Archive for ‘Faith’

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December 7, 2023

In search of a “more authentic” Christmas? I’m happy to help…..

by Rod Smith

Are you longing for a more “authentic” Christmas?

You say you want to return to its real meaning, identify with Jesus more than you see done in the surrounding culture.

I have a few suggestions to facilitate your desire.

Please understand this is not easy. Most of whom we know do not live in a territory occupied by a foreign power whose despot representative despises locals and is especially violent toward infant boys after getting wind that one will be born who will be greater than he.

In your journey to be in touch with the birth of the Christ-child, I’d suggest you start by walking to Chicago, Cleveland or Cincinnati from wherever you live in the midwest. Take a donkey, or ride a camel, to St Louis. Wherever you choose to go, plan to arrive by Christmas Eve. Have at least one very pregnant teenager (a non-relative) of about 14 or 15 years old in your party.

The ride, the discomfort, the lack of certainty about accommodations, and the welfare of mother and soon-to-be baby along the way will enhance your appreciation of the season and sharpen your perceptions of how ridiculously off-target are our current traditions with sterile stables, plastic donkeys, unbounded shopping, people trampling over, killing each other, to buy a cheap TV in a world hung with mistletoe.

Take no money. Be prepared to be turned away by family and motel managers alike. You are accompanied by a pregnant, delusional teen who, apart from being no one’s wife, claims “innocence” regarding the pregnancy. Her claim that an angel said she’d conceive a child by God more than alienates your party from usual societal pleasantries, and you end up with a makeshift accommodation between two dumpsters at the rear of a very cheap motel.

On the journey, chat here and there about the political leader who slaughters all the boys in the Midwest. He has spurts of uncontrolled lustful power and an inordinate degree of submission from the troops who carry out his wishes. Remind yourself that for weeks, months and years to come, parents will mourn over the slaughter of their infant boys.

You get to successfully hide your infant from the brutal eye of the murderous leader, but this is little consolation, for although you are very grateful that the baby will not be murdered as an infant, you can hardly dispel the knowledge that he will, nonetheless, be ruthlessly murdered as an adult.

As you choose a parking lot behind a rundown motel in South Bend or Toledo, reflect on the oddness of the child’s conception and the rumor you hear that he will “save” people from their sins. This thought both encourages and disturbs you. You literally fall to the ground and worship a God who has given such a privilege while remaining aware of how those who seek no salvation usually treat self-proclaimed saviors.

The cattle are lowing, yes, but have you ever spent the night with an ox? Have you noticed how much distance you keep from the animals at the state fair? There’s a good reason you do. Somehow the lowly manger has become a sanitized, cozy corner. Live in a dumpster, add a few stray farm animals and let a few wild goats, dogs and rats enter regularly from stage left and stage right, and you are more likely to create something of the environment of the first Christmas.

Let there be no gifts, no tree, no glitter. Christmas earmarks the beginning of the second phase of a remarkably courageous journey of love, adventure and commitment on behalf of a determined God.

The gift is within the risk.

The value is within the danger.

The generosity is within the sheer lunacy that God constantly loves a recalcitrant humanity.

The UPS truck arriving at your door with a gift from Aunt Joan in Ohio does nothing to reflect the spirit of generosity that was evident with the coming of the Christ-child unless Aunt Joan has given everything she ever owned or valued, and, at the cost of her life, packed it off to you for Christmas.

——————
I paid a quick visit to a private school recently and was deeply moved by the commitment to quality education. The “building” has been declared unsafe and the administration is attempting to replace it……. If you’re interested in assisting let me know. Contact me privately. The student body is about 200 students from K to 5th or so……

Committed academics

Posted in Education, Faith | 1 Comment »

December 1, 2023

Christmas meditation to get you into the festive mood…..

by Rod Smith

I post this at the beginning of every December so it may “ring a bell” —- no pun intended:

Adult Jesus Ruins My Christmas Shopping

Christmas shopping would be so much easier if Jesus would just remain a baby.

Every time I venture out to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child and try to purchase a gift for someone I love I am stumped.

What do I buy that will somehow declare the birth of the Son of God?

I don’t have the where-with-all for a gift that marks the birth of a King.

Besides, every time I begin to shop in honor of Baby Jesus, I get images of Him being whipped unmercifully and then nailed upon a cross.

Blood spurts derail my shopping. I resist the thoughts but they will not go away.

Before I can do much looking around the malls Jesus jumps out of the crib. He’s fully adult, almost running, sometimes dancing, celebrating on the streets and I can hardly keep up. He’s healing people left, right, and center. He’s getting into all kinds of trouble.

I am lost. I am out of control. No, he’s out of control.

He goes to the wrong places. He loves the seedy parts of town. He goes where I have never been before. He mixes with the rejected. He storms City Hall and insults merciless leaders. He is outspoken, scathing to those who are unfair in their business practices. He doesn’t care about rank, stature, or wealth but detests double standards, addresses them at every encounter.

I want to grab him, shove him back in the crib where he was safe, where we were all safer.

When I thought he would stop in at a church or two – perhaps a cathedral built in his honor – he’s off in a smoky bar with washed out losers. He’s talking politics like I have never heard. He’s hot on fairness, justice, mercy, truth. I tell him not to mix politics and religion and blush with the absurdity of it all.

If he would just stay in one place like a baby should is all I can think.

It’s not long before I am in a jostle with the crowds. It’s not the kind of popularity I was expecting.

Prostitutes love him. Drunks defend him. The poorest of the poor, the marginalized, the rejected, are out in their masses. He dances in the streets with street children and people he has just met. Young men and women, piercings and tattoos all over their bodies, circle him celebrate like long lost friends. Then, ignoring ordinances, he feeds the applauding masses.

Now what do I buy?

Clearly, anything I spend, if I am really out to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, has to be grand. Yet modest. His birth was modest: a shed, a feeding trough. Secrecy. Shame. Danger. Poverty dictated the details for this dramatic night. I cannot spend much. Yet, it was the greatest night Earth had ever seen. Angels sighed! The order of everything disturbed by Love’s intervention.

I tell him he’s ruining things, that he is too quick to befriend the wrong people, but his mind is elsewhere. I beg him to befriend religious leaders, a pastor or two, but he will not listen.

Then, they are up in arms against him.

All but a few want him gone. He’s a hindrance to tourism. He’s a threat to peace and he’s being accused of not attending church!

Next, he looks crucifixion in the eye.

If only he would remain a baby.

It is so much easier to shop for a baby.

(Published first in The Indianapolis Star some years ago)
…………..
Yesterday’s brief outing to a beautiful market:

Posted in Communication, Education, Faith, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace | 1 Comment »

November 30, 2023

How to know you are “spiritually gifted”….

by Rod Smith

You have escaped the world of all-or-nothing behaving. You don’t throw in the towel because you failed. You try again. You seek in all your trying to do no harm, not to yourself or others.

You have escaped the world of black-and-white thinking and cast off your cloak of knowing it all. You know that people who give the impression of knowing it all, really don’t. Sometimes you engage them simply for the (harmless, of course) fun it provides.

You have embraced ambiguity. You understand that the world won’t crumble and the church won’t tumble and your family may indeed breathe a sigh of relief because you are able to admit there are a few things about which you are unsure.

You embrace your frailties, failures and feebleness with deep regret and sadness (sometimes) and humor (sometimes). You are aware that your constant striving, trying to prove whatever, trying to be right, distorts your beauty. You accept that you are a person, not a prized racehorse. 

You desire to be more loving than you have ever been even if you are not quite theologically accurate or sound (who is?). You know that “accurate” theology has killed millions. You want your attempts at sound theology to at least lead you to greater love.

Last evening’s basketball playoff in the world’s really largest field house.

Posted in Education, Faith, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace | 2 Comments »

November 16, 2023

Thanksgiving is just around the corner….

by Rod Smith

Next week, aiming particularity for Thursday, millions of people in the United States will travel “home” to a family meal called Thanksgiving. It’s almost a given that, after turkey and mashed potatoes and all the “fixings” and before the football (American “Football” of course) on TV people will go around the table and express their gratitude for everything from the nation as a whole to grandma for fixing her trademark green beans. 

I confess, it is no easy holiday for an immigrant given that it’s my sons and me and no extended family, but we have grown accustomed to it and are always included in Nolan Smith’s (former Beachwood and Durban North person) family for Thanksgiving. 

I have my list ready to go:

I am grateful for my sons and the men they have become. They are honest and very hard working. They know how to conduct themselves in all contexts and I am often moved to tears when others tell me about some of the things they know about my sons.

I am grateful to my readers around the world. I never imagined that The Mercury would become the international platform that it has become for me. 

I am grateful for my extended family around the world who do such an amazing job of keeping in touch. Not a week goes by without a vibrant back and forth involving several continents. 

I am grateful for the speaking opportunities afforded me. It’s a demonstration of Beauty for Ashes and Grace-upon-Grace if ever I knew one.

I am grateful to be an American and to have dual citizenship with South Africa. Really, a man can love two nations. I know it is possible because I do.

My all-time favorite tie

Posted in Boundaries, Children, Communication, Education, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace, Grief | 2 Comments »

November 13, 2023

Hand holding

by Rod Smith

There is no need to twist God’s Arm in ardent prayer seeking God’s Presence. 

Hold God’s Hand, instead.

It’s nearer than you may think. 

Right there, there’s God’s Hand. 

See it? 

It’s at the end of the arm of the woman begging at the traffic light. You and I and thousands of others drive off trying hard not to see her and when we do, many of us blame her for her addiction and say things like – in our heads of course – I am not paying for her next pack of cigarettes and I bet she has a cell phone.

Did you see God wave at the traffic light? 

God’s Hand is the hand of the unshaved man holding the begging cup and grasping his homeless sign.

You and I and thousands of others drive off remembering just how hard we work for our money and think – to ourselves of course – why can’t he work hard for his money and then you and I remembered how we pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps and why can’t he.

Then – to ourselves of course – we blamed the government.

What are they doing about this begging problem?

When we hold the hand of the lonely, the poor, the disenfranchised, the frightened, we are holding God’s Hand.

God’s Hand is near.

Posted in Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Grief, Leadership, Listening | 2 Comments »

November 12, 2023

Have you been a caregiver?

by Rod Smith

If you have been a caregiver to your spouse, a parent, friend, for any length of time and now that person has died, you may expect:

  • To feel that part of you is lost or gone because it is. Caring requires love and deep unique bonding — quite different from the bonding you already had prior to the season of caregiving. In the separation, in your own way, you are wounded. You are not damaged, you are wounded. Know the difference.
  • To feel you are rattling in a cage of caring habits and not quite sure of what to do or where to be. You feel pulled between responsibilities that no longer exist and feel irresponsible for not being present where you once were. In short, you don’t know where to be or what to do.
  • To experience some guilt about the way things turned out, developed or did not develop. You flood with questions: was there more you could have done to ease pain, prolong life, usher healing? Was something crucial missed, forgotten?
  • To feel guilty – at least momentarily – if you have fun.

Take heart. Like a child, who, arms outstretched, turns and turns until dizzy, falls to the ground, then rises to walk and appears to have had too much to drink, in the act of walking, balance and order gradually returns.

You will reorient after your double loss: a loved one and an integral role and find your feet.

Finding peace in “our” forest.

Posted in Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Grace, Grief | 1 Comment »

October 31, 2023

Remembered?

by Rod Smith

How will we (you and I)……?

When it is all said and done very few, if anyone, will know about my deepest regrets.

Will they know yours? Will it matter if they do or not? What have you done with yours? 

My regrets run deep, run long. 

Some have taken me a lifetime of attempts at repair, some with a degree of success, others with no indications of any success.

It has not been without trying.  

I have looked at myself in the mirror on hundreds, if not thousands of occasions, taken stock, took responsibility for the ways in which I hurt others. 

I have given much time to assess the seasons of my life when indifference was a way of life, seasons when it looked to others as if I was winning, achieving, succeeding, when I alone knew full well I was not.

If I am remembered at all – think of all the people who really are forgotten despite significant achievements – I hope it is for being a man of hope.

Perhaps closest to my heart is the hope that my sons will continue to be the fine men they are today: trustworthy, kind, and respectful; men who give up their seats for their elders, men who look people in the eye when they engage, men who listen more than they speak. 

How will you be remembered?

What is closest to your heart? 

Let me know.

One of my favorite cartoons!

Posted in Communication, Differentiation, Education, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace | 1 Comment »

October 23, 2023

Ever felt like this before?

by Rod Smith

You are pushing me. 

I feel it. 

When I tell you you are going to tell me it is out of love or concern. 

There are better ways to love me than emotional arm-wrestling. 

You want me to respond to my circumstances as you may respond to pressures you are facing. 

I am not you. 

You are not me. 

We are not the same. 

We each have our own way of handling matters, from matters insignificant to matters of deep consequence. 

This is not a rejection of you or of your love or an insult. It is a tribute to both of us.  

I have no problem with you being unlike me. 

Could you afford me the same freedom and privilege?

Very different life experiences shaped us each and delivered us to our unique challenges. It is only to be expected that our responses will be quite different. 

Even what we perceive as threats are not the same. What seems to be a threat to you lands on me as a challenge. It works the other way around, too.

Let’s agree to love each other so powerfully, that we learn the fine art of leaving each other alone so our friendship may truly flourish.

I am here for you.

We can discuss anything you want and I will do it without exerting any pressure whatsoever. 

Promise.    

Please, return the favor.

Painting in a museum in Vina Del Mar— Chile

Posted in Boundaries, Communication, Differentiation, Domination, Faith, Family, Family Systems Theory, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace, High maintenance relationships, Leadership | 2 Comments »

October 22, 2023

About Mental Health — maybe yours……

by Rod Smith

No one feels healthy, and on top of the world, all the time.

Emotional ebbs and flows are normal.

Good days and bad days come with being human.  

Give yourself a break. 

If you are “down” for days, if you are unwilling to get out of bed, unwilling to engage in the regular and “normal” joys and tasks common to all people: like eating, bathing or showering, wearing clean clothing, getting ready for the day, the routines required of the general population, it may be time to seek help. 

If you are overly tired and unmotivated, despite having had a good deal of sleep and find it tough to identify any joyfulness in any of your surroundings or activities or relationships, it may be time to seek help. If you sometimes feel plagued by dark thoughts, scary ideas you can’t seem to shed or shake – speak up to someone who can assist you to find help.

Emotional ebbs and flows are common but when the ebbs significantly outnumber the flows, it’s probably time to let someone know you are bordering on desperate or are already desperate. 

While you think and feel you’re trapped in an emotional or relational cul-de-sac of desperation, you probably don’t have to remain there.

Reach out.

There are people willing, qualified, waiting to listen.

An afternoon walk in Vina del Mar, Chile

Posted in Addictions, Anger, Betrayal, Boundaries, Communication, Differentiation, Divorce, Education, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Friendship, Grace | Leave a Comment »

September 17, 2023

Maturity — the emotional kind

by Rod Smith

Emotional maturity is not age-determined.

I have seen it in 13-year-olds and missing in adults.

The member of the family who is empowered to grow and foster healthy change within a struggling family (or church or business or not-for-profit) will demonstrate some (not necessarily all) of these abilities.

There are popular tests to measure this quotient.

Here are the abilities I look for when dealing with families or groups in conflict.

  • The capacity to switch lenses, to see the world, at least for a time, from another’s point of view. 
  • The capacity to report what is heard, to be able to accurately report what is said even if the content are points of contention or disagreement.
  • The capacity for objectivity, to be able to remove oneself and one’s interests, at least temporarily, in order to gain a bird’s eye view of what’s going on.
  • The capacity to see the differences among “I” and “you” and “us” and be able to differentiate each person from his or her individual role and as a member of a group and therefore resist the natural urge to plunge into a boundary-less cloud of togetherness where individuality is threatened or lost.
  • The capacity for playfulness and for healthy humor under almost all circumstances as even the most intense of circumstances are usually laced somewhere with elements of irony and humor.
  • The capacity for kindness, even while under threat or attack (I know, I know, this is a tough one).
Our Forest….. a short walk from our home.
Grace-upon-grace is ours.

Posted in Blended families, Boundaries, Children, Communication, Differentiation, Difficult Relationships, Education, Faith, Family, Family Systems Theory | 1 Comment »

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