Realizing What Is Important.

 

What a week it has been! The water was shut off at about 6 pm on Monday and didn’t come back on for 16 hours. Even with an overnight outage, it was hard to do without it. Then, on Thursday, the power went out at about 10 am but fortunately came back about an hour and a half later. It was already 97° outside when it went out, and believe me, living in a tin can sort of house, it heats up fast. Glad this was only a short outage.

It made me stop and think about how easy it is to take things like power and running water for granted. Especially in the desert heat, it is so easy to dehydrate and get thirsty without any way to replenish it unless one has spare jugs of water in the fridge or the pantry. Hopefully, these have been filled to care for needs like hand washing, cat drinking bowls, and cooking. The toilet won’t flush, and that’s probably one of the worst things. 

Lacking a vehicle, I can’t go down to the store to buy more bottled water, so I’m reliant on what I have. Unfortunately, I don’t have a generator, so being without power is something that has to be endured. Luckily, with the power out, the water is on (minor local outage), so my dishwasher works (no, the cats won’t help! ). Instead of vacuuming, I can sweep and dust mop. There are still things I can do, like make the bean salad for the next few days, and load the washer. I have air conditioning now, so things are not just bearable but comfortable. But then I think of homeless people, and I think of them with great sadness and sympathy. I always know that someone will restore power and water, hopefully sooner rather than later. At the same time, the homeless have to search for it independently.  

I remember being in the heat of summer one year when a massive storm knocked out power to the whole area for several days. People walked around, checking damage and offering help. Things were genuinely unbearable in the hottest part of summer and highly humid. If worse came to worse, we could go and stay with relatives or even find some temporary lodging and food supplies. Still, it was inconvenient and frustrating to be unable to rely on things we usually find essential.

I remember days when air conditioning was uncommon, even in hot, humid summers. I would lie on the woven fiber rug in front of the box fan and get cold water from the fridge. We had a gas stove, so if power outages happened in winter, we still could close off the kitchen and be warm, plus have hot meals and drinks. Growing up, I didn’t know any homeless people, as we never saw any in our small town or even in the area. I didn’t get a full taste of it until I moved to Arizona. Even for the first decade or so, I seldom saw homeless folks unless we had to go to downtown Phoenix for something. Now they are everywhere. There’s a beggar on almost every street corner and people sleeping under trees and any other shade they can find. 

I wonder how people in Jesus’s time did it. No power, running water, or air conditioning – and I know they didn’t miss it because they’d never had any of those. Still, they had to cope with it, just as our homeless people have to manage now. Many of our homeless are mentally ill or disabled. Some families lost their homes when they lost their jobs. Their vehicles broke down, and there was no money to repair them, so finding other work was almost impossible. Getting to places where needed resources like food, aid, healthcare, or further assistance is available. Remember, not everywhere has a comprehensive bus system.

So what would Jesus ask us to do? We know the answer to that; we’ve heard it often enough. But knowing it and doing something about it are two different things. Like the misuse of guns to mow down children and other innocent people, something has to be done, and soon. Jesus moved from place to place, sometimes without food, water, or shelter, but he and the disciples made the best of it (even if the boys did gripe about it from time to time). He encountered people who needed feeding and healing and did something about it. He used the disciples to spread the message and the teachings that God had established long ago – love God, love neighbor, and do good everywhere you can. 

This summer, remember the homeless, poor, the sick, imprisoned, dying, hopeless, and confused. Care for the children and the elderly. Love God, be kind, do justice, be humble, and walk with God every single day.  

Originally published at Episcopal Café as part of Episcopal Journal, Saturday, May 28, 2022.

Laying Out the New Kingdom

Isaiah 65:17-25

Something about oncoming holidays seems to spur a need for cleaning, clearing out, and pitching out. Maybe it is the thought that company is coming over for dinner. We want the house to look like the houses we see in commercials and magazine ads:  lots of bare space, counters and floors guests can see their faces in, and the bathroom looks like no one has ever used it. The cat litterbox is totally clean and well hidden, the dog's bed has been vacuumed within an inch of its life, and the carpets and floors have been cleaned until they are spotless and, to quote the old saying, you could eat off them. While cleaning, we run across broken things, catalogs and magazines that are out of date, unused items, replacement pictures, and school art projects. Those things get pitched. Before long, though, the newly claimed space will be the home of something else to occupy the recently emptied place.

I was thinking of how God did house cleaning. In the time of Noah, God caused a flood covering the whole earth except for Noah, his family, and either two or seven of each kind of bird, animal, reptile, and other creatures. Unicorns were not mentioned in scripture, nor were the dinosaurs, which asteroids wiped out, or so we postulate. It has long been thought that natural disasters were punishments from God and opportunities to rebuild things, bigger and better than they were before. The Bible often uses dislocation of whole nations or people to punish them only to have them return centuries later, to reclaim and rebuild as God wanted them to do.

In the Isaiah passage, God is setting out the plans for new heavens and earth, places where there will be none of the sins and imperfections of the old ones. They will be happy places, safe for their inhabitants, and where equality will be unilateral. This is the kingdom of God that Jesus often spoke of, the new earth where the earth would be renewed and respected, people would treat each other as neighbors and siblings, and poverty, sickness, crime, hunger, sadness, and negativity would have no place. This passage, written by 3^rd Isaiah, encouraged people who were in yet another captivity and those left behind. The result would be a place of peace and harmony for all, even nature.

We often talk about this kingdom and say we want to create this heaven on earth, but what are we willing to give up to attain it? What do we need to throw out? Perhaps old prejudices, hatreds, feelings of superiority, and entitlements to do what we want and where. What do we need to change? Maybe old beliefs, thoughts, positions, and practices need to be reconciled with what is good for the whole earth, its people, and its diversity. It could be that we need to be less inclined to preach the gospel of the good news and try to live it, thus setting an example of how to attain this kingdom on earth.

God will take care of the creating; we simply have to take care of making things ready. Spring seems an excellent time to start, and, given the state of the world these days, we won't be starting too soon. People and places desperately need help, and that help is needed now. Pray for peace and healing, but work like he** to bring it about.

 

Worrying about Worrying

When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.  --  Winston Churchill

I've been told many times over the course of my life not to worry. Worrying was a waste of time and with worry came frowning which left indelible tracks in your forehead. All the advice to the contrary, I still found myself a pretty addicted worry-er.  If it were a sunny day I'd worry about rain, even in places where rain was a relatively rare occurrence.  Honest to Pete, if there was even the remotest possibility that there was something that could/would go wrong, no matter how insignificant the thing or remote the possibility, I would work up a good worry about it. Sometimes the worry paid off, which is probably why I continued to do it for so long, but usually whatever it was either didn't become the disaster I'd imagined or was not, as Mama would say, worth the powder to blow it to heck (ok, she said another word, but Mama was often a very plain speaker).

It seems like worries multiply as we grow up. There doesn't seem to be a worry that doesn't seem to resolve itself. Where should we go to college?  What job should we try to find that fits our interests and our desired lifestyle? Where should we buy a house? How are the schools around where we want to live? Prices are going up, what if I get laid off or fired? Do I have enough savings to get me through retirement? Do I have enough insurance? How about Medicare? How much are my medications and possible hospitalizations going to cost? Who will pay my funeral costs? What kind of funeral do I want? Where do I want my final resting place be? The list could go on forever.

Like Churchill recounted, many of our worries will never happen. Our bills get paid every month, the house doesn't need major repairs, the appliances all work, the car is good for a few more years yet, the kids are grown and settled, our health is reasonably good for our age. Still, we will worry that it will rain the day of our outdoor barbecue (or palace garden party), Social Security will be axed (or cut), the party currently in power will pass some lame bill that will trespass on our particular religious, political views, or desires, and the country will go to he** in a handbasket. Sound familiar?

Currently we worry (or maybe not) about abortion rights, rising inflation, increasing shortages of necessary goods, racial or cultural issues and perceptions, where does one religion's rights begin and where does an opposing group's rights end. We worry about our safety whether from neighborhood gangs, radical groups, foreign squabbles that could escalate to wars that involve more than just two opposing sides, and so on. Not watching the news on TV or immersing ourselves in talk radio or media does help keep the worries somewhat at bay, but there are things we really need to know about, so where does that info come from? The church? The neighbors? The local news or TV station? What we overheard in passing at the mall, water cooler, or grocery checkout line?

For me, avoiding the news has helped, restricting myself to a few resources I find online. Another thing is using the Serenity Prayer ("God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...") is key. Remembering what it is I can do something about (like voting, supporting causes I believe in, or being a bit more choosy about what I share with others. I read books (generally nice British cozies, mysteries, or occasionally religious books that challenge my thinking), knit a lot (with prayers woven into the piece I'm making, and trying to anticipate what my fur-babies are going to yell at me about next. I'm careful where I put my feet (remembering breaking an ankle twice by stepping off the doorstep and onto a stray tennis ball), wiping up messes on the floor promptly, and taking my medications on time. I sit in my chair and rock often, which I find soothing and worry-releasing. Even when the wind blows, I can enjoy the sound of my wind chimes. It's all part of de-stressing and unpacking worries from my mind.

I remember Jesus's words about not worrying because if God takes care of the sparrow, God will surely take care of me. Granted, I may still break a hip or something else go wrong, but if I try to live as if I were the only living example of God's presence on earth, I would be believable. I don't worry about whether I will go to heaven (or the other direction), or will pass my final Christianity exam. I just trust that Jesus told the truth about God's watchfulness. 

Life is a lot easier without having to worry about a lot of worries. Trust in God, do your best, and work for freedom, justice, and equality for all. That's what Jesus would do.

Originally published on Episcopal Café as part of Episcopal Journal, Saturday, May 14, 2022.

The Importance of Tabitha

 Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died.  When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs.  All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed.  He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up.  Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.   – Acts of the Apostles 9:36-42

We are once again in the throes of confusing and unsettling messes that threaten our lives, well-being, and security.  Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has been a strain on all of us globally.  Here in the United States, as in other countries, death, disability, grief, and anger have followed in the wake of the pandemic, which has not yet completely left us. 

 One thing that I hope has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of community.  Looking at the destruction in Ukraine, not only of property and safety but the bonds of community between people who lived, worked, raised their families, prayed, and laughed together, we see what loss of community can mean.  In times of stress and loss, members of the community usually come together to support and console each other.  

This is how it was in Joppa when an older woman named Dorcas (Greek gazelle), also called Tabitha (Hebrew gazelle), died.  She was a well-known, respected, and loved member of her community, known for her good works and acts of charity.  She had been a female leader in the area, living an exemplary life in ways that reflected her faith and commitment to the teachings of Jesus.  It must have been a blow to the people who looked to her for guidance and assistance, much as we would feel at the death not only of a loved one but a person of high standing. 

Luckily, or more likely providentially, Peter the Disciple was in a town only about a dozen miles away from Joppa at the time.  Two men were sent to him with the news and the request for him to hurry.  They may not have known what Peter could do, but perhaps he could guide them through their time of grief.  When Peter arrived, he went to the upstairs room where Tabitha’s body lay, surrounded by the widows with whom she lived and worked.  Peter cleared the room and knelt to pray.

In words reminiscent of those spoken by Jesus to the daughter of Jarius (Mk. 5:41), Peter said, “Tabitha, get up.” He took her hand and, as she stood up, he showed her to the whole community.  Through this miracle, many new converts to the infant Christian movement came.  No doubt, the community rejoiced and thanked God for her restoration to them.

Tabitha was probably not a preacher, but we know she was influential because of the regard with which her circle of neighbors and fellow believers held her.  They loved and respected her because of the life she led rather than just her words.  This was the kind of life Jesus was getting at when he taught that his followers should love their neighbors, not just their friends, family, and fellow believers.  Tabitha’s example is one of a woman in a man’s world, teaching by doing and helping to bind the community together in peace.

Women in the Bible were generally an overlooked group unless they were mothers or wives.  We don’t even hear Tabitha’s story very often except in sequential Bible readings.  Stories like hers deserve more hearing to inspire both women and men to act as Jesus taught and Tabitha exemplified. 

 Who in our own communities are the Tabithas?  What do they show us?  How do they represent their faith in a clear, unequivocal way to those in need?  How can we foster more Tabithas?  How can we become one ourselves?

These are questions for us to consider.  The strength of our communities and our outreach depends on it.