We Just Wanna Have Fun

Tim Riter November 11, 2013

Cyndi Lauper got it right, in part. We all wanna have fun. It enlivens life and motivates us. Pat Haden, the Athletic Director of USC, removed the football coach partway into this 2013 season. The 3-2 record, bad as it was, dimmed in view of the dispirited and disorganized play of the team.

The new coach, Ed Orgeron, instituted several goals for the team--one was to have fun. So, he brought In and Out burgers and cookies to the menus. It’s worked. My Trojans are now 4-1 under Mr. Ed, playing hard and smart and having fun with football. And I’m having fun watching them!

Fun works, but sometimes it dominates the church.

Baby Girl-Discovering by Microcontroleur

Hope for Today?

Tim Riter November 4, 2013

Our times oppress us. Tonight’s news focuses on the inhumanity of the LAX killing of a TSA agent. Other news covers the extra security of the New York City Marathon resulting from the explosive pressure cookers at the earlier Boston Marathon. Growing secularism pushes the practice of faith to the periphery. Radicals killed more Christians, for being Christians, in the last century than all combined. A climate scientist just stated that some climate changes may be beyond the point of reversal. Let’s not even address the uncertainty that circles the roll out of Affordable Health Care!

And many Facebook friends bemoan current conditions, conveying a sense that nothing can be done.

They may be right.

And I don’t care.

The Role of Rules

Tim Riter October 14, 2013

On that mission trip to Penasco that I mentioned a few weeks ago, two of us cruised there on bikes. Both looked custom. Mine—a 750 Honda, slightly chopped, “Easy Rider” American flag paint, a custom seat, but basically the bike the factory made. Chris’ had a 750 motor, but totally custom and totally cool—winning the foreign show bike competition at that year’s Winternationals.

From New Mexico I rode the bike on to Nashville to see family, about 5000 miles for the overall trip. The only problem came when a piece of grit got caught in the carb jets, and half an hour took care of that.

Chris had a different story...

Balancing, by John M. Becker, at johnmbecker.com

Rules or Relationships? Or Both?

Tim Riter September 23, 2013

I suspect the Pope has been poaching my posts! Just last week I explored the toxicity of legalism, and that post engendered more visits and replies than any other (OK, the blog’s been up less than two months. But even so…). Within a few days, an interview with the Pope came out that created a firestorm of discussion, both within the Roman Catholic and Protestantism, of protest and support and uncertainty. Francis’ premise: the church needs to move away from emphasizing rules to focusing on faith.

More Jewel Than Tool-foto by Rich Klinsky

Adapting

Tim Riter August 26, 2013

Two stories, seemingly unrelated, except that they both deal with bikes and Glacier National Park. Oh yeah, somewhere there’s a point that should connect them.

Story #1: Somewhere on the Road to the Sun in Glacier lies an otherwise nondescript patch of dirt. No monument marks it, tourists don’t drive by to gawk at a historical site, and honestly, few would care to see it even after this story. But dirt can teach a lesson.

A 6 Foot Perspective

Tim Riter August 3, 2013

I don’t know how many others suffer from this malady, but I seem to see the world through a six foot perspective. That’s the average height of most men, although I came up just a little short on that one. Now, the years have dropped me further from that exalted status of two yards. Even so, in a standing crowd I often judge if I’m taller than most, or shorter. I often come out ahead (pardon that bad pun).

Photo courtesy of SippanontSamchai — Photo courtesy of SippanontSamchai

Stuck

Tim Riter April 3, 2013

I got stuck. Not in the frustratingly omnipresent but usually innocuous SoCal traffic, nor in job situations where we regularly have to deal with those less perfect than ourselves. Nothing so simple. I got stuck with God. Oh, I still believed and did what I should. Mostly, at least. And I saw him marvelously move in my life. But I lost the intimacy, the sense of close contact. It bothered me, especially that it went on for over a year.

Unconventional

Old Faith, New Following