Carpe Diem

I really should read the "Book of Confessions" more often.
Now you're probably thinking one of three things: 1) What is the Book of Confessions? 2) Umm...you're a pastor. Why aren't you reading the BOC more often? or 3) Oh no. Here comes a polity lesson.

So let me answer all of these questions: 1) The Book of Confessions is not a book by a bunch of people who wanted to record a list of all the things they've done wrong. It's the first part of the consitution of the PC (USA) and the confessions are a series of creeds, confessions, statements, and catechisms all written at different times and places in the world and they contain the foundations of our faith. They are confessing what we believe as Christians united in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2) I'm not reading it more often because like most people, I'm busy and even though I'm reading a bunch of other stuff, I'm not always reading about polity.

3) I'm not giving you a polity lesson, so stop worrying!

This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday. In preparation for my sermon, I picked up my Book of Confessions for inspiriation about how to approach Trinity Sunday. It's not the biggest day on our liturgical calendar by any means. It's a big deal, but we don't often make it a big deal in worship (some probably do, but I've never experienced it as a big deal in church). I don't want to just try and look at the Trinity like it's some mathematical equation that we as Christians have to solve. I turned to the Confession of 1967 and read this in the preface: "The purpose of the Confession of 1967 is to call the church to that unity in confession and mission which is required of disciples today. This Confession is not a 'system of doctrine,' nor does it include all the traditional topics of theology. For example, the Trinity and the Person of Christ are not defined, but are recognized and reaffired as forming the basis and determining the structure of the Christian faith." (emphasis mine). I think that's an important observation that the confession doesn't attempt to "explain" the Trinity, but it affirms it as part of the foundation of our faith. That was the first thing I thought, "wow, that's something good to keep in mind as I prepare my sermon."

Then, as I was reading through the confession, I read this: "Life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage."

And there I stopped because I found that statement incredibly profound. Life is a GIFT to be received with gratitude and a TASK to be pursued with courage. How often do we find ourselves in that place where we wish we had someone else's life? We want to be that person who won the lottery. We want to be that person who was able to use "petty cash" to give their kitchen and bathroom an AWESOME makeover. We want to be the mother that is the envy of other mothers, the hostess with the mostest, and the teachers and preachers that other people in our field aspire to be like. You know you do this. I know that I do this.  Maybe not all the time, but occassionally, we all do this. Sometimes it seems like human beings just weren't created with the wherewithall to be comfortable with who we are.

Looking at life as a gift is something I think most of us were tought from a young age. If you've ever seen the movie "Dead Poet's Society" with Robin Williams and a host of other awesome characters, you remember the big emphasis in that movie of the line, "Carpe Diem" : Seize the Day. I've heard over and over to look at life like a gift. I've never thought of life as a task to be pursued with courage.

Sometimes it feels like we are constantly trying to figure out who we are and what our role in the world happens to be. It takes a conscious effort to cultivate that spirit of thanksgiving that brings us to a place where we can say with confidence that we are children of God, each created with individual care and love by our Almighty Creator. In a world that teaches us to always be better, it's frightening to think that we can ever be truly happy with who we are.

But that's what this confession says to me. Maybe not so much, "Be happy with who you are" and not even so much "only do the things you love" because let's face it: sometimes we have to do things we hate. But if we look at the things we do as a part of the gift of life that God gives us, how does that change how we perceive our to-do lists? How do we actively pursue life as a task of courage?

I encourage you to think about how in your own life you perceive life as a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage. In thinking about your every day tasks, what kind of courage does it take to say "I'm doing this not because I'm necessarily thrilled to be doing it, but I'm doing this because this is where God is calling me to be right now"? And how often are you doing the things that you love simply because you love to do them?

God made you and God loves you. God took special care to put your life together piece by piece and even when life is tough, God took special care to make sure that He is with you every step of the way. May you find ways to see life as a gift and may you receive it with gratitude. May you also see life as as a task to be pursued with courage and may you feel God with you giving you that courage to Carpe Diem: seize the day.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Becki

ps: back to the BOC...