Hurtling toward Christmas

The next two weeks will be quite busy for me. I have...

• A major deadline at work on Christmas Eve
• A party at our home next Saturday
• Several volunteer commitments, including meetings, fundraising recruiting for Honduras, etc.
• At least one or two parties to attend
• Oh, and pretty much all of my Christmas shopping yet to do.

So perhaps I can be forgiven for succumbing to briefly hyperventilating every once in a while.

But when I finally stop for a moment or two and think, really think about how I'm going to do what I need to do, I realize that I can't do it. At least not by myself. I have to stop and unburden myself and let God take over, because otherwise this is not going to end well.

So earlier today I read the readings for Mass, and the second reading reading really spoke to me where I am and have been:

The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Yes, the Lord is near. But I have not been present enough to the Lord, and so my burdens weigh me down. But it is a new week ahead, full of new possibilities, challenges and opportunities -- and a chance to scratch a few things off my list. Yet the thing I need to do most -- and I need to do it every day -- is "by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make (my) requests known to God".

This week I will make a special effort to make time for God, to be quiet for a little while and find me true center, the place where God abides within me and answers the prayers and petitions of my heart.

Take me by the hand

I am starting to stress out.

There is a lot going on, between work, my professional volunteer work, and my parish volunteer work...not to mention Christmas. Then there is the Honduras trip. Starting the process with only four months to do everything is starting to feel like quite a challenge. There have been a couple of times already when I started thinking about what needs to be done and figured out and I could just feel my heart rate picking up.

A few weeks ago I did a witness talk at Mass that touched on my experience in Honduras last year, about how there were days during the planning stage then that I was similarly anxious. Also how during the trip I was so overwhelmed by all that was happening and the decisions that needed to be made. I talked about how at those times I could truly feel God coming and taking hold of my hand and leading me through it.

And so I should not be surprised that when I read the readings for today, right after I was stressing about the trip, here is the first thing I read from Isaiah:

"I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”

So often this is how I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, that when I look to him for help, God sets before me the exact words, the very person, or precisely the resources I need when I truly need them. After this has happened to me so many times, it puzzles me how I can ever forget it.

And yet I do. Which is why I keep a (growing) collection of quotes and books at my desk to remind me, including the Prayer of St. Teresa, my favorite quote from Jeremiah 29:11-14, and a little section from the Golden Counsels of St. Francis de Sales:

Do not think about what will happen tomorrow, for the same eternal Father who takes care of you today will look out for you tomorrow and always. Either he will keep you from evil or he will give you invincible courage to endure it.

So once again I feel God taking me by the hand, and that is a comforting feeling indeed.

Returning to Honduras

After much thought and prayer I have decided to lead another trip to Honduras March 20-28, 2010. You can learn more about the trip at my Global Village Website . You can also read accounts of last year's trip here (hit 'Newer Posts' after each post). I welcome anyone interested in joining the trip -- just shoot me an email with your contact info via this site. And if you can't make the trip, please make a donation of any amount to support the team. You can donate online here.

There is far less time to recruit members and raise money than there was last year, and I confess that I'm a little antsy about being able to pull it off in time. But every time I start feeling anxious I remember the Lord called me to do this, and through the Lord I will find a way.

Discipline

Back in March, I wrote about the impending change in priestly leadership at my parish of St. Paul the Apostle, from the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales to priests of the Diocese of Charlotte. As I wrote then:

It is an emotional time of transition, and one of fear and anxiety for some, as we have not faced a change like this in a long time. The parish has been staffed by order priests for its first 35 years, first the Paulists, then the Oblates. This is a step into the unknown.

At the time I quoted Jeremiah ("Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD...") as I firmly believed the hand of God was shaping the course of events in our parish life, and that our prayer for vibrant new leadership would be answered. I had already noted a change in the parish as if in anticipation of what was to come:

Our parish has been through a lot over the past ten years, including the removal of a beloved pastor due to accusations of sexual abuse and a severe financial crisis. I don't need to recount all the particulars, as they are all part of a past we can't change. Over that time we watched our numbers wither by a quarter or even a third.

But we have also watched a miracle take hold. Our finances bounced back, and in spite of the strains of the recession are still better than they were. Our numbers have bounced back. There is a renewed sense of who we are as a community, and the role we play in the larger community of Greensboro.

As so often happens when we trust the Lord, our trials have become a beautiful gift. Because I believe we now see that our faith community at St. Paul's is much more than our priestly leadership, more than the homily on Sunday or even the Mass itself. We are here for each other, and we are here for others we don't even know -- the homeless who stay in our church as part of the Greensboro Interfaith Hospitality Network, the Muslim family whose house we helped build through Habitat for Humanity and the people whose houses we'll work on in Honduras, the people of our sister parish in Ecuador, and the people who come through our doors every day to find help to get through these hard times.

We are now about two weeks into the new "administration", and I can honestly say that I couldn't be more delighted. Fr. John Allen and Fr. Benjamin Roberts have already injected new and positive energy through their wonderful interpersonal and communication skills as well as their great love and reverence for the celebration of the Eucharist. I myself feel renewed in my faith after feeling for such a long time like I was struggling to put one foot in front of the other in my parish life. I am now filled with optimism and hope -- and gratitude.

Which leads me to yet another personal Emmaus moment, one that perhaps my fellow parishioners share. Looking back, and seeing for the first time the new possibilities that lie ahead, I feel as if our community at St. Paul's was being disciplined, in the sense of training as opposed to punishment, for even greater service to God and our community through our trials the last few years. St. Paul himself uses the same imagery, of both the training of a runner and the discipline of a son by his father, in Hebrews 12:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons:
"My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him;for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges."
Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?...At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.

Through the love and grace of Jesus Christ, and by the power of prayer in His name, our trials and frustrations, our hurts and failures, are being transformed into new life in our parish. Hallelujah!

Thoughtful Article on Honduras

I continue to follow events in Honduras with interest and some anxiety. There was a very thoughtful op-ed piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal on the situation there, the basic thrust of which was that what is being termed the "interim government" is in fact legitimate under the Honduran constitution:

In the three weeks since the Honduran Congress moved to defend the country's constitution by relieving Mr. Zelaya of his presidential duties, it has become clear that his arrest was both lawful and a necessary precaution against violence.

Mr. Zelaya was trying to use mob rule to undermine Honduras's institutions in much the same way that Mr. Chávez has done in Venezuela. But as Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada pointed out in the Los Angeles Times on July 10, Mr. Zelaya's actions were expressly forbidden by the Honduran constitution.

"Article 239," Mr. Estrada noted, "specifically states that any president who so much as proposes the permissibility of reelection 'shall cease forthwith' in his duties, and Article 4 provides that any 'infraction' of the succession rules constitutes treason." Congress had little choice but to take its next step. It convened "immediately after Zelaya's arrest," Mr. Estrada wrote, "condemning his illegal conduct, and overwhelmingly voting (122-6) to remove him from office."

I am not a scholar of the U.S. Constitution, much less the Honduran one, but that seems fairly clear to me. I'm concerned that our government's role in encouraging Senor Zelaya's return to power is ultimately counter-productive and on the wrong side of Honduran law.

But my primary concern is and continues to be the safety and well being of those we met and worked with there, as well as all the Honduran people. It's still tense and scary, and could easily go downhill, especially with Senor Zelaya's remarks encouraging insurrection as a possible solution. Let's hope it doesn't come down to that, and that a diplomatic solution will be found.

Meantime Habitat Honduras is in limbo, as are any plans for mission trips for next year. It certainly adds an element of uncertainty to my own discernment of whether to lead another trip. As usual, I guess I'll have to let God sort this one out...

Encouragement

Every once in a while, one of the daily Scripture readings speaks to me deeply and in a way I need to capture and save as a reminder. In straightening up my office this morning, I came across one from 2 Cor 1: 3-7 that I had printed from June 8:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement,

who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.

For as Christ's sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow.

If we are afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation; if we are encouraged, it is for your encouragement, which enables you to endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

Our hope for you is firm, for we know that as you share in the sufferings, you also share in the encouragement.

Encouragement is such an important part of Christian life, and never more so than now during these times of economic upheaval. As Christians, our faith life can only grow and prosper in community with other Christians, because we need encouragement. And even more so, we need to give encouragement to others and exhort each other to persevere when our lives are difficult and our faith is tested.

I personally have been encouraged by many people, including a number of you readers of these musings. Lately I have also been encouraged by something new I have noticed in both my business and personal life: a sense and a realization I see in many people that we are all in this together. When times are good, it's easy to believe that our own good fortune is the result of our own efforts rather than the gift that it truly is. But in times of distress and uncertainty, we really start to see things more clearly -- that we are dependent first on God, and through God we are dependent on others for every good thing we receive.

In my work, I often talk to people who have lost their jobs. I believe it is so important to help and encourage others in this position -- not only is it the Christian thing to do, it's just good for everybody. And even if I don't have a lead on a job, I try to keep them in mind as openings come across my desk, and at minimum try to encourage them.

I say this not to make myself out to be some hero or saint; this is also good business. But in talking with these people, they tell me others are encouraging them too. People are taking the time to listen and network and re-connect, where maybe before they would not have taken the time.

It's the same in our business development efforts for my company. Those of you that have done business development know how hard and discouraging and fruitless it is much of the time. It's a numbers game, and for every piece of work you win there are a hundred rejections. And yet now what I'm seeing is a new level of compassion and connectedness among the people I talk to.

One of my partners and I have been trying to use LinkedIn to reconnect with everyone we've ever worked with in hopes of getting work. It's become a running joke between us that almost every time we contact someone, they say the same thing in exactly the same way: "Thanks for reaching out to me." It's uncanny, but this little phrase reinforces just how important our human connections are. In "reaching out" to them I have actually encouraged them and made them feel valued, and in acknowledging that gift they have in fact returned the favor.

We may look back on this recession as a very important gift. I spent time with my good friend Don Lahey over a glass or three of French wine last night, and we talked a little bit about hard times and setbacks in our lives. In the moment, and while these unfortunate things are happening to us, they seem absolutely, 100% bad. Yet haven't you ever looked back on something painful that happened to you, and realized that without that painful event, something else beautiful and important in your life could not have occurred? That in fact, the positive event was a direct result of the negative? We are very poor judges of the goodness or badness of particular times in our lives. The same warning that Jesus gives about judging other people could apply just as well to judging the events in our lives.

I believe we are going to come out of this tough time in a much better place than where we started. I don't know if that will be next month, next quarter, or next year. Through this affliction God is encouraging us. He loves us so very much, more than any of us can grasp. And so I want to encourage each of you, no matter how good or bad your personal situation may be right now, to keep your chin up and your eyes open to the good that God is bringing forth out of these dark times.

Political Situation in Honduras

Having returned just over three months ago from Honduras, I have been trying to stay abreast of the political situation there after the ouster of (former) President Jose Manuel Zelaya on June 28. By most accounts Senor Zelaya was not exactly a paragon of virtue -- reportedly a corrupt and left-leaning disciple (or puppet) of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. He had defied the country's Supreme Court in attempting to go ahead with an illegal referendum to change the constitution so that -- surprise! -- he could stay in power.

That said, it's not exactly clear that the way he was removed from office was by the books either, and it certainly harkened back to the banana republic days of military coups. So I'm not at all clear who to cheer for in this mess, I just keep following events and praying this gets resolved without violence. Apparently one person has been killed, but considering how tense the situation is, I suppose it could be a lot worse. Senor Zelaya should certainly be thankful he is not the lone fatality.

Apparently the Honduran population is split over the situation too, though somewhat more favor the ouster of Senor Zelaya. The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that:

...Honduran media published a CID-Gallup poll that showed 41% of Hondurans said the coup was justified, while 28% were opposed. The survey, conducted between June 30 and July 4, supported anecdotal evidence of anger at Mr. Zelaya. While thousands of Hondurans take to the streets almost daily to protest the ouster, larger crowds often demonstrate in favor of the coup.

"Society is very polarized. We have reached levels of hatred I've never seen before," said Edmundo Orellana, a congressman who formerly served as Mr. Zelaya's defense minister. Mr. Orellana resigned the military position days before the coup because he believed Mr. Zelaya was breaking the law. But in a letter to the congress, he also said Mr. Zelaya's ouster was illegal and that he would refuse to take his legislative seat until Mr. Zelaya was reinstated.

Associated Press
Supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya gather at a roadblock protest on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa on Thursday. Officials began talks on the political future of the country.

At the same time it is very strange to think that all the fine people we worked with in March are living through this tense and scary time. Are they choosing sides? Is this situation a source of division among them? It pains me to think of it. I pray that they are safe and remain that way.

I recently received an email from Margaret Rubiera, who had spoken with the country director for Habitat Honduras. Things are indeed tense, he reports. The provisional government is apparently restricting and filtering the news. There were three Habitat build teams working in Honduras, and all three had to leave. According to Margaret:

"For the moment, of course, no groups are going, and the work that Habitat can do is also very limited. It is an unnerving and very troubling time for the country. I wish I thought there were an easy and clear solution, but there is none. Zelaya was a corrupt, manipulative president and was following way too closely in the footsteps of Chavez of Venezuela. Still, the way that they deposed and evicted him has left everyone up in arms. The military is now breaking up demonstrations with force and the police are arresting a large number of people without justifiable cause. It especially breaks my heart to think of the economic sanctions being placed on that country. We must pray that a viable solution will be found soon. Alberto said that his biggest concern now is for the safety of all Habitat employees. He is not allowing anyone to go out “in the field” to check on local affiliates for fear of violence and problems on the roads. Some funding has been cut off and they fear more financial repercussions. There are rigid curfews in place, which were changed yesterday without warning from 10 pm to 6:30 pm. That is affecting workers all over the country. Stores and banks have been closing extra early to avoid problems with the variable curfew issue.

That must have been more than a little scary for those teams, but thankfully they are all fine. I'm not sure the same can be said for Habitat and for prospective homeowners. At minimum, their work is now suspended indefinitely, but if this drags on I fear Habitat will be hurt badly in Honduras. Right now I have no idea if or how current events will affect trips being planned for early 2010.

At least the two sides have started talks, even if they both seem intransigent. Again from the WSJ:

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the men who kicked him out of power nearly two weeks ago began mediated talks Thursday in a bid to end the Central American country's biggest political crisis in decades.

Even as negotiations over the future of Honduras's government began in Costa Rica, however, hopes were dim for a quick solution. Mr. Zelaya has said the only solution is his return to power, while Roberto Micheletti, the man who replaced him as president, says everything can be discussed except Mr. Zelaya's return as president.

The talks will test the diplomatic skills of mediator Óscar Arias, Costa Rica's president, who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to ending civil wars in the region.

For now I ask you all to pray for a peaceful end to this crisis, and the rapid resumption of Habitat's work in Honduras.