Faith Venture

View challenges as an opportunity. Said just about every famous leader.

We can view this as just another trite phrase we pair up with a photo and hang on the wall.

Or—we could choose to actually practice virtue by making the best use or the problem before us.

It is our choice as we face a challenge, a problem, an obstacle. We choose how to act.

We could choose a time of semi-forced isolation to learn stillness. Learn to play a musical instrument. Finally read those books that we say we’ve read. Learn another language.

We can choose to search for ways to help someone else.

You have probably heard the Latin advice carpe diem—seize the day. Or perhaps carpe vino—(even better) seize the wine. But we can practice carpe potestatem—seize the opportunity.

My wife and I are sitting at dinner the other evening when she suddenly blurts, “I wonder if there will be a spike in babies born in nine months. Or divorces.”

Since I can list several reasons why there won’t be a new baby in the household in December, was this a hint about my behavior getting on her nerves?

With no Internet (promised for today) and cable TV, we are getting desperate. Last night we watched an episode (one of many) of I Love Lucy from 1952. Long-time best friends, the Ricardos and the Mertzes wind up suing each other and appearing in court over an incident fired by stress and misunderstanding.

I’m positive that stress and misunderstanding are approaching the high-level alarm status in many, if not most, households. Not only babies created from proximity and boredom and divorces from stress, but also domestic violence.

I saw news from China about a spike in divorces. There was more news from America about a spike in calls to domestic violence hotlines.

Now is not a time to let friends, relatives, and acquaintances isolate themselves. Reaching out to communicate just to chat is a good thing. Little acts of kindness and service are greatly appreciated. They could make a difference.

People began noticing a growing number of deaths in the population from an unknown source. The upper class men of the society fled the city because they were important to the continuation of the government and culture. Or else because they were afraid.

They left women and children and the poor behind to suffer and die.

Groups of people came out of hiding, for they were despised by the ambient culture, and they began to care for those who were ill at great risk to their own health.

And the numbers of those belonging to the groups grew greatly because of their service and faith.

The city was Rome. The time was 249-252. The hidden group were Jesus-followers.

Centuries pass. The heirs to those Jesus-followers established hospitals and schools and greatly enhance the health and well being of the societies they inhabited.

Today, those heirs are highly trained medical professionals who every day expose themselves to illnesses in order to heal and care for those who are ill. Today, many are exposed to a virus that has no known cure and can lead to a terrible death (although we really don’t know if it is one percent of those who contract the disease or a tenth of a percent).

And, where are the Jesus-followers and Christians today, I wondered. I am in a new community with few ties, but I do know of a church that is dispensing bags of groceries to those in need. I know of a faith-based community center dispensing lunches to homeless and those in need.

So I searched the Internet. Here’s what I found:

• We should have faith over fear
• “Bear witness to the peace of God”
• “Bear witness to the coming judgement of God”
• “Be ready to meet Jesus”
• “Stay home”

One leader denied the seriousness of the virus and kept his university open exposing many to its spread.

Another leader defied shelter-in-place orders designed to stop the spread of the disease and opened his church thereby exposing many to the virus.

What responses do you see? What response can you make in your own community? What should Christian churches be doing in light of their heritage and the commands of the founder? Where do I fall short?

The best way to deal with events beyond our control is to control what is within our grasp. And to reach out to others. Let us be open to the prompting of God who will present us opportunities to serve.

Most of the world is involved with some amount of “lock down” or “stay at home” orders. Many people are still working, since they are essential to particular services—perhaps water/wastewater treatment facilities or hazardous operations engineering in process plants. Or getting a newspaper or magazine published.

The common thread to many of my incoming emails concerns how to work from home when you’re not used to it. How do you maintain focus? How do you remain productive? How do you stay sane?

I have worked from a home office for more than 20 years. But I have had a routine for going out. Get up, brew coffee, read and write, go to park to run / go to gym to finish workout, go to coffee house for (of course) more coffee and WiFi, go home for lunch, work from home office.

I cannot go to the gym or the coffee house. Although something (my son thinks lightning) knocked out my Internet connection with Comcast saying it won’t fix it until April 18. So, I went to the national coffee house chain, bought a large coffee, and sat in the parking lot in my car to take the load from my mobile phone hotspot I’m using.

In any extraordinary time, whether traveling or death in the family or vacation, I construct a routine to keep me on pace. It may not always involve awakening at 5:30 am, but I will structure my days so that I get in the essentials of reading/writing, coffee, and exercise.

That is how I cope.

Jesus told a story of 10 young women invited to a wedding who were to watch for the groom to arrive. They were to welcome him with a lighted procession. Five were prepared with extra oil for their lamps just in case something happened. Five brought enough only for the normal waiting period.

Jesus described the first five as wise and the other five as foolish (lifting words and concepts directly from Proverbs).

We cannot know everything that will happen today while we are sitting in our meditation/reading chair in the morning. Let alone tomorrow or next week. But we can have a foundation of relationship with God and a supply of personal and family necessities just in case they may be needed.

Tech people talk about having a “grab bag” of chargers, batteries, cables, backup disk drives, and so forth just in case of fire or earthquake or something else unexpected where you have to run. This is another example of prepared.

When you have prepared yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually, you have laid a foundation for surviving whatever happens with as much peace as is possible.

When you are prepared and able to act with flexibility, then you don’t have to resort to justifying your actions later or constructing an alternate universe of “facts” to explain away your lack of preparation.

I was in Germany at the very outbreak (publicly) in China. I had a feeling that this could be very much like the stories my grandfather told of the Spanish flu (which had nothing to do with Spain) in 1918. Some of our leaders read the book describing public health reactions to that pandemic. They were prepared to act when Corona hit here.

It’s worse than I feared. But keeping in touch with God helps maintain equanimity. I strive to keep what routines that I can given a new house in a new community in a new state and a new way of interacting (or not) socially.

Now, if only I had thought to have some free weights around the house to complete the workout… then I would have been like the wise young women. Stay safe and healthy.

I began the week surrounded by the chaos of packing in preparation for a move. Today, I am in my new house 300 miles (480 kilometers) away once again surrounded by chaos—the chaos of boxes waiting to be unpacked, trying to find a cup for the morning coffee, finding the normalcy of my old routines in new surroundings.

In the midst of chaos is serenity. This morning I devoted about an hour to meditation (what today they like to call mindfulness). In the quiet at the beginning of a day I find order. And ideas—how to fix something a repairman didn’t finish, how to organize a new office. The ideas don’t swarm like hornets, rather they quietly appear fully ready.

The outer world is almost the opposite of chaos with people withdrawn into their houses. Outside for walks for physical and mental health. Far less than the usual traffic. Beneath the quiet lies the chaos of uncertainty. How long will it take for the virus to run its course? How long for the news media to hype numbers? When will life be “normal”?

Just as God brought order from chaos by speaking a primordial word, we can taste that order by bringing stillness and listening for that same primordial word.

Times of crisis and uncertainty bring out the true colors of leaders. Not only national political leaders, but leaders at every level of every type of organization.

Thomas à Kempis said, A person who cares nothing for praise or blame knows great inward peace….Praise does not make you holier than you are, nor blame more wicked. You are exactly what you are, and cannot ever be any better or worse than that, in the eyes of God. Attend to what is really within you, then, and you will not care what others say of you.

We will discover which leaders are looking for praise and which are the humble servants who do the job well.

Looking inside ourselves, we also discover what are our motivations.

Can we live with the person in the mirror? Do we fall short? If so, there is time to step up and do what is good and not just what looks good. Self awareness is the first step to growth and maturity.

Last night we were discussing the failure to plan on the part of Bev and me (actually our daughter Heather was discussing our failure) was the source of my stress.

You see, I’m writing this from my new time zone—CDT. Our new house is about 10 minutes from here, and I’m waiting in anticipation of a call from our mover to help him survey the cul-de-sac and determine where to put the large semi rig for unloading. We are completing the move to the outskirts of the Chicago area.

Heather thought we should have planned everything out well in advance. I wasn’t preparing for a move, because I didn’t want to. Bev, on the other hand, has been thinking (obsessing?) for a long time. However, from T0 (asking a realtor about selling our house) to T1 (getting an offer) was less than a week. T3, Two weeks later she found the house she wanted some 300 miles (480 km) away. It took a while for the legal/financial formalities, and at T8 we’re moving.

We had been gradually shedding possessions (reduced by one whole bookcase, but that was far from enough when you think of boxing all the books—probably about 600 lbs. worth). Many times decisions are made suddenly when the time is right. All you can do is prepare for eventualities.

So I’m thinking about this when I open today’s 300 Words A Day from Jon Swanson. His topic—preparing and planning. He is so right. Being prepared for whatever plans with the inevitable changes in plans smooths the way.

So the inevitable visited us from a delay getting the move out finished Monday due to the SleepNumber bed techs who didn’t finish their job to a delay with appliances because the Lowe’s installers didn’t finish the job to a delay when the mover’s truck broke down. But we are prepared, so I can ride it out without a huge rise in blood pressure numbers.

Jon thought about Ezekiel in his piece on preparing. I immediately thought about John the Baptizer who came to prepare the way (song from Jesus Christ, Superstar—Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord—is repeating in my brain).

It seems that in ancient times, no town leaders were so ignorant as to have a straight, smooth road leading to their town inviting invaders to come and get it. But when they were advised the king was coming, they would go out and “straighten” the road and make it smooth for the king’s arrival. That’s preparing the way.

Preparation doesn’t mean that you won’t have work to do. It just means you’ve taken the time to prepare your mind and tools for whatever work must be done. That works for moving—or for business or organizations or personally.

PS—in the middle of this meditation, I received a call from the mover. he thought the mechanic repaired his truck. He started the trip up here and discovered the repairs were not complete. With any luck, move in day it tomorrow. I have time to fix the work of the appliance installers and do my other work.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer—The morning prayer determines the day. Squandered time of which we are ashamed, temptations to which we succumb, weakness and lack of courage in work, disorganization and lack of discipline in our thoughts and in our conversation with others, all have their own origin most often in the neglect of morning prayer. Order and distribution of our time become more firm where they originate in prayer.

We have been so busy for the past three weeks with all the financing, closing, packing, and other work required by deciding to move to a smaller house far away, that the entire coved-19 problem is just one more thing to weigh on our minds. It exists among the entire jumble of thoughts churning through the juicer of our minds.

It is stress blended with more stress. And now I have a final appointment with one of my doctors before I move and have to find a new one. This will screw with my blood pressure.

But Bonhoeffer reminds us about starting the day mindfully. He was someone who knew stress. And obviously knew how to handle it.

For myself, I wake up during the past two weeks about two hours early thinking of my immense to-do list. But then I lie in corpse pose (Yoga, look it up) and focus on breathing and then on God while I remain in inner calm. Even so, I arise at my usual 5:30 am refreshed and ready to get going.

Try it; you’ll like it.

There is a different kind of prayer without ceasing; it is longing. Whatever you may be doing, if you long for the day of everlasting rest do not cease praying. If you do not wish to cease praying, then do not cease your longing. Your persistent longing is your persistent voice. But when love grows cold, the heart grows silent. Burning love is the outcry of the heart! If you are filled with longing all the time, you will keep crying out, and if your love perseveres, your cry will be heard without fail. — Saint Augustine, Source: Augustine’s Expositions of the Psalms

What would it look like if we could follow the Apostle Paul’s advice to pray without ceasing. A Russian peasant took up that challenge. His adventures are chronicled in The Way of the Pilgrim. It is worth reading many times.

There is nothing like the stress of moving compounded by the stress of uncertainty due to covid-19 and whether our moving van will be able to come Monday and load up.

This certainly is one way to test the discipline to pray without ceasing.

A scoffer would reply that every waking thought cannot be prayer. But a scoffer does not understand prayer—beyond words it’s an attitude and, well, a longing deep in the heart. Spiritual writers over these many centuries have taught that peeling potatoes can be prayer.

Besides, a discipline does not imply perfection. God is perfect. We just practice our disciplines in order to walk more closely with God and let some of that perfection rub off on us.