How snake charming works…

You know, just in case you want to try it at home…

What Pinterest means to me…

 

I was reluctant to start Pinterest. I didn’t get it. To me it was like creating a large to-do list that I wasn’t sure was ever going to get done. If that was even the goal, to get these things done.

 

I understand what it means find inspiration, to glean ideas from others or from nature to figure out what I was going to do. I didn’t look at Pinterest like this. I don’t know that I do yet. Instead I’m finding it more to be as I first saw it: a place to make to-do lists that I’m not sure are even meant to get done.

 

What is Pinterest? It’s my new place to hoard things. You hoard things that you found useful once and you’re just not sure what you’re going to do with anymore, but why get rid of it? It’s not taking up that much space. I can get around to fixing it. I’ll find a use for it. Maybe someone else could use it and I’ll just hold onto it until they need it. This is Pinterest.

Happy Birthday, Victor Hugo!

“Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.”
― Victor Hugo

I was in 8th grade when I first opened Les Misérables. It was a huge book, and by the time I had finished all 1,064 pages the covers were tattered and the pages worn down. It was the longest book I had ever read, and would remain that until I went to seminary.

It changed my life. Hugo was a master at his craft and his characters, the timeless story, invaded my soul and I found it had effected me. I no longer looked for love, I looked for grace. I no longer looked to run away as much as I looked to be changed. It became my biblical companion, giving me the eyes to see what I had thought I knew. God used this book as many have said Pilgrims’s Progress had been used.

I read this book once a year until last year. I knew Jean Valjean better Han I knew myself. I saw the Bishop of Digny and saw a model, however fictional, of how to live and breath as an ambassador in an empire. I saw Javier, and saw myself as I really was.

I still have my original copy, it’s in two pieces. Heather got me a new copy when Claire was born. It was the first story I read to Claire as I would feed her. (I personally think its why she had the most amazing vocabulary for a one year old.).

His birthday was yesterday, and I remembered him as the influence he was to me, maybe as much as Lewis.

Who are the people in your life that have influenced you? Have you taken the time to thank them, to honor them?

Lent has been Rick Rolled

Are you a Christian today? Or when? or a New Definition for Lent

I hang out with all kinds of people.  Some I choose, some they choose, but I’m thrown into several varied situations everyday.  I’m always amazed how topics, comments, even language changes when they eventually find out that I’m an ordained pastor.  Its’ not that I keep it a secret, I just enjoy the freedom of watching others be open and honest with me about who they are and what concerns them.

Holidays make things interesting.  Well, I should rephrase: Holidays that are Christian and overtly religious make things interesting.  Add Ash Wednesday/Lent to the whole thing.  I can tell automatically who you are by what you call Shrove Tuesday, by what you eat on that day, and by whether or not you call it “a Catholic thing”.

What I really find interesting is the shift in moods that occurs when Lent come around.  Voices take a softer edge as they talk about what they’re giving up.  They want others to know what they’re giving up.  Things get hushed as it’s revealed, and there’s a sigh and an “I understand”.  It’s almost a time of confession because they are giving up something they know they indulge in.  It becomes a sacred moment… but the reasons seem to be mostly for health.  What’s given up is fast food, or chocolate, or soda.  All good things to give up if its what you struggle with, but do these things get to the heart of the matter?

I love the prayer I posted yesterday because it gets to a deep truth: we need to keep eternity in our minds at all times, and not just as a fleeting moment brought on by the circumstances or places we find ourselves in.  To look for Christ and in His goodness only once a week robs Him of His true identity as Sovereign; to only look for God when we need a hand is to rob ourselves of he joy of getting to know the One who Creates and Redeems.  It really calls us to question who we are.  We cannot claim to live in a Kingdom with a King only when it is convenient or when we are aware.  We could never do it in our day-to-day nationalities, so how can we think we can do it in our faith?

Instead, let me redefine, or at least give a new look at Lent.  Lent is 40 days to prepare us to carry our cross the other 325 days.  Lent should be a time of garnering new habits so that we can be better servants of God and of each other.  It just started, so no fear about getting it wrong.  Lent should be a time for us to gather in community to support each other in our weakness, and to learn about each other so we can help and pray for each other the other 325 days of the year.

So in the hushed talk between cubicles about Lenten activities with your coworkers, or maybe it comes up over the fence with your neighbor, see these conversations as they are: a sacred dialogue where your friend/coworker/relative is sharing their weakness with you.  Support them, help them, pray for them.  And check back.

Even if you don’t think they’re taking this season as seriously as you do, show them by your care how seriously you take them.

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

Lord of Heaven,

Thy goodness is inexpressible and inconceivable.

In the works of creation thou art almighty,

In the dispensations of providence all-wise,

In the gospel of grace all love,

And in thy Son thou hast provided for

our deliverance from the effects of sin,

the justification of our persons,

the sanctification of our natures,

the perseverance of our souls in the path of life.

Though exposed to the terrors of thy law,

we have a refuge from the storm;

Though compelled to cry, ‘Unclean’,

we have a fountain for sin;

Though creature-cells of emptiness

we have a fullness accessible to all,

and incapable of reduction.

Grant us always to know that to walk with Jesus

makes other interests a shadow and a dream.

Keep us from intermittent attention

to eternal things;

Save us from the delusion of those

who fail to go far in religion,

who are concerned but not converted,

who have another heart but not a new one,

who have light, zeal, confidence, but not Christ.

Let us judge our Christianity,

not only by our dependence upon Jesus,

but by our love to him,

our conformity to him,

our knowledge of him.

Give us a religion that is both real

and progressive,

that holds on its way and grows stronger,

that lives and works in the Spirit,

that profits by every correction,

and is injured by no carnal indulgence.

~

Fourth day morning: True Christianity

, The Valley of Vision

I can’t believe I’m the father of a 7 year old

I had that surreal moment of looking at my little girl and seeing an echo of who she was six years ago, this little girl who wanted her hair tied up in a ribbon just like Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I did that for her everyday before I took her to preschool, or to church, or to someone’s house to play. But now, there was this still little girl who had grown up.

I remember so well the ay she was born. I remember so well how and who she was when Lily was born. I remember so well her excitement for Alice to be born. She’s such a great big sister, and a wonderful daughter. I love that she loves to read, and that her imagination leans on the practical side. I love overhearing her talk to others about the love of her savior, and her concern for justice and fairness.

But she’s 7.

People are telling me this gets worse.

I really don’t feel that old. I suffer more from realizing my actual age than the effects of it. I don’t feel old, and I think it’s working with kids and with young families that keeps me rejuvenated. It’s also certainly from hanging out and playing with my girls. But she’s 7. Wow. That’s a long way for a guy who didn’t see himself past 25 for so long to realize that God has given not only the blessings of a second chance, but the blessing of progeny and encouraging them to see what I have found.

She’s 7.

Who am I? Who are you?

I was roused by thoughts this weekend about who I am. I’ve had quite the struggle in the face of opposition to those who have said contrary to me about what I know to be true about what God has said to me about me.

I don’t think I’m alone in this struggle. We have an accuser whose sole purpose is to batter, berate, to wear us down. I have my share of “Job’s friends.”. Sometimes their voices are so loud it’s hard to hear the voice of encouragement.

But are we to be defined by our sin? Or, can we see ourselves as rescued? Who we are, who we are meant to be, can be so easily swayed by the passing currents in our mind, but we have a rock to keep us tethered, by whom we have a good foundation for not just understanding the world around us, but who we are, as well.

Valentine’s Day by the Numbers

Will you be my companion?