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

Small Steps - - HUGE Successes

What are the congregational sages of the day saying about the hopes and possibilities for churches in this 21^st Century? Don’t know about all of them, but Anthony Robinson, a minister in the United Church of Christ, preacher, teacher, and nationally renowned church consultant has words of hope for what the church, the body of Christ can do – and be in these changing and challenging times.

This past weekend I travelled to First Presbyterian Church of Vancouver, WA for this year’s Cascades Presbytery Leadership Fair. I attended to offer perspective on the Community Kitchen being housed bi-monthly within the walls of 1^st PC Phoenix. As part of a 3 person panel (one of which has been working with a church’s community kitchen for the past 5 years, another who began serving meals as part of the hospitality their congregation offers nightly as a warming center for homeless families) I was able to, not only share some thoughts, but to hear some perspectives on not only the ‘Why’ questions, but the ‘what’ the ‘how’ and entertain some ‘what if’ questions.

We did not have as many participants in our workshop as we’d had signed up – but that’s okay, as I’m sure those who skipped out, did so to attend the workshop offered by the event’s keynote speaker, Tony Robinson. (I’d thought myself that I’d like to sit in on his presentation – but in the morning I’d signed up for a discussion on the issues/dynamics in Israel/Palestine. Very thought provoking in its own right.)

But I did get to hear the keynote speaker offer challenging, yet hope-filled, words of encouragement. Challenging – in some of the anecdotes he shared about travels around these United States congregations. In one locale (Minnesota), he told of a conversation that came out of a series of interviews with both longtime members and members new to the faith. One of the new believers shared something of a concern she felt. When she started attending, she heard about prayer, and having experienced and encountered God – but when she asked one of the longtime members about his faith/prayer life, she said, ‘you’d have thought I’d asked him about his sex life’ (to paraphrase). One of the struggles, in which mainline churches may have become entangled, is the misperception that ‘faith’ is private; it may be personal, but far from private. This misperception has lead to a growing inability to speak of the deeply spiritual in ways that allow their faith, their sense of the divine to pass to the next generation of believer.

The good news is that God is sovereign and is working, even though it may not be how we envision. He shared this reflection on his website:

I was in Vancouver, Washington last weekend speaking at a Presbyterian event. I spent some time with people from a struggling and aging congregation in Portland, Oregon. The congregation had put on a block party for the neighborhood. But they felt it was a failure because it did not result in anyone coming from the neighborhood to their worship services. I told them that simply getting out of their building, getting to know the new neighbors, and having people come to the block party was a huge success--not at all a failure. Small steps.

Small steps, but HUGE successes – Successes we of 1^st PC Phoenix are joyfully stepping into.