Intentional Walk: August 2005

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Slowhand

My brother used to live in southern California and we used to go to a lot of concerts together. We saw Springsteen, Mellencamp, Billy Joel (3 times), and Boston. We saw Neil Diamond at the Greek Theater and if you think that's lame then you don't know anything about rock and roll, hot august nights, or singing along with thousands of people to "Sweet Caroline." The first concert I ever saw was Simon & Garfunkel at Dodger Stadium. I'm sure there were others. We saw a lot of shows. But there were a few that escaped us, a few that we longed for, kind of like finding a pristine copy of X-Men #94. You know...the brass ring.

At the top of the "Must See" list was, and still is, Pink Floyd. A couple from my school went to Live 8 this summer and saw Gilmour, Rogers, et. al. I hate them. This was a week after they saw both Coldplay and U2 in Dublin. I hate them a lot.

Next on the list was Eric Clapton. A few years ago he played Staples Center in LA. Rich invited me. I invited Marshall Hamm and Sean Gresham. We bought tickets. This was to be Clapton's last big tour and we had seats for the very last show. Seats for Saturday. Seats way up high. Late Friday afternoon, Rich called: "Where are you guys?" I told him we were going to wait and come up Saturday morning but we would be there in plenty of time for the show. "But," said he, "the show starts in four hours." I RAN to find my tickets. Saturday. His was for Friday. Ain't miscommunication a bummer?

Sean, Marshall, and I drove down Saturday. Rich said the show was awesome. I felt lousy for messing things up. But we went and saw the single greatest concert of my life. And I'm not kidding, I've seen a LOT of shows. I'll list 'em some time, that should be exciting for you. Nothing topped Clapton. I won't go into detail. In fact, if you want to see the show, pick up the DVD of "One Car, One Driver." It's not just from the same tour, it's the exact show we saw on that Saturday night from start to finish. You just haven't lived until you see Billy Preston come out from behind the keyboard and dance around to "Will It Go Around In Circles?"

Nobody plays guitar like Eric Clapton. Not BB King. Not Page or Hendrix. Certainly not Eddie Van Halen (please). Not even Gilmour or Knopfler or Stevie Ray although they come (came) pretty darn close. I love Satriani and Eric Johnson. But c'mon. I'm talking about Slowhand here. He's a master. The best ever. A real blues man.

I picked up his new CD yesterday. It's not great. He's back to the late 80's, early 90's schtick. But no worries. I have lots of other CD's to choose from. And I could listen to "Runnin' On Faith" or "Hoochie "Coochie Man" or "River of Tears" a million times in a row.

I read somewhere that Clapton was married in a church in a small ceremony following the baptism of his daughter from a previous marriage. I'm pretty sure he believes what I believe. Go listen to "Holy Mother" sometime and I think you'll agree. I hope I'm right because I really want to see him play live again. Somewhere where there'll be no more tears.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

A New Song

The next time you are listening to one of those songs or pieces of music that make you stop and stand still and just listen, ask yourself this question: What is music going to sound like in heaven?

I believe that some of the music that we already know will make the transition. In fact, I can't imagine a heaven without Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" or the adagios from Beethoven's 7th symphony or 3rd piano concerto. And if we don't all get to gather around Jesus and sing "Amazing Love" to him, well, I'm going to feel gypped. Then of course we all know that Satan and his minions are going to spend eternity listening to "It's A Small World."

But what about the music you've never heard before? The music our ears aren't ready for? It's like trying to imagine something better than Pepsi to drink. I just can't wrap my mind around it.

There's a story in Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" that this always makes me think of. Men arrive on Mars years after earlier expeditions have wiped out the entire race with the gift of smallpox. A settler wanders through a Martian ghost town and finds "a metal book with raised heiroglyphs over which he brushed his hand, as one might play a harp. And from the book, as his fingers stroked, a voice sang, a soft ancient voice, which told tales..." I've always wondered what that voice sounded like...what our new voices, from our new bodies, singing a new song...will sound like.

Let's find out.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Music Week

In honor of my sister's upcoming birthday, all posts this week are devoted to music. Sandra will be...well...a year older on September 3. She is an amazing musical talent in addition to her many other talents as mother, daughter, sister, wife, friend, and minister. She handles her leadership role at the College Church with a great deal of integrity, style, and class. And for those of you who know just how challenging being a female minister in a Church of Christ can be, you know how important that "class" part is.

I owe my love of music as much to my brother as I do my sister. He's the one who had me out every afternoon, folding newspapers he would later deliver, and listening to 13 KYNO on the AM dial. Those were the days of Bill Withers, The Carpenters, and Stevie Wonder. Some of it stuck, some of it didn't. It took me awhile to appreciate Led Zeppelin, especially after I was forced to listen to "Stairway" every night before falling asleep when he and I shared a room together in beautiful Roseville, CA. But it all made an impact. And I suppose I should really include my friend, James, in the mix, as it was he who got me listening to John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith and Vangelis and Kitaro. And it was a short jump from there to Brahms and Mendelssohn...and Miles and Coletrane.

A quick scan of my iPod shows the following genres: blues, christian, classical, country, folk, jazz, metal, new age, pop, r&b, reggae, rock, soundtrack, and swing. There used to be more, but I pared down categories like alternative and punk and so on. Rock music is rock music, man. I love it all. Some more than others--there is VERY little country in there--but it's all good. Sure, there's no hip hop and no rap, but I like to limit my choices to actual music.

Like the taste of good food and the color of the late evening sky, music is one of those things God didn't have to give us. But if you ever doubt His love, listen to Schumann's first symphony...or the guitar solo from "Comfortably Numb." You'll get set straight real quick.

So what do you say? Let's honor the lovely and talented Sandra Henderson and talk music this week. What makes YOUR soul soar?

Friday, August 26, 2005

Discipleship and Whiffle Ball

You know how it is. You've been spending a lot of time studying a certain topic and suddenly you start seeing it everywhere. I've been reading about, studying about, meditating on, praying for wisdom pertaining to and in every other way consumed with the idea of Discipleship lately. It first hit me while reading "Mere Discipleship" by Lee Camp that we, as Christians, just may not be doing everything our Lord expects of us. His footsteps are way over there...and we're way over here. But lately I see examples and metaphors all over the place.

Teaching and discipling are alot alike. I do a great deal of modeling in front of my class. I work out problems and show them how they should do it. But if they don't want to learn, I could do cartwheels and jump up and down and nothing would make a difference. It's the old question of motivation. How do we get our kids to want what we have to offer? Grades just don't matter as much any more to many of them; unfortunate but true. The best motivators used to be (and still are in the best-case scenario) the students' parents. But on average, society has gone from "What do you mean, you got a B?!?" to "Just don't show me any D's or F's" to "Hey, it's all relative, go get us a couple of beers and then I'll take you to go see 'Wedding Crashers.'" Which is to say that it's pretty much up to those of us who stand in front of the classroom.

The number one motivator, hands down, is for your students to like you. That doesn't mean to be their best pal. But it does mean that respect is vital and it doesn't hurt to know a good joke or two. If they like you, they'll want to please you. At the very least, they'll pay attention to you. So why do we follow the examples of Jesus? Because we don't want to burn? Or because we want to please him? Because we trust him and know that he would never lead us astray. Because he knows what's best for us, as a father does for his child. Love is a terrific motivator.

Last night, James and I went outside and I pitched some whiffle balls to him. The last time we went out, a couple of weeks ago, he made contact once or twice. Last night, he hit every third pitch, and some of them he whacked pretty good. My brother has been playing with him too and he said that their last time together, James really started to put it together. It wasn't just me. But it was two people to whom he would actually listen. It was an activity he enjoyed. And he couldn't wait to show his mom how good he was getting. Of course, I told him it was all the corn he'd eaten for dinner. He's not a big fan of corn.

What are we willing to do for our Saviour? How badly do we want to please him? What are his reasons for wanting us to do as he did? What kind of disciples are we?

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

James Richard Thurman

Yesterday was James first day of school. He's still in preschool...next year is the one I'll have to carry Lisa from in a wheelbarrow...but he's in a new class from last year and he IS only four. But he did great. Lisa says he walked right into the new room, put his stuff in his cubby and started to play with the other kids. I'm happy about that because he spent most of the summer telling us he didn't like his new teacher (whom he'd never met) and wasn't going to be good in his class. But he had a great day and was eager to tell me all about it when I got home from work.

He is such an amazing kid. I think he's about the best-looking kid I ever saw and I don't care if you say I'm biased I'm not he just is so there. He's incredibly well-behaved too. Sure, he has his days...and he has his moments almost every day...but don't all kids? Most of the time he is so obedient and polite. But the thing I love most about him is that he's just so fun...and funny! He's a bit like his dad in that, if he knows he's got you going, he just doesn't let up. I'm more into the witty retorts and he's more into the funny faces, but it's the same thing, isn't it? Exhibit A:

That is Teacher Maria, the wife of my friend, Accountant Fausto. She'll be a great teacher. It looks as though James isn't quite sure about things in that room. But if you know him, you know that his mommy just asked him to smile for the camera and so he decided to make that face. I don't know, it's just what he does, but it cracks me up.

I wonder, as most parents do, what he's going to be like as he gets older. Will he still like baseball? How will he do in school? What are his gifts and talents going to be? What kind of friends is he going to drag into our house? How long will it be until he stops following me all over the house and starts asking me to drop him off at the corner so his friends won't see me? I've taught for over 18 years and I've met about 10 million kids. So I know what teenagers are like. But I have a niece and a nephew who have shattered that mold. Will James always be as awesome as they are? What challenges will he face?

All I really ever pray for with him is that he is as happy and as healthy as God's plan will allow. Of course, I want so much more for him. But those two will suffice. God, grant that Lisa and I can be what he needs us to be. Grant that he will always have that easy laugh. Grant that he knows you and loves you as much as we do. And grant that he always likes baseball.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Read This!

Forget any of my own rants for today. Run, don't walk, over to Mike Cope's blog and read his comments on baptism. I couldn't say it any better so I'm not going to try.

You can find a link to his site to the right, under "Links." Or just click here: http://www.mikecope.blogspot.com/

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Do This. Don't Do That.

Can't you read the sign? Sorry...'70's music reference.

We talked about Hezekiah and the reinstitution of Passover this morning. I love that story for lots of different reasons (II Chronicles 30, go read it, it's good). Today we focused on how, even though the people didn't follow all of the rules correctly, God recognized what was in their hearts. We compared this to our worship services today and I asked the question, "Are there right and wrong ways to worship?" We talked about how our worship practices have changed over the years, focusing on Communion and how differently we take it now. Everyone laughed and enjoyed reminiscing about how things change. But then, as we talked about what else might be done differently in the future, you could see some people tensing up, the atmosphere becoming slightly more brittle. Somebody mentioned that everybody has different boundaries of what's okay and what's not. Sombody else said that we need to be careful not to offend our brothers and sisters. But nobody really answered the question...if our heart is right, is there a wrong way to worship?"

I have to confess that I'm very tired of worrying about offending people through worship practices. Part of that is impatience...the progress we make is so painfully slow. But part of it is also that in paying so much attention to those who we are afraid of offending, we pay little or no attention to those who are missing out on a genuine experience with God. We rely on tradition so nobody will get hurt, but where are our hearts? There's an old saying: God hates a coward.

I believe that we must be sensitive to each other and move forward with prayer and love and careful communication. I also believe that God has put us under a covenant of love and grace. The more authentic experiences of genuine worship we have, the closer to Him we grow.

I believe that God knows what is in our hearts.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

4 Days and Counting

We're through the 4th consecutive day of meetings. Today, at least, had the virtue of being productive. The first three days were pointless wastes of time. There are fewer things harder for me than having a LOT to do and wasting time doing something else. But today's meetings were important and there was some time to start getting my classroom ready for Monday. Because it will be full of students on Monday whether I'm ready or not.

It's been a while since I've had freshmen. I'm looking forward to seeing their tiny, fearful little faces. We forget what a transition it is to being in high school for the first time. You don't know where anything is, you're faced with courses you sometimes can't even pronounce, and there are some really, realllllly big students there. Some of them have facial hair! Mostly the boys.

I'm also thinking alot about my seniors from last year. They're all getting ready to go to L.A and Santa Barbara and San Diego and lots of other places...where is Brown anyway? I forgot. I'm praying for them every day this month, hoping they travel safe, get off to good starts, make new friends, and basically kick some serious college butt. I'll miss them.

Back to work. 'Cause next week it's back to school.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Back to School

The first day back was every bit as brutal as I imagined it would be. The alarm went off far too early (thank you all for your collective "ugh"...I truly felt it). I went outside and it was actually raining! I couldn't figure out why until I realized that Lisa washed her car yesterday. We had a series of meetings today and each one was more boring than the last one. Seriously, you'd think if someone was speaking to a group of teachers they'd realize that we know when somebody...can't...teach.

So, in a spirit of relentless optimism, I choose to devote this space to reasons I love my job.

1. The people at Sunnyside High are good, hard-working folk.
2. The administration rocks! That's rare.
3. There are always great kids who make every day fun. Once I decided to stop disciplining them for the wisecracks and laughing at them instead, my attitude seriously improved.
4. Math is cool. Yes it is. Is so.
5. I have lots of cool toys at work to play with. The smart classroom isn't done yet, but the tablet PC is a lot of fun.
6. There's a Pepsi machine, like, 50 paces from my room.
7. It puts food on the table. Not gourmet stuff, but we get to eat out once a year or so.
8. I can wear jeans and sneakers whenever I want.
9. Some days I get to leave by 2:00. And I DID just have a couple of months off.
10. It's a ministry. It truly is. It's such a blessing to be able to model Christ in a high school. Yesterday, after morning services, two people asked me if I ever thought about preaching full time. I get that question sometimes, which tells you how hard up people at College are for a preacher. And the truth is, I honestly have thought about it...but there is so much more joy for me in being able to bring Christ to a public school. When handled the right way, I don't even get in trouble! And I meet around 200 kids every year. No contest.

I often say that it's a good thing I enjoy teaching so much since I'm really no good at anything else. It really is a joy. Last year's Calculus class is going to be a VERY tough act to follow. But next week I'll meet the new crop. After just four...more...days...of meetings. Feel free to "ugh" again tomorrow if you wish. Next week the "ugh's" will be over and the fun will begin.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Frustration of a Different Kind

The Los Angeles Angels of I CAN'T FREAKIN' CATCH coughed up another one yesterday. They lost two to the Yankees by giving up 4 run leads in the 8th. They gave one away to the A's a couple of days ago with a throwing mistake, a shortstop error, and a wild pitch. But now we are in second place because our closer got mad about a call at the plate and missed the ball being thrown back by the catcher allowing the winning run to score from 3rd. And to make matters worse, there are two HUGE A's fans in the math department who are just dying to see me when I go back to work next week. Ugh.

Meanwhile, I took the new clubs out for the last summertime golf today and played the worst I have played in years. I took a 9 on the first hole and it went downhill from there. Goodbye summer vacation. It could have ended on a better note.

Yes, summer vacation is over. The weekend doesn't count. I get weekends off anyway.

I'm starting to get excited about Sunday's service. There will be a period of silent time for prayers of apology and confession. It's always hard to know how long to let these periods last. Some people would appreciate 15 minutes of quiet prayer time. For many others, 2 minutes is too long. There will be some pictures up with scriptures to reflect on during this time, but I'm not even sure about that. Won't it distract people from the personal reflection they need to do? Or will they do it anyway, eyes closed, head bowed? We'll find out.

Sandra has a beautiful song prepared for just after the prayer time but before the invitation called "Please Forgive Me." It is the perfect follow up to the message. The Spirit is awesome. Blessings to all on your first days of the week. Feel free to say a collective "ugh" for me on Monday morning around 6:00 PST. Randy that should be around 9:00 AM for you, and for Brady should be sometime around Wednesday evening.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Mental Overflow

Sometimes when I don't post on the blog for a while, it's because there isn't much going on up in the ol' noodle. Honestly, sometimes summertime makes me a vegetable and, yes, I AM saying that like it's a good thing. But sometimes, like recently, I don't post because there's too much going on up there. Some of it isn't processed yet, some of it is waiting in my mental queue, but some of it is simply unbloggable. This has been a week of great frustration for me. Usually those frustrations, especially when they are with specific people, go away all by themselves and I just wait them out. But this time they've been hanging on despite my best efforts. Thus the lack of blog.

I spent the early part of the week putting together some ideas for the fall pulpit series on Discipleship. I'm very excited about the study that went into it and the potential that is there. But the approval and the outcome are completely out of my hands. The rest of the week has been spent getting ready for Sunday's lesson on Penitence. The study here has been good also and I think it will be good for the church. Of course, I've got "The Emerging Church" and all of its wonderful suggestions banging around in my head as I prepare so I'm prayerfully trying to see what might work with this topic to make it resonate. And, oh yeah, I'm back at work next week. So in many ways I feel like this is it for a while. I can't do as much after the school year starts because there simply isn't as much time.

The above paragraph is what I would call "roundabout venting." See, I didn't mention any names or anything. But I am loaded with frustration. Pray for the College Church. There are changes that need to be made. But they must be the right ones. The status quo is not working and I know that God has plans for us. I'm not a classic "control freak" but it's terribly hard to work so hard and care so much and yet have so little say in what actually gets done. Maybe for those of you who read this who are ministers this gives you a little insight into what us lay folk feel. I'm just wrapped up in a big ol' ball of nappy frustration. So back to the Word...and the prayer closet...and, sadly, school. Ugh.

Friday, August 05, 2005

Boogie Boardin'

It's all nice and peaceful and you're just out there, bobbing up and down on the waves as they come in slow and curl under you. You're chatting with your buddies about how nice it is to have sunshine today and how quiet it is out here compared to the clamor of the house. You're way out, three quarters down the pier and it's perfect. Then you see it. The wave starts to build up on itself in the distance and it looks for all the world like it's gaining speed. It's coming, climbing, way over your head and now it's right on top of you. The chatting stops in the middle of a sentence as everyone turns toward the beach and starts paddling and kicking like a madman. And when you hit it just right, and it surges underneath you, carrying you to the top and there is that moment when you're looking straight down at the water far beneath you and you start to drop towards it and you ARE gaining speed and the whitecap comes up behind you and over you and drives you like a bullet out of a gun and you just ride it...well, there just ain't nothin' like it in all of God's green earth.

So what am I doing inside typing?

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Beach Time

We're off to the beach!

As soon as the last letter is typed, the computer is getting shut down and we are leaving for Pismo. The rest of the family is already there and we'll stay until Sunday.

If you read Mike Cope's blog, then you know that he is a mountain man and has recently been a little, shall we say, derogatory vis a vis "the beach." But we are going to build sandcastles and eat clam chowder and go boogie boarding and enjoy being a family. Sounds good to me.

I really hope they haven't already eaten all the doughies.

Monday, August 01, 2005

They Gave To Anyone As He Had Need

The importance of sharing what you have was made plain to the Jews from the very first reading of God's law. He made provisions so that nobody would be poor or hungry. Every seven years there was to be a canceling of debts. They were to allow anyone to walk through their vineyards and grain fields and eat what they wanted as long as they didn't take any away with them. They were not to glean to the edges of their fields so that "the alien, the fatherless, and the widow" could take what they needed. This was the mindset of the Jew: that they were a community and they were to share what they had.

During the reign of King Joash, he decreed that the temple should be restored. The people all came and put what they could into a large chest. II Chronicles 24 says that "all the people brought their contributions gladly." When the chest was full, it was emptied and brought back. They were happy to be doing what God wanted.

When the church was formed on the Day of Pentecost, we read immediately of the Christians sharing what they had, selling their possessions as people had need and laying their contributions at the feet of the apostles. This was no Utopia, even though we paint the early church that way. There were problems from the get go, as we see in the examples of Ananias and Saphira and in the overlooking of widows in Acts 6. But the fact remains: when someone had a need, the church filled that need.

This is certainly not the American way. This is the opposite of capitalism. This is brotherhood. This is family. This is not giving because you're supposed to, it's sharing because we simply will not allow others to live in need. This is giving in its purest form: an act of worship.

In "The Emerging Church," Dan Kimball writes of his change of heart in taking the offering. Initially, he dismissed it quickly, or put boxes in the back of the assembly to make it a private affair. Eventually he realized that people were being robbed of their chance to give worshipfully. He made it a point one day to teach how giving of what we have is like sending sweet incense up to God. Two tables were set up to the left and the right of the worshipers and on them were set candles, incense, scriptures pertaining to giving and deep baskets to hold the offerings. During a time of quiet singing and reflection, people were given time to approach the tables, read the verses, smell the incense and watch the smoke rise towards heaven...and then drop something in the basket. The contribution nearly doubled that day, but that was not the point. The point was that people were thrilled to give, they were happy to do what God wanted. They were blessed.

The mindset of God's people is that giving is GOOD. It pleases our father, it helps our brother, and it blesses us. And it shows those who don't know Christ that Christianity is not about asking for money. It is about helping, loving, and following the teachings of Jesus.

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