Now this story that I am about to tell is 100% true, no lie here. I grew up in fairly conservative religious home so faith had always been a part of my life. One summer when I was 14 or 15 my sister and I went to Guatemala to visit our grandparents and other family that we have down there. My grandmother’s home is very large and in her back yard there is a pool.
One Sunday during that summer we went to the Union Church where my grandparents go and the sermon was about Jesus walking on the water and how Peter was able to do the same. Now, maybe the pastor was saying something different then what I heard, perhaps he was talking about walking on the waters of life or something like that. Anyway, what I heard was that if you had enough faith then you would be able to do the same.
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One day while I was trolling through the bowels of the Internet I came upon a Website that said that Christianity is a delusion. It also said rather boldly, I might add, that their 15 minute video would completely shatter my delusional beliefs. Being intrigued by the prospect that my whole world view could be shattered in 15 minutes, I accepted the challenge.
Here is their argument:
[…If you knew an adult who still believed in Santa Claus you would think that they were delusional and indeed they would be. It is cute if a child does but if an adult does it is a delusion. (more…)
Posted in family on 30. Oct, 2006
You probably think that I am about to wax on about the miracle of childbirth. I’m not. Not because it’s not miraculous. It is. I posted this photo because the sight of it struck me so.How do I explain? This is a man whom I respect and admire. He is not perfect. I do not pretend he is without flaw. He does, however, live out of a certain sense of duty, virtue, and ethics.
That also has nothing to do with why I posted his photograph. Truth be told, I miss him. Both he and his wife are dear friends of ours, and we rarely see them. Now Russ is a father and Christi is a mother. They have been translated into another phase of existence. This is beautiful. It is also lonely.
It’s a loneliness that only those of you who allow yourselves to indulge in a little self absorption would likely recognize. When you can go to a wedding, a funeral, a birth, a celebration, and walk away with a sad loneliness and sense of personal loss, you have arrived at the type of feeling to which I refer.
Russ will never be a bachelor again. He will never not be a father. He is forever something else. Something much more, perhaps, yet still something “otherâ€. It’s not that I wish he would return to his former state. I do not wish him to undo his lifelong covenant with his bride. But the past is something never to be regained, and significant events state this truth clearly to those of us paying attention. Once you pass a milestone, it becomes yet another marker in time you will never recover.
The miracle, though, is that this man is a father. Yes, it is a miracle that the baby was conceived, carried to term, and born. But I see a miracle in Russ. I see a man in the process of development, nurtured and challenged by the march of time.
Though younger than me by a year or two, he has learned some valuable lessons about living and treating one’s neighbor that I still struggle to learn. He has patented the ability to nurture a fragile person without wounding his or her ego. He knows how to listen, to ask the right type of questions, and to speak with a heart that expresses true concern for the other person’s well-being. And now he is a father.
Our beliefs are not identical. For all I know, he may think of me as a radical charismatic. We do not see eye to eye on everything, but I have high hopes for this child, and any children to follow. They have a blessed future: two loving parents devoted to truth and to the tender expression of it to those in need.
The miracle of life is that sometimes a child is born into the right family.
It occurred to me the other day that I wear different styles of clothing to church based upon my expectation of the service. When I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior ten years ago, I began attending church in a t-shirt and jeans because they were all that I owned. I found that I could engage more completely in worship because I had no expectations of being viewed by other people as cool or attractive. I was able to leave my self image at home and participate with total focus.
As I should have expected, that reality did not last very long. I inevitably gained more clothing through birthday gifts and sheer necessity, and Sunday morning church became an opportunity to attract the opposite sex. Honestly, if one is to look for a partner, there is no better place to look than one’s own church or university (as applicable). But the simple truth is that the moment I dressed in nice clothes for church, I knew I would get more attention from people. I expected more attention. I could no longer worship at the front of the sanctuary because I was sure that I was being watched and I worried too much how I looked – if my hair was in place, my shirt tucked nicely and unwrinkled, etc. Even after marriage, self image wasn’t automatically thrown out the window.
Image consciousness morphs a little to make sense (hence the soccer mom image in the nice SUV). We no longer try to send out the message to the opposite sex that we are both available and desirable, but there is still something within us that wants our peers to know we are living a good life. We want their respect for our lifestyle choices and even their admiration for our tastes in fashion, architecture, art, decor, and music. The question remains: What is your primary purpose for attending services? Is it to mingle? Is it to walk the runway? Is it to worship?
There will always be exceptions to every rule. While this is true, most people will always be self conscious in public if they spend too much time and attention preparing their clothes, hair, makeup, etc. No one wants to spend a lot of time getting ready only to have their hair flop over or stick up, or to have their shirt bunch up at the sides. We want what we took the time to make right to stay right. Unfortunately, that means we often are too distracted to participate in corporate worship. How can we really focus on the majesty of God when Guy X or Girl Z two rows back may be wondering why we chose this outfit? I’ve found that for me personally, it’s best to go au naturale… No, not without clothes. I just go to church wearing the same normal clothes I wear each day.
It may be a little boring, but I don’t dress on Sunday to entertain. I need that corporate time in worship. I don’t have time to waste on what other people think of me, and the best way to avoid that problem is dress in such a way as to guarantee I won’t draw attention.
Now this story that I am about to tell is 100% true, no lie here. I grew up in fairly conservative religious home so faith had always been a part of my life. One summer when I was 14 or 15 my sister and I went to Guatemala to visit our grandparents and other family that we have down there. My grandmother’s home is very large and in her back yard there is a pool.
