The fam

This picture was snapped outside of Sonny's in Largo, FL on friday night. One of the great child tosses ever.

In other news. Uncle Sam is now an uncle for the 3rd time. Eli Joseph was born April 30th, weighing in at a strong 8 lbs, 7 oz and 21" in length. Good on ya mate!

Stripping...get your mind out of the gutter

I'm going to try to pull together a couple ideas here. First, it would likely be helpful if you read John 6. This chapter shows how Jesus broke up a large portion of his following by saying things that he knew would be offensive to them (I wish I could say I thought of this on my own, but I didn't. Check out the messages Deconstruction and Reconstruction from Mars Hill Bible Church about 2 years ago). It is reminiscent of the story of Gideon and his men taking on the Midianites(Judges 6 and 7).

Another story of note comes from the Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. One of the characters is turned into a dragon, and in order to return to his human state, a lion must shred all of the skin, scales and natural dragon protection off of him. He must then bathe in a nearby water source.

There is one common theme among these three stories: after the stripping, something emerges. And what emerges is a core, a nucleus, a true locus.

I realize I have in no way expounded on this in any kind of exhaustive sense, but there's some research and thought that can go into this. What needs to be stripped away? What is essential? How do we protect ourselves from true abandon and thus push away a God in whom we say we believe?

Also relevant to this discussion is the need to be a force for good when people are going through things like this. May we not try to fit people into our understanding of God, but instead lift up and rely on Him to supply for their needs, not ourselves. In other words, speak words of life, not those of death and condemnation.

This week's sign the apocalypse is nigh...

You might have to click on the photo and zoom to see that bumper sticker, but just in case; it says "It's God's job to judge the terrorists; it's our job to arrange the meeting." - Marines

Two questions:

1) What makes us believe in the myth of redemptive violence? What I mean to say is, how do we expect violence to beget anything but violence. (I'm not saying there aren't things worth fighting for, but we should be, if anything, very sober about being at war)

2) Isn't this the same idea the terrorists have about us? hmmm.

Cornhole for Life

For those of you thinking, "that Sam is always so crass and today is simply another example!", I'm gonna need you to simma down. I am not in fact being crass, but merely supporting a good cause. Cancer is a terrible thing. Don't get me wrong; Conspiracy theorist Sam questions the support for research and discovery by pharmaceutical companies with obvious conflicts of interest. What with cancer being a multi-million/billion dollar industry. Let's look past that today.

Today is the annual ACS Relay for Life Cornhole tournament fundraiser, and I for one am excited. Not solely because it's actually warm here again. No, no, but because I'm paired with our 70+ year old golf-addicted (but a really nice guy) Janitor. "Why", you may ask "are you excited, Sam?" Because this guy is one of the few who feel compelled to mess with his bosses, especially on things like this. Probably also because this man has made phrases such as "That's what she said" things of lore, but I digress. First round matchup, we've got one co-worker, and one of the family owners of the company. Needless to say, my partner will be down on the end of this guy givin' him he (+) *2 hockey sticks all day. Life is good.

Race Report from the Columbus 1/2 marathon

If you would like to read from the perspective of a friend of mine who I paced in this race you may find it here. In other news, running races at exertion rates below normal is pretty fun. Also, two guys tied for the win of the 1/2 marathon. That's pretty sweet.

What Sam will look like running tomorrow...

Just in case you were curious, Sam's not the guy on the sled; he's one of the dogs. A little half marathon and the weather forecast looks great: High 43 with rain and snow.

This is what Sam will feel like when he's done.

I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with Sam. He knows it's going to be cold, and wishes the weather were better, but for some reason doesn't care, and is really looking forward to runnning in the freezing cold and precipation. Pleas pray for Sam as he obviously has some serious issues with which he needs to deal before he can again become a functioning member of society.

What if...

(This will hopefully become a feature of hope and vision, but we'll see...)

What if we were an unquestioned force for good in the world? What if, instead of caring more about our control, wealth, and status quo, we were more interested in being revolutionaries for the causes of freedom, justice, hope, and redemption? What if our morals and actions were unimpeachable?

How would this change people around us? How would people react if they didn't feel like we came for a fight, but rather with only an agenda of service? How would they react to the word Christian? Would it change the world?

Interlude

I just think these goats look awesome! If you disagree, I'm sorry to have troubled you and taken your time............................No. I'm really not.

Here, now, but what about tomorrow?

It is difficult to remove many of the sources of noise from one's life. It is especially difficult in the modern mindset to fiercefully guard times of true relaxation. The battle is largely within the self, as silence and calm is a thing to be feared. It is a challenge to go there, to be quiet, to sit, but is something we all must do if we hope to truly have peace.

Something many people struggle with, myself fully included is the question of "what's next?" It's so hard not to ask, not to want to know, not to have the drop on the guy next to you... But today has enough troubles of its own, and it will take care of itself. We have but to realize that we are in fact the people we are right now. We will do different things, think different things, know different things; but who we are is who we are. We must stop lying to ourselves about the person we are and face facts. Be honest and stop cutting ourselves slack. Look at our own lives with the same keen and critical eye we see others. Change is possible, but even that ability or desire to change is part of who you are right now. If you're currently unwilling to undergo painful change, then you will likely remain that way and always speak of things you will or could do differently. For those of us who can't say anything without it having a futurist bent, it can be put a different way: we are the people we are becoming. May the mysterious and merciful peace of God rest in our minds.

Rites of Spring

For those of you who are obviously communists, you wouldn't understand this, so just disregard. For those true red-blooded americans among us, yesterday was opening day.

You know, more thought reveals to me that baseball holds a strange dichotomy: the ridiculous salaries of today's players have changed the interaction of player and fan, but baseball still represents a sport that is altogether different from the other major sports (except for maybe soccer, which is interminably boring to watch). The regal pace of the game holds value for those of us who appreciate the fact that a conversation can be had, relaxation and company can be enjoyed, and a sporting event can take place all at the same time. Here's to slow games, summer afternoons, and rest.