While I was in college, I spent most of a summer in Nigeria in a program sponsored by Experiment in International Living. It was my first experience in a culture vastly different from my own. The summer was a rich one with many new insights. I became aware of a much broader world than my own. It was the first time that I recognized the meaning of social distance and the boundary issues that it involves. At a party with a mixture of Nigerians and American students I observed the difference between the Nigerians and the Americans and the necessary physical space that was comfortable for each. I was on a balcony overlooking the large room below. It looked almost like a dance. The Nigerians were moving closer and the Americans were backing up. I have observed this sort of thing between cultures many times since. All cultures know that there needs to be boundaries, but often those boundaries vary with the culture. Much of this is unconscious behavior. Even within a culture there are often differences about boundary issues. Boundaries involve more than just physical space. For example, our personal integrity provides a kind of boundary as does our religious commitments. “Treating others as we wish to be treated” provides another example of boundaries for our behavior. It is helpful and necessary to have good personal boundaries. They can keep us safe and healthy. We need to respect our own and others’ boundaries if we expect to live together in peace and harmony.
03/24/2019
The Church of the Brethren Sunday School curriculum for children is called Shine. It has as one of its motto’s “Start small; let faith grow.” While this is appropriate for a children’s curriculum, it is also a good model for the church at large. Jesus started small with a small circle of followers. Twelve key leaders developed along the way and the circle continued to grow. A small dedicated group can often accomplish more than a large group if they are indifferent. In American society we seem to fear smallness. Success and bigness seems to many to be the same thing, yet we are also compelled by stories of ordinary people who do things which on the surface seem unlikely if not impossible: a teenager who managed to raise funds for a disabled friend’s electric wheel chair, the single voice which reveals an injustice by a large corporation, the child who mobilizes efforts to help other less advantaged children, the coach who finds housing for a Nigerian family fleeing religious persecution by Boko Haram. Small seemingly powerless people who accomplish great things. It certainly was the story of the spread of early Christianity. Certainly, there were some great leaders, but much of the real growth of the Christian movement went forth on the efforts of the first Christians. A small trickle of believers became a mighty flood of the faithful. They were ordinary faithful followers of Jesus.
03/17/2019
Recently, I learned the danger of renting a car in the season of Spring Break. I had planned far enough in advance that there was a car reserved for me. Unfortunately, on the morning of picking up the car the latch broke and the rental people had to scramble for a substitute vehicle. I went from a small sedan to a huge double cab white truck. With my short legs, pulling myself into the truck was a sure source of entertainment for anyone watching. Exiting the truck was easy, I just slid out and dropped the last 12 inches to the ground. It had been a long time since I had driven such a big vehicle, but it turned out to be an engaging experience. This was a dream truck with every bell and whistle. Automatic headlights, rear camera for backing up, even voice activated radio were all available. All I really needed was a horse trailer on behind to recall my early Utah roots. The ride was smooth and scarcely affected by Indiana’s land of pot holes. It really did change my perspective on driving. I could see everything from my high seat. Big trucks didn’t blow me sideways on the highway. What a delight a new experience can bring. It makes me wonder if I am as open to new experiences with God. I hope so! Meanwhile I’m looking for a modern enclosed, air conditioned tractor to give that a try to see if it would give me a new perspective.
03/10/2019
Our life story is composed of lots of smaller stories. This is most noticeable to me when I read obituaries. Mostly they contain the facts of birth and death, of survivors and social connections, but sometimes, there are small clues about the other stories: “Allen loved to work in his garden, or Beth played her violin in church, or Susan was a fan of Wrestlemania.” These are the stories I want to hear. Meeting with grieving families, I am often delighted by the funny memories they share. It is often true that laughter and tears live right next to each other. What stories will your family and friends treasure in their memory of you? My brother and I, when talking on the telephone, make jokes to help us cope with the growing threat of his cancer. To someone outside of us these may seem a bit macabre at one point and just plain silly at another, but it helps us deal with the situation we face. The shared humor says we are in this together. We are not avoiding the painful realities but we are not bowing down before them. In a strange way this seems part of our faith. We are confident in our future with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom by his grace. The humor reminds us that while we may be struck down for a time, we are not destroyed. Our future is secure in the hands of Him who holds the future.
03/03/2019
Next Wednesday, March 6 is Ash Wednesday. It is the first day of the season of Lent. Officially, the season of Lent ends on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday of Holy Week) although many will still observe the fast on Good Friday. It is a time of preparation for Easter. It may involve self- examination or repentance, but always has as its goal growing closer to God. Often it is a time of fasting or abstinence from a beloved pleasure. The goal here is to let the lack of something focus our attention on prayer that our hunger and thirst for God may be satisfied. Lent lasts for 40 days like Jesus’ time in the wilderness after his baptism. If you count the days you will notice that there are 46 days. This is because the six Sundays of Lent are not counted as part of Lent. Since Sunday is a celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, it is appropriate that these not be fast days. A modest breaking of the abstinence on Sunday is possible on the six Sundays. Some will choose to keep the fast through the whole period of 46 days. Exceptions for those who would find it impossible for health or other suitable reasons have always been recognized. All this may seem overly complicated and churches follow differing practices. The rules are less important than the intention. If the desire is to turn away from evil and draw near to God, then Lent will have been truly observed.
02/24/2019
“He can’t see the forest for the trees,” was how a friend of mine described a mutual acquaintance. I thought at the time that the sentence described me and many others at one time or another. It is easy to be so caught in the details that are right in front of us that we lose our perspective of the big picture. Part of the problem is our differing skills. Some of us are excellent at handling the details of life while others are good at seeing the broader implications of events and experiences. It is a rarer thing to find people who combine both gifts. It is one of the many reasons why we need each other. We supplement each other’s gifts. A group with wide angle thinkers may have trouble moving beyond theory to practical action, while a group of detail thinkers may be in danger of forgetting what the day to day work does to realize our greater purposes. It can also be the case that the two styles may not understand or fully appreciate the contributions of the other style. A group is fortunate if it has those who can interpret and enable us all to work together. We always need to be sure that we are tending to both the trees and the forest.
02/17/2019
In the spring a young man’s thoughts turn toward love, they say. Thinking about spring my old man thoughts turn to seed catalogs. I enjoy paging through and looking for exotic variations on familiar veggies and flowers. In my mind I can lay out a complete back yard homestead. I speculate about where I would place the fruit trees, what crops I would raise, and where I would put the duck pond. My reality is actually very different. In our condo situation I will be limited to container gardening and a few foundation plantings. We do have ducks and Canadian geese that visit our mini lake, but all they do is foul the sidewalks. If we could cook them for supper, they would be useful! So almost all my garden planning is fantasy. In my grandiose vision it is easy to forget just how much work farming is. Still it is fun to imagine. In the garden of my dreams I can walk with peace and tranquility, and leave behind the stresses of everyday life. Sometimes I wonder if that is a sort of longing for the Garden of Eden, or the abundant messianic abundance. Better yet it may be the pleasure of well- tended fields, open meadows and unspoiled wilderness. All this pleasure and pondering from a free seed catalog, who would have thought?
02/10/2019
We are designed to be whole beings with all our physical, mental, relational and spiritual parts integrated into one functioning whole. Greek thought divided individuals into body, soul, and spirit with soul as a particularly difficult concept to define. Hebrew thought was simpler and to my mind superior. It focused on people as whole beings. In keeping with that kind of thought, I think of soul as that which is essentially us with all the parts that make up who we are: mind, body spirit, etc. Sometimes that wholeness is fuzzy when one part is out of focus but we are still whole beings seeking more focused wholeness. I realize I may be making this more confusing than helpful.Finally, I think it best to go back to the simple Hebrew notion that we are whole beings.If we get too analytical about our spirits or bodies we may be in danger of thinking only the spirit matters or only the body matters.We might neglect the wholeness that is the real us.All of us have known people who are out of balance like the athlete who when their prowess fades discovers they have neglected other parts of who they are or some of the desert saints who thought to gain spiritual strength by letting their bodies wither by neglect.If we keep our need for wholeness in mind, we may find more of the joy God intended for us when God created us as whole beings
02/03/2019
A major religious magazine, for many years, had a reoccurring guest feature called “How my mind has changed.” Major religious thinkers revealed how their views had changed and what had prompted the change. I always found these articles interesting and insightful. Periodically, I try to assess how my mind has changed. I have old sermon notes (from back when I used notes) that reveal how much my mind has changed over the years. Most of these changes have been very much for the good. I am glad that human beings can change their minds. I am not very impressed when people say they never change their minds. It reminds me of people who never change their tooth brush or worse never change their underwear. There are good reasons for change in many areas of life. To punch the TV remote control 15 times when it has a dead battery will likely never end in a bright full color screen. It is TV insanity. When things repeatedly don’t work, it may be necessary to figure out why and perhaps employ a new strategy. Changing our minds may be a bit more difficult, but it is something which we can do. If you were asked to describe how your mind has changed over the last 30 years or even over the last five years, what would your list include?
01/27/2019
We are barely into 2019 and I am already thinking about next year. That year will the year, 2020. It almost sounds like an eye test. 20-20 is considered perfect, but it would be excellent if it was a year of improved vision on a personal, national, and international level. Even in the church we could benefit by a clear vision. Perhaps we could benefit by spiritual cataract surgery to let in more light or sacred eye drops to lower the pressure in our relationships or religious exercises to sharpen our failing vision. I know that is pushing the analogy way too far, but just maybe we could use 2019 as a year to sharpen our vision as a congregation so that we could enter 2020 with a clearer vision for our church for the future in the 21st century. God will have to be our partner if we are to find a clear and compelling vision. We may even need to employ a different lens to see what we should do and be (Sorry, I drifted back into the analogy again). The point is that the year 2020 seems ideal for examining our vision and 2020 seems ideally placed to prepare wisely for that vision. Just in case this analogy is giving you eye strain, you might consider Jesus’ words: “If your eye is single then your whole body is filled with light.”
01/20/2019 Eugene Roop
Roll on, No one goes alone:
Our past follows us:
Those who formed our culture,
Those who built our houses,
Those who sewed our clothes,
Those who grew our food.
The one who gave us birth,
The ones who nurtured our life,
The ones who lifted us up or pushed us
down,
The ones who loved us and left;
God who creates and sustains us.
Roll on: No one goes alone.
Roll on; No one goes alone;
Our present accompanies us:
Those leading our institutions,
Those victimized by our way of life.
Those who invent the new,
Those who protect the precious.
The ones we see every day,
The ones we meet on occasion,
The ones who love us,
The ones we don’t know:
The Spirit who trusts and empowers.
Roll on; No one goes alone.
Roll on; No one goes alone;
Our future beckons us:
The inventors whose result we’ll see,
The physicians who will manage our
health,
Those leaders yet to be chosen,
Those who will solve the problems
we made.
The youth who draw from our
genes,
The youth we’ve helped to
nourish,
The friends we’ve yet to
make,
The ones we love and will
lose;
The Risen Lord who goes before us.
Roll on; No one goes alone.
Roll on.
01/13/2019
The start of the New Year make it obvious how much of our life is governed by our habits. For twelve months we have been writing 2018 on dated material like checks and letters. It will take three to six weeks for some of us to consistently remember to write 2019. That amount of time is said to be the amount of time required to develop a new habit. This explains, in part, why New Year’s Resolutions fail. If we could sustain the resolution for a month or six weeks, the new habit would take over. Unfortunately, this idea applies to both good and bad habits. Our intentions are often good but our habits may greatly influence how those intentions are carried out. Traveling down Lindberg Road from our house toward the PayLess store on Cross Street, I turned into the street to the church without even thinking about what I was doing. All this makes me wonder about my habits. Do I need to think more about how I might shape better, more efficient habits? Are my practices in touch with my best values? Do they match my faith commitments? Are they the practices which are guided by my relationship with God and other people? Do they strengthen my family ties? Are they the best practices for my own health, physically, mentally and spiritually? Too much focus on such things could become obsessive, but the New Year is a good time to think a bit about my best habits.
01/06/2019
Our grandson, Glen, when he was just a little guy was fascinated by the manger scene. He liked to arrange the figures with a shepherd looking in the window of the stable. He was especially interested in the baby, Jesus, in the manger. For a long time afterward, when he saw a baby in the mall, he would tell his Mom, “Look another Baby Jesus.” Wisemen came from the East, Matthew’s Gospel states, bringing gifts to the Christ child. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if wise ones from the west would bring gifts to all the little Baby Jesus’ of the world? The gift of food so that no child would go hungry, the gift of health so that no child was without medical care, the gift of shelter so no child would be homeless, the gift of peace so there were no more child soldiers or child victims, the gift of love so that no child would be unwanted. God gave us the matchless gift of his son. What more appropriate gift could we give than to bless the sons and daughters of this world with loving gifts. We give Christmas gifts because God gave us a gift in Jesus that can never be repaid. It can only be paid forward. Perhaps, this Christmas season we can broaden our gifts beyond our beloved family to gift the children of our world in the name of and to honor the Christ child of Bethlehem.
12/30/2018
For many cultures the New Year is the premium holiday. Our month, January is named for the Roman god, Janus, who was often portrayed with two faces, one facing the past year and the other facing the year ahead. We are here again at the transition from the old year into the new. In one sense nothing has changed by the year marking on the calendar. It will take us some time to get used to 2019 on our checks and deposit slips, but very little day to day change will be noted. Symbolically, the change is more profound. We have the sense that this is a new beginning. Perhaps, this new year will be better, more hopeful, kinder. We might even make some of those personal changes for our health and well being that we have been contemplating. Maybe there could be less strife in our homes, and country, and world. We feel like we can close the books on the past year and anticipate some new beginnings. Perhaps New Years is only one day, but it could be a day of new beginnings. Jewish believers still celebrate Rosh Hoshanah, literally the Head of the Year, perhaps with the hope that the head will influence for good the whole body of the year. May our celebration of the New Year reach out in faith to God for a wonderful set of new beginnings.
12/23/2018
The Church of Scotland Kirk at Dunino, Scotland, where I preached a number of times had been a church since the 1200s. It was located on what had been a Druid religious site. On the far wall were stones taken from the Druid shrine, incised with crosses and baptized into Christian use. In the history of the faith we have many things which have been baptized into Christian practice. Such things as Christmas trees, wreaths, yule logs had pagan origins but have now become Christian symbols. Even in scripture we find materials from other religious sources which have been adopted into Judeo – Christian literatures. This “baptism” has enriched the faith. It has its parallel in the lives of human beings. Many are the stories of pagan, ancient and modern, who have been baptized into the faith and transformed into a new usefulness in the Kingdom of God. How rich their inclusion has been for all of us. All we Gentiles are part of that group originally, although many of us are some generations away from those first converts. We have all, however, been changed and baptized into a new usefulness in the Kingdom of God. Whether first generation or later generations, our baptism demonstrates that we are all part of the great wall of the church, marked by the cross and baptized into the church’s very foundation.
12/16/2018
My stepmother, Marie, was one of the sweetest people I have ever known. At her funeral I acknowledged that she had been a mother to me in nearly every way, but giving me birth. It was no surprise that she and my sweet mother-in-law, Gertie, became instant friends. Among the things that endeared Mom to my brother and I were her Christmas cookies. The variety in taste, texture, and appearance was unsurpassed. I could list my favorites, but I fear that I would have to wipe the drool off the page just thinking about them. They were artistic and culinary gems, but more than that they were gifts of love to two hungry and sugar addicted boys. I don’t think we realized at the time that we were even more hungry for the love Mom provided than the sweet sugar treats. I was blessed by those who have been mother to me. First, my mother, Wilma; my stepmother, Marie; my mother-in-law, Gertie; my grandmothers, Lydia and Elise; and a host of women who have been my teachers, mentors, and friends. Now in later years, I have the benefit of the wisdom and grace of my daughters, Gwen and Christy. Perhaps, that is why I have always been so impressed by Mary, the mother of Jesus. She loved him from his birth all the way through his difficult death. She was witness to his resurrection and has been a model through the ages. Praise God for the gifts he brings us through his faithful women!
12/09/2018
During a recent Thanksgiving visit, our older daughter indicated that she is always moved emotionally by her first hearing of “The Little Drummer Boy”, but by the end of the Christmas season she has heard it so many times that it has lost its luster. The old adage has it, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” There is a certain truth to the statement, but on the other hand the familiar can bring comfort. Little people may sleep better with their own pillow beneath their heads. As in many things, balance is significant. I notice that congregations sing better when the songs are familiar. I believe that this year is the 200th anniversary of the composition “Silent Night.” Now it is so very familiar that even secular singers know the tune and lyrics. 200 years ago it was a new song. What a loss it would have been if it had stayed in the realm of the unfamiliar. We still offer praise to God with the ancient doxology when we present our offerings, but we also sing the new Advent hymn, “People Look East” to celebrate Jesus’ Advent in a new way. The mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar gives us an exciting mix that both comforts and inspires.
12/02/2018
I have always liked facts, especially random, scientific bits of information like: the speed of light is over 186,000 miles per second. “It is actually 186,282.397 miles per second, but 186,000 miles per second is close enough for a trip to the grocery store. Denver is 5280 feet high, although I have not measured it to the second story of my daughter’s house. I have always liked keeping those facts in my head. Now, however, the dullest student can punch information into their cell phones and have the facts instantly. With so much information floating around, how does a student know what information is really significant? Is there real evidence for an internet “fact”, like the scientific measurement of the speed of light or the U.S. geological survey of the elevation of Denver? We need to be able to evaluate the information we receive. If an advertiser claims, “our light bulbs increase the speed of light.” We are right to be dismissive. If someone claims Indianapolis is located higher than Denver because they like Indianapolis but despise Denver, we know that that opinion is contrary to fact. Facts should be more than opinion; they should be based on real evidence that can be verified. Not all important things can be factually verified, for example certainly love can’t be, but where we can we should let the facts speak for themselves.
11/25/2018
We are spending Thanksgiving this year with our family in Centennial, Colorado (a suburb of Denver). We wish our Florida family could be there as well. Maybe we can all gather at Christmas time. But all of us near and far will be giving thanks this Thanksgiving. After my wife’s medical scares this year, we are grateful that we and our children and grandchildren are well and happy. We will all be enjoying good meals and pleasant conversation. After the first helping of Thanksgiving fare with a bit of everything first as is our tradition. We can then fill up the corners with a bit more of our favorite dishes. We will pat our tummies and watch parades and sports and maybe a family style movie on the TV, but most of all we will be together. When scripture references the Messianic banquet, I am quite caught up by the imagery. The vision of the greater family of God gathered around a table of bounty in the presence of God and his messiah is beautiful in my mind. Strangely enough, I envision not the lovely foods, but the joy of being in the presence of God and our brothers and sisters. It is captured by the many songs like “An Unclouded Day”. “Oh, they tell me of a home where my friends have gone, Oh, they tell me of the land far away…Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.”
11/18/2018
I am a bit ambivalent about change. At times I am quite resistant and wish to stick by the old ways. At other times, I am among those pushing for change. Early on I was convinced that we didn’t need a microwave in our kitchen. So it’s faster, but what is the rush. Finally, we got a microwave and now hardly a meal goes by that we don’t use it. Warming leftovers without over cooking them, thawing meat quickly, melting butter, all are much easier now. We recently added an Instapot to our kitchen. Now one pot meals are a breeze. Perfect and nice in 15 minutes, pulled pork in less than 60 minutes are just a couple of examples. I still think hot dogs cookers are ridiculous, but my verdict is pending on airfryers. In spite of my resistance some changes end up converting me from skeptic to champion. Others areas of life bring changes as well. Somethings I resisted turn out to be positive as I learn to live with them. Perhaps I ought more often to reserve judgment until I see how the changes play out over the long run. Changes in religious life can often bring out the most resistance. In part, this is because it matter so much to us. God initiated the greatest of changes when he sent us Jesus and look how that turned out!