Syria, Anthony Weiner and 9/11... what a combo

Even for those not from New York, we all know who Anthony Weiner is.  Who hasn't heard the news of the talented young politician who screwed himself over when he decided to be unfaithful to his wife through sex-ting...twice.

As you all know, he lost his bid for election in NY.  He was a sore loser too- flipping off the press as they followed him to his car.  Regardless of his arrogance he has a LOT to teach us.

Good support taken for granted:  Weiner has a wife who stood by him as well as obviously campaign staff and constituents, or he would not have made a bid again for office.  In fact, he actually had such a good support system that it looked like he was going to overcome his past.  But he took it for granted and...

Mistook his belief system and wife's forgiveness for permission and lower standards.  He thought for some reason, that since she was so kind and forgiving, so faithful, that he could do it all again.  Forgiveness does NOT mean permission to sin again. It also does not give us a free pass from the consequences of our actions.  It just means we are forgiven, not re-punished over and over for the same sin.

See Hilary Clinton. She is the epitome of faithful wife who forgives (from what we can see).  And while I would probably never vote for her, she is a class act when it comes to a cheating husband in office. Bill learned one thing from her: don't be too...

Arrogant.  Just because we are loved, just because we are forgiven, does not mean we are better, that we are free from rules or somehow cheated the system.  We only cheated ourselves because we were...

Too smart.  We thought we had it all figured out.  We think our way is the best, we have an ultimate right to it and our own happiness was put first.  But that is not sensible thinking, it is simply...

Too  visceral.  Quit thinking with your heart and your genitalia.  We are possessed with what makes our heart go thump thump and our groin grow warm.  We forget that our gut is where God is- deep within us, in a place that is instinctual and very rarely wrong.   We use sex and sexuality for all the wrong reasons and we wonder why others look at us like we are a train wreck.  But that is because we ...

Didn't change  our M.O..  Yup.  We refuse to change and think we can still do the same old thing and get different results.  It doesn't work folks.  We have to stop...

Assuming and observe with new eyes.  We will never be able to overcome our weaknesses until we call them what they are, hold ourselves accountable, expect to be weak again and set up a safety net, seek forgiveness and quit making it all about us.

So what does this have to do with 9/11  and Syria you ask?  We  have done the same thing  that pissed off proper Islam- we flaunt our sexuality and think we have an innate right to do so without consequences America.  And we almost did the same thing again with Syria- we almost went to war when we did not need to.  We are bound to do the same thing with a new financial collapse if we do not learn to take our punches when we make financial mistakes and tighten our belts instead of upping our limits. Let's not be Anthony Wiener- flipping off the world when we make a mistake.  Let's suck up, apologize, own up, and make it right.  

Laundry and The Cross with M.E.

For full disclosure, I should start with telling you I love doing laundry.  No wait, that should read more like this: I  LOVE doing laundry... as long as it has to be hung on a line.  For me there is something very peace-creating about the silent work of taking a heavy wet piece of fabric, shaking out the wrinkles and hanging it neatly on the line.  Even better is coming back later to take it down, fresh, crisp, clean, and wrinkle free.

M.E. feels much the same about her life laundry- sins of omission and commission- and hanging them on the cross.  She writes of a Russian priest who would share that image with those he counseled and she found it very helpful.  I would have to say, I do too.

That basket of wet clothes is heavy.  So are the weights of sin and humanity in my life some days.  Or rather, some days I notice the weight more than others.  Lately that weight has been heavy.  It has been a hard year.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining.  Life hands us patches of heavy laundry and I am grateful I have them but they really are a lot of work and make my body and mind scream out some days.

The beauty is, we can drag that heavy laundry to the lines of the Cross and hang them there, all willy-nilly and rumpled and unshook and even kind of dump them there unceremoniously.  Very unlike the image in my mind of the way I hang laundry.

But the thing is, the cross was a very unceremonious event.  It was ugly, lumpy, rumpled, and willy-nilly to all who looked on.  But to Christ and God in heaven, it was enough.  The simple act of dumping my laundry at the foot of the cross allows me to turn around and in time, find clean and fresh laundry again.  The cross did all the work.  Kind of like a dryer.  Wow.  Did you ever think Jesus would be compared to a dryer?

The point is, it wasn't my work.  It wasn't my will and it wasn't my sacrifice.  But is was my dirt, my pain, my groaning life that was taken up on that cross and the Son (sun) dried and bleached away the ugliness.  I get the benefit of the clean fresh life and didn't have to do the work (or if you are a control freak that could be worded: I didn't get to do the work).

As a future pastor, I am inundated with reminders of caring for self right now.  As a mom, I am reminded regularly by those who know and care that a mom MUST take care of herself in order to care for her young.  I get that.  Some days we cannot get away and we must find the small things that add up to personal care.  For me it is laundry.  The simple, silent, act of hanging wet heavy cloth on a line to return and find it fresh and clean, wrapping my grateful arms about it as I  fold it in the warmth of the Son.