Sloth

I am reminded today that one of the seven deadly sins is sloth. After enjoying a day off yesterday celebrating my birthday by doing mostly just what I wanted to do, I'm finding it hard today to get back to work preparing to teach Sunday School and my classes next week, doing laundry, picking up and putting away and all those mundane chores that are required to keep a home functioning. Contemplating the work that needs to be done, I find myself wishing I could just goof off. But I also know myself well enough to know that I would not be content for too long if all I ever had to do was goof off. And besides as God has richly blessed me, I feel an obligation to use the gifts with which I have been blessed rather than just sitting here being slothful. I'm grateful for the ability and freedom to work at a job I like very much. Teaching is rewarding because of the interaction with the students, and because it forces me to keep learning. So this Labor Day weekend, I'm grateful for the opportunity and the ability to labor. Too many in this world are not so blessed.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Signs of grace around us

As I was walking our dog, Moses, this morning, I was surprised to see an elderly neighbor buzzing down the road on his riding lawnmower. It was early and I've not seen him driving about the neighborhood before. But then I realized he was probably heading to the home of an elderly woman with Alzheimer's who lost her husband not long ago. And indeed he turned into her driveway. I had noticed her yard had grown up again. Shortly after her husband died, the neighbors got together and mowed, trimmed trees and hedges and generally fixed up the yard. Her husband had been frail for some time, but had insisted on continuing to do it for himself. His wife does not have the ability to keep the place up. In a world where the morning headlines speak of the unspeakable things we human beings do to each other on a regular basis, it was a small thing, but it warmed my heart. There are good things happening around us in this world. We just have to keep our eyes and hearts attuned to God's presence and to those who serve God here among us.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

And they shall come from east and west

We have been blessed to return for a visit with our new grandchild, now a week old, and our son and daughter-in-law and her mother, who is a blessing herself. It has also been an east-west cultural experience in which I have learned about Chinese customs surrounding a new baby, and have worked to try to care for our son as well by bringing his favorite dinner (spaghetti and meatballs) along. I've learned that the Chinese have a saying that the whole world is in a parents' heart, meaning that the children are a parent's whole world. Our son is now learning that about his son. How fast these innocent little ones capture our hearts. This is our third grandchild, and each is such a unique blessing. I'm so grateful to God for the grace of having lived long enough to experience this. To every thing there is a season, and my season now is that of a Grandmother/Abuela/Nai Nai,with a full heart. Thanks be to God!

Bittersweet

I talked with our neighbors this morning as I returned from walking our dog, Moses, and I learned that they are taking their oldest child off to college today. His mama commented that she couldn't believe how fast the time had gone (meaning his life since birth), and then said she knew I understood as we now have grandchildren. I wished her well and said I knew taking a child off to school for the first time is such a bittersweet experience. She agreed as we both got a little teary-eyed. I still remember taking our sons off to college (I even remember when they started kindergarten!), and while I would not trade the adult relationships we now have for the ones we had when they were teenagers, I do miss having them around.

As I watched our first born hold his first born for the first time a week ago, I was forcefully reminded that at the moment they are born,our children begin their journey away from us. Literally at birth, as well as when they leave home for college, but also in more subtle ways in between, and after they leave home for that matter as they create families of their own and pursue their own careers. After all that is the job of children, to learn to stand on their own and make their way in the world. And our job as parents is to help them do that using all the resources we can muster as we love them no matter what. But it is a bittersweet journey--full of pride, and love and grief as the tiny baby we held close grows to adulthood. Thankfully God is with us on this journey. Otherwise I would not have survived thus far!

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

New Every Morning

We just returned from choir practice (the first after a summer break) and rehearsing a Cindy Berry piece for Sunday, "New Every Morning." I love the lyrics, especially "in Your mercy You have given me an anchor for my soul." It's good to be reminded that God's mercies are new every morning. I found myself this morning still half-asleep walking Moses, our dog, and wondering why, since I had just walked around the old live oak tree at the end of our subdivision not many hours earlier after supper last night. But then I began to think about those who don't have a safe place to walk, or legs to walk with for that matter, and I found my eyes opening to the beauty of God's world around me as the day warmed up. I remembered that I walk every day because I try to take care of my body. I hope I will be around to dance at my grandchildren's weddings. I've learned that exercise is like brushing your teeth, you have to do it every day. It's not something you can do once in awhile and be effective. I've learned that prayer is like that too. A relationship with God is like any other relationship, it takes daily time and effort. I pray God will continue to allow me time to exercise this aging body in God's beautiful creation and my aging soul in God's presence through prayer.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Forgiveness

I was struck by Eugene Peterson's version of a familiar verse from Mark, which I read this morning. In The Message, Mark 11:26, Jesus tells his disciples, "And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive--only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."

I'm good at asking, but not so good at forgiving, not even the small things sometimes. I've learned that I am best able to forgive when I remember to ask God's help. On my own I simply cannot get there. And even with God's help, it frequently takes awhile. Perhaps that's why Jesus reminded the disciples that they needed to be willing to forgive if they expected God to forgive them.

I think there's more to this than a not-so-thinly-veiled threat. I think perhaps what Jesus meant was that unless we are willing to grant forgiveness to others, we will never be able to comprehend how God can possibly forgive us. And thus we will be unable to accept God's great gift of forgiveness for ourselves. For my part, I know I will have to keep working on this long as I live, and for all I know into the next life as well. For as the Psalmist wrote so long ago, I know my sins, and they are forever before me. Wash me clean, Lord, for You are the only one who can. May you find it in your heart, with God's help, to forgive others, so that you can experience God's mercy and love when you need forgiveness yourself.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Great Peace

We have just returned home from visiting our son and daughter-in-law and our new grandson, whose Chinese name means Great Peace. He is a beautiful, healthy little boy, and I'm so grateful to God for his safe arrival and for his mom's well-being. He did not have an easy entry into this life. I'm thankful for the God who watches over me and my children and their children. And also for the blessing of this new life. I pray his life will be full of the Great Peace his name promises. May your life also be filled with the peace of God that passes all understanding.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Waiting for Peanut

I like to read from Eugene Peterson's contemporary rendering of the Bible in The Message. This morning I read Psalm 42 and especially liked the opening verse: "A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God." What a wonderful image as we enter yet another 100 degree day here in Texas. And what a wonderful reminder of how to refresh my anxious spirit as I wait for the arrival of our newest grandchild. "Peanut" is due later this month, but at the last appointment the tests showed he is already over 9 pounds, so our son expects they will deliver him early, one way or the other. Our daughter-in-law is a small woman, so I am concerned about her well being as well as our grandson's and of course our son's as he also waits anxiously for his son's arrival.

My mother always told me I was born impatient. I have no way of knowing if that is true or not. I do know I have had to learn to practice patience, like most folks do I suppose. I have learned with our first two wonderful grandchildren that one of the jobs of a grandparent is to stand patiently on the sidelines and wait. When there is a crisis, as when our first grandson was rushed to the hospital ill, I find waiting patiently most difficult. I would rather be doing something, almost anything!, besides waiting patiently and leaving things in God's good hands.

Probably more than patience, I have had to continually relearn the importance of relying upon God and God's promises--for myself and for my children and for their children. I do "want to drink God, deep draughts of God." I just have to regularly remind myself of what a blessing it is to do that and then to wait patiently for God's timing. Some things, like the arrival of a precious grandchild, cannot be hurried.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

School excitement

I was one of those kids who loved going to school. In fact I loved it all the way through, though I have to admit I didn't enjoy law school as much as college. Seminary, however, was one of the best things I've ever done, though harder in some respects than law school. It demanded more of a personal response than law school.

Now I'm the teacher instead of the student and my summer has already ended. I just turned in my contract for the fall semester, and I am working on getting the course syllabi finalized. It's just about time to take the plunge. I understand better now after several semesters of teaching college students why, when I told one of my seminary professors that the semester always felt like I was galloping from start to finish, she responded, I just want to get on the horse before it takes off!

Now I'm looking forward to getting to know a new group of students, and I'm honored to see that a couple of former students have signed up to take the plunge with me again. It's always a rewarding challenge to start a new class and work to make it a community where we are comfortable enough to teach and learn from each other. Of course when that happens (and so far it always has) it's also hard to say goodbye at the end of the semester.

What a blessing to have work to do that is challenging and rewarding and that I love to do. God is good. All the time. Even here and now when it feels like my life is preparing to gallop out of control for the next few months! I am also getting ready to teach a month long Sunday school class on Christianity and World Religion and several weeks of Spanish Bible study on the Prophet Jeremiah. And we are expecting the imminent arrival of another grandchild. I know for sure that I won't be bored. May you too find rewarding work to do that you love and discover the joy of using your God-given talents in God's service.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Watermelon memories

I never liked watermelon much as a child. I didn't really start eating it until I was pregnant with our oldest son and developed watermelon cravings. Since then I have enjoyed eating watermelon. This week I bought a small one, and we enjoyed some last night for supper. It helped cool the heat of the shrimp tacos I made. As I was cutting up the watermelon last night, I remembered eating watermelon when I was pregnant and thought about that oldest son, who is now expecting his own son any day.

As we have journeyed with our son and his wife through this past nine months, I've been reminded of the wonder of being pregnant and the blessing of taking part in the creation of new life. I pray we will not go so far with our technology that we think we have gained control over the process. Because God alone is the creator. When we forget that God is the center of the universe, not us, we inevitably stumble and fall. The world is designed with God at the center. Those who do not understand that are like people staggering around in an unfamiliar home after dark, tripping over the furniture and running into the walls because they are in unfamiliar surroundings.

I pray that this little one will arrive safely. His other grandmother and her siblings have chosen his Chinese name. It will be Great Peace. How wonderful to think about this little one and what a marvelous creation he is. I pray he will know that all of his life. And that you too will remember that you are God's marvelous creation.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Speaking in Tongues

I'm pursuing my goal of becoming fluent in Spanish more urgently now as a group from our church is headed back to Cuba on another mission-study trip the end of October before our religious license from the U.S. government expires. I just spent an hour speaking splintered Spanish with another member of our group at the local Starbucks. We both studied Spanish in college, but neither of us has had much experience in actual conversation. We're trying to remedy that by practice and laughed together as we struggled to find the words, conjugate verbs and rapidly use our dictionaries. I have learned much from watching Spanish language television, both the news and the telenovelas (like English soap operas the acting is exaggerated so that learning words comes easier), and from reading the Bible in Spanish. I learned on a trip to the Presbyterian Border Ministry at Nuevo Laredo a few years ago as well as on the previous trip to Cuba what a blessing it is to be able to listen to Christian sisters and brothers speak of their faith in their own language.

My husband and I are also working on learning some Mandarin Chinese, which is more of a challenge to our English-speaking ears. I have come to like this language, however, for its elegant simplicity and also for the fact that it's not necessary to conjugate verbs! I hope one day to travel to Taiwan when our daughter-in-law's mother returns to visit her family there. She has invited us to join her. I recently asked Cokesbury to look for a Chinese-English Bible. I've discovered that reading something you know something about already in another language gives you a bit of a head start. And I want to learn to pray in yet another language.

In our shrinking world, learning others' languages is a way to build community. In our family, both Spanish and Chinese are part of our grandchildren's heritage, so it is important for us to learn out of respect for the members of our wonderfully rich extended family. I also hope that language study will continue to challenge my aging brain and help keep it functioning. May you too find a way to speak in tongues about your faith.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Death on the Driveway

I am feeling a bit guilty about the baby I killed on the driveway this morning. The older I get the more Buddhist I seem to become--reluctant to harm any living thing. This baby, however, was a baby pit viper, probably a diamond back rattler from the markings on his little back. I've read that the babies are even more dangerous than the grown snakes because their venom is concentrated. I walked by with the dog and thought at first it was a leaf, but realized it was moving and went back to look. I thought about letting it go, but then remembered the full-grown rattlesnake that accosted my husband on our postage-stamp-sized grassy area out back recently, and I went back to commit cold-blooded murder with my walking stick.

In the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis in the Bible, God cursed the serpent, "To slink on your belly and eat dirt all of your life. I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel." (I like Eugene Peterson's version of the story in The Message.) And so the battle continues. At least here in Texas, where leaving the yard in its natural state does not mean living in Eden. We have spiders and scorpions and cactus and poison ivy, and snakes. But also bunnies and birds of many varieties and the occasional lynx and fox. So perhaps it is a bit like Eden after all.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

The weight of memory

I have just returned from a visit to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where I had lunch with a former classmate who is visiting from Egypt. As I drove onto the campus, I felt the same sense of peace that always steals over me when I arrive there. Somehow this trip to meet a friend I had not seen since graduation almost five years ago brought back so many memories that I found myself momentarily weighed down by both the reality of now and the reality of then. Perhaps that is always the result of being in a "thin" place where heaven and earth are close upon one another. I have felt the same thing in Iona, and also standing among the ruins at Troy. I suspect that time is more fluid than we humans realize with our constant drive to contain and organize and control our world and our lives. Perhaps time, like God, cannot be neatly contained in the categories and forms within which we try to restrain them. I suspect that's a good thing. What's life without mystery!

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue

Yesterday I preached a sermon on the topic of material possessions. As I was enjoying relaxing and reading the Sunday morning paper when we returned home, I read an advertisement that said something like: buying is good, just give in and do it. I will give the advertiser points for honesty. No subtle hints. Just cut to the heart of the matter. We live in a culture in which material possessions are considered all important by all too many of us.

The problem is not that buying is bad. We all need food and shelter to survive. But centering life on material things only is a losing proposition. They don't bring us lasting happiness, and they don't guarantee our security. Which was the point of Jesus' story about the rich fool, who had an abundant harvest and decided he could simply build bigger storehouses, retire and be secure for many years. As Jesus told the story, no one else entered into the rich fool's thoughts as he made his plans. His wealth didn't even buy him the security he expected as he didn't live long enough to carry out his plans. You can read his story in Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Luke in the Bible.

Robert Samuelson, in a recent article in The Washington Post titled "The Bliss We Can't Buy" writes about the fact that even in times of economic prosperity, people's self-reported happiness doesn't increase. He notes that our economy has certainly increased the "material well-being" of many in this country, but concludes nonetheless that, "The old adage is true: Money can't buy happiness. We ultimately get satisfaction from our relations with family and friends, the love we give or receive, the meaning we find in work, service, religion or hobbies." Jesus couldn't have said it better.

Be good to yourself by finding other ways to enhance your life and your happiness than buying what George Carlin called stuff. Volunteer to help others less fortunate than yourself. Spend time with those you love and who love you. Life is too precious to waste on the things that don't bring lasting happiness and don't matter eternally.

Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue