Beyond the Patio

Rejoice with One Another
Luke 15:1-10

What brings you joy? What makes you really feel alive and wanting to shout out with joy? What would lead you to dancing in the streets, or “letting yourself go” in celebration.

Charlie Brown in a old Peanuts cartoon goes through a great deal of anxiety over a lost library book.  He imagines that if he doesn’t find it, all kind of harmful things might happen to him and even to his family. When he finally finds the book in the refrigerator, he wants to shout the “good news” from the housetops, because as he says, “Good news should always be shouted from the housetops”. Charlie Brown rejoices because something that was lost has been found.

 In today’s Gospel Jesus uses that sense of joy that we have when something lost has been found as the same kind of joy that we can have when people’s lives are changed, because something that has been lost has been found within them. It is not just a religious experience. When people change in any area of their life and they become more whole people, finally talking hold of their lives and becoming the person that they are capable of being, it is time to rejoice.

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I’m sure that you have all witnessed some dramatic changes in people and even in our own lives that we can rejoice in.  Some people have had a ‘near death’ experience that has actually changed the way they look on life.  Life seems different to them. The days are brighter.  People they have known before seem different. A person who didn’t seem to care much about others suddenly becomes interested in other people and finds people who they thought were dull so fascinating that they want to spend more time with them to discover who they really are.  It doesn’t have to be a ‘near death’ experience either.  Any dramatic event in their lives can make them aware of how they have been like through most of their lives and how they want to live differently the rest of their lives.  They find the power within themselves to change.  Through some heart-rending encounter a miserly person may even become generous all of a sudden. The story of Scrooge in the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens comes to mind.  It could be that these examples do not speak of a change in our basic nature but more of a discovery of part of our human nature that has been hidden all along.

I think that there are times in the lives of all of us that we need to change direction and in some sense “begin again”.  We hope that their will be people who will rejoice with us when we begin a new journey.

I believe that there is deep within us all if we can reach in far enough a spirit which is able to connect with God’s spirit. Sometimes it is hidden under layers of self doubt, a history of abuse, disappointments, regrets, and cynicism. Nevertheless there is a flame that still flickers within us and when it is able to connect with the Spirit of God we rediscover fire, the power to change, and be transformed. It is a time to rejoice.

People change gradually as well, just in the natural process of growing and maturing. It is a time to rejoice with them. So there is much to rejoice in all the people we relate to.  We have been rejoicing a lot in our  grandchildren. We recently celebrated the birthday of two of our grandchildren both born in September.  It was a grand time with lots of sharing, fun, laughter and love.

There is something profound about rejoicing with people in general.

Garrison Keeler tells of seeing a young boy one cold winter day in Minnesota stepping out on the steps of his home doing up zipper of his jacket, just standing there for a moment and taking deep breath of the cold air, being excited by the air. You could see that the cold air just raced through this kid. All his nerve endings just sort of lit up, and his engines were fired up and he was off the porch in two leaps, picked up a handful of snow and through a perfect strike at a stop sign – hit it right in the “O”. Then he was off down the street and out of sight. Keeler says that it was impressive to see somebody get out of the starting gate like that. Most of us are too old to be excited by the air we breath, and even if we were our engines wouldn’t start up like that necessarily. But we can still get excited by people. You are never too old to be pumped up by people, having them around, the sound of talk, and the touch of people, and that is some of the main pleasures of life no matter how old you are and where you live.

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Sometimes we are even the change agent for people. Under our care and nurture some people mature and become more whole. Sometimes that takes place  under a parents love. I cant help but relate a story that comes out of Chicken Soup for a Mother’s Soul called THE TALE OF A SPORTS MOM:

It’s a chilly Saturday in May. I could be home sweeping cobwebs from the corners of the living room or curled up on the couch with a good mystery. Instead I’m sitting on a cold metal bench in the stands of a baseball park in Kirkland, Washington. An icy wind creeps through my heavy winter jacket. I blow on my hands, wishing I’d brought my woolen mittens.

“Mrs. Bodmer?” It’s the coach my son Matthew admires so much that he gave up soda pop to impress him with his fitness. “I’m starting your son today in right field. He’s worked hard this year and I think he deserves the opportunity.”

“Thanks,” I say, feeling proud of my son who has given this man and this team everything he has. I know how badly he wants this. I’m glad his hard work is being rewarded.

Suddenly I’m nervous for him as the team members, in their white pinstriped uniforms, trot onto the field. I search for my son’s number. It isn’t there. Instead, Eddie, the most inexperienced player on the team, takes right field. I look again, unbelieving. How can that be?

I want to run over and ask the coach what’s going on, but I know Matthew wouldn’t like that. I’ve learned the proper etiquette for moms; talking to the coach is not acceptable unless he initiates it.

My son, gripping the chain-link fence in front of the dugout, is yelling encouragement to his teammates. I try to read his expression, but I know he, like most males, has learned to hide his feelings. My heart breaks because he has worked so hard and received so much disappointment. I don’t understand what drives boys to put themselves through this…

…For eight years I’ve been sitting here. I’ve drunk gallons of terrible coffee, eaten tons of green hot dogs and salty popcorn. I’ve endured cold and heat, wind and rain.

Some people may wonder why a sane person would go through this. It’s not because I want to fulfill my dream of excelling at sports through my kids. I also don’t do this for the emotional highs. Oh, yes, I’ve had some…

….But mostly I’ve seen heartache. I’ve waited with them for that phone call telling them they’d made the team. The call that never came. I’ve watched coaches yell at them. I’ve watched them sit on the bench game after game. I’ve sat in emergency rooms as broken bones were set and swollen ankles x-rayed. I’ve sat here year after year, observing it all and wondering why.

The game ends. I stretch my legs and try to stomp life back into my frozen feet. The coach meets with the team. They yell some rallying cry and then descend on their parents. I notice Eddie’s dad has big grin and is slapping his son on the back. Matthew wants to get a hamburger. While I wait for him, the coach approaches me. I can’t bring myself to look at him.

“Mrs. Bodmer, I want you to know that’s a fine young man you have there.”

I wait for him to explain why he broke my son’s heart. “When I told your son he could start, he thanked me and turned me down. He told me to let Eddie start, that it meant more to him.”

I turn to watch my son stuffing his burger into his mouth. I realize then why I sit in the stands. Where else can I watch my son grow into a man?”

(based on an article by Judy Bodmer from Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul Copyright 1997 Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, and Ron Marci Shimoff

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Change happens whenever and where we realize that it is happening, whether in a dramatic fashion or in the slow process of maturity, or just in sharing life with our friends, it is time to rejoice with one another

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