to the Source.

Yes I'll pray. I'll even pray some of my own words. But I'll also pray the prayer Jesus taught us, and The Jesus Prayer and others from saints through the ages. And I'll certainly pray using scripture, pleading from my barren heart for vital Life-giving nutrients to siphon their way up from the soil of faith and into my living. And I'll seek God's presence in candlelight, Gregorian chant on Pandora, hikes, scents, art and in the presence of other seekers. (You'll need to find your places.)

I'm looking for the Holy One, and choosing to join my sojourners in faith on the road marked before us. And hopefully, the breadcrumbs we leave behind will look a great deal like the handholds and footholds of those throughout history who have been desperate for the Holy....like fruit.

Lord have mercy, and grant us longing hearts.

Any markers of your own? Any places where you find the Holy about which you'd be willing to share? Please feel free to comment here.

The Abandonment of Mystery

Last week I stood in a holy place, a building where worship has happened for more than sixteen hundred years. I came face to face with mystery. And it was beautiful, though I cannot describe just how or why. And I don't want to try.
Candles flickered. Incense smoked from a censor. Ancient chants enfolded the space. But they were not in themselves the manifestation of "presence." No, that was invisible, yet very real.
From the perspective of my protestant background, these expressions are foreign at best--unnecessary at worst. Yet--as the years roll on, and I journey along the path of faith; I sometimes feel bored with the pathway. It is so well lit with bright incandescent bulbs, and swept clean of any ritual. It is safe and explainable. I can stand with a couple reciting wedding vows, or in the waters of baptism or at the table serving communion and tell you exactly what is happening, reciting which things are symbols of what realities. But in my heart I know that I am standing in the midst of the unexplainable, misrepresenting what I know...and don't know.
Is there no longer any patience or room for mystery in our Christian world? Must all be clearly explained, sung about and performed with precision? Three points to learn or eight reasons why or seven sins to avoid. All things so tidy, so complete, so concise...and so grossly inadequate.
I struggle with how we wrap up the almighty into such trite and mundane formulae. If God is anything, God is mystery. And our desertion of that mystery has made God seem inane and unnecessary to the souls around us.
We need mystery. We need the unexplainable. We need God, not a definable idol. Bishop Kallistos Ware speaks of this reality in The Orthodox Way, a book which has probably impacted me over the past ten years more than any other. He says something like this:
Moses first saw God in a burning bush. Bright and clear.
Then he saw him in both fire and cloud. Bright and dark.
Then he met him in thick cloud of unknowing. Dark and unclear.

Is it possible that spiritual maturity could be marked by decreasing spiritual clarity? Isn't it plausible that in our relationship with God, the closer we get, the more mysterious God is to us?
Loved and dear, but so very distant and longed for.

First Church of the Clueless

The wise men--kings or magi--whatever they were, they were curious about holy things.  They were curious enough to study stars and then travel across desert lands and borders and into a foreign territory.

Such spiritual curiosity, desire and hunger is all around us. And often, like in the story of the wise men, that seeking is done by those beyond the boundaries of where holy folks hang out.

Cluelessness, like that of King Herod, is fairly common amongst God's people. "WHAT? A king? Who? Where?" That was the best response the guy in charge of God's capitol could come up with when the "unholy" ones came seeking.

Do you see the irony? Outsiders "getting it." Insiders, "Meh, not so much." Outsiders longing for God and finding their way toward God, while insiders are singing holy songs and eating holy meals at First Church of the Clueless?

How long has it been, Christian, since you have followed an inkling that God was up to something? And acted on the belief that God wanted you to go out of your way to discover and honor the birth of Something New...and Vital...and Life Changing?

Often, for me, it is easier to sing God-songs and show up at God-events, than it is to tune my radar into the current broadcast. 

I pray for a hungry heart.

Queueing-up for the New Year

Mystery hushes us. It blasts away incessant mind-chatter. It chokes words into silence.

We stand at the edge of the canyon; or by the side of the sea; or at the foot of a mountain. Quiet. Awe.

Vows exchanged by glistening eyes, clammy hands and trembling voices.

Hearing, It's cancer.

The birth of a healthy new child.

Holding-onto a dear friend as they breath their last.

And now we queue-up to a new year. We hear a whisper pleading with us: Take off your shoes, This is holy ground. 

Will we remove them? Will we listen? Do we believe?

Hearing the Holy--Together

I've been reading the Christmas story again and watching as God weaves Heaven-realities into earth-longing.  Such a wonder.  And this mysterious coming of God to be among us is accomplished by people, not individuals.

There are Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, the shepherds and the wise men.  Each of these individuals is experiencing holy wonders in partnership with another .  Even the two unlikely mothers--Elizabeth and Mary--are permitted time together to savor the truths of God's wrecking/remaking of their worlds.  No one is left to experience the divine on their own.  Not just Mary will bare a child.

When you hear from God, who hears with you?  Who is there to confirm your sensing of what the Holy One is up to in your life?  We are not intended to hear or perceive holy stuff in a vacuum.  Yet,  we often teach spiritual formation as a solo act.  I propose to you that we need someone else around who can affirm when glory comes our way.

Do you live in expectation of holy intervention?  Do you live in a bright place where God can speak to you--or dream through you as God wishes?  With whom can you share these epiphanies?  Who can affirm them?  Who is the Joseph to your Mary, or the Elizabeth to your Zechariah?  We are not intended to do this Jesus thing alone.  To whom would you turn if you heard from an angel today?

We need others to help us decipher holy messages. God is broadcasting in our direction.

Forgiveness: A Holy Pain

A friend sent me this post by Michael Hidalgo.  It speaks of the pain of forgiveness--not only for Christ, but for his followers.  It seemed a good way to end a six month drought of posting here, and an appropriate topic for this Holy Week.


May we do our suffering well and in a redemptive way.

Click here to read. 

Thank you Michael Hidalgo.

May Christ's grace keep us.