Counted

I was 1634th. That was my number. I got counted. My wife was 1633rd. Our friend Jana was 1635th. We all got counted. Together. Hundreds of us. Two thousand six hundred and ninety-four to be exact.

Sometimes it's a good thing to get counted. That can mean you're "in". You made it. You matter. And it was a good thing for us. It meant free ice cream.

We couldn't have asked for a better day to get counted. We waited outside for almost two hours but had no need to complain because the weather was perfect. The sky was sunny, and the temperature was in the upper 60's with a slight breeze. Spring was all around us, excitement in the air. It was one of those days that made you glad to be alive. And we were taking part in one of those events that only comes once in a lifetime. If that.

On Tuesday, April 20, hordes of Quad City residents and Augustana supporters assembled on the college's Ericson field to attempt a new world record. The goal: to break the previous record of 2500 for the number of people in a chain eating ice cream simultaneously. The added stipulation that put the fun over the top: the "chain" had to be created by licking the ice cream held in your neighbor's hand.

Our new, unofficial record - 2694 - has yet to be certified by Guinness, but it looks promising that we'll make the record books. Although you can't verify individual participants, you can read about the event at http://www.augustana.edu/x19602.xml.

It's not exactly the world record I would have chosen to be a part of, but, hey, it was loads of fun and very tasty. Plus, I was a part of something significant. I counted. It mattered that I was there. The new record wouldn't be the same without me or my wife or Jana. We mattered.

Deep down, I think that's what we all want from life. To matter. To the world, or to someone. We want to be a part of it, whatever "it" may be. We want to belong, to have purpose, to have meaning. We want to count.

As it turns out, you count so much that Someone was willing to die for you, so that you would live. Christ counts you as his very own. You matter. You belong, always have and always will. You have a purpose in God's world. The unending love of Jesus - now that's something you can count on.

What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?

Did you ever play this game when you were a child? One lucky "fox" would stand at one end of the room, and all the other players would stand at the other end and shout, "What time is it, Mr. Fox?" Mr. Fox would tell the time (3 o'clock, 7 o'clock, 11, o'clock), and players would take that many steps (as big and wide of steps as they could!) in order to try to tag Mr. Fox at the other end of the room. Sometimes Mr. Fox would yell "Midnight!" and players would have to run back to the starting line before they got snatched up by Mr. Fox. It's a fun game! You should try it at home sometime.

Mr. Fox has me thinking about the book of Ecclesiates, and thinking about what time it is. In Eccesiastes 3, the author writes some beautiful poetry about time.

3For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7a time to tear, and a time to sew;a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8a time to love, and a time to hate;a time for war, and a time for peace.

It can become easy to think that time should only be devoted to things that make us feel good...like loving, and laughing, and planting. But Ecclesiastes reminds us that in life we experience times of death and loss and weeping too. These are necessary times, and they can, in fact, be helpful times.

What time is it in your life right now? Have you made time for both the good and the bad?

Potential

“You’ve got so much potential!”

“Why, thank you!”

Have you ever told someone that they have potential? You probably said it as a compliment, remarking that their future looks bright. That you see something wonderful in them that will continue to be developed and shared with others. Has anyone ever told you that you have potential? It probably made you feel good, proud about who you are. Or… maybe it caused you to think twice.

We all want potential… don’t we?

Is potential always a good thing?

The first meaning of potential certainly is positive. Potential conveys hope for tomorrow. It carries a sense of the future, a good future. We do want potential because we want our tomorrows to hold great promise and success. We want to see potential in our children and youth; it gives us confidence for the coming years.

But maybe you’ve told someone that they have potential because, today, they don’t have much talent for one thing or another. Potential here means that perhaps they might be better in the future than they are now.

Synonyms for potential include latent…dormant…currently unexpressed ability…un-actualized possibility…not currently present but possibly apparent later.

“Potential” can leave us wondering about the present.

This doesn’t mean we should stop using or receiving the word “potential” as a compliment. God sees potential in us. God believes that tomorrow and the next day we might love God and love others more than we did today. That in the future we might live our lives in ways that embody more of God’s ideal world.

God sees this potential, but God also loves who we are today. God is not waiting for us to realize our potential before God can use us to do God’s work in the world. God sees in us both gifts for today and potential for the future.

This is the kind of perspective shift we need, particularly in our attitude toward children and youth. These young members of our communities and our churches are not only the future, they are our today, too. Let not our penchants for perceiving potential prevent us from appreciating the beauty and contribution that our youth – and any of us – can offer today.

No matter our age, we all have not only potential for the future, but also a contribution for the present.

A Familiar Voice

Do you know the face in this picture? Some of you perhaps do; others would not. But many more of you would recognize his voice, especially if you heard him say, “And now you know the rest of the story.”

I heard Paul Harvey’s signature tagline when I was a boy riding in the car with my dad. Both of us would listen with rapt attention, waiting to find out how the story would end. We were rarely disappointed; somehow the conclusion always seemed to satisfy. For over 70 years, Harvey’s words crooned out of radios around the nation. His voice was familiar to millions of Americans as he used it to both inform and entertain.

There is something comforting, even holy, in a familiar voice.

This Ash Wednesday morning our staff gathered around a conference table, as we do every Wednesday morning. Before delving into business and treats, we begin staff meetings with a devotion and prayer. Befitting the day, we read the penitential Psalm 51, each person reading a verse. I was looking down at the Psalm as we began, reading along and listening. All at once I realized that I didn’t know who had started reading, but that I could identify the speaker by their voice. I refrained from looking up as we read the entire Psalm, and, sure enough, I recognized the voice of each and every speaker.

This probably should not seem so remarkable to me. But it is. To some extent, I am marveling at the subtle distinctions among human voices, and marveling, too, at the human brain for being able to detect such subtlety, even despite the spectrum of ways we use our voices.

But there is something more awesome than the mechanics involved. I knew the voices of my colleagues. I know them, and they know me. It’s a wonderful experience to realize that this is true in your life, that you know others and are known by them in return. It’s comforting, and holy.

Some One else knows our voice, no matter how much or how little we use it. We can rest in the comfort that our Holy God knows our voice. And Jesus assures us that we know his (John 10:4). May it be so.

By the way, the “most listened to man” in broadcasting was named Salesman of the Year, Commentator of the Year, Person of the Year, Father of the Year, and American of the Year. In 2005, George W. Bush presented Paul Harvey with the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s most prestigious civilian award. His business partner and producer was his wife Lynne Cooper Harvey, who died nine months before him. The first anniversary of Paul Harvey’s death will be this February 28. And now you know the rest of the story.

More Light

I know it’s not just in my head – not anymore.
At first, in late December, it probably was my imagination.
Because I knew that it must be true, despite the lack of discernible evidence.
But now I can notice it, I can see it with my own eyes.
Maybe you can, too.

The days are getting longer.

For many weeks our 24-hour days have been marked by more darkness than daylight. But the night is beginning to recede. I couldn’t tell in those days right after December 21, the winter solstice, but now I can. The daylight greets us a little sooner every morning and stays with us a little later each afternoon. Light is growing in our world and everyday will progressively push the shadows of night aside.

We experience many different kinds of darkness in our lives – pain, illness, loss, grief, loneliness, anxiety, fear, sadness…and tragedy. Sometimes the darkness is so thick we have no reason to hope.

For the people of Haiti and for all those connected to them, January 12 was a terribly dark day. The sun seemed to vanish on that Tuesday at 4:53pm in Haiti. And still the darkness overpowers the light.

It’s too early to see the light in this horrible disaster. We have little evidence of it. But we have faith, and so we trust and pray that light is growing in Haiti. Maybe our prayers and generosity can speed the return of light and hope.

May Christ, the light of all people, ever be on the increase in our hearts, communities, and world.

Surprise

Things are not always as they seem to be.

I was recently in Target with a bunch of high school students.

Wait. Let me back up.

December is a unique time of year. We smell things, see things, hear things, and do things that we rarely smell/see/hear/do throughout the rest of the year. Like go shopping with a big group of senior high youth.

That’s not typical for me.

Really.

December is also a popular time for giving. And it’s a time when we more easily remember others. Like our favorite charities. Or old friends and distant family. Actually, I think this is one of the best things about the season. It’s a nice balance to the self-centeredness that our culture promotes. A little more than usual, we think about family, friends, and people in need. I’m not sure why, but we do.

For our high school youth group at church, some of the people we remember are recent high school graduates – particularly those studying at college, perhaps for the first time away from home, likely studying for their first round of college finals. So what could we do? Send real mail…a care package.

So 27 of us went to Target. I wasn’t the only adult, thankfully. But we still looked like quite an odd mob of people, gathering in the front of the store, waiting for the last of us to arrive.

As I was calling out directions to the group, I saw a security guard out of the corner of my eye. A minute later I was interrupted by the guard and the store manager.

“Excuse me,” the manager said; “can I help you?”

“No,” I though it my head. In respect to him, I do admit we looked like a curious assortment. But what did he think we were going to do? Rob the place? Wreak havoc? Play capture the flag? (I’ve actually done this in other department stores…guess I’ll think twice before doing it in Target.) The security guard and the manager must have looked at us, and thought “trouble…this can be no good...we don’t want this to get out of hand.”

Things are not always as they seem to be.

Our appearance was motley, but our purpose was generous and kind. And somehow 20 care packages got put together that night.

Like the store manager, our eyes have limited sight when it comes to matters of faith. Our imaginations can be too rigid. We look at the world and most of what we see looks like trouble.

War…AIDS…terrorism…tension…disagreement…slander…gossip…marital infidelity.

As Christians we strain to see a different reality, one in which God is breaking into. Even when evidence points to the contrary, we confess that the kingdom of God is near and is coming closer all the time. Somewhere in the midst of things, God is there. God remembers us, and God in Jesus Christ is working to bring the whole world home.

What looks powerless and meager, or even like trouble, might actually bring peace and love.

What looks like a group of troublemakers are agents of God, bringing encouragement to others.

You just have to look with eyes of faith.

Things are not always as they seem.

Frustrations of Serving

Serving other people is not always easy. Sometimes we talk about service as if it were glamorous. The way we say “God calls us to serve one another” makes it sound so noble and simple. While the call to serve might be divine in origins, at times serving other people stinks. Figuratively and literally.

Last week I joined a team of a dozen people for four days in Cedar Rapids, IA, to serve in flood recovery efforts. In June 2008 Cedar Rapids was devastated with the flood waters of the Cedar River. The river crested at 31.12 feet – over 11 feet higher than the previous record in 1851! Driving through the city on Interstate 380 makes it hard to notice the devastation that remains. But disaster officials have projected that the city’s recovery will not be complete for eight years or more.

Members of our team put hands to work mucking rotted garbage, finishing drywall, and painting homes. At times we were busy working; other times we were busy waiting…for orders, materials, skilled leaders, or communication. A seasoned contractor on our team particularly noticed the failure of coordination; “our work could be so much more effective and efficient if only…”

How often Jesus might have felt impatient with his disciples! If only his disciples would open their ears and put two and two together! Jesus’ ministry, too, might have been better coordinated, more effective and efficient ‘if only’. The Gospels convey a sense of Jesus’ exasperation with waiting on his disciples: “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” (Mark 9:19).

For Jesus as for us, serving isn’t always easy or smooth. It involves patience and a great deal of humility. You’ll probably get dirty, too. But somehow, it makes all the difference in the world.