I'm actually not as nerdy as I've always thought. Of course my daughter says I'm a dork not a nerd so there you go. Actually her last assessment was random, weird psycho dork...
Peace
Friday, February 25, 2005
Better than I thought!
A bit of end of week silliness. Next week I've got a post that I'm very proud of (I know pride's a sin) and I hope you'll like it as well. It's title "A Delicate Subject" and I'll be talking about sex. Tune in first thing next week! Now for the silliness.
I'm actually not as nerdy as I've always thought. Of course my daughter says I'm a dork not a nerd so there you go. Actually her last assessment was random, weird psycho dork...
Peace
I'm actually not as nerdy as I've always thought. Of course my daughter says I'm a dork not a nerd so there you go. Actually her last assessment was random, weird psycho dork...
Peace
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
A call to Change
A couple weeks ago I posted a thought process that had started on my way to work (Feb 8 "A thing I think I think"). It got me started thinking about how we approach bringing folks along in their life in faith. Are we trying to make it easy when we shouldn't? Then in my previous post (Feb 11, "A bit at a time")I thought I'd take on the "basics" one by one.
Upon further contemplation I've decided against that. You want to see what I believe are the basic "beliefs" of Christianity check the link in the title of the Feb 8 post. I like what Mike chose for that list and how he explains them. I'm not going to try and out write him on the subject.
So where does that leave me? How do I answer that initial question? It came to me while I was driving again. What we're failing to do, the way that we're making this too easy is that we're not clearly explaining that all that stuff doesn't mean a thing if you don't change. That's the foundational piece that I think we're missing. The idea is that you will be changed.
And not just by going to church on Sunday. The change that comes through faith is more than another schedule item on your PDA. We're not making clear that a life in faith changes everything. How we view people, how we view money, how we drive, how we talk, how we think, how we treat people, how we spend our money, how we use our time. It means changing how we view ourselves. It means turning away from the inward focus for our lives and accepting an outward one.
That's a scary thought and no doubt some folks will turn away from us because of it. Guess what they turned away from Jesus too at that same point. That change doesn't mean that we all become little faith 'droids carefully programmed to respond exactly the same as all the other little 'droids. Rather it gives us a standard by which to measure our lives and what we do with them. That measure is love. Love for God, the big I AM, and realizing that such a relationship is not all one way. We want God to love us and help us and value those things we love. God wants the same thing. The shift away from an inward focus ("What about MY needs?") to an outward focus means we begin to place God's concerns up front, even if they inconvenience us.
In the end during my drive I came to realize how overwhelming that change is. Quite literally there is NO part of my life that should not feel the impact of that change. My marriage, my parenting, how I deal with cashiers at the store. My relationship with the environment, the government, the economy, the culture. None of survives as it was.
It's not the learning or the believing that's the hard part so it's too bad we spend so much time and effort there. It's the living that's hard. It's the change that's so daunting and scary and hard.
So we should probably get started right now.
Peace
Upon further contemplation I've decided against that. You want to see what I believe are the basic "beliefs" of Christianity check the link in the title of the Feb 8 post. I like what Mike chose for that list and how he explains them. I'm not going to try and out write him on the subject.
So where does that leave me? How do I answer that initial question? It came to me while I was driving again. What we're failing to do, the way that we're making this too easy is that we're not clearly explaining that all that stuff doesn't mean a thing if you don't change. That's the foundational piece that I think we're missing. The idea is that you will be changed.
And not just by going to church on Sunday. The change that comes through faith is more than another schedule item on your PDA. We're not making clear that a life in faith changes everything. How we view people, how we view money, how we drive, how we talk, how we think, how we treat people, how we spend our money, how we use our time. It means changing how we view ourselves. It means turning away from the inward focus for our lives and accepting an outward one.
That's a scary thought and no doubt some folks will turn away from us because of it. Guess what they turned away from Jesus too at that same point. That change doesn't mean that we all become little faith 'droids carefully programmed to respond exactly the same as all the other little 'droids. Rather it gives us a standard by which to measure our lives and what we do with them. That measure is love. Love for God, the big I AM, and realizing that such a relationship is not all one way. We want God to love us and help us and value those things we love. God wants the same thing. The shift away from an inward focus ("What about MY needs?") to an outward focus means we begin to place God's concerns up front, even if they inconvenience us.
In the end during my drive I came to realize how overwhelming that change is. Quite literally there is NO part of my life that should not feel the impact of that change. My marriage, my parenting, how I deal with cashiers at the store. My relationship with the environment, the government, the economy, the culture. None of survives as it was.
It's not the learning or the believing that's the hard part so it's too bad we spend so much time and effort there. It's the living that's hard. It's the change that's so daunting and scary and hard.
So we should probably get started right now.
Peace
Friday, February 11, 2005
A bit at a time
This entry was the victim of a time crunch when I first wrote it. I've added a little bit to it that I had wanted in the original.
I've decided to take on the subject of a previous post a little at a time. I was talking about my feelings that we may be going too far over the edge in making the step into a life in faith easy. There are some hard choices (Yes even if you're a liberal Christian!) And there's some stuff that I think is non-negotiable. But most of that is heavy stuff and I don't want to do an incredibly LOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNGGGGG post to deal with them all. So let's take them on one at a time.
Which led me to the question of what's bedrock? What's the absolute bottom of the pile that has to be there? And the answer came back : God exists. If you're a person of faith in any of the three Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) this is the foundation of it all. If you don't buy this one then the rest fall down. If you don't buy this one you may be a lot of things but you can't be a Christian. (I'll let Jewish and Islamic bloggers take it from here on their branches of the family) And I'm not buying the God as "The Force" kind of thing that some theologians (including a very well known Episcopal bishop) seem to be peddling. God is an entity that is capable of interacting with his creation (can we hold off on the gender neutral language debate? I will simply say that I don't believe that God is an anatomically correct male). In fact large portions of the stories of our faith are about those interactions.
But then something else dawned on me. It doesn't matter if I believe that God exists. And it doesn't matter if you (or someone) DOESN'T believe that God exists. Neither point of view changes a single damn thing about God. It doesn't matter if a Harvard professor declares God dead. It doesn't matter how much I pray, how little or what kind of music we play at worship. God is what God is. I don't think we're even capable of understanding what that last sentence really means. I'm also not sure that it matters too awful much. Remember when Moses was up on the mountain and asked God what he should tell the people? God didn't give a big bio, no divine CV of miracles and creation. As much as we like to fluff up the description, adding the beard and the flowing robes and the good looks (at least if you're into old white guys) what was sent back down that mountain was pretty simple...
He said - I am.
Works for me.
Peace
I've decided to take on the subject of a previous post a little at a time. I was talking about my feelings that we may be going too far over the edge in making the step into a life in faith easy. There are some hard choices (Yes even if you're a liberal Christian!) And there's some stuff that I think is non-negotiable. But most of that is heavy stuff and I don't want to do an incredibly LOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNGGGGG post to deal with them all. So let's take them on one at a time.
Which led me to the question of what's bedrock? What's the absolute bottom of the pile that has to be there? And the answer came back : God exists. If you're a person of faith in any of the three Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) this is the foundation of it all. If you don't buy this one then the rest fall down. If you don't buy this one you may be a lot of things but you can't be a Christian. (I'll let Jewish and Islamic bloggers take it from here on their branches of the family) And I'm not buying the God as "The Force" kind of thing that some theologians (including a very well known Episcopal bishop) seem to be peddling. God is an entity that is capable of interacting with his creation (can we hold off on the gender neutral language debate? I will simply say that I don't believe that God is an anatomically correct male). In fact large portions of the stories of our faith are about those interactions.
But then something else dawned on me. It doesn't matter if I believe that God exists. And it doesn't matter if you (or someone) DOESN'T believe that God exists. Neither point of view changes a single damn thing about God. It doesn't matter if a Harvard professor declares God dead. It doesn't matter how much I pray, how little or what kind of music we play at worship. God is what God is. I don't think we're even capable of understanding what that last sentence really means. I'm also not sure that it matters too awful much. Remember when Moses was up on the mountain and asked God what he should tell the people? God didn't give a big bio, no divine CV of miracles and creation. As much as we like to fluff up the description, adding the beard and the flowing robes and the good looks (at least if you're into old white guys) what was sent back down that mountain was pretty simple...
He said - I am.
Works for me.
Peace
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Just strange
I've got some more thoughts to share on the last post but I'm still working on them. In the meantime something that has perplexed me.
Don't know if it's happened where you are but the major fast food burger joints are all moving towards accepting credit cards.
Does that strike anyone else as ...well weird, bizarre, just wrong somehow? I just can't bring myself to walk up and say "I'd like two Happy meals and I'd like to put it on my platinum card".
Either the prices have gone way high or there's something else bizarre happening here.
Peace
Don't know if it's happened where you are but the major fast food burger joints are all moving towards accepting credit cards.
Does that strike anyone else as ...well weird, bizarre, just wrong somehow? I just can't bring myself to walk up and say "I'd like two Happy meals and I'd like to put it on my platinum card".
Either the prices have gone way high or there's something else bizarre happening here.
Peace
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
A thing I think I think
You'll have to pardon me because this is a thought only at the beginning of growth. I have no idea where these ideas come from (I'm willing to blame anyone but myself) but they rattle around in my head. I was literally driving in to work this morning when I thought:
"Why are we wasting all this time with formation and education and relationship? Seems to me that more often than not Jesus just said, 'This is what you need to do'. Period. Think about the rich young man"
Again this is a thought just a 'borning here. I just don't remember any stories of Jesus doing small groups (other than the disciples), I don't remember him doing a lot of hanging out and relating. There was a lot of "This is what you need to be doing, like it or lump it" and if memory serves a lot of folks shaking their heads and walking away.
It's the kind of evangelism that folks in the middle half (both "liberal" and "conservative" - as much as I hate those labels) of the community of faith like to criticize as being done at either extreme. Yet the thought occurred (heresy for a moderately liberal person like myself) "What if they're right? What if they're following the example of Jesus by saying 'You know what? Some things are not negotiable. It's not about us making it easy for you, it's about you getting up off your comfortable butt and just doing it."
I have to admit there are parts of that attitude that I like. Some things aren't negotiable. Jesus was (and is) Messiah. That God exists. That we are the beloved of that God. And that God has expectations. That's a real simplification. The best summary of what I think of as ground zero was written by Mike Yaconnelli. If you click on the title of this entry it'll take you to it. I have a copy of it hanging in my office.
There's still the nagging question that I have to wrestle with - how much easing of the way do we need to do for new believers? How much of it is just "Take it or leave it"? And how do we find the balance that leaves us living out our evangelism in a loving, Christ-like manner?
That's what I get for thinking in my car.
Peace
"Why are we wasting all this time with formation and education and relationship? Seems to me that more often than not Jesus just said, 'This is what you need to do'. Period. Think about the rich young man"
Again this is a thought just a 'borning here. I just don't remember any stories of Jesus doing small groups (other than the disciples), I don't remember him doing a lot of hanging out and relating. There was a lot of "This is what you need to be doing, like it or lump it" and if memory serves a lot of folks shaking their heads and walking away.
It's the kind of evangelism that folks in the middle half (both "liberal" and "conservative" - as much as I hate those labels) of the community of faith like to criticize as being done at either extreme. Yet the thought occurred (heresy for a moderately liberal person like myself) "What if they're right? What if they're following the example of Jesus by saying 'You know what? Some things are not negotiable. It's not about us making it easy for you, it's about you getting up off your comfortable butt and just doing it."
I have to admit there are parts of that attitude that I like. Some things aren't negotiable. Jesus was (and is) Messiah. That God exists. That we are the beloved of that God. And that God has expectations. That's a real simplification. The best summary of what I think of as ground zero was written by Mike Yaconnelli. If you click on the title of this entry it'll take you to it. I have a copy of it hanging in my office.
There's still the nagging question that I have to wrestle with - how much easing of the way do we need to do for new believers? How much of it is just "Take it or leave it"? And how do we find the balance that leaves us living out our evangelism in a loving, Christ-like manner?
That's what I get for thinking in my car.
Peace
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Leave Everything
This is my February column for "ChurchActs" the newspaper of the Diocese of WNY
I heard an interesting story on the radio the other day. Airline flight attendants are trained for any possible kind of problem. For instance they're trained for the event of an “emergency landing”. Right down to the short, precise instructions they are to use to help people exit the plane. Recently they've had to add a new instruction to the training, “Leave Everything”. Seems that they've had a rash of folks who have stopped and tried to retrieve their stuff before they exited the aircraft. Now remember this is during an EMERGENCY. We're talking the plane has a serious problem and these folks are trying to pull things out of the overhead bins. The real problem of course is that they're likely to get themselves killed and kill everyone in the aisle behind them too. Crazy.
It struck me as I listened to the story that some of the hardest sayings of Jesus carry this same basic message. When the rich young man is told to give everything to the poor, when someone is told to let the dead bury the dead, or to leave their mother and father behind Jesus is telling us quite simply to “Leave Everything”. Like most of us those sayings trouble me. Am I supposed to leave my (mumble)-something year old mom? Abandon my wife and daughter? Walk away from my job? Leave my responsibilities? Just chuck it all, cross my arms on my chest and jump out the door onto the inflatable exit slide of salvation? Somehow that just doesn't feel right. Then I looked at my list above of stuff to leave and a thought occurred.
Let's start by defining “stuff” as broadly as possible. It includes all the material things but also all the relationships and responsibilities in your life. It's all your “stuff”. The thought occurred that maybe it's not so much “stuff” that's the problem but the “my” that comes before it. My stuff. My job. My mom. The folks on the airplane get into trouble because “their” stuff is more important to them than the folks around them. As I look at the Gospel teachings and the stories of the early church in the Acts of the Apostles I discover a very strong inclination to look outward, away from “me”. Maybe that's how we're supposed to leave everything. It's less about the stuff than our attitudes about them. When the “my” starts getting in the way of reaching God then it places me in danger. When I model a lifestyle that's all about “my” for family and friends then I'm pushing them into danger as well.
Think about this then: Let's change how we look at our stuff. If the relationship becomes I'm Donna's husband, I'm Rachel's dad, I'm Debby and Jack's son doesn't it change the relationship? Certainly it should change the attitude about that relationship. The relationship with a faith community changes when it becomes “I belong there” rather than “That's my church”. The same thing goes for school. By leaving the ownership of “my” behind we point our attention and our energy away from ourselves. Try it. Instead of thinking about so and so as “my friend” think of it as “I'm so and so's friend”. Now who are you focused on? Them. Somehow that does feel right.
The funny part (funny odd not ha-ha) is that suddenly the material things get set afloat too. You either end up as the computer's operator (which is a pretty silly concept) or the realization that it's just a thing. And things don't fit into the “Leave Everything” world, except as...well, things, objects, tools. None of that kind of “stuff” has any claim on us in the world Jesus calls us towards. It doesn't have the power to draw us away or make us stumble. A huge burden can be lifted from our lives and most of us would love to lose any burden we can these days.
So the next time you hear Jesus call take a look at what kind of stuff is in the way. Take a look at how big the “my” is that's trying to stand in your way. Is it some thing that you just “can't live without”? Is worry about what people might think (that's called “my image”)? Are you getting angry about what someone did because they're supposed to be “my friend”? Then just stop, take a breath and....Leave Everything.
Peace.
I heard an interesting story on the radio the other day. Airline flight attendants are trained for any possible kind of problem. For instance they're trained for the event of an “emergency landing”. Right down to the short, precise instructions they are to use to help people exit the plane. Recently they've had to add a new instruction to the training, “Leave Everything”. Seems that they've had a rash of folks who have stopped and tried to retrieve their stuff before they exited the aircraft. Now remember this is during an EMERGENCY. We're talking the plane has a serious problem and these folks are trying to pull things out of the overhead bins. The real problem of course is that they're likely to get themselves killed and kill everyone in the aisle behind them too. Crazy.
It struck me as I listened to the story that some of the hardest sayings of Jesus carry this same basic message. When the rich young man is told to give everything to the poor, when someone is told to let the dead bury the dead, or to leave their mother and father behind Jesus is telling us quite simply to “Leave Everything”. Like most of us those sayings trouble me. Am I supposed to leave my (mumble)-something year old mom? Abandon my wife and daughter? Walk away from my job? Leave my responsibilities? Just chuck it all, cross my arms on my chest and jump out the door onto the inflatable exit slide of salvation? Somehow that just doesn't feel right. Then I looked at my list above of stuff to leave and a thought occurred.
Let's start by defining “stuff” as broadly as possible. It includes all the material things but also all the relationships and responsibilities in your life. It's all your “stuff”. The thought occurred that maybe it's not so much “stuff” that's the problem but the “my” that comes before it. My stuff. My job. My mom. The folks on the airplane get into trouble because “their” stuff is more important to them than the folks around them. As I look at the Gospel teachings and the stories of the early church in the Acts of the Apostles I discover a very strong inclination to look outward, away from “me”. Maybe that's how we're supposed to leave everything. It's less about the stuff than our attitudes about them. When the “my” starts getting in the way of reaching God then it places me in danger. When I model a lifestyle that's all about “my” for family and friends then I'm pushing them into danger as well.
Think about this then: Let's change how we look at our stuff. If the relationship becomes I'm Donna's husband, I'm Rachel's dad, I'm Debby and Jack's son doesn't it change the relationship? Certainly it should change the attitude about that relationship. The relationship with a faith community changes when it becomes “I belong there” rather than “That's my church”. The same thing goes for school. By leaving the ownership of “my” behind we point our attention and our energy away from ourselves. Try it. Instead of thinking about so and so as “my friend” think of it as “I'm so and so's friend”. Now who are you focused on? Them. Somehow that does feel right.
The funny part (funny odd not ha-ha) is that suddenly the material things get set afloat too. You either end up as the computer's operator (which is a pretty silly concept) or the realization that it's just a thing. And things don't fit into the “Leave Everything” world, except as...well, things, objects, tools. None of that kind of “stuff” has any claim on us in the world Jesus calls us towards. It doesn't have the power to draw us away or make us stumble. A huge burden can be lifted from our lives and most of us would love to lose any burden we can these days.
So the next time you hear Jesus call take a look at what kind of stuff is in the way. Take a look at how big the “my” is that's trying to stand in your way. Is it some thing that you just “can't live without”? Is worry about what people might think (that's called “my image”)? Are you getting angry about what someone did because they're supposed to be “my friend”? Then just stop, take a breath and....Leave Everything.
Peace.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Some silliness
Yeah another silly survey. No I'm not really that age. Let's just say that the AARP people will be seeing me on their radar in a couple years. But's nice to know I'm still young(er) at heart
Peace
|
You Are 29 Years Old |
|
29 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax. |
Peace
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
What are we thinking?
I was going to write a piece on the English prince Harry's unfortunate decision to go to a costume party wearing Nazi regalia. Thought I'd discuss the questions of how (and whether) we're teaching our youth on the subject of evil. I felt sorry for Harry, it's obvious that he simply didn't "get" what all the furor was about (you should pardon the expression). And that's not surprising. WW2 was old news when I was growing up, by now it's not that far removed from the Roman Empire in the minds of teens and young adults. That's where our failure jumps in, we're simply not doing a very good job of teaching about evil.
But Harry gets the pass because something even more offensive, something even more idiotic has taken front page. WQHT in NYC ran a "parody song" on its morning show this past Monday (1/24) that made racial jokes about the people hit by the tsunami, made jokes about child slavery and people watching their mothers die (Reuters story is linked below) The following day the station aired an apology to "...anyone who was offended". They should offer free psychiatric exams for anyone who WASN'T offended! Here's my problems with this incident:
These were adults There's no excuses these are grown ups, you know the folks who are supposed to be responsible and know what's going on. And it's not just a single person, the morning show "team" was something like 7 people. Apparently none of them said, "Hey, maybe this isn't a great idea". In fact the lead DJ was also the Program Director (a management position that usually has oversight of all on air stuff. She was the boss and responsible. She and the rest of her castmates are currently on indefinite suspension)
The state of the media This bugs me particularly because it's radio, where I made my living for 19.5 years. The station is yet another one that has sold its soul and social responsibility to the "shock jock" concept. This is the most loathsome disease that is attacking the medium that I love to this day. Being "shocking" is in fact a license to not care about anything and anyone. I was a morning jock for something like 17 years, and there were days when I ticked off some of my listeners with my bits. But the purpose was never to shock, it was never a situation where I had to say "OK, how do I top that?" The idea was always to make folks think. Thinking is the last thing on the agenda of a shock jock. A shock jock (or talk show host or whatever) is an anti-intellectual bully.
This next bit is NOT politically correct but it bugs me
This was done by folks who suffered at the hands of racism It's the racist nonsense that gets me. I'm sorry but shouldn't this be an area that Black America simply draws the line? Maybe I'm holding my brothers and sisters of color to too high a standard but they KNOW what racism feels like so why become party to that madness? Again maybe it's unfair and unreasonable but I expect better.
Finally there's Where's the common sense? How do you look yourself in the mirror and say "Hey, I think the suffering of these people is funny! And I mean FUNNY! We should take the time to write the lyrics (and maybe the tune) get into the studio record it and put it on the air. Yeah let's make some money on suffering!" How do you look yourself in the eye?
No there's no doubt about it. We've failed in our teaching on the subject of evil. Maybe it's time we started thinking about changing that.
Peace
But Harry gets the pass because something even more offensive, something even more idiotic has taken front page. WQHT in NYC ran a "parody song" on its morning show this past Monday (1/24) that made racial jokes about the people hit by the tsunami, made jokes about child slavery and people watching their mothers die (Reuters story is linked below) The following day the station aired an apology to "...anyone who was offended". They should offer free psychiatric exams for anyone who WASN'T offended! Here's my problems with this incident:
These were adults There's no excuses these are grown ups, you know the folks who are supposed to be responsible and know what's going on. And it's not just a single person, the morning show "team" was something like 7 people. Apparently none of them said, "Hey, maybe this isn't a great idea". In fact the lead DJ was also the Program Director (a management position that usually has oversight of all on air stuff. She was the boss and responsible. She and the rest of her castmates are currently on indefinite suspension)
The state of the media This bugs me particularly because it's radio, where I made my living for 19.5 years. The station is yet another one that has sold its soul and social responsibility to the "shock jock" concept. This is the most loathsome disease that is attacking the medium that I love to this day. Being "shocking" is in fact a license to not care about anything and anyone. I was a morning jock for something like 17 years, and there were days when I ticked off some of my listeners with my bits. But the purpose was never to shock, it was never a situation where I had to say "OK, how do I top that?" The idea was always to make folks think. Thinking is the last thing on the agenda of a shock jock. A shock jock (or talk show host or whatever) is an anti-intellectual bully.
This next bit is NOT politically correct but it bugs me
This was done by folks who suffered at the hands of racism It's the racist nonsense that gets me. I'm sorry but shouldn't this be an area that Black America simply draws the line? Maybe I'm holding my brothers and sisters of color to too high a standard but they KNOW what racism feels like so why become party to that madness? Again maybe it's unfair and unreasonable but I expect better.
Finally there's Where's the common sense? How do you look yourself in the mirror and say "Hey, I think the suffering of these people is funny! And I mean FUNNY! We should take the time to write the lyrics (and maybe the tune) get into the studio record it and put it on the air. Yeah let's make some money on suffering!" How do you look yourself in the eye?
No there's no doubt about it. We've failed in our teaching on the subject of evil. Maybe it's time we started thinking about changing that.
Peace
Monday, January 24, 2005
There is no joy in 'Burgh-ville...
Well my beloved Steelers (that's the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League for any non-fans of American football) had their season grind to a halt yesterday. They were overwhelmed by the defending league champs the New England Patriots. I have no doubt that there are many Steelers fans out there doing their usual plunge off the bandwagon. The cries of "They suck!" and "I'm never gonna watch them again" will be heard. True fans just shake our heads and ignore them. I'm a Steelers fan. One little loss isn't gonna put me off. Hey I root for a baseball team that hasn't had a winning season in 12 years!
Do I qualify as a "true fan"? I'm sitting here in my Steelers sweatshirt as I type this. It was an intentional choice. Need to take a shot at the AFC championship loser? Fire away! I've been a fan since before the glory days of the 70's. Before Noll, before Bradshaw and Franco and Mean Joe. Back when the the Steelers were pretty wretched. I was a fan through the Super Bowl years of the mid to late 70's. I was a fan when they fell on hard times in the 80's and the Cowher era from the '90's to today. There are days when they drive me crazy but there's never a day when I'm not a Steeler fan. Even after 20 years in Buffalo Bills country (and I love the Bills too!) if you cut me I bleed Black and Gold.
(You'll have to pardon me but it struck me that there's a religious connection here too. I feel compelled to add it but I promise to keep it short).
Despite their shortcomings, despite their failures, despite the up and down nature of our relationship I love the Steelers. Just the same way God loves us. Not a bad model to follow.
(OK religious segment over. But think about it OK? There I feel better.)
Our kid QB is going to get better. We've got a very fine team and a bright future. It's good to be a Steelers fan (Hey we could be 49ersfans!)
Now I just gotta wait till Pirates spring training opens up.
Peace
Do I qualify as a "true fan"? I'm sitting here in my Steelers sweatshirt as I type this. It was an intentional choice. Need to take a shot at the AFC championship loser? Fire away! I've been a fan since before the glory days of the 70's. Before Noll, before Bradshaw and Franco and Mean Joe. Back when the the Steelers were pretty wretched. I was a fan through the Super Bowl years of the mid to late 70's. I was a fan when they fell on hard times in the 80's and the Cowher era from the '90's to today. There are days when they drive me crazy but there's never a day when I'm not a Steeler fan. Even after 20 years in Buffalo Bills country (and I love the Bills too!) if you cut me I bleed Black and Gold.
(You'll have to pardon me but it struck me that there's a religious connection here too. I feel compelled to add it but I promise to keep it short).
Despite their shortcomings, despite their failures, despite the up and down nature of our relationship I love the Steelers. Just the same way God loves us. Not a bad model to follow.
(OK religious segment over. But think about it OK? There I feel better.)
Our kid QB is going to get better. We've got a very fine team and a bright future. It's good to be a Steelers fan (Hey we could be 49ersfans!)
Now I just gotta wait till Pirates spring training opens up.
Peace
Friday, January 21, 2005
Sabbath Summit
Ok this may be a new record. Four posts in a single week. No, now that I think of it I did more than this last year(oops two years ago!) when I was in Minneapolis. Still a pretty good start. Let's see how long I can keep it up.
The big thing this week has been the trip to Estes Park CO and the YMCA of the Rockies for the Sabbath Summit for diocesan youth ministry coordinators. It was an amazing 5 days. The Rockies are astounding all by themselves, although at 8,000+ feet I may have been breathless for reasons other than the scenery.
The purpose of the Summit was several fold:
First as a sabbath time for diocesan youth leaders. Just a time away to relax and hopefully get a little time with the big youth leader in the sky. I can tell you that a lot of folks did a LOT of just plain sleeping. Which they apparently needed. There was also worship and a chance for a limited form of spiritual direction. We had a wonderful group of people there to help us through the various "things" that were offered (virtually all of which were optional. You did what worked for you). Body prayer and centering prayer were offered along with more traditional forms of worship.
Second it was a chance to discuss the underlying concepts of the sabbath which grew out of a project called the Youth Ministry Spirituality Project. (I've added a link to their page at the bottom of this posting) 8 years of work with various congregations from a variety of denominations all over the country have resulted in some very interesting thoughts in integrating spirituality with youth ministry. We've already started using some of the ideas here in the diocese and are looking forward to doing more.
There was some really great music, some fabulous people, a great chance for those of us doing diocesan youth work to meet and network.
Now you may be saying "That's pretty spiffy for all you diocesan types. What about the rest of us?" Well this was always meant to grow and spread. It is our hope that we can bring this experience in some form to youth leaders/ministers at every level. How exactly that will happen is still up the air. But it's coming, trust me. When it happens I hope lots of folks will be interested in experiencing a sabbath for themselves.
Peace
The big thing this week has been the trip to Estes Park CO and the YMCA of the Rockies for the Sabbath Summit for diocesan youth ministry coordinators. It was an amazing 5 days. The Rockies are astounding all by themselves, although at 8,000+ feet I may have been breathless for reasons other than the scenery.
The purpose of the Summit was several fold:
First as a sabbath time for diocesan youth leaders. Just a time away to relax and hopefully get a little time with the big youth leader in the sky. I can tell you that a lot of folks did a LOT of just plain sleeping. Which they apparently needed. There was also worship and a chance for a limited form of spiritual direction. We had a wonderful group of people there to help us through the various "things" that were offered (virtually all of which were optional. You did what worked for you). Body prayer and centering prayer were offered along with more traditional forms of worship.
Second it was a chance to discuss the underlying concepts of the sabbath which grew out of a project called the Youth Ministry Spirituality Project. (I've added a link to their page at the bottom of this posting) 8 years of work with various congregations from a variety of denominations all over the country have resulted in some very interesting thoughts in integrating spirituality with youth ministry. We've already started using some of the ideas here in the diocese and are looking forward to doing more.
There was some really great music, some fabulous people, a great chance for those of us doing diocesan youth work to meet and network.
Now you may be saying "That's pretty spiffy for all you diocesan types. What about the rest of us?" Well this was always meant to grow and spread. It is our hope that we can bring this experience in some form to youth leaders/ministers at every level. How exactly that will happen is still up the air. But it's coming, trust me. When it happens I hope lots of folks will be interested in experiencing a sabbath for themselves.
Peace
Thursday, January 20, 2005
A quick word about Colorado
I want to take a minute to comment on something I noticed everywhere I went in Colorado. Every single person, without fail, was polite, helpful and a joy to know. From the TSA people at the Denver airport, to the shopkeepers and clerks in Estes Park, to all the staff at the YMCA of the Rockies, EVERYONE greeted me with a smile and a warm hello. I was thanked repeatedly and wished a "Good day".
Here's the kicker - even the toll booth workers on the thruway were polite and cheerful. Given that I rarely get more than a grunt from NYS toll booth workers it was refreshing.
I think we should work on infecting the rest of the nation with this Colorado pleasantness.
Thank you Colorado I enjoyed my visit!
Peace.
Here's the kicker - even the toll booth workers on the thruway were polite and cheerful. Given that I rarely get more than a grunt from NYS toll booth workers it was refreshing.
I think we should work on infecting the rest of the nation with this Colorado pleasantness.
Thank you Colorado I enjoyed my visit!
Peace.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
What a Long Strange Trip...part deux
So after the fun and all of the Summit it's time to come down and get back to real life. I've decided that Real Life is overrated.
So I hop in the van and ride back down the mountain, again about a two hour drive. I arrive at the US Airways check in, stand in line and tell the nice lady when she asks that I'm headed to Dulles, then Buffalo. Oh, you must be on a United flight, we don't fly to Dulles. HUH?!?!?!?!
See my itinerary at the very top reads US Airways but in the little print it says "Flight operated by United". Seems they have some kind of deal to swap passengers back and forth. Which is fine but guess where the United check in is? Who said the other end of the terminal? Give yourself a gold star! So off I truck. I get to the United gates and do the computer check in. The machine spits out ONE boarding pass, not the two I'm expecting. I ask the attendant. Don't worry you'll get one from the gate agent. Ok, weird but OK I guess. So off I go to security. Make my way through the line and "You've been selected". For what? Extra security screening! One of my companions suggested it was my Navy issue black watch cap that made me look suspicious (Thanks Brian!) So off I go to be patted down, hand wanded for metal, and have all my bags searched. For the record the security people were polite and clearly explained everything. Highest marks to the TSA. In fact they were so efficient that I came out just behind the folks who had been in line behind me to start with! We all had a good laugh. Rode the train to my concourse and waited for the gate agent. About a half an hour. She shows up and informs me (very politely) that I don't have an actual seat on the plane at that moment. Seems they're overbooked by 10 (the next gate over was overbooked by 26!) and they'd work on finding me a seat. Great! So I sat with Jon and Carla and just muttered for about 10 minutes. At which point, voila! I had a seat. YAY! Now I flip on my cellphone so I can call my lady wife and tell her. I have a message waiting. From her. It's snowing like crazy and could I just get a hotel room in Buffalo when I arrive? Otherwise we'll be on the road till about midnight in the lake effect snows. No fun. Meanwhile the gate agent begins to announce that they'll give a free hotel room for the night to anyone who wishes to take a bump. Plus a free airflight voucher. And I begin to laugh. I think Jon thought the pressure had gotten to me at that point. I explained and we all agreed I had to get bumped! So I went up and took the bump. I'll spare you the tedious details except to say that everyone was very nice and very efficient and I ended up at the Double Tree hotel about 20 minutes away. Had dinner and hit the sack.
Oh did I mention my flight the next morning was 6:15 AM? So my alarm went off at 3:45AM. Showered and went down to catch the shuttle. Ummm, why does the little sign say to sign up in advance for the shuttle? Turns out since I was alone it was no problem but for a moment my blood pressure must have spiked. Now the shuttle doesn't leave till 4:30 and it's a twenty minute ride followed by security with a 5:45 boarding time so this is do-able but a little tight.
Except the shuttle doesn't leave till 4:40.
And the first security gate I go to (there are two at Denver, at ...you guessed it opposite ends of the terminal) is closed.
When I get to the other one guess what?
I GET SELECTED AGAIN!!!!!!!! I kid you not. And the line is longer than yesterday for some bizarre reason. (The cutest little girl, about 3 years old was being screened with her daddy right behind me. Standing there with her little arms extended out from her sides. She was very brave) Again very polite and efficient. And I'm through security!!!!!
And I realize I never checked what gate I'm at. And there are NO monitors on this side of the security area just the train to the concourses! AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!!!!!
THINK, THINK, THINK! All gates for an airline are together so check the concourse map for United.....YES!!!!!! Concourse B. Onto the train, off to the gate, onto the plane! YES!
Not quite finished though. There was:
Having gotten up so early I didn't get breakfast. And United was willing to SELL me a breakfast sandwich for like $8. Pay for airline food? I think not.
Then there was the near fight between two adult women about an hour into the flight. They simmered down.
And my seat was in the absolute last row. You know the ones that don't recline...right by the bathroom.
Then getting to Dulles with not enough time to stand in the rather long lines at the food places to get a meal before boarding time (good thing I grabbed all that junk food from the Summit and stuck it in my backpack!)
But in the end I got home, and was greeted by the smiling face I love the best. And my lady wife drove me home.
Where I had dinner and collapsed!
Peace.
So I hop in the van and ride back down the mountain, again about a two hour drive. I arrive at the US Airways check in, stand in line and tell the nice lady when she asks that I'm headed to Dulles, then Buffalo. Oh, you must be on a United flight, we don't fly to Dulles. HUH?!?!?!?!
See my itinerary at the very top reads US Airways but in the little print it says "Flight operated by United". Seems they have some kind of deal to swap passengers back and forth. Which is fine but guess where the United check in is? Who said the other end of the terminal? Give yourself a gold star! So off I truck. I get to the United gates and do the computer check in. The machine spits out ONE boarding pass, not the two I'm expecting. I ask the attendant. Don't worry you'll get one from the gate agent. Ok, weird but OK I guess. So off I go to security. Make my way through the line and "You've been selected". For what? Extra security screening! One of my companions suggested it was my Navy issue black watch cap that made me look suspicious (Thanks Brian!) So off I go to be patted down, hand wanded for metal, and have all my bags searched. For the record the security people were polite and clearly explained everything. Highest marks to the TSA. In fact they were so efficient that I came out just behind the folks who had been in line behind me to start with! We all had a good laugh. Rode the train to my concourse and waited for the gate agent. About a half an hour. She shows up and informs me (very politely) that I don't have an actual seat on the plane at that moment. Seems they're overbooked by 10 (the next gate over was overbooked by 26!) and they'd work on finding me a seat. Great! So I sat with Jon and Carla and just muttered for about 10 minutes. At which point, voila! I had a seat. YAY! Now I flip on my cellphone so I can call my lady wife and tell her. I have a message waiting. From her. It's snowing like crazy and could I just get a hotel room in Buffalo when I arrive? Otherwise we'll be on the road till about midnight in the lake effect snows. No fun. Meanwhile the gate agent begins to announce that they'll give a free hotel room for the night to anyone who wishes to take a bump. Plus a free airflight voucher. And I begin to laugh. I think Jon thought the pressure had gotten to me at that point. I explained and we all agreed I had to get bumped! So I went up and took the bump. I'll spare you the tedious details except to say that everyone was very nice and very efficient and I ended up at the Double Tree hotel about 20 minutes away. Had dinner and hit the sack.
Oh did I mention my flight the next morning was 6:15 AM? So my alarm went off at 3:45AM. Showered and went down to catch the shuttle. Ummm, why does the little sign say to sign up in advance for the shuttle? Turns out since I was alone it was no problem but for a moment my blood pressure must have spiked. Now the shuttle doesn't leave till 4:30 and it's a twenty minute ride followed by security with a 5:45 boarding time so this is do-able but a little tight.
Except the shuttle doesn't leave till 4:40.
And the first security gate I go to (there are two at Denver, at ...you guessed it opposite ends of the terminal) is closed.
When I get to the other one guess what?
I GET SELECTED AGAIN!!!!!!!! I kid you not. And the line is longer than yesterday for some bizarre reason. (The cutest little girl, about 3 years old was being screened with her daddy right behind me. Standing there with her little arms extended out from her sides. She was very brave) Again very polite and efficient. And I'm through security!!!!!
And I realize I never checked what gate I'm at. And there are NO monitors on this side of the security area just the train to the concourses! AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!!!!!
THINK, THINK, THINK! All gates for an airline are together so check the concourse map for United.....YES!!!!!! Concourse B. Onto the train, off to the gate, onto the plane! YES!
Not quite finished though. There was:
Having gotten up so early I didn't get breakfast. And United was willing to SELL me a breakfast sandwich for like $8. Pay for airline food? I think not.
Then there was the near fight between two adult women about an hour into the flight. They simmered down.
And my seat was in the absolute last row. You know the ones that don't recline...right by the bathroom.
Then getting to Dulles with not enough time to stand in the rather long lines at the food places to get a meal before boarding time (good thing I grabbed all that junk food from the Summit and stuck it in my backpack!)
But in the end I got home, and was greeted by the smiling face I love the best. And my lady wife drove me home.
Where I had dinner and collapsed!
Peace.
What a Long, Strange trip it's been.....
With apologies to the Grateful Dead
Just got back from the Sabbath Summit at Estes Park CO. This was a great chance for diocesan youth leaders to gather and pray and think and be with God. Very cool.
But the travel at either end...............
Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). My flight out of Buffalo was scheduled for 7:50 AM (actually I thought it was 8:05 but it had been moved up). So my lady wife dropped me off just before 7 AM. Made it through security in a twinkle and was sitting waiting at the gate. Then word comes. Fog in NYC. My flight goes to LaGuardia then catch a flight to Denver. It's pushed back. And pushed back. And the pilot of our plane comments that the computer shows visibility listed as ZERO and he'd never in all the years he'd flown EVER seen such a listing on the computer! Great!
Eventually I'm told that even if we took off right now I'm never gonna make my connection. OK, I'm a fair and reasonable kinda guy, it's not their fault, so what can we do? Answer, as it turns out is, not much. Seems since it's Martin Luther King weekend and a three day holiday everybody is going to Colorado to ski. There are not available seats out of Pittsburgh, Chicago or Charlotte. The first available seat is on a 6 PM flight out of Pittsburgh. To get there they can put me on a 3 PM flight out of Buffalo. It's now about 9 AM.
Can I send a quick note to the folks at NFTA who run the Greater Buffalo International Airport? You have one damn boring airport. Pittsburgh, Denver, Dulles are all MUCH more fun to be stuck in for 6 long hours. I'm thinking we need to work on this. Really.
The flight to Pittsburgh went smoothly. I had about a two hour layover, then onto the flight to Denver. Smooth sailing.
Now at the other end all the arrangments are in the toilet. And for some reason my cellphone won't hold a signal for any of the folks I'm to meet. One of them (Yay Silvestre!)sends me a text message. (I didn't know I could receive text messages. It was very cool) and told me that someone would meet me in baggage claim. Great! Umm, no wait...which baggage claim? There are four of them at Denver and they're in pairs at opposite ends of this very large terminal. Finally I find my connection and the other two folks also arriving late join us and we're off.
For a two hour drive to Estes Park. It's now about 9 PM Mountain time. I will skip over turning the wrong way and having to back up an on ramp we didn't want to be on. (Heck I thought it was the right place to turn as well). Once off the interstate and onto the winding roads up the mountains we almost hit a coyote. Don't know who was more surprised us or him. Finally arrived around 11 PM, bedraggled and exhausted. Said hello to a few folks that I knew, gave them the short version and asked where my room was.
I'll tell you about the Summit later.
And I'll tell you about the trip HOME in the next post!
I can hear Jerry and the boys singing....
Peace
Just got back from the Sabbath Summit at Estes Park CO. This was a great chance for diocesan youth leaders to gather and pray and think and be with God. Very cool.
But the travel at either end...............
Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). My flight out of Buffalo was scheduled for 7:50 AM (actually I thought it was 8:05 but it had been moved up). So my lady wife dropped me off just before 7 AM. Made it through security in a twinkle and was sitting waiting at the gate. Then word comes. Fog in NYC. My flight goes to LaGuardia then catch a flight to Denver. It's pushed back. And pushed back. And the pilot of our plane comments that the computer shows visibility listed as ZERO and he'd never in all the years he'd flown EVER seen such a listing on the computer! Great!
Eventually I'm told that even if we took off right now I'm never gonna make my connection. OK, I'm a fair and reasonable kinda guy, it's not their fault, so what can we do? Answer, as it turns out is, not much. Seems since it's Martin Luther King weekend and a three day holiday everybody is going to Colorado to ski. There are not available seats out of Pittsburgh, Chicago or Charlotte. The first available seat is on a 6 PM flight out of Pittsburgh. To get there they can put me on a 3 PM flight out of Buffalo. It's now about 9 AM.
Can I send a quick note to the folks at NFTA who run the Greater Buffalo International Airport? You have one damn boring airport. Pittsburgh, Denver, Dulles are all MUCH more fun to be stuck in for 6 long hours. I'm thinking we need to work on this. Really.
The flight to Pittsburgh went smoothly. I had about a two hour layover, then onto the flight to Denver. Smooth sailing.
Now at the other end all the arrangments are in the toilet. And for some reason my cellphone won't hold a signal for any of the folks I'm to meet. One of them (Yay Silvestre!)sends me a text message. (I didn't know I could receive text messages. It was very cool) and told me that someone would meet me in baggage claim. Great! Umm, no wait...which baggage claim? There are four of them at Denver and they're in pairs at opposite ends of this very large terminal. Finally I find my connection and the other two folks also arriving late join us and we're off.
For a two hour drive to Estes Park. It's now about 9 PM Mountain time. I will skip over turning the wrong way and having to back up an on ramp we didn't want to be on. (Heck I thought it was the right place to turn as well). Once off the interstate and onto the winding roads up the mountains we almost hit a coyote. Don't know who was more surprised us or him. Finally arrived around 11 PM, bedraggled and exhausted. Said hello to a few folks that I knew, gave them the short version and asked where my room was.
I'll tell you about the Summit later.
And I'll tell you about the trip HOME in the next post!
I can hear Jerry and the boys singing....
Peace
Monday, January 10, 2005
How's your Investments?
This is my January column from "ChurchActs" the diocesan newspaper of the Diocese of WNY
Well it’s the start of the year. That’s always a good time to sit back and review the year gone by with an eye towards the year to come. I want to talk to our youth about their investments. (Edit: All this applies to the adults too!)
By the way this column has nothing to do with money.
Now back to your investments. 2005 is just getting underway and I want you to spend a little time thinking about how you invest your time. Because how you invest your times is also the measure for how you invest your life. For most of us the “portfolios” that hold our investments of time are self, Family, Work (in your case School), Church and Other. Other includes all the stuff we do because we choose to, hobbies, sports, social activities and things like that.
So spend a little time looking at how your invest your time. Take a serious moment and think of how much time you actually invest in the average day, week, month and year in each category. Be honest, hey no one’s going to see this but you. Don’t try to fudge the figures if you don’t like the way the numbers are coming out. That’s part of the exercise.
While you’re doing that let me play investment advisor for you. So let’s look at the options:
Self – All of us need to take the time to take care of our selves. That means physically, mentally and spiritually. Even Jesus took time during his very short adult ministry to go off by himself and get away from the crowds. With your physical self-investment are you investing in good food, some exercise? In the mental section are you looking for new challenges or allowing your mind to stay in the same comfortable neighborhood. Spiritually if someone asked you about your personal relationship with God what would you say? Sunday morning worship can only be a small portion of this investment.
Family – Some families function really well, some don’t function at all, a lot of others just muddle through. You probably know where yours fits. So the next question is how much do you invest here. It’s too easy in our society to just blow off the importance of family. I’ve never heard of someone losing by investing heavily in this portfolio. There’s risk here for some of you, enormous risk. But the potential returns not only in the short term but in long term too are just too good to pass up. Your siblings may be a pain and your parents may be totally Uggghh but they are your family. And there’s an amazing long-term track record for this one.
Work/School – To be honest you don’t get a lot of choice on this one. The question for you is what kind of quality investment do you want this to be? When I was in school someone said to me “Don’t think of it as something that’s being forced upon you, think of it as something they owe you. Demand that they deliver and deliver in a useful form”. It changed the quality of my investment in this portfolio.
Other – Here’s all the other stuff, the sports, the music, the X-box, the hanging at the mall, the hobbies, et cetera. In our society this portfolio gets a lot of attention. Sometimes too much attention. The Other category can take over our whole lives, dominating our schedules and forcing everything else to the back. If there’s one portfolio to trim it’s almost always this one.
Church – and if there’s one that commonly gets shortchanged it’s this one. This one gets whatever is left over, and let’s be honest that’s usually very little. Church is more than just that interminable hour (or more) on Sunday morning. It’s part of the spiritual portion of our Self portfolio. It’s the part of our investments that directs us away from ourselves and out into the world. To care for someone else and their needs rather than to spend all our time on our own.
So here’s my investment advice. Take a hard look at how much is invested in Other and cut it. Don’t eliminate it because some of it is tied into your Self portfolio. Take the extra and invest it where you’re under-invested. My bets are those are Your Church, Your Family and Your Self . In the end you’ll discover those investments are a lot more important than all the other stuff in your life. Along the way you’ll probably also discover less tension, less craziness and more joy in your life. Proof positive of the quality of those investments.
Peace
Well it’s the start of the year. That’s always a good time to sit back and review the year gone by with an eye towards the year to come. I want to talk to our youth about their investments. (Edit: All this applies to the adults too!)
By the way this column has nothing to do with money.
Now back to your investments. 2005 is just getting underway and I want you to spend a little time thinking about how you invest your time. Because how you invest your times is also the measure for how you invest your life. For most of us the “portfolios” that hold our investments of time are self, Family, Work (in your case School), Church and Other. Other includes all the stuff we do because we choose to, hobbies, sports, social activities and things like that.
So spend a little time looking at how your invest your time. Take a serious moment and think of how much time you actually invest in the average day, week, month and year in each category. Be honest, hey no one’s going to see this but you. Don’t try to fudge the figures if you don’t like the way the numbers are coming out. That’s part of the exercise.
While you’re doing that let me play investment advisor for you. So let’s look at the options:
Self – All of us need to take the time to take care of our selves. That means physically, mentally and spiritually. Even Jesus took time during his very short adult ministry to go off by himself and get away from the crowds. With your physical self-investment are you investing in good food, some exercise? In the mental section are you looking for new challenges or allowing your mind to stay in the same comfortable neighborhood. Spiritually if someone asked you about your personal relationship with God what would you say? Sunday morning worship can only be a small portion of this investment.
Family – Some families function really well, some don’t function at all, a lot of others just muddle through. You probably know where yours fits. So the next question is how much do you invest here. It’s too easy in our society to just blow off the importance of family. I’ve never heard of someone losing by investing heavily in this portfolio. There’s risk here for some of you, enormous risk. But the potential returns not only in the short term but in long term too are just too good to pass up. Your siblings may be a pain and your parents may be totally Uggghh but they are your family. And there’s an amazing long-term track record for this one.
Work/School – To be honest you don’t get a lot of choice on this one. The question for you is what kind of quality investment do you want this to be? When I was in school someone said to me “Don’t think of it as something that’s being forced upon you, think of it as something they owe you. Demand that they deliver and deliver in a useful form”. It changed the quality of my investment in this portfolio.
Other – Here’s all the other stuff, the sports, the music, the X-box, the hanging at the mall, the hobbies, et cetera. In our society this portfolio gets a lot of attention. Sometimes too much attention. The Other category can take over our whole lives, dominating our schedules and forcing everything else to the back. If there’s one portfolio to trim it’s almost always this one.
Church – and if there’s one that commonly gets shortchanged it’s this one. This one gets whatever is left over, and let’s be honest that’s usually very little. Church is more than just that interminable hour (or more) on Sunday morning. It’s part of the spiritual portion of our Self portfolio. It’s the part of our investments that directs us away from ourselves and out into the world. To care for someone else and their needs rather than to spend all our time on our own.
So here’s my investment advice. Take a hard look at how much is invested in Other and cut it. Don’t eliminate it because some of it is tied into your Self portfolio. Take the extra and invest it where you’re under-invested. My bets are those are Your Church, Your Family and Your Self . In the end you’ll discover those investments are a lot more important than all the other stuff in your life. Along the way you’ll probably also discover less tension, less craziness and more joy in your life. Proof positive of the quality of those investments.
Peace
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Not a great start
Well I was hoping for a great start to the new year. Not sure this is what I had in mind. Had a bad meal at a local restaurant and spent most of Thursday night/Friday morning being sicker than sick. Just nasty. 13 hours sleep seems to have put me right but it'll take a couple days to get back up to speed I'm afraid. Such fun.
There was an upside as well. When I was at the re-convening of our diocesan convention I had two people tell me how much they enjoy reading my columns in our newspaper "ChurchActs" (which I also publish here - I'll get the January one up this week). In fact one lady said she had read the December column (about Peter walking on the water) over and over and over again then sent it on to her brother because she like it so much.
Let me tell you I immediately began to feel a whole lot more chipper!
Hope you all enjoy this stuff as well.
Peace
There was an upside as well. When I was at the re-convening of our diocesan convention I had two people tell me how much they enjoy reading my columns in our newspaper "ChurchActs" (which I also publish here - I'll get the January one up this week). In fact one lady said she had read the December column (about Peter walking on the water) over and over and over again then sent it on to her brother because she like it so much.
Let me tell you I immediately began to feel a whole lot more chipper!
Hope you all enjoy this stuff as well.
Peace
Thursday, January 06, 2005
And a New Year too
Just realized that the end of the year had blown right by and not a new post in site. Mea culpa. This is going to be an interesting year. Lots of youth activities planned, a major funding program to move forward, the Episcopal Youth Event in Kentucky, camps! Including the return of Senior High after a one year sabbatical. There there are the little things like my daughter entering her senior year at HS and college visits and on and on and on.....
I'm hoping that this will be a great year. There's so many things to do and so many projects I want to undertake and get rolling. This is a great year for anyone who has been thinking about getting involved because we'll have lots of things for you to pick and choose among.
Here's to a great year for youth ministry. And more posts on the blog!
Peace
I'm hoping that this will be a great year. There's so many things to do and so many projects I want to undertake and get rolling. This is a great year for anyone who has been thinking about getting involved because we'll have lots of things for you to pick and choose among.
Here's to a great year for youth ministry. And more posts on the blog!
Peace
Friday, December 17, 2004
Youth Missioner as sports star (?)
I mentioned before that I play indoor soccer during the white months of the year. Well last night was the final date in this session so it was playoff time! Why we have playoffs in a league that doesn't keep standings, and you get nothing for "winning" the playoffs is a puzzle to us all but there you go.
Our first playoff game (20 minutes instead of the usual 50 minutes, another irritation) we won 11-2. Yours truly picked up a goal and an assist. Also a whole load of bruises on my back because the opposing goalkeeper decided he didn't want me to play in front of him (I was playing completely legally) So he begun pushing and smacking me in the back, at one point pushing me the whole way to the front of the penalty area (that's about 15 feet). Have to admit scoring the goal on him felt good.
Then we had an hour off while other teams played.
Second game we won 5-0 and I got another goal and assist. The assist was a very spiffy little back heel pass that did EXACTLY what I wanted it to do. That so rarely happens.
The third game started 10 minutes after the second one ended, against a team that had about a half an hour's rest and was significantly younger than my guys. Didn't look good. Then we jumped out to a 2-0 lead! Didn't last. We ran out of gas by half time but never gave up. We lost 11-7. I contributed nothing to the score sheet and not a whole lot at all. I was EXHAUSTED! This morning my body is extremely unhappy with me in fact.
Seems to think we're old or something. I haven't told it yet......
I'm signing up for the next session!
Peace
Our first playoff game (20 minutes instead of the usual 50 minutes, another irritation) we won 11-2. Yours truly picked up a goal and an assist. Also a whole load of bruises on my back because the opposing goalkeeper decided he didn't want me to play in front of him (I was playing completely legally) So he begun pushing and smacking me in the back, at one point pushing me the whole way to the front of the penalty area (that's about 15 feet). Have to admit scoring the goal on him felt good.
Then we had an hour off while other teams played.
Second game we won 5-0 and I got another goal and assist. The assist was a very spiffy little back heel pass that did EXACTLY what I wanted it to do. That so rarely happens.
The third game started 10 minutes after the second one ended, against a team that had about a half an hour's rest and was significantly younger than my guys. Didn't look good. Then we jumped out to a 2-0 lead! Didn't last. We ran out of gas by half time but never gave up. We lost 11-7. I contributed nothing to the score sheet and not a whole lot at all. I was EXHAUSTED! This morning my body is extremely unhappy with me in fact.
Seems to think we're old or something. I haven't told it yet......
I'm signing up for the next session!
Peace
Monday, December 13, 2004
Laughter in the church
I had one of those "moments" at church yesterday. No, not a senior moment although they are starting to crop up with more frequency these days. It was the kind of moment that some people will remember for a long time and the kind of moment when I realized that something had changed for me.
I was one of the lay readers for the 10 AM service
(quick note for any non-Episcopalians in the crowd - during our service we read from both the OT and NT plus a psalm and the Gospel. The first three are read by lay people, one of whom is usually also serving as a chalice bearer (oops more jargon - the person who offers the wine to everyone at Communion) and so is vested. For us that's a black cassock with a flowing white surplice over it. The kind with the big swoopy sleeves)
Anyway I walked from my seat to the lectern to do my readings. This means walking by the choir in their pews. The end of each choir stall has a carved wooden fleur de lis on top (kind of three pronged pointy thing). As I walked by the first stall my sleeve billowed out and snagged. I didn't notice till it pull me up short. I stopped, backed up and freed myself. The congregation gave a quiet chuckle. Then on the very next pew my sleeve did it AGAIN! This got quite the laugh and a big smile from me. And the thought that I had changed.
There was a time, not all that long ago when I would have been mortified at what happened in church yesterday. Church was a solemn, dignified, serious place that had no place for light-heartedness. People talking, children making noise, heck even people smiling bugged me. What did they think this was? Some kind of romper room? God was here and God was one tight lipped, deadly serious kinda hombre who didn't want any messing around when we were here bowing and scraping and begging His pardon and maybe, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, and I know I have no right to ask, let alone think you might be listening, but maybe Sir could you do me this small favor?
That was back when I really didn't much care for church or most of the people who seemed to attend.
Today I think maybe God laughed along with His people. This is still pretty serious stuff - sin and reconciliation and forgiveness and all the stuff that goes along with it. Somewhere along the line it dawned on me that maybe this is stuff I'm supposed to be happy about. Our Book of Common Prayer talks about the "celebration" of the Holy Eucharist. For a lot of years growing up I don't remember much celebrating going on, more like a whole lot of "You're darn lucky we let even get a sniff of this, so get down on your knees and be grateful". I don't deny that there is an element of that present. I don't deserve God's love or his Grace or to share in his Communion. But He wants me there anyway. And He let's me have it anyway.
And that seems like something to celebrate, to smile and laugh a little. If you show up in my congregation and spend the whole service chattering you'll probably still get a look or even a word from me. But I love the sound of babies in church, I enjoy watching children learn to grow comfortable in the pew and at the rail. I truly love the chance to read a lesson like yesterday's that spoke of the joy of being with God and the wonderous things that He can make happen.
And I enjoyed being reminded not to be quite such a stuck up sticky beak and to remember to laugh with God.
Peace
I was one of the lay readers for the 10 AM service
(quick note for any non-Episcopalians in the crowd - during our service we read from both the OT and NT plus a psalm and the Gospel. The first three are read by lay people, one of whom is usually also serving as a chalice bearer (oops more jargon - the person who offers the wine to everyone at Communion) and so is vested. For us that's a black cassock with a flowing white surplice over it. The kind with the big swoopy sleeves)
Anyway I walked from my seat to the lectern to do my readings. This means walking by the choir in their pews. The end of each choir stall has a carved wooden fleur de lis on top (kind of three pronged pointy thing). As I walked by the first stall my sleeve billowed out and snagged. I didn't notice till it pull me up short. I stopped, backed up and freed myself. The congregation gave a quiet chuckle. Then on the very next pew my sleeve did it AGAIN! This got quite the laugh and a big smile from me. And the thought that I had changed.
There was a time, not all that long ago when I would have been mortified at what happened in church yesterday. Church was a solemn, dignified, serious place that had no place for light-heartedness. People talking, children making noise, heck even people smiling bugged me. What did they think this was? Some kind of romper room? God was here and God was one tight lipped, deadly serious kinda hombre who didn't want any messing around when we were here bowing and scraping and begging His pardon and maybe, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, and I know I have no right to ask, let alone think you might be listening, but maybe Sir could you do me this small favor?
That was back when I really didn't much care for church or most of the people who seemed to attend.
Today I think maybe God laughed along with His people. This is still pretty serious stuff - sin and reconciliation and forgiveness and all the stuff that goes along with it. Somewhere along the line it dawned on me that maybe this is stuff I'm supposed to be happy about. Our Book of Common Prayer talks about the "celebration" of the Holy Eucharist. For a lot of years growing up I don't remember much celebrating going on, more like a whole lot of "You're darn lucky we let even get a sniff of this, so get down on your knees and be grateful". I don't deny that there is an element of that present. I don't deserve God's love or his Grace or to share in his Communion. But He wants me there anyway. And He let's me have it anyway.
And that seems like something to celebrate, to smile and laugh a little. If you show up in my congregation and spend the whole service chattering you'll probably still get a look or even a word from me. But I love the sound of babies in church, I enjoy watching children learn to grow comfortable in the pew and at the rail. I truly love the chance to read a lesson like yesterday's that spoke of the joy of being with God and the wonderous things that He can make happen.
And I enjoyed being reminded not to be quite such a stuck up sticky beak and to remember to laugh with God.
Peace
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
I Have a Problem With The Bible
(This is my column from the December issue of ChurchActs, the newspaper of the Diocese of WNY)
This column comes with a warning. I’m about to say something that might upset some folks. So I’m asking you to stay with me till I can explain, OK? It’s not as bad as it sounds I promise. I’m just trying to head off angry, torch bearing mobs at my doorstep. So here we go:
I have a problem with the Bible.
(Take a deep breath, it’s not what you think I promise)
Actually I have to admit I only have a problem with some bibles. Some translations have little headlines at the start of chapters or stories. My problem is with the one in Matthew chapter 14 that inevitably says, “Jesus walks on the water”. (Oops that just spiked some folk’s blood pressure too. I’m almost there I promise). You see I would change it to “Peter walks on the water”.
I’m not denying that Jesus walked on the water. But Jesus is God. That God is capable of the miraculous is wonderful but is kind of….. expected, right? What’s not expected is when Peter climbs out of the boat. That’s astounding. This story has always drawn me in. So I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about Peter climbing out of that boat.
Peter isn’t suddenly a super hero, walking on water is not some new power or gift that he’s given. There’s a good chance that Peter couldn’t even swim. Recreational swimming is a relatively uncommon activity until the last century. While he’s comfortable on the water, even during a storm, Peter knows the danger facing everyone on the boat in this story. The boat used was probably designed for fishing. It was designed to perform specific duties under specific circumstances. Being out in the storm is probably a bit of a challenge. Peter has the skills to get them through this and deliver them safely to the other side. Strength, experience and training make Peter the right person at the right time in the storm.
So while they fight their way through the storm in the early morning hours Jesus comes across the water. Everyone in the boat knows that this can’t be happening. They are terrified by the battering of the storm, they’re tired and now this.
Now we’re back to Peter. Note that at first even Peter isn’t sure what’s going on. His first words are “IF it is you Lord…” Then he does what is probably the bravest thing he’s ever done in his life to that point. The fisherman who probably can’t swim, who knows that people can’t walk on water, that they sink and drown, climbs out of the boat. All of this in response to a single word from Jesus. No fancy promises, no big explanations about how his divine will will keep Peter safe. Jesus says “Come” and Peter tosses everything he knows aside and climbs over the gunwale.
And the miraculous happens. Peter finds that his foot doesn’t sink, the he can walk on the water. His mind is focussed on Jesus, on the “Come”. And it works. Now I figure that Jesus must be standing a little ways away because we’re told that Peter walks to Jesus, not just gets out and stands next to him. So Peter takes a couple steps. He's probably starting to get a little comfortable with this whole thing when he gets distracted. The storm is still going while all this happens and Peter’s mind suddenly starts thinking about what is happening. Jesus reaches out to Peter, brings him back to the boat and calms the storm.
Think about it. When Peter has his attention centered on Jesus he is capable of doing things he knows he can’t do. In defiance of his experience, logic and common sense he can do it. But when he let’s his mind wander suddenly things go wrong. For me that’s the lesson from this story. We need to remember the lesson of Peter climbing out of the boat. We climb out when Jesus calls us and we can do the miraculous. When we stay locked in on Jesus we will be able to continue doing the miraculous. When we let other things distract us we can end in over our heads very quickly. The good news is that at that moment Jesus always has a hand out for us.
Now who do I talk to about editing the Bible?
Peace
This column comes with a warning. I’m about to say something that might upset some folks. So I’m asking you to stay with me till I can explain, OK? It’s not as bad as it sounds I promise. I’m just trying to head off angry, torch bearing mobs at my doorstep. So here we go:
I have a problem with the Bible.
(Take a deep breath, it’s not what you think I promise)
Actually I have to admit I only have a problem with some bibles. Some translations have little headlines at the start of chapters or stories. My problem is with the one in Matthew chapter 14 that inevitably says, “Jesus walks on the water”. (Oops that just spiked some folk’s blood pressure too. I’m almost there I promise). You see I would change it to “Peter walks on the water”.
I’m not denying that Jesus walked on the water. But Jesus is God. That God is capable of the miraculous is wonderful but is kind of….. expected, right? What’s not expected is when Peter climbs out of the boat. That’s astounding. This story has always drawn me in. So I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about Peter climbing out of that boat.
Peter isn’t suddenly a super hero, walking on water is not some new power or gift that he’s given. There’s a good chance that Peter couldn’t even swim. Recreational swimming is a relatively uncommon activity until the last century. While he’s comfortable on the water, even during a storm, Peter knows the danger facing everyone on the boat in this story. The boat used was probably designed for fishing. It was designed to perform specific duties under specific circumstances. Being out in the storm is probably a bit of a challenge. Peter has the skills to get them through this and deliver them safely to the other side. Strength, experience and training make Peter the right person at the right time in the storm.
So while they fight their way through the storm in the early morning hours Jesus comes across the water. Everyone in the boat knows that this can’t be happening. They are terrified by the battering of the storm, they’re tired and now this.
Now we’re back to Peter. Note that at first even Peter isn’t sure what’s going on. His first words are “IF it is you Lord…” Then he does what is probably the bravest thing he’s ever done in his life to that point. The fisherman who probably can’t swim, who knows that people can’t walk on water, that they sink and drown, climbs out of the boat. All of this in response to a single word from Jesus. No fancy promises, no big explanations about how his divine will will keep Peter safe. Jesus says “Come” and Peter tosses everything he knows aside and climbs over the gunwale.
And the miraculous happens. Peter finds that his foot doesn’t sink, the he can walk on the water. His mind is focussed on Jesus, on the “Come”. And it works. Now I figure that Jesus must be standing a little ways away because we’re told that Peter walks to Jesus, not just gets out and stands next to him. So Peter takes a couple steps. He's probably starting to get a little comfortable with this whole thing when he gets distracted. The storm is still going while all this happens and Peter’s mind suddenly starts thinking about what is happening. Jesus reaches out to Peter, brings him back to the boat and calms the storm.
Think about it. When Peter has his attention centered on Jesus he is capable of doing things he knows he can’t do. In defiance of his experience, logic and common sense he can do it. But when he let’s his mind wander suddenly things go wrong. For me that’s the lesson from this story. We need to remember the lesson of Peter climbing out of the boat. We climb out when Jesus calls us and we can do the miraculous. When we stay locked in on Jesus we will be able to continue doing the miraculous. When we let other things distract us we can end in over our heads very quickly. The good news is that at that moment Jesus always has a hand out for us.
Now who do I talk to about editing the Bible?
Peace
Monday, November 29, 2004
And now I'm back
Wow, things got away from me again. Hard to believe it's been weeks since I dropped a note here. Lots of work/ministry things getting in the way (of just about everything)
Had a very cool Thanksgiving week. My fabulous sister in law got tickets for the Steelers/Redskins game through her employer so for the first time in my life I saw my hometown football team in person. From 9 rows away from the field. Peggy rocks!
The game wasn't much to write home about, neither were the $6 beers. SIX BUCKS!!!! But the stadium was great and it was fun hanging out with my brother and his fabulous wife (did I mention that PEGGY ROCKS! ?) The only bad part was my youngest brother was supposed to join us. Didn't happen so Peggy (who is just about the coolest person on the face of the planet in my opinion although her taste in men is, well.......) managed to outhaggle a ticket scalper for the fourth ticket.
Actually we had a great time, and my sister in law is very cool, but since I know my brother checks this blog periodically it's fun to razz him in a semi-public place.
Back to more serious topics later this week.
Peace
Had a very cool Thanksgiving week. My fabulous sister in law got tickets for the Steelers/Redskins game through her employer so for the first time in my life I saw my hometown football team in person. From 9 rows away from the field. Peggy rocks!
The game wasn't much to write home about, neither were the $6 beers. SIX BUCKS!!!! But the stadium was great and it was fun hanging out with my brother and his fabulous wife (did I mention that PEGGY ROCKS! ?) The only bad part was my youngest brother was supposed to join us. Didn't happen so Peggy (who is just about the coolest person on the face of the planet in my opinion although her taste in men is, well.......) managed to outhaggle a ticket scalper for the fourth ticket.
Actually we had a great time, and my sister in law is very cool, but since I know my brother checks this blog periodically it's fun to razz him in a semi-public place.
Back to more serious topics later this week.
Peace
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