Hope is the thing with feathers

Where do you find hope?   

Emily Dickinson once wrote,
"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,


And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.


I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me."

Where do you find hope?

In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul writes, "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. " (Romans 5:1-5, NRSV) 

Where do you find hope?

It seemed as though winter would never end.  I had grown weary of the frigid temperatures, the biting wind and ever present threat of snow.  I was never more ready for winter to be over, and I would gladly tell anyone who would listen about how irratated I was with my plight. 

One late afternoon, I was walking in the parking lot with my hands in my coat pockets, shoulders hunched close together and my head down cursing the breeze that was attempting to chill me to my core.  How I longed for this dismal winter to finally be over!

Then it happened.  Hope took me by surprise as I neared my car.  The sight of it stopped me in my tracks, and I literally laughed aloud at the sight.  There peaking up through a tiny crack in the pavement was a small flower. There was hope.  Hope disguised as a bloom that had no regard for the impossibility of its surroundings or the harsh realities of its climate.  And there it is.  Isn't that what hope always does?

"and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

Where do you find hope?

In the Face of Uncertainty

Each and every day we face uncertainty.  It seems to be waiting around every corner and hiding in the darkness of every room.  We fight it with all of our might.  With jaw set and fists clinched, we stress and strain hoping that through our own effort we can turn that uncertainty into certitude making clear all that was once unclear.  At the close of another battle with this unseen foe, we realize that this fight is unending.  It seems that uncertainty will always be there.  Life's edges will always appear hazy and unclear.

Yet, our hearts continue to burn for clarity in life.  We long to know exactly what we will face around life's next bend.  We want to know that our actions today will positively impact tomorrow's outcome.  Therefore, we try to project and plan the unclear and uncertain out of our lives.  We pray that their grip on our mind might finally be broken. 

In his book Ruthless Trust, Brennan Manning tells of a man who went to spend three months working with the sick and dying in Calcutta with Mother Teresa.  On his second morning there, he met Mother Teresa.  She greeted him and asked, "And what can I do for you?"  (Can you imagine that - Mother Teresa asking what she can do for you?) 

The man replied, "You can pray for me." 

She then asked, "And for what should I pray?" 

The man said, "Pray that I might find clarity."

To his astonishment and dismay, Mother Teresa smiled gently and said that she would not do that. 

When he asked her why, she said, "Clarity is the last thing that you cling to that you must let go of."  When he told her that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed to have, she smiled again and replied, "I have never had clarity, but I have always had trust.  I will pray that you trust God."

Life's unquenchable thirst for certainty and clarity satiated not by effort or through planning but with a relentless trust in a sovereign God.

In what we call the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today" (Matthew 6:31-34 - NRSV).

I pray that none of us receive the clarity for which we long.  Rather I pray that all of us learn to trust in the One who will never leave nor forsake - a relentless trust in a sovereign God.

Breathless

Think back on the last time you experienced something so amazing you literally had to pause a moment to regain your composure. 

Think about the last time you witnessed something that literally took your breath away, and you had to make a conscious effort to begin breathing again.  

When was the last time this happened to you? 

Maybe it was standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon’s glory. 

Maybe it was watching the sun set gently on the horizon line ushering in the blanket of night. 

Maybe it was the gentle snow falling from the sky.

Maybe it was the beautiful face of the one you love when they unexpectedly walked into the room.

Maybe it was sitting in a movie seat beholding the inspired creative genius of a film maker. 

Whenever it was, recapture that moment now.  Remember how you felt.

I am convinced that in moments like these, we behold the glory and majesty of God. 

Yet, not in its fullness. 

As amazing as that moment is in life, it pales in comparison with the wonder and awe of being in the presence of God.  It is in moments like these that we catch glimpses of God's grandeur.  These moments are but pieces of the whole character of God.  They are but portions of the power of God.  They are but fragments of the Holy fabric that make up God.  But they are a peek into something, someone bigger than anything we can imagine.

Read what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; ”  Romans 1:19-20

If we keep our eyes open.  God will reveal God’s self and character to us in some amazing ways; ways that will leave our mouths agape awaiting our next breath.  And there we will stand, breathless before a mighty God.  

When was the last time...

If you feel moved to share one of your moments, please do so here.

The Marketplace of Fear

There are merchants all around us that deal in the commodity of fear.  You can hear the shouts of the shop keepers who try as hard as they can to lure us in to buy what they are selling.  They work long and hard, 24 hours a day.  They must!  Their life depends on it.  They must convince others that what they have to sell is of utmost importance.  These traders will spare no expense to market their wares.  And the prospective customers walk through the narrow streets of Fear's Bazaar with wide eyes, furrowed brows and shortened breath. We find our insecurities tickled and our anxieties heightened. We cannot help ourselves.  We hear their voices and begin to buy everything we hear.  Somehow the more we buy, the more we need.  The more fear that fills our shopping bags, the more we feel we need to fear.  The cycle goes on and on.  And fear and its marketers gain strength and confidence beginning to believe that their merchandise is what the world desperately wants and absolutely needs.

The message that we hear in Fear's Bazaar is nothing but lies.  Fear preys on vulnerability and knows exactly where our weaknesses lie.  

In the book of Isaiah, the prophet is writing to a people living in fear.  They have seen all of the destruction around them and the devastation within and are afraid.  The prophet writes into this fear and says, "But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples assemble. Who among them declared this, and foretold to us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, 'It is true.' You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, says the Lord. I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can hinder it? Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel...Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:1-20, NRSV).

Or what about this from 1 John? "So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:16-18, NRSV).  

Fear cannot stand in love's light.  Love, the kind of love that will stare anything in the face until it blinks, has nothing to fear.  And the good news is that we are loved.  Rather, we belong to love.  There is nothing that can change that.

So, what do you say?  Let's stand in LOVE.  Let's shut down Fear's Bazaar.  The fear mongers will have to find another line of work.  LOVE wins.  

"And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13, NRSV).

Slaying Dragons

Fear’s toxic breath fills the air

Permeating every corner of life.

Gaining power

As panic, fear’s insidious seed,

Spreads its inconspicuous roots

Choking out life in its twisted web.

Despite its apparent strength

This invisible dragon,

The world’s one true foe,

Can be slain

Through the power of choice,

Freedom’s first fruit.

Do not fear;

Choose to live

In the face of the beast.

Steal its power;

Stifle its incessant noise;

End its tyrannical reign.

Fear no longer has a foothold 

On those who choose to live

Courageously,

With eyes of hope,

Full of faith.

Behold, the dragon now silenced.

                                  -- Brian Shivers

The Call



"He Anointed the Eyes of the Blind"
Walter Rane

"What am I supposed to do with my life?!" 


I can't tell you the number of times I have heard this question shouted and whispered from the trembling lips of students, from the pulsing heartbeat of my spouse and from the deep dark corners of my own being.  We all ask it.  We are all haunted at times by the silence that seems to so often follow it. 

"What am I supposed to do with my life?!"



The author of the Gospel of Luke writes that as Jesus began his public ministry he went to the synagogue in Nazareth and was handed the scroll of Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and read these words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19 NRSV). We are then told that Jesus rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the attendant.  With all eyes fixed on him, Jesus then said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Those gathered in his hometown synagogue were mystified by these words.  Jesus had just proclaimed what was to be the arc of his ministry and the nature of his call to all of those who had ears to hear. 

Indeed, these words came to characterize Jesus’ earthly ministry.  He lived into this proclamation in both word and deed. 

I think there may be even something more in these words. 



What would happen if those of us who follow Jesus would allow our lives to be characterized by these words from the prophet Isaiah? 

What would come to pass if we answered our question with this bold statement?

How would it change the manner in which we practice our skillset and implement our training? 



Future physician - how would it change the way you heal? 

Future teacher - how would it impact the manner in which you lead students toward discovery? 

Future engineer, stock broker, minister, farmer, father, mother, spouse...

I think it changes everything!

"What am I supposed to do with my life?!" 

God has called me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 



May God grant us grace, wisdom, and courage as we live into our calling. Amen.

Freedom for...

As I was saying...

"Freedom is such a HUGE concept.  What it means in one context may not be what it means in another.  What one considers freedom, another may consider an absolute impossibility.  I think this is what makes talking about freedom across cultural lines so difficult.  There appears to be no universal meaning of the word let alone a universal understanding of how freedom should or could be fleshed out" (For the entire discussion, see For Freedom below).

I often get asked this question in a wide variety of ways, "As a Christian, is it okay if I..." (insert anything you want in the place of ellipses - e.g. drink, curse, dance - yes, dance). This question, and others like it, appear to me to be an extension of the discussion on Christian freedom.  "If I have been set free from the bonds of law and sin, then can't I just do whatever I want?  After all, we believe that 'God alone is Lord of the conscience.' " (Taken from the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (USA) G-1.0301a)

Indeed, the Presbyterian Church (USA) holds fast to this understanding of Christian liberty.  It has been an important expression of what it means to be Presbyterian for hundreds of years.  Through this understanding, we are guarded against any tyrannical edict designed by the human mind to imprison, enslave or oppress another.  As Christians, we believe that God is indeed the only authority to whom our conscience must bow. 

However, there is another important part to this discussion that must not be missed.  In his letter to the church in Galatia (the passage that was quoted in For Freedom), the Apostle Paul writes, "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery...For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Galatians 5:1; 13-14 New Revised Standard Version). 

And then in his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes these words in his discussion on whether or not it is right for one who follows Christ to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols, "'All things are lawful,' but not all things are beneficial. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other..." (1 Corinthians 10:23-24, NRSV).

So where is our liberty limited?  Freedom is limited when it compromises the conscience of another.  Liberty is limited when it becomes an excuse for selfishness or self-absorption.  Independence is limited when it no longer takes into consideration the life and liberty of the other.  If our actions are not loving to our neighbor, then we must reconsider our actions and our decisions.  Our freedom is not simply a freedom to do whatever we wish as if it were something we had earned for ourselves.  Our freedom is a gift that has been given to us by the Author of freedom itself.  The manner in which we live into our freedom is our response.  

We are free to live.  We are free to be in communion with one another.  We are free to love.  We are free to be!  Let us not become enslaved by the "death-dealing ways" that often dominate our world.  May our freedom be a source of life and liberty to all with whom we are blessed to come into contact. 

For Freedom

As I have tried to stay updated on all of the demonstrations, protests and violence in Egypt throughout the last several days, I have found my mind wondering to the idea of freedom.  I confess that freedom is something that I take for granted.  The only time I give it much thought at all is when I am confronted by an injustice or a people's struggle for freedom.  This is one of those times. 

Freedom is such a HUGE concept.  What it means in one context may not be what it means in another.  What one considers freedom, another may consider an absolute impossibility.  I think this is what makes talking about freedom across cultural lines so difficult.  There appears to be no universal meaning of the word let alone a universal understanding of how freedom should or could be fleshed out. 


So, what does freedom mean to you?  How do you see it fleshed out in your world?  Where do you see its absence?


Here is a passage that haunts me when I allow the time and space for the words to take up residence inside me and walk around for a while.  In writing to the church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul writes these words, "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery...For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Galatians 5:1; 13-14 New Revised Standard Version).  Another translation renders the first verse of this passage in this way, "Christ has set us free for freedom" (Common English Bible). 

Can you imagine that?  We have been set free from the bondage of sin and the law through that which Christ has done for us.  And for what purpose have we been set free?  For freedom's sake!  Consider this for a moment.  We have been set free so that we can experience freedom.  Yet, for some reason, we allow ourselves again and again to be shackled by the bonds of the law or a pattern of sin and shame.  We have grown comfortable with that which holds us captive.  It doesn't have to be that way.  God has acted.  We are free!  Truly free.  Let us live into our freedom with the God who has set us free for freedom's sake.

For Freedom

I am a prisoner

held captive by…

the past

the present

the future

shortcomings

dishonesty

failure

defeat

victory

the specter of someone I never was

the shadow of someone I can never be

memories

actions

words

the inability to forgive

the unwillingness to be forgiven

jealousy

anger

guilt

shame

who I am

who I wish I could be

I am a prisoner

Looking at my hands 

I see that I am holding the chains

Chains that bind my heart,

fetter my soul,

imprison my mind. 

Yet, it is for freedom’s sake

I have been set free

But I must drop the chains. 

Open my hands!

Open my hands!
                                                             --- by Brian Shivers