“A river reaches places where it’s source never sees.”
Oswald Chambers

As a fly fisherman by passion, having spent many days and hours on various rivers in the country, this quote particularly captured my attention recently. When I step into any river, I am keenly aware that its source is way upriver from places of which I am unaware. I also know that while the river has cut its main course long before I arrived, I do not, and cannot know the fullness of its reach. Often, a river will flow outside of its banks during a spring run off or a heavy rain, making a new course.

This, in turn, has caused me to consider my own involvement in the lives of those I am blessed to serve both now and over time. Each day, I am presented with a new set of circumstances from those whom I know well and/or don’t know at all. I ponder the headwaters of their lives knowing full well that I cannot know well fully. I am simply meeting them on the course of their life’s “river” and am allowed to gently place a few drops of water.

Some of their river courses have all but dried up, parched and desperate for a cool drink, or refilling, reminding me of one of my favorite books, A River Runs Through It where the character Norman Maclean says, “Even the anatomy of the river was laid bare. Not far downstream was a dry channel where the river has run one…” Perhaps you have those in your life whose river has run low, or even seemingly dried up completely. At Serve Wenatchee, we are blessed by those interactions every day.

In these interactions, we can meet them, not necessarily at the source, but simply where we find them today. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is known to have said, “you can never step into the same river twice”, meaning that life is continually changing. The water in each of our rivers is replaced constantly, bringing us new circumstances, challenges, and opportunities daily.  We do not and cannot know the effect of our interaction or the provision that we offer in that moment. I am increasingly convinced that our loving, compassionate response of a kind word, a needed resource, a bit of time, or a timely piece of advice are often, enough.

Through Serve Wenatchee, you have an opportunity to expand your reach as you volunteer your time and expertise or donate your resources of cash, food, furniture, or even a car. Each time you do, you are trusting that your contribution will have a meaningful impact though you cannot know for sure.

In this quote, we are drawn into the life of faith that we are called to live. This way takes our egos out of the way believing that our contribution, no matter how big or small, will have significance even though we likely will not know the reach the river will have downstream.

Mother Teresa once said, “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” I think that is true.

We are living in a world that is filled with a war of words. As a lifelong wordsmith of sorts, I am so grieved that words have and continue to wield such destructive power while at the same time, hold so much HOPE for redemption and reconciliation. I am not sure why I am surprised that the same mouth that sings words of praise for our Lord and Father in one moment, is cursing human beings who have been made in God’s likeness the next. (James 3:9-11)

This is certainly not a new phenomenon. Nor is it only true in the locality where you are reading this today. It is a much broader human condition that spans generations of time and will seemingly carry forward for generations to come reaching all points of the globe.

Our humanity is clothed in an automatic physiological reaction to things that are stressful or frightening to us. This reaction has been coined as fight or flight.

FIGHT

In our fight response, the most powerful force is the one that “wins”. Picture yourself standing face to face with someone who is opposing you. Now, put both of your hands up to touch theirs in a similar posture. Now, push! When one pushes, the natural tendency is to push back, right? The harder they push, the harder you push. And the pushing continues until one “wins”. This seems to be the same model in our war of words. Someone shouts and we shout back. They shout louder, we match or exceed not only their volume but their derogatory rhetoric.

FLIGHT

As a 9 on the enneagram, this is my personal favorite. 😊 This response is to ignore, run away, hide, avoid. Kind of like the ostrich burying its head in the sand as if to say, la, la, la, I am not listening to you!!! At least in direct contact. However, then we go to social media and berate on another because it feels more anonymous.

A THIRD WAY

Perhaps there is a third way where we embrace the stress and the fear AND embrace the human being, who is made in God’s image just like you, opening up our hearts to one another. To stop fighting with words. To stop running away to avoid the conflict. And instead, simply embrace and lovingly stay connected. When someone is pushing you, stop pushing and embrace them. When they are shouting at the top of their lungs in support of something that you vehemently oppose, stop trying to shout louder and embrace and listen. This WAY is captured so beautifully in what has been called the Prayer of St. Francis.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Someone has to be first to move beyond the words and live this third way. Why not us?

Centuries ago, a king who was fatigued by years of battle summoned the artisans of the kingdom. They were challenged to create a piece of art that would be placed in his inner chambers and offer him peace and HOPE as he gazed upon it. Such is the nature of art, I think. Like HOPE, it has the power to transform and take you places that are not currently being experienced.

The artisans, to comply with his wishes, brought ideas and samples before the king including calm grassy hillsides, fields of sunlit flowers, and calming portraits of animals like sheep and birds. The whole kingdom was surprised when the king chose a picture from one artisan that was of a raging tempest. Dark, rainy, wind-blown clouds and trees. The king’s advisors asked the king, “why would this offer him peace and HOPE” The king then pointed out something they had not seen. In the crotch of one of the tree limbs, there was a bird’s nest where a family of birds were finding shelter from the storm. The king replied, “Peace and HOPE are not most alive in the absence of conflict or difficulty. They are most alive in the midst of them.”

Upon contemplating this story, I am reminded of a poem that was shared with me by a dear friend not long ago about the nature of HOPE. I must say, with no disrespect to the author, Caitlin Seida, I have edited a couple of words to make it appropriate for this article.

Hope is not a thing with feathers
That comes home to roost
When you need it most.

HOPE is an ugly thing
With teeth and claws and
Patchy fur that has seen some “stuff”

It’s what thrives in the discards
And survives in the ugliest parts of our world,
Able to find a way to go on
When nothing else can even find a way in.

It’s the gritty, nasty little carrier of such diseases as
Optimism, persistence, perseverance, and joy,
Transmissible as it drags its tail across your path and
Bites you in the “butt”

HOPE is not some delicate, beautiful bird, Emily
It’s a lowly sewer rat.
That snorts pesticides like they were lines of coke and still
Shows up on time to work the next day
Looking no worse for wear.

I think this captures the HOPE that we see every day. It shines the brightest and survives in the darkest places and even seasons of life. In the midst of all the pain, confusion, uncertainty, and life that is out of control, HOPE endures, possessing the power of a reclaimed life.  

CS Lewis wrote in an essay in 1942, “'You can't get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first”.

So, what are first things and what are second? Great question. In an attempt to answer that question, I offer the following: First things are the goals that are given priority as the primary and ultimate aim in life. Second things are subordinate goals or aims - which are justified in terms of the extent to which they assist in pursuing First Things.

We all have “things” in our lives that become priorities at different times and seasons of life. When I was farming in North Dakota, one of my things was for the farm to be profitable year to year. I think that was a good “thin.” So, I pursued it actively. I prepared the ground for seed. Selected and planted good seed. Kept the weeds at bay so I could maximize yield while balancing the cost of doing so, because my first thing was for the operation to be profitable. I harvested my crop in a timely manner and tried to sell it at the highest price I could. All of this was driven by the first thing of making sure the farm operation was profitable. Which is a good thing right?

 Well, one year was devastating. We had an abundance of rain and even some hail that certainly cut into profits. A crop adjuster came to the farm to evaluate our losses, and while we had lots of rain that reduced quality and quantity, we had only a little bit of hail that would qualify for submitting a loss to the insurance company. Without going into too much detail, the crop adjuster made an error on his final calculation giving me a significant six figure increase in the insurance payout. He handed me the final settlement to sign, and I am convinced, with all the loss regionally, it would have been paid without question and my farm would have seen some profit that year.

However, I had to evaluate first things and second things at that point. If my first thing was truly making a profit, I would not have hesitated to receive those ill-gotten gains. However, when push came to shove, I had something else in first place. My own integrity was a higher priority than making a profit. I am not being boastful here as I have made so many mistakes putting second things first in my life. But this has continued to at least challenge me to consider what is really a first thing and hold it up to the light of evaluation.

CS Lewis continued this contemplation in a letter to Dom Bede Griffiths in 1951 saying, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first & we lose both first and second things.”

We are living in a time where I see a lot of us putting second things first. And it is causing us to be unkind, judgmental, suspicious, and even violent towards one another in our pursuit of it.

Jesus was once asked about first and second things. “What is the greatest commandment in the law?” His “first thing” response was profoundly simple. Love God and love people. Everything needs to flow from this first thing.

If CS Lewis is right, and we pursue second things as first, then they are already doomed, and perhaps so are we. If you don’t know what the first thing is, perhaps the pursuit of that needs to remain first.

Ya, I know, I just lost half my newsletter audience by simply reading the title. For those of you who remain however, let’s consider some things.

The Greek root word for politics is “politika”. In our current culture, the word carries a lot of emotion. However, like all things, it can be reduced to a very simple concept that does not necessarily have to lead to division, chaos, bigotry, and/or hatred.

It is a word that simply means “doing life together.” When you understand it at its core, it is really a beautiful word that expresses the communities in which many of us would aspire to live. I think we all have a vision of the side of politics that bothers us, even hate, but think of the positive side of us making collective decisions to “do life together.”

How many of you are glad we have a central distribution system for our sewage? Flush the toilet and away it does through a network of plumbing to a treatment facility. It was “politika” in first century Rome that first developed a community wide disposal system. Ya, I know, I just lost half of those who are still reading.

Politics has led us to the development of travel systems including city roads, highways, interstates, airports, trains, etc. Systems that safely and efficiently deliver food and other goods for consumption or use in our community. Leadership at the community, state, regional, and national level that helps to gather community member input and enact it into a law for the betterment of the whole. Please don’t believe me to be a “Pollyanna” here. I know of the potential and reality of ego driven corruption which is the risk of all political systems.

In many ways, Serve Wenatchee’s humble beginnings was a God directed political decision to find ways to do life together by supporting the most vulnerable in our community. We connect people and resources to restore HOPE for a better future. In August, I saw the beauty of politics in action at our Back-to-School event. Serve Wenatchee and CVCH came together to offer the opportunity for our community to serve your neighbors with donations of time and money. Because we came together, over 1000 children received backpacks with school supplies and a new set of clothes to start the year out right.

The problems we face are many and quite complicated and we may be too far down the road to redeem the word, Political in our culture. But not the concept. Let’s continue to find ways to simply “Do Life Together” by serving one another, with one another, for one another.

Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy

O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life
Amen

This prayer traditionally attributed to St. Francis of Assisi has been such an encouraging and challenging meditation prayer for me over the years. I am encouraged because it centers me in the fact that there is a source greater than myself.  God is the headwaters of peace, love, pardon, faith, hope, light and joy and I am only a conduit of those things. I am challenged because it brings to me a greater awareness of a world of injury, doubt, despair, darkness, and sadness. We certainly live in a world filled with each in varying measures.

It also breaks me out of my ego centered flesh and refocuses my attention off of myself and on those whom I am blessed to meet. My ego tells me I want to be consoled, understood, and loved first. But God turns it all around and reminds me of God’s pattern. We are forgiven as we forgive. We receive as we give. And we are raised to new and eternal life as we die.

As I survey the current cultural landscape around me, I am awakened more every day to the timely nature of this prayer. You don’t have to look too hard to find hatred, injury, doubt, despair, darkness and sadness. But is it really that hard to find love, pardon, faith, hope light and joy? Perhaps what we are looking for, is what we find. And perhaps even as we are crying out these words to our divine master, we actually discover that as we understand, love, give and pardon, WE are the answers to the prayer.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” Mother Teresa

Looking over our shoulder is good for learning lessons of the past. Looking ahead is good for motivating us to move forward in HOPE. But I would challenge us to consider the power of living in the moment.

Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Present-moment living, getting in touch with your now, is at the heart of effective living. When you think about it, there really is no other moment you can live. Now is all there is, and the future is just another present moment to live when it arrives”.

Our preoccupation with the past has the potential to hold us captive to it. In many ways, the past is irreparable because there is nothing we can do to undo it. We do have the capacity to remedy the consequences of it, but we can’t make it not happen.

We are now living in such a moment of time, as we begin to emerge from the COVID pandemic and look ahead with HOPE, that our journey toward being centered in true JOY demands being hyper focused in the moment.

Consider the following practices to help taken from the virtues for life website.

1.       Truly listen to what people are saying. A foundational human need is to be explored and discovered. Resist the urge to make snap judgements and draw conclusions. Offer the gift of actively listening without distraction.

2.       Become increasingly aware of your thoughts. This is not an easy one. It’s been estimated that we have as many as 70,000 thoughts a day. But if we consciously take notice of what we are thinking, even if it’s for a few moments a day, we can take charge of these thoughts and redirect them to be more positive. Philippians 4:8

3.       Breathe Consciously. When is the last time you took notice of the 22,000 breaths you take a day? Conscious breathing, noticing our breath, is paramount among all things that can help put us in the present. When we focus on our breath, we can slow it down, breathe deeper and more evenly.

4.       Focus on one task at a time – We are great at multi-tasking, but this is not always effective. Often though, for the sake of productivity, we comply. Did you know that neuroscience research is proving that multitasking is less productive that focused tasking?

5.       Do an act of kindness. When we are being kind with intention to make someone’s day or bring a smile to a person’s face, we are actively engaged in the moment. Our focus is on the task and attributing to another’s delight.

6.       Practice gratitude. Being grateful gives us a boost in overall joy. And Joy is not nearly as dependent upon circumstances as mere happiness. When we practice gratitude, we actively engage in our mind’s activity, which puts us in the present as well as brings about a deeper sense of contentment.

7.       Relish the day you have been given. Do you ever think about what a blessing it is to get another day? As I get older, I am tempted to look in the mirror, see the wrinkles and aging marks and focus my attention on simply….. getting older. But as I consider the alternative, I can truly find a grateful heart in the moment. 

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” Mother Teresa

You can help others in our community live with HOPE in this moment.

“I have a car I would like to donate to Serve Wenatchee.”  Recently, a thankful woman, with an amazing story got in touch to let us know that she would like to donate a vehicle, to bless someone. Through a series of events, and choices she made as a young adult, she found herself very much in need. She sought help at a local non-profit that showed her forgiveness, helped her slowly get back on her feet, and taught her how life can be different. “I felt like the director was someone who really had HOPE in me.”

Later, when she got her own place, she was referred to the Serve Wenatchee ReFind Ministry, where she was able to get furniture and other supplies to get her started on a new path. Currently, she is doing well, and wants to give back to the community, in ways that they gave to her. Through a family member, she is being blessed with a newer vehicle, so she decided to bless others, by donating her current working car.

What a wonderful community we get to be a part of. When we all do a little, we can accomplish a lot.

After many months of our furniture warehouse being closed due to Covid, we are so excited to share that our ReFind Ministry is officially back up and running. Due to prayer, diligent planning, and hard work multiple families were blessed on our re-opening day. 

The SWV ReFind Ministry is an extension of our continued mission to provide HOPE for households in our community. Through ReFind, people who need furniture, like mattress and box spring sets, dining room tables and chairs, sofas, recliners and housewares, can access them through Serve Wenatchee to provide for their families.

ReFind would not work without you as well. Your gifts and donations of furniture, linens, kitchenware, and other items are invaluable in our quest to provide for others in need. On our first day of being reopened, a lovely person donated a few pieces of furniture for our warehouse. Later that evening, those items where just what a family needed. What an amazing God we serve!

“Thank you for everything. My son was able to sleep on a bed because I was helped in huge way. God bless you!” -A Grateful Father

Please call 663-4673 for questions or to schedule a pick up. Thank you for your generosity. When we all do a little, we can accomplish a lot.