Saturday, March 26, 2011

How to Eliminate Interruption... IF that's your goal.

John 4:4-7

4 Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”




You probably want to get more things done than you do. Our brains are always buzzing trying to interpret a multitude of signals and navigate the turbulence of technology, globalization, and information.

Newsweek’s recent edition headlined the information overload as reaching a point of “brain-freeze” where we become so saturated with incoming data that our neurological circuits freeze up.

Journalist Sharon Begley summarizes our dilemma, “The ‘Twitter-ization’ of our culture has revolutionized our lives, but with an unintended consequence: our overloaded brains freeze when we have to make decisions.”[i]

Somehow we are supposed to get it all done and keep our little corner of the world spinning in equilibrium.

But, inevitably, the computer will crash, the brakes will quit, the market will turn, the dog get sick, the basement will flood, the doctor will call, you’ll run out of shampoo, you’ll miss the bus, you’ll forget to shave, the creditors will call, the neighbors will yell, emotions run high, patience runs thin, your life collapses...

"I'll never get it all done!" "Everyone wants a piece of me!" ... and the morning coffee hasn’t even finished brewing yet.

In “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” Gordon Greco confesses to his Wall Street protégée, “Money is not the prime asset in life. Time is.” And, W. Edwards Deming, a statistician and business consultant best known for his work in the 1980’s in Japan, observed that “The average American worker has fifty interruptions a day.” [ii] In the course of our eighteen waking hours, that’s over three interruptions an hour.

That’s the world we live in.

Jesus’ life story was full of interruptions: his mother’s demand for more wine at the wedding at Cana, Nicodemus in the night, that funny little tax collector, Zachaias, up in his tree, Peter’s impetuous interjections, Herod’s infanticide in Bethlehem that forced Jesus and his parents to Egypt and, yes, the encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. Only this time, it is not Jesus being interrupted, but Jesus doing the interrupting.

I see two gems of wisdom from the encounter Jesus had with her: 1) Accept the interruptions ... so, 2) You don’t miss Jesus.

The woman at the well doesn’t seem to be a person who needed extra interruptions. First, we can reasonably assume that he life was stressed by her social position. She was not first class.

I like to fly Southwest because everybody’s in coach. I don’t have to walk through the first class cabin on the way to my seat in back of the plane, and face first-class passenger glances that I tell me I really don’t belong here among the privileged people.

So it was as a Samaritan. You were not legitiment descendent of Abraham and Isaac, but sort of half-Jewish relative who descended from Abraham’s other son birthed from his wife’s maidservant Hagar. As such, we might reasonably assume, sociologically, that her life was difficult and filled with a sense of inferiority.

Also, we can reasonably assume that she lived in failed relationships with men. Reading further along in the story, in John 4:18 we discover that she had had five husbands, and that to the man she was now living with, she was not married. She couldn’t keep her man.

As such, we could be reasonably assumed that psychologically, her life was a struggle with dysfunctional personalities, failed relationships and sense of insecurity. She had a difficult life that didn’t need extra interruptions.

But Jesus ...(something like a “but God” instance we spoke of last week) But Jesus ... interrupts her anyways. If she lived in 2011, she could have managed the interruption by, .. say,...

1. Putting her cell phone on silent.

2. Turning off the porch lights and not answering the door.

  1. Clicking “delete” on her email before she read it.
  2. Staying home from work.
  3. Not checking Twitter.
  4. Resigning and collecting unemployment

... sort of “Turn-on, Tune-in and Drop-out with Timothy Leary.[iii]

But, the woman at the well was operating more like a TIVO recorder here, where, when the phone rings, the email “dings,” the neighbors call, the Twitter tweets, she is of a mind to pause her life, listen to the situation, and then, when all is said and done, receive the grace that has been presented to her.

The issue may be less trying to eliminate interruptions, than knowing how to accept them.

She engages, she listens, she waits, and what she might have missed in a tirade of fury, became the gateway of grace.

It happens all the time between people... for those who are willing to listen...

Betty Smith, recovering in the grief from the lost of her husband only three month earlier, received one of those irritating telemarketing phone calls right when you’re ready to head out shopping.

Most of us are irritated with these interruptions, but Betty, in her ever-present patience, struck up a conversation. “I’m really not interested in a time-share in Texas, but thank you for calling. How are you doing?”

And with a pregnant pause on the other line ended with a deep breath, the telemarketer sighed, “Well, my husband passed on about a week ago and I’m just trying to get back to work. Thanks for asking.” And against all quota criteria of the marketing department, Mary, on the other end, started talking with Betty.

After five minutes, Betty asked if it would be permissible for her to call Mary later in the day at a number that would not interfere with her work.

Numbers were exchanged, and over the phone, an interruption that would have infuriated most of us, emerged as the opportunity for the much needed friendship and compassion that desperately need to carry us through the dark corridors of grief.

What might have missed in a tirade of fury, became the gateway of grace.

It happens all the time in prayer... for those who are willing to listen.

We often see prayer as talking to God. We have words, we have prayer books, we have liturgies,we have the Lord’s Prayer, but in our cranial need to have a constantly active pre-frontal lobe, we may have forgotten that prayer is a conversation – one that we cannot have if we do all the talking.

Listening to God -- though frustratingly slow -- if we give ourselves space between the words, to pause and listen, be silent and pay attention to God,

is invites us to be interrupted by God with thoughts that otherwise might not have crossed our mind. [iv]

What might we have missed in a diatribe of prayerful demands, can, when we listen for the voice of God in the space between the words, become the gateway of grace.

Whether between people or in conversation with God, it involves surrendering our agenda, opening our hearts, and listening to what God is doing around us in through us.

Eckhart Tolle, Buddhist teacher and philosopher, calls it the “Power of Now;” living in a mindfulness of the carnival happening around us and realizing we our part of it. [v] (But Jesus was already there.)

Maybe we need to take a lesson from the Samaritan woman whose life was interrupted by Jesus sitting on the edge of Jacob’s well asking her to pause from her own chaotic carnival of life and help him get a drink, and learn that our responsibility is less to create a safe bubble of comfort and ease, than about being humble, open, willing, and flexible; to see that the God-interruptions aren’t meant to drag me down, annoy me, teach me a lesson I should have already known...

... but they are opportunities to touch and taste and see and hear and participate in the Kingdom of God here and now; a chance to intersect with other people’s real lives, a chance to intersect my own spiritual formation with the rich formation of others, a chance to intersect with God himself.

Was this not exactly what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews said in Hebrews 13:2?

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:

for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”


[i] Sharon Begley, “I Can’t Think,” Newsweek, February 27, 2011

[iii] Dr. Timothy Leary, PhD., “Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out,” Original release: Mercury 21131 (mono)/61131 (stereo), US 1967, Executive producer: Henry Saperstein, Associate producer: Richard Krown, Guide/Narrator: Timothy Leary, Voyager/Narrator: Ralph Metzner, Divine Connection: Rosemary Woodruff; Original psychedelic music by Maryvonne Giercarz (veena), Lars Eric (guitar), Richard Bond (tabla)

[iv] Sister Ann Marie Wainwright, St. Scholastica Monastery, 1001 Kenwood Avenue Duluth MN

[v] Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, New World Library, Novato, CA

Monday, March 14, 2011

Wake Up! God’s Calling

March 13, 2011

Jeremiah 1:4-7

4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6 “Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

Did God choose you? This ineffable, cosmic presence of ethereal energy to shape the universe, spin planets, manage the human genome, ignite the Big Bag, fuse hydrogen, slit atoms, balance gravity and black holes ... did He choose you?

In the face of universe, maybe at one time or another, when you paused on a mid-summer’s night and starred into the vastness of the canopy of the stars overhead, you wondered -- like Jeremiah, or Gideon, or Moses, or Abraham, or Sarah, or Peter, or Paul, or Thomas, -- “Who me?”

Do you sometimes feel like Jeremiah, unqualified? “Whose going to listen to me? No one takes me seriously!” (Jeremiah 1:6 paraphrase )

There are many times we have to put on airs of being competent for our jobs that we really feel unqualified for, but people expect confidence and competence, so we pretend, sometimes with a bit too much arrogance, that we have it all together.

Late at night, under the stars, starring at the canopy of endless margins, alone, no one but you, your breath and the Holy Spirit, you breathe in deeply and feel a rush of weight crushing upon your chest knowing you really have no idea what in the name of God you are doing. And you pause, like Jeremiah, and cry out to God, “You must be nuts. How I am to do this?”

This is also the way Gideon saw himself as well. In Judges 6, Gideon we get a hint of the problem confronting Gideon. In Judges 6:11, we read he, “threshed his wheat harvest in the winepress,” which may not mean much unless we realize wheat is usually threshed on the threshing floor. Gideon was hiding himself from his adversaries, the Midianites, cowarding in the winepress, feeling unqualified and scared to face his challenges. (Judges 6:11)

I have told some of your about this during our Tuesday night prayer and meditation time, of what happened to me in 1972 after being ambushed by Jesus in Spokane, Washington. I had some inkling that I should be doing something for God other than going to school and working, but my reputation preceded me and I more often than not recoiled to what people thought of me, more than to what God was calling me. Who on earth would listen to a young, undisciplined, rebellious, troubled, insecure, frightened kid who embraced more of the works of the flesh than the fruits of the spirit? I popped open my third grade Bible, (I don’t think I had opened any other time expect to give the appearance that I knew where things were in the bible during Sunday School), and the pages fell open to Jeremiah 1... verse 6.

Like Jeremiah, Gideon questioned God’s choice of him. In his day, Gideon’s reputation was synonymous with the national mood of the Hebrew tribes trying to settle the Promised Land to the west of the Jordan River. Everyone in his tribe lived the part of the oppressed. There was a lack of courage, and Gideon demonstrated this widespread fear in himself.

Like Gideon, Jeremiah Gideon, questioned his competency for the job. In his day, youth were better “seen and not heard.” Think of the time the disciples refused to let the children come near Jesus simply because of their youth. Jeremiah reflected the cultural ethos of his day. There was a lack of respect, and Jeremiah demonstrated this widespread contempt in himself.

Both Gideon and Jeremiah were being defined by their past.

Carl Jung in The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, said, “Out of our common experience we become locked in unconscious expectations that replicate the patterns of the common experience.”

In effect, as psychiatrist Dr. Judith Lewis Herman pointed out, “Our problem is less that we have had a trauma in the past, than that we keep repeating and reenacting the trauma in the present.”

Jeremiah, Gideon, myself, most of us, are replaying our reputation, often unconsciously, and defining what we do based on our past, our reputations, what other say we are, or what we have experienced. As long as we keep reenacting from the past, even unconsciously, we will be saying to God as he calls, “Who me?” and walk away, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That’s insanity.

But look at how God sees Gideon:

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty-man-of-valor!’ (Judges 6:12) To the coward God gives the title, Man-of-Valor!

And, look at how God sees Jeremiah:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
To the insecure youth he gives the title Prophet to the Nations!

God “calls ‘em like HE sees ‘em!” not the way we see ‘em.

We see God doing this throughout Scripture – God assigning responsibilities to people who really don’t seem to fit the part, because God sees what we can become less than what we have been. While the rest of the world defines us by our reputation, God defines by our potential.

You may not feel like much, it may be because you are defining yourself by your reputation and your past and your patterns. For most? Well, it seems to be, que sera, sera,” “c'est la vie.”

But God ... (those are becoming my favorite two words of the bible) But God! ... But God seems to be unwilling to let “whatever will be, to be” or to resign to “such is life.”

Jeremiah was defined by age limitations. He was too young. But God said, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth,’... Do not be afraid ..., for I am with you and will rescue you” ...and Jeremiah did as he was called. He went and proclaimed

Gideon was defined by emotional limitations. Gideon felt cowardly. He hid in the wine press where the challenges before could be avoided. But God said, “The Lord is with you, you mighty-man-of-valor!” ...and Gideon did as he was called. He led the nation out of their malaise.

And let’s not forget Abraham. Abraham knew he was ill-equipped to father a son at 100 years old, and his wife Sarah at ninety was far from her child bearing years. They even laughed a God for his divinely strange humor. Abraham was defined by physical limitations. But God said, I will bless your wife and she will surely give you a son.”...and Abraham did as he was called, he kept the covenant with God and found his wife with child.

And let’s not forget about Isaiah. Listen to how Isaiah say himself. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5) Isaiah defined by his sinful limitations.

You too may feel unworthy, but God calls you worthy.

You too may not feel not ready, but God will make you ready.

You too may feel ill-equipped, but God will equip you.

Abraham felt overwhelmed by his physical limitations,

Gideon by his emotional limitations,

Jeremiah by his age limitations.

Isaiah was overwhelmed by his secret sins. tormented in his soul.

But God said, “Isaiah? Your guilt is taken away; your sin atoned for.”

And Isaiah responded ... ... “Here am I, Lord. Send me!”

Go! Go in the confidence. God has called, assigned, equipped, and enabled You. And in the confidence that He will remain with You ... Go!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

You Have More Control than You Think

March 6, 2011

Matthew 9:27-29

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”

Not more than a few years ago, Rachael was vacationing in Miami Beach enjoying her first chance visit the sunshine paradise. Blocks from the resorts on Collins Ave., across the channel berthing yachts and speed boats, Miami Beach spreads out like most ordinary cities; crowed, smog, noisy, strip malls, and non-descript apartments; save for one that caught Rachael’s eye, perhaps set back sixty feet from the sidewalk.

It was skirted with a long, wide porch on which there were neat rows of rocking chairs warmed by the afternoon sun; each evenly space, in exactly the same position, nothing touching anything. Many of the chairs were occupied by quiet, elderly people, rocking gently to the hum of the traffic and the wafting breeze; every one ... however, just staring ... straight ahead ... at the street.

Rachael says, “I keep thinking, ‘All their lives, everyone on this porch worked hard, loved little, saved what they could, and it’s come to this: eight inches away from each other and no one to talk to.’”

If you ask me, that’s a scary thought. How much of our lives are spent nurturing ourselves until we have nothing left than ourselves.

Is it possible that by the time we are sitting on the porches of retirement homes, rocking quietly in the gentle breezes of an afternoon’s setting sun, that we have been so beat up over the years that this is all we have left?

As Eric Roth wrote in The Good Shepherd, “Do you know what my deepest fear is? That I will end up friendless; completely alone.”

Therapist Laurie Ann Perlman acknowledges we are motivated by needs that develop over years of gratification, frustration, reinforcement and disappointment. They become deeply unconscious and drive us to find associations that will balance our sense of self. We gravitate to things that give us safety, provide trust, allow for intimacy, build self-esteem and help us get some control over our daily grind.

What is it that is going to give us the deepest sense of purpose in our lives?

What is it that is going to address the voids we feel within?

What is it that will determine our blessings?

Have you watched the Dr. Phil show? I catch it once and a while. He’s not that bad at encapsulating patterns and offering perspectives for working through them. Dr. Phil McGraw basically works at "getting real" with behaviors and creating positive lives.

Last week his show was “The Mistress Revealed.” (You can imagine how I thought that we were in for a Jerry Springer, chair-throwing evening.) But, Phil McGraw calmly exposed the destructive belief system that was bringing destructive patterns into a marriage. His first guest-couple were fighting through a husband who had had seven adulterous affairs in five years, and rationalized it on the basis that his wife was too busy raising the kids and his wife was no longer physically attractive to him.

Now I ask you, what was his belief system? He believed in lust

In what had he placed his faith? He put his faith in his libido.

And what blessings had that faith bestowed him? a few minutes of titillating thrills and an alienated wife.

Had he turned his chair to that which God had given to him in the first place, turned his attention to his wife (as God so advises in Eph. 5, Gen. 3, Matt 5, Gal. 5), would he not have found the blessing in the marital sanctity that can be the highest halls of human happiness?

All that most of us do is put our hopes in quick fixes, instant gratification, self-centered satisfaction, driving ourselves to a “Shangri-La” of our own creation ... and it is death.

“Those who sow trouble, reap it.” Job 4:8

“Whoever sows injustice, reaps calamity.” Proverbs 22:8

“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour.” Hosea 8:7

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.” 2 Corinthians 9:6

”Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; “

But....”whosoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:8

If I live by my libido, I’ll face the consequences of STD’s, broken trust, betrayal of children. If I live by money, I’ll reap the benefits of its material gains along with its seductive alienation. If I live by power, I’ll gain the blessings of influencing others along with its deep loneliness, its paranoia over losing clout, its isolation from life.

However, as we see in the encounter of Jesus with the two blind men we really need to live in the shadow of God’s mercy, to seek Him, to put ourselves under His way, His truth and His life. In Jesus there is the invitation to turn our chairs towards something that can really heal us, to live for something that can really move us; to trust something that will really renew us.

In effect, God has given us more control over what happens to us than we may have thought. I have free will to choose who and what will by my god, and subsequently to decide what blessings I want to have in my life. The choice is yours.

If I live my myself, well ... count my curses...

If I live by God, well... count my blessings...

3 ... for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ... they will be comforted.

5 ... they will inherit the earth.

6 ... for they will be filled.

7 ... they will be shown mercy.

8 ... they will see God.

9 ... they will be called children of God.

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven! (Matthew 5)

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses; life or death, blessings or curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live!” Deuteronomy 30:19

It is up to you. What do you believe in?