Cindy Gaskins

What’s the physical distance between you and your dearest friends? In the neighborhood? Across town, across the world? What about the distance from your aging parents or your young adult children?

Our home is in Hawaii. Our adult children are in the Northwest. Our aging parents are in the South. And lifelong friends are scattered around the world. For all but three years of my adult life, I have lived far from my parents. That means vacations are still often to go be with family. The miles have not allowed events, ordinary, unexpected, joyful and painful to be shared in person. Separation.

Who doesn’t know about life events, ordinary, unexpected, joyful and painful in which we absolutely could not be present?  For sure 2020 and counting. The ache, sadness, sometimes anger was present when we could not be present. Separation.

This Lent season has brought a new dimension to what separation means. Willingly in love and obedience, Jesus left the wonder of heaven to become one of us. Jesus’ connection to his Father was still in place. But when he took on our sin at the cross, the utter severing of God the Father from his Son was a first. It wasn’t just miles. All Jesus had known with his Father was gone. Silence in every direction. At his most painful, vulnerable, horrific time. Separation.

Reflect for a minute.

What has physical distance from loved ones created in and for you?

What does emotional distance from loved ones feel like?

Is there anyone you sense needs your nearness?

Does Jesus seem close right now?

Lean in in these last days of Lent. Consider Jesus’ sacrifice through separation. Come near. He will come near to you.

“Peace be with you.” John 20:19

Today we remember the man who refused to give in to the hate and injustice of his day. Martin Luther King, Jr, insisted that loving the enemy while walking in peace, was the way to go in a day when dogs and dogma attacked truth.

Today we live in a bewildered, broken, divided nation. Words and actions to and about family, neighbors, and people we don’t know have left us all feeling pain. Our grief in the loss of life, uncertainty, and the unknown is staggering.

Was the world any different for the followers of Christ after his crucifixion? The Romans had secured the torturous death of Jesus and wielded a firm hand over their empire. The Jewish religious leaders spoke their own version of truth and burdened their people with it. Those closest to the Messiah were bewildered, defeated, doubtful, and afraid in a locked room.

Then Jesus is suddenly standing in their midst and says:

“Peace be with you.”

He showed them his wounds. And the room was filled with marvel, joy, and wonder.

Jesus says again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Then he breathed on them and said,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.   If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:19-23)

These words reverberate through the ages because Jesus still speaks to his followers. The chaos of the world still needs hope, rescue, tender mercy and grace.

Wherever you are in this moment, however you are feeling, whatever your specific circumstance:

“Peace be with you.”

Image Jesus’ breathing on you and saying:

“Just as my Father sent me, just as I sent my disciples, I’m sending you. Receive my Holy Spirit. Forgive those who have hurt you. Forgive those who have brought pain to your life, your home, your treasures.”

Today is a day to remember we are the ones who can move towards family and friends, into the neighbor with kindness, generosity, hope, forgiveness. Our neighbors, friends, and families need this sweetness. Our nation needs the sweet salt and light of Jesus.

Listen and welcome the words of the Prince of Peace.

“Peace be with you.”

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17

Our Hawaiian island life means the chances of sand appearing somewhere other than the beach are good. Recently I discovered some interesting things about sand. Be a sand nerd with me and let’s go to the beach so we can check out the sand. We might discover

• grains of sand have different properties, like size, shape, and roughness. And how all those properties are organized is equally important.
• loosely packed gains might feel soft because they have room to flow around in your hand.
• when the same grains are packed together tightly, they don’t have room to rearrange themselves in your hand so that makes them feel firm. 
• sand with rounder grains usually feels softer because the grains slide past each other more easily.
• smaller grains also don’t produce the pinprick feeling of individual grains pressing into your skin.

I discovered in my sand exploration reading that one of the great unsolved mysteries of physics is what makes sand soft?  Who knew?

In the perfect world God made, sand was perfect.

But then when sin came into the world all that perfect sand began to lose perfect qualities. Maybe that’s when sand, like people, began to have rough edges that poked. The first sandpaper. Because of sin, people developed rough edges, rough words, rough actions. Instead of walking together, we became bumpy, sticky, we bruised and hurt each other and certainly hurt God.

But God always had a rescue plan for His broken world and it started with Abraham. He promised Abraham a family that would number more than the sands on the seashore. And in that family would come the Great Rescuer, Jesus.

Like his Father, Jesus demonstrated His love for every single one us. No matter our shape, size, or where we are in the world. Jesus sees the people who stick together and make things hard and He sees the people who stick together but have a flow and ease that makes them soft, kind, helpful, and sweet.

The World is full of people – like the sands of the seashore. Our great God counts every one of us as precious as He holds us in His hands.

Whatever your Thanksgiving looks like in this curious 2020 year, remember

• everyone at your table bumps up against you in love or irritation at some point
• everyone not at your table this year is precious and held in the Father’s care
• everyone who has a difference of opinion, words, perspective can be used to make you smoother, softer, sweeter

Thanks be to our God who holds all things together. May His Kingdom come and His will be done on the earth – in the sand – as it is in heaven.

I’m no artist.  When I discovered adult coloring books there was a beginning curiosity that I might could do ok with this project. Pictures were waiting for my color palette choice. There are times when I feel completely satisfied with the finished design. Other times that awkward unsettled tilt of my head says ‘nope, that didn’t work!’

How much of our world looks at the picture of the day and wonders who will bring color to it? Who will create a design that makes sense or gives satisfaction? Who will breathe hope into the page of life we are holding our breath in?

The fires, virus news fatigue,
hurricanes, heatwaves,
masks, mothers losing sons and daughters
five year old students as well as freshman sit in online classes,
the furloughs and fitful nights of anxious sleep,
stay at home orders and six feet spacing,
watching church on a screen and the calendar claim weeks of new normal,
the picture from any angle isn’t what we understand or can predict.

The truth of this curious season of life can find some comfort from the writer of Psalm 119.

V 81           I am worn out waiting for your rescue…
V 123         My eyes strain to see your rescue…
V 143         As pressure and stress bear down on me…

But just like focusing on one part of the coloring page, we can miss the greater design. God’s words are wonderful and often mysterious.  They have more definition and detail than we first see. Read the verses again:

V 81           I am worn out waiting for your rescue, but I have put my hope in your word.
V 123         My eyes strain to see your rescue, to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.
V 143         As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.

Sweet Friend, the reality of our days can feel stained with awkward colors or clean with fresh lines. When uncertainty is real or pain relentless, when doubt stands on our shoulder or hope swells in anticipation, the Word of the Lord is certain and ready with every color needed for the scene.

No matter the design of the day, the minute, the season, we can trust that God’s Word is unchangeable. His promises sure.  And His commands eternal.

The design – every page in our life – is in his plan.  Let’s remember and today help dab, splash or full on paint some of His colors of love and sweetness into someone else’s picture.

Everybody’s got a story. Some of us have longer calendars with more stories.

Where were you when JFK was shot?  Where were you when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon?

Where did you watch Princess Diana get married?  Where did you get word of 9/11?

What hurricane or tornado or snowstorm did you experience?  What was your first phone?

Even if you aren’t old enough to have memories of some of these things, we are all still in the story of “the summer of 2020!”

Here’s one truth about 2020: while everything felt like jello being nailed to the wall, God did not, has not changed. His Story is eternal, powerful, and personal.

Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us there is a season for everything. Covid 19 is in there – a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing! There’s a time to grieve over attitudes and actions that cause injustice, heartache, and loss. There is a time to plant and harvest. There is a time to keep and a time to throw away. Right in the middle of chapter 3 is v 11 where we are reminded that God has made everything beautiful for its own time but even so people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work. (NLT)

Over and over God tells His people to remember the seasons.

Moses’ song in Deuteronomy 32 puts words to the wilderness season of God’s chosen people.

David in I Chronicles 16: 11-12 said Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given. (NLT)

Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1 proclaims joy and gratitude for God’s faithfulness in Israel’s journey and to a humble servant girl.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3 says God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort other.

Seasons. Are you good paying attention to the season you are in?  Do you recognize the season your family, friends, church, nation might be in?

What will we tell in our story of this unfinished corporate and personal season? Who or what will my words most represent? Will I be honest with the sadness, loss, grief of this season? Will certain unexplained peace and hope weave throughout? Will it be a story of becoming healthy or unhealthy in more ways than just physical? Will my story have a lot of personal pronouns or is God’s nearness, strength, faithfulness the main point?

When you look back, when this season is over, what will your story be to “where were you in the summer of 2020?”

The Story isn’t over.

May we live in the truth that the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us so we could know The Story.

“Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Twenty-two videos and counting! No, that’s not how many I’ve watched today. That’s how many I’ve made of Bible moments for our K-6 online school in the last six weeks. I’m so not techy. And trying to learn things remotely or on the screen has taxed my brain. There’s a new kind of exhaustion.

How about you? What have you been doing? What new thing have you learned? What has surprised you? What has exhausted you while you’ve been sheltering in place?

• You’ve been cleaning out closets you haven’t dared open.
• You’ve had time to make picture albums or at least the pictures are organized by years!
• You’ve tried a dozen new cookie recipes and haven’t had anyone to share them with.
• You’ve been teaching school even as your own children have needed you to help them with school. You are first responders and essential workers.
• All of you with children in school have certainly earned management degrees in this SIP season.
• Some of you grandparents have also been the teacher or cafeteria worker or screen audience for reading!
• Some of you have set up your office space while managing all the ‘office’ spaces in your home as well as the internet usage!
• Some of you – like me – don’t have children at home. That can either make us feel guilty because we don’t have to manage the crew or sad that we don’t have activity around us and leave us frustrated that we can’t help out that single mom or stressed parents we know.

If our walls could talk! What repeated words would they echo? What laughter would spill from them? What prayers have seeped in? Think of all the times God’s people were sheltered in place

• When all manner of critters, creeping things and people lived on a boat together.
• When freed slaves learned how to walk between Red Sea walls of water.
• When God’s Presence in the cloud or pillar of fire told them when to stay put and when to move out.
• When a scarlet ribbon sheltered a Gentile woman during the collapse of Jericho’s wall.
• When a trusting young widow was sheltered by a kind Kinsman Redeemer.
• A rebellious prophet was quite a catch in the belly of a large fish!
• When a praying prophet was sheltered in a lions’ den.
• When God was sheltered in a young woman’s womb.

Can you imagine the conversations that came from those – and many more -scenes? And so the Story goes. What story will you have to tell? What video can you record? What picture can you paint? What letter can you write. What will you tell about our Way Making God because of these days?