Carried Along

Everyone is at war with someone right now, it seems.  Just one glimpse of the news or Facebook feed yields images of battles, fought on our own soil, civilian against civilian.  The enemy?  There are too many to count-the left, the right, the police, the rioters and looters, the media, the rich, the poor, one race or another and many more. The end goals are as numerous as the enemies and the battle plan?  Every plan causes someone pain.  In short, we can’t win a battle we can’t define, so we all just keep on pointing fingers waiting for something undefinable to happen and satisfy this discontent feeling writhing inside of us. 

Anthony Horowitz, and many others, once said, “You cannot defeat your enemies until you know who they are.”  Now, don’t get me wrong, if I ask most people, they will tell me who they think needs to be defeated, one of the above mentioned entities, or several of them.  I would suggest, however, that we, as Christians, are making several dangerous, sinful, and even fatal errors right now, and it hinges on one major problem:  WE DO NOT KNOW WHO OUR ENEMY IS!  In times of peace, when our lives are calm and predictable, we can hear verses like, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against  . . . the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6 12) and nod our heads in agreement.  We learned about the armor of God when we were young.  Yeah, I know that passage, sure.  But, right now?  While we are in the middle of a political, and in some cases, physical firestorm?  I would rather not hear that right now.  It is uncomfortable.  It bothers me.  I just want to be angry.  I just want to blame him or her, this group or that group.  I don’t want God’s perspective right now.  It gets in the way of MY agenda.

The reason we are in such a state of frenzy right now is we have hunkered in.  COVID, violence, riots have caused us to get “entangled in civilian pursuits” as we are warned against in 2 Timothy 2.  Instead, we are supposed to ONLY serve the one who enlisted us, for we are not our own.  We have been “bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), namely the death of Christ.  We are not permitted to serve two masters, or five or six as some of us (including me) are doing right now. 

So, what are you saying?  Should we ignore what is happening in our country right now?  Just bury our heads in the sand and go on as if people’s lives are turned upside down right now for one reason or another?  While we are clearly called to “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), especially our brothers and sisters on all sides of this fight, we must remember who our field commander is and what He is about, the redemption of souls and the sanctification of his bride, the church-plain and simple.  You see, our commander isn’t of this world.  His mission doesn’t change with the wind like the leaders of various groups right now.  He is the “same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

During the 2016 election, my friend posted a meme on Facebook which stated, “Turn off your TV and go out and love your neighbor.”  Just because the world, and our nation, are upside down right now doesn’t mean people aren’t still people-with pain, anxiety, and despair.  In fact, they are probably suffering more right now than ever before.  So, we must resist the temptation to get caught up in the plethora of battles available to us right now, remember the armor of God we were taught from Ephesians 6, and “run the race”, God’s race.  What a relief!  His race, battle, mission is simple and definable.  The enemy is clear.  And He wants us to argue, point fingers, and alienate those who disagree with us in order to prevent the real message from going out-that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23),  “The saying is trustworthy . . . that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners . . . (1 Timothy 1:15), and “the thief (enemy) comes to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Lord, forgive us all (and especially me) for getting entangled in the affairs of this world.  Remind me that you are my field commander and no one else.  Help me to get out from behind my computer or phone and love my neighbor, whoever they may be. Help me to tear down walls instead of build them in order for my family and others to know where abundant life is found, in y

As an English teacher, I give many different writing prompts to provide writing practice for my students. One of the most interesting prompts of late asked them to retell a story from their lives but have them add a different ending. Of course, the prompt is giving them an opportunity to change the story in their favor-a win instead of a loss, a place on the team, the grade they wanted, a dream relationship come to fruition, the reverse of a family tragedy. Every year, however, I have students who don’t follow the prompt-some out of laziness, some defiance-but this particular year, one student just wanted to make a point-the difficulty in her story had made her a better person, so she wouldn’t change a thing. The previous year her father’s business had failed ending in bankruptcy. Her very comfortable life in a beautiful resort town came to a screeching halt as she and her family had to move and start over from scratch. Despite the discomfort she and her family felt during this time, she wouldn’t trade the closeness her family now had and the maturity she had gained as she had to get a job just to pay for her basic necessities.

For many of us,  2020 has been quite the year, especially for those of us Americans, Europeans, etc . . . accustomed to a life of ease.  Uncomfortable is an understatement.  Who would have guessed when we said, “Happy New Year!” we would be welcoming death, disease, lock downs, job loss, mental health crises, viral police brutality (and not just once) and now, curfews because of looting and rioting and more death, as a result.  Where is God right now? Boy, would we like to change the story of this year so far-and I would love to be able to control how it ends. Sure, we act truly concerned about what is going on, but what most of us are really asking is, “Why is God taking away my nice, neat, comfortable life?  When is all of this just going to end so that I can go back to focusing on myself and my family?  This is too much!” 

Yeah, yeah, we know that God uses difficulty to grow us, and we reluctantly recall the command, “Count it all joy when (we) meet trials of various kinds, for (we) know that the testing of (our) faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3).  The call to endure difficulty I can understand, but to be joyful, really?  COVID doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, the riots continue, and the police are villainized and threatened daily.  Our daily lives, jobs, schools, churches have all been turned upside down. We can’t go see a movie much less take a vacation. What is there to be joyful about? Surely God didn’t mean it.  

While Christian history is full of suffering, the Western church itself has endured very little difficulty of late. The missionary Amy Carmichael who devoted her life to rescuing Indian children from religious sexual abuse said, “We profess to be strangers and pilgrims, seeking after a country of our own, yet we settle down in the most un-stranger-like fashion, exactly as if we were quite at home and meant to stay as long as we could. I don’t wonder apostolic miracles have died. Apostolic living certainly has.” While the church is not directly under attack, the lifestyle of Western Christians is. Instead of mourning the comfort we knew, may we embrace the promise that these moments of discomfort and testing will allow God to make beauty from ashes. As Hebrews 12 states, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

So, may we see beyond the current discomfort we feel-some more acute than others-and believe God. Believe that he can use this time to make his church-and us as individuals-more steadfast, more unified, and more mature like Christ and our brothers and sisters in ages past and present who endured great persecution even unto death. For this, we can be joyful knowing that this earth is not our home, and he has sent Christ, ” . . . to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

Count it all joy!

It’s overwhelming, almost unbearable.  Since March our country (and the world in some ways) has been in the throws of one crisis or another.  First, the #Corona Virus, shutdowns, the myriad of consequences from the shutdown, residual fear and uncertainty of a virus resurgence, and now, violence by and against the #police leading to protests, many of which have become life-threatening riots.  Daily, the news has new coverage of economic devastation and endless violence popping up in city after city.  In today’s world when we are confronted with a plethora of problems every day on the news, social media, we can easily throw our hands up.  It is tempting to say, “Seriously, what does God want me to do right now?”  I am not directly involved with any of these issues, but they are weighty, paralyzing really.  It is easy for anyone to become completely ineffective, unsure of what step to take.  When can we get back to our normal lives, the lives we know how to live? 

For the past few years, my freshman English students have written a paper on the NFL kneeling during the national anthem.  While the debate changes slightly every year, the topic has not lost it’s importance.  For this essay, they read several different articles and watch a debate on ESPN.  In the ESPN debate, a few former NFL players debate with the host. In the debate, Ray Lewis a former NFL player, pastor and community activist tells Shannon Sharpe that Kaepernick should combat police brutality by becoming involved in the affected communities.  He says, “You must have a solution.  Because if you don’t have a solution, you’re just protesting for nothing . . .  to effect change . . . if you ain’t seen as a true activist, to go into these cities and do these things on a daily basis . . . “ (Skip and Shannon: Undisputed),  He suggests that kneeling in front of the nation on tv is not nearly as effective as his involvement with inner-city youth likely to be affected by police brutality because of where they live and how they’ve had to grow up. 

For many of us reading this, the idea of getting involved in the inner-city of these affected cities is not in our wheel-house.  Our lives are in smaller unaffected towns or suburbs.  We are not involved with those communities nor do we know how to be.  So, what is our place in all of this?

The first thing we all need to do is pray.  Ephesians 6:18 commands us to “(Pray) at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints”,, so whether we are staying at home in fear of violence or living our calm suburbian lives, we are obligated to pray.  We need to pray for our leaders and our brothers and sisters.  Minority pastors as well as pastors and churches in large cities need to be the first on our prayer list.  They have an opportunity to share the unique message of Christ’s forgiveness and unity of the body in a time of great division. 

After praying for these churches closely involved with these police brutality and riots, we need to pray for ourselves.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we all want to pray for all of this to just end.  And this prayer for peace is not wrong, per say, as people are being victimized, hurt and even killed, but as the quote says, “Be a part of the solution, not the problem”. We ALL need to pray for a small opportunity to make a difference where we live and work every day. This will obviously look very different for each individual, but God definitely has something we each can do.  While many of us don’t live in a large city, we do live among people who are disenfranchised, who feel like a victim that the cards are stacked against them.  As James tells us, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this:  to visit orphan and widows in their affliction . . . “  (James 1:27).  In addition, we are to” learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17) as well as, “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute” (Psalm 82:3).  Whatever our place, we as Christians are called to care for those lacking position, support, and resources.

Having been in public education for 22 years, I have witnessed many different attempts to help underprivileged youth.  There are many different organizations attempting to do this, but if there is one effective method I have seen it would be mentoring.  Plenty of programs give out free food, clothing, etc . . . but low-key one-on-one mentoring can make such a difference to a child who lacks the parental support they need to stay out of trouble and find stability and success in life, a way to break the cycle of poverty, abuse, substance abuse, the victim mentality, etc. . . . Now, you may say, “I don’t have access to any of these people in my current situation.”  For a few of us, that may be true, but the path to serving those in need is easier than we think.  Below are a just a few ideas:

1.  Get involved in your local public school.  My children’s attendance in a public school gives us so many opportunities to serve children of different races, religions, family structures and socio-economic backgrounds.  It is literally at our finger-tips. Mentoring your child’s friend can be as simple as inviting them over, including them in birthday parties,  taking them to VBS, etc. . . .  If you don’t have children, volunteer to read with children in your local school.  Schools are always looking for those who can work with young children who are likely to fall behind.  My husband did this for several years and built relationships with many children in our sons’ school.
2. Volunteer for programs like Big Brothers and Big Sisters or CASA.  Both of these, and many Christian counter-parts you may know of, allow for you to simply spend one-on-one time with an underprivileged youth.  This time does not need to include intense teaching, Bible study, etc. . . . These meetings can include ice cream, the park, a movie, and many simple activities.  For these children, being an example of a stable, respectable Christian person, especially over a period of years shows them not only that they are important but that there is a different path, a different way of living, and the love of God, whether directly stated or not.
3. Be a coach or team mom for a community sports team or your local public school.  Now, your child may be exceptionally talented in a sport and be involved in the most expensive program out there, but I am advocating for the cheapest most accessible sports team in your community, the one that costs $60 for the entire season.  Get to know the families and children.  Pray for them and form a relationship with them.  Those children with single parents or those in foster care often form strong  bonds with coaches, team moms, etc . . .

As we witness the pain many in our nation are facing, on all sides, we may be at a loss at what our part is in all of this.  Most of us will not be leading protests, anti-protesting, speaking publicly, campaigning for public office, but we can do something.  We are called to care, so as we pray for all of those involved, especially our brothers and sisters, may we begin to ask, “What would you have me do?”  We can all make a difference as a mentor, whether officially or casually.  In many cases, true change is made by investing in one life at a time. 

“I don’t do that peace thing,” he told me matter-of-factly. No people-pleasing from this student. That day the class was asked to find a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote and illustrate it.  Instead of sitting in silent defiance like students often do, he told me how he truly felt.  He was a bit agitated, expecting me to be indignant, a student refusing to do an assignment, but I wasn’t.  If there’s one thing I love about teenagers, it’s honesty.  Sneakiness, lying, those are not my favorite traits, but honesty, whether I agree with it or not, is so refreshing.  So, I accepted his decision, respected it even, and moved on.  It took a lot of maturity for a 15 year-old to tell me he didn’t believe in the assignment, and I know better than to argue with teenagers.  For him, a victim of emotional abuse by his own family and a victim of racism his entire life, the peaceful path was useless.  From his perspective, the peaceful pursuit of justice would change nothing. 

Peace.  It’s such a popular word, but if we’re honest, a lot of us actually feel like my student.  We’re just too afraid to say it.  Instead of wanting peace for all mankind, we promote our side of the current social storm and disregard those we disagree with.  We want peace on our terms. Peace that makes us comfortable. Every year we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in January.  We have marches, assemblies and school lessons about him and his legacy.  But in our current world, his logical, determined fight for peace does not get the reaction we want. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, MLK says, “In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.  Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.  We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”’ Wow.  How boring!  No wonder we (and by “we” I mean all Americans) say we love him but abandon his ideals in the name of “protests” and uncontrolled social media statements, seeking “likes” more than the peace he had in mind. 

Those on many sides of the argument are at fault. Those unaffected by police brutality and racism want to be left alone; they don’t want to be bothered by the suffering around them. Some of those that sympathize with George Floyd and family want justice for those suffering from police brutality but not cops or shop owners. Those who can’t conduct business or go about their lives because of unrest just want punishment for the rioters but not necessarily justice. And Christians, especially those not directly involved in any of it, want to spout their opinions about complicated situations they do not understand. They just want social media attention, people patting them on the back for being understanding while they are ignoring the hard work of fighting injustice in their own neighborhoods, schools and towns.

Even today, as George Floyd’s brother spoke out against the rioters, his message will fall on many deaf ears because the mob mentality will often win, and the violence and firestorm of opinions on the new and social media will continue because it is so much easier to be loud and angry than to be part of the solution. In the end, we continue to fulfill this verse, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). So, what are we to do? Even the definition of the word “peace” is different for different people. How can we move forward?

This quest for peace is an age-old problem.  The Jews wanted Jesus to be the political leader they needed to achieve justice for them in their time of oppression.  Even in that time, the “peace” they wanted was unachievable.  Jesus tried to explain it to them saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).  And now, in a time of deafening anger and discord, even in the church, Jesus’ message is the same. He alone can give peace.  Any other message is a lie.  We are to seek him humbly, follow his example, and share his true, “peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) in our daily lives.  This message of peace which starts in the individual heart and mind and will largely consist of the relationships we have in our own communities (however large or small) will not generate as much attention on the news or social media, but it is the only peace that will last.  So, as we attempt to move forward may we be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19) as we focus on sharing the gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation for all people in our every day lives, not based on a political person or movement but in the person of Jesus Christ.

Lord,  It seems like the world is engulfed in flames

The flames of fear and hatred

So far unable to be contained

Please bring a refreshing shower of peace

Cause the churches closest to the flames to

“  . . . do justice, love kindness and walk humbly” (Micah 6:8)

As you have commanded

Give them your protection, wisdom, and words

To proclaim your gospel of peace in this seemingly endless firestorm

Cause us, your broader church, to “not be anxious about anything but . . .

(make our) requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6)

Do not allow us to be indifferent or judgmental as we sit a safe distance from the flames

But show us instead how we can promote peace and justice

in our own towns, neighborhoods, and schools

Knowing that you expect us to promote justice for the “widows and orphans” of all races and

Socio-economic classes in our lives

Let us know that while we may not be called to fight the large fires igniting on our

screens and social media

that you are calling us to fight small fires every day as they cross our paths

And as we seek to promote your peace and kingdom, may we remember to speak the

“truth in love”(Ephesians 4:15) knowing that you are still on your throne

even when a smokey haze seems to dim your brilliance

Finally, may we hold fast to the promise that while there will always be a blaze

somewhere in this fallen world, one day soon you will wipe away “every tear . . . and

death shall be no more, neither shall there be Mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore”

(Revelation 21:2-4)

Amen

It seems so strange; I can’t believe it’s been 4 whole years. You see, while for you, this is the culmination of your public school career, it is a milestone of sorts for me too. Four years ago I became a Bronc just like you. And this is the most former students I’ve ever had in one graduating class before. So, I voluntarily wore that suffocating “rubber” mask and used much more hand sanitizer than I prefer to breathe in not because I am a good Samaritan-I’m sure you are shocked- but because I needed to say “goodbye,” and the opportunities for this were bit limited this year. And, hopefully, I didn’t mess up your cap decorations helping you get your mask on.

As I watched you walk across that stage today, I was flooded with memories. Wow! You were quite the freshman class! Smart, loud, fun, energetic, definitely mischievous. What a ride! I will say that teaching you was never dull. And over these past few years, I’ve so enjoyed watching you grow into the excellent “young adults” you are today. If I were to choose one word to define your class, it would definitely be “fighters”. In the last 3 years, you have weathered many storms: accidents, injuries, illnesses, surgeries, set backs, failures (and successes), divorces, break-ups, tragedies, difficult home lives and silent battles you fought all alone. In the end, you never gave up. Your feistiness I may have battled a bit when you were 14 definitely served you well as you fought past any adversity to achieve this goal.

So, while you are given credit by the media and others for being the class who survived the Corona Virus, I know that you survived so much more. While this truly has been a trying time, some of you were already fighting much bigger battles. Yes, we all celebrated a bit today just because we got to be together when others weren’t allowed; Some of you celebrated achieving high honors, and some of you simply celebrated doing something people (family, teachers, even you) weren’t sure you would accomplish. So, I would like to say, “Congratulations” and “Hats off to you”. I am truly sad I missed seeing you these last few months, and I know you are going to do great things.