A Journey Worth Witnessing

Witness:  1. someone who sees an event and reports what happened.

When I think of the word witness I usually think of someone in a courtroom giving testimony about a certain event or persons because of what they have seen, heard or experienced.  Someone who testifies in court needs to be deemed a reliable source to be considered a credible witness.  They can't just be a casual bystander. A credible witness can decide a case - they are very important. 

But, have you thought about being a witness to someone's earthly life?  What would that look like?

A very dear friend passed from this life and into life eternal with Christ this morning at 6:00 AM.  He was a kind, hard working man, full of love, a noted writer, a volunteer, joker and storyteller.  He gave hugs, shoulder massages, and kisses on the cheek.  He made you feel special.  How do I know these things?  Because I was a witness to his life.  Through our friendship, I got to see it firsthand.  If I were just a bystander, I wouldn't know very much about Harold. But I am glad he took the time to get to know me and allowed me to know him.  We met through a working relationship but in my heart he became like family, even though we didn't see each other outside of that realm.  I truly wonder how much more I could have learned from him if I had explored a deeper friendship with him, or spent time with him outside of work?  How could I have been a better witness to his life's journey?

Being a witness to someone's life, a true friend, requires time and energy.  It requires talking and listening, phone calls, encouraging words, celebrating life's triumphs and mourning when someone else suffers loss.  It is much more than casual.  More than a text or an email.  It's one on one.  It's doing life together.  And as a follower of Christ, it is required.  I should be so invested in the lives of my fellow believers that I am an absolute eye witness to their life...and they to mine. 

I think most people are afraid to explore this kind of friendship.  They don't want to get their hands dirty - they don't want to bear the burden of someone else's messed up life. It's easier to be casual and be a bystander - keep people at arms length.  Who has the time to be a close friend anyway? And furthermore, people certainly don't want anyone to know about their own messy life.  It's much better to give the impression that everything is fine and dandy - you know "I'm fine/your fine" mentality.  I mean, we do claim to be Christians for crying out loud! Aren't we supposed to be perfect? The answer is NO. Friendship INCLUDES flaws and forgiveness.

Taking a leap of faith in friendship, being raw and real, open and honest about who we are takes courage.  It makes you vulnerable.  But being the body of Christ requires more than a casual hello on Sundays or Wednesdays or a "how are you doing"conversation.  Has someone offered you their gift of friendship lately?  Did you plunge in head first or did you tip toe away out of fear of rejection or commitment?

True friendships are well worth the cost.  They give you eyes to the heart of other people.  And the blessing of receiving and giving friendship is a treasured gift, never to be handled with carelessness.  People are craving this kind of friendship in the seat next to you at church and in your Bible Studies.  People want to be known - they don't want to walk this life alone. And in our faith families, of all places, we should be able to find these deep, love filled friendships and people who are willing to take the time to invest. We need each other - we were made to love each other.  Take that first step - witness the miracle of life with someone...it's well worth it.

Thank you Harold for your friendship, love, and poems.  I will never forget you.  I celebrate your life.  I celebrate because you are with Jesus resting with Him in eternal peace today.  Yours was a life worth witnessing.

Anticipating Christmas

Christmas Eve.  Sigh.  The presents are wrapped and most are under the tree.  In just hours most of them will be ripped open with smiles (I hope) and squeals of delight.  Christmas will reveal the true value of every gift in the eyes of each receiver. But we are fickle.  In a few weeks or months, what once was considered a treasured gift might be tossed aside as our affections are stolen away by something bigger or better. 

When my Heather was a little girl, she had one "bratty" Christmas that sticks in my mind and we still joke about today.  She had already opened an abundance of gifts at our home before arriving at her aunt and uncles.  They always lavished my kids with surprises (thanks to Aunt Connie) and both of my children looked forward to arriving for their 2nd round of gift receiving.  After opening the first gift, like it was nothing special, Heather spoke up "next!" As in next gift.  Total parental embarrassment.  And she didn't stop there.  "Next, next!"  She was underwhelmed by her gifts. Not because they weren't great.  She just wasn't satisfied.  To this day I have no idea what she was expecting!

Let's change scenes to Mary and Joseph. I wonder what their thoughts were as the time grew near for Christ's birth? Were they eagerly anticipating what was to come? Did they understand the magnitude of the gift that was about to enter into the world?  I think the answer would be all of the above - as much as their minds could hold of each emotion and with their human understanding of this miraculous event. They may have been "bratty" about many things before this but this night they were completely humbled.  Humbled to be a part of this part of God's plan...humbled to be chosen and entrusted with such a valuable treasure.  And I wonder if they would approve of how we celebrate Christmas?  Would they be disappointed? Would they see a humble people bowed on their knees in adoration?   As they held, cherished and cuddled Christ on that very first Christmas day, with full hearts, as well as full hopes and fears, with angels singing, shepherds worshiping, they knew no greater gift was coming, EVER.  And the world would never be he same. 

Christmas today looks more like hustle and bustle than the peaceful scene that is described in the book of Luke. Mega advertising for the latest and greatest begins as early as October! We over shop, overeat,  and deplete our bank accounts.  We are encouraged to say "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas for fear of not being politically correct or offending someone.  I dare say a Christmas in most of our homes could easily be called something else.  I dare say neither Mary or Joseph would want the name of Christ tagged to our celebrations in an after thought.

Christmas.  CHRISTmas.  Christ.  The reason we celebrate...or is it?  Are we, like Mary and Joseph, greatly anticipating the celebration of the King of all Kings?  If we are followers of Christ, we should be.  Or, is our true treasure wrapped in brightly colored paper, tagged and tucked under the tree?  Are we truly satisfied with the gift of Jesus Christ? Or are we continuing to look for something better? 

There is a gift that is better than any under your tree.  You only have to "open" it once.  There is nothing coming that will top it.  It is a gift that truly satisfies.  It will bring you immediate as well as continued satisfaction.  The gift is Jesus.  If you are reading this tonight, I pray you know Him.  I pray you are able to celebrate His birth in full knowledge the joy of belonging to Christ. If not, this precious gift is available to you right now! The gift of Christ has a "whoever" name tag.  Receive it with joy.

Luke 2

John 3

Acts 2:37-38

 

Are You Spiritually Savvy?

Have you ever heard the old saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks?  Well, I would like to say you can teach an old dog new tricks...it just may take him a little longer to get it right. And if we are honest, sometimes he just plain old refuses to be taught. I am that old dog much of the time. 

Us old dogs don't seem to fit in with today's tech savvy society. The times "they are a changing!" rings true for the 60's generation.  We grew up in much simpler times.  The most technology we had at one time in our home was the TV in the family room and one of us kids served as the remote control :)!  If someone wanted to contact you, they did so on their rotary dial phone and that was your only contact outside of making personal visits.  When you sat down to dinner, you talked, ate and you WERE NOT allowed to answer a phone call if it happened to ring at dinner.  Now a days, we have to be skilled at computers to just simply send and read an email, be smarter than our Smart Phone, and know how to function through social media!  This old dog is learning but I surely haven't perfected my skills in this world of technology we reside in. 

We need to be savvy about spiritual things too.  Sometimes I look as if I am a real dunce.  I need a 101 class or a Spiritual Disciplines for Dummies or something.  I have the basic idea, but I forget how to operate day in and day out much of the time.   And I don't brush up on the "manual" enough to make sure I am doing it right or refer to it before attempting to just do it on my own.

With all of that said, I can do better. Not on my own mind you, but by relying on the Holy Spirit as my guide and God's Word as my manual.  If I am investing the time to learn properly in the first place, I am certainly going to catch on quicker as I am passionate about my desire to learn.  Sometimes these new truths are painful and we just want to run, hide, or pretend we are too dense to catch on.  Just as we must learn how to be tech savvy in order to communicate, work, play and live in today's world, we need to be even more devoted to the things of Christ Jesus.

I pray God never stops teaching me new things.  I pray that I will always be willing to listen when He speaks.  I pray I am not a resistant learner.  And when I realize what God is saying to me, that I will be so excited to receive what is revealed and more than eager to flesh it out in daily life. 

Today was a painful day of learning - learning what it means to communicate, to not make assumptions, to love, forgive, and to take the time to look at things through the eyes of Jesus.

I am on a journey to be more savvy in my walk with Jesus.  And, I am so thankful.