Get a Job!

My family had an interesting and eye-opening experience this week...we were homeless. O.k., not literally, but sort of. This week, there was some painting going on in our home, painting that required extensive taping. Wednesday night, we came home and found everything taped off and the pungent aroma of turpentine hung in the air. We were not going to be able to stay at our house. So, we packed up a few essentials and drove around. We tried about 7 hotels before we found one with a vacancy. Then, on Thursday, the situation was even worse. I was out doing laundry and my wife was out with some friends celebrating her birthday (I think she is 29 again, but I keep forgetting to ask). We finally realized at about 9:00 p.m. that we would not be able to stay at the house again. This time, we made some phone calls and went on line and found a hotel. It was a lot of work. It occurred to me as we have been going through this adventure that it takes a lot of work to simply take care of essentials when you don't have a home with a washer and dryer. How often do we drive passed a homeless person and mutter under our breath, "get a job." Or how often do we think, if you only applied yourself, you could get out of this mess. The truth is, when you are homeless, survival is a more than full time job. Finding access to and utilizing resources for food, cleaning, etc. takes a lot of work for people that actually have the resources to pay for it. Imagine what it would be like for someone without the resources. The point is this - it is not enough to simply say "get a job" and dismiss homeless people as shiftless and lazy. After experiencing a small fraction of the work involved in personal survival (never mind that we stayed in hotels in safe areas), I realize that surviving with very little is a more than full-time job. I wonder how many of us could even do it. I hope I remember that lesson when I pull up to a freeway off ramp and see someone with a cardboard sign. At a minimum, I hope I will have the decency not to say something flip like "get a job."

Are We Yet Alive?

 "And are we yet alive" is the opening line to Charles Wesley's great hymn of the same name. We sang this hymn at the clergy session of annual conference on Thursday. It was fitting as the theme of our gathering was clergy wellness. And are we yet alive? That is the question facing the whole church. And the answer is often times more complex than we might think. If I asked a TV evangelist, they might answer the question by referring to how donations are up or down in order to discern their state of aliveness. If I asked some of the preacher/pundits out there that blend the gospel with a specifically political agenda (something, by the way, that I do not see in the gospels), they might refer to how many people showed up at their last rally to indicate their level of aliveness. If I asked the folks from annual conference, they might say that our ability (or lack thereof) to pay our apportionments is an indicator of out aliveness. But, I disagree with all of those assessments. Those things do indicate something, some level of success. But, it is a success that is based on a purely human and (sometimes) arbitrary standard. I think that Wesley's hymn poses the important question, but it also provides a good part of the answer. Follow this link, if you would like to check out the lyrics. But, I think the heart of the answer to the question "and are we yet alive" comes in the last verse. "Let us take up the cross, till we the crown obtain, and gladly reckon all things loss so we may Jesus gain."

Balance

Balance. That ever-elusive, indescribable, yet highly-sought goal of modern life. Balance. I don't know how to define it, but I know it when I experience it. Balance. It sometimes seems so close, and yet just out of our grasp. I am at the California-Pacific Annual Conference in Redlands, California. Today, the clergy gathered for worship and fellowship. One of the speakers spoke of balance. His words were meaningful. He described the three major relationships of his life - God, wife and family, and the church. He talked about how maintaining a healthy balance in all three relationships feels like a juggling act. Have you ever felt that way. I know that I have. The problem is, the speaker shared, that we can only handle two of the three balls at once. One ball must always be up in the air. That means that God must be with us to help us maintain balance. This realization allows us to proclaim that our lives are "suspended" by God's grace. Amen.

On a Mission From God

At Light of the Canyon, we are coming to the end of our sermon series and small group study "Making Disciples for the Transformation of the World." Being a typical preacher, there is still so much that I feel that I want to say about this subject (we never get tired of the sound of our own voices). Suffice it to say that this is the central task to which the church is called. If we are not making and equipping disciples, than there is no transformation of the world. Yesterday, we talked about personal evangelistic styles. Everyone has their own style. Some people are direct. Some are more intellectual. Some are service-oriented. The important thing to remember is that there is no one biblical style. Throughout the bible, God uses all kinds of witnesses. So, our primary question is not, "am I equipped to share the good news?" It is, "how an I equipped?"Because, we are the church. And we're on a mission from God.

Special Olympics

My son and I with several people from our church attended the Special Olympics at Cal State Long Beach this past Saturday. This is our fifth time at the Games. Each time, we have worked at a different venue. This year, we were "cheerleaders" at the gymnastics venue. You want to talk about a day well spent - that was it. I don't want to get all romantic about how everyone was happy and loving (although there were excessive amounts of love and joy around). I don't want to romanticize people with developmental disabilities or physical handicaps - their lives are too challenging to be romanticized. I just want to say what an inspirational day it was and that I truly think the volunteers get as much, if not more, out of the games than the athletes. I think the Special Olympic athlete's oath sums up what the day is about. "Let me win; but, if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." Amen.

God Bless John Wooden

John Wooden, the legendary basketball player (Purdue University) and coach at UCLA, died last Friday at age of 99 years old. The testimonials started almost immediately. I will not take up any time adding to the praise of this great man, except to share a couple of quotes. I think that they represent Wooden's philosophy on life well, and are simply good things to know. First, when speaking on learning the fundamentals of basketball, Wooden said, "We're an easy team to scout, but a hard team to stop." Considering Wooden's UCLA Bruins won 10 NCAA Championships during his career, I would say he was right. What Coach is saying is that you don't have to be good at a lot of stuff to be a success. You simply have to be disciplined and focus at the things you are good at. The second quote is more apropos now than when Coach first said it. "Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful." God bless you, Coach Wooden. Thank you for not hiding your light under a bushel.

On the Border

Last weekend, I went to Mexicali to celebrate the work of the Steven O. Parish Community Center, a project that Light of the Canyon has been instrumental in making happen. I was sitting in my car waiting to cross back into the USA when I noticed a young man (in his 20's) standing at the metal fence/wall/barrier that divides Mexicali, Mexico from Calexico, California (it took me about two years to understand the city names). On the other side of the wall, poking her fingers through to touch the man's fingers, was a little girl, about my son's age. Standing next to the girl was a woman in her 20's. About three feet from the girl and the woman was a Border Patrol car. I don't know these people, and I don't know their story. But, it did not take a huge leap of the imagination based on how they were interacting to guess that these people were a family. Dad was in Mexico, mom and daughter were in California. And the only physical contact they could manage was touching fingertips. I don't care who you are or what your political predilections; that is a moving thing to witness. I was haunted by that image for the entire drive home, and have been since. I am not trying to make a political point here, as much as I am keeping a promise to myself. I told myself that I would share that family's story. They will obviously never know how they affected me. They may not even be a family. But, the desire and ability for people to love and make contact with other people is something that followers of Jesus Christ should celebrate and support however and wherever it happens.

I Love Baseball

This story is to good to pass up, especially because it involves my beloved Detroit Tigers. On Wednesday night, young Detroit pitcher Armando Gallaraga threw a perfect game for 8 2/3 innings. He was one out away from making baseball history. On what should have been the last out, umpire Jim Joyce blew an easy call, saying that a runner was safe at first instead of out. Check out the play here. After seeing the video after the game, Joyce acknowledged his mistake and, to his credit, personally apologized to Gallaraga and Detroit coach Jim Leyland. But, this is where the story gets good. The following day, Joyce was scheduled to umpire behind the plate. When he entered the field, there was polite applause from the Tiger fans (perhaps an example for Boston Celtic fans - I'm just sayin'), and then Armando Gallaraga brought the line-up card to the umpire, shaking Joyce's hand. Jim Joyce was fighting back tears the entire time. This is a sermon waiting to happen. The acceptance and forgiveness that were extended to Jim Joyce embody on a smaller scale the grace that Jesus Christ extends to us. And this is why I love baseball. Because even in this day and age of trash-talking, multi-million dollar cry baby athletes, there is still a possibility that someone, somewhere, will do the right thing (take a lesson Bud Selig). And when that happens, we are all elevated as human beings. How can you do the right thing for someone today?

"Bringing the Hammer Down"

Yesterday began what I am sure will be an expedient, painless, and relatively inexpensive experience. That's right, after much talk, we are remodeling the kitchen in our home. My son got to use the demo guy's mallet to take a couple of swings at the kitchen table to start things off. He really seemed to enjoy it (perhaps a bit too much). Our house is the one that my wife grew up in. At one point, we looked on the kitchen wall and identified five different wallpaper patterns (see photo) all corresponding to different decorating schemes that Cindy's mom had over the years. It was actually an emotional moment because each wallpaper pattern brings with it different memories (most of them wonderful). It is funny how something as trivial as wallpaper can conjure up so much. But, it is not just wallpaper, is it. It is the story of our lives. In all of the things that are around us, we are reminded of the story of our lives. That spaghetti restaurant is where my wife and I had one of our first dates...that baseball field is where I spilled some blood...that is where my son goes to day care...and on and on. The names and places and even the wallpaper that documents our lives is important. It reminds us not only what we have done and where we have been. It reminds us of how God has been with us (whether we have realized it or not). Our story is bound up in God's story. And that is cause for celebration.