Mar 3 - "Brothers and Sisters"

Mark 3:19b-35
"Then His mother and His brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, 'Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.'. And He replied, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?'. And looking at those who sat around Him, He said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.'."
***********************************
The Wilson family is a pretty tight bunch.

As I was growing up, my brother, sisters and I spent a lot of time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. For many people, unfortunately, this time with family is at best, a penance. At worst, it is a gathering filled with conflict and discord. But for us...now more than Wilson, but also called Clark and Finnity and Elliott and Cantine (and soon to be Rosen)...it was, and continues to be, some of the most joyful moments in our lives.

When I think about growing up in a very closely knit family, I realize the power which exists when you have a large group of people around you who will do anything for you. When you are surrounded by people who you know, so deeply in your heart because you have seen it so many times, love you and support you and genuinely care about what is going on in your life, how can you fail?

The thing that is most interesting to me about all of the people who have descended from Al and Bonnie Wilson, and the people they have brought into our family as spouses (I am going to brag a little here), is the love they so freely give. Each of them...every single one...seems to possess this abounding love, not only for each other, but for the people in their lives who are outside of our family. Even though, I believe, they each possess a fervent love for their brothers and sisters to whom they are joined by blood, they are also passionate about showing love to those outside our family. They have each taken the gift of love and support which was shown to them and carried it outside of this unit, making brothers and sisters of those around them.

In just over two weeks, my baby sister Abbi is getting married! As if this special event was not already joyful enough, its magnificence is compounded with the fact that I will get to spend a couple of days with some of the people I love most in my life. My parents; my aunts and uncles; Grandma Bonnie; my cousins; my nieces and nephews...my brother and sisters and their husbands and wives. What great joy!

Now, the mantle has been past. The responsibility of supporting the development of close relationships between each of our children has come to us. The brothers and sisters and cousins of my generation were given an amazing gift. It is our joy and our duty to ensure that the children of the next generation have the same love, the same generosity of spirit, the same power of a supporting family given to them. And, that they take it into the world.

So, be brothers and sisters to one another. Abound in love, build each other up give support to those around you. Know that when you call a man "brother" and woman "sister", you create a special relationship which, when joined with Christ's love, becomes something greater than the two of you as individuals could ever be alone.

Mar 2 - "The Tooth Fairy"

Mark 3:7-19a
"Jesus parted with His disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him; hearing all that He was doing, they came to Him in great numbers... He told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him because of the crowd, so they would not crush Him; for He had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon Him to touch Him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and shouted, 'You are the Son of God!'. But He sternly ordered them not to make Him known."
*************************************
Yesterday afternoon, our youngest daughter Eliza lost a tooth. Well...she didn't actually lose it. She came into my office and pointed out how much it was dangling from its spot in the front of her mouth and asked me to finish the job. I, of course, obliged, being the only one in our household with the stomach for the task.

As soon as the tooth had been removed from its precarious position, her thoughts immediately turned to the Tooth Fairy. Not the really bad movie we saw a few weeks, back, but the wily sprite who would bring her a dollar coin that night while she slept, in exchange for the tooth. As silly as it may sound that a dainty pixie would somehow get into our house last night, hauling a bag of coins and an arrangement of teeth from previous stops, her faith in this sequence of events is unwavering. She believes.

Why does she believe? Probably a few simple reasons. One, Greta and I have told her that it will happen. Two, she has seen evidence that it is true via her older sisters' similar de-dentification and receipt of coin, as well as her own previous experience. Three, even while her ever-evolving awareness of the realities of the world push her toward the unlikelihood that this magic is real, there is something inside her which is beyond the telling, beyond the evidence; Faith.

Why do we believe?

We all have our times when our faith feels very strong, unwavering. Other times, it is shaken to the core and we feel alone, wondering if God really exists, if Christ truly walked this Earth. Yes, we have evidence. We have heard of and seen miracles; we feel the presence of God in a shockingly gorgeous Autumn day; our prayers answered. But, wouldn't it be easier if God just showed up on our doorstep one day, with Christ standing beside Him?

Why would Christ tell the demons who had no faith, but had a clear knowledge of His role in Eternity, to keep quiet and not disclose His true being? Wouldn't it have been easier for Him and for all of us if He allowed the Heavenly Host to come down and provide clear evidence of His nature and who He was?

But, alas, that easy road. It's always the same. Easy is not special; easy is not meaningful; easy does not refine or improve; easy is...just...easy.

Faith is a hard thing. But it is the thing that adds the final layer of confirmation onto the foundation of what we are told and what we have been able to see as slim peeks at evidence of existence. Faith is the thing that makes us more than a bag of bones, more than a loose and random assembly of atoms and molecules. Faith distinguishes us from the rest of Creation.

So, believe in that which you cannot see. Have Faith. For in that faith, the impossible becomes possible and the unreal becomes real. Faith allows us to know a secret which, when woven deeply into the fabric of our existence, gives us the power to become ones who lay the foundations for others' faith. We become a part of that which is Holy and by increasing the ability for others to have faith, our own faith grows.

Mar 1 - "Be Nice"

1 Corinthians 4:8-21
"Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings!"
*******************************
If you are reading this post, it is most likely that you have a few "comforts" in the world; you have the means to purchase or access a computer, you are able to afford some type of wireless or broadband connect to the internet and you have at least a few free moments each day to spend time updating or getting updates on the world and your friends via email, web sites or Facebook.

We live lives of luxury, when compared to a significantly large portion of the world's population. Now...don't worry...I'm not going to get all populist on you and make you feel guilty about the things in your life for which you have worked very hard. I am a free market capitalist tried an true, but, I also think we should take time to step back and recognize our position in the world every once in awhile and take stock.

There are times in our days, weeks, months...where we feel like there is so much to do. If you are the member of a household who has the lion share of the responsibility to take care of all things family, you are a busy person, for sure. You likely spend your week taking kids to and from school or activities; you will shop for food and then have to cook it; you will wash, fold and put away clothes and maybe make a run to the dry cleaners; you will gas up the car; you will plan family outings or vacations. There is plenty to keep you very busy.

If you are one of the "breadwinners" of the household, you also work hard. You trek to and from work in your car; you may travel for your job, spending time in airports, hotels, taxis and restaurants; you work early and late to get the job done, relying on your spouse to pick up the slack when the demands of work run high. You have a lot to do.

But in the fullness of our lives, there are dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of people out there who, because of the work they do, enable us to work and play. They work in stores, gas stations, restaurants, dry cleaners, hotels and airports. They deliver our mail, collect our trash and keep the power on. If we are being honest with ourselves, how do we interact and treat the people who are critical to our lives each day?

Sometimes, it's the little things that can make a difference. Whenever I travel, on business or with my family, and end up staying in a hotel, I clean up after myself. This sounds strange to say, but, how many of us think of a hotel room as a place where we can live out the dreams of childhood and jump on the bed, leave things lying around, trash the place...and someone else will clean up the mess without you getting yelled at or grounded? When I leave a hotel room, the towels are all in the bathtub, there is no trash lying around, whatever I used...water bottles, soap, shampoo, etc...is all in the wastebasket, not strewn around the place.

Now, I know the housekeeping staff still has to clean the room, change the linens and make the bed, but, how nice is it to step into a room that is not a train wreck? Maybe this person has been having a tough day. This past weekend we were at a hotel with a water park...I have to imagine that, with all of the kids at this place, some of the rooms get pretty trashed. Hopefully, when the staff came to our room after we checked out, they thought, "Phew...finally, an easy one."

We have all we want. We are rich. We are kings.

Although each of us may be deeply thankful for the way God has blessed our lives and we may have worked incredibly hard to attain the position in life we currently occupy, are we not obliged to still be conscious of those who toil endlessly in order to support our enjoyment of these blessings?

So, be nice. Give a smile...a please...a sincere thank you to those who support your life each day. Recognize that so many of their jobs are thankless and harder than we can imagine. Be aware that your actions, your decisions on how you treat them can lift their day up, or, even if done unwittingly, destroy it.

Feb 28 - "Do The Right Thing"

Mark 2:23 - 3:6
"Again He entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched Him to see if He would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Come forward.'. Then He said to them, 'Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?'. But they went silent. He looked around at them with anger; He was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.'. He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him."
***************************************
We are faced with difficult choices every day.

In the course of our lives, throughout every week, we make decisions about whether to do what we know is right, or to die a little death and succumb to that which is wrong.

I find myself on a regular basis, not faced with major decisions between right and wrong (should I return the wallet that guy just dropped or keep it for myself?), but with ones of much less dramatic impact. There can be situations where I know something can be changed for the better by stepping up and making my opinion known, but I keep silent because I fear the consequences. Many times, the simplest choice of doing a little good can make a big difference.

Why do we struggle with this? Even though we know something is right, we are fearful at times of upsetting the proverbial apple cart.

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, we have been watching the wonderful miracles of Jesus in the world. His actions and works have turned the lives of the Pharisees upside down. For Jesus, up to this point, doing the "right thing" has been without material consequence. However, we can see what is to come. The verse at the end of this reading is a terrible foreshadowing of what will happen when a group of people have decided to do the wrong thing. It is a bit scary.

Fortunately, we know how the story ends, though. We know about the triumphant resurrection. But, there is certainly some pain to come before good ultimately wins.

So, do the the right thing. You know what it is. Although this choice may, at the least, make for an uncomfortable situation, or at the worst, put some part of your life in peril, you have to do what you know to be right and good. Pray for guidance to know what is right. Pray for support and protection from harm once you take action. But when your prayers are answered, move forward. For we know that when we do what is right and good, helpful and not harmful, we are standing beside Christ and He is beside us.

Feb 27 - "Looking For Jesus"

Mark 2: 13-22

"And as He sat at dinner in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinner were also sitting with Jesus and His disciples - for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, 'Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?'. When Jesus heard this, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners.'"
*****************************
Over the past 6 months or so, I have come to know a very interesting and wonderful guy. His name is Alphonso Bailey. He leads and organization called Down But Not Out (check out his story at http://www.downbutnotout.org/) which minsters to men who are in prison. I have had a few opportunities to watch "Fonz" at work. He is truly amazing and at every instance, touches the hearts of the men to whom he is speaking and often brings them to know God and accept Jesus as their Savior.

When I first met Fonz, I spoke to him about the call I was feeling to become involved in Prison Ministry. My biggest fear at the time was not the fact that I may be putting myself at risk, going into prisons and correctional facilities, but that I would be sitting or praying with a man and have him say, "What do you know about the troubles in my life? How can you sit here and relate to me!?!? What is your reason for trying to bring Jesus into this prison?!?"

Fonz was able to calm my fears and tell me that in almost every situation, these men would look to me and the other men involved in this ministry as examples. They would wonder how we were able to avoid trouble, when temptation for malfeasance seemed to continually abound.

When I asked Fonz about what drives him to bring the Word of God and the love of Jesus into these prison situations, he had an amazing answer. He said, "Jesus told His disciples that he was thankful they had fed Him, clothed Him, visited Him in prison. When the disciples asked, 'Lord, when did we feed you, clothe you or visit you in prison?', Jesus replied with, 'When you did this to the least of these, you did this to Me.''

Fonz then said, "Scott, I don't go in there bringing Jesus, I go in there looking for Him.".

Wow!

This approach brought a whole new perspective, not only to the work I was trying to do in heeding this call, but caused me to look at parts of Jesus' ministry in a very different way. I have to imagine that when Jesus sat with tax collectors and sinners, when He spoke with prostitutes or Pharisees, He was not only looking to heal them, but he must have been looking for reflections of Himself and God in each of these people.

Jesus is in every single one of us. Yes...even in those, to put it bluntly, who hate, who assault, who destroy, who kill. When we open our eyes and recognize that there is a kernel of Jesus deep inside every person, we must recognize and accept that how we treat every person, is how we are treating Jesus.

So, look for Jesus. Look for Him in every person you meet, no matter how mildly annoying or terrifyingly evil they may seem to be. Look for Jesus and when you find Him, you will also be found.

Feb 26 - "Getting Through"

Mark 2:1-12
"When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in the front door; and he was speaking the Word to them. Then some people came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, carried by the four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat, on which the paralytic lay."
************************************
It is amazing how full of "things" our lives can be, at times. Between family, work, kids' activities...trying to exercise and stay healthy...our favorite TV shows, reading a book...and let's not forget we still need to eat and sleep every day...time can really fly by due to the number of items we "need" to get done in the daily course of our lives. Is it so hard to believe, then, that it is hard for us to make room for Jesus?

The clutter of our day stacks up against us. The things we have chosen...and sometimes not chosen...which churn through the minutes and hours can put up a barrier between each of us and a relationship with God, and His son, Jesus. We barrel along through our day, and then a week goes by...then a month. We realize we haven't spent time in prayer, or gone to church, or simply reveled in the majesty of Creation or the simple joy of a goodnight kiss on the forehead of a sleeping child.

But like many of the things we do each day and week, we are fully able to make finding Jesus a "habit". It can be in the simplest thing...a short prayer before bed time, or when we first open our eyes each day. It can be anytime we are feeling thankful...or full of the Spirit when our favorite song comes on the radio (or iPod) and we feel moved to sing along at the top of our lungs, a huge smile spread across our faces.

For me, I always try to remember to say a prayer after each time I go for a run. Before I step foot back into our house (or hotel, very often as of late), I stop, close my eyes and say; "Heavenly Father, thank you for this run today. Thank you for giving me a spirit to run, so that I can be healthy...and for keeping me healthy, so that I can run." I then take a moment to thank God for the work He is doing in my life at that time; for watching over my family. I pray for help or guidance, peace or strength...or all of them...and then praise Him for the graceful, merciful and majestic Lord that He is. I finish with, "Heavenly Father, I offer these prayers of thanks, petition and praise to You in the name of Your son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, as one God, now and forever. Amen." I find myself renewed.

In whichever form it comes, we need to find a way to clear away the clutter and be in personal communion with Jesus. We are compelled to make a determined effort, digging through the detritus of our daily lives, to be with Him. Not because Jesus needs it or God demands it as some type of ticket to Heaven. No, we need to do it because our spirits thirst for it!

So, are you getting through? Will you make time today to quench the thirst? Take time, take this moment to be with Him and be refreshed.

Feb 25 - "Patient Growth"

1 Corinthians 2:14 - 3:15

" I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."
***********************

What thing in your life today are you waiting on to grow?

Our middle daughter Rachel in the process of creating a terrarium in her science class at school. Although she was probably most excited about drinking the root beer in order to empty the 2 liter bottle needed for the project, she is also excited what will grow from the tiny seeds she planted in the soft soil of her project. Last night she said "I can't wait to see my terrarium tomorrow to see if my peas have grown." I didn't spoil her excitement by telling her that she still had a while to wait before little green shoots emerge from the surface.

We can all be impatient at times with others, but especially with ourselves, on the time it takes for something to grow. We make a commitment to lose weight or learn a language or change a behavior with which we are unhappy; or, as my sister and her husband are feeling, they can't wait until their beautiful little baby Myra grows out of the colicky stage she is in.

It is really hard to wait on growth. Many times, we don't see an immediate result to our efforts and we lose heart. Sheryl Crow is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. A line from one of her songs Maybe That's Something says, "Making miracles is hard work, some people give up before they happen." The impression we sometimes have is that miracles just appear in a magical "poof" right before our eyes; most times, they take some effort. As we know, to witness the miracle of a beautiful sunset, you have to wait all day for it to get there.

In today's reading, Paul says that the "planter" and the "waterer" are not important in the process of growth. Of course they are, but his point is still valid...God is the one who takes our seeds of joyful expectation and brings them to their full potential. There are times, of course, when we see a quick result. But most often, we need to be patient with the growth that is coming. We need not be so hard on ourselves if the goal we are trying to achieve doesn't yield an immediate result, even when we are still maintaining our efforts in a focused and diligent manner.

So, wait on the Lord, dear friends. Be patient, but remain faithful to the work which must be done to make that miracle. For during the time we are waiting for something else to grow, we grow too.