What's that staring back at me?

 Who do you see when you look in the mirror? What do you see if you look in the mirror? Whom do you see when you gaze deeply into those eyes you find staring back at you through the looking glass?

Most likely, you spend as little time as necessary in front of the mirror.  I mean, really, why waste hours (minutes, days) staring at one’s own reflection, what’s to be gained from such a practice? Likely we spend only as much time as it reasonably takes to brush our hair and teeth, wash face, shave, put on make-up, etc. (This seeks to be a bit more inclusive list than my own morning ritual might otherwise afford;)  But I’ll warrant, that even in those brief moments of mirrored gazing, one’s attention is invariably drawn to those personal aspects we wish would otherwise go away. Skin blemishes, warts, moles, pimples, freckles draw our attention like moths to a porch light. We zero in on how we ‘look’. How do these pants make me look? Do they make me look taller? Shorter? Do these glasses make me look smart(er)? These are merely representative of the vast number of insecurities we live with – insecurities that marketers exploit (rather effectively, I might add).

There is no demographic that escapes the fine-toothed-comb of critical exploitation. We want desperately to be seen as beautiful, hip, lovely, likable, fun, charismatic, carefree, more youthful. – More than that, though, we want to see ourselves as all those things and we’re willing to pay whatever it takes to attain that appearance.

Of interesting note: that which is defined as ‘beautiful’ has never been constant, but is always relative to that which is more difficult to attain.  Hence: in times and/or places of mean resources and scarce food supply – a more robust, fleshy person with more body fat is seen as the ideal, which then defines ‘beauty’ to which ‘everyone’ aspires. Whereas in times of plenty, abundance, and ease (relative), the idealized body image gravitates to the skinnier, dare I say anorexic appearing model of ‘beauty.’

The point is – we constantly aim at a moving target; which even if we hit dead-center, moves from beneath our mark, leaving only our feelings more deeply unmet.

Within the industries of fashion, cosmetic, health related industries there is no demographic isolated from the onslaught of negative imagery.  From the young girls wondering if they’re too heavy, to the boys feeling they need steroids to look masculine; from the women to feel they must some how augment their body in order to be more feminine to the man who’s told he really doesn’t have much life unless he’s got a full head of hair: no one escapes.  The underlying fear that is preyed upon is that unless we change, we are unlovable.

Sad to see the church, likewise preying upon this fear.

 How much different would our image of ourselves be if, rather than the recurrent rhetoric of fear and criticism, we heard a steady and genuine chorus of ‘You are fearfully and wonderfully made’ or ‘You are loveable just as you are.’ We sing the song ‘Just as I am’- why should we not extend that same grace and courtesy to include you ‘Just as you are.?’ Or better yet, what if we could affirm for friend or foe, ‘I love you just as you are, because of who you are, because you are made in God’s image.’ Do you think that if we shared this message often enough, people might begin to view themselves as beings created in God’s image, whose love could be taken as a given rather than something that had to be worked for. The affirmation may invite the question ‘What does it mean to be created in the image of God?’ (how would you answer that question?)

Maybe, instead of hurriedly passing by that mirror, we’d stop and spend a few moments staring deeply into those eyes staring back into us, and in that time, just maybe we’d experience a bit deeper insight into what is means to be a child of God made in God’s image. And maybe, we might catch that same glimpse in the gaze of a stranger we pass on the street. (or maybe we’ll see the glimpse we find in the stranger’s eyes reflecting back into our own.

To my congregation, whom I am blessed to serve – I love and adore each of you and am blessed for being invited to pastor here in Phoenix, Oregon.  Thank you for these past 7 years.

Rev. Mike

October Phountains in Phoenix

‘Come Thou Font of Every Blessing’ could easily be a theme song for our trip to Spain this past summer. Everywhere we went – there were fountains. Big fountain, little fountains, fountains under repair, fountains newly constructed: fountains fountains everywhere – yet not a drop to drink (no I don’t think I’d have trusted the sanitary conditions of the h2o flowing through those pipes.)

Shawn laughed at me for the number of photos that took in the fountain theme – and there are quite a few. Water is a symbol of life, if not the source of life – and in those places where the fountains were empty, sitting devoid of water, there held a certain sadness, even a pall over the setting, as I imagined the once free-flowing coursing though and splashing upon the rocks and stone used in the making of each fountain.

How much water had flowed across each facet of these fountains? How many hundreds of years had these symbols withstood the soft but continually persistent force? From the baptismal fonts in the cathedrals to the aqueduct in Segovia, the wear-marks, the grooves, the slow eroding of the rock tells a story of the life these fountains lived, for the movement of the water is not without consequence. Though it may not be as dramatic an observation as witnessing a raging river shove boulders and rocks and gravel downstream, cutting an ever-widening path though the mountain canyon, time-lapse photography over the centuries would reveal course surfaces smoothed, sharp edges rounded – a visible witness to the impact the water has had over a lifetime.

In a similar way, the Holy Spirit leaves its mark upon our lives, both individually and communally. What residual changes has the Source of Life left upon you? Where are the rough places honed smooth? Where’s the indicative watermark of the Holy Spirit upon your life, letting others know of the freely flowing Spirit moving within your being? Hopefully you don’t scrub it clean so as to remove any evidence that the Holy Spirit had ever left its mark in your life.

There’s a reason for our filling the Baptismal Font each Sunday in worship – to serve as a reminder of what it is that binds us together as Christians – namely the claiming, the cleansing, the anointing, the rescuing that God – by the power of the Holy Spirit- does with each of us. Not a onetime deal, baptism is a lifetime experience, through which the power of God fills, renews, strengthens, emboldens, reveals, comforts, restrains, contains, and explodes the ministries of the Good News that because God is merciful, God forgives – you, me, us, them.

It’s the stories of this mercy flowing though community that give shape and distinction our calling as the Church – the body of Christ bearing witness to God’s mercy. As we think about what it means for the Spirit to flow through us, know that your acts of prayerful worship give shape and definition to our life as The Church; know that each decision, observation, and question; each conversation, concern, inquiry, receptive listening and prayerful response; each time we allow the Spirit of God’s Word to shape our life together, God uses us to shape one person, one aspect or dimension of life. God proclaims ‘You are forgiven’ through this body that is 1^st Presbyterian Church of Phoenix.

I ask you to prayerfully consider how it is God’s Spirit is flowing through you and through 1^st PC Phoenix with the Gospel of grace and mercy – and how it will be that this freely flowing Gospel will shape, not only 1stPC Phoenix, but the community of Phoenix, the Rogue Valley, and the whole world in which we are residents.

Rev. Mike