Consider the raven?

Emily Dickinson once said that "consider the lilies is the only Commandment I have ever obeyed." I've always liked that quote for a number of reasons, especially because I'm always trying to "notice" and "consider" things myself. What's not to like about considering lilies (check out Luke 12:22-31)?

As I was reading those verses this morning, though, a part of the passage jumped out at me: "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them." This comes before the lilies part.

Consider the ravens? I have totally missed that in the past. The only time when I even think about ravens is when I hear about Edgar Allan Poe (which isn't often) or think about the NFL variety (Baltimore's team is named the Ravens). So I decided to do what Jesus said.

Have you ever considered a raven? I hadn't. I knew they looked a little like crows, but when I started looking up images, I must confess, I wasn't exactly impressed. It's certainly not a colorful bird and its beak looks a little big for its face. But I still like this commandment that Jesus gives because the world is not all lilies. We are called to consider all of God's creation and recognize that God can be active and moving in all parts of it. Even the nondescript creatures. I'm not sure if this is what Jesus meant when he said this, but I'd like to think he would be intrigued with where I went with it.

Skipping church

"I, on the other hand, had a wonderful day. And I owe it all to skipping church."
--Homer Simpson

I skipped church last Sunday. Blatant. Premeditated. I'm not sure if it's admirable or sad that I can't remember the last church I did that. Of course, when you're pastor, it kind of goes with the territory that you'll be in worship, but even when I took a Sunday off as a pastor, there was usually a reason (vacation, sabbatical, conference) and, even then, I tried to go to worship somewhere.

It was supposed to be a beautiful day last Sunday so on Saturday, I told my wife, let's go to Starved Rock State Park tomorrow and let's leave in the morning. I've always wondered what it was like, though, for a family to just do something else other than go to church and as we sat there eating our picnic lunch, my wife intimated that she could kind of get used to not going to church. (I think she was kidding...I think).

But she had a point because it was a beautiful day. Our son wasn't sold on the idea and whined a bit (OK, whined a lot) but once we got there and started hiking around, our moods improved dramatically. As much as we enjoy living in the city, I'm finding it more and more important for us to make sure our kids stay in touch with nature so they get a more holistic view of God's creation.

I must confess that, as a pastor, I would occasionally silently judge people if I knew they were doing something else other than being in worship. I do think it's important for folks to be in worship on a regular basis, but, after last Sunday, if a person needs to play hooky on the occasional Sunday, I think I may have a better understanding of why.