Rejection

Isaiah 53:3 - He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn't value Him.

The prophet was speaking about the messiah, the one who was coming to redeem mankind unto the Father. The Word of God made manifest in human flesh, Jesus Christ would come to give his life a ransom for all. But when he came to earth, he did not do what they expected him to do, so they killed him. The rejected the very essence of Yahweh.

If lent is a time to draw nearing in our likeness of Christ, today I got the pleasure if learning a lesson. I have been waiting to hear if I am going to be the Full Time Pastor at our church after our current pastor retires in June. Another position came through my email that I was intrigued by, so I decided to submit my application. (Emily said, "Why not, if for no other reason that it will be good practice." Boy was she right, way right.)

I emailed the pastor my resume and cover letter. I have to say, I believed myself to be overqualified for this position (full time associate pastor of music at a medium sized [600 members] church), having 2 masters degrees and a bachelor of music in singing. They responded saying they were interested and asked me to fill out a 15 question survey in order to "get to know me better." I think I did a good job answering. I shared about my different experiences and how I don't believe getting rid of all traditional church music is a healthy thing. I shared about my experiences in everything from Pentecostal contemporary worship to more main line protestant, to more liturgical like Anglican and Episcopalian and Lutheran, to Roman Catholic and Greek/Russian Orthodox music. I thought being a person with many different experiences and worship resources would make me a strong candidate for the position. I guess I was wrong.

Not more than 12 hours after submitting the questionnaire, I get a response that said, "Thanks for your reply. Perusing your experience and eclectic nature we feel you would not fit well here. Thank you and may God direct your steps." What? My eclectic nature? What does that mean?

I asked myself, maybe they already found a candidate and just blew me off. That would be fine. Maybe that think I am not "contemporary worship" enough, which I assure you, I have plenty of experience doing, BUT THEY DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A CHANCE!! Not even a phone interview, only a "We feel you wouldn't fit in here." How would they know if they don't even bring me up to Port Orchard for a meet and greet/ audition? I have always been successful in every job I have held. I know I would have been great for that job, but they dismissed me, rejected me, like some despised suffering servant.

As I attempt to dray near to God this lent, I am thankful for this opportunity to experience the rejection, because it makes me that much more like Christ. It still hurts, but growing pains are a real thing.

The Crud

There's really nothing like being sick to make you slow down and enjoy the season. It seems like every time I get too much on my plate I end up getting sick. This weekend was supposed to be relaxing.  I actually didn't have a lot of things to do, so it was okay that I came down with congestion and coughing and a whole slew of other symptoms.

Not being on Facebook has been pretty easy so far. I haven't even really felt like I missed it. The most difficult thing to not have access to is the messenger.  I like to message friends rather than text or email and it makes me be a little bit more deliberate about my actions when I have to text someone.

I am so thankful for my wife. Emily has always taking care of me when I get sick. And since I don't get sick very often when get sick it's quite an ordeal. She is always willing to come and bring me water, make sure that I feel OK even in the midst of screaming and yelling from the children or the baby. And I do the same for her, but she just seems to have a much better attitude about it. I think that's what Lent is all about. Giving up of ourselves and doing things for others and she is such great example of that.

Lent 2016 - day 1

It is hard to believe that I haven't blogged for over a year, but for the season of Lent this year, I have decided to give up Facebook and related games in order to read scripture and reflect of it through writing on this blog.  This morning I took Aurelia with me to St. Stephen's Catholic Church to the traditional Ash Wednesday sunrise service.  I did look online for a  Protestant church that had a morning service but, while I did find more noncatholic services that were having Ash Wednesday programming, most of them are on Wednesday evening.  What is the point of that?  If your supposed to wear the ashes and be penitent, it really isn't much trouble to do it for a couple of hours before you go to bed.  I told her she didnt have to, but Aurelia wanted to take the ashes.  For a kid who is often concerned about what people will think of her, that took a lot of guts, since I am pretty sure she is the only kid in her school who will be wearing them.  The priest at St. Stephen's reminded us of three disciplines we can practice during the season.

1) Prayer
2) Fasting
3)Almsgiving

I will be trying to do all three of these to the best of my ability without being legalistic about it.  I explained what fasting is to Aurelia, and because she has issues with eating already, I told her she could give up something else if she wanted, but she didn't have to do anything.  She chose to give up Gonoodle.com an activity website she likes to do.  I was proud of her for choosing something on her own. 

Walking in the Buckman neighborhood with ashes makes me feel what muslims who wear a hijab must be feel. People look at me and then look away.  One woman even walked the other way, as if I might become unstable.  I didn't expect that.

Today I was a parent volunteer chaperone for Aurelia's class trip to the Oregon Humane Society.  When I went to check in at the school office, one of the ladies asked me about my ashes.  Her tone was one of concern as if I were some sort of religious fanatic.   When I went into Aurelia's classroom.  All the kindergarten kids (and parents for that matter) stared at my forheard.  One of the other dads introduced himself and wished me a "Happy Ash Wednesday" which was nice.  The point of Ash Wednesday is to kick off a season if piety and reflection, but the dad was trying.  

Tonight at our church someone who would have no idea tried to argue with me that ash Wednesday was the Wednesday before Easter.  I show much grace and patience explaining why I had an Ash cross on my forehead to about 20 different people.  "Isn't that a Catholic thing?" People would ask.  "No, it is practiced in many Christian denominations, Roman Catholic being one, the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Anglican, and Lutheran churches all do as well.  Seriously, even if it were a Roman Catholic thing, who cares.  I know a lot of Evangelical Christians who will be surprised that our Catholic brothers and sisters will be in heaven, and I will just chuckle and say, " I told you so."

This morning the priest said we don't wear ashes because we want to draw attention to ourselves but rather because we are identifying with one another so when you see people we're wearing ashes today you know that you are on the journey together. I went all day and didn't see anyone else wearing ashes.  Not at the school were Aurelia go not at the Oregon Humane Society not even at my own church. But I went to Fred Meyer to pick up a couple of supplies that we needed and low and behold a little family of Asians were wearing the Sign of the Cross and then I knew I was a part of something bigger. I hope you have a blessed lent.