Blogging provides me with a chance to slow down, meditate and reflect on my experiences and ideas. For some reason, taking the time to write down my thoughts brought a calmness that I honestly did not expect. However, as a full-time student, I have found it slightly difficult to keep up with it as much as I would have liked. I do have a new appreciation for blogging and I can see myself continuing to use blogging as a tool for ministry in the future.

Starting out on a bad note just made all my thoughts go sour. I felt really discouraged, like I didn’t belong in my major; like I made a mistake with the choice I made in education. I thought to myself, “What was I thinking? I’m not cut out for ministry.”

Between two of my afternoon classes, I saw one of my favorite professors who I had for a class last year. He told me that I should come by his office to go over the final exam that I took back in December. So after all my classes, I knocked on his door and took a seat. He handed me the exam and told me I did a good job and told me if I had any questions to just ask him. Then, he asked me about my life: how things were going, what my future is looking like. I told him that I can see myself going in different directions in ministry. He told me that he was glad to hear that I was still considering ministry. Then he said something that I will not soon forget. He said, “You have a gift.” Hearing this, I felt my eyes water a little. I needed to hear that. Everything was made better with that one little statement of encouragement. It was such a relief to know that at least this person in front of me thinks that I have what it takes.

The reason I share this is to remind you how much impact a comment of encouragement can have on a person’s life. One word of kindness and love can erase a day’s worth of muck. If that professor ever comes across this, I hope he realizes how big a difference he made on my life. And I encourage anyone reading this that if you ever have anything nice or loving to say to someone, do not keep it to yourself. It may mean more to them than you know.

In the beginning, God existed in a perfect relationship within the Trinity. Then He decided that he wanted to create a world to share in that perfect relationship with him. After creating the world, He established order and created man to be in charge of creation. However, this perfect relationship was broken when man decided to pursue his own desires over God. But God, still wanting to maintain a relationship with man, called forth His people, the Israelites, to enter into a covenant with him. He gave them the Law to help them know how to maintain this covenant. And knowing that the Israelites were still separate from God because of their sin, He formed the sacrificial system for them to make atonements for their sins. He spoke to His people through the prophets to help them understand the things that he was going to do. After some time, God sent a messiah for all people in the form of the Son, Jesus. However, He was not the messiah they were expecting. While they wanted the messiah to be a king on earth, toppling the powers at hand, He instead came in the form of a servant. Jesus taught us how to live a life in complete relationship with God. He then became the perfect sacrifice, being crucified on the Roman cross. Then, after three days in the grave, He rose from the dead, proving that he had conquered sin and death once and for all. Christ then continues to work and live through the Holy Spirit, embodied in the church. Through Jesus, God calls his people back to that relationship that he initially sought for us to have with him, and we now anticipate the day that we will all be united with God in perfect harmony.

 Needless to say, I left out a lot of details, but this is simply my recollection of the basic plot of God’s story.

The museum is in the middle of downtown St. Louis and is easily spotted because of the giant, multi-story jungle-gym right out front. After going inside, you realize that the entire building is one big playhouse full of secret passageways, slides and adventurous scenery. I, being the big kid that I am, had an awesome time and can’t wait to go back.

The point that I want to make is that sometimes things are a whole lot better than you expect. For instance, the Christian life. When the world hears about the Christian life, it thinks of a boring, fun-lacking life governed by a set of strict rules. But in fact, it is so much better. John 10:10 tells us that Christ came to give us life and life to the fullest. God loves us and does everything for the benefit of his people. He wants us to enjoy the life we have now.

On the other side of the back fence, there is this tree. I’m not sure what type of tree it is exactly, but the reason why I always notice it is because the seeds from this tree have a leaf-like structure attached to them. When they fall, the blade causes them to glide down in a twirling motion, like the blades of a helicopter. For this reason, my brother and I have always referred to these seeds as “helicopters” (clever, huh?). Every now and then, as I lay in my hammock enjoying my afternoon reading, out of the corner of my eye I would see a helicopter falling beside me. I didn’t really pay them any attention.

Once finished reading, I wasn’t quite ready to get out of the hammock. So I tucked my Bible beside me and lounged back, looking up at the branches above. It was at this point that I saw that there was a reason for all the helicopters falling beside me: a well-fed squirrel. He was out as far as he could go on one of the branches, eating the seeds, and throwing the helicopters down. Having just finished reading about all the war and fighting that Israel had to go through to take possession of the land that God promised to their ancestors, I couldn’t help but reflect on the innocence of that bushy-tailed rodent. God’s creation is pure, innocent, and beautiful. Or like it says in Genesis, it is “good”. That squirrel doesn’t have to worry about war or poverty or the housing market; the most he has to worry about is whether or not that squirrel on the other branch is going to chase him or not. God provides everything that it needs. What would life be like if we were like a squirrel throwing helicopters: innocent and fully dependent on God?

Later on at dinner, we had freshly brewed sweet tea. It was still quite warm when we fixed our plates, so we loaded up our glasses with ice. After pouring the hot tea into the cups of ice, most of the ice melted, but the tea had been cooled to a desireable drinking temperature. The hot tea warmed the ice; the ice cooled the tea. The two worked together to reach a balanced temperature.

If we look around us, we can see the physical world around us is moving toward equality. How is it then that people and society are so unbalanced? About 20% of the population owns 80% of the wealth. We eat three-course meals at five-star restaraunts while thousands of children die each day from hunger. The natural world moves toward a balanced state. Why aren’t we making motions to do the same?

They were celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread in a man’s house  in Jerusalem. When the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, they ate unleavened bread because they had to leave in such a hurry. Each year, they celebrated this feast to remember that God delivered them out of oppression in Egypt. So when Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem, they were already taking part in an act for the remembrance of God. Through this, Jesus alludes to his disciples that he is from God. Jesus tells his disciples, “whenever you celebrate this feast to remember what God has done for you, also remember what I have done for you.” Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God has once again delivered his people from oppression (this time being the oppression of sin and death). Don’t forget what God has done for you. Remember Jesus.

Through times of exhaustion, when we seem to be having trouble getting through the things we need to accomplish that day, it is important to remember that God is there with us. He knows how tired we can get, and he knows what we need to make it through the day. He is there to offer strength when we feel weak, and peace when we feel stressed. Jesus had days of exhaustion. He  spoke in synagogues, performed great miracles, taught the enormous crowds of people that followed him, and on top of that, he faced persecution from those who did not understand him. No matter what Jesus went through, however, he always made time for God. God sustained him through every circumstance and he can do the same for us.

This morning, as I walked across campus to work at 4:20am, there was a cool drizzle in the air. My initial thought was how much I didn’t want water hitting me in the face. Then I realized ant very few other people were experiencing that rain. That got me thinking about how maybe this was God’s way of helping me wake up so early, with a little cold water to the face. I recognize that God has other reasons for sending the rain, but it was this time that brought me to God. And the rest of my walk was spent simply being with God, and thanking him for the life that he has given me to live today. Starting my morning in this manner is what sustained me through the rest of my day. And though I may still be tired, God is still great, and I praise him for this day.

There is so much work and thought that goes into each work of liturgy. It takes time to find the words that will both show the significance and the beauty of the sacrament at hand. For the people who wrote liturgies that are currently used in congregations across the world, there was a lot of pressure weighing on their shoulders. They had to make it spiritual while keeping it scriptural; thoughtful while appropriate. This has proven to be a difficult endeavor. Thought goes into each word, and prayer into each thought. There is definitely something to respect about liturgy.