Category Archives: flourishing tree

A grassroots compassion campaign

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compassion – (n) [kuhm-pash–uhn] a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering (Dictionary.com).

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In last Wednesday’s post, I wrote about the “parasol” God brought to Jonah’s pity party. That parasol was a vine shading Jonah from the heat of the day, and God used it to teach Jonah several lessons. One of those lessons was about the value of compassion, and that’s where I’d like for us to sit together for a while today.

Here again is the compassion part of God’s conversation with Jonah:

Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did
not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight
and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the
great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not
know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many
animals?” – Jonah 4:10-11

God’s main frustration with Jonah during his pity party was the lack of compassion he felt for the people – and animals, too – of Ninevah, the people who had heeded his warnings and put on sackcloth and fasted in hopes of turning away God’s wrath.

I wonder how often God gets frustrated with our own lack of compassion. Those moments when we make snap judgments about those around us or refuse to consider a person’s circumstances before dismissing them as unworthy of our time or patience or help. Those shameful encounters when we tear down even more instead of reaching out a hand to help back up. Those blind eyes we turn to others’ pain.

This struck me hard over the weekend after reading a blog post from a woman who was in that movie theater with her two teenage daughters. Yes, that theater. Though shaken emotionally, she felt compelled to share a message of her unshaken faith (and some amazing faith statements from her daughters) through her blog. The post went viral, and instead of her usual 30 or so readers, more than a million readers from around the world read her testimony to the goodness of God.

Most commented with compassion, but there were some who decided to tear her down instead. To call her selfish. To criticize her actions that night. To correct her grammar. Yes, you read that right. One commenter felt it important to write in to instruct her: It’s “champing at the bit,” not “chomping at the bit.” Continue reading →

When God brings a parasol to your pity party

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself praying for shade a lot this hot summer. I’m more grateful than usual when one of the rare spots under a tree in a parking lot is open. Clouds make me almost giddy when I’m out for a morning run. And I’ve even found myself thankful for a large truck’s shadow cast over my car while I wait at a traffic signal.

But I’ll admit. Sometimes I forget to be grateful for these gifts of shade and comfort. Sometimes I’m stuck in a one-woman pity party, and I can’t see past my own bad mood to acknowledge all that’s wonderful around me.

God had to know when He created us that we humans would tend toward pity parties. We have plenty of biblical pity parties to learn from, and in one of my favorites, God even brings a parasol to the party.

A parasol for a pity party?

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The enchanting garden

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One of the days my husband and I were out in Oregon, he came back from his morning run very pleased. He had a surprise to show me on the campus, one that he knew would delight me. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, though, not wanting to spoil the surprise.

Let me back up a moment to remark on the beauty of the University of Oregon’s campus. Both my husband and I attended universities that were of a mostly utilitarian, bricks-are-best style, and while in Eugene, we found ourselves commenting again and again what a pretty campus it is.

While my alma mater has an arboretum near the main campus, UO’s website boasts that its campus “is an arboretum” (emphasis mine). To call it an arboretum isn’t a stretch, considering the rest of the campus description: “… with museums, libraries, laboratories, and lecture halls situated among over 3,500 trees of more than 500 species. Bring in the harvest at the urban garden, explore the nearby historic cemetery, or walk along the banks of the Willamette River” (Source). They’re not exaggerating about the nature that is an integral part of the university.

Back to the day my husband took me off our usual path through campus. Here’s where our journey took us: Continue reading →

You’ll see these faces again

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Happy 4th of July!

What better way to celebrate than with some photos of our 2012 US Track & Field Olympians? The trials were amazing this year: Ashton Eaton earned a world record in the Decathlon, Julia Lucas broke our hearts with a 4th place finish in the women’s 5000 meters, and Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix made history of their own with a tie (to the thousandth of a second) in the Women’s 100 meter final. And their story put track & field in the news for longer than it might otherwise have been.

For ten days, we cheered and cried and gasped and applauded and put ponchos on and took them back off as we watched spellbound to see who would represent the United States in this year’s Olympic games. Here are just some of the faces you’ll see again in London.

The women’s 5000 meter final, early in the race

The winners in the women’s steeplechase: Shalaya Kipp (l), Bridget Franek and Emma Coburn. As the stadium announcer said of the incessant rain, “Every hurdle is a water jump today.”

The men’s 200 meter winners. Wallace Spearmon (center) will have a chance at redemption in this year’s Olympics. In the ’08 Olympics, he had begun a victory lap thinking he had medaled, only to have officials disqualify him for stepping over the lane line.

In her final jump, Brittney Reese had to protest the judge’s initial call that she had fouled. The jump was declared legal, and it gave her the win.

Leo Manzano and Andrew Wheating celebrate making the men’s 1500 team. Both are Olympic team repeats.

From left to right, Shannon Rowbury, Morgan Uceny and Jenny Simpson take a victory lap to celebrate making the women’s 1500 team.

Several US Olympians show off the uniforms they’ll be sporting in the games.

We celebrate our independence from England today, but our best athletes are on the bus headed to London, where they hope to take over and bring home the gold.

Our flag flies over Hayward Field. Happy 4th of July!

How are you celebrating the 4th? And which athletes do you most hope will bring home a medal from London?

Spectator sports

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Title IX turned the big 4-0 this past Saturday, and last week, one of my favorite NPR commentators Frank Deford reflected on what Title IX has done for women in sports but also on what it has yet to accomplish: turning women into fans of women’s sports. His commentary is well-worth a listen.

I wanted to get in a huff and tell him he was wrong about women not watching women’s sports (confession time: I talk back to the radio … a lot). But then I thought about the sports I grew up loving: men’s college basketball and college football. Oh, and this thing that happens every four years called the Olympic Games.

Women’s Steeplechase at the 2008 US Olympic Track & Field Trials

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