The Things that Remain

The downward slide of the global economy continues to result in sobering and alarming headlines. The horrifying story yesterday of the man who took the lives of his five children, his wife, and himself after losing his job leaves us all speechless.

When I taught high school, I used to read a book with my students called Alas, Babylon! The premise was a nuclear attack that took out a number of major military bases in Florida, which, at the time the book was written, included Jacksonville, Orlando, Pensacola, and Tampa. The story focused on the survivors in the north central area of Florida who were instantly transported to primitive living. Suddenly, an entirely new value was place on things formerly ignored or easily discarded like books, rowboats, bicycles, salt, or even rain. The discovery of an old Victrola and the accompanying records was a luxury beyond belief. Much had been lost, but the best things, the things that mattered—like family, friends, and community—remained and were, ironically, strengthened.

Today, a friend who works at a coffee shop, said that one of her customers came in with the worries of the day's headlines weighing heavily on her. “What are we going to do?” she asked. My friend replied, “I guess we’re just going to have to help each other out more.”

Indeed. The age of greed and rampant consumerism is dead.

We also cannot anchor our hope in careers or governments or even in hope itself. We must, instead, anchor our hope in the things that remain when everything else is stripped away.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Useless Beauty?

Do you ever wonder about the point of beauty? I mean, why do we need beauty, really? If life is only about survival of the fittest, beauty has no purpose. It’s useless to survival, but we long for beauty and will go to extraordinary lengths to have it.

We don't desire simply to eat. We want to dine—else we would never have invented wine, or chocolate, or a million varieties of cheese or beautifully appointed tables with bright cloths and candles. We need clothing, but we don't just cover ourselves with hay or animal skins. We weave delicate silks or hand woven wools. We employ intricate dyes with rich colors, beads, embroidery, and other fine stitching. We don’t just clothe ourselves. We adorn ourselves. In our homes, we might spend hours choosing just the right paint color for the bathroom walls! Why?

Even in the most primitive cultures, I suspect there is still a compulsion to add some element of beauty to daily living, whether a handful of wildflowers, a dance, a song sung around a fire, or even a tattoo! We yearn not only to surround ourselves with beauty but also to create it. The world is filled with evidence of this fact. Think Taj Mahal, Alhambra, or the Louvre.

Our basic needs for food, clothing or shelter are surpassed by an even greater need—the need to feed our souls. If a mother were only meant to feed her child for survival purposes, dinnertime would be quite a different thing. Why instead do millions of mothers waste time setting a dinner table or creating a special atmosphere for a holiday? Why, indeed, would anyone take the time to write music, fashion a piece of pottery, plant a garden, or even get a haircut?

We find joy in beauty. Keats said, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” Can we also find truth in beauty? Keats thought so. He also wrote, “'Beauty is truth, truth beauty, —that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'” Keats was on to something, but maybe we do need to know more. Maybe we need to know the origination and purpose of beauty.

Edward Welch’s book When People are Big and God is Small has an interesting passage that I believe provides a clue. Welch notes how life itself provides pictures for us of who God is and what he is like. Scriptures say that God is a loving bridegroom, a redeemer, a feast giver, a judge and advocate, a father, mother, obedient son, suffering servant, friend, shepherd, potter, physician. We relate to these titles because we have known fathers, judges, physicians, and the like. The book goes on to say,

These concrete “snapshots” that God gives us of himself are not just God’s way of accommodating himself to human language. God isn’t using our understanding of servants to suggest that he is like a servant. No, God is the servant, the husband, the father, the brother, and the friend. Anything in the created world that bears a resemblance to these descriptions of God is simply God’s glory spilling into creation and into creatures. Whenever you see these albeit distorted images in other people, they are a faint reflection of the original.

God’s glory—spilling over into creation and into creatures. Is it possible that we are drawn to beauty because beauty is part of God’s glory. Indeed, if Welch is right, God is Beauty, and the beauty I see here is but a faint reflection of the original. So when I am touched by the best in human relationships, by the forgiveness of a father to his son, or by a woman lovingly caring for her elderly mother—any such tender pictures of love, forgiveness, and affection, I am touched because I see glimpses there of God’s glory. Likewise, when I am awed by the beauty of a glorious sunset, a breathtaking aria, or of the magnificent art and craft as seen in a place like Notre Dame, there too, I am seeing but vague hints of God’s glory—and it sets my soul on fire.

Copyright © L. Kay Johnson, 2009. All Rights Reserved

Wishing Him Well: Why this McCain Supporter is Supporting Obama Today

I did not vote for Barak Obama. Nothing personal. I liked him. I kind of wanted to vote for him. I just didn’t agree with enough of his ideas to do so.

But today I find myself eager to support his presidency. No major mind shift of ideas on my part, but the time for arguing ideas and casting votes is past, and the time to give this man a chance has arrived, and this requires our support. The peaceful transition of power and willingness on the part of all Americans, even those who voted for “the other guy,” is what makes this country so remarkable.

I still admire John McCain and credit him for the wisdom and honor he demonstrated by not dragging the election on, thus risking a devastating rift from which we may not have recovered. He respected the vote of the American people and exhibited leadership in ending the election, and that’s just what I respect about him.

However, like McCain, I now pledge my support to Obama as our president and wish him well. True, I wish him well for some selfish reasons—don’t we all? I want our country to continue to be safe. I want our economy to recover and thrive.

But I also wish him well for other reasons. His leadership has meaning and implications for the African American community I may never understand. One commentator said that most of us can’t know what it means to his community to see a black man as president, a man who loves his wife, is faithful to her and to his children, and who gives back to his community. I was struck by the fact that he didn’t mention Obama’s Harvard degree, his leadership in Chicago, his meteoric rise to power. No—he was touched by the model Obama provides as a faithful husband and father. For this too, I wish Obama well.

Like many Americans, I too feel a sense of celebration and wonder in seeing the dream of Martin Luther King and of so many others realized. I know that for my African American friends, there is something powerful in the very idea that a black man could occupy the White House. For this also, I wish Obama well.

At the same time, I have African American friends who did not vote for Obama. Remarkably, they also judged him on the merits of his ideas rather than the color of his skin. Even if their vote was a negative, this too was part of King’s dream—each person voting his or her conscience, regardless of color.

I also wish Obama well because I am concerned for him. How can anyone live up to the expectations and hope so many have placed in him? It’s impossible. He will disappoint some, while others will support him no matter what. The first option presents a challenge to Obama. The second is a challenge to us all. My hope is that we will be fair both in our praise and our criticism. Pray for him. Support him wherever we can. Oppose him respectfully when we must.

I wish Obama well, too, because I know I’m human. Could I be wrong on some of my political ideas? Sure. Could he be wrong? Of course. No one gets it right all the time. So we must keep a humble view and pray for the best in one another. Barak and Michelle Obama seem sincere in their desire to make a difference. My prayer is that God will fan the fire of that desire into a blaze so that nothing can cloud it—not the criticisms, nor the adulation. I will pray that amidst the noise of both, Obama will be able to still hear that “still, small voice” that directs him and, indeed, directs us all.

You Complete Me

Ladies, how often do you second guess yourself? I think women are much worse about this than men. My negative self talk goes something like this, "What do you think you are doing? You have no business telling people how to market. You're not an expert. Who do you think you are?"

Why do we do this to ourselves?

The other day, though, I was meeting with a client who kind of intimidates me because he's so smart (way smarter than me--I admit it!). And I had this weird experience. It was like I could still see myself and this client having a conversation, but at that moment, I heard another voice, and I was suddenly part of second conversation. That voice said something like this: "Don't be overly impressed by this guy. You have everything you need for whatever I ask you to do."

"Really? Everything?"

"Everything. If you have me, you have everything."

"You mean..."

"I mean everything...all the time, wisdom, insight, skills, and resources that you need. Everything."

"Oh....ok....I'm good to go then?"

"You're good to go."

Wow.

As a Christian, I believe that God lives in and through me. And if I really believe that, then I must also believe he has equipped me for whatever he leads me to do. The trick is to listen for the leading. If I allow myself to tune in and be guided by him, I can't go wrong--both for myself and for my clients. I will look for their highest good, and I will know how to achieve it.

There's a passage in Scripture that reads, "You are complete in Him." (Colossians 2:8-10). (And you thought that was from Jerry Maguire!) In a world where we sometimes feel inadequate or not quite up to the task, I find this very comforting indeed.

I meet weekly with a small group of women here in Sarasota. We have a great time together: food (of course--usually involving copious amounts of chocolate), giggles, roaring laugter, major sidebars and rabbit trails, and eventually we study some aspect of Scripture together. Connie, our fabulous facilitator, tell us it's like herding cats, but we have a good time anyway. We are currently studying Colossians, and I've created a blog to go with the study. If you are interested, you can access it at www.livingthefulness.blogspot.com.

Missed Moments

Okay, I'm not a movie reviewer, but it just so happens that this post, like the last one, is inspired by a movie. I went to see Valkyrie recently. Whatever you think of the film itself is not the topic of this post. The story is incredibly compelling. It centers on what was probably the most famous failed attempt on Hitler's life by some of his own top military leaders and advisers. It makes for fascinating drama to watch these people who were desperate to wrest their country from Hitler's insanity and certain destruction, to salvage whatever they could for Germany. The movie does a good job of portraying the agonizing question that such a dilemma would pose for anyone: At what point is such rebellion and treason an act of honor?

However, the thing that struck me most was the thunderous impact of silence and inaction. There were several moments in this story where history would have changed significantly had a small handful of people or, at times, even just one person acted. Hundreds of thousands of lives might have been saved. It is a staggering indictment of fear and profound illustration of the destruction our sins of omission can cause. The Book of Common Prayer general confession reads, "Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone." This film is a perfect picture of what it looks like when we leave undone those things that require courageous action.

In one scene, for example, a commander of a communications post has a choice, by continuing to send messages, to aid those attempting to overthrow Hitler--or he can send through the counter commands coming from Hitler's command post. At that moment, the power lies with him as to which communiques will be considered legitimate. He hesitates and then chooses the "safe route," siding with Hitler. Had he chosen otherwise, it is quite likely the coup would have succeeded. I'm not sure of the historical accuracy of this particular scene, but the scene was a great illustration of the difference--for good or evil--that one soul makes. I recommend the film if for no other reason than to see this point depicted in such frightening terms.

By the way, the official site for the film provides some good visual time-lines and background on all of the players in the conspiracy against Hitler. For teachers, it could be a compelling starting point to explore the topic further or to introduce primary research.