No Poop for You

by Rev. Keenan Barber :: My son Micah was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s Disease on Day #2 of his life (July 22, 2008). Three things tipped the doctors off – he wasn’t holding food down, he was not pooping, and his stomach was distended. According to NIDDK Online Health Information “Normally, muscles in the intestine push stool to the anus, where stool leaves the body. Special nerve cells in the intestine, called ganglion cells, make the muscles push. A person with HD does not have these nerve cells in the last part of the large intestine” The surgery entails determining the point at which the large intestines have healthy nerve cells, cut out the bad section of bowel, and reattach the healthy tissue to the anus. All of this with a 5 day old infant.

Micah spent about 4 days in the hospital recovering from this surgery, and then came home. For a while, we still had to help him have bowel movements while the new section of bowel learned its new role – to push the poop out. If we don’t help him with this important process, the stool will back up and become infected, and he would have to take another trip to the hospital, and quite frankly, we would be happy to not see the inside of another NICU.

Why am I telling you all this right now? I think the human body is amazing. It takes in food and drink, digests what it needs to, and then gets rid of the toxic junk. Our spiritual lives are actually pretty similar. We take things in, we process them, we ingest people’s words, we have sin in our body. What some of us have forgotten is that we can’t hold all that stuff in. God wants us to expel / get rid of / jettison the bad stuff.

Easter was only a few weeks ago, and we have already forgotten the work of Redemption Christ has done for us on the Cross. I think repentance is God’s way of allowing us to expel the bad stuff. And if we don’t get rid of the toxic materials in our lives, they find a way to infiltrate our system and make us sick. Sometimes this actually manifests itself in physical ways, and others it is just a giant millstone that we carry around of guilt or regret or remorse.

Look back at Micah – what were the signs? Sign #1 – He was throwing up food – are we able to take in the good things of life and hold onto to them? Sign #2 – No poop – are we holding onto the bad stuff either consciously or unconsciously?

Jesus came to set us free from the “poop” of our lives. Sometimes we just need to take the time to sit, reflect, and repent of some of the things we have engaged in our lives, and allow God’s mercy to pour over us and “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Do Not Be Afraid

by Dr. Mark Brewer :: “Do not be afraid.” Matthew 28:10 Another one of the first words of Christ echoes what the angels said to the women at the tomb. “Do not be afraid.” It is so comforting to know that the Lord knows our fears and comes and meets us right where we are. He doesn’t chastise us for our feelings; but rather for our thinking. Fear can come in the little things as well as the looming ominous events of life. Sometimes its just the constant “angst” of the pace of life in LA.

I find myself this particular Eastertide 2009 caught between two fabulous and stressful events. The birth of our first grandchild by my oldest daughter Vanessa in Denver, and the marriage of my youngest daughter Rachel here in Los Angeles. Both within a week! And here I sit this day in between both events. Vanessa is past her due date. . . but I know that baby will come soon. Rachel’s wedding is still a week away. . . but there’s so much to still prepare. It reminds me of this whole journey of life. I know the Lord will take care of all the”‘big things” in life, but I still try to ‘mentally control all the contigencies. The Risen Christ will return someday for all of us and the real adventure of eternity will break into our ‘casual’ little lives. Its kind of like waiting for a birth. . . or a wedding. Just do the joyful work of preparation and the Blessed event will be here before we know it.