Having left town for three days to take my youngest son college visiting, I had only two days to prepare for Sunday. Since Saturday my husband Roger and I had to teach a workshop, getting that planned with him became the priority before I left. We finished that, and I got worship planned, but no sermon.
That sermon, normally done by Thursday at the latest, didn't come together until Sunday.
So this morning, unlike my usual Sunday morning, I had to finish the sermon. Print a retreat application for a parishioner. Practice a ministry in music which I rarely do. Play not just the opening choruses, but also the other songs as our pianist was elsewhere. Do the children's moment at the last moment instead of the youth pastor. After worship practice special music for next week .
Then I walked in the bathroom and discovered a paper towel in the toilet. Our septic system doesn't need that kind of challenge. So I had to fish it out.
It was the perfect cap to the morning. Not that the day is over. My son needs clothes washed (normally a Sabbath off limits task) for his school trip to Costa Rica that leaves about 4 a.m. Monday. And I have to plan our evening youth experience.
The joys of ministry! Truly it is a privilege and I am grateful. As we enter Holy Week, I cannot begin to show my gratitude to Christ for His sacrifice. The least I can do is fish a paper towel out of the toilet.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Pain and Progress
My status update on Facebook caused some thinking. I started with Passion plus purpose equals progress but through pain. My friend David suggested this formula: "think you're missing something ... the impetus that gets us actually moving. i propose that (Passion + Purpose) * movement = progress - (pain / n) where n is obedience to the Word of God."
To which I countered: Passion + Purpose x Power (Holy Spirit) equals Progress...but I don't think the Pain is divided by obedience. Ask Jesus in the garden. Obedience makes pain worthwhile, but it still hurts. And I don't think pain necessarily subtracts from progress either, but often is required. Again, think of Jesus in the Garden.
Does all good progress have to be filtered by pain? I wish it were not so, but I'm not sure painless progress exists. Even happy things are fraught with the pain of change. A child walks and we rejoice, but we are also letting go of that child a little bit.
Not all pain is debilitating. And it can achieve a purpose itself, and usually does. Referencing Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane again, the greatest pain ever experienced brought the greatest progress ever made, victory over sin and death. Well worthwhile pain.
Some pain seems pointless. In the middle of suffering we often can't see past the tears on our pillow. But the same God who never misses a tear drop does not allow those tears to fall to the ground without refining our character, the salt in those very tears etching away at our selfishness, our pride, our resistance to God's ultimate purposes.
O Lord, that it would not be so, that we could walk the upward way without pain, but thank You that You go with us as we travel, and that every pain we feel in our steps forward You sense the echoes of from centuries ago. We walk no path that You have not already trod.
God does seem to allow us seasons without suffering. We rest and recuperate. But I can't say we are making much progress in those times. So at some point, we reenter the fray, if we really want to live, and not just mark time.
As I write this, I wonder if I have a warped view of life. This has been my experience, living on the front lines as I do, which is why Roger and I choose comedies when we watch a movie, too much pain in the real life we experience. That doesn't mean the pain is all my own, I am grateful for the unscathed life I live, no great illness, no children in tragedy, no relational heartbreak. But I cannot watch the world around me with an unfeeling heart.
So I hurt. And I grow. It must cause some "pain" for a young plant to break out of its seed pod. And someday, we will truly break free, and finally arrive where there is no more crying or pain. And that will be real progress.
To which I countered: Passion + Purpose x Power (Holy Spirit) equals Progress...but I don't think the Pain is divided by obedience. Ask Jesus in the garden. Obedience makes pain worthwhile, but it still hurts. And I don't think pain necessarily subtracts from progress either, but often is required. Again, think of Jesus in the Garden.
Does all good progress have to be filtered by pain? I wish it were not so, but I'm not sure painless progress exists. Even happy things are fraught with the pain of change. A child walks and we rejoice, but we are also letting go of that child a little bit.
Not all pain is debilitating. And it can achieve a purpose itself, and usually does. Referencing Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane again, the greatest pain ever experienced brought the greatest progress ever made, victory over sin and death. Well worthwhile pain.
Some pain seems pointless. In the middle of suffering we often can't see past the tears on our pillow. But the same God who never misses a tear drop does not allow those tears to fall to the ground without refining our character, the salt in those very tears etching away at our selfishness, our pride, our resistance to God's ultimate purposes.
O Lord, that it would not be so, that we could walk the upward way without pain, but thank You that You go with us as we travel, and that every pain we feel in our steps forward You sense the echoes of from centuries ago. We walk no path that You have not already trod.
God does seem to allow us seasons without suffering. We rest and recuperate. But I can't say we are making much progress in those times. So at some point, we reenter the fray, if we really want to live, and not just mark time.
As I write this, I wonder if I have a warped view of life. This has been my experience, living on the front lines as I do, which is why Roger and I choose comedies when we watch a movie, too much pain in the real life we experience. That doesn't mean the pain is all my own, I am grateful for the unscathed life I live, no great illness, no children in tragedy, no relational heartbreak. But I cannot watch the world around me with an unfeeling heart.
So I hurt. And I grow. It must cause some "pain" for a young plant to break out of its seed pod. And someday, we will truly break free, and finally arrive where there is no more crying or pain. And that will be real progress.
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