Pink Eye, Pink Eye, Pink Eye, Strep Throat, Pink Eye

That about sums up what I've been busy dealing with the past couple of weeks.  Sorry about the delay in postings.  I'll be back next week with with clear eyes and a fresh outlook.  It seems God uses crusty eyes to help us take a break and a closer look at the world around us.  Hope you are well!

Dog is God Spelled Backward or Something Crazy Like That

Today was "Pet Day" in our daughter's first grade classroom.  Several children were invited to bring their pet to school for a show-and-tell style presentation.  Sounds cute, right?  Well...

Our family pet is a 100+ pound golden retriever who is five years old and full of puppy.  Surely no good could come from bringing him into a school full of children.  I envisioned a lot of jumping, drooling, shedding, pulling, slobbering and excitement-induced peeing on the classroom floor. 

How was I going to get out of this one? 

I decided to play a game of "Let's Make a Deal".  Last night I suggested that it might be time to add a fish to our family.  "We could," I offered, "take a trip to the pet store and pick up a new fish just in time for pet day.  Wouldn't that be fun?"  I prodded.  "Wouldn't that be lying?" she asked. "We don't have a pet fish.  Lucky is our pet.  I want to bring him."

What could I say?  She was right.  Lucky is our pet - every hairy, hyper, puppy pound of him.

This morning, armed with a bag of dog treats and a prayer, my husband and I loaded up the dog for his first day of school.  Guess what?  He did just fine.  Our proud daughter introduced her classmates to her dog and confidently told them all about him.  I must admit, he was more interesting than a fish would have been.

Sometimes, when life gets sticky, it's tempting to look for an easier way out.  We want to present our lives like a neat package, all wrapped up in a ribbon.  We don't want people to know the messy truth about us - things like the fact that our dog might very well pee (or worse) on the classroom rug. 

Today, a six-year-old reminded me to keep it real;  proving that when we have a little faith, embrace who we really are, and share it with the world, more often than not, things work out just fine.

Honoring Miep Gies: The Story Behind the Diary

The world has lost a woman who quietly changed the way we read some of the most significant events in modern history.  On Moday, Miep Gies died after a brief illiness.  She was 100.  You may or may not be familiar with Miep Gies but you have surely heard her story. 

As a young Christian woman, Miep took a job as a secretary for a Jewish man named Otto Frank.  She quickly befriended Otto and his family.  That friendship led to great acts of selfless courage when the nazi's infiltrated the town and began searching for Jewish community members and sending them off to the camps.  Miep and several others, including her husband, hid Otto Frank, his wife, their two young daughters and four others in a room they called the "secret annex" in the building where Miep worked. 
For 25 months, Miep Gies made sure the "hiders" - as they were called - had food, water, and a connection to the outside world.  She made sure that young Anne Frank had notebooks, paper and the diary she had recieved for her 13 birthday to help pass the long days in the secret annex.

Miep put on a brave front, despite the risks to her own well-being, in the face of nazi threats.  When the nazi soldiers stormed the office building, finding and capturing the eight people in hiding, Miep bravely gathered all of Anne's papers and locked them away in her desk drawer for safe keeping.  She never read the diary, always respecting the young girl's privacy.

Seven of the eight friends Miep Gies helped to hide in the secret annex died in the nazi concentration camps.  Anne Frank, whose story speaks so personally to generations of readers, died at Bergen-Belsen at the age of 15, just two weeks before the camp was liberated.  Anne's father, Otto, was the only one of the eight to make it home.  Upon his return, Miep unlocked the drawer of her desk and gave him the papers she had so carefully and respectfully kept.

The diary of Anne Frank was published in 1947.  It's a  harsh reminder of what unchecked hatred and intolerance can grow into.  It's also a poignant story of bravery and friendship

Miep Gies spent much of her life speaking about tolerance while downplaying her own actions.  She refused to label herself a hero.  In 1997, she told a group of schoolchildren, "You don't have to be a hero to do your human duty or  I am afraid no one would ever grow up to help anyone else.  Who is a hero?  I was not.  I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary."

I am struck by her words, "I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary."  How many times have you prefaced thoughts of yourself by saying or thinking, "I am just a..."  Miep Gies reminds us that in our ordinary roles in our ordinary lives we can have an extraordinary impact.

While little will ever compare to the horrors of the holocaust, I am still baffled by our willingness to seperate ourselves in "us" verses "them" terms, over and over again.  Red versus blue, black versus white, east verses west, rich verses poor.  The divisions come so easily that in our own church we are divided over whether or not to accept and afford equal opportunities to others simply based on how we love.  Here's a radical thought, maybe it's time to close the divide.

God speed, Miep Gies, and many thanks for your example of unconditional love and tolerance that gave voice to a little girl, and so many others like her.

For more information visit http://www.miepgies.nl/.

Star light, Star bright

Today is Epiphany, the day of the church year when we think about the three wise men, who followed the star until it stopped to rest above the manger in Bethlehem. I like to think about the bright glow of that special star and how it led them to baby Jesus.  What a journey that must have been.

There's something magical about stars. I grew up in rural, northwestern Wisconsin where the dark night sky was the perfect backdrop for twinkling stars. Even now I love to sit outside on a summer night with a glass of wine, good conversation, and an eye to the sky.

Stars give us a glimpse of another galaxy. They make us think about what else is out there. They remind us that there is beauty beyond our world and mysteries beyond our knowledge.

The three wise men followed the star in search of something wonderful. We can, too.

Where is the bright light of Christ guiding you?

Are you living your life as if you are following the star that leads to Jesus?

Not only can we follow the star, we can be the star. Through our good works, generosity, compassion, open-mindedness, and concern for all creation we can be a guiding light in the world around us.

God shepherds us through this life in ways that are both subtle and bright, always moving us toward something more, something so much bigger than ourselves.  This new year, whether you are following or leading, think of the star and shine.