A stigma to embrace

Since it is almost Christmas, I have been thinking a lot about the predicament Mary found herself in after she, without skipping a beat, accepted to play the role of the Mother of our Lord. I imagine how she broke the news to Joseph and how he may have initially responded. 

The Christmas story reveals that he acted as a man who knew the rules of his faith, but that he did not want to follow them to the letter. Instead of having Mary stoned to death for being unfaithful as the law required, he chose to quietly divorce her before the town found out what was going on. 

Fortunately, since he would play a key role in the plan of salvation, the Angel of God explained to him his beloved’s new role. He became convinced that she was carrying the Lord. The two married and he became the earthly father and protector of the baby Jesus. Good man.

Surely the town found out about this development and tongues began to wag about this “hussy” and that “illegitimate” pregnancy. She, Joseph, and all the family were probably looked down upon by those who enjoyed the feeling of superiority when “sharing” with others this “sad” news. 

“Oh, those poor, poor, parents.  How they must feel having spent all their years trying to raise a good girl, and now look at her.”   “Tisk, tisk, it’s such a shame, and blah, blah, blah...”

Because scripture says that Mary pondered everything in her heart, I believe she never told anyone, except her family, about the angelic visitation, or the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, or all the miraculous events thereafter. She kept all to herself at the cost of losing her reputation and maybe some of her family and friends. 

I bet the stigma of this pregnancy was attached to her her whole life.  And I bet when Jesus took his ministry to his hometown, thirty years later, a lot of that stigma found its voice and judgement and fueled the townspeople with desire to push him off the cliff outside of town after he made the audacious comparison between them and two Gentiles of the Written Torah whom God favored. Luke 4: 21-30 

Even though Mary knew that she would be treated most unfairly, looked down upon, and become the gossip of the town for years to come, she did not hesitate to accept the Lord’s plan for her life.  Let us do the same.

Can you help me?

Recently I read an account from a mother of a toddler who wrote about her conversation with the little girl.  “Mom, can you do me a favor?” “Sure,” the mother responded.  The little girl asked, “Can you help me clean up?”

How cute is that?  The little girl was imitating her mother who has probably asked her that question ever since she could toddle. 

In the universe of a child, Mom is the sun and Dad is the moon.  The child always wants to be near Mom and wants to imitate everything she does.  Eventually he or she will switch the celestial orbs and Dad will become the sun and Mom the moon, but in those beginning months and years, Mom is the center of a child’s everything.

Jesus told his disciples that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, all must become like little children. To long to be near the Lord and to imitate all that He has done is to enter the Kingdom. 

Jesus also said that the Kingdom of God is within us and to do as this toddler manifests the Kingdom for us and to others.

If we all who profess to be Christians truly acted like her in our actions and in our wills we would experience what Jesus longs us to experience. It would be peaceful and heavenly.

We would not have the in-house fighting, the church splits, the back stabbing, and all the things disgruntled, bad children do to each other.  

In this Christmas season can we turn our attention to the lowly stable where Jesus’ mother and Joseph cradle the Kingdom of God in their arms? Can we put down the sharp words and the knives and instead imitate the Lord who will ask us in love, Can you do me a favor, can you help me clean up?”

We will

There is so many warm fuzzies to look forward to during the Christmas season.  The food, the visits with family, the office parties... The reason for Christmas is a respite from the rest of the year’s worries and I love it. 

Today I read in Luke that we Christians have other things to look forward to that are not warm fuzzies but cold pricklies. These things are sure to touch each of us in varying degrees, and Jesus predicts these things for us so that we will not be surprised when they happen.

He says in the book of Luke:  “...you will be seized and persecuted; you will be handed over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.  Make up your minds not to prepare your defense, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated universally on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your perseverance will win you your lives.” Luke 21:12-19

The words “will” and “shall” are used ten times in this short paragraph. We will be seized, persecuted, handed over to secular courts, and imprisoned by the actions of family and friends.  But these events will be our opportunity to wax eloquent with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and by persevering we will win our lives. 

I hope when we experience things along these lines we really will be ready to meet the challenge and not be taken aback with disbelief.  

Thomas A Kempis wrote in The Imitation of Christ: “If you have Christ, you are rich indeed, for only He can fill all your needs.  He will be you provider and defender and your faithful helper in every need, so that you need not trust in any other.

"How quickly people change and fail us; but Christ abides forever and remains at our side to the end.

No confidence is to be placed in mortal human beings, no matter how helpful they may be or how dear to us, for we are all frail. Neither should you be downcast if one day they are on your side and the next day they are against you; for humans are changeable like the wind.

"Therefore, put your complete trust in God and let Him be the center of your love and fear.  He will answer for you and will do what He sees best for you.”

I don’t think any of us look forward to the predictions in Luke’s book, but we can look forward to having our Lord stand next to us defending us in our time of trouble.

Conversation through a farm house basement window

I got the call that it was time to haul more firewood to the basement.  Because it was a cold, windy day, I bundled up in my insulated overalls then walked across the yard to the old farm house where the folks live.

One of the tires on the wheel barrow has a leak so I have to put air in it every time before heading to the wood pile sitting behind the long retired semi tractor trailer.  The last time the plates were updated on the rusting hulk was in 2000 when Dad was 72 years old.  The faded lettering on the door still reads clearly, “Heikkila Forest Products, Floodwood, MN”

After I loaded the wheel barrow and pulled it over to the house, the basement window was removed by hands protected by a pair of old leather gloves, my Dad’s.  “LOTS of WOOD,” he says approvingly and with admiration.  He has forgotten his own strength and now thinks I’m Pauline Bunyan.  

I slowly hand him one stick at a time, making sure to get it in far enough for him to reach easily.  Mom stands on his right, out of range of my eyesight, except when her hands, protected in old garden gloves, jut in front of the old leather gloves to grab the stick ahead of Dad.

Silence and the scraping of wood against the window sill pervade when Dad suddenly says, “When you and Earl put the wood in, I don’t know how you two survive it.” He says that because Earl throws the wood through the window like a rapid fire cannon.  I stand far away on the stairs leading to the basement until he is done, then I stack the heap into a pile. I think Dad envisions me standing in the line of fire miraculously and successfully dodging the wood and living to do it again the next time.

Silence overtakes again.  When the second load of wood arrives to the window, I hear in the bowels of the basement, “BIG LOAD.” Again, we hand and take each stick until the wheel barrow is empty.  

“One more load,” I tell them.  “Oh boy,” my Mom exclaims.  “Lordy, Lordy,” is the reply of the old man occupying the leather gloves. 

When the third load is being handed through the window, the stack on the floor is higher so the garden gloved hand more often juts in front of the leather gloves to grab the sticks.  The garden gloved hands are ready to be done with the job.  The leather gloves don’t get a chance to grab the sticks too often at this stage of the game. They spend more time empty handed, midair, and in the recesses of the dim basement light. 

When the job is done, the window is replaced and the gloves come off until two or three days in the future when we do it all over again. 

This is my version of Sirach 3 which says, “My child, take care of your father when he grows old; give him no cause for worry as long as he lives. Be sympathetic even if his mind fails him; don't look down on him just because you are strong and healthy.  The Lord will not forget the kindness you show to your father.” 

I know He’s watching over me

Today I had to do some “manwork”.  Now, my kids will tell you that me and “manwork” do not work well together, especially when it involves pipe wrenches. I had to  become MacGyver and figure out a way to drain my well through the outside house spigot without using a hose and without letting the water spill all over the ground near the house.

The first thing was to free the frozen hose from the spigot...using the pipe wrench. Well, after a few tries with the “righty tighty, lefty loosey” formula, I saw that it was going to have to be “righty loosey, lefty tighty” instead. During this step of the process the pipe wrench and the nearly stripped hose end were recipients of dicey language and one fling in the air. 

Now besides this annoying problem that involved “manwork”, I had my guilt to deal with too. So, I went in the house to cool off and do my devotional reading. I started by listening to a song by Audrey Assad.

“Why should I be lonely, long for Heaven and home when I have Jesus as my portion and a constant friend I know, 

Oh I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, His eye is on the sparrow, His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me.

By the end of this verse and chorus I was in tears, sorry for my behavior that never seems to get better.  Then, all of a sudden, right next to the window I was sitting at a gentle swirl of hoar frost shimmering in the sun danced playfully before my eyes for several seconds. I knew in my heart that indeed Jesus was watching over me and He would help me accomplish the task. Then I cried some more.

 Why should I be troubled when His tender word I hear? No, I rest in His goodness, in my doubting and my fear.

Oh I sing because He loves me, I sing because I’m free, His eye is on the sparrow, His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me.

After I had calmed myself down, I went back outside and found everything I needed to direct the water away from the house.  I must say that though it looks like a hillbilly rigged up this system it works, and MacGyver would be proud of me.

Two Shoulders


When in town recently, I saw a forlorn young lady sitting on a bench. I have seen her before and knew by the looks of her that she was very sad and weighed down with the cares of her world.  It was obvious she had made some poor choices in her short life.

My first, callous thought was, “Well, she’s got to lie in the bed she’s made.” Because I was too busy being weighed down with the cares of my world, I did not have an ounce of compassion for this woman.

But I’ve recently had a small epiphany of which I am so grateful to God for. My heart, and not of my own volition, has suddenly swelled with compassion for this sad person. This is due to the fact that I have also recently realized that I have been carrying my own yoke by myself for the last while.

I’ve been dragging this thing as fast as I can to the finish line, sweating, grunting, and groaning and displaying all sorts of theatrics besides. I have not viewed this yoke as an instrument meant for two to carry, but for me to drag alone while digging great trenches in the ground along the way.

I also had a light bulb moment when I realized that it’s ok for my burden and my yoke to feel light and it’s ok to feel rest while carrying my half.  Jesus has invited me to this understanding when he said, “Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Matt. 11: 29, 30

He has also asked permission to accompany me each day when he said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.” Luke 9: 23
His words do not imply, “Deny yourself and struggle under this burden everyday of you cotton pickn’ life, Bwahahahaha.”  For me, his words patiently say, “Carry your burden, but let me come with you and take the other side and we will walk and talk together. I will be with you and I will teach you.”

Now my stone cold heart has warmed a little.  I hope to see that sad woman again someday.  I would like to sit with her and simply say, “I’m sorry that you are sad.” I  know I can’t fix her world but I can at least show a bit of compassion.

Doing more than nothing

Moms, you know how it feels when you tell your children to do chores A, B, and C and they do them, not because they recognize that they need doing, but because you told them to do them. And you know how it feels when you inspect their work and find that even though the chores were done they were done sloppily and with the least amount of care. And! You know how it feels when you come home to a messy house that no one has bothered to clean up because they weren’t told to do it! 

When my kids were like this, I did not feel very appreciative towards them, because I felt they were not appreciative of me.  I felt their only reason for doing only what I told them to do only when I told them to do it was so that they would not have to be exposed to The Wrath of Mom.

I think this is a common problem in most families and reminds me of a couple of parables Jesus taught. The first one is the story of a master who told his servants to do chores A, B, C, and then D.  When they completed these, the master did not throw a party for them just because they did what was demanded.  Jesus said that when the servants were done completing the tasks, they were supposed to look to themselves and recognize that even though they had done so much work, they really only did what was required of them. In Jesus words, they were “unprofitable servants.” 

In the second story, a nobleman was leaving the country for awhile and gave money to ten servants to manage and grow while he was away.  All servants but one took his amount and multiplied it tenfold, fivefold and so on.  The one servant took his money and buried it so it wouldn’t get lost. He said he did so because he was afraid of the nobleman’s harshness.

The nobleman, who was pleased with and awarded the other servants for their work, was indeed pretty harsh on this man. He called the servant a wicked man and ordered his money to be given to the servant who did the most with his.

I do not advocate calling our children wicked when they only do the minimum around the house, but taking stuff away is another matter!

Because we love the Lord, can we not do more than the minimum when it comes to faith?  Can we do more than sit in a pew, recite a creed, and sing a few songs? If we really mean what we say and sing, let’s follow through the whole week long being “profitable servants” and growing the gifts He has given us for His glory and our redemption.