Christmas Day. The day chosen to celebrate the ultimate gift. The Creator of all things coming to earth to reside among us. Immanuel. God with us. The King of kings born among livestock, an innocent baby. The mission of that dear infant to die an executioner’s death, spilling his precious blood and dying between two criminals more than three decades later. For us. The perfectly innocent dying so that you and I, the completely guilty, may live. The ultimate gift, the ultimate mission, propelled by ultimate love.
Thanks and praise to our King Jesus!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
One of my very favorite quotes
I love a good quote. I hold a great quote in even higher esteem. Truth is truth, and sometimes it’s amazing what unique individual God will use to pen the reality of something on another’s soul.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a French pilot and writer who only lived to the young age of forty-four, vanishing and allegedly perishing in his P-38 Lightning in 1944 while on a mission to gather intelligence about German troop movements in occupied France.
He was also a writer, and wrote and illustrated a children’s book, The Little Prince, in 1943. It has since gone on to become one of modern literature’s best selling books, translated in over 180 languages and selling more than 80 million copies.
Saint-Exupéry’s gift to me is this wonderful gem:
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a French pilot and writer who only lived to the young age of forty-four, vanishing and allegedly perishing in his P-38 Lightning in 1944 while on a mission to gather intelligence about German troop movements in occupied France.
He was also a writer, and wrote and illustrated a children’s book, The Little Prince, in 1943. It has since gone on to become one of modern literature’s best selling books, translated in over 180 languages and selling more than 80 million copies.
Saint-Exupéry’s gift to me is this wonderful gem:
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Bumper Sticker Uneasiness
I saw a bumper sticker not too long ago. It read “Obama” with the date of the inauguration and the word “Believe”. That was a tad unsettling. Another image fairly fresh in my memory is seeing people during the campaign emotional to the point of tears in the fervor of the promises of their candidates. That was a bit disconcerting. And then there’s the church message series banner we hung out on a major thoroughfare in Annapolis which had the picture of Barack, Jesus, and John on it and the question, “The face of Hope? You Decide”. Someone later came along and made the effort to vandalize the sign. No, not spraying it with graffiti or putting mustaches on the faces. Nor pulling it down to be left silently on the ground. They choose rather to leave the sign hanging just fine, with the picture of Jesus cut completely out and removed. Some might find that alarming.
What I’m referring to here has nothing to do with a candidate. Although I didn’t vote for him, I think Barack Obama is definitely well intentioned and has the country’s best interests at heart. I’d like to attend his inauguration to be a part of an important moment in American history, but I won’t because I don’t think I’ll get anywhere near the action (if you’ve got a free ticket, let me know). I think having our first African American president is a milestone that breaks down barriers that are more than overdue and may even help toward the healing of racism in our country. And any man or woman who’s my president will get my support and prayers as the leader of our nation.
What I’m referring has everything to do with the followers. About the object of their trust and the rationale behind their fervent tears and shouts from their bumper to believe. Don’t they realize that these are only just people? Granted, very talented people, but nevertheless, people just like them. Don’t they realize that one human being, no matter how powerful the office they hold, can’t solve all the problems that face our country and the world? Don’t they understand that there are just things the government can’t work out? That there are issues that are beyond the resolution of human effort?
Can't they consider that perhaps the answer is in a supernatural solution? That the object of their believing should be in a supernatural Person. And just perhaps the intervention of that Person in the lives of their candidates, the life of our new president, and in their own is wha
t can make the difference. Bring about some needed changes. I believe in leadership, most certainly. And I do believe that one person can make a significant difference. But not without the divine. Not without the guy cut out of the banner.
What I’m referring to here has nothing to do with a candidate. Although I didn’t vote for him, I think Barack Obama is definitely well intentioned and has the country’s best interests at heart. I’d like to attend his inauguration to be a part of an important moment in American history, but I won’t because I don’t think I’ll get anywhere near the action (if you’ve got a free ticket, let me know). I think having our first African American president is a milestone that breaks down barriers that are more than overdue and may even help toward the healing of racism in our country. And any man or woman who’s my president will get my support and prayers as the leader of our nation.
What I’m referring has everything to do with the followers. About the object of their trust and the rationale behind their fervent tears and shouts from their bumper to believe. Don’t they realize that these are only just people? Granted, very talented people, but nevertheless, people just like them. Don’t they realize that one human being, no matter how powerful the office they hold, can’t solve all the problems that face our country and the world? Don’t they understand that there are just things the government can’t work out? That there are issues that are beyond the resolution of human effort?
Can't they consider that perhaps the answer is in a supernatural solution? That the object of their believing should be in a supernatural Person. And just perhaps the intervention of that Person in the lives of their candidates, the life of our new president, and in their own is wha
t can make the difference. Bring about some needed changes. I believe in leadership, most certainly. And I do believe that one person can make a significant difference. But not without the divine. Not without the guy cut out of the banner.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Say Merry Christmas...to the Bottom of My Shoe
Ah...Christmas is in the air...the words of the prophet Isaiah whirling in our minds...thoughts of our Savior laying peacefully in his mother’s arms... the smell of a freshly cut spruce...children creating their wish lists...people stressing about the upcoming balance on their credit cards...the heated breath of the person next to you as you’re bunched together in a swarm at 4 am in the morning awaiting the opening of a retailer’s door while the Thanksgiving turkey you recently consumed is still digesting in your body....pheeeew!
Yeehaw, buckaroos! The doors open like a rodeo gate as a throng of “Holiday Shoppers” enthusiastically burst their way towards that one, two, or fifteen absolutely needed items that will make their Christmas giving faultless. Shopping carts whiz by like cars at an Indy 500 race start. A person falls to the ground and still they trudge on and over as the person beneath their feet takes their last pre-Christmas breath.
Absolutely amazing. That a mob in a “civilized” country can overrun a store employee to the point of death in the name of Christmas gift giving. What's going on? Instead of giving, the crowd has taken a life. And that’s just one horrible report. Although no one else died that Friday that I know of in shopping related incidences, I can easily guess that things got nasty and heated at some retailers across the nation. Two men shot each other dead in a gunfight at a Toys R Us in California after the women accompanying them got into an argument. But we still don't know if the dispute was related to their shopping.
Now for those of you that I personally know that went out on infamous “Black Friday”, don’t be offended. I did it myself a few years back for one item for my wife and I. I never got the item. Some people were coming from the back of the store with two of them in their cart. They were out when I finally made it back there. And don’t call me a hypocrite either. I’m not talking about people calmly and politely utilizing the opportunity to save some money or secure some special gifts for their young ones or some other significant people in their life. And besides, I said I would never do it again (never say never) and still think it’s a form of self-torture if you do. But I’m sure that for every nasty-spirited crowd, there’s scores of more peaceful ones, as many have told me.
But what about those others? Shopping around with a scowl on their face. “Hey you, the line’s back here!” “I had my bumper pointed at that parking space first!” I think we should be celebrating (many of us do) the real meaning of Christ-mas all year long. How did we get so far away from the true meaning of Christ-mas? How do people forget that the very giving they’re doing for Christ-mas is a celebration of the Ultimate Gift to all of us? I know we live in a society that spends beyond its means like it’s Christmas all year long (don’t worry; maybe Congress will bail them out). You think some folks would think about that around this time of year, be thankful, and experience a mind change and thus a behavioral change. Perhaps contemplate a spiritual change. But I guess it makes sense that it would perpetuate more of the same. Kinda sad.
Oh, and now I’m told that the Monday after Thanksgiving is now known as “Cyber Monday”. What’s next? A bunch of web bandits hacking into the myriad of online transactions performed that day and by sheer volume of new cyber-vandal opportunity, illegally score thousands of items, access credit card accounts, and drain bank accounts? Ho, ho, how-in-the-world...???
Yeehaw, buckaroos! The doors open like a rodeo gate as a throng of “Holiday Shoppers” enthusiastically burst their way towards that one, two, or fifteen absolutely needed items that will make their Christmas giving faultless. Shopping carts whiz by like cars at an Indy 500 race start. A person falls to the ground and still they trudge on and over as the person beneath their feet takes their last pre-Christmas breath.
Absolutely amazing. That a mob in a “civilized” country can overrun a store employee to the point of death in the name of Christmas gift giving. What's going on? Instead of giving, the crowd has taken a life. And that’s just one horrible report. Although no one else died that Friday that I know of in shopping related incidences, I can easily guess that things got nasty and heated at some retailers across the nation. Two men shot each other dead in a gunfight at a Toys R Us in California after the women accompanying them got into an argument. But we still don't know if the dispute was related to their shopping.
Now for those of you that I personally know that went out on infamous “Black Friday”, don’t be offended. I did it myself a few years back for one item for my wife and I. I never got the item. Some people were coming from the back of the store with two of them in their cart. They were out when I finally made it back there. And don’t call me a hypocrite either. I’m not talking about people calmly and politely utilizing the opportunity to save some money or secure some special gifts for their young ones or some other significant people in their life. And besides, I said I would never do it again (never say never) and still think it’s a form of self-torture if you do. But I’m sure that for every nasty-spirited crowd, there’s scores of more peaceful ones, as many have told me.
But what about those others? Shopping around with a scowl on their face. “Hey you, the line’s back here!” “I had my bumper pointed at that parking space first!” I think we should be celebrating (many of us do) the real meaning of Christ-mas all year long. How did we get so far away from the true meaning of Christ-mas? How do people forget that the very giving they’re doing for Christ-mas is a celebration of the Ultimate Gift to all of us? I know we live in a society that spends beyond its means like it’s Christmas all year long (don’t worry; maybe Congress will bail them out). You think some folks would think about that around this time of year, be thankful, and experience a mind change and thus a behavioral change. Perhaps contemplate a spiritual change. But I guess it makes sense that it would perpetuate more of the same. Kinda sad.
Oh, and now I’m told that the Monday after Thanksgiving is now known as “Cyber Monday”. What’s next? A bunch of web bandits hacking into the myriad of online transactions performed that day and by sheer volume of new cyber-vandal opportunity, illegally score thousands of items, access credit card accounts, and drain bank accounts? Ho, ho, how-in-the-world...???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)