Unshackled Moments ~ October 5, 2017 ~ Beauty From Ashes

I live in Texas, in an area that sees snow that sticks about once a decade and serious ice once or twice a winter. So it's not too surprising that most of the folks I encounter don't care about hockey. I've loved hockey since the 1980 Olympics, but it would be over ten years after that before the NHL would reach my home state. Nearly 25 years later, I am still a rare bird, although hockey is gaining popularity in the south and growing. Still, it is not one of the Big 3, and a lot of people don't care about sports at all unless their children or grandchildren are playing.

So chances are that you, Dear Reader, may not be a hockey fan or care about hockey at all. But please bear with me, this is not really about sports. Yesterday marked the opening of the 2017-18 NHL season. My favorite Eastern Division team and returning champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, played what used to be one of my favorite teams, the St. Louis Blues. Tonight in day 2 of the season the Penguins travel to take on my little brother's favorite team. I may have to give him a little good natured ribbing before the game, although, in the interest of rigorous honesty, his team is good and could very well win. I expect them to go the playoffs, and I will endure whatever ribbing he returns with graciousness should the Penguins slip on the ice. Tomorrow night my favorite Western Division team, the Dallas Stars have their first game against the the Vegas Golden Knights, also their first game of the season.

If you don't care about any or all of that, good, because then maybe you can understand the point. You see, it's opening day for the Stars and the Golden Knights tomorrow, and the number of people who really care are few. When you take the percentage of hockey fans to the number of people in the world, it's fairly insignificant. And when you reduce even that to those who care that the Stars and Golden Knights are playing, well, who cares in the grand scheme of things? And in the grand scheme of things, in the eternal, this doesn't matter. It's trivial. But in the here and now, this is a big deal for some.

What you may not realize is that tomorrow will be a first. The Vegas Golden Knights is a new team, and this will be their official first game. It's a new beginning.  It's a sign of growth in the NHL. It's a new hockey team (and hopefully new fans) where there wasn't one before. For those of us who love hockey, this is awesome. I remember the Stars moving to Dallas in 1993 and how excited I felt to have a local team to root for. For me, tomorrow will be an awesome day. The Stars will be the first team to beat or lose to the Vegas Golden Knights.

For those who don't care, for the majority of you, how many were even aware that the Golden Knights existed? Did you know that Vegas has a brand new NHL team? But you knew about the gunman shooting for about ten minutes to become the deadliest mass shooter in US history, right? In one sense you should. The death and destruction in those few minutes matters much much more than a game, any game and every game. But imagine it a little differently for just a moment if you will.

Imagine Las Vegas is a person. They've been working on something they think will bring good things for them and improve their status among their peers. They find success, and this brand new good thing is about to begin. They're excited. And no one cares, or very few do anyway. All this excitement and energy they felt is completely ignored or downplayed. No one is excited with them or for them. Then tragedy strikes. Someone makes an evil choice and destruction results. Of course it seems like the whole world has heard the bad news. And what's worse is that now they have to go on with their lives, almost as though nothing happened, but those things that they were so looking forward to don't matter anymore.

Does life ever feel like that for you? It does for me. It sometimes feels like only a very few people care about the good things that are happening, the good things that have been accomplished and the things that I care about. Sometimes it does feel like the whole world though has heard about the hell of my past and is holding it against me while ignoring the restoration and the new beginnings. And a lot of that is my self centered exaggerations and tendency to throw myself a pity party. Not everyone knows about my past, and many who do only do because I talk about it as part of my story of the miracle God has done in my life and the freedom He has given me. More people in my life care about me than a generalization like that really accounts for, and the vast majority of the people who know me do not hold my past against me. I have been blessed with the open doors and opportunities in my life despite all that I have done.

But still. It not just people like me who have nuked bridges and laid waste to their lives and the lives of others with their actions who can feel like this. It can feel like whenever something good happens or is about to happen, something horrible happens to squash it, ruin it, overshadow it. It seems like the good things stay quietly good, no matter how much we talk about them on social media, while the car wreck we had is on the news, in the paper and everyone is talking about it. If we don't go on to work when having a bad day we're drama queens and irresponsible, but if we do go on then we're unfeeling robots. It seems we can't win and the sweet treat we anticipated tastes terrible after the bitter bite we had forced upon us.

That feeling, which I believe is a lot more universal than liking sports, is one of the reasons why it is such good news that Jesus declared He makes all things, including us, new. Love doesn't need the ugly removed to be beautiful. The darker the night the less light it takes to shine brightly. That's why it's so easy to see the stars out in the country, because it's darker out there and the lights of the city aren't interfering and getting in the way.

One of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen is one that somehow escaped a devastating fire. The house and everything around it was a smoldering black rubble, and in the midst of that, surrounded by ash and embers, a little soot stained and wilted but nor badly, a single tiny flower remained. It was beautiful and there was something so full of wonder and hope at the sight of it.

I'm sure it would have been different from the flower's perspective, if it had a perspective. What we feel and think is not always real. When we're in the middle of something we often goes to extremes. Everything always goes wrong. No. No it doesn't. But we say that. We feel that. We believe that at times. I'll never escape my past. The ugliness of what has happened to me is always around me and on me. All people see when they see me is who I used to be or the bad stuff. No one sees or cares about the good things. But God has made us new, even if the shell hasn't changed. And sure, while we're on this side of eternity, the past isn't going to change. When you type Vegas into Google shooting is the first word suggested to follow. and I'm always going to be a felon, which will limit some doors opening. But at the same time, whatever God wants open will open, even if it's a sea, and sometimes still being seen in the context of what happened is a good thing. That slightly wilted, sooty flower wouldn't have even caught my eye in a field of blooms, but rising from the ashes of that house fire it was beautiful.

So if it feels like devastation overwhelms and outweighs the good, remember nothing can separate us from Daddy's love, and there's nothing more good than that. We can always turn to Him and lean on Him. And what may be hard to endure for us, what may make us feel nasty, wilted and soot covered, may bring hope, inspire awe and appear beautiful to others, giving God all kinds of glory. And if you're like Vegas and it seems like everyone just wants to talk about the horrors and the hell and the tragedy, then be encouraged, because there are people out there, even if you may not realize it, who see the good things, and recognize them for the amazing miracles they are. Some of us will be rejoicing over new beginnings tomorrow night, even as we continue to mourn the loss and pray for the survivors and families of those touched by the fire of madness.

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