BREATHING SPIRIT INTO A COUNTRY

Falcon 9 Launch, NASA Kennedy, FL.

PENTECOST SUNDAY 2020

This Pentecost Sunday in the year 2020 finds the world in the midst of a deadly pandemic and this country in the throes of a nationwide protest over the televised death of a handcuffed man who suffocated under the knee of a law officer.  People are reacting in the spirit of humanity at its best and worst and many are voicing their reactions.  The month began with people protesting that they couldn’t go to the gym or get a haircut and is ending with a maned rocket launched into outer space and street rioting because they can’t stop some bad actors from killing them.  Sadly, the protests turned to riots because bad actors had also inserted themselves there as well.  Our senior pastor’s message today included the observation that unlike animals, we human beings are the only creatures that have the super power of restraint, the ability not to do something that we’re capable of doing. 

I found two tweets today that succinctly organized my frame of mind on this Pentecost Sunday:

“Jesus breathed upon his disciplines, and in that breath, he gave them the Spirit of courage and mission to bring healing to a broken world. [John 20:22] Pentecost is one way to reflect that the power of God is greater than the power that took away the breath of George Floyd.” –Francis X. Pray

“I know your pain, your rage, your sense of despair and hopelessness. Justice has, indeed, been denied for far too long. Rioting, looting, and burning is not the way. Organize. Demonstrate. Sit-in. Stand-up. Vote. Be constructive, not destructive.”  --John Lewis

Immediately after God put his spirit on every human being at Pentecost, the apostle Peter addressed a crowd in Acts 2 by quoting the prophet Joel:

“God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.”

NASA astronaut Doug Hurley shouted just before ignition of the Falcon 9 rocket yesterday, “Let’s light this candle”.  A bystander was quoted as saying “We’ve been bombarded with gloom and doom for the last six, eight weeks and this is awesome.  It brings a lot of people together.” 

Little did these men realize that more than a candle would be lit up last night in major cities all across the country and the senseless murder of one man would bring a whole lot of people together for a release, the unrestrained ability to unite and turn a wrong into a right.  

And all the while, a deadly virus still silently moves among us.

BEACH MEMORIAL

Emptiness, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Phantom faces in the sea mist,

Phantom shadows on the sand,

Empty chairs at empty tables,

Where my friends no longer stand.

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken,

There’s a pain goes on and on,

Empty chairs at empty tables,

Their songs and laughter are now gone.

O my friends, my friends I thank you,

For the good times we shared together,

Empty chairs at empty tables,

We'll meet again in a beautiful forever.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

Memorial Peonies, Jamestown, NC

Memorial Day 2020

There was a point in my business career when our company began aggressively extending our product lines to include products that had much more volatility and inventory risk than the basic lines that continued to pay the light bills.  High risk can yield high reward or calamity, while low risk yields low rewards and possible calamity.  However, our customers continued to have the same expectations for service that we had built our reputation on for years.  It wasn’t long before we came to the sober realization that we now had to not only focus on managing and classifying risk for our inventories but perhaps even more importantly our customers’ expectations.

This worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns have splashed a huge bucket of cold, reality water on the instant gratification society we have devolved into these days.  Of course, nobody wants to sit by quietly and watch our economy go from record levels to death spiraling lows almost overnight.  So, I agree that we must proceed cautiously to reopen our economy in the interest of balancing personal safety with personal wellbeing.  And personal responsibility goes hand-in-hand with personal freedom.

I received a financial update this week that reinterated the eternal truth that no one can predict the future and no one can accurately and consistently time the market.  This market analyst concluded with advice that really applies to everyone coping with the pandemic on a Memorial Day where people are once again flocking to crowded beaches and lakes with expectations that would still seem to be beyond common sense as this virus still actively moves among us:

“But we can all manage our expectations, as well as our emotions, when taking what the market gives us. Stay invested within your given risk parameters and stay the course of the plan you have laid out. There is an end date to this and we will get through these uncertain times.” 

And if you substitute the words “taking what the market gives us” with “taking what life gives us”, we will all be in a better place to manage our expectations on this day we honor our dead.  

REDISCOVERING LIFE

Spring Rain into the Gutter, Jamestown, NC

There are people who really didn’t have much of a childhood due to a variety of factors and there are those of us seniors that simply have a hard time remembering back that far.  But like all things in life there can be second chances, especially if you are fortunate to rediscover life through the lens of a child.  And one of the many positive experiences that can come out of this social isolation for those who take the time to reflect is spending more time with the inquisitive children that make up the fabric of our lives.

Jesus was often criticized for spending too much time with human beings such as children and sinners instead of important leaders of the time.  But he famously rebuked his disciples when he told them to ” let the little children come to me” for they haven’t yet acquired all the filters and baggage of seeing the world through the biased eyes of us adults.

Yesterday my grandson was outside walking the rain-soaked streets of Chicago with his parents.  He was quick to discover two common earth worms that had come topside because of the saturated ground.  It was a sight that most of us adults would have easily passed over with indifference.  Then on today’s walk he discovered that one had been trampled and the other was missing.  He understood that the first worm had lost its life on the busy path but the other must surely have escaped into the rushing waters of the gutter and down into the drains.  

When I was a child growing up in central Kansas before the loss of innocence, I remember that we children loved to stay close to the curbing after a Spring rain.  Once the flow slowed, it became great sport to build small mud dams and capture the runoff as it meandered down to the gutters.  Of course, we were barefoot and carefree in those days and I don’t recall finding any earth worms.  But if we did, I’m pretty confident in those innocent times that we would have let them pass onto freedom.  The Carolina rains today prompted me to recall those idyllic days and venture outside in the rain to capture a meaningful photograph of those childhood memories.

Life can be fragile, especially in dire times of a worldwide pandemic, but it can also be introspective for those who are paying attention.  And it can teach those of us who are willing to learn the lesson.

PERSONIFIED LIFE

Casting a Shadow, Wrightsville Beach, NC

As we walk East along the beach our shadow personifies life.  It begins to follow at sunrise and peaks at mid life.  Then as the sun begins it’s descent in the west, our shadow begins to move away and ultimately loses itself in the sunset.

AMERICANA CARANTINING

McCormick-Deering Tractor, Stokes County, NC

I had to escape from quarantining during the worldwide pandemic this morning so I fired up the SUV and went on a carantining road trip looking for photo opportunities.  I was richly rewarded when I briefly spotted a tractor in the weeds as I motored down the interstate.  

So I turned around at the nearest intersection and slowly came upon an Americana scene with a rusting McCormick-Deering tractor in the foreground and the Red Birch Country Market in the background with an old Coca-Cola porcelain button sign perched at the top.

The old tractor had been retired years ago, but the classic design and functional engineering were still very apparent and photogenic.  The reddish rust patina only added to its beauty and character.

PANDEMIC WINDSHIELD

Invisible Shield, I-73, NC

I was driving north on I-73 today on my way out of quarantine into the wide open spaces of nature.  The serene drive was interrupted by the all too familiar splat of a bug hitting the windshield right in my line of sight. My knee jerk reaction was that I would now have to spend the remaining road trip inconvenienced by this minor blip on the EKG of my life.  

Then it occurred to me that the incident was everything for the bug.  There’s a parallel to this little scenario out here in a world coping with a serious pandemic...we’re all on this perilous ride together, but some are protected on the inside while others are vulnerable on the outside of the invisible shield and we need to remain compliant,supportive and empathetic.

RECLAMATION

Reclamation, Stokes County, NC

This abandoned man-made structure being reclaimed by nature serves as a  good example of how previous civilizations disappeared.  The structure is almost swallowed up by time, wood rot and the creeping vines.  

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Matthew 6:19-21