Theo of Golden - Reflections (5)

 Theo of Golden – Reflections (5)

I read the last words of Theo of Golden to Vickie yesterday evening. At points my voice was quivering and my eyes were moist; like playing a piece of music, I honored the “rest” symbols. Better yet, the rest symbols forced themselves on me. As Vickie listened, her face was in motion, her eyes bright one moment, sad the next, her expressions many.

If we could speak with Lamisha, perhaps she would tell us that experiencing Theo is like experiencing music at the Bet. At the Bet the notes fly up into lights hanging from the ceiling, later to appear once again. In reading Theo the words enter our souls, bringing images and conversations and joys and sorrows and hopes and challenges, appearing again and again. On a bench by a fountain we see and experience heaven and earth kissing, we see the Face of God. 

In Psalm 27:8 we read, “When You said, Seek My Face, my heart said to You, Your face O LORD, I shall seek.” O that we would know that our kind and loving heavenly Father desires us to see His Face. Do we not see His Face in Jesus? Jesus says, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).  

Our loving God’s promise to us is that we will indeed see His Face in its fulness and that His Name, His Nature, will be in us, we shall be One with Him, and in Him One with one another (Revelation 21:1 – 8; 22:1 – 5; John Chapter 17). No wonder Theo is looking forward to heaven.

Theo of Golden helps us visualize how seeing the Face of God, and being the Face of God, might look on this journey; it presents possibilities as to how we might experience the Presence of Christ with others in this life. Perhaps Theo is a romance, a dance of heaven and earth, heaven and earth kissing each other on a bench at the Fedder. 

“Lovingkindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven” (Psalm 85:10 – 11). 

Is there not a sense in which every face is the Face of God? Are we not all created in His image and likeness? Shall we be like Cleave and desecrate faces, or shall we be as Theo and honor the people around us, serving them, encouraging them, seeing beauty and potential in them…no matter how different from us they may be? (How different are we really from one another? Do we not all have hopes and dreams and pain and worries?)

In honoring the faces around us, are we not honoring God? I use the word “honor” in the sense of acknowledging worth and preciousness, of recognizing the image of God in humanity…as messed up as we may be. 

Jeremiah laments, “How dark the gold has become, how the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out at the corner of every street. The precious sons [and daughters] of Zion, weighed against fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen jars, the work of a potter’s hands!” (Lamentations 4:1 – 2). 

As Jeremiah surveyed the destruction of his beloved Jerusalem, the gold appeared as earthen rubble, but the prophet knew that he was really looking at gold. Theo knew that he was seeing gold in Golden; he was experiencing a golden year with golden people in a city named Golden, why even the leaves dropping from the trees were golden. Furthermore, out of the suffering and pain of the people around him, indeed out of his own pain and suffering, life and hope and love sprouted, grew, and bore healing fruit; fruit to be shared with others. 

I am challenged not only to see the Face of God in others, but also to desire that I present the Face of God to others. Aren’t we called to say with Jesus, “He who has seen me has seen the Father?” Aren’t we called to be conformed to the very image of the Firstborn Son (Romans 8:29)?

If we are indeed the Body of Christ, then shouldn’t those who see us see the Face of Christ? Ought we not to be collectively portraying the Face of Jesus Christ? Ought we not as individuals, by God’s grace, to be seeing others through the eyes of Jesus? Ought not our hearts to be beating as Jesus’s heart? 

As much joy as I find in Theo of Golden, I must say that I also find much challenge and godly conviction. 

The New Jerusalem seems to be primarily made of gold, holy and pure and transparent gold. Perhaps Golden is a pathway that leads to that eternal city, perhaps Golden is a reflection of that City as it unveils itself in our lives, on this earth. There are precious stones in the New Jerusalem, there are precious lives in Golden. 

We all have our own Goldens, and there are precious lives in them. We all have our own Promenades, with their communities, with their disparate people. 

Wherever we are, our Father has placed us there. Shall we find our fountains, shall we find our benches, shall we drink from our chalices, and shall we be Jesus to others? 

O yes, and will we allow others to be Jesus to us? 

The Sacraments of Life (4)

Coffee Mugs (3)

Our mugs from Alaska were given to us by Letisa. I worked with Letisa during the last seven years of my career in multifamily management. Letisa’s parents lived in Alaska, though they were originally from Harrisonburg, VA. When I think of dear Letisa I think of “family.” I think of her mom, her grandmother, and of her entire extended family. I also think of the entire group of wonderful property managers I had the joy of serving with during those years. 

I first met Letisa when she worked for my friend Gloria (more on Gloria in another reflection). The apartment community that Letisa managed for Gloria was being sold to another owner and our company needed to find another job for Letisa so that she could stay with our firm, which valued long-term employees. I had a property on Chamberlayne Avenue in Richmond that needed an assistant manager and so we offered Letisa that position, which she accepted, until another manager’s job opened up.

I was new to the firm, and so I was learning both the company and my portfolio, which consisted of apartment communities in Richmond and Petersburg, VA. One of the vital elements of learning my portfolio was learning about the people who operated each property, from the managers, to leasing agents, to maintenance folks, to grounds keepers and custodians. Every person mattered; everyone was important. I was also learning about my clients, some were individuals and some were financial institutions. 

We also brought another employee from Letisa’s property over to our Chamberlayne Ave. community, I’ll call her Jane. Jane had also worked for Gloria for a while and we were committed to keeping her employed; once again, this was a core value with our firm and I really appreciated this and still do as I look back. Our challenge with Jane was that I couldn’t justify her as a full-time employee at just one property, but I could justify her presence at two properties, splitting her hours during each week. Our plan was that once a position opened where she could work at just one location that we’d assign her to that community. 

To my surprise, Jane wanted nothing to do with our plan and quit. She was angry that she would have to split her week between two locations and resigned. This isn’t the only time something like this happened during my career, and I’ve never really understood it. In every instance motives were assigned to “management” or to me that simply weren’t valid, we were attempting to keep people employed and because they didn’t like the circumstances, they either resigned or the misunderstandings (let us call them that) led to soured relationships. 

One reason these occasions have puzzled me is that there was a time in my own life when my boss did all he could to keep me employed during a corporate layoff. I was with a national homebuilder in the late 70s – early 80s when mortgage rates of 18 – 21% caused a slowdown in residential construction. When he was told that my position was being eliminated, he called the president of our division and went to bat for me, according to what the president later told me he said, “We’ve got to keep Bob employed.” 

The result was that I was transferred from a position that I enjoyed, from a boss that I loved working for, to a new environment with new opportunities – not having any idea how close I’d come to unemployment. While I had no idea at the time, the transfer would open doors that led to my career in property management as well as to seminary. An added blessing was that I also enjoyed my new position, had another great boss, learned, was challenged, and had fun. 

Perhaps because I’ve never forgotten what my boss Dave did for me when I faced unemployment, I’ve always tried to keep others employed. Another reason is that I deeply believe that we are called to be blessings to others, just as our heavenly Father is a blessing to us. Whether folks appreciate this or not is pretty much irrelevant to me, for we don’t always appreciate the kindness of our Father yet He still sends us refreshing rain and warm sunshine (Matthew 5:43 – 48). 

Not long after Letisa came to work for me, I had to replace the manager of her community, she was in over her head and she wouldn’t accept coaching (there are those who do and those who don’t, both in the marketplace and in the church world). I offered Letisa the position but she turned it down. The community in question was in a tough financial situation with many challenges, it had been repossessed by a financial institution which had retained our firm, and we were charged with turning the property around and putting it on a sound footing. The pressure in these situations can be intense – a client’s expectation is weekly improvement – they often don’t care to take the long view. 

I’ve never asked Letisa why she turned my offer down the first time, maybe she was uncertain about me, maybe it was the formidable challenge. I then made a bad hire, a really bad hire. This happens, you think you are making a good decision and you aren’t.

The new manager turned out to be a dictator, mistreating employees, contractors, residents. I think she lasted less than two weeks, better to admit your mistakes and protect people than close your eyes to the truth. I’ve made some good hires, bad hires, and mediocre hires over the years, but this hire was likely the worst and the employee’s tenure the shortest of any hire. 

I went back to Letisa and asked her, “Well, do you want me to try this again, or do you want the job?” She accepted the manager’s position and did a stellar job. 

This led to a vacant assistant manager’s position, and our hire for that position became not only a wonderful manager on my team, but became a life-long friend for Letisa – they are like sisters, quite the duo. 

I wrote above than when I see my Alaska mugs and think of Letisa that I think of “family.” I really think of two families, I think of my work family, represented by Letisa and her colleagues, and I think of Letisa’s family. Vickie and I loved (and love) both families. More on this in a future reflection. 

Seeing life as a sacrament means seeing Jesus and His grace in all of life, including our vocational life. Every relationship matters. Every person matters. Every day is an opportunity to learn and grow in Jesus and to serve others. The way we treat others matters, for we are the daughters and sons of the Living God. The workplace is sacred just as our gatherings on Sunday are sacred, just as our interactions with neighbors are sacred.

Our loving God comes to us throughout every day, in every way; Jesus is always appearing to us, and hopefully He is touching others through us, whether they realize it or not, whether they sense it or not. 

Life is indeed sacramental in Christ. 

"Not in the Correct State"

Recently my computer slowed to a crawl, it was so slow that had I taken it for a walk a turtle could have out paced it. The culprit? AI. AI was eating up resources. Microsoft had installed AI during a weekly update without my permission – what else is new? 

Once I disabled AI things went back to normal, which for an old computer is not that good, but it gets the job done. I have deep concerns about AI, ethical concerns, and spiritual concerns, but this isn’t the piece in which to explore them. I’ll say this, if you don’t know who you are before you use AI, you certainly won’t find out who you are if you use it. In elements of AI we are abdicating our personhood formed in the image of God, we are exchanging the glory of God for a mess of gruel…a poor exchange I think. 

Lately a message has been frequently appearing after booting up and starting WORD: 

“The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.” 

When a computer is as old as ours you don’t like to see anything out of the norm because it could always be the BIG ONE, the problem that can’t be fixed, the car that breaks down on the side of the road that is destined for the junk yard. 

About 7 years ago our 1994 Ford Ranger pickup stopped running as I was driving it to the small engine shop to get 2-cycle oil. It was a 5-speed, sweet little vehicle. We had purchased it from Vickie’s brother Rod who had a small used-car dealership north of Des Moines. When we lived in Massachusetts, in the winter we’d put studded tires on it, throw firewood in the bed, and we could drive it anywhere in the snow. At the time of its breakdown, we drove it less than 300 miles a year, short trips to Lowes, Home Depot, and the dump were the extent of its use. As a practical matter it didn’t make sense to put any more money into the little truck, so we gave it to the young man who was operating the tow truck – he was quite happy. It was our pleasure to both give it away and to spare the pickup from the ignominy of the junk yard. 

“The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.” 

When I read these words on my computer screen I wonder if they are true about me. Am I in a place today where I can respond to the Holy Spirit? Am I in a state of being where I can be a blessing to others?

I am easily distracted. My own wants and needs and worries often deaden my sensitivity to our Lord Jesus and to others. There are times I go to the store, get what I want, begin the drive home and then realize that I didn’t pay attention to people while in the store. This shames me before our Lord Jesus, this ought not to be. There have been countless times when I’ve met people while shopping and have been able to encourage them, pray with them, and leave them with something to think about in Christ.

The same is true with our neighbors. Sometimes I am in a good state in which to be a blessing, and sometimes I’m too self-centered to respond to others in our Lord Jesus. 

In WWII allied bombers dropped strips of aluminum foil into the sky to confuse Axis radar, they called it chaff. I don’t know about you but I’m always dealing with chaff. Chaff confuses me, it distracts me from Jesus and people, it diverts my attention from things that matter. Talking heads scatter chaff. Advertising is chaff. Chaff is dispersed from Washington all the way down to the local level, from Hollywood, from Wall Street, and from many religious institutions. 

If we are going to avoid getting locked in on chaff we will do well to recall the Great Commandment:

“The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29 – 31).

Then we have, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12 – 13). 

And then, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). 

I think that in order to be in the correct state to respond to the Holy Spirit that we need to be in a state of loving God and others, a state of living for others, a state of laying our lives down for others. The shape of our lives is to be cruciform (Galatians 2:20; 6:14). 

I want to be responsive to the Holy Spirit throughout the day, I want to be drawn deeper into the fellowship of the Trinity with each breath I take. I want to keep learning and growing in Jesus and with my brothers and sisters.

What about you? 

Are we living in the correct state to perform the requested operation?