Words of Fire Blog

Wednesday's Word: A Season of Deliverance

2/27/2013

While visiting another church this past Sunday, the worship leader called Lent a season of "devotion, discipline and deliverance."

Her words gave me pause. In what way can we find deliverance in our denial of pleasurable passtimes or food? Won't God still deliver me if I eat chocolate or watch television?

As I've been turning over these words the past few days, I've come to understand that deliverance is not a once in a lifetime event. As frail human creatures, we are constantly hurt, vulnerable and wounded. We create mechanisms to cope with the cruelties of this world, many of which shield us from love, acceptance and healing.

Lent gives us an opportunity to be vulnerable before the One who kept nothing from us. We give Him our devotion and our discipline, not in order to receive a some cosmic return at a teller's window, but to open ourselves to His heart. We give ourselves time to heal, space to know Him and deliverance from all that has weighed us down.

Devotion: We plant ourselves in Him. Discipline: We water our parched souls. Deliverance: We grow into the beautiful ones we were created to be.

Happy Lent.

Beauty from my sister-in-law's garden.

Wednesday's Word: Encouragement

5/30/2012

“Speak a word, that we may live”
            Greeting, Desert Fathers and Mothers

I sat in the oncologist’s office as she received the report. First, there would be chemotherapy. Surgery would follow. Then, daily radiation treatments for six weeks. Still, the cancer returned.

My godmother was now hearing words like “inoperable.” She had decided, before the oncologist’s somber pronouncement, that she would be taking a cruise with a friend. Together they would sail over blue waters, to exotic locations and eat scrumptious meals.   Her health and spirits were rather high, so she wanted to enjoy her good health as long as it lasted.

My godsister was thinking the same thing. So, she planned to give her a surprise—us! We booked the cruise, arranged our travel—but without her knowledge. Our little surprise eventually became a big one: and two turned to four, and four turned to fifteen—all with the express purpose of celebrating the life and strength of someone we love and admire.

As I write this post overlooking the incredible Caribbean ocean, a woman on a balcony near mine is sobbing (loudly) about her wedding and the debts she’s incurred on this trip. “My wedding was crap!" she screamed. "My reception was crap!”

I so wanted to tell her about my godmother’s story; about how short life really is; about how precious each day has become. I’m sorry her wedding was “crap” but from where I sit, life is looking pretty good.  I have had a wonderful time filled with laughter and good friends. I have had an opportunity to show people how precious they are.  To top this all off, every meal has been provided with painstaking attention to detail.  The sunshine, liquid or otherwise, has been abundant. Over 2000 crew members work diligently to make sure that my every need is met.   Luxury is all around me—I refuse to act the beggar. Chemotherapy? Yes. Radiation? Unfortunately.

Life? Only today is promised.  I plan to live it on whatever balcony God places me, determined to enjoy the view with those I love.

Speak a word today—encourage someone else that life is precious and that it's worth living.  Encourage someone to enjoy God's abundant and extravagant love.  Speak a word of encouragement today--give life.

The Pursuit of Peace

4/11/2012

"Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it." (NIV)
"Turn your back on sin. Do something good. Embrace peace-don't let it get away!" (The Message)
Psalms 34:14

At the beginning of Lent, I lamented over the sinfulness of racism that had wounded me so many years ago. Now, at the end of Lent and during the joyous season of Eastertide, I find myself in an equally mournful frame of mind.

The past several weeks, the news has been filled with the tragic death of Trayvon Martin. Our hearts were in our throats as we listened to the story of his killing at the hands of George Zimmerman. We understood that Trayvon could have been our son or our brother, our neighbor or our church member. We understood because we, too, have felt the cold stares of merchants who follow us while we are in their stores. We understood because we, too, have been denied service while others of a fairer hue have not. We understood because our brothers have been stopped by the police while wearing three-piece suits. We understood, and we cried with Trayvon's parents. Sin. Evil.

Yet we cried more when we realized how few believers of other races stood with us while we donned our hoodies. Sin. Evil.

In 1903, W.E.B. DuBois wrote that the problem of the 20th century was the problem of the "color line."  In 1954, Howard Thurman opined that 99 percent of "Negroes. . . are in segregated congregations." (The Creative Encounter) I wonder what DuBois and Thurman would say, all these decades later, about the unexamined aparteid that still exists among many believers. Sin. Evil.

We cannot calmly accept the sin that invades and infects our churches. What does the Psalmist tell us? We must turn away from evils and sins such as racism. We are called to run after the peace that only comes from God. His peace will bring His justice. His justice will come with His Kingdom, and His Kingdom will come. Thurman puts it this way: "It is my belief that in the Presence of God there is neither male nor female, white nor black, Gentile nor Jew. .. but a human spirit stripped to the literal substance of itself before God... wherever man has this sense of the Eternal in his spirit, he hunts for it...in all levels of his function. This kind of universe that sustains that kind of adventure...will someday be the common experience of all the children of men everywhere."

It is my prayer, this Eastertide, that we will all aggressively and actively seek HIs peace, His Presence, His goodness and not let them "get away." It is my prayer, this Eastertide, that we will find that more unites us than separates us.

Happy Easter. Rest, Trayvon.  For you--our son, our brother--we will pursue peace.

The Pursuit of Wholeness

3/12/2012

His response to my "thank you" tweet was brief: "Looking forward to pursuing wholeness together." Yet these words begged the question: how do we pursue-–look for–-wholeness? And how do we do it together?

I know that wholeness is a worthy goal, because Psalm 34:14 tells us to "seek peace and pursue it."   The King James Version of Psalm 63:8 is more intense: "My soul followeth hard after thee." We are called to move actively towards God and towards Christ. Our faith is neither passive nor docile.

. . . May we pursue wholeness together.

Likewise, we are called to move towards each other. Our God loves community,
relationships and fellowship. Jesus speaks countless times of His connection to God and His connection to us. We are the "branches" (John 15:5) to His vine. We
are not disconnected. We are not alone. We have not been abandoned.

. . . May we pursue wholeness together.

What we ignore is that we must pursue wholeness in community. We live in a
broken and lonely and isolating world. Too often, we fail to look past superficial smiles to the bleeding and wounded hearts occupying the pew next to us.   We do not pursue the redemptive power of our community for ourselves or for others. Our desire for others’ healing and restoration is as superficial as the pasted smiles we wear on Sunday morning. We are not, in the words of the psalmist, "following hard" after God. We conceal ourselves from Him and from each other. We have replaced Adam and Eve’s fig leaves with our   own emotional barriers, hiding our wounds from the God who could heal us.

. . . May we pursue wholeness together.

May we pursue wholeness together. Yes! May we, as one, be deliberate in our desire for, and our pursuit of, the healing, restoration and redemption available through the risen Christ.   Yes!

Wednesday's Word: A Season of Deliverance

Wednesday's Word: Encouragement

The Pursuit of Peace

The Pursuit of Wholeness

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