"At a dinner party in the late 19th century, the French playwright Victorien Sardou spilled a glass of wine. The woman sitting next to him sprinkled salt on the stain, and a superstitious Sardou picked up some of the salt and threw it over his shoulder for luck. The salt went straight into the eye of a waiter about to serve him some chicken. The waiter dropped the platter, and the family dog pounced on the chicken. A bone lodged in the dog's throat, and when the son of the host attempted to pull it out, the dog bit him. His finger had to be amputated." Compiled by Charles Stough, Wire Services.

Bad things happen. Some might say, the playwright suffered from bad karma. Others might comment on the immediate cause and effect relation in that quick run of accidents. But notice in the gospel that Jesus refused to speculate on why bad things happen, and most definitely stated that, in the larger view, we cannot insist on a cause and effect relationship between bad behavior and sudden death or disaster. Jesus point-of-view is remarkable. He says, in effect, don’t waste your time and energy worrying about the reasons for what the insurance companies mistakenly call, "acts of God." In fact, he says, such speculation is even an evasion of dealing with the issues of our own lives! Don’t obsess on the disasters everywhere in the world. Instead, consider to what extent your own life is a disaster! Unless you turn back to God, you will likewise perish.

Back in 1968 there a film appeared that is now a cult classic: "The Night of the Living Dead." In its day that Zombie movie frightened people with the terrors of the dead coming back to do murder and mayhem. More recently stories and films about vampires are very popular. I wonder if such scary themes are a commentary on our society. I wonder if the deep unconscious that guides our lives is showing that we are in danger of becoming the "living dead."

Think about it. Our society and our churches seem lost in a tossing sea of causes, agendas, moralistic ranting, with little or no sign of the peace of God. We have everything material and very little spiritually. This situation exists even in our churches. As evangelist Jim Glynn has commented: "American churches have everything but God." Well, that may be overstating the case, but the point is worth thinking about. After all, bad things happen to people every day, but do those things cause us to turn back to God, or just sink us deeper into a stinking grave of complaint and malice? We could be in danger of becoming spiritual zombies! Unless you turn back to God, you will likewise perish.

Saint Paul, writing to the Galatian Christians, who were in grave danger of losing the life of God in their little church, described the horrors that happen when we are not God-directed, and for shock value, I use the translation of Eugene Peterson in his version of the New Testament called The Message:

[Paul writes:] It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. The Message, page 401, based on Galatians 5:19-21

Truly such a lifestyle, such a decrepit community is a disaster! And it seems to describe much of what we confront every day of our lives. But, Unless you turn back to God, you will likewise perish.

Turning back to God—metanoia—means turning around to focus on living God’s way, not our way. Please consider this important pastoral advice then: in this age of TV tell all talks shows and psycho-babble, don’t follow their demonic example. Don’t go on and on about your problems and complaints with anyone who will listen. Too much talking about our problems and complaints only adds to the communities stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage. Worst of all, the more we talk to anyone who will listen, the farther we are getting from the kind of meeting with God we really need.

Am I saying that we go should back to the old ways and never talk to anyone about our problems? No, but I am saying, be spiritually appropriate. Find one person who is spiritually based and wise and whom you trust, and pour out your troubles and your ill feelings to them only. The title for such a person is spiritual director. It’s a good title, because it indicates the role they are to play: never to try to fix you or quickly comfort you, or worse, yet, always agree with your assessment of your situation, but always direct you to turn again and again to God, in whom you will find the answer, as the Psalmist knew: We sang earlier: "My soul is thirsting, my soul is thirsting, my soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God."

Bad things happen! Lots of bad things happen. But think now about Jesus’ parable of the Fig Tree. We can see him as the gardener. Letting Christ the gardener work on the tree of our lives is the only chance we have to avoid becoming disasters ourselves! For unless we turn our lives over to God every day, in order to let Christ work on them, we risk becoming spiritually dead!

Remember, Christ the gardener does not want any fruitless tree cut down. He asks the owner to let him work on it a bit longer. He takes the manure of our suffering and with the Cross works it into the soil around our spiritual roots, so that our thirsty souls find their connection with the living waters of the Holy Spirit. And when that happens, then, Christ knows, this tree will bear fruit, luscious, beautiful, and fragrant with grace. And the "fruit of the Spirit" as Paul identifies them are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

But listen now to Eugene Peterson rendering of Paul’s words:

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. The Message, page 401

In a world of disaster, let us remember, good happens, too: God is the good that happens, and Christ is the life of the truly living. And therefore, children of God know that it’s not karma, but grace that we celebrate here. Amen.