Reposting is a Lazy Thing To Do

I was reading my friend Chris’ blog, and he had a list of five songs that “defined” his life. It made me think of this post I had written in March of 2005, so I’m reposting it again because I’m lazy. The original post was in response to a post from a twenty-something pup who listed his music and it was the music of HIS generation.

It got me thinking about the music of my life, music that would define who I am and I found that a very difficult task. Of course a life is not “defined” by music, but the music is a reflection and description of how we perceive ourselves at the moment – what experiences we are going through now, and in the past, and how those experiences impact our awareness of who we are or want to be.

 

Ponderings

I’m sitting here at work, the day after the 4^th of July, and I’m pondering a few things.  I hate when that happens as it doesn’t happen often.  But here I sit in my office at the college with absolutely nothing going on but our usual rain soaking.  Nothing is going on because we are normally closed on Fridays during the summer months and since the 4^th fell on Wednesday this year just about everyone took today off (silly me).  So here I sit, drinking my green tea and reading blog after blog.  And pondering.  Pondering is an actual word meaning, among other things, to “chew over, think over, meditate, excogitate, contemplate, muse, reflect, mull, mull over, ruminate, or speculate.”  The root word, as far as I can tell, was probably taken from Ponder Texas, which isn’t that far from here and has a population of 507.  With a population that small I’m guessing there’s not that much to do but ruminate.  I always thought that ruminate was something Captain Jack Sparrow would do quite often after a night of frolic and rum, but it’s not – it means to ponder.

 

On A Diet? Check This Out

Chili’s – Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie
(1,600 calories, 78g fat, 950mg sodium, 215g carbs, 6g fiber, 19g protein)

Romano’s Macaroni Grill – New York Cheesecake w/ Caramel Fudge Sauce
(1,610 calories, 96g fat, 960mg sodium, 169g carbs, 1g fiber, 21g protein)

P.F. Chang’s – Great Wall of Chocolate
(2,240 calories, 89g fat, 376g carbs, 20g protein)

Denny’s – Oreo Blender Blaster
(895 calories, 46g fat, 280mg sodium, 112g carbs, 2g fiber, 16g protein)

Johnny Rocket’s – Apple Pie a la Mode
(1,190 calories, 75g fat, 875mg sodium, 114g carbs, 6g fiber, 108g sugars, 12g protein)

On The Border – Border Brownie Sundae
(1,380 calories, 80g fat, 450mg sodium, 163g carbs, 8g fiber, 17g protein)

Romano’s Macaroni Grill – Tiramisu
(1,000 calories, 64g fat, 160mg sodium, 89g carbs, 1g fiber, 12g protein)

Read the story here  and get alternatives.  Yum.

B~

 

Writing On The Wall

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
Its a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn’t hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

~Paul Simon

 

 

B~

 

I’m A Goat

In Matthew 25, Jesus is talking about when He is sitting on His throne of glory and judging the nations of the world, and I noticed a very interesting thing: He was judging everyone based on how they treated their fellowman, not on whether they “walked the aisle.”  Now don’t get me wrong, I believe Jesus came to set us free, and that freedom comes from believing on His name.  But in this judgment He is talking about separating the people from each other based on our response to the misery of those around us.

 

Dealing With Doubt

“I used to have a disturbing suspicion that the very existence of doubt in my life and in the lives of other Christians was surely a strong argument against Christianity. Why would committed Christians continue to question the very basis of their faith? Why would God allow doubts to cripple Christians even after they have decided to follow Him? The only reason I could think of was that perhaps God is truly not there and we are just attempting to convince ourselves of some extravagant fairy tale.”

In an article based on her book, “Making Your Faith Your Own: A Guidebook for Believers with Questions,” Teresa Turner Vining writes about Christians and doubt. You can read the whole article here. We all struggle with doubts and questions; doubts and questions that don’t seem to have answers. And I’m always asking myself, “Do I?” Why do I doubt, why do I question, do I even have the right to question God? But the interesting thing is, it’s not just me. It should be “Do we?” Why do we doubt, why do we question, do we have the right to question God? I’m not alone, eh?

 

Saying Goodbye

My friend Shelly (Evidence of Grace) has written a moving piece on what her husband would say to her if he had the chance.  Brian was killed in a car accident leaving her and three small children behind, and her blog is a way for her to work through the grief.  Good writing here.  If you’ve ever lost a loved one, especially to tragedy, then you should read what Shelly wrote.  It will move you.  If it doesn’t, perhaps you need a heart checkup.

His peace on you and your family, Shelly; and may you continue to reach beyond yourself.

B~

 

I was wrong.

I know you may find that hard to believe but trust me, it’s true.  And it’s not the first time, nor will it be the last.  After a lot of thinking (thanks to Dan and others) I’ve decided that I was wrong about my Zen Dog post.  Not posting it mind you, but in the direction it took my thoughts.

I agree with Zen Dog in that we don’t know where we are going in life, it usually can’t be controlled by us.  As the commercial says, “Life comes at you fast.”  And unexpectedly.  And full of joy, pain, sorrow, laughter, and love.

“He knows not where he’s going.
For the ocean will decide-
It’s not the glory of the destination…
It’s the glory of THE RIDE”

I really didn’t see myself where I am at this stage in life, and it seems I’ve just been along for the ride.  I haven’t reached my destination so there is no glory in that, but I don’t think there is all that much “glory” in the ride either.  Our ride, our journey through life, IS our own and we each face it as best as we can.  But where is the “glory” in growing up in an abusive home, or with addictions, or in poverty, or even in having so much money that life is boring.  I stated in my post that “we only have control over our own ride” and not the ride of others.  While that may be true to some extent, we can control life in the same way we can hold back the tides of the ocean.

We worry about where we will wind up in eternity, the destination (or we worry about where everyone else will wind up); or we worry about THE RIDE and the storm up ahead, or the storm we are in, or the fact that everything is calm and when will the storm come up.  We are paddling with all of our strength just to keep a float and the truth of the matter is that a lot of us are tired, just plain tired.  We talked in our Bible study Sunday night that sometimes being an adult sucks.  So tell me again, where is the glory?

So if the “glory” isn’t in the destination, and if it isn’t in the ride, then where is it?  Well that’s the problem: we assume our glory is in one or the other.  But this is what John tells us in the New Testament:

“The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…For we have all received grace after grace from His fullness.”

So there you have it.  The glory isn’t in the destination OR the ride, but in Jesus who gives glory to them both.  And  the grace to get us through the ride to our destination.

His peace on you.
B~

 

Reply to Dan

Hi Dan, thanks for stopping by and commenting on my last post about Zen Dog.  You make a very good point, and I didn’t mean to imply that we as Christ Followers are simply left to fend for ourselves.  After reading what I posted, I felt like I left the impression that the destination nor the community of believers weren’t important. The community aspect of our journey is extremely important, but not at the loss of the individual. My experience is that some in the community we call church, at least in the past, have had a tendency to neglect the oppressed, the disenfranchised, the addicted or the abuse simply because they don’t fit in. Get “saved” first and then we’ll live life together.  Some churches, not all, try to make every Christian a cookie-cutter Christian and be exactly the same instead of letting the individual experience his or her spiritual journey the way God directs them. My life experiences are going to be different from yours, and my encounters with God may be different than yours. We cannot survive this journey on our own, but it is still our own path we need to travel. Perhaps you are right about the glorious destination giving glory to the journey, but as the old saying goes: “Sometimes we are so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.”

His peace on you.
B~

 

Enjoy The Ride

 

EdwardMonkton.com
(HT: Susanna’s Blog)

 

It’s NOT the destination we should be worrying about, but the journey itself. Or as Zen Dog says, “It’s the glory of THE RIDE.” Christians are notoriously concerned with where people are going to wind up in the afterlife, and as important as that may be, it’s not up to us. WE have no control over the destination of others, and we have no control over the ride of others; we only have control over our own ride. It is so difficult for us to sit back and let the currents take us where they will, getting out of the boat to try and steer our lives in other directions, often against the flow. And we worry about the storms that suddenly blow in.

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

“Where is your faith?” Not for the destination, but for the ride itself.

B~