Three of my favorite words: "I Don't Know"

   Born in 1946, Marilyn vos Savant has been known for much of her life as having the Highest IQ ever recorded and was actually listed in the Guinness World Records for it. So, she's kind of smart. Since 1986 she has been writing a column in Parade Magazine where she fields questions on the widest range of subjects and ideas. Her column from July 29, 2007 shared questions she found difficult to answer, but not because they were too tough. Take a look at some of the questions she did not print and answer in her column...

• I notice you have the same first name as Marilyn Monroe. Are you related?
• Do you think daylight saving time could be contributing to global warming? The longer we have sunlight, the more it heats the atmosphere. 
• I see falling stars nearly every night. They seem to come out of nowhere. Have stars ever fallen out of any known constellations?
• When I dream, why don’t I need my glasses to see?
• Can a ventriloquist converse with his dentist while his teeth are being worked on?
• I just observed a flock of geese flying in a ‘V’ formation. Is that the only letter they know?

- from John Maxwell's Good Leaders Ask Great Questions written in 2014.

These are hilarious. I really do believe that there are no dumb questions, but these come close, right?
   I've never met Marilyn vos Savant, but I trust that she is very smart. I like the fact that she is able to admit that there are some questions she cannot answer. I've known some really smart people: some have been related to me, many have been church members, and a couple of them were teachers or professors with whom I have studied. The thing that every smart person I've ever known has had in common; they know that they don't know everything. I love it when someone tells me, "I don't know." It makes me feel great. Because, I don't know everything and sometimes wonder if other people can relate.
   I think Paul was right on it when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 8, "We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds people up. If anyone thinks they know something, they don't yet know as much as they should know." And Proverbs 3 is a verse for life: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6
   May we all not know it all. Grace and peace, Scott

4000 Questions

   The first email that Tony sent me, after he was announced as the pastor projected to be appointed to Epworth UMC in June, made a reference to a list he'd been making. He said, "Scott, we are so excited about coming to Epworth! I only have about 4,000 questions, but I am trying to pace myself and finish my work here well." I laughed. I knew what he meant; moving is filled with unknowns. In that way, it mirrors life.
   Henri Nouwen, the prolific writer, thinker, and humble priest of the past century actually believed all of us go through life seeking answers to basic questions. It was Sister Chris, the friend I see for spiritual direction through the ministry of the sisters at Blessed Trinity Shrine Retreat, that introduced me to some of Henri Nouwen's lesser-known work. I've since experienced the presence of God through Nouwen's devotional writings. I was touched the other day, with all of the questions of moving and life swirling around in my head and heart, when I came across these lines of Nouwen's:

What is truth? How may I find joy and happiness? What is the right way of living? .... What am I to do with my life? Whom shall I marry? Where shall I live? What gifts do I have to share? What do I do with my loneliness? Why am I so needy for affection, approval, or power? How can I overcome my fears, my shame, my addictions, and my sense of inadequacy or of failure?

 
For Nouwen, these are the very questions we are each seeking answers for in our respective journeys. And, greater than any silly details about how will my material belongings get moved from one place to another, or where will I lay my head on this night or that, these questions transcend every season I might pass through.
   I know we have a few weeks still to go, but I would be remiss if I did not take a moment here to say thank you to every person of Epworth, for helping me along my own journey in finding God's best answers to these questions in my life. These years have been a great blessing to the Hagans who've known Columbus as home.
   In case you are wondering, Tony reported back that after just one phone call with Earl Phillips and one with me, he'd checked 500 questions off his list! I thought that was a productive day for us all. I delight in imagining more of the great days ahead for this congregation and all those who serve her and are served by her. To God be the Glory.
   Grace and Peace to you, Scott

Our Shared Teaching Ministry

   Lou McCauley was a woman of great talent and lived with joy.  Her passing last week, just a few days from her 94th birthday, brought sadness along with a deep appreciation by her family of the abundant life that she lived.  I listened to her children and grandchildren share great stories and remembrances.  At one point her son, Ken, spoke about how she was a lifelong-learner, studying French in her 70's and taking up line-dancing in her 80's.

   The truth is, Lou McCauley was also a lifelong teacher to her family.  They talked at length about how she taught them hospitality, acceptance, faith, humor, all by her example.  At the funeral, celebrating her life and the God, I talked about how this mindset was so crucial to Old Testament theology.  God instructed the parents, and in turn leaders of the people, to be ready when the children and others who would come along later would ask why (see the four instances).  Why are these stones important?  Why is this meal important?  Why do we believe and do this?  Our core theology is that we are lifelong-learners and lifelong-teachers.  God calls us to be ready to answer when we are asked.

   This is what Epworth needs.  This is the mindset we must adopt.  We must be able to answer the key questions.  Why do we do this thing?  Why are these traditions important?  Why do we belief this?  We must then act in ways that are true to our beliefs.  We must clarify and then embody a vision of ministry in this community that is able to orient us. 

   Like Mrs. Lou's life, I don't think this happens overnight.  I believe it must happen, though. We'll talk about it this coming week at our first Church Council meeting of the new year.  Every leader in the church is being encouraged to attend, as we learn and teach about vision before splitting up into our various teams and planning for the year.

   Grace and Peace, Scott

The Second Half of Life

When work for most people meant manual labor, there was no need to worry about the second half of your life.  You simply kept on doing what you had always done. And if you were lucky enough to survive 40 years of hard work in the mill or on the railroad, you were quite happy to spend the rest of your life doing nothing. Today, however, most work is knowledge work, and knowledge workers are not "finished" after 40 years on the job, they are merely bored.

Peter Drucker, Harvard Business Review, 1999

  This quote by Peter Drucker, easily the most influential writer about modern business management, is taken from an article titled Manage Oneself.  He is pushing us to see the bigger picture: to move beyond the now, the immediate, and instead see life as a whole.

  Surely, the same can be applied with great results to organizations beyond the profit-driven world of business.  What lessons can the church learn from such thinking?  What provocative questions for the church arise when thoughts about the second half of our life begin to appear?  Are there areas of ministry that take on added value when we are able to take time out from the now, and turn our attention to the not-yet?  How would it change our focus?  How would we act differently?  Borrowing Drucker's words, how can we stay inspired by ministry, and avoid boredom?

  I believe this week’s Vacation Bible School is one small answer to many of those questions.  Children don’t contribute to the financial bottom-line of a church’s budget, they actually take from it, but their value is far greater than dollars and sense, isn’t it?  They redirect us to the future.  They offer hope that what we are doing in the now might be carried on for God’s Kingdom purposes into the not-yet.  The ways we engage and invest in ministries of children, youth, and missions will shape the second half of our life.  And that is something worth thinking about, as our church is just weeks away from celebrating its 50^th birthday.  Grace and Peace to you, Scott