Worldly Holiness

Lift-off, originally uploaded by papalars.

I’ve got a few weeks of travel just ahead of me, with two weekends speaking in the Mid-West and this picture made me think of the trip. Before I fly I always like to methodically plan out what I need, gathering all “my stuff” and putting it in it’s place. There are many pieces and I like to be efficient but fear that I always take too much. Visions of my father getting ready for a camping trip are somehow coming to me right now. Maybe I’m a little like this bird. My cookie is too big so it takes a little longer to get airborne. Maybe a little like the hand in the cookie jar phenomenon too.

This trip I have two weekends in a row full of preaching and teaching with meetings in between and more networking in Chicago. For the teaching part, I usually like to have handouts and tools for people to keep using after I leave. Anyway, that requires a little more organization. I examine each talk I give, really, and try to adapt and add to my stories from what I keep learning from visits to the mosque, relationships I’m building, etc. I enjoy this aspect of my ministry immensely but it takes some planning and organizing. I suppose my tendency also is to want to deliver a 9 course meal when something more like a snack is what is needed. Every once in a while, however, I do find people who want the full meal deal, and more. That is cool when that happens. Another part of getting ready involves the creative side, the stuff that keeps my imagination alive. I like to add pictures to my PowerPoints so keep looking for the best way to communicate a concept visually. Isn’t it true that a good picture paints a 1000 words?

On another note, today I received both good and bad news. First, let me tell you the bad. Not real bad, just a bit of a downer. We found a house this last week that looked just perfect for us. Had enough space, great location, nicely refurbished and ready to have friends over. Carol even awoke this morning and said we need to make an offer before I leave town. Then we got the call from our Realtor. “Our house” just came off the market this morning! How could that be? Someone else got in line in front of us. Darn, that was a bummer. We’ve been on this journey most of the year, doing research and watching the market to try to time a purchase when prices and interest rates are low. It may seem trivial, but today it feels anything but.

The good news came just the day before and I’m still enjoying this one. My Imam friend accepted my invitation to join me for a class I am teaching at a church later in May. He is willing, let alone brave, to step into a church to share with my class about Islam. I plan to roll out the red carpet and be as hospitable as he has been to me but I wonder if everyone at this church will behave. I’m praying that it will be so and that our time together will be good. Very good. Won’t you join me in that prayer?

If you’d like to know more about the whereabouts of that event or have questions or comments, leave me a comment. I’m here for you and want to build a bigger team.

Purple & Gold, originally uploaded by papalars.

As a Seattle resident, I haven’t been able to root for a sports team for sometime. Our basketball team, the former Seattle Sonics, were moved to Oklahoma City last year. The Seahawks football team underperformed once again this last season and seem to be selling off our quality players since Mike Holmgren’s departure. The Seattle Mariners have been in the bottom of their division several years running now. We hope Ken Griffey will revive our fortunes but many doubt an over-the-hill player can carry the team to previous heights. The normally good U of W Huskies football team has hit a run of bad luck for….gosh it seems like over 5 years now. The Seattle Storm women’s basketball team has made us proud in recent years but that too seems to come and go.

Fast forward to now….The U of W Huskies college men’s basketball team actually got to the NCAA tournament this year and are nationally rated. I just watched them win their first game in their bracket. So, like a standard Seattle sports fan, I jump on the most recent bandwagon of hope that carries us for at least a little while. Truth be told however, Seattle sports fans are pretty fickle. Our allegiance to any sports team runs very shallow. I am no exception. Like other residents of this fine city we can’t invest too much in one team because the winning ways seem short lived around here.

I think in general, part of the problem is that we have too many other things going on–interesting diversions, hobbies, individual sports, etc. for the entire populace to march in lock step with one sports franchise. We like coffee, art, music, riding the ferry across the Puget Sound, taking a trip into the hills, skiing, etc. We even have a place on Mt. Rainier called Paradise, a favorite destination for many people in the region.

There was a period in Seattle sports history that seemed a little better, when we could actually cheer for a team that had some good fortune for a season or two, or longer. It has been awhile so I can’t quite remember what it feels like. But for now, I will watch the currently anointed Seattle area team with high hopes. Can they do it? Or, will they bow out early to go home and do something else?

GO DAWGS!!

Narrows Bridge, originally uploaded by papalars.

Had a wonderful visit to an area mosque this last Wednesday. Not that I’m counting but I think that makes 5 now that I’ve visited in this area. I continue to find Muslim hospitality quite gracious and warm and this instance was no exception. I’ve been increasing the frequency of visits with my Imam friend as well, both visiting his mosque and sharing halal meals together a few times. I’m learning a ton and enjoying each step along the way. Allah akbar! Hope you don’t mind me saying “God is great” in Arabic. He truly is. I never want to make that statement with a cavalier or flippant attitude. I really, deep down believe that God is great….and greatly to be praised.

My visits seem to continue to build bridges of trust in genuine friendship, exchange of ideas about God and camaraderie. You may not realize this but Muslims in our midst don’t always feel welcome. You may contend with me that there are good reasons for that feeling. In return I would caution you not to make generalizations, projecting your feelings about some who show up in the news upon the entire swath of the 1.2 billion Muslims spread across the globe. Thing of it is, I keep running in to peace-loving, gracious Muslims whose warm hospitality puts me to shame. We’ve got much to learn from our Muslim friends, really.

This last Wednesday was a great example. A group of my friends and students in a class I’m teaching had arranged to go visit a local mosque to have a conversation about our questions from the Qur’an. Muslims that I have met in their place of worship are always proud to open the door and show me a place to sit and feel welcome. I know not all mosques are open to those from the outside but that has been my experience for the most part. Those that I have met do this special thing when we greet that I really love. After we shake hands, they take their hand and place it over their heart, kind of like we do when we give the pledge of allegiance. It is a sign of honor, I presume, like they are taking a bit of me into their bosom. Pretty cool stuff.

This last Wednesday one of our conversation partners was expressing something, kind of a burden that he was carrying. It goes to the point I made above, that many Muslims do not feel welcome in our midst. In mid-sentence about some other point he was making, a point I really can’t remember because of what followed, he said, “the world hates us!” He continued saying something else that I can’t for the life of me remember either. When it finally registered what he said and the expression on his face, I blurted out, “I don’t HATE you!”

I think it registered on my new friend because he paused mid-sentence. He seemed to take notice. I looked at him intently, he at me. I think the ground was laid for a follow-up visit. Pray with me as I continue to build bridges. Allah Akbar. Anybody want to join me on a visit?

Lookout, originally uploaded by papalars.

It occurred to me recently that the current economic situation is much like hiking through the woods for me. Well, not totally, but let me explain just how they are similar enough for me to draw the comparison. It is not hard to know that I like to hike from the flow of my pictures and stories on this blog. Sometimes I like to take a trek by myself, sometimes with others, but in all cases I find myself refreshed spiritually if perhaps spent physically.

As I was standing recently at this lookout near Wallace Falls, close to Gold Bar on Highway 2, I was once again struck by how nature so many times comes to the rescue for me. Mother Nature, which we so often abuse, overuse or otherwise ignore continues to be so generous to us.

On this particular day when I took this photo, God used nature to help me get perspective! On many things. Watching the markets and trying to figure out when we are going to hit bottom has been a bit unsettling, for some very traumatic. I can’t imagine the trap some must feel at the prospect of losing their job or their house and then needing to find a new job or home in a down economy. I was talking with someone recently who told me they cried every day this past year over the prospect of needing to declare bankruptcy. The burden of the ripple effect through their family, the sense of failure added to the fact that starting over in the hole in midlife is not easy. Wow.

On the trail I sometimes wonder if my body is up to the task I have chosen for that day. In the lowlands, among the trees I’m constantly wondering how much further I need to go before I stop. Can I really make it? I’m checking my watch and looking for signposts that will indicate I’m well on the way or close to my destination. But among the trees, it is sometimes hard to get perspective and know where you are. Distances can be hard to estimate. You can’t see that far ahead. One tree looks just like the last one and one following. Amongst the trees in fact it is so easy to lose perspective! Hmmm, sounds like the expression “losing the forest for the trees!” Actually, sometime you can even get lost among the trees. The mind starts to play tricks on the body and the longing of the heart is to finish. The feet are sore, leg muscles aching, mouth is parched and my body is craving to just park the derriere for a long pause. Getting disoriented or even lost does happen. Hey I like the journey as much as the destination, in life just like in hiking. But truth be told, I like the lookouts up high on the trail where I can see and appreciate a grand view! And rest. Renewal and the awe that strike my heart from the view restores and get me ready to keep going.

It is all about perspective. I need to let God be God, in my life and the uncertainties that come my way. In down times or up. When I regain perspective, I begin to trust God again and move forward somehow, someway, knowing that the lookout is not far ahead! Psalm 19 makes the correlation better than me. I grew up hearing this Psalm in church, but also on the trail with my dad. It has given me a window on how God’s handiwork can help us all get perspective in difficult times:

1The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.