Good morning…
“This is our graduation room/table for today,” she graciously wrote, trying to salvage and share a special sense of celebration during this strange season of pandemic-stricken Plan B’s.
“I thought I would share these pictures, because through your blog you sent the ‘blessing’ I will use as our devotional at our meal,” she continued. “I typed it up and pasted it on construction paper, then placed it in the napkin folds.”
“I thought it was perfect for the occasion and the timing in our world,” she explained. “Just wanted you to know you inspire great things…..even from a far!!! Thanks for your continued inspiration.”
I honestly must to tell you, her kind email pushed me into a messy mixture of emotions.
First, I felt convicted by comparison. We have yet to plan anything big for our senior’s graduation, since instead of receiving his diploma at a special ceremony today, he and his classmates will join a drive-through parade of individual kids in individual cars snaking through the applause of a socially distanced crowd of teachers and administrators on the school grounds. Diplomas, a possible dance, and a final celebration are tentatively scheduled for late July. I have to admit, I have been lulled into a slow growing lethargy as this pandemic persists. Receiving her email, I felt myself cower under inner competition: her creative celebration for her son and my…well…next-to-nothing-yet.
Second, I don’t have a formal dining room with a pretty piano and big 2020 balloons or a set of matching chairs, fancy dishes, and glass goblets like hers. To add salt to my self-inflicting wound, when knitting me together in my mother’s womb, God decided not to give me a single decorating bone, a terrific trait I totally admire in my friend. Again I cringed at the comparison of my “less” and her “more”.
Third, I thought of all the needy people around, out of work, scraping by, struggling to put food on the table for their family, people who could use the money she is spending today for “more essential” purposes. Then a Bible story came to mind, Matthew 26:6-13 (MSG). As Jesus sat at a dinner with his closest friends, weirdly a woman humbly knelt down and began anointing his feet with very, very expensive perfume. When the disciples saw what was happening, they were furious. “That’s criminal! This could have been sold for a lot and the money handed out to the poor.” When Jesus realized what was going on, he intervened. “Why are you giving this woman a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives, but not me.” God knows the poor will always be with us, but look at the extravagant love of Jesus expressed through this mom for her son, who will not be with her in future years.
Finally God’s truth sunk in. I began to realize that crazy-making comparison is the root of most every evil. Not just for me, but for all of us. It is our heavy human nature. God’s enemy loves when we cower and cringe, compare and compete, instead of authentically appreciating the God-given gifts generously doled out among us.
As God disconnected me for my depressing downward spiral, I was able to genuinely feel joy with my friend from afar. What a wholehearted mother, a giver of calming, creative care. I focused off of my shortcomings and onto the Spirit of God living beautifully between us. With my own heart grounded again with God, I could accept her kind compliment, enjoying the fact that, through a poem shared in our recent blog post, God chose me to play a special, sacred part in her graduating son’s celebration.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord (1 Corinthians 12:4-5, NLT).
…Sue…
P.S. Looking for a women’s summer reading group?
Join us Wednesdays beginning May 20 at 10:00AM as we read Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler. Kirkus Reviews notes, “[Bowler] delivers raw emotion, realistic description, and candid assessments . . . An inspiring story of finding faith—in God, in family, and in oneself—while walking close to the Valley of the Shadow of Death.” For information, reading schedule, and Zoom link, please email Caroline Smith at fitzco1@comcast.net.
P.S. Looking for an online worship experience this morning?
8:30AM · Traditional Worship
9:45AM · Contemporary Worship
11:00AM · Traditional Worship
Join us via Facebook or our website. Our hearts are open, but our doors are officially closed through June 1.
