The Nest

Tweet I'm not terribly "naturey." It's creation and all (so that's impressive) but it's not the thing that typically captures my interest.  But this spring, a family of Robins have forcibly adopted the Carrol's.  At the risk of describing the excruciating minutia of life to you, I've found these Robins... fascinating.

A few weeks ago, I first noticed the nest over our back yard light.  Not wanting to have Robins in our yard being all "nesty" up in our business, I took the nest down.  That afternoon... the Robins retaliated.  Not once, but TWICE, we had Kamikaze-Robin attacks at our dining room window.  When the nest reappeared shortly after... it was message-received on my part.  She must have been great-with-egg because these four baby blues landed before we knew it.

The kids were excited.  It had been some time since we'd had new kids enter our domain. We checked day after day by sticking our ipod camera over the nest by sprawling out on the roof.  Then one day... this.

Ugly little things.  U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi ugly. But the kids were in awe. Babies in the house!  Well... outside of the house.  To see the parents go into parent-mode was where I got sucked into the story.  Mom and Dad working together.  Back and forth between our yard and the nest.  Worm after regurgitated worm.  These birds are working HARD.

One morning I was getting ready for work and I witnessed a squirrel try to make a sneak-attack at the nest to eat one of the babies.  Mom and Dad were PISSED. They chased and pecked that squirrel REPEATEDLY across the yard and continued up a neighbor's tree.  He would NOT return.

As of today, four bigger heads now poke their way out of the nest as they appear to be about to outgrow their first apartment in my yard.  I certainly hope to catch their flying lessons.

Bruce Cockburn's line, "Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight" keeps coming to mind.  Life is a fight.  Growth is a fight.  Protection is a fight.  Survival is a fight.   And it's worth it. And it's a beautiful thing.

Life will only be hard if we expect ease. 

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT AND SPONSOR ME FOR MY NOVA VITA "MEN IN HEELS" WALK HERE.

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Better out than in I always say

Tweet Our culture is not  a perfect culture. Some are sure we're headed down the "hell in a hand-basket" route while others are pleased with our progress.  But nobody is SATISFIED with where we are.

When something is wrong, we have choices about how to react.  My Grandmother used to hide in her closet during thunderstorms.  That was her choice.  It never stopped that storm, but it certainly did create a prevalent habit that leaked fear into her life.
The Church can be kinda like that. Closet hiders, just hoping that the storms of a less-than-ideal culture will just pass by. Sometimes we pray in the closet.  More often than not... we just worry.  Worry doesn't do anything.  Prayer does... if we do it.  But its only PART of the equation.

St Thomas More in his "Prayer for Fervor in Thinking of God" wrote this powerful prayer:

 "Give us, good Lord, the grace to work for the things we pray for." 

Work for the things we pray for. Interesting.  Work. The prophet Shrek's words won't stop wringing in my head these days.

"Better out than in I always say"
Shrek

Sure he was talking about gas.  But I think of it in a churchly context.  On Friday Night, I was supposed to preach at a youth/young adult worship night. At the same time, not 200 meters away a candlelight vigil for Tim Bosma and his family was being held.   I couldn't stop thinking about how there would be 400 people, showing compassion and support for a grieving family a 1 minute walk away. I couldn't justify the idea that the manifested person of Jesus (The Church) would be best representing how Christ would have functioned... by being INSIDE the church building with each other, while others were displaying His love OUTSIDE it. So we went. And it was a GOOD thing.

I am the biggest proponent of The Church in town.  I believe in the regular gathering of believers.  I believe in the church family.  I believe in corporate worship together.  I'm IN.  But then... we need to WORK for the things we PRAY for.  We need to be OUT more than IN.  We need to be right in the middle of even the awkward parts of our less-than-perfect culture without condemning it (since our arrogant tongues combined with half-understandings get us into trouble). 

We need to walk in heels to help curb domestic violence.  Sponsor me HERE.  We need to sit on municipal committees and ask God for wisdom about real answers.  We need to invite widows and orphans into our families.... but with more than lip-service.  For REAL. 

We need to learn to pray without ceasing as we learn to serve without ceasing.   

But most of all... we need to GET OUT and stop hiding and throw yourself in the middle of a culture you'd like to see change in.   It'll be tough, political, messy, and cause you to incur criticism, attack and doubt.   Sounds fun eh?  It IS.   In fact, SO FUN because it's you who will get to be a change-maker while others are just hiding in the closet worrying.  Worship hard AND Work hard. 


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Sacred Spaces and Thin Places

Tweet  There is both, something very human and something very spiritual, about us that congers up memories of significant encounters when we're exposed to familiar stimuli.  A room that makes us feel as we once felt.  A smell that brings us back to a time and place.  A pied piper's song that charms our spirit to another world.  

Often people speak of "Sacred Spaces."  The Celtics called them "Thin Places"... where heaven and earth intermingle.  They are often places where God HAPPENED to us.  We love marking some ground as a little more special than other ground. I recall very vividly when my father, the history teacher, took me to the see the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.  He had retold the story of Wolfe and Montcalm's clash many times to classes over generations (and his eldest son too) so it was like we were on hallowed earth. It was as if he could nearly see the ghost of General Wolfe in his brilliant red jacket laying slouched on this back, dying on the ground like in the painting on our wall.

One of my favorite, "Sacred Space" stories is that of the Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford England.  This pub was where CS Lewis (Narnia) and J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) met every Tuesday morning along with other writers and disciples... for 30 years. Their group was called "The Inklings." They'd meet, enjoy a pint or two, and challenge each other about how to paint word entry points into The Kingdom of God.  Not many have done this as artfully or effectively.

“The Bird is now gloriously empty, with improved beer, and a landlord wreathed in welcoming smiles! He lights a special fire for us!…I know no more pleasant sound than arriving at the B. and B. and hearing a roar, and knowing that one can plunge in.”
- - J.R.R. Tolkien on The Eagle and Child pub in Oxford

Clearly this was a very special place for these "pen is mightier" prophets. And few could write sacred spaces better than they. I have some places kinda like this and have even written about my "Churchill Room" that I'd love to have one day.

I googled some photos of tourists in this pub and read some online reviews of this simple, could be anywhere, establishment. I even watched some YouTube videos of people who made the pilgrimage to this literary landmark to drink and eat steak and kidney pie while sitting where their heroes sat. They either kind of seemed underwhelmed, puzzled by it's normalcy... or were caught embarrassing blurting forced "woo hoo" type group enthusiasm.

"This is it?"  I'm sure some thought. Is it possible that this space is any less thin or sacred today? 

I think it's that sacred spaces and thin places are in the eye of the beholder, or more accurately... in the spirit of the experiencer.  It's a place where God HAPPENED to us. Or even where God facilitated his Kingdom coming with friends.  It's an Ebeneezer Stone like Samuel raised in 1 Samuel 7 to mark the time where God helped his people to victory.  In fact the Holy Land is littered with stones and markings of where God HAPPENED.  It's good to remember it... but it doesn't mean that THAT'S where he STAYS.

Moses didn't go back to the burning bush when he needed to hear the voice of God although I'm sure there were times he'd think, "I'm dry and if only I could get back to that bush... but I'm way far away from my sacred space." But he couldn't and wouldn't dare really, because God had moved him onward.  It wasn't that the pub or the Plains of Abraham that were MORE sacred or thin... it was the company of gifted men or warriors as appointed by God. 

 When our church moved from a small, dirty and dank old bar laden with character to a unit of a mall... some left our family.  They left because of what we had done to their sacred space and thin place.  What we did was meet felt needs of a community by creating affordable housing... thus opening up the story of The Kingdom of God to others. The great part is that when we began worshiping in our mall... the place got thin too.  What an unfortunate misplacement of value on PLACE instead of PRESENCE.

Spaces and Places are nice.  They can be special for us. But it's the Presence of God that makes it sacred or thin.  And the presence of God roams about the earth and goes wherever he's welcomed and offered a chair at your table.


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