Fly With Christ!

Day 2 Doxology: It's only day 2 of this year's Lenten Discipline, and I'm already deep in Spiritual thought -maybe too deep fro day 2.  In fact, I have so many thoughts around today's doxology that I'm not sure I can articulate what it is I'm feeling or thinking....and that's my job!  Here it goes!

Have you ever felt that you are doing what God wants you to do and then something more pressing, more important, more sensitive happens?  Today, I was taken back by an old familiar feeling.

Years ago when I had accepted the fact that God was calling me to the ministry against my mom's advice I said yes. So, I applied to seminary.  The month prior to my leaving for Atlanta, my dad passed away.  I remember thinking...God, is this how you treat me when I say yes?  It took a while for me to reconcile the many emotions that I was struggling with during that time.  This evening I experienced a similar situation that re-connected me to those feelings of old.

I was writing a letter for a caterpillar that agreed to go on their Chrysalis flight.  Ok, I admit that I like writing that knowing that you would have a ton of questions about what I just said.  Chrysalis is a spiritual retreat for ages 18-25, a lot like Emmaus for older adults, and a caterpillar is the person that goes on this spiritual journey that is called a flight.  The thought behind the name is simple...there is a caterpillar stage, a chrysalis phase, that all lead to the beautiful butterfly's mature development.  Clear as mud, right?

Here is my thought...as I was writing a letter to my caterpillar I received a phone call that one of my parishioners was in emergency surgery. I am miles away doing something for the kingdom of God and in a hospital over stale coffee a family that I love is wondering if their patriarch is going to be ok...God, so this is how you treat your people?  Now, before you say just suck it up...let me share my thoughts.

Life is what happens while we are making plans. In Matthew, we are given our marching orders.  Jesus tells the disciples, and us, to go, to make, baptize, and to teach.  Then is says something pretty darn important for those of us that are confined to earthly principalities...."I am with you always."  That's it!  Enough said!  Mic drop!  Our Christianity is not like winning the golden ticket to the Willie Wonko Candy Factory!  Jesus never said that there wouldn't be hardships or stuff come up while you are doing my will, but rather gives us the gift of knowing that He will never leave our side.

So, on our best day and on our worst day we can have comfort in knowing that we...Fly With Christ!

Breaking Routine

Day 1 Doxology:  Hey...It's been a while.  I'm glad you are joining me for another season of Lent.

As you know Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Saturday.  If you do the math, Lent last 40 days not including Sundays.  The reason Sundays are excluded is because we celebrate each Sunday as mini Easters.  Therefore, Lent is a season that Christians prepare for Easter by usually giving something up, but for my Lenten discipline I write a blog each day (I try to write one each day!) about something that I want to praise God about.  I call them doxology moments.  So here is this year's first doxology moment...

It's funny, tonight as I was preparing for our Ash Wednesday Service, I had a thought, or better yet a feeling, that doing stuff that is not a part of the normal routine is more trouble.  Don't be hatin' on me; I'm just being honest.

I love doing special services like Ash Wednesday mainly because they remind me how much of a rut I can get into.  Interestingly, that is kind of why they are so important...they remind us key points about our faith, our selves, and the God we claim to serve.  Ash Wednesday reminds us of our sinfulness and our mortality.  So breaking the routine is well worth the trouble.

So, we pause from the routine of the spring, or the new year, to reset our devotion to God.  Many of us would rather just rush to the Easter Sunrise and the resurrection story, but we can't!  Our path must teach us about sacrifice, just as Christ endured the sacrifice before He was resurrected...so shall we endure the sacrifice that comes with Lent.  Then, only then we can be ready to celebrate an empty tomb!

Easter's coming, but first...Ash Wednesday!