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Monday, May 23, 2005
Love Love Love
What do children think about love?
A recent e-mail claimed to have some honest answers. (Watch out! Parents and older sibs could be incriminated.)
John, age 9, says: "Love is like an avalanche where you have to run for your life."
Andrew, age 6: "One of the people has freckles, and so he finds somebody else who has freckles, too."
Mike, age 10: "On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date."
Carolyn, age 8: "My mother says to look for a man who is kind. That's what I'll do. I'll find somebody who's kinda tall and handsome."
Yesterday during worship I asked the kids how you know somebody loves you.
One said it's when they hug you. (Oohs and ahs around the room, seconding that emotion.) Another voted for when you get a present. A favorite meal. When they actually say "I love you."
So many ways to show that you love someone. Almost an infinite variety.
Aren't you glad that's so?
My short list includes:
*Holding your hand when you cross the street.
*Believing you when you're telling the truth, and knowing you well enough to have a hunch when you're not.
*Remembering your birthday with just the right card and gift.
*Putting down that fascinating book and really listening to what you want to say.
*Laughing at your jokes, even when they're not very funny.
*If you have to go to the hospital, sitting by your bed so you know you're not going through this thing alone.
In 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 St. Paul prayed for his friends that they'd try to get along together with God's kind of peace as their goal. He prayed they'd always greet each other with a warm embrace and a friendly smile.
And he prayed a triple blessing on them from God: That Jesus would look kindly on them. That God the Father would shower them with love. And that the Holy Spirit would join their hearts together.
Nice trinitarian theology there. But what I like best about it is the way knowing you're loved turns you into a new kind of lover. God loves Jesus, Jesus loves us, and the Spirit spreads that love all around.
How cool is that?
posted by Jack Buckley at
9:46 AM
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
What, Me Worry?
The indigenous people of Guatemala have a healthy way to handle worries.
Among a family's possessions is a brightly colored egg-shaped box. Inside are six tiny dolls. If you have a troubling problem, you take out one of the dolls and tell it about what's going on. Then you put the doll aside to carry your burden, and you're free to get on with your day.
If another worrisome thing comes up that day, you repeat the process with another doll. Before going to bed, you gather up all the dolls and replace them in the box. Tomorrow is another day. For tonight, you are able to rest in peace.*
Lacking a Guatemalan trouble box, I'm so glad its lesson is transferrable.
Take one friendly listener, sit a spell and tell your troublesome story. Speak and listen to each other carefully, prayerfully. Maybe you'll find a good way to deal with the problem. Yea!
If not, your friend now shares the burden, halving your load of woe. You can get on with your day in confidence you're not alone.
All this is terribly timely for me today.
My wife Joanne has been in the hospital for a week with three distinct problems. Sinus infection, pneumonia, and diabetes. All of them are new since this year began. This test and that, for seven days running, have failed to nail down exactly how to cure the pneumonia and resolve the other problems.
Do I worry? Well, is the pope German?
But I don't need a Fed Ex shipment from Guatemala.
For the time being, I've got even better help. Today I'm thanking God for my church family, my flesh and blood family, and my many many friends who've sat a while, listened intently, massaged my heavy heart. They -- you -- set me free for an honest day's work of doing the same in Jesus' name.
_______________
*I found this story in Steve Goodier's LifeSupport System newsletter. Check it out at http://www.lifesupportsystem.com.
posted by Jack Buckley at
11:48 AM
Monday, May 09, 2005
Go Thou and Do Likewise
"Love thy tubbies as thyself," it said.
The cover of the Mother's Day card our granddaughter gave Joanne yesterday.
The picture showed, in the background, three tele-tubbies all wrapped up in a group hug. Up front stood Tinky Winky, complete with handbag, holding hands with the funkiest Jesus I've seen in a while.
Christina selected the card herself. Which I think is way cool. Her dad watched her choose it, no comments or questions, and gladly put the money down. Even way cooler.
A few years ago some of Jesus' more famous disciples in America chose to go on the attack against poor Tinky Winky. Something about lavender skin and that handbag. On television. Watched by impressionable toddlers. All across our nation.
Maybe coincidentally, these pious critics were also TV celebrities. Ratings wars? You make the call.
They made inuendoes. They directly stated. Our littlest children were being programmed to accept unusual friends just like they were normal.
Now, I believe Jesus knew how to have a good laugh. Till the tears came. With his disciples on the road or in a cozy borrowed room along the way. With a woman by a well at noonday (see John 4:1-26). With another woman who refused to take no for an answer (that's in Mark 7:24-30).
But I wonder if he laughed or cried at the silliness of evangelists attacking make-believe TV critters in his name. My 9 year old granddaughter can't even decide which of 'em is a boy and which a girl. Try neither. They don't exist. Honest!
Jesus made it a point, again and again, to accept unusual friends just like they were normal. Whatever that is. And each time he did that, it deepened and widened the norm for normal.
A wiseguy asked him once which commandment was the best summary of moral righteousness. In reply he nailed a perfect 10 with: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." (Luke 10:25-27; and see Galatians 5:14)
I figure, if my wife can love her tubbies, she'll be able to handle her hubby too. Unusual as I can be at times, I think that's the best good news of all.
posted by Jack Buckley at
12:16 PM
Monday, May 02, 2005
A Matter of Perspective
The painting intrigues me.
Muted colors. A living room. Broad expanse of carpeted floor. Art deco stuffed furniture and sleek coffee table. Above the sofa, a large painting of a lone woman looking out a window. Nobody in this room.
On the floor, in the foreground, a model railroad set.
The train is a commuter. Predictably, a few automobiles sit parked nearby. Several little people walk from the train to their cars.
What?! This is no toy train!
I suddenly feel like Gulliver waking up in Lilliput. Though I'm not tied to the ground, my sense of proportion is all haywire. Perspective now shimmers like heat waves rising up off summertime pavement.
Glancing again at the larger scene, I recognize the painting on the wall. It's Edward Hopper's "Hotel Window." Not much help there. Whatever key it holds to unlock the mysterious mood only multiplies the mystery.
Ineffably immobile, all of Hopper's human figures seem frozen both by their circumstances and deep within themselves.
(His most familiar painting "Nighthawks" has been copied to represent James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley hunched at the counter of an all-night diner. This could be heaven, or this could be hell!)
So now I'm wondering... Which is the real world? Or is it all of a piece, both big room and tiny depot?
I suppose we must each decide for ourselves.
If the real world is the lonely empty room, then we're as good as dead. If the bustling station's commuters really are coming home at last, then it's life we're all about.
Long ago, Moses wrapped up his farewell address to Israel this way: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life for you." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
Me, I'm siding with life. See you at the station!
posted by Jack Buckley at
10:11 AM
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