A good Girl (or Boy) Scout?

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. 

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you 

to give the reason for the hope that you have. 

But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 

It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 

1 Peter 3:15-17

I took a brief retreat Monday and Tuesday, headed off to Kalamazoo for a community-building workshop. It's a five-hour drive, which also becomes retreat time, especially on a Monday afternoon when there is no traffic. The roads were dry (most of the way) and the servers where I stopped to eat were polite. A great start!

I pulled into Transformations Spirituality Center about 5:45. I beat their "check-in by 6:00" deadline by a whole fifteen minutes! I checked in, got the key to my guest cell and went back out to get my bag from my car.

As I stood there looking at the sky, thinking how beautifully dark and heavy with rain those clouds were, how grateful I was to have beaten the storm-- the tornado sirens went off. First the one over my left shoulder began winding up slowly, then the one to its right, and on around, encircling the community, trumpeting danger.

Now, every community is a little bit different in its use of these sirens. In my community, for instance, since I live right along Lake Erie, the sirens may go off when there is a waterspout on the lake. Or more commonly, they go off for severe storm warnings, meaning thunderstorms coming soon.

So I looked again at the sky, marveled at my lack of fear and went back inside as the first stray drops of rain began to fall.

I was met in the hallway by a youngish woman who very calmly told me those sirens meant a tornado had been sighted nearby, and everyone was being instructed to take shelter in the "garden level" of the center. (Sounds so much nicer than the basement-- and it is a lovely spot.)

"Laura" led me down the hallway, calmly showed me where the stairs were, "just in case the power goes out," and dropped me off at the chosen "safe spot."

Meanwhile, another voice of calm comes across the public address system, preceded by a series of chimes. "A tornado has touched down six miles north of Kalamazoo. Please take shelter immediately."

Chairs are brought to this gathering spot. One of the locals, slightly less calm, reminisces about The Big One in 1980 when six people died. Another woman lived very close to where those six were killed, and her brand-new car, the first new car she ever owned, was completely flattened. 

Another woman and I just looked at each other and began to talk about other things.

Comic relief: A young man trundled through with several bottles of wine on a cart, along with glasses. He laughed, well aware of the absurdity, and kept going.

And there we sat, waiting for the all-clear, which came in about fifteen minutes.

The staff, even though tornadoes seem relatively uncommon in Kalamazoo, knew just what to do. They remained calm, they made sure we had information (but not too much). They showed us the stairs (although not the flashlights. . . ).

Peter warns us to be prepared to explain ourselves. Before the time comes that someone asks, he would say, have your testimony ready. 

My former networking group would call it your "thirty-second elevator speech."

It seems we as Christians, often unrealized, have been known to shine with inexplicable light, to remain joy-filled even during darkness, to persevere through "stuff" others find devastating. Why is that, people wonder. 

Where does that joy come from?

Not the time, friends, for a lengthy exposition about the history of our faith, or an anxious query into the eternal state of the soul of the other. Nope-- time for a thirty-second glimpse, or perhaps a simple refrain:

On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is shifting sand.

It does not need to be eloquent, just heartfelt. Not perfect, just personal. And offered, always, in the spirit of love and charity Jesus modeled to those in need, those who hungered after God's love and grace.

How about it? Have you thought what you would say if someone notices you going about life in a particularly cheerful way today? Offer to take them to coffee, and offer them Christ.

And today and every day, may the peace of the Lord be with you. (And also with you.) Amen.