WOW!

Talk about the proverbial wake up call! I know that I can write pretty well, and I am pretty good speaker as well. I could never believe that I have the gift to preach. I always thought that God reserved the gift of preaching to those who are ordained ministers, and I would never be able to preach ever again. I received an A- on the Introduction to Preaching class I took ten years ago at Western Theological Seminary. Upon hearing that my friend Barbara told me that was 10 years too long. I was honored to preach at Extended Grace in Grand Haven and I made sure that I told the 12 people who were there that it was indeed an honor and privilege to preach to them. I did not take it lightly at all.

Today at the Bible Study class ,after the worship service, my pastor asked me to share with the class what I knew about the Hilkiah and Jeremiah. He knew what I knew because of the sermon I preached at Extended Grace. I e-mailed him a copy of my sermon.

Now what do I do? I did something and it has been affirmed. A true wake up call.

You're a Raccoon in the wild world of love.

What's Your Animal Magnetism?
Brought to you by Tickle

Sunday

I finally gave home communion to the Jenny, an elderly woman in a nursing home. Her son, Bob, and my friend came with me. It was a real delight. Church was really good, today. I assisted, although I forgot that I was supposed to. I didn't sing the Kyrie, I spoke it. I just couldn't sing it and I didn't want to fail in the attempt when I could speak it in a more meaningful way.

I got home and helped Lori clean the house. My mom and step-dad were coming to visit on their way home from Boyne.

The day would have been boring by most standards, but I felt like I was busy and productive. I truly felt useful today. I went grocery shopping with Lori and Evan and Nathan. I cooked dinner, tacos and not very difficult at all, and I mowed the lawn.

I talked to my friend Deb. It always feels good to talk to a friend. I transcribed Pastor Mark's sermon. Although it has been a quiet day, I did get some things accomplished, and my mom and step-dad got to see the bathroom they paid for.

Friday night we went to the Harry Potter party at Barnes & Noble. We were there at midnight and had our Copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by 12:30am. I went to work on Saturday and slept most of the afternoon. We had pasta and meatballs for dinner.

Tired today.

I don't know if it because I didn't sleep well last night or if it because I haven't been taking walks like a should. I feel like a hypnotist is saying, "you are getting sleepy....sleepy."

Soon, I will be off to bed, but I wanted to share my adventure in grilling chicken halves.

Lori bought four chicken halves on sale at Meijer. I thought grilling them would be a lot like grilling chicken pieces, mainly get the grill really hot then put the chicken on and turn the grill down and let it cook slowly. It started out fine but then got really rough. After I put the chicken on I went to get my book, The Da Vinci Legacy, and finished a chapter.

The smoke was rising thick out of the grill and I checked the chicken. The fat was dripping on the burner covers causing flames to shoot out above the grill rack. I moved them around but the flames continued to burn the chicken skin. I put all four pieces on the top rack but the flames continued to rise for awhile.

I turned them, watched them and finally they looked like they were cooked and I brought them in. The outside meat was white, but the inside was still a bloody reddish pink. Except for the most burnt piece that was actually cooked nicely, the chicken was just too raw to eat.

I microwaved some of it so it was edible but not very tasty. This was my first grilling disaster of the year. I was really upset with it. I don't know where I went wrong. Lori said she won't get that kind again because it is too difficult to grill.

Oh well, at least the kids ate something. Evan was the best and cut his own chicken and ate two legs and a wing.

The party after the party

It was back to work today. I was tired and my co-worker pulled a no-show...AGAIN! Yes, it is frustrating but I managed to process 70 parts and kept the area under control. It wasn't a bad day, just felt tired.

Nathan celebrated his birthday again today. He has been having birthday parties in stages and he has one more coming up in late July or early August with my side of the family in Benton Harbor.

Tonight, Dave, Paula, Sean and Regan came over. We had cheesecake and Nathan opened presents from them. The running joke has been that they were going to give him Barbie underwear, Barbie, and My Little Pony dolls. In actuality he received Pokemon items (action figures, cards, and the Pokemon movie).

I included a link at the top of this blog to the slide show of the photos I took at the Saturday Celebration. Lori cropped them for a finished look. Dave said that they looked like the Chamber of Commerce quality. He was really pleased with what we did.

I took another Tickle test. They are fun. I hope this link works. http://web.tickle.com/net/account/profile/index.html?id=fTSSqJtOkvNGb9BO

Tonight was Committee Night at church. This is the first one I missed all year. I called Dawn, our council president and left a message with her daughter Britney that I would not be there. I hardly do anything at Committee Night anyway, because no one wants to join my committee.

Dave, Lori and Paula were looking at West Ottawa Year Books. I really didn't add much to the conversation. I found the conversation more interesting when we were talking about our children's health issues. But, it is always great having them around.

Saturday is Harry Potter night at Barnes & Noble.

Weekend Celebration

It should have been a larger family gathering, but it was a family gathering nonetheless. Lori's cousins, Mike and Eric left their respective homes on Friday with tents, beer keg, corn and hot sausage and headed for Walk Up Lake in Bitely. Dave, Lori's brother and his wife, Paula, own a cottage there. Mike and Eric set up their tents on the cottage yard, set up the beer keg and began the family gathering.

Lori's mom, Patricia, who passed away last year after a 20 year battle with cancer, was survived by her brother, Ronald James (Jim) and Judy. Jim and his wife Mary Sue have three children, Greg, Karin, and Dorthy (Dot). The three of them married, divorced and married again. They all have children and they are called the Virginia gang, although they do not all live in Virginia at this present time.

They are called the Virginia gang lovingly, jokingly and lazily. Yes, it is easier to lump then all under one fictitious title than it is to actually itemize them individually by residence, martial status and child custody and visitation allowances. Irregardless of how they are grouped, titled, or thought of, they are loved dearly by their extended family and are given the deepest heartfelt invitations to the annual family gathering at the Koster cottage in Bitely, and they all said that they would love to be there, but could not come that weekend.

The beer in the metal keg was very cold and despite the faulty seal on the tap, the spigot rendered the holder of a red plastic cup foamy comforting Bud Light. Now, light beer is not my first choice in beer, in fact, it comes in dead last or second to my first choice of regular beer. Budweiser is my second choice in the Anheuser-Busch family. Michelob being my first and Busch being my least favorite. I know that the beer drinkers present at the Smith Koster-Pond-Zindler (Judy divorced her husband Jerry and re-married Ted Zindler, the two of the haven't missed this gathering since it started three years ago) gathering are not nearly as picky, choosy, or snobbish about beer as I am, but I know what I like. I drank at least seven of those plastic red cups filled with ice cold Bud Light. Had it been Michelob, Molson or Labatt, well let's just say I would have a lot more; which is just as well because I drove home at 11:30 pm.

We left Saturday morning, yesterday, around 10:00 am. We arrived there shortly before noon. I had not eaten anything and was feeling it. It never ceases to amaze me how my appetite reflects my emotions concerning any given situation. Throughout the week, I arrive at work shortly before 7am and remain there at least until 3pm and some days as late as 5pm. I don't eat anything, I only drink coffee and water. As soon as I walk in the door of our three bedroom bath and half ranch, my stomach rumbles and I am craving food. Here it was noon and I was very hungry. I conclude that I don't like the work I am doing at all and my appetite or lack thereof is the physical manifestation or reflection of my deepest heartfelt feelings about my work or situation. In other words, I loved being at the family gathering at Walk Up Lake, but I detest being at work.

The food was abundant. Pulled Barbecue Pork, Potato salad, which I peeled and sliced the potatoes(Lori sliced the onions, boiled the potatoes, and hard boiled and peeled the eggs, onions and made the dressing with Mayonnaise, Mustard, and her secret ingredient), fruit salad, sliced fresh vegetables with dip, hot dogs, hot sausage, roasted corn, and baked beans. Oh, did I forget to mention the dessert? Well, perhaps to say the food was abundant was an understatement.

There was supposed to be four more people there, two adults and two children, all with very healthy appetites, not that they are overweight, quite contrary, they are all very physically active and eat to live. They are, Tom and Marcy, and their two boys, Spencer and Troy. Marcy is Judy's daughter, sister to Mike and Eric, and cousin to Lori. Tom is her husband, and they cancelled on Friday because Troy had a softball tournament. We we all sad and disappointed that they were not there.

At this point you might be thinking that we attempted to drown the sorrow of sadness and disappointment that we felt from the absence of Marcy Simpson family and the Virginia Gang by imbibing cups of Bud Light and attempted in vain eat the reminder away of why we were drinking in the first place, by consuming heaping helpings of the meat, salads, buns, beans and vegetables half covered in a sour cream based dip, but we didn't. We drank the cups of Bud Light and ate from the overly abundant(forgive the redundant phrasing) supply of food because we were there and so was the beer and food.

I spent most of the 11 hours and 43 minutes of the time there reading the Da Vinci Legacy, taking digital photos, eating roasted corn and other food items, and drinking Bud Light from those large red plastic cups. Those cups reminded me of my college days when I would go to a keg party. There were two colors of these cups, red and blue. I have never seen any green, yellow, purple or orange cups, just red and blue. In Star Wars theology, we have two choices the blue of Obi-Wan Kenobi or the red of Sith Lords. I guess yesterday we were the red of the Sith Lords, but none of us made objects fly, choked one another with our minds or made blue lightening to fly from our fingertips. Perhaps the Jedi theology of Star Wars doesn't apply to the family gathering at Walk Up Lake, but it sure would be an entertaining show if it did.

The entertainment came from golf cart rides on the wooded trails, canoe rides in the high winds, and from intoxicated karaoke. The karaoke began with 10 year old Sean Koster being proded into singing by his eight year old cousin, Nathan. Nathan had provided earlier entertainment by removing all his clothes and being told that if he did, he would be tossed into the lake. This threat/promise was made by his mother, Lori, who then delegated action of this threat/promise to me, his father. I continually told Nathan to keep his clothes on, but he removed them all nonetheless and I picked up the buck naked child and carried him to the end of the dock and tossed him into the water. He had changed his mind and wanted to get dressed, and ended up in the lake crying out of anger, frustration and embarrassment.

Bob, the prancing, prissy, Labradoddle, was also entertaining. He spilled Nathan's pop and ate one of his hot dogs. He jumped on everyone, tried eating corn husks from the trash and basically wore himself out. By the end of the day, he was sleeping on the ground near the campfire.

I added to the karaoke entertainment by lending my assistance to the "singing" of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London." I took Adam on two golf cart rides, and Evan on a canoe ride that ended with me walking the canoe to shore, because the wind blew us across the lake and made it almost impossible to make it back to shore.

Lori ended the night's entertainment by falling down while walking up the cement steps to get to the van. The greatest entertainment by far was seeing the stars in the clear northern sky. It was breathtaking and spectacular. It was for that reason that I stayed later than I wanted to.

The drive home was a bit nerve racking for me, because it was at night on twisting turning dipping and hilly country roads. As we got closer to home I was speeding on US 31 heading south to home here in Holland. Suddenly bright lights appeared in my rear view mirror, I was in the right lane behind another van in the right lane since were north of Spring Lake and I kept it that way all the way to West Olive. In other words, we were both speeding, but the other driver was always going faster. As those bright lights got closer I slowed down closer to 55 and then I saw that it indeed was a Sheriff SUV. The flashing lights were turned on after it passed me on the left and the other van was pulled over. I guess I got lucky, or perhaps my little bit of caution paid off. I pulled into the driveway around 1:20am and was in bed by 1:30.am I slept until 11:30am.

I drank a Miller Chill and a tumbler of water while writing this and thought about seeing all those stars and felt thankful for all the astronomy that I remembered and a little regret that I didn't remember more. But as Eric said, "just look at those stars and think of the depth of it all." Truly. it was a night worth remembering.

Back to work

I enjoyed having a week long break from work. It began last Friday when I arrived at home 5:45 pm. I opened a bottle of chilled white wine and said, "My vacation begins now!" I seeded the lawn, placed paving bricks next to our back patio, and spent a lot fun time with my three boys. We went to the beach, swam, watched fireworks. We ate ice cream, McDonald's Value Meals and grilled food. We went to the nature center, played tag and watched DVDs.

I drank tequila, beer and wine. I stayed up late most nights and slept in most mornings. I worked on story that I am trying to write, but I keep losing focus on it. I really don't want to go back to work, but "my vacation ends tonight." The worst part was getting poison ivy and the best part was watching movies with my wife. I always think of things I should have done, but I always am happy with the fun I had.

If it weren't for a lousy job I could not appreciate the paid time off.

Second day of Summer

Well, I am off to bed very soon. I have to be at work at 6am. I am hoping we can be done around noon but we may have to work until 2pm.

Anyway, I took the boys to the beach. We all had a good time, and it would have been a terriffic time if I hadn't lost Nathan. He was separated from his brothers when returning from the pier.

My arms and shoulders are pealing.

Getting Ready to Write

Every writer goes through painful steps to write. When the writer can't think of anything new to write he can easily slide into a depression that makes him think that he isn't worth much at all. But, now I feel inspired again to write. My Church's web page is getting close to being reconstructed and I want to make something new for it. I am going to type my notes from Pastor Mark's recent sermons and create a link to them.

Over Father's Day Weekend I got a really good sunburn. I know I should have used sunscreen. In fact, I put some on, but it was too late. I am beginning to peel now nothing like skin pain combined with itch to make me want to have one or two of those in the above image. Also, I have an itchy rash from poison ivy. And, for two weeks I have been struggling with migraines, they have been mild attacks but just enough to slow me down and make me a little crabby.

Today is the first day of SUMMER! I love summer. I met with two newer members of our congregation to find out their story and to develop my own skills for working with people who are joining our congregation. Did I mention that it is the first day of summer?

I didn't do anything really summery this year, like to go the beach or walk outside. I did however pray with the younger married couple who joined our congregation about two years ago. I am reading Koren Zailckas's book Smashed and loving it. I just e-mailed her and told her so.

I wonder if I will hear back from her.

Anyway, I am off to another blog.

How I feel right now

The best way to say how I feel is to say that I feel that I am one penny short of a nickle.

I have something to offer, but it is very little and not even worth a nickle, which is to say I a feel that I am less than half a dime. Have you ever heard, "not worth a dime?" That is how I feel.

It's happening again

I work for a place that spent over, from what I heard, a million dollars on a machine to make a unique product. The problem is that this machine is down a lot and we have to work weekends to make up for the loss of production. How many Sundays will we have to work until this problem is solved? I wonder if it will be solved.

My co-workers are feeling the despair I have felt for a very long time--the feeling that this project will fail. There are problems all around. Approximately 20 per cent of everything we make is out of specifications. We have to air freight parts to our customers so they can have them before we shut them down.

All around this a bleak situation. Part of me thinks that it has to come together, because it is supposed to.

I think back to something I learned about three years ago; "chaos is normal." We think we can create order but we can't. Everything around falls apart or is falling apart. Happiness is found we accept the normalcy of chaos and move from there.

I accept the chaos that is happening at work, but I don't want it to control all aspects of my life either. I don't want to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. I want my weekends and time at home. This is not too much to expect.

Easter

The funny thing about Easter Sunday is that I did not go to church. I was there at Palm Sunday and assisted because no one else was there to do it. Maundy Thursday was a Fellowship Dinner. It was really good! There is just something about making Holy Communion a real supper. I think it brings a deeper understanding of the Last Supper and what Jesus was doing to the community of believers that was there. Good Friday I wasn't going to assist, but no one else was there and Pastor Mark didn't assign anyone to do it. I wore black jeans and burgundy shirt and tennis shoes. What does one wear to a crucifixion anyway? So, I attended all the services of Holy Week, but Easter Sunday when everyone shows up, I wasn't there.

Spring 4

The temperature here got up to 78 Fahrenheit Degrees. I was really excited and happy about that. We had a cookout, and ate hot dogs and brats outside on the deck. I raked along the fence line and under the Rhododendrons, and picked up the yard as well. I set out the hammock and we flew the flags, the Stars and Stripes in the front yard and the Grand Union/Union Jack in the backyard.

It was a great way to celebrate the warm Spring weather in early Spring.

Spring Two

I am working on a Press Release for the Step It Up campaign that is happening here in Holland. My Pastor has an unique sense of humor, and wants to create a slogan based on TULIP, the 5 points of Calvinism. I like Calvinists; I do not care for Calvinism. The five points are:

Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance/Preservation of the Saints

We are working on our own version of this. He has seen a writing gift in me and is encouraging me to write news articles and press releases for our congregation.

If you believe in an election of the damned, the reprobate, then you see no problems in TULIP. If you believe that God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth then you might have a problem with TULIP.

The Step It Up campaign is a nationwide rally to stop Global Warming. Al Gore started it. You know the former Vice President. He served with Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband. You have to remember him. I know, most of you have short attention spans, but you can remember more than eight years ago, can't you? The film is called An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore was doing his Power Point slide presentations around the world when a documentary director thought it would make a great film. An Inconvenient Truth won The Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Well maybe all you homophobes didn't watch it because Ellen DeGeneres hosted it. That is just sad if you did. So what is she is a lesbian? There have been lesbians since before Sappho wrote her poetry. How did I get on this subject?

Oh yeah, Al Gore at the Academy Awards. There is a seriousness about Global Warming and we should do something about it. So here in the Tulip City we are, and a group of Lutherans are making it happen, and we aren't homophobes either.

First Day of Spring

A cold and wet raining morning is how Spring welcomed us today. The pour down hard for about two hours. No thunder just the heavy wet drops falling thick all around us.

Then in the afternoon it stopped and the outside smelled like a nursery. I love that smell; it is the scent of green life and healty soil.

The days are now longer than the nights and perhaps all the winter depression will finally fade away. I haven't felt very depressed this winter, just tired. The time changing early didn't help much either.

Spring is finally here. It is a good reason to celebrate!

Wine Drinking

Last night I drank a whole bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. I gave the younger two boys a bath.

Before that, my eldest son and I went for a walk to Barnes and Noble. I did not buy anything, but found something I can put on my birthday list. My Mom always asks me for birthday gift ideas for myself. This has been an ongoing tradition since my early childhood days. Sometimes I think it would be really funny if I asked her for a cap gun, Tonka Truck, and a G.I. Joe.

My wife says that if anyone reads these blogs they will think I am an alcoholic. Well I hope it gets some attention. Please, if you ever do read this, don't think I am in this for attention. I am doing it as an ongoing writing exercise. If I don't write often I will lose my edge and my writing will weaken.

The younger boys are participating in a Pine Wood Derby. I am glad that I finished their cars. They should make it to the end of the track. I don't think they will win, but they should have fun. Unfortunately, I won't be there. I have to work tomorrow.

No no no...I won't say where I work. I don't talk about that. Shhhh.


Church Newsletter Deadline is coming up. One of my fellow council members strongly suggested I submit the devotion I gave on Tuesday in the Newsletter. I want to expand it slightly.

Anyway, the wife seems impatient and wants her turn at the computer again.

Council Tonight

I am tired and feel like I could sleep right now. I went for a walk. Is my life boring or what?

I am preparing my devotion and report tonight.

I really have nothing even slightly interesting to post.

Dorkfish!

OK, I e-mailed my co-worker, Wendy, the link all of my sarcastically existing blogs.

She and I keep each other sane in a sea of insanity by making dorkfish jokes. Bill Engvall put the Dorkfish on the map with his corn dog eating dorkfish routine.

The time change has really made me tired. I really have only myself to blame, drinking one, OK it was three or four, too many glasses of wine the night before the time change was not the smartest thing I have ever done.



But the wine tasted really good and I had a great time and was laughing throughout the night.

I guess I could talk about work, but work is nothing worth writing about.

Right now my dream is to become a massage therapist.

Weekend

If truly the weekends were made for Michelob, then I am certainly in the collective right to be drinking one right now, and I am!

It was in early September 1999 that we had Nathan's baptismal party at our house. It was a beautiful warm late summer day and I served Michelob. I knew it was the one beer all the beer drinkers, and there were a few of us, would all enjoy.

My Step Dad liked Bud back then, my sister's husband likes heavier imports, my wife's father likes richer micro brewery lagers, my wife's brother likes a variety of beer but at the time Rolling Rock and Foster's were his favorites. I like the Canadian beers, Molson and Labatt. Yes, Labatt is a Pilsner and the only North American Pilsner at that.

I miss the old shaped bottle as seen in this photo, but it tastes just as good as it ever did. Although, I did find two six packs at the Wesco station that had more traditional shaped bottles.

I took all three boys to the pet store and they delighted in seeing all the animals and petting the resident cat there, Tuxedo. After our brief visit we ate lunch at McDonald's in Zeeland and the younger two played in the tube maze they have there.

While they played my eldest son walked around outside and I read the first chapter of a study book on the Psalms and read several Psalms.

The depth of Psalm imagery comes alive in the Revised English Bible. Several images found in the New Testament, especially in the book of Hebrews come from the Psalms. It shows how the Psalms truly connect us to the past, present and future.

It greatly enjoyed my time there reading, studying and praying while my children played. My wife was able to have some quality quiet time at home.

CRC Group and a Martini

In less than 30 min we will be going to a CRC mom's group for dinner and cake. I drank a hefty Vodka Martini and am feeling pretty good.

We Lutheran's are smart by serving wine at our social functions and then coffee with dessert so we can drive home. Lutheran's understand that just because we are family in a spiritual sense doesn't mean we will all get along. Wine certainly helps those situations.

The CRC won't serve any alcohol so we have to drink at home first.

Dysfunctional

The original title for this post was "Putting the Cart Before the Horse." But that old trite proverbial phrase has been so over used that there was no one who would read this post. Ha! I can sure make myself laugh--no one is reading these now. Well, maybe someday. I can always dream.

In any system or group there is room for improvement, and in a work place improvement is necessary for profit. In a church congregation improvement is about spiritual growth. The worst action any leader in either a business or congregation can take is to tell a department or committee to stop and wait until a new improvement is in place. Telling them to wait is dysfunctional and is putting that proverbial cart before the horse.

The better method is to tell them to keep going as they are until the new change is implemented and then train or teach them the better way. Never stop. Moving forward if even in the old and lousy way is better than stopping and waiting for the new and improved way.

Stopping because the method you are using needs improvement is like going naked waiting for the new style of clothes to come to your favorite store.

Being Right Doesn't Help

Today at work I encountered, first hand, how self-importance, and wanting to prove yourself, hinders, hurts, and opposes progression. We had a Quality transfer to our department who has about a year of service in our division. He wants to make a difference and make improvements, but with a very tricky catch, he want them done his way.

From my perspective, I have worked with him for the past year, he wants to show how much he knows and wants to prove that he is right. His instance on being right slowed us down by more than 74 per cent. We hardly got anything done today.

From the events of today, I learned that just because I may be right about something doesn't mean that I have to nor that I should hinder all those around me. I may be right about how to correct something but that doesn't mean I should stop other's progression or speak hurtful words about it.

In the world around me I see all to often how one person who insists that he is right will make the situation worse.

Ego has no place in a collective.

Lent

When I was a child I thought it was strange that about three months after celebrating Jesus' birthday we were talking about his death. Two "schools of thoughts" seem strange to me those congregations that don't pay attention to the Church Year and those that emphasize it to the extreme.

There are congregations in my home town that hardly mention Lent and then suddenly they tell everyone to really celebrate because it is Easter. They might as well be handing out chocolate bunnies to everyone on Easter Sunday rather than having a Communion Service.

On the flip side of this proverbial coin are the congregations that take it too far. These are the ones that fill the baptismal font with sand and dress in purple to match the paraments.

Lent is a time of releasing all the obstacles in your spiritual life. It is a time to think about all the excesses in your life and to let go of them. Lent is a time to think about your personal relationship with God and how to improve it--this also includes the relationship with God who dwells in all His children.

The more attention to pay to your spiritual life during Lent the more you will appreciate the joyous festival of Easter. If you are like those who only attend church on Christmas and Easter then you might as well go to church on Easter Sunday wearing your nice clothes and eats a pound of chocolate.

If you are on the other extreme then you will go to Church and revel in the joyous music and white paraments but don't expect to grow spiritually because all you have done is paid attention to the calendar and decorations and not your spiritual growth. Remember, religion and faith are not the same.

Glowing.

Kings and Emperors have worn clothes woven with gold and place golden crowns on their heads. When they rode about in the sunlight wearing their regal clothing they would glow. The people would take notice and be amazed.

During the middle ages some monks in the Greek East would glow with uncreated light. It was amazing, apparently their auras would light up for all to see. They did not need golden threads woven in their garments.

Light

My pastor preached about reality and what is real on Sunday. When asked what we thought was more real, a book, or light, I replied the light is more real because of light we perceive colors and shapes. I see something as red because the red light reflects from it. If the light changed it would look different, purple or perhaps or even black.

The type and intensity of the light determines what we and how we see.

Writing with Wine

While I was taking notes at our council retreat in January I drank a few glasses of Chardonnay. The wine relaxed me enough to write freely and listen. The problem was my handwriting deteriorated throughout the evening and I wasn't sure of all that I had written.

I was glad to be scribe for the night. I really enjoyed writing that out for everyone. I tried to capture the feel of the night.

There was one moment during the dinner that I stopped talking and just listened to everyone. There was a lot of talking and laughter. I truly believe that Peace Lutheran acts out peace with joy and laughter.

Doctrine

My pastor is very passionate for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through his teaching of the Gospel I have come to a deeper understanding of my own beliefs, and I lean away from traditional statements which lack imagery or description. Allow me to exemplify, I do not say Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior; I do say that Jesus is the Way and I imperfectly follow Him.

I tend to express what faith is using the words of Martin Luther, "Faith is like fire giving off both light and heat." Faith is inexact and requires language that stirs the imagination. Bold blanketing doctrinal statements leave me cold and make me cringe. Although every Sunday we use the words of the Nicene Creed to confess our faith, corporately, personally I strive to state my faith using adverbs. Faith is moving and active.

The Creeds are there to get us all on the same page, and in Lutheran worship this is quite literal as was as figurative. We need something that we can confess together to edify one another and Creeds do that. I do not rely on the Creeds to express my beliefs in conversation or in my blogs.

Faith should grow beyond the Catechism answers. Yes, the Catechisms helped me by asking the right questions, but I want to give answers that express what I trust as well as what I have experienced.

I cringe when I hear people speak the words, "I am saved," or ask, "are you saved?" I cringe because it seems so shallow and two dimensional to me. The Word became flesh, God entered into the human condition, there is no need to fear anything even death. The Holy Spirit gives me visions, and I the more I see and learn, I come to understand how little I do know. And then I am asked, "are you saved?" I trust a promise.

And what is faith than trusting a promise and living in that trust.

Snow Day

My wife is upset with me that I did not go into work today. I shoveled the driveway which was about a foot deep and had drifted closer to three feet on the west side.

My fingers were getting really cold so I put on two pairs of gloves on my left hand.

Pop in the outside refrigerator froze and one can of Diet 7 Up exploded.

Snow days here are nothing like the Chevy Chase movie.

School Canceled

It is three degrees outside without the wind chill. It has been so cold that I haven't shoveled the driveway.

They could close work. It has been done before.

Anyway, the Colts won the Super Bowl. I am glad about that! Any team that can beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship should win the Super Bowl. It was a good game.

Church was canceled. I wrote a sermon on my other blog page. I wish I could make a living writing from my computer.

Groundhog's Day

I have had migraine headaches just about everyday in January. I managed to keep the pain under control enough to work everyday. Wednesday and Thursday I was really tired.

This morning I got up with my alarm and took the trash to the "curbside." The sky was beginning to turn blue and the full moon was shining brightly while framed in an opening in the clouds. It was a beautiful morning.

It was a good way to end the dead of winter. Now that winter is half over, I hope my migraines will lessen and I will have more energy.

I tipped the apple cart.

My friend Barbara loves posting quotes from a wide range of people on the Extended Grace message board. Sometimes I respond to them and most times I don't. I chose to respond to this one.

Here was the quote:
All paths are ultimately paths to God, because, ultimately, there is no other place for the soul to go. Everything has come out of God and must go back to God.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

Here is what I said: That is a really pleasant thought. I can not agree with it in spite of how pleasant it is. Jesus speaks about people being thrown into the Lake of Fire and how others will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth It isn't so much that I believe in Jesus it is that I do believe him. I believe that anyone who is not against him is for him and that he does love the world. The world wants nothing to do with Jesus in spite of how much he loves it, and many people follow the paths of the world. I can not believe that ALL paths leads to God. I do believe that the path of Truth does lead to God. The paths of Greed, Power, Possession and Control are not the paths of Truth they are the paths of the world and I do not believe these paths can lead to God.

Perhaps human wisdom traditions do not seek possessions, greed, power or control. I do not know much about human wisdom traditions. Also, I know that just because an apostle said something, that which the apostle said is not necessarily apostolic. Was Paul being apostolic when he asked for his cloak and parchments?

So, I responded to the quote as presented.

Catching up

I am still working on the notes from our leadership retreat. It is going slower than last years. In part because last year's retreat was more streamlined.

Pastor Mark got back to me with his edits on the newspaper article, and he liked how I treated his sermon.

I am working on a little speach for the annual meeting.

A lot to do, and I am feeling tired.

Lutheran's like their wine.

Forget about the coffee jokes, we Lutherans are indeed so not Reformed. We like to drink wine. There were several bottles of Chianti as well as Chardonnay imbibed at last nights retreat. We were all relaxed and open and truly were blessed. Jesus was present among us. We needed to know what we did last year and where we are going next year. It was important to know about the positive actions in our past to be able to move forward.

We thanked a lot of people. I personally thanked Julie for being an inspiration to me.

To me it seems we identify being a people of peace with joy and laughter.

Blessings