health – Page 2 – Salvaged Faith

More than we can ASK or IMAGINE

Posted on August 28, 2013Leave a comment

On the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, a lot of people are talking about dreams today.

Dreams for racial equality. Dreams for unity. Dreams for access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Dreams for our children. Dreams for reconciliation. Dreams for a future with hope and freedom, love and peace.

As I read Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech again today, I was struck by how focused on the American experience it was. Never before in my reading had I noticed how every word is intertwined with a sense of national identity and a prophetic reality check on our history and at the time, present conditions. Or rather, I had always taken that piece of the address for granted. The American experience encompassed my worldview. This country is my country. It is the place of my hopes and dreams. This is the place where they are realized.

Only, in the last year, my eyes have grown wider.

I’m dreaming different dreams.

I’m looking beyond borders to the needs of my brothers and sisters half a world away.

And so I read those words in a new way today.

Today, I’m thinking about the injustices of a world in which WHERE here we live determines IF we live.

In my work with Imagine No Malaria, I’m constantly trying to figure out how to get my friends and colleagues and brothers and sisters in Iowa and the United States to think about the lives of folks who do not live in this place.

I am trying to help them understand the “fierce urgency of Now” – the need for action, the need to take the momentum in our global fight and step on the accelerator so we can truly overcome this global disease that is taking so many lives.

Our fight is not necessarily against racial injustice, but we are battling a disease of poverty. We are working desperately to overcome systemic problems of access to care and education and resources. We are working with those whose very fight with the disease keeps them trapped in the poverty that puts them most at risk.

In our work with Imagine No Malaria, we have placed our feet firmly in the promises of Ephesians 3:20… that God will do far more than we can ask or imagine by his power at work within us.

So we are raising our voices and dreaming prophetic dreams, too.

We imagine a world in which WHERE you live doesn’t determine IF you live.

We imagine a world where mothers tuck their …children in at night under bed nets and no longer worry for their safety.

We imagine a world where 655,000 deaths a year are prevented because we have taken action against malaria.

We imagine a world where illness and death do not keep families from fulfilling their dreams for education and work and stability.

We imagine a world where United Methodists from every nation stand together, united, to overcome disease by putting God’s abundant resources into the places where they are needed most.

Our work does not end with our imagination any more than the dream of Dr. King ended with the words said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

God works through us… in us… God accomplishes great things because we stand up and speak out and choose to turn our words into actions.

Just as his speech was a call to action and solidarity, a call to “never be satisfied” until the dream is fulfilled, I am spurred on to keep going, to keep preaching and speaking and working until we watch those deaths from malaria diminish to zero.

The work of the United Methodist Church in Imagine No Malaria is not the same challenge as overcoming oppression and injustice. It will not lead us into clashes of power and the resistance we find will not be water hoses and dogs and hatred… but we still have to work together. We still have to be willing to step out of the comforts of our position in order to give sacrificially to make the dream a reality.

We still have a kingdom dream, a dream of brothers and sisters of all hues living full and abundant lives, working together, praying together, struggling together.

We dream not of a nation, but a world, united by God’s love and sustained by God’s redeeming power.

My Book of Resolutions

Posted on January 2, 20134 Comments

Resolution 2013.1

WHEREAS, my change in job has caused some stress in my family life

WHEREAS, stability is sometimes more important than flexibility

WHEREAS, I need to remember this job is a marathon, not a sprint

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I will prayerfully (and with consulatation from my husband) discern my schedule in the future – especially planned time away

LET IT FUTHER BE RESOLVED, that I will ask for help when I need it, delegate where I can, and remember that giving 100% to this work is often about empowering other people to serve as well.

Resolution 2013.2

WHEREAS, being on the road has meant less time for self care

WHEREAS, I need to serve God with mind, soul and BODY

WHEREAS, health requires sleep and exercise and good food.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I am giving up fast food.

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, that I will exercise 4x/week.

Resolution 2013.3

WHEREAS, in extension ministry I am without a church home

WHEREAS, I took opportunities this fall to travel on weekends and rest from the Sunday routine in one particular church

WHEREAS, the discipline kind of requires that I find a church

WHEREAS, it is good for my soul to worship with others on a regular basis and not just sporadically with different folks

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I will find a church home by the end of January.

Resolution 2013.4

WHEREAS, I have lost my weekly bible study group in Marengo.

WHEREAS, I am not preaching every Sunday and therefore not doing regular textual study, either.

WHEREAS, regular time with the scriptures is good for my mind and my spiritual life.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I will have coffee every week with a good friend of mine and the Bible

Grilled Cheesus…

Posted on October 14, 20101 Comment

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Ready-made just for my blog comes along an episode of Glee called, “Grilled Cheesus.” It begins with a young man named, Finn, discovering that his grilled cheese sandwhich has the face of Christ toasted onto the surface.

There are probably a billion different directions that I could take to start to dissect this episode from a faith perspective… especially the idea of prayer being a magical incantation that gets us all of the things we have ever wanted.

But the storyline that drew me in and rocked me professionally was that of Sue Sylvester. When Sue gets all uppity about faith being brought into a public place, you begin to think, alright – this is a typical Sue rant.

However, when she is confronted by the school guidance counselor, Sue responds back honestly and openly. You get the feeling that she is truly baring her soul and not just making up some wildly crazy and insane story to disturb everyone around her. Our fearless antagonist proclaims that she once had faith… and that she has always looked upon her big sister with eyes of wonder. But as Sue began to grow older, she started to recognize that others did not see her big sister with the same love and adoration she did. They saw her as a person with disability, a person who was less than, and treated her as such. Sue’s heart was broken over the way that her big sister was treated and she prayed and prayed to God that her big sister might get better. When God failed to answer – Sue gave up on God.

Sue and Jean – from The Yeti Online

I think this is a common theme in many stories of those who have left the faith. When someone we deeply love is hurting… when we are hurting… we pray for God’s deliverance. We pray that God would take away the pain and would bring justice to those who have been wronged. And we pray and we pray and it seems like there is no answer. The world is still broken, our loved ones are still sick, death comes, the mean guy wins the lottery… where is our salvation?

We believe God has failed us… and so we turn our backs upon God.

What I loved about how Glee handled this storyline comes in the scene between Sue and her big sister, Jean. It comes across much better when you can see Sue react to her sister’s words. You can watch the scene here.

Sue: Do you believe in God, Jeannie?

Jean: Do you?

Sue: No, I don’t

Jean: Why not?

Sue: (explains how God never answered her prayers for her sister to be like the other kids)

Jean: God never makes mistakes. That’s what I believe. Want me to pray for you, Sue?

Sue: Yeah, that would be nice.

In four words, Glee disrupts the more traditional understandings of disability as brokenness. Jean looks upon her life, not with eyes that see a problem, but with eyes that are thankful for who God has made her to be. In four words, Jean helps her sister realize that she is not sick, she is special. In four words, this episode challenges us to think differently about how we see the “less fortunate” of this world – to rethink even how we might characterize those who are not the same as us.

I don’t want to say that there are not real problems of poverty and disease and sickness. There are many broken and hurting people in this world. But there are also just as many opportunities to experience blessing and abundant life and joy and hope amongst the lives of those who we might think have gotten the short end of the stick. And it is sometimes in the darkest corners of our lives and in the world, that we see the hope and the light of Christ shining the brightest.

taking the first steps to healthy

Posted on June 28, 2010Leave a comment

I might have posted something about this before… but pastors, in general, and in the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, in particular, (did I use my commas correctly there?) are pretty unhealthy. There was some outstanding (and not in a good way) statistic a year ago at conference that said that our group for health insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield has like 2x the rate of cancer and 3x the rate of diabetes as any other group that Wellmark covers. Insanity.

Now, I’m a young woman, relatively healthy, but I admit to myself that I have room for improvement on this front. It would be great if I could look back on this time of my life and say that I was in the best physical and mental and spiritual shape that I could have been.

To try to coax pastors in our conference to be more F.I.T. (remember that challenge from a few posts ago), we are signed up with this program through Virgin Healthmiles. Virgin as in the company… not Mary…

We can get a pedometer and set up an account, and depending on how many miles we walk in a year’s time, we can actually earn money! The thought is that if we are encouraging people to be healthy and rewarding them for their work, they will actually save money in the long run by decreasing health care costs.

So, I got my pedometer in the mail. And I’ve been using it pretty faithfully for a week now – although I forgot to wear it over the weekend. My goal is 10,000 steps a day… and I’ve only hit that goal twice (well, three times if I had worn it yesterday). It is a reminder that I really do need to get out there and exercise, and this morning, I made the extra effort and went for a run.

It had been such a long time and my lungs screamed at me, but I did it. And I’m going to keep doing it. Because the extra cash would be nice to have… and if I keep on track I’ll need it to buy some new clothes… but most of all, because I deserve to be healthy and fit.

So – first step is actually getting off my hiney and getting out there and moving.

Step two is following that up with some healthy eating. I started off today with a fruit smoothie – inspired by Alton Brown. He measures his fruit and juice in oz’s and then dumps it all in… I guess I’m following technique more than anything else. Mine this morning included blueberries (which I bought on super sale and then froze myself), frozen peaches, fresh strawberries (the remainder or which were frozen for the future), blueberry/pomegranate juice, and 1/2 a scoop of whey protein.

Step three is trying to gracefully avoid and limit what I eat at the church. There are homemade cakes and casseroles and snacks everywhere. And you feel bad if you say no, because people are being gracious hosts. But you know what… that’s probably the number one reason pastor’s are so unhealthy. We Methodists have too many good cooks!!!!

Because they didn’t let me give up…

Posted on March 23, 2010Leave a comment

While I was on vacation with my family these past few weeks, we had quite a few trials and tribulations to undertake.

First of all, there was the struggles with health that might have prevented some of us from even going. But with a lot of prayer and new ideas from doctors and a perseverence to keep going, almost all of the Pickens clan made it to Hawaii. Continued prayers are needed for my cousin Steven and his family as now they return back to reality and try to find a solution that will help him to get back to a new normal with his platelet levels.

A more humorous adventure was when my husband and brother decided to tackle the biggest omelet I have ever seen: the Moose Omelete at Moose McGillicudy’s. This thing has 12 eggs, bacon, sausage, onions, red peppers, potatoes, mushrooms and, I swear, a whole block of cheese. I was there to document the whole thing and to act as a cheerleader. If they ate the whole thing, they would get their names on the wall and a free t-shirt. If they didn’t – they had breakfast to take home for the next three days!

The boys each got about half way through their respective omelets. All of my encouragement couldn’t have got them through it. They’ll just have to train their stomach’s for next time!

A day later, we had a completely different kind of endurance test. We decided to hike Koko Head Crater.

Now, we had hiked Diamond Head Crater before this. That hike is about 30 minutes to the top and is a pretty long path that winds around on the inside of the crater. The hard part is a series of 99 steps into a bunker and then a spiral staircase that takes you up two stories. But that, pshaw, that was a piece of cake compared to Koko Head.

On Koko Head, you climb the outside of the crater. We followed an old railroad line that was probably used to haul carts of supplies to the top where a bunker was and back down again. But now – now it is a long, steep, straight climb.

I kind of thought I was in shape… or at least not out of shape. But I got to the first of maybe 15 electric poles running up the side of the trail and I was winded. I set my pace and shot for two more poles, and I was beat.

I literally gave up twice on the hike up. I thought I was going to puke or faint or some combination of the two and I just couldn’t go any farther. But my brother and husband kept me going. They didn’t let me give up and instead put me in front so that they could keep encouraging me from behind. And I made it – all the way to the top – which was one of the most amazing things I have done in my life.

The Most Effective Witness

Posted on January 13, 2010Leave a comment

For the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world and the most effective witness to the Christian gospel and in consideration of your influence as an ordained minister, are you willing to make a complete dedication of yourself to the highest ideals of the Christian life; and to this end will you agree to exercise responsible self-control by personal habits conducive to physical health, intentional intellectual development, fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness, integrity in all personal relationships, social responsibility, and growth in grace and the knowledge and love of God?

Above all, this question is about whether I am committed to not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk. In a word, yes!

I must admit there are times when the weight of this task and calling feels very heavy. I am only human, after all, and I am still on this Christian journey, just like the rest of my brothers and sisters in Christ. What I can do, however, is to embody a healthy and constructive lifestyle to the best of my ability and empower the congregation to do so in their on lives. But where I struggle personally, I must not hide my sin, but I must be honest and ask my congregation to join me as I wrestle to be more faithful.

Our world is torn in two by excess and lack of basic necessities. We see it in dietary illnesses like obesity and anorexia, in the sexual scandals of religious leaders and politicians and sports stars, in the consumerism that runs rampant while children are dying for lack of shelter and medicine. And all of these things we hide or we forget as we rush to make sure the bulletins are printed or the ushers are doing their jobs. Our faithfulness as Christians – our dedication to the highest ideals of the Christian life – come not from these menial tasks, but in how we care for our bodies and the bodies of those around us; how we advocate for our own mental health and that of those around us; how we use and not abuse the soil and the water and the air that surrounds us. All of these must have a place not only in my personal life, but in the worship I share with my congregation and in the witness of our church.

Photo by: “clix”

cough, cough

Posted on September 14, 2009Leave a comment

So, I have a cold. Which means quite a few different things:

1) the seasons are changing in Iowa. It has been cold enough at night that some maples are already brilliant red. It is going to be a gorgeous fall.

2) it has been a wet end of summer. some corn is blighted. lots of mold running around. boo.

3) It’s the end of a busy time and my body is run down. I need time to rest and recuperate. I went to bed at 9:30 last night and slept until 8:30 this morning and I still feel foggy.

4) I’m not running a fever, so it’s probably not swine flu =P

There are some things I always wonder when I start to feel this way (which is probably twice a year). Is it just allergies or is it really an infection/cold? Should I be self-medicating with Day-Quil or something else? When do I say enough is enough and just go see the doctor already? Does my body really need all of that medication?

The first four days of this cold I just took some tylenol and had a few cough drops handy. But now I’m not any better, and so said Day-Quil/Ny-Quil regimine has started. I’ll give it another day or two, and then, off to my favorite doctor’s office.

In the meantime, I’m at the church office doing basic tasks. Changing the website/calendar to reflect our changed church schedule (which should have been done two weeks ago). Calling the newspaper office to do the same. Picking out hymns – preferrably ones I can still sing if I’m still under the weather next Sunday. Oh, and I changed the message on our answering machine. I now sound about 10 years older with my raspy voice. Colds for the win!

beginning again

Posted on May 4, 20092 Comments

Spring is here in full force and that makes me want to be outside… but it also reminds me that winter has been a time of sloth.

I got up this morning and worked out with wii fit. I did yoga and strength exercises and then finished with a little bit of cardio. I know it’s not much – but if I do a little everyday, that will add up to a whole lot more than I’m currently doing.

I’m also trying to get up at 7:30 every morning. I’m going to use my mornings off to garden, spend time reading on the porch, and getting chores around the house done. I’ve just realized that when I get home from church I don’t want to do ANY of those things and so they just don’t get done. If I stick with that schedule, I’ll have three mornings a week to myself.