a meditation on test prep helps

So now comes the slow dance into finals week. This weekend will pit your need to study and your desire to have fun. The wait for the culmination of a semester’s work is upon you. Next week, you will only be able to refresh, remind and keep the big picture. It’s not a great idea to give an calculus answer to a creative writing question.

Anxiety is rampant as people put their nose to the books and class notes. People are asking questions: “Who has the best notes in class?” “What’s her name?” “Where’s a study group?” “Does anyone have copies of old tests?” “What does this professor really want out of me?”

These are all life skills, folks: learning, working with others, doing projects well and knowing the reason for the project in the first place are all part of what’s needed. That body work all builds confidence.

“Why are you studying?” Try to put that into a sentence. It will help with the studying itself. Also, when you take a test, make sure your essays have a thesis statement. That one was always a problem! Hot oatmeal is good for studying, too.

For those of you with more time and who need to stare out the window, here are a couple reverie starters.

Imaginings:

• The hotel in Dubai where you meet a young woman who is part of the “Turquoise Mountain” project—regenerating the business section of Kabul, Afghanistan. Would you like to join that?

• Here’s a quote: “He who has not despaired has no need to live.”—Goethe

What might that mean? And why is the German history so full of quotable quotes?

• Answer this question: Would I like to live someplace special for 3 months? What would that be like?

• So this guy Jesus comes up to me at Panera’s and says, “Come. Follow me.” Does that interest you? Would you accept the invitation? Where would that invitation take you? Who would you invite to go with you?

You are grand. You are able. You are focused. You are God’s creation.

a meditation on camels and messes

Watch out for the camels and messes

Driving Dodge street east last night I was rubber necking Westside Church (Southern Baptist). There in the parking lot were two camels. They looked to be five or six feel tall at the hump. I laughed when I thought of them inside the church building because I knew someone was excited about the beauty of the pageant and its meaning. Reality dictates, however, there were others who worried about “who’s going to clean up this mess? Camels make messes, you know. They spit, they’ve got hooves, they pass gas and, well you know what else they can do. They’re animals. And who let them in on this carpet anyway?”

The answer in life is this: some messes are worth it!

Pets are part of a lot of peoples’ lives. Most have cats and dogs. There is a rage now to have pet rats. On Tuesday night at our ministry’s cookie decorating event, I met a few. These rats, evidently, have personalities and attitudes. To work with her inner rat, this rat owner has constructed a multi-level rat condo with cardboard boxes and duct tape. The luxury penthouse is complete with terrace, a deck, and viewing tower. Presumably, there is a master bath as well. Even with a castle, though, rats make a mess. But it’s worth it.

Children are messy, too. This morning’s paper displayed a photo of a baby in a Santa’s outfit. Cute and adorable? Absolutely! Do babies make a mess? Of course. But it’s worth it.

Christmas is messy. Every year we hear about Magi and Shepherds, and Angels and Mary and Joseph. A terrific visual description of the retelling of that story is in the movie, “Simon Birch.” Simon, a birth challenged small person always ends up being the baby. One year, though, he’s going through a pre teen challenge, and the beautiful Mary pays the price, as does the free range angel who comes down on stage losing lunch from the heavens. The chain smoking, delusional Sunday School director doesn’t get a free pass either. Quite a sight. Not pretty, except for being pretty funny. Lots of messes to clean up here—both on stage and off. But it’s worth it.

Life has its messes. The challenge is not so much in eliminating them, but acknowledging them, and cleaning them up.

Last night’s TV broadcast a show of a wealthy family that is all about itself and how entitled behavior runs amok. One character, who played the part of a college age loafer with no direction, brings a race horse and jockey into his parents’ formal dinner party. It reminded me of Peter Sellers’ “The Party” or Robin Williams’ “Mrs. Doubtfire.” The hilarity, however, is cut with the sharp knife of impropriety, inattention, narcissism, and life without purpose. The cutting left a mess. But was it worth it?

The message of Jesus’ love invites us to use our passions for the love God. Those passions will leave messes—changes of schedule, equipment, budgets, relationships and more. But those are the messes worth cleaning up!

Mark 10:17-30

“As he was going out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him: Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “you lack one thin; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”

Meditation on if

Meditation on “if”

One of the women said, “If the weather hadn’t caused UNO to be called off, we’d have had 150 people here.” But the weather did cause the school to be closed until noon, the time at which we were scheduled. Moreover, it’s dead week and students are focused on finals and papers and a change in their schedule. A change in schedule makes many of us forget what we’re doing. Signs were made, the podium and loudspeaker was up. It was on the schedule. Those who were there were ready. So we went ahead as soon as we could.

“If” is a big word.

If the weather had been better…

If it wasn’t dead week…

If people didn’t have to work…

But the facts are what they are. As they say, “It is what it is.” Just as we can’t take back last Wednesday (one week ago today), and the gruesomeness of the slayings, we can’t take back who we are and exchange it for someone else: a different size, different focus, different body type, different intelligence, a different (you fill in the blank here) ….)

No we can’t do that. So there we were with our candles and our prayers with those who were there. We read, we prayed, we reflected and we remembered. And though we weren’t 150, we made a difference:

We made a difference to those who walked by, saw the signs and almost joined us.

We made a difference in the atmosphere of campus, because people knew we were there in prayer.

Afterward, we made a difference in the offices where we work and with the people we meet.

We made a difference in the life of the community on campus and in Omaha and in the world.

Why? Because something holy happens when people gather to pray and to witness to God who is among us, whether in joy or tragedy. Gathering overcomes “if”s.

Matthew 18:20 (in the midst of conflict)
“For wherever two or three are gathered, there I am there among them.”

Meditation on the time in between

Meditation and the time in between

Tomorrow we will have a brief service of remembrance for all those killed in the
Von Maur shooting. We are taking the lead in cooperation with other campus
ministries, including Catholic Campus Ministries, who are interested in this
time of prayer, reflection, community and hope. The service is at MBSC in the
fireplace lounge at noon. We invite you to join us.

We are in an in between time. The deaths have been catalogued and the funeral
services planned. Some will be completed today or very soon. We are in a time in
between death and final resting.

We are in an in between time as well because even though a person is buried,
their memory does not end. Families will cherish time spent together. Families
will remember the joy of life in years gone by. We are in between because of
memory.

We are also in an in between time because the events of last week are rippling
across our country, and perhaps our world. Yesterday, four people were gunned
down by shooters at a mega church in Colorado Springs, and a missionary training
center outside Denver, CO; a bomb threat was sent to a Von Maur store in
Minneapolis, MN. But even in these events, there is hope. We do not quit on
life.

Partly, I suppose, we do not quit on life because of the resilient character of
human nature. We continue to hope in and build for the future. Also, we do not
quit on life and hope because we are like saints in the world, looking into the
eyes of those around us and “seeing Jesus.” We are profoundly the people of
compassion and love. I see this compassion in the responders. It is visible in
the compassion of those walking past the makeshift memorial, and hope through
compassion is visible as persons make donations to the families involved to ease
the financial crunch, which is inevitable.

I encourage you to view the compassion welling up in our community and to not
give in to the easy cynical and hopelessness deaths bring, whether in Omaha and
elsewhere. We are a people hope; we do not easily give up. We are God’s people.



From Psalm 139:vss 7-12

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there,
If I take the wings of the morning
And settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall lead me,
And your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “surely the darkness shall cover me,
And the light around me become night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to you
The night is as bright as the day,
For darkness is as light to you.