SHADOWS

Wall Street is in an uproar. Hurricane Ike’s battering of the “oil coast” in the gulf has left refineries off-line and rigs toppled. Gasoline has jumped 70 cents in a week. Wind storms have leveled trees, downed power lines and hammered homes.

Clouds overshadow not just the storefront in which I write, but they seem to be overshadowing the community.

Tenneco lays off. Norwalk Furniture closed. Insurance is cancelled. Jobs are few. The shadows, the clouds, they seem to darken.

Jeremiah wrote in his days of darkness; in his time of lament. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lam 3:22-23

Therefore today in my time of shadows, Jeremiah continues, “I also will say to myself, The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lam 3:24

In the wake of job loss, in the midst of job searches, “I will wait for him.” When the weight of the bills exceeds the limits of a checkbook, “I will wait for him.” When I fret over insurance and the loss of benefits, “I will wait for him.” In the days when the shadows hang heavy, “I will wait for him.”

If this week finds you in the shadows, say to yourself, The Lord is Good, I will wait for Him.

Walking with Inhumans

Okay, I’ve been thinking about leadership again. This time from my childhood.
As a kid I read a lot of comic books. For a while I enjoyed reading The Inhumans, a fictional race of royal superhumans. Each possessed some power of immense magnitude, yet each was also marred in some significant way. Each had some handicap or frailty. Black Bolt, their king had the power to generate quasi-sonic energy through his voice. As a youth, to protect the community, Black Bolt was placed inside a sound-proof chamber and given an energy-harnessing suit and never allowed to re-enter society until he vowed never to speak. Gordon possessed immense strength but with feet of hooves. Karnak had the ability to find the weak point in any person, plan or object, but possessed no other powers. Many of their adventures concerned how to accomplish their mission making best use of their powers while compensating for their weaknesses.
When a random thought recently sent my mind wandering down these dusty memories, I began to think of how similar the Church is. We are a group of redeemed people (royal priesthood), each given unique talents, gifts, (God giving power) yet each of us handicapped, and sometimes hamstrung, by our innate weaknesses and frailties. We have been charged with an incredible mission, the great commission, the battle for humanity. Together we learn to utilize each other’s strengths to the greatest benefit while at the same time compensating for each other’s weaknesses.
What made reading comics like the Inhumans so intriguing is that no matter what the challenge, they figured out a way to get it done. Real leaders know this- incredible teams (churches) rise to the challenges before them using their gifts and talents, overcoming their weaknesses and frailties to advance the mission.
Hmmm! I’m in the mood for a comic book.
--The Man in the Window!