Thoughts on A Rolling Ball

 

When I was On the Ball, I thought.

When I thought, I scribbled a bit.

Here are some scribbles for your nibbles.

We are here today, standing on a rolling ball, trying to maintain our balance yet balanced by an unseen hand.

We are suspended between the ground beneath and the sky above and somehow unimpressed.

We are ever bumping into one another and looking the other way with muttered apologies for living.

We see through and around and over and under with the illusion of our own invisibility.

We are witnesses to what we are and what we know and who we know and choose to live in anonymity.

And we live on, day after day, moment after moment in the drudgery of routine and the ritual of sameness moving steadily toward some undefined goal we call "retirement."

Retirement from what?

Indeed we are tired, but not from engagement, not from work. Work never wearied a soul engaged in purposeful pursuit. Work invigorates, regenerates, and illuminates our lives for what they are and are to be ....

We ...

We are called, chosen, and unfrozen to be instruments of peace, God's peace, to sow seeds of love, kindness, joy, and healing.

And if we ever get caught up with that, we can talk about retirement.

So get up, get connected, feed your face, wash your teeth, and move out.

Good morning folks!

On Lenten Self- Discipline

Strange spiritual discipline for the day - willingness to change a pattern, perhaps to break the pride of the pattern, perhaps to bring something new to the table, perhaps some unknown agenda - or PERHAPS, perhaps it is all the same pattern and discipline of connection, listening, hearing, responding ... Lent is such an unfolding of possibilities.

On Thinking, Writing, and Being

I write, therefore I think.
I think, therefore I write.
I get it out, look at it, and evaluate if it rings true.
I stink, therefore, I am.
If it smells like me, it might be me,
Be patient.

On Discipleship

A pastoral theologian must sometimes be prophetic.
A prophet must sometimes be pastoral.
A disciple must always follow and invite, "Will you come along with me?"
Pastoral or prophetic strength goes to personality and gifting.
Discipleship is more about our common calling.

On Human Frailty

It's not very difficult to avoid passing any profound judgment on you when I understand my total lack of qualification to do so or even to judge myself with finality.

Ask my opinion or interpretation or scripture? You can have it.

Ask for infallibility and you are out of luck.

On Necessary Suffering (Beyond Lenten Self- Deprivation and Meditation)

The lesson from Jeremiah, when I read his prophecies,  is that some suffering is necessary. Jesus taught this too and embodied it and, when encouraged to avoid the suffering, He put the "plan" ahead of His own interests and well-being.

But ... nevertheless ... and more of the most .... the words"rise again" were there all along.

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” - Mark 8:31-33 (ESV)

Strategic living and speaking. This is the take-away I get from the epistle lesson today - that we are to consider the consequences of our words and deeds in terms of their impact on others. There is not law that says we cannot be relateable and truthful at the same time. We can be authentic and not be intentionally offensive. If truth offends, that is one thing; if I offend, that is a matter of false pride and a deficit of love.

How I live and what I speak are strategic opportunities for doing good and advancing God's kingdom of love and grace.

It takes discipline and sometimes I do not do all that well at it.

Hear the Word of the Lord from the Apostle Paul:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.

To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.

To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.

I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. - 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 (ESV)

Keep running. Keep thinking. Keep reflecting, writing, living, doing and being.

Keep on keeping on.

Be as random as necessary and let God knit it all together into some sort of coherence

We are all rolling on the same ball trying to find a balance. The good news is:

No one has ever fallen off.

If you are trying to find balance in off-balancing times, it helps to have some soothing music.

Here is a long program of it. Play it in the background as a soundtrack for your day.