What I Learned on Summer Vacation...part 3

Final lesson (not the last thing I learned, but the last thing I will share), but very important. We were having dinner with friends in Oregon one evening. There were six adults at the table, one being the 90 year-old father of our hosts. My six year-old son was also with us. As often happens in such situations (and I am not proud of this), the oldest and the youngest at the table were somewhat excluded from the conversation. After a few minutes, I noticed my son, who was sitting next to me at the table, making faces at Dick, the 90 year-old man sitting across the table. Before I could say anything, Corran was lifting up his shirt (at the table! Scandolous!), and rubbing his belly while laughing at Dick. I was about to yell at him, but I looked across the table and saw Dick doing the same thing. Since they were being ignored, they had been conversing for about five minutes by making faces and gestures at one another. Dick is one of my son's fondest memories of that vacation. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." I think that we often romanticize (or simply forget) how radical this statement is. My son's friend has not forgotten. He reached out in the most childlike way possible to Corran when all of the mature, important adults, were ignoring him. Dick possessed the grace of childlike love, and he shared it unselfishly. Because he did, my son (indeed, my whole family) was blessed.

What I Learned on Summer Vacation...part 2

This lesson is a simple one. But, it is one that I forget all the time. We covered a lot of miles in the RV this summer. Some days the journey was long, and others it was just an hour or two. On the long days, my wife would say something like, "let's stop at the 'Olive Pit,' and sample some olives." My son chimed in, "yeah dad, let's stop. I want some topenade." (I know, it's crazy - he's seven. I didn't even know what topenade was until that day). Everybody wants to stop, so we stop. All I can think about is getting on the road while everyone else is having a great time. Maybe it is because I am not a big fan of the olive to begin with, or maybe it is because my family understands the eternal truth about traveling, it is about the journey, not just the destination. I think we Christians sometimes get obsessed with the destination (heaven, social justice...fill in the blank), so much so that we forget the journey. But, when I read the gospels, I see Jesus as a "journey" kind of guy. The kingdom of God is very much a work in progress - a work, by the way, that we cannot determine, but we can work for. So, remember, on your path to the destination which God has prepared for you, enjoy the journey, because that is the real gift.

What I Learned on Summer Vacation...part 1

My family and I just returned from a two-week RV trip up to Washington State and back (with a lot of meandering in between). It was a very restful and relaxing time. But, it was not dull. Despite myself, I learned a lot on summer vacation (in some cases, I simply relearned things that I had learn before, but subsequently forgot - I am sure I will forget them again and relearn them again in the future, but I digress). One of my first lessons involved faith. There is an element to letting go about faith, releasing control, that we don't talk about much. We misunderstand faith to mean that we adhere to certain dogmas and feel free to tell everyone else how wrong they are. But, true faith isn't like that. It involves, to borrow terminology from the recovery movement, "letting go and letting God." What that means is that faith is as much about what we give up as it is about what we gain. Case in point, on Lake Tapps, outside Seattle, I had been having a difficult time water skiing. I had not been on skis in close to 20 years, but still thought I was the king of the lake (I often mistake myself for the king of stuff). Each time I tried to ski, I could not get the skis up. The sad part is that I knew what I was doing wrong, but I refused to correct it. I kept trying to pull myself out of the water rather than letting the boat do the work. Finally, after several failed attempts, with fatigue and frustration setting in, I remembered some sage advice from when I was learning to water ski, "just sit back on the skis, and the let the boat do the work." In other words, let go of control, and let something more powerful than you take over. That sounds a lot like faith, doesn't it? How did it all work out? Check it out...

Bliss

This is my boy, teaching me a thing or two about life. I call this picture "bliss." This is what life should be like all the time. I am just sayin'.

Calgon, Take Me Away

Back in the day, there was a TV commercial for Calgon soap that featured a frenzied woman who was stressed by all of the demands of her life. In a moment of desperation, she screams, "Calgon, take me away." After a soothing bath with Calgon, her life is tranquil and serene. Oh, would that it were that easy. I was listening to ESPN this week and I realized something. About 90% of the information that we are exposed to is meaningless drivel. No offense to the gang at ESPN, but they can talk on and on about a whole lot of nothing. They will dissect a single event for an entire news cycle. I realized that ESPN is not the only offender in this regard. Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and to the proliferation of news media, we have become a society of windbags (and yes, I am fully aware of the irony of a person that communicates for a living criticizing others for being windbags - did I say irony, maybe I meant hypocrasy. Six of one, half a dozen of the other). There is so much noise, so much meaningless chatter, that sometimes I just want to scream, "Calgon, take me away." My hope, my prayer, is that with all of this time and all of this opportunity, someone would choose to spend some quality time delving deeply into the news of the day. Again, by news, I do mean something dealing with the fact that 27 million people remain enslaved around our world (just, as an example). I do not mean wall-to-wall, hour-to-hour, detail-by-detail coverage of Michael Jackson. I know, I am a hopeless idealist. But, a guy can dream, can't he? Until that great and glorious day, "Calgon, take me away." Can I get an amen?

Simple Church

I just finished reading a life-changing and church-changing book. It is called The Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. This is a great book. After reading the book, I went to a Council of Ministries meeting and presented everyone with just a portion of the volumes of strategic gibber-gabber that we have produced over the past four years. Then, we had everyone throw the paper into a pile (I recycled), and decided on a simple mission/process - connecting, growing, serving. I am very excited about simplifying the ministry at LOTC and am hopeful about our future as a force of transformation in the community. Get this book!