Ragamuffin Gospel

The Workplace as An Altar

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“When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music” (Kahlil Gibran).

There’s a famous little book written centuries ago called Practicing the Presence of God that came out of a monastery. The author was a man whose livelihood was as a cook and dishwasher.

There has been a false dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. There has been an underlying and unspoken rule that you can only worship in places considered sacred and holy. You can only worship on Sunday.

The truth is that the admonition is to do all that you do to the glory of God and to offer your bodies as living sacrifices as your act of worship. That includes your work day.

When you view your job not as drudgery and a paycheck but as a calling and a mission field, it changes the way you work. You go from doing the bare minimum to giving your very best. Your job goes from performing tasks to serving people.

You may not be in your dream job. You may wish that you could be someplace– anyplace– else other than where you are. The best advice I can give to you (that did not originate with me) is to bloom where you’re planted. Thrive in your present circumstances by learning to cultivate a heart of gratitude.

I can certainly attest to what it’s like to go through long periods without having a job. Not only does it drain the bank account but it affects your sense of self-worth after a while.

The best testimony I know of is someone who does everything with joy and gratitude. That’s what makes people stand up and take notice. No one cares about your faith if you have a bad attitude and a poor work ethic.

So make your workplace an altar and your job an offering.

 

More Than You Can Handle

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The old saying goes like this: God will never give you more than you can handle.

It sounds good. It sounds biblical. The only problem is that it’s not.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but will provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure.

The key difference, as Chris Brooks explained tonight in Kairos, is that we are often given more than we can handle by ourselves. Our strength lies in community and our ability to endure rests in fellowship.

If God never gave me as an individual more than I could handle, I’d more than likely slip into self-righteousness and be completely lacking in grace toward others who are struggling. I wouldn’t know the sweet communion that comes from prayers of desperation and surrender. As it is, God often allows me to go through circumstances and situations that force me to rely on God’s sustaining strength and the combined power of community.

The problem with God never giving me more than I can handle is that if I’m struggling, then the fault must lie with me. I must not have enough faith. I must be doing it wrong.

Even the apostle Paul and his companions went through situations that were beyond their ability to bear. Paul himself was given a thorn in his flesh that he begged God to remove, but God declared that His strength would be made perfect in Paul’s very weakness he felt he could not endure.

I love what Chris said. He said that yes, God will give you more than you can bear. He will give you more grace, more love, and more mercy than you can handle. Not only that, but His mercies and grace will be new every morning.

I confess that God Himself is more than I can handle sometimes. If I could completely comprehend and grasp all that is the Eternal Mystery with my finite understanding, then what I am beholding isn’t the Infinite God but a god of my own creation.

God is so much more than anything I could dream up or imagine on my own. He’s big enough for whatever is too much for me to handle and strong enough to get me through what I cannot bear and tender enough to surround me with those who will be able to bear with me through seasons of trial and temptation.

 

A Blessing Prayer

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I’m in the middle of reading Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day by Macrina Wiederkehr. I found this beautiful prayer that echoes my prayer for all you who are reading this right now:

“What is a blessing but a rain of grace falling generously into the lives of those in need; and who among us is without need?
May the Spirit touch your spirit in this midmorning pause.
May this day be a pathway strewn with blessings.
May your work this day be your love made visible.
May you breathe upon the wounds of those with whom you work.
May you open yourself to God’s breathing.
May you honor the flame of love that burns inside you.
May your voice this day be a voice of encouragement.
May your life be an answer to someone’s prayer.
May you own a grateful heart.
May you have enough joy to give you hope, enough pain to make you wise.
May there be no room in your heart for hatred.
May you be free from violent thoughts.
When you look into the window of your soul may you see the face of God.
May the lamp of your life shine upon all you meet this day” (Macrina Wiedekehr).

I can only add one more sentiment– may you be so filled with Jesus that you are able to serve out of the overflow of a joyful heart, so that those who cross your path will know they have been in the presence of the risen Christ.

 

 

Forgotten

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I love the story of Joseph. It helps that I know the ending where Joseph becomes one of the most powerful men in Egypt and sets in motion a plan to rescue many people from surrounding nations, including his own family who had previously sold him into slavery.

But there were some bumps in the road.

After he was sold into slavery, he ended up in prison, falsely arrested for raping Potiphar’s wife. While he was incarcerated, he met two men from Pharaohs’ court, both of who had displeased their master.

Joseph interpreted both their dreams. One would be restored and one would be hanged. He asked one favor in return from the one who would live– that when he returned to freedom, he would mention the name of Joseph to Pharaoh. As is human nature, when he got out, he forgot all about the person who helped him get there.

Joseph was forgotten.

Have you ever felt forgotten? Have there been times in your life when you feel no one notices you or anything you do?

Many of us have gone through times when we felt invisible and unloved. We felt that for all the good it did, we might not as well have even bothered.

The good news is that God notices. God sees you. No matter if those around us take us for granted, God does not. God is aware of the tiniest of sparrows. He sees you.

Also, that feeling of being forgotten is more often than not a lie. I’ve found out in my own experience that there is usually someone watching you and that someone is often a person you would least expect to notice you or what you do.

You are not forgotten and you are never alone. Remember that the next time your feelings lie to you.

 

 

Perfect

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There’s still nothing better than good music playing in the car with the windows rolled down as the sun is going down. A good song can transport you into a place of calm and peace and make you feel good all over.

I’m still old-school when it comes to my music. Occasionally, I will plug my iPhone into my car stereo and play a random selection of all my downloaded music. Usually, I have CDs.

I know that some people are content to turn on the radio and leave it on whatever station they find. I’m not judging, but I find that I am less and less of a radio person the older I get. I’m less and less of a top 40 songs kind of guy.

What music are you listening to in your car? I really want to know. This isn’t a question meant to take up space on my blog post so I’ll have a bigger word count. I’m always open to broadening my musical horizons, to discovering new artists and new kinds of music.

PS If you want to find me on Facebook, look for Greg Johnson. My profile picture is of my geriatric feline doing one of her sleepy poses. I welcome friend requests.

 

More Musical Goodness for Your Consideration

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Recently, I picked up Natalie Merchant’s Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings. For those of you who missed the 90’s, Tigerlily is one of the defining albums of that decade.

It was Natalie Merchant’s breakthrough as a solo artist after fronting 10,000 Maniacs for over a decade. Listening to that album always takes me to a place where my soul is at rest and worries fade away.

The 90’s saw a renaissance and resurgence of singer-songwriters, particularly female artists. Some of my favorites from that era are Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Fiona Apple, and– of course– Natalie Merchant.

I can’t wait to hear the new takes on old tunes. Of course, I will have to revisit the original recordings first. I can envision a scenario where I’m in my car with the windows rolled down, driving at dusk toward my destination. That’s still my favorite way to experience music.

I’ll let you know my thoughts on Paradise is There. In the mean time, I remain as always open to your musical suggestions. The further off the beaten path of the usual radio fare, the better.

 

 

The Space Between the Words

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“The spirit lives in the space between the words. The danger in becoming too wordy is that we miss the space between the words” (Macrina Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day).

I often think about something I learned in one of my advertising classes at Union University. The key when you’re creating an ad is not to cram in as many words and images as possible onto a flyer or a brochure. People would be overwhelmed by all the information hitting them all at once, and thus be highly unlikely to actually read the ad.

White space in an ad is extremely important in allowing the eye to rest and emphasizing the words and images.

Most of us live our lives at such a frenetic pace, trying to fill every possible space with words and activity and doing. No wonder so many of us feel like we’re running in place, exerting a great deal of energy but not really moving any place.

It’s vitally important to create margins in our lives. Those are the white spaces where we find rest. It’s also crucial to embrace silence and stillness not as enemies of our productivity but as allies in our quest to work and play smarter and not just harder.

How can any of us hear God speak if we leave no space between our words and our deeds? How can any of us grow into the grace of God apart from margins and boundaries?

No one naturally gravitates toward silence and stillness. Most of us will, left to our own devices, trend toward the tyranny of the urgent instead of nurturing and caring for what is most important– our communion with our Maker.

“When all the sheep have been gathered, [The Good Shepherd] walks on ahead of them; and they follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:4, The Voice).

Work Is Love Made Visible

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“Work is love made visible” (Kahlil Gibran).

That one little sentence jumped off the page at me while I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of Radnor Lake State Park.

There’s so much profound depth in those five words that both comfort and convict.

How can my work be love made visible if I come to it with a bitter attitude and an ungrateful heart? How can I be loving in my actions and yet hateful toward others at the same time?

The truth of the matter is that all work can and should be sacred. All work is an act of worship. The question is whether it will be like Abel’s acceptable offering or Cain’s rejected offering.

Work is part of my witness. If I see my vocation as a way to serve others either directly or indirectly, then even the menial parts of my job take on a whole new meaning. There is no wasted effort, nothing meaningless. All of it means something if I do it out of love for God and for others.

The Bible says that whatever you do– whether you’re a lawyer, doctor, plumber, or a janitor– do it all to the glory of God. Do everything as an act of worship to show forth the goodness of God to those you work with and those you work for.

I love what Kahlil Gibran says next:

“And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night”

Thanks for 25 Years

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Thanks, Uncle Mikey, for 25 years.

You’ve been pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church for a quarter of a century. The only things I’ve done consecutively for that long are eating, sleeping, and driving.

25 years ago, I was on the verge of my freshman year at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Brentwood Baptist Church and Kairos were nowhere on my radar.

25 years ago, I was nowhere near the person I am today. I think a lot of who I am now is due to your influence.

10 years of Kairos (mostly under your teaching) have made a huge difference in my life. I never would have known about the brilliance that is Henri Nouwen had you not recommended him to me a long time ago.

You taught me that what I do isn’t nearly as important as who I am (and Whose I am). My identity isn’t wrapped up in or defined by my job title, my marital status, my income, the car I drive, or my net worth. My identity is define by who Jesus says I am– Beloved. Who I am is a son of God, a child of my Abba, redeemed and cherished.

You always ended Kairos by telling us that if we hadn’t heard it from anybody else, that you and the rest of the Kairos crew loved us and that we mattered. I wonder how many people in the crowd heard those words directed at them for the very first time in their lives.

I probably won’t ever get a chance to say these things to you in person. I’m not nearly as good expressing myself in conversations as I am writing things down. But I do want you to know that I am one of the people whose lives are better for you having said YES to Jesus all those years ago and been faithful to the call which led you to Brentwood Baptist Church 25 years ago.

Thanks, Uncle Mikey. We rise up and call you blessed.