A PRAYER FROM THE CORNER

Merciful God, we confess we've done it to ourselves again and need help. For lack of vision, we took your generous gifts of wealth, mismanaged them and painted ourselves into a corner.  You gave us clear enough instructions.  Take just three--all from the teachings of Jesus: (1) Misuse of wealth can be hazardous to your health, (2) Use your resources to care for those less fortunate than you, and (3) Co-create with You a heaven on earth.

 As a bottom line, you warned that we cannot serve God and mammon. We operate from the illusion that we are to use our riches to make more riches. That bucket has a hole in it. Surely we can learn more helpful,  compassionate ways to use the resources you have provided. The key is to not despise our wealth, but to use it wisely. That is where we as a nation seem to bog down.

Even though we continually ignore your directions, for the next few weeks we especially pray for your forgiveness and grace in these national and global concerns. Save us again from ourselves, our lust for power, our addictions to money, our disregard for the needy.

Trusting in your forgiveness and grace, Amen.

LABEL CONTROL

One of our daughters and a good friend had a lively discussion on the politics of Stephen Colbert.  The question seems to be whether he is really liberal satirizing the conservatives or is he a Republican in Democrat clothes. I do not know what kind of card he carries or how he votes and I don't care. For my money he doesn't have to be on either side. In fact, I think his genius is in his ability to see the ridiculous in the political antics on both sides, With the depressing news coming from our media everyday, a humor break is most refreshing.  Except for his dependency on junior high locker room talk to get laughs and giggles, I find him very funny and enjoyable.  

Meanwhile, back in my bed, I am quite content to do without the labels when I can.  Labeling myself is just as distracting as labeling other people. I consciously pray regularly to control both.  Labels seem to contract when I need to expand my respect and love for God's creations. When I am successful it is very satisfying to settle for a simple, "I am". It is reported that that is all God needed to describe himself and Paul said of himself, "By the grace of God I am what I am."

The key I guess is not to take our human predicament too seriously and trust in God to help us through even when it does not make sense to our limited minds.  Might as well laugh when we can.

HOUSE-AH-REST

My friend asks if after a month in house with my feet up, do I have cabin fever. I stammer something like, "I have plenty to keep me busy and entertained (like writing down stuff like this). I admit it was refreshing to get out for two doctor's visits and one brief time on the front porch soaking in some sun and swatting mosquitos.

Basically, however, I have not bored myself.  I am learning through this that I do better LIVING than I do WAITING.  When I live I simply accept what is happening and go with that as thoroughly as I can--often enjoying it.  When I just wait for something different to happen I discover I am in fantasy land.  It is a nice place to visit but no place to live--too fleeting and undependable.

So I'm not "Waiting for Godot" and that meaningless dead end.

GET OUT OF JAIL FREE

Occasionally I breakout of jail if only for a few minutes. In these rare instances I am drawn out of the prison of my own mind. I do not know when I will be provided a tool for escape (like a file in my birthday cake). Often it is a chance conversation in which I see someone I care about who is even more deeply existing in a dungeon of mere thought than I am.  They take great pride in their thinking ability as if there is not a universe of possibilities beyond their small world. They treasure their mere thoughts as if they were an expression of the ultimate truth and the highest achievement of life.  May God bless their efforts and keep them focussed on "whatever is true,  noble,  right, pure, lovely, admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.  And the God of peace be with you." (Ph. 4:8-9)

But Charlie Wonders if there isn't in me a level of consciousness far deeper than even my highest thoughts That is when I am motivated to examine the cracks in my prison wall hoping to escape the prison of my narrow, custom-made thought patterns.  There, to my amazement, I discover my most genuine self, my very essence,  the Image of God, the Christ in me.  Here I see an expanded awareness of what is real.  It feels like home.  All around I see wonderful open space away from my noisy thoughts. I sing, "Free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last."

MERCY ME

It doesn't take long being even partially crippled to realize the marvelous value in being whole.  Becoming a whole person is the goal of my life no matter what my age. It is still the command of Jesus "Be ye whole as I am whole."

Therefore, when I am painfully reminded of my incompletion at basic levels, it is a call to specific "acts of kindness."  For generations Christians have prayed a mantra, "Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy." It is a prayer I can pray easily because I think Christ is mercy. My challenge is to have mercy on myself--on my poor swollen feet, to intentionally direct loving kindness toward these faithful 81 year old foot soldiers. The  attitude of gratitude facilitates feelings of mercy and felt healing.  It is a softness spreading through my body replacing hardness of resisting pain. Even breathing is more natural, less breath holding, more Spirit-filled.

Gratefully, I do not have to provide the loving attitude all by myself. My wife has been constantly here (too constantly for her own good), children check in regularly , the church community is on the spot with Christlike compassion and  healing.  Those, further removed, call and send cards and e-mails of support.  God has raised up and prepared a dozen doctors and medical professionals who provided technical skills and care. Neighbors and friends built a ramp on the front parch to help me scoot to the medical facility where I finally turned a corner toward even faster treatment and the hope of recovery. Life is good as God surely intends.

BUGS

Hey, friends, I got bed bugs. Or did the doctor say, "Bad bugs." The name they use around the clinic is "C. Diff" which I think stands for the Spanish ca-ca dificil or in English, a difficult bacteria that is hard to get rid of.  It showed up in  my colon and I don't know how it got there.  As the crude crowd says on its bumper sticker, it just "happens." After three weeks of diarrhea, I got weak and dehydrated enough to go to the emergency room. They pumped bottled water into me, gave me tests, and an antibiotic called flagyl to stop the growth of the unwanted critters. Two days later I returned with Martha for our regular checkups with our primary care physician.  We went two hours early to get lab tests for the doctor. I had just sat down in the waiting room when the doctor's nurse came in, whispered something to Martha, and kindly whisked me off to isolation. After several hours there I was beginning to wonder what bad thing I had done to deserve isolation confinement. Finally, the doctor came and discussed the above mentioned issue. I am to keep taking the flagyl and keep everything I touch spotlessly clean.  I am to continue on the liquid diet that has been my practice for a week. Keri, our professional food server, fixed me what she proudly called a three-course meal (ginger ale, bouillon, and jello for desert). Already my trips to the bathroom are less frequent. Guess that makes me a distance runner.

TROUBLE TROUBLE TROUBLE

In a TV commercial "Worry, worry, worry,  trouble, trouble, trouble" invade a little dog's mind until he can secure his bone. It's the little dog's nightmare and the American dream. Finding bones and investing them in imaginary safe places, keeps many of us awake at night too. The bones themselves, are just as fleeting as the fantasy that we can keep them indefinitely. We go one step further. We let them define us. We take our identity from what we call success and wealth.  Jesus did not go there. He said that he came that we might  have life and have it more abundantly. The only way we can have life is found in  this instant. The question is not how much money have I made, saved or lost (past tense) or how much I dream about having someday if I play my cards right (future). These are all practical questions that are important in order to survive in the world, but as is often said, "To merely survive is not the same as to live." Scarcity thinking (instead of abundance) leads to fear, greed, injustice, violence, and hostility. The biblical emphasis on abundance encourages us to ask for our daily bread and know that will be enough. As Jesus teaches he looks at the birds above him or the wildflowers around him to illustrate the simple life to which he calls us.  I chuckle when I see the little worry dog.  He reminds me of my favorite possessions that create more problems for me than I need to have. I may not need to, but if I can't let then go in exchange for life, I am in deep trouble. Jesus  helps me see that I can bypass all these material frustrations by simply seeking first the spiritual kingdom of God and claim the promise that what I really need will be supplied.