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

Redbuds

Spring is in full force in my neck of the woods. And, with the arrival of Spring comes an old friend…the redbud tree. It’s a favorite of mine, always greeting me this time of the year with its vibrant colors contrasting with the usually still gray…but awakening…landscape.

This year especially, I’ve noticed that the colors of the redbuds are just spectacular, really deep and rich. I’ve enjoyed driving up and down the roads of my region, and seeing the redbuds just explode into color, a harbinger of life coming back to the area. I think I’ve come to appreciate the redbud for its tenacity, as it grows wildly almost anywhere. It never fails to spread color and joy wherever it appears.

Just the other day, I noticed a whole row of these trees growing in a very overgrown, and ugly, section of the woods I was passing. Here was this swampy area, with branches growing everywhere out of a whole host of trees, and yet, redbuds were springing up everywhere. Talk about a stark contrast! The rich colors of the redbuds really did stand out against that drab template of the thick overgrown woods.

Sometimes, I think we need redbuds to awaken us from what can seem like a drab existence. Yes, day to day living, at times at least, can seem pointless, boring, and more than a little bit empty. And then, when we most need it, we see the colors of a redbud tree piercing through the thicket.

God sends us “redbuds” a lot. Perhaps sometimes, these “redbuds” are prophets, or dare I say even Christ, who came to the world so that we may know the truth…talk about bringing color to the world! Sometimes these “redbuds” take the form of saints whose whole life is a message on how to live more fully, like a Mother Teresa, or a Pope John Paul II. Sometimes, these “redbuds” are more commonplace, like a smile from a friend when you most need it.

And, yes, sometimes, the “redbuds” are just that…redbud trees bringing color to a very drab and depressing place.

We need to always keep our eyes open for the “redbuds” in our lives. Not just the beautiful trees that come along each and every spring, but the many redbuds that appear all the time to bring joy to our existence. “Redbuds” are truly everywhere. We just need to slow down and see them, taking them in fully, in all their glory.

My hope for you my friend is that you will see a redbud real soon, and that it will bring you unimaginable joy.

-The Minister

The Smiley Face

Everyone remembers those big yellow and black smiley faces left over from the 1970’s. Now, these same smiley faces have made it into the electronic age. Heck, rare is the day when I don’t see a smiley face in an e-mail I receive.

When I wake up each morning, especially in the early morning while it is still dark, I’ve noticed a smiley face greeting me on the floor just outside my shower each morning. It’s just the reflection of the light from the smoke detector on the ceiling above that part of the floor, but man alive, does it ever project, and appear to be, a smiley face.

Each time I notice this, which is most every morning during the week as I rise to go to work, I have to smile myself. Was this intended for me, or just a product of how the smoke detector was installed, and where it was installed?

You have probably guessed my answer if you’ve read along this far.

I tend to think that God is just taking yet another chance to remind me to lighten up, to not take things and life so seriously. He’s also taking yet another chance to let me know how much He loves me.

God tries to get our attention in whatever manner possible, and in as many ways as possible. A smoke detector is certainly not a burning bush, but its nevertheless effective in letting me know I’m not alone.

I know, I know, I can hear folks now…its just a smoke detector and a trick of the light. And, as I’ve said, years ago, I would’ve agreed. Now I tend to think differently. Now I have come to believe that very little happens by chance

God’s got a big old sense of humor, and He’s letting me in on the joke every single morning.

-The Minister