Three Reminders for Those of Us Who Need it Tonight

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When I was a senior at Union University, my roommates and I used to go dumpster diving. At least I remember the one time. I came away with a worn out baseball glove and a television. I kid you not. I got a television from the dumpster.

When I ceremoniously placed it in my dorm room and plugged it in, lo and behold it worked. It even had a button on it that would turn the images on the screen green. I still don’t know what the purpose of that was.

That rescued television served me well all the rest of my senior year of college. In fact, it worked all the way up until the day I brought it home. Then it became a very heavy and super bulky paper weight.

I sometimes wonder how God puts people and places and things into our lives for a season. Sure, some friends are for life, but those are rare and precious. Most of the people in my life have come for a week, a month, maybe a year or two. I’ve learned not so much to be sorrowful when they’re gone but to celebrate the lessons they taught me.

I was reminded of three things tonight. 1) Jesus is for me, 2) Jesus is with me, and 3) Jesus is in me.

My pastor tonight said that Jesus was the best evidence that God isn’t pursuing you and me because he’s angry, but because He’s desperate for us to save us from our sins and ourselves. I agree with that. Jesus Himself said He came not to condemn the world, but that it might be saved through Him.

I know Jesus is with me. He promised He’d never leave me, abandon me, or forsake me. That’s a promise I’ve found to be true, whether I could feel it or not.

I know Jesus is in me. Sometimes, I find myself saying and doing things that I know could never come from me. At least based on what I’ve said and done the other 98% of the time. I know that’s not me speaking and acting, but Jesus in me.

So remember tonight that Jesus is for you, with you, and in you.

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The X-Files and Politics (Another Rare Soapbox Blog)

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The longer I live, the more I think that The X-Files got it right. I do believe that there is a shadow government that’s really running the show while the used-car salesman/carnival barkers/limelight politicians are a diversionary tactic to keep the public from paying attention to the REAL deals going down.

Sometimes, it seems like a vastly elaborate magic trick, where the misdirection involves Republicans yelling at Democrats (or visa versa) while the other hand sneaks the hidden eight of clubs from inside the shirt sleeve. I wonder if those same politicians meet up at a bar and laugh into their beers about how most of their audiences really bought their schmaltz.

I guess that makes me a conspiratorist. Or a conspiracy-buff. Whatever.

I do think it’s interesting how the majority of people who profess their tolerance loudest of all are the quickest to vilify, libel, and slander anyone who offers a differing viewpoint or worldview, i.e. anyone who disagrees with me is automatically a racist, an elitist, a traitor, a homophobe, a misogynist, a hate-monger, and an inbred redneck (or a drugged-out hippie). It’s interesting to me that for most, if someone has a different political philosophy, then that person must be either an imbecile or evil incarnate, or some combination of the two.

I wonder sometimes if we actually stopped haranguing and started actually dialoguing (with actual listening involved), we might find that we’re not so far apart after all. Maybe we’d find the other side actually makes sense.

I personally have chosen not to pledge my ultimate allegiance to a President and a country, but to a King and a Kingdom (with thanks to Derek Webb for the imagery). I know that 1,000 years from now, after so many campaigns and elections, no one will remember who was the 49th President, but Jesus will still be king.

That’s where my hope lies.

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More Bob Dylan on the Brain

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“Oh, the tree of life is growing
Where the spirit never dies
And the bright light of salvation shines
In dark and empty skies

When the cities are on fire
With the burning flesh of men
Just remember that death is not the end
And you search in vain to find
Just one law-abiding citizen
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end” (Bob Dylan)

I’m still on my Bob Dylan kick. By now, I’ve listened to all my Dylan CDs up to Oh Mercy, the Daniel Lanois-produced 1989 album that marked a sort of artistic comeback for him in the eyes of many.

I also know most people consider this a low point in Dylan’s career. If you go to amazon.com or any other music site, you’ll find that most people revile such albums of his as Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, and Down in the Groove.

I don’t think they’re bad albums. I have to admit the songs aren’t quite up to the standards of his amazing output in the 60’s, but I think that if these albums had anybody else’s name on them, they might be looked at differently. I also think that part of the problem is that the CDs are poorly mixed (in this writer’s opinion) and Bob’s vocals get buried in the accompaniments sometimes. I definitely think remastering these albums would help immensely.

But I also think that many of these songs, although they are good, aren’t just that memorable. They don’t linger in my mind like “Blowin’ in the Wind” or “My Back Pages” do.

I’d say that there is still a fair amount of spirituality in these albums. It’s not so overtly stated as in his Christian albums, but it’s there for those who know what to listen for.

Oh Mercy is probably my favorite album he did in the 80’s, largely in part to one Mr. Lanois who knew what he was doing when he produced this album.

I still have eight albums to go. I also must confess that I don’t own every single album of his (gasp!) I’m actually missing albums entitled Self-Portrait, Dylan (not the one with the red cover), one or two live albums, and the newest release– Strangers in the Night, an album of standards made famous by Frank Sinatra and others.

More to come later. Stay tuned.

 

 

Gentleness

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I think once again that Henri Nouwen says it best:

“Once in a while we meet a gentle person. Gentleness is a virtue hard to find in a society that admires toughness and roughness. We are encouraged to get things done and to get them done fast, even when people get hurt in the process. Success, accomplishment, and productivity count. But the cost is high. There is no place for gentleness in such a milieu.

Gentle is the one who does ‘not break the crushed reed, or snuff the faltering wick’ (Matthew 12:20). Gentle is the one who is attentive to the strengths and weaknesses of the other and enjoys being together more than accomplishing something. A gentle person treads lightly, listens carefully, looks tenderly, and touches with reverence. A gentle person knows that true growth requires nurture, not force. Let’s dress ourselves with gentleness. In our tough and often unbending world our gentleness can be a vivid reminder of the presence of God among us” (Henri J. M. Nouwen).

Gentleness is NOT weakness, as most people out there will tell you. Gentleness is power not to destroy but to build up and to heal. It may not be the most popular way, but it is and will always be the best way.

I choose to be gentle.

My Friday

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I had a rather uneventful Friday. I spent most of it hanging out with three very gentle and sweet dogs that I’m currently house-sitting for. Two of them were scared of me when I first took care of them a couple of years ago, but both of them have warmed up to me since. I’m their Uncle Greg now.

Some animals (and people) just need a little more TLC before they come around. Sometimes all you need is patience and kindness to win them over. It doesn’t always work 100% of the time, but when it does work, it does sure feel good.

I did manage to make a rare trek to McKay’s Used Bookstore, my personal nirvana. I traded in some movies and got in return 1) Captain America: The First Avenger on blu ray, 2) The Walking Dead on blu ray, and 3) Bob Dylan’s Tempest, his 2012 album. I call that a win. And I have $4.04 left in store credit.

I ended up my night by watching an old BBC production of a Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery, entitled Strong Poison and based off the novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. It wasn’t as thrilling as your Friday night probably was, but it worked for me.

It was a good day. My old pastor’s favorite verse was “This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” That’s good enough reason for me.

I’m Still Here

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Some days your best accomplishment is that you survived. You made it 24 hours.

It may not sound like much. It may not have been what you set out to do when the alarm went off at 6:25 am.

But you know what? It’s an accomplishment. Go ahead. Give yourself a pat on the back.

I look at it this way. Being alive means that God still has plans for you. He has a reason for you being here.

So celebrate that in whatever manner you choose, whether that’s a big bowl of ice cream, a large plate of chocolate cookies fresh out of the oven, a binge-marathon of your favorite TV show, or maybe something healthy like a jog or some quality time on the treadmill.

And maybe thank God while you’re at it.

A Hump Day Psalm

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“Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,
    and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:
Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;
    give glory, you sons of Jacob;
    adore him, you daughters of Israel.
He has never let you down,
    never looked the other way
    when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
    he has been right there, listening.

Here in this great gathering for worship
    I have discovered this praise-life.
And I’ll do what I promised right here
    in front of the God-worshipers.
Down-and-outers sit at God’s table
    and eat their fill.
Everyone on the hunt for God
    is here, praising him.
“Live it up, from head to toe.
    Don’t ever quit!”

From the four corners of the earth
    people are coming to their senses,
    are running back to God.
Long-lost families
    are falling on their faces before him.
God has taken charge;
    from now on he has the last word.

All the power-mongers are before him
    —worshiping!
All the poor and powerless, too
    —worshiping!
Along with those who never got it together
    —worshiping!

Our children and their children
    will get in on this
As the word is passed along
    from parent to child.
Babies not yet conceived
    will hear the good news—
    that God does what he says” (Psalm 22)

I posted this Psalm (translated by Mr. Eugene Peterson in The Message) on my Facebook about a year ago. It still speaks to me so I thought I’d post it again here. I don’t really need to add any commentary to it; it speaks for itself, or rather God still speaks through it.

On a side note, I wonder if the good folks also known as All Sons and Daughters got the idea for their song All the Poor and Powerless from this particular translation of Psalm 22. Just wondering.

Bob Dylan on the Brain

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I’ve been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan lately. As a sort of challenge to myself, I decided to listen to his albums in order starting from his eponymous debut in 1962. Currently, I’ve got his 1980 album Saved playing in my car.

It’s interesting to see how he evolved from a traditional folk singer into something much harder to define. He had his folk-rock era, his country era, his singer-songwriter era, and his gospel era. That’s as far as I’ve gotten. And I’m fairly certain at this point he’d rather not be pigeon-holed into any kind of genre or musical style.

I do like his Christian albums. Both the ones I listened to were recorded and produced in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which has a very rich musical history. I recommend the documentary about that town and its music.

I’m not going to speculate about whether those albums were a phase or he had a genuine conversion experience. Only he and God know that. I will go on record (pun intended) to say that he made some really great music during that time, in my humble opinion.

My Bob Dylan pilgrimage will end with the latest album of his that I own, his 2009 record, Together Through Life. I don’t have the last two he recorded.

What’s the point of all this? That I like Bob Dylan? That I’m a big musical nerd? That I have too much free time on my hands? Yes, yes, and yes.

 

 

 

Still Waiting

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I suppose that of all the disciplines, learning to wait is the hardest. At least that has been my experience.

At some point, I got the notion that waiting meant trusting God and binge-watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. But that’s not waiting. Nor is it sitting with folded hands in your lap and your eyes fixated on the gliding hands of the clock.

Waiting in the biblical sense is more than waiting. It’s more than sitting in one spot fixed expectantly toward the arrival of what you’re waiting for. It’s allowing God to form and mold you into the person who will be ready to receive that future gift.

It involves the discipline of persevering in hope, of training your mind to weed out any distractions to that one dream God has placed in your heart. Waiting means that you take the next of those 10,000 steps toward spiritual maturity and remain obedient in the details.

Yeah, I don’t really know how to wait well. Even after all these years and all the practice I’ve had. But maybe waiting well means simply not giving up. Maybe it’s feeling that you can’t hope any more and finding you can last through the next 24 hours.

Waiting is simple yet hard.

Two Words

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“Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name” (Matt Redman)

Two words: give thanks.

Give thanks even when you don’t feel like it. Give thanks as a defiant cry against desperate circumstances, in spite of the odds and the naysayers and the dark clouds on your horizon.

Give thanks like empty-handed Job, who in the face of his own wife telling him to curse God and die, with painful boils all over his body, made the declaration: The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Give thanks when the checks bounce, when the bills are past due, when the rent money is AWOL, when it would be so much easier to throw in the proverbial towel and just give up.

Give thanks when there are no job prospects in sight and when you feel defeated and your life seems to have hit a dead-end. Give thanks even when your dreams and hopes are on life-support.

Give thanks if for no other reason that God is worthy of it. Period. Even if those fig trees are barren and the grapevines have no grapes and the olive trees yield no olives. Give thanks because God is always good and you are always loved.

Just give thanks.