Psalm 23

          

The Sheep's Song

    Having been challenged at a recent conference to meditate each day on Psalm 23, I have come to appreciate just how beautiful a piece of writing it is. It brings great comfort to my spirit, yet doesn’t make any false promises or leave me with any  false illusions that life will be comfortable.  Yes, needs are met, all of them, but there is that shadowy valley, there are those enemies, there is that evil.

    I need the Shepherd to lead and to provide.  I need his correcting staff.  I long for the peace that he brings. Enemies are not to be feared, in fact they become someone who I can sit down and share a meal with. I’m reminded of God’s care as I read the Psalm.  I’m inspired and challenged.  In the place of ministry where God has placed me at this time; a world of prisons, addictions, violence, ruptured relationships and loneliness, poor choices and recycled loss and defeat, the words of this poem remind me that I have a Shepherd who is for me: reliable, strong and vigilant. I asked him to be my shepherd a long time ago and have enjoyed his care over the years. A decision I have never regretted. I long to see some of the men and women I serve in my role in Aftercare come to know and trust the same Shepherd I follow and to listen to His voice speaking to them over the noise of their problems and the clamour of this world. 

   

His Eye is on the Pie Too

      I got a chuckle out of this cartoon on the weekend.  Not sure why, but I suspect it illustrates a truth that hits uncomfortably close to home.  Too often I treat God as if he were distracted and not paying attention. This is not the God of the Bible: the one who came here and didn't miss a trick. Jesus knew people thoughts, he knew what they had been up to, he knew what they were saying about him even when he wasn't within earshot.  He knew how the winds were blowing and saw through to his death, resurrection and to the end of time.

      I can forget this when I watch people struggle in their faith.  I can feel that God has missed something when temptations overwhelm someone and they return to using drugs. I wonder where God is when an ex-prisoner who showed tremendous potential and had high hopes drifts slowly away from the people who want to encourage him/her and from God into a life of spiritual mediocrity or rebellion.  Someone has said that prison ministry is a "ministry of disappointment" and that is very true in a number of ways as we deal with the frustration of institutional lethargy and bureaucracy and the effects of incarceration on individuals leaving the "system." Then I remember that my frustrations and disappointments are not mine alone, they are shared by the God who demonstrates grace and mercy to me and watches as I, ungrateful as I am, grumble about the ways things have gone or even worse, ignore his gifts. 

     When we have a small god, the problems we face become ours to deal with.  When our god is small, the temptations seem so much bigger, our ability to live the way we truly want to, impossible. It is easy to become pessimistic and angry if our god is too small, for we see the injustice around us and we don't feel it will ever change. We can easily stop fighting to be different and to make our world different when we aren't sure if God is even watching.  My encouragement as I meditate on what I read in Isaiah is that he is watching and cares deeply. Wrong will be righted. Injustice will be corrected. Trust will be rewarded. God asks for us to wait, and to believe, and to obey...He is magnificent and he is loving. 

He says: 

"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times would is still to come. I say my purpose will stand and I will do all that I please." Isaiah 46:10

"Those who hope in me will not be disappointed" Isaiah 49:23

"instruction will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily,, and my arm will bring justice to the nations."

Isaiah 51:4-5

       

      

Poverty of Spirit

                                                                                      

                                                                   (Image from http://consecration.ca/2015/12/week-16-blessed-are-the-poor-in-spirit/)

Jean Vanier shares one of his observations about the transformation he sees in people who arrive and stay at one of the L'Arche communities when he writes: "People may come to our communities because they want to serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered that they themselves are the poor." Jean Vanier in "From Brokenness to Community", p.20

    Discovering poverty in ourselves is a risky business. In order to discover how spiritually poor we are it requires a realization not just that we need God on a moment by moment basis, but also that we also need each other. It requires an honest self-examination, and this can be painful. It is necessary. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" said Jesus (Matthew 5:3). The humble come to an end of themselves and there find the God who is able and willing to save and support. They also find others who God has provided for them, which will be able to fill and to complete.  

   That poverty of spirit opens doors into the lives of others. I think about Jesus bowing down to wash the feet of his disciples. That was a tremendously poignant moment and his humility and servant-heart opened up some very important discussion around the need to need others, to be in that place where we allow ourselves to be served by others.  That is not an easy place to be.  I know because I will do anything not to need others; including taking 15 minutes using a dull hand saw to cut four by fours, even after the neighbour has offered a power saw!  I sure value my independence, but sometimes my independence is enslaving, not freeing. Our vulnerability and acknowledgment of need invites people in and frees us to receive love. 

   Poverty of spirit not only allows us to be served by others but also puts us in “service mode.” Jesus said of himself: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 NIV).  To be a part of community we must also serve each other and we do that by listening to each other, praying for each other, challenging each other in the way we think and the way we act.  It also means reaching out in practical ways to meet needs that exist, whatever those needs might be.  There is a cost to comfort.  There is a cost to self.

  We have so much to learn from the people God brings into our lives. The men and women I meet on a daily basis in prison ministry can teach me new lessons or remind me of truths about myself if I let them. Recognizing and acknowledging our own poverty is a starting place that opens us up to that learning.

Boundaries

 

Crossing the Line

The apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters found in the New Testament: "We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too." 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT)

      Paul let people in...no question about it.  When they struggled, he struggled.  When they attacked, he hurt.  When they cried, he cried. Their successes were his successes and he rejoiced with them. I wonder what Paul would say about "boundaries"? 
      I know what I say when I am pushed to talk about them in prison ministry: "Don't share personal info, don't invite people into your home, don't give money, don't, don't, don't." Obviously, working with men and women released from prison can offer some unusual challenges and potential risks as many are dealing with both addiction and mental health issues. I sometimes unwisely cross the line and realize I have exposed myself to potential danger. It happened the other day when I visited a woman who had been referred to me.  I had never met her before and went to her place as she struggles with a significant drug addiction and agoraphobia and doesn't like to leave her home. As I sat alone with her in the apartment I understood that I had put myself in a compromising situation- one false accusation and my ability to be effective for God would be over. It wasn't wise and I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again. 
    Having said this though, I am also convinced that sharing our lives is the most effective way of helping people understand the love that God has for them. Trust comes to us as we demonstrate it to others and we do that when we open our lives up to to them. I often feel a great tension between "keeping safe" and loving people the way Jesus loves. I expect I will never get it figured out entirely because the ground keeps on shifting and each person is unique, each situation has a different dynamic. I do know that getting exhausted and overextending myself trying to do too much is counterproductive. None of us are "gods" in that we can't fix anyone, or save anyone. Getting grumpy and bitter because of a lack of response or change in the person is no help to anyone. Getting "burned" and hurt by someone we are trying to serve can cause disappointment and cynicism and that isn't good.  This is what happens when we don't listen to God and respect the boundaries He is telling us to draw. 
     But, on the other hand, we know that God uses his servants to do amazing things as they step out in faith under His guidance and demonstrate His love to others in sacrificial and radical ways. Oftentimes, these are the very ways that others criticize as being too risky.  When we do demonstrate God's love in this way, the kingdom of God benefits. We all want that. We all want our lives to be invested in ways that matter. I have the feeling that sometimes, our obsession with keeping ourselves safe and erecting boundaries to do so, may mean we push people away and we cut ourselves off from God-given opportunities to really love in Jesus' name. 

    My daily prayer for wisdom is the result of James' important counsel: "if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (TNIV, James 1:5) May this be our prayer: "God show me how you want me to love today. Then give me courage to do it."  
    

     

Decisions

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

      There are times when trying to live the Christian life means tough choices. Those are moments when it becomes crystal clear that we can no longer say we are followers of Jesus and continue on the path we are on.  We weigh the consequences of our decision: the positives and negatives, the emotional, financial and social price to be paid. We can do that for a long time, afraid to decide, hoping that we won’t have to choose.  While we hesitate, we can get caught in limbo while we go back and forth between the options.  In one sense, we get stuck and, even though life happens to us, we are not the protagonists; we only begin experiencing the consequences of our indecision.  Not deciding brings consequences too.  We might hesitate because our choice may cause someone else either hurt or disappointment- after all, we don’t want to be the cause of someone else’s pain. Or, we might delay choosing because we don't know where the path might take us, so we balk at the thought of leaving the safe and comfortable to strike out towards the unknown.  

     When a person leaves prison, he or she is overwhelmed by the choices that can come thick and fast.  Where to live? Who to hang out with? How to live?  In aftercare, our role is to help clarify the different options before the person, and educate as to which might be the way of Jesus.  We can only encourage people to choose His way. We might like to make the choices for them, but that would be wrong and in the end, pointless.  So we watch them choose and try to love them as they do so. 

     As I write this, I can think of at least two folks I know who are at a fork in their road. If they don’t know it yet, they will do so soon.  I hope that they choose well. I pray they choose to follow Jesus and His way, even though it means they will be letting some people down and even though it might take them on a rocky road for a time.  Their needs are being incompletely met at this time- only He can offer abundant life.

Joshua 24:15

….choose this day whom you will serve…

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Those who want to come with me must say no to the things they want, pick up their crosses, and follow me.

Living by the Dismas Code

   We all live by codes, by sets of values and beliefs that define our attitudes and behaviours. The codes we live by not only help us understand the “rules,” (the way we are expected to live,) but also help us figure out where we fit in the “society” that defines them.

   Business people, athletes, politicians, lawyers, engineers and military personnel all have specific codes to live by. They may have different names; like protocol or practices but they are the same thing. In prison there is something called the “prison” or “inmate code” and it dictates life “inside.”  It is very much an “us versus them” structure, which pits the prisoners against “the system” or "the man."  In this arrangement, any cooperation with prison guards is judged harshly because they are considered the enemy.  The prisoner code can place a value on individuals according to the crime they committed and the length of time served. For instance, “lifers” are treated with a certain level of respect as they have survived more years incarcerated. “Rats” (informers) are not tolerated in this code and other crimes that victimize the weak in society (children for instance) are loathed. Perpetrators can be violently punished by other prisoners.  Loyalty, “being solid”, is highly valued and “doing your own time” (keeping to yourself and out of jailhouse politics) is recommended for survival.  The code is complex and specific to the culture in prison.

   Christians live by a code too.  It is Jesus’ code and found throughout the Bible, but specifically in the New Testament.  Jesus challenged us to follow his example and to obey his teaching.   The problem comes to us when codes that may have guided us in the past or that others around us hold come into conflict with how we know Jesus wants us to live.  In those moments when the codes clash we have to decide; who do we want to be? what do we want to become? and where do our primary loyalties lie? I can think of many examples of this but one that comes to mind is that of my grandfather, Rice Thomas Hopkins Horne.  He spent a significant amount of time imprisoned in Dartmoor Prison during WW1 because he couldn’t reconcile going to war and claiming to follow the Prince of Peace. Christ’s code, as he understood it, clashed with the societal code that encouraged young men to go to war.

     I remember in university residence I was given an opportunity to chose which code I wanted to live by; either the residence code or my "Jesus code."  During orientation week the other students in the dorm chose a victim to haze. Apparently there was a tradition each orientation week that included stripping a person of his clothes, tying him to a chair and after smearing him with mayonnaise, mustard, etc., putting him in an elevator of a nearby hospital and pushing every button so that, on every floor, the doors would open revealing him to anyone waiting to get on. The victim chosen that year was terrified as the gang gathered around the door to his room. He phoned my room and asked me to help.  I had to choose which code to live by- the residence code or Jesus' code. After a brief internal dialogue I did so by stepping out of my room, getting between the crowd and the fellow’s door and telling them it was not going to happen. They lost interest and walked away but it meant a few difficult months for me as I angered some in the mob.

     Those kinds of choices are before us each day- which code will determine our beliefs and behaviour? Which code has our loyalty above all others?

   Over the past few years I have been involved in something called the Dismas Network, a loose association of Dismas Fellowships across Southwestern Ontario. The purpose and vision of a Dismas Fellowship is to: “build a community of hope by enabling people of faith to get involved in creative and healing activities to persons touched by crime” and that is accomplished by "extending the hand of friendship and getting involved with an ex-prisoner through fellowship and walking together.'" (http://www.friendsofdismas.com/about-2/ministry-of-friendship/dismas-fellowship/)    Every Dismas Fellowship has a code too, and it is defined and explained by what we call the “Dismas values”. These values, the Dismas code, are based on Jesus' teaching about what a community should look like. The values reflect who we are and how we want to be.  They define how we treat, not just each other, but everyone else who steps through our doors.  Here are three of the seven values that are read at each gathering:

         1/ We welcome and celebrate one another, regardless of religious or criminal convictions, knowing that we are all "offenders."
         5/ We will treat each other's story with confidentiality and love. Each story is sacred.
 and 7/ We are committed to ministering to each other as if he or she were Christ. 

    Take time to read them again.  Is this code easy to live out? Not always. Not often. It must be a conscious choice. These values can present some real challenges, especially when they clash with other codes we have lived by.  For instance, we often find ourselves in a place of judgement over others and quickly forget our own "offences." We categorize some crimes as more heinous than others and won't forgive them, while at the same time expecting forgiveness for what we have or haven't done. In God's eyes, we all need His forgiveness, and we all live by His grace. Without it we wouldn't have a chance.  According to the Dismas code, each story is sacred because God created and is actively working in each life and that might look different in every individual- but we respect each person as God's handiwork and as someone in process. We are called to serve each other, even if we may not particularly like the person we minister to. Can I see Jesus in that person sitting before me, around the Dismas circle?

    It is Jesus and his code we now follow.  Lets listen to what he said as he spoke about how we should treat each other.

        John 13:34, 35

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

    Luke 6:35

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

 He didn’t just say it, he lived it.  Hanging from a cross, unjustly tried and condemned, tortured, reviled, insulted, humiliated he said:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

     Now that is a new code: one to live by, one to die for.  When we grow to understand what Jesus’ code is, and as we see it reflected in his life and in the teaching, we must be willing to move from those old codes because that is what we are called to. We will sometimes struggle to accept the code, but it is worth it if we truly want to grow and leave behind our prejudices and the things that enslaved us.  Those other codes we lived by have let us down. They may have helped us survive to this point but they didn’t fill us, and didn’t help us to become who we knew God created us to be. Only following the code of Jesus will get us there.

Reflecting

(Plegaria by Eduardo Kingman - Ecuadorian artist)

       
A couple of days after the fact, I am spending some quiet time trying to understand what happened and more importantly why it happened, what God is wanting me to learn. 
        My heart stopped, at least two times on Thursday morning. I had "fainted" twice, at home before the ambulance was called so the last two events occurred in the presence of medical staff who could observe and respond. And respond they did, once with CPR.  Three days later, after the rush of hospitalization and all the action of hospital life, I am at home and reflecting on the events and their significance.  It is sinking in.  The words of the doctor struck home: "You left us for awhile and we thought we had lost you." It was not a heart attack. I have no heart damage. It seems I had a vasovagal response to something and my heart slowed.  It is completely unclear at this time why, or why so "dramatic" (doctor's words) a response because the heart does not usually stop. But mine did. 

       I believe in a God who really cares about us and tries to get through to us with His love and teach us and mould us. He knows what is best for us and wants us to get there. His love for us is so great that He treats each of us as individuals and dedicates His energies and efforts in helping each of us to become the people He intended us to be when He formed us in our mother's womb.  I believe this with all my "heart".  We are the ones who struggle with this and waste an incredible amount of time and effort by fighting Him. We think we know better. I have learned and am still learning, through failure, that I don't know better. Thirty-six years ago I asked Him to take control over my life and although in many areas I think I have grown and can live what I believe, I still resist in others. 
       What I am trying to explain is that, when something happens to me or someone says something that rocks me, I feel I need to ask God what He is saying. I don't know if He has a specific message for me yet. Maybe it will never be totally clear but here are some of the things I want to carry with me moving forward:

a) Life is a gift- I have heard it said by many others and repeated it many times myself.  It is a gift in that we didn't earn it. The question is: "What will we do with it?" 

b) Life is fragile.  I do what I can, exercise regularly, eat well, try to take care of myself- yet this happened. We have no guarantee of tomorrow. Live as God leads. Live fully today. 

c) Family- got to love them. Shared history bonds in powerful ways and supersedes time and distance. Thanks J and M for being there and for your support. Our family is an usual one with some special people from around the world grafted in: your love is real and we felt it. Oh yeah, by the way- I have a wonderful wife who I would be totally lost without!   :)

d) People- it is people who make life special. It is people we need to dedicate ourselves to: not things, not organizations, not activities but people. I am blessed by so many people who care and who reached out and/or prayed for Lil and I. I have been overwhelmed by texts, emails, messages and phone calls from people who are important to us and who feel we are important to them, both past and present. I feel totally unworthy of the expressions of concern and love I have received en dos idiomas: inglés y español. 

e) Opportunities- I was reminded during my short stay in the hospital of the opportunities that abound to show God's kindness and love to others. I shared a room with an elderly man suffering with dementia whose wife is wheelchair bound. She came to the hospital to visit him over the lunch hour but, after the tray arrived, was unable to assist him in opening his juice, buttering his bun or preventing him from burning his tongue by immediately spooning the steaming soup into his mouth. She rang for the nurse but she was with another patient and delayed in arriving. How wonderful it would have been for one of God's children to have been there to serve that couple in their need.  Even in a wealthy country like Canada we are surrounded by too many needs for me to believe that God doesn't want His people out there doing something/anything about it. Hospitals need dedicated and caring volunteers. Prison ministries need dedicated volunteers.  ________ need volunteers. Please fill in the blank and ask God if He wants you to fill the need.