Author Archives: John Keller

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About John Keller

I am a retired Lutheran pastor whose intention is to consent to God's gracious presence and actions within.

Life of Pi

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Life o Pi

Yesterday I wrote about a visit to a church in the novel Still Alice.  That scene stands in sharp contrast to the church visit  described in Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the other novel I am reading.  Whereas Alice receives little spiritual comfort from her short visit , Piscine (Pi) takes a much more patient approach to his visit.  He is a young teenager, who is on a spiritual quest in his native India.  While his family is on vacation, he climbs a hill to a Christian church and walks around it, afraid at first to enter.  Behind the church he discovers the rectory and from a hiding place, he secretly observes the parish priest inside.   After a period of observation Pi states,

“I was filled with a sense of peace.  But more than the setting, what arrested me was my intuitive understanding that he was there -open, patient – in case someone, anyone, should want to talk with him; a problem of the soul, a heaviness of the heart, a darkness of the conscience, he would listen with love.  He as a man whose profession it was to love, and he would offer comfort and guidance as best he could.” p. 52

Pi eventually walks into the rectory and has several long conversations with the priest.   Those conversation may be worthy of other posts, but the main point today is how does one prepare such an open, receptive setting for those who come on spiritual quests?  Would those seeking even come to a church today?  How do we practice true hospitality?

Still Alice

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Still Alice

I recently finished the novel Still Alice by Lisa Genova.  Alice Howland is a respected fifty-year-old Harvard professor of psychology who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease.  Her memory loss throws her whole life and family into a tail-spin.  One scene in particular, after her diagnosis, stood out for me.

Alice is a runner and she finishes a run outside an Episcopal church.  Though raised a Roman Catholic, Alice has no active faith.  Yet she feels an impulse to enter the church with some vague hope for help.  Inside, she reads from a banner, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.”  She knows she has a great need for help, but “who is she to ask for help from a God she wasn’t sure she believed in?”   She hopes someone, a priest or parishioner, will come so that she might unload her burden.  No one comes. 

The scene haunts me because I believe so strongly that God is our refuge and strength.   There are no magic answers that will suddenly take Alice’s questions and fears away.  But there is the loving, powerful presence of God that carries people in the midst of their struggles.   I realize Still Alice is a novel, well written and thought-provoking.  I just pray that when someone with such questions or doubts walks into Resurrection Lutheran Church, there is someone who can bear loving witness to God’s compassion and care.

In what ways does your reading current fiction shape your faith?

Christmas Journeys

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The Journey to Bethlehem

The Christmas story is filled with journeys:  Mary’s and Joseph’s trek to Bethlehem, the magi’s visit to the child, the holy family’s escape from King Herod into Egypt.   Even the shepherds had a night hike from the fields to the stable in order to see the baby.    Perhaps we all need to do a little traveling to discover Jesus.

This week my two daughters are traveling home.  Christina flew in Saturday after her first semester at college.  Suzanne will arrive tomorrow from her new home in Bloomington, IN.   I will be glad to have them under our roof for a time; it will certainly add to the Christmas joy.  Yet I know it is temporary; their life-paths are taking them on new adventures that may or may not be in close proximity to Carolyn’s and mine.  I guess that is part of trusting Jesus to guide the way.

I am also remembering one snowy December evening when I was flying home to Washington state for Christmas.   I had been gone a whole year, having worked the summer near my college in Philadelphia.  I had to change planes here in the Twin Cities and a snow storm had shut down the airport.  I was sitting in the terminal, waiting for my Seattle flight, feeling homesick and very much alone.  I wondered if I would ever get home as the snow piled up outside.  As the night got deeper and longer, I thought about Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem.  How lonely they must have felt, yet God was right there with them.  It slowly dawned on me that God was with me that night as well.  Emmanuel, God with us, is the intimate message of Christmas.   Little did I know at the time, that I would invest more than thirty years in the Twin Cities, discovering God’s presence and power among its residents. 

In what ways have Christmas’ journeys impacted your life?

Joseph’s Prayer

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Almighty God, your servant Joseph faithfully followed your command to take Mary as his wife, in spite of her scandalous pregnancy.  Grant us the courage and conviction to follow you in all circumstances and opportunities.  Let us not bow to cultural pressures, but seek you above everything else.  The gift of your son, Jesus, is sufficient for all our needs and desires.   In your holy name we pray.  Amen.

Recommended Blog

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Seth Godin's blog

I am looking for good blogs to read.  If you have one that you have appreciated, please pass it along.  The one blog I do follow is by Seth Godin.  Here is a sample of his blog:

What are you working on?

If someone asks you that, are you excited to tell them the answer?

I hope so. If not, you’re wasting away.

No matter what your job is, no matter where you work, there’s a way to create a project (on your own, on weekends if necessary), where the excitement is palpable, where something that might make a difference is right around the corner.

Hurry, go do that.

Seth is one reason I started this blog for Resurrection.   You can subscribe to his blog at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/

Heroes

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Joyful Preacher

Last Labor day I flew down to Arkansas to load a U-Haul truck with furniture and files from my father-in-law’s home.  James McCrary died a few years ago and it had taken time to sift through all his things.  Several of the files I brought back contained his sermons from nearly forty years of preaching.  My wife has now been reading through her father’s sermons, discovering some real gems worth keeping and sharing them with me.

The Rev. James P.  McCrary remains one of my heroes.

He was a great father-in-law as well as a dedicated Presbyterian minister who loved to tell old, corny jokes.  He had the gentlest of spirits and loved to converse with anyone.  Though he never ran a race, he appreciated my desire to run marathons and encouraged me whenever he had the chance.  I remember one Thanksgiving when he was visiting us and he insisted on helping me rake the leaves in my backyard.   He said that he wanted to work up a good appetite for the meal and what better way than to rake.

Also he gave me the greatest advice that any father-in-law could give prior to the wedding.  He told my wife and me, “you can walk down the aisle on your wedding day, fall flat on your face and still pick yourself up and have a great marriage.”   Fortunately, I didn’t fall on my wedding day and neither did my wife, since Jim walked her down the aisle, then turned around and preformed the wedding.

He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 73, and though he lived for ten years with the disease, he continued to have a gentle, loving spirit.  I can’t help but think that Jesus greeted him, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Do you have heroes who have shaped you?

Dream Bridge Ahead

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Dreams and Bridges

I better be careful what I ask for.  Yesterday during our staff meeting we read Matthew 1:18-25, where Joseph is instructed by an angel in a dream to take the pregnant Mary as his wife.   I commented that in our culture, dreams are rarely considered as means by which God speaks to us.  So what did I experience last night?  I awaken from a vivid dream, wondering what it means. 

After last night’s stewardship meeting in which we discussed the progress of our “Crossing the Bridge” emphasis, I dreamed that I was crossing a large bridge in my car.  It resembled the large interstate bridge that cross the Mississippi River near Rock Island, IL.   I crossed it often in recent years, taking my daughter to college in Galesburg, IL.   In my dream as I crossed the bridge, it dipped below the water line, but strong glass barriers kept the water off the road way.  A bear and a wolf were crossing the bridge as well.  As I neared the far west side of the bridge, I noticed that vehicles were turning around and heading back.  I slowed as I neared the end.

A young teenager signaled for me to stop.  He told me that the road ahead was blocked and that I would need to wait or turn back.  I decided to wait.  I got out of my car, which then became my bicycle.  I leaned it against the wall and went to explore on foot.  As I walked up the road straight ahead, I could see it was blocked by a grand piano, lying on its side.  I looked for other routes.  There was a small path to the left, but it seemed to small for my car (or bike?).  However, there was also a major road to the right and that seemed to be the way to go, but a crowd blocking the exit from the bridge had not yet moved out of the way.

Needless to say, I have been playing/wrestling with this dream all morning.  Various interpretations leap into my mind.  Certainly part of it is my desire to push ahead quickly with the mission and ministry of Resurrection.  I don’t want anything to block our way!  Yet I discern the need to be patient, to explore the road ahead.  The obvious way may be blocked for the moment, but a new way will be found.  Psalm 16:11 You show me the path of life.

Has a dream ever played a role in your journey with God? 

Or do you have a different interpretation of my dream?

Entering the Story

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Children's Christmas Program

Sunday afternoon was Resurrection Children’s Christmas program.  In spite of the snow and cold, families made the trek to our “Bethlehem Marketplace” and then participated in the retelling of the Christmas story.  Children were dressed as angels, shepherds, stars, sheep, wise men as well as Mary and Joseph.  The stable of Bethlehem was filled with life.

Families have been attending Christmas programs for generations. I remember being a wiseman as a child (some might joke that it was my one-time experience); I hope someday to see my future grandchildren being shepherds or sheep. Christmas programs allow all of us to enter into the story of Christ’s birth and to experience the wonder and surprise within it.   Too often we treat the stories of the Bible as abstract history lessons that are dusty and dull.   To act out the story helps it come alive and fresh, filled with truth, hope and love.

 Haddon Robinson, a noted evangelical preacher, did many of his sermons as a first person narrative.  He said recently, “You can take that story from the point of view of one of the characters and tell it. You don’t have to be a great actor. It’s amazing how interesting it is for people to hear somebody who as a character relives that story. In our day it can make a great impact.” http://www.preaching.com/resources/articles/11565763/page-4/

This Christmas eve I will be retelling the Christmas story in a first person narrative.  It will be my first at Resurrection, but I rejoice that the children have prepared the way.

Shoveling Snow and Trust

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Like many Minnesotans, I have spent time shoveling snow the past three days.  Saturday’s blizzard left some deep drifts in front of my garage door that only a shovel could reach.  I was out twice Saturday during the storm and early Sunday morning to be sure that I could make it to Resurrection on time.  Each time I started to shovel, I thought, “This will take forever, my tiny shovel against all this snow!’  Yet each time, with perseverance and patience, I made my way down the driveway to the street.

The spiritual analogy for me is that following Jesus can seem like a daunting, overwhelming task, like shoveling snow in a blizzard.  We often think our faith needs to come from some dramatic change that radically transforms our life in a moment.  And there certainly can be dramatic moments when Jesus comes suddenly alive.  We read about such moments in the Bible; Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is an example (Acts 9).

But that is only a portion of our faith.  Jesus compares our faith to a tiny mustard seed that slowly, steadily becomes a great tree (Luke 13).  Or the book of Hebrews describes trust as a runner who perseveres in day after day training in order to win the race (Hebrew 12).  Like shoveling out a driveway, each prayer, Bible study, journal reflection, spiritual discipline helps clear the path of trust in God.  Such work builds patience, a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It also keeps us mindful of God’s ever-present grace and love that surround us.

Of course, I rejoice that I did not need to shovel all the way to Resurrection Lutheran.  There are limits to any analogy!

Sunday Prayer Dec 12 2010

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Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, the brilliant sunrise this morning bears witness to the wonder and glory of your power.  Grant us the heart, mind and soul to praise your name and bear witness to your steadfast love.  As people dig out from yesterday’s snowfall, we remember those who have no home.  We pray for all who work in emergency shelters and for those who provide services to the homeless.   Grant them wisdom, compassion and perseverance as they seek to help.  We also thank you this day for all the men and women who clear our streets and roads and make it possible for us to travel.   We ask in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.