Category: Random Musings

Seasons Changing

Shannon MartinLeave a comment

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

Ecclesiastes 3:1, NSRV

Voices of the past are echoing through my head this beautiful fall afternoon.  There is something about the crispness in the air at this time of year that makes my thoughts turn nostalgic and a little melancholy at the same time.  When I feel this way I always wonder if I am secretly an introvert pretending to be an extrovert.  Regardless, a reflective mood is upon me.

Life hasn’t taken me where I thought it would.  Then again, does life truly ever turn out the way we think it will?  My current reality looks very different from my childhood dreams and visions.  By default I am not implying that my life is bad in anyway, but it definitely doesn’t resemble the dreams of being a stay at home mom of two or three that drives a mini van and goes on play dates at the library with a lifelong best friend.  Not bad, just different.

Along the way I have made choices that set this path before me.  Other times choices were made for me based on the needs of my family.  One of the things that I don’t think I did enough of earlier in my life was pray to the Father about where he wanted me to go. I didn’t ask what choices he wanted me to make.  Have you ever wondered if God regrets the whole humans have free will thing?

The faces of dearly loved ones who have now departed from this life also fill my mind on these first days of Autumn.  The years that have passed since losing them slip away but the ache of missing them still runs deep.  It seems like they were just here yesterday and doesn’t seem possible that is has been years since I last talked with them.  The wisdom they shared with me lives on in my memories.

The faces of dear friends that are kindred spirits also come to mind as I am in this melancholy reverie of sorts.  I treasure the memories of deep conversations on religion and also fun times of fellowship with these wonderful guys and girls that were here in my life for a season but have since moved on to the next stops in their journeys.  Perhaps I am feeling that loss so keenly right now because I am discovering so much in my Fellows readings that I am just bursting to have discussions about.

But all of those choices and people have brought me to the place I am today.  So I am very grateful for every choice, every voice, and every face that I now miss.  Each choice and each person in their own way shaped me into the person that I am becoming today.  There have been moments of extreme laughter as well as times of excruciating pain, but every experience has had a hand in shaping me into who I have become.  So while I sometimes wonder what life would be like if different choices had been made along the way, I am incredibly grateful for all of the blessings I have received in this mixed up crazy existence of mine.

This latest path in my journey may just be the start of the next big chapter.  Who knows what wonders and experiences the path holds for me, but I am secure in the knowledge that I am no longer alone in my travels.  With God as my travel guide the skies are the limits.  My future could look very different indeed from my present.  Perhaps there is an occupational change around the bend.  I don’t know where this new adventure in learning is taking me, and that is okay, because I have the heavenly travel guide laying out my path and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Psalm 138:8, NSRV

Finding God in the Every Day

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 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2, NRSV)

We have all heard at one time or another the passage in Hebrews that tells us to be kind to strangers because you just never know when you may be talking to an angel.  Isn’t that an awesome thought?  For anyone that knows me, one thought like that leads to another…

So of course the direction that my mind takes off in is to idealize what a perfect meal (because of course hospitality includes good food!) would  be like.  I envision starting off the meal with an herbed tomato salad made with dainty, vibrant heirloom tomatoes.  The main course should include angel chicken sitting on a bed of angel hair pasta.  Of course the only logical conclusion to this meal would be to finish off with angel food cake covered in juicy, ripe strawberries and swirls of fluffy, whipped cream.

The conversation around the perfectly set dining room table is deep and meaningful.  We cover important topics like relieving poverty, providing safe food and clean drinking water to all, and how to achieve world peace.

However, I don’t think that is quite what the writer of Hebrews was trying to convey in this verse.

Entertaining is stressful and messy.

Life is stressful and messy.

Last week I attended the MC USA biennial convention in Kansas City, Missouri as one of the youth sponsors with our MYF group.  We connected with old friends, became better acquainted with familiar faces, learned new things in seminars, and came together to worship and praise our God during daily worship services.

Our time was filled with endless opportunities to know and hear God’s voice.  We rose early to gain new insights or fresher understandings of things we already knew at the multiple seminars that were available.  We were servants together in city-wide service projects.  The fellowship and opportunities to be community together were plentiful.  The nights ran late with worship services and were followed by more recreation time together.  A fellow convention attendee said at the end of the week they were physically exhausted but spiritually filled.

The Emmaus Road in Luke 24 was the scripture focus.  Some very gifted musicians, teachers, and preachers helped us to unpack this scripture through a series of dramas, songs, and sermon messages.  We came away with the understanding that even though we may not see him, Jesus is always walking with us.  Even in the bad times in our lives he is there, using the situation as part of the process, and ultimately there is a purpose in all that is happening that he can use to help teach us and mold us into something new and better.  This is a very brief synopsis of the messages last week, and doesn’t even begin to convey the talent of the gifted people who facilitated all of the worship services.

As the week came to a close, Kim Litwiller, Associate Conference Minister for the Illinois Mennonite Conference, opened the worship service on Saturday night, just as she had done for all of the youth worship services throughout the week.  She told us how sad she was to see the week close, but rather than asking us what we were taking away from our time together, Kim asked us, “Where did you see God this week?”

Where did you see God this week?

The question took me by surprise.  All week I had been looking for what God wanted to do with me, but I don’t know that I was looking for him around me.  My eyes were apparantly blinded.

Which made me start thinking.

Are we so busy looking for angels that appear in rays of glowing heavenly light among us that we miss  the angelic moments brought to us by humanity?  Do television shows and movies now have us conditioned to be looking for the extraordinary rather than paying attention to the everyday ordinary occurences and people?

What if while you are following the advice of the writer of Hebrews and showing hospitality, just in case it is an angel, you yourself are being used by God to be someone else’s angel?

During that last opening message, Kim used an illustration of where she had seen God during the convention.  She told a story about a moment in her week to the 2000+ people (youth and sponsors) gathered, that she said could have been quite embarrassing for her.  She had just come back to the hotel after her morning run and stopped in the lobby to get a cup of coffee.  She had a flavor shot put into the cup and turned to walk to the coffee dispensers when she accidentally dropped the cup.  The sticky liquid in the cup spilled on the floor and the bottom of the counter.  A woman standing close by very quickly came to Kim’s aid and helped her to get it cleaned up and on her way again.  In that woman, at that moment in time, Kim saw God working.

Are we paying attention to how God is using those around us for his purposes?

Are we aware as we are helping others that God is using us for his purposes?

How often do others see God through the random acts of kindness we are offering to others?

Perhaps the writer of Hebrews should have instructed us to act as angels to others by showing hospitality, empathy, and compassion rather than to watch for one of them.  By helping others through good deeds and servant acts when they are in need, God is using us to help spread the light in his Kindgom.

For the most part, we will probably never know how our acts of kindness have uplifted or encouraged others.  Every now and again God does allow us to see the good we did with just a random act of kindness though.   In the most unlikely of ways.

The woman at the hotel coffee counter that quickly came to help that morning was me.  Never in a million years did I image that simple act would be remembered or have any kind of impact.

We, the children of God in his kingdom on earth, are the hands and feet of Jesus.  Let’s use those hands and feet to spread his love by showing his love through acts of kindness in a dark and cruel world. Let’s take turns carrying each others crosses and bearing each other’s burdens.

Each one helps the other, saying to one another, “Take courage!”  The artisan encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good”; and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved. (Isaiah 41:5-7, NSRV)

An Ode to Joseph

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Image by Håkan Stigson from Pixabay

In this day and age of dysfunctional, fractured, and splintered families we mourn for the stability of the family unit of days gone by.  

We lament on the number of children who have to adjust to living lives with extra adults who aren’t their biological parents.  These children struggle to find security and their places in families where the lines have become blurry.

We as Christians have been given the image of what family should be and that love of God begins in the home.  I am going to go out on a limb here and say that while we (or at least I) have the impression that the Bible idea of family is a cohesive unit of father, mother, and children, the family trees in the Bible are actually just as gnarly and twisted as our modern family trees.

The very first family, in fact, is a prime example of a family that splintered quickly.  Adam and Eve had to deal with a family fall out when Cain killed his brother Abel. Cain then became estranged from the rest of his family.

Abraham has issues with Sarah and Hagar.  Isaac and Rebekah’s marital discord comes from favoring different sons. Jacob’s life was a disaster zone in the family department!   Moses had a birth family and an adoptive family.

Then there is David.  

Slayer of the giant and king of Israel.  He had a weakness when it came to women.  Rather than just choosing one wife, David chose many.  So many that there isn’t an accurate count of them available.  Can you envision all of those women living in such close proximity to each other, competing with each other for the king’s attention as well as trying to get his favor for their children?

But God uses all of this for good and for his ultimate purpose.  Whether we can understand it or not.

So is it any surprise that with the birth of Jesus there is another blended family?  But just as Jesus tempered law with love, God chooses for Jesus’ foster father a man who embraces his role in this unusual family and leaves us with the legacy of a man to look up to and try to emulate in our homes.  He gives us one shining example with the very first family in the New Testament to dispel with all of the chaotic family notions of the Old Testament.

Other than he is a descendant of David, we don’t know much about Joseph except that he is a carpenter.  The New Testament only mentions him a handful of times, and we know nothing of when or how he dies.  But what these few mentions in scripture do tell us is that he is a compassionate man:

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
(Matthew 1:18-19, NRSV)

An angel steps in and assures Joseph that Mary’s story is the truth.  Joseph still has a choice though.  He could easily choose to still quietly dismiss Mary. He is well with in his rights to do so under Jewish law.  However, Joseph chooses to take on the responsibility of providing for and protecting the baby Jesus.

Would another descendant of David have been as willing to go along with this plan?  Surely Joseph is as favored as Mary in being chosen to be the protector of the Messiah.  Like Mary’s life is turned upside down when she agrees to be the Lord’s hand maiden,  Joseph’s world will also become crazy.

He doesn’t hesitate to leave behind the life that he has built for himself and his family when he is told by an angel to flee to Egypt for the child’s safety.  Joseph once again leaves behind whatever security he has been able to find for his small family in Egypt when he is told to return to the land of Israel.

Did Joseph ever grumble about all of the upheavals that came with the advent of the Messiah and Mary into his life?  I am sure that he did.  He was after all only human.  It is his willingness to heed God’s call on his life and go when he is told that makes him stand out.

Being the appointed guardian and protector of the Christ child is his claim to fame, but Joseph’s compassion, empathy, and protection of a child that was not his own should also be remembered.  He is a true example of Godly fatherhood in a broken world.

Click here to watch Joseph’s Lullaby by Mercy Me

 

 

 

What Happened To Love?

Shannon MartinLeave a comment

Our world is hurting.  This season of hope is filled with pain, anguish and suffering for far too many.  Hurt is running rampant.  Many live in fear.  Fear of men.  Fear of their neighbors.

Christians are being exterminated in some parts of the world by extremists who are killing men, women, and children — young and old alike.  All because they cling firmly to their faith and refuse to renounce their God.

Looters are doing damage to property and stealing because they feel that justice hasn’t been served.  In response they are protesting by destroying the homes and businesses of people who had no control over the verdicts.

Mothers are crying for their babies that will never again hug them in this life.

Police officers are no longer safe in their own cars.

Our world is in utter chaos.  It isn’t just happening in some distant part of the world.  It is right here in our own streets.

How can we ever heal all of the pain?  The answer is simple.  We can’t.  All we can do is be there for the lost, the hurt, and the wounded.  Love them.  Comfort them if we can.  And pray.  Always pray.

“You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers and sister, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:43-47, NRSV)

But this season we are celebrating by continuing to place our faith and hope for humanity in the small hands of the baby that was born over two thousand years ago.  A baby changes everything, according to a Christmas song recorded by Faith Hill.  As a mother I can say that is definitely true.  However the baby born to Mary and Joseph changed more the just the sleeping habits of Mary and Joseph.  This baby brought love and reconciliation to a cold, dark world.

The wee babe would grow up into a man who didn’t resemble the Messiah the people were expecting.  He was, however, the Savior they needed.  The same Saviour we look to and still need today.  Jesus. A man who reached out to the poor, the marginalized, the sick, women, and the outcasts or down trodden.  Who corrected the educated in the temple and did not seek out the company of the wealthy.

This rebel Messiah led a revolution of love.  He was the son of an unwed mother and the step son of a poor carpenter.  The most unlikely person to become a  powerful savior who would take on the Roman Empire.  Let us be the unlikely people in our time who live out that same message in a broken, hurting world.

The ancient people of Israel missed the lessons of love and forgiveness Jesus brought.  They were more concerned with being citizens of this world and getting the revenge they thought their enemies and persecutors deserved rather than focusing on becoming citizens of heaven and extending a hand of forgiveness.  They were more concerned with removing their oppressors.  So busy in fact that they missed the love and ever lasting joy being offered to them by the longed for Messiah.

Let us strive to remember the message and live in the way the Great Deliverer taught us.  Even as our Lord Jesus hung from the cross, in the utmost anguish, completely innocent of any crimes, he still asked his father to forgive his enemies.  Defiled, humiliated, beaten, and tortured, Jesus still begged forgiveness for the ones who knew not what they did.  He asked for nothing for himself.  He freely forgave his enemies and put their eternal welfare before his own frail human condition.

Love was the guiding principle Jesus taught.  Forgiveness his sovereign decree.  A baby changed everything.

These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord. (Zechariah 8:16-17 – NRSV)

The Advent of Waiting

Shannon Martin1 Comment

Lights are twinkling, trees are decked, and Bing Crosby is once more crooning on radio stations and in stores.  Mr. Max is full of anticipation of the Christmas morning to come  with dreams of fabulous presents.  Plans are being made for yuletide celebrations.  The Christian community is waiting and reflecting during the advent season.  My house is not an exception.  We are decorated, we are waiting, and I at least, have been reflecting.  I am not sure what we are waiting for this year though.

It seems almost surreal that we are already once again in the season of hope.  I feel as though I only just took down the decorations and put the Christmas tree away last week.  Where has this past year gone?  Did I take part in it at all?  My overall demeanor is closer to the Grinch than to an eager Christian celebrating the birth of God’s salvation plan for man.

As I reflect on the past twelve months I observe that, while I am about 20 pounds lighter, my year wasn’t spent losing weight by embracing a new healthier lifestyle.  Nor was it spent in hours of prolific writing as I have only eighteen blog posts prior to this one to brag about in addition to a few handwritten journal entries.  My schedule isn’t any lighter, I am still over committed in many areas of my life leaving no time for new callings.  Although I have read several books this year, it was nowhere near the amount I had intended to devour  in the pursuit of educating myself and has barely made a dent into the ever-growing list of material to read.

I find myself in a funk of sorts this Advent wondering why the usual joy and excitement that usually comes in this season of giving for me is missing.  Is there something wrong with me?  Have the stresses of this past year worn me down leaving me too exhausted to feel the normal excitement?  Or is this perhaps a rite of passage somehow connected with me becomimg another year older?

Is it possibly the results of a deeper faith and a maturing relationship with Jesus, the Savior, whose birth we are celebrating this month?  I would like to think so, but I am still a babe with a lot to learn when it comes to having a deep and meaningful relationship with the Father.  Maybe I am not feeling overjoyed by the season itself because I have been in reflection and anticipation mode all year in a different kind of Advent?   I have been embracing the spirit of the Advent season all year.

Many of the posts I have written have centered around what I am anticipating is a new calling for me.  A lot of reflection has been done on what my kingdom work is going forward.  Future posts may need to revolve around patience for God’s timing and embracing faith, hope, and joy.

This year has taught me some valuable lessons.  I don’t have to be the “Yes” person all the time.  There are limits on my time and energy levels and no matter how much I want to please others I just can’t possibly ever do it all.  It has also shown me that the limits I put on myself can be quickly overcome when I listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit in my ear.

So it is my prayer that with God’s grace and help, I will stop focusing on what I haven’t done this past year and begin focusing even more on the One who can do impossible things in me.  I will reflect, anticipate, and wait for whatever He has in store for me yet and concentrate on my callings going into an as yet uncertain future.  Perhaps the most important thing I need is to realize and learn is I am part of God’s Kingdom on Earth and I need to be present and doing my part in the here and now at this particular stage of my life.   No more peering into a distant future that I can’t see, but showing up to be present today.

Watching.

Waiting.

Listening for the one who calls me, ready to answer His bidding.

Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doors. (Proverbs 8:34 – NRSV)