Good morning…
“We have each come from a unique past, and the life surrounding us now is chocked full of potential,” my sermon on Sunday continued God’s encouragement. “Right now, at this very moment, one of my mentors in the faith, Richard Rohr, is talking candidly with Oprah Winfrey. 11:00 am Sunday, June 2nd. This very same moment, I am talking candidly with you, members of Log Cabin Church. 11:00 am Sunday, June 2nd. In my living room up the street in Olde Vinings Park, this fall I will be facilitating a few weekly discussions of Richard Rohr’s book Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. Trying to discern the perfect book for our Monday and Friday classes next semester, I was hooked by this thought from Rohr’s introduction.”
“As Desmond Tutu told me on a recent trip to Cape Town,” writes Rohr, “‘We are only light bulbs, Richard, and our job is just to remain screwed in!'” (ix)
“This simple encouragement,” I continued sharing from the pulpit, “tells us exactly where we are right now, right here, at 11:00 am Sunday, June 2nd. Together we are ‘remaining screwed in’ to the power of the God of all ages. Today, right now, screwed in to this bonding moment, what future do we sense God illuminating before us? Here is a story to help light our path.”
“Just yesterday, we got a new elliptical machine for our family’s basement after our old one died over Christmas break,” I explained. “I loved returning to a beloved habit, exercising while reading an old, random journal, pulled from my stash of over four hundred filled over the years. Taking my maiden voyage on our new machine, I happened upon words that shed light on the future before us. Richard Rohr says, “Remain screwed in!” Written by my forty-two year old fingers fourteen years ago, these words speak a similar truth, “Stay plugged in.”
*****
I Am A Microphone – September 6, 2005
I am a microphone. My job appears fairly simple. Sit still. Pick up. Share boldly. Yet, I am an apprehensive microphone, since the voice amplified through me is the very voice of God.
How do I, a puny piece of equipment, pick up the tone, the truth, the texture of God Almighty? How do I broadcast words for all people for all time? How do I remain static free as God clears His throat, leans in close, and pours through me life-giving words?
“Stay plugged in,” God’s answer dawns. “Stay plugged in,” is my single daily duty. “Stay plugged in,” plugged in to the eternal Source of power. “Stay plugged in,” so others might hear loud and clear the intimate, inspiring voice of our God.
I, myself, do not possess healing words to share. I, myself, do not contain wisdom to magnify. I, myself, am just a tiny instrument wrapped secure, resting at home in the powerful palm of our living LORD.
I am like Job confessing, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5).
I am like Jeremiah questioning, “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid…for I am with you…” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:6-9).
I am like Jesus wondering aloud: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (John 14:10).
I now pick up and dust off the framed saying embroidered long ago by my mother’s own fingers. The enduring wisdom reads: “No one applauds the fiddle after the concert. They only applaud the fiddler. Acknowledge the Fiddler in your life.”
Timeless truth now radiates out through me: “Do not applaud the microphone. Only applaud the God who holds us tight, leans in close, and speaks through us day and night.”
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Ending Sunday’s sermon, I felt honored to say, “I sense God clearing His throat now, leaning in, and speaking with authority: ‘Log Cabin Church, I will use you to be a sacred home for many, as you continue to acknowledge the speaking Fiddler in our midst.’ What a joy it will be for me and our family to live just down the street, hearing God’s love spilling out of these little red doors for generations to come.”
…Sue..
