Snapshots

Most of us rarely get the full movie of someone’s life, so we base our opinions on whether or not we will engage with them or dismiss them based on a snapshot, usually of our own choosing.  For example most people choose to put the polaroid of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses or his book Bondage of the Will, on the fridge instead of his antisemitic comments or his remarks encouraging the nobility in 1525 to, “smite, slay, and stab” the rebels in his tract, “Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants.” I say this because I have listened now twice, it’s only an hour and half long book on prayer by Anne Lamott entitled, Help, Thanks, Wow.  Ms. Lamott is not in my church tradition.  Most would take great offense at the way she talks about faith in Christ but there are a some great snapshots in this little book, and I would encourage you to listen to it instead of reading it because she is the narrator and you get a better sense of her inflections that the printed word just can’t communicate.  Two come to mind, “If I were going to begin practicing the presence of God for the first time today, it would help to begin by admitting the three most terrible truths of our existence: that we are so ruined, and so loved, and in charge of so little.” Or her repeating of the joke, “What is the difference between God and you? God never thinks he’s you.”

We don’t have photo albums anymore or trays of slides or 8-millimeter reel to reel family movies. Which is a shame.  We now have millions of photos of all sorts of things on our phones or in the cloud, short videos that we can share with our family in other states or countries of someone’s first steps or fourth birthday party, maybe 30 seconds of the school play, or of a grandchild singing and doing all the wrong hand motions at the church Christmas play.  We used to get to, and on some occasions endure, flipping our way through photo albums or sitting through the visiting missionary’s slide show of what I am sure was meaningful at the time, but you have no clue what importance it has for you and yours.

Ben Sasse the one time senator from Nebraska and former President of the University of Florida has been all the rage as of late because he is dying of cancer and is being interviewed by numerous people sometimes with a face that looks like it’s been through a meat grinder because of what the aggressive chemo therapy is doing to his skin. It is an important snapshot of this man’s life and message, but it will most likely be forgotten when he succumbs to the cancer in the upcoming months.  He is only expected to live a little while longer. Then folks might dismiss him because he resigned from his university president’s job to take care of his wife who had had a stroke. Folks will cite that he spent 3x as much as the previous president and had only been in office 17 months, or that he wouldn’t tote the correct political lines etc. They might point out that he disagreed with the current President of the United States and was one of 7 republicans who voted to impeach President Trump because of the January 6 incident.  We are all just one snapshot away from being dismissed, cancelled, forgotten.

This is why your photo album, your slide show, your family movies have got to be chock full of Jesus, of God the Father, of the Holy Spirit, of the Word of God. Someday soon your pictures will change to show forth where the lines have fallen in pleasant places, you will be seen as an excellent saint by all.  But today know that your King Jesus sees you this way, at his side you will not be shaken, your paths will be life, in his presence you will know the fullness of joy, and at his right hand you will have pleasures forevermore.

We are about reminding your pastor of these truths, so he can remind you.