Be Kind

My friend, Rev. Il Sun "PK" Kim, pastor of the Knoxville Korean Presbyterian Church, shared this with me the other day. I thought it was great, so I'm sharing it with you!

As we try to figure out how to ease back into our life together, please remember:

🛑 Some people don’t agree with the state opening.... that’s okay. Be kind.
🏡 Some people are still planning to stay home.... that’s okay. Be kind.
🦠 Some are still scared of getting the virus and a second wave happening....that’s okay. Be kind.
💰 Some are sighing with relief to go back to work knowing they may not lose their business or their homes....that’s okay. Be kind.
👩🏾‍⚕️Some are thankful they can finally have a surgery they have put off....that’s okay. Be kind.
📝 Some will be able to attend interviews after weeks without a job....that’s okay. Be kind.
😷 Some will wear masks for weeks....that’s okay. Be kind.
💅🏻 Some people will rush out to get the hair or nails done.... that’s okay. Be kind.
❤️ The point is, everyone has different viewpoints/feelings and that’s okay. Be kind.
We each have a different story. If you need to stay home, stay home. But be kind .
If you need to go out, respect others when in public and be kind!
Don’t judge your fellow humans because you’re not in their story. 

We are all in different mental states than we were months ago. 

So remember, be kind.

Grace and peace...

PT

Birthday Wishes

Disclaimer: I am “Christian borrowing” the idea for this blog directly from my sweet husband, so if you want to hear him talk about them too, you can watch this week’s video devotional from Fountain City Presbyterian Church on their Facebook page. We talked only about the idea and not about concrete details, and he is recording his devotional at church as I’m typing this at home; so it may be interesting to see the differences and similarities in the ways the idea plays out!

This Sunday, we’ll celebrate Pentecost – the day that many consider to be the birthday of the Church. According to the story of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2, people from many different nations were gathered. Each spoke a different language, yet each of them heard about “God’s deeds of power” in their own language. On this day, the Church received the Holy Spirit, and ‘about three thousand were added to their numbers.”

When we think about birthdays, there are certain traditions and rituals that we uphold each and every time we celebrate. One of those rituals is making a wish for the coming year as we blow out the candles on our birthday cake. We might wish for health or wealth or happiness. We might wish for some material thing that would make us happy or make our lives easier. Whether we really think these wishes will come true or not, they allow us to dream about the unknown – to think about what might be in the coming year. They allow us a kind of fresh start as we begin another trip around the sun.

So I wonder…if you were going to blow out the candles on the Church’s birthday cake this Sunday, what would you wish for? And remember, we’re not just talking about Second Presbyterian Church or the Presbyterian Church (USA). We’re talking about the larger Church – the big “C” Church. What are your wishes for the Church in the coming year and beyond?

Dream big!

Praying a Mantra

I told you that my current book selection would likely make more than one appearance as a blog post, and I was correct. As a reminder, or for those that may have missed the previous post about this book, I am currently reading And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings by Madeleine L’Engle.

I was reading one day this week in the chapter entitled, Paradoxes in Prayer. In this chapter, L’Engle talks about praying a mantra, introducing the idea by saying, “Don’t be afraid of the word mantra.” We don’t hear or talk about mantras a great deal in Christianity, so we may be a little cautious or confused about including a mantra in our prayer life. A mantra, L’Engle points out, is “the kind of prayer that is constant, which helps us to pray at all times,” and she offers that for Christians, a mantra can really be any short petition from the Bible.

She tells of her spiritual director, years ago, giving her the Jesus Prayer, which has been one of her handful of mantras ever since. The Jesus Prayer consists of the cry of the blind man on the road to Jericho: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (Sometimes shortened to Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.)

Throughout this chapter, L’Engle talks of the ways that this prayer has infiltrated her very being – that she finds herself waking in the middle of the night, and this prayer comes bubbling up out of her. 

She is certain to remind the reader, though, that this prayer is not meant to be a selfish one. Though the words include a petition for mercy on “me,” she points out that the “me” is never just ourselves. When we pray this prayer – when we pray for mercy – we are praying on behalf of the whole Body and also for those who we lift up to God in a particular moment in time.

If I’m being honest, I could benefit from trying a bit harder to fit a mantra into my prayer life – to allow a short petition from scripture to become so much a part of me that it bubbles up in my waking and in my sleeping. I find that I offer up little prayers throughout the day, but they are generally just whatever is on my mind rather than something that has become so much a part of me that I can't help but offer it up to God.

I wonder, do any of you have a mantra from scripture that has become a regular part of your prayer life? If so, what is it? If not, is there a short petition from the Bible that you think might be helpful to you in praying daily for yourself, for others, and for the Body?

Pearls of Wisdom

Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen is Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF School of Medicine and Founder and Director of the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness at Commonweal. She is one of the best-known of the early pioneers of Holistic and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Remen has had Crohn's disease for more than 60 years and has been counseling those with chronic and terminal illness for almost 40 years.  

She also happens to be the author of one of my favorite books, My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging. The book is a series of essays about noticing, receiving and being blessings in life and I would like to share one with you. It falls under the section "Finding Strength, Taking Refuge." This essay spoke to me when I re-read it this week in the midst of Covid and reopening and hearing that the novel coronavirus may be with us for quite some time. It is entitled, Pearls of Wisdom.

"Some of the oldest and most delightful written words in the English language are the collective nouns dating from medieval times used to describe groups of birds and beasts. Many of these go back five hundred years or more, and lists of them appeared as early as 1440 in some of the first books printed in English. These words frequently offer insight into the nature of the animals or birds they describe. Sometimes this is factual and sometimes poetic. Occasionally it is profound: a pride of lions, a party of jays, an ostentation of peacocks, an exultation of larks, a gaggle of geese, a charm of finches, a bed of clams, a school of fish, a cloud of gnats, and a parliament of owls are some examples. Over time, these sorts of words have been extended to other things as well. One of my favorites is pearls of wisdom.

An oyster is soft, tender, and vulnerable. Without the sanctuary of its shell it could not survive. But oysters must open their shells in order to "breathe" water. Sometimes while an oyster is breathing, a grain of sand will enter its shell and become a part of its life from then on.

Such grains of sand cause pain, but an oyster does not alter its soft nature because of this. It does not become hard and leathery in order not to feel. It continues to entrust itself to the ocean, to open and breathe in order to live. But it does respond. Slowly and patiently, the oyster wraps the grain of sand in thin translucent layers until, over time, it has created something of great value in the place where it was most vulnerable to pain. A pearl might be thought of as an oyster's response to suffering. Not every oyster can do this. Oysters that do are far more valuable to people than oysters that do not.

Sand is a way of life for an oyster. If you are soft and tender and must live on the sandy floor of the ocean, making pearls becomes a necessity if you are to live well.

Disappointments and loss are a part of every life. Many times we can put such things behind us and get on with the rest of our lives. But not everything is amenable to this approach. Some things are too big or too deep to do this, and we'll have to leave important parts of ourselves behind if we treat them in this way. These are the places where wisdom begins to grow in us. It begins with suffering that we do not avoid or rationalize or put behind us. It starts with the realization that our loss, whatever it is, has become a part of us and has altered our lives so profoundly that we cannot go back to the way it was before.

Something in us can transform such suffering into wisdom. The process of turning pain into wisdom often looks like a sorting process. First we experience everything. Then one by one we let things go, the anger, the blame, the sense of injustice, and finally even the pain itself, until all we have left is a deeper sense of the value of life and a great capacity to live it."

PT

Looking for God in the Pandemic

Some days I really struggle to find God. It’s easy when I sit on the screened porch and watch the birds and listen to their sweet melodies wafting through the breeze. Or when I smell the sweetness of the blooming shrub growing nearby. But other times it’s a challenge.

Like in Facebook posts! I recently read one from a person who (I believe) belongs to a more conservative Christian denomination than mine. She announced that she doesn’t wear a mask because she has faith in God and when it’s her time to go, then she’ll go. But is she considering that she may take some of us with her?

Then I look at pictures of Gatlinburg and the crowded streets with tourists from all over. I spoke with our own Bill Broome recently. He and Marion are spending a good deal of time at their home there. He said he no longer walks down to the city because of the intense crowds. Even the parks are full.

I realize we are given free will. But when others use their free will in dangerous and inconsiderate ways, I struggle. Why can’t they think like me? Why don’t people wear masks for the protection of others? Why can’t the young man on his motorcycle going through my neighborhood obey the speed limit rather than speeding through and causing a danger to others? Why do some people still hate those who don’t look/worship/love/believe like them? Free will is free will, whether I like it or not, I guess, and people are free to not think like me.

Still, I struggle. The devotion I read this morning was about finding joy. I can easily find joy sitting on my porch or hugging my dog, but once I leave my sanctuary or turn on the news, everything changes for me. Where is God? Where is Divine intervention? Why are people getting so sick and dying? What I tend to forget is that struggling and dying have been happening since the world began. Middle and upper class people in the U.S. tend to believe we should be immune to trauma. But think about the Middle East and the generations of people living in a war zone; or the slums of India where people barely exist and starve daily; or our own housing projects where drug lords rule and so many are trapped by their circumstances, often due to unjust social structures. The Divine is ever-present in all circumstances, we just need to be open to seeing the Divine where we don't normally think to look.

I am fortunate, but I ache for others. I cannot fix their challenges, but I can pray for them. So pray I must. It is what I am called to do. I don’t do it well or nearly often enough, but if I keep at it maybe I will find joy in the presence of God. Maybe I will find peace in knowing God is with all of us, despite our circumstances or choices. Maybe I will find hope for the future of our world. Maybe I will avoid the trap of despair. Maybe I will feel the Divine Presence in the midst of it all. 

Please join me in prayer…….

Cookies Anyone?

In keeping with one of my earlier posts, something else that is making me happy in the midst of quarantine is swapping recipes with friends and actually being able to try out these new recipes. We’ve had lots of fun new dinners and yummy baked goods over the past few weeks and quite a few more in the queue to try out.

In that spirit, I thought a Saturday blog post would be a great time to share a recipe! This is not a new recipe but one that my mom has made for a long time. It sounds a little strange at first glance, but it is a family favorite for us. And if you’re like me and have accidentally ended up with way too many Honey Nut Cheerios in your grocery order, then this is a great way to use them!

Honey Crunch Cookies

Ingredients

1 c. granulated sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. margarine or butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

4 c. Honey Nut Cheerios cereal

2 c. plain flour

1 c. regular or quick-cooking oats

½ c. chopped walnuts* 

½ c. flaked coconut

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

*To me, nuts are always optional in a recipe, because I do not like nuts in my baked goods!

**I also sometimes add butterscotch chips, which I think is a pretty yummy addition (if you like butterscotch).

Directions

Mix sugars, margarine/butter, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by ¼ cupfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball to 2 ½ to 3 inches in diameter. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. 

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

A Message from Pastor Tim

This video has also been posted on the home page of our website,

along with a transcript of Pastor Tim's comments.

What's in a name?

I’ve started a new book this week, and I think you can probably expect it to inspire more than one blog post over the next couple of weeks. The book is called And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings and is written by Madeleine L’Engle of A Wrinkle in Time fame; and in it she reflects on the creation stories in Genesis with a particular focus on the One who created.

In the third chapter, L’Engle talks about the importance of naming. This, according to her, is a topic that pops up in most of her writings, which she attributes to her name being “taken away” when she was twelve and in boarding school. She was called 97, rather than her name.

She notes that one of the first tasks with which Adam and Eve are charged is naming. Naming, she says, is what makes these creatures real. It’s what makes us real and able to interact with one another. It’s what makes us known to others. As an example, she questions how strange it would be if when we introduced ourselves to one another, we used our social security numbers rather than our names, saying, “if we don’t take care…society may limit us to numbers.”

Now, to be fair, I think that may be an extreme statement by someone who has been traumatized by being reduced to a number; but it got me thinking. Each day during this crisis, the news has reported numbers – the number of people infected, the number of people hospitalized, the number of people that have died. These numbers continue to rise, and we continue to watch them – feeling whatever it is they make us feel. We continue to feel sad or angry or empathetic or indifferent; but to those of us watching the news, it boils down to numbers.

I’m not suggesting that the news needs to find a way to report the names that go with each of these numbers, but I am suggesting that we take a moment when we see these numbers to think of the named ones that they describe. “When we respond to our names,” L’Engle says, “or call someone else by name, it is already the beginning of a community expressing the image of God. To call someone by name is an act of prayer.”

So, let’s take a moment in the midst of whatever it is that these numbers make us feel to say a prayer for those whose names we may never know. Let’s be a community that expresses the image of God by recognizing those whose names have been stripped away by tragedy and global crisis. 

Creator God, these are your children – each one made in your image and known intimately to you, each one worthy of a name and worthy of being called by name. We lift them up to you. Call them by name, and make them whole, we pray. Amen.

To Mask or Not to Mask?

I've noticed something lately when I go to the grocery store or have to stop at CVS or I'm watching the news. Not many people are wearing masks. As I've read about and listened to people being interviewed in the paper and on the news, people seem to be focused on themselves. Comments like, "I'm not afraid of getting sick, so I don't wear a mask," or "I don't feel sick, so I'm not wearing a mask," or "It's uncomfortable," or "The government doesn't have a right to tell me I have to wear a mask; I can do what I want," seem to be the dominant themes.

I think we have a serious messaging problem. Wearing a mask is not about protecting ourselves from the virus, it's about protecting others from us. It is well documented that COVID-19 is contagious even when we are not symptomatic. It is also believed that a majority of people who are infected may never be symptomatic. Scientists do not yet understand why some people never develop symptoms and other people do. So we are being asked to wear masks in public not just to slow the spread of the disease, but just in case we have COVID-19 and come into close contact with one of those people who might contract the virus and die as a result.

We don't need to wear masks at home or in our cars, and we aren't being asked to wear masks if we are mostly outside. These are places where we don't come into contact with strangers or where it's easy to maintain our distance. In those instances, however, when we are indoors and it is not possible to practice safe social distancing (staying more than 6 ft. apart), health officials are asking us to think of others and wear a mask out of an abundance of caution. We aren't being asked to do it for ourselves, we are being asked to do it for the good of others and the safety of our community.

Think about driving. We don't use a turn signal for ourselves - we know where we are going. We use a turn signal to indicate our intentions to others so that everyone may be on the road safely. Likewise, the government posts speed limits to help keep everyone safe and alive. The government has every right to impose these limits, and is empowered to enforce these limits, because we have consented to and accept these laws as being necessary for the safety of all. Wearing a mask should be no different. 

Wearing a cloth mask in public can stop people who seem healthy from infecting others.This shouldn't be seen as the government trying to force us to do something against our will, but our way of choosing to show solidarity with and compassion for one another. And for those of us who are Christian, there is another consideration. What does Scripture teach us?

When the Corinthians had a disagreement over whether or not it was okay to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols, Paul weighed in with these lofty words:

 

We know that no idol in the world really exists...but take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the    weak. Therefore, if food is the cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.  - 1 Corinthians 8:4,9,13

I love Paul's reasoning here. He says we may have the right to do (or not do) something, but that doesn't mean it's right to do it (or not do it). Our decision should be made with the good of others in mind, not our own personal rights.

Other parts of Scripture tell us very clearly, over and over again, that we should think of others before ourselves. Here are just a few:

 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 2:1-5

Do not seek your own good, but seek the good of your neighbor.   - 1 Corinthians 10:24

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  - Mark 12:31

 

And of course, there is the Golden Rule (I like Eugene Peterson's translation): 

 

Here's a simple rule of thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then take the initiative and do that for them.  - Matthew 7:12 (MSG)

People today are worried and anxious. Some of them may have compromised immune systems and are literally afraid for their life when they go to the store. People need to feel safe, loved, and cared about. Christians should be leading the way in the wearing of masks. Wearing a mask can be our way of saying to others, "I care about you." It can be our way of showing them love, of being Jesus for them. Why would we ever be against that?

What's Making You Happy Today?

Andy and I have a group of friends from seminary that we covenanted with when we all graduated to get together once a year for continuing education. These yearly gatherings each February are life-giving in so many ways. Catching up with friends, learning from one another, sharing each other’s joys and lifting each other up in sorrow. This group is irreplaceable.

Since quarantine began, we have started doing weekly check-ins as a group. We check in on each other and compare notes about how our states or communities are handling the crisis and what we and our congregations are doing to adapt to stay at home orders.

In the last couple of weeks, we decided to end our conversations with the question, “What’s making you happy today?” inspired by the Pop Culture Happy Hour Podcast on NPR. It has been such a wonderful way to end these conversations that are so tied up in the stress and strangeness of our current situation.

Most recently, my answer to this question has been the number of times my little family has been able to sit down together and eat dinner during all of this. No evening meetings and being at home all day has meant that I’ve had the time to get dinner together and on the table before I have a hangry toddler on my hands and that we’ve been able to sit down together to eat it. Robert even gallops over to the table when it’s time for dinner and climbs up into his chair; and it makes my heart so happy. Now, don’t let me fool you. He rarely eats most of what is on the table in front of him, but he’s excited to sit at the table with us; and that’s enough for me for now.

The rest of the group has lifted up tv shows, being able to cook more, virtual game nights with family, etc. The things that make us happy vary from person to person and from week to week, but ending our conversations this way has helped us to look for those things that are making us happy and to cherish them in these strange and unprecedented times.

And so I ask each of you, “What’s making you happy today?”

Captain Tom

Here is a truly uplifting story from last week. Perhaps you saw it. If so, it's good to hear again. If not, you're in for a treat.

Capt. Tom Moore, a 99-year-old British World War II veteran, wanted to do something to help. He remembered how well he had been cared for by the National Health Service when he broke his hip and when he had cancer. As he watched the news about the spread of the coronavirus, he wondered if there was anything he might do. 

Realizing that his 100th birthday was approaching on April 30th, he decided to go for a walk. He went on social media asking people to make pledges to support him as he walked 100 laps around his back yard, roughly 30 yards per lap. He said he wanted to raise money "for the sake of the nurses and the NHS, because they are doing such a magnificent job."

On April 16th, Capt. Tom took his walker and set off on his 100 laps (see video below) around his yard. His original goal had been to raise £1,000. As he completed his 100th lap to praise from around the country and around the world, and a salute from the soldiers who now serve in what was his regiment, the donations stood at £15.5 MILLION. By his 100th birthday this past Thursday, Capt. Tom had raised £32 million, equivalent to $39.8 million, and had been promoted to the rank of Honorary Colonel by Queen Elizabeth.

"People keep saying what I have done is remarkable," said Capt. Tom, "however it's actually what you have done for me which is remarkable. Please always remember, tomorrow will be a good day."

Thank you, Capt. Tom, for inspiring the world, for showing us the best of humanity, and for reminding us that 1 person can truly make a difference in the world. Happy 100th birdthay!

Plethora

A professor of English literature and noted linguist dies. At the funeral, a fellow faculty member, also a noted linguist, asks the grieving widow, "Do you mind if I say a word?" She nods.

He stands, walks up to the microphone, and says, "Plethora," then makes his way back to his seat.

As he passes the widow, she touches his arms and says, tearfully, "That means a lot."

A little something to make you smile on this Saturday night. 😋

PT