Tag Archives: Children

Whatever is Just

JUstice for childrenLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 10, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:1-9 

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.— Philippians 4:8-9

I am a very goal oriented person so it takes work for me to get into the processes of life. I have learned though that attaining most of the goals of life result from people doing the processes with perseverance. We must have a nice balance in both being goal oriented and dedicated to doing the processes that result in the attainment of our goals. Sports is an excellent example of that. The goal may be to win the game, but the game is won because the athletes have learned and practices the processes of the game so well that they become automatic on the field of play. Our goals as a follower of Christ are to love God, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and to make disciples for Christ. In our scripture today, Paul lists some of the processes that need to become automatic in our lives to help us achieve those goals. Doing justice is one of them.

Justice does not happen by accident. We must do justice. Justice, however, is not something we can ever do alone. It always entails interdependent relationships. Justice, of necessity, involves our working together, one with the other, and that requires us to find common ground on what is just.

Most of the issues that relate to our children are issues of justice. What is right for every child? Every child needs to be loved; have his or her basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter met; be educated; have proper preventive and, when necessary, restorative medical care; and be protected from harm. The list could go on but the point is these needs are the responsibility of all of us and the details of what they mean must be addressed in community.

 Oklahoma Fact: In 2010, 24.8% or 929,666 people in Oklahoma were children.*

Prayer: Lord, challenge us to take up both the goal and the processes of justice for children as they are more vulnerable to the storms of injustice than even we adults are. Amen.

* http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/2541-child-population—decade-count?loc=38&loct=2#detailed/2/any/false/133,11,1,42/any/8997,8998

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Rejoice in the Small Things

The Starfish StoryLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 9, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:1-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:4-7

How do we rejoice when everything seems upside down? I have been working around justice issues regarding children for over 40 years and in many ways it is just sad that we have made no more progress than we have made. Some things have actually gotten worse like child abuse, or we now know more about the actual incidence than we did then. I don’t know which. Other data about child wellbeing show some improvement but certainly not enough. We have made great strides in some areas in Oklahoma like early childhood development, but it teeters on the edge of adequate funding each year. The education reforms of 1990’s have gradually been dismantled. Our teen pregnancy rate goes down and then back up in rhythm with our commitment to address it.

In times like these, I think of the story of the boy walking by the sea when he comes upon a man tossing star fish that have washed ashore back into the ocean. The boy asks him why he is doing that for there are hundreds of star fish on the beach and there is no way he can save them all. The man reaches down and picks up another star fish and gently tosses it back into the ocean replying, “I saved that one.” We rejoice in each and every child who could not read and now can, who nearly died from a simple sinus infection who now thrives, who has moved three or four times each year all of her life from school to school who is now succeeding in college, and who walked to school each day among drug dealers and gang members but maintained his values and is now an officer in the U.S. Army. This is just a short example of my list of children about whom I rejoice. I suggest that you make a list of children about whom you can rejoice today and offer their names up to God in praise.

Oklahoma Fact: Between 2006 and 2010 the school dropout rate declined by 21%*

Prayer: Lord we thank you for each and every child whose paths we have crossed in whom we have seen your glory as they overcame obstacles that seemed insurmountable at the time. Thank you for all the lovers of children you made available to them who may never have known what a wonderful impact they made on each child. Amen.

*http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/4129-change-over-time-in-high-school-dropout-rates?loc=38&loct=2#detailed/2/any/false/1020/any/9367

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Idolatry

CampaigningLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 6, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Exodus 32:1-14

 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’—Exodus 32:1

The Israelites in our scripture today were rudderless without a leader. Moses went up into the mountain and stayed longer than they had expected. In their impatience for someone or something to lead them, they built an idol. It is hard for us modern people to comprehend that anyone would think that a blob of metal shaped like a bull is anything more than a blob of metal even if it is made of gold. We should not be so quick to judge the Israelites for we do the same thing all the time, perhaps in a more sophisticated manner. We all want our cake and to eat it too. Campaign ads play into that reality.

It is election season and we are once again in search of leaders to represent us at various levels of governance. We need to keep this scripture in mind as we search for the right people to select. While their future actions will impact us, more importantly those actions will impact our children and they don’t get a vote. First, I want to encourage everyone to vote, most don’t anymore. Second, please take the time to find out from reliable sources where the various candidates stand on issues that matter and what their track records have been. I appreciate TV stations providing public forums like debates for the exchange of information. Third, I like the law that requires candidates to say or write I approved this message in their campaign ads, but have you noticed those ads have become positive platitudes. The dirty work is being done by outside groups. Personally, when I don’t hear that phrase, I tune out the ad. Fourth, I hear a lot of campaigns complaining about what other leaders are doing but I don’t hear very much about what the candidates would do themselves. My message to those candidate is that I will make up my own mind about others, tell me what you would do to solve the problems for which you are criticizing their actions.

Oklahoma Fact: In 2012, 19% of Children have one or more emotional, behavioral, or developmental conditions*

Prayer: Forgive us when we turn away from you for leadership and guidance and search for other gods to solve our problems. Guide us in our quest for governance that is truly of the people by the people for the people. We pray for all who are running for office and ask that you guide them in their sharing of information with the public. Amen.

*http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/6031-children-who-have-one-or-more-emotional-behavioral-or-developmental-conditions?loc=38&loct=2#detailed/2/38/false/1021,18/any/12694,12695

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Weave Us Together

Weave us togetherLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 5, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:33-46

 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.— Matthew 21:43

 Tough talk, sounds like Isaiah warning the people of Judah that if they did not produce fruit, they would lose everything, and they did, for a time. Faith is not a verb in the English language. Perhaps by the time the English language was created, Christians had already moved from an active and engaged worshiping community to clusters of believers with similar but small nuances to what they believed that set them apart one from another. Perhaps it is time that we who call ourselves Christians today show the world that faith is really a verb and the product of our faithing is fruit.

There is nothing inherently wrong with formulating beliefs and discussing them with others. I think such discourse is useful. It becomes a stumbling block when our wrangling over beliefs results in our failing to be the One Body of Christ working toward the kingdom of God in our world today. We even fight wars over it.

The Hebrew Bible is filled with calls for justice and righteousness in our way of living with one another. Christ clearly made justice and righteousness centerpieces for his coming kingdom. Bearing the fruit of justice and righteousness would go a long way toward addressing all the problems that impact our children today. Let us faith together toward this reality.

Oklahoma Fact: third grade reading proficiency percentages by race: White 82.3%, Black 59.1%, American Indian 75.6%, Asian 91.1%, and 77.1%*

Prayer: We are many textures, we are many colors,
              Each one different from the other.
              But we are entwined in one another in one great tapestry –

            Weave, weave, weave us together,
             Weave us together in unity and love.
             Weave, weave, weave us together,
             Weave us together, together in love.** Amen.

* http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/8225-third-grade-reading-proficiency-by-race?loc=38&loct=2#detailed/2/any/false/36,868,867,133,38/107,133,10,172,4,3/16742

 **From Weave by Rosemary Crow, http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=10306

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Pressing on to Perfection

Rocking an infant Living in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 3, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14

 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
 — Philippians 3:12-14

Paul is admonishing us not to be frozen into inaction by fear of imperfection. No, we are not perfect. Yes, we do make mistakes. Most athletes, serious athletes, will tell you that if they make a mistake they learn from it and then let it go. On the football field or basketball court, there is not enough time to wallow in despair that one drops a pass or sends a dunk into the bleachers instead of through the hoop. The other team may be halfway down the field or court in that time of self-flagellation. The same is true of followers of Christ.

While we don’t necessarily watch film of our every play following a game, we do need to revisit, in as objective way as possible, the actions that we have deemed a failure. When we  carefully craft a program to get people involved in mission and the same stalwart souls are the only ones who show up that does not necessarily mean that we should discontinue trying to get everyone involved in some type of service to others. Perhaps we need to start at an earlier point, for example, in study to explain why we care. Perhaps we need to engage the non-participants in planning so that the service we provide is something about which they can feel some ownership. Perhaps we need to provide training because doing service does not come naturally to all. Perhaps we need to spend time in prayer together asking for God’s discerning guidance on how we can best be in mission.

I have seen the joy of making a difference in the life of a child spread across the face of many people who would tell you that they never imagined themselves as a tutor, a big brother or sister, a cuddlier of preemies in an infant ICU, or a little league coach. I think that same action brings joy to God’s face, also.

Oklahoma Fact: In 2012, 13% of all births in Oklahoma were premature.*

Prayer: Make us each a blessing to some child today and tomorrow and the next day. Amen.

*http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/18-preterm-births?loc=38&loct=2#detailed/2/38/false/868,867,133,38,35/any/279,280

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

God’s Gifts are Greater

School FailureLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 2, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14

 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. — Philippians 3:7-11

While traveling in Turkey recently, I traveled the paths of Paul as he spread the good news about Jesus throughout what was then Asia Minor. Walking through the ruins of Ephesus, I felt like I was walking through Paul’s writings. The crumbled walls of ancient temples to the gods of the day surrounded me. The pillars where the “in crowd” had their names carved to show their believed superiority were also broken and worn. Some new followers of Christ had lamented to Paul that their names could never be on these all important status symbols. Paul starts this scripture with a laundry list of his credentials, which are impressive and then he says they are meaningless when compared to being in relationship with Christ.

We still live in a world where it seems status symbols and acquisitions matter more than people, where teenagers attack other teens for their name brand shoes, and where, the grand buildings are cleaned and maintained by workers being paid wages that will not support their families.

We as members of the Body of Christ are called, like Paul, to tell the world the truth: People do matter. God loves all God’s children. God loves us so much that God sent Jesus Christ into the world to show us a better path. People of that day caught up in the hunger for power and greed, even religious leaders, were so fearful of his message that they killed him. But God said that is not the end of the story and restored him to life. As Paul says in this scripture there is nothing, no status symbol or acquisition that is more important than that.

Oklahoma Fact: For the 2014 school year, 46% of Oklahoma City Schools received an Fin the state Education Department’s rankings.*

Prayer: Lord of All, let us be a blessing to all your children as a demonstration of our love for you and our love for all those who were created in your image. Amen.

*The Oklahoman, Sunday, September 21, 2014, page 1A

 

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Restorative Justice

Restorative JusticeLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 1, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 19

 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable to you,
   O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. — Psalm 19:14

Such familiar words, but do we practice them? This is not a prayer for God to clean up our language. It is a prayer that we live our lives in such a way and speak in such a way that what we do and say gives honor to God. The next question we must consider is: What is acceptable to God?

The prophet Micah gives us some clues when he writes: He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

Jesus addressed the issue when he answered a question: ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matthew 22:36-40)

Put God first, love your neighbor, and do justice. These surely are enough to keep each of us busy for a lifetime. We are called to do justice particularly for those who cannot do justice for themselves. Our children need us to do justice for them. Restorative justice for parents is justice for their children too.

Oklahoma Fact: On any given day, more than 26,000 Oklahoma children have a parent in an Oklahoma prison.*

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,   O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

http://oica.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Children-of-Incarcerated-Parents-Report-January-1-2012.pdf

 

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Name of God

        Living in the Spirit
Light a Candle for ChildrenGod's name
      September 30, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. —Exodus 20:7

I guess I was taught it as a child, but for a long time this verse meant that I was not to use God’s name as a swear word. While I still believe that to be wise counsel, I now think this verse has much deeper and broader meaning and that the NRSV’s interpretation, wrongful use, gets to the heart of my transition in understanding. For example, I do not think it is appropriate for candidates for office to use God’s name as sort of a reference. One’s life and actions should speak for themselves. I also cringe when I see God’s name or Jesus’ being used as part of a sales pitch. In both instances I become immediately skeptical of the candidate or business.

I wonder though, if the misuse of God’s name goes even deeper than that. Is this verse also saying that we need to be very careful about assigning theological interpretations of ways of being and doing to God that are more from our cultures than they are from God? For example, the way we deal with our children is an amalgamation of how our parents were raised and their parents were raised, the events happening in the world at the time, communication styles, and dozens of other factors. I grew up being afraid of Russians, whatever they were, and routinely having drills at school where we would sit under our desks with our heads down to protect us from nuclear bombs. While there was some overkill in those actions, they did address the fears of this world in the years following World War II. Had my parents or my church tied such actions to God, we would most likely still be doing them.

We who call ourselves Christian are called to the difficult task of ferreting out what is of God and what is not. I may oversimplify this process, but I believe that the primary test that must be applied is asking the question: does this pass the test of love? I believe that if we use this as our foundation for life we will much more easily learn what is really important and what is not. So in our culture today, how do we deal with the threat of terrorism, changing sexual mores, or the value of people? What do we need to teach our children about living and being in our world today that is true to God in this time and this place?

 Oklahoma Fact: In 2010 in the US, 78.4% of people identified themselves as Christian.*

Prayer: God, help us discern what is of you and what is not. Help us reflect your love to our children and to the children of our world. Amen.

*http://religions.pewforum.org/reports#

 

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Salvation

pregnant teensLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
September 26, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-13

 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. — Philippians 2:12-13

It seems to me that many of us spend a lot of time working out other people’s salvations and not a whole lot of time working out our own. Salvation comes from God. What we have been called to do is introduce people to God specifically by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ so that they can work out their own salvation through a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. That is not to say that we introduce and then walk away. We are on our own journey of growing with God and God made it much easier to grow with God when we do it together by sharing in study, prayer, confession, service, and communion. My fear is that the time we invest in trying to identify the pitfalls in another’s life somehow removes the need to constantly survey ourselves for the stumbling blocks in our own lives. It is a paradox but it is true that the better our relationship with God the freer we are to love the other just as they are and be a conduit for their finding their own way to a more meaningful connection to God in whatever way God choses to use us.

This truth is particularly valuable when working with and for children and perhaps even more importantly when working with their parents. Lifestyles and values that are align to us, perhaps even repulsive, may be limiting our ability to love others. Sometimes we judge these lifestyles and values as sins and insist that others cannot know God unless they stop these so called “sins”. A quick review of Jesus’ life and ministry should dispel this approach. In most instances when he met a person that others had condemned as sinners, Jesus’ approach was to ask them “What do you want?” “What do you need?” He recognized the image of God in each of them no matter how much clutter might be trying to hide it. By doing so, Jesus was able to heal brokenness, return dignity, and save the person from themselves. He will do that for those we introduce to him just as he did it for us.

Oklahoma Fact: in 201 the teen birth rate in Oklahoma was 48.8 births per 1,000 females under the age of 19. The rate for the United States as a whole was 29.8. Oklahoma ranks second highest of the fifty states.*

Prayer: O Lord, help me to see your image in each child and each parent with whom I come into contact. Use me in whatever way you need me to help them grow with you. Amen.

*http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr62_09.pdf#table12

 

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Encouragement

spinning a topLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
September 25, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-13 

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. — Philippians 2:1-4

“Do what I say not what I do.” Is a phrase that describes what I think many of we adults expect of the children with whom we interact. It doesn’t work that way. Children learn as much or more from our actions and reactions than they do from the wisdom we share via our words. Paul, in our scripture today, is admonishing the Philippians to let their lives reflect the Christ in them. While Paul was most likely addressing interpersonal relationships among the adults in the church, I think we can readily apply this in our interactions with children.

While traveling in Turkey recently, I was resting with others on our tour at our designated meeting place when some ten to twelve year-old boys began pestering us to buy the wares they carried. They did not speak English and we did not speak Turkish. If you have every encounter these street urchins you know they can be very persistent. One boy particularly caught my eye as he was selling tops. His unspoken sales pitch was demonstrating his rather impressive skills with the tops. He could spin one on the ground, pop it still spinning into the palm of his, and then jump it to the top of his head. I had not gotten a keepsake for my brother yet and remembered how he liked to play with tops as a child so I thought it might be fun to get him one. I motioned to the boy that I wanted two tops. He removed the two that I had selected from the handful he had and then tried to get me to take the larger group. I shook my head no and pointed to the two he had taken out but he persisted in handing me all the others. The friend setting next to me said, “I think he wants you to hold those so he can show you that the others work.” So, I took the handful of tops and indeed he carefully wound one and then the other and showed me that both of the tops I was purchasing were good. My reaction to his salesmanship, based on my friend’s insights, added one small encouragement to a future honest businessman. These small encouragements add up. So do small discouragements.

Oklahoma Fact: Oklahoma spends 1.4 times as much per prisoner as per public school student.*

 Prayer: Lord let our lives reflect your encouragement, particularly to children. Amen.

http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/state-data-repository/cradle-to-prison-pipeline/cradle-prison-pipeline-oklahoma-2009-fact-sheet.pdf

 

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.