Like the Butterfly

Life is gearing up with the start of summer.  The cicadas are humming and flying.  Students are out of the classroom.  Many are making plans to visit family and friends after a very long pause.  It feels good to gather and celebrate life's milestones together.  Hunkering down is nearly done.

In the Mitford series, Cynthia would often say to Father Tim, who was struggling with the work/life balance as a new retiree, "Go and Be like the Butterfly."  

Life is short.  This message is shared in the Serenity prayer: "Enjoy one moment at a time" and the Lord's prayer" "Give us this day our daily bread."  Learning to live in the here and now requires a different mindset.  We can give ourselves permission to slow down, to sit, to gaze, to be.  We can change gears and pursue different goals that align with our values.  Performance, productivity, and possessions are lauded in the workplace, but they are not the key indicators of life.

Love is the primary force, not power.  We cherish those we love.  We will travel miles to see their smiles, as Michael Card sings.  What will you be doing this summer, as the lockdowns lift?

The Sunrise of Your Smile. Michael Card.  https://youtu.be/pCnmnTeB1lE

Today's Work

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus."  Phil 3:14

How we spend our time is a good indicator of what we value.  We usually find a way to put the thing that matters most into our day.  So what are you doing this week? 

Kingdom work can be creative, catching others' attention like inspirational preaching or an uplifting performance.  Kingdom work can be humble and go unnoticed like offering a meal or bed.  Sometimes Kingdom work requires courage and sacrifice to act on behalf of the powerless.  Sometimes Kingdom work requires persuasion and perseverance to show up and speak against destructive systems. 

Kingdom work is faith in action.  Loving God and loving your neighbor translate into doing good in a crooked generation.  Take care of yourself.  Show kindness and care for others in your family, church, community, and country.  Who knows where your circle of influence will lead?

As you do good work, share the message Jesus came to spread.  People need to hear the reason for your hope. Despite today's chaos, crime, and corruption experienced worldwide, the God of all comfort is a world creator, a world changer. and Savior.

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself."  Phil. 3:20-21

Loving Relationships?

Church is a place where sinners gather.  A family can be a refuge or a battlefield.  As much as we try to befriend safe people, to marry well, or to associate with co-workers who can help us advance, we can feel betrayed, deceived, used, or unappreciated at the end of the day.  Why?  All we want is love, sweet love.

Admittedly, relationships are messy.  A friendship or a marriage may start well but deteriorate over time.  People change.  Individuals look out for their own interests and tend to trample on others, intentionally or unintentionally.  All of us bear scars and carry painful memories.  We may share these experiences with a trusted few and learn to live in the light.  If we stuff them down for years, they may blow one day like shrapnel.  Our secret anger, painful burden, or steaming resentment becomes visible. 

Listen to your life.  Address relational realities.  Stop trying to manage your image.  Stop pretending, hiding, or covering up.  Deal with root problems.  When you feel overwhelmed, get help.  Seek out help in the person of an experienced counselor.  See your pastor.  Read scripture and Christian literature.  Pray.  Practice healthy habits.  Take  yourself in for a tuneup, in other words. 

When we are in better shape, stronger, and healthier biblically-speaking, we are able to be present to others.  We stop sizing up someone by what we stand to gain.  We are at long last able to build relationships by blessing the other, doing good, and loving actively.  We give without expectations of cashing in.  Learning to consider the interests of others is a process in leaving selfishness behind.  It's an exercise in self-denial and sacrificial love. 

"Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."  Phil. 2:4-5

Will we get honest and own up to doing our part in making relationships happier and healthier?  As Christians, we are called to love.  (1 Corinthians 13)  It's a challenging, lifelong assignment.  Look to Jesus to see how he pulled it off.  Rely on Holy Spirit power daily to live out a lifestyle of love.

Lifestyle of Love

Give yourself grace and start the day soaking in love.

Fernando Ortega. "Give Me Jesus."  November 7, 2014.

The news cycle used to be contained largely to the evening and late news, but no longer. Now we are bombarded by images, sound bites, and provocative headlines. If the first thing you do is grab your cell phone when you get out of bed, you may want to rethink that habit.

How might a person of faith interact in a healthier way with “the news”?  Certainly, become informed about what is going on in the world; however; don’t overindulge. Ingest a reasonable portion.

Choose news sources carefully. Consider the values and mission of the source.  How does its values align with God’s love for the powerless, the poor, the prisoner, the sick, or the stranger?  (See Matthew 25:31-46)  Listen to multiple perspectives on an issue to deepen your understanding. Verify facts. Are they mentioned in several sources? Has the original context been preserved?

It takes courage to learn what is really happening.  We discover things that are hard to hold in our hearts.  Becoming informed is only a first step. 

Christians are called to love, to serve, to do.

• Pray for the world and its leaders.
• See the good. Give thanks. Ex. Affirm essential workers or join the 7 pm clap ovation of healthcare workers where you live.
• Stand firm. Show up. Speak up. Fight to save lives. Push back against unhelpful regulations as one governor did.
• Partner with problem solvers in your community. Join a volunteer effort: food bank, ministry to the homeless, literacy effort, disaster relief...

In a word, embrace a lifestyle of love, lived out in many ways.

Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” Matthew 22: 37-40