Gather No Moss

Sometimes I really think I am pretty smart. I've got over 44 years under my belt. Married. Two relatively teenaged boys. Worked for a while. Seen enough folk orate, status update and instigate that leads me to an all-to-often pious opinion of their matters. Surely with age and experience comes wisdom, but conceit, rigidity and narrow-focus can follow as well if we rest on laurels and "what we know."

Albert Einstein said, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."

Glad life continues to put road in front of me. Winding roads with turns, and even bumps in it. And family and friends continue to show me a more invigorating, more scenic, or more efficient route. Lord, help me keep the feet churning and the wheels turning. And not to just coast.

Serious Fun

In an old sermon, after commenting on the immorality of the human soul, C.S. Lewis stated "This does not mean we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exit between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously."

As I can recall, the greatest times in my life have come alongside those closest to me. I remember a time early in the relationship with my wife. Sitting next to her, perched on a toilet (closed), watching her blow dry her hair. Now if you knew my wife, and her hair, this can be a time consuming affair. Anyway, she's standing there, the dryer is screaming away, and I proceed to make faces in the mirror. Stupid faces. Goofy faces. This is making her laugh, and I am finding it pretty amusing myself. These faces put the workings of my facial muscles to the test. I actually awoke the next morning a little sore. Seriously. My face was sore from making stupid faces.

This silliness could only be appreciated by someone who loves me a lot. Her eyes looked at me in the mirror not with a "look at this idiot", but rather an "I love this nut".

You see she loves me. She knows me. And this is a springboard for many things. But one of the best is fun.

While Faith is a serious business, don't let It's gravity be the end all be all. Surely there are seasons of desert and solemnity, and foundational rights and wrongs. But let's not be too overbearing. Like Lewis shared, if we understand the severity and seriousness of our life, and our Beliefs, it sure gives a lot of foundation for joy and fun. Or at least it should.

Joy can be serious business.

Donkeys and Elephants and We, Oh My

I have been watching the Republican National Convention. This coupled with the onslaught of far left and far right broadcast and social media propaganda and opinion has gotten me quite frustrated. Frustrated more in the people, than the process.

The other day a Yahoo reporter was fired for stating that Mitt and Ann Romney are "happy to have a party with black people drowning" (apparently he didn't realize his microphone was on). And Chris Christie's "the educational savages will only put themselves ahead of children". Really?

We are incensed as a nation. We are pissed off at "them". And the fact that "they" hate what we love. And "they" are so "greedy. And they are so "lazy". And that's just the mainstream media (yes, mainstream, Fox News. You are a part of "them").

The status update anger on Facebook is seething, and will only get worse through the election. I shake my head, and while I'd like to share my opinion (as narrow as it may be), I hold off from commenting. I DON'T want to be a part of the rhetoric. I don't want to say or write. I want to do.

I watched a George HW Bush bio piece, and really was drawn to his "thousand points of light" thinking. Say what you will, but this guy who I am sure received his fair share of lambast, had a great heart for people, and was really on to something. What if we all did and didn't say. What if we all served instead of held. What if we worked instead of sat. What if we shared instead of told. What if we listened instead of walled.

"Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" And they were amazed at him (Mark 12:17).

What if we recognized what is God's and treated it accordingly?

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:37-40)

What if we lived these out and hung on them?

The reality is that there's a ton...a mountain...a world of national dept. The reality is there are a ton....a mountain....a world of undereducated and less fortuned. And tons, mountains and worlds of so ons. Lets ensure we're not pointing out the specs in eyes, and doing what we can do.

Chicken Sandwich in a Pickle

There's been a lot of back and forth about Chick-fil-A and Dan Cathy's views on gay marriage. It is as hot a topic and as divisive an issue as there is today. And to be honest, I am not 100% sure of my stance.  As most know who've read my blogs before, I can be a bit of a Jesus or church guy. Perhaps I should dig deeper on this issue in the good book.

I just hope that as we status update or discuss, when we look in mirrors and examine ourselves before pontificating or protesting.

I do know that the more black people I meet, spend time with, converse with, through love, makes me realize that I don't know as much about black people as I thought I did. Conversely, I also uncover the lack of difference. Perhaps I need more gay friends.

I believe God can and does handle a lot more than people give Him credit for. I also believe all to often we think God is on our team. But His Providence is larger than ours. And most likely is different than what we think it is. Or ought to be.

Let our offense be love.

Today's Twelve

What if Jesus showed up for his first trip to our world here in the U S of A.  As I understand it, when He showed up at the Sea of Galilee, he called to the two fisherman brothers. But what if he showed up at the mall? Or the bus stop? Or even church on Sunday?

Now I am not a Biblical scholar, nor am I the brightest bulb, but as I understand it, Jesus went to the fishermen, the tax collector, and varied fellas that weren't necessarily revered society folk. Not sure if they even went to church.

So if Jesus showed up in our time and space and says "Follow me". Who does he ask?

Is it the golf-shirted white folk toting their Bibles to the huge building on Sunday? Is it the starch-shirted black folk "thank you, lord-ing" their way through a long sermon?

• Is one somebody sitting curbside with a joint between their fingers?
• Is one somebody who'd just lambasted their son for underperformance?
• Is one gay?
• Is one Republican?
• Is one Democrat?
• Is one a teen?
• Is one a Muslim?
• Is one a convict?
• Is one a drinker?
• Is one an atheist?
• Is one obese?
• Is one homeless?

The Pharisees couldn't believe the folks who Jesus hung around with. The folks who Jesus poured himself into. The folks who Jesus loved.

And how would you or I consider those folks?

And what if he showed up and reached out to you or me?

"At once they left their nets and followed him."

Common Nobility

"Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" - Romans 9:21

Romans 9:21 had me doing some deep thinking about myself a while back. Curious if I was okay being formed for common use. Common things are used. I look at a common piece of pottery as a bit drab, unordained, perhaps chipped. I look at a noble piece as placed on a shelf, bejeweled, looked upon. A common piece is unnoticed. A noble piece is noticed. A common piece is of everyday use. A noble piece is for special occasions.

And I think I am okay with that. I hope I am. I believe it is a moment by moment decision to be satisfied with this view of commonality. I know sometimes I like to be looked at as noble. But I am okay with common. I think. I am okay with being used. I think. I am okay being chipped. I don't want to be, but I think I'm okay with that. I am okay being unnoticed. I think I am. I want to be.

I have the above verse from Romans on my computer monitor at work. And like most things on my computer monitor. They tend to be up there and I forget about them. But this "common" idea reemerged in a conversation with some friends the other day. I realized that when we look at words like common or noble, our definitions, or moreover our understanding comes from our own viewpoint.

But what is God's viewpoint. What are His understandings of common and noble? What do they each look like to Him? What is noble to God? What is common to God?

I believe God seeks the useful. The chipped. The marginalized. The hidden. Those who allow themselves to be placed on the Potter's wheel.

Blessed are the poor...those who mourn...the meek...those who thirst for righteousness...the merciful...the pure of heart...the peacemakers...those persecuted for righteousness...

I want to be commonly noble in the eyes of the Potter.

Declare Something Today!!!

In an age of fingertip technology and media blitz, we are assaulted with opinion and news. There is a lust for attention and information. We get input in a nano second ("Do you guys know how to post videos to facebook?"), and can safely voice an opinion with relative anonymity outside of a profile pic.

I am confident we've all seen a "Friend", or moreover ourselves, provide some sort of a drop-and-run pronouncement about a controversial issue, exploit someone else's failure or looks, or slander someone's character because their opinion or lifestyle is different than ours.

It is a rarity to find someone who is willing to hold the mirror up to themselves each day. Take a long hard look. Then honestly and publicly declare what they see.

I have such a friend and brother in Stephen Kee. Kee has written a book called Declare Something Today!!!. He wrote this book for himself, and through it has stripped himself and exposed himself to the general public. A rarity today. Kee's declarations are provocative, thought provoking, and agitating—to himself, and also his readers. But perhaps the deeper need, rather than Kee's self declarations, would be our own. Will we take the kid gloves off of our egos? Will we unbutton our blouse? Will we expose ourselves within our community?

I applaud Kee's transparency and zeal. I challenge my own.

I will look at myself honestly. Unpeel the onion as to the "why" within my decisions, actions and declarations. And ask God to encourage or reprimand me (though I honestly don't want the reprimand). For it is Him that I desire to serve with all I say and do. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." - Psalm 19:14. DECLARE SOMETHING TODAY!!!

Go to Declare Something Today's Facebook page and make a self declaration today. Or for more on Stephen Kee and the Declarative Community visit Kee 2 Life.