Winter or Ice Age? Wrath or healing?

If you're like me, you've been reading posts about the apparent healing taking place in our ecosystems since the pandemic, or some would say because of it.  Pictures in Venice of clear water, with fish swimming and swans returning.  People are saying we have discovered the ecological problem, that humanity is the virus.

I'm not saying that humanity hasn't been abusive in the ways we have treated nature.  I'm sure there is some truth to what is being said.  But I think like everything else, it lands somewhere in there a middle?  

If I recall, bats from a market in Wuhan, China are given credit for this most recent virus.  Who eats bats, anyway?  And you can't ignore the inherent violence in nature, either.  The news may be lost to the pandemic, but there was a devastating tornado that ripped through Jonesboro, Arkansas just last week.  Nature can dole out it's own wrath from time to time, reminding us of the ways nature, our ecosystem, and all of creation groans for the day when all things will be made new.  We are included in that groaning.

I don't want to get lost in the weeds arguing whether ecosystems healing themselves, and the hows and whys.  I'll leave that up to the scientists.  This all does have me thinking about a question that is connected to the article I posted yesterday; is what we are facing wrath or healing?  Is it punishment or a blessing?

I've watched faith healers coming "against" COVID-19 like it's the devil incarnate.  I've heard people, the same ones who made claims about 9-11, saying this is God's wrath connected to everything from abortion to gay marriage.  Interesting no one says God's wrath is a result of capital punishment or treatment of immigrants and refugees, but I digress.  Trust me, God didn't have to create a pandemic to get our attention.  I don't believe that is consistent with who God is, anyway.  I don't believe this is wrath we can lay at God's feet; I believe it is life. With that being said, for those of us living in the way of Jesus, it provides us with an opportunity.

I read another tweet last week that was more hopeful from Jamie Tworkowski:  It said in the midst of this pandemic:  

Conversations will not be cancelled.

Relationships will not be cancelled.

Love will not be cancelled.

Songs will not be cancelled.

Reading will not be cancelled.

Self-care will not be cancelled.

Hope will not be cancelled.

May we lean into the good stuff that remains.

I know this is an incredibly difficult time for many.  I'm not trying to downplay that at all.  One of my friends just lost his father in New York to COVID-19.  Health care workers are serving the public under "war-like" conditions, and grocery store employees show up every day, with great risk, so I can get milk and bread.  Many walk around in fear wishing they could be like the bubble boy from Seinfeld.  But I think there is another way to approach this cultural moment.  I'm wondering if it might be better to look for what we're being given instead of what has been taken away.  

Rest.  A slower pace to life.  No one is running from soccer to dance to baseball, through the McDonald's drive-thru, and on to the next thing.  My calendar is empty.  I have "tasks", but I don't have events.  Our lives are usually one event after another, and they lives have slowed down, for some, shut down.  

Family.  I've connected with my family more in the last three weeks than maybe in the last three years because of Zoom, Marco Polo, and Facetime.  I've also had another first, leading my wife, daughters, and their families in Sunday morning worship.  We have even created a liturgy for us; singing a song together, reading a Bible story to the kids, and using the lectionary for the adults.  We are connecting every day, because we can.

Time.  Instead of wishing we had time to spend together, we have lots of time around each other.  Terry and I are together all day, each day eating around our dining room table, twice, often three times.  That hasn't happened in years, maybe ever.  We have time to go for walks; to play cards; watch Netflix, The Curse of Oak Island, and Building Off the Grid.  This has been good, a gift, one I'm not sure how we'll leave behind when we are on the other side of this.  

Solitude.  I know what you're thinking, Holcomb's an introvert, and we don't have kids at home.  I get that, but for the record, introverts like people, need people.  But this has given me the time to study, to read, to think, and to pray.  To think about you, what you need, how I can pray for you.  This hasn't made the TV more more desirable, but less.  My screen time went up the first week, but has gone down the last two.  I'm more engaged with the people and things around me.  I could check out, but I've been reading like I have read since my Sabbatical last year.   

People.  I look people in the eyes.  I talk with them.  Many are afraid, and I don't want to give them reason to be more afraid, but want to be kind.  To treat people like I would want to be treated.  I've found myself wondering if someone from my family was dying, would I stay away, letting them die alone?  What would you do?  I value people, relationships, and human touch more than ever.

Today.  I'm reminding myself to enjoy today.  God has given me the gift of presence, in this moment, today.  So, with God's help, I'll make the most of it.

There is far less running, and way more sitting.  I walk to the mailbox and feel like I've escaped.  I sit on my front stoop watching the birds in our feeder and the geese landing in our pond and feel renewed.  It doesn't take much, does it?  Today, I'm reminded to look for the blessing and the healing in the time that we have been given.  I think this is more than just a blizzard, and hope it isn't an ice age.  But whatever it is, and wherever we find ourselves, I'm looking for the signs of life today, hoping and praying the best for our tomorrows.  

So simply put, I hope nature is healing, being renewed during this pandemic.  But I hope and pray the same for us.

Blizzard, Winter, or Ice Age?

I think you will find this article informative, fascinating, and sobering.  Thanks to Andy Crouch for being candid and transparent in helping us navigate this cultural moment
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https://journal.praxislabs.org/leading-beyond-the-blizzard-why-every-organization-is-now-a-startup-b7f32fb278ff

Dirt and Spittle

John 9:6-7

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”

Mark Twain

Terry and I have become fascinated with a new craze; building homes out of shipping containers.  There are shows popping up on cable channels like HGTV and DIY showing how people can build livable spaces, very inexpensively, out of old shipping containers. It’s very creative, and we are beginning to imagine the day when we have a home made from old shipping containers.

Most come from China, where we import everything from iPhones to the cheap toys found in your happy meals. Once they arrive, China doesn’t want them back, so we’ve begun to assemble shipping container graveyards. There is one here in Bradley. Ten years ago, no one would have thought about using a shipping container to build a home. Until one day, someone sat in an office looking at the growing stack of shipping containers, and began to wonder what in the world are we are going to do with all these square, metal tubes. Shazaam – container homes. 

Why mention this? Because this creativity is implanted in us by the God who is creative. The God who makes something out of nothing. The God who looks around, and as N.T. Wright describes; “uses the raw materials of earth to create something brand new that will restore and redeem the chaos we find ourselves in.” Using what is around us to make something brand new.  

Ken Wytsma in his book Create vs. Copy says: “If creativity is part of the image of God in us, imagination is the divine spark that unleashes it.” I’ve seen examples of this all over the last couple of weeks in our country, and at home.  The faculty from colleges, universities, and teachers in elementary to high school have had to prepare to go fully online, and students all over the country have begun to experience online instruction for the first time. Videos are popping up all over social media platforms, including the one at the end of this post.  Don't you wish you would have invested in Zoom last month.  This site is being used in ways no one imagined last month, from virtual classrooms to meet-ups with friends, families, counseling sessions, and churches.  March Madness brackets have been created with no basketball, distilleries are making hand sanitizer and automobile plants are manufacturing ventilators. There are new things being created every day. These are being birthed out of the chaos we find ourselves in. But the ingenuity and creativity that is coming to live is creating things in brand new ways for our communities. Things that we didn’t need two months ago, and things we wouldn’t have imagined.

It’s the way we work because it’s the way God works. God isn’t afraid of the situation we find ourselves in. He isn’t surprised by the things that are happening around us. As a matter of fact, God enables us to look around and see what we can use to create something new out of the raw materials that are already here.  

It’s what Jesus did when healing the man born blind. He looked around, saw dirt, spat in it creating mud, rubbed it on the man’s eyes, and then instructed him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  Jesus was creating something brand new out of what was already there. But the man wasn’t healed yet, was he? Because Jesus included the blind man in the healing process. He instructed him to go wash in the pool. It wasn’t until after the blind man washed his own eyes that he could see.  

Why didn’t Jesus just heal him? Because I think he wanted to include him in the healing process, just like he wants to include us in the process of restoring our community and world from the moment we find ourselves in.    

What will this look like on the other side? I’m repeating myself: I have no idea. I can tell you that God is looking at the raw materials that are already here, creating something brand new. And the best part of this is God includes us in the process. God can work alone, but like he included the servants at a wedding and the disciples at the feeding of the four and five thousand; he includes us too. If we can imagine shipping containers turned into homes, imagine what God can do with a little dirt and spittle.

So, look around today. Maybe the answer is in the dirt.

Grace and peace friends.

https://youtu.be/nDIJz6zzHNU

Promise

Words Matter

I watched the press conference this morning with Governor Cuomo, the governor of New York.  They are experiencing very difficult days.  There is a lot of finger pointing going on this morning between Mayor DeBlasio's office, the NBA, and the White House.  Apparently all the NBA players were able to get tested for COVID-19, when many others in the city of New York sit and wait.  Who's to blame?  Depends on who you ask.

And the beat goes on . . .

It was in the midst of this banter that Governor Cuomo spoke with calm, clarity, and decisiveness related to the decisions being made, and why.  It was refreshing to hear someone speak as honestly as possible, with clarity and calm in the midst of a difficult situation.  One of the last things he said in his press conference is we need to be careful with the words and phrases we are using, that we are understood because words matter.

Words matter. 

While trying to answer questions, we find out who we are.  There were two college students interviewed on South Beach in Miami, obviously not complying with the request for social distancing.  When asked why they were doing this, one replied; "It's my spring break!  If I get the Coronavirus, I get the Coronavirus, but it won't stop me from partying."  Another said; "We aren't going to sit around and let Coronavirus ruin our spring break."  Okay?!  I say we put them all on a cruise ship, taking them to their own private island and letting them figure it out on their own; maybe they'll hear what the rest of us are saying.  But I digress.  Words matter.  They put on display what is in our hearts.  Oops.

Words can take us any number of places.  We can choose to build each other up, showing care and concern during a crisis; or we can choose to tear each other down, with the only concern being for ourselves, what we want to say and do.  We can choose to create distance because of our differences, or close the gap choosing to focus on what we have in common.  I had a friend say to me yesterday this has leveled the playing field.  For all that might have divided us in the past, or the way we talk about our differences, this is reminding us all how human, fragile, and similar we are.  The words we use are powerful.

James says the tongue, though small, is as powerful as the rudder of a ship or a horses bit.  We can either put out fires (Governor Cuomo), or emblazon them (Millennial's on South Beach).  Paul’s words in Philippians 4 remind the church that tends to bicker over their differences instead of celebrate what unifies them, that we are to think different than the world does.  To think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy; and to keep on thinking about these things because they shape what we do and say.  There is power in a word.

So today I’ve confessed for the ways my thoughts haven’t lined up with Paul’s instruction on how I should think.  I really don't want to send them to their own private island.  My heart is broken by the insensitivity coming from various corners of our world.  I really do care more than that, and want the words I use to reflect kindness, unity, what is true, good, right and beautiful.  The Spirit, through a press conference and the Word, encouraged me today, helped me to realize again the goodness in the midst of madness.  The power of our words, and the Word.  

Kindness is Never Risky

I've decided to breath new life into my blog, posting my thoughts from time to time.  This will be connected to my twitter account, expressing my feelings, not expressing the views or feelings of Olivet or anyone connected with Olivet.  This is not an official statement for our university, rather some of my thoughts as we navigate this difficult time together.  I will continue to write weekly Evos to our Olivet community, and participate in videos through the Life at Olivet Instagram account when appropriate, but what is here are my thoughts.  Thanks for reading, following along with me as we continue to redefine what normal is like for us moving forward.  Grace and peace.

"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he save us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  The saying is sure.  i desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone."

Titus 3:4-8

There is a phrase that is shaping our community, nation, and world right now; social distancing.  It can feel more like isolation than distancing.  I'm sitting alone in my office, in a building usually noisy and full of students, empty and silent.  Distance and isolation are counter intuitive to what it means to live in the way of Jesus.  It is the opposite of the incarnation, I get it.  It doesn't feel right or even good, though in the time we find ourselves in, necessary.  So I've been processing what is right, good, and appropriate.

For the sake of our neighbor and the most vulnerable, we need to participate in social distancing.  Take care of yourself and those you love.  Stay home if you can.  When you do work, appropriately separate yourself from others.  Wash your hands.  Stay away from large gatherings.  Do what you can, what is appropriate.

Yesterday I was walking around our campus and ran into an old friend who was picking up his daughter to take her home.  His family had gathered Regan's things, and they were heading home for the summer.  It was eery, odd, weird.  I looked at Regan who was emotional asking her if I could give you a hug?  And we did.  I know it was risky, but I felt in that moment she needed a hug, that it was appropriate.  So we did.  Then her dad prayed for me, for us all, and they left.

I'm not hugging everyone I see.  It was what I felt appropriate in the moment.  But there are other ways to close the distance we practice that aren't as risky, yet just as appropriate.

I went to Meijer to get some essentials later in the day and I thanked the employee helping me check out.  I thanked her for coming to work during a time when risk is tremendously heightened for her.  As I thanked her, she started crying, thanking me for being kind to her.  She said it was rare these days.  I was reminded that kindness is never risky and always appropriate.

I told her I was sorry, and really grateful for the work she is doing for our community.  She said thank you, and I walked away.  Our encounter didn't last 30 seconds, but I can't shake the look in her eyes.  After that brief encounter, I was reminded of the power of a word, and how kindness matters.  As risky as the hug may have been, kindness is never risky.  It's always the right thing to do.

I'm wondering if in the midst of a very difficult time what could happen if we all practiced kindness.  In a time when hugs are risky and maybe not appropriate, kindness carries no risk, and is always appropriate.  It is the right way to live, shaped in the heart of Jesus passed on to us.  We can be kind because God through Jesus has been kind to us and it is the way Jesus is inviting us to live.

So absolutely, be smart.  Be wise.  Do what the authorities are telling us.  But along the way, don't forget to be kind.