chaotic season (or more pointedly, kerry's spilling lots of words on the internet because people keep bugging him to)

for the second year in a row, i will be missing the beautiful fall colors of the north woods. there is much to love about mississippi, and more specifically now pearlington, but nothing can compare to the blaze of color that sets the trees on fire in the crisp fall air. after so many years of training, it seems that i cannot forsake my minnesotan roots and come to be grateful for the "seasons" as they are manifested down here.

in the northland, we have four distinct seasons. nobody ever seems to have a problem distinguishing between winter, summer, fall and spring. mississippi, on the other hand, seems to have only two: hot and not hot. here on the coast, there is no blaze of color to take your breath away on cold mornings. although lauren and i have been truly loved by one of our vols who bought us some fake fall leaves :).

there is something deeply rhythmic and deeply comforting about seasons for me. the ebbs and flows as time moves along are marked by some form of consistancy and expectedness is hinged upon concrete markers of the revisiting of the old: first snow fall, first day of shorts, first frost, first day at the lake, etc. maybe it has to do with the more i come to know myself, the less constant and reliable and faithful i seem to be...

ironically, part of what has made this fall such a struggle is that my life has been in a season of chaos. chaos is not rhythmic, chaos does not evoke memories of the past or projections of future hope. chaos dismantles and disintegrates the norm, refuses to repeat and reitterate what we hold dear.

yet i take heart in the story of jehovah (the god who is with us). for it was jehovah who spoke into the chaos in the creation account. it was jehovah who reunited israel following the chaos of captivity. it was jehovah who entered into the chaos of judiasm under roman rule. jehovah who faithfully stepped into the chaos of the early church (and some might say continues to get in the way today!). jehovah who continues to step into the chaos of the mississippi gulf coast...

i really had no idea where any of this was going when i began writing this, but as i pause and digest the words and thoughts swishing around, it appears that i have forgotten something. there seems to be a pretty distinct pattern here in the course of human life: humans live life - chaos ensues - jehovah steps in.

so in the midst of missing my seasons and lamenting what has felt like one giant season of chaos, i come face to face with the reality that there is a bigger season in the mix here. for we are in the season of jehovah. the god who entered into human history continues to speak, touch and enter into the chaos filling our lives today. at the risk of sounding trite: maybe it's time to look at this less and less as a season marked by chaos and more and more as a season marked by comfort...

luke day

On October 18 the Church traditionally celebrates the Evangelist Luke:
Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

mystery yields expectation...