What's Up With True North

Heavy sigh ... deep thought, contemplation.

Have you ever watched Bones on TNT? I am fascinated with that show - not because of the dead gory bodies (though that IS pretty kewl!), not because of the suspense or the drama, not even because of the relationships (though some of the interactions are quite humorous!); it's because I relate so to Dr. Brennan. Not that I'm scientific by any means nor intelligent in the least but the way she thinks, the things that she says, the delivery of what she says all resonate deep within me. What she doesn't understand I find I don't understand and her pragmatism grounds me.  How Bones sees love and relationships I get ... I don't get many of the other characters. As a matter of fact, I don't get love - at all. Rules make sense to me; facts plain and simple, laws, lessons, order, authority - all fit contextually into my schema. Love, grace, forgiveness, mercy - alien. I'm not a mushy gushy hopeless romantic, don't enjoy love stories and tend to quickly turn aside when love scenes are on television or in a book. I didn't go see Titanic or Pearl Harbor because I had heard that in both movies - both 2 1/2 hours - only 1/2 hour of each was the actual disaster, death and destruction and the rest of the entirety of both movies was mushy love and relationship building. Yuckola!

Now I give you all this background and say all of this as a build up to John's message this Sunday, February 14th, Valentine's Day ... a day created by card companies (specifically Hallmark) to share with your loved ones. John, though, will be not only speaking of love but also performing wedding vows, I mean the renewal of wedding vows. My first thought ... yuckola! My second thought ... not attending!! However, I realize that I need to stop running. I need to stop and allow something or someone love me.

I don't know if that is where John will be going with this weeks message - I don't know where John will be going with this whole love thing on Sunday - I only know that I deeply need to love God and need the love of God and in order to experience that love I have got to stop running ... at least long enough for God to catch me and envelop me in his arms and just be.

Is that even possible?

Choosing the wrong. Yes, I guess you could say that I have made the wrong choice. You see I have no idea what John's message was tonight for, though I was invited, I chose not to attend. Like the parable of the Wedding Banquet, the invitation was sent and my reply, "...but John, I have a super bowl party to prepare for; I can't possibly come this Sunday!" So, have I just signed my death warrant? What would John say to this question; how would Jesus respond? ... God? I have no idea for I was invited and failed to attend so I don't know what John said about this parable.

Wow! It seems soooo weird to NOT be able to attend worship services on Sunday. The weather, with 4 - 5 inches of snow blanketing the area, caused the powers that be to determine that for the safety of the congregation (and probably themselves) the services would be cancelled. The parking lot was filled with snow and the cost of snow removal was astronomical (that's what happens in a community where snow removal equipment is at a premium!). It's rough to go from attending three services on Sunday to attending none. Wow...again.

However, it did cause me to ponder on our freedoms in North America, heck the Western Hemisphere. We have the freedom to determine whether we will meet as a body of believers or not; we have the opportunity to decide as individuals if we will be going to worship or not; we are free to choose which service style we'd like to go to, which church, what belief. I think about those countries, nations, that don't have those same freedoms. People who are forced to worship in a particular way to a particular set of deities at a particular worship center or face dire consequences - persecution, prosecution, penalties that could include death. Wow, again...again.

I pray for the day when all people will have the freedoms that I have - when all people will be able to worship how they choose, when they choose, and where they choose. I pray for the religious freedoms of all people throughout the world.

Tonight John's sermon was from the parable of the unforgiving servant. I've always loved this particular parable - it makes sense to me and it fits so wonderfully with my sense of justice. I always like it when the wronged are validated and when those who cause the wrong are punished. But that wasn't the point of John's sermon. John's sermon was that we are all of us indebted, we are all of us in debt and yet all our debts are  forgiven.

We have all wronged somebody, somewhere and if not here on earth then in heaven because we have all wronged God through our very natural state of sin. That's right, we are ALL of us sinners ... we have ALL of us wronged God. And yet (and here comes the greatness of God) ... we are ALL of us forgiven; God has chosen to forgive us so that he will remain in relationship with us. God has acquitted each and every one of us by His grace through Christ Jesus.

How many of us, when wronged by another, are so willing to forgive?

Link: http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_coldweather_0104jan04,0,553152.story?track=rss

A GIANT thank you to the entire True North team and members who came out Sunday evening and served a wonderful meal of meatloaf, roasted potatoes, cabbage, and black-eyed peas.  79 guests were fed and cared for by the staff of H.E.L.P. and Night's Welcome as well as our own True North members. All were very appreciative.

Also, John led a Bible study for the guests at St. Mark's UMC on Monday evening. When asked how it went he merely responded "Jesus was present with us tonight".

Thank you to everybody!