Cut On The Knife They Sharpened

The recent accusations of four young men toward Bishop Eddie Long of sexual abuse has again raised questions about the church universal and it's character. Something should be noted about this case and that of Ted Haggard. Prior to the reports of each of these men's scandals, both men were outspoken against homosexuality and gay marriage. Even after allegations were made on ABC news, Bishop Eddie Long organized a march with his 25,000 member congregation through Atlanta with an opposition of gay marriage as the main message.

Prior to the accusations against Long and Haggard, both men spoke openly about their masculinity. Haggard was fond of sharing from the pulpit about his sex life and how it's important to have great sex with one's wife. Not that every pastor who speaks about such things are really hiding something... just saying.

I remember growing up in church hearing messages about all the evils of the world, (alcohol, drugs, porn, etc.) and wondering if the preacher's job was to test those things and give reports on their results.

Like a lot of pastors, I've wondered that if I make a big mistake in life, if the Church would embrace or reject me. I wonder that simply because history tells us, when a pastor falls out of the saddle, the church hasn't shown a lot of grace. I think it's the pastor's fault.

First of all, if the pastor was honest in the beginning and just expressed some of their troubles and challenges in the first place, they stood a greater chance to be embraced by the church. In the case of Ted Haggard and many others who slammed homosexuality from their pulpits and was later found out to be involved in that life style, no wonder the congregation shot them down. They provided the weapons and the ammo of judgement to their congregations. It was Haggard who pushed a black and white view on homosexuality. Or as Donald Miller has said, "They got cut on the knife they sharpened."

Donald Miller, author of "Blue Like Jazz" also makes a great point, that churches have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuality in the church. I agree, and add that this policy has created rampant hypocrisy in the church.

I write all this to say, if you have some junk you need to confess and if your church won't show you grace, (pastor or not) go find another church filled with real Jesus followers and share it with them and discover healing. Maybe a pastor's most prominent rant is their deepest struggle.

God Lives In Hell

Over two thousand times, the poor are mentioned in the scripture. God cares about the poor. The Bible also says, "God is with the brokenhearted." So much so, that he wants to restore our broken hearts, and he is more than generous with his healing salve of grace. We could say he extends grace to everyone. Even those who refuse to give grace. God is way too generous with dispensing His grace. If brokenness if birthed from hell, truly God lives there with you.

Calling or a Job

There is an emerging theory making a good point about what happens to a Christian the longer they live. It says, the longer one is a Christian, the less and less they hang out with people who are not of the faith. In other words, the longer in the faith, the more exclusive a Christian or group of Christians become.
A pastor recently asked me how to reach the twenty to thirty year olds of today’s culture.
“Why?”, I asked.
“It’s in my job description.” He replied.
“What is?”
“As a staff pastor I am to create programming that will attract and reach a younger audience that will in turn grow our aging church.”
I asked him, “Where are the twenty and thirty year olds?”
“In the bars of course.”, he sighed.
“Sounds like the place you ought to be.”
Although this pastor knew this to be true, he shook his head acknowledging the swift termination that would follow if he actually went to a bar. Sadly, his situation describes the status quo church. They want people to come, but are unwilling to meet people where they are. This pastor shared that he agreed with the church in that going to a bar would “ruin his witness.”
At what point did avoiding people become our witness? One could argue that over time, the church became more interested in its principles than it did the people it was originally called to bring the Kingdom to. “Kingdom come… here on earth as it is in heaven.”
No wonder we have statements like Gandhi’s when he said, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Jesus never put principle before people.
He said in the book of Revelation, (paraphrased) “I wish you were either hot or cold, instead you’re status quo. And that doesn’t settle well with me.”
Maybe we should spend less energy trying to talk about God, and instead be the place where God talks. Wherever that may be.

Testing - Do Not Disturb

My favorite theology professor from Southern Seminary, Dr. Russell Moore says, "To experience spiritual growth, read the opposite of your tendency. Doers should try reading theology and prayers, while Thinkers should try reading evangelism and service." To grow, it helps to place yourself in challenging positions that test your faith. Too often I just want to jump into fertile soil and live it up. But sometimes I need to revisit that rocky back yard of faith, be handed a jackhammer, and remember what it is like to chisel my way slowly to God.

Yet, probably the greatest challenge to spiritual growth is coming from within the Body of believers. Pastors or leaders have been attempting to unify communities around doctrine for centuries. Constantine sort of made this popular. In this culture, there is a tendency to be more about our beliefs than we are our faith. The difference simply being, we can argue each other’s beliefs but not each other’s faith. Yet, too often, the mark of spiritual growth or maturity in today’s Evangelical Christian culture is determined by a person’s rote memory skills pertaining to specific doctrine. And you can be really impressive, the better you are able to regurgitate the popular literature. Not much has changed really since Constantine.

We live in a day where we have more choices and less time, and our tendency of discipleship is often reduced to racing around, consuming anything with a “Christian” label without ever asking questions that matter.

Have you ever heard a spiritual leader say something like, “I don’t care what other pastor’s believe, what I am sharing with you is the truth.” What ever follows that statement should probably be run through a "bull crap" filter, because if you think about it, this is a set up for division and faction forming. Far from being Kingdom minded language, it’s called indoctrination. Or as some cult leaders are known for, Brainwashing.

This is only compounded if you are in a “Literalist” culture that doesn’t allow you to think or ask questions. Then you have to buy into whatever comes from the mouth of the appointed. We should follow our Rabbis, but we should also have the freedom to challenge them as well. We were designed to ask questions. Sadly, for the literalist, in many cases, a question is often interpreted only as a threat.

Another statement that gets tossed around in Christian circles is, “I believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.” Those who need a literal interpretation need not be concerned with thinking. If we come at the Bible with a filter that says, everything written within is literal then it does away with the need for any questions. The object of faith is truly at odds with a literal interpretation of scripture. How you ask? Your faith is not the sum of all that you can memorize from a literal table.

One of my favorite movie scenes is when Forrest Gump is in boot camp, and the Drill Sergeant asks, “Gump, what is your mission in my Army?”
Gump replies, “To do whatever you say Drill Sergeant?!?!”
You could say this illustrates that military life is a “literal” life. It is an easy life. You don’t have to think about a lot of things. Your uniform, when to eat, what to say, who to shoot at. You sure don’t need to be asking a bunch of questions. Just do what your told and everything runs smoothly. The literal filter of life says loud and proud, “I will do whatever you say Drill Sergeant!” “I will align myself with the rest of the company.”

If questions weren’t allowed, then why do we see so much of it in the Bible? Even God during the fall of man asks, “Where are you?” I think it’s quite possible He is still asking this question.

Now, I believe the Bible to be infallible, but our interpretations are not. Jesus once said, “If your right eye offend thee, pluck it out… or if you hand offend thee, cut it off.” Obviously, and I am grateful for this, Jesus was not meaning for these particular words to be taken literally. If that were the case, the entire human race would be disabled, Christian or not.

Yet, where in Holy Scripture does it say that our ability to quote or articulate a particular set of doctrine with verses to support it is a testimony of our maturity in the faith? My strongly held belief that Jesus only borrowed a tomb is not proof that He lives today. Rather, my life being changed is testimony of an empty tomb.

Doctrine truly is a gift from God, and the ability to articulate our beliefs, a treasure. A wise and crazy pastor once asked, “Is Jesus still bigger than your theology?” The ivory tower of exegesis is truly a great place to hang out, but maybe not the best place to live. Because the tower is safe, clean, and protected.

Another wise pastor friend of mine, Dr. Mark B. Hale of Bowling Green, KY has often said, “A faith not tested, can’t be trusted.” Growth is found in the battles for your heart. Growth is discovered when we stop saying, “That’s just the way I am”, and begin to allow Jesus to define the way He see us. Growth is found in the questions that we are truly invited to ask. It is found in relationships, because there’s not a single one that isn’t messy. It's found in the stretching of everything you may have once believed strongly. Growth is found when we stop running for shelter in what we believe about Jesus, and begin to lean on Him again. You can start by finding that person you really can't stand, and love the hell out of them.
Shalom.

A Pastor's Lesson

During a challenging time in ministry, while I was serving an older established church, I received some advice from two pastors who did not know each other, but knew me and the challenge I was faced with. Their advice is as valuable today as it was fifteen years ago, when I first heard it.

One Pastor friend told me, "The Shepherd never puts his ear down asking the sheep which way to go."
My other Pastor friend said, "The Shepherd never butts heads with his sheep."

The last fifteen years of ministry has been in part, me finding the balance that rests between the two.

Whether a leader in a church, community group, or business, may you discover a balanced relationship with those who have been placed along side you. And that's something you can bet on. Happy Derby Eve.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

I hear from people all the time, "I feel like there is something I am supposed to do, but I don't know what it is."
If you are feeling that way, be foolish. Do the very thing you feel in your gut, and know that God put that gut there for a reason.

If I had based my ministry or my walk of faith on what everyone told me was the proper way, I wouldn't have found the way that was meant for me. I would have missed the calling set aside for me.

Everything else is telling you to align yourself with the status quo. Most people give their life to the status quo. This is about your soul coming to life. Every voice in your head from the past, is telling you right now to stop reading. Go ahead. Be foolish and read the rest. More importantly, be foolish and read your gut.

The following is some excerpts from a 2005 commencement address at Stanford University given by Steve Jobs. In spite of Steve dropping out of Reed College after six months he now works as the CEO of Apple and Pixar. He chose to follow his intuition. I'm sharing this in hopes that you may begin to follow yours. Enjoy.


"I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you."

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Pill Bug Doctrine

I received a text from my friend, (we will call him Carl), saying a woman told him rudely he needed to “get in a doctrinal church.” He asked me what she meant. I think he should have asked her. Instead, replied that apparently doctrine was really important to the lady, and that she thought it was the most important thing for him to be connected to. And apparently she didn’t approve of the church he was a part of either.

By definition, Christian doctrine is simply “man’s” way of describing what God is doing, has done, and will do. It’s a set of beliefs. It is our way of understanding and defining for ourselves, God’s character and desires for humanity, all of which we should base upon the Bible.
In other words, doctrine is sort of our collective perception of who God is, and what he is doing to connect with us humans.

So doctrine can be viewed as a really cool grid-like gift from God. The challenge becomes if we begin to believe our doctrine or grid is the unifying factor for the Church. How could this be a problem when almost every denomination is constructed around a different set of doctrine? Basically, because our beliefs about God will always be limited and arguable.

Let’s put this in perspective. Say there’s a cute little pill bug. And, let’s say you are a human. Now, introduce yourself to the pill bug and tell him all about yourself. Problem! Every time you try to get his attention, he crawls underneath some other piece of wood, or coils up into a little ball and ignores you completely. It’s like he isn’t even listening to you at all.

Excuse my tongue in cheek, but I think you get the picture.
There is an answer for our positioning challenge as we little human believers. “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” – Isaiah 55:8-9

What God is saying is that even on our best day, loaded with commentaries, concordances, various translations and other extra-biblical texts, we are only taking stabs at describing God.

I know that this woman mentioned in the text message is not alone in her thinking. There are a great number of Churches who declare their unity around a certain set of doctrine and will often exclude people who refuse to line up with them. I do believe in the importance of being like-minded on certain issues, but to form policies or dividing attitudes toward others because of a doctrinal bias, is giving too much authority to that particular doctrine. Rather, it is giving too much authority to ourselves really.

This also brings up the question of what God thinks about our rules and doctrinal stances.

This issue of doctrine worship seemed to appear in almost every situation where the Pharisees are mentioned in the Gospels.

Jesus responds to a group of Pharisee regarding their rules (doctrine) for ceremonial hand washing before eating a meal.
“You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules (doctrine) made by men.’” – Matthew 15:7-9

Jesus then concludes with, “… eating with unwashed hands does not make a person unclean.” – Matthew 15:20 (paraphrased). Just before that in verse 14, Jesus tells his disciples to “Leave them. They are blind…”

To say that the love of doctrine has caused division within the Church would be a huge understatement. This is the simple answer for why there are so many different denominations today.

The Apostle Paul writes, “I urge you brothers to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” – Romans 16:17

Pharisees still exist today. They are those in your church community putting principle before people, and who often appoint themselves as the doctrinal police in a sense. And… they like being seen, so they dive after jobs like passing out bulletins, ushers, and even deacons.

So what do you do if you encounter one? So far, we got Jesus and the Apostle Paul both strongly endorsing a distancing. Maybe the church isn’t a journey for ALL people after all.

Titus 2:1 gives instruction to a pastor, “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.” So what is sound doctrine? The Bible describes it as the law of God, and the words of the prophets. However, Paul again sweeps in with clarity saying, “The entire law is summed up in a single command, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Galatians 5:14. In other words, everything God was trying to tell you in the First Testament about how to live, Jesus sums it up in a word, “LOVE”.

So to (Carl), my texting buddy and brother in the struggle of faith, you are right to love the doctrine lady because God created her and loves her deeply, but I better not catch you hanging with her at Starbux. Now that’s a heavy doctrine

Makes you wonder why God doesn’t just squish us like… uh... pill bugs.

Earth Day Gets Kinky

A friend of mine is an elementary school teacher. This particular event began when the school she teaches in decided to expand part of their building. In order for the new build to take place, a 100-year old tree had to be cut down. This teacher saw an opportunity to really shine. She started by arranging a chainsaw artist to carve up the old tree into a bench that could remain in the front office of the school. Then began a campaign to raise money among the student body to buy a new tree to plant on this Earth Day. The students made posters that read, “Bring your loose change” or “Give your Pennies”. One student made a poster and misspelled a word.

It read, “Bring your Loose Penis."

What a difference two letters makes.

Happy Earth Day

Ski and Ski some more

Carrying a vision or a dream is like snow skiing. The object is not to just make it to the bottom of the hill. The object is to get as many good runs in before the sun goes down.

I think often times, people give up on their dreams after just one run at it. They don’t prepare for a full day of skiing, instead they show up on the slopes, ride the lift, and cautiously and calmly slice their way to the bottom and allow that first short trip down the hill be the deciding factor on whether to go again.

Truth is, if you are new at skiing, and you wipe out a couple times on your first run, then the odds of you getting back on the lift right away lessen greatly.

Living out a vision can be like this, and is why so many new ideas die before they ever really have a chance to get started. It is fear. But this kind of fear is instead a fear of investing more time in skiing and the people you may ski with. Why? Because we live in a time when we have more choices and less time, and it is easy to begin to think you only have one shot at this and it better be a perfect run.

Often, people will not invest in a vision or people carrying a vision, if their first experience with the vision is a scary unpredictable ride down an icy slope where you engage in intimate relationships with trees. You don’t want those people riding with you anyway, so keep your black diamond attitude that drove you toward carrying your vision to start with. You want to bring along side you other people who live to ski until the sun sets. People who actually help you get up and back on the lift, over and over again no matter how many falls.

The sun is setting on all of us, and there isn’t a great deal of time left to live out your vision. So before you begin, you must decide if you are going to base the life of your vision on the low points of just a few runs. It isn’t an issue of whether you had five bad runs out of ten. The issue is whether or not you keep getting up. That’s how a vision sticks. And that is how you change the world.

So what are you willing to forgo to see your life’s calling come to fruition? How many crashes can you get up from and say, “Let’s do it again.”

Here’s how all this “Ski” talk plays out in my pursuits:

As a pastor, one of my roles is to create a community that is being guided by a vision.

This simply means I want to connect with as many people as I can before I check out.

I remember watching the Winter Olympics as a kid. Skiers do the same thing today as they did back then. They wipe out sometimes. If you are convinced of your vision, but are experiencing a mogul salad of set backs, just remember the lift is still moving and the day isn’t over. Your best runs are ahead of you. Get up and do it again. There is nothing safe about living out a meaningful vision.

GUITAR TUBE

Youtube is the best teacher for learning guitar.

The Pledge

“… with Liberty, and Justice for All”, ends the pledge.

I remember learning the Pledge of Allegiance in 1st grade. I don’t believe I ever said it correctly until the end of third grade, and even then I was a bit shaky on the, “indivisible” part. I think I recall saying, “indi-wizable” a few times before I got it right. But I improved. I honed my reciting abilities and mastered that sucker before graduating into fourth grade.

The history of The Pledge of Allegiance, is fascinating. A Baptist minister named Francis Bellamy wrote the very first pledge in 1892. What a lot of people do not know is that it has been changed several times over the past 118 years. The words, “under God” wasn’t even in the original draft and was added much later, on Flag Day, June 14, 1954. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his approval speech said:

“In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.” , (www.homeofheros.com)

Just 62 years of “One nation, Indivisible, … with Liberty, and Justice For All.” We have had the “under God” version for 54 years now. In nine years I want to do a spiritual ROI (Return On Investments) and survey the two time periods to see which was more godly. Not really.

It is interesting that The Pledge was also rewritten twice before the 1954 changes, in the years of 1923 and 1924. Neither of which used the words, “under God”, but added the word “America”, and moving the word, “flag” to a more appropriate position.

It is no secret that today’s American Fundamentalists Christians have fought strongly for the preservation and promotion of the ideas of “under God”. Not only is it important to the fundamentalist cause that these two words exist in The Pledge, but more that the ideology they prescribe remain alive and well in American culture. Fundamentalism isn’t a new idea. One could argue that fundamentalism drove planes into two towers in New York, launched the Crusades, or sent over six million Jews to the gas chambers creating the Holocaust. I would argue that fundamentalism at its rawest form is a dividing ground that creates an “Us verses Them” mentality in society. Maybe instead of America focusing attention and concern over Islamic fundamentalism, we should be watching for the influence of fundamentalism in America.

During his term as Vice President in 1988, George H. W. Bush once said, “No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”

Eleven years later at the Southern Baptist Convention in 1999 his son George W. Bush stated to Richard Land, “I believe God wants me to be president”. (Both quotes compiled by Luc Nadeau on U.S. Fundamentalism for www.PurgatoriousMagazine.org)

One need only glance at both Bush presidencies to see this “Us verses Them” mentality. This was never so clear as our media flashed words like “Axis of evil” or the endless dose of the word “Terror”. There were some clear lines being drawn in the sand that we (America) are the one’s with God on our side, and others who were not like us, were evil.

Don’t get me wrong. I love America. As a veteran of Desert Storm, I am proud of my service to my country. This was, and is, in my opinion a great country with the means to accomplish mighty works that other countries could barely imagine. It is a country I believe a person is allowed to dream and take steps to fulfill those dreams. We are afforded the opportunity to dream because of the many sacrifices of others. So I am grateful for the sacrifices for my freedom to dream and even write this article.

We have been fed that our men and women are still fighting for our freedoms. However, I believe that the fight for freedom ended with the Civil War. Practically all the wars since then have been fought more over our economic interests. The Civil War taught leaders of our country that war was profitable. It seems war, at its core, is just a good business move. But who profits from war? Not the families who’s sons and daughters have fought and died for the idea of National Security. Is it possible that manufacturers of military weapons and surplus get fat from the idea of war? I am remind of Bob Dylans song, “With God on Our Side”. This Anti-War protest folk tune covers the accounts of every war throughout America’s history. With each war mentioned, Dylans suggests that we believed God was on our side. Then concludes the song in clear protest of war:

“So now that I’m leavin’ I’m weary as hell. The confusion I’m feelin’ ain’t no tongue can tell. The words fill my head and fall to the floor. If God’s on our side… He’ll stop the next war.” (Azlyrics.com)

Dylan presumes that God is not really into the whole war idea. I agree. It’s that whole, “Do not kill” idea God handed down to Moses as a standard for living that makes me think war might be included in that. I would argue that God was even being generous with that command if you think about it. It’s really a very low standard to ask people to hold to when asking people to just not kill each other. You could say, God showed everybody grace from the beginning by setting the bar so low. Interesting how awful it is when we see one person kill another, but view the killing of thousands in the name of our nation whom we pledge allegiance to, is somehow justified. Even with Bible verses.

Throughout history, countries have formed enemies and fought wars for all sorts of reasons. Be it land, resources, or economic interests as we see today. But what motivates a seemingly rational thinker to travel thousands of miles with weapons to kill or be killed for these ideas? What pushes a soldier into the heat of battle? Is it the idea of freedom? Is it mere courage? Or could it be an ideology based from a pledge and oath that every soldier must take upon entering service to their country? And of all the soldiers, marines, and sailors raising their hand, how many of those truly believe that God is on their side, and not on the side of their enemy? I overheard a conversation about oil in a local church house where a man said to a group standing around him that God would want America to have the oil in the middle east rather than the muslims. So how is this war about our freedom and security?

For more information on pledges or salutes throughout history, check out the link below. The Nazi regime had the straight arm salute that some even claim influenced Americans at the onset of our pledge in 1893. Visit http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.html to see video and photos of historian Rex Curry making this devilish connection.

Some questions to consider now… “Are we still struggling for our freedom as a nation?”

Do we need to change the pledge… again?

When we say “freedom (liberty) and justice for all”, does that include people who are not like the Christian Fundamentalist “under God” people?

“Keep on rockin in the FREE world” - Neil Young

Time Economics

Before you think I am anti-material, I am not. I like stuff, but I am learning to like time even more. Maybe it is an age thing.

Have you ever had something bad happen to you because of someone or something else’s fault? Have you ever had something bad happen to you because it was your own fault? Yeah, me too. So that means literally, we are our own worst messes.

We create beautiful things, but we also create a mass of really ugly things. Mostly for ourselves. Think about it. Would we really create problems for other people, if we didn’t first have problems of our own? Jesus was flawless and he still fashioned a chord to be applied to some pious Jew rear-end in the temple. Some say he did it twice.

I just want to reflect with you for a moment on a mess you are either creating, or cleaning. The strange thing about the way we think is that, our minds seem wired to heal slowly, maybe so that we will learn to apply things more deeply. And maybe that is why we spend more time cleaning. Its sort of like we do just one stupid thing that costs us, on so many levels, and have to pay for that for a long time. I have a sense that I am still paying for things I did long ago. Just my physical body alone is saying this to me. I damage my back in the military eighteen years ago, and I am still paying for that leap off a beach pavilion roof.

So is the saying true, “Time heals all wounds?”

But I have noticed that over time, I accumulate more and more stuff. Many times buying something that I think will be soothing and healing for my wretched, poor soul. Could you be honest and say, “I have a full closet.” Is there room in my closet for one more thing? Sure there is, I’ll just cram it down in the corner of the floor board so it fits snug with my shoes till I need to drag it out and iron it. Oh, you too?

Most Americans can say their closet is full. But it seems that we just can’t buy enough to fill it. It seems we have the wardrobe leading to Narnia in our house. I am sure Mr. Tumnus is going to butt me in the leg if I cram one more pair of unworn pants in the deepest regions of my closet. He probably couldn’t do it for being covered in socks. Not to mention all that snow mixed in.

Honestly, there has been more than one moment when, because of some shoes or clothes spilling out, you couldn’t shut your closet door. And that’s just our closets. Have you seen the garage? No, I mean, have you ever been in there? I’m sure there are veloce-raptors waiting to side swipe me in there. Cause I have heard stuff out there. I own Jurassic Garage.

Let’s shrink it down a little bit now. Ever opened that clove box, or little side bin, and it’s full of stuff? How about that one drawer in your house that is full of everything you can think of? You know how they get there don’t you? If it is close to the size of our hand, then it doesn’t require a large shelf for itself, just a drawer. If we can toss it, it will one day die a lonely death in, “The DRAWER!” Now say it like a horror movie announcer. THE DRAWER! That is a deadly place for pens, glue bottles, old scratched DVDs and even finger nail polish bottles.

Then I began to reason that in almost every season, I can find myself a reason to buy more stuff, I tell myself I need. Watch out Dr. Sues.

I can justify just about anything, and if I really, really want it, I can justify a purchase. With words like, “We could sure use that.” Or “Dammit, I need that,”, and even the “I’d like to know who the inventor of that stuff was so I can kiss them and name a baby after them.”

What I have learned is that I can always make room in my closet for more. The drawers and glove compartments can be filled to overflowing with things I already have two of. The sad and lonely place this brings me is the truth that I really never have room for more, but more is what I think I need to make my life easier.

Lets imagine we have a pen in our back yard with goats running around in it. Lets say you have to give an account for those jumpy little creatures. Not every day, but every hour. If there is nothing for them to hide behind in the yard it would be fairly simple to count them. But lets say you keep adding more goats to the pen. And then more. Until finally your pen has about fifty two of those propagating little beast. I just can’t help but imagine that it was a lot easier to count them back when you had a handful. For sure a lot easier to bath and maintain clean goats. Can you imagine fifty two stinky goats in your back yard. I also imagine that even the most experienced goat herders know there is a limit to how many they can care for. I think you get the picture.

Now imagine that Gandalf shows up on a cart spitting fireworks and he turns all your goats turn into socks. Socks that require cleaning.

Let say it took me five hours to clean all my fifty two goats each day, but now it takes half that time a week to clean all my formerly goat socks. But that is still a lot of time cleaning clothes. Plus, don’t forget the fact that socks are somewhat hard to keep track of, especially if you have too many other clothing items to keep clean as well. Again, there is no room in the closet.

Something has to change if I want to spend the evenings with my family. So here is a simple thought to consider.

The less stuff we have, the easier it is to keep track of it. This in turn means less time keeping track of your socks. It means no more laundry piles. It means a cleaner environment. A healthier environment. What is so unique about this environment is that when we spend less time tracking and piling, we get to spend more time with Mom. More time with Dad, more time with the kids, more time with the grandkids.

In this environment there is a lot less of this stuff that builds what some doctors call, STRESS. Now, I know I don’t have to explain what that is. But here we go.

Stress is that thing that is a part of a series of things that uses up our time. ALL I am saying is be better managers of our time. When I heard “He needs to manage his time better!”, it always sounded like it was coming out of the drawn up mouth of my 80 year-old fourth grade teacher who hated me. So I developed an attitude toward time. Time became the nemesis of my goals. That Damn Time.

It wasn’t until later in my life that I realized I was chasing time, most of the time, it (time) was therefore by default, an enemy in my over-achieving little soul. Time was outside of me. Time had become something I never had enough of. It was just something I put behind me, while my life and heart yearned for more stuff. With the hopes that the stuff I was buying or consuming would allow me more free time, when in reality, my stuff was absorbing my time like a black hole.

Innovation is supposed to help save people’s time and energy, and I thought innovation could be found in most purchases. For example, “If I only had this ________, my life would be so much better.” Have you ever bought that thing and life only got worse? Maybe the value of our time can be measured, not by what we purchase, but by how much we share or give away.

Do you have the time today, to share with those that matter most?

Do you have the time today, to give away to someone in need of help?

Do you have the time?

I can always tell if I am in that place where my time has become more valuable than these people and things that matter most. I hear in the voice of my five year old little girl. If she has to say Dad more than three times to get my attention, then I don’t have the time to spare. What a shame.

My hope for this year is that I allow more and more of my stuff to disappear, so that I will have more time. Remember, more stuff, less time. Less stuff, more time. More on time economics later.