Beauty in the Insignificant - Wk 1

Wow. This is a strange “beauty in the _____” prompt. Beauty in the insignificance? How can there be beauty in the inconsequential and unimportant things of life? I suppose that is the task of this entire endeavor, to find beauty in the unlikeliest of places…but insignificance?

But there might just be something here.

It seems like everything in our world goads us towards puffing out our chest and proclaiming, “I’m important! Listen to me!” From marketing, to job performance, to parenting books, to family systems, to social media, to low-key competition in friendships our fragile societal ecosystem conspires against us to prove our value and lasting significance.

Maybe you don’t feel it so keenly, but I do.  It feels like this script is etched into my bones. Goodness, I am often caught up in the endless cycle of trying to prove that I matter, that I am strong enough, sensitive enough, or spiritual enough to belong in my community.

The Old Testament is a treasure trove of strange but significant moments.  On any number of occasions a writer will tell the story of a king, but when the king dies, the story just moves on, often without a transition sentence. When the great King David dies, the text moves on to tell the story of King Solomon.

And then Ecclesiastes chapter 1 reminds us that the world is caught up in futility. The word on repeat is vapor; our lives are vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. All of our effort and striving will soon be forgotten, our accomplishments will fade, and our name will eventually be memorialized on a gravestone that will be weathered by the elements.

We are insignificant creatures, living small lives; we are but a point in history.

Cheery huh?

But I think there is something for us, something to see as beautiful. I think we’re called to a holy insignificance.

This is what I mean: yes I’ll be forgotten, the story of humanity will move on, my memory will fade, and my accomplishments will vanish BUT our lasting significance is not in if we are remembered or immortalized.

How marvelous and magnificent is it that God knows who you are, that He values you, that He has given you gifts and passions, that He gives us things to find beautiful? How mind boggling is it that we are united to Jesus? How incredible is it that God listens and responds to our prayers, that He is concerned with our joy and delight?

How inspiring is it that while we are small creatures, God draws near to us, sings a song of love over us, and asks us to be with Him?

Yes, we are small insignificant creatures, yet God calls us to participate in His grand story of redemption, He beckons us towards love and delight. God sees all of your anxieties and shame; He sees your frailty and helplessness; He sees YOU…and He wants you.

Maybe there’s beauty in the insignificance because significance isn’t what we need; what we need is his affection and love.

MEAL

I do not have a great connection from my meal to Beauty in the Insignificance; this dish is just pure deliciousness.  

Queso Dip:

1 lb Jimmy Dean Hot Pork Sausage

2 10oz cans of Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies

16oz Cream Cheese

Cook sausage thoroughly

Drain tomato juice from Rotel cans

Add cans of Rotel in pan

Add cream cheese

Stir until cream cheese is melted

Simmer for a bit

Enjoy with Tostitos Lime chips, or whatever tortilla chips fit your fancy

TIME

Take a moment to examine yourself, how can you marvel at God’s grace, at His beauty? How can you rest in the bigness of God and view your life as participation in His narrative of love? How is this freeing for you? Does it allow you to create more audaciously or sing louder? Does it invite you to risk and fail and risk again?

MUSIC

This song is among my favorites because it reminds me that I will eventually return to dust. This frees me I am freed to risk and love without abandon.

Kings Kaleidoscope: Dust - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0_uROWStpc

PRAYER

Father, Son, Spirit, thank you that you are eternal and lovely. Thank you that you care about me finding beauty in all of life. As I think on the vapor like state of my life, remind me of Your nearness, Your goodness, Your song of delight over me. There is beauty in my insignificance because you gift me with your presence and nearness. Draw me to see the loveliness and goodness of this.

Father, let this move me towards daring action.

T: @chris_lash; I: @clash0123

Beauty in the Mess - Wk 4

WORD

I am a mess. You are a mess. We all are a mess.

Some messes are internal and some external. Some we make and some others do.

The reality is we all have our messes, no matter how hard we try to hide it. I am sure this is nothing new to anyone and is probably offensive to those in the midst of covering theirs up. My word for you today is: you are a mess and that’s okay, I am too.

Somehow in our growing up we shift from young little kids that run around, making messes with anything we touch, to adults that blush at the slightest slip-up. Somewhere in the process, we are molded to believe that we must avoid mess. Our lives have become exhausting and lonely, as we spin our tires striving to hide and clean all that we are and are experiencing. We want to portray to the world that “we are okay” while often feeling the exact opposite.

My question is what would it look like if we all began to embrace mess?

Rather than my mask interacting with your mask, what if my heart in its mess interacted with your heart in your mess?

The beauty I have found in mess is freedom; freedom to let go, freedom to live a life of whimsy, freedom from fear. We run away from mess because it tells us we have no control, but is this not the truth? We are not in control. When we let go of this false idea of control we enter into a place of freedom covered by the grace and protection of the One who is always in control. The beauty of mess is that it humbles us, reminding us that we fall down, we make mistakes, and that we are all in need of something greater beyond ourselves.

There is no better story to share from scripture than that of God’s rescue mission for a messy people and world. It’s incredible to think that a God that is always order and peace would even care to look down on a people of mess. But he does.

While the world tells us to hide our mess, to clean up, and to be perfect, Christ invites us into his perfection as we are, mess and all. The way of the world tells us to strive and to be ignorant to mess, which ultimately leads us to deny our humanity and need for the cross. The way of Christ is to defeat mess as an identity, so that we can rest in who he is, his perfection, and his resurrection. Human mess is displayed through the cross but our redemption is displayed through his resurrection. Rather than striving for a life free of mess may we open our doors wide to it.

May we embrace the hiccups life brings our way with grace and seeking. May mess bring us to experience life fully. May we invite others into the process of the journey we experience with Abba. May we enjoy the unexpected messes and surprises that cause us to lean not on our own understandings but on His. May mess lead us into the deep water of surrender to trust him and let go of control.

Molly Studer

Insta: @mollystud

Web: mollystuderdesign.com

SONG

White Picket Fence - Flannel Graph

MEAL

No Bake Cookies. Any recipe you can find and I dare you to be as messy as you can. I even dare you to not use any utensils (or as minimally as you can)!

TIME

For those who do not know me, I consider myself to be a creative type. So let’s get creative. I can already hear the worries and fears. Set those aside and grab some colorful utensils (markers, pens, pencils, paints, etc). Layout whatever colors you would like to use and grab a blank canvas, paper, …etc. Now, the creative challenge that you feared is to actually just scribble the heck out of that paper. Go crazy. Be free. Maybe even start to just write words all over it.

MAKE A MESS.

Crumble it up. Tear it. Throw paint at it. Do whatever it takes for you to make a mess out of it.

After wrecking that paper I challenge you to just sit and examine the mess. Take it in. The tears, colors, wrinkles, blemishes, cool-looking parts, ugly parts, and so on. It may sound weird but just spend some time resting/meditating over what you just experienced and what you are now looking at.

After time reflecting. I challenge you to transition into the prayer, pausing briefly after each sentence.

PRAYER

God of deep love and grace that surpasses any of my messes, thank you for understanding me and seeing me through it all. Thank you for your control in chaos, that I can take refuge in you. Help me trust you more with my mess and the messes that surround me. When I feel out of control, Lord help me rest in you. Remind me of your faithfulness. Thank you for your love and mostly thank you for your Son that stood in place of humanity’s mess so that I could be with you. Amen.

Beauty in the Mess (Wk 2)

Word

I have a complicated relationship with the word mess.

As a 3rd grade teacher in Chicago Public Schools, mess is a given in my day to day existence. I’m surrounded by mess constantly. Sometimes it’s scraps of paper and loose crayons littered on the floor of my classroom. Other times it’s the trail of papers I leave in my wake, half-finished lesson ideas, or rarely completed to-do lists that I create optimistically.

As a woman who experiences consistent struggle with severe anxiety and depression, mess has a different connotation when I experience it internally. My anxiety tends to tell me to do one of two things with my mess: hide behind it or hide from it.

When I hide behind my mess, I tend to claim it as my identity. I can’t count how many times a day or week I say in a joking manner, “Oh man, I’m such a mess right now! Literal human disaster coming through!” I put my mess in front of me as a sort of attempt to say take it or leave it to those around me. I am unapologetically messy and that’s just who I am! When I hide from my mess, I pretend it’s not there altogether. It’s easier for me to pretend and ignore than to confront. Even though there may be so much going on that I feel like I’m going to collapse, I can keep a smile on my face and pretend I’m ‘just a little stressed right now!’ Not only do I do this with people in my life, I also do it with God. I want to run away from my mess and come to Him clean, but I don’t want Him to be afraid of how much work He’s going to have on His hands.

Lately, God has been challenging my relationship with my mess.

When Adam and Eve were first in the Garden, there was nothing to separate them from God. They came naked and unashamed. However, when that intimacy with the Father was broken, they felt the need to hide. To control the image they sent to God. To control how they saw each other.

Likewise, when the Father created us, He had and still has a deep desire to know us wholly, intimately, and personally! When we’re confronted with our own sin, we want to run. We want to flip the script and either pretend it’s not there or that it’s not a serious issue. Sometimes, we even embrace that sin and begin to knit it into the way we view ourselves.

We don’t need to run from God, friends. Even after He knew that Adam and Eve had sinned and broken what was whole, He actively sought them out. Even in the brokenness and sin, He had a plan greater and more outlandish than anyone could know. Because of Jesus, we are able to come to God with our messy, sinful lives, and He joyfully enters into our mess.

God sees the beauty in my mess. He sees the beauty in the outward and inward mess that I bring to the table. I don’t have to claim it as my identity anymore, and I don’t need to run and hide from it. I am who God created me to be. I can rejoice and look for the glimpses of beauty, even in the messiest and darkest of times.  

Song

A song that deeply speaks to me regarding this topic is ‘Mess is Mine’ by Vance Joy.

Prayer

Lord, forgive me for hiding my mess from you. For feeling like I can cover it on my own or run far enough away that you can’t see it. Help me to know deeply and foundationally “that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, not powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Meal

When I feel like my life is a mess, I want to make my meals as simple as possible. Even though I rarely cook, I love to have our family’s “Chicken Stew” when I feel overwhelmed. It’s so easy even I can do it, which is saying something when it comes to cooking. Boil 6 cups of salted water, add cream of chicken, add chopped chicken breast, diced potatoes, and baby carrots. Cook until you’re satisfied with the ‘doneness’ of your ingredients and enjoy!

Time

Take time this week and ask God to show you what you’ve been trying to hide from Him. Is there an area of your life where you feel even God can’t reach? Take a moment and invite Him into that place. He can handle it, I promise.

Beauty in the Mess (Wk 1)

Word

I’m having a really hard time writing this. Not because the subject is too painful or difficult, but simply because I don’t know where to start. I thought it would be so simple to talk about my past and surely there’d be some kind of message about finding beauty in a messy, sinful life. If I was honest, most of my life has been a giant mess. From the Christian family that created lie after lie to “protect me”, to the friends that walked in and out of my life like a yo-yo. From the ages of thirteen through twenty-two, most of my nights were spent confused and hurt, crying to God to take the pain away. I didn’t want to feel rejected or depressed anymore. I didn’t want to feel at all. For a long time, I didn’t want to exist. I sat in a messy room, with a head full of messy thoughts and a voice in my head that reminded me that God was too busy to help me. From the scars inside to the ones on the outside, it was visible I wasn’t okay.

The Christian home I came from reminded me daily to pray and God would answer in his timing. As an angsty teenager I reminded them that God wasn’t listening. I never understood how he could let us sit in despair, calling out for any kind of sign that he cares at all. I remember watching TV shows like Benny Hinn or the 700 Club that showed interviews of people who had these crazy, divine interventions and their lives were changed forever. All I wanted was one dream, one small sign of any kind to show me things would be okay. That he cared enough to save a sinking rock like me. I think we all have the habit of wanting the fireworks show but only seeing the firefly instead - one small speck in the sky that’s nice to admire but easy to ignore. That describes me in a nutshell. I know I can work hard and be patient, but I want the changes now. The hardest part isn’t always the waiting; it’s learning to forgive yourself in the process of the change.

I wish I could tell you that I finally heard the voice of God and that my life is so much better now, but it didn’t work like that for me. I got the fireflies not the fireworks. I’m still here today, stronger than I was when the storms were the worst. I’m able to talk to about who I use to be and hope it resonates with others. I am not a good Christian, but I try as hard as I can to let God lead me instead of letting myself get lost and then crying for help. It doesn’t always end up that way though. If there was one thing I wish I could have told my younger self, it would have been to document more. I’ve tried to take the mess and make it into something wonderful to share. God has used all my emotions and thoughts to help and encourage others. So long as we’re vulnerable, we can make amazing changes.

Time

There’s one thing I’ve implemented in my life from a road trip I took with a friend: finding a time and place to be quiet. I know we are all incredibly busy and we find it hard to turn off the noise for more than a few minutes; however, it’s become one of the best ways to feel normal again. Even if I don’t always hear direct words, I believe his voice is in absolutely everything. We just have to listen.

Music

Sometimes I need some familiarity to calm it all down, so listening to songs that helped in my younger years is where I start. Coldplay’s Warning Sign is the one song I can listen to on repeat.

Meal

As for a meal, I can never go wrong with an amazing bowl of mac and cheese. Even though my stomach isn’t best friends with lactose, I’ll happily pay the price. Here’s my favorite Mac recipe.  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/our-favorite-macaroni-and-cheese-51255890

Prayer

The best prayer that I can encourage anyone to say is this: “Use me as an example for you. No matter the storm, no matter the situation. Let me be a light for you in all that I do. Let all those who encounter me also encounter you. Let me love as you loved. Overlook my mess and help me be clean.”

Beauty in the Familiar (Wk 4)

Word: 

I remember the day my uncle died.

My wife and I walked up to the house and found almost my entire family sitting quietly, crammed in his tiny living room. I remember sitting there, looking around, and feeling like I was seeing everything for the first time again. My uncle and I were close–I had been in his house often–but this was like seeing it for the first time.

Death has a way of doing that.

When someone we love closes their eyes forever, we’re reminded to open ours a little wider. When they can’t listen to that record anymore, we wish we could have had one more listen. When they can’t go fishing with anymore, we wish we had gone that one last time. We wish for the familiar most when it has passed us, not when it is near.

Familiarity can cause a certain kind of blindness to such simple and beautiful things.

May I venture to say that God himself finds beauty in everything (don’t take my word for it–see Ecc. 3:11). Jesus came to earth as a man. His birth was in a stable; His profession was Carpentry; His grand entrance into Jerusalem was on a donkey. He chose such mundane and ordinary ways to reveal Himself.  Where is the grandeur in that? Where is the beauty?
 

If God has said that something is beautiful, we must accept either that what we see is beautiful or that we are wrong.

Meal:

I love breakfast food. Doesn’t everyone?

You may remember this quote about breakfast from the TV show Parks and Recreation: 

Leslie: “Why would anybody ever eat anything besides breakfast food?”

Ron: “People are idiots, Leslie.”

Breakfast food is so familiar and ordinary, but so good! So here’s what we do: You make the pancakes, have your friends to bring their favorite toppings for the batter, and together consume a multi-flavored conglomerate of breakfast cakes sure to delight both heart and soul.

Music:

I’ll never forget the second time I heard How He Loves by John Mark McMillan.

It was terrible.

The rendition was dry and calloused, and felt something akin to a paid musician singing their generic love song to my spouse. It was fake and showy and I hated every bit of it. I remember the second time, because the first time was completely different. The first time I heard this song it felt like someone actually moved my spirit–it was deep and raw. The second time around felt like an enormous pile of nothing.

You may be familiar with this song already, but perhaps you aren’t familiar with the song itself (the writer, his lyrics, and their meaning). Please, listen, and give yourself permission to hear the song and not other people’s interpretation of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axpgjJzfl54

Prayer:

I trust that many of you are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer from the book of Matthew chapter six. I’d like to invite you to pray that common prayer with me this week in a new and perhaps unfamiliar way:

Our Dad, King in the sky;

Infinitely holy, intimately close.

Wed the brokenness of our dust to the perfection of Your glory.

Give us all we need for right now and release us from our sinful past, as we release others from theirs.

Keep us from the decoys, and give us the fullness of Yourself.

Amen.

Time:

So how do we see the familiar? How do we revel in the routine?

Get yourself some Post-Its (or grab a stack from the junk drawer) and stick every familiar thing in your home/office/life-space that is beautiful that you may fail to normally see. 

Dedicate two minutes of your time each day this week to “seeing” (sticking) the beautiful and familiar things wherever you are most familiar. If you have more time, you can write down the reason you find something familiar to be beautiful before you stick your Post-It. At the end of the week take a picture of your space covered in Post-Its with the hashtag #BeautyInTheCommon, and share your “seeing” progress so we too can see the beauty all around you!

Beauty in the Familiar (Wk 3)

WORD

From Passover to The Last Supper, God’s word reveals the importance of the daily meal. Artists from daVinci to Rockwell have painted it. We are bombarded by commercials featuring products to make it quicker and easier. The family meal is one of the most familiar parts of our culture. Unfortunately, our family lives have become too over-scheduled to find time for this integral part of our daily routine.

Some of my fondest memories are from the family table during meal time. I always looked forward to birthday celebrations when we could request our favorite meal. Nothing compared to the simple joy of being surrounded by loved ones on holidays when the family table grew as large as our dining room could hold. One of the most meaningful meals of my life was the final Thanksgiving my family shared with my father before he passed away from cancer. The sights, sounds, and smells of this meal will always be a blessing that I thank God for.

When we became parents, my husband and I always made the family meal a daily priority for our daughter. Dinnertime was our time to pray, praise, connect, and share our daily lives and news with each other. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, and we’ve built beautiful memories at our table. I hope I have stirred in you a memory of a beautiful meal you have shared with the loved ones in your lives.

Jesus and his disciples made eating together more than just a meal. This was their time to worship together. One of my favorite verses about their meals is Acts 2:46. “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” The meal was their time to fortify not only their bodies, but also their souls. This was their source of encouragement and support on their faith journey together. I pray we find that same familiar support with our loved ones today. May we see the beauty in a simple meal shared as a source of love, comfort, and strength with those we hold most dear in our lives. This can be one of the most intimate ways to celebrate and connect with those God brings into our paths.

MEAL

One of my family’s favorite meals is one of the simplest: soup, salad, and bread. Meal preparation shared together as a family makes dinnertime even more meaningful. Our favorite is chili:

1lb of ground beef

1 medium onion

1 stalk of celery chopped

2 tsps of chili powder

1 tsps salt and a dash of pepper

16 oz. can stewed tomatoes

8 oz tomato sauce

15 oz can kidney beans, undrained

Brown beef, onion, and celery in a large skillet and drain the excess fat. Stir in the remaining ingredients except beans. Simmer covered 30 to 45 minutes until flavors are blended. Stir in beans at the end, heat through.

We like to be creative and add different toppings: sour cream, tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and green onion are a few of our favorites! A simple garden salad and cornbread or french bread make perfect compliments to the chili.

MUSIC

We always prefer something instrumental for mealtime. One of our favorites is the cd “Forest”, by George Winston.

PRAYER

Father God, as we gather together to share this family meal, we thank you for the blessings of this day. We praise you for the gift of family and this time we have to share with each other. Bless the meal we are about to receive. May this meal nourish our bodies, and may the conversation feed and encourage our souls. We pray all this in our beautiful savior’s name, Amen.

TIME

reate a memorable family meal together! Include the entire family in the process. Plan the menu and shop for the ingredients together. Allow each family member to participate in the preparation of the meal whenever possible. All phones or social media should not be allowed at the table. Pray together before the meal, light candles, and enjoy instrumental music. Most importantly, enjoy each other and the beautiful gift of your family. Perhaps this meal may even be an inspiration to you to seek ways to prepare or serve a meal for those in need in your community.

Beauty in the Familiar (Wk 2)

WORD

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,

And daub their natural faces unaware…”

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

1.

The lines on the ground are cracked, and I am hungry. I am in the way of this already. But I smell him.

2.

His head bobs up and down. He is wearing headphones. He may not be listening to anything.

3.

A shriek and a field of sparks. A moment of violence passing and followed by utter peace.

4.

A thin sheet of light surrounded by faded brown/red light. Occasionally, a sharp nudge or sudden drop makes the light expand, but only for a moment, the light is hardly bearable.

5.

Three women sit in plastic folding chairs, they are talking and laughing. In the distance, a train passes by in a flash of silver carrying the silhouette of a man leaning against a window. None of them look towards it.

6.

A river streams between cream-colored ridges, carrying dirt and grit across its expanse, heading sometimes north, sometimes south as the landscape tilts, rises, and falls. A strip of dark gray cloth licks at the surface, siphoning the water.

7.

We sway together as though we are connected.  

8.

A protrusion of faint white emerges snow-like from mottled red fiber—a tiny volcano. Beyond it, a man’s face is as large as the sun; a streak of silver dirt glistens on his cheek..

9.

Green shoes, red shoes, shoes with a hole and a visible toe.

10.

The car is full. A woman stands, grasps a pole, loses her balance with each turn. He lays asleep next to two empty seats.

11.

Two men join him. They talk. Splitting up small collections of money. They leave. He tells one of them, “take care of yourself.

12.

Exit on the left at Addison. For a moment, I am alone. In a moment, his seat is filled.

When I ride the trains in Chicago,  I sit with the homeless so that I’m not alone. It’s not because I’m a good person (I’m not). It’s because I fit there. I look more like these people than the polished professionals commuting to work or the youthful congregations of those with headphones in and iPhones at the ready. I’m not afraid of a little dirt or a sour smell or a torn sleeve. I’ve got all those things myself. I don’t have much to lose. So I join the homeless on the train, pull out a notebook that has been unforgivingly shoved in a pocket  and write notes like the ones above, looking at my momentary friends from as many angles as I can, recording their presence.  We sit near each other, aware of each other. Slowly, they become familiar and beautiful to me.

There is a value to being silently present; to being near to people, acknowledging their existence, and making yourself familiar with the many ways they can be seen. My dad calls this the ministry of “being there”. It’s a ministry that makes sense to me. It’s a practice that has helped me see God’s handiwork in the most common of moments and beauty in the most familiar spaces.

MEAL

Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a friend, and make it the most spectacular sandwich ever. Because the secret to finding beauty in the familiar is to invest with care and to share joyfully.

MUSIC

“Detectorists” Johnny Flynn

PRAYER

I want to love you, but I am so utterly in the way. Preoccupied, I miss the many wonders that you place on my path and the divine appointments of everyday. Give me eyes to see that which I have overlooked. Give me ears to hear you speaking through the common. Help me move myself aside that I might hear and see more. Help me to be present and familiar with your handiwork that I might praise You more.

TIME 

Take 30 minutes of time. Go to a common place with a pad and paper. Look at something you see everyday and begin describing it. Don’t try to be clever or fancy or employ metaphor, just look and describe; this isn’t about you. Step aside from yourself.  Look at it from above, below, and from the side; write what it looks like from far away and close; count the cracks in its surface. Acknowledge its presence and facets. Paying attention is an expression of care. Practice it. Expand it. Take this perspective to the people you encounter everyday.  Take it especially to those you disagree with. You will find that things change as you engage in the ministry of being there, and you will learn a great deal about the world God has created.

Beauty in the Familiar (Wk 1)

WORD

I stepped outside yesterday. It was like a scene from a Stephen King novel: a white-blue mist, blooming across my backyard and passing into my neighbors'. I let the dog back in, ground some coffee beans and sat, sipping my coffee, watching the fog wash the inside of my house with tones of soft blue light.

I thought about a new job offer. It's far away -- on the other side of the world -- and it would be the adventure of a lifetime. But there is so much that I would miss: my home, the friendships I've spent years cultivating since I moved here. At this point I'd just miss Illinois and knowing where things are at by heart and not having to use a GPS to go to the grocery store for milk. I love the familiar. It fills me with a sense of belonging and of home.

God in his mercy grants us new "familiars" wherever we go. I remember when I first moved here, I was a shaky college freshman who had never been away from home for longer than few weeks at most. I remember setting up my room and feeling so helpless and lonely and lost, sitting in a dorm room surrounded by people I didn't know.

Looking back on it now, that seems silly. The city I was once afraid of has become my proud home. The strangers I didn't know at the time became brothers, sisters, lovers, enemies, and friends for life. Even at the worst, it was okay because even if we were enemies, at least we weren't strangers. I still knew them at heart. Familiarity doesn't breed contempt; it instills confidence that we are on the path God intends for us to be on.

You see, familiarity implies that we are part of a larger body, parts that make up a whole. Darrell Cosden writes in his book The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work that "Human identity includes our relationship with nature and work, but it also includes, most intimately, our relationships with other humans. Adam is simply not complete without another beside him. ...This includes the breadth of our social relationships. For it is simply not good for someone to be, or work, completely alone."

Now, this doesn't mean that we are to plant ourselves where it is comfortable and work until we die. In fact, God's commandment to his creation immediately prior to this was to "Go forth, be fruitful and multiply." We are called to our work, but we cannot be the best versions of ourselves, but we can't be that person in a vacuum. Wherever we go, we are called to perform our work in community.

And that brings us back to the familiar. The reason we find beauty in surroundings we love is because we are fulfilling part of God's original plan for our lives: to reflect one facet of his image amidst myriad others, together painting an incomplete image of an invisible God.

I don't know how my future is going to pan out. I've got a lot of love for where I am, but I know that I will find familiarity wherever I go, as long as I perform my work amidst community.

MUSIC

"Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeran is a song about ebb and flow, and leaving community and returning to it. Listen to this song and reflect on what it means to be broken off from community and then to return home to it. Do you think we have a responsibility to our communities when we leave? Why or why not?

MEAL

Coffee is the most familiar thing in the world to me, and the best part is that you probably already share it with friends. Why don't you take some time this week to call up an old friend that you haven't seen in a while and offer to make them coffee while you catch up with some one-on-one time?

PRAYER

Lord, we pray for guidance in our lives. We pray that in the familiar, you grant us peace that passes all understanding when we are deciding whether you want us to stay and work, or whether you want us to go forth, be fruitful, and multiply. And above all, let us reflect your image to the communities you bring us into.

TIME

Take a few minutes in the evening, before bed, to step away from your phone, step outside into the night, and meditate on where you are. What brought you to this point in your life? Where do you feel like God is calling you next? When you're finished reflecting, spend a few minutes in prayer asking God these questions. Then, spend two minutes listening, in silence.

Beauty in Suffering (Wk 4)

Word

I’m looking at a photo of my confirmation party. My Mother is 49 and I’m 14. Arm in a sling, leg in a brace, and unable to speak, she has this melt-your-heart smile on her face. It’s 9 years after the first of a series of strokes that would take her life in following year.

I didn’t like seeing my Mom in pain and suffering all the years of my childhood. Every time she would get back on her feet, BANG -- another stroke would make her start over again. I was 5 the first time. I didn’t know she was sick; I thought we were playing, and I went back to watch TV. It would happen every couple years and usually I was the only one home. I wondered what made her keep trying, keep pushing forward. Why was she always praying?  Where was the miracle that could make my Mom whole again? It never came. I felt relieved when she died, her suffering over.

As I look back now I see things differently. I see a woman of faith always praying for others.

I see a woman whose “mind is on what is above, not on what is on the earth” (Col 3:2). I see her smiling to those who weren’t, loving and giving herself to others even in her suffering. Always there to hold me, love me, correct me, and guide me. I see Jesus.

When I’m depressed or suffering I can look back to a photo like this one, smile like my Mom, push forward and imagine us singing these words:

Even when the fight seems lost
I'll praise you
Even when it hurts like hell
I'll praise you
Even when it makes no sense to sing
Louder then I'll sing your praise

Meal

Take a box (per person) of frozen spinach, cook according to instructions, drain, add butter, some fresh cut onions, and Salsa Verde.  Simple to do, especially when your mind is elsewhere.

Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSJwO5dJXg

Even When It Hurts - Hillsong

Prayer

Father, thank you for the comfort Your word brings in times of suffering, for music to sing out to you, for the times we don’t understand why, and the times it is so clear. Most of all, thank you that in all circumstances we can say all praise and glory belongs to You.

Time

Look at some old photos, and look for the beauty of that moment when it was taken and go with it. Cry it out if that’s what it brings, laugh if it takes you there, and Praise Him.

Beauty in Suffering (Wk 2)

WORD

We do whatever we can, at near any cost, to avoid suffering while we simultaneously make heroes of anyone else who overcomes it. It’s a paradox I’ve struggled with for a long time.

Name the various “personality” assessments — Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, Strength Finders — my results unanimously point towards preparedness and planning, all in the hope of eliminating the likelihood of something going wrong. In my world, any unexpected event may bring suffering.

I also love great storytelling. Can you see where this is going?

Suffering is a basic requirement for all great stories. Harry Potter suffers. Frodo Baggins suffers. Woody from Toy Story suffers. Since ancient Greece we’ve been captivated by characters that deal with tremendous suffering, root for them to overcome it and, every time they do, we let out a cheer while they’re a better person for it.

Why do we avoid such a gift for ourselves? Cause it sucks, that’s why. Suffering is hard. It requires the worst of the world around us to exist and present itself regularly.

But suffering is essential. We aren’t human without it. It develops a part of our lives that joy and happiness never can. It makes us complete by requiring us to rely on something other than ourselves. It forces us to expand our world. Our feeble attempts to avoid it deny this essential part of life.

To live a full life in this paradox we must first acknowledge suffering through lament. Not in a “the world is a terrible place” way but on a day-to-day basis. Everyday we will all experience some level of suffering, as will every single person we come in contact with. We are not alone. We must believe that first.

In that core belief we’ve got our hearts, the inside, covered. Now the outside. How do we acknowledge suffering and lament as we live out our lives so we can grow, empathize, and learn?

Here are some ideas as you continue through this month of The Common Year and begin 2017:

• Don’t just sing happy songs. In the car, on a run or even during church, don’t be afraid to queue up something that makes you lament your suffering and the suffering of others. Same goes for movies, books, etc.

• If you’re suffering, name it. Say it out loud, write it in a journal, put it to music or say a prayer. Let it exist.

• Don’t try and fix things right away. If a friend is having anxiety, don’t buy a gift and try to cheer them up quickly. Affirm their suffering and listen carefully. If you get bad news, don’t bury it by bingeing your favorite show, snack or substance. Let it surround you and find someone who will affirm your suffering and will listen carefully.

• Look to those who suffered before you for support. It might be in the Bible, a good biography, or a family member. Every good story includes a mentor, someone with sage wisdom for our hero. Find your mentor.

Without suffering we are incomplete. Without it we cannot be heroes.

MEAL

Sometimes suffering can last longer than we hoped. While I can’t imagine any meal, especially with people you love, as suffering, I’d like to propose a meal that can take a while.

I’ve made these braised short ribs in the slow cooker many times. Make the recipe your own and I recommend them with a side of cheesy polenta or mashed potatoes!

(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/braised-short-ribs-recipe0.html)

MUSIC

“Casimir Pulaski Day” by Sufjan Stevens is a remarkable lament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uFEOBJBiWg

Be sure to read the words as you listen: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sufjanstevens/casimirpulaskiday.html

If you’d like to hear more, Sufjan recently released an entire album, “Carrie and Lowell”, in which he laments the death of his mother and step-father: https://play.spotify.com/album/0U8DeqqKDgIhIiWOdqiQXE

PRAYER

May I learn.

May I learn to lament.

May I learn to lament with others.

May I learn to lament with others who are suffering.

May I learn to lament with others.

May I learn to lament.

May I learn.

Amen

(repeat as necessary)

TIME

Think back and try and pinpoint a time in your life when you decided to avoid suffering. Maybe you were bullied in grade school, lost a loved one to a agonizing disease, or battled a chronic illness yourself. Name that source to a trusted friend or family member and lament it.