Waiting Room

By Rev. Lee Anderson

Have you noticed fully this time of transition between seasons?  The mornings and evenings are cool but the days are still hot.  The trees, until recently, seem to have been waiting…waiting…

Henri Nouwen writes in his book Discernment, “Whenever there is a lack of clarity or ambiguous circumstances, it is time to wait” (p150).  This reminds me of something my spiritual director often says: when we pray for an answer or for what we think we want, God will, in some way or another, answer either yes, no, or not now.  In my impatience and frustration, I want the answer to come to me as clearly and quickly as shaking a Magic 8 Ball™.  Unfortunately, it usually does not happen that way.  Is that indeed unfortunate?  Sure, it doesn’t meet our felt need for an immediate answer.  But, God is ever drawing us closer in relationship to Him, and through this our deepest needs are met. 

Nouwen gives us more about times of waiting: “Active waiting is being open to the promise yet to be fulfilled.  Patient waiting is staying fully in the present moment.  Expectant waiting is trusting that this long process will bear fruit” (p. 153).  Active waiting involves looking for God in what is happening right before you.  It is not passively waiting for the time to go by until the desired outcome is reached.  Waiting with patience means to be fully present to what is happening now.  Being present to what is happening now requires attention to yourself and those around you, and much can be learned from this.  The tendency is to see now as being a waste of time, leading us to pass over it with little thought.  Expectant waiting means trusting that God will deliver on God’s promises, that God will meet your deepest needs.

Discerning God’s movement and presence, and letting the waiting bring you into a closer connection with God, is the way of waiting for followers of Christ.  Where in your life are you waiting?  How might you engage fully with the present, and open yourself to God’s presence?  Are you both talking and listening in prayer?  How can you nurture yourself during this time? 

Make room for waiting in whatever season you are experiencing now.  “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, ASV).    

The Fingerprint of a Christian

By Rev. Lee Anderson, Minister of Care

Early Methodism was a movement within the Anglican Church, much as early Christianity was a movement within Judaism. Both movements began in response to, and gained followers because of, a sensed need for reform in the larger context. Jesus was dismayed and disappointed by those who claimed to be God’s followers but who seemed to miss the point of the spiritual life and of caring for one another. John Wesley also saw a disconnect between these things among his fellow Christians. Wesley’s method of deepening one’s faith, walking with Christ, and living as a follower of Christ included small faith communities called classes, which formed larger communities called societies. The purpose of a class was to learn and be in community, but also to hold one another accountable. To study and claim Christianity was not enough; one had to exemplify the features of a Christian. If they were not able to do this, they were not allowed to stay within the community. This is because Christianity was a way of life to Wesley and others within the early Methodist church. Faith communities were important for the development of all people who sought to follow Christ, and all were accountable to nurturing one another and living out their own faith. 

The way of Christianity is a rewarding one, but not an easy one. A life that exemplifies the fingerprint of a Christian is no less relevant today than it was in Jesus’ or Wesley’s times. It was not easier in their times either. Humans struggle now…as they did then…with the lure of fitting in and consumerism, with a sense of entitlement and placing one’s own needs above those of others, with anxiety, fear, and emptiness, which lead to destructive behaviors. Like fingerprints, each life of a Christian is unique. We need not all look and act alike. Yet, there are identifying characteristics, such as leaning on a God that is bigger than you and all your worries, or giving of one’s self for others, to name but a couple.

Following Christ is a practice; it is not a one-time decision. It takes attentiveness. It is humbling when we see our own shortcomings in comparison to Christ’s life and teachings. But, we are not meant to do it alone. We are meant to ask for God’s help, and then open ourselves to receiving that help. We also need the support of a loving and healthy faith community. How are you helping to support and nurture others in your faith community…both your smaller group and the larger church? How does your faith community help you develop as a Christian? How would you describe your own Christian fingerprint?

Saying Grace

From Rev. Jasper Peters, Associate Pastor

Growing up, my family would always say grace before a meal. My father would say the same thing before each meal. Every so often, the children would be invited to say a rudimentary prayer, but often we would just be there to listen. I never understood why it was called grace.

My first week away at college, I realized I could now begin to figure out who I would be, independent of family traditions. I considered whether it was necessary to continue saying a formulaic prayer before I ate. It was honestly difficult to make this decision in the middle of a college dining hall. While sitting at a table of 18 and 19-year-olds, I stopped talking, closed my eyes, and I took a moment to think.

I thought about all the things that had happened in my life that had brought me to that moment at that table. I acknowledged all the things that might have gone differently in my life, preventing me from sitting at that table. Then I thought about the sacrifices of plants and animals that made the meal possible at all. Something had to die so that I might live. How could all this even be possible? All of a sudden, the word “grace” made a lot more sense.

I decided then and there that praying before a meal would be something I did going forward, not because I had been taught to do so, but rather because I decided to do so on my own. I don’t always say the same words, but rather I sit there quietly, calming down enough to realize that I didn’t earn what I have, but rather it is a massive and meaningful gift. After a few days, several of my new friends took notice of my 10-15 second pre-meal silent ritual. Some of them stared as if they were confused. A few others complimented me, thinking I must be some sort of monk-in-training. In reality, I simply had a lot for which I was thankful.

Make Way for the New

It is still summer, but my mind is turning to harvest. There is something deep within me that connects to this time of year. I get out my jars and preserve and pickle the end of summer’s bounty, as generations before me have. Harvest is more than gathering what has grown, however. It is the beginning of the dying season. In order for plants and fields to grow again, to produce something new, there must be a dying away of the old.

In an edition of The Robcast, a podcast by Rob Bell, he highlights the enormous meaning of Abram leaving his homeland at God’s direction. In Abram’s time, people did not leave their homeland. They stayed in the same place for generations; it was what was known to them. God’s request meant Abram doing something entirely new and unknown, and Abram said yes. In order to do this new thing that led to what we now know as a covenant with God and the dawn of a new religion, Abram had to leave behind the known. He had to let something end in order for something new to begin. All he had to go on was his trust in God.

I was recently reflecting with my colleagues on the meaning of my baptism. As a Baptist then, I answered my own call to baptism, and the words I heard at age 8 still carry powerful meaning: “Buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in the newness of life.” I have had many deaths and resurrections since then…things that have come to an end so that something new can begin, and parts of myself that have had to die so that I could become who I needed to be. A prayer never far from my thoughts is the Prayer of St. Francis, which ends “it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” In order to get closer to our true nature, our best self, our Christ-self, we are constantly evolving. It requires a letting go of what is known, a dying away of what no longer serves us. This is where new life begins.

As you enter into this time of harvest, reflect on what it is in your life that might need to be left behind. Trust in God to take you into the new territory of what is to become.

 - Rev. Lee Anderson, Trinity's Minister of Care

Staff Pick! Book Recommendation from Rev. Lee Anderson, Care Coordinator

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living by Russ Harris
Order online

“Just suppose for a moment that almost everything you believed about finding happiness turned out to be inaccurate, misleading, or false. And suppose that those very beliefs were making you miserable. What if your very efforts to find happiness were actually preventing you from achieving it?” While these lines from Russ Harris’s introduction to his book may be jarring, I found his book to be soothing and empowering. He discusses the thoughts, myths, and beliefs that lead to internal struggles in many people, and presents tools and techniques to help change the way we think and believe about ourselves, our emotions, and our experiences. He then teaches ways to help readers create a meaningful life. This book is well-written, and a good read. Furthermore, the hands-on tools are easy and practical to use.
   
As a professional who has helped people heal, change, and find meaning, and as someone who has sought these same things for herself, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to reduce negativity in his or her life and live life more fully. These concepts go hand in hand with the good news of Christ, who said “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, NRSV)

A Methodist Response

From Lee Anderson:

 

As we look at the recent tragedies in the world, many of us feel unrest, grief, and a heaviness of heart.  Closer to home, there is unrest among Americans as we all wrestle with the various ways that racism impacts each of us.  It is a Christian and Methodist value to respond to the cries of people who are hurting, and not to ignore those cries.  Bishop Warner H. Brown, President of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church, recently released this letter to United Methodists:

"To the people of The United Methodist Church:

Grace and peace to the people called United Methodist and all people of good will. I greet you in the name of Jesus, the Christ who is risen. From May 1-7, the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church will hold its 2015 meeting in Berlin, Germany. During this week, we will be praying for the church and taking actions that we hope will help lead the church in a faithful response to the call of discipleship. Please pray with us, for the church and all those the church seeks to serve.

We are a church that practices ministry to the world in Jesus' name. While United Methodist churches are primarily in Africa, Europe, the Philippines and the United States, our ministry partnerships connect us with every continent. So, we grieve when the news of the day reminds us of the many ways the people of our world are hurting and suffering under the weight of tragedy. We seek to respond readily with prayers and aid to the natural disasters such as we have just witnessed in Nepal. And the human inflicted pain also requires a prayerful response that declares that terrorism, human exploitation, bullying and abuses of power will not overcome us.

Please join me and the Council of Bishops in prayer, reflection and action toward overcoming the issues that sometimes divide our societies. Together we can find ways, appropriate to our social context, for healing the brokenness between us.

For those of us in the United States, our attention has been called to the powerful impact of racism on all of us. If we seek healing, we cannot continue to be in denial. Some of us have read the shocking Justice Department report on Ferguson and most have seen the violence that tragically erupted there against police officers. Since then other unarmed Black men have been killed in several cities and now Baltimore has also erupted in violence.

As a Black man who grew up in the very Baltimore neighborhood we have watched explode, this is personal. I grieve over what I see in my old neighborhood. The anger in the community is real because of decades of distrust.

Video documentation has raised expectations that claims of wrongdoing would be seriously considered; so distrust grows because very few police officers have been held accountable.

A just society cannot be built on violence. Violence and misconduct by either a misguided police officer or an angry citizen will not lead us to beloved community. Reconciliation can occur when we tell the truth and take responsibility for our actions.

Rev. Willis Johnson, pastor of Wellspring United Methodist Church which serves Ferguson, Missouri, said this: "Who is going to become a model for dealing with reconciling and truth? That is the role of the Church!"

In this season of resurrection, the Council of Bishops and I believe that we followers of Jesus are called to lead the way. Let us examine and repent of our own sins of racial bias and abuse of privilege. Let us proclaim and live the Gospel of love and justice for all. Let us become proactive in modeling that gospel in our churches and teaching it to young and old alike. Let us be disciples who are engaged with God in transforming our world, beginning in our own communities, working for justice, judicial reform and good police/community relations. Let us break down the walls that divide us and build relationships that vanquish our fears. When we work together for justice and peace, we will no longer be strangers.

Remember, all who would follow Jesus, he calls us again and again to "love your neighbor as yourself."(Matt.22:39) Even out of the injustice and violence he experienced, Jesus leads us to hope and resurrection. Let us believe in and practice the power of prayer for our world, our church, our neighbors and our own lives.

And, the risen Christ said to his followers, "remember, I am with you always."(Matt.28:20)

Your brother in Christ,

Warner H. Brown, Jr."

Used with permission from United Methodist Communications