Living a Blessed Life                                    

   Jesus began his ministry with this proclamation: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4. 17). When Jesus talks about “the kingdom of heaven,” he is not so much talking about an after-this-life destination. He is talking about a way of living in the world here and now. Lately I’ve been reading Meeting God in Mark- Reflections for the Season of Lent, by Rowan Williams. In it, the former Archbishop of Canterbury writes asks a question and then answers it: “How does God work?” Subtly, slowly, from the very depth of being. Or steadily, irresistibly, like the light searching the corners of a room.  He works outwards from the heart of being into the life of every day – not inwards from some distant heaven. This is how God works and you ought to be able to see it around you in the world God has created and rules.”[i]

   Look around and see the little girl in line with her smaller siblings to receive food from hands that are running out of food. all they have for her is one banana. Watch as she splits the banana in  pieces for the others…and then scrapes the inside of the skin with her teeth for her own nourishment. “Blessed are the poor in Spirit…”*

   Open your eyes and observe the parents who turn the pain of loss over the death of a child into motivation to prevent others from experiencing that same pain. “Blessed are those who mourn…”*

   Open your ears and listen for the stories that reveal someone with a crowded calendar who makes time to sit with a child in a church basement after school and help work through that page of math problems. “Blessed are the meek…”*

   Open your heart to consider the motivation of those who ask you to sign petitions, urge you to join them in front of a courthouse or a construction site, write a letter or an e-mail to speak up to right a wrong or prevent an injustice or preserve a portion of God’s creation. “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice?”**  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”*

   Look beyond those who call for punishment for every infraction large or small and focus on those who work to reclaim and restore and redirect lives that have lost their way.  Listen to the story of a young father who did the crime and the time as a teenager, now providing leadership to the youth program his son attends because those in charge didn’t chain him to his past. “What does the Lord require of you but to love kindness,”** which an old translation labeled as “mercy.”  “Blessed are the merciful…”*

   Gaze behind the scenes of any group you can name, and you’ll discover the people who make it work...the ones in the background who come early and stay late and take on the tasks no one much cares for, but need to be done.  They’re not looking for recognition or expecting a reward.  They’re the ones who, to their surprise, discover the upside down blessings that only unselfish servants receive.  “What does the Lord require but to walk humbly with your God.”** “Blessed are the pure heart…”*

   Peer over the wreckage caused by those who use words to divide and tear down, and take in the sight of someone who works to bring people together to build up.  See the young mother who caught her two eldest children in a brouhaha, and put the sibling combatants knee to knee in two chairs with these instructions:  “You must look each other in the eye, but don’t let me catch either of you smiling!” Within minutes they had moved beyond smiles to laughter and whatever the cause of their battle was forgotten. “Blessed are the peacemakers…”*

   Finally take a look in the mirror. Look at one who might have been, is now, or one day will be, misunderstood, mocked, maligned--maybe even mistreated-- for being the peacemaker, pure in heart, merciful, ravenous for what is right in God’s eyes, meek, distressed by loss, or poor in spirit. Lord knows, it is not easy to be the one who says “wait a minute” when everyone is impatient to have it their way.  When popular opinion runs in one direction it will not be comfortable to be the one who says, “but Jesus teaches this other way.”   

   To reach out in blessing as those who know themselves to be blessed by God takes courage.  Doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God brings us to places we would rather not be. Those who claim to know better may label us fools or losers for trying to follow where Christ leads us.  Nevertheless, those Jesus identifies as “blessed” experience the kingdom of heaven, the gift of God’s presence which seeps into the present. Those whom Jesus declares blessed are called children of God, which even in the toughest of times is cause for rejoicing. 

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[i] Rowan Williams, Meeting God in Mark – Reflections for the Season of Lent, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), p. 41

*Quotations from  Matthew 5, NRSV                                                      **Quotations from Micah 6. 8

 Easily Spoken But Hard to Live By

None of my tears were shed

at the news that a strident voice

was forever silenced. 

Last time I heard it 

I was buying parts to repair a sink drain.

The store echoed with venom 

spewed from radio speakers 

spreading spurious lies 

in the fertile soil of ears of damaged hearts 

tuned with reverence to that frequency. 

Though they should not have been

my eyes were soon surprised 

at what quickly appeared 

on screens large and small. 

Words dripping with scorn 

gleefully piled up like rotting flowers

on a grave yet to be dug 

following the example set

by the one their words 

were meant to vilify. 

Tears of sadness welled up

as my heart was brought down

in recognition of what we’ve really lost.

Mountaintop words to live and love by 

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you”* 

ignored or worse, subverted: 

In everything do to others as they have done to you. 

Never get mad, just get even! 

The downward spiral imperils us 

and challenges us to embrace the upward way. 

To go low or go high 

that is the question. 

To live what we too easily proclaim 

that is the challenge. 

To rise above our childish inclinations 

that is the way Jesus trains us to go. 

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil, 

but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, 

live peaceably with all.”** 

  *Matthew 7. 12, NRSV                                                                       **Romans 12. 17-18, NRSV

Letting Off Steam 

Flames dance behind the woodstove’s glass door

heating the speckled red kettle sitting on the trivet 

resting on a stove-black surface. 

Within the kettle water reaches a gentle boil 

transforming liquid to gas visible as steam from the spout 

rises in wisps, swirling, disappearing, moistening the air. 

Just beyond the warming fire snow covers the ground 

where birds of the air scramble to scratch seeds scattered 

as others peck away at a house-shaped conglomeration 

providing food but not shelter on a frigid winter morning. 

Watching each winged wonder take a turn to feed its hunger 

leads the heart to ponder how we bipeds might learn to do the same. 

So from the roiling within let our prayer rise as steam from the kettle 

lifting up the nagging questions keeping us awake 

trusting the One providing the seed we deliver to feathered neighbors 

—who knows full well what it is to have Word and Way ignored 

who longs for each and all who stray to find their way back— 

will hear and answer our cry in heaven’s own time. 

How long, O Lord, 

must we be held hostage by those 

who refuse to honor the trust placed in them? 

How long, O Lord, 

must we be subject to those 

who ignore the oaths they have sworn to keep? 

How long, O Lord, 

must we witness the cowardice 

of those who claim to be courageous? 

How long, O Lord 

must we put up with leaders afraid to lead— 

servants who expect to be served? 

Following in the steps of those who have gone before us 

we wait, we hope, we place our trust in You 

ever striving to daily live your commands to love. 

Knowing you have been our help in days gone by 

we seek courage to persevere here and now 

while traveling along the path You pioneered. 

Amen.

 

Settled But Not Stuck 

As I took the calendar off the bulletin board to put January behind us, it dawned on me that the last twelve months have been the most settled of my life, despite the unsettling times we are living through. The past twelve months comprise the only year in memory with so few nights spent away from wherev-er home was at the time.  Since February 1, 2020 I have slept in the same bed in the same house for 361 of the last 365 days.  With the exception of two nights last March on the weekend before the world shut down, and two nights in August, like many others across this land my mobility has been severely limit-ed by the pandemic.  Those two March nights were spent in a rented guest suite in the continuing care community where my mother resides in Assisted Living, a rendezvous with my sister occasioned by the need to review and renegotiate the terms of our mother’s continuing care. We were able to bring Mom over to the suite to share and enjoy each other’s company. The August nights were spent with well-quarantined friends at their cottage on a lake in the Adirondacks. A couple of days of kayaking, hiking, sitting by a campfire while enjoying good food and drink with friends was a welcome break in what was fast becoming our very settled life.

I use the word settled in the best sense of the term because our unexpected confinement has allowed Jan and I to enjoy the benefits of the house and property we purchased nearly twenty years ago.  With both of us retired, Paddleberry Farms is no longer the place we inhabit sporadically as an escape from the responsibilities of the workaday world.  Chores and projects no longer have to be crammed into a day off or the hours before sunset. For me, the work waits until after a time of inspirational reading and reflection and a leisurely breakfast.  Projects cease early to leave time for a paddle on a nearby lake or a snowshoe trek through fields and forest.  Late afternoons find me back in a chair with a good book either on the deck or in front of the fire. Depending on the season, Jan spends her hours in the garden, filling birdfeeders, quilting, reading or making delicious meals from a newly discovered recipe. Each of us have done our share of ZOOM meetings, and both of us have taken online courses to sharpen skills. We’ve been able to get off  the reservation to shop, attend & lead worship, engage in a service project, and visit mask to mask and socially distant with my mother.  

For the most part, we have not felt “stuck” by the pandemic.  Sure, we lament not being able to visit with our kids and grandkids or spend holidays together.  Yes, we’ve been disappointed when family weddings and a 100^th birthday celebration were transformed from in person gatherings to internet interactions. And, I’ll admit we will miss being together with friends to comment on the commercials and watch the Super Bowl. Yet, when the weathercaster is done and we turn out the light for the night, the last thoughts of the day find me giving thanks for the blessings which have come our way in the midst of the isolation brought about by the deadly virus: The gift of sharing life with Jan day in and day out, watching the seasons come and go and our garden grow. The joy of increased communication with family thanks to daily text messages. The pop up “I love you” messages from our granddaughters, and the laughter during “Hollywood Squares” gatherings with colleagues, friends, and our church com-munity. Make no mistake, when the all-clear is sounded, we look forward to the day when we can once again hit the road and sleep in familiar guest rooms or rest in a hotel bed after a day of experiencing a new place. In the meantime we’ll take it one day at a time, remembering the words of the Psalmist:                                     "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”                                                                                             Psalm 118. 24