Tuesday, April 29, 2008

No Need for the Wizard

My friend Julie's most recent post on her blog is pretty amazing. It's titled "Check," and, here's the thing, it's one of the best definitions I've seen of fighting the Christian life. It's not fuzzy-wuzzy, and you don't necessarily get a warm "Jesus" feeling inside you when you read it, but it's the truth of living out the Christian life. Make that Truth! And, it's one of the most courageous attitudes somebody can have because there are no guarantees with it.

Way to go, Julie!

Friday, April 25, 2008

So Defining

Here's the thing defined:

perfectionist \ˈpər-fikt-sh(ə-)nist\ noun or adjective
Used to describe or pertaining to one who gets frustrated with themselves, others, and situations that don't meet a standard that said person has decided is flawless. The root of much of these people's frustration is that they think they're God Almighty, the Creator of the Universe. They have displaced him as author and ruler and have set themselves up as king. There is a constant war going on between the idea they have in their head, and the reality that they cannot meet their own expectations. They think so highly of themselves that they are actually surprised when they make a mistake, and thus become incensed. With their self-diefication comes the right to get angry with others who don't live up to their standards and express their condescention in a haughty manner.

See also \ˈjā-sən\

Behind the Music

As I've said in posts before, I can be pretty hard on "Christian music," but CCLI -- that's the folks you have to pay if you want to print and use a praise song in worship -- posted a list of the top 25 praise songs that were paid for to be used in churches in Feb. http://www.ccli.com/usa/LicenseHolder/Top25Lists.aspx, and I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed. I mean, other than a couple of man-centered, surfacy songs, I'm so pleased to see that these are the songs folks are singing in churches all over America each Sunday morning, Saturday night, Tuesday afternoons, whenever your church has its weekly corporate worship service.

Here's the thing: you can tell a lot about the mindset of a church by the songs they sing. It really matters. It's nice to see a majority of songs being sung about God and his character, because the more time focused on him, the less time we're focused on ourselves. The less time we're focused on ourselves, the better!

Go Directly to Jail

A friend of my who is very compassionate and really loves people, was trying very hard to understand me and the feelings of dis-connectedness I've felt since being back in America. The best way I was able to describe it was that living back in America (or living in any culture/country, for that matter) is like playing a board game. First, you have to learn the rules. You've got to know what's allowed and what's not. After you've got the rules kind of down, you start playing. You roll the dice or spin the wheel and move your piece around the board, buying here, selling there, landing on your opponents and sending them back to START. Sometimes you lose a turn and get mad. Sometimes you roll doubles and get really excited. It might be a game that even requires some strategy and you plot and think of ways to do what you need to do to get ahead, and times you start to worry if your bishops get taken or you run low on money.

But, here's the thing, throughout it all: the rolling, buying, moving, stress, worry, and happiness, you know it's just a game. It's like you're in on the joke. The thimble may think it's landing on real property, Col. Mustard might think he's actually figured out that it was Mrs. Peacock with the knife in the Conservatory, but you know that it's all pretend. You know it's not the way the game is played everywhere, and really, it's just cardboard and plastic with a set of "house rules" that only apply in this particular two-dimensional world.

And that's where the tension lies. You know to have any fun at all, you've got to learn the rules and you want to fit in, but there's something inside you that you just can't shake, that keeps reminding you this is not how it's done everywhere, and just because when these people play they get money for landing on Free Parking, doesn't mean that's how everybody plays.

I think that's how it should be with Christians as well. We've been let in on the joke, and thanks to the Bible, we're able to see things for what they really are. I think it'd be helpful for me to remember that in all the joy, sorrow, tension, and elation I experience in this world, that this is really just a game. The way we do things here on earth is not the way the rules actually say to play, and no matter how real it seems, it's just the game of Life.

Friday, April 18, 2008

On a Scale of 1-10

So, there's a girl in my Sunday School class who's been asking for prayer for several months now about issues she's been having with her car. Usually these requests come in the middle of other requests for relatives who have cancer, or friends who have just lost their jobs, and sometimes, the way she tells the stories, her requests almost seem kind of humorous, and that's okay.

But, here's the thing, does God really rank prayer requests? I'm not talking about that fuzzy-wuzzy, "God-loves-us-and-is-concerned-about-every-hair-on-our-head" kind of crap we all say but don't really understand or else it'd cause us to fall on our faces in amazement. I'm talking about the fact that I don't honestly believe that all prayer requests seem easy and, in a sense, insignificant to God. I mean, they're important to him because we're his children, and he wants us to present our requests to him, but really, it's not like he's relieved when we only ask him to fix our car as opposed to curing our cancer. It just seems to me that those two things are equally do-able for him, and the apparent difference in the seriousness and difficulty of meeting those needs lies at my end of the "space-time continuum," not his. For some reason, I don't think he saw the inconsistency in that like we did.

I don't know exactly what I think about all this, but I'm pretty glad that the girl in my Sunday School asked for prayer about her busted radiator cap right after someone else had asked for prayer for a family where the dad had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and wife was pregnant with their first baby, because it really got me thinking, and I think helped put God in a "righter" perspective for me.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

How to Be a Non-Pagan

"You can't shame a pagan. . . shame is their daily coat." This is a quote from my friend Kevin. I love Kevin, because he uses words like "pagan" to describe non-Christians, which I just think is awesome, because when I think of pagans, I think of little midget-like people, running around trees and chanting, but really, Kevin's idea is much more biblical.

At any rate, this statement blew me away by how accurate it is, and I started wondering how my view towards people would change if I really believed that non-Christians were "clothed" in shame. And then that started me thinking about Paul's writings to the church at Galatia, where he tells them we're to "put on" ("be clothed") in Christ. And, I wondered how my view towards people would change if I really believed that! Here's the thing: Christians (non-pagans) aren't supposed to be clothed in shame. So many times I equate guilt or feeling bad over my sins with shame, and that's about as ungodly as you can get! Christ suffered shame, not me. That was part of his sacrifice.

I mean, it sounds all super-spiritual and all to say, "I feel so ashamed of my sins," but that statement is really one of the most arrogant, prideful things you can say. It's really like standing at the foot of the cross, looking up at Christ, and saying, "Make room, Jesus, I'm coming up."

Hmm, really?

Thanks, Kevin!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Inside Out

Here's the thing: yesterday, at the end of Sunday School, someone made a comment that just set me off, and I kind of laid into them. Okay, I didn't kind of lay into them, I really let them have it. I turned red, got mad, and just lamblasted them.

Want to know why? Because I'm an angry person. It's really that simple. . . and terrifying.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

There's No Place Like Home

Last night I was watching "American Idol," and the theme was "Inspirational Songs." Overall they weren't very good, but one of the contests sang Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of "Over the Rainbow." When I first heard it, I didn't think too much about it, but as the night went on, I found myself singing that song over and over again. I was feeling pretty sad and very much alone last night (actually I've been feeling like that for a few weeks now), and at first the song grabbed me just as the cry of a heart longing for escape -- something I was definitely identifying with. But, the more I listened to the words playing over and over in my head, the more I finally realized, that it's a great song about Heaven. I mean, think about some of the lines, "There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. . . And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. . . Where troubles melt like lemon drops. . ." I mean, sure sounds like Heaven to me. All the hope, all the joy, and all the things we've been hearing about and dreaming about, finally realized. And the best part about it is, no Wicked Witches of the West (or munckins for that matter!).

Here's the thing I've been learning a lot about recently: I am not made for this earth. I have been made for another place. The earth can be at times familiar, even comfortable, but it's not ultimately the place where my soul will find peace. Sometimes this is obvious, sometimes not. For me, it's been very obvious recently, and the more I struggle with emotions, people, and sin, the more and more I find myself, much like Dorothy, standing in the gray dreariness of this flat, dull farmland, yearning for the technicolor wonder of some far-off, distant place where "there isn't any trouble."

"Do you suppose there really is such a place, Toto?" You betcha.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Theology, for a "Song"

Here's the song you need to be singing today: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SODks36AdI8

"Sing to Jesus"
Fernando Ortega

Come and see, look on this mystery
The Lord of the Universe, nailed to a tree
Christ our God, spilling His Holy blood
Bowing in anguish, His sacred head

Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts.
He is our great Redeemer.
Sing to Jesus,
Honor His name.
Sing of His faithfulness, pouring His life out unto death

Come you weary and He will give you rest
Come you who mourn, lay on His breast
Christ who died, risen in Paradise
Giver of mercy, Giver of Life

Sing to Jesus His is the throne
Now and forever, He is the King of Heaven.
Sing to Jesus, we are His own.
Now and forever sing for the love our God has shown.
Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts.
He is our great Redeemer.
Sing to Jesus, Honor His name.
Sing to Jesus His is the throne
Now and forever, He is the King of Heaven.
Sing to Jesus, we are His own.
Now and forever sing for the love our God has shown.

"In" Sync

First of all, Whitney, thanks for leaving a comment for me. Whitney's one of my friends who I don't get to hang out with nearly as much as I'd like, and she knows how insecure I am, so she left a comment on the post about the bug so I would feel loved. I did feel loved, and it kept me from flying back into the flame of longing for the approval of others. . . at least, for a little while.

On another front, I have good news to report: my computer at work finally switched over to Daylight Savings Time! I know that's not a huge announcement, but for about three weeks now, whenever I would sync my BlackBerry with my computer, my BlackBerry would jump ahead an hour, because my computer wasn't set to switch over to Daylight Savings Time until this past weekend. So, for the past few weeks, the clock on my computer was an hour later than all my other clocks. Now, everything is the same, and peace reigns in the kingdom once again. I'm sure there was some sort of patch that I could have downloaded to install on my computer to update it to the new Daylight Savings Time weekend, but good grief, what a lot of trouble! Here's the thing: I need technology to make my life easier and not add a bunch of steps to my life, like having to download updates for my computer so something as minor as the clock will work right. 'Course all the blame can't be laid at the computer's doorstep either. Does it make anyone else nervous the level of arrogance it takes to "move" time around like we do? Just wondering if Microsoft makes a patch that will fix human pride. No? Oh well, guess we'll stay out of sync on that one.