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I have this feature on my phone called “notes”. Actually it is an app. It is one of the few apps that came with my phone that I actually ever use. I put things like the church alarm code there, reminders of things to do, and occasional witty or funny sayings I have come across.

The main jots in my phone notes are sermon ideas or ideas for weekly writings and such that pop into my head while reading, watching TV, driving, walking, or trying to fall asleep. Many make it into sermons or writings. Most just sit there, perhaps for some future inspiration.  Still many others sit there for me to review many months later and wonder what they mean or why I had typed them into the “notes.”

Last night I was looking for a passcode to something not very secret. As I searched for this I even surprised myself about the various notes I wrote to myself. I was surprised by the range of topics. Here are some of the headlines or, in some cases, opening lines: Not all sacrifices are equal, Deconstructing heroes, We are not invited to judge but to change, Like me, does it take you forever to decide which OJ to pick (some pulp, no pulp, lots of pulp)?, Thinking about good and evil, Improved means to an unimproved end, Sphygmomanometer, Are we working at home or living at work?, We never know if we are happy when we are in the middle of something, and, to just list one more, Is Guilt necessary to being a Christian?”

There are more; plenty more. Plenty!  Perhaps some of the above will make it into something I say, teach, or write. Most likely not. Many not mentioned are social justice issues and issues of equality. Some of the above may have or possibly will morph into such issues. What strikes me is the range of topics.  Personal, theological, philosophical, whimsical, pragmatic, comforting and challenging are among the various topic possibilities. 

What this all says to me is that no topic is off limits for church and faith.  If faith is more than a ticket to heaven after life’s end; if faith is for living in this world, in this life, now and for living into the future, then any and all topics of this world are fair game for God and therefore fair game for faith and church. Really, would you like some part of your life where God would be absent? 

I have never understood those who say, for instance, the church ought to stay out of politics. That would mean a major arena of life that affects how people live is off limits for God? No wonder our politics is such a mess. Maybe we all ought to think a bit more about God before we fill out our ballots or take our positions.  

It seems no one can resist a funhouse mirror. You know, the kind that distorts your reflection. You may be smaller, taller, or wider. It may make you look like a Q-tip or a snowman/woman. Your eyes may bulge or you might have four of them. I’m talking about that kid of mirror!  

Years ago in Denver’s Eltich Gardens, there was such a mirror just outside the playhouse located on the grounds of this large (currently a Six Flags) amusement park. There admiring herself was a woman whom I immediately recognized as actress Cloris Leachman. To be polite, I asked her, “Are you Cloris Leachman?” She gave a wry smile and said, “Maybe.” And I responded, “Well, if you were, maybe I’d tell you I enjoyed your work.” We shared a laugh, then she turned, gave a wave over her shoulder, and walked away. But notice, even the famous could not resist one of those mirrors.

The thing about fun house mirrors is that they reflect to us a person whom we do not recognize. They are, at best, a caricature of ourselves. We chose our clothing, comb or brush our hair in a particular way, and go out into the world hoping to make a good impression. We cannot see ourselves so we must be doing this for others. Then along comes a funhouse mirror as if to say, “Nice try. I know better. You are more than your well-crafted image.”

Are you who you think you are? Am I? Maybe. Partly? I wonder how God sees us. Sometimes I think God’s view of us isn’t too far off that of a wavy, funhouse mirror.  I wonder if God looks at us and sees someone recognizable, but not the person whom God intended to create; certainly not fully the person whom God intended to create. Alas, God does not respond, “If you were, I would love you.” And God does not destroy our funhouse image of ourselves to create a perfect picture of us. God seems to prefer working with the warped reflection of who we really are. 

I don’t know if Jesus would have gotten a kick out of one of these mirrors. Perhaps Jesus would have gotten a kick out of any mirror as there were no such things in Jesus’ day. Mirrors, as we know them, are only about 200 years old.  Yet images distorted and real never seemed to deter Jesus. Jesus met people where they were. This is what gives me the ability to say this is how God operates. Distorted images are not a place from which God will distance God. They are places of invitation for God to come and do godly work. God can and does use both misshapen figures and misshapen characters. God is able to use even our noncommittal “maybe” as God works to turn it into becoming an “I am!”.

Working on our appearance and image is one thing. Striving to work on who we are as a child of God is quite another. Our true mirror is neither that of a funhouse nor that like we have in our homes. It is a cross. There we see who we are. There we see whose we are. There we see the hope we have to continue along the path of being a child of God. There are no maybes in the cross, only God’s emphatic embrace in Jesus Christ. 

Yesterday I saw both the Arizona and United States flags flying at half-mast. I remembered this was to honor and memorialize a victim or victims of another recent shooting in our country, but I could not remember who or which victim(s).  There have been so many lately. ….far too many. 

I do remember my cynical response to the lowering of flags after a shooting that occurred a month or so ago. Cynically, yet somewhat “prophetically” I said, “Why don’t we just leave them at half-staff with such mass shootings now a regular occurrence?”

My fear is that instead of incensing us the continued number of deaths by gun violence have desensitized us. After being at Columbine I thought this could never happen to me. Now I am not so sure. The shooting at a King Soopers (Kroger) grocery store touched me greatly, but only for a while. You see in our nearly two decades in Colorado, we shopped regularly at King Soopers and were frequent visitors to Boulder. 

All of us look for solutions. Mostly we look for something simple and easy. We need to start at the most obvious truth and work our way from there. We can’t yell out, “The second amendment!” as though this should stop all discussion about any form of gun control. Neither can we be naïve enough to think a few of the right gun laws will take care of our problem. 

We need to look at the most obvious truth which is that we are the most violent nation in the free and industrialized world. Virtually no other nation has the extent of our problem. Not Switzerland with gun ownership. Not the UK or other nations with more restrictive gun laws. 

We are a nation prone to violence. Why? I am not sure. What I do find interesting is that the most restrictive gun control our nation ever had was in the rugged days of “the old West”. Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge City among many other rough and tumble towns had prohibitions against guns. Where was the second amendment cry there and then? Yet shootings did occur. What lies at the source of our problem that attracts people to violent “solutions” by choosing shooting? What drives people to thinking shooting another is a solution? To blame mental illness does not cover it either. Many shooters are not mentally ill. They knew right from wrong. 

Why? We need to ask this question of our nation and ourselves. I am someone who once hunted and grew up on a home that usually had about three weapons for hunting. I am also a person who sees no proper use for an automatic weapon. If truly we need such a thing for protection in our country, then we are a lost cause as a nation. 

But violence…..violence….why do we seem to turn to violent outbursts? Why are we more prone to this than other nations? I have a few thoughts, but none definite and none that I know of that are supported by research, study and experience. 

Are we content to let things as they are? Are we content to just attack and yell at one another and cast blame? Or rather than shooting our mouths off are we able to ask questions of ourselves and determine what can be done about our penchant for violence as a culture and are we willing to give up a few of our sacred cows to deal with this? 

Flags at half-staff ought to mean something. Victims of violence, often random, ought to mean something. We ought to be better than this. Can we be better?  How vulnerable are you willing to be in such a probe?   To pick up a cross is to make oneself vulnerable. Followers of the crucified one can do this……can’t we? 

I see dead people! No, I am not talking about the old movie, “The Sixth Sense” starring Bruce, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, and others. I am talking about myself and people I have been privileged to know throughout my life. Often times they pop into my mind (and heart). Perhaps something I see or hear makes me think of them. Maybe some event or time of year brings them to mind. Some I see are from times long past.

Most of us often think of people from bygone days. Images of those loved ones who were family members, neighbors, co-workers, friends, teachers, or some other sometimes surprise us as they suddenly appear to our mind. Generally more than their countenance or name surface. Usually their name and countenance do not appear to our minds without some story about them accompanying the memory.

In many ways, you and I and all whom we have known are more than just human beings. We are stories. We have histories, gifts, foibles, and experiences. All of this adds up to stories. Lots of stories as we are complex beings who can be predictable as well as surprising.

Many of my stories are those of parishioners. The church calls them saints. Having followed Jesus and served Jesus as best they could, they leave behind a legacy of humanity and a legacy of faith. It seems when the humanity meshes with faith, some of the best stories are created. Many times we embellish those stories as time marches on. We embellish them because their meaning to us often increases over the years. 

I really don’t know how many parishioners I have been privileged to serve in four plus decades of ministry. The number is in the thousands, literally….no embellishing here as the West is a very transient place and my entire ministry has been in this region. So many people make a huge impact. 

In our culture there is so much to compete with involvement with the church. What should surprise us, perhaps, is not how few now are part of a church, but instead how many choose to be a part.  Many choose to go further and make the church a priority. Some spend many hours each week doing ministry of one kind or another for God and the church. Some are more occasional yet important. Some work is highly visible and receives many expressions of gratitude. Some work is rarely noticed and taken for granted.

You have heard in stories I have shared in classes, writings, and sermons of many from ghosts of church members past.  You will have to wait to be included as such a story after my time here is through. Rest assured, there have been and are so very many stories at University Lutheran/Lutheran Campus Ministry. You have also shared many stories of people from this community with me from times long past. 

Here is what I have noticed about such story telling. Yes, these are stories of the saints of the church. They are also stories of God at work in the church and in the world. They are stories of how God reaches out and relates to God’s people inside and outside the church. 

I do often see dead people. I see them alive and serving as witnesses long past their earthly life. Even decades later they can speak to me and touch me. No doubt you have experienced the same. They are what has often been called a “great cloud of witnesses.” Continue in your following, work at your serving, keep creating and expanding those stories. God will use those stories and you will then continue to serve and be an active witness long past your life on earth. What a great story for this Easter season.