A few weeks ago, I got a new cPap machine. It is about the third of the size of my first one. And it is very light weight. and it comes with it’s own carrying case, easy to tote through airports. SOOO, for the first time in 12 years, I am actually going to be able to travel for a week’s vacation using ONLY a carry on –because my former one filled pretty much my entire carry on, with only room for one change of clothes! Doesn’t seem like much, BUT, I find myself now having to actually plan what I am carrying on with me for this trip. Before – not an issue, because there was ALWAYS room…
New years can kind of be like that, can’t they? We pause, don’t we, and look back and look forward. Many make resolutions that last (or don’t…) that are helpful to them moving forward. But I wonder if it might be profitable to look at “WHAT” we might be taking with us in our “life Carry On” from last year to this year. The events and memories of a year shape us and form us. But some of those events, we don’t need to pack with us, as they only take up space. Others are pretty important to make sure they are in our life. So three quick thoughts about what to pack/not pack in 2015. Perhaps they will spur your own prayer and reflection.
I suspect that we will need to pack SOMETHING from our experience of Ferguson into our lives this year. The temptation will be to want to pack ‘Back To Normal’ into our lives. And in terms of the day to day running of things – that would not be a bad thing. But what else? The TSA rules tell us you can take no water in your carryon. I wonder if we could symbolically pack ‘an empty water bottle to symbolize our thirst for justice. To symbolize the need for many to experience a system that is not a part of the problem, but a part of the answer. Pack a thirst for righteousness and justice for 2015…
It is easy to take unforgiveness in the suitcase of our lives. “They started it.” “Why should I let them off the hook for all the pain they cause me?” “If I forgive them, they’ll just do it again.” It is easy to find a hundred reasons NOT to forgive, to keep carrying the hurt without. 2015 would be a better year if we chose not to carry the wounds of 2014 with us. Whatever it was, leave it behind…
The third item to make sure we pack into our carry on/with luggage for this year, comes from our Scriptures today: they speak of blessing: the blessings we can be in one another’s life, and the blessings that God showers down upon us. I believe they highlight the two moments of blessing that are critical for us.
The infancy narratives around the birth of Jesus capture many beautiful verbal blessings; the announcement to Mary from the angel; Mary’s magnificat; the good news being shared by the shepherds; the angels singing “Glory to God…” And it says that “Mary kept all these things and treasured them in her heart. Perhaps that is the first work of blessing – we have to ponder our own moments and gifts and signs of favor, to carry them with us, to make sure we have time to treasure them because life is hard and busy and comes by and goes past way too quickly unless we do.
And once we ‘realize’, once we have that sense of God smiling down upon us, then it becomes easier, doesn’t it, to affirm others with our words, to be that blessing in their lives by our actions. I wonder if this year, we can recommit ourselves packing kindness coming from our lips into our carry on’s. It’s too easy for the hurtful words to come. But if we are intentional, God can use our words to heal, and build up, to be blessings for others.
So, concretely, I ask you to pull your cell phones out of your pockets and purses. We use these for texts and tweets and emails and facebooks and sometimes even for talking! I invite you to place your hand on phone…If you don’t have one, or don’t have it with you, hold it in your mind for a moment:
Oh, God, you have given us the amazing gift of speech. We can speak great love and compassion, kindness and healing. And also, great harm and hate
Our phones are one way we can communicate with even more people. Dear God, we set these aside for kindness. May hatred never flow through these, only encouragement … only goodness. We pray this blessing on our phones through Christ our Lord.
We carry a lot of things with us on the journey of life. As we sit at the dawn of a New Year, may God bless our words that we might speak blessing; that we might be blessing for this world …