The Reducibility of life

"I have given up on breathing,
All I need is you."
~Cool Hand Luke

Thanks be to (the Father of Jesus)

So, I was reading the newspaper today. Normally we do not get the paper on Thursdays, but I think we got this one due to all the ads. Anyway, so I'm reading the Op/Ed and there are a lot today all circling around Harrisburg's doomed incinerator, the upcoming election, or Thanksgiving. One really caught my eye. Written by Christine Conrad Shultz, it does an excellent job pointing out our forefather's commitment to faith in a deity. But that is as far as it goes.

Maybe that's ok, though. Because maybe the article was not really supposed to point out the Christian faith from amongst the other religions who have gods. In fact, i know it isn't. Her point is that the forefathers were not ashamed to mix their faith with the everyday.

I don't know that our current administration is ashamed of that, though. Pres Bush rides the Christian ticket pretty well. Most of the conservatives running for office have made it a point to outline their faiths, and there is that rumour that Obama is a closet Muslim. And then we have the Mormon, and the woman who married an adulterer ( a label that really only exists because of the Judeo-Christian expectation for men and women to be faithful to one spouse).

What I would like to see is less "Oh let's say Merry Christmas because we're not allowed to because it will offend someone", but more of the realization that when we say Merry Christmas, we're talking evangelism. Let's get away form the neutered god and refer to the one we mean. Let's say, "Merry Christmas, the day when Jesus of Nazareth was born". Or, Let's stop just giving thanks to God, but be more specific. Let's say, Thank you God, Father of Jesus of Nazareth and Giver of His Spirit".

'Cause, let's face it, when we say "God" they could be translating it into any number of things, which could possibly include themselves.

my sixth month check-up

After my next check-up, sometime in March or April yet to be determined, they will decide whether I need to be seen once a year or once every six months. Things are going well, all-in-all. Everything checked out "normal" on the echo, which is nice.
But I hate it. I hate travelling up three floors to have the door open to a beautiful scene of the River, only I never see the River. All I see is the fact that I'm the youngest one in the room by about 20 years. And everyone there looks miserable. Its probably because of the beta blockers we're all, which makes us slow down. I hate telling my doctor, who is a nice guy and a good doctor from what I can tell so far (I am still alive), about how lethargic and energized I feel some days. And all he tells me, all any man or woman in a clean white coat has ever told me, "Well, you're just too young to be here.... You're just too young to be on this kind of medicine. Most people we see are much much older than you, and are stressed or not taking care of themselves or just old. And you're none of these. You're just too young." And my doctor, he is a nice guy. But it bothers me.
It bothers me that they can't find a reason, so they're just helping me to the next part ( a pace-maker of some sort), and that I'm too young for it now, but it'll probably happen sooner than usual, and then I'll hear the chorus all over again... You're just too young to have one of these in. But there it'll be.
And then I go and pay and all I can think of the whole way home is that I'm too young to have this kind of stuff, and yet here I am.

When I went into Giant tonight to get some yogurt, I thought not about the preciousness and fleeting of my own life, but that of my wife and children.

a good snow

How invigorating is the first snow? My bones and joints are not yet tired of it. It makes me feel 12 again. I got excited last night as I saw the flakes get bigger and bigger. Going outside for a bit, I started judging how good the snow was; did it compact under my feet? Did it make a heavy noise, or did my tread easily blow it about.
But by 7am this morning, I know I will be tired of it. The scraping of the cars and the driving and drivers of our little burg will surely make me dream of plush green fields and tulips of an early spring.

Putting to death

As a reminder to myself, I ask:
With what vanity do I live my day to day? and with what regard do I live for those around me?

May Chrit fill my 5 senses with Himself so that my hands and and feet may be glorified with His work.

friday nights

Can you think of a better friday night than the one spent with your kids?

I can.

The one spent with my kids.

Political Evangelism

I think I have narrowed down my concerns as a voter to a single concern that seems to be the impetus for the rest:

When did we allow the government, and the election of officials, to be the primary arm for evangelism?

It does not sit well in my gut and on my arms that we ride political parties because they are God's chosen instrument in order to bring morality and justice to the nation. Isn't that the church's role?

I do not agree with abortion, wholeheartedly. I see it as unprejudiced genocide that has not been seen since Joshua invaded Palestine, or Rome invaded Carthage. But giving control and full measure to an elected body we've kept it out of our hands. We've washed our hands of it and have let someone else worry about it. While it is legal today, I think the churhc is doing its role, by not participating in it and trying to dissuade those who want to. But if it is made illegal, I fear that the church will claim an adamant victory and then not care about and pursue those women and babies whose life is being threatened anymore.

Something has gone wrong. In the US Constitution, the government is barred from "respecting" any religion. But the church has "respected" the government in ways it never should have. We have "picked" our government and we want it to play our lap dog and do our work for us. Trying to get men and women to change their behaviour and respect the law. Again, this should be the sole work of the church.

We need the Christocentric vision of the church to change our world. Not those who curry favour by paying attention to the moods and cultural swings of the day.

So, yes I'll vote because I do not believe in the sitting idly by while I can do some good. But I'm not going to live as though my government is the most effective way to bring order to my life, or to my world.

Though I dwell in a democracy, I still live in a monarchy.

Why not an Armistice today?

Today is 11/11, the anniversary of the end of World War I. They ended with an Armistice, or a treaty of truce, ending all hostilities. However, the end of this war and all of its conditions brought about World War II in about 12 years.

I'm not looking for a truce. I would love one. God and I come together and we talk about what conditions each side will take in assuring that hostilities between us would end. But he's not looking for that. A truce would really work out great for me. There may even be some things I'd get to keep, like my ability to remain an entity on the world's stage.

But that's not what He wants, is it?

No. He wants my unconditional surrender. He wants to overthrow me and become the Lord of mt life. Anything I have becomes part of a colonial power that would use it for the glory and prosperity of the Mother Country, the High Places, the Heavenlies.

I do not offer him red poppies of remembrance littered across the fields so I can "never forget", but a white flag, so I'll never take up arms again.

His peace is lasting, and His ways are easy; His burden light. Though king, He is friend. Though Friend, He is living in me, a part of me and my hostilities towards Him treats Him as if an invading army.
Truth is, I invited Him.
Truth is, I wanted Him.
Truth is, I needed Him.
Truth is, I still do.

tonight's prayer exercise

How quickly and easy it was for me to think of my sin. Its ever present on my heart, and in my head. My tongue is weighed down heavily by it. And how merciful I want you to be to me, though I am unworthy and dirty. How greatly misled I have been.

And how great you are.

a funny story

So, I went grocery shopping after school on friday. Not all that great, had to get some things for dinner that night. Anyway, I was walking into Giant, and I heard a small voice shouting "hombre Arrenas". He did it several times. I turned around and saw a small Latin boy pointing at me with his family in tow.. his mom saw me look and told the boy to be quiet. So, there you have it. Apparently to the Spanish speaking population of the world, I somehow resemble Spider-man. Weird.