Sunday, May 30, 2010

Remember and Never Ever Forget

The last Monday in May is designated for a unique and specific purpose. Memorial Day usually does not generate as much holiday enthusiasm as Christmas, Easter, or Independence Day, perhaps because Memorial Day is more an observance than a celebration. This important holiday is not just another “day off” but a day to remember those who have lost their lives in the military service of our country.

In a culture that is increasingly attention-deficient, remembering is a painful but necessary discipline. Remembering historical facts should help us to remain consciously aware of the harsh realities of global conflict. Revisiting stories from the battlefield may enable us to learn from both the successes and the failures of our national ancestry. When we remember the fallen we keep alive the individual and corporate legacies of valor and courage that inspire and challenge us to be responsible citizens of the free world.

To fail to remember is to develop a convenient amnesia that eventually robs succeeding generations of their national heritage. To fail to remember creates a contagious apathy that leads to a neglect of both freedom and citizenship. To fail to remember can produce a false sense of protection and a perceived exemption from future warfare. A loss of memory eventually leads to a loss of national identity. Remembering is a painful but necessary discipline, a discipline that forges vision from memory, and a discipline that extracts wisdom from knowledge.

What are some things we can do to help remember and commemorate the contributions of those who lost their lives in battle?

· Read biographies of world leaders, military generals, POW’s, and holocaust survivors.
· Read historical accounts of crucial battles.
· View a documentary or movie that realistically portrays the stories of war.
· Visit historic sites such as battlefields, monuments, and military cemeteries.
· Talk with a veteran and listen firsthand to stories from the heat of battle.
· Give thanks for those who have fought for freedom and justice.
· Pray for those who are serving in military service today.
· Work for freedom, justice, and world peace.
· Practice and preserve religious liberty.
· Exercise your rights and fulfill your responsibilities as a citizen.

The discipline of remembering enhances our discernment and our decision-making. An anonymous proverb contends that, “Remembering the past gives power to the present.” In The Roadmender Margaret Fairless Barber suggests that “To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”

Today is Memorial Day…A day to remember the past with gratitude and to look to the future with faith and informed patriotism.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Living Your Faith….Authentically

How can others who cannot peek inside your heart, glance inside your mind, or scan your soul, know for sure that you are a follower of Jesus? What is the primary evidence of your credibility and authenticity? According to John 13:35 your Christian identity is best revealed in the way you love others: This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other (MSG).

Last week I was reading the story of Elijah McCoy, a master mechanic and engineer who was born in 1843 to former slaves who had escaped from Kentucky to Ontario via the Underground Railroad. His parents sent him to study in Scotland, where he earned a degree in engineering. Later in his career, working in partnership with the Michigan Central Railroad, McCoy invented a lubricating cup that automatically dripped oil. He received a United States patent in 1872, and installation of his invention on locomotives began shortly thereafter. His design greatly increased engine efficiency, and soon every company wanted one of the "McCoy Cups." So many inferior copies were made that train engineers began to demand "the real McCoy," and not a “knock off” or an imitation.

Authentic Christian living tends to be a more powerful and persuasive influence to pre-Christians than sermons, songs, or religious programs. Pre-believers are more interested in the genuineness of your personal faith than they are your doctrinal purity or your denominational loyalty.

For the growing Christian, faith is not a game wherein we pretend to be something we are not. Growing Christians do not try to act hyper-holy or super-religious because deep down we know that we are merely sinners saved by grace.

This week rather than striving to be religious, strive to be real. Believe it or not, those who surround you already know you are not perfect. The real question is “do others see the evidence of God’s grace at work in my life in spite of my imperfections?” The core of your character and the genuineness of your faith are revealed in the crucible of daily living. Let others see who you are under pressure. Let them witness the way you wrestle with moral and ethical decisions. Let them see the ways that you are learning to apply and practice the teachings of Jesus in your unique circumstances. And especially let them see the way that the love of Christ shapes your attitude, reaction, and disposition toward others, for according to John 13:35, this may be the real litmus test of authentic faith.

Speaking of the power of authentic Christian witness, Scottish minister William Barclay writes, "More people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all of the theological arguments in the world, and more people have been driven from church by the hardness and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all of the doubts in the world."

No matter where you are on the spectrum of Christian growth, be authentic…be genuinebe real!

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Exercising the Mind, Enriching the Soul

For me, reading had become a crucial life discipline that exercises the mind and enriches the soul. Every year I try to choose a selection of fictional and non-fictional works to supplement my reading of the Bible, theology, and other devotional literature.

Because we live in the age of information technology, we can easily let ourselves settle into watching some type of audiovisual media, whether big screen or little screen. Merely “watching” doesn’t stretch and challenge that great mental muscle called our mind.

Luke 10:27 challenges us to love God with our minds. To effectively love God with our minds, our minds must be as sharp, alert, and active as possible.

During this past year, as the unpredictable nature of my pastoral responsibilities has interrupted my regular reading routine more than usual, I have noticed that my mind has been “hungry” due to being undernourished. When I am deficient in appropriating my study time and my reading time, my mind gets lazy, my memory short-circuits, and my creativity is stifled. When I protect my study time and reading time I find that my mind is sharp, my memory is remarkable, and I am a better pastor and a better preacher.

I have not always had a faithful discipline of reading. In high school, since I worked an “after school” job , I often read summaries of the books on the required reading lists. But about halfway through my university experience, my English instructors inspired me to read. One instructor, in particular, encouraged me to start three or four books, reading alternately from each as though I were engaging three to four partners in a conversation. All of these years later, I find myself starting several books and reading in them alternately until I have completed them.

Now, I am concerned when I see students and adult spending more time watching television, staring at computer screens, and preoccupied with IPhones than the time invested in reading. Reading just causes me to think and reflect and imagine on a deeper level than audio-visual observation.

For Christians, I think reading should be listed as one of our spiritual disciplines. Hand-in-hand with prayer, Bible study, meditation, worship, and stewardship, reading enriches my soul. Regular reading from a variety of genres tends to keep me informed and engaged. Novels, biography, history, poetry, and documentary all expand my knowledge of God’s world and the interesting inhabitants of it.

There are several things that are important to my physical, spiritual, and emotional health: My prayer and devotional time, a balanced diet, my exercise routine, and time spent with friends. One of the most crucial is my ongoing discipline of reading.

A Prayer for Conscientious Wisdom: Invocation for Law Week 2010

Good and gracious God, you have given us the privilege and the stewardship responsibility of living in one of the most beautiful and resourceful communities in the world.

Even as we count the many wonderful blessings we share by living in this great land, we also sense that we live in a time of heightened concern and anxiety. Our nation is engaged in a multi-national military conflict. Our economy is slowly emerging out of a recession. And this week our eyes are turned toward cleanup of the Gulf.

These concerns remind us of our need to confess our sins, and to embrace your plan for living life with purpose and integrity.

On this National Day of Prayer, we pray for our nation. We pray for the men and women who serve in our nation’s military that they will perform their humanitarian mission with effectiveness and precision, and return home safely and soon. And we pray for our local, state, and national leaders that they will rise to a new level of bipartisan cooperation and moral courage commensurate to the challenges of our day.

Specifically on this day during Law Week, I pray for every member of our legal community. I pray for our elected officials as they work together for the common good and the bright future of our community. I pray for legal staff members as they provide strategic support for a variety of leaders. I pray for our attorneys to provide careful counsel and appropriate advocacy to all clientele. And I pray for our judiciary as they administer decisions with both legal discernment and conscientious wisdom.

Our aim is to live according to the words your ancient prophet conveyed which instruct usf us…”to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.”

We offer our prayer in the name of the one who exemplifies the truth that makes us free indeed. Amen.


(I offered this prayer as the invocation at the Law Week Luncheon sponsored by the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association on May 6, 2010.)