The city is a world of its own. There is so much to learn and so many ways that people have adapted to the way of life there.
This week I learned two new terms: slugging and geo bachelor.
No slugging is not what you do with your fists. It isn't what you do when you use a piece of metal rather than a token to catch a ride on a bus or train. But it does have to do with transportation.
In the evenings when I have been heading home I am traveling north. The main bulk of the traffic is traveling south...or rather they are sitting in cars, idling and hoping to be moving at some time in the next week. That depends on the accidents caused by people who aren't paying attention or who are trying to weave in and out of traffic to save a nanosecond.
There is also another couple of lanes of traffic that seem to be moving rather well--the HOV lanes. Another acronym meaning High Occupancy Vehicles ONLY or else you'll get a hefty ticket. To travel in those lanes you have to have 3 or more people in your car. You get to move with less traffic and if its possible, go 65 MPH on the way home.
There are lots of people who live in Stratford, Woodbridge and Fredericksburg, VA who travel daily to DC. They don't want the Metro or trains. They skip the buses and vans. They want to drive their own car. There are also people who will take their lives in their hands and ride with someone who they don't know. Thus, people wait at prescribed places (not posted anywhere that I know) for rides with persons who want to drive in the HOV lanes. No cost...except the possibility of your life. Some of them like to drive 80-90 in the 65 zones.
Gotta get home. Or drive out my frustration with work.
On the way back you can meet in lines at the Pentagon for a ride home. That's slugging. Sometimes there are more people waiting than cars. Sometimes there are more cars than people waiting. There are also places in the city where you can catch a ride to other destinations. It used to be called car-pooling but with a little bit of an unknown twist.
I have been a geo bachelor for the last six months. I live somewhere to be able to work but my permanent home and wife are somewhere else. There are many others like this in the DC area. In fact, I just moved into a house with 5 other geo bachelors (one of whom is a bachelorette at 61). They are from NC, NV and other places I'm going to learn about.
Private room, shared bath with one other, common area, plenty of refrigeration space, full kitchen with privileges, laundry, street parking in a very quiet upscale neighborhood and an in-ground pool out back when the weather gets warmer. Not bad.
I found it on www.airbnb.com. We saw a story on TV about this type of lodging. It's a way that many are paying for houses they can no longer afford or they want to give someone the opportunity to supplement their income and utilize some of their home. You can stay around the world for a night, a week or for months (6yrs for one of my housemates). The price is right and the options are incredible. Check it out sometime.
God has now moved me from Alexandria, VA to Bowie, MD, into a house with others. It will be interesting to see how this changes life and what new opportunities it opens up. I've got to say it's better than the homeless shelter I lived in for a month back in 1991.
Subcultures. There are lots of them in a city. Most of them are off the radar. I had never heard of geo bachelors or slugging.
I want to start writing a series entitled "I dream". One of them will relate to community. I wonder how this community will develop.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Homeless
Things don't just happen. I believe the serendipitous things that occur in our life are an indication of the Holy Spirit at work right beside us as Jesus promised.
I picked up a book a couple of weeks ago titled The Street Lawyer by John Grisham. If I had looked at my list of books that I have read I would have thought I had already read it. Maybe I did but there wasn't anything in the book that registered as if I had been there and done that before. But now was the time I was to read it.
The title character was a high priced lawyer in a big firm in DC. He found out a story about some homeless people who had lost their lives, partly through the unethical behavior of someone in his large firm. He left the 400 plus colleagues and became a street lawyer helping those without advocacy to get the benefits and other legal issues resolved. The settings of the story were familiar to me from my time in DC although I haven't been to any of the shelters.
I work two blocks from the White House but every morning in walking the 3 blocks back and forth to the Metro station I pass homeless people. One multi-racial couple begged on the corner right across from the Metro station "Can you help a disabled man?" one named Tim (I just found out his name) asked every morning. I've seen others tucked in the alcoves of the buildings under piles of blankets and moving pads.
Others sold water during the hot days of summer. Several made their home in a park at the corner of H Street, stashing their belongings in the bushes and occupying the benches. It was obvious from their interaction that they knew each other and interacted like a small community. And of course, there are those who are obviously mentally unstable, wondering around with their carts full of stuff and speaking out their "wisdom" to those who weren't listening.
One of the regulars used to sit under a tree on the curb, in any weather, with a sign begging for help. He often mumbled incoherently, was without personal hygiene and ate his meals perched there on a plastic crate.
Recently I passed his spot, only he wasn't there. Neither were his belongings. Just some flowers.
Yesterday I stopped the water salesman, who is just begging now and asked him what happened to the guy. "He died," was his response. He abused alcohol, got drunk, fell hitting his head on the curb...and died right there in the park. Gone. I wonder who is missing him? I wonder who attended his funeral?
I've gotten to know Lorenzo, another of the street regulars. He asks every afternoon with the same deep, gravely voice "Change, spare change." I've sat down and talked to him some to find out that he isn't always homeless. He works in construction but isn't having luck right now finding a job.
I stopped to asked him about the fellow under the tree to confirm the story. (The other messenger had tried to hustle me for some flower money so I wanted to verify the story) Lorenzo confirmed his death and told me that Tim, the disabled man, had also died. The one who sat on the corner with his woman every day at the Metro station. He also suffered with alcohol abuse, in and out of the hospital and the effects of it finally killed him. Believe me, he wasn't that old.
Two in the same block in the last month. How many more are there in DC? How many more died recently...and weren't missed by those who walked by them every day?
Now what to do with all of this. I don't know yet. I do know that I intend to get to know Lorenzo better and find out more about life on the streets of DC. Is there enough food available? Are the shelters full (as some of the placards of beggars state)? Are there resources for those down on their luck?
Oh, did you know that I spent a month living in a shelter for homeless men in Baltimore a number of years ago? Interesting to see who ends up there. They aren't always criminals. Some just lost it by playing too close to the edge.
While we have the oleo going here, let me just mention that the Department of Veterans Affairs has vowed to end homelessness among the veterans by 2015...an aggressive goal that seems unaware of the desires of some who like being on the streets without all the responsibilities of life. Will putting people in shelters solve all their problems? How about their mental illnesses and broken hearts like so many of the rest of us have? We feed the body and not the soul.
As a community of faith what are we to be about in regards to the situation of those without homes? I'd be interested in your feedback. And you'll hear more from me as I get to know more on the streets and more about what their support network looks like.
I picked up a book a couple of weeks ago titled The Street Lawyer by John Grisham. If I had looked at my list of books that I have read I would have thought I had already read it. Maybe I did but there wasn't anything in the book that registered as if I had been there and done that before. But now was the time I was to read it.
The title character was a high priced lawyer in a big firm in DC. He found out a story about some homeless people who had lost their lives, partly through the unethical behavior of someone in his large firm. He left the 400 plus colleagues and became a street lawyer helping those without advocacy to get the benefits and other legal issues resolved. The settings of the story were familiar to me from my time in DC although I haven't been to any of the shelters.
I work two blocks from the White House but every morning in walking the 3 blocks back and forth to the Metro station I pass homeless people. One multi-racial couple begged on the corner right across from the Metro station "Can you help a disabled man?" one named Tim (I just found out his name) asked every morning. I've seen others tucked in the alcoves of the buildings under piles of blankets and moving pads.
Others sold water during the hot days of summer. Several made their home in a park at the corner of H Street, stashing their belongings in the bushes and occupying the benches. It was obvious from their interaction that they knew each other and interacted like a small community. And of course, there are those who are obviously mentally unstable, wondering around with their carts full of stuff and speaking out their "wisdom" to those who weren't listening.
One of the regulars used to sit under a tree on the curb, in any weather, with a sign begging for help. He often mumbled incoherently, was without personal hygiene and ate his meals perched there on a plastic crate.
Recently I passed his spot, only he wasn't there. Neither were his belongings. Just some flowers.
Yesterday I stopped the water salesman, who is just begging now and asked him what happened to the guy. "He died," was his response. He abused alcohol, got drunk, fell hitting his head on the curb...and died right there in the park. Gone. I wonder who is missing him? I wonder who attended his funeral?
I've gotten to know Lorenzo, another of the street regulars. He asks every afternoon with the same deep, gravely voice "Change, spare change." I've sat down and talked to him some to find out that he isn't always homeless. He works in construction but isn't having luck right now finding a job.
I stopped to asked him about the fellow under the tree to confirm the story. (The other messenger had tried to hustle me for some flower money so I wanted to verify the story) Lorenzo confirmed his death and told me that Tim, the disabled man, had also died. The one who sat on the corner with his woman every day at the Metro station. He also suffered with alcohol abuse, in and out of the hospital and the effects of it finally killed him. Believe me, he wasn't that old.
Two in the same block in the last month. How many more are there in DC? How many more died recently...and weren't missed by those who walked by them every day?
Now what to do with all of this. I don't know yet. I do know that I intend to get to know Lorenzo better and find out more about life on the streets of DC. Is there enough food available? Are the shelters full (as some of the placards of beggars state)? Are there resources for those down on their luck?
Oh, did you know that I spent a month living in a shelter for homeless men in Baltimore a number of years ago? Interesting to see who ends up there. They aren't always criminals. Some just lost it by playing too close to the edge.
While we have the oleo going here, let me just mention that the Department of Veterans Affairs has vowed to end homelessness among the veterans by 2015...an aggressive goal that seems unaware of the desires of some who like being on the streets without all the responsibilities of life. Will putting people in shelters solve all their problems? How about their mental illnesses and broken hearts like so many of the rest of us have? We feed the body and not the soul.
As a community of faith what are we to be about in regards to the situation of those without homes? I'd be interested in your feedback. And you'll hear more from me as I get to know more on the streets and more about what their support network looks like.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Christmas
One of the benefits of staying where I am in Alexandria, VA with my friend is that he is a book addict. His collection of over 5,000 books gives me plenty of variety in reading material. Just before Christmas I found an interesting title and decided to enjoy it during the season...The Battle for Christmas. It was written by a Jewish professor of history from MA. Very interesting.
Where I pastored I used to ask my congregation "Why do we have Sunday School?" Believe it or not, Jesus didn't have perfect attendance at Sunday School. In fact, it didn't even exist until about 175 years ago. If we are supposed to be living in a dynamic life daily with the Holy Spirit, what would He be suggesting to us is the 2012 version of Sunday School? Alas, that is for another blog.
Good pastor that I am with leanings toward being a prophet I ask you, "What are the origins of Christmas and why do we celebrate that holiday today as we do?" Consider this stepping on your toes.
You might reply, "Jesus is the reason for the season." Ummm, let's look at that carefully. First thing, Jesus probably wasn't born around late December. In fact, it was probably earlier in the year, maybe sometime before October. Why? Because the shepherds wouldn't be out in their fields tending their flocks in late December. It was too dang cold. Oops! Where did all this hoopla come from in late December?
Christmas celebration as we know it today had its roots in Europe but let's look at the history from the 1600's in America just to keep it short (400 years short). Christmas celebration in late December actually was banned in early New England. That's because it was a time of intense rowdiness, drunkenness and free sex. Yes, in New England in the 1600's. In fact, the birth rate climbed pointedly in September and early October.
It was the end of the harvest when there was an abundance of food and drink. A time to relax and let it all hang out. Certainly not the type of celebration that would focus on the birth of Christ.
Without giving away the whole book, let's just say that even in the 1700 and 1800's there was a move to clean up the holiday, de-liquor it and rein in the rowdy gangs of young men and women. Santa Claus got brought into the picture first as St Nicholas. But he was too "bishopy", which the real St Nicholas was. So he morphed into a jolly, old man made famous by the 1800's story of the night before Christmas.
And yes, back then, the commercialization even got its start. It got promoted as a great time to give gifts by the merchants who wanted to survive (and there is a history to that that doesn't tie directly to the Wise Men). The Christmas tree got added, children got included. But so were the servants and slaves as important parts of feeling good about treating those fairly who had been taken advantage of the rest of the year.
Well, now that I have burst your bubble, where do we go from here? As followers of Christ in 2012 and beyond how do we refocus our celebration on the birth of Christ? As the prophetic voice of a new Kingdom, how do we speak into our culture and put the focus where it belongs?
The argument could be made that we should continue to celebrate the real reason for celebration...the birth of Christ...observing it in the more likely time it actually happened. Problem is our holiday (read holy day) wouldn't be sanctioned with a day off by our bosses. People might even look at us as weird (remember the prophet going through the streets naked? Or wearing an ox yoke?). We might even be celebrating it in August.
Or we could start by doing Christmas differently during the season that everyone is focused on it. Or we could not do Christmas at all. (Discuss this in your small groups or maybe at Starbucks) Should we focus all our goodwill (and that is rooted in the 1600's way of doing Christmas) just during the latter few weeks of the year? Or as Christ's family should we be generous year round in His name? How are we as followers of Christ to interpret His kingdom for those who need to hear the Good News? Do we live like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, splitting our personalities between acting righteous during Christmas and acting like...(can't think of a good word here that won't offend) the rest of the year? Isn't it time for us to celebrate Christ's birth year round?
Let's try it this year. De-emphasize Christmas during the latter part of the year and heavily emphasize it the rest of the year in the way we treat others, the way we spend our money, the way we do our jobs and the way we relate to the world. We're supposed to be trend setters and that's because we are followers of Christ and not the world. Can we start a new trend that has roots beyond the 1600's back to a little town in Bethlehem?
Where I pastored I used to ask my congregation "Why do we have Sunday School?" Believe it or not, Jesus didn't have perfect attendance at Sunday School. In fact, it didn't even exist until about 175 years ago. If we are supposed to be living in a dynamic life daily with the Holy Spirit, what would He be suggesting to us is the 2012 version of Sunday School? Alas, that is for another blog.
Good pastor that I am with leanings toward being a prophet I ask you, "What are the origins of Christmas and why do we celebrate that holiday today as we do?" Consider this stepping on your toes.
You might reply, "Jesus is the reason for the season." Ummm, let's look at that carefully. First thing, Jesus probably wasn't born around late December. In fact, it was probably earlier in the year, maybe sometime before October. Why? Because the shepherds wouldn't be out in their fields tending their flocks in late December. It was too dang cold. Oops! Where did all this hoopla come from in late December?
Christmas celebration as we know it today had its roots in Europe but let's look at the history from the 1600's in America just to keep it short (400 years short). Christmas celebration in late December actually was banned in early New England. That's because it was a time of intense rowdiness, drunkenness and free sex. Yes, in New England in the 1600's. In fact, the birth rate climbed pointedly in September and early October.
It was the end of the harvest when there was an abundance of food and drink. A time to relax and let it all hang out. Certainly not the type of celebration that would focus on the birth of Christ.
Without giving away the whole book, let's just say that even in the 1700 and 1800's there was a move to clean up the holiday, de-liquor it and rein in the rowdy gangs of young men and women. Santa Claus got brought into the picture first as St Nicholas. But he was too "bishopy", which the real St Nicholas was. So he morphed into a jolly, old man made famous by the 1800's story of the night before Christmas.
And yes, back then, the commercialization even got its start. It got promoted as a great time to give gifts by the merchants who wanted to survive (and there is a history to that that doesn't tie directly to the Wise Men). The Christmas tree got added, children got included. But so were the servants and slaves as important parts of feeling good about treating those fairly who had been taken advantage of the rest of the year.
Well, now that I have burst your bubble, where do we go from here? As followers of Christ in 2012 and beyond how do we refocus our celebration on the birth of Christ? As the prophetic voice of a new Kingdom, how do we speak into our culture and put the focus where it belongs?
The argument could be made that we should continue to celebrate the real reason for celebration...the birth of Christ...observing it in the more likely time it actually happened. Problem is our holiday (read holy day) wouldn't be sanctioned with a day off by our bosses. People might even look at us as weird (remember the prophet going through the streets naked? Or wearing an ox yoke?). We might even be celebrating it in August.
Or we could start by doing Christmas differently during the season that everyone is focused on it. Or we could not do Christmas at all. (Discuss this in your small groups or maybe at Starbucks) Should we focus all our goodwill (and that is rooted in the 1600's way of doing Christmas) just during the latter few weeks of the year? Or as Christ's family should we be generous year round in His name? How are we as followers of Christ to interpret His kingdom for those who need to hear the Good News? Do we live like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, splitting our personalities between acting righteous during Christmas and acting like...(can't think of a good word here that won't offend) the rest of the year? Isn't it time for us to celebrate Christ's birth year round?
Let's try it this year. De-emphasize Christmas during the latter part of the year and heavily emphasize it the rest of the year in the way we treat others, the way we spend our money, the way we do our jobs and the way we relate to the world. We're supposed to be trend setters and that's because we are followers of Christ and not the world. Can we start a new trend that has roots beyond the 1600's back to a little town in Bethlehem?
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Reality Shows
If the people don't praise God the rocks will cry out.
I know I sound like a broken record sometimes but I believe it is the message that God has given me to proclaim. Something is missing in the way we do church today versus what God intended. I read about it this week in a blog. Rather than having the government do all the supporting of the widows and orphans its supposed to be the church's job.
So what happens when we aren't being the church the way God intended it to be? Does He remain silent? Does He go into hibernation and disappear for a season or twenty?
The rocks cry out.
John Eldredge first gave me the idea that is the core of what I'm going to say. When the church quit showing the world what our God was like, Hollywood took up the mantel. Or better said, God used even carnal Hollywood to spread His message in the world. When we see epic films like Braveheart we see depicted the sacrificial life of Christ in the closing scenes of William Wallace's life. When we see the epic battles of good and evil in J R R Toilken's Lord of the Rings on the screen we get a glimpse of what is going on in the heavenlies....and what is also going on in the world we are a part of. It is unseen to many of us.
I had a thought this afternoon while watching a trailer for a new reality show about a super nanny. I only saw it once so I don't remember the real name of the show. But she enters a home in which abuse is taking place. She demonstrates to the father with a backpack of rocks the damage that is being done when the father is verbally abusing his son. Trying to carry the backpack full of rocks is hard and it is an object lesson used by the nanny to show the father what his criticism is doing to the son. The father ends up in tears. He is touching the pain he feels in his heart...probably because of the absence of a father figure to show him the Father.
You've probably also seen the shows on hoarding. The family has their possessions which literally took over their lives while in the home scattered all over the front lawn of the house. There as they attempt to sort out what they are going to keep and what they are going to throw away they begin to realize how their things have literally taken their lives away. The are brought to the place where they are talking about issues they have avoided for years. They are talking about the real impact of the piles of stuff. The elephant in the middle of the living room is exposed.
There is weeping. There is a seeing into their hearts. There is a connection that comes between family members that has been missing.
Why in hell (get offended if you wish) is that the "ministry" of the reality shows? Why isn't the church doing that very thing for the lives of those who warm their pews (or chairs) every Sunday morning? Why are we not setting people's lives free from the broken hearts they live with daily? Those broken hearts keep them from connecting with each other even when they live lives within inches of each other every day.
I shared something in a post with one of my FB friends this week. When our hearts have been hurt we recoil. We close off our hearts for further hurt by detaching ourselves from each other. The only problem is that we give up the chance of ever experiencing intimacy again.
We lash out at those closest to us with our pain like the father in the reality show toward his son. His burden that he has been carrying for many years is being transferred to his son. And his son has every possibility of transferring that to his son (or daughter).
And the hoarder is trying to fill the void in his/her heart by surrounding themselves with things, things and more things.
I had a conversation with my dearest male friend this week before he went into open heart surgery. He said he wasn't sure how much of the bill was going to be covered by his insurance, Medicare and that he may even have to literally sell his farm to have life.
My response to him was that who he is as a person is worth the farm...literally and figuratively.
When are we going to give up playing church and start being the church? When are we going to stop investing in things that moth and rust corrupts and get back to investing in real lives...lives that are hurting? Lives that don't know what a real relationship is like? Do we have to let the reality shows tell us what the church should be doing to rescue those with broken hearts (Us!) or is it time for us to BE the church?
"The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach Good News. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted. He has sent me to set the captives free."
I know I sound like a broken record sometimes but I believe it is the message that God has given me to proclaim. Something is missing in the way we do church today versus what God intended. I read about it this week in a blog. Rather than having the government do all the supporting of the widows and orphans its supposed to be the church's job.
So what happens when we aren't being the church the way God intended it to be? Does He remain silent? Does He go into hibernation and disappear for a season or twenty?
The rocks cry out.
John Eldredge first gave me the idea that is the core of what I'm going to say. When the church quit showing the world what our God was like, Hollywood took up the mantel. Or better said, God used even carnal Hollywood to spread His message in the world. When we see epic films like Braveheart we see depicted the sacrificial life of Christ in the closing scenes of William Wallace's life. When we see the epic battles of good and evil in J R R Toilken's Lord of the Rings on the screen we get a glimpse of what is going on in the heavenlies....and what is also going on in the world we are a part of. It is unseen to many of us.
I had a thought this afternoon while watching a trailer for a new reality show about a super nanny. I only saw it once so I don't remember the real name of the show. But she enters a home in which abuse is taking place. She demonstrates to the father with a backpack of rocks the damage that is being done when the father is verbally abusing his son. Trying to carry the backpack full of rocks is hard and it is an object lesson used by the nanny to show the father what his criticism is doing to the son. The father ends up in tears. He is touching the pain he feels in his heart...probably because of the absence of a father figure to show him the Father.
You've probably also seen the shows on hoarding. The family has their possessions which literally took over their lives while in the home scattered all over the front lawn of the house. There as they attempt to sort out what they are going to keep and what they are going to throw away they begin to realize how their things have literally taken their lives away. The are brought to the place where they are talking about issues they have avoided for years. They are talking about the real impact of the piles of stuff. The elephant in the middle of the living room is exposed.
There is weeping. There is a seeing into their hearts. There is a connection that comes between family members that has been missing.
Why in hell (get offended if you wish) is that the "ministry" of the reality shows? Why isn't the church doing that very thing for the lives of those who warm their pews (or chairs) every Sunday morning? Why are we not setting people's lives free from the broken hearts they live with daily? Those broken hearts keep them from connecting with each other even when they live lives within inches of each other every day.
I shared something in a post with one of my FB friends this week. When our hearts have been hurt we recoil. We close off our hearts for further hurt by detaching ourselves from each other. The only problem is that we give up the chance of ever experiencing intimacy again.
We lash out at those closest to us with our pain like the father in the reality show toward his son. His burden that he has been carrying for many years is being transferred to his son. And his son has every possibility of transferring that to his son (or daughter).
And the hoarder is trying to fill the void in his/her heart by surrounding themselves with things, things and more things.
I had a conversation with my dearest male friend this week before he went into open heart surgery. He said he wasn't sure how much of the bill was going to be covered by his insurance, Medicare and that he may even have to literally sell his farm to have life.
My response to him was that who he is as a person is worth the farm...literally and figuratively.
When are we going to give up playing church and start being the church? When are we going to stop investing in things that moth and rust corrupts and get back to investing in real lives...lives that are hurting? Lives that don't know what a real relationship is like? Do we have to let the reality shows tell us what the church should be doing to rescue those with broken hearts (Us!) or is it time for us to BE the church?
"The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach Good News. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted. He has sent me to set the captives free."
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Character
Character isn't something you hear much about today. We've developed into a relativistic society where the "absolutes" don't exist any more. If it works for you, do it. If nobody is watching, you'll probably get by with it.
Guilt is more about whether you get caught or not, not whether what you did was wrong or right, broke a moral code or God's law.
The issue of character arises when something like what has happened to the candidate Cain, CEO of Godfather's Pizza makes the news. He was accused several times of sexual harassment and most recently he made the scene because he was accused of having a 13 year affair with someone. John Edwards was having an affair and fathering a child with someone other than his wife as he ran for president.
Back when Weiner was having his troubles with sending pictures to a woman that wasn't his wife, the subject came up at the office. One of my colleagues made the comment that it shouldn't matter what he did in his private life as long as it didn't interfere with his public service.
I challenged that thought. You see, we aren't able to separate our private and public lives. We think we can...as long as someone doesn't find out what we're really like. If we don't get caught, what does it matter?
Its a matter of character. I heard a simple definition of character when I was a kid. I would make it a deeper thing than this but it's a good place to get started. Character is what you act out of when no one is watching. It is your core ethical value. It is based in the fact that as a follower of Christ we are held accountable to Him for our actions...whether we get caught or not by someone else. The motivation for our behavior isn't the fear of getting caught or even the fear of God's punishment. The thrust of our behavior comes from the relationship we have with the Father who sees all anyway. We act in a way that pleases Him because we love Him and He loves us.
If the core of someone's ethics allows them to violate their sacred marriage covenant can they adequately govern or lead anyway? I don't think so. We are our character. Our character is the core of who we are. We lead and make decisions out of our character. What is to stop someone who will violate their marriage vows from doing something else illegal? Really, nothing. Even the fear of getting caught can't keep people from behaving immorally.
If I say that I am for family values publicly and then violate the vows of a core family what does that say about me? It says that I am a person without integrity. I am operating out of duplicity. I am saying one thing and doing another. I am speaking out of both sides of my mouth. My character is not solid and my moral values are up for grabs at any moment depending on the situation.
It is time for us as followers of Christ to be people of character and integrity. It is time for us to live like we talk. It is time for us to model what singleness of mind and heart look like. If I say that I support family values then I should live a life that demonstrates that I take that seriously. If I say that I love my wife or husband then I should act like that in public and private. Not put on an act, but be integrated. If I say I uphold the law then I should uphold ALL of the law, not just the parts that are convenient, not just the parts that I can brag about keeping while leaving silent the ones that I don't uphold.
I'm ready for some leaders whose character is that of integrity. Who live lives of integrity. Who practice what they preach. Who, if they say they are on the side of the poor, don't take advantage of their position to rake in thousands of dollars so that their portfolio is bigger than when they took office. If you are for the middle and lower class, then live like us. If you are for ending homelessness, take someone in, support them or at least talk to them on the street as if they were really a person and not just a thing begging.
I was raised to be concerned about what people think about me. I judged my actions for many years on that basis. Until I realized that it really didn't matter what others thought of me. It mattered if I pleased my King. It mattered if I brought honor or shame on His name as His follower. I ultimately do what I do in light of His judgement on my heart and not whether it is right to me or 10,000 others. I can't do what I do based on what others do. I must do what I am called to do as a man of integrity who answers to a righteous judge who sees all that I say, think and do.
Corruption and sin are rampant. But by God's grace you and I can live lives of character that model the singleness of mind, the purity of righteousness that the Father holds dear, that is part and parcel of who He is. God is righteousness and His followers should like from that same core of being, out of the Spirit that is within us, not for the benefit of the sight of others but so that we can stand before Him and hear, "my good and faithful servant".
Guilt is more about whether you get caught or not, not whether what you did was wrong or right, broke a moral code or God's law.
The issue of character arises when something like what has happened to the candidate Cain, CEO of Godfather's Pizza makes the news. He was accused several times of sexual harassment and most recently he made the scene because he was accused of having a 13 year affair with someone. John Edwards was having an affair and fathering a child with someone other than his wife as he ran for president.
Back when Weiner was having his troubles with sending pictures to a woman that wasn't his wife, the subject came up at the office. One of my colleagues made the comment that it shouldn't matter what he did in his private life as long as it didn't interfere with his public service.
I challenged that thought. You see, we aren't able to separate our private and public lives. We think we can...as long as someone doesn't find out what we're really like. If we don't get caught, what does it matter?
Its a matter of character. I heard a simple definition of character when I was a kid. I would make it a deeper thing than this but it's a good place to get started. Character is what you act out of when no one is watching. It is your core ethical value. It is based in the fact that as a follower of Christ we are held accountable to Him for our actions...whether we get caught or not by someone else. The motivation for our behavior isn't the fear of getting caught or even the fear of God's punishment. The thrust of our behavior comes from the relationship we have with the Father who sees all anyway. We act in a way that pleases Him because we love Him and He loves us.
If the core of someone's ethics allows them to violate their sacred marriage covenant can they adequately govern or lead anyway? I don't think so. We are our character. Our character is the core of who we are. We lead and make decisions out of our character. What is to stop someone who will violate their marriage vows from doing something else illegal? Really, nothing. Even the fear of getting caught can't keep people from behaving immorally.
If I say that I am for family values publicly and then violate the vows of a core family what does that say about me? It says that I am a person without integrity. I am operating out of duplicity. I am saying one thing and doing another. I am speaking out of both sides of my mouth. My character is not solid and my moral values are up for grabs at any moment depending on the situation.
It is time for us as followers of Christ to be people of character and integrity. It is time for us to live like we talk. It is time for us to model what singleness of mind and heart look like. If I say that I support family values then I should live a life that demonstrates that I take that seriously. If I say that I love my wife or husband then I should act like that in public and private. Not put on an act, but be integrated. If I say I uphold the law then I should uphold ALL of the law, not just the parts that are convenient, not just the parts that I can brag about keeping while leaving silent the ones that I don't uphold.
I'm ready for some leaders whose character is that of integrity. Who live lives of integrity. Who practice what they preach. Who, if they say they are on the side of the poor, don't take advantage of their position to rake in thousands of dollars so that their portfolio is bigger than when they took office. If you are for the middle and lower class, then live like us. If you are for ending homelessness, take someone in, support them or at least talk to them on the street as if they were really a person and not just a thing begging.
I was raised to be concerned about what people think about me. I judged my actions for many years on that basis. Until I realized that it really didn't matter what others thought of me. It mattered if I pleased my King. It mattered if I brought honor or shame on His name as His follower. I ultimately do what I do in light of His judgement on my heart and not whether it is right to me or 10,000 others. I can't do what I do based on what others do. I must do what I am called to do as a man of integrity who answers to a righteous judge who sees all that I say, think and do.
Corruption and sin are rampant. But by God's grace you and I can live lives of character that model the singleness of mind, the purity of righteousness that the Father holds dear, that is part and parcel of who He is. God is righteousness and His followers should like from that same core of being, out of the Spirit that is within us, not for the benefit of the sight of others but so that we can stand before Him and hear, "my good and faithful servant".
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Outliers
I recently finished listening to a book my sister-in-law gave me on CD called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. After listening to the full set of CDs I was rather discouraged until I listened to the interview at the end of the set and had an insight.
To understand my insight in context I have to tell you a little about the book. Outliers are those things which fall outside the majority of the responses to something. So if you were a anomaly to the rest of the statistics you would be an outlier. Outliers give managers statistics to look at to determine if there is validity to the outlier or if it was just a fluke.
In Gladwell's book he talks about how most professional hockey players were born in the early part of the year. That is because of the cutoff date for kids to play hockey in different leagues. If you were born in December and not January, you would miss the cutoff date and wouldn't have the opportunities to excel in hockey as a kid growing up through the ranks of hockey clubs. You might be a good hockey player but you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the best clubs for your age, have the opportunity to play a lot or attend the best camps. Just the date of your birth would close some of the opportunities for you to develop.
He also used Bill Gates as an example. He was born into a comfortable family and had a unusual opportunity to have access to a computer in 1968 for unlimited time. It was a rare experience. There were universities and professionals who didn't have the exposure to unlimited computer time like he had as a teenager. Others who have excelled in the computing field were born around the same time.
The Beatles spent a number of years playing in German clubs, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. You have to develop skills as a musician with that much playing time. When they hit the big time they were experienced musicians with way more practice time than most garage bands.
After listening to this book I came away rather discouraged because it left me feeling that if I wasn't born in the right time and had the right opportunities, I was just going to be average.
But the insight that came when listening to the interview at the end of the book changed all that.
Who determines when we are going to be born? If I read the Scriptures correctly we aren't born because of the whim or decision of even our parents. We often hear people talk about "accidents" or "surprise" pregnancies. But the Scriptures refute that. We are born when we are born and to whom we are born at the will of the Father. In fact, to make it more clear He tells us in Ephesians that He thought of us before the foundations of the world. We were not a mistake and our lives are not a random thing. We were born when the Father wanted us to be born.
In carrying that a little farther, the Father determines what experiences we have in life. It is He who exposes us to the opportunities He wants us to have. In fact, even as we exercise our own free will, making decisions that thwart the Father's design on our lives, He can redeem that diversion. He can use it for our good.
So we were born into the family the Father ordained. The experiences we had there, even the bad ones, can shape us and draw us to the Father for redemption of those sins committed against us. Our birth and those life experiences are not random, determined by someone else. They are under the Father's loving control of our lives.
I had to repent this week. I believe God got me the job I have in DC. It didn't come because of someone else's influence or pull. And I'm going to leave DC until the Father takes me out of there. It's not up to someone's whim whether I stay or not. My life is controlled by the Father. He opens the doors and He shuts them. Can someone or something stand in the way of God's will? Of course. But again, He can redeem it. He can open another door.
God provided a place for me to live in the DC area. The guy I am staying with and I first met in...grade school. We were friends in high school and were active in the same church youth group. We kept in touch with each other periodically over the years but I only saw him face-to-face once in 45 years. Now he is providing a home for me and companionship while I have to live away from Pat. Coincidence? I don't think so. His open heart to me was a part of God's provision for me after 50 years.
Our vision of the circumstances of our lives determine how we take advantage of the opportunities. What has the Father exposed you to? What unique experiences have you had that make you an "outlier"? What circumstances has the Father set up just for you to fulfill His call on your life? It's never too late to fulfill His heart's desire for you.
To understand my insight in context I have to tell you a little about the book. Outliers are those things which fall outside the majority of the responses to something. So if you were a anomaly to the rest of the statistics you would be an outlier. Outliers give managers statistics to look at to determine if there is validity to the outlier or if it was just a fluke.
In Gladwell's book he talks about how most professional hockey players were born in the early part of the year. That is because of the cutoff date for kids to play hockey in different leagues. If you were born in December and not January, you would miss the cutoff date and wouldn't have the opportunities to excel in hockey as a kid growing up through the ranks of hockey clubs. You might be a good hockey player but you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the best clubs for your age, have the opportunity to play a lot or attend the best camps. Just the date of your birth would close some of the opportunities for you to develop.
He also used Bill Gates as an example. He was born into a comfortable family and had a unusual opportunity to have access to a computer in 1968 for unlimited time. It was a rare experience. There were universities and professionals who didn't have the exposure to unlimited computer time like he had as a teenager. Others who have excelled in the computing field were born around the same time.
The Beatles spent a number of years playing in German clubs, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. You have to develop skills as a musician with that much playing time. When they hit the big time they were experienced musicians with way more practice time than most garage bands.
After listening to this book I came away rather discouraged because it left me feeling that if I wasn't born in the right time and had the right opportunities, I was just going to be average.
But the insight that came when listening to the interview at the end of the book changed all that.
Who determines when we are going to be born? If I read the Scriptures correctly we aren't born because of the whim or decision of even our parents. We often hear people talk about "accidents" or "surprise" pregnancies. But the Scriptures refute that. We are born when we are born and to whom we are born at the will of the Father. In fact, to make it more clear He tells us in Ephesians that He thought of us before the foundations of the world. We were not a mistake and our lives are not a random thing. We were born when the Father wanted us to be born.
In carrying that a little farther, the Father determines what experiences we have in life. It is He who exposes us to the opportunities He wants us to have. In fact, even as we exercise our own free will, making decisions that thwart the Father's design on our lives, He can redeem that diversion. He can use it for our good.
So we were born into the family the Father ordained. The experiences we had there, even the bad ones, can shape us and draw us to the Father for redemption of those sins committed against us. Our birth and those life experiences are not random, determined by someone else. They are under the Father's loving control of our lives.
I had to repent this week. I believe God got me the job I have in DC. It didn't come because of someone else's influence or pull. And I'm going to leave DC until the Father takes me out of there. It's not up to someone's whim whether I stay or not. My life is controlled by the Father. He opens the doors and He shuts them. Can someone or something stand in the way of God's will? Of course. But again, He can redeem it. He can open another door.
God provided a place for me to live in the DC area. The guy I am staying with and I first met in...grade school. We were friends in high school and were active in the same church youth group. We kept in touch with each other periodically over the years but I only saw him face-to-face once in 45 years. Now he is providing a home for me and companionship while I have to live away from Pat. Coincidence? I don't think so. His open heart to me was a part of God's provision for me after 50 years.
Our vision of the circumstances of our lives determine how we take advantage of the opportunities. What has the Father exposed you to? What unique experiences have you had that make you an "outlier"? What circumstances has the Father set up just for you to fulfill His call on your life? It's never too late to fulfill His heart's desire for you.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Banquet
One of the hardest parts of walking in a new kingdom is that the surroundings you are in only remind you of the kingdom where you physically reside. Is that the way it's supposed to be? I don't think so. In fact, I know that the Father is always giving us little insights into the eternal kingdom that we are a part of. We just need to watch for them and embrace them when they come.
Recently I was thinking about an experience I had as a kid. I hadn't thought of it in a long time but the Holy Spirit brought it to mind to remind me that the Father is always showing us the kingdom.
I was telling someone about my parents on Fri. My mom was one of 13 and my father was an only child. Yes, that means conflict and lots of it. Both of them were raised in poverty with a few different twists. My dad actually stood in soup lines as a child during the depression. His father had died in a mining accident when he was only 2. So his mother, a widow with $4,000 to continue with, bought a lot and built a house. There she raised a garden and chickens in a shed so that they had food.
My mom only got a new pair of shoes once a year. The other day she told me how she was going to give a report in school and her mother sent her to the store to buy a new dress...with $2. She found two for $2 and couldn't decide which one to wear. Any way, her life was a little bit less poor than my father's. She lived on a dairy farm. So they had milk, eggs, chickens, a garden and plenty to eat without standing in the soup lines.
After college, my mom and dad moved away from home to Louisville, the big city, to escape the 20-25% unemployment that offered few good jobs.
Dad got steady employment for a whopping $240 per month with the phone company. My mom pinched pennies and over the years saved money out of her grocery budget through wise spending.
Somewhere she got the idea that she was going to expose my sister and I to what she had never experienced. Dad did the same, but in a different way. I'll focus on mom in this blog.
With the savings from her grocery money and infrequent Christmas gifts from my father she acquired a set of china and a full set of real silverware...not stainless steel like we have had all our married life. On summer vacations when we went through Wheeling, WV she gathered together a collection of Fenton Glass seconds. We couldn't afford the firsts. But it was still real crystal.
There's a difference between plain glass and crystal. For one thing, the glasses are more delicate, break easier and certainly don't ever see the insides of a dishwasher. And if you stir the sugar in your ice tea you can't crack the tea spoon on the side of the glass without serious consequences. For me, death was threatened.
My mom from some place deep inside her wanted to teach both my sister and myself how to be comfortable in any setting where we might find ourselves. In order to do that, she set the table on Sundays for dinner with the best china, the real silverware and the crystal glasses, all with a tablecloth and real napkins. We were to be on our best manners. Napkin on our laps, elbows off the table and no clinking the tea spoon on the crystal.
She also taught us how to ask for our food to be passed to us...politely. She taught us how to eat with our mouths closed. No burping, slurping or smacking of lips. We also learned which utensil to use for which occasion. If you've ever been to a formal banquet you know that the typical place setting has about 6-8 different utensils for the different courses of the meal.
Besides the table settings we also had some different dinner fare. We had fried ham, pinto beans, cabbage, cornbread and other normal dishes for the rest of the week. But on Sundays she pulled out the stops. We had fried oysters, lobster tail and other delicacies. Believe me, these weren't typical foods on either of their tables at home as kids.
But as I thought about that over the last couple of weeks here's the message that came to me. When we talk about being invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb or to the Father's banqueting table what does it look like? Based on the carry-ins we've had at our churches and with friends it probably was eaten on Styrofoam plates with clear plastic cups and throw-away utensils. The table cloth was paper or plastic and there were few restrictions on how you were to eat or how much. The fare was hot dog and bean casserole, pickles and jello.
So when the Father talks about us being invited to the marriage feast or banquet what image do you suppose we get? China, linen napkins and crystal? Probably not. Is it any wonder that we don't look forward to that feast any more (or maybe even less) than the next church carry-in?
The Father showed me what it was going to be like. He's going to set the table with the best china, real silverware and with un-flawed crystal. The fare will be the richest delicacies that we can imagine (and we won't have to worry about gaining weight! Can you say "Amen!") He'll bring out the best wine first and serve it throughout the banquet. We will be able to eat our fill and the company will be unparallelled.
Isn't it time we start having meals with each other to celebrate the banquet we are all invited to that resemble more what we are going to have? Break out the best...and invite those from the highways and biways to join us so they understand the hope that we have and what we are looking forward to. And so that we better understand it as well.
Recently I was thinking about an experience I had as a kid. I hadn't thought of it in a long time but the Holy Spirit brought it to mind to remind me that the Father is always showing us the kingdom.
I was telling someone about my parents on Fri. My mom was one of 13 and my father was an only child. Yes, that means conflict and lots of it. Both of them were raised in poverty with a few different twists. My dad actually stood in soup lines as a child during the depression. His father had died in a mining accident when he was only 2. So his mother, a widow with $4,000 to continue with, bought a lot and built a house. There she raised a garden and chickens in a shed so that they had food.
My mom only got a new pair of shoes once a year. The other day she told me how she was going to give a report in school and her mother sent her to the store to buy a new dress...with $2. She found two for $2 and couldn't decide which one to wear. Any way, her life was a little bit less poor than my father's. She lived on a dairy farm. So they had milk, eggs, chickens, a garden and plenty to eat without standing in the soup lines.
After college, my mom and dad moved away from home to Louisville, the big city, to escape the 20-25% unemployment that offered few good jobs.
Dad got steady employment for a whopping $240 per month with the phone company. My mom pinched pennies and over the years saved money out of her grocery budget through wise spending.
Somewhere she got the idea that she was going to expose my sister and I to what she had never experienced. Dad did the same, but in a different way. I'll focus on mom in this blog.
With the savings from her grocery money and infrequent Christmas gifts from my father she acquired a set of china and a full set of real silverware...not stainless steel like we have had all our married life. On summer vacations when we went through Wheeling, WV she gathered together a collection of Fenton Glass seconds. We couldn't afford the firsts. But it was still real crystal.
There's a difference between plain glass and crystal. For one thing, the glasses are more delicate, break easier and certainly don't ever see the insides of a dishwasher. And if you stir the sugar in your ice tea you can't crack the tea spoon on the side of the glass without serious consequences. For me, death was threatened.
My mom from some place deep inside her wanted to teach both my sister and myself how to be comfortable in any setting where we might find ourselves. In order to do that, she set the table on Sundays for dinner with the best china, the real silverware and the crystal glasses, all with a tablecloth and real napkins. We were to be on our best manners. Napkin on our laps, elbows off the table and no clinking the tea spoon on the crystal.
She also taught us how to ask for our food to be passed to us...politely. She taught us how to eat with our mouths closed. No burping, slurping or smacking of lips. We also learned which utensil to use for which occasion. If you've ever been to a formal banquet you know that the typical place setting has about 6-8 different utensils for the different courses of the meal.
Besides the table settings we also had some different dinner fare. We had fried ham, pinto beans, cabbage, cornbread and other normal dishes for the rest of the week. But on Sundays she pulled out the stops. We had fried oysters, lobster tail and other delicacies. Believe me, these weren't typical foods on either of their tables at home as kids.
But as I thought about that over the last couple of weeks here's the message that came to me. When we talk about being invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb or to the Father's banqueting table what does it look like? Based on the carry-ins we've had at our churches and with friends it probably was eaten on Styrofoam plates with clear plastic cups and throw-away utensils. The table cloth was paper or plastic and there were few restrictions on how you were to eat or how much. The fare was hot dog and bean casserole, pickles and jello.
So when the Father talks about us being invited to the marriage feast or banquet what image do you suppose we get? China, linen napkins and crystal? Probably not. Is it any wonder that we don't look forward to that feast any more (or maybe even less) than the next church carry-in?
The Father showed me what it was going to be like. He's going to set the table with the best china, real silverware and with un-flawed crystal. The fare will be the richest delicacies that we can imagine (and we won't have to worry about gaining weight! Can you say "Amen!") He'll bring out the best wine first and serve it throughout the banquet. We will be able to eat our fill and the company will be unparallelled.
Isn't it time we start having meals with each other to celebrate the banquet we are all invited to that resemble more what we are going to have? Break out the best...and invite those from the highways and biways to join us so they understand the hope that we have and what we are looking forward to. And so that we better understand it as well.
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