The Cupcake Caper

1 John 4: 11, 12: 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Restated: See each person as someone that God loves. Because God is love, we have the capacity to share God with others through acts of love. God in us, the Incarnation, is where God’s spirit is manifest and still working today. Love is not the easy road; dare to love! (Pastor Kathy)

My fingers wrapped around the cold metal handle. As I pulled the door open, I heard ringing in my ear, “Hello, Kathy!” in a young male voice. There sat two young Catholic men I had encountered one morning during Bagel ‘church’.

The theme song from cheers started playing in my head, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. . .” This is how my spirit was feeling now, as if the bagel shop was shaping a community of welcome and knowing one another more.

I entered further into the ‘sanctuary’ to give my usual order of bagel and cream cheese. My spirit quickened to see another young man who worked there that I had been building a relationship with. He always took the time to come out and check on me and ask about my crochet projects.

“How are you today?” I asked.

He proceeded to share how he had been awake since 5:30am, locked his keys in his apartment, called a locksmith, and somehow, after one hundred and seventy dollars later, got to work. I realized, you never really know what hardships people have encountered in their day even before they arrive at work. This was my opportunity to ask,

“Did you happen to get a cupcake last week?”

His face lit up and his voice raised; words marched through the teeth of his smile,

“That was you!!! Girl, that made my day!”

God had fine-tuned my spiritual radar within missional practice to not just reach out to the needy, the widow, or disabled, but to realize it was just as important to reach out to those who were caregivers of the needy, the widow and disabled. In this instance, it wasn’t even that. It was recognizing that those who serve us day in and day out needed someone to come along and say, “I appreciate you!”

Flash back a week ago: My daughter and I sat outside the Bagel shop feeding the birds and latching our looms with plush pieces of yarn. Our discussion landed on how we could be missional that morning. We wanted to let the manager of the bagel shop and one of the waiters next door at the local Italian restaurant that we had been building community with, know that we appreciated them.

Thus the cupcake caper was born! We excitedly crossed the street, entered the local cupcake place and picked out a sweet treat for each of them! We decided to stay anonymous.

So, I delivered my cupcake to the Italian waiter via a waitress waiting on a table outside! “Please give this to A. for me!” I smiled and returned to the bagel shop where my daughter was delivering her delightful delicacy. She handed over the goods to one of the workers who promised to give the sugary morsel to the manager when he wasn’t so busy.

The deed was done! Our missional caper was complete. Loving was defined by remembering and thanking those who served us and our community on a daily basis.

Young people I work with have told and taught me, ‘God is in the simple acts of kindness’. As the song from the show ‘Cheers’ says,

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.” Make a way with God’s love. It’s a little thing to give a cupcake away but it makes a big difference in a caregiver’s day. Participate in what God is up to. God’s love in a cupcake! Who knew?

Now Hiring!

I could write this blog about what happens when you don’t look where you are going but I’m not.

A huge ‘Thud!’ echoed in my left ear as I sat on the outside of the glass-paned facade of the bagel shop. I looked to my left to see inside the store a father consoling his young son who had run into the glass panel. I thought as most adults would, “He’s a child. He must not have been watching where he was going.” I casually went back to enjoying conversation with my daughter while working on my crochet.

My bagel was particularly delicious that day as I bit down on it! I thought, “I need to order my bagel this way more often: sesame seed with lox- spread cream cheese and Yes, lox on top!”

“Kabaam!!!” rang out in my left ear again. As I noticed the vibration of the glass and turned, I noticed birds and stars flinging their way around the head of a twenty-something young man, his knees buckled as if angels were trying to hold him there not to hit the floor. I abruptly dropped my bagel and with a quickened step, I opened the door located directly behind my chair where I was sitting.

His girlfriend looked frozen as if not knowing what to do. Holding his glasses in one hand and his face in the other, I persuaded the young man to sit down, take a minute, breath and get his bearings. With a consoling voice and my hand slowly rubbing his back, my motherly instincts kicked in. I tried to bring the young man some sense of comfort. He seemed completely stunned!

I’m telling this story because you would probably assume by the circumstances that these two incidences occurred because people weren’t looking where they were going. But, on further investigation, I found out that the bagel shop had their windows cleaned the day before. SO clean in fact, people thought the glass pane was an open door.

This may be a stretch but it got me thinking about a saying one of my favorite seminary professors used to say in class. “This missional work is messy business!”

What does Christianity that is ‘too clean’ look like? We think we may have a ‘clear’ idea about what God is up to but the way we practice our Christianity can end up spiritually running us into a pane of glass; it distorts what God really wants us to participate in for God’s glory.

The real way out that day was the actual door with a sign on it that said, “Now Hiring!”

It seems like God is still looking for workers to walk through the real door! A door that leads to the street and involves day to day living that glorifies God. In my missional church experience, this door leads to a real-world-not-so-clean-cut Christianity. Just look around and listen. The work is right there in front of you! Just walk through the door. God is still hiring!

Taking Chances

Feeling a little like Snow White or St. Francis of Assisi, I savored the taste of Salmon and cream cheese with every chew as tiny snow birds swooped down and made their landing on the sidewalk in front of me. I was trying to imagine what life must feel like from a bird’s perspective.

I prepared to share my bits of crusted bagel dripping with sesame seeds as an offering to the tiny nibblers. I calculatingly dropped the pieces in a row like the tempting crumbs left in the tale of Hansel and Gretel only this trail led closer to my chair where I was anticipating what the birds would do next.

I wanted to see which of the ten or so little snow birds would take the chance! The chance to get the ‘golden nugget’ sitting closest to ‘the giant’ that was me! One of the smallest balls of feathers with legs hesitated, cocked its head sideways, looked me in the eye and went for it. My heart responded with a leap of joy and a smile rippled its way across my face. I felt this little bird was teaching me more about life in that enticing instant.

In taking the chance to grab the nourishing morsel, the bird blessed my day! It made me wonder how many times we are given opportunities by God to bless someone else’s life. Sitting at the rod-iron table where I sit every Monday, sharing a communion experience with the birds reminded me of how much God takes a chance on us!

Deep in thought, I held my loom in my hand feeling the soft yellow yarn between my fingers as I rounded in rhythm the last row. Habitually, I had been making hats as I sat at the bagel shop; usually to grace the head of a newborn at the local hospital or shelter. But today, I took a chance!

This scenario seemed like a set-up from God to give me an opportunity to bless someone that day. At a short distance, I saw three women, one of them carrying a baby seat, sit down to eat. What were the chances? What does a bagel shop, a baby, a finished yellow baby hat and an ordained pastor make? An opportunity for a blessing! God was saying to me, take a chance and bless this child!

Some pastors bless children within the context of ritual and religion and God was asking me to bless this five week old newborn on the sidewalks of Baltimore. As I approached the table, I offered the little hat and placed it in the mother’s hands.

As she cradled her new son in her arms I asked, “What is his name?”

“Logan”, she replied.

“Blessing on you and Logan and on his new life”, I said as I lay hands on Logan’s mom.

Afterwards, I entered my car to leave and prayed for them. I praised God for using me as a pastor to give a blessing! I’m so glad I took the chance!

“Jesus, You Challenge Me!”

Can you imagine Jesus saying, “Lazarus, come forth!” and hearing a voice from the grave of a rag, wrapped body saying in response, “Jesus, you challenge me!” What Jesus asked many times was the unexpected and sometimes unexplainable. So how do we respond to the unexpected that Jesus asks of us? The young, rich man that thought he was ‘all that’ did not expect Jesus’ words “. . . Go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Matt. 19:20. NRSV) In response, his words were not written on the page but were blaring off the page because you know the young man was thinking the same thing we all were thinking, “Jesus, you challenge me!”

Jesus not only challenged the rich of his day but also the religious leaders. This in my book makes Jesus super cool! Jesus wanted us to know it wasn’t just the ‘average Joe’ holding a stone in his hand; it was the religious institution. The religious leaders in an attempt to trap Jesus were so eager to throw stones in judgment of a woman they knew was condemned by the religious laws. But Jesus turned the tables over (figuratively) and pointed out (I believe even for us today) that those persons judged the harshest were the ones who stood ready with rocks in hand, arms cocked back. . . waiting! The temple itself cried out that day, “Jesus you challenge me!”And I think the church still needs to cry audibly these words! Jesus wasn’t in the business of making people comfortable and the miraculous happened many times in moments of discomfort!

With the smell of French fries in the air and grease sliding down my chin at the first juicy bite of my Philly cheese steak, those unexpected words came flying through the air in my direction as if someone took Jesus up on his dare to let go of a stone. “Kathy, you challenge me!”, reached my startled ears. I decided to catch that stone instead of letting it hit me in the head! I admired my friend who was sitting across from me for bringing this to my attention. I assumed it was our differences in belief about women in ministry or my different ideas about mission and church that she was referring to. In that moment, I was reminded that God many times placed Jesus at the same table with people who did not think like him or for that matter who didn’t particularly like him!

I had no doubt that God had put me and my new friend at the same table that day to take rocks out of each other’s hands and instead enjoy the savory taste of time together. God could melt any boundaries that we had pre-set in order to learn from one another and build relationship. And therein lay God’s miraculous work that day.

There was no question my friend and I shared a love for God. That was not the spicy rub. It was in fact, could we find it in ourselves to love one another despite our differences? Perhaps it’s in those moments that God challenges us to put down a stone rather than to pick one up and learn how to love each other as God loved us. “Jesus, please keep challenging us!”

Feeding Trinity

Genesis 18: 1 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day, 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves. . .”

The cool of the day brushed across my face as I was contemplating the idea of missional church as a “tent”. This was just one of my deep thoughts as the coolness of Coke hit my throat. At the Bagel shop I found myself a creature of habit choosing to eat at the same table as I usually do. The breeze woke me from my “before-caffeine” slumber and made me observe my surroundings.

I looked up and saw three young men sitting near me at the next table. As I listened to their conversations, I realized that God intended for us to meet that day. In our time together on that busy city street, we talked about God, worship, mission, and each person’s life story. It was a way of refreshing our spirits. Our exchange represented a living word that fed the soul. I felt like we didn’t just experience a relaxing morning together but in our day God created a “tent”; on a Baltimore sidewalk, at a table with a red umbrella outside of a bagel shop, where we were stopped, our feet were washed, the bread of life was shared and our spirits were refreshed. In other words, we all could feel that Trinity was among us.

It is in these moments that I feel we feed Trinity. Abraham did not hesitate to bring water, bread and prepare a meal for the three travelers that passed by his tent that day. He prepared for them a calf and milk (perhaps today’s equivalent would be a hamburger and a shake) set it before them and stood by them under a tree while they ate. (Gen. 18:7,8) In his acts of hospitality he was not just encountering three men or three angels that day. Trinity was present and engaged. In our everyday encounters, like mine with these three young men, I believe Trinity is still present and engaged.

Abraham’s response when the three men drew near to his tent was to run to them, greet them and ask them to please not just pass by. Do we eagerly embrace the God moments with the people we encounter in the everyday? Perhaps God is found in the profound exchange of the human experience. I found myself asking, do we create a “tent” to be a host to the Holy Spirit? Do we create places of hospitality where Trinity is fed?

I don’t believe in chance encounters. I don’t think Abraham did either. He knew who he was caring for, nurturing and being relational with. Abraham’s encounter that day not only taught who Abraham was but who God was. Trinity was present, in the midst, relational and interacting in a very personal and contextual way.
Conversation over Coke, coffee and bagels at a quaint little shop on the side of a noisy Baltimore street seemed eerily similar.

“Why don’t you come and join us!” were the words that rang through the air in my direction.

I could have declined the invitation of these three young men.But I felt compelled to get up, go and sit at their table. I had a sense that Trinity was about to be fed.

Jesus would Never Go Hungry if Bagels were on Every Corner!

“It is one thing to see ourselves as being Jesus to “the least of these” but it is another to see ” the least of these” as Jesus. . .” (Pastor Kathy)

I read the ticket.
“Number 165!” was shouted into the air with an Italian accent along with the wonderful aromas of garlic and onions.

Two cups and two bagels were placed on the counter for me to pick up. I had recognized the voice.
“Chow!” I said as the young man behind the counter gave me a wink and a nodd of his head. He knows me well enough now since I frequent the local businesses where he is employed almost every week. We both eased into the thoughts of what the day might require of each of us.

I had prayed that morning when I awoke, “God, at the Bagel shop, bring across my path someone you want me to encounter and help me to be Jesus to them. Amen.”

Routinely, I had parked my car across the street but this particular morning was not my usual encounter.

Turning off my engine,and checking my rear view mirror there he stood. A black man, short in stature, and rugged in appearance,he patiently waited for me to exit the car.

“Hello, sir, how can I help you today?”

“Do you think you could spare a little change?”

As we walked to the ticket machine our conversation continued, “What do you need that for?”

His eyes pierced mine, “Just so I can go and get a little something to eat” he said in a quieting, nonthreatening voice.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“My name is James.”

“James? I like that name. I have a brother named James.”

“My name’s Kathy, why don’t you join me. I’ll buy you a bagel and coffee. Do you like coffee?”

“Why yes, I do!” I could tell he was a little hesitant with the thought of going with me.

“Come with me to the Bagel shop across the street. I’ll go in, buy the food and then we can sit outside and share a meal together.”

“Well, I don’t know, they threw me out of that place.”

“Why did they do that?” I asked already calculating the answer.

“For asking people for change.”

“You don’t have to go in” I explained, “Just wait here by the tables and I’ll be right back.”

When I returned, James was nowhere to be found.

So I decided when I was ready to leave, I would set the coffee and bagel somewhere in the parking with the thought that if James frequented by there again, the hot bagel and coffee would be waiting for him. Crossing the street I looked for a reasonable place to put it.

At one corner of the lot stood a large flat surface atop one of those big, green electrical boxes that come out of the ground. I thought, “I’ll walk over there and leave it for him.”

When I got a closer look, I just had to laugh. Already sitting there, wrapped in crisply folded white paper was another bagel! I guess I was not the only person James had approached that morning. But I thought, at least he would now have breakfast and a lunch waiting for him.

What did Jesus mean when he said, “For when I was hungry, you gave Me food. . .”?

That day, I had gone fully prepared to be Jesus to someone else by providing a meal. But what I felt God was challenging me with was a deeper question; when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a black man, short in stature and rugged in appearance, did I see Jesus?

This man was nothing like me. He didn’t look like any picture I had ever seen hanging in my Sunday school class. And yet when I reached out to James that day, God was teaching me where Jesus was!

What if we were in the habit of buying one extra bagel or one extra coffee and leaving it on the street corner? There is something in that Incarnational, communal way of living that tells me Jesus would never go hungry! What if I re-imagined my image of Jesus. Where would I find him?

As a result of that encounter, even my prayers became more inclusive.
This week I prayed,”For James, God’s Blessings! Amen.”

A Reuben Sandwich Saves the Day!

“Sharing food feeds the soul of the other. . .” (Pastor Kathy)

Jesus ministry was many times Lake side. Mine happens to be pool side; pastor sleuth that I am looking for God opportunites around every corner. Sitting at The Diner with my daughter, I casually ate lunch knowing I would be hitting the pool later that day.

Out of the blue I said, “Do you think I should order a Reuben for the lifeguard at our pool?”

Freeze! Quick back story: Entertaining and offering hospitality to the stranger has been God’s directing force in my life over the past 3 or more years. The lifeguard at my apartment’s pool is a friendly twenty-something that happens to be in the United States for the first time and away from his family in Serbia.

Action! I felt the Holy Spirit nudging my finger in the air to catch the Korean waiter’s attention.

“One Reuben to go, please”, were the words that came out of my watering mouth at the thought of one.

After lunch, I was excited to surprise my new acquaintance with a sandwich full of meat! In previous conversations around cultural foods, the young man had told me how much he loved meat and missed the food of his country! The Diner had a great reputation for piling the corned beef a handspan high. Mounted on top sat succulant, sassy sauerkraut,and sweltering swiss. It wouldn’t truly be a reuben without it’s rose-red, Russion dressing; “the cherry” on top.

At pool side, I delivered the goods. Raising the bag in the air above my head, I yelled across the water, “Meat, my friend, I brought you meat!”He looked at me from across the pool and acknowledged me with a smile. I placed the bag on the nearest umbrellaed table and left.

Later, I came back to bask in the sun and enjoy a dip in the pool. I must admit, I was curious whether or not my Serbian friend enjoyed the meal I had offered.

What I found out that day is it wasn’t so much about the food but the act of sharing it!

He approached and spoke to me in broken English with a Slavic Accent, “Thank you so much! The sandwich made my day!”

He went on to explain how this had been his worse day at work because someone had come in the night and thrown about 20 metal chairs, a couple of tables and umbrellas into the pool.

That particular morning when God was prompting my hand in the air to order him a sandwich, my new friend was taking 2-3 hours to clean out the pool. The work was exhausting. But somehow I had the spiritual sense that in the act of showing hospitality to “the stranger” that day, God was using me to renew my new friend’s hope in humanity at a time when he was having doubts.

It was in the breaking of bread on the road to Emmaus that the disciples eyes were opened to who Jesus was. It was in the sharing of fish to feed Jesus after his resurrection that the disciples believed Jesus was alive again. Post-Christ, living in the era of the sending of the Holy Spirit, God still moves, and works, and has God’s being in the act of sharing food today. Opportunities are everywhere! Open your eyes. Feed Jesus!

I’ve witnessed over and over that God uses food to feed the soul of the other. . .
In this case it was simply a Reuben sandwich saving the day!

“Do not neglect…

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

Restated: ” Being invitational by offering a meal, friendship, time and your home, especially to someone new to this country, speaks God’s love more than empty words.” (Pastor Kathy)

Who’s Sitting at Your Table?

  “I’ll have a garlic bagel with cream cheese and lox and a fountain drink”, I said as I anticipated with excitement who the Holy Spirit would put across my path that morning. I had the Hulk, Spiderman and Thor half flung over my shoulder; their images imprinted on the bag that held my tools for breaking the ice when meeting new people.

Intentionally, I sat outside the bagel shop at a rod-iron table to feel the pleasant coolness of the breeze on my face even though it was already June.

As I savored the variety of flavors in my mouth and contemplated my choice of soda over coffee, I was hoping God would savor my desire to encounter someone who was in need of God’s love and presence.

I decided to pull from my bag multi-colored skeins of yarn and a crochet needle. The rhythm of the day began. With each single crochet I prayed, gave a glance and a smile to each passerby.

 Appearing in her early 20’s wearing the American flag across her chest, a Chinese girl began to sit at the table in front of me.

“Hello” I said, “Beautiful day! Are you from this area?”

She said in her broken English, “I am new here.”

I let her know I was new to Baltimore as well. But then I asked her how long she had been in America and she said 4 months. In that moment, I knew then what God wanted me to do.

I said, “Do you like to practice your English?”

A smile stretched its way across her face and she willingly asked, “Can I sit with you?”

We talked like old souls with fresh spirits. We exchanged our stories as well as our phone numbers that day.

Around the last bite of bagel and last sip of coffee, she looked at me and said, “I don’t have any friends here.”

I replied, “Now you do!”

Tension seemed to fall from her shoulders as she acknowledged, “You are my first friend!”

So many times young people ask me,”How can I do anything for God? I don’t have any gifts, talents or money.”

My reply is to remember God is served in the simple acts of human exchange. By sharing the gift of presence and in this case the simple act of offering the language of English, God’s love was shared and expressed over bagels and coffee.

I was just wondering, who’s sitting at your table?

“For where two …

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew)
restated: “When someone sits at my table at the bagel shop, God’s Spirit sits with us also.” (PastorKathy)

Community building is God’s work not ours. We choose to be a part of it or not. The question is what kind of community building is God up to? What does it look like? Ask the question, Who is sitting at your table? Perhaps it looks different than the institutionalized church. Dare to find out!