Faith For A Journey/Adventure

Right in the beginning of this week, I had a tremendous argument with my spouse.  The atmosphere at home has since been very chilly.  Interactions have been very limited and extremely strained.  It was two days before we even spoke, and that was out of necessity -- we were forced to interact in public.  Frankly, I was furious for the first 3 days after the argument, and then simmered down to just being very angry.  

There are many issues related to, and stemming from, the argument.  Yet again I questioned if marriage was not the biggest mistake I ever made and considered, almost determined to, emotionally "checking out" of the marriage.  (Divorce is not an option.)  It has been a tremendous struggle this week. I frequented the dark place of my deep anger, and stayed a while.  Many parts of me kept saying, "I am done!!"

A few minutes ago, I finally settled down to today's devotion, which talked about adventurers and their faith.

"The power which has moved adventurers is faith."

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) states "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Past adventurers like Abraham, Columbus, Balboa, and so forth, never saw their destinations before setting out.  They just went on the adventure, absolutely and positively convinced of what they would find.  They took the journey, the good and the (mostly) bad, all out of faith, out of a belief in the Divine Being they would bring glory to.

I cannot help but think of this one line stuck in my head for some odd reason that "marriage is an adventure", the journey which two people embark on together.  I know what a good marriage looks like, and we are definitely not there (yet).  There will be good out of this journey, despite all the bad in it.  I believe that simply because I believe God.  And when the good comes, it is solely because of Him.

The Wisconsin Labour Bill

Many are keeping their eyes on what is happening in the land of cheese and Harley Davidson -- the labour bill.  Basically, it would decimate the power of unions, whose memberships have been on the decline anyway.  There was a time and place for unions in the history of this country, however they have evolved into a destructive land mine in the land of opportunity, eroding people's motivation to be better in their work and take pride in their jobs, installing a sense of entitlement instead.  Afterall, what incentive does a young worker have for improving himself/herself over the years of his/her working life when he/she makes the same money and enjoys the same benefits as someone else 40 years down the same path?  But I digress...

To quote the article:

Walker's legislation would end collective bargaining rights--the process by which employees band together to negotiate with employers--for almost all of Wisconsin's state, county and local workers (police, firefighters and the state patrol would be excepted). This would mean, among other things, that unions wouldn't be able to seek pay increases above inflation, unless voters approve those hikes in a special referendum. Unions also would not be able to require members to pay dues, and would have to hold yearly votes to stay organized.

State, County and Local (government) workers are public sector employees, whose salaries are paid for by taxes; why should they not be subject to pay raise approvals by the very people who pay them?  Companies which pay salaries determine what, if any, pay raise employees get -- so what is the difference here?

Additionally, I think it makes perfect sense for unions to hold yearly votes to stay organised.  You do not want the same people in power all the time unless they are effective and qualified to hold the position.

As for whether unions should be allowed to require members to pay dues, I need further thought upon it, but I am leaning towards "why not?".  Just about every trade association out there requires its members to pay membership dues, though I'd be interested to see where union dues go...  I think my final answer would depend on where the money goes and what it is used for.

Inspiring

This is a very inspiring talk.

Balance

Well said, Nigel!

Convictions

From the news today came an article about the first girl to win a wrestling championship in Iowa.   She won by forfeit and this is what the boy who forfeited said,

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan [Black] and their accomplishments...  However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times.  As a matter of conscience and faith, I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa."

I have to say, I am very impressed by this young man. Not only did he (and his family) have strong convictions, they were honourable and they were lived out, even at the expense of something important to him.

To paraphrase Stephen Covey,

Honesty is when your words match reality.

Integrity is when reality matches your words.

Dangerous But Good

This morning, as I read Matthew 12-13, it dawned on me that Jesus spoke about the Day of Judgment several times in His parables.  In contemporary Christianity, the Day of Judgment is not often spoken of.  Afterall, it is not a popular topic nor one that will draw people to Christ.  We live in an age whereby we think we need to present Christianity as a happy-feeling, life-is-a-bed-of-roses, lottery ticket.  Yet we must be conscious of it for what need do we have for a Saviour if there is nothing from which we need saving?

As I read Jesus' words about the Day of Judgment, I could not help but think of C.S. Lewis' Aslan (from "Chronicles of Narnia"), and Mr. Beaver's famous description of Aslan, 

"Course he isn't safe.  But he is good."

Coming to know Jesus is dangerous for life as we knew it.  In fact, it is the end of life as we knew it.  Yet in coming to know Jesus, we come to know what is good, actually great.  Are we willing to give up what is safe and good for what is GREAT?

I like to liken it to riding a motorcycle -- it is dangerous, but oh so good!

God Knows

Over the weekend, I roasted a chicken.  After prying all possible meat from the carcass, I decided I might as well use this and the other 2-3 carcasses in the freezer (from previous roasts) to make chicken soup.

On Monday night, I started to feel like I was battling a bug.  It got progressively worse on Tuesday and I started drinking more of my chicken soup.  By the time Wednesday morning came, I officially lost the battle.  I woke up with such pain in my face that I caved and took pseudoephedrine AND naproxen sodium.  For the rest of the day, I ate very little and chugged several bowls of my chicken soup.

In case you are wondering, I am on the mend.  I would be exhibiting greater improvement too if I didn't do 3 loads of laundry, wash a sink full of dishes and purged (and I mean really purged) the office area of trash (let's just say there are 2 bags of papers to be recycled and 2 bags of heavy trash...) yesterday... 

(For those of you who know me: Really, when am I not doing something or being a glutton for punishment?  I did save publishing this post till today...)

Anyway, here is my point for today:  God knows what we need before we even need them.

I could have just stuck the latest chicken carcass into the freezer and waited till another time to make chicken soup, but something just spurred me on to do the opposite.  I will go as far as to say the Holy Spirit nudged me to make the chicken soup because I do not believe in coincidences.  And thank the good Lord I did because I needed it.  (The nutritional aspect of homemade chicken soup is another post, of course...)

God does amazing and amazingly simple things that matter all the time.  It is just a matter of whether we pay careful enough attention.  This is the omniscient God who knows everything, who created everything, and is beyond time, and yet He cares so much about each one of us.  He knows what we need and when we need it, even though we do not.  He knows what matters to us, and He does care enough to show it, though often not in ways we expect.

To say that I am blessed or thankful or grateful or in awe, just does not seem to truly express my feelings towards such a personal God.  I am glad that I do not have to be a chicken around Him.

What Do We Want?

Several years ago, I read a book by either Philip Yancey or John Eldridge (I think!  And sorry, I do not have a great memory for what I deem as unimportant details...).  In it, the author wrote about the passage of John 5:1-7, in which a disabled man encounters Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda.  The pool was known for healing and the man had been lying there for 38 years.  That is thirty-eight loooooong years, day after day, hour after hour.  The passage of John states in several Bible translations/versions that Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to get well [or be healed]?"  And Yancey or Eldridge posed an interesting question:(and I paraphrase):  the disabled man had been lying by the pool known for healing for 38 years, hoping and wishing and wanting to be healed; why would Jesus ask something akin to "What do you want?"

That, my friends, is the question of the day: What do we want?

In many decades and in beauty pageants, the common answer was World Peace.  In the early 2000s, more people began to be environmentally-conscious.  Now firmly in the 21st Century, it is the iPad, iPhone, lower gas prices, job security, health insurance, 50" plasma TV, Wii, Kinect, etc.

Whatever temporary satisfaction things bring us, they can never answer the question of "What do we really want?".  I know that deep, deep, deep down, there is something within us that we just cannot seem to get at.  Nothing seems to touch that void, that emptiness.  Nothing we do, buy, say, or experience even comes close to reaching that point.  Heck, we probably do not even know what it is and what we are missing.

What do we want?

There is only one thing I have found to reach that level, and in fact, it happens to be a person, Jesus.  I know that if I let Him fill my heart, mind, and soul, I will experience contentment and joy and satisfaction and peace like nothing words can describe.  I am the first to admit that I am guilty of not letting Him saturate my life.  And I ought ask myself the question of "What do I want?" more often and deliberate on it.  I might actually live the life I want if I did, and get more out of it too!

A couple of verses further in the passage, Jesus Himself heals the disabled man.  Jesus is the source of healing, the source of having a life, the source of every desire we have deep in our souls and the source of fulfilling them.  He knows what we want, and yet He poses the question to us so that we question what we want.

 

 At the end of the day, it is an intimate relationship with Jesus that I want.  What do you want?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas season and had some fun last night celebrating the arrival of another new year.  Personally, I didn't make it past 11.30pm...  But HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  :)

Years ago, I bought a curious little book by Henry van Dyke from a used book store (I think).  "Six Days of the Week" was originally published in 1924 and this book has apparently had several owners.  I see an inscription "To Frank from Aunt Hattie" and I see the name of another owner proudly written on the first page with the year 1976.  I used this book as a devotional some years ago, and decided to do it again for this year.

At risk of copyright infringement, I just want to share today's reading and my resulting thoughts. 

NEW YEAR'S DAY
The days of our years. -- Psalm 90:10

There it is -- all our years are made up of days; and all our days are but little parts of years.

Time may be only "a mental form," as the philosopher Kant said long ago (and as our ingenious Mr. Einstein has just told us, with the complacency of a commercial traveller inventing a new slogan).

But this mental form has a curious continuity.

It flows like a river.

It runs on like a road on which w are all journeying, and beside which we set up our milestones to mark the distance already traversed.

For each man it is his own birthday that tells him how many years of days he has had.

For mankind it is New Year's day, which Charles Lamb called "the nativity of our common Adam."

For each of us, how many failures, disappointments, losses!

Yet God has pulled us through, and we still have a chance to do better.

For mankind how many false starts, delays, disasters!

Yet the race goes on, indomitably hopeful.

It is a day for repentance, and patience, and courage.

And good resolutions?

Yes, please God!

For unless we men resolve to be good, the world will never be better.

For unless we men resolve to BE GOOD, the world will never be better.  This one sentence struck me more than any other.  Unless we resolve to BE GOOD...  no matter how hard we try, we know that we will never always BE good on our own.  We can never be good apart from God, but  I stand a much better chance of being good if I abide IN Jesus.  So therefore instead of resolving to be good, I resolve to be in Jesus.

So Mr. van Dyke, with all due respect, I think the last line ought to be amended to,

For unless we resolve to abide in Jesus, we men cannot resolve to be good, and the world will never be better.

The Urkel Effect

No, this post has nothing to do with politics.  Instead, it has to do a little with fashion.

"Urkel, as in Steve Urkel?  Fashion??  In the same sentence??"

I hear you.  Seriously, I actually saw a little video about it.

Okay, we have all seen the baggy pants worn by youngsters in the last decade, who seem to think that their boxers are so fashionably interesting that all must be exposed to it.  

When I was working as a camp counselor, I saw my fair share of it and threatened the boys that if their boxers were even peeking out, it was fair game for anyone to pull down their pants.  (Not that we actually carried out the threat, but it worked well enough.)

So here comes this school principal who told his students that if they chose to come to school with baggy pants exposing their underwear, they could either 1) take suspension or 2) wear Steve Urkel pants.

This ingenuous man uses zip ties (see below) to cinch up the belt loops, thus pulling up the pants!

Of course, he does actually have a wall of shame where a picture of the offending student in Urkel pants is posted.  That, of course, is the greater deterent.