Silence is God's first language; everything else is just a poor translation.
If only I were blind as a bat and could listen to the silent language of God.
When average is fantastic
There is a little movie called "Little Big League" in which the owner of the Minnesota Twins dies and gives the ownership of the team to his grandson, Billy.
(For all you nerds out there Luke Edwards was indeed the same kid who played Jimmy in the in The Wizard, and owned they guy who owned a Power Glove in Mario 3 to win the championship)
Billy is a big fan of the Twins and has gone to every home game with his grandfather his whole life. When he becomes the owner, Billy fires the Manager of the Twins and hires himself to be the new manager.
The hilarity ensues.
Billy turns out to be baseball wise beyond his age. While only being about 12 years old, Billy's baseball knowledge rivals that of Tommy LaSorda.
However, before Billy was the manager of the Twins, Billy was (and still is) a fan of the Twins. His favorite player is Jerry Johnson. Johnson was/is Billy's idol and was at one time a powerhouse of a player for the Twins and in the League, despite Johnson's recent slump in production and quality of play. Johnson, has not done well for a while and everyone can see it, but Billy is unwilling to accept that his idol is no longer the powerhouse of a player he once was.
One game Billy sends Johnson up to the plate with words of encouragement and adoration. Johnson swings and connects. He makes it to first base with ease. Billy goes nuts and turns to his assistant coach, Lou, to say, something to the effect, "See Lou! Johnson still has it." Lou's response, "Hey kid, when was the last time you got this excited for someone who has just hit a stand up single, while going 2 for 25 at his last at bats?"
That was the straw that broke in Billy. He decided to let his idol go and Johnson is no longer a Twin.
I wonder if my beloved church is like Johnson? I wonder if I am like Billy and I become excited when the UMC hits a stand up single? I wonder if I am blind to a reality that others see, an organization that continues to strike out time and time again and is unwilling to admit it and move on?
I fear that I will grow into a preacher that is like Johnson and the congregation is like Billy. I fear I will lose touch so much so that when I am average it is seen as fantastic.
It is my prayer that I will work to ensure that the UMC will not settle for average. It is my prayer that I would continue to strive to bring my best and acknowledge when I no longer "connect".
(For all you nerds out there Luke Edwards was indeed the same kid who played Jimmy in the in The Wizard, and owned they guy who owned a Power Glove in Mario 3 to win the championship)
Billy is a big fan of the Twins and has gone to every home game with his grandfather his whole life. When he becomes the owner, Billy fires the Manager of the Twins and hires himself to be the new manager.
The hilarity ensues.
Billy turns out to be baseball wise beyond his age. While only being about 12 years old, Billy's baseball knowledge rivals that of Tommy LaSorda.
However, before Billy was the manager of the Twins, Billy was (and still is) a fan of the Twins. His favorite player is Jerry Johnson. Johnson was/is Billy's idol and was at one time a powerhouse of a player for the Twins and in the League, despite Johnson's recent slump in production and quality of play. Johnson, has not done well for a while and everyone can see it, but Billy is unwilling to accept that his idol is no longer the powerhouse of a player he once was.
One game Billy sends Johnson up to the plate with words of encouragement and adoration. Johnson swings and connects. He makes it to first base with ease. Billy goes nuts and turns to his assistant coach, Lou, to say, something to the effect, "See Lou! Johnson still has it." Lou's response, "Hey kid, when was the last time you got this excited for someone who has just hit a stand up single, while going 2 for 25 at his last at bats?"
That was the straw that broke in Billy. He decided to let his idol go and Johnson is no longer a Twin.
I wonder if my beloved church is like Johnson? I wonder if I am like Billy and I become excited when the UMC hits a stand up single? I wonder if I am blind to a reality that others see, an organization that continues to strike out time and time again and is unwilling to admit it and move on?
I fear that I will grow into a preacher that is like Johnson and the congregation is like Billy. I fear I will lose touch so much so that when I am average it is seen as fantastic.
It is my prayer that I will work to ensure that the UMC will not settle for average. It is my prayer that I would continue to strive to bring my best and acknowledge when I no longer "connect".
Poop
Disclaimer - this post is about poop. If you are uncomfortable with the topic or if you have just eaten you have been warned.
Recently there was a Podcast from "Freakanomics Radio" entitled "The Power of Poop".
This bit of radio gold, expresses the "rediscovery" of what is being called at this point 'fecal matter transplant' (or less technically 'transpoosion'). It is the idea of taking bacterium from a healthy person's bowels and transplanting that bacterium into the bowels of a sick person. It is the hope that the healthy bacterium will bring a balance to the sick person's bowels. This transplant is still on the fringe of the medical/science community but is growing in support.
I have no idea if it "works" but it is having a wide range of success according to the podcast.
This got me thinking about God and how God works.
The Christian narrative is one that shouts are loudly as I know of, of a God who sees the beauty in all people and all things and all situations. God is that source of life which is able to see and enemy and rather than push the enemy away or kill the enemy, God prays for the enemy and loves the enemy.
In fact, in the Gospel of John and in the writings of Paul, the word "flesh" is used to describe that which is opposed to God (see John 1:10-13 or Romans 7:5 or 1 Corinthians 3:2-3). And yet, God uses that which is opposed to God, human "flesh", to reveal Godself and reconcile the world. To say it another way, God came in the form of flesh, a enemy of God, in order to bring peace and reconciliation.
Can you do that? Can you incorporate your enemy into yourself so that you can bring reconciliation?
I have yet to meet anyone who could do that sans the Holy Spirit of God in Christ.
God creates a world in which even that which is opposed to God becomes the source of healing and reconciliation.
Which brings us back to poop.
The world is set up so that even that which we recoil at and deem as "waste" can in fact bring healing.
*As a side note, when I shared this idea of fecal matter transplants with a church member, she pondered "if we would be more willing to accept other people's poop rather than being so full of our own poop, we could all be healed?"
Recently there was a Podcast from "Freakanomics Radio" entitled "The Power of Poop".
This bit of radio gold, expresses the "rediscovery" of what is being called at this point 'fecal matter transplant' (or less technically 'transpoosion'). It is the idea of taking bacterium from a healthy person's bowels and transplanting that bacterium into the bowels of a sick person. It is the hope that the healthy bacterium will bring a balance to the sick person's bowels. This transplant is still on the fringe of the medical/science community but is growing in support.
I have no idea if it "works" but it is having a wide range of success according to the podcast.
This got me thinking about God and how God works.
The Christian narrative is one that shouts are loudly as I know of, of a God who sees the beauty in all people and all things and all situations. God is that source of life which is able to see and enemy and rather than push the enemy away or kill the enemy, God prays for the enemy and loves the enemy.
In fact, in the Gospel of John and in the writings of Paul, the word "flesh" is used to describe that which is opposed to God (see John 1:10-13 or Romans 7:5 or 1 Corinthians 3:2-3). And yet, God uses that which is opposed to God, human "flesh", to reveal Godself and reconcile the world. To say it another way, God came in the form of flesh, a enemy of God, in order to bring peace and reconciliation.
Can you do that? Can you incorporate your enemy into yourself so that you can bring reconciliation?
I have yet to meet anyone who could do that sans the Holy Spirit of God in Christ.
God creates a world in which even that which is opposed to God becomes the source of healing and reconciliation.
Which brings us back to poop.
The world is set up so that even that which we recoil at and deem as "waste" can in fact bring healing.
*As a side note, when I shared this idea of fecal matter transplants with a church member, she pondered "if we would be more willing to accept other people's poop rather than being so full of our own poop, we could all be healed?"
Being blind as a bat...
There is an axiom when describing someone's poor eyesight we call them "blind as a bat". I have never needed glasses or contacts and so becoming blind as a bat is something I never have experienced.
While bats cannot 'see' very well, bats can hear very well. They are able to listen to the world around them in such a way that it directs them to food, steers them from danger, and guides them back home.
It was posted the other day on Inward/Outward blog the following:
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.