Boromir and the Portland Summer

When spring officially faded into summer on Thursday evening I was walking through the South Park Blocks listening to The Classic Crime song Vagabonds. It’s a song about loving a city and loving living in it.

“People can't get enough
Of living in the darkness and the rain
But when the sun comes out
The streets are filled with songs
And people playing it loud
So the whole world can sing along”

OK, I know that this song is about that other Northwest city, but it still applies. I LOVE Portland and the streets WERE filled with song as I left my friend’s apartment and walked the 10 blocks home in the twilight. Summer is here and the sun will soon come out and stay out for three long glorious months. We have been waiting. We are getting kinda stoked.

In Portland, we say, "If you don’t like the weather...maybe you should leave because this is how it is." Well, that’s what we say in late February when it’s rainy, cold and forever dark because we get like five hours of daylight. Notice I did not say sunlight. The light we get is filtered through heavy gray cloud blankets.

In late February we don’t tell those weather whiners about Portland’s spectacular summers because in late February, we only a few vague memories of the sun. We remember that once we frolicked in parks without dodging random hail showers. Those few precious memories we hoard.  We guard them and keep them close and use them to strengthen our belief that we deserve those three glorious summer months.

We negotiate with our unkind, selfish selves that will use those months for good, like cycling or kickball. We tell ourselves that only we, the ones who know the long months of weather misery, can wield all of that unbridled sunshine and temperature perfection.

We put in our time! Those months are ours and ours alone!

We get a little Boromir and the Ring about it.

OK, so in the dead of winter we’re a tad dramatic. After all, the five hours of daylight and miserable weather have forced us to retreat inside reading books, watching movies, and playing board games. Drama happens.

In October, however, when the memories and effects of long cloudless days filled with sunshine still linger on our minds and on our skin we say, “Yeah, the never ceasing rain and the darkness can be brutal at times but it’s all worth it for the summer. July, August and September are awesome.”

Today is the first full day of summer and we are on the cusp of greatness. We’ve already quadrupled booked everyday of every weekend. The joyful anticipation is building. July 5, you’re Portland’s unofficial first day of summer, we’re waiting for you. The weather’s been sort of weird this year, don’t let us down.

From Creepy to Etsy: Some Thoughts on Revelation

Personalized Dress Hanger from Etsy ~ May 2013

The book of Revelation use to seriously freak me out.

A. The imagery can be sorta creepy.
B. I really don’t understand what is happening in parts of it.And I'm not so sure I want to.

However, there are some parts I can really get behind. Like the section where Jesus introduces himself to each church. It is unique and personal to each community as if he is saying, “This is how YOU know me, this is your UNIQUE relationship with me.” And he does know them; he calls them out on the specifics of what each is doing right and on what each is doing wrong.

I imagine each church lined up in a row and as Jesus walks down the row, he takes each one by the shoulders and speaks as both friend and authority all in one. “Hey, Ephesus, you know me. You know that I’m the One who takes care of all things, who holds you in my hands. You know how I walk and move among you and our other friends. You. Know. Me. And I know you. So, I want to tell you something, you are doing good stuff. Yeah, I really like it. But…don’t forget me. I love you. Do you still love me? You’re doing a lot of stuff. Make sure that this stuff you do, is done out of love for me. Be with me first; LOVE me first and above everything else.”*

He continues this stroll and speaks to each church about both their good and their bad choices

And to the last he says, “Philly, you are newer here, but I don’t love you any less. We are just beginning. Remember that I hold all the possibilities. I know it can be overwhelming, but I will take care of it. I will take care of you. I can open and shut doors as needed to guide you into the right ones. I know you are weak, but you still stood strong. I’m proud of you. Now stay strong. I know you are being bullied, but don’t you worry. They will receive their comeuppance and then everyone will know how much I love you.”*

Jesus was telling each church to love God, themselves and their neighbors in ways that were unique and best suited for them in their particular circumstances. I think this is true for us as individuals, too. Just as Jesus acknowledges and encourages each church’s different strengths, Jesus acknowledges and encourages each of our different strengths. That is, when we take time to listen to him and let him do so. 

Just as Jesus, out of love and desire for the good and best, calls the churches out on their individual poor choices, Jesus calls out our individual poor choices, but here again, we have to listen. 

Jesus understands/ knows/gets each of us waaaaay better than we understand/know/get ourselves and he wants to share this knowledge with each of us to help each of us in unique and personalized ways. Jesus is not offering mass-produced assembly line solutions. He’s creating hand-made quality goods. Turns out, Jesus is less big-box, more Etsy.  So that's cool and not creepy at all.

*Loose paraphrases of Revelation 2:1-7 and 3:7-13 mostly based on The Message and The Voice translations with dashes of NIV.

Promising Possibilities

In John's first letter to the new followers of Jesus he writes, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known."

How promising is this?! Oh, the possibilities! I am fairly certain we don’t ever fully grasp what an absolutely incredible promise this is. Most probably because we don’t fully grasp who God is.

God created everything.

God has the power to control everything.

God knows everything.

God, like an good parent, wants the best for his children.

Now, we as humans are certainly not the best gauges of what is best. Sometimes we even fail at being good gauges of what is adequate. I think this is the root of much of our discontent. Knowing that we are created in God's image, we prefer to see ourselves as mini-gods, able to judge and discern what is right and best, instead of how God sees us, as children who need to be guided into making proper choices. To be clear, we are children God LOVES beyond all measure and would do most anything to ensure we receive what is in our best interests (see: sending Jesus as a sacrifice for our poor choices, etc.)

So, God sometimes doesn’t allow our lives to play out the way we imagine or desire. Sometimes that’s because the desires of children can be their ruin.

A few Sundays ago, while I working with the kids during worship, I asked them to name the one thing they would want in the whole wide world. One said a robot, another a super fancy car (I mean super fancy with a name I have never heard of) and another, with a twinkle in her eye, wanted the entire building we were sitting in to be made of chocolate. The rest of the children completely rallied around this idea.

Children don’t make the best choices. And the truth is, neither do adults.

It's comforting to me to know that with all of the choices I have already made and all the paths I have already taken, what I will ultimately be is not yet known. Because I am God’s child, my future is still full of promising possibilities.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! ~ 1 John 3:1