Have you seen the foreign film, The Red Balloon? It's about a little boy and an "obedient" red balloon. The little boy spends this fantastic day being friends with the balloon. It goes everywhere with him, he runs and laughs and plays with it. And at the end of the day, his mother tried to kick it out of the house... but the balloon waited outside the boy's window.
Perhaps as a Lenten reminder we could walk around with a balloon. Or better yet, isn't red the color for Pentecost? Perhaps we could imagine the Holy Spirit as that playful, ever-present, faithful companion just like the red balloon was to the boy.
Maybe I've just touched on a great Pentecost illustration... balloons for everyone!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Feels Like Rain
Pete and I saw Buddy Guy with BB King on Fat Tuesday. Feels Like Rain was my first exposure to Buddy Guy and it courted me once again in a relationship with the blues. I love the imagery of rain being used here to speak of something wonderful like love. Rain so often is used for... well, for the blues. But I love the tension. Enjoy it here with John Mayer and Buddy Guy.
Friday, March 06, 2009
answering my own questions
I'm writing my sermon... again. The reflection is about the psalm that Jesus quotes while on the cross. It begins with the words, "my God, why have you forsaken me?" I've written a sermon about this already. But it was explicitly about the cross. This time, we're not quite at the cross yet. We're just beginning the journey of Lent.
And so I'm wondering about how we question God's Way. And I'm wondering about how much of this world we don't understand. I'm wondering about how much of this life doesn't go the way that we wish. And I'm wishing that I could get to a place where my knee jerk reaction wasn't blaming God.
The psalmist both blames God and trusts God. The psalmist seems to understand that 1. there is a God and 2. I am not God. The first gives us someone to blame. The second resolves us to trust.
When I hold those two things in tension, I am always reminded of a David Wilcox song, "Show the Way."
And so I'm wondering about how we question God's Way. And I'm wondering about how much of this world we don't understand. I'm wondering about how much of this life doesn't go the way that we wish. And I'm wishing that I could get to a place where my knee jerk reaction wasn't blaming God.
The psalmist both blames God and trusts God. The psalmist seems to understand that 1. there is a God and 2. I am not God. The first gives us someone to blame. The second resolves us to trust.
When I hold those two things in tension, I am always reminded of a David Wilcox song, "Show the Way."
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