Stuck

Do something. Anything.

I was sitting here just five minutes stuck in my seat. It's 8:40 in the morning, I just don't know how to continue the day. I already started my day with a morning breakfast meeting at 7am and now as I sat in my office, I felt stuck. I didn't feel like doing anything. I had already wrote my "to do" list with priorities and I'd gone through my email, but I didn't feel like either jumping into the list or responding to the emails. Until I got up and walked out to my car. Walking to my car to get a Mat Kearney CD propelled me out of my stuckness to write this blog.

What have I learned from this brief moment. Movement creates thoughts and energy. The only thing keeping me stuck was me. I wasn't tied down by ropes nor had I sat on glue. It was only my confusion about where to start. It's when got up to move did my desires follow.

Dig deep

When playing organized sports my coaches would yell to us, "Dig deep!" when we had hit the fatigue wall. I even used them when I coached briefly. The thought is that somewhere deep inside us is a resevoir of energy, perseverance, and endurance that when the going gets rough, it is there for us to draw "stuff" from to keep us moving forward.

Rich Mullins, the late musician, said that some of the most courageous people in the world are those who are willing to dig deep within themselves and draw out their creativity. The courageous, for Mullins, are people who not only dig deep, but also share it with the world.

Then last night I read the following,
"During a dry season in the New Hebrides, John Paton the missionary awakened the derision of the natives by digging for water. They said water always came down from heaven, not up through the earth. But Paton revealed a larger truth than they had seen before by discovering to them that heaven could give them water through their own land. So men insist on waiting for God to send them blessing in some supernormal way, when all the while he is givng them abundant supply if they would learn to retreat into the fertile places of their own spirits where, as Jesus said, the wells of living waters seek to rise. We need to learn Eckhart's lesson, 'God is nearer to me than I am to myself; he is just as near to wood and stone, but they do not know it.'"
--Henry Emerson Fosdick

Dig.

Thanks for reading.

Fifth grade

A couple weeks ago while walking down the sidewalk, I overhear a guy talking to his friend. As they approach me walking the opposite way down the walk than me, the guy says to his friend, "Fifth grade was the best year of my life!"

What? Fifth grade was the best year of your life? I really wanted to hear more but that is all I caught as they walked past me. I hoped there was a lot more to the guy's story. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and I thought how sad it would be if in reality 25 wasn't his best year, 11 was. Granted, I didn't hear the rest of the story, but it did get me thinking, how many of us believe our best years are behind us. What about tomorrow? What about today?

If we believe in God; that life with God is a constant movement into the future; that Jesus came to give those who follow him life and not a mundance religious life, but an exciting life lived by faith, then our best days are not behind us. Our best days are now and tomorrow.

Do we live in the past? Do we live looking backward thinking the mess or pain we experience today is our "lot in life." Woe is me. But what if the pain we feel today is momentary, preparation for greater things to come. As a friend of mine says, "Short term pain for long term gain." If we see our struggles as a means to a greater end, then we live by hope and trust in a God who is bigger than today and who sees tomorrow. If we live thinking that the current pain or unfortunate circumstances are an end in themselves, then we are most to be pitied. Why go on?

Ahhh...but Jesus comes to renew, refresh and move us into the future. God has dreams/plans for our lives, plans to give us hope and a future (as it says in Jeremiah). Go with God. Into the future...and beyond.

Keep your chin up.

The Beauty of Unity

Yesterday, my son Ethan met a new friend, Ben. We pulled into the driveway of my friend's house and Jenn (my friend) says to Ethan, "Hey Ethan. I hear that you like Thomas the Tank engine."

"Yes." Ethan replies

"You know what? My son Ben likes Thomas too." she says.

Ethan tears off running toward the backyard yelling, "Ben! Ben!" He's yelling for a kid he doesn't even know and never met. Ben comes running over to Ethan. Ben says, "What?" to a kid he's never met. In a breathless voice Ethan says, "I like Thomas and you like Thomas too!" Unity. Two kids, who were strangers were unified by a train, Thomas.

On Wednesday last week, Ethan and I went to Steak and Shake for ice cream. We walk into the restaurant and Ethan screams," "Thomas! There's Thomas." And I'm all, "Where?"

"Right there" Ethan says running toward a boy and pointing. Ethan reaches the boy, a year or two older than Ethan, and touches the boy's shorts. On the shorts was a large picture of Thomas the Tank Engine.

"They can spot them anywhere," the other dad said to me.

True. We had just walked into the restuarant and Ethan probably only got a glimpse of the kid's shorts, but it was enough to pull him from holding my hand to racing over to the other little boy.

Maybe my son is a bit over the top about Thomas. Ok. I'll give you that. But, these two encounters between Ethan and other kids all because of a train, reminds me of my own unity as a follower of Christ with other fellow followers. You know? I can't say I get terribly excited when I met a fellow Christian whom I had never met previously. I wonder if it was different for the early church, as the new movement of Jesus grew as a minority movement within the larger Jewish/Roman world. There would be joy and happiness and immediate bonding all because of one man, Jesus. My son's reaction to Thomas causes me to wonder if I a Christian walking in America today, take my unity with others for granted.

But then again, my son is excited about Thomas because he plays with Thomas and the other engines daily. He takes them places. He's never without one or another of the trains. What about my relationship with Jesus? Am I, are we, not excited about the unity we share in Christ because we've allowed the relationship with the living Christ to be pushed aside?

Thanks for reading

No comprende

My son turns three today. Yesterday I said to my wife, “Aren’t you glad Ethan’s birthday wasn’t today. His birthday would always be, 666.” While I’m not superstitious nor did I go around worrying about what MIGHT happen yesterday because of the date, I wouldn’t want my son to be subject to the number, especially if he would ever become a pastor later on in life. “Wow, our pastor’s birthday is 6/6/06. Makes me wonder…”

Six is one shy of seven. Duh. Hang with me. I realized that my son is doesn’t understand, grasping the faith. He falls short of understanding (because of his age) like six falls short of seven. I sat down to do my devotions yesterday and I started with Psalm 150. I said to Ethan, “Daddy’s going to read the Bible. Do you want to hear it.”

“Yes daddy.”

“Ok. ‘Praise the Lord…” I move through the psalm and Ethan’s face remains blank. I can tell he has no comprehension of the words I was reading. Eventually, I could tell he tuned me out, even only after five verses of the psalms. I wonder, is my son’s response similar to adults in our American culture when we talk about God, faith, Jesus, Bible, etc…using Christianeze to explain ourselves?

Maybe yesterday’s, 6/6/06 day, reminds us more of the vast numbers of spiritual people in the U.S. who have little or no comprehension when it comes to following Christ and life with God. Like my son, like the number six to number seven, they (we) fall short of understanding. And it wasn't as if I condemned Ethan for not understanding, nor did I talk louder or slower so that he would "get it." Nor should we codemn anyone for not understanding the Christian life. Instead, we begin to translate it patiently through our life and our words so that others gain a better and deeper understanding in the faith. People move from a six to a seven.

"This one goes to eleven."

every day the same

Today while driving I heard a song whose refrain was one line, over and over and over again, "Everyday is exactly the same." Don't know who sings it (Lenny Kravitz?), or what the entire song is about, but the phrase stuck in my head; Everyday is exactly the same. How true is that for people in America? How true is that for people in Ohio where I live? I hope not very common, but I suspect that most people would resonate with the reality of the statement. Everyday IS exactly the same.
Granted, for conventional types or people who like routine, the phrase is gospel. What a life, everyday is exactly the same! Yeah! But for people like me who bore of the routine, I need everyday to be somewhat different. The phrase strikes me as horrible news. It would be hell if everyday of my life were EXACTLY the same as the one before; a sort of a black and white existence. The people I meet, the places I go, the things I do color my world and hopefully I am used by God to color other people's worlds.
Does God, after all, want us to live each day exactly the same? Or does God call us to something more? Does the abundant life Jesus promises us when we follow open up doors and adventures that take us out of the ordinary, the mundane of life into new experiences and adventures that shape our understanding of God, ourselves, and one another? Grace colors our world.
I know, even in the everyday we need the mundance activities. I still have to vacuum the carpets, help my three year old use the toilet, wash the dishes, feed the dog, etc...those activities happen every day. They aren't glamorous or exciting, but they are necessary. The abundant life Christ calls us to doesn't take us away from these every day activities. After all, a true servant of Christ shows his/her faithfulness by being faithful in the mundance, small things in life. As servants we're never too good to do something. After all, Jesus washed his disciples' feet!
So on one level there is sameness in everyday. But the diversity of life, if we're open to engaging the diversity of people in this world, open to new ideas and new experiences, open enough to let ourselves dream and vision a better future for our communities while seeing ourselves as part of fulfilling that dream or vision...that is what makes a everyday different. Hope pulls us out of our limited perspective, turning our eyes heavenward to the God who lives today and who says, "Behold, I make all things new..."
Thanks for reading.