Late for Church

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Margaret

I woke this morning to my mother, whom we fondly call Midge, knocking on my bedroom door.

“Birgitta, are you up yet?”

I rolled over sleepily, wondering how it could possibly be morning already. She kept knocking.

“Church starts at 10:30. We need to leave here by 10:20!”

I glanced at the clock: 9:45. Unable to speak this early, I dragged myself out of bed in annoyance, wondering why she continued to pound on the door instead of just opening it as she usually does when I’m at the cottage, where my alarm is somehow much less effective.

I yanked the door open to let her know I was awake, remembering that I’d locked it the night before to prevent Jack the dog from bashing his head against it in order to open it so he could come and go as he pleased.

Midge, already in her Sunday best, left my doorway upon seeing me vertical. I turned on some music to get ready, as I do every morning, and hurriedly rummaged through my messy pile of clothing, quickly selecting a dress to wear. After showering, I headed back to my room to find I couldn’t get the door open. Locked. Quickly noticing my dilemma, Midge looked up from the book she had been reading in her La-Z-Boy.

“Uh oh,” she said as she got up to offer assistance.

“How is this possible?” I said angrily as I jostled the doorknob. “I didn’t lock it!”

“That’s strange,” Midge replied. “Maybe we can get it open with a screwdriver.” She disappeared into her room and quickly returned with an array of sizes. We each repeatedly attempted to unscrew the lock, but the door wouldn’t budge. “Maybe we need to pound the lock in from the outside,” Midge suggested. “I have just the thing!” She pranced downstairs and came back with a tool from the basement. Again we both banged against the lock, even using a hammer, but it was all to no avail.

“What am I gonna do?” I whined. “I can’t go to church like this!” Remaining calm, Midge thought for a moment.

“I know,” she said. “I’ll go out on the roof and get in through the window.”

“What?!” I squawked, envisioning Midge slipping down the steep slant of the roof to the concrete 20 feet below. “No, Midge. If anything, I should go out there. Not you!” But she insisted.

“No, no, no, honey, I wouldn’t want you to fall. I can do this.” And with that she slipped off her shoes, hopped up on a chair, and began climbing out her bedroom window onto the roof.

“Midge!” I yelped as I stuck my head out the window behind her. “You should not do this!” But she had already scaled the slippery slope like a pro and was standing in front of the window to my bedroom, devising a way to remove the screen from the outside. “Oh gosh,” I muttered as I clutched my phone, ready to call 9-1-1 in case she should fall.

“I just need a little screwdriver to get this screen off!” She yelled back to me. “My dresser, top drawer!” I ran to her dresser for the screwdriver, wondering who I should call second, after 9-1-1.

“Here!” I shouted as I leaned out the window to hand it to her.

“Perfect,” she replied, taking the screwdriver, not the least bit worried. I watched in amazement as she popped off the screen within seconds and leapt through the window.

“Thank you, Midge,” I said gratefully after she had unlocked the door and I had reentered my bedroom. I resumed getting ready, realizing that after almost 21 years as her daughter, I never knew what a risk taker Midge was!

* * * * * * * *

Birgitta’s narration of our morning reminds me of John Lennon’s line, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” This morning’s lock-out made us very late for church (we actually missed the whole service), and similar sidebars happen daily to each of us.

But we have an excellent model of how to respond. Jesus’ ministry was one interruption after another, yet he always acted with grace, seamlessly weaving each unplanned set of circumstances into his rearranged day. He paid attention to the moment and turned each disturbance into an opportunity to do good.

May we do as well.

“All of us who look forward to his coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.” (1 John 3:2)

Satisfying a Thirst

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Margaret

Jack and I love our daily ventures to Lake Michigan. The minute we get there, he flops down on his back, legs in the air, wriggling toward the heavens in a happy dance. It’s his canine way of praising God for creating the beach.

The second thing he does is jump into the creek where he gulps a tasty drink, but he’s not the only one. Paw prints in the wet sand prove how many others love the water: deer, rabbits, raccoons, seagulls, dogs and a fox. Adidas and Nike have been there, too, and my bare feet leave additional prints.

I don’t share Jack’s love of a “Creek Cocktail” but apparently the animals prefer that over clear, clean lake water. It’s nice to know local critters have an unlimited water supply, unlike animals living in deserts and other dry areas. Not even the biggest crowd could swallow up Lake Michigan.

All of us need water. We might choose to fast from food for over a month and survive (as Jesus did), but no one can fast from water. We need it daily.

I remember the newspaper account of a man afloat in Lake Michigan on a stalled jet ski. He drifted to where he couldn’t see the shoreline and hoped he would eventually be noticed by a passing boat. Unsure whether or not the lake was safe to drink, he went dry, quickly suffering dehydration. When he eventually drifted ashore several days later, he had nearly died of thirst.

Jesus referred to himself as a source of “living water,” water so life-sustaining we’d be foolish not to drink it. In conversation with a woman who was about to fill her earthen jar from a well, he offered to give her a sample of his supernatural water. She said that no water anywhere could be as good as the well water she was about to retrieve. But Jesus said, “If you realized the significance of what I was offering you and who was offering it, you’d eagerly take it!” (John 4:10)

Thankfully, after two additional days of conversation with Jesus, the woman and many others from her village were able to grasp the incredible value of what he was willing to give, and they drank deeply of it.

Amazingly, Jesus’ water supply is still available to us today. Its benefits are eternal, and when we drink it once, we’ll never thirst for it again. The only requirement is that we bring an empty vessel and a willingness to believe he is who he says he is. After that, he’ll fill it till it overflows.

I’ve tasted this supernatural water, and it is, indeed, life-sustaining and thirst quenching.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13)

Dog-gone-it.

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Margaret

Recently, while driving 75 mph on a crowded expressway, I saw an animal crouched in the grassy center-strip. As I got closer and whizzed by, I saw it was a dog, a Beagle.

He must have successfully crossed one set of lanes hoping to make it across the second. Poised to bolt, with his head forward, chin parallel to the ground and legs bent, he seemed to know what he was doing. I’ll never know if he made it.

Today, again on an expressway, I saw a furry lump ahead on the shoulder. Flying past, I saw it was a dog, big and Collie-like. He was lying on his side, his white belly and long fluffy tail out of place next to the road. He looked as if he was napping, but surely he’d been hit.

Was someone looking for him? Maybe a young boy or girl who considered him a best friend? If Jack had been hit by a car and found lying like that, the girls and I would weep for weeks.

Ten miles later, still thinking about the Collie, I saw another fluffy animal ahead, this time a German Shepherd. He, too, was lying on his side. I wondered about the two cars that had hit these animals. Had they seen them? Felt them? Tried to stop and help them?

It’s risky to touch an injured animal, but maybe a collar could have been removed and a call made. Surely the two owners were walking their neighborhoods calling for their pets, a disturbing picture.

Sadly, I didn’t stop either and was no better than a hit-and-run driver.

What’s the difference between someone who interrupts their day to do a good deed and someone like me? Big difference. The one who helps ends up on the nightly news, because he has rushed into a burning house or thrown himself into a river with his clothes on, intent on saving a life. A crisis erupts, and though logic says, “Step back!” he has stepped forward.

I’m the one passing by.

Scripture tells the story of a good Samaritan going out of his way to help a wounded man lying by the side of the road, much like the two dogs. Though others had stepped around him or looked the other way, this man broke stride, got his hands dirty, alleviated the crisis while risking recrimination, and helped.

What would I have done?

Heroes like this think nothing of stepping in. When interviewed afterwards they often say, “I didn’t think about it. I just did it.”

Maybe it’s a do-for-others mentality they’ve always had or a mindset they’ve developed because it’s the right way to live.

Or, maybe it’s God’s Spirit empowering someone to act with courage rather than cowardice. If that’s the case, there’s still a chance I might make the split-second choice to help someone in need.