I recently finished up (hopefully) raking and bagging 40 bags of leaves. It was quite a switch for me because the house we moved from had a row of pine trees in the back (read that as no leaves) and one small maple tree in the front yard and most of those leaves blew away before I ever got a chance to pick up a rake. The house we live in now has a nice selection of mature trees, which provide good shade in the summer and good exercise in the Fall. I should have seen it coming.
When I was 10, leaves were all about playing. We would rake up huge piles of leaves just so we could jump in them. Once we got tired of jumping we would spread them out into rows and move the rows around to make the outline of a house (complete with leaf furniture) and then pretend to live there.
When I was a child, the falling leaves were something to celebrate, but today those same leaves have become mostly a nuisance. The leaves haven’t changed. They still smell the same and they still crackle when you step on them. The only thing that has changed is me.
So, I began asking myself, “Is this what it means to get old? Have I become so jaded to the world around me that I no longer have a sense of wonder in my soul; a bit of whimsy in my life?” I’m afraid the answer might be, “yes.”
I tell myself that I’ve just gotten responsible and that this is called “maturity.” I tell myself that this is what is supposed to happen but then I remember that Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:17) and I wonder about losing touch with the child I once was.
Then, it struck me that part of my Christian journey might be to re-learn something that I once intuitively knew but have lost along the way. The real issue might not have anything to do with being old or having an abundance of leaves. The real issue might be how much I trust Jesus.
I (like so many others) may have simply decided to let the challenges of life dictate my response to life. Without really thinking about it I’m afraid that I have said to God that He can take a break because I've got it handled and then I come to those reflective moments when I realize just how much of a burden that really is. I'm starting to have sympathy for the OT people of Israel.
To jump or not jump is not the question. To trust or not to trust is. I think I want to be a child again, in the best possible way.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Gratitude
The following is a summary of the conversation we had last Sunday.
The word for today is “grateful.” We are called to be followers of Jesus Christ, which means that we are all in the process of deciding if we are ready and willing to actually follow. But, the reality is that we won’t follow a stranger. This means that following Jesus begins with a relationship. We experience His presence in our lives and we learn to trust Him more and more every day.
What this means is that everything we do in Church should help us to build our relationship to the living God. In fact, the ultimate goal is for us to become like Him and He has made the way for this new life.So, from time to time we gather together to celebrate this relationship and our transformation and this is what we call “WORSHIP.”
The word that should define everything we do in the Church is “GRATEFUL.” Worship was never meant to be an educational program and it was never meant to be a spectator sport. Worship is each of us individually coming together corporately to declare that we are “forever grateful” for all that God has done for us. Worship is not about us but it says something about us. When we give up our time to be in worship we are making a statement about what is valuable to us. Being in Church (or staying home) are both statements we make about what is important.
And this is the continual challenge we face. If our goal is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, how is that love expressed? If we actually love the Lord with everything we have how do we measure that love? If I keep saying that I love potato salad but never eat potato salad wouldn’t you wonder what I meant by that statement? If I said that I love football but never watched football or played football wouldn’t you want to know what football really meant to me? If I say that I love God and it doesn’t affect the way I talk and act and the way I spend my time and my money wouldn’t you want to know what I mean when I make that claim? Our friends want to know!
What I’m getting to is that at some point our conversation about love has to become pragmatic. What am I willing to do because I love the Lord MY God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength? What sacrifices am I willing to make because I love my neighbor as I love myself? The offering is not us just paying the bills. The offering is me trying to put into real, meaningful terms how much I love Jesus. In that sense, the offering may be the most significantly spiritual moment in the entire worship gathering because it is me putting into real terms what my love for Him really means.
What you and I give should have nothing to do with what your Church’s annual budget is. You and I should give out of thanksgiving for what God has done (and is doing) in our lives. You and I should give because we love Jesus more than we love anything else. In order for me to be thankful my giving has to mean something to me. It’s not enough that I gave more than you did. That misses the whole point. What I give has to mean something to me or it means nothing at all.
I’ve always thought that a tithe was a good place to begin the conversation. Julie and I have been “tithers” for our entire married life even when we had nothing, even when we were raising three small children, even when we had to borrow money to pay our taxes God deserved our love and thanksgiving. It wasn’t always much and it was never enough but it was a sacrifice we were willing to make. It meant something to us. I can imagine that there are people in the world for whom a tithe wouldn’t mean anything at all and for those people a tithe wouldn’t be enough.
My mother is 94 years old and she lives on social security and a small pension my father had from his years with the police department in La Crosse. Last time we talked about it, my mother was giving $20 each week to her local church. Sadly enough, at the time I think that made my mother one of the largest givers to her local church. She gives because she’s thankful.
Every day we express our thanksgiving and as we do there are a number of principles that we need to pay attention to.
“…of him who has much, much will be expected.” (Luke 12:48)
“…the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly” (2 Cor. 9:6)
“You cannot serve both God and wealth.” (Luke 16:13)
It is always about being thankful.
The word for today is “grateful.” We are called to be followers of Jesus Christ, which means that we are all in the process of deciding if we are ready and willing to actually follow. But, the reality is that we won’t follow a stranger. This means that following Jesus begins with a relationship. We experience His presence in our lives and we learn to trust Him more and more every day.
What this means is that everything we do in Church should help us to build our relationship to the living God. In fact, the ultimate goal is for us to become like Him and He has made the way for this new life.So, from time to time we gather together to celebrate this relationship and our transformation and this is what we call “WORSHIP.”
The word that should define everything we do in the Church is “GRATEFUL.” Worship was never meant to be an educational program and it was never meant to be a spectator sport. Worship is each of us individually coming together corporately to declare that we are “forever grateful” for all that God has done for us. Worship is not about us but it says something about us. When we give up our time to be in worship we are making a statement about what is valuable to us. Being in Church (or staying home) are both statements we make about what is important.
And this is the continual challenge we face. If our goal is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, how is that love expressed? If we actually love the Lord with everything we have how do we measure that love? If I keep saying that I love potato salad but never eat potato salad wouldn’t you wonder what I meant by that statement? If I said that I love football but never watched football or played football wouldn’t you want to know what football really meant to me? If I say that I love God and it doesn’t affect the way I talk and act and the way I spend my time and my money wouldn’t you want to know what I mean when I make that claim? Our friends want to know!
What I’m getting to is that at some point our conversation about love has to become pragmatic. What am I willing to do because I love the Lord MY God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength? What sacrifices am I willing to make because I love my neighbor as I love myself? The offering is not us just paying the bills. The offering is me trying to put into real, meaningful terms how much I love Jesus. In that sense, the offering may be the most significantly spiritual moment in the entire worship gathering because it is me putting into real terms what my love for Him really means.
What you and I give should have nothing to do with what your Church’s annual budget is. You and I should give out of thanksgiving for what God has done (and is doing) in our lives. You and I should give because we love Jesus more than we love anything else. In order for me to be thankful my giving has to mean something to me. It’s not enough that I gave more than you did. That misses the whole point. What I give has to mean something to me or it means nothing at all.
I’ve always thought that a tithe was a good place to begin the conversation. Julie and I have been “tithers” for our entire married life even when we had nothing, even when we were raising three small children, even when we had to borrow money to pay our taxes God deserved our love and thanksgiving. It wasn’t always much and it was never enough but it was a sacrifice we were willing to make. It meant something to us. I can imagine that there are people in the world for whom a tithe wouldn’t mean anything at all and for those people a tithe wouldn’t be enough.
My mother is 94 years old and she lives on social security and a small pension my father had from his years with the police department in La Crosse. Last time we talked about it, my mother was giving $20 each week to her local church. Sadly enough, at the time I think that made my mother one of the largest givers to her local church. She gives because she’s thankful.
Every day we express our thanksgiving and as we do there are a number of principles that we need to pay attention to.
“…of him who has much, much will be expected.” (Luke 12:48)
“…the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly” (2 Cor. 9:6)
“You cannot serve both God and wealth.” (Luke 16:13)
It is always about being thankful.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Now All We Need Is A Marching Band
I was watching the Badger game on Saturday (before running off to Church for a wedding) and I found myself fascinated (again) with the sheer energy of the game and it had nothing to do with what was happening on the field.
There were thousands of people (a sea of Badger red) jumping and screaming and cheering on the team and I know that this scene (except for the Badger red) was being replayed all over the country and I began wondering (not for the first time) what it was, about this game or this setting, that generated this kind of excitement.
My first thought, and the easy answer, was “beer.” Why else would people pay anywhere from $50 to $300 a ticket to spend three hours outdoors on metal bench seats in the cold and the rain and be glad for the opportunity? Intoxication would explain a lot of that behavior but the problem with my “beer theory” is that I personally know people who are practical “teetotalers” and are just as fanatical as anyone else.
The real question I want answered (a question you hear preachers use from time to time) is why are we so willing to act like fools for a game but never express that same kind of passion for Jesus?
I’m guessing here, but I suspect that the difference between the game and Jesus is that we know that the game doesn’t really matter and contrariwise we intuitively know that Jesus is important (or at the very least could be important) and we don’t want to mess this up.
What we have with the game is confidence. What we don’t have with Jesus is confidence. What Jesus came to provide for us is confidence in Him.
Jesus said to the paralytic, “…that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Luke 5:24
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “…believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” John 10:38
The Apostle Paul said, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints…” Ephesians 1:18
When we KNOW Jesus forgiveness in our lives, when we KNOW He is able to change things, when we really KNOW “the hope to which he has called” us then we can begin to dance and shout and sing in a whole new way and we might even begin to think of ourselves as Jesus’ FANS. We are supposed to KNOW. Now all we need is a marching band.
There were thousands of people (a sea of Badger red) jumping and screaming and cheering on the team and I know that this scene (except for the Badger red) was being replayed all over the country and I began wondering (not for the first time) what it was, about this game or this setting, that generated this kind of excitement.
My first thought, and the easy answer, was “beer.” Why else would people pay anywhere from $50 to $300 a ticket to spend three hours outdoors on metal bench seats in the cold and the rain and be glad for the opportunity? Intoxication would explain a lot of that behavior but the problem with my “beer theory” is that I personally know people who are practical “teetotalers” and are just as fanatical as anyone else.
The real question I want answered (a question you hear preachers use from time to time) is why are we so willing to act like fools for a game but never express that same kind of passion for Jesus?
I’m guessing here, but I suspect that the difference between the game and Jesus is that we know that the game doesn’t really matter and contrariwise we intuitively know that Jesus is important (or at the very least could be important) and we don’t want to mess this up.
What we have with the game is confidence. What we don’t have with Jesus is confidence. What Jesus came to provide for us is confidence in Him.
Jesus said to the paralytic, “…that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Luke 5:24
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “…believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” John 10:38
The Apostle Paul said, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints…” Ephesians 1:18
When we KNOW Jesus forgiveness in our lives, when we KNOW He is able to change things, when we really KNOW “the hope to which he has called” us then we can begin to dance and shout and sing in a whole new way and we might even begin to think of ourselves as Jesus’ FANS. We are supposed to KNOW. Now all we need is a marching band.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Maroon Car Jesus
The other day I was driving down National Ave. when a maroon car with a Jesus fish on the trunk and a cross decal in the rear window made a right turn without stopping and pulled in front of me. I applied the brakes to keep from ending up in “maroon car’s” back seat and then spent the next few minutes following this car and thinking about what it means to be a witness for Jesus.
Two blocks later we stopped at a red light and the person in the maroon car turned right at the red light so that they could turn left into a bank parking lot and then back onto the road, breaking traffic laws, in an effort to bypass the light. It worked, in the sense that the maroon car with Jesus on the back got where it wanted to go without getting stopped by an officer of the law, but it didn’t go unnoticed. Someone is always paying attention.
This is the lesson that all of we who follow Jesus need to understand and apply. When we claim Jesus as our Savior we take on the responsibility of representing Jesus in the world and someone is always paying attention. This means that every word we say, every thing we do, every trip we take, and every dollar we spend is a statement that is being read by someone. This means that our entire lives needs to be laid as a sacrifice on His altar.
Now, I understand that there are extenuating circumstances that no one but God will see or understand and it’s possible that “maroon car Jesus” may have been desperately trying to get to the hospital because of some family emergency but that doesn’t release me from my commitment. My relationship to Jesus needs to be more than just a set of sacred songs or a holy litany performed in a congregation. My faith has to go beyond Sunday or Christmas or Easter and be embodied in the ordinary things of my every day life. Until my relationship to Jesus becomes the core of who I am it hasn’t become what it needs to be.
I expect it is possible that one day it will be my turn to be that one who is rushing to the hospital and when that time comes I know that God will understand if my life (in that moment) doesn’t adequately reflect his love made real. I hope that those who see my desperation won’t blame my failure on Jesus.
But, today, I need to live my life as if someone is watching because someone is.
Two blocks later we stopped at a red light and the person in the maroon car turned right at the red light so that they could turn left into a bank parking lot and then back onto the road, breaking traffic laws, in an effort to bypass the light. It worked, in the sense that the maroon car with Jesus on the back got where it wanted to go without getting stopped by an officer of the law, but it didn’t go unnoticed. Someone is always paying attention.
This is the lesson that all of we who follow Jesus need to understand and apply. When we claim Jesus as our Savior we take on the responsibility of representing Jesus in the world and someone is always paying attention. This means that every word we say, every thing we do, every trip we take, and every dollar we spend is a statement that is being read by someone. This means that our entire lives needs to be laid as a sacrifice on His altar.
Now, I understand that there are extenuating circumstances that no one but God will see or understand and it’s possible that “maroon car Jesus” may have been desperately trying to get to the hospital because of some family emergency but that doesn’t release me from my commitment. My relationship to Jesus needs to be more than just a set of sacred songs or a holy litany performed in a congregation. My faith has to go beyond Sunday or Christmas or Easter and be embodied in the ordinary things of my every day life. Until my relationship to Jesus becomes the core of who I am it hasn’t become what it needs to be.
I expect it is possible that one day it will be my turn to be that one who is rushing to the hospital and when that time comes I know that God will understand if my life (in that moment) doesn’t adequately reflect his love made real. I hope that those who see my desperation won’t blame my failure on Jesus.
But, today, I need to live my life as if someone is watching because someone is.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Spiritual Dieting
So, I’ve decided that it’s time to go on another diet. I can’t say that it’s something I want to do it’s just one of those things that would be in my best interest. If experience is any kind of teacher then I know (going in) that my chances of success are (at best) mixed. Over the last 30 years I’ve lost close to 150 pounds but the problem is that over those same years I have managed to find about 120 replacements.
The fact that after 30 years I’m down 30 pounds should be counted as a success but I remember how hard it is to drop a few pounds and how easy it is to pick them up. I have a friend who once told me (and I believe he knew of what he spoke) that it is physically possible to gain 3 pounds a day but it is physically impossible to lose 3 pounds a day which creates an interesting dilemma. It is easier to fail than it is to succeed.
We actually might say that about life in general. It is easier to quit something than it is to start something and it is easier to sit than it is to go ahead. We may know it is best and we may want to succeed but we have a life full of things that encourage us to fail. We need support.
For dieters there are groups like Weight Watchers and for people struggling with substance abuse there are groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. These are places where people who are struggling to do what is best can find emotional support for taking up that challenge. For followers of Jesus that place is the Church.
Starbucks is trying to encourage us to “take comfort in rituals” (that’s their new advertising campaign) and there are many people who see the Church as nothing more than comforting rituals or a cultural touchstone and they miss the whole point. The Church is a family of the forgiven and a gathering of the transformed. We have been given a message of new life to proclaim to a world filled with people who are struggling to do what is right and are failing.
So, it is time again for a little discipline and we need each other’s help if we are going to succeed. Just remember, the next time you are trying to decide if you should go to Church, that there are people there who need your help (attending is NOT all about us) and subsequently there are people there who will help you, too. Everybody wins.
The fact that after 30 years I’m down 30 pounds should be counted as a success but I remember how hard it is to drop a few pounds and how easy it is to pick them up. I have a friend who once told me (and I believe he knew of what he spoke) that it is physically possible to gain 3 pounds a day but it is physically impossible to lose 3 pounds a day which creates an interesting dilemma. It is easier to fail than it is to succeed.
We actually might say that about life in general. It is easier to quit something than it is to start something and it is easier to sit than it is to go ahead. We may know it is best and we may want to succeed but we have a life full of things that encourage us to fail. We need support.
For dieters there are groups like Weight Watchers and for people struggling with substance abuse there are groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. These are places where people who are struggling to do what is best can find emotional support for taking up that challenge. For followers of Jesus that place is the Church.
Starbucks is trying to encourage us to “take comfort in rituals” (that’s their new advertising campaign) and there are many people who see the Church as nothing more than comforting rituals or a cultural touchstone and they miss the whole point. The Church is a family of the forgiven and a gathering of the transformed. We have been given a message of new life to proclaim to a world filled with people who are struggling to do what is right and are failing.
So, it is time again for a little discipline and we need each other’s help if we are going to succeed. Just remember, the next time you are trying to decide if you should go to Church, that there are people there who need your help (attending is NOT all about us) and subsequently there are people there who will help you, too. Everybody wins.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Ponytails And Clean Fingernails
I recently found a place where (for a reasonable fee) they would (as they say) “lower my ears.”
Whenever I go anywhere to get my hair cut someone will ask me what I would like it to look like and since I rarely (or try not to) look at myself in the mirror I always feel like I am not the best one to make that judgment. “You’re the expert.” I always say, “Just do what you think is best.”
Having grown up through the 60’s I have always been somewhat fascinated with hairstyles. From time to time I think about just letting it grow. In my mind I can picture myself as an aging hippie, going through life with French cuffed shirts, three-piece suits, tennis shoes and a ponytail; the 21st century expression of “cool.”
I know that I appear to be a fairly conservative guy (and basically I am) but the length of a person’s hair has never really been that big a deal to me. Maybe it’s because of all the years I’ve worn a beard of some sort. When I first grew a beard (back in the late 70’s…which seems like a long time ago) I would find myself (from time to time) talking to older people who thought my beard was a sort of “abomination” and yet talked endearingly about their grandfathers who were often pictured sporting long, untrimmed chin whiskers. I never quite understood the difference.
In High School, when my hair was actually shorter than it is today, my father (who thought I was beginning to look too much like an actual hippie) offered to pay me $2.00 to get my hair cut. He was a crew cut (flat top) kind of guy. We were operating with differing definitions of the word “long.”
On the surface, following Jesus seems easy. After all, he has done all of the heavy lifting. The complication is that there seem to be a lot of (inconsequential) things that tend to get in the way for us.
So, we end up saying (without saying it) things like, “Jesus died for your sins and all you have to do is trust Him, as long as you get your hair cut and clean under your fingernails.” Or “God really loves you, but He would love you better if you wore a nicer pair of jeans.”
It seems to me that God’s love for us is non-negotiable and his sacrifice for us is thoroughly sufficient. I always put things like church attendance, tithing, Bible study and service as expressions of our thanksgiving. These are some of the things that I expect to see in me because I love Jesus more than anything else in this life. These are things that I expect we should all do gladly because our relationship with Jesus is making a difference in our lives every day. I suppose (under certain circumstances) I could insert clean clothes and personal grooming into the conversation at this point, but I would never want to get these carts in front of the actual horse (if you get my drift.)
So, I expect that when I finally get the nerve to move into my ponytail/three-piece suit stage that Jesus will love me just as much and I will love him the same (or hopefully even more.)
Whenever I go anywhere to get my hair cut someone will ask me what I would like it to look like and since I rarely (or try not to) look at myself in the mirror I always feel like I am not the best one to make that judgment. “You’re the expert.” I always say, “Just do what you think is best.”
Having grown up through the 60’s I have always been somewhat fascinated with hairstyles. From time to time I think about just letting it grow. In my mind I can picture myself as an aging hippie, going through life with French cuffed shirts, three-piece suits, tennis shoes and a ponytail; the 21st century expression of “cool.”
I know that I appear to be a fairly conservative guy (and basically I am) but the length of a person’s hair has never really been that big a deal to me. Maybe it’s because of all the years I’ve worn a beard of some sort. When I first grew a beard (back in the late 70’s…which seems like a long time ago) I would find myself (from time to time) talking to older people who thought my beard was a sort of “abomination” and yet talked endearingly about their grandfathers who were often pictured sporting long, untrimmed chin whiskers. I never quite understood the difference.
In High School, when my hair was actually shorter than it is today, my father (who thought I was beginning to look too much like an actual hippie) offered to pay me $2.00 to get my hair cut. He was a crew cut (flat top) kind of guy. We were operating with differing definitions of the word “long.”
On the surface, following Jesus seems easy. After all, he has done all of the heavy lifting. The complication is that there seem to be a lot of (inconsequential) things that tend to get in the way for us.
So, we end up saying (without saying it) things like, “Jesus died for your sins and all you have to do is trust Him, as long as you get your hair cut and clean under your fingernails.” Or “God really loves you, but He would love you better if you wore a nicer pair of jeans.”
It seems to me that God’s love for us is non-negotiable and his sacrifice for us is thoroughly sufficient. I always put things like church attendance, tithing, Bible study and service as expressions of our thanksgiving. These are some of the things that I expect to see in me because I love Jesus more than anything else in this life. These are things that I expect we should all do gladly because our relationship with Jesus is making a difference in our lives every day. I suppose (under certain circumstances) I could insert clean clothes and personal grooming into the conversation at this point, but I would never want to get these carts in front of the actual horse (if you get my drift.)
So, I expect that when I finally get the nerve to move into my ponytail/three-piece suit stage that Jesus will love me just as much and I will love him the same (or hopefully even more.)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Rad Dog
The other day I was following a Toyota Avalon (that’s a car) with the license plate “RADDOG” and my first thought was RADDOG doesn’t belong on a Toyota Avalon. RADDOG is a license plate for a Grand Am (that’s another car) or maybe an Alero (car) but RADDOG on an Avalon just didn’t seem right to me. I have always thought of Avalon people as “Golf Wisconsin” people or “Endangered Resources” people, nothing flashy. RADDOG on an Avalon is like wearing white socks with a black suit, it’s just not done.
Then I thought maybe RADDOG was a Grand Am guy who was moving up in the world and just couldn’t get the State to change his plate to something like MUVNUP (because all the good ones are already taken.) Or maybe RADDOG found himself in an Avalon but he was still a Grand Am guy at heart and “what can you do?”
Then I wondered where all of this was coming from. Do I really carry all of these unspoken prejudices with me all the time? Do I really make those kinds of associations? I guess so. Can my mind’s inner monologue really take me so easily from reality to fiction? Apparently. And is it possible that I can walk through this crazy line of reasoning and then think that it’s actually true? You know, like looking at a photograph of an event so many times that you begin to think that you were actually there? This is just scary.
Not too long ago I had another one of those conversations with someone who wondered if Jesus really expects us to “pray without ceasing” and I realized that this person (and lots of others) interpret the statement to be a command rather than an opportunity. The text from 1 Thessalonians (5:16-18) says, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks” and it seems to me that I need to be doing all of these things continually or else my imagination can take me to places that I should not go. I have been given the opportunity to be in a relationship with Jesus that is constant and continual. What a blessing.
There were no pragmatic consequences to my experience with RADDOG except to remind me that I have to be careful where I let my mind take me. If anything, this little conversation has reminded me that I have been called out of the world to be (as Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9) a “royal priest, a holy nation, God’s very own possession” so that I might “show others the goodness of God.” If I’m going to get this done I have to be paying attention because I want all of the RADDOG’s in the world to know the “goodness of God.”
So, drive on Mr. RADDOG and drive anything you want…except maybe an Escalade. Oops.
Then I thought maybe RADDOG was a Grand Am guy who was moving up in the world and just couldn’t get the State to change his plate to something like MUVNUP (because all the good ones are already taken.) Or maybe RADDOG found himself in an Avalon but he was still a Grand Am guy at heart and “what can you do?”
Then I wondered where all of this was coming from. Do I really carry all of these unspoken prejudices with me all the time? Do I really make those kinds of associations? I guess so. Can my mind’s inner monologue really take me so easily from reality to fiction? Apparently. And is it possible that I can walk through this crazy line of reasoning and then think that it’s actually true? You know, like looking at a photograph of an event so many times that you begin to think that you were actually there? This is just scary.
Not too long ago I had another one of those conversations with someone who wondered if Jesus really expects us to “pray without ceasing” and I realized that this person (and lots of others) interpret the statement to be a command rather than an opportunity. The text from 1 Thessalonians (5:16-18) says, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks” and it seems to me that I need to be doing all of these things continually or else my imagination can take me to places that I should not go. I have been given the opportunity to be in a relationship with Jesus that is constant and continual. What a blessing.
There were no pragmatic consequences to my experience with RADDOG except to remind me that I have to be careful where I let my mind take me. If anything, this little conversation has reminded me that I have been called out of the world to be (as Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9) a “royal priest, a holy nation, God’s very own possession” so that I might “show others the goodness of God.” If I’m going to get this done I have to be paying attention because I want all of the RADDOG’s in the world to know the “goodness of God.”
So, drive on Mr. RADDOG and drive anything you want…except maybe an Escalade. Oops.
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