And whenever Everette is feeling sad she prays to Jesus to make her happy. It is all about seeing life with His mercy.

Help me, O LORD my God; save me for Your mercy’s sake. Psalm 109:25

In effect, Francis said through his lifestyle, "I will delight in powerlessness, humility, poverty, simplicity, and failure." He lived so close to the bottom of things that there was no place to fall. Even when insulted, he did not take offence. Now that is freedom, or what he called "perfect joy"! Lady Julian put it best of all: "First there is the fall, and then we recover from the fall. Both are the mercy of God!" –Richard Rohr

Let us give thanks to the LORD for His mercy and the wonders He does for His children. For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:8–9

Santorini

Mykonos

Istanbul

Naples

Ravenna

Bagnacavallo

Denver

Well, there is no end to the good things, especially at Trader Joe’s. Everyone was coming over to see the photos from The Grand Tour. So Mary Anne and I decided to try and capture the complete overwhelmingness of deliciousness of Turkey and Greece and Italy. So we served salami cacciatore and prosciutto and capocollo and four kinds of olives and grape leaves wrapped around rice and spinach and feta pita bakes and lemon chicken and tzatziki sauce and orzo pasta and a Greek salad and a Caprese salad with marinated mozzarella balls and basil out of the garden and a big basket of pitas and blood orange juice and red and white table wine and of course the blue bottles of water.

And Alan set up the overhead projector and we watched the past six-and-a-half weeks of life, starting with the arrival of Miss Simone Rose pass before our eyes. Inadequately captured, even by panoramic iPhone shots of the sun setting down around Santorini, or fisheye GoPro shots of The Blue Mosque or even short video clips with sounds of happy singing and dancing Franciscan friars and nuns leading six hundred young adults into happy singing and dancing.

Then after Daniel cleared away the dishes, Mary Anne brought out fresh-from-Jenny’s-garden rhubarb pie with big scoops of Costco vanilla ice cream on it.

And it wasn’t even about the crammed full table or the folders of iPhotos, but the people crowded on the picnic benches. And Everette was a little tired because Mimi didn’t get her down for a nap even after watching Daniel Tiger and reading Angelina and the Princess four times, but Dustin was ever-so-patient as he carried her outside for her three-minute time out and then rocked her through The Wheels on the Bus, even after a long day of replacing coolers on trailer roofs in 108 degree temperatures. And Brandon was pretty tired too, but he had a few stories about job shadowing in an ambulance before he drifted off, curled up in the orange chair. And Scott was quiet and listening while Jack asked good questions. And Simone snuggled and snacked neatly wrapped around her momma, and Adam and Dre are both learning new jobs that are hard and humbling but a little hopeful in the long run. And Mary Anne told about the Turkish scrubbing bubble bath and deniz’s joy of sharing her city Istanbul’s beauty and of the deep blue of the Aegean Sea and of the focused affection of the Italian guy singing and hugging refugee children and the chin-wiggling love of the Borrelli family and of sweet conversations in Lugo and long walks along white sand beaches and the deep, deep peace and Presence which permeates Assisi.

Let us give thanks for His mercy.

And Mile High Vineyard was finishing up their annual summer series, Reel Faith, with clips from the life of Gandhi. And we watched a man humbly follow the teaching of Christ more closely than the so-called Christ-followers. And he walked through humiliation and danger and questions of integrity with quiet strength and courage, that which Richard Rohr would call “freedom” and what Francis called “perfect joy,” because that is what Paul called it, to count it pure joy when we encounter various trials and tribulations.

And sometimes His mercy doesn’t look like heaped-up plates of deliciousness. But mercy it is, for His glory’s sake. And the preacher ended his Gandhi sermon with this question, Jesus, is there anywhere in my life where I can humble myself and repent first?

Because blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for His name’s sake.

For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

 Let us give thanks to the LORD for His mercy and the wonders He does for His children.

Pure affection.

The Lord is my shepherd and nothing is wanting to me. In green pastures He has settled me. Psalm 23:1

Meditating on the Cross

CAC's logo, an oval framing two intersecting arrows forming the cross of Christ, shows a collision of opposites. One arrow leads downward, preferring the truth of the humble. The other moves leftward against the grain. All is wrapped safely inside a hidden harmony: one world, God's cosmos, a benevolent universe. The Celtic cross also places the vertical and horizontal bars within a circle, embracing the suffering of Christ within our own human context and God's eternal love. Spend some time meditating on an image of the cross. Allow your body, mind, and heart to be completely present to the suffering of Jesus. Welcome your own memories or sensations of pain, sorrow, grief. Hold them gently within the circle of God's presence--God's solidarity with human suffering. See if you can hold the suffering with God and, at the same time, rest in faith that from every death comes new life; in every wound there is the opportunity for healing and hope. –Richard Rohr

O God, You have taught me to keep all your commandments by loving you and my neighbor: Grant me the grace of Your Holy Spirit, that I may be devoted to You with my whole heart, and united to others with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And Jenny told me a story today of pure affection, of the gift of presence. And how, in the midst of busy rush rush during a busy rush rush trip to San Diego, Britta sat next to her. Silently. Being. Aware. Noticing.

And maybe the whole deal with the Falling Upward second half of my life will be this quiet charity. May it be the whole deal.

Shoving the checklists to one side.

Andres told us that his new life of love for God is listening. He loves God by inviting pilgrims up the stairs for a café con leche and listening. And he doesn’t even need to tell his own story.

Richard Rohr has lots of thoughts to share on what this would look like.

Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change.

It’s a gift to joyfully recognize and accept our own smallness and ordinariness. Then you are free with nothing to live up to, nothing to prove, and nothing to protect. Such freedom is my best description of Christian maturity, because once you know that your “I” is great and one with God, you can ironically be quite content with a small and ordinary “I.” No grandstanding is necessary. Any question of your own importance or dignity has already been resolved once and for all and forever.

People who’ve had any genuine spiritual experience always know that they don’t know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love, which is incomprehensible to the mind.

We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.

So what does this new living look like?

I don’t know. And I have the reminder from Tom Hanks, “Aren’t you worried?” and the calm response from the guilty spy, “Would it help?”

So I woke up once in the middle of my fourteen-hour-sleep adjustment to the new time zone. And the song with which I rocked myself back to sleep was My Glory and the Lifter of my head.

And He is a shield to me. Against the darts of accusation and fear and self. All those lies from the enemy.

And I can sort of start daydreaming about what is going to be like to teach American history and physical science to eighth graders and Writing Workshop to language learners. And how it can be engaging and purposeful and I got a fresh perspective from wandering around Istanbul and Greece and Italy. Gianni told me a lot of stories about World War II in Naples. Twenty thousand Napolese fell victim to three years of indiscriminate allied bombing. But there was a four-day unarmed uprising against the German occupiers in which they were forced to abandon the city in before the arrival of the allied forces, for which the city was awarded a gold medal of valor. Gianni sort of described it as a scene out of Les Miserables.

Most importantly, I will look these fourteen-year-olds in the eye and pause. Silently. Being. Aware. Noticing.

The most common one-liner in the Bible is, "Do not be afraid." Someone counted, and it occurs 365 times.

One arrow leads downward, preferring the truth of the humble. The other moves leftward against the grain.

My Glory and the Lifter of my head.

Olive trees planted on every hill.

I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. Psalm 52:8

The Lord is my shepherd and nothing is wanting to me. In green pastures He hath settled me. Psalm 23:1

If you want to change the world, go home and love your family. –Mother Teresa

So, planted it is. And one thing I learned about olive trees is that they sure don’t need much water because their roots grow down deep and wide and wrap around the bed Rock. The trunk is typically gnarled and twisted and that is okay.

So I stared One Day In Rome in the face and did the Buy tickets on the Vatican website and not stand in line thing first, and then I found one of those free walking tours that meets at ten in the morning near the Spanish Steps. And the best thing about these tours are not the expressive-with-her-hands woman who love anthropology or the wandering around with a large clump following a little colorful rag held up on a stick through the crowds, but the other sorts of people who show up for a free lecture that is a little hard to understand but at least you get some perspective.

The first people I met as we sort of hoped that the lady would show up because it was ten minutes late was Olivia from India but who grew up in Dubai. And her friend was from Palestine and had grown up in Dubai. And I laughed and said that I would never forget her name, because today I was meditating on what it meant to be an olive tree. And to trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. And she asked about that. And actually Mary Anne ended up looking in her friend’s eyes, whose name I of course promptly forgot, and speaking of Jesus. And their embrace at the end of the two hours was profound. And Olivia is going to visit her sister in Los Angeles next year and now we are Facebook friends.

And there was Juan David from Colombia who has been traveling one out of his three months. And we talked about The Way and how each person on our travels is seeking Love and Mercy. Pope Francis has made God’s mercy an easy thing to talk about this year. And now we are Facebook friends.

And Antonio from Peru but who had grown up in fear in Miami, illegally gets his citizenship next year. And he is a music teacher and he loves middle schoolers. And of course we talked about if you love middle schoolers, you have a moral obligation to teach them because it is such a hard time in life. And his dream, once he gets his papers, is to teach in an international school, so of course I had a few words to say about that. And now we are Facebook friends.

May You be for us a moon of joy and happiness. Ethiopian Prayer

And somehow when I look up at the moon I always think about the moon shining down and man looking up all over the world. And that makes sense, because people seldom squint up into the sun, but we all look up at the moon and wonder.

And I think about my green pastures in which I am settled. The green pastures of His Love is Sufficient.

Perspective.

And one version of Francis’ prayer before the Cross of San Damiano asks for wisdom and perspective in order to do truly His holy will. And I have been praying that a lot these days, especially the Most Highest and Glorious God.

And Fred from Germany messaged me this week. And he is thinking about traveling around Latin America next semester with Alex from Young Life and what did I think, was that running away from his problems? And I told him, No way. That is seeking perspective. And wisdom.

And perspective has a lot to do with seeing with right faith, firm hope and perfect charity. In profound humility. And Ann Verkamp talks about guarding our heart from the Accuser, Maybe the most important part of your body to control is your index finger — because it’s most like the devil:  It most wants to point and prosecute. It needs more people to honestly point out their own sins — and humbly point up to everyone’s Savior.

The humility thing. Marco reminded me that an instrument of peace lies in the hands of the Master Musician. At rest.

Matteo told me about this ninety-five-old-lady who shares her wisdom and perspective in stories. And one of her stories is about when she asked about a difficult person in her life. And Mother Teresa replied, “Love her even more.”

Love.

Perfect love.

Perfect love casts out fear.

And the thing about Assisi is that I think that entire countryside is planted with joy. Deep-seeded joy from centuries of brown-frocked fearless love.

Chesteron said that “St. Francis is the mirror of Christ rather as the moon is the mirror of the sun. The moon is much smaller than the sun, but it is also much nearer to us; and being less vivid it is more visible.“

May You be for us a moon of joy and happiness.

So I have wrapped my wrist with a Franciscan cross as a reminder of the shining light of a moon.  Of a prayer to The Most Highest. Double superlatives. And I have asked for His Sacred Heart. His heart of love that pursues. Even to the cross. Lifted up, not for condemnation, but that the world, through Him, might be saved.

And as he lay dying, Francis declared, one last time echoing the words of His Lord: And If you would go anywhere or make any pilgrimage, return always to your home; for this is the holy house of God.

What is a pilgrimage? asked Juan David.

A journey that starts from your front door.

And beloved Sam Gamgee, and he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.

Home.

The “chicken or pasta” lunch has been selected. The honey and ginger ice cream from Buckinghamshire has been devoured with the tiny plastic spoon hidden in the lid. The red wine in a plastic cup has been drunk. And the table cleared of all except one last bottle of natural water.

Home.

A green olive tree planted.

Settled pastures.

World changer, one love at a time.

Jesus also promised her: Know this, My daughter, that by the charity of My Heart I desire to pour out floods of graces through your heart over the hearts of others. This is why people will come to you with confidence; it will not be your personal qualities which will attract them, but Me. No one, even the most hardened sinner, will leave your presence without having received, in one way or another, consolation, relief, or a special grace.

And the oft-repeated question in the Spielberg/Hanks movie Bridge of Spies that we watched as we flew over the swaying Atlantic Ocean on the way back to Newark and Denver and home was, “Aren’t you worried?”

And the quiet Russian spy always answered, Would it help?

Ann ends with this prayer: In the midst of everything: Trust that Grace will always meet you.

Selah.