SOLDIER

I was working at the REI a while ago and some guy came in asking about sleeping bags. As any good sales specialist I ask where he was going and what he would be doing, just so I can have an idea of the conditions he might experience while on his adventures. This is pretty standard interaction with customers for me.

He said that he needed it for training while in California but he would probably also use it for some backpacking while there as well. It turns out he was preparing to go to Afghanistan. His unit was called up and he would be heading out for some training then shipping off to fight in the infantry. This guy before long would be putting his life on the line in a foreign country for the sake of his country, wearing armor and an assault rifle and here he is asking my opinion on what a good sleeping bag would be for him.

He was a soft spoken humble guy, seemed pretty cool we talked sleeping bags and hiking conditions for a while and I sold him a bag, I don't even remember which one. I do remember walking away form the conversation feeling humbled. Here was a guy who before long would be on the front lines, and he wanted my input on a sleeping bag of all things.

I have never put my life on the line for anything. I have had things thrown at me, I have been made fun of and insulted, but as far as I know my life has never been on the line for something that I believe in. It makes me wonder, do I have it too easy?? In America I could be argued we try to avoid war whenever possible, but there are some places on earth where fighting is a way of life and people have never known anything else. Perhaps it is just that in living in a place where peace is the norm God would want me / us to leverage my / our peace for the sake of those who have not known peace. Perhaps speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves is the responsibility of those who have voice enough for the world to hear.

I don't know that soldiers name, but I have prayed for him, and I pray for us.

Just a Meandering Thought...

BARUCH

I have been doing a little reading on a Biblical character lately named Jeremiah. As an Old Testament prophet he is a fascinating character study. He told people what they did not want to hear, so almost no one wanted to be associated with him in any way. He experienced humiliation and agony for trying to make his point to people who were not even listening. All the other "prophets who were around in his day were presenting messages that contradicted his, which really made him look foolish. He was ridiculed, imprisoned, black listed and ignored for his very unpopular messages but for some reason he kept on going. Why??

There was one person who stood by his side - a little known character named Baruch. Baruch was the guy who wrote down Jeremiah's messages. When Jeremiah was in prison Baruch even carried the messages and read them aloud to their intended audience. Baruch is at least partly responsible for giving us the book of Jeremiah. Even though Baruch was just the writer/messenger he, at times, suffered side by side with Jeremiah. He experienced punishment he did not deserve because he chose to be associated with someone who was constantly pushing the envelope; he chose to be associated with someone who dared fierce obedience to God. Jeremiah suffered through some tough times, but he always had Baruch. I dare say that without Baruch, Jeremiah would not have been the prophet that we know today.

Moses had Joshua, Ruth had Naomi, David had Jonathan, Paul had Timothy, Jesus had twelve guys around him. It seems only right that we should not try to do this thing we call life on our own - separated from people who could carry us in those times when we cannot carry ourselves. We all need a Baruch in our lives who is there when no one else is willing to be there. Who do you have??

Just a Meandering Thought...

DADDY

I am a dad...
There is another person on planet earth who is completely dependent on me. This is what I have learned so far:

• He prefers being held to being put down.
• He cannot clean himself up and needs me to do that.
• Sometimes he poops while I am holding him.
• He has peed on me while I was cleaning him.
• Neither of the previous two scared me away, I still loved him and cleaned him up and held him afterwords.
  
• He is the cutest baby I have ever seen (because he looks a little like me and mostly like my wife) yeah, he bears my image.
  
• He is incapable of earning my affection because he already has it.
• He has nothing to offer me that I need, but I can't get enough of him.
• His value is not in what he does (pee and poop) his value is in the fact that he is mine.
• I love it when he looks at me.
• It breaks my heart when he cries.
• I love this time but I also look forward to the day when he will talk to me.
  

Suddenly I understand the love of God a little better.

Just a meandering thought...

RAINS

The Summer rains are falling

They fill the dried up streams
The parched earth drinks it in
And dusty paths now are mud

Blue sky masked in shades of gray

God wrings out the clouds
Droplets form like buckets
And rain like puddles falls

Lakes and oceans merge
Rivers connect them all
The Summer rains are falling
The plush green grass returns
The babbling brooks are swelling
Liquid life on a sojourn

CROWD

Do you remember when you were in elementary school or maybe even junior high (or perhaps last week), when there was one kid or maybe a group of kids that would get some kind of cool gadget and soon everyone had it or at least wanted it. Yeah, they call that crowd mentality. Crowds draw crowds.

Most of us, perhaps even all of us, are part of some kind of crowd, Seth Godin would call it your "tribe". Your tribe gives you a sense of an identity, it shapes your worldview. One man alone does not a crowd (or tribe) make. But when many people gather around one man, or one idea, or one worldview, or (insert point of self identity), then for better or worse you have a tribe.

Some will fight viciously to preserve their tribe because this is what gives them a sense of identity and purpose. In places in the world where your tribe is your family, it is not uncommon to see bloody feuds continue for decades. In America it is not quite this bad, usually; but our crowd is still very important to us. This video has been circulating around the internet for a while but it helps make my point. If you have not see it yet, you have to watch to the end.

When you consider the crowd that you are a part of, do you think about what people outside of the crowd think of your crowd? What do you do to attract outsiders?

It has been said that the Church is one of the few institutions that exists for those who are not a part of it. Even though this is true, the reality is that the Church has not always acted this way.

When Jesus walked the earth there were throngs of people who followed him, to the point where a few times he had to sneak away in order to have some peace and quiet. Do you know of any place where people thronged to church?

The funny thing is, tribes are being formed everyday, and crowds are thronging to them.

Some observations on Crowds based on the above video:

1. The crowd you belong to determines the person you are becoming.
2. People follow passion.
3. One passionate individual can draw a crowd but that does not mean he knows what he is doing.
4. No one wants be a part of a crowd that is not excited about what they are doing.
5. One passionate person who thinks he is drawing a crowd, but is standing alone is just an idiot on the side of a hill.
6. When one idiot on the side of a hill is surrounded by people, he is suddenly cool.
7. Always have a video camera with you
8. It is easier to act out when you are surrounded by people who are acting out.
9. If this guy can draw a crowd why can't you?
10. In the moments before they thronged the lone dancer, what do you think was going through the mind of those people who sat and watched him.

What is keeping you from doing something so unique that people might stare at you for a while... before joining you?


Just a Meandering Thought...

TENTS

A while back I was working a Saturday shift at the REI. A guy came in and asked if I knew anything about setting up tents. I thought it was an odd question given the store we were in but I answered him affirmatively. He went on to vaguely describe a four season, two person, mountaineering tent that was designed for Denali. He said he had not been able to figure out how to set it up and wanted someone to help him get it straight so he would be able to do it on his own. He brought the tent in and we proceeded to set it up in the store, as we did he told me the story behind the tent.

It turns out he bought the tent about five years prior to coming in the store that day. When he got it home he tried to set it up but had some difficulty with it, put it away and had not used it since. By the way, the day he walked in it was in the first couple of days in July and we were on the verge of a record setting heat wave. So here I have a guy with a tent that is made for extreme conditions in the mountains and it has never been set up beyond his backyard because he cannot figure out how to properly use it. I could not help but think, what a waste. To have that kind of equipment and never use it even remotely close to its potential, to never use it for its intended purpose. Then I thought how much am I like that with God??

As followers of Christ we have both the responsibility and the capacity for extraordinary demonstrations of a Christ centered life - things like: extravagant grace, reckless love, incomprehensible acts of service, just to name a few. Many times, however, we shortchange these biblical standards of excellence in our lives. We don’t want to take the time to have these lifestyle attributes molded into us, or we want to but there are so many other priorities that take precedent, or perhaps we are just not aware that they are needed. It is not until we are faced with a crisis that we realize we are forgiving with strings attached, or loving when it is convenient for us, or serving begrudgingly rather than cheerfully. Somehow many followers of Christ have become okay with doing exceptional acts with great mediocrity.

It is like boarding a jet to taxi two doors down and thinking it sure was a good thing the jet was there to go that far distance. The jet can go to a totally different continent but we are content to go two doors down. Its like owning a four season mountaineering tent and setting it up once in the backyard and then never setting it up again because we have forgotten how to set it up. As Christ followers, our actions and our attitudes in the world should be such that they are an improvement on the world, but we for one reason or another never get them beyond our backyard, or beyond our church.

Which tent set up do you think has a better story behind it?? This one... Or this one?? Which one would you want your life to look like?

That guy spent at least five hundred dollars for something a twenty dollar tent could do. We are only shortchanging ourselves when we don't pursue something deeper with God and for the world. We are only asking God for five minutes when he is the one who holds eternity in his hands. It has been said that some people believe that the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. I believe life is an adventure best lived on the front lines.

Just a Meandering Thought...

Summer

In Summer times
The sun does rise
And the breeze caresses my face

The long warm days
and starlit balmy nights
seem to slow the reckless pace

Long roles the thunder
bright the lightning strikes
and rain drops each other they chase

Sky is bluer and ocean warmer
the air humid and heavy
it seems this is always the case

When finally the sun goes down
and late the stars come out
It is then that the moon give chase

In long summer days
The light lingers late
Evokes a smile that winter cannot erase