The college I attended had beautifully manicured lawns. The grass was thick and soft. Perfect sidewalks bordered the grass. And yet…at almost every turn in the sidewalk, there was a small arc of dead grass where students (including me!) literally cut corners on the way to class. What probably began as someone running late to class and running through the corners of grass instead of staying on the path became a habit, one that everyone else followed. The result? Strips of dead grass scattered around campus, standing testaments to the human tendency to take the easy way.
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When our kids were four and one, we decided to take them on a short hike. And by short, I mean less than half a mile. But somehow, we ended up on the wrong trail. We ended up hiking well over two miles under the blazing sun of an Idaho summer. Even as we sang songs and looked for lizards to distract our increasingly red-faced kiddos, my heart beat fast with worry. Water! We need water! I rarely give a second thought to hydration (much to my husband’s annoyance), but in that moment, with the heat rising and the dust billowing, water and our need for it consumed every thought!
As a child with family roots in Minnesota, I spent a good deal of my childhood on a snowmobile. Bundled to the gills against the cold, I zipped across frozen lakes and down snow covered trails. One particularly frigid day, my dad was tasked with driving the snowmobile the 11 miles or so from the cabin back to town. I asked to ride along. I was still small enough to sit in front of him on the machine. Normally, I loved riding with him, as I was totally at ease with his fearless, fun driving. But the day was so cold that my breath kept forming a fog that crystalized on the interior of the helmet visor, completely obscuring my vision. As we flew between trees and over small hills, my heart raced. I couldn’t see a single thing in front of us. Every so often, he would stop and wipe out the front of my visor with his enormous glove, but within minutes, it fogged and froze again. With no ability to see the road ahead, my trust in my father was put to the test.
It only takes a spark of fear to ignite panic in a group of people. One person might jump and scream in terror in a crowd of people. Maybe they saw a snake or maybe they witnessed a crime. Regardless of the reality, fear will spread to everyone in the vicinity. Crowds have been thrown in to panic. People have been trampled for what turned out to be a false alarm. We see the same contagious fear used as a tool in politics as well. We are easily controlled by fear, particularly when fear infects the group.
When I was kid, the Brady Bunch was already on its 2ndor 3rd(maybe more) round of re-runs. The story is familiar: a widow and widower each have children of their own but join together to create a new family. The show chronicles all their hilarious and heartwarming adventures of becoming a new family, a family whose boundaries have drastically changed by the inclusion of one another.
I have had some weird dreams in my time. I’ve imagined falling from great heights and awoke with a start. I’ve been dreamt myself into any number of historical scenes. I once dreamt I was lost amidst a crowd of 10,000 beagles. (That particular dream was delightful!) But I have never had a dream or vision like the one Abraham received in Genesis 15.
When I started high school, I quickly recognized several distinct identity groups. There were the jocks of course with their Nike and Adidas, the preps with their American Eagle and Abercrombie, the skaters/punks with their black eye liner and ironic ties (a la early 2000’s Avril Lavigne). What I did not immediately recognize was assuming an external identity didn’t make you that thing. An ironic skinny neck tie did not magically give you masterful skateboard skills. Throwing on some Nikes and athletic shorts did not mean you were a star athlete, or even an athlete at all. NEWS FLASH to my 15-year-old brain: You could wear yoga pants and never actually do yoga!
Temptation is a universal human experience. While our individual temptations vary, the core issues at the heart of those temptations are consistent: a need for control, a fear of our own mortality leading us to excess, wondering if we are lovable.
In Matthew 23:37-38, we see a sudden change in Jesus’ tone. There is no more anger or accusations, just grief and sadness. Jesus had spent time teaching and pointing out the sinful practices of the people and the leaders they were following. These religious leaders had transitioned from spiritual pursuits of their faith to a showy and prideful practice. Jesus truly sought to care for all of Jerusalem and point them to God, yet they continued to reject Him as they continued to claim no other King but Caesar.
In Philippians 3:17-20, Paul is writing his friends from prison encouraging them to continue in their faith when he writes these words:“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.”
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