"Nice Christians"

Bible study in the park was interesting last night. A neighbor who saw my King Ave yard sign came over and asked me about the church. She hadn't been to church since she was a young child and wanted to explore Christianity. I invited her to come with me to our Thursday evening Bible Study in the park and she did.

Then during the class a beautiful yellow lab came over and sat right beside me. Her owner, a young woman from the neighborhood stopped to get her. However the dog wasn't going to budge. She seemed determined to join the group! Maybe it was the brownies that she smelled, I don't know, but I would like to believe that God works in many ways including through our pets.

After several minutes of coaxing, it became evident that the dog was not moving. Her owner thanked us for being so nice to her dog and asked what kind of group we were. We told her we were a bible study group, to which she responded, "Wow, nice Christians! I don't know many of those."

That simple statement broke my heart. She went on to say that she had left her childhood church and left Christianity because she found Christians to be judgmental and even sometimes cruel. She had many gay and lesbian friends and said she couldn't go to a church that would not include them.

Immediately, the group responded with invitations to the Blessing of the Animals and to Morning Blend on Sunday. One member of the group told her that she was a lesbian and hadn't been to church in 20 years until she found King Ave. Everyone assured her that both she and her friends would be welcome.

She responded by saying that it was funny to run into us because she had been thinking a lot about her spiritual journey lately and had just begun to pray again after years of abstaining.

Now here is the really amazing part. Once she promised to come to the Blessing of the Animals and maybe to come Sunday, her dog got up, ready to go home!

I went home last night in awe of God's goodness, thinking about the lesson of humble patience.

The yard sign had been up in my yard since Easter. This is our second summer in the park. I was about to give up on both and to be honest was feeling a little sorry for myself because my projects seem to never attract more than 6-8 people - a failure in church growth circles.

Then we had the opportunity to touch two people looking for God and a faith they can believe in. Maybe neither of them will ever become church members at King Ave but I believe that both of them will remember that they met Christians who welcomed the stranger with the love of Christ.

Where have you had the opportunity to plant seeds of Christ's love and hope?

Shiphrah and Puah

Shiphrah and Puah were the Hebrew midwives who defied Pharaoh to let the baby boys live. Because of their courage, Moses was able to grow up and lead the Hebrews out of slavery. Their story can be found in Exodus 1:8-22.

In his sermon on Shiphrah and Puah on Sunday, John stated, "God won't without us and we can't without God."

I really liked that. We can't sit back and expect God to fix all the problems of the world without any effort on our part and we can't set out to save the world or even ourselves without God.

I think about this every time I say to someone, I will pray for you. It's not that I don't believe in the power of prayer but what if God means for me to be part of the answer also? What if God wants me to do more than pray for the homeless but to actively work on their behalf? What if God wants me to do more than pray for someone in pain but to also be there with them letting them know that they are not forgotten?

What about you? What do you think God needs you to do? What do you feel called to do but know you cannot do alone?

The Creation Story

On Sunday, John gave us a wonderful explanation of the creation story in Genesis 2 - 3. He described how Adam (literal meaning "the earth creature" or "creature of the earth") represents humanity. He was created by God as we all are created - in God's image, with the potential to be connected in deep and sacred ways with other humans, with non-human creation, and most of all with God.

But we mess things up and we find ourselves unconnected at the same time that we long for connectedness and wholeness.

Questions to ponder for this week:
* In what ways are you disconnected to God, to others and/or to nature?
* What are you doing to restore those connections?
* In what ways do you feel connected?

The Story of Ruth and Naomi

The story of Ruth and Naomi reminds us of 2 of God's eternal truths:
* We need each other - especially across generational lines. Ruth needed Naomi's wisdom and maturity. Naomi needed Ruth's courage, determination, and flexibility.
* Throughout the Bible, God uses "the outsider" as part of God's plan to save humanity. We should expect the unexpected because God is full of surprises.

So two sets of questions for this week.
1. Remember a person who was older than you that made a difference in your life. How did she or he help you to broaden your horizons or turn a "no" into a "yes"? How are you passing on that blessing to the next generation?
2. When have you felt like an "outsider"? When have you experienced grace through an "outsider"?

Let's Begin

As I came into church this morning at a little after 9 am, my car thermometer read 89. Not a good sign.

But the heat makes me think about slowing down. It makes me long for a covered porch, where I can sit in a porch swing and drink cold lemonade.

I have been thinking a lot recently about time and seasons.
From Genesis 1 to Ecclesiastes 3, God seems to have designed the world to flow to a certain rhythm. Night and day, summer and winter, spring and fall are more then opposites with one being good and one being bad. They are all needed to make a complete whole.

With electric lights and modern heating and cooling systems, we are able to ignore the rhythms of nature and create our own. Although I consider myself completely modern and do not think that I can live without my DVR, I realize that my life is often out of rhythm. There is no natural flow of work and play, time to do and time to be. Even my spiritual life can seem to be more of tasks on my to do list than a time of creation and renewal.

I have no magic pill to take or to give to fix this problem for myself of others. But I think that I am going to begin to take some small steps to create a healthier rhythm for myself.

I have decided that at least for the rest of the summer, I will spend Thursday mornings in rest or play. I will seek out spots that allow me to breath deeply of God's Spirit. This Thursday will be spent with 4 other women clergy in my support and accountability group. Next Thursday, I am going to play with my daughters. Future days will include trips to Franklin Conservatory and the Columbus Zoo.

So here is the question for this week. Where do you go for rest and renewal?