PROGRESS REPORT

This past Sunday, the pastor of our new church presented everyone with what he called a spiritual progress report. It is that time of year when students are bringing home progress reports from schools, and I suppose he thought it appropriate to include this spiritual report card into the mix. It seems like the years have been full of trials in the Lance home, things that seem to be beyond human control, any choice we might have made, or as a result of other people's decisions. How does one handle continuous testing? What can a person say that will come close to comfort? A God who is supposed to control all things, can intervene IF he wants to, but chooses not to do so, or waits until the very last minute, during which time misery takes place...what does a person say? Sometimes the pat answers do not suffice...like: "Just trust God, He does love you," or "God works all things together for good," or "It's a time to see God work in miraculous ways," or "God is preparing you for eternity," or I love this one, "It must mean that there is sin in your life that you have not dealt with or confessed." When the testing times seem to run together with not much of a break in between, and you are left looking up to the sky and asking "WHY?", it's time to hand over a progress report and ask the person to evaluate themselves and give themselves a grade. I HATE PROGRESS REPORTS! But, sometimes they are necessary. Here is what was given this past Sunday.

PROGRESS REPORT: SELF-EVALUATION

1. The Test of Perseverance James 1:2-12
2. The Test of Blame James 1:13-18
3. The Test of Response to the Word James 1:19-27
4. The Test of Impartial Love James 2:1-13
5. The Test of Righteous Works James 2:14-26
6. The Test of the Tongue James 3:1-12
7. The Test of Humble Wisdom James 3:13-18
8. The Test of Worldly Indulgence James 4:1-12
9. The Test of Dependence James 4:13-17
10. The Test of Patient Endurance James 5:1-11
11. The Test of Truthfulness James 5:12
12. The Test of Prayerfulness James 5:13-18
13. The Test of True Compassion James 5:19-20

Some of you, after taking this progress report and reading these verses to find out what they mean, may fail miserably, some of you may ace them all at this point in your life; wherever you are in your spiritual progress report, one thing stands true, God's grace continues to abound. I may ask myself, "Is this really true?" But, if I am honest about all that has been good in life, from somewhere and some place goodness has and is extended. The goodness does not come from me; if I had my way and could be anything I wanted to be, I could be a real terror. But, compassion for others, a desire for the best in others comes from somewhere deep inside of me...that has to be goodness, but not goodness that I muster up myself, it definitely has to originate from another source. I have to believe that the other source must be God, and so my conviction that God is real is confirmed. Thus, what He says in His word is also confirmed. Sometimes, it is only by a thread that we hang on to what we know in our minds to be true. And so, the prayer was prayed as a congregational prayer, and perhaps if this prayer is prayed every day, the progress report will continue to improve over my life time. When we all reach heaven, we will all be in chorus together saying..."It's only by the grace of God we are here together," and hopefully God will be looking at us saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." I love that part in the movie, Sleepless in Seattle, when the little boy calls the radio show, the dad gets on the phone, the show's host asks the dad what he plans on doing, and the response is that he will wake up each day, he will breathe, and place one foot in front of the other (something like that). Eventually, his hurt and pain disappears and his world is completely changed. Perhaps, some experience nothing but good in this life, while others put one foot in front of the other their whole lives, but one day, hopefully, that hurt and pain will disappear completely. I suppose that is the hope referred to by the authors of God's words.

PRAYER

"Heavenly Father...I submit myself to You. I ask You to drive Satan far away from me. And I come humbly into Your presence. I confess to You that I am a sinner. Please, God, wash my hands of my sin, and purify my heart and my deceitful mind. I am grieved by how awful my sin makes me feel. I'm broken-hearted by it. My pain is so real it brings tears to my eyes. I'm trading my proud laughter into gloom. I am completely humble before You, God, and I ask You to lift me up and restore my joy."

Maybe you are the person struggling, hanging on by a thread. This Thanksgiving you can be thankful for the grace God has bestowed upon you in many ways. Sometimes the little things don't mean much, like three meals a day, but in reality they are still God's grace shown for which we can be thankful. Perhaps you are full of joy and it's easy for you to find things for which to be thankful. Let that joy overflow and be humbled by all the joy that has been bestowed upon you. Remember those days, for they may be needed as reminders in days to come.

INDIVIDUALITY OR NOT?

A liberal sociology professor in a prominent university of America, with Catholicism as his religion, wrote a book on the absence of passion within our country's citizens, especially among young college students. His desire to write this book came from classroom experiences in which he would, unapologetically, make adamantly known his dissatisfied views of America. He really didn't care if his students agreed with him or not; they were free to convey their views without penalty. What he found greatly disturbed him, his students took what he said as absolute truth, not questioning if their professor was correct in his claims. The purpose for sharing his views was to encourage and stimulate dialogue in hopes that his students might speak out and offer arguments in opposition to his position. It didn't happen. He decided to press the students to speak about their religious views and what their personal religions meant to them. Trite answers such as, "My religion emphasizes family," and "My religion allows me to live any way I please throughout the week," awakened him to the fact that an element of purpose for life is no longer existent in our society. He decided to introduce issues such as euthanasia, poverty around the world and within America, abuse, abortion, human rights, and other matters of concern. In the attempt to stir emotional response towards humanity concerns, he faced classrooms of students who only had blank stares on their faces and offered the following response, "So? What does all this have to do with us? We really don't care." Understanding the postmodern philosophies ramped throughout society, teamed with these encounters with college students, he decided to write a book about the absence of religion in our society; the absence of meaning and purpose to life beyond just ourselves.

One conclusion this professor came to concerning the lack of desire to involve ourselves in other people's lives stems from an understanding that it does not matter who people are, what background people have, or what religion a person practices, if religion is taken completely out of society, a passionless society arises; socialism is what he named it. However, he did mention that no one is exempt from some kind of faith. Some may attempt to flee from any faith at all, but faith itself cannot become extinct in anyone's life. With great depth, he shares his insights about what creates or produces passion. One idea presented and held by many, is that people create passion themselves and make life what they want it to be. Within this idea, the passion stems from following laws, the do's and don'ts of right and wrong. Another contrasting idea he presents suggests that a passion for life is not following laws, but in becoming who we need to be for a greater purpose and living life according to that purpose. It is also suggested that people do not pull the cart before the horse; that our lives are not meant to be on the search for something of passion so we can find meaning in life. Rather, our lives are driven by passion; the passions lead us to do and become what we need to be as people. He goes a step further and makes the statement, that for matters of worth to lead us, there has to be a source behind all that offers meaning to life. He supports this idea by boldly stating there has to be a higher power driving matters of importance that stimulate passion within people to strive for goals and accomplish great things in their lifetimes. As a Catholic, even though he admits to being extremely liberal, he also boldly uses an example from the Bible and names "God" as being the source for Christianity. He then concludes, if the source of people's passions is eliminated from society, people no longer have a reason to experience meaning in their lives, except to live unto one's self. Why should people care about what occurs to Christians in China, or the inhumane treatment occurring in Iran, the poverty within our own country, or even a neighbor who has lost a loved one?

What do you think? Would you agree that we live in a passionless society? Is passion associated with specific groups? Are flares of passion sent up only when we become uncomfortable, only to quickly die away because we don't have enough fire to keep the flame burning? Which argument might you stand behind: life is lived, conquered, and accomplished because we have made it what we think it should be, searching for meaning to life, or does passion grab our hearts, our minds, and our desires, leading us through life to become who we need to be? Do the issues of our country, our world, our communities, our churches, and our families arouse a passion in your heart? What gives your life meaning? Why? Where does it originate? What do you hope to accomplish from your passions?

Life is not just a matter of existence day to day. God was purposeful in his creation; he was purposeful in the laws he gave the Israelites; he was purposeful in his plans for the world; Christ was purposeful in every word he spoke. God is a God of passion, should we not be the same if we are created in his image?

A lot to consider. I have my work cut out for me this week, how about you?

LIFE IS NOT MEASURED...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away: the birth of your child, the death of a loved one or pet, a new job, graduation, a beautiful new gown, big steps in your child's life, your child's struggles, a morning sunrise, a sunset, the smell of rain, an answered prayer...

I loved the quote above I recently received by a friend. Life is not measured by the amount of activities in our lives, the number of friends acquired, people's opinions, being employed or unemployed. Life is measured by the number of moments that take our breath away. This statement causes within me a desire to walk down memory lane and find all those treasured moments tucked away in my mind and relive them as if they happened just yesterday. No matter how many or few I find, I will treasure each one as brand new. I feel another journal is waiting to be filled. How about you? What treasures of breathless moments exist in your mental archives? I would love to hear about some of them if you are daring enough to share. Enjoy your walk down memory lane this week.

ADENOSTOMA FASCICULTA

I was reading this morning about a shrub, Adenostoma fasciculata. I would not have known about this plant except from the author John Muir in his book "My First Summer in the Sierra." This plant that grows in the desert "is very abundant on the lower slopes...forming a dense, almost impenetrable growth that looks dark in the distance. It belongs to the rose family..." It's not very high and has small white flowers. It "has small white flowers...round needle-like leaves, and reddish bark that becomes shreddy when old." Muir goes on to say that this bush often gets swept away by fires but is quickly renewed from the roots. Plants that grow amidst this Adenostoma fasciculata "also rise again from the root after consuming fires."

In this small section that Muir wrote, this plant can be related to people, especially Christians. Christians are abundant, and they do at times find themselves in deserts. But even as they live in deserts, they can still grow, flourish, and add beauty. Whether the Christian's deserts are the struggles they fight through one at a time, or the lack of Christian fellowship within a neighborhood, or a personal, spiritual, desert, a Christian who is living for the Lord will affect those around them, providing stability and the necessary roots needed for growth. Christians have been tested and persecuted over the years, being placed in spiritual fires, some in literal fires such as the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo. When faith is rooted deep in the grounds of Christ, not even the fires can completely destroy the Christian. They will rise up once again, quickly renewed by the roots in Christ they have established and become beautiful, showing off their glory as does this plant with small white flowers.

If you were to reflect back upon your life, what fires or deserts have you experienced over the years? How strong would you say your faith was; would it survive the fires of persecution, temptation, and other deserts? Would you have confirmation that your roots are deep and that growth continues despite the harsh conditions? Are there others in your life over the years that have relied on your strength and provisions for their own spiritual growth? Take the next couple of weeks to ponder some of these thoughts before we celebrate Thanksgiving. And then on that special day, as you remember the history for this holiday, celebrate and be thankful for God's work in your life.