"Come thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace." -Come Thou Fount, Robert Robinson
"I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations." -Psalm 57:9
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and to say I was full by the end of it would be an understatement. Let me let you in on a little secret of Leathers' Thanksgivings: Mother Susan often cooks for 20, whether there are 20 or 10. This year we had a blast with 7 of us. To say there were leftovers would be a little misleading. When I come back for Christmas we'll still be eating that stuffing, and boy was it good!
But as with every year, if yesterday was Thanksgiving, that means today is none other than that marvelously well-known "other" holiday "Sleep-off-all-that-you-ate-while-you-watch-football-and-basketball-and-eat-leftovers-while-you-decorate-for-Christmas Day." Well, at least that's what I'll be celebrating today. I suppose others also take today to fight the herds of trampling elephants at Best Buy for Black Friday.
It's funny I suppose. We here in America can take one day out of the year when we stop and pause to simply rest and give thanks for all of those things that we have been blessed with over the year. It's that one day a year when we realize how FULL our lives are with the simplest and littlest things that make our lives what they are.
Every year (except for this year for some reason), while we sit around the table filling ourselves in turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing and some kind of oyster casserole for my dad, my mom stops the feast for a few moments for all of us to share what we are thankful for. It's a pretty simple ritual we participate in. Last year I was thankful for my dog (who luckily, not to mention miraculously, made it to this Thanksgiving.) If we'd gone around the table again this year, I would've said I was thankful for people and experiences who give me perspectives I didn't have before.
And yet, before we were done with the feast last night, we could have been at Walmart starting the Black Friday shopping early (in case you missed it, they started an early Black Friday special at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving.) Before the gravy had cooled on our holiday of giving thanks, people were already prepping for the early morning adventures of shopping and catching the biggest deals. What an irony that the day after we spend a holiday giving thanks for the little things, we rush out searching for all the things we want and don't really need.
Commercials and advertising are built on the premise that if they can convince us that we NEED something, that we can't survive without something, we will go out and buy it. That's why Black Friday is so successful. We can fill ourselves with and buy ourselves all the things we think we need or want at the prices that make them available to our checkbooks. But here's the thing: it's hard to be really thankful if you're already thinking about the next thing you need. How many people sit at the Thanksgiving table saying that they have all they really need only to run to the mall to get the other things they need?
I've made 2014 the Year of Thanksgiving. It's the first year that I've kept a New Year's resolution. In the book of First Samuel, after having been previously defeated by the Philistines and facing a second rout at their hands, the Israelite people stand on the edge of battle. And beyond all odds, God delivers the Philistines into their hands and they are victorious. The prophet Samuel, realizing it has been God that has led them to victory, wants to remind the Israelites, present and future, that it was not their might that won victory but God's presence. So Samuel set down a stone and named it Ebenezer so that people would see it and be reminded of God's favor. It was to remind them to be thankful!
So every night in 2014 before I go to bed, I take a small polished stone and a Sharpie and write down on the stone one thing I've been thankful for in that day. Once I've written something I place the stone in a big jar in my living room. After a week, the seven stones looked so small and insignificant in the glass jar. But month after month the pile of stones grew and grew, so much in fact that now in November the jar is nearly full.
Some days I write down the names of teenagers I work with who remind me of the immense joy and creativity life has to offer. Some days I write down the names of mentors and co-workers who offer me wisdom, insight and strength I couldn't gain on my own. Sometimes I write the names of places I've been or food I've eaten or holidays I've celebrated. Some days there are more blessings than I can count. And some days I can't think of anything that I should be thankful for.
On days like that, I write "oxygen." Every day, even the simplest and most mundane, or the worst and most stress-filled, I have life to be thankful for.
At first, I thought this was just a silly New Year's thing to do. But after 11 months, it's become a life-changing habit. Some days I carry around a stone in my pocket and when I find that thing that I'm most thankful for, I go ahead and write it down at 2 p.m. It's helped me recognize the simple blessings I experience every hour of every day. It's helped me recognize the places God has blessed me in my life the same way he blessed the Israelites in Samuel's.
We all have things to be thankful for. Every day we are blessed abundantly. To count those blessings each day is to recognize the giver of all good things. It also reminds me that there are others who don't have all that I have, that there are others whose experience of life has been harder than mine. It reminds me that I have all I'll ever need already. It reminds me that no mall, no discount, no sale, no Apple release, no Reese's Peanut Butter Cup can fill me any more than I've already been filled. My life is already complete, and I could never give enough thanks for what I have and the person God is shaping me to be. Because at the end of the day, like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, I can look at my life and say, "I've really had a wonderful life."
God has given me all I need, and if I ever forget that, just like Samuel I've almost filled a glass jar full of Ebenezers. May you give thanks for all the blessings in your life and recognize that you have all you need. May you be content with what you have and know that while you have life you always have hope.
forever unfinished...
Friday, November 28, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Play-Doh...
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" -Romans 8:38-39
"And when each of us looks back at all the turns and folds God has allowed in our lives, I don't think it looks like a series of folded-over mistakes and do-overs that have shaped our lives. Instead, I think we'll conclude in the end that maybe we're all a little like human origami and the more creases we have, the better." -Bob Goff, Love Does
This past week I was Tahlequah, Oklahoma with 15 of the high schoolers from FUMC for a mission trip. We dug ditches. We played with kids on the autism spectrum. We jumped off of cliffs and rafted down rivers. We laughed. We cried. We sweat.
And in all of it, God was doing some big, big things. I've truly still been unable to fully wrap my head around everything that happened this week. Something tells me I likely won't be able to express it all in words any time soon.
I spent my days back at the United Methodist children's home where our group was based working with our youth that volunteered to help at Camp Grey Squirrel. Grey Squirrel is a summer day camp for kids with autism or Asperger's syndrome. The teens in our group had the option of helping at Camp or going out to a backwoods bible camp and getting their hands seriously dirty with some painting and ditch digging and conduit laying (and let me tell you, the bunch that went our there came back EXHAUSTED.)
One of the things the campers at Grey Squirrel loved doing was playing with Play Doh, and by playing with Play Doh, I mean taking six different colors of Play Doh and mixing them all together to get one big glob of puke colored dough. (It's really funny how things don't change in 25 years.)
When the week was done for the campers on Wednesday the camp director offered me a container of this material that resembled toxic waste that had been sitting in a refrigerator for two months. As you can probably imagine, I gladly accepted and stuck it in my backpack for safe keeping, because you never know when toxic waste colored Play Doh might come in handy!
That night at worship, the message really revolved around sin. The thrust was that we all needed to rid ourselves of the things we do that keep us from being close to God as the things that God detests. It was a message of guilt. The call was to be ashamed of all of the mess-ups in our lives. It seemed like if we sinned we couldn't love God so if we just stopped sinning, it would all be better.
As it was going on I reached in my backpack for my journal and my hand came across the little plastic container of Play Doh. I was reminded of the story of how Play Doh came to be.
Originally created in 1927 by Cleo and Noah McVicker as a wallpaper cleaner to remove coal residue from wallpaper, the market eventually disappeared as coal in homes slowly went out of favor. Struggling to continue the business, the brothers were nearly out of ideas.
But in 1955, Kay Zufall, the sister-in-law of Cleo's son and an elementary school teacher, got a batch of the dough after hearing it made a good craft to make Christmas ornaments. However, instead of making ornaments, her kids loved molding the dough and playing with it. After asking for more, the company had a brilliant idea. They removed any toxic materials from the dough, added colors, and began to market it as a toy: PLAY DOH!
This antiquated cleaning supply was nearly dispatched and left behind and the company that made it nearly went under. But all it took was somebody looking at it from a little different angle and making a minor adjustment to see how valuable this simple dough could really be! How depressing would childhood have been without that colorful dough to mix together and roll into snakes?!
I'm becoming more and more convinced that the truest image of God we have is that of the father in the story Jesus tells of the son who runs away. Taking his inheritance early, the son runs off and blows it all on every kind of pleasure. Coming to the end of his rope and having no other options but starvation, he slowly makes his way home, ashamed, embarrassed, and with nothing to his name. He's a vagrant who has seemingly exhausted all the goodwill his father might have for him.
And yet, as he walks up the road to his father's house, there is Dad running down the driveway to embrace him. The way the story tells it, as the father looked out, he saw his son returning and ran to him. I LOVE this image. I get the idea that he probably stood there on the porch each and every morning hoping against hope that his son would return. And when they meet on the road, I imagine he gave his son the biggest bear hug and in between tears whispered in his ear, "Welcome home buddy."
I can't find a more beautiful picture of what God is like in all the bible than the father who is waiting on the porch to whisper to us, "Welcome home my beloved child." We are not perfect children. We wonder after temporary thrills and pleasures hoping they will fill us and sustain us and complete us. But the story of God is not of one who stands above us counting our imperfections and listing our missteps.
Rather, I'm more convinced by the day that God is the one desperately waiting for us to come home so that he can lavish us with love. There is nothing in us that would cause God to ever look at us and dismiss us. Nothing you have ever done, no story your life has ever told, has diminished the adoration and intense affection God has for you. Instead, I'm more convinced than ever that we are like Play Doh, and that just when we become convinced that our value couldn't be less and we're ready to give up, God reminds us that we are valuable beyond measure, simply because we are made in his image. Sometimes we just need a new start. Sometimes we just need someone to whisper, "Welcome Home."
forever unfinished...
"And when each of us looks back at all the turns and folds God has allowed in our lives, I don't think it looks like a series of folded-over mistakes and do-overs that have shaped our lives. Instead, I think we'll conclude in the end that maybe we're all a little like human origami and the more creases we have, the better." -Bob Goff, Love Does
This past week I was Tahlequah, Oklahoma with 15 of the high schoolers from FUMC for a mission trip. We dug ditches. We played with kids on the autism spectrum. We jumped off of cliffs and rafted down rivers. We laughed. We cried. We sweat.
And in all of it, God was doing some big, big things. I've truly still been unable to fully wrap my head around everything that happened this week. Something tells me I likely won't be able to express it all in words any time soon.
I spent my days back at the United Methodist children's home where our group was based working with our youth that volunteered to help at Camp Grey Squirrel. Grey Squirrel is a summer day camp for kids with autism or Asperger's syndrome. The teens in our group had the option of helping at Camp or going out to a backwoods bible camp and getting their hands seriously dirty with some painting and ditch digging and conduit laying (and let me tell you, the bunch that went our there came back EXHAUSTED.)
One of the things the campers at Grey Squirrel loved doing was playing with Play Doh, and by playing with Play Doh, I mean taking six different colors of Play Doh and mixing them all together to get one big glob of puke colored dough. (It's really funny how things don't change in 25 years.)
When the week was done for the campers on Wednesday the camp director offered me a container of this material that resembled toxic waste that had been sitting in a refrigerator for two months. As you can probably imagine, I gladly accepted and stuck it in my backpack for safe keeping, because you never know when toxic waste colored Play Doh might come in handy!
That night at worship, the message really revolved around sin. The thrust was that we all needed to rid ourselves of the things we do that keep us from being close to God as the things that God detests. It was a message of guilt. The call was to be ashamed of all of the mess-ups in our lives. It seemed like if we sinned we couldn't love God so if we just stopped sinning, it would all be better.
As it was going on I reached in my backpack for my journal and my hand came across the little plastic container of Play Doh. I was reminded of the story of how Play Doh came to be.
Originally created in 1927 by Cleo and Noah McVicker as a wallpaper cleaner to remove coal residue from wallpaper, the market eventually disappeared as coal in homes slowly went out of favor. Struggling to continue the business, the brothers were nearly out of ideas.
But in 1955, Kay Zufall, the sister-in-law of Cleo's son and an elementary school teacher, got a batch of the dough after hearing it made a good craft to make Christmas ornaments. However, instead of making ornaments, her kids loved molding the dough and playing with it. After asking for more, the company had a brilliant idea. They removed any toxic materials from the dough, added colors, and began to market it as a toy: PLAY DOH!
This antiquated cleaning supply was nearly dispatched and left behind and the company that made it nearly went under. But all it took was somebody looking at it from a little different angle and making a minor adjustment to see how valuable this simple dough could really be! How depressing would childhood have been without that colorful dough to mix together and roll into snakes?!
I'm becoming more and more convinced that the truest image of God we have is that of the father in the story Jesus tells of the son who runs away. Taking his inheritance early, the son runs off and blows it all on every kind of pleasure. Coming to the end of his rope and having no other options but starvation, he slowly makes his way home, ashamed, embarrassed, and with nothing to his name. He's a vagrant who has seemingly exhausted all the goodwill his father might have for him.
And yet, as he walks up the road to his father's house, there is Dad running down the driveway to embrace him. The way the story tells it, as the father looked out, he saw his son returning and ran to him. I LOVE this image. I get the idea that he probably stood there on the porch each and every morning hoping against hope that his son would return. And when they meet on the road, I imagine he gave his son the biggest bear hug and in between tears whispered in his ear, "Welcome home buddy."
I can't find a more beautiful picture of what God is like in all the bible than the father who is waiting on the porch to whisper to us, "Welcome home my beloved child." We are not perfect children. We wonder after temporary thrills and pleasures hoping they will fill us and sustain us and complete us. But the story of God is not of one who stands above us counting our imperfections and listing our missteps.
Rather, I'm more convinced by the day that God is the one desperately waiting for us to come home so that he can lavish us with love. There is nothing in us that would cause God to ever look at us and dismiss us. Nothing you have ever done, no story your life has ever told, has diminished the adoration and intense affection God has for you. Instead, I'm more convinced than ever that we are like Play Doh, and that just when we become convinced that our value couldn't be less and we're ready to give up, God reminds us that we are valuable beyond measure, simply because we are made in his image. Sometimes we just need a new start. Sometimes we just need someone to whisper, "Welcome Home."
forever unfinished...
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Tucson...
"Every heart has a rhythm. Let yours beat out so loudly that everyone can hear it. Yeah I promise you don't need to hide it anymore. And never be afraid of doing something different. Dare to do something more." -Hunter Hayes, Invisible
"Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world." -Jim Carrey
"Before I formed you in the womb I new you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5
Last summer we took our seniors who had just graduated high school on a mystery trip. What's a mystery trip you ask? Well, it's a trip where the youth only find out where they are going as we are leaving. Pretty fun, huh?
Last summer we went to Santa Monica for a couple of days on the beach (and to a place called Magicopolis! If you're ever in the area, check that place out.) For two and a half days we soaked up some sun, chilled and had a great time. But like all good trips, eventually it was time to come back.
On the way back we had a short layover in Tuscon. As we descended into the city (and returned to civilization, for that matter) I looked out the window to see the beautiful mountains and a city I had never visited. And what I noticed was something odd: as I looked down, every house looked the exact same. I don't mean in the way that every house looks the same when you are thousands of feet above the ground traveling at hundreds of miles an hour. But as we got closer and closer to landing, the houses looked more similar by the second. There were just rows and rows of the same house, as if one architect had been contracted by the city to design every house and then got bored after he or she finished the first one.
(Now, let me just say, that if you live in Tucson, we had a great experience there. I loved your airport and the mountains were beautiful. Our plane got delayed and it was a blast spending that time in your terminal!)
But there was just something odd about it all. Every house in Tucson couldn't be the same could it? It was so... blah.
It reminded me of a book my parents read to me as a little boy: The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater. The story begins, "Mr. Plumbean lived on a street where all the houses were the same." This was how the neighbors liked it. Everything looked alike and nothing was different. Until one day, a sea gull carrying a can of paint over Mr. Plumbean's house spilled the can of orange paint on his roof leaving the big orange splot.
Everyone was so sad for him. He'd have to repaint his roof to match everyone else's. But he left it for a while, and the neighbors started to get antsy. They urged him to paint his house, so he did. One night, while his neighbors slept, he painted his house with all different colors. The roof he painted blue, except where the orange splot remained. The walls he painted every which color, with pictures of hippos and lions.
Needless to say, the neighbors were a bit upset. He had messed up the neighborhood's look. But the next night, he went further, adding a clock tower to his roof and a rainforest worth of trees to put in his front yard. This was too much for his neighbors. His reply to them? "My house is me, and I am in it. My house is where I like to be, and it looks like all my dreams."
A funny thing happened the next night however. His neighbor had transformed his house into a giant ship! His reply to his other neighbors? "My house is me, and I am in it. My house is where I like to be, and it looks like all my dreams." And one by one, the neighbors began to transform their homes into palaces and castles and hot-air balloons. Soon, there wasn't a single house that looked alike, and it was just how the neighbors liked it.
Sometimes it feels like we're walking through a world where everything and everyone feels a lot like the houses on Mr. Plumbean's street. It feels like everyone is trying to be the same thing. We're all trying to have the right look or use the right phone or post the right pictures. We want to be the same as other people because if we're the same as other people, we think we won't be left out.
I know I've tried to be like other people. I've wanted to be taller, or better looking, or have better knees, or so on and so forth. I've tried to cut my hair in different ways or wear certain clothes. I've tried to do the things and say the things I thought everyone wanted me to do or say. I've tried to just fit in.
I've learned something over the years. The world doesn't need me to be somebody else. It doesn't need me to be any taller, or faster, or better looking, or so one and so forth. It needs me to just. be. me. And it needs you to just. be. you.
There is a beautiful passage in one of Paul's letters to the church at Corinth. In his first letter, he talks about everyone being like a body. Some people are like the nose. Some are like toes. Some are like eyelashes. Some are probably belly buttons and finger nails I guess. But he keeps the story going. If the foot said to the hand, "I'm not as important as you and I want to be a hand," then the body would be missing a foot and walking would be really hard.
What's Paul's point? Even the people who seem the most different and insignificant are absolutely essential to everyone else. He even says that the eyes have to learn to appreciate the elbows, because without them, how would we grab what we see?
You are irreplaceable. You have a fingerprint to leave on the world that only you can leave. God gave you a smile and a touch and a voice that nobody else has or has EVER had. You are one of a kind, and nobody else can be you. It's tempting to want to be like everyone else, to fit in, to not feel alone. But the truth is, we'd all much rather have the real you and all of the good and the bad and the in between. The world would be BORING if everyone was the same!
And that can be a scary venture, no matter whether you are a teenager or a nearing-retirement executive. To let people see us for who we are and not who we want them to believe we are is a terrifying thing to do. But when we take off the masks it is much easier to see and to smile and be with others. You are beautiful enough. Or funny enough. Or smart enough. Or strong enough. Or brave enough. You are because when God knit you together he looked over you with a smile in his eyes and said, "It is good." And when he looks over you today, he says, "It is still so good."
A funny thing happens when we know who we are. We stop wasting all of our energy trying to be what other people want. Each of us has a story to tell, but if we spend all of our time trying to be like other people, no one will ever get to hear it. Your story is a great story, because it is yours. We're all waiting to hear it. It took a sea gull with a bucket of paint for Mr. Plumbean to tell his story. And when he was finally himself, everyone around him starting becoming themselves. All it takes is one match to start a fire. What will your big orange splot be?
forever unfinished...
"Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world." -Jim Carrey
"Before I formed you in the womb I new you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5
Last summer we took our seniors who had just graduated high school on a mystery trip. What's a mystery trip you ask? Well, it's a trip where the youth only find out where they are going as we are leaving. Pretty fun, huh?
Last summer we went to Santa Monica for a couple of days on the beach (and to a place called Magicopolis! If you're ever in the area, check that place out.) For two and a half days we soaked up some sun, chilled and had a great time. But like all good trips, eventually it was time to come back.
On the way back we had a short layover in Tuscon. As we descended into the city (and returned to civilization, for that matter) I looked out the window to see the beautiful mountains and a city I had never visited. And what I noticed was something odd: as I looked down, every house looked the exact same. I don't mean in the way that every house looks the same when you are thousands of feet above the ground traveling at hundreds of miles an hour. But as we got closer and closer to landing, the houses looked more similar by the second. There were just rows and rows of the same house, as if one architect had been contracted by the city to design every house and then got bored after he or she finished the first one.
(Now, let me just say, that if you live in Tucson, we had a great experience there. I loved your airport and the mountains were beautiful. Our plane got delayed and it was a blast spending that time in your terminal!)
But there was just something odd about it all. Every house in Tucson couldn't be the same could it? It was so... blah.
It reminded me of a book my parents read to me as a little boy: The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater. The story begins, "Mr. Plumbean lived on a street where all the houses were the same." This was how the neighbors liked it. Everything looked alike and nothing was different. Until one day, a sea gull carrying a can of paint over Mr. Plumbean's house spilled the can of orange paint on his roof leaving the big orange splot.
Everyone was so sad for him. He'd have to repaint his roof to match everyone else's. But he left it for a while, and the neighbors started to get antsy. They urged him to paint his house, so he did. One night, while his neighbors slept, he painted his house with all different colors. The roof he painted blue, except where the orange splot remained. The walls he painted every which color, with pictures of hippos and lions.
Needless to say, the neighbors were a bit upset. He had messed up the neighborhood's look. But the next night, he went further, adding a clock tower to his roof and a rainforest worth of trees to put in his front yard. This was too much for his neighbors. His reply to them? "My house is me, and I am in it. My house is where I like to be, and it looks like all my dreams."
A funny thing happened the next night however. His neighbor had transformed his house into a giant ship! His reply to his other neighbors? "My house is me, and I am in it. My house is where I like to be, and it looks like all my dreams." And one by one, the neighbors began to transform their homes into palaces and castles and hot-air balloons. Soon, there wasn't a single house that looked alike, and it was just how the neighbors liked it.
Sometimes it feels like we're walking through a world where everything and everyone feels a lot like the houses on Mr. Plumbean's street. It feels like everyone is trying to be the same thing. We're all trying to have the right look or use the right phone or post the right pictures. We want to be the same as other people because if we're the same as other people, we think we won't be left out.
I know I've tried to be like other people. I've wanted to be taller, or better looking, or have better knees, or so on and so forth. I've tried to cut my hair in different ways or wear certain clothes. I've tried to do the things and say the things I thought everyone wanted me to do or say. I've tried to just fit in.
I've learned something over the years. The world doesn't need me to be somebody else. It doesn't need me to be any taller, or faster, or better looking, or so one and so forth. It needs me to just. be. me. And it needs you to just. be. you.
There is a beautiful passage in one of Paul's letters to the church at Corinth. In his first letter, he talks about everyone being like a body. Some people are like the nose. Some are like toes. Some are like eyelashes. Some are probably belly buttons and finger nails I guess. But he keeps the story going. If the foot said to the hand, "I'm not as important as you and I want to be a hand," then the body would be missing a foot and walking would be really hard.
What's Paul's point? Even the people who seem the most different and insignificant are absolutely essential to everyone else. He even says that the eyes have to learn to appreciate the elbows, because without them, how would we grab what we see?
You are irreplaceable. You have a fingerprint to leave on the world that only you can leave. God gave you a smile and a touch and a voice that nobody else has or has EVER had. You are one of a kind, and nobody else can be you. It's tempting to want to be like everyone else, to fit in, to not feel alone. But the truth is, we'd all much rather have the real you and all of the good and the bad and the in between. The world would be BORING if everyone was the same!
And that can be a scary venture, no matter whether you are a teenager or a nearing-retirement executive. To let people see us for who we are and not who we want them to believe we are is a terrifying thing to do. But when we take off the masks it is much easier to see and to smile and be with others. You are beautiful enough. Or funny enough. Or smart enough. Or strong enough. Or brave enough. You are because when God knit you together he looked over you with a smile in his eyes and said, "It is good." And when he looks over you today, he says, "It is still so good."
A funny thing happens when we know who we are. We stop wasting all of our energy trying to be what other people want. Each of us has a story to tell, but if we spend all of our time trying to be like other people, no one will ever get to hear it. Your story is a great story, because it is yours. We're all waiting to hear it. It took a sea gull with a bucket of paint for Mr. Plumbean to tell his story. And when he was finally himself, everyone around him starting becoming themselves. All it takes is one match to start a fire. What will your big orange splot be?
forever unfinished...
Monday, April 28, 2014
Bright Lights...
"Don't you know there's so much more beyond these dead signs and all these filthy streets. Take my hands, let me pull you out of the blindness of your weary soul... to somewhere beautiful." -Sean McConnell, Somewhere Beautiful
"All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:3-5
Every Sunday morning when I walk out of the church at 12:00 I have to shield my eyes. It is always SO bright! I suppose it has something to do with how dimly lit the sanctuary is, but every time I walk out into the afternoon sun, there are a good 10 seconds when I'm absolutely blinded! I've never had my eyes dilated, but I think it's like that. Every Sunday!
I've been thinking a lot about that phenomenon recently, that blinding light. It's good to leave the darkness, but what if the light is too bright? What if the light makes us uncomfortable?
How many of us settle for living in the darkness? If you work in a dark room developing film, well, this isn't for you. But then again, I suppose I'm not referring to literal darkness. How many of us complain about how busy we are? For how many of us is our standard response to the question how are you "Tired" or "Busy"? How many of us are stuck in bad relationship patterns? How many of us live in front of screens alone rather than in life with others?
I think there's a reason so many of us stick here in these decisions (and by we I mean me and you.) We all know there is something better, or at least have an inkling maybe. Or at the very least we did once upon a time. We all dream. We have an idea of what life could be like if we dared to jump off the high dive, not knowing if we'd nail a dive or crash into a belly flop.
But it's scary. Our glimpses into the light are short and so abrupt that they are like the sun when I leave the sanctuary. For so many of us, we'd rather settle into lives of mediocrity than chase down the wind. We've left whimsy behind because we don't know what we might find hunting it down. And after a while, we stop looking. The longer we drift along, the deeper the darkness gets. And the more harsh the light becomes.
I think that's what Jesus was like. There's this beautiful passage at the beginning of John's gospel where he tries to put into words who Jesus is (good luck with that!) First John calls Jesus the Word of God, the logos in Greek. This means that Jesus was a picture of what God is like.
But then he uses another image: the light. He says Jesus was the light. What's more? He writes, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." Jesus was a bright light! Maybe that's why so many people were turned off by him. The ideas Jesus had about love, about who was in and who was out, and how he just went ahead and lived into that love, that was radical. It wasn't something people were used to seeing. People like Jesus didn't eat with prostitutes and tax collectors. People like Jesus didn't touch people with skin diseases. BUT JESUS DID!
And I think that's why so many people said no. He changed things! He opened people's eyes to a light, and it was bright! It changed things, and his version of love was bigger than they could get their heads around. It forced them to think differently. It was TOO bright. So most of the people he met said no. It was easier to stay on the sideline. Jesus' way may have but better. His picture of love might have been beautiful. But it was too big. They couldn't imagine what he was doing, even if he was doing it before their very eyes. It was good, but after a while, they had settled for less.
There are enough Jesus is Superman analogies to last until the end of time, but I will add one more. I really enjoyed the Man of Steel movie. There comes a point at which Clark Kent has just been told who he is, why he has the abilities he does. And his father, his real father, tells him that he has to be a light for people:
"You will give the people of earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time you will help them accomplish wonders."
Superman is a light to the world. But it will take time for people's eyes to adjust and focus. For a while they will stumble and fall and resist. That's what it's like when I leave the sanctuary. For a moment it is harsh, but slowly my eyes get better.
Radical love is a jarring event. It is a rare thing in this world, and to see it is scary, particularly when we're involved. We've gotten so used to settling into our busyness and expectations that when something comes along that disrupts that, even if that thing is great, we are usually too blinded to see it. There is so much stuff in our way that we'd rather keep on living a dull story than risk something that could be incredible (and yes, I again mean myself as much as anyone.)
So sometimes we have to do something that jars us, something that brings us to life and opens our eyes to the way things could be! We don't have to settle for less just because we always have. Because the truth is, just as John says that Jesus is the light, Jesus tells his disciples that they are the light! To follow Jesus is to share in the light, to know the light and to live the kind of life that shares that light with the world. It is to expose ourselves to a love we can't comprehend or understand because it's more than we've ever conceived of.
A couple of weeks ago I found myself with a great excuse to remember the light. For a while, I've felt overwhelmed. Busy. Tired. Stressed. Apathetic. I was filling my time with stuff to feel busier and what I wasn't doing was LIVING! I was settling for something much less than a life of light. I was living for... blah.
But a friend of mine had a big presentation for a class in their grad program. And something sparked. I don't know what it was, but I caught a glimpse of light. I caught a glimpse of something that would bring me to life. So instead of a simple "Good luck" text, I did something different...
And let me tell you, it woke me up! Sure, it literally woke me up early, but more than that, it reminded me to jump into life with both feet. It gave me a reason to laugh and reminded me that life is crazy and unexpected and full of potential. I'd gotten so caught up by life that I'd forgotten to live!
Sometimes we need little moments to wake us up. If you ever feel like you can't see the light, or that life has gotten too busy, or better yet that better isn't for you, know that better is just for you! It's hard to imagine better sometimes. We've gotten so used to enough and getting by and less than life has to offer us that to imagine better is foreign. We've gotten so used to being let down that the idea of love to the fullest is scary sometimes. Light has become blinding.
But there is better. And the light that is blinding at first slowly becomes natural. And what's more? When we open ourselves to it, when we catch a glimpse of it, even if just for a second, it lights us up. And we become the very light to the world that has already illuminated us. You are the light. There is light in you.
I think it's like the writer of Winnie the Pooh said, "Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think." May the light of Jesus touch your life today, and may your life be filled with light and love and passion and possibility and whimsy today!
forever unfinished...
"All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:3-5
Every Sunday morning when I walk out of the church at 12:00 I have to shield my eyes. It is always SO bright! I suppose it has something to do with how dimly lit the sanctuary is, but every time I walk out into the afternoon sun, there are a good 10 seconds when I'm absolutely blinded! I've never had my eyes dilated, but I think it's like that. Every Sunday!
I've been thinking a lot about that phenomenon recently, that blinding light. It's good to leave the darkness, but what if the light is too bright? What if the light makes us uncomfortable?
How many of us settle for living in the darkness? If you work in a dark room developing film, well, this isn't for you. But then again, I suppose I'm not referring to literal darkness. How many of us complain about how busy we are? For how many of us is our standard response to the question how are you "Tired" or "Busy"? How many of us are stuck in bad relationship patterns? How many of us live in front of screens alone rather than in life with others?
I think there's a reason so many of us stick here in these decisions (and by we I mean me and you.) We all know there is something better, or at least have an inkling maybe. Or at the very least we did once upon a time. We all dream. We have an idea of what life could be like if we dared to jump off the high dive, not knowing if we'd nail a dive or crash into a belly flop.
But it's scary. Our glimpses into the light are short and so abrupt that they are like the sun when I leave the sanctuary. For so many of us, we'd rather settle into lives of mediocrity than chase down the wind. We've left whimsy behind because we don't know what we might find hunting it down. And after a while, we stop looking. The longer we drift along, the deeper the darkness gets. And the more harsh the light becomes.
I think that's what Jesus was like. There's this beautiful passage at the beginning of John's gospel where he tries to put into words who Jesus is (good luck with that!) First John calls Jesus the Word of God, the logos in Greek. This means that Jesus was a picture of what God is like.
But then he uses another image: the light. He says Jesus was the light. What's more? He writes, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." Jesus was a bright light! Maybe that's why so many people were turned off by him. The ideas Jesus had about love, about who was in and who was out, and how he just went ahead and lived into that love, that was radical. It wasn't something people were used to seeing. People like Jesus didn't eat with prostitutes and tax collectors. People like Jesus didn't touch people with skin diseases. BUT JESUS DID!
And I think that's why so many people said no. He changed things! He opened people's eyes to a light, and it was bright! It changed things, and his version of love was bigger than they could get their heads around. It forced them to think differently. It was TOO bright. So most of the people he met said no. It was easier to stay on the sideline. Jesus' way may have but better. His picture of love might have been beautiful. But it was too big. They couldn't imagine what he was doing, even if he was doing it before their very eyes. It was good, but after a while, they had settled for less.
There are enough Jesus is Superman analogies to last until the end of time, but I will add one more. I really enjoyed the Man of Steel movie. There comes a point at which Clark Kent has just been told who he is, why he has the abilities he does. And his father, his real father, tells him that he has to be a light for people:
"You will give the people of earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time you will help them accomplish wonders."
Superman is a light to the world. But it will take time for people's eyes to adjust and focus. For a while they will stumble and fall and resist. That's what it's like when I leave the sanctuary. For a moment it is harsh, but slowly my eyes get better.
Radical love is a jarring event. It is a rare thing in this world, and to see it is scary, particularly when we're involved. We've gotten so used to settling into our busyness and expectations that when something comes along that disrupts that, even if that thing is great, we are usually too blinded to see it. There is so much stuff in our way that we'd rather keep on living a dull story than risk something that could be incredible (and yes, I again mean myself as much as anyone.)
So sometimes we have to do something that jars us, something that brings us to life and opens our eyes to the way things could be! We don't have to settle for less just because we always have. Because the truth is, just as John says that Jesus is the light, Jesus tells his disciples that they are the light! To follow Jesus is to share in the light, to know the light and to live the kind of life that shares that light with the world. It is to expose ourselves to a love we can't comprehend or understand because it's more than we've ever conceived of.
A couple of weeks ago I found myself with a great excuse to remember the light. For a while, I've felt overwhelmed. Busy. Tired. Stressed. Apathetic. I was filling my time with stuff to feel busier and what I wasn't doing was LIVING! I was settling for something much less than a life of light. I was living for... blah.
But a friend of mine had a big presentation for a class in their grad program. And something sparked. I don't know what it was, but I caught a glimpse of light. I caught a glimpse of something that would bring me to life. So instead of a simple "Good luck" text, I did something different...
And let me tell you, it woke me up! Sure, it literally woke me up early, but more than that, it reminded me to jump into life with both feet. It gave me a reason to laugh and reminded me that life is crazy and unexpected and full of potential. I'd gotten so caught up by life that I'd forgotten to live!
Sometimes we need little moments to wake us up. If you ever feel like you can't see the light, or that life has gotten too busy, or better yet that better isn't for you, know that better is just for you! It's hard to imagine better sometimes. We've gotten so used to enough and getting by and less than life has to offer us that to imagine better is foreign. We've gotten so used to being let down that the idea of love to the fullest is scary sometimes. Light has become blinding.
But there is better. And the light that is blinding at first slowly becomes natural. And what's more? When we open ourselves to it, when we catch a glimpse of it, even if just for a second, it lights us up. And we become the very light to the world that has already illuminated us. You are the light. There is light in you.
I think it's like the writer of Winnie the Pooh said, "Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think." May the light of Jesus touch your life today, and may your life be filled with light and love and passion and possibility and whimsy today!
forever unfinished...
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Kumbie...
"Basic principles... there are none." -Hitch
"I remember this feeling came over me that I'd rather be here with her in this moment than anywhere else in the universe." -Rob Bell, Nooma: Flame
"So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them." -Genesis 1:27
I have a friend named Kumbirai Madondo, or Kumbie for short. Kumbie is from Zimbabwe, and she and I worked at a summer camp together while I was at Furman. I even taught Kumbie to drive before she got her American driver's license. I was "Mr. Leathers." She was "The World's Greatest."
When the summer came to an end, it was clear that Kumbie and I needed to get each other a going away present. I'm not entirely sure what she received (I think it was some kind of potpourri or a scent of some kind. I received something very different.
All summer one of my responsibilities was to drive Kumbie around in an effort to raise funds for the camp. While we drove around the area surrounding Clemson, she often let me know who she thought I ought to end up with. She was very invested in finding me the future Mrs. Leathers. So for her goodbye present she gave me two pieces of African jewelry: a bracelet and a necklace. They came with very specific instructions: when I met that future Mrs. Leathers I was to give her the jewelry and find Kumbie so that she could approve.
Two nights ago I was going through my nightstand and found all those items Kumbie gave me five years ago. It got me thinking...
There's a lot of talk these days about dating, and there's a lot of that talk in the church. How are we supposed to do it and what's it supposed to look like? What's ok and who is it ok with? There are all of these ideas about what it means to date. So I thought I'd share some thoughts I've picked up over the past 25 years:
But my life isn't incomplete without her. When God made me, he made me with everything I'd ever need. Same with you. Love is beautiful. But love doesn't just live in romance. We were made to live in community, to live in relationships. And we do. And love flows out of that. So no matter where you find yourself on the relationship spectrum, know that it is enough, and that love is a beautiful thing worth holding onto if you've found it.
forever unfinished...
"I remember this feeling came over me that I'd rather be here with her in this moment than anywhere else in the universe." -Rob Bell, Nooma: Flame
"So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them." -Genesis 1:27
I have a friend named Kumbirai Madondo, or Kumbie for short. Kumbie is from Zimbabwe, and she and I worked at a summer camp together while I was at Furman. I even taught Kumbie to drive before she got her American driver's license. I was "Mr. Leathers." She was "The World's Greatest."
When the summer came to an end, it was clear that Kumbie and I needed to get each other a going away present. I'm not entirely sure what she received (I think it was some kind of potpourri or a scent of some kind. I received something very different.
All summer one of my responsibilities was to drive Kumbie around in an effort to raise funds for the camp. While we drove around the area surrounding Clemson, she often let me know who she thought I ought to end up with. She was very invested in finding me the future Mrs. Leathers. So for her goodbye present she gave me two pieces of African jewelry: a bracelet and a necklace. They came with very specific instructions: when I met that future Mrs. Leathers I was to give her the jewelry and find Kumbie so that she could approve.
Two nights ago I was going through my nightstand and found all those items Kumbie gave me five years ago. It got me thinking...
There's a lot of talk these days about dating, and there's a lot of that talk in the church. How are we supposed to do it and what's it supposed to look like? What's ok and who is it ok with? There are all of these ideas about what it means to date. So I thought I'd share some thoughts I've picked up over the past 25 years:
- You do not need someone else to complete you or make you happy. If you are single, it is not because you are in a season of preparation for marriage, as if the story of your life was arcing towards finding your husband or wife. Finding someone won't make you whole. When God made you you weren't incomplete. You don't need someone else to make you whole. So be content with where you are. If you are single, enjoy the freedom that comes with that. If you are dating someone, enjoy being with them. If you are married, congratulations and love them big!
- Girls (and guys too), don't ever let anyone convince you you aren't good enough to be with them. If you find yourself with someone who makes you feel bad about yourself because of who you are or what you've done then they are not worth another second of you time. You are good enough for anybody, and you are worthy of love just as much as every other person. You were good enough the moment you were born! That's what love does, it brings people to their very best. It draws the light out of us so that everyone can see it.
- One thing the world could use less of is arrogant nice guys. I'm tired of hearing people say nice guys finish last. You know who says that? Nice guys who think that for some reason being a nice guys entitles them to whichever girl they meet. Why are people nice guys? Because every single woman they meet is worthy of the deepest love and respect from every guy. It's not about you.
- My Aunt Cathy once gave me the truest dating advice I've ever been given. She asked me, "Does she make you better? Do you make her better? If the answer to either is no, then you both deserve better." It's beautiful. But that's what love is right? At it's core, shouldn't love be something that both blesses others and receives blessings? If you're giving all of the love, there's something out of balance. If you're receiving all of it, there's something out of balance.
- Laughter is a good thing. So is communicating.
- There's no handbook for how dating is supposed to look. Everybody is a different person. Everyone's unique, and what an awesome thing that is! So why would any relationship look the same as any other? It won't! There's no strict guideline for how dating works. Some people move faster. Others slower. Some people love gifts. Some people love laughter. There aren't any hard and fast rules. If your relationship is marked by love and respect, then there shouldn't ever be anyone feeling pressured or nervous.
- Love is hard. I'm not talking about romance. That's pretty easy. But that's not love. We've romanticized love, made it a cute cuddly thing in The Notebook and Beauty and the Beast (p.s. I love those movies!) There's nothing wrong with romance. In fact, it's great, and romantic love can't happen without it. But love is different. Love sacrifices. With love, the story is never about me, but always about someone else. Love is never going to be perfect between two people. You'll argue and fight. But don't give up because it's bumpy.
And if someone tells you they love you and only loves what you will do for him or her, or only loves you when it's convenient, or only loves you when there's not someone else, that's not love. When someone makes you feel bad about who you are, that's not love. And if you're the person on the other side, and you're taking advantage of someone, or making them feel like less then they were made to be by the God who knit them together, all while saying "I love you," you don't know what those words mean. Love, true love, is worth waiting for.
But my life isn't incomplete without her. When God made me, he made me with everything I'd ever need. Same with you. Love is beautiful. But love doesn't just live in romance. We were made to live in community, to live in relationships. And we do. And love flows out of that. So no matter where you find yourself on the relationship spectrum, know that it is enough, and that love is a beautiful thing worth holding onto if you've found it.
forever unfinished...
Monday, February 24, 2014
Just another blog...
"Words can build you up. Words can break you down. Start a fire in your hearts or put it out." -Hawk Nelson, Words
"The words people say to us not only have shelf life but have the ability to shape life.” -Bob Goff, Love Does
"But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like." -James 1:22-24
A couple of weeks ago I was browsing my Newsfeed on Facebook and wouldn't you know, a post caught my eye. There are lots of things that do this: funny quotes, Buzzfeed articles, pictures of dogs with new filters. When hundreds of millions of people are filtering their lives onto their pages, there are bound to be at least a few things that stand out.
This post wasn't one of those things. It was a status of a young man I had an opportunity to meet through a couple summer mission trips. Truth, be told, it was the length that caught my eye. This is a guy who has been known to run off a pretty healthy rant, so something so long had me intrigued. What I read broke my heart: two paragraphs filled with anger, curses and language that makes your hair stand on edge. There was a point and a target of this status, but it's become irrelevant.
The point was much bigger than the one he was trying to make. As communication has gone more and more digital, as our lives play out online more than in the flesh, we've lost the power of words. We blog and tweet. We post statuses and send texts. We have gifs and memes. Words come in abundance and can go to every corner of the world in mere seconds.
But with that has come an overabundance. We pass them around like pennies. While our audiences have gotten bigger our words have gotten smaller. The volume of our words has gone up but their power has gone down. While we type away about what we ate for lunch or about what our roommate is doing there are so many words that we've become oversaturated. And that includes this blog, just more words to fill the web.
But words have incredible power. It may not seem like it when we type them, but "I love you" and "I hate you" still have the ability to give us wings or destroy our days. Words of wisdom can inspire dreams to take flight and words of hate can tear those dreams down. The words we use are incredibly powerful, whether we speak them, put them in a letter or squeeze them into 140 characters on Twitter.
This idea wasn't foreign to the ancient Israelites. When Jacob fooled his father Isaac and gained his blessing in Esau's place, it was more than just a kind word. It was a word of blessing. It couldn't be taken back and given to the older brother after the plot was uncovered. Once the words left Isaac's mouth, Jacob had been blessed.
At the beginning of Genesis, God speaks the world into existence. Just like Isaac's blessing, the words of creation had power. They formed things. They shaped a formless void. They had consequence.
We've lost this somewhere. We've learned that when the world is full of noise and everyone is sharing, we've got to add more and more and get bigger and bigger just to be heard. We've learned to judge the value of words by the number of likes and favorites they receive. And if we don't like them, they can just be deleted.
Movements come and go. Hashtags trend and then vanish. Blog get shared a million times and then disappear. Trendy videos pop up on walls on every continent and then fade into distant memories. There are so many words coming from so many directions it's easy to lose the incredible power they have to stir our souls towards awesome things.
Take this blog for example. At its core, I hope in some small way it blesses those who read it. I hope it inspires people to go do big exciting things and opens people's eyes to the things God is doing in their midst. That's what words can do. Hopefully my words do that in little ways. Hopefully yours do too.
But this is just another blog. It's more words on a screen to help fill up the endless expanse of the internet. It's when words translate into actions that they become truly special. People are drawn to inspiration and wisdom, but they follow actions. We want stories and examples that are worth diving into. If our lives stay at the level of words, then that's all they are. That's why people followed Jesus. He taught. He taught incredible things. Things we're still wrestling with and trying to figure out how to live out today. But the gospel is also full of things Jesus did!
We need to move beyond living our lives through pictures with cool filters. We've got to move past posting about "that moment when...". What if we stopped filling the world with words that are empty and filled it with lives that matter? The world needs lives that make a difference. It needs love that resurrects the dead. And most of all, it needs us to make it. God is calling us and inviting us into that story. And when we start to dive into those kinds of crazy stories, our words suddenly start to seem more significant. They become worth listening to.
So, for this post, this blog is going to be more than a blog. For every person who reads this in the next 48 hours, I'm going to donate $1 (up to $1000) to a cause that is very dear to my heart, giving kids with special needs a chance to attend summer camp at Camp Barnabas. Don't worry. I'm not rich. I don't have oodles of cash. But I do believe that when we throw ourselves into stories God makes impossible things possible. I also believe that while words have intense power, when they speak things into motion they become even more beautiful.
So let's move past words. Let's get past statuses and tweets about things we're passionate and get our hands dirty living into those passions. Let's move past motivational quotes and start living out that motivation. Good intentions and feelings are great, but when they move from ideas to flesh they become something else altogether. They are the seeds that God can grow to change the world. So go do something crazy. Go invite a homeless neighbor out to dinner. Go share a cup of coffee with a stubborn coworker. Put down your iPhone and go live a better story. The world doesn't need another motivational quote or picture of coffee. It needs you. It needs your love and your passion and your energy and your whole self!
And please, use your words to build others up. Let them affirm and support. Let them be the foundations upon which people establish dreams. There are enough words dragging people down these days. My mom used to say, "If you can't think of something nice to say, think harder"...
forever unfinished...
"The words people say to us not only have shelf life but have the ability to shape life.” -Bob Goff, Love Does
"But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like." -James 1:22-24
A couple of weeks ago I was browsing my Newsfeed on Facebook and wouldn't you know, a post caught my eye. There are lots of things that do this: funny quotes, Buzzfeed articles, pictures of dogs with new filters. When hundreds of millions of people are filtering their lives onto their pages, there are bound to be at least a few things that stand out.
This post wasn't one of those things. It was a status of a young man I had an opportunity to meet through a couple summer mission trips. Truth, be told, it was the length that caught my eye. This is a guy who has been known to run off a pretty healthy rant, so something so long had me intrigued. What I read broke my heart: two paragraphs filled with anger, curses and language that makes your hair stand on edge. There was a point and a target of this status, but it's become irrelevant.
The point was much bigger than the one he was trying to make. As communication has gone more and more digital, as our lives play out online more than in the flesh, we've lost the power of words. We blog and tweet. We post statuses and send texts. We have gifs and memes. Words come in abundance and can go to every corner of the world in mere seconds.
But with that has come an overabundance. We pass them around like pennies. While our audiences have gotten bigger our words have gotten smaller. The volume of our words has gone up but their power has gone down. While we type away about what we ate for lunch or about what our roommate is doing there are so many words that we've become oversaturated. And that includes this blog, just more words to fill the web.
But words have incredible power. It may not seem like it when we type them, but "I love you" and "I hate you" still have the ability to give us wings or destroy our days. Words of wisdom can inspire dreams to take flight and words of hate can tear those dreams down. The words we use are incredibly powerful, whether we speak them, put them in a letter or squeeze them into 140 characters on Twitter.
This idea wasn't foreign to the ancient Israelites. When Jacob fooled his father Isaac and gained his blessing in Esau's place, it was more than just a kind word. It was a word of blessing. It couldn't be taken back and given to the older brother after the plot was uncovered. Once the words left Isaac's mouth, Jacob had been blessed.
At the beginning of Genesis, God speaks the world into existence. Just like Isaac's blessing, the words of creation had power. They formed things. They shaped a formless void. They had consequence.
We've lost this somewhere. We've learned that when the world is full of noise and everyone is sharing, we've got to add more and more and get bigger and bigger just to be heard. We've learned to judge the value of words by the number of likes and favorites they receive. And if we don't like them, they can just be deleted.
Movements come and go. Hashtags trend and then vanish. Blog get shared a million times and then disappear. Trendy videos pop up on walls on every continent and then fade into distant memories. There are so many words coming from so many directions it's easy to lose the incredible power they have to stir our souls towards awesome things.
Take this blog for example. At its core, I hope in some small way it blesses those who read it. I hope it inspires people to go do big exciting things and opens people's eyes to the things God is doing in their midst. That's what words can do. Hopefully my words do that in little ways. Hopefully yours do too.
But this is just another blog. It's more words on a screen to help fill up the endless expanse of the internet. It's when words translate into actions that they become truly special. People are drawn to inspiration and wisdom, but they follow actions. We want stories and examples that are worth diving into. If our lives stay at the level of words, then that's all they are. That's why people followed Jesus. He taught. He taught incredible things. Things we're still wrestling with and trying to figure out how to live out today. But the gospel is also full of things Jesus did!
We need to move beyond living our lives through pictures with cool filters. We've got to move past posting about "that moment when...". What if we stopped filling the world with words that are empty and filled it with lives that matter? The world needs lives that make a difference. It needs love that resurrects the dead. And most of all, it needs us to make it. God is calling us and inviting us into that story. And when we start to dive into those kinds of crazy stories, our words suddenly start to seem more significant. They become worth listening to.
So, for this post, this blog is going to be more than a blog. For every person who reads this in the next 48 hours, I'm going to donate $1 (up to $1000) to a cause that is very dear to my heart, giving kids with special needs a chance to attend summer camp at Camp Barnabas. Don't worry. I'm not rich. I don't have oodles of cash. But I do believe that when we throw ourselves into stories God makes impossible things possible. I also believe that while words have intense power, when they speak things into motion they become even more beautiful.
So let's move past words. Let's get past statuses and tweets about things we're passionate and get our hands dirty living into those passions. Let's move past motivational quotes and start living out that motivation. Good intentions and feelings are great, but when they move from ideas to flesh they become something else altogether. They are the seeds that God can grow to change the world. So go do something crazy. Go invite a homeless neighbor out to dinner. Go share a cup of coffee with a stubborn coworker. Put down your iPhone and go live a better story. The world doesn't need another motivational quote or picture of coffee. It needs you. It needs your love and your passion and your energy and your whole self!
And please, use your words to build others up. Let them affirm and support. Let them be the foundations upon which people establish dreams. There are enough words dragging people down these days. My mom used to say, "If you can't think of something nice to say, think harder"...
forever unfinished...
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Seize the Carp...
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -John 10:10
"Seize the day gentlemen. Make your lives extraordinary." -Dead Poet's Society
"What are you doing to make the world more awesome?" -Kid President
I've been watching a lot of Charlie Chaplin's final speech from The Great Dictator recently. In fact, it's what I've been listening to each morning when I wake up.
If you haven't heard it, I suggest you stop reading and find it on YouTube and then return to this blog. Or don't. I wouldn't hold it against you.
There's a passage that has particularly started to stir me: "In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke it is written, 'The kingdom of God is within men.' Not one man. Nor a group of men. But in ALL men. In you. You the people have the power. The power to create machines. The power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful. To make this life a wonderful adventure."
We are capable of changing the world. Capable of bringing love where there is hate. Joy where there is emptiness. YOU. ME. If heaven is within us then how could we possibly hold it in?!
I love funny movies too. As a general rule I'd much rather laugh at a movie than cry. And I'm not picky. If it makes me laugh, that's good enough for me. Case in point: Out Cold.
There's a character in the movie named Pigpen, and quite frankly, Pigpen is stupid. He's not exactly an A+ student (or a D- for that matter.) At a critical point in the movie, a big plan is made and the group let's out a yell of excitement. For Pigpen's part, he screams, "Carpe Diem. Seize the... CARP!"
It's a stupid moment made for stupid laughs. But it's stuck with me for years! It's a GREAT image.
Can you imagine seizing the day by running around swinging a fish?! You'd get the craziest looks! People might even call the white coats to come pick you up on the spot. But no one would say you weren't living life to the fullest. No one could say there wasn't some life flowing out of you.
But we've lost that joy and that passion and that dream little by little. Not all of us. But most of us. We've seen dreams fail and disappointments mount. We've gotten caught up in the daily drudgery of day to day life, just hoping to make it home at the end of the day with a little energy. We've been numbed by technology that tells us it's more worthwhile to TALK about our lives than it is to LIVE them. It's as if we've even forgotten HOW to dream.
But we just need a little reminder. We have to find that small nugget of heaven in our lives that reminds us how magical life can be. We have to listen to that still small voice of God whispering sweet nothings in our ear that spur us towards bringing heaven down to bless our neighbors. And we've got to let go of those things that keep us from living life. Life was for LIVING, not surviving! Don't settle for boring. Aspire to whimsy!
Are you too busy? Me too. Let's quit something. Simon and Andrew were in the middle of their jobs when Jesus invited them into the party.
Are you too young? Me too. So what. Jeremiah was a boy when God called him.
Are you not good enough? We couldn't be MORE good enough! The Samaritan woman wasn't good enough. Zacchaeus wasn't good enough. Moses wasn't good enough. NO ONE that has ever lived life to the fullest and blessed the world was good enough! But God told wicked awesome stories with them anyways.
God knit you and me together with the carefullest of hands. He breathed his breath to fill our lungs. His spark started our creativity and his love fills our hearts. It's from Him that we have our unique, quirky, amazing talents, passions and gifts. What an incredible story the Father is waiting to tell with his children. There's an awesome story with your name on it that only you can tell!
Let's turn off our phones. Let's close our laptops and shut down our tablets. Let's stop tweeting and instagraming our lives and just start DOING life. There's a story waiting for you and me that only we can live out. Who knows how many days we have left? Maybe 6,318. Maybe 29. They are precious, each one filled with whimsy. Why not suck the marrow out of each one? What good is a life lived without passion? What fun is a life without dreams?
And what's more exciting? The stories Jesus told with his life were always involving other people. He was never alone. As we start to live stories that wreak of passion and life, we inevitably want to invite others to do that same. Find your heaven. Find the place where you can hear God's still small whisper breathing life to the fullest into you and go wave your carp. And invite some other people to the party.
So what are we waiting for? Wake up! Grab your carp and get to living. I'm coming to dance with you. That's the story God has waiting for us. A life of whimsy and a life of dancing. That's why Jesus kept calling heaven a party. And if that party is so great, I'd rather start it now. There's a life to be lived. A life passing us by. To quote Kid President, "What are you going to do to make the world more awesome?!" SEIZE THE CARP!
"Seize the day gentlemen. Make your lives extraordinary." -Dead Poet's Society
"What are you doing to make the world more awesome?" -Kid President
I've been watching a lot of Charlie Chaplin's final speech from The Great Dictator recently. In fact, it's what I've been listening to each morning when I wake up.
If you haven't heard it, I suggest you stop reading and find it on YouTube and then return to this blog. Or don't. I wouldn't hold it against you.
There's a passage that has particularly started to stir me: "In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke it is written, 'The kingdom of God is within men.' Not one man. Nor a group of men. But in ALL men. In you. You the people have the power. The power to create machines. The power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful. To make this life a wonderful adventure."
We are capable of changing the world. Capable of bringing love where there is hate. Joy where there is emptiness. YOU. ME. If heaven is within us then how could we possibly hold it in?!
I love funny movies too. As a general rule I'd much rather laugh at a movie than cry. And I'm not picky. If it makes me laugh, that's good enough for me. Case in point: Out Cold.
There's a character in the movie named Pigpen, and quite frankly, Pigpen is stupid. He's not exactly an A+ student (or a D- for that matter.) At a critical point in the movie, a big plan is made and the group let's out a yell of excitement. For Pigpen's part, he screams, "Carpe Diem. Seize the... CARP!"
It's a stupid moment made for stupid laughs. But it's stuck with me for years! It's a GREAT image.
Can you imagine seizing the day by running around swinging a fish?! You'd get the craziest looks! People might even call the white coats to come pick you up on the spot. But no one would say you weren't living life to the fullest. No one could say there wasn't some life flowing out of you.
But we've lost that joy and that passion and that dream little by little. Not all of us. But most of us. We've seen dreams fail and disappointments mount. We've gotten caught up in the daily drudgery of day to day life, just hoping to make it home at the end of the day with a little energy. We've been numbed by technology that tells us it's more worthwhile to TALK about our lives than it is to LIVE them. It's as if we've even forgotten HOW to dream.
But we just need a little reminder. We have to find that small nugget of heaven in our lives that reminds us how magical life can be. We have to listen to that still small voice of God whispering sweet nothings in our ear that spur us towards bringing heaven down to bless our neighbors. And we've got to let go of those things that keep us from living life. Life was for LIVING, not surviving! Don't settle for boring. Aspire to whimsy!
Are you too busy? Me too. Let's quit something. Simon and Andrew were in the middle of their jobs when Jesus invited them into the party.
Are you too young? Me too. So what. Jeremiah was a boy when God called him.
Are you not good enough? We couldn't be MORE good enough! The Samaritan woman wasn't good enough. Zacchaeus wasn't good enough. Moses wasn't good enough. NO ONE that has ever lived life to the fullest and blessed the world was good enough! But God told wicked awesome stories with them anyways.
God knit you and me together with the carefullest of hands. He breathed his breath to fill our lungs. His spark started our creativity and his love fills our hearts. It's from Him that we have our unique, quirky, amazing talents, passions and gifts. What an incredible story the Father is waiting to tell with his children. There's an awesome story with your name on it that only you can tell!
Let's turn off our phones. Let's close our laptops and shut down our tablets. Let's stop tweeting and instagraming our lives and just start DOING life. There's a story waiting for you and me that only we can live out. Who knows how many days we have left? Maybe 6,318. Maybe 29. They are precious, each one filled with whimsy. Why not suck the marrow out of each one? What good is a life lived without passion? What fun is a life without dreams?
And what's more exciting? The stories Jesus told with his life were always involving other people. He was never alone. As we start to live stories that wreak of passion and life, we inevitably want to invite others to do that same. Find your heaven. Find the place where you can hear God's still small whisper breathing life to the fullest into you and go wave your carp. And invite some other people to the party.
So what are we waiting for? Wake up! Grab your carp and get to living. I'm coming to dance with you. That's the story God has waiting for us. A life of whimsy and a life of dancing. That's why Jesus kept calling heaven a party. And if that party is so great, I'd rather start it now. There's a life to be lived. A life passing us by. To quote Kid President, "What are you going to do to make the world more awesome?!" SEIZE THE CARP!
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