Monday, February 14, 2011

Mud pigs and chickens: Life is in balance

Life is about balance. The bad has to be balanced with the good or things get all patooey (a fine word that means whatever you want it to mean).

Good: I spent Saturday with the grandkids. I read a big book that had descriptions of animals, then you could pull a tab and it would give you the picture and the name of the animal. Gavin, the very soon to be four-year-old, sat in my lap as I read the description for hippo. As I pulled the tab, I said the word hippo. Gavin said, "No. That's not right. That's a mud pig." I couldnt' stop laughing for minutes. He also disagreed with a couple of birds. Both times he said, "No, that's a chicken." Apparently bacon and chicken nuggets are foremost in his mind.

Bad: A dear, dear lady who goes to Fitzgerald fell late Saturday night and broke her ankle. The ankle is so badly broken there is talk from her doctor that she might not walk again. But when I visited her for the second time (the first time she was not lucid because of the pain meds) she told me her only concern was what pressure it would put on her family. She is the kind of Christian I aspire to be. She's funny, she's caring, and she's flat out good. That this should happen to her...

Good: The youngest of the grand kids, little Emma, smiled and ran to me and said Pawpaw with great conviction. Previously Emma has been a little slow to warm up to Mary and I, probably because we lived 60 miles away and don't see her nearly as often as we would like. But on this day, Emma was an absolute delight, even if she doesn't know anything about mud pigs or chickens.

Bad: A dear, dear man who is married to one of my favorite people is fighting through a fall and a probable stroke. He is in long-term rehab, can't walk, is having trouble speaking and can't recognize some things on a visual test they've given him. His wife was told Saturday that he will never again be the man he was and that the rehab center is sending him home on March 2 no matter whether he's better or not. His wife is, rightfully so, shaken to the core. Two people so intertwined, so good, and this happens to them ...

Good: Gabe, the oldest of the grand kids, ran to me and gave me a strong, endearing hug. You can see the maturity growing in Gabe even as he physically grows more slowly. He's had a lot to overcome emotionally in his young life, but he's done so with great persistence and a loving, loving mother at his side. He lost his father when Gabe was but three, so the fact that he's as mature as he is is a gift from God.

Bad: Maria, a dear, dear woman who lives across the street from the parsonage, has been the caregiver for her husband for more than five years. Her husband, Lloyd, had a massive stroke all those years ago and is incapable of movement, though mentally he still is alert. She was told last week that she has a hole in her eye, and they are doing a procedure on February 22. Lloyd's daughter from another marriage is coming in to help Maria since Maria must be bedridden with her head facing downward for 10 days after the procedure. That Maria, who has done far more than I will ever do in terms of giving care to a loved one or anyone for that matter, has been struck down gives one reason to pause and ponder the goodness of the universe ...

But as I mused on yesterday's sermon for the final time, I was forced by circumstances to look at the weekend, then I wound up writing in pen some things on the typed manuscript minutes before I stepped into the pulpit.

What I was struck by was the thought that God is always with us, even through the difficult times. Two thoughts bore themselves into my brain. Two thoughts that mean more than mere words. I preached on
Abraham's ability to completely trust God as he climbed the hill with his son Isaac and wood for a fire for a burnt offering. His task was to sacrifice his only son. Abraham was, if not willing, at least trustful of God that the best would come from this situation. though he held the knife, he knew and trusted God held both lives in the balalnce.

I added these thoughts to my sermon.
First, through the endless difficulties we all face from time to time, God tells us a number of vital things. First, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." He does not change the circumstance. He changes the outcome. He changes the person going through the circumstance. Then, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" That needs to explanation. If God is all powerful, and to believe God is less than that makes him something other than God, then his being for us is more important than even our health. Finally, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." One could add, the inability to speak well or walk or see. If God is for us, he will turn all things to the good, he will sweep away the sadness, destroy the badness. If he chooses not to heal in the way we want, still we must count on that love that surpasses everything.


Then, no matter what comes against us, even new circumstances like the inability to walk or the need for a sitter 24 hours a day, or even the possibility of a loss of sight in one eye despite all these persons ahve done, the Bible gives us these thoughts, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Peace that surpasses all understanding is the peace we get from God. It allows us to deflect the situation, to deny the anxiety that would strangle most and even to go through the event with rejoicing when others would have crumbled.

So today, life is in balance. The bad weighs me down. The good lifts me up. I stay in the middle, which is where life is supposed to be lived. If I could change things, I would have all days a 10 on a scale of 10, but that's not life and that's why I'm not in charge.

I'm just a mud pig wallowing in a chicken pen.

No comments: