i am haunted by waters

“I am haunted by waters.”

The last line of Norman Maclean’s book A River Runs Through It. The paragraph that precedes this sentence is often highlighted as one of the finest ever written in American literature, so rich in poetic depth and breadth that you could spend a lifetime searching and pondering its beauty and grace.

Lately, I feel like I am being haunted by waters.

This isn’t one of those scary movie hauntings that my 13 year old daughter is drawn to right now as she picks out movies at Blockbuster. I think it is more akin to Norman Maclean's haunting. It is more of an acknowledgment that there is more out there in my (our) reality that is related to water than I am perceiving, recognizing, and acting upon.

In some ways, perhaps it is just a confluence of water related events that has water bubbling in my consciousness: the 35W bridge collapse, a special baptism on Saturday, my family being at a wedding just a few hours before the flooding in Caledonia, the approaching hurricane and the upcoming mission trip in October to address the ongoing devastation of the last one, the ROJ fall focus on water, the research into global and local water issues I have been doing, the Biblical study related to all things water, and the roar of the neighbor’s lawnmower as I look out the window at four inch long grass that I just mowed a few days ago. Water. Bubbling in my mind.

The introductory address that I spoke at the beginning of little Bradley’s baptism said this:

God, who is rich in mercy and love, gives us a new birth into a living hope through the sacrament of baptism. By water and the Word God delivers us from sin and death and raises us to new life in Jesus Christ. We are united with all the baptized in the one body of Christ, anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and joined in God's mission for the life of the world.

God, mercy, love, new birth, living hope, sacrament, Word, delivers, sin, death, Jesus Christ, united, one body, anointed, gift, Holy Spirit, joined, God's mission for life in the world.

There is enough spiritual (and poetic) depth and breadth in this paragraph that you could spend a lifetime searching, pondering and actively living into its beauty and grace.

And maybe

that is

exactly

the

point.

“Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. Amen.”

Trip to the CAP Agency

We delivered 356 lbs of food to the CAP Agency this morning in our newly converted portable food pantry trailer. 60 pounds of this was fresh produce out of our community garden and the remainder was from a national night out neighborhood event and a house concert focused on hunger awareness and action.

356 pounds of food sounds like a whole lot of food until you realize that the CAP Agency processes nearly 75,000 pounds of food every month for families in Scott County. 75,000 pounds of food, through one agency, in one (booming and wealthy) suburban Mpls/St. Paul county. Wow. As I sit here at Caribou sipping an ice tea, I could easily become discouraged (or guilt ridden) because our (or my) impact on what is such an important issue for Christ would seem to be rather insignificant in the larger scope of things.

But for the families that will receive the 356 pounds of food collected and grown by the people of River of Joy it will be very significant. They will get to eat. Something we take for granted most every day. Maybe that is why Christ tells us to simply feed people and reminds us that even as we do so, we will always have people in need among us.

And for the families who have partnered together to collect and grow this food the impact is significant as well. They will be spiritually fed. Another thing that we take for granted most every day. Maybe that is why Christ tells us to simply feed people and reminds us that even as we do so, we will always have people in need among us.

Families, feeding other families.

People, loving other people.

Children, growing because they are fed.

Children, growing because they are feeding others.

Because Jesus says it should be so.

And people have dared to believe it.

And act.

Thanks be to God.

Matching Red Soccer Jerseys

As hard as he tried to cover his ears, you could see that the sound the young boy was trying to keep at bay was still seeping through and attacking the center of his being. I could not see if his eyes were closed, but occasionally he would look up at the video screen that was showing a short film documenting the effects of hunger (and hunger relief) on children half way around the world. In the boy’s lap was a glass jar that held a few dollars and a handful of change. Around his shoulder was the gentle and comforting arm of his father. Taped to the lid of the jar was a small label that simply read “give.” A child of God trying to come to grips with the world in which he lives.

We had come to Feed My Starving Children as a group of ten adults and two children, hoping to have an impact on the lives of some of God’s little ones who are so easily ignored. And yes, we did prepare over 2100 meals, enough food to feed 6 children 3 meals a day for a year. But for me at least, the real power of the visit, the presence of Christ and his message, came to me through watching this young boy and his reaction to the plight of children just like him around the world.

Frequently, when we speak of Jesus’ words regarding his desire for us to become like little children, we lift up child-like characteristics like wonder, and gentleness, and purity of heart, and openness to the future as the traits that Jesus desires for us. But on this evening, Jesus’ words took on a new meaning as I watched the empathy and compassion of this child as he worked so hard to hold off the reality of the world in which he finds himself living. It was the powerlessness of this boy that really struck me, the only thing this small boy could do to end this reality was to cover his ears and bring his “give” jar.

But for you and for me, the big kids of God, we can do much more than cover our ears and bring a few dollars. We DO have the power to change lives and impact this reality. And not only do we have the power, we have a dual mandate to do so. This mandate comes first from Jesus himself and second from the generation of children who we are charged with raising and shepherding into the world in faith. As Christians, we are called to be obedient and faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ that compel us to feed people who are hungry. As parents and grandparents, we are called to provide a reality that does not cause a child to close his eyes and cover his ears.

When we had finished packing the meals, we gathered again to talk about the impact we had on behalf of a handful of hungry children around the world. The leader held up a picture of a small boy who lives in a 5 square mile open air dump in Managua, Nicaragua with 150 other families. The boy in the picture and the boy with the “give” jar looked to be about the same age and coincidently were both wearing red soccer jerseys. Two children of God, separated by miles and a myriad of other barriers, but joined as brothers to each other through the realization of God’s reconciling and redeeming mission in the world.

Two children of God.

Connected.

Not just by their soccer jerseys.

Two children of God.

Connected.

By Jesus Christ.