Highs and Lows
When I was in college my father started to write to me every week. This was in the days of corded phones and everything outside of West Point, Nebraska, was a long-distance call. He would let me know what he and mom had been doing and how things were going in my hometown.
After a while, (perhaps, to my shame, my sophomore year?) I decided that I should write my parents back each week, letting them know what was going on at school. After a few weeks I was struck by the vicissitudes of life. There would be wonderful things I’d enjoyed right alongside what to my 20-year-old self were great struggles and set-backs. That was my first encounter with what many refer to these days as “highs and lows.”
We use some time in our weekly staff meetings to share the highs and lows of our lives. This is a way of investing in one another, building upon the trust we have as brothers and sisters in Christ, and bearing one another’s burdens as St. Paul has encouraged (Galatian 6).
Well, this week, I’ll be sharing how much Jami and I enjoyed seeing our children, their spouses, and our grandson last week. We had a safe trip to and from Omaha and a wonderful time reunited. This time was a wonderful gift from our Father in heaven.
I’ll also be sharing about my mother, Carla’s, fall. She broke the humerus in her right arm just below the joint with her scapula. This required a surgery to reverse her shoulder (now the ball is on the scapula and the receptor on the humerus). As of this writing she will be entering an inpatient rehabilitation facility for what appears to be a two week stay. And I will want to share with my friends here at Redeemer what I want to share with you – that again we are thankful for the wonderful gifts of our Father in heaven: surgeons, nurses, technicians, pharmacists, therapists, and administrators who have been plying their trade for the benefit of my mother and father.
We are able to give thanks to God in all things, for He is at work in them for our well-being (Romans 8). At the moment it may be terribly difficult to see, but both in hindsight and in the long view we know that the grace of God in Christ Jesus is sufficient for us.
God bless you through the highs and lows that lie ahead!
Stump the pastor
I had an experience on Monday that was as enjoyable as I’d anticipated. Being the “buddy pastor” for the 5th graders and Kindergarteners at Concordia Lutheran School, I was asked to come in to answer some of the 5th graders’ un-answered questions. These questions had accumulated during the first two quarters of school. They had a special form for these questions, and they’d stored the completed forms in a cardboard box.
Where I’ve served before as a pastor of a parish with a school I usually referred these sessions as “Stump the pastor” day. I’d found that the questions were almost without exception quite thoughtful, and Monday that was certainly the case.
The questions ranged from those dealing with the creation of dinosaurs to why God ever created the devil, or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for that matter. They had questions about animals in heaven, and marriage there, too.
Mr. Hipple has been doing a good job with these boys and girls. They were well versed in Dr. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, especially the meaning of the first article of the Apostles’ Creed.
It will be fun to see what questions get asked in the second half of the school year!
Reflecting...
I found myself a bit distracted as I walked the hallways of OSF this morning. Both on the way to visit one of our families being treated there and on the way back I had greeted people with a smile and the blessing “good morning!” The majority, and most of them employees of OSF, smiled and greeted me in return.
It was the ones who didn’t even acknowledge my greeting who distracted me. I was a bit miffed, I’m sad to admit. That seemed like a poor excuse for manners, or the lack of them.
But then I realized: (1) I haven’t a clue about how their day had been going. Perhaps their stony silence was the best they could muster; and (2) I do not need to let someone else’ reaction or behavior have any say in whether or not I’m going to enjoy my day. More on that in a bit.
But first, my feeling of being slighted fit in with the article I read from Tim Elmore this morning. He was writing about the outrage culture that we’re breeding on social media. People are working to stand out from all the noise with the use of hyperbole. When we shout, we feel that we’ve been heard. When we’re retweeted or reposted, we feel a rush of validation. And the use of emotional words increases the likelihood of retweeting/reposting by 15% to 20%. I could have fallen into that trap after my hospital visit this morning.
Elmore’s encouragement for leading kids in this culture can be summed up in these points: 1. Talk about the downside of hyperbole. It wears people down and causes them to tune out. 2. Limit your check-ins on social media. That’s always a good suggestion. 3. Choose to make emotions your servant not your master. When we reflect before we react, we engage our minds, and our emotions follow. 4. Recognize any compassion fatigue you experience. You cannot have an impact on everything. And 5. Act to improve the lives around you. Don’t just talk.
As for not needing someone else’ behavior to have a say in the enjoyment of my day or the peace I experience, well, that’s not entirely true. My peace, and my enjoyment of this abundant life, flow directly from the cross of my Lord Jesus, through the empty tomb He once inhabited. He did all of that so that I could know forgiveness and life. His impression of me – abiding love – is what gives life it’s meaning and purpose.