so, an homage to my facial hair in all its forms:
so long, old friend. maybe we will meet again.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
farewell, my friend
so, i found out today that monday i will be starting a new job. (don't worry, kiddos, i am still working at the church, too) to the great pantheon of dorky names my jobs have afforded me (bus driver, fedex man, youth pastor) i now may add Cintas man. i will soon be delivering uniforms and such to businesses in our metro area. the hours are good. the pay is good. the only hitch: my beard has to go. something about looking professional. i will hold on to it for a few more days, and will then unceremoniously lop it off.
so, an homage to my facial hair in all its forms:
so long, old friend. maybe we will meet again.
so, an homage to my facial hair in all its forms:
so long, old friend. maybe we will meet again.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
blog in the round: urinal cakes
i am a deceptively complex man. mysterious even. certainly unusual. and surely everybody has quirks. little things that are mostly unknown about them, but which are strange enough anyway. i have a few. i can't walk barefoot in a hotel or condo. (who knows what someone has done on, or to, the floor?) for that matter, i have a hard time using any sliver or glassware from a condo.
weird, i know.
my biggest hangup involves public bathrooms. i can go number one almost anywhere. but for the more serious deeds, i have a few rules as far as public restrooms go. stores which primarily cater to women are ok. most churches are ok. office buildings usually are fine. but never walmarts or gas stations. or fast food joints.
so, what does this have to do with anything? well, i was asked to blog my thoughts on urinal cakes. these are, for the uninitiated, little deodorizing pucks that you toss in the bottom of a urinal to mask the nasty.
this is an example.
i guess my point in all this is to say that no matter how powerful the urinal cake, it cannot mask the hideousness of a public restroom. no amount of smell, no cute name that is also the name of a dessert can change the fact that dudes pee on them.
i guess this is sometimes how i feel. we try to mask our filth, dropping a perfumed puck into the bottom of our selves to try and mask the fact that we are nasty. where has honesty and authenticity gone? why do we act as if we don't stink, when we know we all do? i think it is much better to just be broken and foul and don't hide it, because then, we can be real with God, ourselves, and each other.
"blessed are the poor in spirit..."
weird, i know.
my biggest hangup involves public bathrooms. i can go number one almost anywhere. but for the more serious deeds, i have a few rules as far as public restrooms go. stores which primarily cater to women are ok. most churches are ok. office buildings usually are fine. but never walmarts or gas stations. or fast food joints.
so, what does this have to do with anything? well, i was asked to blog my thoughts on urinal cakes. these are, for the uninitiated, little deodorizing pucks that you toss in the bottom of a urinal to mask the nasty.
this is an example.
i guess my point in all this is to say that no matter how powerful the urinal cake, it cannot mask the hideousness of a public restroom. no amount of smell, no cute name that is also the name of a dessert can change the fact that dudes pee on them.
i guess this is sometimes how i feel. we try to mask our filth, dropping a perfumed puck into the bottom of our selves to try and mask the fact that we are nasty. where has honesty and authenticity gone? why do we act as if we don't stink, when we know we all do? i think it is much better to just be broken and foul and don't hide it, because then, we can be real with God, ourselves, and each other.
"blessed are the poor in spirit..."
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
the wrath of mom
not my mom, mind you...
(tales of the ballpark)
so far, i have been pretty lucky. 3 years as a head baseball coach (coachin' for my son drew) and not any major parental issues. but now, we're getting there. i am not, by the way, drew's all-star coach. but i soon may be. but that, and the issues keeping an actual coach from coming to more than one practice AND ACTUALLY KNOWING WHAT HE IS DOING are another topic altogether.
there's this kid, and he has parents, of course, and an aunt. and these guardians of his life are convinced, like many other parents, that their kid is baseball Jesus. (i have tried to maintain balance in my situation, not proclaiming drew the savior of the game while also realizing he may be. but i digress.) but this mom (and aunt) have wreaked havoc for 4 years or so by trying to make sure that their son (ands nephew) is viewed as the greatest since griffey to swing a bat, and that he plays 3rd. (why 3rd? if i was trying to get my kid in the infield, it would definitely be shortstop). the thing is, he is not any of these things. i submit that no 8 year old is. he is a pretty decent hitter, a not-good fielder, and slow. that adds up to exactly one tool. which he is still learning to handle. which is fine for a 7 year old. he doesn't have to be baseball Jesus.
anyway, over the weekend, it reared its head. first of all, the aforementioned coach actually let mom and aunt make the lineup for a game we played. a lineup, incidentally, which had the kid at 3rd and batting lead-off. and a game which, incidentally, we lost 22-0. ugly. for the next game, the coach wasn't there, and so i made the lineup and order was restored. we played better, still lost. but i got some nasty looks and comments and the aunt spent most of the game bad-mouthing me to her confidants. (secretly, i was pleased to have pissed her off) and since we are currently at the beach, missing a practice, it will be fun to see what happens when we get back. i'll keep you posted.
i guess if i were to try to extract a moral from this story, which i tend to do, it would be this: even if your kid isn't baseball Jesus, it is ok. you can still be proud of him. because he doesn't seem to care where he plays. and you shouldn't sabatoge a team just so the kid can play the hot corner.
so shut up.
(tales of the ballpark)
so far, i have been pretty lucky. 3 years as a head baseball coach (coachin' for my son drew) and not any major parental issues. but now, we're getting there. i am not, by the way, drew's all-star coach. but i soon may be. but that, and the issues keeping an actual coach from coming to more than one practice AND ACTUALLY KNOWING WHAT HE IS DOING are another topic altogether.
there's this kid, and he has parents, of course, and an aunt. and these guardians of his life are convinced, like many other parents, that their kid is baseball Jesus. (i have tried to maintain balance in my situation, not proclaiming drew the savior of the game while also realizing he may be. but i digress.) but this mom (and aunt) have wreaked havoc for 4 years or so by trying to make sure that their son (ands nephew) is viewed as the greatest since griffey to swing a bat, and that he plays 3rd. (why 3rd? if i was trying to get my kid in the infield, it would definitely be shortstop). the thing is, he is not any of these things. i submit that no 8 year old is. he is a pretty decent hitter, a not-good fielder, and slow. that adds up to exactly one tool. which he is still learning to handle. which is fine for a 7 year old. he doesn't have to be baseball Jesus.
anyway, over the weekend, it reared its head. first of all, the aforementioned coach actually let mom and aunt make the lineup for a game we played. a lineup, incidentally, which had the kid at 3rd and batting lead-off. and a game which, incidentally, we lost 22-0. ugly. for the next game, the coach wasn't there, and so i made the lineup and order was restored. we played better, still lost. but i got some nasty looks and comments and the aunt spent most of the game bad-mouthing me to her confidants. (secretly, i was pleased to have pissed her off) and since we are currently at the beach, missing a practice, it will be fun to see what happens when we get back. i'll keep you posted.
i guess if i were to try to extract a moral from this story, which i tend to do, it would be this: even if your kid isn't baseball Jesus, it is ok. you can still be proud of him. because he doesn't seem to care where he plays. and you shouldn't sabatoge a team just so the kid can play the hot corner.
so shut up.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
let's try this again
after some confusion, drew is most definitely on the all-star team. a total of 4 rangers got the call. 2 on the 7 year old team and 2 on the 7-8 year old team.
again, i hear ya son. you make a daddy proud.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
blog-in-the-round: why Jesus?
truth is, the answer changes almost daily.
i guess the best explanation is to start at the beginning. as a kid growing up in church, belief in jesus was sort of assumed. but he was pleasant enough. the songs and stories told me he loved me and could get me to heaven, so what's not to believe in? so, if you asked me as a kid, and most of the way through being a teenager, the answer to "why Jesus?" was probably "why not?"
then i went to college. and life was getting messier, and questions were being raised and for the first time i considered the possibility that it all may be bullcrap. after all, most of the world does not believe the same things about life and God that i do. and here i was borrowing money and spending time to get a degree that gives me the chance to base my entire life on the notion that christianity is true. and i began to wonder, is it?
oddly enough, it was historical philosophical arguments that started the road back. specifically, the cosmological argument. (warning: nerd alert) it basically says that there has to be an uncreated creator. it just doesn't make sense for not to be something that exists that was not created. sort of a starting point for all of life to begin with. that something, of course, could be called God. but even then, why Jesus?
on a good day, i would tell you about how i see Jesus in nature or music or my kids or my friends or the love of my wife. what scripture tells me about Jesus leads me to believe that in all good things, there is a bit of the Divine. like in experiencing music or beauty or good food, we are somehow experiencing God. and i like that idea. i like the notion that one could experience at least something of God in the good things of life. that at least gives us all a starting point.
i could also tell you about how i believe that Jesus and his way of life just has to be true because it is so amazing. the idea that we can change the world through love and hope and kindness and generosity and goodness rings very true to me. we have definitely not done any good by bombing the heck out of each other. so Jesus' message just seems like the best way to live.
other days, however, i think i would struggle to believe. admittedly, a lot of the time this corresponds directly with my circumstances. bad day equals hard to believe in God. (yeah, i know its immature, but what you gonna do?) other times, it just seems so intellectually unlikely. how could there be a God, much less a really awesome God who loves me so much he would die for me? such an idea is either too good to not be true, or it is just ridiculous. and i usually oscillate between the two.
and on those days, i guess i just try to push through and commit myself to believe and follow even when i don't feel like it. so far, i have not heard a definitive voice or seen a sign that tells me that it is all real, so i only have the hunches to go on. some days this is pretty easy, but others it is more of a struggle. so i just try to stay true to what i have committed to and follow anyway. it is not very romantic, and it won't sell osteen books, but it does feel like faith.
"lord, i believe. help my unbelief!"
i guess the best explanation is to start at the beginning. as a kid growing up in church, belief in jesus was sort of assumed. but he was pleasant enough. the songs and stories told me he loved me and could get me to heaven, so what's not to believe in? so, if you asked me as a kid, and most of the way through being a teenager, the answer to "why Jesus?" was probably "why not?"
then i went to college. and life was getting messier, and questions were being raised and for the first time i considered the possibility that it all may be bullcrap. after all, most of the world does not believe the same things about life and God that i do. and here i was borrowing money and spending time to get a degree that gives me the chance to base my entire life on the notion that christianity is true. and i began to wonder, is it?
oddly enough, it was historical philosophical arguments that started the road back. specifically, the cosmological argument. (warning: nerd alert) it basically says that there has to be an uncreated creator. it just doesn't make sense for not to be something that exists that was not created. sort of a starting point for all of life to begin with. that something, of course, could be called God. but even then, why Jesus?
on a good day, i would tell you about how i see Jesus in nature or music or my kids or my friends or the love of my wife. what scripture tells me about Jesus leads me to believe that in all good things, there is a bit of the Divine. like in experiencing music or beauty or good food, we are somehow experiencing God. and i like that idea. i like the notion that one could experience at least something of God in the good things of life. that at least gives us all a starting point.
i could also tell you about how i believe that Jesus and his way of life just has to be true because it is so amazing. the idea that we can change the world through love and hope and kindness and generosity and goodness rings very true to me. we have definitely not done any good by bombing the heck out of each other. so Jesus' message just seems like the best way to live.
other days, however, i think i would struggle to believe. admittedly, a lot of the time this corresponds directly with my circumstances. bad day equals hard to believe in God. (yeah, i know its immature, but what you gonna do?) other times, it just seems so intellectually unlikely. how could there be a God, much less a really awesome God who loves me so much he would die for me? such an idea is either too good to not be true, or it is just ridiculous. and i usually oscillate between the two.
and on those days, i guess i just try to push through and commit myself to believe and follow even when i don't feel like it. so far, i have not heard a definitive voice or seen a sign that tells me that it is all real, so i only have the hunches to go on. some days this is pretty easy, but others it is more of a struggle. so i just try to stay true to what i have committed to and follow anyway. it is not very romantic, and it won't sell osteen books, but it does feel like faith.
"lord, i believe. help my unbelief!"
blog-in-the-round: where will i be in 20 years
edited because i don't want to look like a lady robot in the future
what i will look like:
what april wil look like:
what i will drive:
where i will live:
this is the brave new world to which we are headed.
authors note: if republicans stay in charge and we continue to fawn over paris hilton and britney spears, then i am sure the world will be neither new nor brave. if this is the way we go, the future i see involves more reality TV and major advancements being made only in the field of porn distribution. please choose wisely.
what i will look like:
what april wil look like:
what i will drive:
where i will live:
this is the brave new world to which we are headed.
authors note: if republicans stay in charge and we continue to fawn over paris hilton and britney spears, then i am sure the world will be neither new nor brave. if this is the way we go, the future i see involves more reality TV and major advancements being made only in the field of porn distribution. please choose wisely.
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