On The Road

"I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?"

~John Fogerty~

We are hitting the road this morning. For starters, we're heading to the Great White North, then it's onto the Keystone State before winding our way back to Ohio. It will be a busy twelve days on the road. To quote another Fogerty tune we are going up around the bend. Or more specifically, it'll be up around many bends.

Checked weather.com & apparently we will be driving through rain all day, which of course, brought this tune to mind. Enjoy some classic Credence Clearwater Revival, a band named after a boyhood friend, a concern for the environment & a desire to revive the roots of rock & roll. I remember first hearing them in 1969.

It was the summer Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, & for reasons having to do with a simple twist of fate, the time when music was becoming an important part of my world. Fogerty's voice captured my young imagination, taking me along for the ride. Like Dylan's, his was raw & distinctive, delivering the lyrics with an edge that demanded a certain attitude to listen. It being 1969, with more than a little revolution in the air, it took me about a minute & a half to develop the necessary attitude.

Now in a whole new century far removed from those days of adolescent angst, nostalgia is a nice patch of real estate to wander through & explore, but for now, it's off we go.

Worth Mentioning?

"Now that it's all over, what did you do yesterday that's really worth mentioning?"
~Coleman Cox~

 

There's a self-evaluation question, we all likely want to dodge from time to time.  Especially if we mix into it the truth that what we do in life echoes in eternity. 

 

It is all too human to slip into patterns that are routines of mediocrity.  We get into ruts, but as someone once said, ruts are just graves with the ends kicked out.  Sobering thought, indeed.  The thing about being human is that we can endlessly rationalize & make excuses.  Neither of which does anything at all, but at least in our state of denial we can pretend we feel good about ourselves. 

 

We are often walking contradictions.  It certainly is challenging because here's the thing; being a Christ-follower means we are to live lives of significance & purpose.  Everyday we ought to be intentionally involved in activity that is really worth mentioning.  May we have the grace, courage & will to do so.

Being Vulnerable

"I have most invariably found that the very feeling which has seemed to me most private, most personal and hence, most incomprehensible by others, has turned out to be an expression for which there is a resonance in many people. It has led me to believe that what is most personal and unique in each of us is probably the very element which would, if it were shared and expressed, speak most deeply to others."
~Carl Rogers~

The above quote is today's meditation from Celtic Daily Prayer. It never ceases to amaze me how God directs & uses the scheduled Scripture & readings to speak directly to where I am at the time.

This spoke clearly to me because it resonates with my experience, but I also know that it is risky business opening up to share with others. Being vulnerable can open one up to criticism & arm chair quarterbacking. People can misunderstand, hearing what they want to hear & disregarding the rest; people can file tidbits away to be used as ammunition at the time of their choosing; people can live their emotional & spiritual lives vicariously through someones honest struggles. BUT, people can also be genuinely lifted up & helped, & my journey can be renewed & enriched, so the question for me often becomes, is the risk worth the reward?

And I likely subconsciously ask it more often than I can possibly know. Lately there's a circumstance in which I am consciously asking it, so these words by Carl Rogers kind of hit me over the head this morning.

Now the question becomes, how am I going to respond? Or to put it in Shakespearean terms: To be vulnerable or not to be vulnerable, that is the question.

Consider This

Consider this story.  It most definitely reveals that our world's values truly are out of whack. 

Irena Sendler

 

We give awards - a Nobel Peace Prize, no less - to a politician turned snake oil salesman, whose lifestyle is in stark contrast to his message, while a compelling story about sacrifice & genuine peacemaking is relegated to the back burner of history.

 

It seems extremely wrong to me, but what do I know?

Car Wash

"Working at the car wash blues..."

~Jim Croce~

 

In an hour or so we'll be hitting the streets.  We'll be doing a free car wash in the community & passing out invite information about the Beavercreek Community Church. 

 

Ten of us are scheduled to be deployed at the start, with a dozen or so reinforcements arriving two & a half hours into the action.  I really do not have any idea what to expect in terms of numbers.  We put a large advertisement in the main section of newspapers & will have signs posted along the roadway, but there is no way to know how many people we will have the opportunity to serve.

 

I've been playing a low-ball numbers game in my head, but in reality, I pray that at the end of the day I am sore & sunburned & truly singing, working at the car wash blues.

Love Op-ed

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
~Love Story~

 

My latest op-ed offering is in this morning's paper.

 

Here is the link:  Love is a neverending story.

 

Paul of Tarsus wrote some awe-inspiring words about love: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. . .  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

 

And so the journey goes.

Busy...Busy

"We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there..."

~Jerry Reed~

 

Busy...busy...busy.  Been running up & down & all around, making connections & gathering information along the way.  Deadlines & commitments keep the clock ticking, I guess. 

Have you ever noticed that one deadline comes & goes, which gives birth to the next deadline?

 

Things are going well, I think.  I add, I think, simply because sometimes it is extremely difficult to measure.  One never knows in ministry; one never knows what efforts God will use & bless, so one must plug away & keep throwing ideas up against the wall until stuff starts sticking.  

 

All I know for sure is that there is always more to do.  Somehow I did not think that my calendar would get crazy until the end of July or so, but apparently, craziness arrived ahead of schedule.

 

And indeed, we've got a long way to go & a short time to get there...   

Playing For Eternity

"One of these days and it won't be long
Going down in the valley and sing my song
I will sing it loud and sing it strong
Let the echo decide if I was right or wrong..."

~Bob Dylan~

 

Those lyrics kind of define me.  Heard the song this morning for the first time in quite awhile & it took me on a backpedal through the past, reminding me of the numerous times in my life when I drew strength to press on listening to it. 

 

People usually have two reactions to me.  Either I inspire them right down to their socks or I scare them out of their socks.  I do so because I have always formed opinions on any given topic & willingly expressed them whether asked or not; I have always developed vision that challenges & stretches me beyond myself; I have always dreamed impossible dreams. 

 

And in all of that boldness, I have never been able to comprehend the motivations or mindset of those who accept complacency or mediocrity; I cannot understand those who refuse to reach for things that exceed their grasp.  To embrace the status quo makes absolutely no sense to me, but what do I know?   

 

The reality is, time & truth walk hand in hand & the echo really will decide who's right or wrong.  And since I am playing for eternity, I'll wait to hear the echo by keeping busy tearing at the seams of the envelope. 

Day Of Wonder

"The wolf will live with the lamb. . ."

~Isaiah~

 

Have you ever tried to imagine the world as God intended it to be?  Picture a place where all relationships in creation are perfectly aligned with the Creator. It was a reality that once existed in a garden at the beginning of time & one day, in precise compliance with God's timetable, will come to pass again. As human history unfolds we are on a course that inevitably leads to God's purposes being realized in indescribable peace.

 

According to Isaiah, one day all relationships will be free of enmity. Consider anew his timeless words of promise: "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."

 

Oh, what a day of wonder that will be.

Political Thoughts

"I rant therefore I am."

~Dennis Miller~

 

Here's some thoughts on the passing political scene.

 

Is the media in love with Barack Obama or what?  Listening to some of the coverage, one could get the idea that Obama walks on water every chance he gets.  I expect when I watch the news tonight there will actually be video of him visiting Cedar Rapids or one of the other flooded areas, strolling along without getting his feet wet while offering sound-bites of hope.  Or maybe he'll be Moses-like & part the waters.

 

Is all that too cynical?  Not sure.  I have come to understand that true cynicism has deep roots in wisdom; true cynicism sees reality exactly as it is without any pretentions or political correctness.  All I know is that in my observations, Obama doesn't need to spend any money on campaign commercials because the mainstream media are doing a fine job as apologists & promoters.

 

I seriously hope the guy is for real because it appears he has a definite shot at winning the Oval Office.  My concerns are many beginning with the experience factor.  He has a paper thin resume, but on the other hand, McCain has a ton of experience, but then there's that pesky age issue.

 

Who knows?  It ought to be lots of fun tracking the ups, downs, backpedaling & spinning of the campaign.   But, given the gotcha politics of personal destruction, is this really any way for supposedly intelligent people to select the leader of the free world?

Excusing Sometimers

"Running on - running on empty..."

~Jackson Browne~

 

One of the joys of relocating every ten years or so, is having to find a family doctor & get medical records transferred.  And of course, once a relationship is established with a new doctor, the first thing they want to do is take blood & run tests, which I suppose is good, though getting poked & prodded has never been high on my list of fun things to do.

 

This morning I went to the lab, where a nice young lady tapped a vein with no problem at all.  Apparently the doctor ordered lots of tests because the technician took a seemingly excessive amount of blood.  So I wonder, at least for today, if my creeping sometimers (sometimes I remember & sometimes I forget), can be attributed to the fact that I am running on empty?

 

Just a thought.  And so it goes.

Meandering Thoughts

"In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand."

~Bob Dylan~

 

From the instant I heard it hot off the press almost thirty years ago, Every Grain Of Sand resonated with me.  Its melody, rhythm & theme gives it an almost hymn-like quality which stirs the deepest emotions.  Admittedly, I don't know nothing about nothing, but I've always thought that the harmonica bridge would sound just as haunting on a pipe organ in some great cathedral.  Maybe even more so.

 

The imagery reminds me of God's constant care of his creation.  Storms come, as they have the last couple weeks, overflowing rivers & wreaking havoc in many areas across the Midwest, yet if we choose to use our eyes to see, the Master's hand is evident in the moment of nature's fury. 

 

I was considering these lyrics awhile ago because this morning we spent six hours on the road & never got to our destination.  Washed out roads or impassable bridges put us on detours which kept us guessing what was up around the next bend.  Oh, well.  We've been up & down & all around more than once in our lives, yet we remain safe & sound.  And life is an adventure, with a new chapter to be written each day.  

 

Just some meandering thoughts with no particular conclusions.