My recent camping/fishing Sierra trip stunned me with the natural beauty and how it all fits together—again. Funny how each trip does that. Mid October revealed the glory of golden aspen with the contrasting cedars and Ponderosa pines, the life-sheltering and beautiful streams, the awe-inspiring Milky Way at night. But heading home showed all isn’t well on Planet Earth. Lone Pine Creek was…
Read MoreSlowing Our Spirit--Episode 3 on Peace
On September the 8th, our refrigerator gave up the ghost. A nice run of 32 years, only to be killed by a power surge after SCE turned off the power. We found and purchased a new one on 9/10, delivery slated for 9/26. We didn’t care for the long delay, but on 9/23, they pushed it back to 10/1. We figured we could manage, if we had to. Then on 9/28, they changed it once more, to 10/14. We hope and pray that’s the day, but I’ll wager that too will get moved. Honestly…
Read MoreGold Medals
Exceptionally low self-worth plagued my early years. In elementary school, life lost so much joy I also lost laughter for several months. In high school, primarily only the permanence of suicide kept that from being tried. In college, I learned how to gold medal in competition—with others. No Olympic events, just outdoing others to make myself better. You see, if…
Read MoreSmiling Through the Tears
Tears come to us all. They accompany poor health, friction with people, unresolved sins and wrongs, economic hardship, death, floods and fires, culture and politics, the list could go on into eternity. Just one example, my community in SoCal is facing 8 of 10 days with temps over 100, maxing at 109. Three days ago, our power went out in the middle of the day for four hours—luckily we were on our way to the beach. But may we remember that Jesus said troubles come with breathing in John 16:33. His brother James told us…
Read MoreBut God
Preferring to understand the big picture, I embarked on a mission to comprehend God, vainly hoping the more I understood him and his nature and his essence, the better I could follow. Easier for an ant to assess Einstein. Unable to grasp the core of God in the vast distance between our natures, I drifted—until…
Read MoreGetting Better?
Mark Twain, one of America’s wittiest authors, proclaimed that “The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it he knows too little.” Well, I’m over 48. Well over. Yet, I find a blend of both pessimism and optimism within myself. Pessimism: about how America is abandoning widespread cultural values in place of subjective ethics; about the rise in violent crime, particularly in young adults; about growing alcohol and drug abuse. Optimism: about…
Read MoreUnChristlike Christians
Christians not living like Christians troubles me. OK, I’m more troubled by THIS Christian who doesn’t always act like he should. However, this human affliction applies to us all. But maybe we can do something about it. Over my years of following Jesus, I’ve been intrigued by how many studies indicate a behavioral/faith disconnect by many followers of Jesus. The Christian sociologist George Barna examined how five different faith groups, ranging from active to lukewarm followers to adherents of other faiths to atheists, did on 18 behavioral issues that constitute morality: most groups’ behaviors were…
Read MoreGod Awareness
We live in a brave new world, one that ignores more than opposes God. He’s rarely part of the landscape, not a normal topic of discussion. In an industry that once frequently alluded to him (East of Eden, the novel by Steinbeck and the movie for just one example), few movies refer to God at all. And, rather than rail against the lack, maybe we can graciously insert a God awareness into our culture. We’ve all seen…
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