Got Change?

Last Sunday our pastor shared a famous quote from Mark Twain: “The only person that seems to enjoy change is a baby with a wet diaper.” I’ve noticed that my son doesn’t always enjoy a diaper change, even when he needs it! Sometimes it means disrupting a game of nerfball or play with another toy. He doesn’t seem to enjoy leaving our arms for the harder surface of the changing table. Often he doesn’t seem to appreciate it at all until the dry diaper is on.

I’m smiling as I think how like many of us that is. In order to change us God sometimes has to disrupt the games we're playing, put us on a hard surface, and change us! The process is difficult, and sometimes, we don’t even like the change! But we can trust that as we allow God room to lead us in our lives, and live according to God’s Word, we can believe that all things – even change – are somehow working out for our good (Romans 8:28).

The UMC I serve follows a lectionary cycle, and one of the Scriptures for this Sunday is the 23rd Psalm. We will certainly be celebrating that theme in worship this Sunday. One of my favorite hymns that speaks to God’s guidance and care is the wonderful Swedish hymn “Day By Day”.

“At the age of 26, Lina Sandell had an experience that greatly influenced her life. She was accompanying her father aboard ship to the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, across Lake Vattern. The ship gave a sudden lurch and Lina’s father, a devout Lutheran minister, fell overboard and drowned before the eyes of his devoted daughter.” (p. 20, Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck.)

Out of this horrible tragedy, in days of profound sorrow, these tender words were written:

Day by day, and with each passing moment
Strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best.
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev’ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares, He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose Name is Counselor and Pow’r!
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid:
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

In these days of palpable uncertainty, may we find strength in God our Rock and Jesus our Good Shepherd, who leads us – albeit through change – from glory to glory to a wondrous place of grace.

Beauty Within

Maybe by now you've heard of Miss California, in the Miss USA pageant, giving a response to the question of whether or not every state in the union should follow the lead of VT and allow same-sex marriage. I have the following observations:

1. She answered the question. Isn't it refreshing to hear people answer questions and not dance around them?
2. Gee, in a pageant, don't you think the pageant officials and handlers would know what a girl's response would be to a question like that? I know that she drew the number of the judge who asked the question out of a glass bowl, but I can't help but think that she was set up with that question. A little "gotcha moment" for the religious girl?
3. It seems like that question, like many pageant questions, was framed to promote a political agenda.
4. I was surprised by the audience's response - I was expecting lots of boo's. There may have been a few, but all I heard was pretty loud applause in response to her answer. Whether the audience applauds or not does not validate one's convictions, but I was surprised, nonetheless.
5. Hopefully, vlogging about a pageant contestant and calling her a dumb b.... disqualifies one from serving as a judge in the future. What would happen if her answer had been the opposite and she were treated in the same way as she's being treated now? What kind of hot water would the vlogging judge be in then?

I'm sure Miss CA is not perfect. I appreciate the fact that she stood by her convictions and she answered graciously. True beauty emanates from within. Surely integrity is one of the keys to this kind of beauty.