Noticing More Beauty

 It was Homecoming week at the new school this week. The traditional time celebrating the sports (football, in this case) team's opportunity to play at their home turf after a time of "away" games. The players are once again surrounded by their own family and friends. The cheerleaders and pep band lead the students and fans in songs and cheers of support. The players are on the field they are most comfortable with. They are safe here; they are home. The week of events started with a banquet and ended with a "Tailgate Party," complete with a chili cook-off, a corn hole tournament, face-painting, and, of course, a football game. After the crock-pots had been cleared and the cinnamon roll frosting licked off fingers, we packed in the bleachers with the other fans of the sport that resembles teenage bull-fighting. As we cheered and groaned and celebrated over the plays, a conversation starts with the mom in front of us - she whose son shares a locker with ours. The ...

It pours down rain on my drive to church.  The early trip without the family, to fill the commitment of the making of coffee for those who gather. As I pass through the storm, I take a glance at what has passed behind. I am startled by the reflection of a brilliant rainbow in my mirror.  I go on with my drive and forget the bow-of-promise as I perform the sabbath duties. I hear the movie quote from the sermon, "It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories... The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? ..." (Lord of the Rings) More water falls, but this time down my face. Even the fictional words barb the heart so raw with the awareness of our reality - too ugly for a big-screen production. The youthful pastor...

"I asked God to humiliate me.. . " I will my facial muscles to stay relaxed as the tall son begins, but inside I hear myself scream, " No! Don't ask for that! He might give it to youl l!" "Oh," I calmly respond, "why is that?" He explains. "At church recently, the preacher talked about humility. I realize that a lack of humility is what has gotten me into a lot of the bad situations I am in right now, so I thought I should ask God to help me work on it." I smile and nod. I want to applaud his desire for God's shaping, but I can't help but wonder if he knows what he is saying. Is it a homeschooler's error in word choice? Surely he means "humble me" not "humiliate me." Most of us have been foolish enough to ask to learn humility, but even a fool knows not to ask to be humiliated! And maybe I recoil from the word and what it could mean for him because I realize I identify with it right ...