Catch a Nicaraguan Ride!

It was a privilege to spend four days in Nicaragua at Augsburg College's Center for Global Education.  The fourteen of us--sometimes one, two, or  a few more--rode to our meetings with officials, leaders, peasants, and educators in a comfortable, small bus.

The assortment of vehicles on the road was astounding.  We saw a few semis.  The public transportation system is mostly old American school buses (I am assuming Little Rock School District is in Arkansas, not Managua).  Lots of cars and lot of motorcycles and scooters.  There were bicycles trying to carve out room on narrow, sometimes rutted roads. 

And then there were the animal drawn vehicles like the one in this picture.  They might be pulled by mules, horses, or oxen.  All of these vehicles were sharing Nicaraguan roads and highways.  They have figured out how to merge fast vehicles with slow moving ones.  One of the school bus/public transportation buses had a bed on top of it.  If one doesn't have a vehicle, it is the only way to get it home from market!

A poor country, Nicaragua, it has been suggested, could be termed a fourth- or fifth-world country rather than a third-world country.  In spite of, or because of the poverty, there are plenty of ways to catch a ride.

But the best ride of all is the spirit of the people.  While most USA citizens would probably fold in the face of the issues confronted by Nicaraguans, the people there are almost universally focused on the future and how to improve education, the economy, and living standards.  Their sense of hope was remarkable.  We in the USA could learn much from them.  Politically, militarily, and economically, they have been pummeled for decades.  Yet, a certain grace emanates from them.

The last horse drawn vehicle I traveled in was a buggy through Central Park in New York City.  How different, yet graceful, the horse drawn vehicle in Nicaragua--a glimpse of grace.

Welcome Home, John M. Kowalski

The family was gathering at the Gate H3B in O'Hare Airport, Chicago.  The plane was late in arriving.  Somehow, they got passes to come to the gate to welcome home a loved one.

The plane was slow in unloading.  They asked a passenger if there was still a uniformed man on board.  The passenger said, "Yes, he should be through the door soon."

I have no idea who John M. Kowalski is, where he came from to get to Chicago, or if he has yet to serve longer in the military.  I can tell you this.  He is loved.

This family exuberantly welcomed home their son, brother, nephew.  Tears flowed.  Hugs all around.  Balloons and signs.  It was joyous.  John M. Kowalski doesn't know me either.  But when his family saw me taking his picture, he turned around and gave me a thumbs up, wanting to share his joy.

I was at the O'Hare Airport coming home from a trip to Nicaragua with the Augsburg College Board of Regents.  At about 2pm, I left 85 degrees in Managua.  Somehow, God had misplaced 102 degrees somewhere along the way, and it was 17 below when I pulled into the garage at 2:30am.

The picture to the right is the first thing I saw when I walked through the door.  I laughed out loud.  Two more signs were awaiting me in the kitchen.

Home.  It is good to be home and loved--no matter what the temperature.

In John 14 we read that Jesus is making a home, a dwelling place, a mansion for his sisters and brothers.  Jesus tells us that we know the way to that home, because Jesus himself is the way.  How many people have I, as a pastor, reassured with these words over a lifetime in the ministry?  And those words are no less true today than when they were spoken 2000 years ago.

John M. Kowalski received a wonderful welcome home, as did I.  We do, however, have an eternal welcome coming in Christ.  Will there be a sign welcoming us?  I don't know.  I do know this:  "This will be a sign for you--you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  That sign is the light of the world--the way, the truth, and the life.

A High Calling

When God indicated that Dr. Gary Thorn, Bethel Minister of Music, and Jim Weaver, Bethel Super Volunteer, had high callings, this is probably not what God had in mind.

Beautifying the Bethel gathering space, the two (barely visible in these pictures because of the bright light streaming in from the skylights) stand high on a lift.  All churches are eternally grateful for the many volunteers that serve in the name of Christ.

Do you have a high calling?  Maybe that is literal.  Bethel has a firefighter who has done very high work for us.  More so, he uses those skills in his position as a firefighter.  Do you believe that God calls people to positions of service in fire departments, police departments, military, and emergency services?

Do you have a high calling?  It used to be common to say, "Oh, I don't have a job--I just stay home with the kids."  Sometimes yet today people are apologetic for investing their time in their homes and families.  Is there a higher calling?  Whatever time you devote to relationships and home is time well spent.  (I don't necessarily include time reading blogs or FaceBook.  That can be done anywhere, anytime.  I refer specifically to building up the home.)

Maybe your calling is to teach or heal.  Maybe it is to listen.  Maybe your calling is cooking or delivering pizzas.  Maybe it is to deliver babies.

You are not in this world by accident.  You have a calling, no matter your station in life.  I used to visit a woman in the nursing home--she spent a total of 45 years in the nursing.  While she seemed disabled in every way, she prayed for every member of a 350 person congregation every day--by name.  She couldn't cook or wash floors, but she could pray.  It was her calling.

Do you have a high calling?  You do.  Your first calling is a child of God.  After that you have been gifts to serve God, God's people, and God's creation.  Maybe you have even been called to stand on a lift to beautify a house of worship!

A PET with Wheels

This morning we had a PET at church.  Instead of four legs, it had three wheels.  Instead of providing love, it provides valuable transportation for people in third-world countries who are not able to walk.

You can read more about the PET (Personal Energy Transportation) Project at  petinternational.org.  It is an amazing story.  Each of the vehicles, powered by hand, costs only $250 to make and ship nearly anywhere in the world.  At the website you can witness the joy of people finally being able to get around on their own.  Perhaps they have lost the use of their legs due to land mines or disease.  The gift of being able to move is priceless.

One of the vehicles was used in our worship service this morning.  For nine weeks the children's offering will go to buy PET vehicles.  The pastors enjoyed riding the vehicle to illustrate the ease of its use.

But it isn't only for children.  Adults are welcome to give, too.  Already this morning two $500 checks were offered--one from a Bethel group and another from a Bethel individual.  I have never seen so many $20 bills in the children's offering.  It is safe to say that this project has captured the hearts and imaginations of our people.

Transportation is grace.  If you want to donate to this project, you can send your donations to Bethel, clearly marked for the PET Project.  Or you can donate on line at the PET Project website.  Either way, your generosity is more than a glimpse of grace for the one who will benefit from your gift.  It is a huge measure of grace.

Sometimes Grace is Just Fun

Nothing hugely theological or reflective here.  Just fun.  While on a family Christmas bowling event, my sister-in-law got out her cell phone with video capability.  I told her I would "try hard".

I am not a professional, and I should not be trying this at home or at the bowling alley.  But...

And grace prevailed.  Just fun.  Good to laugh.  And sometimes all the pins fall just right.

May the pins fall nicely for you in 2011.

Happy New Year

"Happy New Year" is the most common greeting we hear these days.  I suppose it is more a seasonal saying than it is a truly thought-out hope for the one to whom we offer the greeting.

What would happiness in a new year look like?  Surely most or all of us would pray for peace in the world and an end to hunger.  We may hope for fulfillment in our relationships and in our work.  Some may yearn for material blessings that are lacking.

Happiness can be elusive if it is based on the circumstances of the moment.  But there is a greater sense of happiness that evolves from one's spirit.  Repeated studies have shown that people who have faith in God are happier than those who don't.  For instance, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University reports that religious participation brings happiness even in times of economic distress.  The CBS Interactive Business Network reports on a Gallup poll that indicates people with religious involvement are twice as likely to say that they are very happy than those with no religious involvement.  It is easy to find these studies on the Internet--no need to take my word for it.

Every couple I see who intend to marry hears me say that the best gift they can give to one another is the sharing of a faith life.  If they want to wake up 50, 60, even 70 years from the day of their wedding next to the one they love, the best guarantee of that is a faith life they share.  I ask them to google "faith and happiness", "faith and length of marriage", "faith and satisfaction in marriage"--really, anything they can think of.  The research always comes down in favor of those with a significant faith life.

Happy New Year.  How could it be even happier?  If you have a house of worship, you will have one more important resource to which to turn in both good times and bad.  I wish you a happy new year.  I wish you a faith that brings you great, new, and renewed joy!

Fail...Really?

On Facebook, I have a young friend who frequently ends her posts with the word “fail”.  It may be something she has observed in society; it may be something that has been done to her; it may be something she has done herself.  In any case, it is something that disappoints her, and she writes, “Fail.”

That could be true of all our lives.  Here are some of mine for the past month:

• Thanksgiving Eve Day travel.  Fail.
• Palm Pre (smart phone).  Fail.
• Snowblower start.  Fail.
• Snowblower started but broken on huge snowplow deposits.  Fail.
• Palm Pre .  Fail again.
• Palm Pre.   Failed two days in a row
• December 12 worship attendance after 16 inches of snow and bitter cold.  Fail.
• December 12 offering—worst in modern history.  Fail.
• Broke a Christmas gift before I ever got it to the car.  Fail.
• Furnace thermostat.  Fail.
• Vikings.  Fail.  (You know my passion here…)

But my fails are minimal compared to the hardships for others.  In fact, the great things that happen eclipse the failures by many times.  I began to think of a young man and woman about 2000 years ago:

• Engaged, but woman is pregnant.  Fail.
• Said woman is in her teens.  Fail.
• Said fiancé intends to end engagement quietly.  Fail.
• At nine months of pregnancy, woman is forced to make a 103 mile journey either by foot or common animal (donkey?).  Fail.
• No room at the inn.  Fail.
• Earliest known visitors to the baby—smelly shepherds.  Fail.

You get the idea.

As we read the scriptures, we see many instances of “fail” in Jesus’ life.  He had to follow a most difficult road, up to and including his death on the cross.

But the non-fail aspects of his life and ministry make all the difference.  To all the world.  For all time.  We romanticize the holy birth of Jesus.  The list above would indicate it probably wasn’t as pristine as “Silent Night” or “Joy to the World” would have it.  Real life comes with challenges.  Jesus was able to meet all those challenges.  Because of that, we worship a baby born into crude surroundings and whose first bed was an animal’s feeding trough. 

That is amazing.  Non-fail.  The biggest non-fail of them all.