Beatitudes Community

Good Sportsmanship

You know it when you see it—good sportsmanship.  An example of good sportsmanship went viral last week when Japan suffered a 3-2 defeat in the final minute of injury time against Belgium to end their participation at the World Cup.  A team that was given little chance of advancing in the tournament reached the round of 16 and took a two-goal lead over powerful Belgium, and so the team’s sudden last-second loss left players stunned, fans speechless, and some spectators sobbing.  It was a heart-breaking way to go out but fans and players left a lasting impression of sportsmanship and courtesy in Russia.  Where fans of other teams hit the news for doing things like giving Nazi salutes, the Japanese football team bowed to their own fans in gratitude.  The players left behind a note that said “спасибо” (Russian for “thank you”) in their locker room AND they cleaned it up, leaving it looking spotless.  Despite being dealt a crushing loss, the Japanese fans gave the world a lesson in grace when they helped clean up the stadium.

After the story went viral a reader explained: “This is a part of our culture. Japanese school age children would have also done this. After a school day, they clean their classrooms. They even make their lunches in class and clean up after. Very different culture.” Another reader pointed out that UCLA’s legendary coach John Wooden expected the same of his players.  Then there was the story about the huge basketball fight that broke out at the FIBA World Cup qualifier game between the Philippines and Australia.  Players piled on top of each other as fists and chairs went flying, and one Australian player could be seen pinned under a courtside chair while being punched by a number of players from the home team.  The crowd got involved throwing bottles and booing.

When our daughter Madelyn was growing up she often participated in summer sports camps.  She particularly enjoyed gymnastics and was delighted when at the end of the week she and all the campers were presented with a trophy.  It was a nice award for a short summer experience but I’m afraid it fell short in helping her to understand sportsmanship.  Sportsmanship teaches lessons on how to lose with dignity and grace as well as how to win with humility and gratitude. Important lessons in athletics and in life.*

Thermometer or Thermostat

Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?  It’s a question Jesus would ask even though they didn’t have them in that day.  How many say thermometer?  Thermostat?  How many say what the heck am I talking about?  A thermometer reflects its environment; it shows what the temperature is – if it’s hot outside, it says it’s hot; if it’s cold, it says it’s cold.  A thermometer is in a constant state of fluctuation. It can be “up” and “down” within hours. It is a reactionary instrument. It is informational, relaying valuable news to the reader, but lacking the ability to change that news. It exerts no influence on what’s around it – rather it is influenced by it.  It doesn’t take much to be a thermometer—all you have to do is be agreeable.  All you have to do is to go along with what everyone else wants.  All you have to do is think of your own comfort and ease.  When others around you are joking – all you need to do is to be quiet, to not make waves – you may even join with them in a gentle put down.  How many times are we caught up in thermometer life? God did not intend us to be mere thermometers.  Paul said, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  He knew how easy it is to just reflect the world around us, allow our lives to be influenced by life’s temperature around us. A Peanuts cartoon shows Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown.  She says, “Guess what, Chuck.  The first day of school and I got sent to the principal’s office.  It was your fault, Chuck.”  He says, “My fault?  How could it be my fault?  Why do you say everything is my fault?”  She says, “You’re my friend, aren’t you Chuck?  You should have been a better influence on me.”  Peppermint Patty has a thing or two to learn about personal responsibility but she has a point.  We do have an influence, for good or bad, on our friends, on our family, on those around us.

There is value in gauging and knowing what the temperature is around you; what people are thinking and saying. It can be helpful to know the current conditions that influence our society. But we are not just in the news reporting business. We can make news and create history. We  can be thermostats, take initiative in changing what is wrong in the world.  A thermostat has power, it sets the temperature, it changes things.  Someone who lives a thermostat life is an influencer. It is well connected and cannot function alone. It has a power source to activate it and sends electronic messages to a furnace that supplies enough heat to raise the temperature in the room. The thermostat is set to a determined temperature regardless of room environment. It is in partnership with a furnace that can cause real change.  We can be influencers or we can simply speak of how bad things are.  We can lament the state of things and do nothing or we can become a catalyst for real and lasting change.  Are you a thermostat or a thermometer?

 

The Stories Of Our Faith

Researchers at universities in Durham, UK, and Lisbon, Portugal, recently suggested that the origins of the stories of Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin stretch back four thousand years. When the Brothers Grimm began to compile such fairy tales in the nineteenth century, their project fostered a unity between the various German speaking states. The notion that deep in the woods was a boundless store of common stories affirmed the emerging identity of what became a united German people.

That’s how a bunch of stories combine to form a powerful narrative. When the people of Judah found themselves in exile in Babylon, they looked deep into their collective soul to discover how they’d come to be there. They looked at their collection of chronicles; of how God created the world, called a people, saved them from famine and slavery, made a covenant with them, and gave them land, king, and temple, before things then went astray.

But then, as with the Brothers Grimm, came the crucial moment: the exiled people of Judah looked at those accounts together and witnessed a faith which taught that God would save them as before, and that, most remarkably of all, they were as close to God in exile as they had been in the Promised Land. When the early Christians compiled the New Testament seven centuries later, they discovered the same truth, that God had found a way to save them again and they came to see Christ’s suffering, not as God’s abandonment, but as the closest humanity had ever come to God’s heart.

When I say I’m a Christian, I’m naming the story of which I believe I’m a part, and in which I find meaning, truth and purpose. I don’t pretend to believe that everyone shares my convictions. I’m not too interested in people telling me what they don’t believe, but rather in what they do believe – what story they feel a part of, and most importantly, how that story converges to clarify their identity and purpose.

Story turns to faith when people believe that God has entered their story. Faith turns to life when people say, ‘There’s a part for me in that story too.’

Be Still…

We all have a history and a story

I hope you all enjoyed the 4th of July celebrations? Commemorative and celebratory events like those which so many people have taken part in during the last few days are a wonderful way of reminding ourselves of our past, and they also help us to consider how we are living our lives now. The celebrations around Independence Day, with the words of the founding fathers echoing down to us through the centuries, provide a fixed point in the life of the nation to stop for a moment, to remember the virtues upon which its foundation is based, and in considering this, to reflect upon how well we are living up to that heritage in our own time.

Reflecting-Beauty-teddybear64-20015615-400-276The same can be said in our own lives as well, where there are certain days of the year which cause us to pause for a moment and re-evaluate ourselves. Perhaps for you that day might be your birthday or wedding anniversary. Perhaps it is Christmas, Easter or New Year’s. Whatever the day, and whatever that day’s significance to you, it is a good thing every now and again to pause and reflect.

We all have a history and a story. One of the most interesting aspects of my role here at the Campus is being able to listen as people tell me how the roads they have taken in their life have lead them, often in a very interesting way, to this place which they now call home. Just as our nation has done this weekend, it is good for each of each of us to reflect upon our own lives. Sometimes we can lose track of what is truly important to us as we get caught up in the bustle of our daily lives. Psalm 46 gives us some good advice- ‘be still’. Be still and know who you are. Be still and know that God loves you. Be still and reflect. Be still and remember all that you have accomplished. Be still and consider what makes you happy, and then think about whether you are doing that in your life today. Be still and pray for those you love, and those who love you. Be still and pray for yourself and your own needs.

The wonderful truth about our nation and our Campus is that each of our stories is so very different, with them all blending together to make for a vibrant and varied community. Sometimes in the midst of that we would all benefit from taking a moment of rest and reflection. Be still.
It is almost a year since I began working here at the Campus, and so I myself have been looking back and reflecting over the past year. I consider myself so privileged to walk alongside this community in its life and look forward to doing so in the years to come.