Month: June 2012

Family business

On By Charis PsalloIn Black and white, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Photo: a tired building

I think the current church at large is like a business with an assignment from head office.

I see us divided into four main departments:

Those who talk about how their great-great-great-great-grandparents did it. Big on costume dramas and protocol.

Those who keep studying new translations of the instruction manual (from the Japanese) and rarely get off the cautions page. Only pop out of the book long enough to tell the other departments what they are doing wrong. Big on memos.

Those who see the need and urgency of the task. They put a lot of effort into recruiting new staff because there is a high turn-over of burnt-out employees exhausted from trying to do something/anything with the proceeds of lemonade stands and car-washes. Big on heart-wrenching commercials.

Those who are busy zapping each other with the power tools they found in the box that came with the manual. Often found lying on the floor, frizzy-haired and vibrating with that finger-in-the-socket look. Big on topping each others stories of finding cool new tools and wads of cash.

Then there are a large number who are still listed as employees who don’t fit anywhere, those who are disillusioned or frustrated or have been wounded in the cross fire, those who work from home,  (or a mountainside, or fishing boat – or bed) and just check their emails once in a while.

Each department holds regular pep rallies or potlucks to tell each other why they are the best and why the other departments are off the rails. If abundant food (and especially dessert) is involved more people show up for these meetings.

A few try to bridge the gap and communicate with all departments. They tend to be familiar with the smell of tar and feathers.

When are we going to quit competing with each other, seek the CEO and listen to His point of view, ask Him to bring an intervention, allow Him to show us where we have gone off the rails, admit it, and change  — and then get his show in the road?

End rant.

Preaching to the birds

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Photo: ducks in a row

Apparently, in the absence of a human audience, St. Francis preached to the birds. I suppose in a way blogging is like preaching to the birds.

I wonder if  the musings Francis shared with his fowl friends were actually sermons to himself.

My blogs are.

I think you can tell what issues a preacher struggles with depending on the number of times certain topics re-surface in his sermons. I think that when a writer addresses particular topic it’s because they are working through it -or letting it work through them.

My little granddaughter told me she needed a cup of water so it could go into her mouth and then to her tummy and down to her toes to help them grow. Yup. I get that.

I write to the birds. My musings are really a sermon to self. If the birds can say “Yup! I get that!” it’s a bonus. I am happy to share -but these bits of insight are not always down to my toes yet.

So, I wonder what issue Francis was struggling with?

My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your Creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise Him, for that He hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple raiment; moreover He preserved your seed in the ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more are ye beholden to Him for the element of the air which He hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know not how to spin or sow, God clotheth you, you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.

Saint Francis of Assisi – c1220

The Man Who Calmed the Sea

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Photo: wind in the willows on the shoreline

The Man Who Calmed the Sea

from Stuart Townend’s album, The Journey

See the stricken boat
As it is tossed upon the sea;
Hear the fearful cries
That wake the man from Galilee.
He stands before the raging,
Speaks peace and harmony:
Winds and waves obey,
He is the man who calmed the sea.

Hear among the crowds
A desperate father’s anguished plea:
“Heal my dying child”
He begs the man from Galilee.
With words that banish sorrow
“Don’t fear, but just believe…
Daughter – live again!”
Commands the man who calmed the sea.

And as she stands before them
What joy from agony!
He’s the Master and the Maker,
He’s the man who calmed the sea.

Feel the bitter pall
That shrouds the hill of Calvary;
High upon the cross
There hangs the man from Galilee.
The earth it quakes with sorrow,
The sky grows dark with grief;
All creation mourns
To lose the man who calmed the sea.

But, no, death could not hold Him,
The stone is rolled away!
For He’s the Master and the Maker,
He’s the man who calmed the sea.

Now I hear the call
That echoes down through history:
“Come, deny yourself,
Take up your cross and follow Me.
Through every joy and sorrow
My grace is all you’ll need.
Trust me in the storm
For I’m the man who calms the sea.”

No fear shall overwhelm me,
For Lord, I do believe
You’re the Master and the Maker,
You’re the man who calms the sea.

I’ll trust You for tomorrow
And seek You for today:
For You’re the Master and the Maker,
You’re the man who calms the sea.

Fleur de lis

On By Charis PsalloIn Art, Uncategorized10 Comments

Iris

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Luke 22:27)

The Valley of Trouble

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Photo: Valley on the Jasper Parkway

After spending the week with my two wee grandchildren I am even more convinced one of the greatest challenges we face as humans is the tyranny of “the wants.”

The little guy is not quite two years old, and for a not quite two-year old is adorable, affectionate and pretty considerate. But he is discovering he has a will.

I am learning to phrase my questions in a way to make “No!”  the desired answer.

“You don’t want to stay awake all afternoon, do you?”

“No!”

“Do you want to leave your toys out of the toy box like this?”

“No!”

Even so there is the problem with the abundance of choice. His latest favourite phrases this week are, “Another one,” and “Something else.” Two bites into a snack it occurs to him that there are other fruits in the fridge and other crackers in the cupboard.

“Something else” also tends to be the something else his sister is playing with. I tried to explain to her that the easiest way to get a toy back is to offer him something even more attractive than what he is trying to seize.

That worked really well until she noticed that he now had something better than she did and the grabbing began again. When I tried to play mediator she said, “But I WANT it.” That’s her trump card. But I WANT it!

She looks at me with that desperate victim of craving look I have seen too many times. WANT is here. It must be satisfied. Don’t you understand, Nana?

Oh sweetie. Do I understand? The truth is, although I have learned not to say it out loud, at least not in a whiney tone that could make wallpaper want to curl itself back up the wall, inside I still want to stomp my plump little feet and whine, “but I WANT it!” It is so easy to stand knee-deep in a room full of abundant choices and cry, “But I WANT the one he has.”

What  I want:

I want you two to play quietly and safely together so I can chase rabbit trails on my laptop.

I want a new cordless mouse. This one is annoying.

I want to eat a bowl of almonds and chocolate chips and drink a real cream full fat caffeine-laced latte after 2 in the afternoon.

I want to play MY music –loudly– if only to get the “Yes my name is Iggle-Piggle” song out of my head.

I want to be loving and persevering and patient and merciful and compassionate and good without any challenges in my life.

I want faith without ever having to wrestle with doubt.

I want joy in the morning without weeping in the night.

I WANT it!

But my little granddaughter said something very mature for her three years yesterday. She said she would rather take her nap a little early so she would have more time with her Daddy later in the day when he was finished his work –even though she really, really wanted to stay up longer and had that option. She was willing to ignore the WANT monster for the greater reward of relationship with her father. I love this kid.

I’ve heard it said we need much more preparation to survive times of abundance than we do to survive hard times. Hard times teach us that God is our provider. Only those who understand where true wealth lies can handle abundance and not be distracted by it.

 

For now we see in part

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Photo: night on the lake

On the one hand I grieve over the way some self-appointed guardians of the extra narrow way are quick to disqualify other writers and speakers when they discover flaws; on the other hand I do worry about the under-use of the gift of discernment and a tendency for some people to turn those with a certain amount of insight into heroes or even idols.

Do we tend to place some people on a pedestal that is too high because they are like one-eyed men in the country of the blind? Do we ourselves install some people as gods and then stone them when we discover they are frail humans?

Perhaps the problem is not the person with greater, but still imperfect vision. Perhaps the problem is that not enough people realize they can learn to see better as well. Perhaps we need to pursue the Healer himself. Perhaps if we combined our glimpses of truth we could all see better.

Perhaps all of the adopted children in God’s family are meant to be royalty.

Two tiers

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Photo: babe in the woods

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.(Matthew 11:25)

I’ve heard some scholars worry that if people like mystics, and those believers who say the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit works through His people today, are allowed to have influence it will result in a two-tiered Christianity. The fact is we have already have accepted a two-tiered Christianity with those who are intellectually gifted enough to be experts on the scriptures seated a few notches higher than the rest.

The highly educated religious experts from the time when Jesus walked the earth were not oblivious to this inequity; it formed their power base. They killed Jesus to protect it.

Jesus pointed out that knowledge of the holy is not hidden from the humble with child-like faith. He still takes children on his knee and whispers the secrets of the universe in their ears.

Can you hear Him chuckling?

Transparent, yet deep

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Photo: Crowsnest Lake

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, remembering that as members of the same body you are called to live in harmony, and never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you. (Colossians 3:15)

An attitude of thankfulness allows us the freedom of vulnerability. It is only when we begin to comprehend the richness of God’s love that we can dare to be transparent before Him and others and allow Him to do a deep work in our hearts. It takes a lot of trust to expose the lies we have believed and the lies we told others –or ourselves.

Deep ain’t cheap. But Jesus Christ paid the price.

How gracious

On By Charis PsalloIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Photo: Crowsnest Lake

After a downpour in the Pass yesterday, the air was still and smelled so sweetly of pine and new aspen sap. After the storm the lake glistened with hope.

Oh taste and see how gracious the Lord is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPNiyoEpLAU