Laurie Beth Jones Blog

The word “rise” is one of my favorite words in the English Language.  It has the “eyes” sound in it.  It compels and invites the act of going from one state of being to another.

Rise is the first of the three ‘R’ dreams of the Holy Spirit, I believe, as we are all called to Rise like Fire…like a flame that has suddenly found its source.  Flames rise in the ecstasy of finding fuel.

If Jesus had not risen there would be no Christianity…no churches with pretty white steeples, calling people to make a point of worshipping God.  If Jesus had not risen there would be no good news story, so exciting that we are all told to run and tell others what we have seen and heard…that life is everlasting…that death has lost its sting…that the bent over shall stand tall again, that withered hands shall heal to hold and embrace.

Rise is about perspective—changing it from what you see in one position, as in on the floor…to what you see in the risen position, which is out the window.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.  Millions around the world will celebrate Christ’s rising in many ways.  Some will sing in a sunrise service, where the awe of a new day is greeted with the rising chorus of people shouting out Hallelujah!  Some will simply rise and embrace their newborn child, or dangle the leash for their little dog to walk with them again.   To see sights and sounds forever the same, yet forever new, washed clean by the rain the day before, or the faithful sidewalk washer who gets up before dawn to keep the pathways fresh and clean.

Yesterday I walked my little dog Roo by the new PETCO baseball park in downtown San Diego.  As we rounded the corner we heard a roar that sounded like an ocean wave crashing onto the cliffs.  Someone had hit a homerun, and the crowd went wild.

We gather so frequently to watch others perform.  We go to events with an expectancy of seeing others rise to their greatest gifts, and make us happy in doing so.

Jesus died on a Friday and rose on a Sunday.  We don’t know quite where he was on Saturday.  Resting perhaps, gathering his strength.  Going down into Hades and gathering others out is just one tradition of his whereabouts.

But today, this Saturday, I contemplate the middle places…where nothing seems to be happening.  Where the crowds have all gone home…the lights are off and the stage is empty.  Perhaps your friends and family are discouraged, thinking you were not the person they thought you were.

And yet, tomorrow won’t they be surprised…when you, like the Christ who created and empowers you—take off your grave clothes and come stumbling out to face the Son of a new day.

All Rise, says the bailiff in the courtroom as the Judge is about to appear.

All Rise, says Jesus in our lives, telling us the Judge is now our Comforter.

All Rise.  How beautiful it is when each one of us does exactly that.

The Messenger says  “The Lord is Risen!”  And the people respond “”The Lord is Risen Indeed!

Recently I attended a summit of world changing CEOs at the Convene CEO Summit 2011. One of the speakers was Tom Phillips, CEO of Diversified Conveyors, Inc. He is also owner of Ikiraro Investments, which he started after several trips to Rwanda. Tom said he sees himself as a problem solver, and one of the problems he noticed in his trips abroad was the great need for protein in the diet of the children in Rwanda. Protein is essential for proper brain development in children ages 0 to 5 years old. Yet protein is in short supply for the children. Beef is too expensive, and if there is a chicken around the custom is that the man and only the man in the house gets to eat it—all of it—leaving nothing for the women and children.
So Tom put his engineering background to work and with others conceived of a profitable, sustainable model that combines a non-profit/for profit approach to getting protein to children.
It is called www.oneegg.org. I suggest you check it out. For $60 a year, or $5 per month you can supply eggs as protein to one child for an entire year.
I plan to order half a dozen. Will you join me?

Recently I sat beside a pastor in church as the children’s story time took place. The young children’s minister passed out little hearts, and asked the children what the hearts stood for. “Love!” they all said in unison. She then pointed to the cross and asked “Who loves us all?” “Jesus!” they all shouted in unison. The leader then asked “Who do you love?” Answers came back quickly. “Mommy. Daddy. My baby sister. My dog.” She then asked “What if somebody pushes you down on the playground? Are you supposed to love them?” “No!” one of them shouted out. The congregation laughed knowingly as the pastor turned to me and whispered “Children. As long as they are around, we pastors always have job security.”
It seems there is always somebody, somewhere, pushing us down. In another meeting I attended a few days later a video clip ran of a young couple trying to decide where to go on vacation. The husband wanted a week at the beach while the wife wanted them all to visit her ailing father. A decision to be made quickly escalated into a shouting match, with verbal jabs so familiar and painful that you could see people squirming in the audience. One man called out “Did you film this in my kitchen?”

The moderator, Ken Sande, began to share his work at teaching people how to stay on top of conflict. (www.PeaceMaker.net) They teach individuals, couples, teams, families, organizations and sometimes even political leaders how better to keep peace.

The second video showed a newly trained couple in the same scenario, except this time the husband paused a moment and said “I can tell this is important to you. Maybe we can find a solution.” There was soon a resolution to split time on the vacation between the beach and her father, and peace was maintained. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief in the room.
This inter-family conflict was all too real.

Ken Sande states that while many of us are skilled in many arenas, too many of us have low “emotional intelligence” or skillsets in peacemaking.
He gives Biblical examples and practical tips on how to get and maintain peace.
Among my favorites are one of the Four Promises of Forgiveness: I will not bring this incident up and use it against you. How powerful that is. For the remaining three promises, and other tools, I recommend you visit the website www.peacemaker.net

How many of you are hurting from a conflict at work or home?

Just like the pastor said, whenever we all act like children, there will always be job security for the peacemakers.

Laurie Beth

Dear Friends,

This spiral is a photo from an actual staircase designed by the famed Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi.
He became famous for using forms of nature in buildings, echoing them whenever and wherever possible.
This spiral could be a nautilus shell, a snail, or a pathway in your mind.

Is it going up, or down?

We are learning so much about how the brain works, and neural pathways, which can be open or closed, reinforced or altered, with diligent attention.

I know we think of time as being linear, past present and future. But you and I know it is so much more than that. I see it as a spiral, sometimes looping vertically over the same spot, but always in a different location.
I often find myself on a leadership spiral–encountering a view that seems so similar to where I was a year ago, or five years ago, or seven. Haven’t I learned that lesson yet?

Yet always the spiral….a design in nature….up or down is my choice, always.

Blessings,
Laurie Beth

Will You Be My Valentine?

Do you like Valentine’s Day? Do you stand at the door, or e-mail, or text box, eagerly awaiting some word that your Ideal Person has noticed you? Did you laugh out loud, like I did, at the Super Bowl commercial about the little boy handmaking a valentine card? He stood nervously at the door, awaiting his heart throb to open up. She took his fair offering, batted her long eyelashes, and welcomed him across the threshold, where he was stunned to see six other little boys, looking much like him, sitting on a couch. She placed his valentine on top of the pile of others she had already received. He took his place dejectedly at the end of the couch, and as he sat down with a sigh the doorbell rang again. Ahh, such is life. There seems to always be competition on the horizon, or on the couch, for the Dream One….so fair…so handsome…so always just out of reach.

That is why Jesus is my Valentine. There is no competition for his affection towards me. He early on put a “Reserved” sign on the table set for two. He gives me flowers every day, in bundles and bunches and open fields. At this time of year in San Diego I see yellow flowers by the thousands growing along the freeway. My Valentine regularly gives me charms for my bracelet, except they do not dangle there as lifeless silver tokens, but are rather a “bracelet” of friends and family members who encircle me with love.

If you want to give yourself an unusual Valentine’s present this year, I suggest you go see the movie “Biutiful” starring Javier Bardem. It will slowly knock your socks off as the heart of a man is revealed…one man trying to love his children, his bipolar wife, his wayward brother, Chinese immigrants, and the drug and trinket dealers he must work in order to feed his family.
I found myself wishing I had a sketchbook and charcoals, and the skill, to sketch Javier’s face. His aquiline nose, his broad forehead, his long eye lashes, his perfect chin…a palette upon which he reveals the emotions of a heart in turmoil…a heart that finds itself in a world where there are not many bright and shiny places, except where he finds and makes them.
“Biutiful” is not for the faint of heart. It is long, and gritty. It has no Hollywood ending. And yet it is as true a love story as you will ever see.

What I liked about this movie is that it leaves you thinking about love in ways perhaps you have never thought about before. It is so easy to give a box of chocolates, really. But to pour out your heart to everyone you mee…now that is a Valentine worth giving.

What Valentine’s gift are you giving to those around you this year? Which gifts has God given you?