What REALLY matters in life? For what are you willing to suffer? Anything or anyone you'd pay dearly to nurture or protect? Is it a person? A dream? What would you spend a day on a roof for?
I was reminded what commitment costs this week in a couple of places.
The first was a survey of married/divorced couples. I can't remember who did the study so I'm not able to site the source (but if you're reading this on the internet, YOU KNOW IT MUST BE TRUE!!) The study said that married couples did NOT have fewer troubles, problems or fights than divorced couples. Their troubles, problems and fights were not any smaller, either.
So what allowed married couples to stay together? The researcher concluded it was 1 thing...
"Stubbornness" (if you want to call it what it is), or "Commitment" (if you want to put a little perfume on it and make it sound all rosy). Their attitude seems to be, "I've invested in this, I've made this promise, I'M not leaving!"
Call it what you will, they were more determined, as a whole, than those who became divorced. (I know there are always exceptions to this rule, but on the whole, I think this is probably true.)
Speaking of determined, read this story I came across this week:
Nashville children's pastor takes to roof to raise money for sports ministryNashville-(Nashville Tennessean)
Those at Nashville's Grace Church of the Nazarene believe a new youth soccer program for the community was worth a few days on the roof. On July 9, Children's Pastor Dustin Bilbrey went up to the Grace Church of the Nazarene roof until the $3,000 (U.S.) needed for sets of soccer goals and other equipment for the soccer program was raised. The total went to just more than $3,000 on July 12 toward the conclusion of that evening's service and Bilbrey came down about 8 p.m.
"I told somebody I'd do whatever it took,'' Bilbrey said. "It was really hot, but it was worth it because we can buy the goals and reach out to the community. If I had to sweat a little …''
Bilbrey had a tent for shelter, as well as a sleeping bag, some electric fans, an ice cooler, and study materials to work on the master's degree he's seeking from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Read More --Nashville Tennessean
Now is it just me or is this guy stubborn and committed? He has this thing stuck in his mind that this is the most important thing in the world at this moment. And he's willing to turn his life upside down to accomplish his goal.
I wonder if this is the type of stubbornness or commitment Jesus was talking about when he nearly tries to discourage people from becoming his followers when he says, "If anyone wants to be my disciple, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me." (Could it be that if this question were asked more often, the church would be filled with fewer hypocrites, making it more difficult on those living authentic, Christ-like lives?)
If you are like me, that sort of statement leaves you scratching your head and asking, "Do I REALLY want to do this?" Most days I answer "YES!" Some days it's more of a whisper "yeah, i guess so" or a barely audible "uh-huh".
May you find (or be found) by something (or Someone) that is worthy of such commitment (stubborness!)
Grace & peace.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Baseball & God: Love &...Not
I think it's time to break it off. I have a mistress. I've loved her for years. I knew her before I met my wife. I kept on seeing her even when we got married. Now, here I am, airing my laundry in public, just like one of those losers on Jerry Springer.
My mistress is baseball. It has been a part of my life for years. I remember playing in the backyard with neighborhood kids. I remember riding up to the school field with 1 other kid and we'd hit each other flyballs. I remember taking a tennis ball and a bat and playing 2 on 2 at the junior high school parking lot, throwing up against the wall where we had drawn a chalk outline of a strikezone. And I remember playing whiffle ball with my neighbor.
I remember listening to the local radio station 2 times a week to hear a local sports broadcaster give the final score to our games and see if he'd mention my 4 rbi's or my stellar pitching performance. (I think we actually recorded some of those broadcasts on cassette tapes. They must be great quality.)
Occasionally I pull out the local press clippings of my "career". I wowed my wife and kids with what a great athlete I was.
But my body and my skills and my opportunities went by the wayside. So I turned to SOFTBALL. It was the best I could do. It wasn't fastpitch. Then I went from playing the best around to "church leagues" (codeword for "lesser competition").
(When I admit playing softball, I think of Jim Rome's "softball guy". An overcompetitive, takes this thing way too seriously stereotype. I'm not THAT guy...usually.)
Monday night I was pitching for my church team and this gorilla sent a line-drive-rocket back at me on the pitcher's mound. Now, I know that I should be in a defensive stance after releasing the ball. (Your feet should be spread about shoulder-width, two hands up, ready to react.) I KNOW this, but I wasn't in the stance, nor was I ready for the rocket. So...
The gorilla bounces his rocket-shot off of my left thigh. It reached our thirdbasewoman (did I mention the league is co-ed?) on a hop. Two days and several ice packs later, the bruise is the size of a soccer ball (football for the non-Americans). But I think more bruised than my thigh is my sense of pride. And now I wonder: is it time to let this softball, the last vestige of baseball, go?
I LOVE baseball. I've accepted underhand, slow-pitch, softball, a watered down version of the real thing, in my estimation. But maybe it has served its purpose in my life.
Sometimes I feel that way about faith. I am currently reading through the Bible. (By the way, how many people who reject the Bible have NEVER READ IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH?? I mean, can you really dismiss a whole religion, with thousands of years of history, without investigating it for yourself.)
Anyway, I'm in the book of Joshua. Not a place for the pacifists among us. There is significant violence. The Hebrew people take the city of Jericho. They take the people in the surrounding cities.
But in chapter 8 they stone a guy to death and set "his sons, daughters, oxen, donkeys, sheep, and his tent, all that he had...on fire."
Now, this guy, his name is Achan, had caused trouble for the community and all the nation. Achan had stolen stuff and then hid it from the group. We can agree that he deserved to be punished and that he had brought trouble on everyone else in his group. But stoning? And setting everyone/thing else in his home on fire? Really??
So what are we to make of this?
Well, let me start out by saying that I'm not the Answer Man. I don't have all the answers. I don't think that faith can be all wrapped up in a neat little package with a bow and ribbon on it. I think faith is often messy and unruly, kind of like trying to get the extension cords separated that my kids put away last time. You untangle and untangle and get it untangled enough to use it, though maybe not all the way straightened out.
Now if that sounds like a cop-out...it probably is.
I think Joshua 8 teaches us that God is not simply a God of love. That God is also a God of justice. A God who sets up particular laws and then says, "there are consequences for messing them up." Or "mess up here and you mess up your world too." We could talk about big picture items like the environment or social structures (families, marriages or the poor and prejudice and discrimination).
But none of that helps out poor Achan.
Well, I'd like to give it a little more time and thought, but I've got a softball game.
Grace & peace.
My mistress is baseball. It has been a part of my life for years. I remember playing in the backyard with neighborhood kids. I remember riding up to the school field with 1 other kid and we'd hit each other flyballs. I remember taking a tennis ball and a bat and playing 2 on 2 at the junior high school parking lot, throwing up against the wall where we had drawn a chalk outline of a strikezone. And I remember playing whiffle ball with my neighbor.
I remember listening to the local radio station 2 times a week to hear a local sports broadcaster give the final score to our games and see if he'd mention my 4 rbi's or my stellar pitching performance. (I think we actually recorded some of those broadcasts on cassette tapes. They must be great quality.)
Occasionally I pull out the local press clippings of my "career". I wowed my wife and kids with what a great athlete I was.
But my body and my skills and my opportunities went by the wayside. So I turned to SOFTBALL. It was the best I could do. It wasn't fastpitch. Then I went from playing the best around to "church leagues" (codeword for "lesser competition").
(When I admit playing softball, I think of Jim Rome's "softball guy". An overcompetitive, takes this thing way too seriously stereotype. I'm not THAT guy...usually.)
Monday night I was pitching for my church team and this gorilla sent a line-drive-rocket back at me on the pitcher's mound. Now, I know that I should be in a defensive stance after releasing the ball. (Your feet should be spread about shoulder-width, two hands up, ready to react.) I KNOW this, but I wasn't in the stance, nor was I ready for the rocket. So...
The gorilla bounces his rocket-shot off of my left thigh. It reached our thirdbasewoman (did I mention the league is co-ed?) on a hop. Two days and several ice packs later, the bruise is the size of a soccer ball (football for the non-Americans). But I think more bruised than my thigh is my sense of pride. And now I wonder: is it time to let this softball, the last vestige of baseball, go?
I LOVE baseball. I've accepted underhand, slow-pitch, softball, a watered down version of the real thing, in my estimation. But maybe it has served its purpose in my life.
Sometimes I feel that way about faith. I am currently reading through the Bible. (By the way, how many people who reject the Bible have NEVER READ IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH?? I mean, can you really dismiss a whole religion, with thousands of years of history, without investigating it for yourself.)
Anyway, I'm in the book of Joshua. Not a place for the pacifists among us. There is significant violence. The Hebrew people take the city of Jericho. They take the people in the surrounding cities.
But in chapter 8 they stone a guy to death and set "his sons, daughters, oxen, donkeys, sheep, and his tent, all that he had...on fire."
Now, this guy, his name is Achan, had caused trouble for the community and all the nation. Achan had stolen stuff and then hid it from the group. We can agree that he deserved to be punished and that he had brought trouble on everyone else in his group. But stoning? And setting everyone/thing else in his home on fire? Really??
So what are we to make of this?
Well, let me start out by saying that I'm not the Answer Man. I don't have all the answers. I don't think that faith can be all wrapped up in a neat little package with a bow and ribbon on it. I think faith is often messy and unruly, kind of like trying to get the extension cords separated that my kids put away last time. You untangle and untangle and get it untangled enough to use it, though maybe not all the way straightened out.
Now if that sounds like a cop-out...it probably is.
I think Joshua 8 teaches us that God is not simply a God of love. That God is also a God of justice. A God who sets up particular laws and then says, "there are consequences for messing them up." Or "mess up here and you mess up your world too." We could talk about big picture items like the environment or social structures (families, marriages or the poor and prejudice and discrimination).
But none of that helps out poor Achan.
Well, I'd like to give it a little more time and thought, but I've got a softball game.
Grace & peace.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Grease, Summer, Slavery, and Sabbath
Have you seen the musical/movie "Grease"?
I have to confess that I'm not an expert on the subject. But I HAVE watched more of it than I'd care to admit, though never having seen the movie all the way through. (My wife and daughters think it is "the ginchiest" and have occasionally been watching it as I walk in and out of the room.)
One thing I DO remember about the movie is the way an encounter between Olivia Newton John and John Travolta over the summer break, is retold once they get back to school. If I remember correctly, Travolta is too cool to tell his friends exactly the way that it happened. Getting back to school makes him remember his reputation, and he has to reinterpret the story to maintain the cool factor.
I find summer does the same to me. It messes up my life, or more specifically, my routine.
During the other nine months of the year, I keep a pretty regular schedule (though for a minister, "regular" is often still quite fluid with trips to the hospital, impromptu counseling sessions, funerals, and other unexpected activities). But that aside, I get to particular tasks with some regularity.
One of the worst hits my routine takes during the summer is the computer. The blog and the e-mail are the most severe casulaties. During the fall/winter/spring I'm at the computer regularly. (Not at "addict level", mind you.) But a couple of times a day, Mon.-Thur. And once or so on Sat./Sun. I get to the computer. (Fri. is my day off. And with the exception of fantasy football [yes, I'm one of those geeks, {but not at an "addict level", mind you}], I don't turn on the computer.)
But the summer is crazy. I have little or no set schedule. I go days without communicating with people on e-mail, without checking in at my blog, without seeing who's doing what. (Mamacita, thanks for forwarding the Wittenburg Door e-mail!)
Now here's the weird thing. With the exception of my blog readership being down, NO ONE SEEMS TO MIND. I haven't had ONE PERSON complain, give me an inquisitive, "Where have you been?" or an indignant "I've been waiting for you to respond!!"
So here's what I'm wondering. Are we all too closely tied to our communication devices? Are we slaves of our cell phones, pagers, PDA's, e-mail, etc.? Are we too concerned about getting that message or answering that call? How often is it really life-or-death? How often is it much less significant?
In Exodus, God seems to anticipate this sort of thing when doling out the Ten Commandments. #4 reads: "Remember to observe the Sabbath to keep it holy. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God."
Now if you grew up in a tradition like mine, they liked to make lists of things you can't do. And the whole Sabbath thing becomes a bit of a drag, a giant wag-of-the-finger exercise. (I remember one friend of mine saying he'd given up playing tennis with the family on Sun. afternoons because the minister frowned upon it.)
Anyway, my recent experience reminded me that the intent of Sabbath was maybe much more beneficial to me than a mere prohibition. Maybe it is the intent of Sabbath to remind me, as Eugene Peterson writes, that the world can go on without me...without me answering my e-mails and blogging for ONE DAY. That the world was here before I came and will most likely be here after I'm gone. That me and my tasks aren't nearly as irreplaceable as I'm duped into believing. That the world is not so fragile as to fall apart when I take an extra 24 hrs. to see what spam I've rec'd about the latest male anhancement formula, mortgage deal, or gambling-online opportunity.
So take a Sabbath. Use 1/7 of your week to cease from work, labor, honey-do lists, and chores. Take 1 day out of 7 and use it to recreate your mind, body, and spirit. Could be the best thing you've done all week. You could even use it to watch "Grease".
Grace & peace.
I have to confess that I'm not an expert on the subject. But I HAVE watched more of it than I'd care to admit, though never having seen the movie all the way through. (My wife and daughters think it is "the ginchiest" and have occasionally been watching it as I walk in and out of the room.)
One thing I DO remember about the movie is the way an encounter between Olivia Newton John and John Travolta over the summer break, is retold once they get back to school. If I remember correctly, Travolta is too cool to tell his friends exactly the way that it happened. Getting back to school makes him remember his reputation, and he has to reinterpret the story to maintain the cool factor.
I find summer does the same to me. It messes up my life, or more specifically, my routine.
During the other nine months of the year, I keep a pretty regular schedule (though for a minister, "regular" is often still quite fluid with trips to the hospital, impromptu counseling sessions, funerals, and other unexpected activities). But that aside, I get to particular tasks with some regularity.
One of the worst hits my routine takes during the summer is the computer. The blog and the e-mail are the most severe casulaties. During the fall/winter/spring I'm at the computer regularly. (Not at "addict level", mind you.) But a couple of times a day, Mon.-Thur. And once or so on Sat./Sun. I get to the computer. (Fri. is my day off. And with the exception of fantasy football [yes, I'm one of those geeks, {but not at an "addict level", mind you}], I don't turn on the computer.)
But the summer is crazy. I have little or no set schedule. I go days without communicating with people on e-mail, without checking in at my blog, without seeing who's doing what. (Mamacita, thanks for forwarding the Wittenburg Door e-mail!)
Now here's the weird thing. With the exception of my blog readership being down, NO ONE SEEMS TO MIND. I haven't had ONE PERSON complain, give me an inquisitive, "Where have you been?" or an indignant "I've been waiting for you to respond!!"
So here's what I'm wondering. Are we all too closely tied to our communication devices? Are we slaves of our cell phones, pagers, PDA's, e-mail, etc.? Are we too concerned about getting that message or answering that call? How often is it really life-or-death? How often is it much less significant?
In Exodus, God seems to anticipate this sort of thing when doling out the Ten Commandments. #4 reads: "Remember to observe the Sabbath to keep it holy. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God."
Now if you grew up in a tradition like mine, they liked to make lists of things you can't do. And the whole Sabbath thing becomes a bit of a drag, a giant wag-of-the-finger exercise. (I remember one friend of mine saying he'd given up playing tennis with the family on Sun. afternoons because the minister frowned upon it.)
Anyway, my recent experience reminded me that the intent of Sabbath was maybe much more beneficial to me than a mere prohibition. Maybe it is the intent of Sabbath to remind me, as Eugene Peterson writes, that the world can go on without me...without me answering my e-mails and blogging for ONE DAY. That the world was here before I came and will most likely be here after I'm gone. That me and my tasks aren't nearly as irreplaceable as I'm duped into believing. That the world is not so fragile as to fall apart when I take an extra 24 hrs. to see what spam I've rec'd about the latest male anhancement formula, mortgage deal, or gambling-online opportunity.
So take a Sabbath. Use 1/7 of your week to cease from work, labor, honey-do lists, and chores. Take 1 day out of 7 and use it to recreate your mind, body, and spirit. Could be the best thing you've done all week. You could even use it to watch "Grease".
Grace & peace.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Jim Rome & Jesus
One of my favorite passtimes is listening to sports talk radio. And one of the most entertaining talk shows is "The Jim Rome Show". I have to admit that I'm "a clone" and enjoy being "in the jungle".
The other day Jim was ranting about a particular professional baseball player, a pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, I believe. This pitcher had begun a program to help less fortunate kids attend Major League Baseball games. (I think it was called the "45 Club" or some such name, in recognition of the players uniform number, and the number of kids he'd pay for each game.)
Sounds great, so far, right? Well hold on a minute. There were a few caveats.
First, the kids were only attending games in which this guy pitched. (He is a "starting pitcher", so he only pitches once every five games.) No biggie, I suppose.
Second, when he was yanked from the starting lineup, "demoted" to the bullpen and turned into a reliever, this great philanthropist YANKED the program. No more freebies for the kiddies! (Apparently if HE'S not pitching, the kids wouldn't be interested.)
Third, when he was reinstated as a starter again, he decided NOT to RESTART THE PROGRAM because, (and this was the point Rome was railing against) HE WASN'T GETTING ENOUGH CREDIT!!
Imagine, a multi-millionaire, who could do a few kids some real good, but refused because people weren't NOTICING WHAT A GREAT GUY HE IS. People weren't paying him enough attention for being generous. The media and others weren't reporting on what a GREAT, and MAGNANIMOUS GUY he is. He wasn't getting any love, any "pub".
"Well" Rome said on his nationally syndicated show, "guess you got some publicity now, didn't you?!" (I didn't see it that evening, but I wondered if he mentioned it on his nationally televised show "Rome is Burning" on ESPN too.)
The "take" about this spoiled, selfish prima donna did make my blood boil. But it also got me thinking:
"How often do I do things for others with NO thought or care about getting 'credit' or drawing attention to myself." Probably not nearly often enough.
Rome contrasted this small-hearted (no-hearted?) act with that of another athlete. Warrick Dunn, professional football player for the Atlanta Falcons, has provided new homes for people (usually single moms, I think). He has been a one-man "Extreme Home Makeover". And he seems to do it without caring whether or not people notice. But they do notice.
Kind of reminds me of what Jesus said about himself to his followers, people who would want to be like him. Jesus told them he "came not to BE SERVED, but TO SERVE, and to GIVE his life as a ransom for many". He also told his followers, "you do that for each other" (after he had modeled the servant's life by washing their dirty, smelly feet).
There are two ways to do life in this world:
1.) Expecting to BE SERVED (even as we give or provide charity)
Or...
2.) Seeking TO SERVE OTHERS
I'm thankful for people like Warrick Dunn and people like Jesus. Their selfless lives make this world a better place. They make us better people. I pray for strength and love that will help me be like them.
Grace & peace.
The other day Jim was ranting about a particular professional baseball player, a pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, I believe. This pitcher had begun a program to help less fortunate kids attend Major League Baseball games. (I think it was called the "45 Club" or some such name, in recognition of the players uniform number, and the number of kids he'd pay for each game.)
Sounds great, so far, right? Well hold on a minute. There were a few caveats.
First, the kids were only attending games in which this guy pitched. (He is a "starting pitcher", so he only pitches once every five games.) No biggie, I suppose.
Second, when he was yanked from the starting lineup, "demoted" to the bullpen and turned into a reliever, this great philanthropist YANKED the program. No more freebies for the kiddies! (Apparently if HE'S not pitching, the kids wouldn't be interested.)
Third, when he was reinstated as a starter again, he decided NOT to RESTART THE PROGRAM because, (and this was the point Rome was railing against) HE WASN'T GETTING ENOUGH CREDIT!!
Imagine, a multi-millionaire, who could do a few kids some real good, but refused because people weren't NOTICING WHAT A GREAT GUY HE IS. People weren't paying him enough attention for being generous. The media and others weren't reporting on what a GREAT, and MAGNANIMOUS GUY he is. He wasn't getting any love, any "pub".
"Well" Rome said on his nationally syndicated show, "guess you got some publicity now, didn't you?!" (I didn't see it that evening, but I wondered if he mentioned it on his nationally televised show "Rome is Burning" on ESPN too.)
The "take" about this spoiled, selfish prima donna did make my blood boil. But it also got me thinking:
"How often do I do things for others with NO thought or care about getting 'credit' or drawing attention to myself." Probably not nearly often enough.
Rome contrasted this small-hearted (no-hearted?) act with that of another athlete. Warrick Dunn, professional football player for the Atlanta Falcons, has provided new homes for people (usually single moms, I think). He has been a one-man "Extreme Home Makeover". And he seems to do it without caring whether or not people notice. But they do notice.
Kind of reminds me of what Jesus said about himself to his followers, people who would want to be like him. Jesus told them he "came not to BE SERVED, but TO SERVE, and to GIVE his life as a ransom for many". He also told his followers, "you do that for each other" (after he had modeled the servant's life by washing their dirty, smelly feet).
There are two ways to do life in this world:
1.) Expecting to BE SERVED (even as we give or provide charity)
Or...
2.) Seeking TO SERVE OTHERS
I'm thankful for people like Warrick Dunn and people like Jesus. Their selfless lives make this world a better place. They make us better people. I pray for strength and love that will help me be like them.
Grace & peace.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
High-Pitched Ring Tones and Unhearing Ears
In the news the last couple of days has been a story about high-pitched ring tones. Apparently young ears are better able to hear certain pitches than older ears. This has been discovered by industrious, young, entrepreneurs who are capitalizing off of this information. They're marketing ring tones to students who don't want teachers to know they're text-messaging during class. They're marketing ring tones to kids who don't want their parents to know they're receiving calls.
"If a cell phone doesn't make a noise can it be ringing?!" Sounds like a deep, philosophical question some ancient, Greek thinker might have asked.
There are a lot of places in the Bible where "hearing" is important. Many times Jesus or others say/write, "Let him who has an ear hear..."
Have you ever reflected back upon a conversation with another person, sort of comparing notes, and one of you says to the other, "I didn't hear that at all"? Sometimes spiritual life is like that.
The spiritual ancestors of my tradition teach us that the ability to hear is a gift. Sometimes we don't hear anything and we think no one is speaking. We assume there is no noise. But maybe we're wrong. Maybe if we haven't heard anything in awhile, (or ever), it's because we are unable to hear. My prayer for you today is that Someone would open your ears, give you a keener sense of hearing, and you'd be ready to pick-up conversations that are happening around you each and everyday.
Grace & peace.
"If a cell phone doesn't make a noise can it be ringing?!" Sounds like a deep, philosophical question some ancient, Greek thinker might have asked.
There are a lot of places in the Bible where "hearing" is important. Many times Jesus or others say/write, "Let him who has an ear hear..."
Have you ever reflected back upon a conversation with another person, sort of comparing notes, and one of you says to the other, "I didn't hear that at all"? Sometimes spiritual life is like that.
The spiritual ancestors of my tradition teach us that the ability to hear is a gift. Sometimes we don't hear anything and we think no one is speaking. We assume there is no noise. But maybe we're wrong. Maybe if we haven't heard anything in awhile, (or ever), it's because we are unable to hear. My prayer for you today is that Someone would open your ears, give you a keener sense of hearing, and you'd be ready to pick-up conversations that are happening around you each and everyday.
Grace & peace.
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
666 & the Omen
I remember one time when I was growing up, a friend of mine was about to get back $6.66 in change and decided he needed to buy something more/less to remedy the amount of money he was dealing with. 666. "It's evil!" He avoided it like the plagues (pun intended).
Ever wonder what the big deal is about 666? (And why the marketing "geniuses" decided to release "The Omen" on 06/06/06?
It comes from Revelation 13:18. (Revelation is the last book in the Bible. It is apocalyptic literature, [revealing things that are hidden], often dealing with events in the future. However, to be fair, much of what the first hearers understood has little or nothing to how you or I would read it today.)
Revelation is also very image-oriented. You see beasts, a dragon, a Lamb, angels, creatures of mixed animals/characteristics. Bad guys are bad. Good guys are good. All you have to do is hear the description of them and you know who's who.
"The power of a book can be seen in what it does to people, and few books have affected people more dramatically than Revelation. In positive terms, Revelation has inspired countless sermons, theological treatises, artistic works, and musical compositions ranging from the triumphant 'Hallelujah Chorus' (Handel's Messiah) to the gentle strains of 'Jerusalem My Happy Home.'
"On the negative side, it has fed social upheaval and sectarian religious movements that have often foundered and misguided attempts to discern the date of Christ's return." (Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things)
In a NUTshell, many of the nuttiest people who call themselves "Christian" have nested there. Many have made this the playground for boredom or become addicted to "figuring out who the antichrist is". The list throughout Christian history is both scary and hilarious. (God help us if we'd actually ever live like Christ. We'd rather figure out the day he's coming back!)
Within this maze and amazing book appears the number 666. It comes at the end of a description of two beasts. The first beast in 13:1 is a "beast coming out of the sea." It had been struck with a fatal wound but came back to life. (Some similarity with Christ.) This beast slanders God and makes war against good, Godly people, (differentiated from Christ, who never was violent against any person.)
The second beast comes "out of the earth" (13:11). He looks somewhat like a lamb, (a description of Christ), but talks like a dragon (a description of evil, and personified by the devil). The second beast encourages and causes people to worship the first beast, (a form of idolatry [worshiping anything or anyone other than the One, True, Living God]). The 2nd beast forces people to receive a mark or sign of allegiance to the 1st beast, so that people are unable to buy or sell without it.
Revelation 13:18 reads: This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
For readers in that time, there are several possibilities of the meaning 0f 666. One possibility is that 6 is just short of 7. Seven is often used as a divine, complete, perfect number. Seven days in a week. Seven spirits surround the throne of God (in Revelation). "6" might be symbolic for a person attempting to act like God; the number for idolatry and usurping the place of The Almighty.
Another possibility might be the use of gematria. Letters were often assigned number values, so that a=1, b=2, etc. This was a commonly accepted way of connecting letters and numbers. The story is told of a street artist in Pompeii who scribbled graffiti, "I love her whose number is 545."
This is all well and good, if you know who the person is speaking about. (For instance, "Neron Kaiser" (Hebrew for Nero Caesar) would add up to 666. The writer could have been telling us "It's Nero all over again!!"
However, if we don't know who 666 is, we are left to speculate...which the church has done ad nauseum...with a wildly artistic flare. (For instance, Hitler, Ronald Reagan Wilson, or "computer" can, and probably have, been labeled as such, using various forms of gematria. [So, apparently, can CUTE PURPLE DINOSAUR, as in Barney!] (Koester 133).
So, suffice it to say we shouldn't be freaking out everytime we come across three 6's aligned neatly in a row. We don't need to worry about getting $6.66 back in change at the store, or being the 666th person into a Detroit Tigers' game.
However, I'm not naming my next kid Damien, nor am I going to waste the $8 to see the movie.
Grace & peace.
Ever wonder what the big deal is about 666? (And why the marketing "geniuses" decided to release "The Omen" on 06/06/06?
It comes from Revelation 13:18. (Revelation is the last book in the Bible. It is apocalyptic literature, [revealing things that are hidden], often dealing with events in the future. However, to be fair, much of what the first hearers understood has little or nothing to how you or I would read it today.)
Revelation is also very image-oriented. You see beasts, a dragon, a Lamb, angels, creatures of mixed animals/characteristics. Bad guys are bad. Good guys are good. All you have to do is hear the description of them and you know who's who.
"The power of a book can be seen in what it does to people, and few books have affected people more dramatically than Revelation. In positive terms, Revelation has inspired countless sermons, theological treatises, artistic works, and musical compositions ranging from the triumphant 'Hallelujah Chorus' (Handel's Messiah) to the gentle strains of 'Jerusalem My Happy Home.'
"On the negative side, it has fed social upheaval and sectarian religious movements that have often foundered and misguided attempts to discern the date of Christ's return." (Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things)
In a NUTshell, many of the nuttiest people who call themselves "Christian" have nested there. Many have made this the playground for boredom or become addicted to "figuring out who the antichrist is". The list throughout Christian history is both scary and hilarious. (God help us if we'd actually ever live like Christ. We'd rather figure out the day he's coming back!)
Within this maze and amazing book appears the number 666. It comes at the end of a description of two beasts. The first beast in 13:1 is a "beast coming out of the sea." It had been struck with a fatal wound but came back to life. (Some similarity with Christ.) This beast slanders God and makes war against good, Godly people, (differentiated from Christ, who never was violent against any person.)
The second beast comes "out of the earth" (13:11). He looks somewhat like a lamb, (a description of Christ), but talks like a dragon (a description of evil, and personified by the devil). The second beast encourages and causes people to worship the first beast, (a form of idolatry [worshiping anything or anyone other than the One, True, Living God]). The 2nd beast forces people to receive a mark or sign of allegiance to the 1st beast, so that people are unable to buy or sell without it.
Revelation 13:18 reads: This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
For readers in that time, there are several possibilities of the meaning 0f 666. One possibility is that 6 is just short of 7. Seven is often used as a divine, complete, perfect number. Seven days in a week. Seven spirits surround the throne of God (in Revelation). "6" might be symbolic for a person attempting to act like God; the number for idolatry and usurping the place of The Almighty.
Another possibility might be the use of gematria. Letters were often assigned number values, so that a=1, b=2, etc. This was a commonly accepted way of connecting letters and numbers. The story is told of a street artist in Pompeii who scribbled graffiti, "I love her whose number is 545."
This is all well and good, if you know who the person is speaking about. (For instance, "Neron Kaiser" (Hebrew for Nero Caesar) would add up to 666. The writer could have been telling us "It's Nero all over again!!"
However, if we don't know who 666 is, we are left to speculate...which the church has done ad nauseum...with a wildly artistic flare. (For instance, Hitler, Ronald Reagan Wilson, or "computer" can, and probably have, been labeled as such, using various forms of gematria. [So, apparently, can CUTE PURPLE DINOSAUR, as in Barney!] (Koester 133).
So, suffice it to say we shouldn't be freaking out everytime we come across three 6's aligned neatly in a row. We don't need to worry about getting $6.66 back in change at the store, or being the 666th person into a Detroit Tigers' game.
However, I'm not naming my next kid Damien, nor am I going to waste the $8 to see the movie.
Grace & peace.
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
The Hyphen - What We Value
Did you see the recent survey (I don't remember who it was by, but MSNBC reported it) that most people would prefer to be POOR than gain a substantial amount of weight? We HATE the idea of being fat. (As one who can speak to this subject with some inside knowledge, it IS pretty crappy.) But choosing to be poor? Not have enough money to buy basic items rather than being judged by others because of the way I looked? (Maybe I'm reading stuff into the survey that isn't there.)
In another, unrelated survey conducted by the Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, and Harvard University, 76% of black men said being successful in a career is very important (compared with 56% of white men). 70% of black men said living a religious life is very important (compared with 44% of their white counterparts).
Having a sociology degree and having spent some time constructing surveys, I tend to be skeptical of numbers. A poorly asked question can render statistics relatively meaningless. (For instance, in the aforementioned survey, what is "a religious life"? Is it living based upon a set of principles? Is it belonging to a group that adheres to these principles? Is it living by your own set of principles? Does it involve principles at all?!)
Even better proof that poor surveying, or poor interpretation of the data, ends up telling us absolutely nothing, was the title of the article as it appeared in the Ann Arbor News, "Black men both optimistic, pessimistic about selves, nation". Talk about newsless and lacking information!
But all this surveying makes me wonder: If surveyed, what would my life say is important? How can a life be surveyed, you wonder?
It is actually relatively easy to tell.
Pull out your calendar, blackberry, daytimer, whatever. What do you spend your time doing? Watching tv? Working? Playing? Acts of service for others? Gaming? Listening to music?
What people matter to you? Do you spend those times by yourself? With others? Or simply thinking about others?
I recently heard retired professional baseball player, Cal Ripken Jr. speak about how important the 25 minute ride to school everyday has become for he and his child. He looks forward to that set time when they get to discuss the significant events in each other's life and share a little time carved out for just them.
Pull out your credit card receipts or your checkbook. How do you spend your money? Books? Vacations? Clothes? Giving to those less fortunate?
What do you spend your time and energy thinking about? What is the first thought you have each day when you wake up? What are the things that fill your mind when you have a little free time? The next meal? Finding that special someone? Seeing a movie? How you're going to conquer that cool new game? Planning a getaway from the rest of life? How to make life easier for your neighbor or someone who is alone and hurting?
Here's the thing. On any typical tombstone are four items:
1. The name of the deceased
2. The year they were born
3. The year they died
4. A hyphen in between #'s 2 & 3
You have no control over #2 or #3. You have a lot of control with what happens in between. The hyphen is yours! Carpe diem! Live today as if it were your last. Make the next five minutes count. Kiss your wife. Hug your kid. Write that poem. Compose that song. Bring a smile to the face of that friend who's hurting with a card or a phone call. Don't wait. Do it now.
Then after that five minutes is over, find a way to do it again.
May you construct the life you've always wanted by doing what matters most now. Shut off the computer. Close the book. And get on with what really counts.
Grace & peace.
In another, unrelated survey conducted by the Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, and Harvard University, 76% of black men said being successful in a career is very important (compared with 56% of white men). 70% of black men said living a religious life is very important (compared with 44% of their white counterparts).
Having a sociology degree and having spent some time constructing surveys, I tend to be skeptical of numbers. A poorly asked question can render statistics relatively meaningless. (For instance, in the aforementioned survey, what is "a religious life"? Is it living based upon a set of principles? Is it belonging to a group that adheres to these principles? Is it living by your own set of principles? Does it involve principles at all?!)
Even better proof that poor surveying, or poor interpretation of the data, ends up telling us absolutely nothing, was the title of the article as it appeared in the Ann Arbor News, "Black men both optimistic, pessimistic about selves, nation". Talk about newsless and lacking information!
But all this surveying makes me wonder: If surveyed, what would my life say is important? How can a life be surveyed, you wonder?
It is actually relatively easy to tell.
Pull out your calendar, blackberry, daytimer, whatever. What do you spend your time doing? Watching tv? Working? Playing? Acts of service for others? Gaming? Listening to music?
What people matter to you? Do you spend those times by yourself? With others? Or simply thinking about others?
I recently heard retired professional baseball player, Cal Ripken Jr. speak about how important the 25 minute ride to school everyday has become for he and his child. He looks forward to that set time when they get to discuss the significant events in each other's life and share a little time carved out for just them.
Pull out your credit card receipts or your checkbook. How do you spend your money? Books? Vacations? Clothes? Giving to those less fortunate?
What do you spend your time and energy thinking about? What is the first thought you have each day when you wake up? What are the things that fill your mind when you have a little free time? The next meal? Finding that special someone? Seeing a movie? How you're going to conquer that cool new game? Planning a getaway from the rest of life? How to make life easier for your neighbor or someone who is alone and hurting?
Here's the thing. On any typical tombstone are four items:
1. The name of the deceased
2. The year they were born
3. The year they died
4. A hyphen in between #'s 2 & 3
You have no control over #2 or #3. You have a lot of control with what happens in between. The hyphen is yours! Carpe diem! Live today as if it were your last. Make the next five minutes count. Kiss your wife. Hug your kid. Write that poem. Compose that song. Bring a smile to the face of that friend who's hurting with a card or a phone call. Don't wait. Do it now.
Then after that five minutes is over, find a way to do it again.
May you construct the life you've always wanted by doing what matters most now. Shut off the computer. Close the book. And get on with what really counts.
Grace & peace.
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