Monthly Archives: June 2011

Displaced

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Birgitta and I have moved. Not permanently, just for a few days. The wood floor in our cottage is getting a new lease on its 73 year old life, and today is the first of several “poly days” when polyurethane will perfume the house. Sticky floors will dry by next week.

Having to leave home is an inconvenience for us, but it brought to mind the thousands who live in refugee camps around the world, routed out of their homes amidst traumatic circumstances.

Birgitta and I had planned ahead, making lists beforehand and packing what we wanted; refugees often leave on the run, taking only what they can carry. We left for the happy reason of home improvement; they leave to escape war or, worse yet, to preserve their lives. We’ll be home in just a few days; refugees may be displaced for months, maybe years. Some never return home.

When the biblical Abraham was told to leave home, it fell somewhere between inconvenient and awful. He wasn’t a refugee but wasn’t given a return date either. And he wasn’t given a destination. Instead he was told, “Pick up and go.” But because it was the voice of God directing him, he did it.

After that, Abraham lived as a nomadic tent-dweller, roaming desert terrain with his household and possessions, believing there was “milk and honey” at the end of the journey. He didn’t know all that we know today, that many generations would come and go before God completed his promise. In the mean time, Abraham was often sent packing.

Recent news stories have shown thousands leaving their homes to escape natural disasters and then returning to find no home at all. And of course lean financial times have displaced many others who’ve been forced out of homes they love. Dorothy of Oz fame put it well. “There’s no place like home.”

So many stories of dislocation make me wonder what God is up to.

We’ve all heard the expression, “Home is where the heart is.” Could it be that’s what God is trying to show us? Maybe home isn’t about wood floors, mud huts, mansions or igloos but about who’s inside them. If so, then losing our address might not be as traumatic as we think. As long as we hold onto those we love, anyplace can become a home.

And God is hoping to be on that list of the ones we love best. As a matter of fact, he wants to be the heart of our homes, wherever we are. When he is, he assures us we’ll always have a home, not just in the distant someday but in the now. When we get displaced, he goes along. Though we lose our houses, we don’t lose him. If we must pitch a tent, he’s inside of it with us.

And maybe it’s those times when we’ve been forced out of our brick-and-mortar homes that we suddenly feel most at home with him.

“Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!” (Psalm 90:1)

Washed and Pressed

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All of us know we’re supposed to hold our possessions lightly, but it doesn’t come naturally. We have to repeatedly remind ourselves everything we own has come to us, in one way or another, from God.

Following this principle becomes more difficult when we’re dealing with the possessions of someone else. For example, Mary, Tom and I dismantled Mom’s apartment after she died, a strange experience with endless questions of what to do with each item. Yet it had to be done.

After Nate died, my first reaction was to leave everything as it was: the pens atop his dresser, his shoes lined-up in a row, his business suits on the closet bar. Most people don’t need someone else’s used clothing, nor do they want it. Even so, bundling it all up for charity is a bite too big for most widows to chew. And so the clothes stay put.

Today I decided it was time, at least for part of Nate’s wardrobe. His business shirts have been hanging in dry cleaner plastic for 18 months, pressed and ready to go to work. How silly to let them hang there when other workers could be wearing them.

Nate probably suffered from shirt gluttony owning 45 of them. He also collected pens, some of them antiques, some with leaks, so many of the shirts were pocket-stained. Thankfully, our church is conducting a sale this weekend, with a welcome mat out for used clothing (although not the ones with stained pockets). This moved me to release one more piece of Nate’s life.

Much of adjusting to widowhood is emotional and must be done in our heads. That means it’s not about the shirts at all but about missing the guy who was inside them. Reminding myself that he isn’t ever coming back to wear those shirts helps me let them go. I don’t want to cling to a fantasy.

A day will come for each of us when we won’t need what’s hanging in our closets. Whether we slip out of this life through illness or accident, closet contents will be far from our thoughts. And it’s a good idea now to picture others pawing through our stuff wondering what to do with it all.

There’s a passage in Scripture that’s always puzzled me. It describes God’s detailed care of those he loves, including provision of clothes, and not just any clothes but spectacular ones. Yet many in this world are wearing rags, which doesn’t jive with the story. (Luke 12)

But Jesus was probably referring to our new paradise-clothes, garments with an other-worldly dazzle we can’t yet picture. Nate didn’t take anything with him when he left, but as he met Jesus, a new wardrobe awaited him, and none of it had pocket-stains.

Leaking ink and every other life-stain had been washed away by the blood of Jesus.

“Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from Jesus Christ… him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” (Revelation 1:4,5)

From better to worse?

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My Michigan cottage has been undergoing a partial face lift recently, with disarray ongoing for 5 weeks now. Those of us who lean toward a disorganized mindset even when our surroundings are in order know that serious thinking becomes difficult if life’s backdrop is in shambles. But as is true of many of life’s improvements, things often get worse before they get better.

I remember that same phenomenon with some of our teens in their battles with acne. Although they’d leave the dermatologist’s office with a fistful of promising prescriptions, their faces always got worse before they got better.

In a less visible way, worst-first is also true in relationship counseling. During the early weeks, complaints and criticisms rise to the surface like cream from warm cow’s milk. But with time, the “better” begins to happen.

This worse-before-better phenomenon is unfolding on a massive scale all around us in our world. More wars, more natural disasters, more fractured families, more violent deaths. Might this mean things are on their way to getting better?

Only if God steps in.

Scripture describes our global situation to-a-T:

“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents. Such things must happen.” (Mark 13)

But why?

Because the devil is wreaking havoc among us. He couldn’t convince Jesus to commit even one tiny little sin in 33 years of trying, and he failed to dissuade him from enduring torture and death for our salvation. His time to work on Jesus has ended, but this wicked being still has the power to ruin lives through disease, abuse, poverty and countless other evils. He’s also able to tempt all of us relentlessly, and he works on it night and day.

Satan thrills to the possibility of keeping souls separated from God the Father, both in this life and the next. His greatest joy is to take people to permanent destruction, but we know God has the final say and will eventually come out on top. If we follow him, we’ll be on the victorious team.

Sometimes I wonder why the Lord doesn’t just end it all today. How bad will it have to get? He’s coming back to settle the score eventually and strip the devil of his power, so why is he waiting? Most likely it’s to allow as many as possible to believe in him and accept the salvation he offers. His desire is to see every soul come to him.

God knows that the upheaval and chaos around us is disturbing, but he urges us not to panic, reminding us that this “worse” will lead to the best “better” there ever was!

”Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” (Hebrews 10:37)