"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full
day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to
have something special." Jim Valvano
Did I cry in Oklahoma? You bet. Laugh? Well, yeah. If you would have told me that I would have ever laughed so much in front of a pastor and a pastor-to-be, I would have uttered some profanity. Much of the camaraderie shared between the guys and I will probably best be unwritten. I spent 4 days of the trip in a van with a great man of God, a blessed father, and 7 high school teenage boys. In-jokes and foolishness don't always translate to paper. How can I express the laughter from speaking in bad (mainly mine) British accents, how we busted each other's chops about ball sacks and how much we smelled, or teasing our youngest one about how obsessed he was over Carrie Underwood?
My wife, at one point during our various text messages while I was gone, asked me, "are you on vacation or a mission trip?" I doubt there's many trips where you get homemade Lasagna, fillets and brigole. The adults and 2 of the college aged young men spent our nights in a small chapel of a larger church. It had red carpets, a stained glass Jesus behind the pulpit and paneled walls. Apparently the church had spanish speaking services in that chapel and indeed it reminded me of being at my grandmother's house. I joked that all the room needed was a calendar from the local taqueria, a candle of the Virgin Mary and one of those large spoon and fork wall hangs to be my grandmother's living room.
Since I needed an outlet for my CPAP machine I slept on the small stage. I had the largest air mattress of everyone there, and being on the stage made me feel like I was on the second floor loft. Over the course of a day, some of the air had released so whenever I moved on the bed I sort of felt like I was on my parent's old waterbed, stuck and unable to free myself from the plastic. One night I must have flopped a bit too far, and fearing that I was falling, I stood up and tumbled off the stage. I knocked down this huge speaker and awakened one of the guys. The rest of the week I was reminded I had almost "killed" another since his head was just a few feet away from the landing zone of the speaker the night before.
In my fumbles, the machine never came off. So after getting myself situated to sleep I couldn't find the machine. A year or so ao, I had broken one of my CPAP machines when it fell off the dresser and became water-logged. I feared that the rest of the trip I'd be snoring loud enough that I'd need my own floor or that I'd be even more exhausted. In this 3 am darkness I'm fumbling for my machine, pulling my air tube like it was a garden hose stuck around a chair in the yard. Apparently when I stood up the machine went under the air mattress so here I am pulling this machine in the night. Cell phone lights began turning on as I was awakening the group. When I finally settled in and turned on the machine, I realized too that the nose piece had loosened. The air was escaping from the hose and it sounded like I was in a dentist's office getting my teeth crumbs blown from my mouth. Mission trip fail!
Other stories too. You probably think it unusual that
each time Tim, our youth pastor, would approach us, we'd act like we were just
saying a prayer or changing the channel on the radio. "Quick, make
sure it's Christian!" I always thought that being a Christian
meant you had to be weird or really uptight (and there's a few of those at our
church, and in the world in general. What would we do without them?).
Who knew that my wacky, Airplane-movie inspired, family-bred style of
nuttiness would be so much of my faith walk. I had a pilgrim from
yesterday's Emmaus walk tell me, "How can you not like this man, with his
smile." It was a moment of humble awareness. God speaks to us
in many ways, and sometimes it's from the lips of a new friend. One of
the men asked this weekend, "How do you know if it's God talking to you or
your own consciousness?" Jesus will never steer us to anything that
would harm us. Surely he'd like you to feel His love for you from the
mouth of a follower.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.--1 Peter 3:15
During the week of VBS a week later, we met the new pastor coming in to work with our youth. Every time I see her I want to joke and laugh. Such as it is with my faith walk. Over and over again, we are to use our spiritual gifts to help us respond to the tidal wave of grace that we've been given and entrusted with. Many of the movies depict Jesus as a somber guy, and there were many times that he was serious. You can't dispel demons into pigs without a sense of clarity and focus. But I think there were plenty of times for laughter and smiles. On the Emmaus road Jesus appeared to 2 travelers who didn't even realize they would be breaking bread with their savior until it was too late. I bet Jesus smiled plenty.
Or sitting in the boat as it tossed and turned from the storm as the disciples are vomiting over the side and hoping for a miracle. You don't think Jesus opened his eyes from the nap and smirked or gave a little wink? Or when he reached out to the Samaritan woman whose guilt had eventually woven itself into shame? Jesus was a man of many emotions. Each man has the heart of Jesus within them, therefore they have access to those emotions as well. Sympathy, Love, Ache and Pain. It's sin that continues to disrupt our hearts from being in tune with the Spirit.
"Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."--Peter
And so it was last evening. The end of another Emmaus walk. Another unique, God-inspired 3 days with men. Cameras and phones and technology aren't a part of the experience so even those stories will forever be shared among friends. Out of context, any one sentence from the weekend doesn't give credence to the experience and story behind them. Like watching a young man eat a lasgana sandwiched between two slices of toasted garlic bread. A man in a dress during a skit about christian action. Clapping off key and adding lyrics to songs.
I'm back home to a chorus of Daddies and sit-on-lap requests. Fourth of July is around the corner. I can't imagine the fireworks having anything on the fire that sits within.
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