​So, I’m just coming back to work today (Sept. 29) after a couple vacation weeks. For me, vacation is almost always a mountaintop experience. And you probably know by now that I get up really early every day. Even on vacation! I never set an alarm anymore because I go to bed when I’m tired and I get up when I’m done. It’s that simple. Every day. 
 
Still—early every morning, I have a little devotional routine that I follow, and I read my regular stuff. First comes the Bible—The Daily Lectionary, then it’s Richard Rohr, J. Philip Newell, Phyllis Tickle, and I gravitate off and on over the years to Oswald Chambers.
 
Now, Oswald Chambers is very old school, but no less relevant. Sometimes he rings my bell louder than others and later this week (Friday Oct 1) it’s one that never fails. See if you don’t get it, too. 

The Place of Exaltation

…Jesus took…them up on a high mountain apart by themselves… — Mark 9:2

We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
 
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.

Welcome, my friend. Come on down! We’re walking and talking and living this life that is Life and guess what?
Nobody’s a perfect angel. 
 
“Trust me,” says Jesus. 
It’s cool. 
We’re all down here in the valley—and we’ve got you. 
 
Grace and Peace,
Scott

​Everybody knows this Saturday’s the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. The greatest tragedy ever to strike our country. Literally, the crime of the century right here on our own soil! Right here in our front yard.

This generation’s Pearl Harbor. Not some distant island paradise—a fuel stop in the Pacific ocean. Hawaii wasn’t even a state yet. It was outrageous! A totally unprovoked attack with tragic American casualties. And, the United States—who wasn’t ever gonna do it again—the United States entered World War II. 

But, 9/11? This time it is different, isn’t it?  Mainland America has been attacked and now we’re fighting a whole different kind of war. Half-way around the world and right here at home.  

Some of those terrorists did flight training in my home state of Oklahoma! Are you kidding me?

Everybody remembers where they were, what they were doing, who they were with and how they reacted on that Tuesday morning. Everybody is still stung, still grieving for those we lost. Everybody here knows somebody, has some connection. 

Not gonna lie—time has helped and I’m trying, but I’m still bitter about it. Still struggling and maybe you are too! It’s frustrating!

It’s not just the tremendous loss of life that day. The innocence of the victims, the crews and passengers on the planes, the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The first responders trying to get people out unaware the buildings were going to collapse. It still breaks my heart every time I hear Bruce Springsteen “The Rising.” 

So, we’re finally out of Afghanistan—with even more casualties of the seemingly endless “war on terror” that really went nowhere. The pull out was never going to be easy or smooth, no matter what. It just underscores the high price that our soldiers and their families paid—for what?

It breaks my heart!
Sadaam Hussein is gone. Do you feel safer? 
We got Osama Bin Laden. Do you feel safer? 
We tortured prisoners at Guantanamo Bay! Do you feel safer? 
We instituted travel bans on Muslims. Do you feel safer?
We built more walls on the southern border. Do you feel safer?

20 years ago, this country came together. We were really the United States, right? United States of America! But, not anymore! 

9/11 and the fall-out, racism, the pandemic, and polarizing politics have split us apart. It runs so much deeper than party lines—the chasms—and there are many. We can’t even come together and fight the pandemic together. 

C’mon! It’s been 20 years now—and the divide has never been wider. How do we move forward? 

I’ve always been a big Eagles fan—you know, Don Henley is a great songwriter. And one of his songs is called the Heart of the Matter. 

As I sit and ruminate on 9/11 and everything since, that song just keeps running through my head over and over. I can’t get it out. It’s about lost love and damaged relationships. But these words ring so true:

I'm learning to live without you now
But I miss you sometimes
The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again
I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
These times are so uncertain
There's a yearning undefined
...People filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness

How can love survive in such a graceless age?
The trust and self-assurance that can lead to happiness
They're the very things we kill, I guess
Better put it all behind you; life goes on…
You keep carryin' that anger, it'll eat you up inside
I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter
But everything changes
And my friends seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore.

Forgiveness. That’s how we move forward. As hard as that is. Don Henley is right. Gotta put it all behind. If we keep carrying this anger, it’s eating us up—from the inside out. 
It will destroy us. 

So I’m trying—still.
And I pray that you are, too.
Grace & Peace,
Scott