3 Kittens, 2 Raccoons, 1 Possum, and a Skunk

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the regions of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit kept them from speaking the word in the province of Asia.  When they approached the province of Mysia, they tried to enter the province of Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them.  Passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas instead.  A vision of a man from Macedonia came to Paul during the night. He stood urging Paul, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”  Immediately after he saw the vision, we prepared to leave for the province of Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.  We sailed from Troas straight for Samothrace and came to Neapolis the following day.  From there we went to Philippi, a city of Macedonia’s first district and a Roman colony. We stayed in that city several days.

Acts 16:6-12

I know...I know.  Those scriptures don't seem to make any sense, much less connect to anything, but bear with me while I tell a story.

Once upon a time there was a pastor who lived in downtown Pickens, SC.... If you have read any of my other blogs, it will become quite clear that I love to work in the garden.  Early in September, I got an early start on my raised bed garden for the fall.  The weather was perfect, and the garden looked spectacular!  I had 3 different kinds of kale, 2 kinds of broccoli, a mixture of lettuces, some spinach, and even brussel sprouts. I was excited to see how everything would turn out.

My family and I spent some time together enjoying the outdoors (I think the kids did, in spite of themselves). When we pulled into the driveway, I saw it.  EVERY SINGLE PLANT HAD BEEN EATEN TO THE GROUND!

After getting over the initial shock, I made my plans for deterring and replanting.  I got some of the stuff that you spray to make critters avoid the area and sprinkled cayenne pepper liberally around the garden.  My son and I spent about an hour re-planting the garden.  I was pleased until...

...until the next evening. Once again, most of the plants were decimated.  The only thing that remained were my experimental "mustard spinach" and "pak choy" plants. I was ready to wage serious battle with this creature, but I was not sure what I was fighting.  I borrowed a live animal trap and a motion camera to see if I could capture a picture of the culprit.  I even set up an ultrasonic deterrent device in the garden to drive away any wayward members of God's creation. That is where the adventure began.  As you can see by the first picture, my trap attracted a possum (I know that in other parts of the country that's spelled opossum, but that's not how I was raised).

Ms. Possum walking toward my trap

Imagine my surprise to read that possums really are not interested in the types of things I was growing in my garden.  What this meant, of course, was that I had yet to capture my garden thief.  I decided to try, try again. 

Mr. Rocky Raccoon who now has a new home!

My next two times setting the trap were equally frustrating.  I managed to catch raccoon number one.  After moving the trap and changing the bait, imagine my surprise to catch raccoon number two.  He was graciously adopted by a family that has given him a beautiful home on many acres of land. 

What was worse was that my neighbor had identified the vagrant that had trespassed on my Eden.  It was a groundhog.  Someone told me that groundhogs are  huge fans of honey buns; so, guess what I used to bait the trap?  That's right, honey buns! The next morning I was pleased to awaken to the sight of a trap that was once again full.  This time it would have to be the groundhog, right?

Except it wasn't. The solid white back that accompanied the black body sent chills down my spine.  I caught a skunk!  "No matter," I thought to myself, "I'll just call animal control and have them come and get it." Did you know that animal control will not collect a skunk that is not caught in their trap? Neither did I.  How I handled the skunk is a longer story for another day...

I determined that I still wanted to plant my garden, but knew the ultrasonic device was a waste of time.  I erected a small fence around the outer perimeter of my garden that might hopefully keep any groundhog at bay.  In the meantime, Animal Control had delivered one of their traps so that I might catch the groundhog (and if I caught another skunk, they would handle it this time). 

As the sun rose the following morning, I could see that my garden was intact.  The green tender leaves were isolated from the rest of the world by a mass of wire, wood, and metal.  Just beyond the garden, I could see that the trap was once again triggered.  Did I catch another skunk?  Nervously, I approached the trap unable to see clearly through the fence I built the night before (aren't I clever?).  Then, using a flashlight to peek into the darkness, I saw not one, but two sets of eyes.  As I drew closer and began to breathe again, I realized that I was looking at two of the neighbor's kittens.  I considered the futility of trying to catch wild marauders while I held a cage with a pair of young felines. When I opened the trap, I knew I was mistaken about having captured two kittens; a third kitten joined the others in a mad dash across the yard to freedom.

What's the connection?

Paul was traveling and hoped to find a place to settle down. I imagine that he had big plans for the type of garden he would grow for Christ as he entered a new area. Every time he thought that he had the perfect spot, he found that it was time to move again.  Nowhere solid to stand, Paul and his companion continued to blow from town to town like a plastic bag in a parking lot on a windy day (Okay, the analogy is on the shaky side, but you get the vivid image, right?).

The beauty of the story is that through all of the frustration, through days of travel and unrest, and through all of the cities he visited and vacated, Paul was determined find a place where he could be in ministry.  Every city greeted him with potential until the obstacles led him to move. And move he did. It was as if he could hear those words that would not be spoken for centuries by Winston Churchill "never, never, never give up."  

I wonder how many times he wanted to throw his hands up and just stop?  I wonder if he felt like his work was futile because nothing was getting accomplished?  I wonder if he considered trying to stay put even when the Spirit wanted him to move on? Imagine how different the world would be if Paul stopped being persistent in sharing the gospel letting nothing stand in his way.  He  knew that his God was always with him.  Through Christ he could do all things, for Christ would be his strength.

Sometimes it can seem like our efforts are fruitless and that we are simply moving from one 'pest' to another.  I have been there! But if we are persistent, if we are faithful, God will bless our efforts...just maybe not in the way we expected.

My garden does not look like I had first planned it.  There is a fence that guards the perimeter higher than a ground hog can jump.  Reaching for the sky this morning were a dozen or so kale plants, all sprouting new leaves that are growing beautifully.  It's not what I planned, it isn't the way I expected, but it is amazing to see God take the work of meager hands to make  a new creation.

Grace and Peace,

Loving Like Jesus

          “Children, I am with you for only a short time longer. You are going to look high and low for me. But just as I told the Jews, I’m telling you: ‘Where I go, you are not able to come.’         “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."

John 13:33-35, The Message

Years ago, I was working on Sunday's worship service on a Tuesday afternoon in the Monaghan UMC church office. I spent time selecting hymns, reading over scriptures again, and asking God for guidance and insight.  I have often hears the expression "be careful what you pray for…"

My office door was open and I heard noise coming from the hall.  I glanced up to see bird swooping over my head and smash into my office window that faced outside.  Needless to say, I quickly left office, ran down the stairs and found the custodian working on the church grounds. To remove our fine feathered friend from the office would take teamwork. I told him we should close all the doors in the church first, and then try to get the bird outside. Since this was a multi-level building, I went down the steps and he went up.  I closed off all the downstairs doors and reached the top of the stairs back at ground level.  The custodian told me that the bird was now in the secretary’s office. 
Before could do anything else, bird flew down the hall, and instead of going toward the open, beckoning doors, the bird flew into the doors of the sanctuary. This was a traditional, rectangular sanctuary with high, vaulted ceilings and exposed beams.  It was beautiful to see, but a puzzle with a bird flying around inside. What a scene we made! Two grown men, waving brooms, yelling, making noises into microphones -- we did anything we could to keep that bird moving so that it would fly out the front doors…I remember saying more than once, “I don’t want to hurt the bird, but we have to do something to get it out of here…” After over an hour, the bird landed on a back pew, saw the light of day through the front doors, and quickly flew to freedom once again.  

I have thought about that experience many times. I didn't want to hurt the bird and yet had to get it out of the building. It would die without food and water. I wonder what bird thought about these two huge monsters waving sticks, making noises.  I am sure that it was scared to death and could not recognize what we were doing.  We were not trying to hurt and scare the bird out of feelings of hate. Instead, we were trying to help as an expression of love for one of God’s creatures.The only problem was that in order to truly love this bird, we had to frighten it.; we had to keep it moving toward the doors and keep it off of the high rafters and from plowing into the stained glass windows. This was not what bird wanted, but love’s call was to do what the bird NEEDED.

Jesus says to his disciples “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another." Jesus points to a love that goes far beyond our wants to our deepest needs.  The love of God in Jesus Christ saw us buried beneath the burdens of sin and death.  Instead of bringing us a life of temporary happiness filled with empty and passing pleasures, Jesus loved us at a much deeper, and much more painful level.  Our need was to be reconnected to God – our sin had severed our relationship.  The end result of our sin – certain death.  

Jesus could have chosen to love us in two ways. We could have remained in sin and been (as I call it) doted upon by our benevolent Santa from on high. Our days could be filled with fun and totally carefree; our nights an ongoing celebration…and yet in the end we would all die and spend forever separated from God.  So instead of giving us what we might have wanted, Jesus offers us what we need.  He took death upon himself, what was supposed to be OUR punishment, and then destroyed death in rising again from the dead. Through his self-sacrificing love,  we receive what we truly need  -- a restored relationship with God through faith in Christ.  Our faith may not save us from this world, but it insures that death is not the end, but only the beginning of our life forever with him.

I wish that I could say that living Jesus’ words “In the same way I loved you, you love one another” would be easy, but they’re not.Look what Jesus’ love for you and me cost him; his love cost him his very life. So too when we go to live our love, putting our faith into action sometimes hurts. It can cause us pain…

Years ago,  an older gentleman came to our door who had gotten lost and needed a ride home.  He said that he needed to get back home from a hard day’s work, that he was new in town, and all he could remember is that he lived in an upstairs apartment across from the Berea Plaza.  He said he would recognize it when he saw it.  After crisscrossing Berea, it quickly became evident that he did not recognize anything. He had no ID, and his memory was extremely fuzzy about any details.  My wife suggested that we call the police, which she did while I returned home.  After the police arrived, they confirmed that this man had actually been missing for several hours, and his family was extremely worried.  His son-in-law came to our house and picked the wanderer up.  Once they pulled away, the police officer informed me that the man has Alzheimer’s disease and that this was not the first time he had strayed from home.

“Usually we find him in a neighbors’ yard or within a block or two of the house,” said the officer, “We have told his daughter that they should really consider some additional care for him, but they say everything will be fine.  He’s never wandered this far before.  I just hope they’ll do something before something happens to him.”

Sometimes loving like Christ loves is admitting that a parent or spouse is unable to care for themselves like they could at one time.  Sometimes loving like Christ loves is taking a loved one to rehabilitation.  Sometimes it’s removing life support after someone’s body has finally failed.  Sometimes it is telling a child that they cannot come home until they clean up their act. Sometimes loving like Christ loves means risking embarrassment to openly share our faith with another.

Sometimes loving like Christ loves us is the hardest, most painful thing that we can do. But, in the words of Jesus, “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

Grace and Peace,