Faith Venture

-Gary Mintchell

When I heard that part of our trip to Israel and Egypt would be a stop at Mt. Sinai and the opportunity to climb to the summit to watch the sunrise, I immediately thought of a sermon I heard some time ago by a young woman pastor at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California. She spoke of the climb, how tough it was, struggling up the last hundred or so steps to reach the top. Now this is a sermon, and speakers need a certain dramatic style to be effective (heck, I am giving a talk on intelligent sensors improving maintenance management in process manufacturing plants and I’ll be dramatic or they’ll all be asleep!). So I wasn’t sure how to balance fact from drama in her story. Now I know. It’s a tough climb–and it’s totally worth the effort.

I began thinking of the trip as an analogy to many life situations–think some new project around the church, for instance. You have the highest hopes of reaching the goal. The trip to the beginning of the climb is filled with excitement. The first part of the way is not too hard, but then you start an occasional vertical climb that begins to take some of your energy. Early on, you can’t even see the goal clearly in the early morning darkness.

Part of the way up help is offered. At this point, you need to do an honest evaluation of your strengths versus the effort toward the goal. Sometimes you need the help. This is not an admission of either weakness or failure. You just need help to reach the goal. In the case of Sinai, there are camels waiting to take you part of the way up. Some take them because they know that at the end of the sloping climb lies 750 irregularly shaped steps–and that will be tough. So some of us walked (probably because we’re obsessive, or just think we’re in shape), and some rode.

Yep, those 750 (or so, I didn’t count them) steps are tough. You now can see the goal a little more clearly, but you also see the hard work ahead to finish. So, you climb, then you stop and take a little break. Then you climb some more. Dawn starts to break to add a little urgency to the climb. You’ve come this far and don’t want to fall short.

Then you reach the goal. You sit and devour the sack breakfast that was prepared for you. Then you can look around and savor the view. The sun rises over the distant mountains and the feeling is just awesome. You’ve reached the goal and savored the experience, but then you have to start down.

While the initial accomplishment and experience of the sunrise with many other pilgrims is fantastic beyond words, the real experience comes when you relive that moment over and over when you’re back home in the flatlands. Reaching the goal and reliving the experience wipes away almost all thoughts of the pain of getting there.

Have you ever had to spend time at a nursing home?  You can truly see a cross section of how humans react to life.  My mom is convalescing from knee replacement surgery and I have made daily trips to take her the paper and mail and just to visit.  I take my dog, Gabe, with me. 

Did you know that the dog breeds we have today were bred originally from the wolf to be exactly what man wanted them to be? I wonder if this was God’s intention when he said to Adam to rule over every living creature.  Were we to manipulate them to make them fit our needs?  Is this part of the “image of God” capability?  It doesn’t seem right at one level, because in spite of the fact that God has the power and could manipulate us, we were given free will.    Maybe the wolf turned dog also had free-will and chose to follow the path of least resistance for the greatest reward. It is a puzzle, but the end result is a great companion bound with unconditional love.  Perhaps that is something we should learn from dogs.

Back to the nursing home and my dog’s visits though: it is miraculous how he just wags his tail and rubs his nose on the lifeless hand hanging from a wheelchair to suddenly bring a smile.  Of course, not everyone is enamored by my dog, but many do respond and very positively.  They tell stories about their own pets and look more alive and excited for awhile.  In my mind it is the value of unconditional love; like a miracle medicine that can bring the dead to life. 

At some point in the breeding lineage, the dog responded by looking up to a master to help guide and make the bigger choices in life.  That is where the wolf and dog differ.  The wolf depends on the pack, while the dog looks to a master or higher power.  Huh, that is something we could learn from dogs.

– Darcy

The city built a beautiful bike path along the old canal feeder.  With paved pathways, mileage markers, historical information signs, picnic tables at lookout spots and split rail fencing along the steeper sides, it is a wonderful place to stroll or pedal through the woods. Today was my first venture onto the path although it has been open almost all summer.

You see the problem is this big hill which falls away from the paved path off my street.  It is rather steep, usually muddy and not yet paved.  They will be finishing it with the 2009-10 budgets. Actually, that is a really poor excuse, but doesn’t it seem so typical.  I want to go get some exercise and enjoy nature, but I might get my feet dirty or exert myself a bit climbing back home.

I think this is like our spiritual journey. Any old inconvenience or excuse and we lose interest and turn away.  In most causes for me, it starts with doubting. Yet, how much we miss!

The only limits to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.  Let us move forward with a strong and active faith. — Franklin D. Roosevelt

Posted by Darcy

I was at a conference last week and at the same time it was “production week” for the magazine I edit. Remember the 500 word essays from high school or college you hated? I do about four of those every month for the magazine during the week we are finishing everything and sending the pages to the printer. Last week tht meant getting up at 5:00 am, checking email, handling essential correspondance, writing, showering and grabbing the 6:30 bus to the main conference site. Meet people for breakfast, attend conference sessions, press conferences and private interviews. Then off to dinner and back to my room by 10:30 pm. Time for a last email check and off to bed. No time for running. No time for Jesus?

Many of my weeks are that hectic. I prefer a contemplative life–and contemplation has changed my personality. But how do you fit Jesus in that life? First, I’m keeping three blogs going and starting a fourth. I just can’t keep them up. Not enough time for study. But I find that I can wake up a half-hour “early” and lie in what they call “corpse pose” in Yoga (flat on your back, arms resting comfortably by your side), and focus on Jesus. I can grab 20-40 minutes of quiet time–time to pray for others, focus on God and listen. Then I’m in a proper personal focus for the day. Weeks like that make me appreciate even more the weeks where I can study and reflect.

So, how do you fit Jesus in your hectic life?

I travel a lot and took last week to try to catch up on work, soccer referee assigning and my other blogs. I’m trying to keep three blogs going and plan to start a fourth (covering high technology products). Take note of Darcy’s post on helping young adults. I try to help young people develop life skills and maturity through the medium of becoming a soccer referee. This weekend I was privileged to see no less than four young men of about 20 years old step up and perform a difficult task with maturity (refereeing soccer at a large tournament and dealing with coaches and parents requires a lot of strength). To Darcy–don’t wait on the blessing of “church leaders” unless you’re spending money. In that case, raise your own (hint, I have some money for good causes). I saw a General Colin Powell presentation where he advised, “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.”

This week, I’m influenced by a high-tech writer and blogger (co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto, for those of you in marketing), Doc Searles. He found this quote on listening. I have found that far too many people just don’t listen to others. They’re too wrapped up in themselves, I guess. Ponder these ideas and see if you can make them part of your life:

What deaf people can teach you about listening. The short version:

I’d call all that common sense, if it were more commonly applied. Including by me.

Gary

I listen to podcasts when I work out or drive distances. One that I like to listen to is from John Ortberg of the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (Bay area in California). I heard him a few times when I visited Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago and really like his scholarship and speaking style. He has had a persistent sub-theme running through his talks for a while called “Open Doors.” He suggests that you include that in your daily prayers that God will open doors for you. I’ve had it happen several times where experience plus openness to fresh ventures has happened to me. Especially in my “other” career where I had an opportunity to become a magazine editor then the door opened to the opportunity to become founding editor in chief of a new magazine. Great career move. Same thing happens every once in a while in the spiritual life. God has opened doors occasionally for ministry opportunities. Maybe this blog is another. I wonder what next opportunity awaits? Maybe I’ll just look for another open door 😉

What about you? What doors of opportunity are in front of you that you need God to open so you can walk through into new experiences and ministries? You won’t see them if you aren’t aware of their existence.

Posted by Gary