Category: Spirituality

Would Jesus Jump on My Political Bandwagon?

9/22/2018

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My parents warned me, “Never discuss sex, politics, or religion because they’re explosive.” Alert: I’m talking about two of them here.
     I’m a Christian, I’m thankful to be an American, and like you, I’m concerned about the spiraling down of our culture. That’s why some Christians yearn to make America great again. But would Jesus jump on this bandwagon? Building up a country wasn’t his priority because he declared his realm isn’t in this world. When his supporters sought to make Israel great again by crowning him king, Jesus shunned their efforts. And when offered all the kingdoms of the world, he turned them down.
“Evangelicals claim to follow a Savior who relinquished worldly power,” historian and evangelical John Fea says. “Yet they continue to place their hope in political candidates as a means of advancing an agenda that confuses the kingdom of God with the United States of America.” I’ve done that, too.
In contrast, Jesus’ early followers understood that our primary citizenship is God’s kingdom, while nationality is our secondary citizenship. They perceived that we are aliens and strangers here, and that our hearts should long for God’s heavenly country.
But you say America is an exception because we’re a Christian nation? Evangelical theologian Michael Horton disagrees. “The only Christian nation in the world today is the one gathered ‘from every tribe and language and people and nation’ (Rev. 5:9) to be addressed by its king.” Horton points out that Jesus commissioned his followers “…to proclaim the gospel, not political opinions; to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, not in the name of America or a political party; and to teach everything that he delivered, not our own personal and political priorities.”
     Then how should we Christians function as American citizens? I look to Billy Graham here. He learned that aligning himself politically was negative in representing the gospel. Therefore, he warned the religious right not to seek political power. “I came close to identifying the American way of life with the kingdom of God,” he said. “Then I realized that God had called me to a higher kingdom than America.” Graham declared he would no longer be “closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle in order to preach to all people, right and left.”
     For me, this means gratefully exercising my privilege to vote for those I believe will do the best job, while not granting unquestioning loyalty to any politician, party, or platform. Then I’m free to embrace what is right and to call out what is wrong.
Scripture exhorts me to display the fruit of God’s Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - a stark contrast to arrogance I may be tempted to exhibit in my zeal. Therefore, I shouldn’t excuse or applaud lying, bullying, name calling, and mockery from either side of the political spectrum, even when it’s used to advance a goal I support. I am to walk humbly, reflecting God’s heart by seeking justice and mercy for society and wholeness for individuals.
So would Jesus jump on my political bandwagon? I don’t think so. I am to jump on his - a quiet revolution in hearts that leads to a contagious reform in culture.
Interestingly, when we Christians seek first God’s kingdom, we’ll be good Americans, too, by fulfilling our nation’s motto: “In God We Trust.”
***
Image from Clipart Panda with text added.

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Am I Plugged In?

7/27/2018

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As I sat in the movie theater watching the documentary about Mr. Rogers, an embarrassing memory crossed my mind. One morning at the rec center I’d stepped onto the elliptical, positioned my ear buds, and pushed up the volume on my phone. Only faint music. I cranked up the volume again. Not much more. Then the twenty-something man on the machine next to me pointed to my cord. “Not plugged in.”
     Oops. I shoved it in, and the music blared into my ears from what had shuffled onto my playlist - a cover of an old Mr. Rogers song. Second embarrassment - the guy next to me had heard it all. I peeked up at him, and he laughed. “Hey, I was into it!”
     I gave him a sheepish grin and began striding on the elliptical. The warmth of the song’s lyrics swept over me as they had when my kids were little and we watched Mr. Rogers on TV. Like a good father, Mr. Rogers reminded me that I’m growing inside. That I can make a snappy new day. That he has ideas for me. That each day he’ll have things to talk about, and I will, too.    And a thought crashed into my head: these words were not only from Mr. Rogers, they were from my heavenly Father. I’m growing inside. We have things to talk about. He has ideas for me. What a message I’d have missed if I hadn’t gone beyond the music and plugged into the spiritual realm.
     I left the rec center to make a snappy new day.
***
  To hear the B.J. Thomas version of “It’s a Good Feeling,” click here.

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When Your Dreams Burn Up

6/29/2018

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I spotted these charred remains of a car in front of a house that was reduced to ashes. Someone’s dream home on an island off the Gulf Coast gone up in smoke in a few scorching minutes.
I’ve had dreams turn to ashes, too. My dream of being a great singer - my voice didn’t cooperate with that. My dream of buying a house on a hill with a mountain view - the real estate market didn’t cooperate with that.
     Other dreams have come true. The dream of having a family - my husband willingly cooperated in the process. The dream of owning a red Miata convertible - it was a blast until I decided I’d better sell it before I got stuck inside and we had to use a crane to extricate me.
     Some of my dreams weren’t worth pursuing. They were like the New Yorker cartoon I saw in which one woman tells another, “I got what I wanted, but it’s not what I wanted.” Reality didn’t live up to the dreaminess.
     Life’s a tightrope walk - the tension between striving and gratitude. I don’t always navigate the tightrope gracefully.
  But a friend reminded me that this life isn’t the entire script. It’s only the first act in a never ending production where the best of dreams may come true in the second act.

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What Do E.T. and Dorothy Long For?

3/23/2018

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What do both E.T. and Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz long for?
     It’s a simple, four-letter word.
     E.T. pointed his bony finger toward the heavens and mourned for home.
     Dorothy faced a Wicked Witch with Flying Monkeys to get back home.
     We all aspire for the peace and comfort that’s inherent in that little word.
   In fact, we may have the best of times with family and friends. But after we say our goodbyes, we may sense that what we’ve experienced is just a taste of something better - what “home” is meant to be.
     That’s because we live in a paradise lost, where one way or another, everything’s broken.
     So we yearn for more.
     “We were not meant for this world alone,” Billy Graham said. “We were meant for Heaven. And Heaven is our ultimate home.”    Which is why I burst with excitement that Jesus said he was going on ahead to prepare a place for us in God’s big, big house. Where nothing is broken. With no more goodbyes. Only endless hellos.
  What a homecoming that will be.

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How I Struck Out

11/3/2017

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     Her name came to mind as quietly as a cat walking.
     “Susan.”
     She’s a friend I’d made in stretching class at the rec center. A vibrant redhead, she would kid me about my impossible dream of reaching down and actually touching my toes. Susan could. After class, she’d head to the machines for weight training. She always attacked life head on.
     One day Susan walked into class with her usual determined grin and announced to everyone she had fourth-stage lung cancer. She’d never been a smoker. Never even allowed smoking in her home. Go figure.
     Her strength evaporated. She stopped attending class and vanished into the ozone of chemotherapy. I emailed, getting one-sentence replies. I ran into her once at the doctors when we were both there for lab work. At first I didn’t recognize her with the red bandana on her head and the shuffle in her step. “How is it?” I asked. “So far, so good,” she whispered, managing a smile.

DIVINE NUDGE

  She disappeared from my radar. Then the thought came: “Susan.” I knew it was a God-prompt to pray. Maybe contact her.
     I was busy with important stuff, I thought, so I’d email later. I wrote her name on a slip of paper to remind myself. The paper shifted around my desk. I didn’t contact her. Forgot to pray.
     A week later at the rec center, another friend told me, “Susan passed away last night.”
     My heart ached. I’d struck out. Even if the baseballs had been juiced in this game, I would have whiffed them because I was batting at other things in life. Things as inconsequential as gnats now. I missed the opportunity to pray for strength for Susan as she rounded third and flew into home base.
     But I haven’t left the playing field. I’m sitting in the bleachers, praying for her family as they slump in the dugout of their grief.
     Some people call nudges like I got “hearing from God,” and I think they’re right. They’re invitations to join the Almighty in his cosmic work. What a mystery, and what a privilege that I don’t want to miss out on.
  Have you acted on any divine nudges lately?

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Croutons...
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JOIN ME ~ I’ll send brief, occasional posts to lighten your backpack. We're on this journey together.

Would Jesus Jump on My Political Bandwagon?

Am I Plugged In?

When Your Dreams Burn Up

What Do E.T. and Dorothy Long For?

How I Struck Out

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