From Painful Poo to Pleasant Peace...

Life sure is a funny thing. But sometimes I think that I'm the one getting laughed at. And rightfully so I guess. This week I was reminded just how grand my capacity to be dumb really is. And, though laughter is not the first emotion to find its way out when life takes you for a loop, thanks to the grace of God from which a peace unlike any other is poured out upon his children (including me thankfully), laughter does always seem to be the last one standing. And so today I laugh at the growls and grimaces of yesterday in the hopes of a pleasant smile for tomorrow.

In the midst of all that goes on I have noticed something about myself...maybe you can relate. I noticed that of all the tools that God has given me to use for his glory - my hands, feet, mouth, heart and mind - I can turn off everyone except my mind. It runs non-stop. And its not like I want it to. Don't get me wrong, I love to think and ponder over things - things both important and trivial - but some days I long to find that "off" switch hidden away somewhere. It can be tiring. Thankfully, I know that I'm not alone in this. A number of my close friends have shared the same frustrations with me about tireless little motors running up top of their heads too. It's funny to me, if only my legs and arms would work that hard - my pants would definitely fit a little better. But then again, I can control those arms and legs, and we all know just how awesome we humans are at being disciplined! *wink*

So, in the midst of the turmoil and strife that life has to offer...that frustrating glob of crap that somehow seems to pile up on you out of nowhere, please remember that you're just one good laugh away from a good nights rest. In lieu of that I would like to dedicate a poem that I recalled earlier today from my childhood to all of you out there who feel like the dumps of life are just piling up all around you. Please feel free to recite this aloud and wade through the mess to have a laugh or two on me.

"Here I sit, same as ever...

Took a dump, pulled the lever...

Toilet clogged...

Water flowed...

Look out world, its a mother load!"

And, amen.

A Two-Sided Term...

Today I attended the wedding of one of my former youth from the church where I previously served. It was a momentous occasion in her life and the lives of her family (both old and new). Though not to the same proportion, it was momentous for me as well. You see, marriage is bigger than we modern-day Westerners perceive it to be. It is bigger in the sense that it is weightier – that it means more – than we give it credit for and as a spectator of that holy ordinance today I was reminded of an attribute of God that is never quite appreciated as it should be.

God is love.

(1 John 4:8)

God is indeed love. Now, you may hear from time to time this phrase being quoted either from a pulpit, page, lectern or lyric. If you are one who keeps attune an ear to the stream of current thought and media, then you have certainly witnessed evidence of the gentle, loving, soft, and patty-cake nature of God as revealed by the skewed slur of the vox populi. This post-modern generation of people-pleasing voices airing the foggy conclusions of their nebulous thinking presents a flaccid and puny image of our great and mighty King.

A problem arises from this portrayal of our Lord. It is not that God is proclaimed as existing in the form and state of love itself. On the contrary, to hear that glorious declaration is a beautiful and praiseworthy thing. None-the-less a problem does exist and it resides in the hearing and even more so in the understanding that is transmitted through the conduit of that great word. When sacred scripture shouts, “God is love!” it is speaking to us through the language of a culture whose concept of love is vastly different from our own.

Love, spoken from the lips of an unregenerate, unchurched people speaks of a love that is self-centered. Wordly love, as it is adequately termed, charges its followers to live for themselves. Godly love, in contrast, earnestly pleads with us to die for someone else.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

- John 15:13

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

- 1 John 3:16