A note from
Rev. Rob Warren
How do you tell time? I don't mean the way you were taught in school. I mean in life: How do you mark your time?
I received a "save the date" card in the mail the other day from a woman whom it is difficult for me to think of as a woman. I met her when she was a teenager in Louisville, and then watched her grow into a professional woman and an elder and move through a very difficult break-up with her long-time boyfriend who proposed to her but continued to date other people. She was not amenable to continuing the relationship, and so the wedding was cancelled. Given that this boy (who will forever remain a boy in my eyes) was such a large part of her life for most of her formative years, she decided to do the one thing that any sane person would do.
She went skydiving.
Her mother, a delightful person, asked me if I would have a conversation with her, because she felt certain that her daughter was not in a position to make choices of this nature. I did, and she told me the one thing that made sense: "If I don't do this now, my life will be divided up into two parts, before him and after him. I don't want my life to revolve around him; I want something better for me." So, we prayed - for her to land safely and for her mother to forgive both of us (her daughter first). A few months later, she was recruited out of her job and moved up north, met a young man who put in the time to build trust and, now, is apparently getting married.
Her mother isn't nervous about that at all - a topic I have observed, but will not bring to her mother's attention.
There is a great lesson there (and I don't mean to be more nervous about marriage than jumping out of a plane) - A lot of our outward personality is shown in how we mark our time. It is a difficult struggle, to mark our time positively. Griefs, losses, illness, pandemics, floods - all seem to dominate our thoughts. While this is our "nature" as people, it is not the way we are called to view life as Christians. In Philippians, Paul writes "Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Turns out, Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen may have been on to something in 1945 when they wrote "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive." While I won't go into an analysis of the loose translation of Noah or Jonah in the verse, the appeals to "have faith" and "latch on to the affirmative" are quite Pauline in their nature. Paul is anticipating a death sentence and is writing to express thanks to the church for their support and assuring them that his being in prison is actually helping spread the gospel through the world, until "Every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."
So in your time-telling, I want to invite you to a challenge. Instead of sharing our own stories of loss, let us celebrate what is good and just, pure, honorable, lovely... even if it is managing to get a 76-year-old song stuck in your head.
God's Grace and Peace be with you,
Rob
