Showings

I'm getting used to the idea of "showings."  We're trying to sell our house. The realtor calls almost every day to let us know that a prospective buyer will be at our house at such and such time ... and can you please kindly not be there. So now, when we leave in the morning, we have to make sure the house looks right, just in case they call because there might be a showing before we can get home to make things look presentable.

Making things look presentable involves cleaning, getting rid of any clutter, making the place look warm and inviting, putting out the welcome mats and having chocolate in the candy dish.  It also involves turning on all of the lights.  There can't be any area that seems dark.  We've even moved a few lamps around in order to make sure the light shines everywhere.  I'm sure our electrical bill will be high.  Its one of many reasons I hope we actually sell the place soon.

Used to be I thought of SHOWING in a different way, as in "something's showing."  As in a piece of undergarment or something else that the public should probably not be seeing, intentional or not.  But now I view the word in a more positive light.  It actually feels good to be showing a home that is clean, etc.

This got me to thinking about my personal life.  What do people "see" when they are around me?  Do I live a "clean" life?  Am I concentrating on what is important in life, and not cluttered up with needless trivia pursuits?  I am warm and inviting?  Do I welcome people around me and truly enjoy their company?  How many dark shadows do I have where I try to block the Light from reaching?  Oh that I would always feel as good about the showing of my personal life as I do our house right now.

Something's showing all the time, whether we admit it or not.  Might as well try to make it presentable.

something Better

I used a well-traveled Easter illustration in my sermon on Sunday.  But, funny how they come alive sometimes.

The illustration goes like this:  A woman was dying of cancer.  She called the minister over to the house to talk about her last wishes, and said, "When I'm lying in my coffin, I want to have a Bible in my left hand and a fork in my right."  The minister understood the Bible request, but was perplexed by the other one.  She continued on, saying, "I've always enjoyed church potlucks with the food, friends and everything.  But, my favorite part was always toward the end, at dessert time, when someone would clear the table and then say 'keep your fork,' because I knew something better was coming."

I went to visit a woman in hospice.  We talked about her condition, and after a while, she brought up the fact that she didn't have very many more days on this earth.  I bravely said, "Something better's coming," not sure how she would respond to it.  She said, "You're absolutely right.  I'm going on a long trip, and looking forward to it."

If we could only all be so ready.  I'm keeping a fork on my desk.

A Different View of Holy Week

I had a conversation a couple of days ago with a man who told me he thought Jesus was a peaceful anarchist.  That's a pretty inflammatory word, whose definition I wasn't quite sure of, so I looked it up.  I know it's old-fashioned, but I still use the dictionary right next to me on the shelf in my office on occasion.  It read: "absence of any cohering principle, as a common standard or purpose: disorder and confusion."  Not sure I can go with calling him one.  But, the point is well made.  He was definitely a radical "disrupter."

I like the pomp and circumstance of  Palm Sunday, the drama of Holy Week, the hope and promise of the resurrection, the brass quartet on Easter Sunday and saying "He is Risen!" as much as anybody, but my friend did cause me to re-think the events that happened two thousand years ago that we "celebrate" this week. And since "re-thinking" is what my denominational leaders are asking us all to do, I submit this for your reflection. 

Think about it: A king would have rode in on a horse, with armor and a helmet, and with many others dressed the same way.  Jesus rode a donkey.  That's quite a slap in the face to the Roman authorities.  Then he went to the temple, not exactly respecting and receiving a blessing from the local clergy and denominational leaders, but instead overturned some tables.  Then he went on before the judges and didn't exactly follow due process.  When asked to state whether he was guilty or not, he skirted around the question by saying: "Well, YOU say I am." Then, while dying on the cross, he says to his executioners and enemies in general, "Father, forgive THEM."  (for THEY don't know what they are doing)  Then when they think they got him in a grave, he disappears and soon after starts APPEARING to a few select people, giving them hope, just when the authorities thought it was over and done with. 

This is not business as usual.  Which, I guess, is the whole point.  I can go with the "peaceful" part of my friend's statement.  But, to say there is an absence of principle or purpose would be wrong.  The principles (lessons learned) seem to be 1)  violence is not the end all, 2)  forgiveness will prevail over condemnation, 3)   God's ways (process) are not the same as ours.  

I'm think I'm ready to seriously look at a broadened view of Holy Week: Jesus, the rabble-rousing "disupter." As long as we keep the Hallelujah Chorus.