In our society, the verb “to touch” has a variety of meanings. Of course, there is the obvious and usual use of the word of bodily contact, but its definition has become much broader. If you have the knack for something, we say you have the right touch. If you want just a small amount of something, you might ask for just a touch of it. The telephone company picked up on the concept of keeping in touch as communication with their “reach out and touch someone” campaign. Is it any wonder why English is so hard to master as a second language?
In the Bible, touching is understood to be a means of healing. Jesus touched the man with a withered hand or the eyes of a blind beggar or an “untouchable” leper and they were healed. Even when an outcast woman reaches out and touches the hem of Jesus’ garment she experiences the power of his healing presence. The Bible teaches us of the healing power of touch and I believe that power is still available to us today.
Robert Raines in his classic book Creative Brooding writes of a friend who had lived alone for a long time. His friend told him he suffered from “skin hunger.” As Raines explains, “The hunger to be held, cradled, hugged, caressed, touched is human and divine.” God still uses human touch to heal His children today.
I had lunch with a friend of mine who works with chemically dependent people. He told me that people susceptible to addiction often come from families where touching is not a part of the family dynamic. That is why my friend ends each of his group sessions with the participants hugging the person to their left and right. It is a part of the healing process. It heals skin hunger.
When my son Aaron was little, he liked me to scratch his back. He would put his head in my lap and I would run my fingers over his shirt. He would stop me and say, “No, Daddy, scratch my real back.” He was instructing me to put my hand underneath his shirt so my fingertips could touch his skin. He had a “touch” of skin hunger he needed healed. God’s creative presence was with us through each of those moments.
When I went to Europe during my college years, we spent a week in Italy. Our tour guide was a short dynamo of an Italian woman named Ada. She had had a lifelong love affair with Michelangelo and she shared that passion with us. She showed us how the master had the unique ability to contrast life with lifelessness in stone and with paint. I remember standing next to her in St. Peter’s Cathedral as we looked at Michelangelo’s Pieta. Jesus’ lifeless body draped over the lap of his mother, Mary, whose body was alive with grief and pain. In the Sistine Chapel, looking up at his portrayal of creation at the moment when God’s hand, energized with the power of life, reaches to touch the lifeless hand of Adam. In both of these works of art, I found myself with a deep anticipation of life; the new life of resurrection that would touch both Jesus and Mary and the gift of life that was about to enliven Adam from the powerful hand of God. Touch brings life.
Touch still has healing power. Certainly, touch has been used by human beings to destroy rather than to bring life, but when we remember its healing power, our touch can bring a hope long forgotten. Share God’s healing touch with those around you and watch them come to life right before your eyes.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Accept the Challenge
When I became the pastor of this church six years ago, I asked several church members what they hoped for the church in the years to come. Many said they wanted this church to be a mission-led church. By that they meant that they wanted the life, the work, the money of this church to revolve around our missions ministries. I could not agree with them more.
That is why in our last two strategic plans missions has been one of our top priorities. I have to say, we are not there yet, but because of the work of many of our lay people, we are well on our way to making that a reality. What will make it happen is you - each of you - taking the challenge of being in mission through the work of this church.
The past few weeks, several of our church family members have gone on mission trips sponsored by our church. One group went to drill a water well in a poor community in Nicaragua and the other went to build a house in the desert of Juarez, Mexico. I asked some of them to share their trips with you through this email. Three things rang out loud and clear from their responses:
1. Mission is about relationships.
Skip Hirvela, who led the trip to Nicaragua, said the smiles of the people will be what will stick with him for a long time.
Alex Carter, on the same trip, said, “It was amazing to watch all the children play in the flowing water (from the well). It reminded me of when I was a kid and played with my neighborhood friends in our sprinklers.”
Going on a mission trip reminds us that, in all the ways we try to divide ourselves from one another, by borders, language and/or culture, we learn that as Alex said, “There are many more similarities than there are differences between people in different locations.” It is in these relationships that peace will come to the world. Empathy that comes from connecting yourself to someone else, like Alex seeing himself in the children playing in the water, is what builds love and the Kingdom of God.
2. God calls us to be in mission – even in places that are difficult.
Trevor Castilla, leader of the Juarez trip, said, “During the planning of this trip and up to the time we departed the church parking lot, I felt that it was an uphill battle. We started with 20 people interested in going. The numbers went south as the information about the drug cartels started spreading. Then we get news about the swine flu! We get (our cars) loaded in the church parking lot to go to the airport, and the car battery is dead. Is someone trying to tell me something and I’m just too slow to pick up on it? As we get settled in (at Proyecto Abrigo in Juarez) and listen to Jose Luis talk about the challenges in the area, I was reminded why we were persistent in making this trip happen.” Trevor goes on to say, “If you are looking for excuses not to go on a mission trip, you’ll find them every time.”
I have found there is always a force trying to stop love from happening. I asked Skip and Trevor, knowing the instability of the countries they were going to, if they thought the church made the right decision to sponsor the trips?
Skip said, “Absolutely. At no time did I feel uncomfortable or threatened. and I even had my daughter, Carly, with me! Pappa bear is very protective of his young!”
Trevor also talked about the youngest person on their trip. “During our final day, Blake Burton (10) wasn’t ready to go home and wanted to stay longer. He didn’t miss his worldly possessions, toys, games and comforts in McKinney, but saw first hand the impact that a few people can make on a family.”
How amazing it is when love takes us over, especially against the greatest odds.
3. You have been challenged.
Skip said, “After four years and four trips, each one is a blessing. I put these trips right behind the birth of my children; The pure wonder and joy of God’s miracles. You have to go through it to really understand it. God wants us to give. He returns so much more than you give, especially when it is so far from home and your comfort zone. Everyone should take that step of faith. He will not let you down.”
And from Trevor, “Accept the challenge and look for reasons to share your faith. Stop watching from the sideline and get in the game. Have faith. Do acts of kindness for someone else. James 2:26: ‘As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.’”
I could not have said it better. I hope you will thank these guys for sharing their trips with us and ask them how you can get involved in the mission work here at Stonebridge United Methodist Church.
Grace and peace,
John Mollet
That is why in our last two strategic plans missions has been one of our top priorities. I have to say, we are not there yet, but because of the work of many of our lay people, we are well on our way to making that a reality. What will make it happen is you - each of you - taking the challenge of being in mission through the work of this church.
The past few weeks, several of our church family members have gone on mission trips sponsored by our church. One group went to drill a water well in a poor community in Nicaragua and the other went to build a house in the desert of Juarez, Mexico. I asked some of them to share their trips with you through this email. Three things rang out loud and clear from their responses:
1. Mission is about relationships.
Skip Hirvela, who led the trip to Nicaragua, said the smiles of the people will be what will stick with him for a long time.
Alex Carter, on the same trip, said, “It was amazing to watch all the children play in the flowing water (from the well). It reminded me of when I was a kid and played with my neighborhood friends in our sprinklers.”
Going on a mission trip reminds us that, in all the ways we try to divide ourselves from one another, by borders, language and/or culture, we learn that as Alex said, “There are many more similarities than there are differences between people in different locations.” It is in these relationships that peace will come to the world. Empathy that comes from connecting yourself to someone else, like Alex seeing himself in the children playing in the water, is what builds love and the Kingdom of God.
2. God calls us to be in mission – even in places that are difficult.
Trevor Castilla, leader of the Juarez trip, said, “During the planning of this trip and up to the time we departed the church parking lot, I felt that it was an uphill battle. We started with 20 people interested in going. The numbers went south as the information about the drug cartels started spreading. Then we get news about the swine flu! We get (our cars) loaded in the church parking lot to go to the airport, and the car battery is dead. Is someone trying to tell me something and I’m just too slow to pick up on it? As we get settled in (at Proyecto Abrigo in Juarez) and listen to Jose Luis talk about the challenges in the area, I was reminded why we were persistent in making this trip happen.” Trevor goes on to say, “If you are looking for excuses not to go on a mission trip, you’ll find them every time.”
I have found there is always a force trying to stop love from happening. I asked Skip and Trevor, knowing the instability of the countries they were going to, if they thought the church made the right decision to sponsor the trips?
Skip said, “Absolutely. At no time did I feel uncomfortable or threatened. and I even had my daughter, Carly, with me! Pappa bear is very protective of his young!”
Trevor also talked about the youngest person on their trip. “During our final day, Blake Burton (10) wasn’t ready to go home and wanted to stay longer. He didn’t miss his worldly possessions, toys, games and comforts in McKinney, but saw first hand the impact that a few people can make on a family.”
How amazing it is when love takes us over, especially against the greatest odds.
3. You have been challenged.
Skip said, “After four years and four trips, each one is a blessing. I put these trips right behind the birth of my children; The pure wonder and joy of God’s miracles. You have to go through it to really understand it. God wants us to give. He returns so much more than you give, especially when it is so far from home and your comfort zone. Everyone should take that step of faith. He will not let you down.”
And from Trevor, “Accept the challenge and look for reasons to share your faith. Stop watching from the sideline and get in the game. Have faith. Do acts of kindness for someone else. James 2:26: ‘As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.’”
I could not have said it better. I hope you will thank these guys for sharing their trips with us and ask them how you can get involved in the mission work here at Stonebridge United Methodist Church.
Grace and peace,
John Mollet
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
His Eye Is On the Sparrow
Have you Googled your house yet? It’s kind of fun, watching the world become smaller on your computer screen until it zooms onto your house. Man, do I need to clean our pool! To tell you the truth, for a guy who grew up in the 60’s, it’s a little too Orwellian for me. You might remember George Orwell’s book, 1984, where everyone is under the constant surveillance of the authorities. They were reminded of the fact by the phrase, “Big Brother is watching you.”
Well it took us another 25 years, but it seems the thought that you could get lost in a crowd has become an antiquated anachronism. Of course, this technology has brought up all sorts of questions about privacy and the uses burglars and terrorists might find for it. You might have heard a few weeks ago about the people of a small British town confronting one of Google’s rolling roof-top mobile cameras as it started to photograph their neighborhood. I wondered what it was they were hiding, but apparently, it was more than just an irrational paranoia. Just a month before, an online magazine published a Google image of an inebriated man wearing fake antlers vomiting outside a pub. Another showed people entering an x-rated bookstore.
Of course, the message is clear; don’t do what you don’t want seen or known… and keep your pool clean, for heaven’s sake. As Jacquielynn Floyd said in her April 7, 2009 Dallas Morning News editorial that inspired this email, “At worst, it’s a privacy threat; at best, it’s an incentive for polite and responsible outdoor behavior. People wearing antlers and vomiting on the sidewalk need to know the world might be watching.”
It is a shame we are just now getting the message that we are being watched. In the twelfth chapter of Luke, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted.” (I’d like to see Google try to zoom in that close!) “Do not be afraid, you are more valuable than many sparrows.” This is the verse that inspired the old hymn, “His Eye Is On the Sparrow,” and as the song goes, “…and I know He watches me.” We are given these words as comfort and we should hold fast to them, but we must remember, we are not only more valuable than sparrows, we are held to more responsibility. God’s watchful eye has a discerning element to it as well as a comforting one. The verse just prior to these in Luke’s twelfth chapter reads, “Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.”
Maybe Google has just reminded us of a lesson we should have learned a long time ago. An authority much greater than “Big Brother” is watching you. Why don’t you join me in asking for God’s forgiveness and start cleaning out that messy pool.
Well it took us another 25 years, but it seems the thought that you could get lost in a crowd has become an antiquated anachronism. Of course, this technology has brought up all sorts of questions about privacy and the uses burglars and terrorists might find for it. You might have heard a few weeks ago about the people of a small British town confronting one of Google’s rolling roof-top mobile cameras as it started to photograph their neighborhood. I wondered what it was they were hiding, but apparently, it was more than just an irrational paranoia. Just a month before, an online magazine published a Google image of an inebriated man wearing fake antlers vomiting outside a pub. Another showed people entering an x-rated bookstore.
Of course, the message is clear; don’t do what you don’t want seen or known… and keep your pool clean, for heaven’s sake. As Jacquielynn Floyd said in her April 7, 2009 Dallas Morning News editorial that inspired this email, “At worst, it’s a privacy threat; at best, it’s an incentive for polite and responsible outdoor behavior. People wearing antlers and vomiting on the sidewalk need to know the world might be watching.”
It is a shame we are just now getting the message that we are being watched. In the twelfth chapter of Luke, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted.” (I’d like to see Google try to zoom in that close!) “Do not be afraid, you are more valuable than many sparrows.” This is the verse that inspired the old hymn, “His Eye Is On the Sparrow,” and as the song goes, “…and I know He watches me.” We are given these words as comfort and we should hold fast to them, but we must remember, we are not only more valuable than sparrows, we are held to more responsibility. God’s watchful eye has a discerning element to it as well as a comforting one. The verse just prior to these in Luke’s twelfth chapter reads, “Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.”
Maybe Google has just reminded us of a lesson we should have learned a long time ago. An authority much greater than “Big Brother” is watching you. Why don’t you join me in asking for God’s forgiveness and start cleaning out that messy pool.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Earned Trust
I was once given a plaque that stated, “In God we trust, all others pay cash.” In recent years, we have certainly been given enough reasons to question the trustworthiness of the people around us; people being cheated out of their life savings by an unscrupulous financial adviser, government officials not paying their income taxes, or uncovering the unethical, immoral and/or illegal actions of ministers. Do you ever feel like Diogenes the Cynic, wondering if you will ever find an honest person?
I often find myself questioning the motives of others. When the Ft. Worth ISD came out with their decision to close their schools in prevention of the Swine Flu, I immediately questioned their wisdom. When I hear the result of a court case I have been following, I wonder how a right-thinking jury of my peers could have possibly come to such a ridiculous conclusion. When I watch a person who has been cornered by a reporter and asked to justify a decision they made, I usually jump to the conclusion that they are either an idiot or a crook. Yet, when I stop and reflect, I realize I wasn’t in the meetings of the FWISD when they made their decision or in the courtroom to hear the testimony or the judge’s restrictions on the jury’s deliberations nor was I in the head of the person who was making a difficult decision. I am reminded of the child who asked his mother why all the idiots came out when she was driving. The truth is most people are not sitting around the room trying to make a bad decision. They are struggling with facts and parameters we have the luxury of not having to pay attention to in our questioning of their decision. How smart we can be when we question others from a comfortable distance.
I have learned a few things as I have scrutinized my uninformed questioning of the decisions of others. First, it is better to respond first in empathy rather than suspicion. Put yourself in the shoes of the person on the hot seat, and then ask yourself how it would feel to be put in the position of being responsible for making that decision. Also, ask yourself if you have the information needed to question the decision made. If not, then either get the information or, if you have no reason to disbelieve this person or group, give them the benefit of the doubt. You should never seek to build yourself up by tearing another down. Secondly, remember trust is the basis of all good relationships. Trust is earned and, once it is lost, it is difficult to regain. Commit yourself to being a person who can be trusted and find ways to show its benefits. The more we build trust with those around us, the more we create a good society and the further we grow the kingdom of God.
There are times people question the work of this church, a decision we have made or the way we have chosen to spend money. I can tell you, there is no place I trust more than this church, the leaders in it or the staff of it. The decisions that are made here are always made in the spirit of Christ. We are not perfect, but we never sit around the room wondering how we can make a bad or frivolous decision. I can promise you, every decision made here is made in prayer, seeking the guidance of God. You can trust this church, for it is in God we trust.
I often find myself questioning the motives of others. When the Ft. Worth ISD came out with their decision to close their schools in prevention of the Swine Flu, I immediately questioned their wisdom. When I hear the result of a court case I have been following, I wonder how a right-thinking jury of my peers could have possibly come to such a ridiculous conclusion. When I watch a person who has been cornered by a reporter and asked to justify a decision they made, I usually jump to the conclusion that they are either an idiot or a crook. Yet, when I stop and reflect, I realize I wasn’t in the meetings of the FWISD when they made their decision or in the courtroom to hear the testimony or the judge’s restrictions on the jury’s deliberations nor was I in the head of the person who was making a difficult decision. I am reminded of the child who asked his mother why all the idiots came out when she was driving. The truth is most people are not sitting around the room trying to make a bad decision. They are struggling with facts and parameters we have the luxury of not having to pay attention to in our questioning of their decision. How smart we can be when we question others from a comfortable distance.
I have learned a few things as I have scrutinized my uninformed questioning of the decisions of others. First, it is better to respond first in empathy rather than suspicion. Put yourself in the shoes of the person on the hot seat, and then ask yourself how it would feel to be put in the position of being responsible for making that decision. Also, ask yourself if you have the information needed to question the decision made. If not, then either get the information or, if you have no reason to disbelieve this person or group, give them the benefit of the doubt. You should never seek to build yourself up by tearing another down. Secondly, remember trust is the basis of all good relationships. Trust is earned and, once it is lost, it is difficult to regain. Commit yourself to being a person who can be trusted and find ways to show its benefits. The more we build trust with those around us, the more we create a good society and the further we grow the kingdom of God.
There are times people question the work of this church, a decision we have made or the way we have chosen to spend money. I can tell you, there is no place I trust more than this church, the leaders in it or the staff of it. The decisions that are made here are always made in the spirit of Christ. We are not perfect, but we never sit around the room wondering how we can make a bad or frivolous decision. I can promise you, every decision made here is made in prayer, seeking the guidance of God. You can trust this church, for it is in God we trust.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
