Happy 50 years!

This weekend I got to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. Just about a year ago, we celebrated my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. In this day, both of those are truly significant milestones.

It was great being with my family. This weekend was really special because it caused me to watch and reflect. In my family, there is always lots of laughter, smiles, and hugs. It's easy to spend time with each other. Each person in my family has a little bit of goofy in them; all have a sense of humor.

I value the fact that my cousins and I have such great examples of parents who have been together for such a long time. Our parents are examples of people who are down-to-earth, kind, and generous.

It is because of my aunt and uncle and my mom and dad that I still believe a faithful, real, and positive marriage and family is still possible.

It is because of them that I believe it is important to be kind and generous to those around us. It is because of them that I have learned to laugh and love.

Congratulations, Charley and Ona....and THANK YOU for 50 years!

Faith--It Goes Without Saying

I have had many a conversation with my friends about this issue. Why is it people feel that wearing their faith on their sleeve makes them more Christian...and for those of us who don't, it makes us less so? I could write my own blog on this, but Rawlins Gilliland says it so perfect. Click on the title below if you would rather hear it from him.

Commentary: Faith - It Goes Without Saying
By Rawlins Gilliland, KERA 90.1 Commentator

DALLAS, TX (2007-06-19)
I recently lunched with a self-described Fundamentalist Christian childhood friend who was upset. According to him, when the winner of the Masters Golf Tournament, Zach Johnson, was being interviewed by sportscaster Jim Nantz, Mr Nantz was, "clearly uncomfortable" when Johnson said "My faith is very important to me. Jesus was with me every step." I offered that perhaps Nantz was not "uncomfortable" at all, but rather, simply continued to interview Johnson regarding Masters Tournament specifics.

Nope. This could never ring true with my friend. He insisted that by not responding to this man's witnessing in a time of great achievement, the press was marginalizing Johnson's intended point; that all "glory goes to God." I suggested that the "glory goes to God" part is filed under "Believer 101". Adding, That goes without saying . Or so I thought. Before America became the promised land of New and Old Testament testification. Gone are the days when personal faiths, like children, were seen and not heard.

Ours is an era when people freely question whether Oprah Winfrey or Barack Obama is "black enough". Overnight, everyday plain John Protestants like me are not "Christian enough" unless we become Evangelical. It's not like I don't get it; I was raised an Episcopalian by a Catholic mother, attended Methodist and Holiness churches. My brother-in-law is Church of Christ. My friends and lovers range from Baptist to Mormon. I've been around the Biblical block.

All that seems to validate no one. Must you shout it from the hills like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music: "The hills are alive with the love of Jesus." That I'm more reticent than many regarding faith compels some to question my piety, as my friend questioned Jim Nantz when he did not respond accordingly to Zach Johnson. There is absolutely nothing wrong when others bare their Christian soul and bear witness, but it is rarely revelatory. When someone tells me about the importance of faith in their lives, I'm tempted to respond: "Yes, and I cannot say enough for how oxygen helps me breathe." It goes without saying. Or it used to.

So someone's not dying to hear you've been "born again". Does that unmask them as a heretic? Isn't personal rather than public faith an option? Apparently not. Our not so brave new world insists; it's not enough to be changed by childbirth; we must become Celine Dion, the first mother to discover parental love. Stopped drinking? Preach from the rooftops that your liver is rising from the dead. Reformed smokers; rejoice telling even those who never smoked at all how you rebuked that devil weed that held you hostage!

Suddenly everyone's become a "Sally Field's Academy Award speech" Christian; He loves me. He really loves me!" By the time the 30th Grammy winner announced "I owe this to Jesus", I was ready to recount the ballots. Does anyone ever think perhaps God appreciates your work, but doesn't play favorites for best dance track remix?

Believe me; there's no heathen here. With God as my witness, I'm simply saying this prayer and singing that hymn; Give Me That Old Time Religion ?

PLEASE! Amen.

Rawlins Gilliland is a National Endowment for the Arts Master poet.

God's faithfulness...despite me

Yesterday I had received a monetary gift. Being a little strapped for cash lately, it was a welcome gift.

This morning as I began cleaning up after my parents left, I looked in the folder where I had put the envelope that held the money, but it wasn't there. I searched the house high and low...nothing. I called my parents, who were already on the road, to ask them if it had fallen out in their car....they didn't see it. I called Tiffany to see if it might be in her stuff...to no avail.

I was frustrated and irritated over losing money. I kept telling myself that it was something I didn't have before yesterday so losing it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Besides, it was just money. It was just a "thing." But no matter how much self-talk, I was still stressed over where I would've left it or dropped it.

After searching some more, I finally went on to church. The minute I walked in the door, my friend pulled me aside to give me some money that I had loaned her son for college. It was more than double the amount I had lost--an unexpected and welcome return. (It had been several months since I had loaned him the money and I'm never quite sure that I will receive my "loans" back). So, even though it was my money in the first place, it was unanticipated money that had been returned.

Humility.

Here I was, stressed over some money that had never been mine in the first place, and then I received double. Jesus' words, "Oh ye of little faith," come to mind.

I was reminded of this scripture:

Matthew 6:25-34
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.