Your Fabulous Face

This is a reflection on the word "fabulous."  And on Cole Porter, ministry, sadness, hope, and churches. 

And penguins.  Stick with me……

When I’m not your Pacific editor, or your Santa Clara Association associate Conference minister, I do various things on the Monterey Peninsula where I live, relating to ocean issues, my passion.

So for a couple years, I spent every Monday morning scraping penguin poop off rocks.

Sorry for the language, but that’s what I did.  I have loved penguins since I was 5, and when the Monterey Bay Aquarium first had penguins on exhibit, I, after a small amount of training (don’t ask) chose to scrub penguin poop off rocks for an hour or so each Monday morning. 

And my reward was, I then got to help feed these 15 refugees from South Africa, and then help interpret to our guests the penguins’ challenges with global climate change, food loss, oil spills, etc.  And I simply got to have a personal experience with these very cute animals.  I learned their names - like Limpopo, Dassen, Robben (the island where Nelson Mandela was in prison, and penguins lived there too!)…

So I had to get to the Aquarium every Monday morning early, 8:30, long before opening.   The penguin staff person, Christina, would greet me, and I would say, "How are the penguins today?" And she would always say, her favorite word, "They are FABULOUS."

I love that word, fabulous.  And some mornings, as I was scraping poop, I would sing to myself.  I’d be in my hip waders, in the water part of the exhibit.  (You can see the 10:30 feeding live, daily, on the Aquarium website cams).  So I’m using various brushes and scrapers on that poop, penguins looking at me, and to pass the time, I would sing.  Since Christina said they were fabulous, I’d sing my favorite "fabulous" song.  It begins this way:

My story is much too sad to be told,
but practically everything leaves me totally cold.
The only exception I know is the case,
when I’m out on a quiet spree
fighting vainly the old ennui,
and I suddenly turn and see,
your fabulous face.

You might remember this great Cole Porter song.  We think of it as "I get a kick out of you."

The song goes on to talk about how booze can’t solve our problems (I get no kick from champagne, mere alcohol doesn’t thrill me at all…), and dope (likewise cocaine - I know that if I took even one sniff it would bore me terrifically too, but….) and even adventure (my favorite verse - I get no kick in a plane, flying too high with some guy in the sky is my idea of nothing to do, but I get a kick out of you.)

OK, so I spend lots of time in my car driving around to various churches and Conference meetings.  And to stay sane, recently, I’ve been listening to cds of Ella Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter.  He’s my guy.  Your fabulous face.  I get a kick out of you. 

And that song makes me think of my own song/story.  There are parts that are much too sad to be told.  The only exception I know is the case when I’m out on a quiet spree, fighting vainly the old ennui, and I suddenly turn and see, your fabulous face.

Visiting churches and seeing their tremendous ministry - for me, at these very cool churches, I suddenly turn and see, God’s fabulous face.

To be honest, we ACMs sometimes have to fight bravely the old ennui.  Church life is not easy, and there’s lots of ennui.  Thanks very much for your support of the NCNC and our diverse staff.  In February 2010, ministry to and with our Associations by our part-time ACM’s  was reduced by 20% and Education Ministries was reduced by 50%.  In June 2010, support staff ministries were cut by 20%.  In July 2010, four of our staff voluntarily decided to help sustain our remaining ministries by taking a 10% salary cut. Despite these and other acts of generosity, we may very well have to cut back again, as have staff in many other Conferences.  I hope in our future years we can inspire and encourage that fabulous face. 

Here’s a crazy question:  Can our churches be a place where we just get a kick out of each other?  Sunday morning: I get a kick out of you.  We have fun, be crazy, reach out in new and unusual ways?

Or just simply say, to God, this was my special day, when I suddenly turned and saw your fabulous face!