Ragamuffin Gospel

Sorry, I Got Distracted

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I was scrolling through Facebook looking for something to inspire my newest blog post, but instead I got distracted, thanks to my ADD kicking into high gear.

Then I thought to myself, maybe this is the topic. How many of us get distracted on a daily basis from what really and truly matters most? We let the tyranny of the urgent keep us from focusing on what’s most important.

Checking off all those tasks on the to-do list is a good thing but not if it keeps us from spending time with loved ones. Especially not if it keep us from spending time with God. This culture celebrates being in a hurry and being busy all the time, yet it feels like so many of us are failing where it really counts in terms of being connected with each other and finding true fulfillment.

None of us will automatically drift into spiritual maturity. We will not obtain holiness through osmosis by sleeping with a Bible underneath our pillows at night. It takes deliberate effort and discipline.

I can’t remember how many days it takes for an action to become a habit, but it takes doing something every single day for it to finally take.

The lesson we need to learn is that if you completely mess up and get distracted, don’t beat yourself up. Remember that tomorrow is as good a day as any to start again. That’s the beauty of new mercies every morning.

Additional note: I got distracted again and decided to research how many days it actually takes to form a habit. The answer they gave is not 21 but 66 days. The answer I’m telling you is to keep at it for as long as it takes until it becomes second nature.

In other words, don’t give up.

 

A Prayer from Seven Years Ago

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“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt. Send me where Thou wilt. Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever. Amen” (Betty Scott Stam).

I think that prayer is still very much applicable for me right now. I hope and pray it becomes the desire of all of our hearts from here into eternity.

Amen.

Simple Pleasures

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It’s easy to let life overwhelm you and get you distracted by all that you didn’t get done today or how much awaits you tomorrow. You can get so focused on the big picture and what will happen five years from now that you forget to find joy in the simple pleasures.

Right now, my geriatric feline is sleeping on the pillow next to mine. Occasionally, she snores. I suppose when you’re an 18 year old cat, you’re allowed. Still, it never ceases to amuse me.

I still love the feeling of driving at night with the windows rolled down and the breezes blowing. It works best in spring and fall, but there are the occasional summer nights where the air is slightly less hot and humid.

In case you forgot, the very act of breathing in and out and being alive is itself a miracle and one of the greatest joys for those who are able to appreciate it. None of us are entitled to the next day, so when it comes, it comes as a gift.

Your assignment is to take time out in your busy day to find the simple pleasures and say a quick prayer of thanks for each one. You might be surprised how it changes your perspective.

 

Sadness and Joy

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“Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our lives. It seems that there is no such thing as a clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness . . . But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take away from us” (Henri J.M. Nouwen, Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life).

It seems like lately there is so much sadness. So many people I know are grieving over loved ones who have passed away. So many are heartsick over those they love who have received bad news from the doctor in the form of a cancer diagnosis. So many who see those close to them slipping away from Alzheimer’s or some other kind of dementia.

The sadness can feel overwhelming at times.

But there’s joy, too.

It can be hard to find, like trying to catch a glimpse of the sun on a cloudy, rainy day, but it’s there.

Joy is knowing that God can take the worst imaginable circumstances and transform them into the best possible outcome. He can truly work all things together for good, including grief and loss.

Jesus endured willingly all the shame and sorrow of the cross for the joy set before Him. So you and I can endure the seemingly unendurable because we know that in the end, death and sadness and loss and pain will not have the last word.

Joy will. Love will. God will.

 

#HonestPrayers

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“Lord, Thank You
I am not the mistakes I have made.
I am not the plans I have failed.
I am not the wrongs I have done.
I am not forgotten.
I am not abandoned.
I am not alone.
Because You say to the lost: Come.
You say to the Unlikely: Beloved
You say to the Battle Weary: Rest.
In a hard and beautiful world,
Your grace is the only pillowed relief for my tired soul
to rest in the Your making all things new” #HonestPrayers (Ann Voskamp).

Mondays are still rude. They still have a way of sneaking up on you and sucker punching you in the face just when you’re enjoying your Sunday mode of relaxation.

Mondays seem to be the day when Murphy’s Law applies the most. Anything and everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Or so it seems.

Lord, thank You that I am not the sum of my performance on Monday. Thank You that I am not as good or as bad as I feel at 5 am.

Thank You that even the worst of days still only lasts only 24 hours and that each new morning is a new start with new mercies and never-ending faithfulness. God is still faithful.

Even on Mondays that are middle of the road, not terrible and not great, Your presence and Your peace are always available upon request. All we have to do is ask anew for each new day.

Tomorrow’s Tuesday, so we’ve already managed to live through 1/5 of the week. I count that as a good start. In reality, any morning where you see the sun and feel the breeze and get to be alive is a good day.

As my old boss used to say, any day without a toe tag is a good day. I still agree!

 

You Are Not Less

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I love my Mom. I love the fact that there’s a Sunday in May dedicated to mothers just like her who have sacrificed and devoted themselves to their families in ways we will never even begin to repay.

I also am aware that Mother’s Day doesn’t have the same joy for everyone. Some feel shamed and some feel heartbroken on this day. Some are made to feel (whether intentionally or not) like they are less of a person and less of a woman on this day.

I want to send this out to those reading who may fall into one of these categories that you are not less.

You are not less if you have chosen not to have children in your marriage because of your own convictions.

You are not less if you have chosen not to get married in order to devote yourself more fully to missions and the service of God.

You are not less if you struggle with infertility and have tried vainly for years to have children. That doesn’t make you any less of a woman of God.

You are not less if you lost a child due to either miscarriage or still birth. It’s not your fault and God is not punishing you.

You are not less if you gave your child up for adoption long ago. Perhaps God knew that the people who raised your child would be better able to meet their needs at that time than you would have been.

While being a wife and mother are beautiful and important roles, they are not your primary role as a believer. You are first and foremost a child, a daughter, of God. If you fail to live that out, you will not truly live out your marriage and family to the fullest. If you do embrace your role as child of your Abba, then the rest will be better for it.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, whether the children are biologically your or not, whether you even have children or not.

You still matter very much to God and you are not less.

 

The Allman Brothers Band for the Road

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One of the joys of having over 100 people a day move to Nashville is the most enjoyable and fun commutes I’ve been having [said with copious amounts of sarcasm].

I really enjoy creeping along I-40, then for a brief moment to speed up, only to run into more traffic and slow down again. I really have nothing better to do than idle in traffic for an eternity. [sarcasm continued].

The one glimmer of goodness in all the gridlock is that I have ample time to listen to quality music. It’s not like I have anywhere else I can go during that time, so I might as well put it to good use.

Today, I spent a lot of time with The Allman Brothers Band, specifically the deluxe edition of their second album, Idlewild South. There’s a 45-minute version of the song Mountain Jam that’s not for the musically faint of heart.

Their music is ideal for cruising down the highway with the windows rolled down and the summer breezes blowing in. It still works for windows rolled up and inching along the interstate, but really it makes me want to find a deserted two-lane road, throw the map out the window, and just drive wherever the road takes me. One day I just might do that very thing.

I do think good music is good for the soul. There’s something healing about hearing the right song at the right time that goes along way toward detoxing from the stresses of the work week. I recommend old-school country, southern rock, jazz, blues, or just about anything from the 70’s.

PS It helps a lot if you crank up the volume and roll down the windows (but not so much when it’s sweltering and humid outside). Then maybe just crank up the A/C.

 

 

A Little Note About Humility

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“Humility is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing done to us, to feel nothing against us. It is to be at rest when nobody praises us and when we are blamed and despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord where we can go in and shut the door and kneel to our Father in secret, and be at peace when all around is trouble” (Andrew Murray).

I still think the best definition of humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. It’s about getting out of your narrow little world into a world where you can encourage and bless others through service and sacrificial giving.

The best example of this kind of humility was Jesus. He did nothing of His own accord but only what He saw His Father doing. His only purpose was to serve and to lay down His life for the many.

Take note that even though Jesus had more rights that anybody to defend Himself against the accusations and slander, He kept silent. I’d never tell you to let people walk all over you, but I wonder sometimes if we (me included) aren’t overly concerned about defending ourselves and our preferences?

Humility is definitely not a popular characteristic these days. Everything is about promoting yourself and your brand. While that’s all good and well, I still think being others-centered is the best way to live.

I confess that I’m a little scared to pray for humility. I suppose it’s like the fear of praying for patience because you know the day you do your patience will be tested in all kinds of ways and shown to be severely lacking.

Perhaps the best way to attain humility is to keep our eyes on Jesus as often as possible, as opposed to focusing on me and my circumstances. I’ve found that’s a much better (and way less stressful) way to live.

 

Voices

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I probably sat and stared at the screen on my lap top for a good 45 minutes before I gave in and finally decided to go with a quote from one of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen.

I think this one will speak to a lot of you who struggle with several different voices telling you all sorts of contradicting things, most of them not true.

As you read these words, let them sink in deep and remember that the still, small voice is still speaking:

“Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, “Prove that you are a good person.” Another voice says, ‘You’d better be ashamed of yourself.’ There also is a voice that says, ‘Nobody really cares about you,’ and one that says, ‘Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.’ But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.’ That’s the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen” (Henri Nouwen).