Singing (in the rain, shower, or otherwise)

To be able to sing (however badly) is such a wonderful gift.

When we sing, we can express things we can’t ordinarily express as well with the spoken word.  It touches something very deep within us, and allows us to belt out our emotions in a way that is so satisfying, on so many levels.

Each year Mrs. Minister and I participate in our local Community Chorus.  The Chorus puts on a concert for our small town each and every Fall, and its just a lot of fun to participate in a group, and sing for our neighbors.

I've found its also pretty darn cathartic to sing.  The first year we participated, I’d experienced some life setbacks going into our practice season, and really wasn’t that excited to sing in a choir.  But, as soon as we started to sing the first notes, almost immediately, I began to feel better.  Just the very act of singing a song, of lifting my voice in unison with friends and neighbors, had the effect of making me feel better about life, and still does.

I don’t exactly know why this is so, but its true. As you might expect, from reading my other posts, I have a hunch we’ve been given a gift in our ability to sing, from the Big Guy Himself.  Whether we can truly carry a tune or not, just the simple act of singing a song lifts our spirits, and helps us emote that much better about what’s going on in our lives.  Singing does this like no other ability we have.  Give it a try yourself.  Next time you’re in the shower, belt out your favorite diddy.  I’ll bet you that you’ll feel a bit better after you do.

I’ve read where in Heaven the music is supposed to be absolutely divine, and never ceasing.  I do hope this is the case.  I can vouch for the fact that here on Earth at least, being able to sing is a heavenly gift.

-The Minister

Chaos

('Tis been a while.  I intend to do better, and keep up this time!).

1/3/13

Christmas has come and gone, once again.  And with it, I’m reminded once again that God is always present, even in times of chaos.

Chaos isn’t always necessarily bad though.  I glimpsed that first-hand, when I watched all of my various nieces and nephews tear open their Christmas presents on Christmas morning.  That was pure chaos.  Chaos in the best sense, in terms of unbridled joy and enthusiasm for the magic of Christmas morning.  It was wonderful to watch, all this joy being barely contained in the room in which we sat.  And, yes, God was there, laughing and dancing with every single tear of the wrapping paper.

God was also present in the chaos of a school shooting, which has become all too commonplace in our society these days.  Certainly it did not seem like it, at least at first.  I heard many times “where was God” asked in the wake of this most recent horrific event.  I understand that, as the question certainly can seem merited in times of disaster, man-made or otherwise.  And, more than likely, somebody close to the crime will lose their faith over it, questioning how a loving God could ever be a party to this kind of thing. 

But, I know God was there.  God was there in the outpouring of support for the victims and their families.  God was there in the flowers, the displays of emotion, the quiet healing times, and certainly during the tears.  He was there.  He was always there.

The thing is, we got this little thing known as Free Will out of the bargain, when everything got set into motion, and we humans eventually came around.  Free Will is the ultimate double-edged sword, great in one respect, and, as witnessed when yet another senseless act of violence occurred, horrifying in another.  We can create beauty in this world, and unfortunately, we can also create acts of unspeakable horror.

Yes, at times, life is chaotic, and seemingly random.  But, if you look hard enough, He’s still there.  During chaos, God is right beside us, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying…but, always, there.  I’m as guilty as the next person in failing to see Him immediately, because I’m focused too much on the Chaos, and not His healing touch in its midst.

I read recently a book by John Ortberg entitled “Who Is This Man?”, about the historical Jesus and His impact on the world.  What stuck with me the most was a passage in the end of the book.  Mr. Ortberg convincingly lays out the case that Jesus was the intersection of Heaven and Earth, and that whenever an ordinary human being acts like Jesus (by being loving, compassionate, patient, etc.), Heaven and Earth intersect in the same manner as when Jesus walked the Earth.

I saw these intersections in a small town in Connecticut.  I also saw them on Christmas morning.

He’s there folks, He’s still there.  

-The Minister

So...where were we?

Or, in other words, almost exactly 2 years later, the Minister tries to pick back up with his blog!

Not that I had a larger readership mind you, but I did manage to hear from folks from time to time while putting my thoughts down on…um…virtual paper. So, its time to get cranked back up, and continue to pass along my observations of this life, and how we do indeed see God in the details.

My latest project is to (once again) try and slow the pace of my life down. Consider the following quote (which I have seen recently in numerous places…perhaps God is trying to tell me something??):

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

-Lao Tzu

It’s amazing the truth that is contained in those 8 words. Nothing about nature is rushed. Yet, animals feed, birds and squirrels build their nests, trees grow tall, and everything seems to be accomplished in due time. I know, I know, I can hear your protests now: Birds don’t have bosses breathing down their necks to meet deadlines.

True that. But, is it no less important that birds find food to feed their young, so they survive to adulthood? Obviously not. Yet, it appears to me that birds, while certainly industrious, do not rush about in their daily routines (Suggestion: Bird watching is a marvelous activity, and will actually teach you a whole lot about living).

There is a natural rhythm to nature, one that is not rushed, yet accomplishes everything. It’s really more about focus, than rushing. Nature tends to reward focus actually, one thing at a time, and when that item is complete, rest, and move on to the next item.

In an age where we are connected in so many ways, be they through Blackberry’s, computers, or cell phones, it can seem difficult not to get caught up in seemingly urgent tasks. We seem to feel proud of the fact that we as a nation are accomplished multi-taskers, when in fact, studies have proven that multi-tasking is largely ineffective. We are losing our sense of creativity, which requires focus on one task or project at a time, because we are in such a hurry to read the next e-mail (which more than likely, just isn’t all that important), or answer the next phone call. It wears us down. We can’t live in reactionary mode all the time folks, or we’ll just burn out.

And believe you me, I am preaching just as much to myself as I am to my “flock”. I’ve got to get off this reactionary treadmill, and get back to being absorbed in one project at a time. It’s funny, but when I do that, the particular project on which I’m working tends to be accomplished a lot more effectively, and the quality of the work is that much better, than when I’m juggling 4 or 5 different projects in the air, never quite giving any one of them my full undivided attention.

If I can manage to learn one thing in life, its to slow down its pace. Life is meant to be lived, enjoyed, relished even. And God has designed a template on a sustainable and healthy pace of living in nature, if we but slow down long enough to observe it.

My best advice to learn what it means to not hurry? Watch some of God’s most amazing little creatures, the birds. They certainly accomplish many things within a day’s time, but its one thing at a time for them. They’re never in a rush.

And, they always find time to sing.

-The Minister

Wind

I’ve written before that there are times when I doubt that God is really listening to my prayers, or my requests. Sometimes, during these times, it just seems like I’ll go for days, or even weeks, and not receive any communication from Him.

Then, as so often has been the case, in a moment of feeling alone or like I’m really just in this thing myself, a gentle breeze or gust of wind will blow up and almost envelop me, just like a big old bear hug. It’s eerie how often this has happened to me. Whenever it does occur, I feel very much at ease, and I know He is nearby.

The wind seems to be one of His preferred methods of getting my attention. It’s a way of saying to me that I need to stop all my fretting, that I’m not alone, and that He walks beside me always. It never fails to comfort me, and when it happens, once again I’m reminded that I have a friend.

I write this today, just to remind myself, and remind you as well, that God will speak to us in a manner or method that He feels we’ll best be able to receive, at that given moment. Sometimes, words will run through my head, as if its an answer to a particular challenge, reminding me that everything will work out just fine. Sometimes, it’s a billboard message, shouting out at me to listen, to pay attention, to be at peace.

And sometimes, its just the wind, blowing literally all around me, enveloping me in a big old hug from Above.

-The Minister

When Lightning Strikes

A couple of weeks ago, during a really bad thunderstorm, we had lightning surge into our house through a power line.

It caused a loud crack, and it felt like the windows shook and the whole house rattled. Scared the heck out of us, that’s for sure. The surge shorted out some of our electronics, and caused some headaches, to be certain. But it also served to help me keep things in perspective, almost as if someone…or perhaps that should be “S”omeone…wanted to remind me of what’s important in life.

We were not hurt in any way, shape or form, and the house turned out to be fine. Yet, immediately after the lightning surge, all I could do was moan and groan over the loss of a DVD player or two, and the inconvenience it was costing me. My perfect little home had been struck, and I couldn’t get over the fact that I had been inconvenienced.

And yet, I saw on the news the very night after the lightning surged into our home the stories of the individuals in the Midwest who have been suffering just catastrophic damage due to floods and tornadoes. These people didn’t just lose a few pieces of electronics. They lost whole homes, and in some cases, lives, due to these terrible storms that have just wracked that area.

Gradually, I started to realize that I needed to really get a clue as to what was important in life.

You see, I got lucky. Neither I nor anyone else in the home was hurt. The house was intact, and is a good house after all, well built by a good homebuilder. It was annoying to be sure, but honestly, it was all going to be okay.

Now, let me be perfectly clear, I do not believe that God decided that He’d send a lightning surge into my home and wipe out a few electronics just to teach me a lesson. I just don’t believe that, never have, never will.

But, He was there afterwards, once again pointing me to important lessons in life. Lessons such as learning to value the really important things in life, such as simply being alive, family, friends, and the love of a best friend. I hadn’t experienced a tragedy. I’d just had a setback, and once again, the opportunity was presented to me to either choose to be annoyed and irritated at having lost “stuff”, or choosing to be really grateful that I was alive and well.

It took me a while, but I’m now pretty darn grateful that I’m alive and well, and lived to tell the story of the lightning strike. Sometimes, I think despite my best intentions, I’ve become accustomed to all of the modern conveniences in life, and it has made me a bit spoiled. Sometimes, a little bad weather needs to occur to help keep me grounded in reality. And yes, sometimes, a lightning strike can contain a lot of lessons if one just opens his heart up to God in the aftermath.

I get it Big Fella.

Life’s still so worth living, and I am really grateful for all that I have in my life.

-The Minister

Doubt

Today, I’m having a tough start to the morning. Maybe its because I’m coming off a three day weekend, maybe its because lately, I’ve been struggling with my meaning in the world. For whatever reason, with apologies to Tiger Woods, I didn’t bring my A-game today.

Friends, I must confess, which may sound strange coming from a self-proclaimed Minister of the Mundane, that there are times that I can have doubts about God. It’s not that I necessarily doubt His existence. It’s more like I doubt at times that he plays that central a role in our lives.

There are days, heck even weeks, when I don’t feel His presence, and I feel more than a little bit alone in this big old world. I’ve never been able to explain this. I can be going through life, really in tune with the spirit that I’ve come to know as God, and then all of a sudden, I lose my connection. It’s as if the phone lines have gone dead, and I’m left to drift alone for awhile, wondering why this has happened.

Do you ever feel this way? I’d be a big old hypocrite if I said I felt God’s presence in my life all the time. Sometimes, I just lift my eyes to the heavens and silently ask, “Oh, yoo hoo, where the heck did You go?” It’s a lonely feeling.

I’ve always struggled with meaning and purpose in my life. Specifically, I wonder what exactly its supposed to be. For years now, I’ve been trusting in God to guide me to this end. Lately, however, it feels like I’ve been left to drift alone, rudderless at sea, just going where the waves feel like taking me.

Where are you Big Guy? I sure do need you right now. These are the thoughts and questions I keep thinking as of late.

This I know, however. For every dark night, there is usually, eventually, a bright morning to come. For every time of doubt I have about God playing an active role in my life, there will come a time when I start to notice Him again, when I start seeing Him in the everyday mundane details of this life. There will come a time again. This I do know.

And, my darkness will be lifted once again. My connection to the great spirit that is God will be re-established. And I will doubt no more.

But, unfortunately, not today. Or at least not yet. Today it seems, I’m left to my own devices, to try and muddle through life somehow. I for one, can’t wait to hear from the Big Fella soon.

My friends, I do not wish to pull you down into a state of despair with my gloomy thoughts this morning. I merely wish to show you that we all have times of doubt. It’s during these times that we just have to hold on tightly to the faith we have that He’s really not left us alone, that He is there, always, and in all ways.

Probably the fault is mine for the faulty connection. Oh yea of little faith, and all that jazz. I know, I know, I just need to open my eyes again to see, and open my ears again to hear.

It’s all part of faith my friends.

Someday, I just wish it wasn’t so hard.

-The Minister

Acceptance

Today, I’m writing about a subject that I’m honestly not that good about: Acceptance.

To me, acceptance means taking what is, or what happens, only and purely for what it is, and not attaching any labels to it.

For example, your car is hit by another car in a parking lot. What really happened? All that truly happened was your car was run into by another car in a parking lot. That’s it. It was an event; there was nothing truly inherently good or bad about it.

The “good” or “bad” are labels that we humans apply to events. They are judgments that we render about events. In the example of the fender bender, most of us would judge that event as bad. And, because we do that, we get irritated, frustrated, or maybe sad at the prospect of having to pay money for the repair, all because we have judged the event to be sad.

Again, the event is just an event. And, still sticking with our fender bender example, if we were to accept the fact that, “bad” or “good”, it happened, and then be done with that, we’d save ourselves a lot of anguish and hand wringing.

True acceptance of what happens would put an end to a lot of our turmoil in life. And, let me be the first to tell you that life gives us all plenty of opportunities to accept what happens. This can be from the mundane to the extreme, and everything in between.

Frankly, I do a poor job of acceptance. I’ve always believed that somehow, I can push right through things and most times, bring about an outcome that is desirable, and mainly desirable by me. But, there are times when things don’t turn out the way I want them that I rail against the outcome, fuming about what did happen versus what could’ve happened. It’s during these times that if I truly accepted what was, I’d be a lot happier.

The truth is that this is a recipe for much greater happiness in life. Accept what is. Even if you don’t “like” the outcome, just accept it, deal with it, and bring it fully into your reality. Only then can you truly work to change what can happen from that moment forward.

By railing, kicking, and screaming about an event, you waste valuable life energy. The event has happened. It’s now in your reality. Accept it for what it is, and then move on.

In this good old mundane life, as I mentioned before, we all have numerous opportunities to practice acceptance. And, if we listen hard enough, or look hard enough into our hearts, we’ll see God right there pointing the way for us.

-The Minister