Ansible-One

This past July the family and I accompanied the Youth group to Glorieta, NM.  Our job was to drive a van and provide additional chaparone support as needed for the group.  The past several years I have gone as part of the team so to speak so this year was quite a change.  As it turns out, we were needed.  There was an emergency situation that required my wife heading in one direction to the hospital while I stayed behind to provide authority if needed.

Glorieta Main Entrance

All of that aside, Glorieta is awesome.  We played, worshipped God, and studied in the Word.  We will definately return as a family.  It is easy to relax and enjoy God’s creation and to be renewed by His spirit.

At home, it is nearly impossible to explore and experience raw creation like you can at Glorieta.  Everything is city.  Parks are small, and the larger ones are dangerous simply because people can be dangerous.  Not that I would let my son roam free at camp, but the attitudes of the people around us were quite different.

For example, the first thing the kiddo wanted to do was climb a mountain.  He ran to the back door of our building pointed through the glass and said, “that’s the one I am going to climb.”  The next morning we go out and start looking at our assigned challenge.  No paths.  No trails.  No sign any human had picked this spot to start climbing.  So we intrepidly dive into the woods up the slope.  We had made it maybe 20 feet when the volunteer building manager came out onto the back porch.

Instantly I’m thinking, here it comes, she’s going to tell us not to go this way or we can’t do this.  She asked if we are going on a hike?  After about 30 seconds of exchange she said, “Well, have a great time!”

I was floored.  Not that there wasn’t some part of me that expected her to just give us the thumbs up, but the whole conversation was genuine and direct.  None of the positioning and rationalizing that normally happens.  Off we go into the woods.

About an hour in we spot a road obviously used by horses and work trucks so we start to follow it.  (NOTE: it is nearly impossible to get lost.  Glorieta is at the bottom of the slope and the bell tower chimes every 30 minutes.)  In a few minutes we see a truck coming and we move out of the way so they can pass.  Friendly smiles and waves pass us and we keep on walking.  A few minutes later the truck is back.  I slip back to my “city” mode and think this guy is here to gripe at us for being there.

The worker asks if we are looking for a particular trail.  Since we weren’t looking for anything we asked there were any nearby we could check out.  He not only described the trail but when he drove away he motioned toward it as well.  Again just like the woman, this man was genuine.

I don’t know if was just the mountains or the camp, but after that morning I didn’t care about where I was or who I was talking to the rest of the time.  I know it is easy to see God’s presence in the midst of camp “spiritual highs”, but there is something to be said when Christians are acting like Christians.  If at home, church, or far away at camp we should always remember to love one another.

Recently I taught the youth group at church since the director was unable to be there.  She gave me the material to look through for Sunday and I began to prepare for the class.

Needless to say, I was nervous.  I have taught little ones before, but had yet to teach the upper age groups.  Despite the number of reasons one might dream up for me teaching that day, it all really just comes down to me helping my sister by filling in.

The lesson was on The Shema.  Here is a very little bit of Jewish tradition and biblical history for you.  The Hebrews escaped from Egypt and then wondered in the wilderness for 40 years.  As the time approached for them to claim Canaan as God had promised, Moses needed to reiterate the law.  The book of Deuteronomy details these laws.

Shema in Hebrew is “hear” or “listen.”  Moses repeated addresses the people Shema Yisrael.  Hear O Isreal.  The Shema is the greatest commandment of these laws.  Jewish tradition will uses these verses as a pray in the mornings and at night.  As Christians, it’s a base line principal that we all should be living our lives by.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NIV)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

You should have heard something like this by now.  Golden rule, Greatest Commandment, etc.  We use them in songs and in prayer.  But how committed are we? That was the real point of the lesson.  The commitment.  God promised to give the land of Canaan to his children.  They were are verge of entering that land and taking all it had to offer for themselves.  All God asked them to do, all he asks us to do, is love.  Let’s read on for just a bit.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NIV)
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Moses plainly gives ways for the Israelites to be committed.  We do some of these things today.  Have you ever seen a T-Shirt or desk calendar with these words on it?  Of course.  One of the most important would be passing your commitment to your children.

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (NIV)
When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Finally.  Moses gets to the point.  Here he reminds them that yes, God made a promise, and He is keeping it.  So also, we should never forget what He has done for us.  His Son, a sacrifice for our sins, because He loves us.  To sanctify our hearts so we can be with our creator forever.