Dalai Lama and Me

A couple of years ago (even though it seems like a lifetime) I was an adjunct professor at WVU-Parkersburg. Although I taught several courses over five years, the one that I taught the most was “Religions of the World.” It was fascinating for me to teach this course mainly because I did not have a great background in other religions. So, each semester I found myself learning something new and different as I prepared for the course. I also learned quite a bit about how people view religion from the variety of students that I had taking the course. It truly was a fascinating time.

Part of the “Post-A-Day” recommendation for today was to write about the 11th thing on your bucket list. Well, I have never taken the time to write out a bucket list but the recommendation that I read early this morning had me thinking about some things. Later in the day, I was wandering through the Mercer Mall waiting for my eyes to be a little less dilated from an eye exam and I ran across one of those page-a-day calendars called, Insights from the Dalai Lama.  With my unwritten bucket list on my mind, I decided to buy this calendar (at 50% off) as much for fun as it would be for the insight I might gain from reading it AND the insight I might gain from people’s response to me reading it.

The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama

Because of my experience with teaching about religions of the world, I think that meeting the Dalai Lama could well end up as number 11 on my bucket list. I could easily put it higher because I think meeting this man would be absolutely fascinating. I don’t think I would put it in the top ten because I really see no reason for the Dalai Lama and I to ever have paths that would cross close enough for me to meet him. Of course, even if they did there is the whole “Why would this Tibetan Buddhist monk want to meet a United Methodist pastor from Southern West Virginia?” that would have to be answered as well. So, I think meeting the Dalai Lama would make a great Number 11 on my bucket list!

BTW – if you are interested, here is the “insight” this humble man shares with us today…”If you are a compassionate person, then you build a compassionate family and then a compassionate community and then a compassionate world.”

Whether you are Buddhist or not – and I am not – I can hardly argue with the truth of that statement. So many times I wish the world would be a more compassionate place but that is only going to happen if it starts with me. I can easily rephrase the Dalai Lama’s words and say, “If I will love as Jesus loved, then truly I would change my family, my community, and the world.”

So, I will probably never meet the Dalai Lama but at least this year I will get to read his wisdom from time to time. (I would say every day but I am absolutely terrible at tearing off the pages of those calendars regularly…don’t know why, I just am.) And perhaps, I will share some of that wisdom on the journey we are all taking home…

pad2013

Family Celebrations

In our home, we have a little saying when one of us begins to weep or cry at a movie or some other event like church. We simply say, “It’s a mystery!” rather than try to figure out exactly what triggered the joy or sorrow of the tears. Well, it was a mystery for me all evening…

I stood among the many people holding candles and sang the hymn that so many churches do on Christmas Eve – “Silent night, holy night” – and I thought about the six wonderful months I have had serving the people of First UMC, Princeton. They welcomed me better than the Christ child was welcomed into the world. They cared for me better than the shepherds in Jesus day would ever experience. And they listened, really listened as I led them to celebrate a Different Kind of Christmas by joining Jesus in the battle against malaria. When my daughter got up and began singing “O Holy Night,” I knew the night was almost complete – the singing of “Silent Night” and the twinkling of the candles allowed me to remember the love, the care and the service given by a community of faith.

The Saturday after Christmas found me spending time with twenty one of my family members in the Fellowship Hall of our church. My Dad got up to say a few words and my brothers and I all nervously laughed, not knowing how long this would take or just what might come out. But then he said, “Thank you. That is all.” And he sat back down. We were celebrating the fifty years that my parents had been married but from the stories being shared, I think we were just celebrating! There was laughter…there were crying, fussy grandchildren (yep…mine) and there was food. The only thing missing…perhaps the singing of “O Holy Night” would have rounded it out for me.

“I don’t know how things were going in there, but people were hanging around in the Gathering Space for along time talking to one another.”

It was a report that I really hadn’t expected. The coffee and the sweet rolls were in the sanctuary and people had come and gone for a couple of hours as groups – sometimes families, sometimes a mix of people – served one another in our version of the Moravian lovefeast. Hugs broke out easily when the eating was over. So, why was I surprised that the fellowship, the unity, the “agape” we shared in the sanctuary spilled over into the Gathering Space and probably even home.

Now that I think it about, only one thing was missing that night as well…”O Holy Night.”

Nah, it wasn’t a “mystery” for just one evening, it has been one mystery after another for a while!  Thank God!

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,500 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

New Year…New Focus??

As 2013 gets its start, I decided not not make any resolutions, however, I am making a promise to myself to post something to this blog every day! It may be a repost…it may be original…it may be something that I write about based on the suggestions from dailyposts.wordpress.com.

It doesn’t matter…I just want to post something each day.

I really started thinking about this last night as we got closer and closer to midnight.  I really had planned on making a few resolutions but nothing was lighting a fire under me.  I was home, playing cards with my family and my daughter’s boyfriend and I started thinking about how long it had been since I had posted to “Not Quite Home.”  When midnight struck and I was surrounded by the people I spend the most time learning to love and learning how to be loved, I realized that this was exactly where I wanted to be.  However, my mind went again to the idea behind “Not Quite Home” – a place where I could share my thoughts on the journey of learning to love as Jesus loved – a place where I could flesh out being a part of Jesus revolution.

Later on this first day of the new year, I spent time with another part of my family as they watched and waited for one of their loved and loving ones to make the final journey home and this solidified the idea for me.

So, now I am writing the first of these posts and now I am looking forward to a year of sharing with you!

Enjoy 2013!!
I'm part of Post A Day 2013

Spread the Light – Save a Life

Imagine-No-Malaria-Logo-3Well, it has happened!

If you text a $10 donation to “Imagine No Malaria” between now and December 26th – simply text “MALARIA” to 27722 – you will receive a confirmation text and then a thank you text that includes a link to a picture of  a burning candle.

I will be making one of those text donations on Christmas Eve during our worship service at First United Methodist Church and then I will be sharing the light of this “candle” as a present to the Christ child who came into the world to “heal the sick…”  It is my small way of showing Jesus I am following him in the revolutionary movement to end malaria by 2015!  It is a disease that can be defeated if we join him.  (Granted, I have to borrow a phone for this one since I have already hit the monthly limit for donations via text!  But that doesn’t matter…what matter is my gift to Jesus!)

My invitation to you is twofold but simple – share this light as you worship on Christmas Eve. (Just make the donation at an appropriate time in worship and share your “light” for all to see!)  Maybe someone will ask you why and you can share the message with them…maybe others will join you as you share beforehand what you are going to do.  Maybe, God will show up in the midst of this and light the world with these candles that show healing.

Also, if you can, please share this message with as many people as possible, however you wish (share on Facebook, send out as an email, tweet a link…I don’t care) prior to your Christmas Eve worship services.  This blog is read by fewer than 100 people but those 100 know another 100 and so forth.  Light has a tendency to spread and this is one time I hope and pray it will spread long and far.

My hope for First UMC Princeton is that we would light enough cell phone candles (27) to join the Holston Conference in their memorial of those killed in Newtown.  We cannot do anything to bring back the lives lost their but we can stop another killer – Malaria!

Finally, I would like to thank the people at “Imagine No Malaria,” “mGive” and “United Methodist Communications” as well as a colleague in our Conference, Adam Cunningham, for helping to make this happen.  These folks are true warriors in the battle against malaria and this shows that they are committed to seeing this disease eliminated by 2015.  My prayers and my work is with them!