Wal Mart expands again…

Imagine this, you are in line at Wal-Mart, and while you pretend to be reading a news artcle, “Discovered: Alien Baby White Seals Are The Real Cause of Global Warming,” your eye keeps glancing over at the cart in front of you.  You want to ask… but you don’t.  You want to stare… but you are afraid they’ll think you’re casing their items for a meeting in the parking lot, or the number on their credit card.  The clerk starts ringing up their items… the soap, the dogfood, the latest edition of Wii fit, bread, motor oil, a new shirt, underwear, a casket, art supplies….  Stop!  Yes I did say that! “A casket!”  If you haven’t heard you can now by caskets from Wal Mart.  They now cover your whole life from infant wear to suits with a slit in the back, baby beds all the way to “final resting place.”

  Now that has got to put a different feel on the place; doesn’t it?  You thought it was uncomfortable getting all those strange looks as you walk through the women’s underwear section (for men), spend a little time browsing in the coffins.  And don’t even think about laying one on the floor so you can try it for size.  Oh, and the pranks… someone sneak a rack of cough suppresant to the aisle, and, of course, hiding inside.  Even the casual image of a shopping cart being pushed across the parking lot with a casket sticking out… that’s interesting. 

  Actually, sorry to get you practical joksters’ hopes up, you won’t be able to buy them in the store, or order them shipped to the store.  They will only be shipped to your home.  And… I guess that’s better.  Pity the poor UPS man who goes into the back of his truck to find a delivery and sees his first casket… then rolling it up the steps of the house.  The neighbors are all coming out in tears, gathering around to mourn, wondering who it was.  They are all thinking, “She seemed so young” and “Since when did they start making ambulance runs in a UPS truck?”  Or you’re driving down the street in your subdivision of cookie cutter houses, and laying there by the front door of a neighbor… a casket.  I dare venture it would have to turn your head for a moment.

   So go ahead and get yours now, before everyone finds out and there is a big run on ‘em.  After all it is the shopping season just ahead… this could be the “Tickle Me Elmo” of 2009.  No sense waiting until the last minute.  Buy one, set it on its end in your coat closet… that’ll set your guest back for a moment.  (You might find them looking real close at your incisors and talking about “Twilight” a little more than the past.)  Store it in the attic or basement… your serviceman won’t mind moving it when he needs.   Or, you could take it out and use it.  It looks like it would make a great coffee table; maybe a card table, or tv stand.  Large crowd coming for a gathering?  Line it with plastic, fill it with ice and canned drinks.  Or build some temporary shelves, stand it on its end with a block of ice in the bottom and its an old time “ice box.”  [Part of me wants to say "spare bed," but that one even gives me a chill.]

   The truth is we are a little taken back with Wal Mart being so comfortable with death.  Yet, if you want to sell a product that reaches a lot of people?  Not everyone needs toys, sporting goods, and gardening supplies… but the odds of dying are 1 out of 1.  Someday everyone will come to see you at the front of the church.  Until Jesus comes, “death” and “births” are neck and neck in the list of universal experiences.  (One piece of good news… on the very last day, “birth” is going statistically blow “death” out of the water for the “most common human experience.”  Birth had a slight lead until Jesus kept messing up funerals and letting folks die twice… but its got a big finish in mind.)

  Even though dying is one of the “basics” of living, we would just as soon keep it just out of sight, where we don’t see it, and can’t feel its chilly breath.  And yet, if we brought it closer, we would see something amazing.  Death is the aged boxer.  At one time it seems he could rip your head off your shoulders with one blow… but now his punch would hardly unsteady your feet.  The flame of life may sway a little, but the wind of death can’t put it out.  Death has lost its sting… “lost its punch” (I Cor. 15:55-56, Holman trans.)  We will walk through the doorway with hardly a jostle.  Satan screams at us to be afraid of dying…and at times we all shudder; but Satan lies.  Jesus says, the mortal will be released and we will put on immortality.  It’s what comes after death…that is the issue.

For those in Jesus, the tattered tent we wander around with in this world will be tossed aside and be replaced with the luxury and beauty of a temple (Paul).  The book of our lives, tattered and frayed, will find itself released in a new edition, one revised by it’s publisher.

I love these lines from Pilgrim’s Progress…

Now I further saw that betwixt them and the gate was a river; but there was no bridge to go over: the river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river, the pilgrims were much astounded; but the men that went with them said, “You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate.”

The pilgrims then began to inquire if there was no other way to the gate; to which they answered, “Yes, but there hath not any, save two, to wit, Enoch and Elijah, been permitted to tread that path since the foundation of the world, nor shall until the last trumpet shall sound”.

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52

The pilgrims then – especially CHRISTIAN – began to despond in their minds; and looked this way and that, but no way could be found by them by which they might escape the river. Then they asked the men if the waters were all of a depth? They said, “No”; yet they could not help them in that case, for said they, “you shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the King of the place.”

They then addressed themselves to the water; and entering, CHRISTIAN began to sink. And crying out to his good friend, HOPEFUL, he said, “I sink in deep waters, the billows go over my head; all his waves go over me.”

Then said the other, “Be of good cheer, my brother; I feel the bottom, and it is good.” Then said CHRISTIAN, “Ah! my friend, the sorrows of death have compassed me about; I shall not see the land that flows with milk and honey. And with that a great darkness and horror fell upon CHRISTIAN, so that he could not see before him; also here he, in great measure, lost his senses, so that he could neither remember nor orderly talk of any of those sweet refreshments that he had met with in the way of his pilgrimage. But all the words that he spake still tended to discover that he had horror of mind, and hearty fears that he should die in that river, and never obtain entrance in at the gate; here also, as they that stood by perceived, he was much in the troublesome thoughts of the sins that he had committed, both since and before he began to be a pilgrim ….  HOPEFUL, therefore, here had much ado to keep his brother’s head above water; yea, sometimes he would be quite gone down, and then ere awhile he would rise up again half dead….  HOPEFUL added this word, “Be of good cheer, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole “; and with that CHRISTIAN brake out with a loud voice, “Oh, I see him again! and he tells me, ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee’”. Isaiah 43:2

Then they both took courage, and the enemy was after that as still as a stone, until they were gone over. CHRISTIAN therefore presently found ground to stand upon; and so it followed that the rest of the river was but shallow. Thus they got over.

_______

“What do you want to be like when you grow up. little girl?” 

“Alive!”     (from The Singer  by Calvin Miller)

 

 

Looking Ahead To Looking Back

  The blog this week is dedicated to all you romantics out there.  As the holiday season rolls around and many are planning their nuptials, I thought I would alert you to a couple of wonderful possibilities.

  

          First of all, How would you like to get married at what the article calls, “The Most Romantic Place On Earth?”  It is in Verona, Italy, at the Casa de Giulietta.  This  13th century mansion, thought to be home to the Capulets of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” is now the “House of Juliet.”  A romantic museum complete with souveneirs and, of course, chapel services.  How romantic can you get?

  Wait… cut…cut!  Note to all those getting married here: “Don’t you remember the story!!!?”  If not, you might want a refresher course.  The ending is to die for.  Hey, for your honeymoon you could sail back to the U.S. on a cruise that follows the treck of the most luxurious of all ocean liners… the Titanic.   The big picture may sound romantic,  but the details….

  And have you heard the new trend for wedding dresses? (At least it presents itself as a trend… could be a lot of marketing.)  It’s called “Trash That Dress!  Jon Michael Cooper is the photographer who credits himself with starting the trend.  It seems all over brides are posing for one final set of pictures in their wedding dress.   The beautiful gowns, cherished memoirs of such a wonderful day are the foreground for abandoned houses, emty factories, salvage yards, etc…  The brides are in their dresses laying in creek beds, wallowing in the barn mud, or just as some demented painter’s pallete of strewn primary colors.  When asked about it,  the   reasoning was, “Oh, the dry cleaners can get it out!”

  “Are you sure?”

  I wonder how many brides are going to get their dress back from the cleaners… their eyes pop, their chin drops, and they scream….”The rust stains and krylon paint are still on my dress!!!!”  Or years from now their daughters will say, “Mom, you know what would be so romantic… for my wedding, wouldn’t it be great if, you know, I could get married in your dress.” 

  “Oh sweet heart,” mom squints her eyes and jaws, ” that would be great, if it weren’t for that big black burnt section down the back.

    You know who is not in the support of this trend… the fathers of the brides; the honorary matrimonial tight-wads.  Hey, and a word in praise of grooms.  We often make cartoons of these love struck adolescent males who just say “yes dear” to the bride (and “keep it short to the minister”), but you don’t see any trend for “Trash That Rented Tux.”

  Fortunately for all of us, most of the things that “seemed such a good idea” are survivable.  You live, you learn, compare the scars, and enjoy the photos.  But life in its whole is not that way.  You don’t want to get to the end of life and realize you took the wrong path; you trashed it.  That’s why God gives us laws.  They are the guidance that protect us from ourselves, and push us to move into the greatest of   blessings.  They hem us in to protect us from our own “bright ideas,” and push us to move beyond our comfort into the great unknown.  Solomon is right, “There is a way that seems right… but in the end it is the way of death; laughter may end in grief.”  Jesus came to show us the “way” to “life.”  He is the way… the life.

   

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                            

 

The Biggest Loser

  It has been a busy and wonderful couple of weeks.  It all kicked in gear a week ago Sunday, with our congregation’s annual “Sunnybrook Day” at the South Main church of Christ.  For thirty years they had been meeting their goal, but this year had many of us anxious.  We have a lot of generous retired folks, but theri funds have been hit hard this last year.  Likewise the farmers in our area are suffering through their second major crop loss  in a row.  Nevertheless, our goal was to raise $8000 for Sunnybrook Children’s Home.   We were holding our breath.  When it was announced that our congregation (125 in attendance that morning) had given not $8000 to the home, but $12,000… it chocked us all up.  I can only imagine the kind of sacrifices that were made to raise that kind of money.

  The charge from that great day carried us right on in to last Saturday and a  couple of events running side by side.  First of all, a group from the Church of Christ student center at Ole Miss came down to work at Greenville’s Boys’ and Girls’ Club.   Together with them we painted some playground equipment that was virutally down to bare metal, and did a room makeover that would make HGTV drool.  The ladies who run the club had opened it up special and brought a bus full of kids to help us.  That interaction may be the thing of most last value.  We can hardly wait to see what God is going to do with the “2 fish and five loaves” we  offered.  It was great.   

  Meanwhile, back at the church building we were having our first “Yard Free Sale.”  It was a yard sale, but everything was “free.”  I kew it was going to be good, but nothing prepared me for reality.   At 7:45 I stuck my head out to set up the registration table and see if anyone was there yet.  I felt like the little kid who runs out into the street just as the parade is coming.  It’s kind of exciting to stand there and see it all, but something makes your really nervous all the same.  The line was 3 and 4 wide all the way across our parking lot… all looking ready to “charge!”.  When we opened the door it got crazy.  The congregation had stuffed the fellowship hall plumb full of clothes, shoes, and all kinds of merchandise.  They had really outdone themselves.  There were clothes of all kinds and eras, old computers, a TV, and even an “Ab Lounger” exerciser still in the plastic.    Within 2 hours it was almost all gone.  One time I looked up and two ladies were headed out with the church’s Ficus trees they had fished out from behind a partition.  It took some fast talking to convince them i really was the minsiter and no, those didn’t go.   I thought I was going to have to pull out the “preacher” credentials another time  when a battle was brewing over a footstool.  In all my training for minsitry, these skills had not been included.   Incidently, if anyone knows what happened to the Ladies’ Bible Class Coffee Maker… we could use it back.

  Both projects were great fun, and filled with the great joy God promises to those who reach out to serve.  Everyone wants to do both of them again. (Maybe next time my Sooners will win and complete the trifecta of joy.)

  The other great event has been “The Biggest Loser”.  At 5′6″ and never over 120 pounds until college, I am probably not a candidate for the show. (Although my current 150 has distorted my profile significantly.)  But I was excited to find out my friend Sean Algaiers was on this year’s cast.  Well, we’re not real, real close friends… more like colleagues.  I mean, I’m the preacher for a congregation in Greenville, Ms.; he a youth minister in Jenks, Ok.  So we’re sorta colleagues….well, at least we’ve been on some big events together.  Well he was on them; not exactly on the same program.  He was on the program performing with  “Watershed Worship,”  while some of the kids jumping and screaming their approval were ones I had brought.  (I was one of the old guys in the back feeling a little out of place, and hoping they would get to the ballads soon.)  Okay… okay…, we are real close, tight…just like that…Sean has no clue who I am.  If I was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted… he couldn’t pick me out at the Post Office.  But we were youth ministers at the same time.

  but you must know this…I was proud to be his brother this week.  If you haven’t heard, last week the show came down to Sean and his partner going home, or another team getting booted off.  Although Sean’s team wanted desperately to stay, they knew how important it was for another member to stay.  So in a flash, they asked the group to vote them out.  (Their self sacrifice was made all the sweeter when you find out that both guys went on and did continue towards their goal on their own.) check it out on videos from the show or their appearance this morning on the Today show.  It will move you.

  All of this together reminded me of a great principle from Jesus.  So many people live dull, empty lives.  They try to fill them by indulging in more pleasure, more experienses, and buying more stuff.  Their lives spiral downward into more and more decadence… more and more emptiness.  Jesus reminds them of reality: if you want to find your life… lose it.  Give it to Him and give it in service to others.  The one who sacrifices his life for others will find it.  He will also find that while he let others come crowding in, Jesus slips in with them.  The great ones really are the servants to all.  So in honor of history’s greatest sacrificial giver, here’s to the biggest losers.

Check out these videos by Sean and the rest of  Watershed Worship.

[Thanks Watershed Worship and Aaron Sain for this great song.]

Facebook, Farmville, and Fantasy Football

  Before you get to wondering, this title is not just a blatant attempt to get my blog ”hit” count up.  It really is about Facebook.  It is true, up until I mentioned “sharks,” Facebook was the biggest draw ever to my blog.  If I comment on international relations, drug trafficking, even Michael Jackson; the response is pedestrian, but mention Facebook and look out server… here come the hordes.  Thank goodness there is no way to find out how people actually reacted once they got here, or what they said.  Facebook lives on, and it seems will be with us for a long time.

  My Facebook account has been busy of late.  Recently, I made the mistake of starting a farm on Farmtown, then letting my 8 year old manage one on Farmville as well.  Who knew pretend farms come complete with chores?  No more nights wasted mindlessly watching my favorite TV shows… now I am fighting to keep my crops from wilting.  Then of course there is Fantasy football.  I have yet to win a game… one son beat me last week with just one of his players. Now I am just hoping that Payton Manning can somehow save my football pride. I wonder when we’ll hear someone echo a sincere prayer from the P.A. system before a ballgame… “Lord, please keep these men from injury… especially those on my fantasy team.”

  I have learned a lot about myself on Facebook.  Even though Briggs and Meyers tell me I am an ”INTP,” Facebook saw through that clever facade and exposed the ”extrovert” hiding beneath.  It also revealed that if you are ever stuck in a jungle or need to survive a horror movie, I am your man.  I could even last a little while with Chuck Norris. I am an authority on Gilligan’s Island, 70’s sitcoms, Country music, and “women,” (suprised me too). Somehow I am supposed to be like “Storm” from the X-Men. (I am sure there is a preacher joke in there somewhere.)  The Bible book that most fits me is Exodus, the Bible character most like me is Daniel, and the most fitting Disney movie… “Snow White,” (suprised me too).  Now don’t think I take all the quizzes.  I have stayed away from “When can you expect to die?” and I have my doubts about the “What’s going to happen to you this year? quiz.  I smelled some unreliability when a friend of ours found out he was going to get married. It was quite the news to his wife and teenage son.  Some of the quizzes, however, are uncanny, amazing, almost psychic:  In real age I am only 41, and I can expect to grow another 1 1/2 inches.  Amazing!  How’d they know?   Hey, don’t argue with the authorities at Facebook.

  A Facebook habit can get you in trouble.   One of my Facebook friends is deliberating starting up a “Farmtown” 12-step program for those at her church.  Somebody noted it would be easier to meet online.  Another volunteered to develop the quiz to see if you qualify, and a third recommended they turn it into a game application you could play.

  But if you want testimony that Facebook can trip you up, ask Jonathan Parker, the 19 year old from Pennsylvania.  Jonathan is a burglar by trade… or was.  He had carefully cased the home of his victims.  Meticulously noting their schedule, their habits, and the breaks in their security routines.  One night while the family was gone, he quietly lifted the bedroom window and made his way inside.  Inside he managed to find his way through the pitch dark house without alerting the neighbors or signaling anything suspicous.  Soon in his grasp was his ill-gotten prize… two diamond rings valued at over $3500.  Placing  them in a bag he began his careful stealthy exit.  But wait!  What’s that? A computer!  “I’ll check my Facebook!”he thought.  Even then he might have gotten away had he not left his account open when he left.

  At least he wasn’t like the thief in Canada who stole a notebook computer, hacked into their Facebook account and began taunting the rightful owners.  “Your TV wasn’t worth stealing.”  “So sad your computer is gone… it’s really nice!”  Police tracked the wireless connection.

  What is it about Facebook?  I really don’t think its a mystery.  People want desperately to be connected with other people; the more the better.  We want to feel surrounded by those with whom we are interested… and those interested in us.  God made us that way.  That is why the Holy Spirit takes everyone of us that are his and place us in a community of other Christians.  There are no “free lancing” Christians, none going solo out into the world.  The Holy Spirit links us and ties us together.  Isn’t it amazing that the same generation calling for “Christianity” without the “church,” is bursting Facebook at the seams. 

   So, let me encourage you, if you haven’t already… find a church.  Don’t just attend the assembly, become part of it.  Give a part of you to the others who attend there, and receive a part of them.  Connect!  Church is a blessing we all need. In a world that dries out your flowers, sends invading crows,  and where the tornados of  trials strew debris all through your life, you need some neighbors who care enough to help out on your farm.  Send a friend request to your local congregation.

Swimmer’s Ear… Hope for the Aging

  As mentioned last post, I am now on lap 48.  It is quite interesting. Lap 48 feels a lot like lap 47… and 37.  In fact, at least on the inside, it still feels a whole lot like 27.  Maybe one NASCAR friend is right, based on the earth’s orbit, life is all left-hand turns… until you see the checkered flag.  One thing about getting older, there is lots of company.

  For all those who may fret about your age, I ran across a new hero. Dawn Fraser was an Austrailian swimming legend of a few generations ago.  First splashing on the scene at Melbourne in ‘56.  With several gold medals over multiple Olympics and a few world records to her name the 71 year old enjoys a mostly quiet life in Noosaville on the Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

  That quiet life was disturbed the other night, however.  As she was returning to her oceanside home one night a thug charged out of the gate  and grabbed her, demanding her purse and jewelry.  The utter surprise of the attack and the strength of her young mail attacker caught her totally off guard.  With her very life resting in the mercies of a vicious mugger, what’s an elderly lady to do… except grab him by the ear and hair and knee him in the groin.  A man heard the commotion and arrived to keep the attacker face down on the ground until the police arrived. 

  Wouldn’t you love to be there when he is booked in jail?  “Hey, dude, How’d you get in here?”  His answer would have to be classic.

  What really struck me, however, was her statement about it.  “He threatened my life and I got really annoyed about that and just grabbed him by the ear and hair.” 

  I can see how that would annoy a person!  Someone threatening your life and all.  I wonder if that would work with temptation.  Surely we would resist it better if we saw it as an attack.  Maybe we should start a “get annoyed with Satan” campaign.  I can see it on t-shirts, billboards, bumperstickers.  Though I suspect getting Satan to look like an intruder will be the tough part.

  In closing, I hope your day has been good.  If not, take a look at this next picture and remember when it was a fitting allegory for your circumstances.  Hang on, the landing is going to be a little rough, but it’ll be a landing nevertheless.  I’ll let you provide the captions.

Street Smarts for Life

     The school buses are rolling and college campuses are stretching their seams with the energy of new students.  From the parents of college freshmen and the parents of new kindergarteners alike comes that unmistakeable air of optimism and excitement, seasoned by the desire to hold time a little tighter, and not let it get away quite so fast.  The “guardian” side of “parent and guardian” gets a little tougher… and a little less needed.  It’s how its supposed to be, but that doesn’t make it easier.

   I don’t know what the current craze is for college freshmen.  I know plaid is back in style, and “Fred” is slipping in his youtube status (just as college students go back to class… hum… interesting).  I found one item, however, that needs to be on every college students mantle… The Runaway Clock.  It’s a great invention.  When the alarm goes off it starts running around the room; so to hit the snooze you have to catch it first.  The images of a couple of 18 year old guys, half asleep, crashing into each other and everything else, chasing their clock through the clutter of a college dorm room… that’s funny.

    Meanwhile, I am finishing up year number 47 this week.  Its really hard to imagine that I am not young anymore.  I went to the oral surgeon today and the receptionist/oral hygenist kept referring to me as “Mr. Danny.”  [That is how young people refer to their elders.]  Then the surgeon came out…he didn’t appear to be much older than my daughter; did he skip elementary and go straight to dental school?

   I went to the oral surgeon to see about getting my wisdom teeth pulled.  They have made it this far, but I figure our journey together is about to end.  Actually, for a preacher, extracting anything that has “wisdom” attached to it is a situation filled with anxiety.  When I wake up… just what will be missing?

  Wisdom is a funny thing.  I am sure my hold on it has been in doubt for quite some time.  Around age 12, one Staurday morning, Don Fuson and I pulled the pole vault pit up beside the visitors bleachers at the High School football field.  It is amazing how many flips you can turn when you are jumping from 15-20 feet in the air.  (Mom, if you are reading this, I know I didn’t tell you; not because we were hiding it, I just didn’t know it was worth reporting).  That is the earliest memory I recall that questions my grasp on wisdom.  After that the room of my memory labeled, “What Were You Thinking” fills up pretty fast… standing room only.  I probably ought to break down and just give it its own wing.

  And yet, I am here to talk about it.  More than that I have a great wife, great children, one great grandchild (a second on the way), a good life, and looking forward to the future.  If there are guardian angels, mine is really good.  We all ought to thank the Lord if for nothing else, saving us from ourselves.

  Solomon had a lot he wanted to pass on to his sons.  That’s why he wrote it down.  If you haven’t read Proverbs in a while, now is a good time.  It’s a wise man giving you the ropes on how to make it in this world.  Its a guide to being “street smart” at living.  You’ll be amazed at what you find.

Courage

   Well, it seems the routines are slowly coming back.  Schedules that were stretched all out of sort during the summer are now slowly coming back together.  Of course “normal” ain’t what “normal” used to be, but its “normal” nevertheless.  Also, it should be noted, my “new normal” doesn’t involve putting a new kindergartner on a school bus for the first time.  [Although, revisiting Algebra II with Tyler ranks pretty close on the "Fear Factor" scale.]

  I remember when Haley (our oldest) started school.  I drove her that day.  At the first note of hesitancy I would have probably told her it would be alright… just hop back in and we’ll go home.  (Not sure how I would have explained that to her mom.)  By the time Neil started… “Be brave” was about all the empathy he got.  (There could be some sexism shining through here, but we’ll save that psychoanalysis for another time.)  I don’t remember saying anything to Tyler and Houston except the normal school morning mantra… “work hard, play hard, sleep hard.”

   Truth is we could use a few more “first days.” I find myself agreeing with those who call for beating back the safety of suburban life.  We’ve protected ourself right into boredom, one fellow laments.  Another notes, we have no Jerichos falling before us; we are quite comfortable waiting on a bridge to cross the Jordan.  On the other hand I think of David… the excitement of defeating Goliath; Jonathan telling his armor bearer upon finding an enemy outpost…”lets go see if the Lord has given them into our hands;” and those Israelite priests dressed in wool, carrying a ark of gold, and stepping into the rain swollen Jordan river.   Faith and courage aren’t so far apart. 

    I ran across a couple of pictures this week that have helped me.  I hope they help you…

  Don’t you love them (I think I had a cat like that once).  Paul said that one of the tasks for the church was to strengthen those who were weak of heart…. that’s first century for “give them courage.”  Not a bad call for this Sunday; Monday through Saturday too.

Surfing, Jaws, and The Search for Truth

  As summer winds down my schedule has yet to follow suit.  It seems everyone is busy.  Next week, however, the big yellow vessels of American enculturation will once again fill the mornings, kids will once again be about the business of being equipped to run the world, PB&J will be the lunch of choice, and parents will enjoy the flashing blue reminders that “school zones” are once again in force.  School is back in session.

  Looking for something meaningful to write I consulted my usual sources: scripture, the news, other blogs, “News of the Weird,” etc….  Fortunately one of my surer sources came to my rescue.  Traveling the other day, our seven year old (soon to be eight) was pleased to inform me that he knew how to surf.  That got my attention.  Seeing as he has lived all his life in those thriving beachfront communities of Greenville, Mississippi and Conway, Arkansas, and had just this year celebrated putting his head underwater on purpose,  I was curious.  Hey, there could be something about the Mississippi River I didn’t appreciate… Lake Chicot on a windy day?… Lake Conway-riding a wave, dodging tree stumps and trout lines would be some skill.

   I’m sure he sensed my apprehension, so he explained that he had figured it out watching cartoons on tv.  It was simple.  First, and very important… very, very important… you have to know how to swim. [Can't argue with him there.]  Secondly, you lay down on your belly on the board and paddle out.  Then you, “pop” up on your feet… and surf!  I was impressed.  To me, a dad raised shooting the curl on Lake Thunderbird in central Oklahoma, it sounded like he had it down. 

  He then noted that when you fall off, you have to swim back… unless there is a shark.  “Then,” he added, “you better hope you have a “shark whistle”… if they make such a thing.”  My mind was then instantly filled with a guy, chased by a triangular fin, swimming franticly for the shore, blowing a whistle with everything he’s got.  It doesn’t seem too sure a strategy, but then niether does the “punch him in the nose” strategy I heard about.

    Yes, I know a thing or two about sharks.  My initiation into the complex world of “Great Whites”  was in 1975.  The boat was sitting idly in the water, I was relaxed in my seat,  duh-dunt, duh-dunt, duh-dunt, duh-dunt,  the captain was “Roy Schneider.”  The movie was “Jaws.’  Two hours later boys who had lived their whole life on the Oklahoma plains and who planned to be buried there were worried to death about sharks.  What were we ever going to do!!!?  On Sunday evening we all gathered around a documentary on what to do should you ever be attacked.  One fellow’s angst boiled over, “You don’t think a big one could make its way up the North Canadian River and be in one of our lakes do you?” Aaaugh!!! (My apologise to those who do not live in the OKC area and have not seen the North Canadian, you are only getting half the joke.)  We were planning our lives with one goal in mind… don’t get eaten by a Great White!

  It is funny looking back:  Somewhere kids in Hawaii were running with exhuberant joy into the open ocean surf, while Oklahoma boys cringed in fear of the dreaded “shark attack.”  However, it does bring up a key point about knowledge, wisdom,  and truth: all sources are not equal.  There are some things about life that are beyond our experiences… and we need help.  Two teenage guys discussing how to get a girl interested in them may have a lot to share, but most of it is swapping ignorance.  Not because they are stupid… they just haven’t been in that neighborhood enough yet to know.

  So it shouldn’t suprise us that men come up with ideas about the world that don’t float in reality.  Our answers tend to be simplistic and out of touch because so much of the world is out of our grasp to fathom and understand.  God knew we needed help; that’s why he gave us scripture.  Without it we often find ourselves a seven year old from the delta discussing the finer points of sharks and surfing.

For those stressed out by all this talk of sharks, and for those suffering “flashbacks” to the movie, I’ll sign off with this photo…. 

All Ye Who Are Heavy Laden…

  

“Come unto me all of you who are weary and have heavy loads and I will give you rest. “   Jesus, Matthew 11:28

“God’s commands are not burdensome.” The apostle John, I John 5:4

Michael Jackson, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the rest…

  Life has been hectic to say the least.  It is amazing how a week of church camp can stir the schedule.  The weather was so hot at camp.  The first few days we just “sweltered” (even the word sounds hot and muggy).  At rest time we put cookies in the middle of the cabin… they were done by the time it was over. [Not really, but I wish someone would have tried it.]  Then, right on schedule,  we got a shower Tuesday night, temperatures moderated somewhat, and camp went on.  It was a good week.  Thanks to all those who put in the hard work for church camps everywhere… you will never know the difference you are making.  [Note: I am looking forward to dropping in at Barton Sr. Session on Monday night... you've invited my favorite speaker for that night, so Houston and I are headed up to hear him.]

    While at camp it seems so much was happening.  There was of course all the uproar in Iran.  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme Muslim cleric is making his people proud.  There is nothing like a religous leader pronouncing the death penalty on all who oppose the government.  And exactly why does a religous leader need to keep a strong arm group like theBasij militia?  The veil also came down from their real face towards women and youth as well.   Of course, the protestors are “at war with God” for challenging the election.   Millions of hand-written votes counted within minutes, those seeking a recount beaten, outside press cut-off,  communications to the outside world silenced, oppostition family members jailed… they have nothing to hide.  

     Meanwhile, we find out the Taliban are paying families to send their children out as soldiers.  Most all Muslims are respectable people… they must be hanging their heads.  The barqua has been pushed aside in Iran and Pakistan and behind it must have been what every Muslim most feared.   Meanwhile, most of the world cries in unison, “Aha, we knew it!!!”  “Behind all the posturing of faith, talk of religous Jihad,” and holy stands were some men more concerned with the baser things like political rule, positions of power and priviledge, and keeping them at all costs.”

  We Christians need to learn.  Never trade integrity and transparent honesty for power, prestige, or status.  We serve a God who was offered the rule all the kingdoms of the world, and said “No.”  Two millenia later, lets be careful not to say, “Yes.”  No matter how tempting it may be.

    Of course there is the other events of the week… the deaths of Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson.  I regret their passing, but I am sorry if I don’t consider them heros.  Talented… definitely!  (I remember the Doctor of Music I heard refer to Michael Jackson as a music genius.)  They commanded the press and the public in amazing ways… but not heroic.  Every military unit has more heroic people, policemen and firemen show more valor, every factory is filled with men and women who tackle life with more courage and character.  America is in desparate need of heros… people who will live with honor and do what’s right despite all odds, people who will embrace hours of anonymous toil, danger, poverty, even death so that others may live.  Those are heros.  It says something very disturbing about our culture that a singer/dancer who abused children, and lived in reclusive luxury and bizarre indulgence would be heralded as an American icon.  I know he had a lot to overcome… but others have done it with great honor.  We hang our heads.  We need statesmen and heros.. we keep getting celebrities.

   And “celebrity” comes at a cost.  How many people have to break apart before we realize the cost of fame?  Every kid walking, it seems, wants to be famous… most adults would like it too.  Yet, that kind of notariety has a lock and key, prison bars, a cell you cannot leave.  Wherever you go, you cannot escape.  Is it any wonder that many, maybe most, cannot handle that kind of popularity.  I saw a picture the other day of a young lady celebrating ecstatically.  The paparazzi had captured her exhuberance and excitement as she held out her car window two tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial.  At least she could have mourned.

Let us pray for all those who endure fame.  Let us pray for all those who by virtue of their own success, or their parent’s position, or for whatever reason never get to relax and just be another person.  I think of Jesus in John 6 as he laments the crowd following him… wanting more miracle bread. 

   One final note, though its late, “Thank you Karey Dobbs and Randy Ray.”  You don’t know them, they are a couple of local Delta kids, but they ministered to my heart.  While everyone locally was making the run on tuxes and formals, they bought theirs at Wal-Mart.  Well, not the whole thing; they bought it in rolls.  Twenty-seven rolls to be exact- 27 rolls of duct tape.  That’s right, in what had to be the most colorful and entertaining outfits at the prom, they went decked out to the nines in duct tape.  It seems there is a contest by Duct tape manufacturers called “Stuck on Prom” and the winners will receive a scholarship.  Some of the finalist are shown below… winner is to be announced today.   Thanks!