Thoughts on Getting Up, Dressing Up, and Showing Up. A Note From Jan.

God is good.

That I never doubt.

Often I’m asked how I’m doing.

I usually say something along the lines of, “Up. Down. All around. But, all in all, life is good. God is good.”

And I do believe that, despite how I feel some days.

THURSDAY our small Lenten group focused on “Christ to Comfort and Restore Me” and “Christ Beneath Me” from Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s study of St. Patrick’s prayer.  As part of our discussion, we considered Psalm 51:12, which reads, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” McEntyre writes, “This is not too much to ask; it is exactly what to ask and hope for. The objective of Christ’s comfort is exactly that willing spirit: a readiness to pick up, continue the journey, and grow into the Christ-life we share.”

In the chapter on “Christ Beneath Me,” she writes of the paradox of God who is “high and lifted up” but also a servant, “despised and rejected,” hanging out with sinners and street people.  She suggests that Christ “who took on the life of the poor, the lowest in the social order, walked the dusty streets and ‘had no place to lay his head,’ established for all time the ground rule of the divine order: that if we want to find God we must look down, closely and humbly, at what we find beneath us.” McEntyre writes that “the Christ who stands under us, understands us” and descended deeper than we will ever have to go to make our journey safe and its completion sure. 

FRIDAY night our Bible study group met.

Love those folks!

Got talking about life lessons after reading a piece by Regina Brett from the Cleveland Plain Dealer (not in the Bible).

Took note of her lesson #43, “No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.”

SATURDAY I gathered with many to celebrate Steve MacLeod’s life at the First Congregational Church of Hamilton.

A life-affirming service…truth and tears, laughter and music.

Somebody asked if this was tough on me…Jud’s service, Phil Bodoni’s and now Steve’s in such a short time.

I said, “Strangely, no.”

Funerals, like weddings, gather family, friends and a community.

Warm reminders that we are not in this grieving, living, loving process alone.

Made it easier to hug Steve’s wife, Robin, reassuring her, perhaps, by just being there, that “all will be well” some day, somehow.

Part of the journey, no matter how we feel, comes down to “Get up, get dressed and show up.”

Do life.

Sounds simple, formulaic.

Not easy.

Impossible, all by myself.

So another God gift to have dinner with David and Joyce Dixon Saturday night, missionaries in France for many years.

David was 8, Jud 5 when they first met at the Baptist Temple in Fall River where Jud’s Dad pastored.

SUNDAY I felt so aware of how life’s changed as I asked for a table for one at the Gloucester House on the harbor.

Love going there for brunch after church.

Usually with the family or friends but not today.

Ate quickly.

Happens when you eat alone, though I lingered awhile, sipping coffee and watching Gloucester fishermen unload their catch.

A harbor seal surfaced, while gulls circled and swooped, hoping to snatch some Sunday lunch off a dock.

Sunday sightings of folks who earn a living fishing, hauling, unloading, cooking, serving while I sit warm and snug in a small booth observing and enjoying the work of their hands. 

I’m sure they have days when they need supernatural help to “get up, get dressed and show up.”

Wondered how to communicate that “Christ who stands under them, understands them.”

As I left, Lily stopped me.(She’s the daughter of the owner.)

“My folks and I wanted to give you something, Jan.” (This tells you I’m a regular!) 

She then handed me a gift certificate.

An invitation to return.

Cried as I walked through the falling snow to my car.

“God, you are good. Your comfort comes in unexpected ways, like truths through the writings of others, like a ride to the memorial service (thank you Jamie K.), like prayer in the 

handbag aisle or dinner with friends from France or a gift certificate out of nowhere on yet another snowy day in March. 

Help me, Christ, to comfort as I’ve been comforted.

Thank you for the privilege of each day you entrust to me.

For one more chance to “Get up, dress up and show up.”

To do life.