it's friday!

I did that for mdog.

Weekends are strange for me. Being a pastor, there is very little "Thank God it's Friday" going on. And despite the cartoons, there is no "Thank God it's Monday" as Monday my wife works and, to be honest, I'm still emotionally recovering. For those who have never done it before, there is something about preaching that is exhilarating and draining at the same time.

But my life has very little rhythm to it. My job does not allow a lot of structure. Some of that is great... some of that is lousy. I don't think I work longer than most (40-60 hours a week), but the hours are strange. And NEVER the same from week to week, and often times, not very predictable. (You can't plan a funeral, an emotional crisis, or even a lot of counseling.)

I have a friend who is now working Sundays. That must suck. Now, I think he took this on himself as he is working at least two jobs... and this allowed him to re-arrange his schedule... but that would still suck. Maybe it doesn't bother him, but it would bug me.

It's a beautiful day. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours with a friend and we walked The Ridges. ALL of The Ridges. It was tiring, but exhilarating at the same time. (Isn't it funny how life is like that?) See, an example of my schedule. I could take a couple of hours out of my day and walk.

So all of this rambling is that last night I felt like an absentee husband and father. I got home last night and really missed my wife. We tried to connect but I went to bed feeling really distant. I'm betting she did as well. I still feel out of it... but I need to leave as I have an appointment at 7:30. I was hoping this post would clear my mind... but I'm not sure it helped all that much. And you may have waisted a couple of minutes of your life as well. Sorry.

And while I'm at it...

will someone redesign Apple's web site? I would like to be able to find things...

man, I sound like a real grouch... I'm really a nice guy.

Okay, maybe not.

Okay, so I'm not impressed with Apple

So those of you who known me for over a year know that when I got my Apple Powerbook I was overjoyed. I could not brag enough about it. So now I need some help... it seems to be running slowly... and I can't tell you how UNDERwhelmed I am with Apple Care and technical support. The Apple store in Columbus tells me I need to call Apple Care. Apple Care tells me I need to make a reservation with a "Mac Genius" in the Colubus store...and the process is a pain. And so far, the people have been pretty rude.

I'm really, really not impressed.

So Thursday I go to Columbus and meet with my "Mac Genius." Well, I don't know that because you can't make a reservation until THAT DAY. OR I can pay and join a group that allows you to make a reservation a week in advance... of course I already paid $250 for Apple Care. And you have to do that at the store.

Did I say I'm not impressed with Apple? I'm really, really not impressed.

Okay, so the customer service better shine on Thursday or Apple will lose a big fan. And a repeat customer.

Whatever happened to nice people?

Why?

God, why do people have to live like this when I have so much?

Wait, don't answer that question.

Is there a solution?

I just read about a guy in Batavia who shot a 15 year old boy for walking on his lawn. Wow. What do you do with this? No sane person would do this right? But is it enough to just say, "Not guilty by reason of insanity?"

So I wonder if "they guy who lived alone" had had a community of people who loved and visited him and stopped in and checked on him... who talked with him about his lawn concerns...I wonder if the story would have been different? And where are those people? I mean, I barely have enough time for my life it seems... but...

Wow.

Not sure of the accuracy but...

Okay, I'm not sure of the accuracy of this site, but I found it a bit overwhelming.

The cost of war.

Naps

Naps are one of the greatest inventions yet. I'm guessing all my readers have tried this amazing innovation, but if not... I have a simple question: What the @#$@ do you have to do that is more important? I mean, really? Not work I hope. You can't be that important that you have to work every day, right? I guess you could just lay around, but that is pretty close to napping so you might as well just shut your eyes for an hour or two.

Do you think God sat around one day and said, "You know, I think on Sunday afternoons I'm just going to flip this switch and they will all sleep -- that way I can get some shut eye too!" If I were God, I think I would arrange that. Fortunately for all involved, I'm not.

Are you SURE that isn't happening? I mean, how would you know? You are sleeping! Maybe you only THINK others are awake. And maybe when you shut down, God turns off the sun too (or at least powers it down). He sends out the night janitor team to walk through your brain and sweep out all the stuff that needs cleaned out. Polishes up the brass. Changes bulbs.

"On the seventh day God rested from all of His work."

This was a good idea.

Scare...faith... mystery...

I just got back from the hospital an hour ago. Earlier this evening, my wife was working out and passed out... they reported she had a seizure (although she has no memory of the event). She, apparently, is fine. They did a bunch of blood work and other tests. (Actual quote from the doctor: "We did a CT scan of her brain and we found nothing.")

It's funny. When I found out, the first thing I did was call a some friends who had walked with us through some really hard times previously. I wanted them to pray for us. I guess I could be down on myself... the first thing i did WASN'T pray myself... I wanted others to pray. Maybe that is a sign of a weakness in my faith... or maybe a sign of a need for one another... who knows. But I knew God was with us... again... no matter what happened on this particular leg of the journey.

But tonight brought up all kinds of insecurity in me again. Maybe tore open some scabs that I thought had healed over. I guess healing takes a long time. Maybe I have not really recovered from all that happened surrounding the birth of my daughter.

So...strange twist to the story.

I had taken my daughter shopping when my wife went to work out. It was really strange, but when my daughter and I were driving back from shopping, at some point, out of the blue, I just got really depressed. I actually started crying uncontrollably, so much so that I almost had to pull of the side of the road. I could not figure out why, or what brought it on. When I got to the house, my wife called to tell me she was in the emergency room. I called the fitness center to see what had happened and, from my best calculations, she had passed out right when the darkness hit me. Strange I know, but I think there is a lot more mystery to this world than I believed 10 years ago.

I'm going to try to go to bed.

Thank you God for giving me, even just another day with the woman I love. I promise you now, as I have promised you in the past, that I will continue to love her and cherish her as Christ loved the church. I pray you would give me long life... not for my sake, but so that I can love my wife even that much longer, and that much better. I will continue to lay down my life for her. I'm so blessed and thankful to you... my Rock and my Redeemer. You have truly given me far more than I could ever have asked or imagined.

For my fellow fans of "The Simpsons."

Some people have WAY too much time on their hands.

Go to church, get a chicken

Okay, I like their sandwiches, and a Christian business is fine and dandy...but is this strange?

I'm trying to think of a poultry pun, but it's just not coming...

Mourn with those who mourn...

And now for the continuing saga...

A while back I wrote about an atheist who put himself up for bid on ebay. Apparently, there is more to the story. Won't this be an interesting one to track!

White-out

White-out... just another good reason to be thankful for computers.

Photo observation

People keep telling me that when I take pictures I should keep the horizion level. I have decided they are full of it. (Sorry if you are one of those people, but I doubt anyone reading this gave me that advice.) I like it when photographers tilt the picture.

So there.

Mystery

I love the church I'm pastor, I really do. I honestly believe that there is no other place I would rather be, and no other people I would rather be with, than this congregation. Most of the time, I wake up thinking, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world." (And the only reason I didn't say "all of the time" has less to do with the congregation and more with me!).

And overall, I love our worship style. (For those "non Central" readers, I guess you would call us a "contemporary worship" congregation, although I hate that label for reasons I won't get into).

But there is a real limitation to the "contemporary worship movement." And I see this in almost every congregation I have visited that does contemporary worship.

My opinion is that we have sucked most of the mystery out of God. AND, we have detached ourself from 2000 years of Christian tradition. In our effort to avoid what some of us grew up with, (unexplained symbols, boring hymns, responsive readings where we are running through the motions, etc.), I think we may have thrown the proverbial baby out with the bath water.

Where "hollow traditionalism" is not good, I'm really getting tired of "buddy Jesus." (By the way, I don't think we promote "buddy Jesus," but it can be a fine line.) I think, if we are not careful, we can suck all the mystery out of God and turn God into a nice little god who fits nicely in our box. And we will sing nice songs about this god, and say that we are "friends," and that we even have a "personal relationship" with this god (not a biblical phrase, by the way).

Yawn.

"He is not tame... "*

Last night we did our first Ash Wednesday service in, at least, 9 years...I suspect 15 years. Now, pastors everywhere will tell you it is almost impossible for us to worship while actually leading a worship service... but honestly, I really connected to God in that service. And all we did, really, was copy what the church has been doing for hundreds (thousands) of years. Sure, there was some contemporary flair, but you know... we reclaimed some symbols that have not been used around Central for some time.

We also have our worship space set up "in the round." The platform in in the middle of the room with the seating in concentric circles around it. "Wow, that is cutting edge." Ah, no... actually, the Church has been doing that since we started building buildings. (And in fact, the synagogues in Scripture had reading stands in the middle of the congregation... the Word was among the people.)

My point in all of this is that maybe, just maybe, God is bigger than us.

Maybe, just maybe, ash on the forehead, communal readings, the Lord's prayer, etc. have lasted all these years because there is something to them that stands the test of time.

Now, Central will probably never trade in our electric guitars for a pipe organ (although, I have heard some really cool ways to use a pipe organ), but last night taught me (showed us?) that, just as God is not limited to traditional worship, the contemporary folks don't have a corner on the market either.



*Quote from "Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe."