Saturday's Scramble

I was just replying to a friend’s blog and it sparked more than just a comment here. So I’m just going to build on my comment to his anaology and see where it goes. Basically, my buddy was LINKing a golf experience with a life experience. As he made the turn to the “back nine” of the post...this statement was made. “Isn't that how it is when we first give our lives to Christ, it gets tiring trying to figure it all out and learn all the stuff necessary to begin to get stronger in our relationships.” (to read his entire post, visit http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=gobigblue and look for Friday March 25)

Well...I agree with his comments except I think the first sentence in the second paragraph ought to read more like..."Isn't that how it is after you've been living for Christ for ten or twenty years??!!" Let’s jump back to the golf setting again for a moment.

You'd think after playing golf for ten years...I'd be shooting par or better. Not so! But to adequately apply the analog... I think that you have to consider most Christians put about as much effort into earning their spiritual tour card (becoming a mature disciple) as I do in preparing for "Q-School!" We go to church on the weekends (or less) and consider our church attendance to be the sum total of our spiritual fitness regime. Now if I played golf everyday and focused on training, fundamentals, and every aspect of the game...maybe I'd have a chance of teeing it up with the big guys.

So what are the fundamentals of the spiritual life? What is the equivalent of hitting the range when pursuing holiness? And what kind of "game" could we play/live if we got a serious GRIP on the God-following life? I want to be sure to indicate here that attending church and being a warm body in the over-programmed agenda of what is being passed off as "church" is not synonymous at all with what I think of as the "God-following life."

But a little closer to home for me right now is this question...why do we flirt with the "hazards" so much. I have trouble playing it smart on the course and laying up when I can set up a great second shot. And those times when you're buried in life's bunker and can't see out of the "pot" it's easy to keep whacking the ball into the lip and end up right back where you started. Sometimes we need a free drop, eh? That's grace!

Simmering Sunday

Yeah...you could say I'm simmering. Not boiling. Not chilling. Simmering.

Simmering is good I think. Processing life with just enough heat applied to bring out the flavor and aroma. As I spend some time with my various weblogationships, I am encouraged and inspired. I see and sense so many journeying towards the same thing...the truth, the divine, the significant, the soul, a centered life.

I believe that God is revealing these things to us in unique ways and strange places. There is a great stirring of life which is simmering under the surface of the institutionalized, anesthetized, traumatized, and spiritualized.

Hope...

Rest...

Peace...

Compassion...

Community...

Love...for self...for neighbor...for God...

Check out this link for an interesting piece by the creator of Veggie Tales. It's a fairly accurate discussion of some culture shift over the past decade or so. Give yourself about ten minutes to read it in full...or just download it and read it later! http://www.yale.edu/faith/downloads/thl_vischer.pdf

A Manic Monday

Sounds like a song from my adolescence...which I am fortunately trapped in!

I'm stumbling across so many things that I want to read, investigate, and respond to. Unfortunately, I have two final exams, a twelve-page paper, a five-page paper, and a couple hundred pages to read...for Wednesday!

So check back in next week!

Shalom...peace out...blessings...ta ta...and later alligator,

Chris

check this article out at www.msnbc.com

Wednesday’s Wisdom

Perhaps it would be wise for us to remove the Ten Commandments and other Christian or religious symbols from government and public properties?! I was just reading a front (web) page “article” on www.msnbc.com regarding all the Supreme Court discussions of cases like the one in Texas, Kentucky, and other states being battled out in our courtrooms.

The article cites a poll statistic revealing that 76% of Americans agree with the displays. I wonder what would happen if 76% of Americans would LIVE by them?!

Also fresh on my mind is a somewhat humorous response I sent to my Dad who pastors a small rural congregation in Indiana. He jokingly suggested that he knew of a church I might fit into if we decided to move to that area. I almost laughed out loud because I’m convinced that there are very few churches that I fit into in my current frame of mind, politics, and spirituality. As I was sharing with my Dad why I feel this is the case...I pushed the envelope a bit and suggested to him that the best thing that could happen to the church in America is the removal of our freedom of worship. That would certainly clear up some issues on church and state wouldn’t it?!

I believe that if the true religion of America (secular humanism) was honestly acknowledged, Christianity might be rediscovered in ways which would radically transform the way that we engage our world on a daily basis.

A Tumultuous Tuesday

I suppose "tumult" might be a bit of an exaggeration. I am not experiencing "violent or overwhelming turbulence or upheaval." (Merriam-Webster) I don't know why I'm quoting the dictionary today...as if you don't know the meaning of tumult! I kind of get tired of hearing Webster quoted...especially on Sunday mornings! (just a little pet peeve I guess)

Tuesday's are always somewhat tumultuous for me though. It's the day before my LONG day of classes up at Ashland. For those of you in school...I know you feel my pain and identify with me all too well. But halle-flippin-lujah! I have only twelve weeks of school remaining and my masters degree is finished. In the word/s of Christ...teleostai...it is finished (or will be soon).

But that reminds me of a deeper tumult to be reflecting on today. I am still trying to keep the season of Lent and an attitude of reflection and repentance in the front lobe of my mind. Even as I was reading something today during a quiet time at Starbucks, I was reminded of Christ's suffering for us. I was also reminded by the likes of St. John of the Cross and Henri Nouwen that we all at times experience seasons of suffering. Whether you call it the "dark night of the soul," the "ministry of absence," or just a personal desert...be encouraged that Christ is near...even in the darkness...He knows all about pain and suffering.

Even when life is good (so to speak) I am so encouraged to know God is near at all times...because we're all just a blink away from the "dark night..."