America the Beautiful (But irrationally disturbing)

A short, true story.

Sam & Amber relocated from Lexington, KY to Tampa, FL. Sam & Amber purchased a new home. Sam & Amber realized that they needed garbage can lids for the garbage cans that they had. Sam went to home depot. At home depot, one cannot buy a lid separate from a trash can top. In HD's defense, they had the exact same number of cans and tops, so it kind of made sense. One of the Sales associates sent Sam to Wal-Mart in search of the elusive standalone garbage can lid. Sam entered Waltonland full of hope, and left questioning the future of his country.

Upon entering the hardware area, Sam located approximately 15 lids that didn't seem to have a matching can and thought "This is going to work perfectly. Great!" Sam asked the hardware worker if they were sold separately and the worker told him that they were not, and that the lids would most likely be thrown away. Sam took 3 lids to check out of the store hoping someone with half a brain would sell him the lids and was asked to remove himself from the normal line and go to customer service. Sam then talked to two successive customer service managers and was denied buying said lids because "they don't have a barcode." Sam contemplated walking out of the store with the lids since the inane inhabitants of Waltonland would not accept his polite remuneration for the product they seemed to sell.

Sam left dejected and without hope. He just wanted trash can lids and got a reality check regarding the future. A representative government might not be a good idea in countries where people have no ability to think.

THE END.

Wilderness Camp

It would be astonishingly and offensively presumptuous to imply that I truly experience wilderness times. I am blessed beyond belief. But for many of us, even when life is good, it is challenging. It gives us opportunities to learn, improve, or to break, walk away. I thought it would be useful to put down some thoughts that I've either learned or heard in the last few months during some hard but hopefully fruitful times. So here you go...Wilderness thoughts.

1. You can walk in the same circle many times, but ultimately, you are still going somewhere. You're just going to take a lot longer walking in circles. "You'll know you're in the right place when you've never been there before." Often the difficult time makes the good time possible. If we do not suffer, we often do not know good to be good, or at least as good as it it.

2. Going into the wilderness yields riches (though likely not monetary ones). When the Israelites left Egypt, they took plunder while being set free from slavery (are those reparations?). We can take many riches with us if we are willing to ask. I'm hoping one of my great riches out of this time is an increased faith. I think it already is to some degree as I continue to lean onto God, realizing I have very little to offer to situations. There are many others that need not be mentioned here.

3. Complaining is bad. Don't believe me? Look it up. That's the simple answer, but we have the ability to choose a good deal of how we feel and what our life looks like. I'm not implying that we won't have gut reactions, nor that difficult things do not require grief, mourning, and sadness. Only that we often miss the mark because of our selfishness.

4. You aren't in the wilderness because someone brought you here to die. You're on a journey. You'll get there faster if you learn from wilderness camp.

In contrast, life changes are extremely hard and put great stress on relationships, faith, income, and everyone around you. I am blessed to be surrounded by so many good people who have made this transition a sad, amazing, heart-breaking, hopeful thing.

Insulation

Ever notice how angry and excitable people can be? Or how so many people say things in some company that they would rarely or never say to or about the person/people about which they speak? This is especially noticeable with many people around election time, but that situation is more of an outlier to relative to the sensation being described here. The general symptoms include things such as railing against the problems of "other people" with no regard for how they themselves might be part of the problem, screaming at people in the car because traffic is stopped, etc.

A theory on one potential cause: many Americans live in a constant state of background noise with very little real interaction. Wake up in the morning at your own home, get in your car with your coffee, go to work and never really interact with another person or face or own humanity.
We are all too busy to get out of our protective forts or home, automobile and building that we miss so much. Please don't miss what's going on all around you.

Go for a walk. Go to the park. Turn off your cell phone for a while, and realize your body is a soft, breakable shell.

Discovered by Amber

"If we can keep our minds open to the blessings, humor, and education in whatever happens to us -- if we can set that little invisible radar dish on top of our heads to constantly search for blessings instead of disasters -- our lives will be enriched by the experiences we endure and fertilize our lives" -Unkown.

General TravestShammockery

Seen over the weekend. This one might trouble me even more than the "Anybody but -fill in the politician-" sticker. Hope? Hope? From Politicians. Are you serious?

Don't Get me wrong. I like Barack. As a politician, I guess he's ok. I'll probably vote for him in the primary here, but mainly because I find him less obfuscating than one Hillary Rodham Clinton. And by less, I mean by just a very, very, barely intelligible margin. He is after all, a politician.

These people act like Barack Obama isn't a politician. He's been doing it for a while people. He's not different from these other people. He's a greedy power hungry, politician.

I know what you want to ask. It's ok. Go ahead. "Sam if all politicians are ethical degenerates in your book, what if somebody with actual character tries to change?" The short answer: it gets sucked out of them by the reality of our system. Our system is better than despot-led and starved countries in other parts of the world, but the reality is most all politicians are owned. Barack is no different. Change is not simply avoidable. It's nearly impossible. And Barack doesn't really care about change. He just wants to be president, so he can decide what does not change.

Hope in Politicians: Priceless.

Further up and Further in, Part 2

Referencing an older post, a better picture has been found. Of late, the realization of life as a journey of transformation has become much more acute. Life as a journey to death which yields more life. It's a confusing idea that I'm just beginning to wrap my head around. Henri Nouwen does a much better job of describing it in his book, Life of the Beloved. He describes the process of death as one which should open us up even more to God and to loving other people. This is a difficult concept for me to grasp, though I think I'm getting better at it. Applying the idea to other areas, it's intriguing to see what "dying to oneself" looks like in myriad situations. Through some personal unscientific study by someone who knows very little about it, it's reasonable to say death yields life.

Ya, I'm engaged...what's it to you?

Amber has hindsight bias. She now thinks she knew it was coming. She didn't. I tricked her into marrying me, and now it's too late. If you want the story...man I'm tired of telling it but here 'goes.

We went out to eat at Gaetano's. If you don't know what it is, it's in Dunedin, FL and you should go. Great food, good time. Nice atmosphere. As we were leaving dinner, Amber had to use the restroom, so I went out to the car and put the ring in my pocket. I snuck it out while she was in the shower after our bike ride.

We stopped in dunedin and looked out over the water and talked about stars and tampa area geography. Next on the plan was going to the Botanical Gardens for the Holiday Lights. We walked around some of the other areas, and then went into the wedding garden. I asked Amber if she wanted to stand under the gazebo and practice. She said no, that's dumb. I was able to convince her. Then I tricked her into marrying me.

One of the highlights of the evening was a couple walking past charging us to make it last 40 years like they had. It's encouraging stuff.

We wound out the evening hanging out at the beach, letting some people (who were awake) know of the night's festivities.

2 people looking HOTT!

It's gonna be a fun life together.

Bullet Grind

In an effort to write more frequently, the author hopes to make this a regular segment of PYHOOYB(pullyourheadoutofyourbutt). "It's fun to say too!" Brief ideas or jumping off points that have been found interesting either to the author, or to others and it has come to a more corporate attention. They might also turn into some rants of frustration as deemed necessary by said author's immediate sanity. As always, we here at PYHOOYB are visual learners, and seek to provide visuals for any and every idea. Hope you like it, and would appreciate and welcome comments.

##*## Hospitality in Community -

It's a lost art according to a study I recently heard of (sorry, no link, but I think you can determine this from basic experience). Some dude did a study showing how full service sit-down restaurants are declining, and fast food restaurants have increased by 100% over the life of the study. Most of these people eat in a car alone. People go to places where other people are, but remain alone. There are hordes of people starving for hope and companionship, even if just a little. It seems we need to learn to slow down enough to eat with people. It would probably make us healthier too.

##*## Insecurity in Religion -

Believers should be extremely careful about who and what they criticize. It's a dangerous thing to promote one's own understanding as the "only way." I'm ever amazed at others (and my own) propensity for attacking those against whom my battle is not. You will know my people how?

##*## Advent -

The advent season is one of expectant hope. A great picture is the history of Jews in captivity, waiting for the Messiah. The poverty and despair present in that time provides an interesting backdrop to Western Culture today. We are impoverished in our souls as we seek to light our own candles and find hope and peace within ourselves. Many are given over to their evil desires as they stand in defiance of God. Total depravity indeed. O Come Emmanuel. We need you.

Decisions...

Don't you wish they were less like this... and more like this...

Freedom and Perceived Prisons

I found this on Gordo's Blog today, and thought it was a great quote. I wish I could locate its author. So for now, it will be unknown.

Avoid regret for a man that has the freedom to follow his dreams, and does. Feel empathy for those who live under the illusion that they are trapped in prisons, and don’t.

Church essential number one: Brokenness/Wholeness

It seems a key element in any kind of effective church is the ability to grieve healthily. A corporate outpouring of this character is stoked by all of the individuals' willingness to sit in hard places, and believe and hope for redemption.

I believe God has an inner fire in each of us, but so often we let it die because we are broken by life, sadness, pain...

A friend of mine once related a similar situation to me using an analogy of a broken glass (paraphrased):

"Sam for such a long time, all I could do was sit and say look at the broken glass; what am I going to do? My glass is broken...After some time, I realized there was glue, and the glass could be put back together. It wouldn't be put back together, though, without blood-without your hands being cut over and over again. It also would never look the same as it did before. How could it? with glue holding glass together like mortar with bricks. However, it can again serve its purpose." That purpose? A vessel. "Be filled and spill" also comes to mind. This cannot happen if we believe we, in and of ourselves, can do it. We can't. We break, we weary, we despair. But there is much to say for our past pains becoming strengths that can be used by a perfect Creator as he deems fit. Not for our own glory, but for his own. We are broken, but our brokenness can be made new, can be re-sculpted for good (what was intended for evil).

(I'm really thinking out loud here and trying to dream a little bit. I welcome your input and thoughts, criticisms and questions. I'm hoping to think of more of these and bring them together for a more cohesive whole.)

Good things can come from Nebraska

Disclaimer: The author obviously does not believe the implication from the title. Knowing many people from Nebraska (some, good friends, and most, good people), the author knows better. However the craft shown in the photo represents one of the not so good things to come out of Nebraska.

Remember the days of Freedom. Creighton Blue Jays keeping it real. This is a great tool for people who need help getting into a routine.

Considerations of Late...A visual representation

This has been spurred by readings and conversations of late.

Telling you things you might already know...

Ahem: There are still good people in America.

[Please don't interpret this as some kind of theological stand on the goodness of man (The author has not lost his mind in the last couple weeks).]

US charitable giving set a new record in 2006. A selection from the article above:

The overall increase for the year was 4.2 percent, or one percent adjusted for inflation. But if disaster gifts are excluded from the 2005 total, giving in 2006 rose 6,6 percent.The record-setting gift total in 2006 included $1,9-billion from billionaire Buffett, the world's third wealthiest individual, in the first installment on a 20-year pledge of more than $30-billion to four foundations."While headlines focus on 'mega-gifts', they represented 1,3 percent of the total," said George Ruotolo, chair of the Giving Institute."About 65 percent of households with incomes lower than $100 000 give to charity. That is higher than the percentage who vote or read a Sunday newspaper.""There certainly is a tradition of supporting nonprofit organizations in the United States," Jolly told AFP."It's just characteristic of the American public to give to the extent that they're able contribute."

This is not to say that America doesn't have a long way to go, because with much privilege comes much responsibility, but it does give you the right to think reasonably and with the solid cranium you were born with as opposed to just feeling guilty and bad about yourself everytime some moron reporter writes something because he wants to make people who make more money than him feel bad (oops, did I say that?)

Give generously, Live simply, Love your neighbor. Peace.

The Power of Perpetuity

Sam, why must you strange conjugations of words? Because I must, because I must.

Have you ever asked yourself or realized at some salient moment that you've forgotten so many things that were simple and true and made your life better, but were let go of because they were either too simple or just a little below you?

Let's try to say this another way: ever noticed how crappy pop songs can get stuck in your head forever? (Hey now, you're an all-star... or Girl you're my angel, you're my darlin' angel, closer than my peeps you are to me-e, ooh ooh). I hope I didn't just ruin your day reading those, but the point is clear: our minds are affected by the things we allow to consume them, so what are we consumed with? Is it truth? Is it life-giving? If you had kids, or people you really wanted to be healthy and live a good (whom you influence), would you put the things in their head that you let rule your inner monologue? A few words to focus on and repeat to oneself during a day can make a monumental difference. Truth and Peace. Mercy and Hope. Passion and Justice. Grace and Patience. Belief and Love.

What fills your mind and defines your daily movements?

Dissonance

I have been meaning to post about some challenges I've encountered in the past year dealing with things that should be part of a normal Christian mindset (Love, hope, preserving the natural world, encouraging freedom and justice, wholeness and hope, etc.) In addition to that, had hoped to make some points about what flowed out of those things. People who eat better, drive better, exercise and think critically and with a keen mind. I still hope to do that, but Zach beat me to it. You should check his post on eschatology and diverging views.

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?

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.

Hope battles back...

Ever struggle with a feeling of fading away? Ever wonder if you can and will make the changes in life that define the kind of person you are and are becoming? Ever feel like you close things off because you're more afraid of being hurt than you are hopeful of something reaching its good and right culmination?

What do we do when hope that was once so strong gets broken on the rocks of poor timing, missed opportunity, a bad decision, or sometimes just reality? How do we change for the better if we don't truly believe it will make a difference. What do we do when we're not sure how we'd act even if opportunity were staring us right in the face? We have to dare to hope again. Dare to live again. Dare to be a real person again. We must step out of the world of theory and conversation and into the world of risk, effort, and consequence. We must decide now the people we want to be and go about the task of figuring out how that should be accomplished. That makes me think of something I read lately...

"To know others is intelligence, to know yourself is wisdom."

It seems one of the most difficult things for most people to be is that which should be the easiest: honest with themselves. The next post will touch on this too. A little bit about writing and honesty. But back to hope. We all need it. Some of us need to take other things out to make room for hope to re-enter the picture. Most importantly, the hope needs to become a real part of our thinking, belief and action. To have this hope, we must know who we are.

Further In and Further Up

If you've ever read C.S. Lewis, you've likely encountered this thought through a fictional media.

On the surface, it would seem that Lewis was referring to higher, deeper, and more core truths (and he likely was). However, the idea can be translated over to another aspect of life and spirituality that is oft misunderstood in western thought (it might be in eastern as well, but a westerner has trouble elaborating on such a point with any sort of validity). The idea is that of holding things in tension and under examination, but still living a life seeking joy, peace, contentment and hope.

This noble-sounding idea encounters its difficulty in the actual practice of life where one encounters pain, chaos, discontent, and despair. So what is one to do? Throw up their hands in disgust and begin to live for themselves? Continue trudging through, and hoping against hope?

C.S. Lewis or the author of Hebrews might say that there is a separation between those who engage this idea with themselves as a god and those who engage it as ones with a high priest who has been made perfect. There is a new contract with a new high priest who strives on our behalf. This should give us hope. Hope for life, hope for the realization of a world where things are not as they are now. In order to truly encounter God and His Kingdom, we must be willing to let the things of this world that are not eternal be shaken off so the Unshakable Kingdom can move to the forefront.