When I say or hear the words "Let Us Pray", it is usually an invitation or a call to action. Today, I say "Let Us Pray" as someone who simply wants to join hands and pray with those whose first amendment rights appear to be under negotiation. I have had a hard time witnessing the debates about the Mosque/community center/Park51 architectural project. There are many points of departure for the debates and I am not going to use this blog to create just one more space for those arguments to continue. I am, however asking you to hear me as I say,"Let Us Pray".
Within my own Christian community, there are those who I would never ask to pray for me - for a variety of reasons better shared in a more light-hearted blog entry. My right to decide who I will agree to pray with does not have a tandem clause that grants me the authority to take away another person's right to pray regardless of their deity of choice.
In this brief blog entry, I am asking those of us who hear "Let Us Pray" from a position of privilege to consider this as we exercise that right and responsibility...let us take a moment to hear and perhaps be an answer to the prayers of those (American citizens) in Manhattan and elsewhere who are begging for permission...as if it is ours to give, take or negotiate..."Won't you please, just Let Us Pray?"
Shalom
(Stay tuned for my forthcoming blog entitled, "In a Relationship (with God) and It's Complicated")
Today, I am thinking of the woman at Fox Chase Cancer Center who said something to me that made me want to say, "Your God is showing!" She sat across the desk from me and explained the forms that I was signing and then sweetly took the brick of bills that paid for my mammogram. This lovely woman made a comment about her job and I quipped, "Ah, yes, a job! Must be nice to have a job to complain about." I smiled so that she would know that there was no malice hidden in my sarcasm and her response surprised me.
She looked at me and said, "Well, if I do lose my job, I know I'll be okay because God will take care of me. It will give me time to do..." The rest of what she said to me faded into "blah, blah, blah" because I was pleasantly shocked to hear this woman talking freely about the God who would provide for her. Wow! In case I thought that her kindness and professionalism were just par for the course, she took the risk of giving a mini-testimony of her God and her faith. Now can you see why I wanted to say, "Your God is showing!" to this enthusiastic woman? She reminded me that while I was dealing with my momentary setback with snark and sarcasm, she was going to approach hers with her eyes turned toward heaven.
What I liked most about this encounter was that this was an unsolicited moment of self-disclosure. The woman was not wearing the infamous fish earrings, or a cross around her neck. She wore her God in a positive attitude and a sweet smile. She took a huge risk by sharing her faith with me and it led to a longer conversation about other aspects of her life of faith. She did not need to draw circles around those classified as "believers" versus those classified (by believers) as "non-believers" in order to 'prove' how much of a Christian she is. She simply showed what she believed by living it in a way that made it palatable and inviting. Conversely, I know some other people who wear their God like a cheap piece of costume jewelry. These are the people who always feel the need to TALK about being Christians instead of simply BEING Christians. These are the folks who tell you quickly that they are Christians or Saved-Sanctified-and-Filled-With-The-Holy-Ghost or Believers or some other moniker to ensure that you realize just how close they are to the Almighty. These are the folks who want their God to show but often end up putting their idols (or 'little g -gods') on display. Consider the following example...
A very dear friend of mine feels as if she has experienced Christian identity theft. When she and her spouse wanted to rent a home and their potential landlord was not sure about doing business with them, her husband used their identity as a 'good Christian couple' as currency and the landlord agreed to rent to them. Unfortunately, the rent was not always paid as promised and now the couple is legally responsible for the back rent and they have been evicted from the property as well. As it is in some marriages, she paid some of the bills and he paid others. He never disclosed that he had fallen behind in paying the bills for which he was responsible. One of those was the rent and by law, though she was unaware of the delinquency, she would be responsible for the debt. Now that this debt has turned into a lawsuit, she is mortified because not only is there an outstanding debt, but their Christian Credit now has a blemish as well.
All too often, those of us who are Christians spend a lot of time screaming about WHO we are and WHOSE we are but we forget to SHOW whose we are - except for when we need mercy or forgiveness and then we pray (aloud) to a merciful God. Those of us who are Christians know that we are described as being known by our love (John 13:35). Those of us who are Christians know that when we forget what love looks like, we can go back to I Corinthians 13 for our job description. (You know, love is patient, love is kind, etc...) As the old saying goes, "Don't talk about it, be about it!" Don't just tell me that you're a Christian...act like one!
I still have the lovely note that one of my high school students wrote to me in 2000, when I was her English teacher at Long Branch High School. Samantha asked me if I was a Christian and I immediately 'clutched the pearls' and replied,"Yes, why? Am I not acting like one?" She smiled and said, "No, but I'm smart enough to know that everyone who acts like one ain't one and everyone who is one ain't acting like one!" Her note was to remind me that she thanked God for sending her someone who could help her when it came to her "Christian walk." We agreed to help each other by being a living reminder to one another of what we were supposed to be. Our verbal reminder in the hallways was, "Don't embarrass the family!" In this way, we both acknowledged that we were Christians as evidenced by our actions and not by our accessories.
I pose this question to those of us who call ourselves Christians: Are we living lives that show a good return on God's investment in us or are we living lives that look like a bad check waiting to bounce? Remember that in all that you do there are two options...either Your God is Showing or Your 'god' is Showing.
First, let me state that I absolutely HATE getting dressed in the summer time. I care what I look like and therefore do not favor visible bra straps under my tank tops and cannot be bothered enough to buy bras with the invisible straps (hello, they're clear plastic! The object of summer dressing is to de-crease the amount of potential perspiration!). So, I find it very stressful to dress in age-weather-and-style-appropriate clothing in the summertime. Call me country, but give me one of those old school snap front 'housecoats' with a folded up paper towel in the front right pocket any day. These were in vogue long before Victoria told all of her secrets and when Sears didn't need a softer side! Laugh if you want to, but I swear, it's the southern girl's secret to better fried chicken! And no, you won't see one in Carrie's closet on Sex in the City, but I have seen them on my grandmother, mother and aunties as they demonstrated Fidelity in a Frock!
Now, I am secure in my sense of self...however, I am also far too vain to leave the house in a housecoat, so I must bear the burden of donning a tee shirt (to solve the strap dilemma) and the one pair of shorts that I can button without turning a deep shade of under-oxygenated blue. Due to the recent expansion project that is underway in the area below my waist (without a permit, I might add), I am down to one pair of khaki shorts and the black and pink running shorts I ordered from The Breast Cancer Site. Those are the options, folks! I have a stack of three lovely V-neck tee shirts from Target and those are not to be cross pollinated with the over sized, wrinkled tee-shirts in the "for the gym" pile in the nether regions of my closet.
So, you think you see my dilemma, right? You think this is all about putting on something reasonable and leaving the house to do errands in this "now do you understand global warming" New Jersey summer heat. This is not merely about putting on the right clothing! This is about putting my clothes on the right way! This is about leaving the house and thinking that I can run to the store and pick up a few items before returning home to the solace of central air. This is about what happened to me last week: After finding the perfect parking space, getting out of my car and looking at my reflection in the driver's side window, I collapsed into a heap on the small grass median that kept my car from kissing the other one. I did not faint from heat exhaustion. I was not crying because I had locked my only set of keys in the car...not that day anyway. I was laughing hysterically and looking absolutely crazy since I was alone and there was no one to laugh with me...because despite the fact that I only have a few items of clothing to work with...I put my tee shirt on inside out!!!
For most people, this might simply be embarrassing, but for me, this is what I call heeee-larious. This is funny to me because when I was a new mom, and had reason to do it, I never did. This is funny to me because I am not trying to make a fashion statement by doing something new and different. This is funny to me because I am the queen of making a list and checking it twice, but I never imagined that "check to see if your shirt is on inside out" would be an item on my to-do list! Oh, and it is also funny because just a few days ago, I came in from a long day of writing, researching, and reading and as I made a bee line for the bathroom, singing "gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now!" I looked down and realized that I had put my underwear on inside out as well!! I am not a college student who is too lazy to do laundry and resorts to recycling undies! I am a grown woman with not one but two master's degrees! I am an intelligent person! I am clean, competent, capable, and highly critical when it comes to details! So why in the world do I keep putting my clothes on inside out??? Who does this??? (Umm...obviously, I do!)
I have a theory! I could easily blame the clothing manufacturers for making us a tagless society. Remember when it was harder to put things on inside out because there was always a tag sticking out and scratching the back of your neck..or worse...to let you know that you were wearing it properly? Ah, the good old days! No, I would not like to place blame. I would like to think theologically instead. French philosopher and writer Voltaire supposedly said, "God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." Yes, that's more like it. There is no fault to find with the good people at Hanesbrands, Inc. for their brilliant decision to make tagless clothing. The joy is in finding the punchlines that God delivers directly to me - often when I am swimming in my own seriousness. It is as if I have dialed that 900 number to hear jokes delivered right into my ear but this is better. These jokes are written with me in mind. If you think that God does not have a sense of humor, I would suggest that it is you who is without a funny bone! While it is preposterous to me to think that I could ever leave home in such a state of fashion faux pas - there comes a reminder that with God all things are possible! (Yes, even a funny fashion faux pas like inside out underwear!)
Just think about how awesome it is to know that God is just waiting for us to see how ridiculous we are as we struggle to make things fit into our neat little rows and boxes! Think about a God of possibilities who just wants us to laugh. Imagine that aspect of God for just a moment. Not from a prosperity gospel perspective but from a 'human beings living under the influence of a higher power' perspective. With God, it is possible to forget about the drudgery of a to-do list and just laugh a little. With God it is possible to love a little deeper and hesitate to hate. With God, unemployment becomes an open door to new and unimagined opportunities. With God, master's degrees pale in comparison to a life demonstrating a mastery of decency and compassion. With God, problems don't just disappear, but solutions can blossom like flowers in a well-tended garden. With God, the burden of being well put together is lifted if only for a moment and it is replaced with the deep belly laugh that does more good than 50 abdominal crunches on an exercise ball!
With God, I no longer cared who saw me or what they thought of me and my inside out shirt. I knew in that moment that I was (and still am) deeply loved from the inside out - flaws and all - and that made me smile...all the way to the ladies room where I reversed the shirt and refreshed the lipstick before searching for the items on my shopping list!
While I certainly would not ask you to begin wearing your shirts and your underwear inside out, I will ask you to do one simple thing for me. Can you allow yourself to find something common and routine in your life and 'wear it inside out' for a moment and see what happens? Ask yourself, "what security do I find in doing this the same way every time?" What am I missing by living a life without divinely inspired laughter? God is indeed a great comedian but I don't want to waste my life living in the circle of hell marked "afraid to laugh".
If you don't do anything but allow yourself to laugh audibly (a real "LOL") from the thought of imagining me laughing hysterically on the ground in my inside out tee shirt in the Target parking lot...then it was all worth it to me!
Shalom!
For those of you who can actually see the video, this is a classic Diana Ross live performance. I could have chosen the more spiritual "Inside Out" by Hillsong, but I wanted something more comical so I went with "Upside Down". Michael Jackson appears around 3:03 and if you have not laughed yet today, wait until you see the exchange of his dancing to her singing for that of her dancing to his singing!! Choreography has come a long way!
