From the Rev

Dear Friends,
When I come into the office each morning I am often following a preschooler and one of their parents bringing them to school. The other day I was walking behind a Mom and her daughter. The Mom was carrying her daughter’s backpack while her little girl alternately walked holding her mother’s hand and letting go to skip ahead or walk along the stones of the community garden like she was a gymnast on a balance beam. Laughter filled both that moment and each of the little girl’s steps. I smiled as I took in this beautiful scene and remembered such walks with my own children.

I don’t skip much anymore. At least that way. But in thinking about that little girl on her way to school I realized that a part of life is about not forgetting how to skip. If I no longer skip down sidewalks, I need to at least be sure my heart skips along when I hear a cardinal singing from the top of a tree or see a glorious sunset or watch a little girl dance her way to school with her mother.

Maybe as I grow older skipping has something to do with paying attention. Paying attention to where I am: And who is around me; And the fullness and wonder of life in that very moment. My dog, Sadie Rose, teaches me that lesson. For example:

More often than not I approach our dog walks as exercise for the dog. My dog approaches our walks as a chance to explore. To wag her tail at every person she sees. To smell every smell there is to smell. To chase after every leaf that blows by. To stop and notice every new sound. As a result our walks often take twice as long as they would if I just walked myself.

All of which leads to this. More often than not as we are walking, I am distracted thinking of all the things on my To Do list for the day. All of a sudden the leash jerks in my hand pulling me up short. (She’s small but she’s strong). She has stopped, nose to the ground, pushed into the grass, smelling something important to smell. (A friend has been here!) Impatiently, I tug on the leash, but she doesn’t move. She doesn’t even lift her head.

It is then that it hits me. Sometimes the important thing about our walk is not the exercise but the smell of the grass after a rain or the way the clouds dance across the sky or the leaves that go tumbling by or the touch of breeze on my neck. All of which I too often miss in my distractions about something else.

So pay attention today. Skip a little…at least let your heart skip a little. This world we live in is a beautiful, wonderful place! And you are a beautiful, wonderful person!

You are loved,

Wayne

Dear Friends,

There seems to be so much blaming, finger-pointing, belittling and shouting going on these days. The ones over there…they are the problem. It’s all their fault. It would all be better if they would just leave or shut up or go away.

But it’s never quite that simple, is it? Maybe politics has always been this way…putting down the other to make yourself look good…stirring up anger towards those who look or act or think differently…telling those who are nervous why they should be scared to death instead of just nervous.

All of which tears us down and tears us apart.

Finding answers to the difficult issues facing us these days requires a lot of hard work if we are to get from where we are to where we would like to be. It means working and talking together instead of blaming the other. It means being in community.

I was reading a couple of articles the other day. The first article held up a mirror reflecting back to us on who we have become: Suspicious, divided, angry, afraid of each other. The second article reminded us (me?) of who we can be, of how much stronger and better we can be together even though we may disagree.

The first article confirmed my discouragement not just with our current presidential campaigns and political partisanship, but right where we live. Somehow permission has been given that when we disagree with someone we have the right to call them names or call into question, in sometimes the nastiest of ways, their character or motives.

But the second article was a reminder of the importance of the fabric of our society. A reminder that I am better when WE are better. A reminder that I am stronger when WE are stronger.

Think about it for a moment. For the vast majority of us we get up in the morning and go to work. We work next to people who may or may not look like us or believe what we believe or share our particular point of view. But we do our best, just as they do their best, to perform whatever our job happens to be. We go home and go to our kids sporting events and we cheer for our children as well as the other children. We volunteer at our schools so our children, and the other children, will have the support and opportunities and supplies they need in order to succeed.

We certainly don’t always agree. But most of the time we figure out how to make our communities work…and our schools work…and our places of worship work.

Yes, there is much that tries to rip apart the fabric that holds us together. All the anger and fear being thrown around makes it harder for the rest of us. So I guess it’s up to us, those of us who get up each day and go to work, to do our part to help hold our communities together.

What do you think? Is that just wishful thinking? Or might WE, beginning with ME, take the first step in doing the hard work of becoming who we would really like to be?

You are loved,

Wayne

Dear Friends,
I read somewhere that it takes 10,000 hours to master any craft such as playing an instrument or making furniture or writing poetry. That’s probably true. And it leads me to wonder about other parts of our lives as well.

What about becoming a compassionate person?

What about learning to treat others the way you would like to be treated so that way becomes second nature to you?

What about becoming a good parent or spouse?

Do you think that same 10,000 hour statistic holds true? Do you realize that translates into two hours per day for a little less than fourteen years?!

I think we all understand that it requires lots of practice to truly master a craft or a skill or a hobby we enjoy. We even understand it takes continuing practice to maintain those things once we’ve mastered them.

But what about the practice required not just to do what we do, but to become the type of person we want to be? I want to be more compassionate, more faithful, more respectful, more thoughtful. I would like to listen better than I do. I would like to be more patient with myself than I often am. I would like to risk more.

Are these learned skills as well? Do these require the same diligent practice as learning to play the piano or build a beautiful piece of furniture? If so, how do I begin to practice for that today?

10,000 hours.

2 hours a day.

For 14 years.

I’m retiring in in 10 weeks.

I better get started!

You are loved,

Wayne

Dear Friends,

The world is full of a lot of crazy, awful stuff. I know that. I read and listen to the news. I stand with and pray for people who walk through what the Bible describes as the valley of the shadow of death. When you read the headlines or stand in sorrowful places, when you see what human beings can do to each other, you can begin to believe that the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket.

But are we really? Going to hell in a hand basket, that is? I don’t think so. Or perhaps more accurately, I choose to believe that is not the case. We get so involved in leading our lives from one day to the next, the challenges and deadlines that daily life throws at us, that we become unaware of the everyday acts of kindness that are right in front of us. But they are there…If we choose to see them.

Goodness and kindness is all around us. We walk through it every day and are often blind to it. A smile from someone tells you they are happy to see you. A tear speaks volumes about how much you mean to another person. A kind word at just the right moment is healing. A brief note of appreciation warms you with joy. These are all acts of kindness which make us believe again that goodness still exists, that fellow humans still care for each other without any ulterior motive.

Let’s not ignore it. If we are more aware in our daily lives of the smallest of acts, the world will appear to be a much kinder place.

So today, I will choose to look for goodness.

Today, I will choose to look for kindness.

Today, I will choose to look generosity.

And, I will remember to say “Thank You.”

Today.

You are loved,

Wayne

Dear Friends,

It is always a holy moment for Beth and me. With our kids, Brittany, Ben and Marshall, living just around the corner, they often make their way over to our home for dinner or maybe we go over to their home for ‘Taco Tuesday’. Often we prepare the meal together. When all is ready we sit around the table sharing a bottle of wine and breaking bread together, talking about life, reviewing the happenings of the week, discussing our crazy schedules and the drama of daily existence.

These are some of the holiest times of the week for me. Holy…set apart, cherished, belonging to, sacred. Holy…these meals are a little slice of heaven on earth where I experience face to face the love of others, the love of God, and the love of life.

Sure, I know as a pastor I’m supposed to be all about holiness, but guess what? You are probably more of a holy person than you know too. You need holiness. We all do. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel put it like this: “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.”

Often when many people think of holiness they think of chanting monks with smoky incense, a whisper quiet church service, or the faithful streaming into mosques and temples for Sabbath, a holy day. That fits. This week Christians around the world will celebrate an entire Holy Week. But to be “holy” is always about so much more than ancient doctrine or religious practice. Religion at its best is holy. There are wonderful, meaningful holy moments that happen in church…sometimes when the sanctuary is full…sometimes when I am the only one there.

But life is holy too. I believe deep down we all desire this holiness. Something holy is always calling out to us. We just sometimes forget. And it’s no wonder. We are so busy. We are up early in the morning, then rushing off to work or school. We push through all the meetings and emails and texts and demands of the day. We come back home in heavy traffic, grab a quick bite to eat, then off to other evening commitments and finally back home to bed. And then we do it all over again. Such busyness is the enemy of holiness. Busyness tries to convince us that meaning comes from doing. Busyness sweeps us along in waves of frenetic grasping, from one thing to another and another and another. Busyness splits life into a million pieces. Busyness is the golden calf the world worships.

If we pay attention, however, we can see that holy moments can and do happen all around us, anywhere at any time. Holiness recognizes that our souls need nurturing too. Holiness dares to say “Enough!” You’ve experienced holiness in your life, those times when life feels sacred. Like those family meals. Like weekly worship or daily prayer. Like watching your children and grandchildren. Like sitting still and allowing the silence around you to fill you. Like watching a magnificent sunset. Like holding hands with the one you love.

The key words: “…if we pay attention.” That’s the hard part. It means intentionally claiming precious moments for rest and thought and relationships. It means recognizing that there may be something greater than ourselves in the universe, that maybe life isn’t all about me. It means understanding that there is more to living then just satisfying every desire, scratching every itch, or feeding every appetite. Yes, holiness is hard work. Holiness takes practice.

God knows we all need to be holy, and not just for one week or season or holiday, but also for this day. Indeed, every day can be a holy day if we pay attention. For when we do every moment has the potential of being holy.

You are loved,

Wayne