We're Not Religious

I was very proud of a good friend who took the responsibility to offer a eulogy at his mom’s funeral. He said that unlike his mom the rest of the family was “not very religious.” Here was the mom who came to church to light her candles and pray for her children and grandchildren. She was the one who did all the cooking at the annual family camping trips. She was the grandma who beamed with joy when she held her great grandson.

Despite the fact this family did not practice their faith, they felt it was their mother who held them together by her faith that God has to be important in our lives. In her kind and humble way, she believed in God, she prayed to God and she was with God and her children believed that in their hearts.

People easily get uncomfortable with religions. Some religions come off strong and say there is only their way to God. Some are rather bias with who and who can serve in ministry. Others have become mega-churches with hundreds of families flocking to their services because its like a Broadway production.

I prefer the following reason for coming to church as shared by a dear friend when she wrote this card to me with these words:

”Congratulations on being a “shepherd” for 35 years. I want to thank you for bringing me a message every Sunday. I feel for the first time in my adult life that I want to be a better person and I want to thank you for that. You make it real and simple. Our family has been blessed in many ways but now I have added you to our blessings.”

I have the unique privilege of helping a former closed parish resurrect themselves into a community that reaches out with the spirit of Christ’s love. My vocation has taken many turns from inner city parishes at OLPH to St. Boniface, to country communities in Caledonia and North Java, serving as chaplain for the Sisters of Mercy, patients and staff at Strong Memorial Hospital and the wonderful students and professors at Brockport College. I miss you all.

Simply put, religion may be about rules and norms, laws and regulations that bind us up in knots and make us afraid and fell rejected. The true spirit of love is found in the people who make Christ’s love visible in the everydayness of their lives.

If I have helped you to become a better person. I give God thanks for this unique vocation that continues this morning as I have been called out of town to help hundreds of people who are losing their jobs.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect: “Turn to me and have mercy on me, show your strength in behalf of your servant, save me, because I serve you just as my mother did.” (Psalm 86:16

Lord, I pray for all my Sunshine Friends in the over 60 parishes communities that I have served to help your people become a better community. Each of you is close to my heart and I will continue to pray that God brings you comfort and peace. “Shepherd”

Did You Miss Easter?

I stopped by the car repair shop to check on Scott, a mechanic, whose best friend and partner for over 30 years died unexpectedly before Easter. Her daughter found her mom one morning in her easy chair cold and blue. Scott shared that they had an unusual relationship. They fought like cats and dogs but respected each other very much. He said that it was hard and that he had lost his faith in God. He had his doubts about his faith, his God and why did this have to happen.

My response was simply: “you are not alone.” When the love of my life died over thirty years ago to cancer I screamed at God for nine months. The pain of lost is real and not imagined. When our loves are gone, we feel empty and washed out. I was angry with God that He took my best friend away from me and how was I ever going to survive.

In these moments, it the faith of others around us, our ancestors who come to our rescue. So Scott goes on to share, “you might think this is crazy” and I respond, “Go ahead try me.” It seems that two weeks before his girlfriend died, she shared a dream with him. She dreamed that her grandmother had come into her apartment and told her “not to worry that grandma was alright and everything is fine.” She did not want to share this vision with to many people thinking that she was off her rocker. So Scott wonders was God trying to tell her something before she died.

How many of us have felt a real experience with our ancestors who came back to reassure us that they are at peace?

Later that day, my hair stylist who has cut my hair for over thirty years shared that it will be a year this May when her mother died. One day in the basement, she was thinking about her mom when she suddenly felt a powerful experience in which her mother literally came inside of her. She did not feel sick or afraid, but a feeling of peace that her mother was telling her that she was present in her life and would never let her daughter feel alone. Later that day, out of the blue her sister calls her on the cell phone to share that something weird happened and she was feeling strange and awkward. Early in the morning which turned out to be on the same day her sister was in the basement, she too felt her mother calling out to her and telling her that she was fine and not to worry.

What do you think about these revelations? Are we all delusional and need to see our shrinks? Or maybe it just might be God reaching into our hearts and inside our bodies to reassure us that Jesus is truly risen and so are all our loved ones.

As Kathy shared, maybe we do need to feel the pain of lost for a while, but what is that compared to an eternity in heaven with the ones we love. I call this an act of faith that can boost our morale and recharge our energy whenever grief takes a hold. Easter takes place every day in our life when we trust in the word of God.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect: “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends whose loved ones have come back to us in our dreams, into our bodies, to touch our doubts with hope and peace. Comfort us in our sorrow, and give us the courage to believe!

Lord, Why Do You Receive Them?

A wise father knows what it means to forgive --his young adult child had died in his sleep while camping with the family, but the autopsy revealed drug overdose. This father offered three somewhat earthy bits of practical advice that are worth sharing.

He said, "I'm not very good at spiritual discipline, but after being called by a friend to practice what I preach, I sat alone in my study and made believe I was a priest in the confessional. I said out loud, 'Drug dealer, in the name of God, I forgive you.' I felt kind of foolish at this creative hypocrisy, but it did get the juices of forgiveness going. Oh, a year later when my son’s friends drove past my house I had to go through the whole forgiveness process again. Forgiveness by fallible creatures is repetitious." That's real wisdom. For us weak creatures forgiveness indeed turns out to be a repetitious affair.

The second bit of wisdom he offers is this: "Don't forgive too fast." By that he doesn't mean to harbor lingering revenge. He means that we have to allow time for the hurt to surface, for the hatred to be visible and recognized and acknowledged to the point when perhaps we can say out loud, "I hate you." It is only when the hurt, the enemy, is out there and regurgitated that we can feel its full impact and come to terms with forgiveness. That's what our friend means by saying, "Don't forgive too fast." Otherwise our forgiveness is too shallow. It hasn't grabbed sufficiently hold of the evil.

And finally he gives this delightful advice: "It's good to remember that when you pray for your enemies it doesn't automatically make them your friends. They are still your enemy. They're still out to get you. They still hate your guts." And he adds for emphasis: "They are still your enemies and you'd better guard against them because they might wallop you when you're down on your knees." But that's their problem.

And yet, despite our Lord's example and his command to forgive, there are people who cannot bring themselves to offer forgiveness. And there are people who cannot bring themselves to accept it. Some people get so caught up in their own guilt that they cannot accept forgiveness, even from God. They feel there is no hope for themselves either in this world or the next. They spend their time hugging their guilt to themselves, thereby blocking out the forgiveness of the Christ who is on record for forgiving others.

What does Christ say to those who cannot bring themselves to forgiveness? Those of us who have caused so much hurt in this life. God says,” Come forth, you who are drunk. Come forth, you who abuse. Come forth, you who know no shame.” And we shall all come forth without being ashamed, and we will stand before him. And the wise will say, and the learned will say, “Lord, why do you receive them?' And he will say to them, 'I receive them, oh wise ones, I receive them, oh learned ones, because not one of them ever thought himself worthy of it.' And he will stretch out his arms to us, and we shall fall down before him, and we shall weep, and we shall understand all."

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice, he heard my cry for mercy.” (Psalm 116:1-3)

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who desperately need your mercy. May we be willing to surrender our need for resentment and bring peace to those who have hurt us.

Knuckles in Paradise

Two days before Easter, a grandson asked me to come to the cemetery to bury his grandmother. This young man shared these memories of this woman of faith with the big knuckles.

Grandma was not only a farmer’s wife but she also a farmer. She worked right alongside him on the dairy farm. Her routine day on the farm began at 3am every morning. She would grab her three kids and head out to the barn for the morning milking. The little ones would continue sleeping in the hay while the cows were being attended to. When this grandmother went to the nursing home, she would tell people to look at her big knuckles and then say: “My grandmother told me to never learn to milk a cow and so what do I do? I went right to the barn and learned how to milk a cow. Now look at these knuckles that I ended up with.”

Grandma learned how to drive the tractor when her husband was bailing hay. She even learned how to butcher the chickens when the family needed food for the table. When her beloved spouse died, grandma continued to work a large garden and she mowed their two-acre property by hand. Though she had a riding mower parked in the garage, she preferred to use the old-fashioned push mower. She continued to cut her own lawn until she was in her early 80’s.

Later in life, grandma found a new hobby, a wood-burning stove. She would feed that stove at all hours of the day and night and took great pride in maintaining, splitting and stacking her own wood. She had truckloads of wood delivered every fall to last the winter months. However, one time her grandson came out to stack some of the wood for her. After growing tired from the long day of stacking, the grandson promised to return in a few days and finish the large pile. When he came back, grandma had finished it all by herself, one log at a time. At age 80, she went to the doctor and he noticed a bruise on her leg. When he asked what it was from, she said that a chunk of wood had hit her leg while spilling logs. The bewildered doctor looked at her 90-pound frame and asked how in the world could she be splitting wood at her age. Considering that a silly question, grandmother answered, “Well, with an ax!” How else would one split wood?

After grandfather died, grandma memorized the 23^rd Psalm for comfort and started reading the Bible. She would get up at 3am and read her Bible for four hours at a time. Her bible was well worn and held together with duct tape and when she could no longer see so well, she would have her grandson read the bible to her. Her grandson shared that she worked very hard on the family farm. She never took a vacation and her priorities were her faith and her family.

The Gospels assure us that the resurrection was physical, real, not just some hallucination inside the consciousness of believers. After the resurrection, we are assured, Jesus' tomb was empty, people could touch him, he ate food with them, and he was not a ghost.

Notice that after he rose from the dead, Jesus was seen by some, but not by others; understood by some, but not by others. Some got his meaning and it changed their lives, others were indifferent to him, and still others understood what had happened, hardened their hearts against it, and tried to destroy its truth. For this grandmother, she read in her bible that Jesus was alive and she chose to believe. Perhaps milking those cows that gave her those big knuckles gave her the humility and faith to simple believe. What do you believe?

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4)

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who celebrate Easter with their family and friends. May our service to God and neighbor give us the knuckles that bring peace of mind and hope that we will see all our ancestors including grandma again in Paradise.

Feeling Crummy

I just finished cleaning the house after a wonderful celebration with family and friends. However, while vacuuming leftover crumbs on the floor, I ’m thinking how some of my new parishioners are feeling a little crummy. It’s no one fault. Misunderstanding happens in every family and faith community. There are moments when we lose our temper and need to vent. That’s the way God made us. Sometimes we need to let off a little steam. But what’s more important is what follows next!

So while I’m vacuuming the crumbs and feeling a little crummy myself. Here is my prayer for all those moments that catch us off guard.

“Father, forgive them, forgive me… when I feel misunderstood. You understand more than anybody this feeling of not being understood and rejected. You came to bring forgiveness of our sins, those irritating remarks that drive our family, relatives and parishioners nuts. Now send your spirit to calm and heal our misunderstandings. After a breath of fresh air, let us think what really matters. Getting our way, being right or getting back with the people, our family and friends who matter most in our life.

You taught us by your life that we need to say, ‘I love you.’ So when something breaks, we need to fix it, when it hurts, we need to figure out a way to heal the wounds. Sure, it’s a bother and we would prefer to say that we are in the right and we deserve more respect. But come on now, how much respect did Jesus receive dying on a cross like a criminal. God knows how we are feeling when misunderstood. But from the cross, remember these words.

‘Father, forgive them they know not what they do.’ We need to stop the hurtful words and hurtful thinking that prevents us from coming back and feeling close with family, neighbors, in-laws and the church.

What an amazing Father we have in heaven, who created us with all our flaws, listens to our groaning and whining, yet still wants us around for eternity. He must be nuts!!!”

When we are ready to heal. Go back to those people, your neighbor, co-worker or fellow parishioner and tell them we were not at our best. We prayed about how God hung on that cross in silence bearing the weight of our misgivings, foolish whining and selfishness. In this silence of the heart comes a spirit of forgiveness that heals the soul and makes things right with God and one another.

So this Holy Week, if you really want to make a difference in your life. Who needs to hear from your lips, “I’m sorry and I love you.”

I love this prayer for Holy Week and recommend that you pray it often: “But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” (Psalm 130:4).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that you give us the strength to “bury” all our hurt feelings. Let us be your willing servants who listen to your voice of mercy and kindness all the days of our life.

Seeds of Happiness

A daughter was struggling to take care of her sick mom. Her mother needed a surgery and a pre-opt appointment was made to take her mom to see the doctor. This daughter called her sister and asked her to help take their mother to see the surgeon. However, her sister's response was that she was too busy and her mother should change the date of the surgery. Her sister was outraged and disgusted with her sister’s response. This daughter daily cared for her mom and all she wanted from her sister was help to take their mother to the appointment. What was she thinking? Why do we act so heartless?

Research tells us that the key trait of happy people is that they have a purpose. In short they “invest” their lives in something. During times of family illness taking care of our parents can seem a bit of a tall order. However, if you ask a “happy” person, how they are in life, playing hard too get is not one of their traits. rather, they will enthusiastically tell you of something they’re at or doing. It could be work, or maybe investing time in helping their parents through difficult times. All in all, as they will explain, it really seems to give them life. The essence of their happiness seems to be giving more than receiving.

It does seem that we are genetically coded to “flourish under fire” to quote the title of a recent book by popular psychologist Maureen Gaffney. She contends that we are meant to have well-being, meaning and purpose in our lives. Agreed, but how do we achieve this. Basically by dying to self and living for others. Something needs to switch this on.

Jesus speaks of a grain of wheat dying. What happens there? Inside every seed is an embryo that has a root going into the ground and a shoot going up. It also has an “on” and “off” switch. The time and soil temperature must be right before the “on” switch allows oxygen in water to come into the seed. When it takes in water, it expands, breaking the seed coat and producing sugar and proteins and ultimately fruit.

Something like that needs to happen to us. Maybe the outside conditions are not ideal in our faith community, in our family, in our life. Perhaps we are a dried up shriveled seed - but we are destined to grow and flourish.

We approach Holy Week. Next Sunday you may see your community gather in a different space outside the Church to mark Jesus entrance into Jerusalem. Perhaps you will bring your own green branch. As you cut it off this week from the lifegiving shrub it belongs to- consider this; what ways are we cut off from the life giving power of God. In Jesus we have someone worth living for and great enough to die for. Or are we like the amateur gardener, who bought the seed packs with those beautiful pictures of flowers…on those same seed packs. The seed, which was never immersed in soil, lie shriveled and dormant within its paper coffin. It would be terrible if our true epitaph at the end of life were to be a similar “returned unopened.”

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and does not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. (Isaiah 55:10).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends to help us open our seed packages and share the abundance of our life with those in need of your life giving understanding and love.

Spiritual Mentors

I opened my basement doors for Steve to back in his truck who was going to install a water conditioner for our home. After he opened his van, he turned and asked if he could ask me something about religion. On his way to our farm, he got a call from his wife that a neighbor had died last night. This neighbor was Ariel, a member of his church where Steve was a deacon.

Ariel was Steve’s spiritual mentor. Ariel taught by example. He worked hard on his farm, raised his crops and animals and took care of his family. Ariel had his share of farming accidents and lost the use of his shoulders. He struggled with the daily chores but got by for you see farmers are a stubborn and a proud bred of people. Stubborn yes, but generous to family and friends and fiercely faithful to their religion.

Ariel was Dutch Reform who practiced his faith by coming to church every Sunday, saying his prayers to himself, tithing according to the good book and working hard on the farm. He was not outgoing and he did not join any committees.

Steve grew found of Ariel and started coming over to visit. He noticed that Ariel was physically hurting so he took some cords of wood from his tree farm, and brought them as a gift. One tradition Ariel practiced was high tea; Steve was invited to this time honored tradition when Ariel took a break to enjoy some Earl Gray and sandwiches in the afternoon. It was at these special moments that Steve noticed another side of this hard working farmer and witnessed a faith he grew to love and admire.

Steve understood that Ariel was not comfortable in his old church that had a change of heart. He just wanted to come sit in his pew and be quiet with the Lord and go back and tend to his fields. Steve was an experienced Navy veteran who for over 20 years was use to living in chaos. Their church wanted to be a community that love one another and cared for one another. This concept made farmers like Ariel uncomfortable who were use to being independent and taking care of themselves. Yet, this morning Steve wanted someone to listen to his story about a friend and fellow parishioner who had gone to heaven but would be greatly missed by his spiritual apprentice.

I asked Steve if being a deacon in his country church was different than when he serving on board ship in the Navy. ‘Oh, yes!’ he said emphatically. ‘In the Navy if I said to my fellow shipmates, “We are all shipmates of one another on this boat,” they would just nod their heads in agreement as if to say that everyone, even the most simple, understands that. But when I say that same sentence to people who live on the farm, they look at me as though I am proposing some crazy theory.

Steve noted that a characteristic on the farm is that dogma of individualism which makes it almost impossible for people to realize that we are members one of another, that we are meant to live in community, that our need for another is not a weakness but a divine gift. To live in community whether on board a ship, or in a country church or at home with your family can stretch our limits. Love is a decision.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “But with you is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” (Psalm 130:4).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that you help us all feed the hunger to be more generous with our time and be present to those in need of our comfort, our forgiveness and our compassion.

Be Patient and Pay Attention

One day a little girl asked her father, "Daddy, what is God like?" The question sounded innocent enough--until the father actually tried to put his answer into language that a five-year- old could relate to. Finally, he gave the answer for which fathers are famous: "Go ask your mother." She went to her mother with the question, "Mother, what is God like?" The mother soon realized that she had no adequate answer for her daughter either. She said, "Honey, why don't you ask your Sunday school teacher?" The little girl went to her Sunday school teacher with the same question, "What is God like?" The teacher said simply, "Why don't you ask your father or mother?" The little girl thought to herself as she left, "If I had lived with God as long as my father and mother and Sunday school teacher, I think I would be able to tell a little girl what He is like."

How would you answer this little girl’s question? Is God like your best friend who listens to you on the phone when something bad has happened in your life? Or, is God like the co-worker who pats you on the back after you completed a project before a deadline. Maybe, God is like your parent who smiles and takes your pictures while you were performing on stage at a school play. Or, maybe God was like your mom who coached your lacrosse team and encouraged everyone on the team to do their best.

What God really wants from us is a change of heart, a change of direction in the course of our lives through good works. And good works do not begin overseas somewhere in Africa or Asia, or even in some poor inner city area. Good works should begin in our own families, in our own neighborhoods and in our everyday lives. They begin with the little things-- the kind word, the encouraging pat on the back, or being willing to listen to someone pour out their heart. These small acts of kindness are of far more weight than an envelope in the offering plate or a prayer for a missionary overseas. How often we long to do the great things for Christ, but overlook these daily critical signs of faith that should be our way of life.

Yesterday, I was blessed to listen to a wonderful Sonshine Friend who poured out their heart about a situation in which they felt rejected by her partner’s family. The pain and hurt of years of rejection had made her feel dark and empty. What is God like at this moment? Someone who has patience and pays attention. I did not have any clever psych-babble to make her feel better. But I listened and simply paid attention to her concerns for someone she loves very much but feels misunderstood.

What does the Lord require of each one of us is to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. God is like our mentor who reminds us to make kindness our second nature.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” (Proverbs 1:33).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who daily bring Your kindness into homes, offices and communities. Help us to be more patient and pay attention to reach out, to touch, and to enrich the lives of others.

Looking Over

Two friends were walking down a country road. One was really troubled. He was expressing his doubt about God, about His goodness, "I don't know what I am to do with all this trouble and worry" he said. At that moment his friend noticed a cow looking over a stonewall. "Do you know why that cow is looking over the stone wall?" he asked his friend. "No" was the reply of the troubled friend. "I will tell you, because the cow can't see “through the wall.” He went on to say that that was what you must do with your wall of troubles. Look over it. Look above it.

My spiritual director, a retired college professor whose faith I admire very much shared his personal experience on the way to the operating room. He began his email with this comment: “Did what? You were once again my ‘hospital buddy’! I had a miracle that God bestowed on me at this time. I was more than a bit worried as the date for my operation was drawing near as the surgeon indicated a sense of urgency as the earliest available date he could get me into the hospital was over two weeks and he was trying to move that date up if at all possible so my prayers were a bit more urgent right up to the morning of the surgery.

At that time, I thought of Jesus words when He taught us to pray "The Lord's Prayer" and he said that we should not go babbling on as our Father knew what we needed and we should just trust in Him. At that time my prayer just became "Father, Thy will be done to me as you will it. I put all of my worries and my concerns in Your hands and know that whatever happens here is Your will which I gratefully receive." Ever since that moment, I have felt the greatest sense of peace and well being. So, not only is my corporal body on the mend so is my spiritual body being strengthened.

To every Sonshine friend - no matter where you are, what country you are in, "look over your problems" How? By faith. The same faith my spiritual mentor prayed before his surgery that will enable you to look over and above every trouble to God who is your help. Remember, always, God sees over the fence of your life.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.” Psalm 54:7).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that there are many sermons seen and not heard. For those, I thank you. I ask a special blessing on their eyes, that they may lift them up and over.

Technique!

Last Thursday morning, I had a glimpse of heaven through my viewfinder. Every branch on every limb on every tree was dusted with a fresh coat of snow. It was a stunning moment that took my breath away. Of course, I reached for my camera in the hope of capturing this scene, but you had to be present to really experience the sacredness and grace of this moment.

I am in the process of learning how to use a pro model camera. The number of options and details in using this technology is overwhelming. But one of my photo mentors kindly reminded me that “its not about the new technology, its about your technique.”

What is my technique? Drive along a country road, notice out of the corner of my eye a shot that looks interesting. Stop the car, set up the tripod, or more likely, stand, squat and take the shoot. Pretty lame technique if you ask me. Rather, this young professional photographer was trying to wake me up to realize that any stunning shot is more about your technique in life and not about how many the pixels you have in your camera.

He demonstrated how he simply looks through the viewfinder and lets the camera select the best aperature and shutter options and focuses in on his subject. He pays attention to his subject, not the technology. Once he gets his focus, his moves a dial around to make it “tact sharp” and viola he has his shot. Technique!

Sounds pretty easy, but it took years for him to develop his unique technique.

Lets imagine Jesus’ technique for being fully human. Yes, he was without sin, but being human meant he experienced all the joys, sorrows and disappointments of this life. His technique was not to whine about the technology. Rather, he spent time getting to know his people. Making himself present to their everyday moments. Our Lord’s technique was not to be a stranger. He was not a distant God, somewhere hiding in the clouds, but rooted on earth and walking into the homes of folks and letting people know that God has chosen each of us for a special mission. His technique was all about affirmation, graced with the knowledge that sometimes we have our imperfections that simply need refining. His technique, his message was “be watchful how we come across to one another, be humble not selfish, be kind not mean, generous to a fault to everyone.

Spiritual technique puts us right in the viewfinder of God who always has his eye on our efforts to bring light to the world and when we are in focus, we get the most profound, the most stunning images possible. We are beaming with the radiance of God in our hearts. It is a transforming moment when our point and shoot shots become museum quality art. Believe me, all of you are a fine work of art in the viewfinder of God!

Take a moment to reflect on this magnificent image that I had the privilege to witness a week ago. When I woke up, it lay before my eyes, a glimpse of heaven. All I had to do was bask in the moment and thank God for his wonderful creation. I am grateful we have had a mild winter so far, but this moment makes me think about technique.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. (Psalm 43: 3).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that in this Lenten journey our unique technique may place us in your holy presence.

Where to Focus?

I am in my woods focusing in on a sacred moment after a new snowfall when the “blinkies” start flashing in my viewfinder. This is a sign that the area flashing in the photo is over-exposed. There is a highlight button on the camera that warns me when this situation occurs. However, snow is bright and how do I get this shot so that its not over exposed or in layman’s term the image is “washed out.”

This sounds like our dilemma as we begin another Lenten Season. What do you plan to focus on in the next forty days? In the past, you tried your share of weight reduction promises-no chocolate or ice cream. Or, maybe you got serious and took Lent to a new level and tried to cut down on your drinking and smoking. You made your doctor happy, but you were miserable for the six weeks until you celebrated at Easter and started back where you began. With our blown highlights, let me suggest another way to enter this season of repentance.

Jesus takes for granted three practices central to Jewish devotion: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. He does not doubt that his disciples will continue to keep these practices. His only concern is that they pray and fast and give alms in the right spirit: not to impress people, but to deepen their relationship with God.

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving need not be quaint, obsolete customs confined to the pages of a user manual in our Bible. They can reappear in a contemporary lifestyle, one that calls into question the status quo, that refuses easy answers, that exchanges contemporary craziness for deep-down, delicious sanity. This is a lifestyle that gets us right with God, with creation, with other people, and even with ourselves.

Ask people how they're doing, and so often the answer includes the word “busy.” People take their own busy-ness and other people for granted--almost. They want to be absolved of their busy-ness by something less drastic than cardiac arrest. So if you want to live a life in the spirit with creation, then pray. Leave some empty space for God. Give up rushing.

Ask yourself, do we have stuff or does our stuff have us? Are we stuffing our houses, our bodies, and our lives to the point of no return? Then down the road Jesus comes talking about fasting. If you want to live in the spirit with creation, then fast. Don't exist as simply a consumer. Unclutter your life.

So often we experience the world as full of strangers. We do not look for the connection between them and us. The humanity common to them and us goes unrecognized. Their problems have nothing to do with our problems, or so we say.

Ask yourself, do we know the person in the pew two rows in front of us? If you want to live a life worthy of creation, then give alms. Not just a few coins, but the love in your heart. Always look for the connection between you and that other person. Treat no one as a stranger.

Don't leave the message of Lent flashing like a “blinkie’ indicating that we are out of focus. Live your life “tact sharp” and in sharp focus: give up rushing; unclutter your life; treat no one as a stranger. Do these things, make them your lifestyle, and you'll find yourself walking to the rhythm of Jesus and the saints.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” (Psalm 130:4).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that our Lenten journey may be tact sharp with words and deeds that bring us closer to you and one another.

Look of Love

It was a bitter, cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. The old man's beard was glazed by winter's frost while he waited for a ride across the river. The wait seemed endless. His body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind. He heard the faint, steady rhythm of approaching hooves galloping along the frozen path.

Anxiously, he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass by without making any effort to get his attention. Then another passed by, and another. Finally, the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat like a snow statue. As this one drew near, the old man caught the rider's eye and said, "Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side? There doesn't appear to be a passageway by foot."

Reining in his horse, the rider replied, "Sure thing. Hop aboard." Seeing the old man was unable to lift his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman dismounted and helped the old man onto the horse. The horseman took the old man not just across the river, but to his destination, which was just a few miles away. As they neared the tiny, but cozy cottage, the horseman's curiosity caused him to inquire, "Sir, I noticed that you let several other riders pass by without making an effort to secure a ride. Then I come up and you immediately asked me for a ride. I'm curious why, on such a bitter winter night, you would wait and ask the last rider. What if I had refused and left you there?"

The old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider straight in the eyes, and replied, "I've been around these here parts for some time and I reckon that I know people pretty good. I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was no concern for my situation. It would have been useless even to ask them for a ride. But when I looked into your eyes, kindness and compassion were evident. I knew, then and there, that your gentle spirit would welcome the opportunity to give me assistance in my time of need."

Those heartwarming words touched the horseman deeply. "I'm most grateful for what you have said," he told the old man. "May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion."

Think of the last time your computer crashed or you had a water leak and the repair person of your dream came out in the middle of the night to plug the hole or repair the virus—now that’s compassion.

Like Jesus, may we never be too busy to notice our sisters and brothers in need and often them a ride when they are stranded by the burdens of life.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.” (Psalm 34: 14-16).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who eyes are filled with compassion and never hesitate to stop in their busy lives to lift up the cries of the poor.

Moooood For Love

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest.

When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel: "How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him", she accused. "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it."

"Then last night as we slept in the farmer's bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Things aren’t always what they seem. This little heifer in the photo might be “mooing because she’s in some kind of distress, afraid or just a bit lonely. Thank goodness she lives in a barn tended by a kind and generous farmer who takes good care of his heifers.

God takes good care of us despite the fact we don’t think he pays much attention to our concerns. We “moo” out of pain or desperation, but we need to believe that God hears all our cries for help. That’s the love we celebrate this Valentine’s Day. The love of God that knows what “mooves us” to stretch beyond our normal comfort zone and reach out to help a frighten heifer calf or maybe a frighten child or neighbor.

Immanuel prays for us as we reflect; “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends whose hearts are “mooved” each day with the desire to listen to the cries of their brothers and sisters and respond with Your love and compassion.