#204 It's Like Wow!

I love nature documentaries, such as Planet Earth. I find great joy in learning about the colorful and crazy creatures that populate our planet. I marvel at the incredibly detailed images and action-packed sequences that these camerapeople are able to capture. I've received a new miniseries each year at Christmas for almost a decade now, but I'm still captivated every time I watch, even if I've seen it all before.

Last night Tess and I tried something new. We put in the first disc of Blue Planet II and sat down to watch with Lanie. Lanie, too, was mesmerized by all the different animals and their amazing skills. She also had lots of questions about the name of each new creature—dolphin, shark, whale, fish (too many different kinds for me to remember their species), walrus, polar bear—and what they were trying to do. Sometimes we were able to answer Lanie's questions after listening to another minute of narration; sometimes we still weren't sure what we were watching. Experiencing the documentary through Lanie's eyes was a great experience. Too often I feel like I need to have all the answers or understand everything. This is a beautiful world God has made, and it's far more complex and fantastic than I would ever imagine. Sometimes all that's needed is to sit back in awe and wonder.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#203 Comparing the Creeds

In my congregation, like in many other churches, we sometimes read/recite a brief summary of our faith called the Apostles' Creed. We most often use it during baptism services and funerals. I love the Apostles' Creed. I learned it as part of my faith formation. But I think that we have an even better creed that we should learn and use more often: the Nicene Creed. Before I explain why I think the Nicene Creed is clearly superior, let's look at both creeds side by side. The words of the Apostles' Creed are in italics below. The words of the Nicene Creed are in bold.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made.

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made human.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried.

The third day he rose again from the dead.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.

He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets.

the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

the forgiveness of sins,
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.

In my opinion, here are the advantages of the Nicene Creed:

• The Nicene Creed is written in corporate or plural language. This isn't just what I believe (though it is important that I personally believe); this is what we believe together. We're partt of a body, the church.
• While the Apostles' Creed has a Trinitarian structure (I believe in the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit), the Nicene Creed actually helps us understand the doctrine of the Trinity and the relationships between the three Persons. The Son is begotten of the Father. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. We worship one God who exists as three Persons. The Nicene Creed makes it clearer that the Son of God not less than the Father, nor is the Spirit less than the Father and/or the Son. All three are of the same essence. Their equality is seen in the statements that the Father made all things, that all things were made through the Son, and that the Spirit is the giver of life.
• The Nicene Creed clearly describes the purpose behind the life and ministry Jesus. Jesus's work is done for us and for our salvation.
• Along with its clearer explanation of the Trinity, the Nicene Creed is also clearer about the two natures of Jesus. Jesus is true God, and He became incarnate; He was made human. Jesus is both fully divine and fully human.
• The Nicene Creed points us to the Bible: Jesus was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets, the human authors of the Bible.
• The Nicene Creed mentions the kingdom of a God, an incredibly important theme in the preaching of Jesus and the Bible as a whole.
• Echoing some of what I said above, the Nicene Creed gives more details about the work of the Holy Spirit.
• The Nicene Creed is actually the more global creed, used by both the Western and Eastern church (though in slightly different forms). The Apostles' Creed is really only used by the Western church.
• The Nicene Creed has, in my opinion, a richer history. It was developed in response to false teaching that Jesus is less than God the Father. It was written as a statement of proper Christian faith. The Apostles' Creed has its own wonderful history of being a statement of faith used at baptisms, but the development of the Nicene Creed was a huge moment in the history of the church.

While I think the Apostles' Creed is great, and I certainly will continue to use its statement about the resurrection of the body at graveside services, I think the Nicene Creed is greater yet. What do you think?

Grace and peace,

BMH

#202 Music to My Ears

Lanie, my older daughter, is on the verge of turning 4. In the past couple of months she's started to really be able to sing. I absolutely love it. I've always enjoyed music, and little Lanie is just so adorable when she sings. In December she wanted Tess and me to sing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" every night as we put Mia to bed, and before long she was singing along. Lately she's been singing songs about Mommy and Daddy that she picked up from a TV show she watches while she eats her bedtime snack. She's also been chiming in a little bit when we sing lullabies to Mia before bed. I smile whenever hear Lanie singing to herself while she colors or builds with her magnetic tiles, just like I often do as I go about my day. Hopefully she'll continue to love to sing as she grows up. And hopefully she inherits her singing ability from her mother and not her father.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#201 Pick a Speed!

We're going to keep things short this week. Tess and I are in the midst of unpacking and figuring out our lives again after Christmas celebrations, so my mind is trying to be in a few places at once right now.

If I was king of the world (probably a terrible idea overall), I would make cruise control mandatory on the highway. As long as road conditions aren't dangerous due to snow or fog or whatnot, you have to use cruise control. No more of this passing me, then getting passed by me, then blowing by me again. Pick a speed and stick with it. I honestly don't really care what you pick as long as you drive a steady speed. If you're going slower than I am, I'm happy to go around you. If you're going faster than I am, I'll gladly move out of your way. It's not that complicated.

But if this still to much to ask, I'll settle for using my kingly powers to equip my vehicle with a button I can press to release a giant sign that reads "PICK A SPEED!" Either way will work.

Happy 2021!

Grace and peace,

BMH

#200 For This Child We Have Prayed

We've hit 200 posts! I'm going to celebrate with a somewhat lengthier and heavier post.

If you read my blog at least semi-regularly you probably read some of my posts about our time in the NICU with our younger daughter, Mia. That was a stressful, difficult time. And yet, that really wasn't the beginning of our adventures with Mia. Way back in the spring of 2018, when Lanie, our older daughter, was a few months past her first birthday, Tess and I decided to try to have another baby. The summer and fall slipped by without Tess becoming pregnant. Winter started to drag along. Then, during January 2019 things got weird. Tess had gone almost two months without getting her period, but she really didn't feel like she was pregnant. She took a pregnancy test. Negative. We started to wonder what was going on. Some of our older friends had prepared us for the possibility of fertility troubles, but we really hadn't had any trouble with Lanie. We had figured we were some of the "lucky ones" who didn't have to go through that. Now we didn't know what to think.

The next few months were really hard. We went through a lot of wondering, a lot of questioning, a lot of lamenting. At times we wrestled with God. Sometimes we felt hopeless. It felt like we were carrying a heavy weight that we couldn't shake off. It felt like there was a hole inside us, a pain that just wouldn't go away. And often we felt so very isolated. Opening up about our struggle wasn't easy. We hadn't told anyone we were trying for a second baby, so there was explaining that needed to be done just to get started. And our troubles just felt so deeply personal that we had to feel very safe to even think about opening up. A large part of my job as a pastor involves trying to create an atmosphere where other people feel safe to talk to me. But a lot of times my work can also make it more difficult for me to feel safe to open up. For one thing, I often can help others trust I'll listen to them more if I don't spend much time talking about myself. But if I don't talk much about myself normally, then suddenly building up to a really serious discussion doesn't seem possible. So Tess and I really struggled for a while. And yet we knew that God was with us. Every so often, just when it felt like we were about to burst, God would send an old friend back into our lives, making us feel secure enough to share our burdens and process our fears and pain. God came through for us.

About a year into our journey, Tess was able to go in and see her doctor. After a few tests, we received a diagnosis: polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Our doctor was optimistic. She recommended some diet and exercise changes and prescribed some medication. Tess and I had some hope again, but the pain was definitely still there. We were holding our breath. Then, at the end of July Tess started to seem a little different. She was more tired, maybe a bit more emotional. We practically whispered to each other, "Could this be pregancy at last?" Tess took another pregnancy test. Positive! God had answered our prayers. The long struggle was over. We excitedly shared the good news with family and friends who had supported us through our difficult journey. And we simply told other friends and acquaintances that Tess was pregnant again and left it at that.

But I don't know that it's that simple. I've thought about blogging about this a few different times in the past but didn't quite feel ready. It still feels so personal. I don't doubt God's goodness. He helped us through our darkest days with His presence and love. He even answered our prayers: we have a wonderful, healthy daughter, whom I love deeply. I'm not here to say that there hasn't been healing. But the scars remain. I still remember the pain. I'm sure it's changed me in some ways. Hopefully it's made me more sensitive, more caring, less quick to think I have all the answers. I certainly don't understand everything yet.

However, as we approach Christmas, I can say this: when I felt my absolute worst, when I didn't know what to think, didn't know what to say, I found myself turning to God. I couldn't hardly even express myself, but God was there. He made me feel loved, cared for, understood. I think that speaks to the great wonder of Christmas. We Christians don't worship a God who is distant or detached. We worship a God who comes to us, who in Jesus becomes one of us and lives among us to save us. Our God understands us. Our God cares for us. So yes, I have pain in my life. But with Jesus, I have hope.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#199 Christmas and Presents

I love Christmas. I think it's extremely important that we celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus, our Savior, and remember the wonder of the incarnation, of God the Son becoming flesh and taking on our human nature. I enjoy singing Christmas carols and rereading the story of Jesus' birth.

I also love presents. It's a lot of fun to get something that I've wanted or something I didn't consider but really like. And I get a ton of joy and satisfaction from giving someone else a gift that they appreciate.

But sometimes I worry I make Christmas about presents and not about Jesus. I remember times where I went to worship on Christmas Eve and felt myself waiting for the service to be done so I could go home and exchange gifts with my family. Tess and I talked about this recently. We want to give our daughters gifts because we love them. We want to teach them how to receive things well and someday help them experience the joy of giving. We're not opposed to Christmas presents in general. But we also want our daughters to understand what Christmas is truly about, associating it with Jesus instead of presents. So we've decided to try to move our presents away from Christmas Day. We're planning to give our girls their gifts on December 20 in the hopes that we can more fully focus on Jesus on the 25th. (We decided on doing presents before Christmas Day rather than after because we didn't want the girls to want to rush through Christmas to get to their presents.) I'm not here to say that we've found the right way to do this or even the best way to do this, but we're trying to be at least a little thoughtful and intentional about what we're teaching our daughters. Our family is still young enough that we don't have real fixed traditions, so we figure now is the time to try things out.

I'm sharing these thoughts for a couple reasons. First, if my thoughts can be helpful to somebody else thinking through presents and Christmas, then that's great. Second, I'm sure I haven't thought of everything. So if you, dear readers, have any suggestions based on your own Christmas traditions, let Tess or me know. I hope you all have a blessed Christmas. Thanks for reading!

Grace and peace,

BMH

#198 Slow It Down

I've been reflecting on how I use my time lately. Part of that is related to COVID-19. Some of my formerly regular activities haven't happened in several months, so my working rhythm has been changing. With fewer in-person interactions I've had some weeks where I've had a little more space between responsibilities. I also just finished reading Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton, which challenged me to make a habit of taking time to be silent before God.

I've realized just how much I try to fill my time. I want to stay and appear busy in my job because I think that might justify the congregation paying my salary. I use the internet and my smartphone to avoid moments where I'm simply waiting or even not doing anything. Busyness becomes a habit, maybe even an addiction. Our culture tells us we should always be occupied, entertained. But it's hard for me to notice God or listen for His voice when I'm constantly doing something. And it's not so easy for me to be fully present with other people if I have a ton of things on my mind. I wonder if sometimes my busyness is an unconscious attempt to avoid God because I want to do things my way and/or I'm a little scared of what He might want me to do (or to give up) for Him.

But I need God. All my achievements are worthless if they keep me from Him. It's pretty stupid to try to serve God without taking time to be with God and learn from Him. Trying to do things my way isn't good for me or anyone else. So I'm trying to change. I'm trying to be less busy. I'm trying to begin my workdays by taking some time to just be with God. It's hard for me to quiet my mind. It takes me a while, and even then it's difficult for me to stay there. But I believe that God is present. Slowing down helps me remember that God is in control, not me. Seeking God in silence reminds me that I am loved by God, that my value comes from Him, not how busy I am. My purpose is not to do as many things as possible but to become more like Jesus, to draw closer and closer to God. So I'm trying to reduce my distractions and cut back my busyness where possible. I've got a lot to unlearn and relearn, but if I become even a little more open to God, then it will be more than worth it.

Grace and peace,

BMH