The View from Where I Sit

Faulkner said writers need three things – experience, observation and imagination. Focused observation tends to improve my writing, but that’s not why I do it. I enjoy jotting down my surroundings and the inner workings of the soul, observing them through the lens of truth, because I am fascinated by the world in which I live. I am fascinated by why people do what they do. Above all, I am fascinated by God working among us, drawing us to Himself. So here are a few of my observations. Sometimes I call it poetry.

View from Where I Sit

(Blackberry Market – Glen Ellyn, Illinois a few days after the Boston Marathon Bombing)

She twirls, a flurry of pink

Ballet tutu, fuchsia bow askew, blush velvet slippers

Twisting her blonde hair as she selects a blackberry tart

Then goes for a vanilla crème

Slowly with her walker, a silvery dame surveys the menu

An Asian waitress, hair in a sleek, perk upsweep

Red shoes, crisp apron serves up a croissant

An untimely April snow falls outside the warmth of Blackberry Market

Inside individuals savor sunny delights of choice

Of imaginative flow spiked by lattes and

The smooth banjo-strummed lyrics of Mumford & Sons

Orange pea coat, beige quilted jacket, floriated tapestry bag

A rose, tattooed like a necklace

Gracing the neck, bisque laurel wreath tiles

On the ceiling, industrial metal stools for creatives

With their laptops, me, among them

And the smell, oh, the smell

Of freshly baked cinnamon rolls

But most of all, it’s the way everyone carries themselves

They walk free

They talk free

God, maintain our peace

The Point

Cold breeze jostled me from hibernation

Three blocks from the miniature theatre

Where Peter Pan and his posse of lost boys

Snuck in around the back entrance

Turns out he starred in the play

I dropped you off, caught a cadence to the café

Passing daffodils in dying hours

Before early blooming frost

Is this butter-bright intensity diminished

If never played before an audience, like me?

Daffodils neither strut nor fret

Nature is extravagant, yet not an idiot, like we

I dine among artists and writers

Dreaming of that moment of fame

Your stage or mine? Narcissus-fueled

Fantasies orbit round name

Leading to lonely days or a bitter phrase

Yet we can enjoy all this, and be free

There’s something about wisdom that deepens

The hue of yellow and the blue in your eyes

The joy of being, spellbound by another

A stage? No, this fleeting life signifies

A humble dance before its Creator

Shakespeare was only partially right

No wonder we strut and fret

No wonder we strive to be free

We’ve missed the point

On Suffering and Hope: Boston Bombings on Israel's Day of Remembrance

At the finish line of a marathon, vulnerability and personal achievement mingle with sweat, tears and embraces. The culmination of a race affirms life. Many marathoners exemplified this by raising funds to donate to worthy causes. In this life-affirming setting, we were reminded once again that evil raises its ugly head in the most unwelcome moments.

In a free society, we cannot eliminate all evil acts. And from a theological viewpoint, God gives us free will. To eliminate all evil would mean to eliminate life, echoing C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain who said “Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself”. Evil on a small or large scale, from the seedbed of thoughts and intentions to fully formed actions, can be traced back to a free agent turning away from God. SIN.

Now enter, HOPE. Once again an evil act has prompted an overwhelming response of goodness. People in the Boston area are offering their spare rooms, couches, food, cars, and even their own beds to visitors stranded by the bombings. Among the outpourings of compassion, a six-year-old girl who lost a leg would have died if not for the heroic efforts of a first-responder.

Familiar with the pain and suffering caused by terrorist bombings, the nation of Israel paused for two minutes at the sound of a siren, stopping their cars and exiting their vehicles, to stand in honor of their fallen. The Boston attack happened on the day when Israel was mourning her more than 23,000 who have died so that Israel can freely celebrate 65 years of independence. Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day, Yom Hazikaron, takes place the day before Independence Day when the country breaks out in celebration. The abrupt change in atmosphere between the two days is remarkable and distinctly Israeli.

From the rise of the neo-Nazi Svoboda party in Ukraine to Jewish school shootings in France, anti-Semitism is still present. According to a report by Tel Aviv University and the European Jewish Congress, anti-Semitic attacks increased by thirty percent in the past year. Abraham Heschel calls racism “man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”

We lived in a part of the world where this brand of virulent hatred led to unspeakable atrocities. On a gorgeous spring day in Kiev a few years ago, Mike and I visited Babi Yar where nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women, and children were massacred in one day. They were marched in small groups to the outskirts of the city, ordered to strip naked, and then machine-gunned into the ravine. But on that sunny day when we visited, families were enjoying an afternoon stroll when a group of Jews gathered near the memorial to place stones of remembrance. As we sat beside the grass-covered ravine, a young girl who was with us quietly said, “I am Jewish. I was afraid to tell you because some people don’t like Jews. My grandmother told me I should not tell anyone.” We told her, “We love Jewish people and we love you. Most of all, God loves Jewish people. We think it is wonderful that you are Jewish.” She smiled.

In the aftermath of the bombings in Boston and as we pause to remember the victims in parts of the world where violence and hatred have been all too common, we can be comforted by this hope: Good conquers evil and love conquers all. It is simple, but costly. Jesus paid the greatest price, dying on the cross for our sins so we can enter into His resurrection life and have hope today and for eternity when every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more sorrow and pain.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Women in Leadership: The Legacy of Margaret Thatcher and “Leaning In”

I was ten when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister on May 4,1979. The cherry blossoms were in bloom, and so was I. I was a young girl, ripe for examples of strong faith and womanhood. I remember her earnest, eloquent speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street as she paraphrased the prayer of Saint Francis: “Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.”

To me, she was an image of femininity, an elegant blonde figure in a classic blue ensemble and pearls daring to believe she could revolutionize a nation through unwavering faith, convictions and hard work. I grew into adulthood admiring her and thinking it perfectly normal for a woman to lead.

At that young age, I didn’t realize she had broken the mold. She was the first woman prime minister in Europe and the longest-serving head of government in Britain in the 20th century. She achieved iconic status in both the Conservative Party and internationally. “Thatcherism” became a label for her aggressive politics based on conviction, as well as a byword for the changed spirit of the times. She turned around the ailing British economy through staunch policies of minimal government, free market, privatization and lower taxes, shaking the nation out of its demoralized doldrums. I spoke with a friend, a Brit, the day she died. He met her on two occasions and was impressed by her charisma and kindness. But of course, not everyone celebrated her.

I probably admired her in the same way I admired Queen Esther from the Bible, Mother Teresa, or Elisabeth Elliot, Amy Carmichael and Jackie Pullinger whose biographies I read fortifying me with encouraging examples when I faced my own challenges as a missionary in Eastern Europe. Christian women today want to make a difference in the world. And this can play out in many definitions and spheres of leadership and influence.

A current advocate for a new kind of woman is Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg, whose recent book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, is a NY Times bestseller. Sandberg has shattered every glass ceiling in her way and she wants to encourage us that we can do the same. She wrote “We [women] hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in.” While there is some truth in this statement, her argument rings hollow when I consider the influence of Thatcher and the women’s hall of faith I mentioned above. Thatcher undoubtedly sat at the table in a man’s world and was heard, but why did she do it? And why should we? To prove that we are equal or better? To climb the ladder of success and stake our claim? Rather than a ladder of success, Sanberg describes the many paths careers can take as more of a jungle gym, going sideways and even downward on their way up. This image portrays more of a sense of life mission with changing seasons. For example, I know many women who are transforming the world while remaining primarily at home.

In this broader sense of mission or calling, I agree we should lean in. We should do so because our faith and convictions demand it. We must do it to better our world. We must do it to serve humanity. We must do it because justice for those who suffer and do not have a voice demands our involvement and our gifts. A unique sense of calling is something God places on our shoulders and in our hearts. An example of calling rang out through the voice of Margaret Thatcher as she quoted Saint Francis on the day of her inauguration. While Thatcher’s legacy is vast and varied, I will focus on three areas where she serves as an example to women today: a devout faith in God, a strong work ethic, and unwavering convictions and purpose.

Devout Faith in God

Thatcher once told a journalist that she was ‘in politics because of the conflict between good and evil’, with the conviction ‘that in the end good will triumph’. As one historian noted, “She reintroduced into British politics a missionary mood that reflected her provincial and Methodist origins.”

A devout Christian faith was the foundation of her political program and her convictions for less government, lower taxes, more freedom and greater personal responsibility. Her government essentially constituted an applied theology. She said she was “engaged in the massive task of restoring confidence and stability to our people” because “unless the spirit of the nation which has hitherto sustained us is renewed, our national life will perish”.

This ‘spirit’ of which she spoke was uncompromisingly Christian. She said: ‘I find it difficult to imagine that anything other than Christianity is likely to resupply most people in the West with the virtues necessary to remoralize society in the very practical ways which the solution of many present problems require’.

Strong Work Ethic

Thatcher did not hail from the upper echelons of Britain’s class-obsessed society, but grew up in a modest apartment above her father’s grocery store. Her Methodist family was very involved in their local congregation. Margaret and her older sister were raised in an atmosphere that emphasized personal responsibility, charity, and truthfulness. In her early years, her father, who was a member of the town’s council, introduced Thatcher to conservative politics.

She described her childhood living over the shop as “an idyllic blur,” with customers coming and going. She helped weigh sugar, tea and coffee and learned the basic tenets of economics from her father. “Individual responsibility was his watchword and sound finance his passion,” Margaret recalled. She claimed her integrity came from her father who had a fondness for sayings such as “Never do things just because other people do them”. From her mother Margaret learned the efficient housekeeping of the middle class, virtues deepened by privations of World War II.

Although Thatcher was accepted at the prestigious Oxford University where she studied chemistry, she won her place there because she was a good student. She was also an accomplished pianist.

After she married Denis, who was devoted to her and supportive of her pursuits throughout their fifty-year union, she studied law and passed the bar exam after giving birth to twins. Thatcher’s life continued to be marked by a strong work ethic and a sense of responsibility.

Unwavering Convictions and Sense of Purpose

People certainly have not agreed with all that the “Iron Lady” said and did, but the majority respected her as a woman of principle and conviction. There is no doubt that she said what she thought and did what she said. Surveying the modern political landscape, a renewal of such principles and convictions would be refreshing.

The Iron Lady reputation came following a speech she made in 1976 criticizing the Soviet Union when the Red Army newspaper dubbed her the Iron Lady. Instantly, an icon was born. She used it to her advantage, later addressing a gathering, “I stand before you tonight in my Red Star chiffon evening gown, my face softly made up and my fair hair gently waved: the Iron Lady of the Western World!”

While her political “marriage” with Reagan was well known, it was Thatcher who first explored a way to engage a new generation of Soviet leaders. Having attended two funerals of the old guard who ran what Reagan referred to as “The Evil Empire,” she invited a young Kremlin rival, Mikhail Gorbachev, to London. She quickly called Reagan to say he was “a man who you can do business with.” The resulting Reagan-Gorbachev summits hastened the Soviet Union’s demise. While they did not end the cold war, together they helped ensure a peaceful transition.

When Margaret Thatcher left the center stage of politics, she was more like a queen in exile, and may she remain a potent symbol now that she has passed away.

May there be many more like her.