Knowing Partially

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 12-13

Yesterday I called for the first time on a woman in a locked Alzheimer’s unit. I introduced myself and said I had brought her communion. “Good,” she said. As I began to open the communion kit, she asked, “How much does it cost?” “It’s free,” I responded. “Good,” she said. I read scripture and then, when I offered her the bread, she asked, “What is it?” I replied, “Bread.” A theological discussion of communion didn't seem right. “OK,” she said. She ate the bread, and, when I offered her a small cup, she took it in a way that suggested this action was familiar to her. Then I said, “Let’s pray together in the words our Savior taught us,” and began the Lord’s prayer. Halfway through, she joined in. She then thanked me for coming.

It is so easy to assume what people do not know, rather than wondering what they might – or whether they might know things in a different way than we do. Had receiving communion reconnected her to memories? Was her response intellectual or an ingrained routine from ninety-plus years of life? Does it matter whether she had intellectual understanding? She knew in her own way at that place and time. Communion clearly connected her to a life she has almost completely left behind.

Whatever knowledge it is we are so proud of will, as Paul points out, come to an end. At best, we know only “in part.” When we talk about receiving “grace” in communion, do we think we know all that God is conveying to us? We will only appreciate the breadth of God’s grace when we are “face to face.” In the meantime, in our partial knowledge, the best we can do is love with faith and hope in what God is doing.

God’s peace,

Katie

A Faith Garden

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. . . . By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Hebrews 11:1,3

Saturday some Baylor University students and I planted a special garden on the Wesley Foundation grounds. We set out tomato, cabbage, bell pepper, oregano and marigold plants with youth from Mount Zion United Methodist Church, who live in one of the worst zip codes for child welfare in the U.S. Then we potted plants for them to take home to nurture.

Each of the children and youth Mount Zion is reaching out to, through tutoring and other connections, has already faced substantial challenge in life. But that congregation and some of us at the Wesley Foundation have faith that God can raise them to triumphant life.

A dear friend, knowing my love of growing things, gave me a plaque that says, “A garden is a sign of faith.” I can plant seeds, but I cannot make them grow or blossom or produce fruit. I can only cooperate in what God does. Putting seeds or plants in the ground requires faith that the word of God continues to bring forth beauty and goodness in this world God’s word prepared. I pray those plants will be signs to those youth of our faith in what God can grow in them and that nurturing their plants will put them in touch with the God who seeks to heal them, strengthen them and draw them forward. 

God’s peace,

Katie

Good Dirt

Jesus said, “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

Matthew 13:3-9

If we were to move from the house where we live, one thing that would be very hard to leave is the garden dirt. I’ve worked with that soil for several years, mostly adding organic matter. Most of the garden has become easy to work, and plants thrive, sometimes producing enough to freeze or give away. Every so often, though, like yesterday, I encounter a spot with solid clay only a couple of inches below the surface. I put in seeds and wish them luck.

Jesus’ asks us to look at what kind of dirt we are for the seed of God’s Word. Are we on a path, out in the open where evils and distractions will devour the Word before it can sprout? Are we rocky soil, where the Word can take root, but the roots can’t go deep because our hearts are hard, and the seed God plants withers quickly. Do we support lots of weeds – interests and occupations that draw our minds and hearts elsewhere? Or are we good soil that offers its very being freely to grow the seeds God plants in us?

Unlike garden soil, the soil of our lives can change daily – or even more often. We don’t need to worry whether God will speak a Word to us – through scripture, a teacher, a friend or a stranger. God is always sowing seeds. We do need to cultivate our soil, so that God’s seeds can grow. I can’t imagine how many Words from God have withered in me. Maybe my garden soil will remind me to cultivate my heart.

God’s peace,

Katie

God the Chef

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.

Psalms 104:14-15

Yesterday, our meal at an Italian restaurant began with wonderful fresh bread – very light with a fine texture and yeasty aroma – accompanied by a good olive oil with herbs and garlic for dipping. (If you are drooling, go ahead. That’s what I’m aiming for.) It certainly was not the stuff of New Year’s resolutions to cut back calories. Rather, it was just delightful. We couldn’t help but focus full attention on enjoying it. When the salad course came, we said grace, but I think we already had voiced our thanksgiving in the oohs and ahhs over the bread.

Maybe it’s helpful to envision God as a loving chef, who places banquets of food, people, plants, animals, stars and so many other wonders before us. Perhaps this Heavenly Chef is looking, as many cooks do, to see a sign of pleasure on our parts. Do we catch the flavor, the beauty, the intricacy of the gifts God places before us or the the love that goes into them?

It doesn’t take much to make a cook’s efforts worthwhile, just an ooh or ahh or “Wow.” But first we have to stop to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

God’s peace,

Katie

Correcting Love

Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

                                                                                                                            John 13:34-35

Loving someone in the ways Jesus commands is so much more than a feeling. Feelings can come and go when someone pleases us or does not. Sometimes Christ-like love is an act of will and self-discipline. It means reaching out, when I want to turn away, and seeing the other person’s possibilities, when it is much easier to see reject the current bad behavior.

If we love as God loves, our love is unconditional, but that doesn’t mean always supporting the other person’s actions, no matter what. Jesus loved the people of God, their scriptures and their worship. But he cleansed the Temple in a display of faithfulness to God and grief over what their worship had become. (John 2) Scripture offers us many images of God’s grief over our sin.

Sometimes out of love, we grieve painfully what another person is doing or becoming. And, though it is harder for us to see it, we sometimes grieve people who love us. Are we willing to let someone love us in the name of Christ enough to let that person correct us? Are we willing risk loving someone enough to call him or her back to being the person we know God made them to be?

Receiving or giving correcting love requires great humility. We can be wrong about ourselves or someone else. I have never once enjoyed being confronted about myself and my actions, even out of love, but I’m thankful for the people who have loved me enough to risk doing it.

God’s peace,

Katie

We Can't Imagine

John 1:49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 

John 1:49

Nathanael had not been all that excited to meet Jesus. When Philip announced he had met the Messiah and he was Jesus from Nazareth, Nathanael  growled, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” But after a few moments in Jesus’ presence, he proclaimed Jesus Son of God and King of Israel. He was right, but there was so much he didn’t know. He didn’t know yet that this impressive man would ask him to leave home. He didn’t know this King would end up on a Cross. He couldn’t have imagined encountering Jesus after he rose from the dead. He couldn’t have imagined being a leader of the early Church or even that there would be one.

There is so much we don’t know about what will happen to us if we commit to follow Jesus. I didn’t expect to be a pastor, and I couldn’t have imagined the places and people I would serve after I became one. Sometimes my path has been joyous. Sometimes it’s been hard. It’s always been worth it. But, if I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that I have no idea where following Jesus will take me in the next year or even the next day. (How many times have I said, "Didn't see that coming when I got up this morning?")

If we commit to follow Jesus, we at least have to leave the door open to going places and meeting people we can’t imagine – and might not choose. What possibilities for the path ahead excite you? Which would make you fearful? What preconceived notions of what God will or won’t do with us do we have to lay aside? Maybe it was a good thing Nathanael didn’t know all that was coming. Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t.

God’s peace,

Katie

A Question from Jesus

John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. 

John 1:35-39

When Jesus notices two men walking behind him, he doesn’t offer them a theological pronouncement. Rather, he asks a question, “What are you looking for?” They respond with their own question, “Where are you staying?” which suggests they want to get to know him. Jesus welcomes them, answering, “Come and see.” Jesus invites them in. He wants to know what they are seeking.

If Jesus asked you what you are looking for, what would your answer be? Such a simple but direct question invites us to look deep within ourselves to find what we really long for. Jesus did not want to know the two would-be disciples, nor does Jesus want to know us, at surface level. 

If we are disciples, we seek to follow the Jesus who asks, “What are you looking for?” How many people in our lives would be blessed simply by knowing that someone wants to know their hopes and fears? As we invite people into our lives, they can “come and see” our victories and our struggles as we seek to follow Jesus. Who around us needs a word of invitation and a welcoming heart?

God’s peace,

Katie

Beginning Again

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.John 1:1-5 

It’s the beginning of the semester, not far from the beginning of a year, and I am beginning to blog again. “In the beginning” of all things, God spoke a Word to create the world out of Love, but God also created human freedom. All things came into being through God, but not all new beginnings originate in God. Somewhere, this very day, someone is planning a new way for one group of people to eradicate other members of the human family. Someone, somewhere is devising a new way to hack identities. Someone, somewhere (in many “where”s) is about to lure someone into a drug addiction. There is more darkness in more places than we can imagine. All our new beginnings have to take into account the temptations of darkness. We can make a beginning for ourselves – for our advancement, our comfort, our pleasure, with little thought of others. Or we can start a new beginning by asking God to shine light into our hearts and minds, so that our lives and what we do with them show forth the Light that is always coming into the world to conquer darkness.

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with your Holy Spirit, that all our works begun, continued and ended in you, may glorify your Holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God’s peace,

Katie

Bringing the Dawn

“You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:76-79

At the beginning of this semester, I committed to blog twice weekly as a way to reach out to students at Baylor University, where I am the United Methodist campus minister. It appears that some non-students have followed along. Classes end tomorrow. So I will be taking a break until a new semester begins in January. Then I’ll post once a week. Twice weekly was way too ambitious, and I want to savor the scriptures.

I end this semester where I began, with the scripture from which this blog takes its name. Zechariah is praising God after the birth of his son, John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for the coming of Christ. His words remain part of Christian worship and are said or sung by many Christian communities at least once a week.

Kathleen Norris, a writer who often worships with Benedictines, has said that she sang this scripture for years before she realized “you, child” meant her. We can join in these words because we, too, are meant to be “prophets of the Most High,” who go before the Lord to prepare people’s hearts to receive Christ and to give them “knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” Through us, the “dawn from on high” breaks in to shine in their darkness and guide them into the way of peace.

How better to prepare people’s hearts to receive God’s forgiveness than to give them our own? to demonstrate that it is possible to enter into the way of peace because we have? Maybe we haven’t fully entered in, but God is at work in us. As God’s tender mercy appears through us, dawn breaks, at least in one small part of God’s world. What a privilege to bear the dawn, however imperfectly.

God’s peace,

Katie

Gathered for Joy

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Luke 1:39-45

After the angel told Mary she would give birth to the Messiah – and that her cousin Elizabeth, who was past childbearing age was six months pregnant – Mary “went with haste” to see Elizabeth. Many explanations have been offered for her trip.

Those of skeptical mind reason that Mary wanted proof that what the angel had told her was true. If Elizabeth were pregnant, then the promise to Mary could be trusted.

More than one task-oriented person has suggested Mary went to “help out.” Elizabeth was way too old to be pregnant. She needed someone to take care of her. That seems unlikely because Mary left (v. 56) just before Elizabeth’s baby was born.

What seems more likely is that Mary had just welcomed God to act in her life in an unimaginable way. God was breaking into history. The Messiah was at hand – and Mary would be his mother! Who could begin to understand what had happened to her? Only Elizabeth, who also had experienced an “impossible” act of God.

Elizabeth greets Mary with awe and joy. God is acting, and through them! After Elizabeth’s welcome, Mary bursts into a song of praise (vv. 46-55). The women celebrate with wonder what God is doing and that they are part of it.

Some have said that these women offer scripture’s earliest picture of the church – people gathered to rejoice at what God is doing and how they are part of it. What would it be like if we approached worship in the spirit of Mary and Elizabeth? We would have to take care to recognize the ways God is entering into the world and that God chooses to come among people through us – and then let ourselves be awed, humbled and joyous.

God’s peace,

Katie

Choosing Small

The angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. . . . With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

Luke 1:13-15, 17

Zechariah was an obscure country priest, who came to Jerusalem once a year to serve in the Temple. Inside this holy place, where no one else could see, an angel told him that his faithful prayer over decades had been heard. He and his wife, Elizabeth, would have the child for whom they had hoped so long. More than that, God was entrusting them to shape John (later called “the Baptist”) to be a great prophet, who would prepare Israel to receive its long-promised Messiah.

No one would have nominated Zechariah and Elizabeth for greatness. Sometimes we feel that way about ourselves. What we can do is small. Never does it seem smaller than when the end of a semester is bearing down, along with Christmas events and activities. How can we also prepare our hearts spiritually? But for the birth of Jesus, God chose “small.” Zechariah and Elizabeth had been faithful in small things. After God gave them John, they still probably looked little different from their child-rearing neighbors. In scripture, God consistently opts for faithful, often obscure, people over high-profile ones.

Christmas, of all seasons, is not a time to think big. It’s a time to join God in thinking small – seeking to give thanks faithfully for our blessings, offering our lives and tasks to God daily, looking for God in small moments of connection with others, and not asking of ourselves more than we can do. If God can choose small, so can we.

God’s peace,

Katie

Really?

Isaiah 2:4 . . .  they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4

Romans 13:11-12 . . . salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Romans 13:11-12

Isaiah paints an impossible picture, really – a world where war does not exist, where museums are the only places to see military weapons. Such a world would also have no hunger, since not having the means to survive is one thing that drives nations to war. Can we really imagine a world like that – a vision that scripture paints so many times? Paul writes to the Romans that this full salvation, when God will renew all of creation, is “nearer” than it was, ready to break in. Do we really believe that?

What would we act like if we did? Would we drop our works of darkness, as though they might blister us? (What “works of darkness”? I can think of some over-spending and over-expecting at Christmas that would have to go from my life. Isn’t it interesting that a day of mammoth shopping is called Black Friday?)

Is it possible to see so clearly what God seeks for the world and its people that we are eager to put on the armor of God’s light? And do things, even small ones, to bring that light? Really? Are we afraid to embrace God’s vision for the world because we might have to change?

I know that question scares me, really. But I hope to get beyond my fear.

God’s peace,

Katie

Unexpected Truth

The boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

1 Samuel 3:1

Scripture has few starker pictures of spiritual emptiness than of this time when God’s Word rarely came forth to give vision for the present and future. The conversation between God and the people appears silent on God’s end, but perhaps human ears were closed. As religious leaders, Eli and his family were counted on to speak God’s Word, but they were corrupt. Eli’s sons were sinning with women assisting at the temple and profiting from offerings made to God. Eli was turning a blind eye. Surely they didn’t abandon serving God overnight. But with each step away, they less and less sought to hear a Word from the Lord that might call them to account. At some point, maybe God did cease to speak.

When God first called to Samuel, the young boy thought he heard Eli. After Samuel repeatedly came to him, this corrupt man realized Samuel was hearing the nearly forgotten voice of God. Eli can’t have welcomed a Word that surely would condemn him, but he did the right thing. He taught Samuel to respond to God’s voice by saying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” When Samuel spoke those words, he heard a Word from God, and it did pronounce doom for Eli and his sons.

This scripture reminds us that “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears” should be our stance toward God. But we may find a lesson in Eli. He had turned away from God’s call, but he knew something Samuel didn’t. He was vital to the emergence of a new prophet. Sometimes unexpected people, even people deep in sin, may have a word of truth to speak. When we don’t listen for God everywhere and from everyone, we may miss something that can change our lives.

God’s peace,

Katie

Savoring Snacks

On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish.” 

Luke 9:10-13

After Jesus’ twelve closest disciples had returned from a major mission trip, eager to tell Jesus all they had done, Jesus took them to a quiet place. But when the crowds that sought Jesus found them, Jesus welcomed and taught them. Can’t you imagine that the apostles were thinking, “What about us?”

As day faded, the crowd was hungry, and Jesus told his tired missionaries to give them something to eat. The disciples had almost nothing to give. Jesus took the few scraps available and made them into much more than needed. The disciples distributed the bounty. But what about them? I like to think that they ate as well, at least from the leftovers.

I am on my way home from my yearly silent retreat – a feast of scripture, quiet worship, guided meditations, reflection, prayer and other spiritual nourishment. Last night I pondered “snacks.” How will I find strength and direction back home, when one demand, real or imagined, follows another? I jotted down words I want to remember and ways to “check in” with God and myself – not at length but briefly and regularly. I’ve put this list where I can get to it on computer, tablet or phone. What remains is to schedule “snack time” faithfully.

For the disciples, the taste of the loaves and fish surely faded, but they must have remembered for the rest of their lives their tiredness, the crowd and how Jesus provided more than enough. That spiritual “snack” of memory must have brought back a hint of the food’s taste and given them strength to go forward. What memories of God’s grace, what words of Scripture can you keep as snacks to sustain you?

God’s peace,

Katie

The Power of Going Away

When God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

Galatians 1:15-17

Paul writes to the Galatians that after he had his dramatic conversion to faith in Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), he “went away at once” to Arabia. Acts records some events before his departure. Caught up in fervor for a sweeping, newly discovered truth, he provoked such opposition in the Damascus synagogues that the Christians there had to help him escape. During a brief stay in Jerusalem, where he again made “bold” proclamation, the Greeks plotted murder, and the Christians “sent Paul off.” Paul doesn’t say how long he was away, but he came back to engage in perhaps the most fruitful ministry in history.

“Going away,” even, maybe especially, when we are most convinced of the rightness and righteousness of our intentions can give us a chance to gain perspective and let God show us what we should do and how. “Away” can mean a moment of prayer in the midst of other people to center our hearts. It may mean leaving others for a longer period of thought and prayer. “Away time” with an attentive heart gives God the opportunity to awaken love in our hearts for those with whom we hope to share what is important to us – and humility in how we do so.

If the great Paul “went away,” I know it’s important for me.

God’s peace,

Katie

Becoming a Better Pilgrim

Those who put their trust in you are truly happy; pilgrimage is in their hearts.

Psalm 84:5

As Thanksgiving nears, we think back to the Pilgrims who traveled over a treacherous ocean to an unknown land to worship God as their hearts called them. The primary dictionary definition of “pilgrim” is “one who travels to a holy place.” Surely those early Pilgrims to America must have thought they were headed somewhere heavenly. While their reality proved otherwise, they did find blessings amid hardship, so much so that they had a Thanksgiving feast.

Hymns for centuries have spoken of Christians as pilgrims, whose home is in heaven and who are just “passing through” this earthly life. Yet scripture tells us all creation “came into being through the Word,” which came to share this life with us in Jesus. (John 1:3) And Genesis says human beings are created in the image of God. (1:27) So we don’t need to wait for heaven to be caught up in God’s presence. Our life journeys are filed with experiences and people who can point us toward God. Most of us would not say, as some in previous generations did, that this life doesn’t matter. But often we don’t look on our daily lives as overflowing with opportunities to encounter God.

Soon I will go to a “holy place,” where thousands of people have prayed over nearly 150 years, for my annual silent retreat. Whether it is a worthwhile retreat will not depend so much on what happens there as on whether I emerge a better pilgrim, looking for the holy places God puts along my way.

God’s peace,

Katie

The Noticer

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.  

Luke 13:10-13

Pain is all around – large hurts and small ones – but mostly hidden. We may not speak of our pain because someone else must have suffered more or longer. Sometimes we try to tell the world, and ourselves, that we don’t really hurt. Other people seem to be doing OK. Surely we aren’t weaker than they are. We forget that they may be wearing masks just as we are. Sometimes we have carried our pain for so long that we rarely notice it.

The bent-over woman in the synagogue had been looking at the ground for 18 years. She had to expend great effort to see the sky or other people’s faces. Being forced to look at the ground cripples the heart. She likely had forgotten what it was like not to be bent. But Jesus noticed her bentness, called her to him and healed her body and her heart. He reintroduced her to the sky.

Jesus noticed. Jesus noticed people no one else did. He noticed sick and handicapped people. He went out of his way to enter into fellowship with those who were rejected by people with status.

Jesus knew what it was not to be noticed or to be rejected. Even as he went about relieving the suffering of others, many people ignored him. Others rejected him and plotted to kill him. He later was to know the excruciating pain of flogging and crucifixion.

We can suffer no pain that Jesus doesn’t notice. Other people may not notice or care, but we can trust that Jesus does. Whatever our pain, Jesus already has noticed it. So we may as well walk over in prayer and ask him to touch us.

God’s peace,

Katie

Even in Hell

Where can I go from your Spirit? 

Or where can I flee from your presence? 

If I ascend to heaven, you are there; 

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

-- Psalm 139:7-8

Do you have a personal picture of hell, not the eternal fire kind, but hell on earth – somewhere completely divorced from hope and the experience of God’s presence? For years, mine was the inpatient psychiatric unit at the public hospital where I was a chaplain. Patients were locked away for days or weeks. They had come from a fragile life. They would be discharged on medication to a marginal existence, often to get off the meds and return to the hospital. Visitors were rare. Could there be souls more lost?

When another chaplain began weekly worship there, I couldn’t imagine what that would accomplish. Then he asked me to fill in while he was away. I couldn’t say no, but how does one lead worship in hell?

I arrived with a CD of soothing music, a scripture I thought might be comforting and an innocuous devotional, planning to close with the Lord’s Prayer. The patients, many shuffling, began arriving after the music started. I introduced myself and read my scripture. A few words into the devotional, a patient called out a scripture – book, chapter, verse. To humor him, I looked it up and read it aloud – a passage of great comfort. Another person called out another book, chapter and verse – beautiful words of hope. Over and over, they cited scriptures and I read. Where had these scriptures come from – a long-ago Sunday school class, a parent or grandparent, someone in a shelter? God’s word seemed to bounce off the walls in that forsaken place.

The room became quiet. Time for the Lord’s Prayer? A patient called out, “Matthew 6:9” – the Lord’s Prayer. In awe, I led the prayer. As I walked back to the chaplain’s office, my heart echoed the words, “Where can I go from your Spirit?” Nowhere, not even in hell on earth.

God’s peace,

Katie

Walking in Good Works

For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Ephesians 2:10

When I was growing up, we recited a prayer at the end of worship each week  that asked God, among other things, “to assist us with your grace, that we may . . . do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in.” As a small child, I loved those words, even though I couldn’t imagine exactly what walking in good works might look like.

As I’ve lived into that prayer, I’ve realized that good works aren’t so much events along the path of discipleship as they are the path itself. Scripture and prayer guide us. Worship draws our hearts to God. But good works form us.

As I act kindly, responding with caring to people’s needs becomes more natural, and I become kinder. As I give of my money and time, it hurts less to let go, and I become more generous. I may grit my teeth to be patient with someone, but I begin to grit them a shorter time, as God’s Spirit leads me to see myself in the other’s shoes.

I don’t put bumper stickers on my car. The only one that has ever tempted me reads, “Be patient. God isn’t through with me yet.” And the good works God gives me to walk in are how God continues to mold me.

God’s peace,

Katie

Transforming Learning

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

As we are transformed by the Holy Spirit, Christians think differently. We think about different things, and we use a different framework for thinking. While it can be important to learn about the Bible and theology and, in my case, gardening, the point of learning is to be able to “discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Christians take learning to a different level by asking how it can enable us to become the people God has made us to be – and to do the particular things God calls us to do. (Yes, I know, sometimes, particularly in school, we have to learn things we can’t imagine will be of any use. And we may be right. Some studies only increase our patience and endurance.)

As my garden has grown in size and fruitfulness, I have learned a lot, but my purpose isn’t just to raise lots of great tomatoes (as good as those are). I learn and relearn things that transform me. Even if I do all the right things, the plant may not grow. Growth is up to God and the plant. But I can nurture. I can cooperate with God. I can be in awe of the complexity of how plants grow and the intricacy of God’s creation. I can experience how my life is related to all of life. I can, in some tiny, tiny way, become less of a drain on the planet’s food supply and more aware of those who don’t have a minimal diet. In knowing my limits and entering into what God is bringing forth from the ground, I find peace and joy that I take with me as a pastor.

What learning renews your mind and helps you grow into the will of God for you?

God's peace,

Katie