Intentional Walk: September 2005

Friday, September 30, 2005

Things I Accomplished While I Was Sick

1. Worked 3 days out of 5. Hey, it's hard to teach without a voice and with a hacking cough.

2. Managed so far (fingers crossed, knock on wood) to avoid getting my wife or son sick. Of course, Lisa worked like crazy all week so I barely saw her. Plus she took James with her almost everywhere she went to help him avoid my germs and allow me to rest.

3. Watched Star Trek: First Contact with text commentary AND the entire 2nd disc of extras. My favorite was a tribute to Jerry Goldsmith who passed away this year. Goldsmith was my second favorite film composer, right after John Williams. In addition to Trek, he wrote music for Patton, Chinatown, Planet of the Apes, Twilight Zone, Hoosiers, and others. Oh, and Goonies. Mustn't forget Goonies.

4. Messed up the entire Worship Committee. Lisa wants to go out of town for our anniversary. So Tim is going to take Doug's Sunday and Doug is going to take my Sunday and then I'm going to take...ow, my head is starting to hurt again.

5. Read the entire "Supreme" graphic novel. If I call it a graphic novel, it doesn't sound like I was sitting on the couch reading comic books. Which, of course, I was.

6. Slept. A lot.

7. Met with some men I respect a lot who are trying to work on ways to get a pulpit minister again at College. We've been without one for almost ten years now and it's time. More on this in another post.

8. Watched Alias and got mad. If you watch, you know why. If you don't, you wouldn't care.

9. Listened to (not watched, mind you, but listened to) my Angels clinch the West for the second straight year. They were playing the A's so the game was blacked out here since, you know, Fresno is in the Bay Area. Pause. Okay, it's not really but my satellite company seems to think it is so I don't get to watch those games. It's all right though because my team will still be playing next week. How much would I LOVE to get back to the Series??? Angels/Cards anyone?

10. Slowly started to get better. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be back to my old self. It will be hard enough being the only 40 year old at the Green Day concert. I think I'll need all my faculties just to survive.

Thanks to all for your prayers. Keep praying for the College Church. And for the upcoming ZOE Conference which I can't go to but SOME people get to. As Napoleon would say, "Lucky!"

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

PRAY!

I felt myself getting sick Friday night, was sure of it on Saturday, and woke up feeling highly cruddy Sunday morning. The problem was, of course, that I had to preach that morning with or without a voice. It's my habit to find the incomparable Arthur Wint and ask him to pray for me on Sundays when I speak. But before I could find him, Doug Baker found me, knelt and prayed for me, specifically praising God for being bigger than a cold. Tim McIntosh found me next and did the same. Arthur came over in a few minutes and hugged me up tight, as he always does, hand on my head and praying for the Spirit to work through me. In the group prayer in front, Lee Smith prayed for me and the message. So four prayers in 20 minutes...not bad.

The cold didn't go away. And my voice was probably an octave lower than it should have been. But there were no coughing fits or runny noses to bother me. In fact, I forgot all about being sick for the time I was speaking. I remembered it immediately upon returning to my seat and have been feeling quite lousy ever since. But never, ever question that God answers prayer.

Those who never experienced such things will say that the prayer merely gave me confidence to do what had to be done. And I suppose there's some truth in that. But my confidence truly came from a powerful Lord and righteous brothers who went out of their way to help me get the job done. Confidence came from knowing that God had done it before and would do it again. Confidence came from knowing that His will would be done.

The College Church is in a time of great need for prayer. We are praying for ministers and programs, for families and marriages. We are praying that we follow God's path for us. And I have every confidence that He will answer. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, no matter what is consuming your thoughts and time...stop...right now...and pray.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Underwhelmed

I love words like "underwhelmed." In fact, I just love words. I like that "bade" is really pronounced "bad." I like that "forte" should be pronounced "fort." I like that "peruse" doesn't mean to scan over something quickly, but rather to give it a close reading. I like the turned quip and the coined phrase. I like the faux-word, "gruntled."

One of the reasons I liked "Friends" was because the writers, when they were really trying, were very clever with their humor. When Rachel told Ross that she was over him, he said, "You're over me? When were you...under me?" See? Clever.

Side trip #1: For almost two years now I've watched the big machines work to create a new extension to the freeway I take to my school. I gazed longingly at the stretch of concrete that would take me all the way to Peach Avenue where a right turn and a few stoplights would take me all the way to work. This morning, the heavens opened and removed the pylons. It probably only shaved a few minutes off the commute but it was sweet nonetheless.

I like the word "nonetheless." Also "heretofore."

Side trip #2: Do NOT download GoogleEarth unless you have lots of free hours to stare at satellite photos of the entire world. You will have access to Pennsylvania Ave and the Champs Elysees. You can, if you wish, gaze down upon pyramids and great walls. The truth is, however, you will spend all of your time looking at your house and your church building. The pictures are a few years old (which is why the white suburban is parked at College) but it is a fascinating perspective. Lisa looked at it the first time and said things like, "Oooh, I hate when they park there" and "Hey, I didn't know they had a pool." It's weirdly invasive and highly unsettling and amazingly cool.

I have driven home every day for the past week looking at trees that have been there every other day for the past 7 years...but now I know they belong to a golf course that is a stone's throw from my house. Freaky.

Exit ramp back to...

Underwhelmed. That's how I felt about the response to last Friday's poem. I know we have no right to expect replies to our blogs (or blogathons, which today's is becoming). And I realize that not everybody digs poetry. But surely there's SOMEbody out there who gets the chills from Donne! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Maybe I started with something too obscure. Herewith (another cool word) and in closing, my favorite Donne poem:

A Hymn To God The Father

Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which is my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive that sin through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.

Wilt thou forgive that sin by which I have won
Others to sin? and made my sin their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallowed in a score?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.

I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
Swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now and heretofore;
And, having done that, thou hast done,
I fear no more.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Thunder Road

I briefly considered "The Thunder Rolls", but I'll take Bruce over Garth any day.

Last night we had a thunderstorm. We don't get many in the central valley so if you like weather, which I do, then you have to get all the goody out of it you can. "Get all the goody out of it" is an expression my mom uses and I think it means "enjoy it as much as possible." Some day perhaps I'll do an entire blog on expressions my mom and dad forced into my quivering, helpless brain. Things like "hobnob with the hoi poloi" and "eschatological latitudinarianism."

I stood outside for about 15 minutes just watching the lightning flash in different parts of the sky. The rain would increase and diminish, over and over. Thunder followed every flash and, yes, I timed it. I was amazed, as I always am at such times, at the awesome might of our Creator. If you can't understand what it means to fear God in the face of such power, then buddy, you just think waaaay too highly of yourself.

After awhile, I went back inside and got back to work. But I smiled knowing that the same God that makes such energy arc and course across the sky is gentle enough to cradle his sheep in His hands.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

This & That

Last night was Back To School Night. I predicted 7 parents from my four Algebra I classes and 12 from my Calculus class. I had 14 from Algebra and 1 (one!) from Calculus. And the Calc parent came during the wrong session and I wasn't able to talk to him at all. So, for the record, that's 15 parents for about 175 kids. I will never understand why parents would not want to take an active interest in the education of their child. I pity James' teachers.

I had a student come late to 2nd period today for the 6th time. We have met 13 times so far. He is one of 11 who have a tardy problem in his class. 1st period has 15 students who have come late at least once. I would have gotten in such trouble.

The Angels have 4 more series to play, 13 games, until the season is over. The 1 1/2 game lead feels tenuous at best. I still hold out hope for a Cards/Angels Series.

I'm still tossing all of "Come To The Table" around in my head. The whole idea of how the church has turned the table into an altar seems so obvious and so wrong. And I'm at a loss to how to affect change in a sacrament held so dear by so many. This will probably be a long post some other time...for now I'm still just wrestling with what we've done to this great time of joy Jesus left us.

James almost took my head clean off with a whiffle ball a couple of nights ago. Either my reflexes are going to have to improve or very soon I will be walking around with whiffle marks on my forehead.

"Lost" won the Emmy. Any other "Lost" fans? I'm so pulled in by that show it's not even funny. What the heck IS down that hatch???

Yesterday was a 7 am to 7:30 pm day at work. I have long days all week and Lisa is working every night. Somewhere in there will be the sermon prep for Sunday. It's hard to prioritize when everything seems like it should be top priority.

Calculus tests to grade. Blog time is over.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Jesus Leads

Today was Week One in our series on Discipleship. The theme was that Jesus leads. He was the firstborn over all creation. He is the head of the body. He said, "Follow me."

Tim McIntosh delivered a significant message. He made the point that Jesus was not at all what the Jews were looking for in a Messiah. And often, he does not meet with our expectations either. We serve him according to what our perception of a King would require, and not in accordance to his example and teachings. And this is really the thrust of this series. What does Jesus really expect from his disciples? Where have we gotten off track?

Doug Baker delivered the invitation and made some more good points. He related being a disciple to being disciplined. And he said that it is not a one-time decision, but rather something we decide to do every day.

Next week our them will be that disciples follow. We will spend time talking about what it means to "become like Christ." Is that even possible? Doug laid excellent groundwork when he said that our desire is to be more like him each day. My prayer is that this series will help us do just that.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Friday Poem

Here's some Donne for your weekend:

Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which always is all everywhere,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo! faithful Virgin, yields Himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb ; and though He there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He'll wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death's force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created thou
Wast in His mind, who is thy Son, and Brother;
Whom thou conceivest, conceived; yea, thou art now
Thy Maker's maker, and thy Father's mother,
Thou hast light in dark, and shutt'st in little room
Immensity, cloister'd in thy dear womb.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Who Is A Disciple?

Let me just get these frustrations out of the way quickly and then we'll move on to the matter at hand. Two nights ago, with a 1-1 tie in the 9th, the Angels loaded the bases with nobody out. They hit into a double play, making outs at home and third (!) and then followed up quickly with the third out. The Mariners scored in the bottom half and won. Yesterday, they were down 8-9 going into the 9th. A ball was hit right to third and booted...runner on first. A bunt was laid down and thrown away...so runners at second and third, right? RIGHT? Wrong. The guy on first lost his mind (as did the third base coach) and he tried to score all the way from first. On a bunt. Yes, on a bunt. Out at home. We managed to tie the score, but then allowed them to win in the bottom for the second straight day. Swept...again...by the Mariners. This team may not want to go to the playoffs.

Okay, thanks. Onward.

I was having a conversation this week with somebody about discipleship. That will be our focus for the next 9 weeks at College so I anticipate having many such discussions. We were talking about what the first disciples did and about the activities of the Jerusalem church at the end of Acts 2. His comments were that, circumstances being different, we weren't expected to do all of those things and certainly not in the same way. Also he mentioned that not everybody was a disciple. There were the 12, but then others were referred to as "believers." Was I thrown for a loop? Yeah, a little.

One of the things I wish I was better at is having a quicker response. I have to mull things over, sometimes for days, before I know what I want to say. Maybe God made me like this so I would have to be silent at first and think things through. Whatever the reason, I left without giving a good answer.

You see, I think we are all called to be disciples. We are all asked to become like Christ. I don't think the early church did what they did out of overzealousness, I think they did it out of joy and obedience. And I know that Luke says that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. I'm sure he didn't mean that there was now a delineation between "Christians" and "believers." To be a Christian is, by definition, to be a disciple.

We are the ambassadors of Christ. We are Jesus in this world. He's given us his Spirit, his command, and his promise. He's got our backs. What else do we really need? A great deal is expected of us, yes, but what a tremendous honor to represent the Creator and the Saviour of the universe.

I may not have said all that right away, but then God has provided me with a pulpit for 5 of the next 9 Sundays. It'll get out.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Come Together

More and more of my blog titles seem to be song lyrics and/or titles. I got stuck in music mode I guess. As long as I'm stuck in that mode, I'll pass along one more musical tidbit. My dear, sweet, sainted mother is taking me to a concert for my birthday. Itzhak Perlman Plays Beethoven. If you don't know classical music, then you have no idea how amazing it is to have Perlman coming to Fresno. And if you don't know me, then you don't know how much I love Beethoven. If you DO know classical, then you'll appreciate the fact that one of the greatest violinists of our time is going to perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto (45 minutes of jaw-dropping sound) and participate in the Leonore Overture and the 8th Symphony. And if you DO know me, then you'll know that I can't wait. Green Day and Perlman in the same month...I'll bet there aren't many people who could (or would want to) say that!

This weekend I got to worship with some wonderful brothers and sisters that I am getting to know and love. There was a gathering of Baptists and Mennonites and Presbyterians and CofC types and others. We sang together, raised hands together, communed together, and collectively loved on our Lord. I'm telling you, it just doesn't get any better than that. In heaven, there aren't going to be any signs.

There are things we do in the CofC that I like. There are things from other denominations I long for...instrumental music and expanded roles for women spring quickly to mind. But in the end, it seems to be more about the people with whom you are worshiping. I LOVE the people at the College Church. And I LOVE the people who were together on Saturday. With the words of unity that Jesus prayed in the Garden always in the back of my mind, I can't help but think that our worship made him happy.

And isn't that what it's about?

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Current Events

Recently this blog has become less about spiritual matters than about my life. With that in mind, here's how my day went yesterday.

On the way to work, the indicator light that always comes on for 10 seconds and then goes off switched to a different one that came on and stayed on...alternator...rats. I pulled in the parking lot at school and switched off the engine, saying a little prayer that it would start up again.

In my box was a notice saying that since we have over 3000 students now, classes were being leveled. So they switched a student from a class that had 37 students to a class that had...wait for it...36.

During 3rd period, another non-English speaker added my class, making a total of 5. The irony is that yesterday we administered the mandatory writing sample. These poor kids can't understand a word I say and my knowledge of sign language is pretty much limited to the ol' "thumbs up." So, 39 kids, 3 bilingual aides concurrently translating, and 1 frustrated teacher made for a long 140 minutes.

I had to blow off my Calculus kids who wanted to study for today's quiz so that I could take the car to a shop, if it would even start. It did, praise be, and I drove to Sears. I got there at 2:30 and they started working on the car by 2:45. Not bad. It needed a new alternator (of course) and that would run about $280 (have I mentioned lately that money is in short supply around the Thurman homestead?), but there was room on a card and, well, I need my car. They said it would be around 2 hours, I figured I could wait out the 3 that it would REALLY take, so I grabbed my book and my iPod and headed inside the mall.

The mall. Oy vey, they mall.

The alternator had to come from somewhere else, the car was too hot to work on for a while, it's not at all easy to even GET to the alternator of a '93 Saturn, when they finally got it in it didn't work...long story short, Lisa came to pick me up at 8:30, the car still up on a lift.

I'm sure there are spiritual lessons to be learned from spending 6 hours in a mall, but even a day later I find myself sitting in stunned silence, in shock from spending 6 hours in a mall.

The capper: Lisa was good enough to tape the Angels/Red Sox game for me. But around hour 5 the Sunnyside baseball coach saw me sitting in...the mall...and told me what a bummer it was that the Angels lost again. Thanks, Jake.

Oh wait, I haven't gotten to the worst part of the day yet. I'll make it quick. Lisa had to take James to the doctor while I was at...the mall...because his cough was getting worse. It looks like he's going to be asthmatic like his dad. So I spent my last waking moments of the day trying to teach my precious 4-year-old how to use an inhaler. It brought all that childhood trauma and drama back fresh to me as I watched him try to wrap his lips around that thing and take a deep breath. I truly am grateful that medicine exists that will make his life easier, I'm just so bummed that he has to go through that and even more bummed to know I passed it on to him.

But enough misery. Today he feels better, I'm sure my car will be good as new, and the Angels will salvage a game from the series against Boston. The temperature is cooler and I get to teach the Calc kids in a while. I started a new book that is very good (read 200 pages while at...the mall...) and tomorrow is Friday. See? I can find silver linings when I put my head to it.

God is in His heaven.

Back to the Bible next time. In the meantime, scoot over to Randy's and Mike's blogs today. Good stuff.

By the way, did you get the pun? "Current" Events? Alternator? Get it? If not, don't worry. Lisa just told me a few weeks ago that she didn't realize that "intentional walk" referred to both my love for baseball and my walk with God. Lawdy, I loooooves the wordplay.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Happy Birthday, Sandra!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Let's all get together and have homemade ice cream or something!

Friday, September 02, 2005

Concerts

I love hearing live music. Lisa and I used to go and see a local band called "Trout" whenever we could. They were a lot of fun, played good music, and every now and then had a saxophonist with them who could flat wail. There's something about hearing an artist perform his stuff live that you just can't find in a studio CD. In fact, most of my favorite CD's are concert CD's.

I'm nutty about saving certain things. I have the ticket stub from every concert I've ever seen, with the exception of the Fresno Philharmonic performances for which I had season tickets, the Huey Lewis concert at the Tulare County Fair where Huey sat on a folding chair for, like, half of the show, and a few shows that I'm just too embarrassed to keep a record of having seen. Okay, here they are, for the official record: Kenny Rogers/Lee Greenwood/Sawyer Brown, Kenny G, Richard Marx, and...gulp...Michael Bolton. Some of those were attended to make lovely ladies happy, okay? And as long as I'm being totally honest, I should amend an above sentence to admit that I did keep ONE Fresno Phil ticket: the concert that Leonard Nimoy narrated. Spock. Cool.

Anyway, since this whacky blogthing is mostly for myself anyway (seriously, why ARE you reading this?), and since it's music week, herewith are the concerts I have seen.

8/11/82: Simon & Garfunkel
12/15/84: Huey Lewis
8/14/85: Huey Lewis
3/21/86: Los Angeles Philharmonic w/Andre Previn
5/19/86: Neil Diamond @ The Greek Theater
8/8/86: Huey Lewis
11/22/86: Billy Joel
7/18/87: Boston
2/28/88: John Mellencamp
3/1/88: Yes
4/22/88: Bruce Springsteen
8/3/88: Huey Lewis
6/30/89: Neil Diamond
7/27/89: Rod Stewart
3/31/90: Billy Joel
10/17/91: Huey Lewis
11/26/91: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
2/4/92: Dire Straits
4/28/92: Huey Lewis
5/14/92: Van Halen
7/7/92: James Taylor
9/20/92: Def Leppard
12/13/93: Billy Joel
6/3/94: Eagles
7/19/94: Yes
8/23/97: Garth Brooks
8/24/97: BB King/Robert Cray/Jimmie Vaughn
(check out the dates...two concerts in two days...sweet)
9/13/97: Huey Lewis (hey, I like Huey, ok?)
3/14/00: Bob Dylan
8/1/01: John Mellencamp
8/18/01: Eric Clapton
10/10/01: James Taylor (our anniversary w/JT)
1/15/02: Aerosmith
6/10/03: Matchbox 20
11/11/03: Matchbox 20 (they were good)
5/30/04: Eagles
6/24/04: Fleetwood Mac
10/12/04: Newsboys
5/4/05: Maroon 5
10/1/05: Green Day (can't wait)

Lisa just accused me of posting these to show off. I object. And, to quote Demi Moore in "A Few Good Men," I strenuously object. It was fun to look through those stubs and remember some good times.

Now I just need to get myself to a Pink Floyd show. And U2. And Jeremy Camp. And...

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