Tag Archives: liturgy

You Have the Proficiency

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Sometimes God speaks to me in movie lines.

One of our favorite family movies is The Pacifier, starring Vin Diesel. (OK, fine  — one of my favorites that the rest of the family tolerates.) In the movie, Navy SEAL Shane Wolf — while recovering from a failed rescue attempt — is assigned to protect the five Plummer children from their recently deceased father’s enemies.

As the story progresses, Shane discovers that teenage Seth Plummer has secretly joined a local amateur theater production of The Sound of Music. When the diva director quits out of frustration with the actors’ performance, Shane steps forward.

Shane: Company! Center Stage!

One of the players: Who is this guy?

Shane: Now, do you or do you not have what it takes to perform this musical?

Player: We don’t have a director.

Shane: I’ve directed rescue missions all around the world. I’ve directed numerous snatch-and-grabs from countries whose names you are not allowed to know. I’ve choreographed multi-pronged amphibious landings and stealth air attacks! Do you think I have the military proficiency to direct this production?

Seth: Yes.

Shane: Yes what?

All: Yes, sir!

2013 Faith Academy production of Beauty and the Beast

So here’s the thing.

For the past several months (at least), Shane’s question has been constantly running through my brain. 

“Do you believe I have the proficiency to direct this production?”

Except… it’s not Shane saying it. It’s God.

“Do you believe I have the proficiency to direct this production?”

Mostly when I’m worrying. Which is to say, more often than I care to admit.

“Do you believe I have the proficiency to direct this production?”

Gaining tech booth proficiency!

That really is the question, isn’t it?

Do I believe that God — who spoke light (and everything else) into being — has the proficiency to bring clarity to the problems I can’t see my way through?

Do I believe that God — who made a way through the Jordan, at flood stage — has the proficiency to overcome the barriers I keep banging my head against?

Do I believe that God — who raised Hebrew prisoners, exiles, and women into positions of tremendous political influence — has the proficiency to turn around world events I struggle to have hope for?

It sounds like a no-brainer, when I put it like that. But in actual daily practice, well, it’s not so easy, is it? To really believe that God has the proficiency to direct whatever is going on in my life and the world today.

Drama coach and director Mrs. French — a model of gracious proficiency!

In a recent Trinity Forum conversation, Felicia Wu Song mentions the idea (from James K. Smith’s book, You Are What You Love) of “counter liturgies” — intentional practices that push back against the misinformations of the heart. And I thought, “That’s what I need! A way to push against the forces that tempt me to doubt God’s proficiency to direct the concerns of my life.”

I’ve started looking for one thing every day that gives evidence of God’s proficiency, whether in:

    • biblical narrative (like the stories referred to earlier)
    • the stories of others (have you seen The Hiding Place film yet?!)
    • my own history (how a girl from rural Kentucky ended up with a guy who grew up in the Philippines, for starters)
    • or in the world right around me today (spiderwebs!)

    With practice, I hope the day will come when my immediate, reflexive response to God’s query “Do you believe I have the proficiency?” is “Yes, Sir!”

    Because, ya know? He really does!

    A Liturgy of Stairs and Art

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    In April 2021, my friend Wendy posted a quote on Facebook:

    “Dementia doesn’t change divine recognition. God, and only God, still knows who we really are.“

    John Swinton, 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢: 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘖𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥

    Her post evoked a memory of a poignant visit with my stepmother Carol in memory care. As I got into my car at the end of that visit, a vivid image dropped into my mind — of Carol standing at the edge of a cliff. Lonely. Confused. I sat there watching helplessly as pieces of her blew away bit by bit — her very “self” disintegrating and lost across the chasm. Sitting there in the parking lot, I dropped my head and dissolved into tears with the grief of it.

    But then a Quiet Voice spoke into my tears: “Look again, child. Follow the bits. See where they are going?” Lifting my head, I saw Hands, just “offscreen”, lovingly catching each precious bit. Gathering up all the pieces of her whom He had made.

    And who is He is now making new.

    A few months after the Facebook post (and our exchange about it), a package arrived — from Wendy! Who, it so happens, is also an artist. And wonder of wonders! she had created a piece of art from her own thoughts about my initial reflection. (It’s an indescribable thing to have someone take your own thoughts and make them visible!)

    It took me some time to decide what mounting and framing I wanted, and just the right place for it to live in our home. But a few weeks ago, Gary installed this beloved piece at the top of the stairwell to our second floor. Now I see it each day as I climb to my office.

    And funny thing. The last few days, I’ve been seeing not just Carol in the picture, but myself! (And not just because I’m seeing my reflection in the glass…)

    Because more days than I care to admit, I start up those stairs with questions, with doubts, about who I really am. What difference I’m supposed to make. Where my story is headed.

    But then I lift my head, see this picture, and am reminded: today — and every day — God, and only God, knows who I really am.

    And who I am, by His grace, becoming.

    I’m finding that climbing the stairs each day, gazing on this gift, anchors me deeper in the truth that every part of me is held in the hands of my loving Father.

    So thank you, Wendy, for my new liturgy of climbing the stairs. 🙂