Freedom

I try to keep my journaling and my blogging separate as they serve two distinct purposes in my life. But some days, like today, I feel like what was revealed in my quiet time (which is what I usually journal about) might be helpful to others. Excuse any poor grammar, etc… because I transcribed it verbatim.

Sat. 2/20/10 08:33 am

Ahhh…Saturday’s here. It’s odd, but I never imagined I’d be working so hard after I resigned at NewSong. I think I imagined a life of slowness and comfort – of richness and watching plenty of sunrises and sunsets. Instead I have totally immersed myself in work. Why have I done that? What is it about becoming still that is so frightening to me? When will I learn to simply be still and know that God is God. What voices – what demons - possess me and drive me so? Somehow I think it has to do with fear. I don’t think of myself as a fearful person, but something definitely has me living in fear. What am I so afraid of?

Today’s New Testament reading is about the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). As I read this story about a living man who was dwelling among the dead (he was in a cemetery and had chains hanging off him) I realized he was being held captive of his own accord. The chains weren’t holding him back. What was he so afraid of? That isn’t made clear, but what is clear is that it took an encounter with Jesus for him to truly be set free – and even when Jesus did set the man free, those around him clamored for Jesus to leave instead of setting them free as he had the man in the tombs.

Lord, this morning I pray that you will not go, but instead set me free from that which I fear – from whatever it is that binds me, that keeps me living among the dead, just as you freed the man I read about today, for my demons are “legion.” Amen.

Lent 2010

Lent is the 40 day season of fasting and penitence many Christians observe in preparation for Easter. The season is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but the observance comes from the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism. The sacrifices made during Lent are done to honor God and to remind us of the difficulties Jesus faced as he was tempted in the wilderness.

Every year, for as long as I can remember, I have tried to “give up” some things as well as “take up” others for Lent. Usually my intentions are much better than my results during the season; not unlike my experience with New Years’ resolutions and the like.

Many people give up things like sweets, junk food, caffeine, television, Facebook, needless spending, complaining, etc… Here is an interesting list of the top things people gave up for Lent last year from a Twitter poll that garnered 15,000 responses.

On Wednesday, the official beginning of Lent I sat down and chose fourteen things to either abstain from or to add this Lent. I don’t know why I chose so many items; I just prayed and then let my pen guide itself in my journal. Perhaps I chose that many thinking surely I could make it all forty days with at least one of them. As it turns out I’m doing pretty well at 13 of them so far. There is one, however, that I have only kept 1 of the 3 days of Lent so far. But think of it this way, if you could bat .333 in the majors, you’d be a star! Seriously, I know I have some work to do. Some hard work.

Like other things in life, I’m thinking “baby steps” and “progress over perfection” with this item, and praying for (and, thankfully, receiving) plenty of grace. I will blog closer to Easter to update my progress. Meanwhile, why not consider a Lenten fast yourself? It’s not too late to start.

Enough?

Many of us struggle with feeling happy, fulfilled, and at peace in our lives, including me. I seem to always be looking to that next sermon, book, job, or conference thinking it will be the one where I will have a breakthrough and finally hit my stride.

Anne Lamott, in her book Bird by Bird, addresses this tendency. Lamott teaches creative writing classes and her students sometimes gush about how great it must to be a published author like her. They say that if only they could get published they know they’d be happy. In reply Lamott refers to a line in Cool Runnings, a movie about the first Jamaican bobsled team. The coach the Jamaicans want is a “has been” who won a gold medal in Olympic bobsledding twenty years before, but has been a complete loser ever since. The Jamaicans on this team are desperate to win an Olympic medal because then they think they will have arrived at the mystical "happy place." But the wise coach, played by the late John Candy, sums up their condition by saying, “If you’re not enough before the gold medal, you won’t be enough with it.”

That line is a keeper. If you’re not enough with your current job, you won’t be enough with a new job. If you’re not enough with the body you have now, you won’t be enough with a body that's toned, or twenty pounds lighter. If you’re not enough with the clunker you drive now, you won’t be enough with that sporty new car you’ve got your eye on (and you’ll be a lot poorer to boot!).

Happiness, contentment, fulfillment, peace, joy – whatever you want to call it, is an “inside job.” If it depends on something “out there,” even if that something is as special as Olympic gold, it will never totally satisfy and it won’t last. How about you? Are you “enough” today?

Resumes

I’ve been working on my resume the last few days. When you’ve been in the workforce for as long as me, and are as settled in what you are doing as I was, trying to work up a resume feels a lot like what re-entering the dating market must feel like after being married forever. Like middle-aged (and beyond) dating, I’m afraid there is a tendency to make things sound just a little better than they probably really are.

I’m learning a lot. For instance, Ive learned that you don’t just type up a resume and mail it out to potential employers anymore. Instead you are supposed to have a personal website where you post your resume which includes certain words so when employers “Google” they’ll find your web-resume with its powerful message that reflects your value and professionalism. And, naturally, you can’t work up this resume on your own – you need to pay someone who is specially trained to write resumes so all the right words are used.

Blogger Seth Godin has some interesting things to say about resumes. He disagrees with the “post it and they will hire” resume mentality. Godin says, “I think if you're remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn't have a resume at all.” He believes that if you have to tell people how special you are in a resume you’re probably pretty ordinary to begin with. He says your time would be better spent actually creating something that reflects your worth to a potential employer.

Marina Ricci, in another blog post agrees. She says that instead working up a fancy resume listing everything you have ever done in your life; be proactive instead. Think up something that will convince an employer to create a position that will benefit them and you. Her argument is that when you do so, your passion about the project will be there and success (yours and theirs) is much more likely than simply finding a pre-existing slot to fill. Demonstrate to the employer that they not only need to offer whatever it is you are pitching, they also need you to be the one to provide that particular service. In other words, they can’t afford not to hire you!

Meanwhile, I’m not taking any chances. I’m amping up the adjectives: resourceful, creative, dynamic, self-motivated, hard working, married to a good-looking woman… I hope some employer will take a chance on me!

See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me

I know I am way late writing about this – but I really enjoyed the movie Avatar. I have read blogs and reviews about it and I have talked with friends who have seen the movie, and everywhere I turn people either love the movie or they hate it.

In case you missed it, there are a boatload of corollaries between Avatar and Christianity. Following the lead of movies like Star Wars (The Force), The Matrix, and others, James Cameron chose to play up spiritual themes in his latest blockbuster. I’m not sure if he, like others before him, thought doing so would add depth to the movie, or attract more viewers, or both. Unfortunately the end result is usually a soupy mix of Zen Buddhism, Pantheism, Christianity, and more.

But that’s not why I’m writing about Avatar. As I watched the movie I kept noticing something the Na’vi say upon greeting one another and during conversations. The Na’vi, by the way, are the blue beings that live on the beautiful planet Pandora that the humans (who look, sound, and act like greedy corporate Americans) are trying to destroy. This phrase the Na’vi frequently use is “I see you.” In saying this, they mean more than that they physically see the person they are conversing with. They mean something deeper than that. The phrase means something more like "I understand who you are, " or “I see your soul.” It means they acknowledge the “other” as someone not unlike themselves; someone of worth, someone with a viewpoint. Someone with a soul who is a child of God like they are.

I’m probably reading way too much into a movie, but seeing this reminded me of my need to be present and “in the moment” when I am with someone else. Sometimes, even though I am physically present with someone, I’m not really there. Other times I pretend to understand someone, but I really don’t. Other times, honestly, I really don’t care about understanding the other person, or about their point of view; as long as they see me and mine. That’s unacceptable and I know it.

Call me silly, but I think I have a lot to learn from the Na’vi: To really be there and to listen and really care. It’s something Jesus frequently recommended as well; that we have “eyes that see” and “ears that hear.” That just might be a great discipline to practice during Lent this year….hmmm

Dog Sitting

When I was in the sixth grade one of my teachers at Frankfurt (Germany) Elementary #2, Mr. Keys, asked if anyone would like to watch his dog for a week while he went back to the States. Upon learning he was going to pay the tidy sum of $10 for this easy job I promptly volunteered.

Turns out the pup was a nervous, wiry Terrier-like dog that looked a lot like Mr. Keyes – minus the coke bottle glasses, of course. I recall getting up early before school to walk the dog, trying to play with it after school (but it was too nervous and snappy), and then walking it last thing at night to let the dog do his business.

About the third day we were keeping this psychotic hound he practically chewed the legs off a US Government-issue end table. My parents were livid and threatened me saying that if the Quartermaster made us pay for the damage the dog did to the table legs it would certainly amount to more than $10 and, further, the damages were coming out of my pocket.

In the end we did not have to pay for the table, but I never dog-sat again. Ever.

Quiet Strength

Tony Dungy’s memoir “Quiet Strength” is a compelling read about the author’s life and the principles and values that have guided it. Living these out enabled the author to overcome tremendous personal and professional adversity including his son’s suicide in 2005.

Dungy grew up in Jackson, Michigan in a strong, middle-class family. Following high school he became the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Gophers. That was followed by a glorious (Super Bowl win) but brief (only three years) career as an NFL player. At age 25 he became one of the youngest coaches in the NFL, coaching as an assistant for several teams the next fifteen years. Finally, in 1996 he landed the head coaching job at Tampa Bay. There he built the team from being perennial losers to Super Bowl champs. Unfortunately, he was fired the year before the Bucs went to the big game – another bitter pill to swallow. He did eventually did make it to the championship game, winning it as coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2006.

Throughout the book the author writes about his faith and demonstrates how living it out is much more important than winning or losing football games. Dungy quotes Matthew 16:26 as his reason, “For what do you benefit if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul?”

Another recurring theme is “staying the course.” Speaking of his coaching, and life’s philosophy Dungy writes, “We’re going to do what we do. Stay the course. Our biggest temptation will be to think we need to do something different.”

Dungy comes across as a humble man of faith with much to teach about the art of living. I found his thoughts about what makes for a successful life inspiring. Thoughts like this:

God’s definition of success is really one of significance – the significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. This significance doesn’t show up in win-loss records, long resumes, or the trophies gathering dust on our mantels. It’s found in the hearts and lives of those we’ve come across who are in some way better because of the way we’ve lived.

Snow in Georgia 02-12-2010

We're getting a pretty good snow right now (for Georgia). I took some photos this afternoon. We also had six deer playing in the woods just behind the house. One photo of the deer is especially interesting (if not immodest).

Click the link below to see the photos

Picasa Web Albums - doctorstevej - Snow 02-12-10

Oldies

I love to listen to oldies. We have a few oldies radio stations I can pick up here in Cumming, and the local cable company has a music channel called “Solid Gold Oldies” I listen to a lot. I am not wealthy or progressive enough to have Sirius Radio, but I understand they have multiple oldies channels as well.

All it takes is the unforgettable opening riff of a song like the Stones “Satisfaction” and I am transported to another place and time. Tommy Roe’s “Dizzy,” for instance, sends me back to the eighth grade and hanging out with my cousin in Hattiesburg, MS. We’d walk from his house to the Ben Franklin dime store and buy model airplanes, then come back and put them together listening to a transistor radio (remember those?). Each song, it seems, has a special memory attached to it. Trips to the beach, riding the school bus, certain girlfriends, Friday night football, where I lived at the time, summertime, etc…

I have a special category of oldies I think of as “skating rink oldies.” While living in Germany (1967-69) I went to the roller skating rink every weekend. I rode the streetcar there Friday and Saturday nights, and again on Sunday afternoon. “Mony Mony” by Tommy James and the Shondells was always blaring when it was “race time” at the rink. The boys would race, then the girls, maybe to some other fast song like “Yummy, Yummy Yummy (I’ve got love in my Tummy)” by the Ohio Express. After the races were over they’d play a slow song to get everyone back out on the rink – something like “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro, or the instrumental "Love is Blue" by Paul Mauriat (Listen to it here).

Some songs make me think of exactly when and where I was when I heard them for the first time on the radio (no iPods then!). “Hey Jude” by the Beatles does that, as does Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild.”

I’m sure you have oldies memories as well; probably sweet ones and sad ones. Here's a good web page listing the top hits of 1968. You can easily change it to some other year. Enjoy!

What Now?

As the dust jacket synopsis of author Ann Patchett's slim novel "What Now?" says, this book "offers hope and inspiration for anyone at a crossroads, whether graduating, changing careers, or transitioning from one stage of life to another." The book is only 97 pages long, with pictures taking up several pages; it reads more like an essay.

Maybe that's because the book is actually the expanded text of a commencement speech Patchett gave at her alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College. Don't let that keep you from reading this book though. With the wit and candor of the novelist she is, Patchett offers a refreshing look at all those times you ask yourself, or someone else asks you, "What now?" She tells "her story" from cook to teacher, to waitress and eventually to award-winning author, and what a charming story it is.

Here are just a couple of examples of the wisdom she offers.

Speaking of whether to listen to others or not; especially those whom we don't think have anything to offer us, the author encourages us to listen deeply and to listen more. She writes:

For the most part wisdom comes in chips rather than blocks. You have to be willing to gather them constantly, and from sources you never imagined to be probable. No chip gives you the answer for everything. No chip stays in the same place throughout your entire life. The secret is to keep adding voices, adding ideas, and moving things around as you put together your life. If you're lucky, putting together your life is a process that will last through every single day you are alive. (Pg 38-39)

Later, writing again about how life works, she offers this:

The secret is finding the balance between going out to get what you want and being open to the thing that actually winds up coming your way. (pg 76-77)

One more great quote, this time about the eponymous question, "What now," she writes:

"What now?" is not just a panic-stricken question tossed out into a dark unknown. What now can also be our joy. It is a declaration of possibility, of promise, of chance. It acknowledges that our future is open, that we may well do more than anyone expected of us, that at every point in our development we are still striving to grow. There's a time in our lives when we all crave the answers. it seems terrifying not to know what's coming next. But there is another time, a better time, when we see our lives as a series of choices, and "What now?" represents our excitement and our future, the very vitality of life. It's up to you to choose a life that will keep expanding. It takes discipline to remain curious; it takes work to be open to the world - but oh my friends, what noble and glorious work it is. (pg. 77-78)

As you can tell, I got a lot out of this book. I think you will too.

How It's Going

It's been a while since I blogged about how things are going now that I've stepped down from a ten year pastorate and am in between opportunities in my life. It's kind of weird to write about this; I write about it prolifically in my personal journal, but with a public blog like this - even though my readership could be counted on one hand - I am hesitant to say too much. That's why I've written so many book reviews here lately; they're safe. I suppose my hesitancy to air private matters stems from reading other blogs - and, more often, Facebook statuses and "Tweets" that are so self-revealing that you end up feeling embarrassed for the people who wrote them. I particularly dislike those posts where people try to be mysterious, hoping someone will ask "What's going on?" Maybe it's a generational thing, but I believe certain things should be kept between you and your closest circle of family and friends.

On the other hand, I don't want to totally ignore what's going on in my life because that's like not talking about the elephant in the room. Besides, someone may be able to learn something vicariously through my experiences and how I deal with what is going on right now.

So... here we go. I believe things are going well in my adjustment. I stay busy. I'm getting things done that I never had time for before. I feel close to God. I'm also reading a ton, sometimes more than a book a day (a second reason for the multiple book reviews). Some of the books have been more helpful than others. One I just read was especially helpful. It's called The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50 by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot.

This book was helpful at giving me words to express what I'm experiencing now - a "neutral zone" that most people experience during major transitions in life, in love, and in work. I am at a point where I not only must adapt to a new situation, but I am also having to let go of the old one. This zone - the one I'm experiencing right now - is a kind of "no man's land between the old reality and the new" where you must wrestle with issues of personal and professional identity. So much of my identity is tied up in what I "do." Strip away the titles of "pastor," "husband," "father," etc... and who am I? What's left? It is a time of confusion, doubt, and incoherence - a time of loss and yet also a time of liberation.

Embracing the difficult and emotionally demanding work of questioning your identity, motives, and ways of being in the world through reflection and self-interrogation is essential if you want to arrive on the other side of the transition a stronger, better equipped, integrated, emotionally whole person. This process requires tremendous patience and cannot be rushed. It requires a great deal of restraint - you constantly feel like launching out on the next adventure, but all the lessons God wants to teach you in this one must be worked though first. The changes you hope to make will be incremental; progress, not perfection is the goal. This process requires a lot of listening, of letting go of your fears, and a willingness to be vulnerable and open. It also may require you to give up many of the practices and presumptions you formerly held - things that served you well in the past and even made you a high achiever or "successful," but that are now no longer helpful, at least not in the ways you employed them in the past.

That's where I am right now. It's not as though I intend to jettison my past or to become a totally new person. I liken what I'm going through right now to bridge-building. I'm building a bridge from what "was" to what "will be." I hope to carry the gifts and tools God has given me across that bridge as I go; some I will have to use differently. I also hope to discover new gifts and tools I already possess but have never used as I cross over. My former life will always be there; it was not a mistake, a failure, nor a waste of time. So be patient with me as I am patient with myself while God and I build this bridge. I believe the gentler, kinder, healthier person I will emerge as through the process will be worth the effort, worth the pain, and worth the wait.

A Generous Orthodoxy

A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian D. McLaren is my latest read. This book has been soundly criticized by many in the Christian community who see McLaren's neo-orthodoxy as being scandalous, a heresy, or worse. Google McLaren or the book and you'll see what I mean. Personally, however, I found very little that was offensive about the book. In fact, I really enjoyed it even if I don't agree 100% with everything he says. Fact is, I don't think I've ever agreed 100% with any author. But that's a topic for another day.

Much of the criticism aimed at this author and what he has to say stems from the fact that McLaren is considered the senior leader of what is known as the "Emerging," or "Emergent" Church. In fact the book is considered a kind of manifesto for that movement.

The sub-title to the book, one of the longest subtitles I've ever seen, covers the ground McLaren hopes to delve into in its 348 pages: "Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, anabaptist/anglican, methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, depressed-yet-hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian."

At its most basic level, however, the book simply calls for a radical, Christ-centered orthodoxy of faith and practice in a missional, generous spirit. McLaren calls for Christ-followers to exhibit humility, clarity, courage and diligence (pg. 34) in their walk and honestly, who can argue with that? He also links doctrine with practice, something sorely missing in many versions of Christianity around today. I believe McLaren ruffles so many feathers because of a mischievous streak he has. He seems to relish stepping on toes - many that need stepping on, mind you, but he does so with such zest and vigor (stamping on toes?) that it really riles folks up. One one level, at least, I think that's what McLaren intends to do with this book.

Consider this jab at the religious right, found on page 90: "Meanwhile, for me, in the U.S. - now the undisputed Superpower in the world - I feel surrounded by Christians who very much like the idea of an American God and a middle-class Republican Jesus, first and foremost concerned about Our National Security and Our Way of Life....The language of lordship and authority in this context only seems to serve the "powers to be," to bolster the status quo, to legitimize and protect and baptize whatever regime is in power. This feels like a tired old story that history has seen rise and fall many times, and it sickens me."

He bashes others in the book as well; television preachers, narrow-minded, exclusivist fundamentalists, and Bible-thumping Evangelicals (with a capital "E"). No group or individual is immune - including himself - because in McLaren's mind, as soon as we claim to have a monopoly on truth, or as soon as we claim to be without sin, we are little more than modern-day Pharisees.

Regardless of what you think of the book as a whole, McLaren's history lesson concerning the ongoing chasm between liberal and conservative elements of Christianity (ch. 8), his discussion of Christ as the only way (ch. 17, by the way McLaren does believe Jesus is the only way), and his explanation of what is really meant by "emergent" (ch. 19) are worth reading the book for.

So, am I now "emergent?" Have I lost my religion (or my mind)? Hardly. But I have been challenged to examine myself and and my faith, and any author or book that accomplishes that for me is worth reading. He'll challenge you too, I guarantee it.

Furnace Fixed!

For the relatively small portion of planet earth that has been concerned about Donna and me since yesterday's post - please relax; our furnace was fixed this (Sunday) afternoon.

Seems as though the problem was a simple one - our "igniter" (pictured at left) had gone bad and needed replacing. Thanks to the good folks at Reliable Heating and Air, warm air is flowing again in our main level and the long johns have come off. They didn't even charge extra to come out on a Sunday!

What is an igniter you ask? The igniter in your furnace looks like a filament from an incandescent light bulb on steroids. It is wired to the furnace and glows red hot when the furnace is on. All it takes is for the thermostat to click on, causing natural gas to flow across the hot igniter and, voila! you have heat! If the furnace senses there is a problem with your igniter, no gas ever comes out and the furnace fails to fulfill its purpose, which is to heat your home.

There are parallels in our spiritual lives. You see, every believer has a spiritual igniter in his or her life; it's called passion. Passion is the spiritual equivalent of an igniter. Without passion, fuel for your spiritual fire won't flow and there will be no warmth, no "heat," no "fire" in your faith or in the message you are trying to convey.

The lesson? Keep your furnace working - make sure your igniter is working well at all times. Amp up your passion. Show a little emotion. The alternative is dangerous, or even deadly.

Middle Ground

We have an interesting thing going on at the Jackson manse. The heating system for the main level of our home has gone out. Thankfully our builder "zoned" the heating and air in our home so while the main floor, which is our main living space has gone "polar," the upstairs of our home where the bedrooms are remains cozy and livable. That means, of course, that Donna and I are spending most of our time upstairs where it is nice and toasty while the main level of our home hovers at a cool 53 degrees (during daylight hours).

There are many teaching metaphors that could be drawn from our predicament. The one that jumps out at me most is the notion that while the middle ground (the "main level") is usually the most comfortable and the safest place to be, it isn't necessarily where God would have us be. God has a preference for hot or cold over "lukewarm" (see Rev. 3:16). God often moves us out of our comfort zone; whether it is as simple as something like the room temperature, or something as threatening as taking a stand for Him, or something as drastic as moving to Africa to serve Him.

And so I say, "Thank-you Lord, for moving us out of our comfort zone today, and forgive us for taking a warm house and the food we eat too much of for granted. Help us to remember the millions who go to bed hungry and cold every day."

As I close - here's a shout-out to my old college friends Rob Desso and Marc Fawcett. We met today for breakfast and it took all of ten minutes for us to transported to a trio of twenty-somethings in Athens, GA loving life with great plans to change the world! Love you guys!

Reading the Signs

cartoon: reading the signs | nakedpastor

I ran across this cartoon in a blog I follow and it really spoke to me. So sad that what it says is so true. Merciful God forgive us.

Who Let the Blogs Out?

This book by Biz Stone is about blogging. As the title itself indicates, the book is a bit dated, even though it was only written in 2004, mainly because of the blinding speed with which blogging is changing. For instance, the word "Twitter," the world's premier micro-blogging network doesn't appear anywhere in its 244 pages; but then Twitter didn't arrive on the scene until 2007. Not to worry about Stone being behind the times though; he is one of the co-founders of Twitter, and no doubt a very wealthy man these days.

Stone's book is very helpful for novice bloggers such as myself. He covers a variety of subjects all the way from the history of blogging to what a blog is, to why everyone should blog, to how to actually sign up and start your own blog. Stone also writes in an easy to read, engaging manner - and he is very funny at times on top of that. I found the book very encouraging; it made me want to blog more and to blog better.

The essence of what Stone wants to convey is that blogging is so important because through it we have finally availed ourselves of the true promise of the Internet: not just as something readable through a web browser, but now as a writable medium as well. The web has finally become "participatory." What's important about that is because with so many "voices" out there participating, everyone's knowledge and experience counts. The author cites several instances of where blogging has filled in the gaps, and even surpassed traditional news and media outlets at getting the information we all need in our hands more rapidly and more thoroughly.

Stone also goes to lengths to communicate the importance of linking between blogs and linking to other pages on the World Wide Web as you blog. The author insists that "links are the currency of the blogosphere." Stone envisions a "hyperconnected world" where millions have the chance to add to the ongoing conversation out there.

If you are interested in blogging, or in learning more about it, I highly recommend this book. If you have read any other good books about blogging, I'd appreciate you letting me know in the comment box below, or you can email or Tweet me.

Lesson Learned?

I can't get something out of my mind from yesterday's reading from the Old Testament. The passages were from chapters 17 and 18 of Exodus and involve two episodes from Moses' life.

The first is the account of the Israelite defeat of the Amalekites at Rephidim (Ex. 17:8-13). You may recall the story. Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, while Moses, Aaron and Hur climbed to the top of a hill to watch. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites prevailed. Eventually, Moses got tired so Aaron and Hur had to take a stone and put it under Moses so he could sit on it. And then as the day wore on, Aaron and Hur had to hold up Moses' arms - one on one side and one on the other. In the end, Joshua and the Israelites prevailed. But they never would have been able to with Moses "going it alone."

The second story follows closely on the heels of the first one. In that story, Jethro, Moses' father-in-law comes to visit him and rebukes Moses for trying to do everything on his own (Ex. 18:1-27). The wise father-in-law says, "What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone" (Ex. 18:17-18). Jethro urges Moses to delegate the work that needs to be done to other capable leaders, keeping only the "difficult cases" for himself.

As I look back on my work at my former pastorate I realize that I did a poor job of delegating. I'm not sure if it was because I liked the accolades of people for being such a capable person, or if I was such a control freak that I refused to let others do things because I didn't think they'd do them to my specifications. Then again, it could simply be that I didn't have the charisma or skill to get people to want to do the things that needed doing to begin with. Truth is, it's probably a mixture of all that - plus a bunch of other stuff (my version of a technical term).

Regardless, we developed quite a culture of co-dependence there. I needed people to need me, and the people apparently needed to be needy. I knew that then, and I know that now. The real question is, why couldn't I do something about it? The only thing I can offer in response is that at least I realized I had a problem (then and now), and as is often said, the simple fact that you realize you have a problem is the first step towards solving it. I look forward to working on that in days to come, Lord willing.

Martian Chronicles

I just finished reading The Martian Chronicles, a short science fiction book from 1950 that tells the story of the colonization of Mars. The book is actually a collection of vignettes that read very much like episodes from the Twilight Zone (if you remember that TV show). Each story is loosely connected to the previous ones, but they could certainly stand alone (and in fact did stand alone since many were originally issued as episodes in science fiction magazines in the late forties and early fifties).

One common theme in the stories is that humans (which, in this case are mostly 1950's Americans) have or are in the process of destroying "our" planet, and so now they are fleeing this troubled and eventually atomically devastated planet. Meanwhile, all the old prejudices, abuses, and perils we had on earth are simply transported to Mars.

The stories are set way in the future (for 1950) with the first one beginning in 1999 and the final episode occurring in 2026. I am thankful that what is written did not occur in the time frame speculated upon by Mr. Bradbury (our present age), but I fear that the consequences of our actions will be the same ones he predicted if and when we do get to Mars.

Bottom line - if you enjoyed the Twilight Zone, or if you enjoy good science fiction with irony and "catch-you-by-surprise" endings, you'll enjoy this book.

Derek Dooley

I don't know if you saw the news or not, but the University of Tennessee has a new head football coach, 42 year old Derek Dooley. Dooley is the son of former Univ. of Georgia head coach Vince Dooley. You can read more about him in his bio on Wikipedia here.

The reason I'm blogging about Derek is to set the record straight. You see, some people think Derek got his coaching licks from his father. Others think he got them from being an assistant coach for Nick Saban (first at LSU, then at the Miami Dolphins). But the real story behind Derek's success is a little-known coach he had when he played pee wee football at the Athens YMCA way back in 1976-78.

Yes, you guessed it. I was Derek's coach back in the day. I worked at the "Y" for two very happy years when I was a Junior and Senior in school at UGA. Actually, there were a trio of really good young players at the Athens "Y" then: former UGA quarterback Zippy Morrocco's son Chris, who went on to play for Clemson, John Kasay, who went on to fame at UGA as a kicker and who is still kicking for Carolina in the NFL (his father was UGA's strength and conditioning coach back then), and of course, Derek Dooley, who was Vince's son.

I must admit it was a little intimidating when Vince and Barbara would come to the "Y" to watch Derek play and I was his coach. Ah well, the job was fun, it paid a whole $2 an hour back then, and I got to use all the facilities at the "Y" for free.

Best of everything Derek - I know you will be a success!!

Old Photos

My latest project is to go through and scan all the photos my parents have that I am interested in keeping (yes, I know, it's amazing what all you can think of to do when you are unemployed). At any rate - my Mom and Dad have thousands of photos, many of them going back to their childhood. I've already scanned in over 500 and I still have a stack to go.

Unfortunately my mom's system for keeping her photos is to simply dump them in boxes in no particular order. Even though this makes it more difficult to determine when or where or why a particular photo was taken, it's actually quite exciting to open a box and not know if there will be a picture in it from their childhood, or my own, or even one of my children who are now grown.

It's also kind of fun to figure out the aforementioned when, where and why of a particular photo. You have to do some detective work and find clues, things like names on a birthday cake in the photo, or items of clothing, or the automobiles in the background, or the ages of some of the children, or even what house the photo was taken in or in front of. In some cases, Mom was kind enough to write when and what the photo is about on the back of the picture. Several of the photos in Mom's box also came from my older sister - and she is great about documenting her photos on back.

Once I get all the pictures I want scanned in, I plan to give a copy of the them to my family members who'd like them. After that I'll have to start on Donna's and my photos from our pre-digital photo days. Thankfully, at least those photos are in photo albums that Donna made each year. Still, there will be hundreds more to scan in.

I'll try to share some of these in future posts. Meanwhile, enjoy the photo above, one I've titled "Baby Steve Crying," I think it was the only time I cried until I was about fifteen :)

Typing Problem Solved

Okay - so I think I've fixed the typing problem.

After my last post I did some experimenting and discovered that the slow typing only occurred when I was typing things online, such as this blog, or passwords within websites.

That led me to believe the problem was with my browser instead of a hardware problem. I did some checking around and discovered it may have had something to do with a program called Microsoft Silverlight. I tried to uninstall and reinstall the current version of Silverlight on my laptop, to no avail (the install kept failing).

So - I decided this is a good time to try another browser. I've been wanting to try Google's Chrome browser. I installed that program and now it seems I have no more slow typing problem. So...there is no need to offend the kind lady across the seas, and my problem is fixed, and heck, it's only 10:30am on Monday morning! I can take the rest of the week off!

Smile!

Steve

Typing Trauma

Okay... so I start my second month of unemployment on a Monday morning. That's bad enough. On top of that I am having PC problems. It seems when I type on my laptop, it only registers half the letters I type. The only way to keep this from happening is to type v e r y s l o w l y.

For instance, here is a sentence typed at my normal speed:

Now is te time fr all men to cometo the aidf thei coutry.

Now the same sentence at s l o w speed:

Now is the time for all me to come to the aid of their country.

Do you realize how difficult it is to type slowly?

So here's what I did. I called Dell, and they connected me with a representative from a Central Asian country. This kind lady tried her best to help me, but when she types, obviously in a second language, the computer works flawlessly because she is typing v e r y s l o w l y.

So I have a conundrum. What to do with the slow typing problem - especially without offending the kind woman from a Central Asian country.

I'm working on that - and hopefully it will be resolved shortly.

Unles I go crzy fist!!!

Egadssssssss!!!