Mother Theresa and Roatan

Let there be no pride or vanity in the work. The work is God's work, the poor are God's poor. Put yourself completely under the influence of Jesus, so that he may think his thoughts in your mind, do his work through your hands, for you will be all-powerful with him to strengthen you. - Mother Teresa

Not too many people will argue against the work of Mother Theresa, whether they share her faith perspective or not.

I love the first sentence of her statement, taken off today's Sojourners Verse and Voice posting.
"Let there be no pride or vanity in the work." We are not in it for ourselves or our own recognition. We are in it to be conduits of love in the way the author of love intended for others to receive.

If I were to piggyback on to yesterday's thoughts, this is a good place to add them. If we seek to gratify ourselves, or gain recognition for ourselves in our work then we are totally missing the mark.

There was an orphanage on Roatan a while back that was simply bad news. Ill run, a self serving director and questionable care of some of the kids. Thankfully that individual is now gone, unfortunately he is in another part of the world operating the same scam.

But as soon as one leaves, another slides in. It makes me so sad. It would appear that there are people who in the name of Jesus fabricate or exaggerate needs and come swooping in with a rescue plan that makes them look like the good guy. In this case the good guys would be living in donor supported beach front property. A good use of donated funds? Is this what humility in service looks like? I doubt Mother Theresa would agree.

Just my two cents...

What Drives You Crazy?

I was thinking about this some today as a few things were getting on my nerves.

I will also clue you in on something. If something or someone is getting on my nerves, I am generally pretty vocal about it (remember, that type of thing cost me a book contract).

Today my pet peeve continues to be the inconsistency between stating one's faith and then living one's faith. There are many who tout the Christian life, or righteously refer to themselves as Christians, but have some inconsistencies in how they live. Of course now that I have even mentioned this I feel like it opens me up to criticisms of being judgemental.

That isn't my intent. I know I make mistakes, and plenty of them. But I think the issue of how we state our beliefs and how well we live them out is important.

The island attracts a lot of volunteer help, many of whom refer to themselves as Christians, so it is a good laboratory in which to make some observations.

I have already mentioned that Miss Peggy goes about her day in quiet, humble service. To me, that is living one's faith.

There are several volunteers down here in Roatan and it turns out one of them has a dad who is a prominent Christian author who writes all kinds of relationship rescue books and runs marriage retreats. But he is divorced, so that struck me as a bit odd.

There is a new organization coming to the island of Roatan that is seeking to set up a home for abandoned girls, except the majority of them live in slums on the mainland, and aren't here on the island.They are trying to raise a tremendous amount of money. But I guess a 2 million dollar building wouldn't be as nice in the foothills of the Honduran countryside as it will be looking out over the ocean. Just an observation.

Yes, I know my observations can come out sounding harsh, so I apologize for that, it is just perplexing to me.

There is a pastor on the island who is all about supporting family, but is charging his mother in law big bucks for rent.

Drama at the Concession Stand

Today we had our last home swim meet. Now, for those of you not familiar with competitive swimming, it is a long season in which interminable meets happen every Saturday to eat up an afternoon. One must volunteer at these meets and your kid may swim a total of two minutes spread out over several hours.

Our rec center just purchased new rocking chairs, I think they must have been from Cracker Barrel, and I was just settling in pretending that I was in South Carolina. It was certainly hot and humid enough to make that part of the fantasy a reality. I hadn't rocked more than a couple of times when one of the other parents who has been a frequent volunteer at the concession stand came back (his wife was in one of the other rocking chairs) and commented that he quit, he wasn't even supposed to be in the concession stand, and well, she (the self appointed leader of the concession stand) was just plain rude.

I wasn't there to witness what had happened in round one, but it went something like this:
Our warm ups start at noon, the meet at one. At 12:15 when the leader still wasn't there, the volunteers who had signed up to serve started to set up tables, plug in crock pots and generally get things out. When she did arrive, instead of being thankful that folks had started to set up without her, she became critical that they didn't know what they were doing, there was a certain way to do things (Does it really matter which table the pizza is on?) and had they ever done this before? Instead of being appreciated, the volunteers felt attacked, and a bru ha ha ensued. And the leader left. But then she came back.

By that time, I had gotten up out of my rocker because I figured they might need some help (not sure I should have done that, you know, I wasn't signed up...) and she came back and round two started. It was ugly. And she left, stating that she would not be back until the boys meet started.

It was a real shame. Instead of team work and a group of swimming parents serving together, a ruckus broke out, with pointed blame and high drama being directed at the coach as well. I just didn't get it. I would have been grateful that the set up had happened, sorry I was late, and relieved that I could count on fellow adults to pitch in and help. I do hope it doesn't become a long drawn out argumentative topic for days to come.

By the way, the fruit salad was delicious!

True Love

True love is so much more than giddy emotion or feeling enamored with someone else because they happen to agree with us or we are temporarily or perhaps permanently on the same page as someone else. It is full of hard things like sacrifice, endurance, perseverance and zero expectations. Wow, that's pretty different than the happily ever after story of love I was exposed to as a young child, or the conditional love I have felt from so many for so much of my life. It is time, as followers of Christ that we move to that space where we love in the way of Jesus. And that is hard.

The following is written and excerpted from Jon Walker's devotional at gracecreates.com.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 1 John 3:14 (NIV)

Our love for one another is the fruit, not the root, of our relationship with God.

We are transformed from people who are selective in whom and how we love into people energized by God’s Spirit to love one another abundantly and unconditionally.

It takes faith to love another with God-love flowing into us.

Love starts with God. God loved you first, and your ability to love others comes from your connection with God. God loved you; now, you love others, and that allows others to see God in you (1 John 4:11–12).

From Faith Inaction to Faith in Action

I have to say, we had a really great message in church this morning. Our Faith in Action campaign culminated with service projects last weekend, and over 170 people from our church contributed almost 600 volunteer hours. And it was raining...and one of the guys had just lost his job the day before but came to serve joyfully anyway.
In church today we heard from some of those who served and how it affected them. I joked that they didn't ask me to share because they only wanted one to two minute snippets. Impossible...

And then the message was on putting hands and feet to our faith, that basically "faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26). Basically, we need to live our faith, not just give it lip service. This is my language, and actually the central message of a Bible Study I have that will be released in March, UNDOING CHURCH: NOT YOUR MOTHER'S BIBLE STUDY about being the church, not just going to church.

But I thought about moving from inaction to action and the things that stop us in our tracks, all basically lies meant to keep us in a paralyzed state of inertia:

• One person can't make a difference.
• I'm not qualified.
• I'm too busy.
• We're all going to die anyway, so why bother.
• It's not in my job description, my problem, blah, blah, blah...

But here's the deal, if we're Christians, we must act. "Saving faith moves your head, your heart and our hands. Faith alone saves us, but the Faith which saves us in not alone."

These words were spoken by our pastor this morning, and I wanted to jump out of my seat and scream, "YES!" It's the Samaritan lifestyle, something I have been giving a great deal of thought to lately. To have, to take, to make the time to be aware of life and needs around us, to be moving slowly enough to respond, and not simply wave off the needs as a nuisance or an interruption. To adopt the Samaritan lifestyle guarantees interruptions, but also blessings.

How do you live your faith? There is a hymn that has the words, "They will know that we are Christians by our Love". Have you read the book UnChristian? Love is not a word that most non-Christians use to describe us. Hypocrites, homo phobics and judgemental are closer to the top of the list. So do something to put your faith in action and change the perception. I know that those we served got a glimpse of Christian love through our service, our faith in action last weekend, but it is a lifestyle, not a program or campaign.

I echo here the verse our pastor used in closing, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me'" (Isaiah 6:8). And I want to go.

Hand Up Foundation...

"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth" (Psalm 108:5)


I believe we need to take care of the glory of creation. The people at HUF (Hand Up Foundation) also believe this and are doing an amazing job at their recycling center. In the first five months of this year over 70,000 pounds of computer components have been recycled. It is more than some counties in PA have recycled in the past three years.
They own a baler, and bail everything from clothing that doesn't meet the quality standard to be sold in their discount center, to cardboard (I got downright giddy with excitement to discover that I no longer have to tear apart my cardboard boxes, the baler will do it...) to plastic bottles. And they take every imaginable kind of paper too, from newspaper to cellophane windowed envelopes...more giddiness ensued.

More mind boggling recycling efforts include the complete dismantling of major appliances; even the freon in refrigerators is recycled. Can't you just grasp the impact this has on our environment? My personal goal is to get my household down to one trash can of household trash per week...more giddiness! Below are appliance components which will all be broken down and hand separated.

The new building will house the recycling center downstairs and the new discount center upstairs. They hope to have the remodeling completed in time to transition the store by the end of September. The amount of space is phenomenal, and for a bargain happy used clothes junkie like me that is cause for more celebration (and giddiness!).

The outside of the discount center has a completely handicapped accessible entrance as well as a ramp that cars will be able to back right up to to deliver donations. And because of the recycling center, no donation is junk. Some will be sold, some will be recycled.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10)

This place is the ticket. There are so many opportunities to do those good works which I believe God has prepared for us to do right here, right now, in this community. It is a place for relationship building. It is a place for service. It is the new home of the Milton food bank. It helps transition hurting individuals into job ready positions with training and skill development. There are dreams for all kinds of community programs and the space is just waiting to be occupied by willing teachers and eager students.

I am excited, because our church, Community Mennonite Fellowship will be partnering with HUF the last weekend in September when we are engaging in the Faith in Action campaign, serving as Jesus' hands and feet in our community. We will be partnering with them in delivering food baskets, helping with extra volunteer power at the discount and recycling centers. And in the process we will be building more relationships.

And Doug and I banged our heads together and the visions were just exploding. Let the fireworks begin!

Being Jesus to our Friends

I have continued to think about my recent visit with two elementary school friends. While I took the time to rant and rave about the unfriendly skies, I realized that I hadn't reflected on the heart of my visit, the time I spent with my friends.
Chara, my friend who is fighting breast cancer is seated next to me in the front with the lilac hat. Hallie who joined us for Friday is standing behind us. We have known each other since first grade.
I am so thankful that I went to spend Chara's birthday with her. It was a beautiful day of simply being with her. We hugged, laughed, shared, and just were. It was a delightful day of friendship where we were simply focused on being with each other. No computers, no cell phones, no interruptions.
I know many of my friends remarked how kind it was of me to go "all the way to California" to spend a couple of days with my friend. But it was her birthday, we have known each other for eons, and she is heroically fighting an illness (metastatic breast cancer) head on with no complaining. I felt as if I was the one who had been blessed beyond measure.
It wasn't immediately apparent to me that her vision was significantly impaired, although I did know that a recent surgery had left her blind in her left eye. But she "knows" her way around her home, (which is actually her parents home and her little corner of the world is the living room couch) so one forgets how poor her vision is.
We embraced when I arrived and held each other in an embrace that communicated care, concern and years of friendship. She started to cry, but I knew if I started, neither one of us would stop...so I said, "We'll have NONE of that!" and we moved on. She served me coffee, made me breakfast, was the consummate hostess exhibiting a tremendous degree of hospitality. She also wanted to take me to a couple of her favorite haunts, and I met an incredible woman, Antoinette who has an angel gift shop, and then a quick stop at Barnes and Nobles for a gift for a friend. But it took it out of her. And it wasn't until we were walking in downtown Oceanside that it became apparent how impaired her vision is. So she took my arm and I guided her up and down curbs.
"You know, Kathy" Chara remarked, "I was downtown not too long ago with another friend who was helping me negotiate the sidewalks when a woman commented very loudly, 'I just hate to see it when two women hang all over each other like that' but I corrected her." It struck me how quickly we all judge without understanding the big picture. It is difficult enough to traverse an illness, which she is doing with such grace, let alone be the brunt of judgemental comments.
When I returned home (remember, bad air travel, not till 6 am Sunday) I did go to church where I was reminded of the importance of living a life that represents Christ and the truth that I had an opportunity to be Jesus to her. But more to the point was that she was Jesus to me. Her strength and kindness were a reflection of Jesus' love for me.