It's Ash Wednesday if you're watching your church calendar--or if you knew that Mardi Gras added last net. It came and went around here, sadly enough. I always want to go into Lent with more intent.
A year ago today, I went to the doctor in British Columbia and ended up in the hospital with a ruptured appendix. That was the beginning of a lot of changes for us--for me. It was a long road to where we are today. Almost a year of Lent in some ways. And it's been good. We're in a much better place. Not an easy place, but a better place (as the song goes: "getting better, all the time").
It's amazing how much things can change in your life--if you let it happen. It would have been easy for us when we were first married to settle down in Eau Claire and have a comfortable life. It probably would have been a good life. But we would have missed out on a lot--and we probably wouldn't have grown much along the way, either. Stepping out on a limb can be good.
Maybe I'll pull out one of the Lenten devotionals from the bookshelf and take some time with that this season.
2/25/2009
2/22/2009
Mobility & the Church
Today in church, Dr. Soong Chan Rah from North Park Theological Seminary spoke. He spoke a bit about what our churches have to say to culture and what our culture has to say to the church.
For instance--look at church architecture. Many churches built in the last century had a high, arched sanctuary. Take a picture and turn it upside down. It looks like a boat. The intent was to remind people of Noah's Ark, leading to the concept that the world is evil and the church is the place to flee that evil influence. Many recent churches look more like malls or movie theaters. Bigger churches, especially, will have stores and coffee shops. Theater seats fill the sanctuary. The church invites people in saying that their experience here will be like going to the mall or being entertained by a movie. Many church buildings (unintentionally, I hope) send the message that their trying to escape the culture or that they're just like the culture.
Then he looked at cars. I know. A good message already, huh? He pointed out that non-American made cars have names that involve letters & numbers. Or peaceful, semi-meaningless names like Accord or Civic. But American cars have names like Voyager, Escape, Explorer, Ranger, Tracer and Mustang. All names imply motion and exploring the wild. The Dodge Sprinter is more like a box and the Porsche Boxster is more fittingly a sprinter. Our culture is about motion. Fifty percent of Americans have moved (whether across the street or to a new city) within the last five years. Our goal is to be like the Jeffersons: "Movin' on up."
Jesus' incarnation was a movement as well. Philippians 2 tells us that He was downwardly mobile. He descended in humility. Though we're in an era where many people are going through some devastating life changes right now, the economic downturn may be a good thing for the church. For too long, the church has tried to be upwardly mobile like our culture. We try to move fast. By speed tends to disconnect us from others. In our downtimes right now, we have great opportunities to reach out in the way we're supposed to. We're reminded that we're called to be servants instead of trying to be upwardly mobile.
I forget who Dr. Rah was quoting with this, but he pointed out that we tend to be a warm religious movement. By that he means that we have a set point of creeds (consider the "4 Spiritual Laws" or theological beliefs to check on a list of what we believe) to accept, and then we consider ourselves "in". Instead, we're called to be hot Christians (great phrase, eh?). We're to have a burning passion within us.
None of this is my original processing (thank you Soong-Chan Rah for these thoughts this morning), but I thought I'd share the recap of the sermon. I know I appreciated it.
For instance--look at church architecture. Many churches built in the last century had a high, arched sanctuary. Take a picture and turn it upside down. It looks like a boat. The intent was to remind people of Noah's Ark, leading to the concept that the world is evil and the church is the place to flee that evil influence. Many recent churches look more like malls or movie theaters. Bigger churches, especially, will have stores and coffee shops. Theater seats fill the sanctuary. The church invites people in saying that their experience here will be like going to the mall or being entertained by a movie. Many church buildings (unintentionally, I hope) send the message that their trying to escape the culture or that they're just like the culture.
Then he looked at cars. I know. A good message already, huh? He pointed out that non-American made cars have names that involve letters & numbers. Or peaceful, semi-meaningless names like Accord or Civic. But American cars have names like Voyager, Escape, Explorer, Ranger, Tracer and Mustang. All names imply motion and exploring the wild. The Dodge Sprinter is more like a box and the Porsche Boxster is more fittingly a sprinter. Our culture is about motion. Fifty percent of Americans have moved (whether across the street or to a new city) within the last five years. Our goal is to be like the Jeffersons: "Movin' on up."
Jesus' incarnation was a movement as well. Philippians 2 tells us that He was downwardly mobile. He descended in humility. Though we're in an era where many people are going through some devastating life changes right now, the economic downturn may be a good thing for the church. For too long, the church has tried to be upwardly mobile like our culture. We try to move fast. By speed tends to disconnect us from others. In our downtimes right now, we have great opportunities to reach out in the way we're supposed to. We're reminded that we're called to be servants instead of trying to be upwardly mobile.
I forget who Dr. Rah was quoting with this, but he pointed out that we tend to be a warm religious movement. By that he means that we have a set point of creeds (consider the "4 Spiritual Laws" or theological beliefs to check on a list of what we believe) to accept, and then we consider ourselves "in". Instead, we're called to be hot Christians (great phrase, eh?). We're to have a burning passion within us.
None of this is my original processing (thank you Soong-Chan Rah for these thoughts this morning), but I thought I'd share the recap of the sermon. I know I appreciated it.
2/10/2009
Unconnected
I'm glad we're in a new week. Last week was not fun. It started with me having the flu over the weekend. Then, right before Super Bowl kick-off, Nils threw up. And continued doing so until bedtime. The next morning he was running around as if nothing ever happened. I wish I had that kind of recovery. Tuesday our computer died. Thankfully, a friend was able to help us recover our files that were on it. We're still deciding if we can afford to fix it right now (well, we know we can't, but we're not sure if we can afford to not fix it with Beth needing to access her resume for geology jobs). On Wednesday Beth got sick--but a much milder case that Nils or I had. On Friday the car had a flat tire as Beth was going into work. We knew we needed a couple new tires anyway, but were hoping to wait until tax refunds came back (also hoping we get a big one).
So, I'm at the library right now checking my email for the first time in a week. A few people commented on how their lives would be on hold if they had to be without their computers. I can function--every once in a while I intentionally go without computer access for a short time. I just miss being able to work on some writing projects. And being able to balance the check book and pay bills. But especially some of the connections I would normally have through the week. I think I'm getting past some of my former isolation tendencies.
So, I'm at the library right now checking my email for the first time in a week. A few people commented on how their lives would be on hold if they had to be without their computers. I can function--every once in a while I intentionally go without computer access for a short time. I just miss being able to work on some writing projects. And being able to balance the check book and pay bills. But especially some of the connections I would normally have through the week. I think I'm getting past some of my former isolation tendencies.
2/02/2009
Six More Weeks? Is That All?
I was sick with influenza over the weekend; Nils joined me shortly thereafter. I missed out on the warmest day we've had since November 6--and the first day above freezing in January. I wasn't too happy about that. Beth at least got to take the boys out for some snowman building.
Today we learned from the groundhog that there will be six more weeks of winter (actually that depends upon where you live--Wikipedia listed at thirteen different groundhogs' predections for today; our local friends in Sun Prairie, WI (Jimmy the Groundhog), and Wookstock, IL (Woodstock Willie), both predicted more winter as did Punxatawny Phil). Around here people were excited to hear that there would be six more weeks of winter. We were expecting at least another twelve.
Today we learned from the groundhog that there will be six more weeks of winter (actually that depends upon where you live--Wikipedia listed at thirteen different groundhogs' predections for today; our local friends in Sun Prairie, WI (Jimmy the Groundhog), and Wookstock, IL (Woodstock Willie), both predicted more winter as did Punxatawny Phil). Around here people were excited to hear that there would be six more weeks of winter. We were expecting at least another twelve.
1/29/2009
A Boy's Outing
The boys and I went out this morning to give Beth some time to work on things. Anders was kind of throwing a tantrum when we left--he has a tendency to do that when we're going on a fun outing. I tell you this now because it will come into play later.
We went to the zoo (it's free. Free outings are always good). It's been a while since we've gone and spent time looking at everything. The boys enjoyed it.
We also spent some time in the conservatory. They actually wanted to stay and see some of the plants and flowers. It was, at least, a warm place to spend some time.
On the way back, we partook briefly of the St. Paul winter carnival--the snow sculptures at the fairgrounds. They were pretty cool.
So, when we got home, I had forgotten to have Anders take his time out from the tantrum he threw before we left in the morning. He reminded me himself of his own time out. I'm not sure where we got him from.
We went to the zoo (it's free. Free outings are always good). It's been a while since we've gone and spent time looking at everything. The boys enjoyed it.
We also spent some time in the conservatory. They actually wanted to stay and see some of the plants and flowers. It was, at least, a warm place to spend some time.
On the way back, we partook briefly of the St. Paul winter carnival--the snow sculptures at the fairgrounds. They were pretty cool.
So, when we got home, I had forgotten to have Anders take his time out from the tantrum he threw before we left in the morning. He reminded me himself of his own time out. I'm not sure where we got him from.
1/26/2009
It's Time to Talk About What We Have Learned Today
Recently, Beth picked up some things that were on clearance in the toy isle in Target. Most were up for consideration for a gift exchange, but we ended up using different items. Some things got returned to Target, but we ended up keeping a few games and things because they were so cheap and the boys would utilize them. One of them was a set of books with a DVD where the DVD uses the book kind of like karaoke and puts the story to music. It works on short vowel sounds.
Long story short: All that is background for me saying that today Anders read the whole way through one of the books pretty much by himself (with some coaching, of course). I'm proud of him.
And Nils is starting to finally get his colors down. And he has recognition of a few letter and number shapes.
Beth and I are continually learning as well. I think right now it's mainly about ourselves, each other and God. I just got back from my Monday night group.One of the things I was reflecting on tonight is how my image of God keeps changing. And it should--at least if I'm investing in getting to know Him more and more. If my view of Who God is hasn't changed in a while, then I'm not growing much spiritually. That's my new revelation. It's not new, but it's something I'm recognizing to keep myself in check about. I think there's probably a lot of people out there whose view of God has changed very little over their lifetime. If that's the case we we have put God in a box. So, my God is now out of His box, and I'm seeing Him differently than I did a year ago. He's taking me out of the box I put myself in as well. I'm learning more about myself and who He made me to be.
Learning is good. Not always fun, but good. And important for becoming a fully-alive human being.
Long story short: All that is background for me saying that today Anders read the whole way through one of the books pretty much by himself (with some coaching, of course). I'm proud of him.
And Nils is starting to finally get his colors down. And he has recognition of a few letter and number shapes.
Beth and I are continually learning as well. I think right now it's mainly about ourselves, each other and God. I just got back from my Monday night group.One of the things I was reflecting on tonight is how my image of God keeps changing. And it should--at least if I'm investing in getting to know Him more and more. If my view of Who God is hasn't changed in a while, then I'm not growing much spiritually. That's my new revelation. It's not new, but it's something I'm recognizing to keep myself in check about. I think there's probably a lot of people out there whose view of God has changed very little over their lifetime. If that's the case we we have put God in a box. So, my God is now out of His box, and I'm seeing Him differently than I did a year ago. He's taking me out of the box I put myself in as well. I'm learning more about myself and who He made me to be.
Learning is good. Not always fun, but good. And important for becoming a fully-alive human being.
1/20/2009
Reflections On the 44th Presidential Inauguration
Whatever your political persuasion (or lack of, as the case may be), today was an historic moment for our nation. Our nation--for the most part--yearns for change. Many are looking for it today. We must be reminded that the presidential office has the power to influence, but it is the people of the nation who have the power to produce change.
Let me offer my reflections on today's inauguration:
The crowd erupting in applause as Obama left the church after a time of worship and prayer was fascinating. Reporters commentated on how unusual that was for the cheering to begin so soon in the day.
There was much grace between the Bushes and Obamas as they met at the White House. I was touched by Michelle giving Laura a present upon arriving there. It seemed a very touching and gracious gesture, something that parents would have taught children to do as the polite thing.
The music and poetry was wonderful. Aretha belting out: “Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where our fathers died . . .” The beautiful melody that Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill and Gabriella Montero produced. The wonderful reminder of “the gift to be simple . . . the gift to be free.”
The picture of the vast crowd gathered on the National Mall. It really was a microcosm (albeit a grand one) of America gathered together. People from all walks of life: caste, race, religion, ability, political persuasion. All stood together as Americans.
A country bowed in prayer.
A speech of honesty, warning, hope and challenge.
The reminders of the oppression that was prevelent in our nation less than a half-century ago, of how far we have come today and how we're not done yet. We are all made in God's image.
The plea, “Help us make choices on the side of love, not hate; inclusion, not exclusion, tolerance not intolerance,” in the benediction by Rev. Lowry.
As I am watching now former-president Bush board the helicopter with his wife, I marvel at the relative ease in transfer of power--and the warmth that has been shown through it. It must be a quiet, lonley ride as they leave their home of the past eight years. However you feel about the former president, we must thank him and his wife for their years of service to this country, making hard decisions for what he felt was the best interest of the nation.
May we be mindful that Rick Warren's prayer should not be the first nor the last prayer said for our nation and our new president.
Let me offer my reflections on today's inauguration:
The crowd erupting in applause as Obama left the church after a time of worship and prayer was fascinating. Reporters commentated on how unusual that was for the cheering to begin so soon in the day.
There was much grace between the Bushes and Obamas as they met at the White House. I was touched by Michelle giving Laura a present upon arriving there. It seemed a very touching and gracious gesture, something that parents would have taught children to do as the polite thing.
The music and poetry was wonderful. Aretha belting out: “Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where our fathers died . . .” The beautiful melody that Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill and Gabriella Montero produced. The wonderful reminder of “the gift to be simple . . . the gift to be free.”
The picture of the vast crowd gathered on the National Mall. It really was a microcosm (albeit a grand one) of America gathered together. People from all walks of life: caste, race, religion, ability, political persuasion. All stood together as Americans.
A country bowed in prayer.
A speech of honesty, warning, hope and challenge.
The reminders of the oppression that was prevelent in our nation less than a half-century ago, of how far we have come today and how we're not done yet. We are all made in God's image.
The plea, “Help us make choices on the side of love, not hate; inclusion, not exclusion, tolerance not intolerance,” in the benediction by Rev. Lowry.
As I am watching now former-president Bush board the helicopter with his wife, I marvel at the relative ease in transfer of power--and the warmth that has been shown through it. It must be a quiet, lonley ride as they leave their home of the past eight years. However you feel about the former president, we must thank him and his wife for their years of service to this country, making hard decisions for what he felt was the best interest of the nation.
May we be mindful that Rick Warren's prayer should not be the first nor the last prayer said for our nation and our new president.
1/19/2009
Dreams, Success & MLK
I think Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be delighted with how far our nation has come since his assassination. And, he would probably say, we've got a ways to go. But we have come far.
There was a breakfast this morning at which Pastor Efrem was at with several other leaders including keynote speaker Colin Powell. They showed part of it on PBS Kids. Colin Powell shared part of King's speech that talked about a new definition of success. He used Jesus' words that the greatest among us is the servant. That leveled the playing field for everyone. Anyone can be successful by that definition. Success no longer has various definitions: your title, how much money you make, your accolades, etc. In God's eyes, success is based solely on if you give yourself away to others. Anyone can do that; everyone should.
There was a breakfast this morning at which Pastor Efrem was at with several other leaders including keynote speaker Colin Powell. They showed part of it on PBS Kids. Colin Powell shared part of King's speech that talked about a new definition of success. He used Jesus' words that the greatest among us is the servant. That leveled the playing field for everyone. Anyone can be successful by that definition. Success no longer has various definitions: your title, how much money you make, your accolades, etc. In God's eyes, success is based solely on if you give yourself away to others. Anyone can do that; everyone should.
1/18/2009
Overheard in Church Today
Today was Hip Hop Sunday again. The first song we sang was a version of Aerosmith & Run DMC's song Walk This Way--with different lyrics, of course: "Walk His way, talk His way." It made me smile.
After doing a bit of dancing in the aisle, Nils told Beth, "I'm dancing for Jesus." Indeed he was. What more could a parent ask for.
During the sermon, Pastor Efrem shared a piece of a conversation he had been having with Neeraj Mehta, who is on staff at the church's Community Development Corporation. They had reflected on how poverty isn't about a lack of money. Poverty, at its core, is a lack of relationships. If you know people you can get a job. If you know people, you can get an education. When we were unemployed, we didn't worry too much, because we knew people and God took care of us through them. Indeed, that was one of the times in our lives when we knew how rich we truly were.
After doing a bit of dancing in the aisle, Nils told Beth, "I'm dancing for Jesus." Indeed he was. What more could a parent ask for.
During the sermon, Pastor Efrem shared a piece of a conversation he had been having with Neeraj Mehta, who is on staff at the church's Community Development Corporation. They had reflected on how poverty isn't about a lack of money. Poverty, at its core, is a lack of relationships. If you know people you can get a job. If you know people, you can get an education. When we were unemployed, we didn't worry too much, because we knew people and God took care of us through them. Indeed, that was one of the times in our lives when we knew how rich we truly were.
1/16/2009
Sub-Zero
We recently (like just a couple hours ago) got above zero (2 degrees) for the first time in over 80 hours. The past three mornings have started at or near -20 (that's Farenheit & without windchill factored in). It's cold. Very cold. The heating for our furnace can't keep up when it get's below zero outside. It's been hovering in the low 60s in our apartment. We're all in layers. Even the rocking moose.
Yesterday, the local weatherman from the station that's just a mile or so from us showed how fruit and vegetables left outside overnight can effectively pound nails into a board. We have a saying in our house: "At least we're not in International Falls" (where temperatures got to a record -46 the other day).
Yesterday, the local weatherman from the station that's just a mile or so from us showed how fruit and vegetables left outside overnight can effectively pound nails into a board. We have a saying in our house: "At least we're not in International Falls" (where temperatures got to a record -46 the other day).
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