Mark Beeson

Who Are You on this Memorial Day?

 

 

“Wherever you are, there you are.”

My mom told me that, but I doubted the voracity of her little axiom (probably because she was my mom, and moms are supposed to be doubted by their prepubescent sons as a proof that they are young and stupid though they believe themselves to be mature and erudite).

Mom's little dictum about being "who I am, wherever I am" has never been more apparent to me than when I’m traveling through foreign countries. And since I was in The West Bank last week, walking the desert rim of Masada a few days before Memorial Day, my experience there hooked Mom's quaint little saying and pulled it up from my reservoir of “Mom’s Memorable Mantras.”

Mom was right when she said, “I am who I am wherever I am.” Even Popeye the Sailor Man agreed with my mom. He often said, “I yam what I yam.” 

I was at Masada last week but I was still me ... 'cause I yam what I yam: a Christ-follower, Sheila’s husband, a pastor in our Lord’s Church and a proud citizen of the United States of America.

"Wherever I am, there I am," so reading the final words of a Jewish leader telling his people (the night before the Romans breached the fortress walls of Masada) that death was preferable to slavery, made me think of Patrick Henry’s 1775 speech to the legislators of the Virginia Colony. He said: ”Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Today is Memorial Day.

"I am who I am wherever I am," so I paused this morning to thank GOD for the freedoms we enjoy. America's freedoms are unlike anything the world has ever known. Our liberty is, in no small part, the consequence of firm and faithful resolve, rooted deeply in Christ and nurtured by the Truth of GOD’s Word. Ours is freedom purchased by sacrifice. Ours is justice tempered by righteousness.

Liberty is ours because millions of men and women are willing to stand and defend our Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic, sacrificing themselves in defense of our inalienable GOD-given-right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"I am who I am," so today I honored the men and women who died in the Armed Services of the United States of America.

I hope you marked this day according to Major General John A. Logan’s 1868 order to decorate graves “with the choicest flowers of springtime.” He advised: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. ... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

May GOD bless the United States of America.

 

Philippians 1:19-25   -   I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.
    As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues.

 

Continuous Partial Attention

 

Amazing isn't it.

People dressed in black can lug big shoulder-mounted cameras around GCC's platform virtually unnoticed (largely because the continuous partial attention of our cultural conditioning enables us to look right past such things). Wires, cables, light-stands, mic-stands, music-stands, props and well-positioned camera operators quickly blend into the background as eyes and ears tune-in to the Gospel Story.

...  a lot has changed in recent decades. The Gospel hasn't changed but the culture Jesus Christ sends us into certainly has.

Tech-toys and tech-tools are now ubiquitous. Smart phones and wi-fi enabled tablets guarantee anyone anywhere can touch everyone everywhere. Today's social media nodes and networks don't merely help folks stay in touch; with these tools we're all in constant contact.

... and we think we love it.

Everyone wants to connect and be connected, so we're always-on: anywhere, anytime, anyplace. We pay continuous partial attention to everything and everyone. We feel chronic stress and anxiety because we're desperately fearful we'll miss an opportunity, conversation or experience. The problem isn't that we might be distracted; the emerging issue is that we are always distracted. Share dinner with a few friends (as they look at their smart-phones every few seconds) and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about; we're so accessible that we are inaccessible. We can look at everything and see nothing. We can be active everywhere without impact anywhere. Grandeur is missing when everything is noticed and nothing is note-worthy.

We're conditioned for continuous partial attention so when we finally see and hear the essential Truth (previously hidden in the cacophony around us), our lives become rich and full. At GCC we're doing our best to help people get past our culture's distracting white-noise and experience God.

I honor the volunteers who work each weekend, helping us recognize "the still small voice" of God. They help us sort through the ambient noise and focus on what matters most - giving Jesus our full attention.

 

1 Kings 19:11-13  -  Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Credit: I believe Linda Stone coined the phrase "Continuous Partial Attention" here. 

Green Island Lighthouse, British Columbia

 

British Columbia's northernmost "manned" lighthouse is found on Green Island. Sheila and I went past it a few weeks ago. It's hard to imagine the privation and difficulty the earliest lighthouse keepers experienced on this piece of rock, yet they stayed at their post and kept watch over the waters around them. 

Who is to say how many tragedies have been averted in the treacherous waters around Green Island? Who can say how many ships (or lives) were saved because the lighthouse was kept in service by its reliable and faithful keepers?

The same can be said of you.

• Who can know how many marriages have stayed out of "Divorce Court" because you were faithful?
• How many kids have stayed "out of the ditch" because you fulfilled your responsibilities and served them well?
• How many people didn't abandon their dreams because you shined your light of hope and encouragement on them?
• How many stayed faithful because you did?

What you do matters. Your resolve, courage and integrity makes a bigger impact on this world than you know. 

Persevere friend. 

People are depending on you.

Persevere.

James 1:12  -  Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.