"O God, Let It Be So!"

Last Friday afternoon, I pulled into the busiest gas station in High Point (lower gas prices naturally create long lines and lengthy wait times). I was fortunate.  I found a spot quickly.  As I was pumping gas, I noticed a car creeping around the rows of gas pumps, the driver obviously looking for the best and fastest lane. We all know the ways of this … unless absolutely necessary, waiting behind vans, suvs or trucks probably isn’t the best choice and the majority of vehicles that day were those. I was almost finished so I motioned for him to pull in behind my car. He did.

Suddenly, his door opened and out jumped an African-American man in his 40’s. “Excuse me … may I show you something?” I don't think that I've ever had anyone ask me that at a gas pump. Hmmm… ok, there were men pumping gas in the lanes beside of me so why not. So, I said, “Sure!” He reached into his car and pulled out a cotton shirt in the most beautiful African print. It was obviously new, still with the creases in it from shipping. He held it up and asked, “What do you think?” It was beautiful and I told him so. Then the man’s face lit up and his grin turned into an ear-to-ear smile. He said, “I think so too! I ordered the shirt from Africa and it has just arrived. I couldn’t WAIT to show someone. I’m SOOO proud of it!  Can't you tell?” I laughed and said, “I can tell by your face … by your smile! You chose the perfect shirt. It is very beautiful.” “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” the man said. He returned to the driver’s seat and I finished filling up my car and drove off.

This Monday morning, as I think back on that and as I ready myself for a new week, I wonder if there will be a moment in my week that will arrive like a long-awaited package, just for me, that will light up my face when I recognize the moment as beautiful and holy, and that will give me words that I can't wait to share with another person.

O God, let it be so!

"Perfect Provision - a prayer"

(Exodus 16:2-15 ... lectionary scriptures for 9-21-14)

Too often,

I look to the heavens

for the decade’s

greatest snowstorm

of blessings ...

and pray

for an accumulation

in amounts that

are astounding.

Oh God,

thank you for my friend

who said,

“Look down

at the blessings

that have softly fallen

like manna

all around us….

fallen silently

like a dusting of snow,

to be gathered in amounts

of Perfect Provision

for this one day alone.

Amen.

(c)2011 anna murdock

"Never-Ending"

(Matthew 18:21-35 ... Lectionary Scripture for 9-14-14)
 
Jesus says, "Seventy-seven times.  It is never-ending... this forgiveness."   May we see no end to forgiveness, no end to God's assurance, and no end to the Great Love that binds us together.  May the One who is without limits send us out to share this 'never-ending' good news with others.  This is the community of faith that we are called to be.  


I saw an older man
dressed in torn and dirty clothes.
He was in need of a shave
and surely a hot shower
would have felt good to him.

This man, walking along my route,
was mumbling to himself
and counting his fingers –
touching each finger to his thumb;
first the right hand -
one, two, three, four …
then his left hand -
one, two, three, four …
then back to his right hand -
one, two, three, four.


And so it went,
on and on
and on and on.
The counting seemed
to never end …
from right hand to left,
from finger to finger
to finger to finger.

What was so important
to this man of the streets?
What words were needing
to come out and be spoken?
Was he just “another one of those”
who mumbled quietly
as they walked along
the roads of our lives?

As I continued my drive to work,
weary from the day before,
angry from two days before,
feeling very alone
from the week so far,
I too began to mumble
and count the ways
to weariness,
to anger,
to aloneness.

How many times
am I to forgive
(both myself and others)?
From right hand to left,
from left hand to right,
and back to the right hand
again…
from finger to finger
to finger to finger …
the counting seems
to never end.

How many times and ways
are the words “Be not afraid”
whispered, written, shouted
to all who fear …
(and don’t we all fear)?
From right hand to left,
from left hand to right,
and back to the right hand
again…
from finger to finger
to finger to finger …
the counting seems
to never end.

And what about God’s Love?
How many times is this Love
seen, felt, whispered,
promised, given and received?
From right hand to left,
from left hand to right,
and back to the right hand
again…
from finger to finger
to finger to finger …
the counting seems
to never end.

If this man is “one of those”,
who mumble and count,
then I am one as well …
one of those
who cannot fathom
such forgiveness,
such assurance,
such Love ...
for it is all
NEVER-ENDING.

"I SEEEEE YOUUUU!"

“But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.”
(Matthew 13:16-17 from The Message)

Once again, I saw the man along my way to work.  He is always seated on a stump or a large plastic can, saying a few words to himself, smiling a sweet smile.  I have noticed that he wears a toboggan in all seasons (a toque, for my Canadian friends).  I have wondered what he sounds like, what his smile looks like up close, if his eyes twinkled.  I wonder no more.

One night this past week, I met a friend for supper.   We walked into the restaurant and there HE sat!  Toboggan on … smile ready for the next person to walk through the doors … eyes twinkling.  His laugh was deep and that of a blend of Jim the Shoeshine Man, years ago, standing at his shoeshine stand on a downtown corner of my hometown and Uncle Remus on a much loved story-book album (both men, I loved in my childhood).   The man pointed to my friend and said with great joy, “HEY, it’s good to see you again!” She smiled and said, “Hi! It’s good to see you (although she had never seen him before).”  When the man smiled, his cheeks became more pronounced, making his eyes squint and twinkle even more.  He asked if she was OK.  “Yes, I’m doing well.”   “Good, good,” he said as he shook his head from side to side and smiled as if praising God for that good news.  He asked if she was still going to church.  When she said YES, he said, “Good, good, I’ll keep praying for you.”  My friend thanked him.

Then, he looked my way, pointing and said, “Who is this?”   My friend said, “Oh, she is my friend.”  The man’s smile couldn’t have grown any bigger.  He held up his large hand and said, “Hi FRIEND!  I see you!” Then, he put his hands up to his eyes as if they were binoculars and said with a huge belly-laugh, “I SEEEEEEE YOUUUUUU!!!!!!”   For some reason, my response was a reciprocated smile and the words, “I see you too!”   “Good, good,” he said with a laugh that echoed with joy.

My friend and I were ushered to our table and our thoughts turned to the news of our families and work and life in general.   The man had come and gone with a take-out box in hand, leaving his smile and laughter bouncing around in my memory.

The following day, as I drove by him on my way to work, I could “SEEEEEE HIMMMM” in a way that I had never seen this invisible man on the streets before.  I could see the twinkle in his eyes in a different way, hear the laughter that surely followed his great big smile, hear the things that were important to him such as a person doing well or going to church or prayer.  I knew that one of the most important things for him was for someone to “SEEEEE” another person.   He taught me that with his “hand binoculars”, seeing me at a time when it was I who felt a little invisible.

"Just When ... "

(Please read Exodus 3:1-15)
  
Just when the young
have their hectic schedules
finalized on their calendars …

Just when baby boomers
have their lives
carefully mapped out …

Just when retirees
think that they have
indeed retired …

Just when our lives
become routine and settled …
and just when we think
that we will never
hear the voice of God,
IT HAPPENS.

Yes, just when we begin to believe
that we are who we are
and are who we will always be,
God calls our name,
not once, but twice …
commanding attention
as one might do
to a child who hasn’t listened.

Just when we put on
our well-worn bedroom slippers again,
comfortable and familiar,
we hear
“Take off your slippers.
You are standing on holy ground!”

Just when you call our names,
O Great I AM,
and as we lean upon you
to remove our slippers,
forgive our initial fears and excuses;
forgive us if the first words
from our mouths are
“B-b- but  G-G-God …
I haven’t had a pedicure yet!”

Just when our names spoken
still echo in our hearts …
just when our feet are bared,
and our favorite slippers
are tossed aside,
may our prayers be
that when called,
each of us might say,
“Here I am.”
 

"The Question"

(personal ponderings on Matthew 16:13-20)

There are those days
when my head is lowered
in the “I should haves’
or  “I could haves” but “didn’ts”.
In those days, my eyes are downcast.
He is looking directly at me.
I don’t need to look his way …
I sense in his voice, disappointment.
I can hear an occasional sigh.
Yet, his eyes don’t turn away from me.
He has seen my stumbling.
He has heard words carelessly pour out of my mouth
and he has heard my deafening silence of omission.
And yet, if I would only look up
I could see his love for me,
even as he shakes his head and whispers,
“So like Peter.  So, so like Peter.”

There are those days
when Jesus once more looks directly at me …
into my eyes.
He gently lifts my lowered head and asks,
“But what about you?  Who do you say that I am?”
All movement around me comes to a standstill.
The others near me freeze into place for a moment.
I can hear my own breathing
and even though I could turn my eyes away,
I don’t.

Others around me vie for his attention.
Hands shoot up as if they are children in a classroom.
“Pick me!  Oh, pick me!  I know the answer,” they shout.
Some are guesses … “A prophet!  Elijah!
John the Baptist!  Jeremiah!”
The others speak in words that are different from my own …
words that seem memorized,
pouring from the head and not from the heart.

There are those days
when I am asked THE QUESTION.
He waits for no answer other than mine.
In words that I barely recognize, I answer,
"You are the Messiah!  You are my LORD."
The words spill out from the seeking place in my heart.
Spilling out from his heart are words as well.
“Blessed are you.   These words did not come
from those who have memorized them
or from those who have borrowed words from others;
you have heard this from my Father!"

There are those days … actually each and every day,
when the implications of this answered question
cannot be ignored.
I have called him ‘Messiah’;
I have called him LORD;
He has called me ‘Disciple’
and placed me on a new path
paved with Solid Rock.

"A Superhero Sighting"

I saw a Superhero yesterday. Yes I did!

While I was at a stoplight at a major intersection, I glanced to my right to see a pickup truck in the lane beside of me. Inside of the truck were a mother and a little boy, probably no more than 3 years old. The back window was opened. A large tractor/trailer was slowly approaching the pickup truck from behind. Suddenly a little hand stuck out of the pickup's window. I could tell by the little shirt sleeve that it was Spiderman! The arm was held steady and straight out, the palm of little Spiderman's hand was facing the large tractor/trailer,steady and determined to stop the truck. Yes, the truck stopped and the small hand of Spiderman withdrew when his heroic duty was done. The little boy looked at his mother with an excited expression on his face and huge smile. I could see that he was saying, "I DID IT!" Yes, you did, Spiderman. You DID stop that truck with the palm of your hand. I am witness to that!

This morning, I posted the ‘heroic act’ on Facebook and a pastor commented that she never sees such interesting things in her day.   Why is it that some of us do see these special moments in ordinary days and others don’t?   I shared with her something that I have learned and take to heart.  I try to go into my day always anticipating that God will point me to a Superhero (or someone in need of a Superhero).  Often, I see that one or the other is very near to me.  And yes, there are times when God whispers, “Anna, it’s your turn! Put on your Spiderman shirt, hold your hand out and be a Superhero today!”

It’s a part of what we pray in our churches each Sunday, isn’t it?  “Thy kingdom come on earth ….”