Getting There (eventually)

Last night I headed over to the home of one of the teens in our church. All the teens were gathering there for the evening. They were allowing me to crash the party with my video camera. The purpose was to film some Super Bowl party commercial spoofs. I can't wait to see Stara Wars Episode 7.

I headed down the road from my house, lost in thought. I made the first of about three turns to get to his house. Still lost in thought, I noticed that I passed the house of another teen from our church. Still traveling and lost in thought, I began to notice that the scenery did not look like I expected it to. The landmarks were unfamiliar. I came to a stop sign as expected. But it was the wrong intersection. My first thought was, "I didn't know Buffaloe intersected Ten-Ten!" That's when I realized that Buffaloe doesn't do any such thing. While lost in thought, I turned one road too soon. I eventually got to my destination, just not as quickly or directly as I would have liked.

In our faith journeys, we sometimes don't get to where we want to be in the way we planned. There's a negative and a positive side to that. From the positive standpoint, the little detours and unexpected surprises bring a depth of insight or an a-ha that we would not have encountered otherwise. Sort of like getting off the main trail and discovering that hidden waterfall.

Negatively, we can take a detour that never leads us to where we want to be. Remember the family on the west coast that got lost on a logging road and stuck in a snowstorm? The wife and two small children survived in the car. The husband unfortunately did not survive his attempt to go find help. Sometimes we make decisions that either take us out of the journey completely or at least so far in the other direction that it feels like we are out of it completely.

Sometimes those decisions are deliberate. We know the potential outcome, but something inside of us desires what is on the wrong road so much that we are willing to risk it. Sometimes it happens by accident, sort of like driving down the road lost in thought. Whenever and however it happens, there are always signs to warn us to turn back. The author and director of our faith journey has mapped it out pretty well and he wants to keep us on the right road. Those warning signals will be obvious. There will always be a chance to turn around.

While your are journeying, be sure to read all the road signs. Just a thought.

Marlboro Man II

I finally bought a backpack. I decided to go to the Army surplus store and buy a used ALICE pack. It has a huge amount a space (enugh room to stow a Bradley tank) and was very inexpensive when compared to all the other new packs I have looked at. Plus, I figured if the military issues these, then they must be of some value.

As a side note, I was struck with some very somber thoughts while searching through the used bin. Many of the packs had small holes that had been patched. You couldn't help but wonder how many of the holes were created by schrapnel or bullets.

Back to the pack. For all the gains that results from buying a large inexpensive pack that is also durable, there are some cons to the purchase. It's not as comfortable as I would like. Keep in mind that I have spent the last few weeks trying on backpacks at various sporting good and outdoor stores. Some of the major selling points of these packs are the comfort features. When you are carrying anywhere from 20 to 35 pounds of gear on your back for possibly 20 or more miles a day, you appreciate the features of padding in the straps and other places in the pack. The military pack that I purchased has minimum padding. And the frame for the pack is one of those "one-size-fits-all" which means "all" but guys like me with a disproportinately long torso.

Yet I purchased it anyway. Here's why. If I'm going to be the Marlboro Man, won't I have to toughen up anyway? And if it is good enough for the men and women who put their lives on the line everyday for my freedom, can't I do them the honor of sharing in their discomfort a little? My "new" used military issue large ALICE pack awaits for my first Marlboro weekend in a few weeks.

Have you ever thought that a faith journey required a little discomfort or suffering along the way? Maybe you haven't, but have you met someone who did? Some folks take it to the extreme. History is full of stories of people who denied themselves everything but basic food (hard bread!), water, and very itchy clothes in their quest for holiness along the route of their faith journeys. Many of them lived in caves and probably went a little crazy due to lack of social contact. Just think Tom Hanks and Wilson the Volleyball.

Others have still denied themselves many of the things we think necessary for normal life, at least here in the US. For them, it is not as much about suffering as it is about avoiding "contamination" (think allergens).

Ask many people what it means to be on a Christian faith journey and they will immediately give you the list of things you can't do. It's almost like a list of the discomforts that must be endured. If I want to be a good Christian, I can't get too happy or comfortable. And for many people, that's why they never consider a faith journey. It's like saying I can't be the Marlboro Man unless I suffer a whole lot.

There are positive and appropriate ways to experience discomfort on your faith journey that actually benefit you. In the two months leading up to Easter, Christians all over the world will enter a period of preparation where many of them will deny themselves something as a means of growing closer to God. It is a type of spiritual discipline. They may fast regularly during that period or refrain from various other activities. The purpose will be to use those times to reflect more on their faith, God, and their journey in general. It's a good practice and people historically have testfied to its effectiveness.

As you go along on your faith journey, there are going to be all sorts of time of discomfort - physical, emotional, and even social. They are part of the process and they do have benefit. Just don't fall into the trap of buying a pack that is intentionally too small, has too little padding, and will never work anyway just to prove your point.

Now, how can I add some extra padding to this frame?

Allergies

We learned something about our youngest child yesterday. He was running around like a normal kid, into trouble, being too loud for indoors, saying he was hungry - you know, all the typical six year old stuff. During lunch, he ate a decent helping of all the foods he liked. He took two small bites of a muffin, then stopped because he didn't like it. Within a minutes, he began complaining about his stomach hurting. He was tired and wanted to go home. His eyes began to look puffy. Our oldest son had a flu-like virus recently that came on just as quickly, so we assumed it was something similar. Within twenty minutes, he had hurled twice. We quickly got him home, where he slept for over two hours.

After his nap, he looked like nothing had happened. You would have never known he was the same kid who was so sick just hours earlier. We began to think, "Hmmm.... I wonder if he was allergic to something in that muffin?" He even said when he first started feeling bad that he thought he was allergic to it. We called the person who made the muffins to find out what was in them and see if there was anything "new" in them. We discovered the muffins contained finely chopped walnuts.

We don't know of any real allergies our son has. We know that when he was young, he reacted adversely to peanut butter, so he hasn't had any of that since. By his choice, he avoids all nuts because in his words, "They are yucky." For obvious reasons, we are now seriously contemplating having him officially diagnosed.

If you know anything about nut allergies, you know just how life-threatening they can be. Entire school districts have banned nuts in any form from their schools. In some places, kids cannot bring the good old standby of a PB&J for their own personal consumption.

If we were only so wise on our faith journeys. Sometimes there are things along the way that spell certain death for us, at least a spiritual death. They need to be avoided like the world's worst nut allergy. Many times it is much more subtle. They allergen to your faith may not be something you immediately recognize, but it is close enough that maybe you should avoid it all together. My son's peanut butter reaction five years ago leads us to believe walnuts are also a no-no.

The trick becomes how to recognize those allergens that bear a family resemblance. Nuts are easy. What about allergens to our faith? No one would argue that pornography is definitely bad for your faith. What appears up for debate though is what other types of movies fall into that category. Will Saw III lead to some type of allergic reaction, just not in the same way? Or even harder to discern, what about Arthur and the Invisibles or perhaps Desperate Housewives? (PERSONAL NOTE: I am not lobbying one way or the other for any of these titles, but would be glad to if asked)

Allergens pop up everywhere - not just the usual suspects like movies, tv, and music. What we do with our leisure time or how we spend our money can bring allergic moments. Avoidance is the best policy. Of course, there is a prescription strength antihistamine that is available over the counter. If a faith journey is your desire, put your faith in the power to keep you on the journey. That power only comes from God himself.

Just a thought . . .

Becoming the Marlboro Man

This is the year I become a real man. Or at least start the process. By "real man" I mean that I become the great outdoorsman. I will be the Marlboro Man (without the cigarette of course!). I will be able to head out into the woods for an indefinite period of time and survive because of my great hunting and wilderness skills. It's a goal that deep down, every man strives for. We all want to be the Marlboro Man.

Because I have lived the easy life for so long where the only hunting I've had to do for my food is to figure out which aisle it's on, my goal is probably quite a ways off. I figured I'd start by equipping myself with everything I'll need. I'm going to start by learning some camping skills. My boys are in Cub Scouts now, so I have to stay ahead of the curve. If you had looked at the presents under our tree this past Christmas, you would have noticed two distinct themes - laser stuff of one sort or another and camping stuff.

I've almost got all the important big equipment I need. The missing piece is something to put it all in. How will I haul it around? As I am wandering through the wilderness, how will I get all of my man-gear where I need it to be? The answer is a backpack. I've been shopping for backpacks. I never realized that buying a backpack could be so complicated. There are all types and styles of backpacks. The biggest hurdle for me is my torso. Eighty percent of my height is in my torso. Of my 6'2" of height, approximately 5 feet is my torso. Yes, I'm really ill-proportioned. And in my shopping, I've discovered that finding a pack for a circus freak like myself is really difficult. At least to stay within my limited budget it is.

So what do you? First I had to purge myself of the dream of looking like the Marlboro Man, trudging up the mountain in that really cool looking pack with all the gear strapped on the outside to see, setting up his really cool looking campsite that looks like it came straight out of scene from Rawhide. As I've done some research, I've discovered that you really don't need a backpack that will hold 300 cubic feet of storage. A lot of the little gadgets that are designed for camping, etc. are really just extra weight you have to haul around and then later wish you did not bring along. The budget thing is still an obstacle though. It's amazing what a backpack costs. And if I admit it to myself, how uncomfortable am I really willing to be? I keep asking myself, "What would the Marlboro Man take along?"

This journey to become more like the Marlboro Man can be compared to our faith journeys to become more like Christ. There are so many questions. How do we get started? Where can we get our answers? Is the goal too high and lofty, more of an ideal than something we will ever really achieve? Will I find that this journey really doesn't fit me, at least the way it seems to fit everyone else? What things do I really need to get me along on this journey to Christlikeness? Is the cost too great to pursue? How uncomfortable am I willing to become on my journey?

These questions need and deserve answers. Maybe in the next few weeks we can answer some of them together. I'd like to know what you think. I'd like to know what questions you think need to be answered. Let me know. Until then, I need to go buy some more flannel shirts.

Just a thought.

To Do lists

Today is officially my first day back in the office since the holidays. No, I did not go on vacation last week. I was out of town on a business trip. So, as I sit, here looking at everything to do around me, the "to do" list is getting pretty long. To top it all off, I received an email from a friend this morning telling me that today is National Clean Out Your Desk Day. I wonder if she is trying to tell me something? And that was after my wife asked me if she could start a new honey-do list for me.

When I examine my own list of things to do, I am amazed at how many of them are piddly little maintenance tasks. Yet, if I don't do them, a lot of important work isn't going to get done. I need to order toner for the copier. I need to order a new bulb for our LCD projector. I need to order some materials for several of our small groups. And yes, it's time for that bi-weekly desk and office clean up so I can find what I need when I need it.

At some point today I need to prepare for a board meeting. At some point today, I need to study and prepare a sermon, a Sunday School lesson, as well as do my own personal study PLUS prepare for a small group. Then there is the important need to sit and plan the schedule of all these areas for the next few months. Oh yeah, did I mention coordinate the Super Bowl party? Then there are the several meetings or visits that are scheduled for this week.

Lest you think I'm complaining, I'm not! I know that everyone experiences just as hectic a lifestyle. Nor is this a post about the tyranny of the urgent, time management, giving priority to what is important in your life, etc. This is actually a post about how important it is to have toner in the copier, a bulb that works in your projector, a clean desk and office, and a bunch of other things that don't seem to add value to our lives but are yet "necessary evils" to be dealt with.

Life for most people is pretty ordinary. Contrary to Andy Warhol, I don't think everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. Most of us go about our regular lives, dealing with toner, bulbs, and general straightening tasks. These aren't the things that get us excited. They don't fuel our passions. We don't come home in the evening excited about that new package that arrived from the copier supplier. Yet without any of these, we would not be able to do the really cool things.

A lot of times we want our faith journeys to only be about the really fun things. We want our journeys to be filled with excitement and passion. Despite the appeal of these times, we have to do some of the piddly things for our faith journeys too. Praying when we feel like we have nothing to say to God. Reading and studying that passage in the Bible we've read a gazillion times already. Showing up at the local rescue mission or food bank to sort donated items. Waking up and accepting that nothing miraculous on the calendar for the day and our only task is to walk forward in the journey.

The good news is the toner has already been ordered. Now if I can only find a supplier for that bulb.

The Year of . . .

I hereby declare 2006 the year of change. I know, I'm about 365 days behind. But it is so much easier to look back and see what happened instead of trying to guess at what might happen in the future.

Looking back on 2006, our family went through several changes, most of them related to one particular circumstance. We moved to a new city, a new house, a new church, and a new job. The kids even got two new schools - we decided to homeschool right before Christmas. We initiated other changes that will hopefully make our family life together much more fun, loving, enjoyable, and even productive.

All of us changed in some way. The boys lost some teeth and got new ones. They're a little bit taller, a little bit more mature, and a lot smarter. I'm a little bit heavier, despite my goal to run a marathon. I'm hopefully a little bit wiser. I even love life a little more.

The old cliche says that the only thing that is constant is change. Every year is the year of change. Not all changes are welcome ones, but everyone changes in some way every year. Those people who do not change are usually the least alive. They are usually the least amount of fun to be around. The ones who absolutely refuse to allow room for any change are even less fun. And I think it's because their spirit is slowly dying.

My faith journey changed. I still serve the same God. I still have the same type of commitment to spiritual living. I'm still heading in the same direction. Everything is the same, but I'm closer to my final desitination. Even though I may not feel any different, I'd bet I'm somehow stronger spiritually. Change will do that for you.

Change can send you the other way. Change can cause you to change direction in your faith journey. You will be closer to the end of your time, but you may actually father away from your desired end. Some event can happen to cause you to abandon your faith journey. Those aren't good changes.

So what'll you do? If change is indeed inevitable, let's be prepared for it and make it good changes. Instead of complaining about the lemons, make lemonade. It's your choice. You know, I think I'll choose to make 2007 the year of change also. I can't lose - it's a sure bet. Just a Thought.