A Wedding...in Black and White

 The colors the Bride chose included a lot of deep red and blue…the crowd was black and white. It appeared odd to me when I first realized that the groom’s side of the sanctuary was mostly black and the bride’s side was mostly white. I became strangely uncomfortable. I would have felt better if we had not been so separated. I wanted to believe that America is just not like that anymore...that we are not so separate. But I don’t have to look very far into my own life to see that we still have long way to go.
The Bride had taken things into consideration when she planned the reception…she had assigned seating….Okay I just thought I was uncomfortable before and wanted things more mixed. Now I am about to sit down and try to enjoy the food and festivities with a bunch of people I don’t even know…they had to feel the same way when they realized the last empty seat at their table was for…well…me…but what happened was great conversation and an entertaining evening with some wonderful people and pretty soon I began to forget the black and whiteness of this crowd.
I remember sitting back and looking at all the tables and thinking this is what God had in mind all along…His children… “Red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight Jesus loves the little children of the world”.
However, I know there were people in this group that never imagined a day where white and black men would socialize on an equal level. But tonight they would get to know each others families, serve each other drinks, hug each others children, and watch as two young people, whose brave stand and relentless love for each other, caused our uniquely black and white worlds to collide…things will never be the same…family gatherings will be different than anyone ever imagined. An opportunity has been given for new ways of thinking to emerge…for reason to take its place over inherited faulty logic…a new way of being is available.
I couldn’t help but laugh a little as I thought of the strain that some of the adults in this room must be feeling…while the children…both black and white…seemed unaffected…they just laughed and danced…they were at a wedding…yea…food and punch and dancing…yea… for them…the children…they did not have the moment of uncomfortableness I had…the contrast in color had not affected them…and hopefully… in their future…color will have less distinction…the uniting of color and spirits will be normal life for them…maybe…if we continue to work at it… our children and grandchildren can be free of the limiting power of prejudice. It has separated us for too long…caused us to miss out on the incredible beauty of different cultures…kept us from being our best as human beings.
Maybe…When Martin Luther King said “Free at last,..Free at last…thank God Almighty we are Free at last”…maybe…he meant everyone…both black and white.

Dream Center

Today I visited the Dream Center. A church building over fifty years old
had gone almost completely empty
is now filled with people
some needed a ride to get there...provided
some needed something to eat...provided
some needed someone to be glad to see them...provided
some needed to be reminded that God has not given up on them...provided
food for the hungry
counsel for the broken
teaching for guidance
worship for the soul
music that moves the spirit
hugs...smiles...encouragement...prayers

I was moved beyond words...

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 1:27

Dreams do come true
Baton Rouge Dream Center
http://servolution.org/hpc/?page_id=3

Searching

I recently had a great weekend eating and laying around the pool at my sister’s house.
While lying out by the pool I decided to catch up on my daily Bible reading and with my wet fingers began to turn those thin Bible pages. They of course started sticking together. I quickly learned…dry hands before reading Bible at pool…I’m really quick like that.
I had taken my hearing device (also know as a hearing aid…I just can’t use that term) out and laid it on the table before I went in for a swim and when I was ready to go in the house I grabbed all my things and headed upstairs. Once there, I realized I did not have my hearing device. So I went back down to get it from the table. It was not there. I searched all around the table and could not find it. Went back upstairs and checked all my clothing….nothing. My sister and brother-in-law both spent considerable time in the blazing hot sun searching the grass around the edge of the decking…nothing. I went to an event…came back and searched more…nothing….except frustration and disappointment. We worked hard to find that thing and we were earnest in our search but …nothing.
So I left and drove four hours to my home feeling pretty upset that I had lost a three thousand dollar ear piece and that tomorrow I would be back at working saying things like “I’m sorry can you repeat that?” What? I’m sorry what?” etc. etc.
The next morning I sat down with my cup of coffee and my Bible to start my day with my daily reading. When I opened my Bible the hearing device fell out…I was shocked relieved and very thankful. Because I had read it with wet sticky hands the device got stuck between the pages. I had even thumbed through it kind of quickly to see if it might be there. But I had not seen it.
I see a parallel to life in this story. Everything I was looking for was hidden in God’s word. A really diligent look in His word and I would have found exactly what I needed. I was just looking, diligently, in the wrong place.
No matter how diligently we search for things that will make our life better…no matter how sincerely we exert our efforts…and no matter how often we go searching or how long we search…we will not find real peace, happiness or contentment…our search can leave us feeling frustrated and disappointed with life. When in fact, all the answers, everything we are looking for has been securely tucked away in His word…just waiting to be discovered.
Look there….a quick thumb through and you will miss it… take your time...search...find...what you are looking for.

If you look for me, really search for me, you will find me”
                                                                               God

Stories

Sometimes people don’t misinterpret what you say…they just reinterpret what you said…they tell a story…about what was said or done or not done…and we people of the human race love our stories. They are not lies…not to the person telling the story anyway…they are just repeating the event in sort of a…parable…you know…like Jesus told parables…only…not really. We use stories to make us feel good…. to look good...to gain allies….Jesus stories were to illustrate truth.

There is this fear that people will not totally get how badly we have been wronged if we just repeat exactly what was said or done …. so we parableize...no that's not actually a word. Don’t get me wrong…we do have the facts to back our story…just not always in the best context… and we even add our “knowledge” of the real intent of what was said or done. We say things like “I just know”… as though we are truly mind and heart readers. And the problem with these stories is that they can bind us up...they can actually put our own life on a sort of pause......keep us ineffective until we let the story go.
Sometimes people have a story so fixed in their minds that even the facts, no matter how well presented, will not change what they are saying. They believe it…it’s a kind of faith…a substance or an evidence of things not seen.…only…not really
And we all know it’s not an easy thing to just up and decide to let go of a story we have been telling. After all , think of the personal adjustments we have had to make to keep the story alive and believable…and if we have told enough people...we have supporters…a sympathy team…believers…it would be hard to let them down now. And, not only that, but the sympathizers have been getting pretty juiced on the story themselves and have probably repeated it, with a few alterations and additions of their own.
The feelings associated with our stories are powerful and the entire process of storytelling has a tremendous emotional pay off…sympathy for sure, perhaps some superiority, and maybe even a little martyrdom. But stories...parables of partial truths...will not bring us what we are looking for…true peace….joy...lasting happiness…dreams fulfilled.
Its not that the event didn't happen to us or that the words were not spoken or that the deed was done or that something was not done. And it is certainly not that we were not hurt.  Its the story that we make up about it that is not a reliable reflection of what actually took place. We are not mind or heart readers. We don't really know why anyone does anything....but we make up great stories. And for many, holding on to their story is not serving them well in life. Play a bigger game...create a story thats worth living.
Free yourself...forgive...forget...end the story.

Snapshots

I was going through the line at Zoë’s Kitchen in Baton Rouge today when I saw a familiar face. I did one of those double takes and then I thought there is no way that could be him. But it was, Patrick Dempsey, better know as McDreamy, on the popular TV series. Grey’s Anatomy. I went over to talk to him…he was in shorts, a t-shirt, and had a little stubble…he smiled, shook my hand, and said "thank you so much" when I complimented his show.

It was the way he said thank you that I have remembered. It was as though it was the first time anyone had said that to him in awhile. But we know that he must hear it everyday. And yet, he still made the effort to make me feel like it really meant something to him…who knows maybe it still does....even after hearing it hundreds of times...One thing I know, if only for a split second, one that I am sure he has already forgotten…this mega media star, in the middle of a crowded restaurant, was totally present...with me.

Being present with people is a wonderful thing that gets lost when we are too self focused, too in need of attention for ourselves, and when we are simply not in the moment with the person right in front of us.

I don't know anything about Mr Dempsey. I don't know about his personal life. Nothing. I only have a short mental snapshot of him...and its a pretty good one. Sometimes that's all you get...just one shot to make a difference..to walk away from someone having made their day better. It made me wonder what snap shots I've been leaving lately.

Thanks Mr Dempsey

Sand Castles

Almost daily I listen as someone tells me how their life is incomplete…or worse…it’s falling apart. Peace and happiness have disappeared...again. As we talk I often discover that this is not the first time they have felt this way…it’s become a cycle. Often it is very obvious that there was no foundation to what they had established…they build and rebuild Sand Castles.

Sand Castles are amazing in beauty and easily crumble.

There is this amazing reoccurring situation where some people will do a lot of work putting together a life that looks great…they get into what looks like a great relationship, or finally land the right job… or maybe they manage to get the right house or the great car or maybe all of the above…everything that has the look of the really good life. As a matter of fact their life landscaping is so good it takes a really perceptive person to see that all this is happening without a proper foundation….then the winds of life began to blow…disappointment, unfulfilled expectations, sadness, betrayal, loss…the image they worked so hard to create begins to fade…the walls began to shake…the rain begins to fall…the sand begins to move… and the house begins to fall.

Sand Castles…are built for a moment of praise…not to withstand the coming storms.

With things or people…taking the time to do things the right way for the right reasons is never what we want to hear when we are in the “wanting” state…and we even know…deep down…that it is proven to bring a much better return. And, peace and happiness is not the same thing as feeling good today…they are the state of a mind and heart that has been cultivated and nurtured through the wanted and unwanted things of life. They are the sum of many decisions that required the rock solid foundational material of time, patience, endurance, and a trust that anything worth having in my life is probably not going to be attained quickly.

Sand castles…require hard work and a unique artistic ability…and although beautiful…they will not last.

There was a foolish man who built his house on the sand and when the rains came and the winds beat against that house his house fell. There was a wise man who built his house on a rock and when the rains came and the winds blew and beat against that house…that house stood.
Jesus

Dolly's Jolene by Lost2gether.mov