Archive for March 8, 2007

Make it Count!

March 8, 2007 by Rev. Sean McMillan.

Burbon StreetTwo weeks ago I was in New Orleans for a Pastors conference and spent the better part of my time in the lower ninth ward. You do remember the lower ninth don’t you? How could any of us forget what happened in New Orleans over a year ago when the levies broke and for four days thousands of people were stranded in the streets of a major American city without food or water? How could any of us forget what we saw on television that week or how we felt as the coming days brought no relief to the victims of Katrina and the people of New Orleans in particular. And as I stood on the saddest soil in the United States of America I could hear the melancholy music of the levies, the sweet sound of conscience, and the requiem of some inner voice reminding me of why God loved King and Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Mary the Mother of Christ. They were all great souls; and in the ordinary expression of their greatness they found the courage to live for something greater than themselves.
 
People who are only motivated by their personal interest will soon be forgotten after their time here on earth is done; but those of us who find the courage to speak for the least of these, who advocate for children and perhaps even for the child in us, who believe in the dignity of every expression of our collective humanity even if we disagree with the person or their lifestyle, for those of us who work for possibility and not for a check, who give without needing something in return, and for those of us who know the joy of celebrating someone else’s success, history, even if it is a story only told once, will not forget that we were here.   
                                                                                                     
Martin Luther King didn’t have a laptop, a cell phone, or a fax machine but he changed the course of human history with what he had, because, whenever you are doing what you were born to do– you don’t need a lot to be effective at making difference. And the moment you become more concerned about your legacy than your rent, you will in that hour find yourself in the company of greatness.
 
True greatness is a perspective, a way being in the world; it is an unshakeable belief in the nobility of life in spite of its apparent cruelty. You were born to be great. You have been fearfully and wonderfully made. The world has never seen a soul like yours and after you are gone from this place it will never see another like you again. You are an original soul, a beautiful mind, and your gifts are not your own; they belong to the world; not just to your family, or to the people you know, they belong to the world; even to people who hate you and oppose you at every turn, you were sent here to bless them too. 

We need you to shine. People who have never met you and will never see your face need you to spread your wings in tight places so that the power to fly will be real to them. The children of Bangladesh and the Sudan need to hear of how you refused to dim your light even amid the horrors of an unspeakable situation so that somewhere in the bruising darkness they will feel the glow of what you do and know that life will make away.

And lastly, the people of New Orleans need you to remember their cause. Keep shining like the sun-the world needs you.

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All of a Sudden

March 8, 2007 by Rev. Sean McMillan.

butterfly

  I was reading an article the other day that suggested that when a caterpillar is about to become a butterfly it has no idea that its life is about to change forever. I found that to be amazing! How could it not know? How could something so small and fragile not realize that it was on the brink of something special- something so wonderful and sought after that not even the artistic genius of mankind has been able to capture the wonder of this moment with any real eloquence or power. And yet the caterpillar remains so profoundly unaware until all of a sudden forces beyond its control thankfully interrupt its misery and compel it to fly.  

Isn’t it funny how you can be right on the edge of the greatest moment in your life and not even know it. After years of crawling and struggling to make it you would think that we would intuitively know that something profoundly good was about to happen but often it is only after we have been delivered that we are able to look back and trace the truth of how we got here. Sometimes victory comes with all the sensations of the defeat. Sometimes God has to take your sight before he can restore your vision; but the truth of the matter is we never know. We never know when this might be the day that it all comes together. Or that this might be the exact moment in our lives when it all makes sense and we emerge from the shadows ready to fly.

I would have you to know that possibility is real. It is not just a word or an idea created in a dark room by men who were themselves too afraid of the light to live. Ask the Butterfly. The next time you see a butterfly ask her if she has any memory of what her life was like before she learned how to fly and she will tell you no. Ask her to recall the exact moment that she realized that she was about to become beautiful and she will answer your questions with silence, partly because she was always beautiful, but mostly because just like you, life never tells us when something good is about to happen.

This is why we have to keep on living. This is why we have to keep on believing that midnight can not last forever and truth crushed down to earth will rise again. You owe it to yourself to go a little further. And while it is true that the journey can make you weary, it is also the case that in the end it will make you strong. In a little while everything will be different. In a little while you won’t even remember what it was like to crawl so close to the ground. What used to make you cry is about to make you dance; and I can’t wait to see you fly. I can’t wait to see the look of satisfaction on your face the first time you feel the soft secure squeeze of earth between your toes and you whisper to yourself - I finally made it!

This is not for giving up. This is for light at the end of the tunnel; because just when the caterpillar thought it was over it became a butterfly.

May the oil of your life be full of his grace.

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Issues

March 8, 2007 by Rev. Sean McMillan.

Upset

Let us begin with a rather simple fact, and it is this: you will never be successful at becoming the person you desire to be until you learn how to mange your issues. And make no mistake about it–we all have issues. We are all living with unanswered questions, unresolved insecurities and certain irreducible fears that live at the center of lives and at times make us less than who we are. Problems happen to us but issues happen in us. They are the experiences, questions, and longings that penetrate deep into the core of who we are; and even when our problems change our issues remain the same, because, each of us have been constructed around the presence of an irreducible shame.

And I wish I could tell you that one day all of your issues will be resolved but nothing about human history leads me to believe that this is a realistic expectation. Even in the bible great men and women were constantly struggling with their issues, and apart of what made them great is the fact that they took the sadness of their inner conflicts and transformed what should have been something dark and full of dissonance into something remarkably melodious and beautiful.

 

None of us are perfect–but we can use the worst in us to make the best in us come alive. Sometimes before we can help–we must hurt. Your weaknesses keep you humble, they keep you grounded; and if you let them, they can also make you great; because anything that has the power to make you weep has also the power to make you reach for the living God.

 

These are the issue of our lives; and each morning as we rise to face the coming of the day, we do so knowing all the while that there lurks beneath the surface of the smiles we bare a reason to cry…But we choose to smile anyway.

Now that’s a Giant Step.

pastor-mcmillian.jpg  

 

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