"Help, Thanks, Wow" by Anne Lammot - Book Review

Anne Lammot's quirky, self-effacing humor makes spirituality fun, feasible, and ordinary.  Her approach is so clear of religiosity and Christianese.  Her simple words on topics of depth and pain invite us to pray more honestly and more often.
In this book, Anne lays out the three basic human prayers: what we say when in need, in gratitude, and in wonder.  It's short, but that's a good thing for a book like this.  Anne reminds me that prayer is more a part of my life than I even recognize, and this in turn allows me to be more intentional about praying and recognizing my helps, thanks, and wows.
This is a great book for a friend for whom prayer has grown stale, or for whom church and the whole religious world seems intimidating, or who simply delights in a fresh take on spirituality.  Personally, I look forward to a book on what Anne calls the fourth great prayer, "Lord, help me not to be such an ass."  I find myself praying that a lot.

A Dream Within

A dream surges through me
Like a river in the mountains
Bubbling up like a spring
A boiling volcano
Waiting to explode.

A dream lies within me,
Plutonium in my depths,
Dangerous riches.
Beware the miner:
Under layers of rock and life,
Unstable matter,
Radiating into my dishes and handshakes.

A dream lives within me
Like a Shawshank prisoner,
Chipping at my walls
One pocket of dust at a time.
Am I warden, friend, or escapee?
Or will life prove me three?

Sensitivity Sermon Audio

What does it mean to be spiritually alive?  Spiritual sensitivity is a huge part of that.  A life of spiritual sensitivity is a life of observation, reflection, and repentance.

Proverbs 8:32 - 9:12

³² “Now then, my children, listen to me;
    blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³ Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it.
³⁴ Blessed are those who listen to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway.
³⁵ For those who find me find life
    and receive favor from the Lord.
³⁶ But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
    all who hate me love death.”

9 Wisdom has built her house;
    she has set up its seven pillars.
² She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
    she has also set her table.
³ She has sent out her servants, and she calls
    from the highest point of the city,
⁴     “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
⁵     “Come, eat my food
    and drink the wine I have mixed.
⁶ Leave your simple ways and you will live;
    walk in the way of insight.”

⁷ Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
    whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
⁸ Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise and they will love you.
⁹ Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
¹¹ For through wisdom your days will be many,
    and years will be added to your life.
¹² If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
    if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Click here to listen.

(This is the third sermon in our series on the signs of life: movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition.)

Caution and Challenge (1 Samuel 17)

Read 1 Samuel 17.

“David and Goliath” is one of the world’s best known Bible stories.  It is the classic story of victory for the “underdog.”  David and Goliath are now part of the global vocabulary.  When a small company enters a new market, reporters call it a “David and Goliath” situation.  This is a “feel good” story that we all love to love.

But this very familiarity creates a problem.  We are so likely to hear this story wrong.  We are so likely to apply it incorrectly to our lives.  If we take the simple childlike version of this story and apply it to our grown-up lives, we could get a gross distortion of the Christian message.  This story has an important message for us, but we have to be careful how we get there.  Today, as we talk about David and Goliath, I want to offer us four cautions and one challenge.  

First the cautions.

Caution #1: Don’t assume using God’s name leads to victory.

History is littered with people and nations who got this wrong.  Even the Bible tells one story after another of people who misused God’s name in battle.  

In the book of Numbers, when Israel finally got to the borderland of Canaan, they chickened out and decided to go back to Egypt.  God told them to go into the desert for more lessons in faith, but the people changed their minds again and decided that they would try to fight the Canaanites after all.  “‘Let’s go,’ they said. ‘We realized that we have sinned, but we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us’” (Numbers 14:40).  They marched forward in God’s name as God’s people to the land God had promised, and they were soundly defeated.  They used God’s name, but they were still not faithful to God.