Real Power

Caspar Milquetoast was an early twentieth century character from the newspaper comic pages. His meek ways even found their way into American dictionaries.A milquetoast is someone who is inconsequential, timid and inoffensive.

 To many people, including myself, this word describes the kind of person that St. Matthew and St. Luke have in mind when they relate the story about how followers of Jesus should "turn the other cheek" or offer their tunics to someone who has taken their cloak.

How wrong I have been! Yesterday, a friend explained her minister's take on the verses at services last week. It all comes down to choice. If the victim chooses to give the cloak or offer the other cheek, the response changes from one of submissiveness to one of power. We are always in charge when we make a choice.

The gospel account does not degrade the dignity of the person involved, but raises it by encouraging the victim to shift the balance of power instead. I see this truth lived out in the story of Oklahoma's Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, Johnny Lee Clary and his encounter, in the late 80's, with the head of that state's NAACP, Rev. Wade Watts. Every hateful thing Clary said and did to the black minister was turned aside and ignored. In his story, The Dragon and the Preacher, Clary describes a particularly galling phone call:

Clary: "I want you to know we're coming to get you," I hissed when the Reverand answered. "And this time we mean business..."

Watts:"Hello Johnny Lee!" he said, as though hearing from a long lost relative. "You don't have to come for me, I'll meet you. How about at a nice little restuarant I know out on Highway 270? I'm buying.

Clary: "This isn't a joke old man. We're coming over and when we're finished, you'll wish you'd never crossed us".

Watts:"This place has the best home cooking you ever tasted. Apple pie that'll make you long for more. Fluffy mashed potatoes. Iced tea in mason jars..."

Clary: I slammed down the phone. "He wants to take us out to dinner, " I said in disbelief. "Talked about apple pie and iced tea."

"The old man's gone crazy," someone said. "Let's forget about him."

Some years later, in the midst of depression and about to commit suicide, Clary spied a Bible in the room, started reading and gave his life to God. Later, he called Rev. Watts and told him that he was now a member of an interracial church. The minister said, "...I've never stopped praying for you. Would you do me the honor of speaking at my church?"

Milquetoast? Hardly.

Fully Alive

I watched a movie tonight in which a champion marathoner becomes a priest and is told he must not run again. What a waste of a gift of God! Not many people could run as well as he could and yet he was relegated to coaching the high school track team by riding along the sidelines on a bicycle.

Fictional though the character may be, he is a reminder that hiding our talents is akin to hiding our light under a bushel basket. St. Irenaeus phrased it well: The glory of God is man fully alive. We see the wondrous nature of God when we are bowled over by the capacity of humans to excel, to think and to create.

Yet many of us feel the need to apologize for being outstanding or we feel uncomfortable when being praised for having done something well. We rein in our talents out of a misguided sense of the holy or a fear of the judgment of others. The scriptures, however, tell us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made," and we frustrate God's intent when we don't acknowledge our strengths and giftedness.

What do you do well? Whatever it is, there's a need for it or you wouldn't have the gift. Everyone has been given strengths to be used for the good of others. Sometimes, the world may not seem to be too receptive, but maybe that's our cue to work to change the attitude of the world. The sun doesn't ask permission to shine and we must be on the lookout for chances to serve and to honor and support others in living out what they do best, as well.

This is not the time to be timid about our own capabilities. We won't fall into pride if we realize that God gave them to us and that God gets the glory when the world is better off for our use of them. When we organize well or solve problems or develop the talents of others or bring harmony and restoration to a troubled situation, we attest to the truth found in 1Corinthians: There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

The world could use a whole lot of common good, right now...

The Right Spirit

Yesterday, I had an almost overwhelming desire to pass on some words of wisdom to a friend who was having a hard time. Actually, I don't think I am unusual. Everybody in the world seems to have advice for the people they live with or meet. We outsiders just KNOW that if others would simply do what we see as best, their lives would work out much better.

Most of the time, however, we don't focus on the fact that people are probably pretty happy with the choices they've made. They like being in control of their decisions and don't really appreciate our input, however well intentioned it may be.

One exception to this general rule is that people of faith usually want advice from God. Or, we want to give advice to God, which is not quite the same thing, and then we listen for God's response.

We pray. God speaks. We act. Good follows. It seems so simple, yet the sticking point is always that difficult question: How can we be sure that it is God who is speaking? How do we know that it isn't our own desires, couched in the advice we give to God, that are propelling us towards a particular outcome?

Oddly enough, the answer may sometimes lie in that advice we don't want from others. God doesn't have too many ways of getting our attention. Short of a heavenly appearance - and which one of us hasn't secretly wished for the angel Gabriel to interrupt our prayers one day? - God speaks through our thoughts, our dreams, our conversations, the scriptures and the many "chance" occurances that beset us throughout a day. The key to our listening, I believe, is a prayer from Psalm 51 that filters the buzz and helps us to interpret more accurately: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new right spirit within me.

What is a clean heart? It is a pure heart, one that is bent on finding God in the competing values of daily life. God and God's way are not always obvious when many voices are vying for attention, so having a right spirit is having one that is attracted to the truth and love within the fray.

One of the more likely signs of God's nudge, I've found, is when I resist and argue against doing what God might be suggesting. Usually it's when my pride or embarassment are at stake. I've also found that when I try to convince myself that a possible action is God's will, it most probably isn't. God's direction, from my experience is usually very clear: when the course is right, you know it. God is more than capable of marking the path.

Often, God brings people to mind and when that happens it's a sure bet that praying for them is the most loving response we could muster. I'm learning to attend to those notions that start "I must remember to do...". If I don't do it then, usually I am not going to remember. That's the Holy Spirit trying to save me from myself.



Perhaps we've thought to make a call or send a card or invite someone to dinner. We may never know why the timing of a prod might be important, but the only thing necessary is that we follow up on it. We have a friend who put off entertaining a couple whom she hadn't seen in awhile only to have the woman die before our friend ever made the call. She immediately wrote to the husband and it was fortunate that she did because he died the next week.


When there isn't a clear indication that a new direction is in order, God is probably saying "keep on keeping on," in spite of how much we would like to make a move. With retirement on the horizon, that's advice that I am trying to follow.

If our desire is to find God's will among all the words we hear and deeds we see, then God will make sure that we understand the message that the Spirit is sending. It is in God's interest to do so. If we misunderstand, we can be confident that God will find another way of getting through. Our part is to stay alert for the possible channels that God might be using as a carrier pigeon.

The Power

I've been busy this week culling books from the 9 bookcases in the house. 232 at last count - and more to come. I have faced into the fact that I am no longer an academic and it is time to rid the household of outdated texts, multiple versions of the same material and even a set of encyclopedia circa 1969.

What hit me strongly while doing so, however, was the power of the word. Twenty six letters at its base, but they have been put together over the millenia by people who saw life in ways that touched the imagination. The books plugged me into the world of ideas and I mourned having to let some of them go.

Many of my books still on the shelves are on spiritual topics because, appropriately enough, the ultimate word is Jesus. We call Him the Word of God - God's communication of Himself. God came and the word that He brought was "Peace! Do not be afraid. I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." God promised to live with us forever and called His Spirit "the Power from on high." When we plug ourselves into God's socket, we live off of divine electricity.

The image "turns me on." There's a tweens reading show on PBS called The Electric Company and its theme song has some thoughtful lyrics when applied to the power surge between God and us:

We're gonna bring you the power...We're gonna light the dark of night like the brightest day in a whole new way. We're gonna turn it on. We're gonna tell you the truest words that you heard anybody say, Moving out in a new way..."

The Godhead has made us much the same promise. Each day we get the chance to plug ourselves into a world beyond this one. We can choose to tap into that power. If we become conduits for the power of God - for Love to enter all that we do, touch and say - the world will change just as it did when electricity transformed the Chicago World's Fair.


We can pray for those who have hurt us and God's grace will heal broken hearts. We can reach out to the wounded among us and bring physical comfort. We can attempt to cross over psychic distance and think acceptance and reconciliation into being. Most of our power to change the world, however, lies in our words. Those 26 letters can change a person's outlook in an instant.

In your world today, may the Spirit be the source of all of them.

The Big Game

So, the Big Game is over. the Packers have won and football has moved off TV center stage to be replaced by basketball, baseball, racing or extreme sports. What did we learn from all the excitement? That the Black Eyed Peas version of Love cries out for social justice when the lyrics are understandable and vile when you need screen captions for them to make any sense. That a number 6 can become a number 1 if the circumstances are right.That there must be something wrong with the Packers' conditioning program if so many of its starters wind up injured and unable to play. And that holding onto the past doesn't make sense when the future is on your doorstep.

It's not hyperbole to say that the world stopped for a few hours on Sunday to watch the Big Game. This time, the Super Bowl offered an exciting gridiron battle, which has not always been the case. In the end, though, the competition was... a game. It was hard fought, but, it was...entertainment.

The kind of battles that are far more difficult to win are the ones that we see all around us, but which don't receive much hype. These are the personal ones that require herculean effort to win. These are the ones that I wish would get more attention and admiration. Those who conquer inner and outer obstacles are the ones who give us a glimpse of what the human will - and divine grace - can accomplish.

Former Notre Dame swimmer Haley Scott (now DeMaria), for instance, was returning from a meet when the team bus she was in overturned on an icy road. Haley was pinned underneath and paralyzed. Advised that she would never walk again, she fought the diagnosis and wound up not only walking, but resuming a completely active life. In her case, a movie is being made of the journey. It is called Two Miles From Home, but it has been a long time in coming. There wasn't that much interest in a story that had no sex and no car chases.

My friend, TR, is another story, but you won't find his name in lights. It should be. TR was a Navy SEAL who lost his leg, but returned to duty as a SEAL and now runs a company that provides maritime security. Most of the time, you'll find TR in his khaki shorts, prosthetic leg clearly visible, doing whatever is necessary and paying his "disability" no mind. He visits military who are in the hospital to give them some encouragement and a look at what is possible in spite of what appears to be a life altering handicap.

The emotional traumas are just as difficult, just not as obvious. Major depression, the death of a spouse when there are small children involved, loss of a job with  a family to support - everyone knows stories of people who have risen above life's challenges and managed to be an inspiration that gives us hope.

These are ones that I wish were wearing the equivalent of Super Bowl rings today. Life is hard and when someone copes and copes well, they deserve a loud cheer from the rest of us: Hooray!!!!!!!!

Recalculating

On our trip home from SC last weekend, we took a short detour and then needed to get back onto I85 by the shortest route. Miss Garmin, our faithful GPS guide, directed us by street names in an area that had five corners and a set of railroad tracks.

So, we tried to follow, but kept turning the wrong way. Each time, she yanked us back by saying "Recalculating" and we knew that we had to turn around and make another try. We finally got on the right road and found the Interstate in no time.

The experience left me thinking about the mess we all get ourselves into when we try to hurry up God's timing or go off on our own without waiting for God's guidance. God is left to do a lot  of "Recalculating" to get us out of the fix that we have created. Romans 8 promises that everything happens for the good, but sometimes we make that a very hard outcome to achieve.

Of course, nothing is impossible for God, but when we try to make a right turn in the middle of the block instead of waiting until we get to the corner, there's a nasty accident and a big repair bill owed to the property owner.

God is the only one who sees around corners and waiting on God to come through at the right time is the answer to our worries. It's just that when God seems to be delaying, we want to take matters into our own hands and do something - anything - to move the situation along. That's when the Holy Spirit says with a sigh, "Recalculating."

(Note: The Holy Spirit must be really trying to get this message out because weeks after this post, a column with a similar theme appeared in a newspaper I read!)