ePaper Login  |  Tour  |  Sample  |  Help  |  Subscribe        Day Pass BYOC: Build Your Own Classified

AmericanPress.com

  Ads from the print edition: Today's New Ads | All of Today's Ads
  Local Restaurant Guide: Bon Appetit | SW La. Moms
  Buy Photos: Get prints by our photographers | Fuel: Local prices

SWLA Rec Sports

• Start Home Delivery
• Contact Us
• Advertise

FragranceNet.com

NAKED FAITH

Former American Press staff writer Sunny Brown Farley writes "Naked Faith," a look at faith in its natural form: lived out in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people.

 Meet the Blogger

One Night without a Home

Posted November 18, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | Leave a Comment

Last night, I was homeless.

So were about 150 others and we all spent a long, cold night in our city park to gain a better understanding of what it is like to live without a home.

The event was called “One Night without a Home” and it started at our local Salvation Army homeless shelter.

We registered and were directed to the shelter’s cafeteria, where we waited in line for food. One of the ladies serving dinner instructed the men in the room to remove their hats.

We were each given a plastic tray with a square of lasagna, some green beans and three wafer cookies. We drank ice water from small plastic cups.

The lasagna was clearly of the frozen variety and the beans were from a can – nothing special, but we were encouraged to eat every last bite. To do otherwise would have been a tremendous offense to those who were staying at the shelter, we were told. After all, this is their very sustenance.

After dinner, we marched with our sleeping bags a mile-an-a-half to the park. There, we listened to music and testimonies by a man and a woman who survived being homeless.

The man described how he was reduced to homelessness by Hurricane Rita.

He said he never imagined he would be homeless, but the storm took away all he had. He ended up in the Salvation Army in Tyler, Texas, looking for hope. All he wanted was opportunity and hope.

Now, back on his feet, he instructed the participants in the homeless awareness event not to make false assumptions about everyone who is homeless.

The director of an agency aimed at assisting the homeless here in East Texas said about half of the homeless in our area are women and children. Many live in their cars – too proud to seek help from local agencies. Half of the homeless here are also employed, she said.

After the program, we all unrolled our sleeping bags and settled in for hours of shivering sleeplessness.

I slept near a tree with friends – two college students and a fellow clergyperson.

We searched for constellations, played a game where we tried to come up with song titles and talked about profound personal God-moments.

There was really no comfortable position on the cold ground and I am not really sure that any of us slept.

I rolled from side to side. I alternately covered my head so I would be warm, then uncovered it so I could breathe. There were cars passing, people talking and dogs barking. I was disturbed by the sound of leaves crunching. I wondered who was walking around and why.

Mostly, though, I was freezing cold.

Temperatures dipped into the low forties or upper thirties. As a camper, I thought this would be no big deal, but then I am used to being inside a tent.

Not even my mummy sleeping bag, long johns, fleece shirt, gloves and hat could fend off the bitter cold.

Every time I thought about my suffering, I prayed for those who face the cold because they have no other option.

It was a very long night.

Finally, someone announced it was morning. It was still dark outside, but the Salvation Army’s mobile canteen (something that looked like a gutted-ambulance-turned-kitchen) had arrived with coffee and a hot breakfast.

It was a beautiful sight.

This time, there was no need to instruct the participants to eat everything. We hastily spooned steaming oatmeal into our mouths and wrapped our frozen fingers around the Styrofoam cups of coffee.

As the sun rose, we gathered together to reflect on our experience.

A college student remarked that he was sore and could only imagine how much more he would hurt if subjected to the elements night after night.

A woman talked about how hard a night of cold would be on a child.

I thought about how homelessness exists in proximity to the rest of society. Sometimes, poverty is in the very shadows of affluence.

We marched the mile-and-a-half back to the Salvation Army and our cars.

I thought about a hot shower. I thought about brushing my teeth. I thought about my warm bed in my comfortable bedroom.

I could hardly wait to get home.

I think this is how the homeless must feel. I reckon they can hardly wait to get home.

Life in Community

Posted November 10, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | Leave a Comment

How often do you look in the mirror?

Maybe a few times a day – like when you are getting ready in the morning or as you brush your teeth and get ready for bed? Maybe some times in between when you are in the restroom or something?

How long can you stare at yourself before you find something wrong?

How long does it take you to notice a giant zit on your nose or something wrong with your hair or something from lunch stuck in your front teeth?

I would argue that it takes about a nano-second.

That’s the thing about examining ourselves – it doesn’t take long to see our faults.

We do this in other ways too. I would argue that when we focus on what is happening our lives we can easily fall into the trap of focusing on our faults.

I have a friend who calls this the wormhole. It goes like this: We begin with something about ourselves that we dislike and then we are sucked into finding all sorts of stuff wrong with ourselves and before you know it we have wasted a lot of time thinking about how awful we are and we are left in a state of depression.

There is a danger to self-absorption.

***

Gen 1:26-27 says we were created in the Image of God.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (NRSV)

To be created in the image of God speaks to the fact that we were designed to be something like God. As such, we must consider what God is like. We must consider what God’s primary characteristics are and how we might bear them as part of the imago Dei.

I think one could argue that the image of God is, above all, that of the Holy Trinity. The imago Dei, therefore, is the imago trinitatis. Quite simply, the Bible presents God in three persons. This expressed as the essential Trinity or three persons often referred to as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is also as the economic Trinity, or as persons commonly referred to as the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer after the primary functions with which each are associated. The three persons of the Holy Trinity function together in harmony. In theological terms, the Trinity functions in perichoresis, which is defined as “a mutual indwelling” and has often been described as a sort of dance.

The image of God as the Holy Trinity indicates that we, as humans, are designed to be a people in community. As one theologian says “human beings are created for life in relationships that mirror or correspond to God’s own life in relationship.” We are designed to be in relationship with one another and with our God. Humans were created to live in communion with God and with others. I think this is why Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus was telling us to live in the Image of God. Jesus was telling us to live in relationship.

Focusing on others is healthy in a lot of ways. Ya know, I was talking to my best friend recently and both of us were bemoaning the fact that we have gained weight in our old age. It’s funny though, where we notice the pounds on ourselves, we are not as keenly aware of the extra pounds on each other. When we see each other, we see our best friend. We see a big smile coming at us, not the muffin top a few feet below it!

This is not to say we never see faults in others, but I think we are all hardest on ourselves in many ways aren’t we?

This week, as we look at ourselves let us be mindful of what we are doing. Let’s not go down the wormhole and end up depressed at how unworthy and horrible and imperfect we all are.

Instead, I would challenge all of you this week – whenever you find yourself at the edge of the wormhole and feel yourself about to plunge in, to call someone. Call a friend or a family member or go visit someone you know and say something encouraging to them! Do something nice for someone! Give someone a hug! Speak words of encouragement to one another because it is something we all need to hear!!!

Amen!

A Mess

Posted November 7, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | Leave a Comment

I recently went to a church that is pastored by a man who is a friend of mine.

It happened to be a communion Sunday so I went to the altar, knelt, stretched out my cupped hands and received the sacrament.

It’s strange, clergy people become quite nervous performing their clergy duties around other clergy. I think we all feel a bit insecure and subject to judgment by those who know what it is we are supposed to do and say as part of the liturgy of the Church.

And so, I held out my hands to receive the bread and instead of a small piece of bread, received a handful of crumbs. My friend somehow crumbled the communion. All but a small, squished piece of bread spilled through my fingers and onto the altar.

***

Holy Communion is a time when we share an experience with Christ. We are reminded of his life, his suffering and his death. We are reminded that we are not alone in our faith, but rather are part of a great community of believers who have gone before us and are with us now – brought together in unity through Christ.

As I looked down at the crumbs on the altar, I thought about the One whose life and blood was spilled for me and for all.

I saw a mess. The mess before me was a reminder that ours is a messy faith. There is nothing neat and clean about the crucifixion – the sacrifice that is atonement for the sins of humankind.

Our faith is messy still. God chooses to use imperfect people to achieve his good purpose in the world.

Those of us who are Christians, including Christian leaders, are as messy as they come. Though we crumble and spill, God’s grace and love work in and through us still – sometimes in spite of us.

***

I picked up and ate the crumbs from the altar. I prayed, thanked God, meditated on messiness and something incredible happened, I was sustained. That’s the other special thing about communion: It is sustenance for us in our faith journey.

Thank you God for working perfectly through the messes.

For all the saints

Posted November 1, 2009 at 9:39 am
Filed Under Faith & Religion | Leave a Comment

When I moved to Southwest Louisiana in 1991, I met and worked with a woman named Donna.

She was so kind to me. She and her husband invited me to dinner at their house. She was always friendly and fun to work with.

The two of us changed jobs and began to work together at the American Press.

We weren’t both at the Lake Charles office. She was in Sulphur, but we kept in contact and maintained our friendship.

Then in the late 1990s, we became something more to one another. We became sisters in the Christian faith.

Donna and her family were Christians already. I think that may have been what drew me to her though I didn’t understand that at the time. There was just something different about Donna – something special. It was the Light of Christ that shown in her.

Donna invited me to go with her family on a mission trip to Mexico. I think that is where we bonded the most.

We slept on cots in a fellowship hall together with her little daughter between us. We prayed together. We dug ditches together and ate tortillas together.

When Donna came down with cancer a few years later, I sat with her in the hospital and she asked me to read scriptures to her. She was so brave. She was so strong.

Of course, that was Christ in her.

She is united with God now as a member of the Church Triumphant.

I miss her and think of her often.

This morning, as I pondered the meaning of All Saints Day, she came to mind again. I picked up my violin and played the song I played at her funeral. I thought about how Christ radiated in her life and how she drew people to her and Him.

Thank you God for putting a saint like Donna in my life. Please tell her I send my love. Amen

Here comes the sun

Posted October 28, 2009 at 8:05 am
Filed Under Faith & Religion | Leave a Comment

It seems like it has been raining for days on end.

Spiritually, I think we all have rainy days, too.

Ever notice there are seasons of just blah! Nothing seems to go right and we have to put on extra gear to protect ourselves from the onslaught of yuckiness coming at us.

I think we get spiritually drenched sometimes. We become weighted down and soaking wet and miserable. We move a little slower and feel a little colder.

It is during those times, that we need to seek God to warm us and protect us. God is so faithful to keep us.

And then, one day, we wake up and the sky is different color.

The grays turn a brilliant shade of blue and the clouds alight with golds and reds and pinks.

The sun always returns, doesn’t it? And oh how wonderful it is to have a season of sun after a season of rain!

Psalm 113:3 says: “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.”

Let us praise God on this good day and always – rain or shine…

Down, but not out!

Posted October 18, 2009 at 10:16 am
Filed Under Faith & Religion | Leave a Comment

Ahhh, the flu.

It has been exactly seven days today since I came down with the flu. I had forgotten how horrible the flu is: Coughing, fever, aching, stomach issues (to put it nicely).

This week has been filled with negotiations with God, prayers of pleading and the constant flow of comfort scriptures through my mind.

I have survived.

This morning, I was oddly not in church. I decided to follow the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control and stay away from others for the prescribed length of time.

And so I sat outside in my backyard, turned on my computer and thought about God.

The great thing is, apparently many others did the same thing today and it blessed my soul!

Let me share with you all a few of the posts by friends of mine on Facebook:

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my soul be pleasing to you this morning. Amen”

“O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise!” Psalm 8:1-2

“I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9

Thank you God for being present everywhere on this good morning!!

A Seed Planted

Posted October 4, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | 2 Comments

About five or six years ago, my husband and I were serving as youth directors in a small East Texas church.

One of our flock was a cheerful young girl named Andrea.

Andrea was funny, happy and bright. She came to church alone. Someone in the congregation picked her up and dropped her off at home before and after worship and for youth meetings and church functions.

She was faithful to come to everything even without much support and encouragement from her parents.

She went through a confirmation class with other youngsters from the church one year and after learning about what it means to be a Christian, she became one.

Andrea was one of the kids who really got it.

She felt the love of God and felt a deep love for God.

I still remember picking her up for a sunrise Easter service that year and listening to her talk about how she was so filled with a love for God that she just had to serve the Lord.

After moving around for several years, moving out of state to college and coming home again, Andrea has once again settled close by and returned to my life.

She is now a young woman though she is still the same funny, happy and bright person she was a girl. She works at a retail store and takes classes at the local college.

She has a bunch of friends and – best of all – now has a new faith family.

Today, Andrea joined a church near her home.

I could not have been more proud as I sat in the pews and applauded her decision. She pledged to support the church with her prayers, her presence, her gifts, her service and her witness.

She beamed as she stood before her brothers and sisters in Christ.

Around her neck she wore the silver cross necklace she received as a gift upon her confirmation years ago. It was a reminder of the seed planted in her young life, a seed that has grown as she has grown.

I can hardly wait to see what God has in store for Andrea.

One thing is for sure, God loves her and so do I!

In the Light

Posted September 21, 2009 at 8:14 am
Filed Under Faith & Religion | 2 Comments

As Christians, we should hold up everything in our lives in the Light for careful examination.

This week, I held up a game I play and questioned whether it was really in line with my faith. The game is Mafia Wars. Because it is a game on Facebook, I posted to my friends that I was wrestling with the issue.

A friend of mine from seminary wrote about this in his blog – something worth reading. The blog can be found at http://fumc-rr.ctx.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=5901.

Check it out! Also, let me know what you think!

My dog, the PP

Posted September 18, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | 4 Comments

Most everyone who is clergy and has kids has heard of the term PK.

Apparently, there is this theory that preacher’s kids (or PKs) are somehow more ill-behaved than the rest of the kids out there.

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I decided today that my dog is a PP – a preacher’s pet.

Today, I brought our yellow lab Sally to our son’s school for bring-your-pet-to-school day.

I had little choice in the matter because as soon as our three-year-old found out Sally could come to school with him, there was no convincing him otherwise.

So I brought the dog.

I put her on the strongest leash we own and we entered the carpeted gym at the church where our son attends day school.

There were lots of dogs, a hamster, two rabbits and a cat. The parents all stood near their pets and we waited for the kids to arrive.

Sally barked and wagged her tail. Harmless enough I thought, but her barking completely disrupted the blessing-of-the-animals part of the event, making me wonder if she might need more of an exorcism than a blessing. I mean how rude! Our dog comes form a clergy family, she should know better!

From there, things only got worse. At some point I noticed that Sally was shedding profusely. The veterinarian explained to me once that dogs shed a lot when they are excited. They also slobber a lot. She did that, too.

So I stood in a pile of white fur and slobber and tried to keep her from jumping on the children as they paraded through the gym to pet the animals.

My little boy was in one of the last groups to come into the gym. I was so excited to see him. He waved and I waved at him and we blew kisses at each other and I took some pictures of him.

I guess I was too distracted to notice that Sally had to poop.

I never saw her bow up in the poop stance. Nothing.

I just know that I looked down at some point and there it was – the biggest pile of poop I had ever seen in my life. The parents in my area heard me gasp in horror.

I thought I would die of embarrassment. One offered me a poop bag and another offered some baby wipes. I cleaned it up best I could. All the while, Sally wagged and shed and slobbered and I’m not sure, but I think she was smiling.

My dog, the PP who did more than that on the gymnasium floor.

As we left the school, one of the moms said to me: “It’s a great story.”

I think she is right, so I decided to share it in this blog.

By the time we got home, my inclination to kick the dog had passed and I was reminded that I love that animal in spite of her sometimes ill-behavior.

Made me think of how God must feel about us.

Troubled by Joy

Posted September 9, 2009 at 8:31 am
Filed Under Faith & Religion | Leave a Comment

It’s not often I lose sleep, but last night was one such rare occasion.

I had Joy on my mind and I was troubled.

I work in college ministry and every Tuesday we open our doors to provide a free lunch to students. They come in and eat and fellowship and experience the love of Christ.

Yesterday, there was a new face amid the sea of students. Among the young, beautiful and energetic student population, Joy stood out a stark contrast.

She was old. She was tired. She was dirty. She was sick.

She moved slowly toward the dining hall and I was drawn to her.

I asked if she was hungry. She said she was looking for something to eat and a quiet place to pray. I told her she had come to just the right place.

We gave her a giant plate of nachos, which she struggled to eat with trembling hands.

She finished her meal and I escorted her to our chapel. It was empty there and the light gently lit the room through stained glass. She said she needed a place to live.

I should have known. When she came in, she had nothing but a plastic grocery bag. In it, I noticed a Bible and some deodorant among other things.

We prayed and I told her I would make some phone calls.

***

I have been a committed Christian since 1997. I have served God in a number of capacities and I have tried to witness my faith to others as best I can.

I know the scriptures. I know our responsibility to God and humankind. I know we are to love the Lord and our neighbors. I know we are called to feed and clothe the poor. I know we are to be the Light in this dark world.

But then there are the realities of Christian ministry. People come in and scam the Church for drug money. They use the money and things we give them to buy cigarettes and booze and pay their cable bills. They pull up to the food pantry in cars nicer than mine. They carry cell phones. They rarely say thanks for anything you do and sometimes, they are actually rude and indignant toward those of us who are trying to help.

I have to admit that I am challenged to set aside my skepticism and frustration more often than not. I have to pray that God keeps me from becoming jaded by the system.

***

I sat in my office while Joy continued to pray in the chapel and I wondered what her story was. She did not strike me as a drug addict. She was coherent and alert. She quoted scripture in her prayers and seemed connected to God.

She was gentle and soft-spoken. She was vague about her circumstances and she did not offer her last name.

She did not want to stay in the local homeless shelter another night. She had been there just one night and felt scared and threatened. I wondered if her fears were founded.

More than anything, I sensed her frustration.

She was trapped. She had no money, no resources, nowhere to go. She was powerless and broken and stuck.

I have a master’s degree. I am connected to a large Christian denomination. I have a background in journalism and I know how to get answers. I spent hours on the phone in search of a place for Joy.

I found nothing.

My messages were not returned. A new shelter in town only accepts men. Joy was short a few hundred dollars in getting into a low-rent apartment we found. There were no places on campus for a non-student.

I didn’t even have any cash to give her because I emptied my wallet at church for a special communion offering.

I tried to tell myself that I did the best I could. I fed Joy and prayed for her. I gave her a cool place to rest for a few hours.

It did not seem like anywhere near enough. Joy shuffled out of our building with her plastic grocery bag and headed down the street to nowhere in particular.

My saddened heart followed her.

I wondered if I should have taken her to my house or if I should have taken her to a hotel and charged it to my credit card. What did the Good Samaritan do after all?

***

And so I lost a good deal of sleep last night wondering if I did the right thing. Indeed, I wondered if I had done anything at all.

All night, I pondered Joy. I hurt for Joy and I prayed for Joy.

keep looking »