I Was Just Thinking......about Blind Faith!

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Today at Church, I was lost in the praise music and the Pastor's message.   Pastor Carla talked about the progression of the music in today's service and how the songs tracked the Wise Men's journey from learning about the Christchild, deciding to follow a star on blind faith, and then kneeling in total awe when they arrived at the manger.

I thought about the guts those Wise Men had to pick up and just go with no concrete assurances of what they would find after their arduous journey.  (Yes, the scripture is vague on the specifics around the Wise Men's role in the Nativity story and most of my visual is from the Little Drummer Boy movie.  But that doesn't matter in this case.  My mind went to the awesomeness of Blind Faith.)

I'm guessing the Wise Men had their friends telling them how stupid of an idea following a star is.  Maybe there boss was hassling them about taking time off work.  I'm sure their wives were trying to talk some sense into them.  But they went anyway.

My oldest son just took a left hand turn down a path less traveled.  I think he is crazy.  He left behind a cushy situation with a fairly certain future.  He says he hated that cushy situation and wouldn't be happy to continue down that path.  It's not what I would have done.  Not at all!

But he's following some star that I can't see.  Maybe that bright light he's following is the headlight from an oncoming train.  But maybe it's the Christchild or something amazing that will put us all in awe.  We won't know if he doesn't take that path with BLIND FAITH.

OK...I'm in!

Going Home

Hard Hat Immediately Available for Use - please contact Village of Hope, Haiti!

(The Usage is temporary and must be passed on to the next Servant.)

I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet

I understand. 

I felt the Earth move on two occasions yesterday.

At about 1am, I felt what all the people of Haiti have been feeling since the major quake.  A series of aftershocks hit.  I wasn't fully asleep when it happened.  I have never been in an earthquake before, but there is no mistaking it when it happens.  To me, an avid RVer, it felt a lot like trying to sleep in the camper bed while my wife, Eileen, is driving down a bumpy road.  But having spent the last week talking first hand to Haitians about the scenes they've seen of walls falling on top of their friends and families, the shaking was a sensation I took seriously. 

Sharing a room with my Brother Tom, he and I both shot out of bed and out into the garden outside of our little dorm room.  My other Brothers who've I shared this journey with did the same.  I've got to tell you, if humor has a place in tragedy, it was that moment when I looked down the row of dorm rooms bursting open and 11 (not small) guys running out in their underwear for safety. 

It made me giggle for a moment.  But after spending the next half hour evaluating the situation then finally crawling back into bed with my heart pumping a million miles and hour, I understood.  I understood why so many people of Haiti are sleeping in tent cities.  There is no restful sleep with one foot on the floor wondering if the next aftershock is going to send a concrete block wall on top of you.  The only thing to do is gather in communities...Safe in the open spaces.  I've seen thousands of tent cities spread across any open field accessible.  They are dotted by blue tarps that arrived before ours did.  But most of the "homes" are cobbled together tent-like structures made of tree branches, bed sheets, plastic bags, discarded shrink-wrap, and anything else that can be collected that will help a Haitian family find protection from the elements.

 The tremor at 1am was the SECOND time the Earth moved for me yesterday.  The first time was during the day in the mission field.  I've started at least 3 times trying to put down in words what I experienced yesterday interacting with the people of Haiti and seeing the face of God in each one of them.  Each time I had to hit delete because my account just wasn't adequate.  I will try again after I have had time to meditate on it for a while longer.  In the meantime, I've asked each of the Ordinary Men on this trip with me; and I ask each person in my life; to help me stay accountable.  I want to stay accountable to do the things necessary to make a difference in this world.  To do the things that Jesus pointed out in Matthew 25 that I should be doing for the "least of these."  That's where this story will end.....Now I just have to fill in the chapters that lead up to that ending.

Relieve…Recover…Rebuild

I opened my bag when unpacking my first night in Haiti. I came across a brown, bulky envelope that had a Cross adorning it. I opened it and pulled out a bunch of letters. The letters were written in the recognizable manuscript of young kids. The letters were from the Rock Solid and Pebbles groups of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church. The Pebbles (1st and 2nd graders) wished us well on our mission and told us they hope to go to Haiti when they got old enough. The Rock Solid kids (3rd thru 5th graders) wanted to be with us and charged us with helping the people of Haiti with all our heart.


My son Matthew, who is one of the leaders of the Rock Solid group (they call themselves “Top Rocks”) , printed out a neat flyer entitled Relieve…Recover…Rebuild with the US and Haitian flags.

They had worked together on these wonderful bead necklaces, one for each member of the mission trip. The beads were red and blue - the colors of the Haitian flag. They called our attention to the fact that the patterns they put into the beads were unique – just like each of the men on the trip – wonderfully different in our own way. Even though most of the guys weren’t used to wearing bead necklaces, the gesture talked to us. Each man helped adorn the other.

 
 
This tied in nicely to a Haitian proverb told to us by our host, Debbie. “Yon Sel Dwet Pa Manje Kalalou.” [“One finger alone cannot eat the gumbo.”] It reminds us that it takes a team to best make a difference.

Internet Access in a 3rd World Country

It goes without saying there a bunch of comforts of home that we do without when in Haiti.  Why would I have thought that faithful internet connections would be one of them?

Do it now!

There were a million excuses for why we shouldn't make this trip to Haiti.  They all seem irrelevant now.
An entry from my brother Tom's blog at
http://wellplanet.org/haiti.php
reminds us of the appropriate time to start becoming an active Christian.....NOW!

Jesus said come-We Came with great excitement.

Jesus said, if you love me, feed my sheep; we respond 'of course we love you lord,

but first we must organize.'

Jesus said, if you love me, feed my sheep; we respond 'of course we love you lord,

but first we must keep organized to keep order.

Jesus said, if you love me, feed my sheep; we respond 'of course we love you lord,

but first we must build houses in your honor to so we can organize, so we can keep order in the house that we built for you.

Jesus said, if you love me, feed my sheep; we respond, in order to keep order, organize your house, we must keep out those who do not understand our order.

Jesus said, if you love me, feed my sheep...we could not hear His voice, there was too much chatter.

Helping Haiti

Today was an awesome day.  Our project was to rebuild a portion of the Hope House that had fallen during the Earthquake.  It's amazing how a bunch of guys from all over America and Haiti, when put together to accomplish a task (that involves Power Tools) can come together to make magic happen.  It was a simple project....Not much different than a chore I might perform at home....But for some reason; in this atmosphere; for this purpose....the spirit that abounds is amazing.

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