 Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.
-Proverbs 24:27 I have lost my wallet more than once. And when I say that, what I mean is that I lose my wallet daily. While I'm only partially scatterbrained, I do have a habit of tucking my wallet into random places (for safe keeping of course- definitely don't want to lose that thing!) and then later struggling to recall which safe place I stored it in. This most often occurs at the exact time that I need to leave the house. My family is pretty gracious and usually pauses what they're doing to help me find it. (Hint: it's usually in my car. If you want to rob me, start with my car.) Now, while I complain a decent bit about technology, some new tech out there has real value. There's this one item I've known about for a while. It's shaped like a credit card, and it's a wireless tracker that you slip into your wallet. You can open an app and locate where it is at any given time, and it makes a beeping sound if you can't find it. I can see if it's in my car, under the couch, or was left at a restaurant. Essentially, it makes your wallet impossible to lose. And it only costs around $20. Every time I've lost my wallet during the last two years, as I looked around in frustration, I've told myself that I am absolutely buying a tracker when I find it. It would save me so much energy and stress. Then, 5 minutes later or 2 days later, I inevitably find my wallet. And then something interesting happens. I decide I don't need the tracker. Because, you know, my wallet's not lost anymore. So I'm good. I'll deal with it when I reach my next existential wallet crisis. That cycle continued for about five times before finally I realized the folly of my thinking and bought the tracker.....during a time when I was not in the midst of a wallet-finding freakout. This is not an advertisement-- but my goodness, that thing has reduced my anxiety and saved me time. But now it's also become a reminder about soul formation and preparation in my journey with Jesus. I find it interesting that the above wisdom passage in Proverbs is incredibly practical. If you buy new land to farm and spend time building a house right away, you'll miss the planting season and then when the house is done, you'll be in crisis and have no crops. First, plant when you have plenty of time for it. Then move on, and your crops will be ready for you before you go hungry. It's a reminder that when we think about what needs to be attended to in our lives ahead of time, then we will be ready to go when real life hits. This seems to have both practical and spiritual implications as we follow Jesus. Far too often, we wait until we are in crisis to wish that we had the right tools to deal with the moment. We put off the things that we know will inevitably lead to a better life down the road, because we don't feel the pressing need at the moment. And then, when later comes, we realize that it didn't need to be this way if we had prepared differently. For me, it hits this way: If we aren't willing to do the work of soul formation during the calm seas, we will not be ready to handle the raging storms. This seems relevant in hundreds of different ways. What do we put off doing until it's too late or nearly too late? What little words of love or forgiveness or encouragement need to be spoken now rather than later? What new life habits need to be instituted before a marriage reaches breaking point? What healthy rhythms of sabbath rest with Jesus can you start doing now when life is manageable, so that your well will be full when life is unmanageable? Where can you learn to trust others with your vulnerability, so that when a tragedy hits, you don't shut people out because of emotional discomfort? Or perhaps Jesus wants to address anger in you before a conflict comes that causes a blow-up with lasting harm. When we give ourselves space to reflect, we will find that there are things Jesus wants to shape and heal in us that may not feel urgent... but one day they will be. So maybe it's time to buy a wallet tracker card. Or maybe it's time to lean into prayer, or to forgive a parent, or learn more about another perspective (when you're calm!) that you don't understand that keeps causing conflict. And when you take that one step you don't have to do today, you'll notice the difference it makes when you need it tomorrow. Jesus, give me the courage to do things now that prepare me to reflect your character when the hard moments come. Peace, Keith
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 Love does no harm to a neighbor, so love is the fulfillment of the law.
-Romans 13:10 This morning on a short prayer walk on my wooded trail, I encountered a deer. As I turned around to head back on the trail toward my house, I looked up and saw it directly in front of me-- facing me, frozen in place. This is a pretty common occurrence in my life. We both stood motionless for about three minutes. Its eyes were fixed on me, ears perked up. Over the years, I've learned that this is the testing period, where a deer seeks to perceive if I'm a threat. Sometimes it will stomp its foot to see which way I will move. But it never takes its eyes off of me. I turned to my side, eyes toward the ground, exposing my flank. This is a posture of vulnerability to a flight animal. No longer was this a head-to-head encounter. I kicked the ground gently, rummaging through the pine needles and leaves with my foot, signaling that I was simply dwelling in the woods, with no intent to harm. I glanced out in the opposite direction. I took a few slow steps forward and then backward. Then I looked over my shoulder at the deer, and took a few short steps toward her. After a few more moments, she dropped her head, lowered her ears, and gently began foraging again, walking away. She determined I was not a threat. I like when deer slowly walk away from me in the woods without running or shooting their white tails up. It shows that they don't feel endangered by my presence. In that moment, they know I'm not a threat to them. It made me consider our posture in the world as disciples of Jesus. It's impossible to miss the uptick in anxiety and hyper-vigilance among people. We humans are very wary of each other these days. People encounter us and wonder if we are going to harm them--and we often expect that others may be a threat to us as well. Our eyes and ears are constantly perked up, not to mention our hearts and minds. This has become especially true for many dear ones who are not in the majority culture in the US. And it's not without good reason. Our words, our attitudes, and our actions have done great harm to each other, both in small, personal ways and in grand, systemic ways in our world. We have not yet learned the things that make for peace. We have not yet learned how to live gently with others in the world. We have not yet learned how to assure others that we are not a threat. And that's because, so many times, we have been the threat. I read another story this week of someone who is terrified of Christians because of abuse she experienced as a teen at the hands of Christian missionaries. They were a threat. She didn't know it. It made me so angry, and so sad. The things done in the dark and the hatred shown in the light have made it harder for people to trust God's goodness that we see in Jesus. Jesus was a safe place for those who had learned the world was unsafe. And when others did feel threatened by him, it was always those holding religious and political power, whose postures were bringing harm to others. Those were the ones Jesus challenged head on. We have a calling to be agents of healing and reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18). We have a calling to build a reputation of love (John 13:35). In an aggressive and passive-aggressive world of fighting with fists, with words, with keyboards, and with policies, how can we establish that we are here to serve and not to harm? How can we make it clear to others that we are not a threat, when so many people around them have been? The way forward involves slowing down with Jesus and becoming wholehearted. It involves releasing the need to control others or constantly try to fix them (even "in love"). It involves slow, trust-building relationships of care and presence. It requires learning why so many people have had to become so vigilant. Being slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to become angry is a good starting point (thanks for that advice, Brother James). Like this morning's deer, I wonder who I may encounter today that needs to know that I'm not a threat. Who will need to know that from you? Where can the love and care of God flow gently from our lives, reminding those around us that we are for their flourishing? Friends, let's keep taking every opportunity to be quick to listen, slow to judge, and eager to love selflessly. Jesus, may each of my interactions today affirm your gentle goodness. Peace, Keith  *Hi, friends. This week I felt especially drawn to share a TFG from the archives, written 5 years ago. I sense the continuing need for the non-formulaic, relationally adaptive love of Jesus more than ever.... Jesus on adultery: And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. -Matthew 5:28-30 Jesus when confronted with an actual case of adultery: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” [...] “neither do I condemn you...” -John 8:7,11 Jesus! Where's your consistency?? You should have at least cut off a hand!
This post is not about adultery. It's about Jesus. When you read the gospels, it becomes pretty clear that Jesus is willing to speak harshly about things. Jesus speaks openly about things like judgment and morality, and he is unafraid to strongly challenge people (especially the religious and the rich) throughout the gospels. And yet, something else also happens. Every single time someone tries to get Jesus on their side against someone, he seems to push back against it. Or the opposite! People like tax collectors, who stood for everything Jesus spoke against (greed, idolatry, mistreatment of the poor), seem to get special attention and kindness when Jesus meets them? What's the deal? All we want is a little consistency, Jesus. Pick a side. The problem with the way that we read the gospels is that we look at Jesus through our own tendency to pick sides based on "issues." Jesus uses a completely different framework most of the time. And as he does so, it can feel inconsistent to us. This is because the "single issue" that guided Jesus' actions was the value and dignity of every human, each bearing the image of God. So from the outside, it can feel like Jesus was constantly changing allegiances. But he wasn't. He was simply living beyond our chosen categories. Consider the above example: Jesus knew that adultery and lust brings incredible pain and brokenness, damaging relationships and eventually leaving people feel used and others full of shame. No human thrives when they experience that, so he speaks harshly against how it pulls us away from God. And yet, when someone has actually done what he warned against, Jesus is the first to remind everyone that her life is as precious and valuable to God as everyone else's is, and he offers grace and advocates for her. Jesus is, and always has been, on the side of humanity. And when that's the case, his radical love may even feel inconsistent. Do we have the courage to live this radical third way in the world? Christians must have enough bravery and integrity to regularly "switch sides" when faithfulness to Jesus demands it. Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and anabaptist theologian, wrote about Christians becoming so consistent that they are willing to switch sides at a moment's notice for the sake of love and compassion. He gave the example that in the French Revolution, the most Christlike response would have been working for the freedom and worth of the peasantry. But when the peasants began executing the aristocracy, faithfulness to Jesus would require Christians to immediately switch sides and defend the inherent worth of ruling class. They remained on the side of Jesus' peace, mercy and dignity. But that would look like switching sides, and likely even feel like betrayal to some of the revolutionaries. So we stand with the oppressed, until the moment the oppressed becomes an oppressor. We seek to live in truth, but never in a way that threatens another's dignity. We defend the inherent worth of every person, the ones who are harmed and even those who may have harmed others. This is a consistent view of the image of God in all people, and the way of nonviolence in Christ. No worldly systems should ever expect "loyalty" from Christians if they begin to do things that diminish the worth and dignity of anyone, regardless of how good their overall goal may be. God's kingdom is not brought about that way. Jesus showed us that. So we hold the conviction that every mistreated person is worth caring for and defending. Hard stop. No qualifications after that. And we hold the conviction that everyone who seeks to do what's right with their next moment is moving toward God's heart, regardless of what you've already decided about their past or their character. Hard stop. No one gets to be written off. And internally it means a tough shift: It means we've got to stop thinking Jesus is on our side, and slowly and humbly learn what it means to be on the side of Jesus, moment by moment. This is not simply about "big issues" or ideologies. This is about daily interactions. We can be right in our views and wrong in the way we hold them. We may be true in our statements and wrong in how or when we state them. But if we submit ourselves to Jesus and acknowledge the image of God in each person, we will move toward being consistently inconsistent, the way Jesus was. Jesus, help us keep our allegiance to you first today, so that we might be able to see the value inherent in every single person we meet. Peace, Keith  When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. [...] So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.
-Exodus 13:17-18 (shortened) At our church we're working through some of the origin stories of God's people in the Old Testament, reflecting on how they point toward God’s fullness revealed in Jesus. This week we were in the Sinai wilderness, where the Israelites wandered for forty years. If you walked across that same desert at a relaxed pace without trying to push yourself too much, you could cross the largest part of the Sinai Peninsula in about three weeks. Forty years seems rather.... inefficient. But there might be real value in inefficiency. I have a coffee shop about a mile and a half from my house where I meet with people. Lately I've been trying to walk there whenever possible. It takes around twenty-five minutes to get there, so it's within reach if my schedule isn't too tight. It doesn't happen as regularly as I'd like, but I've noticed that taking my time to get places matters more the busier that I am. It's difficult to be in a rush when you intentionally choose the slower way to get there. It seems that in the Scriptures, and certainly in the way that Jesus meanders through Galilee and Judea, formation is more important than efficiency. There's value in taking our time to get places. There's value in not rushing the process of transformation. I've been walking with people lately who are rethinking their perspectives on things. They are on a journey (aren't we all!?) and the only way to grow is a long, often meandering process. Spiritual formation would be far easier if we just flexed really hard and popped an apple out of our forehead. But bearing fruit, learning who we are, and developing a non-dualistic way of seeing the world.... these things take a lot of time. And it can be very frustrating. We naturally resist things that take time. We praise early adopters. We want clarity and efficiency. We're constantly pressured to have a well thought-out opinion on EVERYTHING-- even things we know very little about. There's not a lot of grace for people saying, "I'm not sure, I'm still thinking about how I feel on this. I'm taking my time to get there." And yet the way of God is often the slow way of growth. God leads us to places where we have to do deep work, wrestling and rethinking and not resolving quickly. It's like the older brother in the prodigal son story. He's standing outside the party, annoyed at his father's willingness to keep extending grace to his brother. But the story doesn't end with him rejecting it all. We have no idea what happened on that journey. I imagine that he stood there thinking for a long time that night before deciding his next step. And I imagine that he kept thinking about things for the rest of his life. That's part of the point. When I think about taking my time to get places with Jesus, it stirs me in two directions. The first is grace toward myself. It's okay to not have everything figured out immediately. God's grace is sufficient for me, and discipleship is a long process. I'm allowed to rethink things regularly and slowly weigh ideas before embracing or releasing them. I'm allowed to take my time when the world is clamoring for a strong opinion on everything. I'm allowed to walk instead of driving. It's far healthier. The second direction is grace for others. After a process of growth and transformation that takes people years, I often notice how impatient or upset they can still be that others can't get there immediately. Years of honest wrestling and hundreds of conversations and prayers can't be shortchanged. Many times it took friendships with people vastly different from themselves in order to see the world from a new perspective. You can't take years in the wilderness and shrink it down into a quick drive across Sinai. The long path is how God shapes us all. So God's patience toward us should transfer into patience with others as they walk, too. Besides, each of us is far from having it all figured out (Lord help us)! Where can you embrace the scenic route this week? Where can you take a little more time in forming opinions? And where can you extend the same grace to others as they learn and grow? Jesus, give me patience for the winding journey, even as I'm trying to make forward progress. Peace, Keith  Keep showing up with joy in hope, with patience in hardship, and with persistence in prayer.
-Romans 12:2, paraphrased. Paul's challenge to the community of disciples. Lutheran Bishop Allan Bjornberg once said that the greatest spiritual practice isn’t praying the hours or living in intentional poverty or being a contemplative, though any of those things can be beautiful in their own way. The greatest spiritual practice, he said, is just "showing up." I've been considering the spirituality of showing up today, and I think Bishop Bjornberg is on to something. A few weeks ago during one of our monthly Theology Circle meetings where the subject was "doubt" (doubt isn't the opposite of faith, by the way, certainty is), one of our folks courageously shared that they just had so many questions that remained unanswered. They were big questions, about God and goodness and faith and suffering. They mentioned that although there was no sign that these deep questions were going to go away, "I guess all I can do is just keep showing up in community." What an act of faith! I'll be the first to say that there were no easy answers to give there. But choosing to show up, even when the presence of God is hard to sense and peace still seems far off... that's an incredible spiritual practice. And then I watched a television show recently that took place in a senior care home. Despite the usually lighthearted storyline, they tackled the heartbreaking reality of an elderly woman's slide toward dementia, and how the moment that it became apparent, all of her friends stopped visiting her, "like it was contagious." All, except one. He noticed and he kept showing up. Choosing to practice presence with others, even when it means that you have to confront deep sadness--what an act of love! That's a Christ-like example we can all aspire to. In Jesus we witness a life that chose over and over again to show up. Jesus shows up with suffering people whom others had abandoned. Jesus shows up with his disciples over and over again even when they were slow to learn and slow to be transformed. Jesus shows up to seek God's heart even when the world seemed to be falling apart around him-- betrayal, alienation, exhaustion, and violence against him. Jesus shows up after his resurrection, reassuring his disciples and inviting them to build a radical community founded on love. For us, showing up can look like many things. It can look like love for others through simple presence. It can look like a personal act of courage to stay connected in community, not allowing yourself to drift into isolation during a hard season. It can look like the willingness to keep talking to God even in terribly empty periods of life when prayer feels meaningless. It can look like playing with your children on the floor when your spouse just really needs a break. It can look like going to that court hearing for a friend who feels really alone in a dark time. It can look like choosing to keep meeting with other Jesus-people, when there are just so many discouraging things happening in our country that make you want to give up on church expressions altogether. It can look like many things. But it always looks like being present. It's always a choice. And it's always going to be soul-shaping in the Jesus way. I'm thankful we have a model of God's love that shows up in Jesus. I'm glad that I've experienced moments of grace where Jesus has shown up and given grace when I haven't been at my best. And I desire to be the kind of disciple that keeps showing up for others (imperfectly) because of that. Where are you feeling drawn to show up with God this week? Where can you show up for a friend? And where will you courageously show up in community? Sometimes we don't have much to give, and the best we can do is just show up. And sometimes, that's exactly when God meets us and uses us the most powerfully. Don't give up, friends. Jesus, help me be keep being present in the most important ways. Peace, Keith |
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