Anatomy of a Crash

Apparently, as you can see by the skid marks in the dirt headed towards the Tahoe, the throttle on my nephews dirtbike got stuck.

Next, the front tire of the dirtbike hit the back tire of the Tahoe, slamming the exaust pipe of the bike into an area near the bumper.

From there my nephews arm worked as a buffer (slight layer of burnt skin on the car) to keep bike from severely scratching side of vehicle. Instead only the brake lever scratched the car appearing as if it had been keyed.

From there after my nephew’s arm or shoulder hit the mirror, knocking it forward, the front tire of the dirtbike his the front tire of the Tahoe which shot the bike 90 degrees in a eastward direction into a pine tree.

From there he crashed and was thrown off the bike with his glasses stuck at an angle in the helmet…

So here is the impact it had on the human body of a 12 year old named Austin Merrill…

All and all he didn’t look to bad. He was shook up for about an hour but a trip to the store for a paintball gun seemed to cheer him up. It was a fun weekend at the cabin. Although more things happened than that. I think I’ll title next post “Anatomy of a Shooting: When Air Guns Go Haywire”

Less than Meets the Eye?

I grew up watching a cartoon called Transformers that came out this summer, in which the catch phrase was, “Transformers, more than meets the eyes.” It was really cool for a grade school kid. Who am I kidding it is really cool now. There is a passage in the scriptures that talks about people being “less than meets the eyes.” Not in a demeaning sense in which they are evil or corrupt but are the opposite of their outer appearance.

It says in Jeremiah 17:5 which is a poem in structure…
“Lord, Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a bush in the desert, which does not see when prosperity comes, but lives in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.”

What is so bad about being “a bush in the desert?” Moses encountered one (Genesis 3) and it resulted in the nation of Israel being set free from Egypt. Like most things in the bible a bit of the culture might clear up the picture. There are several different words for our english “bush” in Hebrew. The one used here is “Ar’ar, which sounds similar to the word for cursed (arur) and is part of a wordplay which is central to this poem.

Maybe a few pictures would clear things up…

In the desert when water and nutrition is at a scarcity this plant offers hope. In fact, the closer you get the better it looks. But then when you open it all you hear is a psssst, and inside, only dust. You were fooled and you are still hungry and still thirsty. This passage of scripture seems to warn us that some people are “less than meets the eye.” Maybe it is their beauty, money or status but something about them seems to be what you need. And then you throw yourself into that job, relationship, contract and all you hear is pssssst, with the only thing left in your possession being dust.

In America it is easy to put our faith in shiny things and plastic people but we will be cursed. Cursed? Strong word. Often when we think of curse we think of a figure scowling and planning our downfall. Maybe the curse is simply an observation. When we put our hope in things and people that won’t last we are bound to reap the consequences.

Here’s a book called Plastic Jesus to check out, because every once in a while Christianity is superficial.

You Are a Piece of Work

I’m getting a little lazy on the posting so here’s an old Relevant Magazine article I did last year. Enjoy!

Have you ever encountered the phenomenon called the Christian bookstore? Jesus is everywhere. He is on witty coffee mugs, flashlight pens, Thomas Kincaid calendars and Testamints. Devotionals and political material are available for mom, dad and even the kids. It reminds me of Psalm 119 when David asked where he could flee from God’s presence. Is the merchandise in our local family Christian store the Church’s best attempt at revealing God these days?

The ancient city of Ephesus in Asia Minor took a similar approach in presenting their goddess Artemis. Ephesus, like the United States, was a melting pot where the East met the West, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Artemis was a conglomeration of ancient goddesses. Her roles included protector of small animals, eternally virginal mother goddess and other such illustrious matriarchal titles. Like the God of the pop-Christian bookstore, Artemis offered something for everyone.

A whole month was devoted to her, called the Artemisia, during which a million worshippers would make the pilgrimage to Ephesus. The Ephesian silversmiths were famous for making the best representations of Artemis. During the festivities, these silver statues would be taken from Artemis’s temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and paraded through the city while crowds shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

I can identify with the Ephesians, who made statues to worship, as well as the Christian bookstores that try to market a savior. My labors as an evangelist have been marked by afternoons handing out tracts to San Francisco tourists, “winning friends and influencing people for Christ” by handing out free soda, and even (don’t tell anyone!) performing in dramas narrated by Carmen songs. All this, I thought, added up to being a contagious Christian. But, to be honest, I saw very little spiritual transformations result from these activities.

Paul had a different idea for the Ephesian Christians than the frenzied marketing of their faith. He wrote, ““You are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which he appointed for you to do” (Ephesians 2:10). The word workmanship comes from the Greek “poema,” where we get our words poem and artwork. In one sentence Paul turned conventional thinking on its head, telling a city famous for making art of deities that God wanted to make artwork of them.

But it turns out (and I bet my Ephesian brothers would agree with me) that it’s much harder to submit to God shaping His image in me than it is to shape my image into Him. Maybe this is why God gives us a choice to accept or reject him as the artist. It isn’t easy. God’s holiness sheds light on all our fear, anger, loneliness and lies. We begin to stand out and become different and unique, recognized by the scars of our past and birthmarks we can’t scrub off. And He prefers doing this in the context of community? That’s scary! I imagine all the Church might look like Jackson Pollock’s studio. Paint and passion spilled all over the rooms. And hope for beauty.

In community, we learn a frightening but empowering truth—that the great tragedy of rejecting God as your sculptor isn’t just what you lose, but what we miss out on seeing through you. In his poem W.H. Auden wrote:

God may reduce you to tears
On Judgment Day
As He recites by heart
The poems you would have written
Had your life been good.

There’s no science to being putty in God’s hands, but a great painting (like a great life or a dynamic community) can’t be rushed. It requires many coats and shades of paint, and at several points in the process the art looks ready for the trashcan. But then, another set of finishing touches and all of a sudden it is breathtaking. We have to be able to endure those moments of feeling garbage-worthy, knowing our Creator to use every layer of paint to make the end result all the more beautiful. It just takes time.

The Office Warmup

As The Office Season 4 approaches I’m warming up by watching reruns of season 3 Thursday’s at 9:00.

Season 3, Episode 18: “The Negotiation”
Quote:

Michael: [to Jan] You give me a good raise, or no more sex. [to Toby] What are you writing perv-ball?

Darryl: Make it happen captain

Michael: I am making it happen…sargeant.

Michael: A boss’s salary isn’t just about money. It’s about perks. For example, every year I get a $100 gas card. Can’t put a price on that.

Michael: Negotiations are all about controlling things; about being in the driver’s seat. And, you make one tiny mistake and you’re dead. I made one tiny mistake, I wore woman’s clothes.

Michael: There were these huge bins of clothes, and everybody was rifling through them like crazy and I grabbed one. And it fit. So I don’t think that this is totally just a woman’s suit. At the very least it’s bisexual.

Darryl: Are you wearing lady clothes?

Michael: What?

Darryl: Are you wearing lady clothes? Those look like ladies pants.

Michael: No. This is a power suit.

Darryl: That there is a woman’s suit.

Michael: I do not buy women’s clothes. I would not make that mistake again.

Toby: [talking to the camera while Ryan and Kelly make out in through the window] I don’t think Michael intended to punish me by putting Ryan back here with Kelly, but if he did intend that? Wow…genius.

Michael: Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information.

Jim: I was lucky that Dwight was there and Roy was lucky that Dwight only used pepper spray and not the nunchuks or the throwing stars.

Quote:

Jan: Are you going to take care of this?

Michael: Yeppers.

Jan: What did I tell you about “yeppers”?

Michael: I don’t…remember…

Jan: I told you not to say it. Do you remember that?

Michael: Yeshhhh.

Michael: No need for consternation, everything is under control.

Jan: Michael, last Friday one of your employees attacked another employee in your office.

Michael: It was a crime of passion Jan, not a disgruntled employee. Everyone here is extremely gruntled.

Jan: [sighs] Is Toby there?

Michael: No…

Toby: I’m here Jan.

Dwight: [tearing up after using his pepper spray] Every day, for 8 years, I have brought pepper spray into the office to protect myself and my fellow employees. And every day, for 8 years, people have laughed at me. Well, who’s laughing now?

Dirtbiking

So I spent a good portion of my Saturday afternoon dirtbiking with with my nephews and my brother. It was Grant’s (age 5) first time. His brother Austin was four when he first took up riding the dirtbike. Andrew (age 3) just hung out on his tricycle and rang it’s bell. Overall it was an afternoon well spent.

The Incarnation

Jesus’ birth is recorded in 2 of the 4 gospels. And those two stories are placed in the midst of two powerful rulers. The gospel of Matthew which traditionally was written to a Jewish audience places the birth of Jesus in the midst of the rule of Herod the Great. Herod was the king of the Jews. So Matthew’s gospel right off the bat makes the claim that both Herod and Jesus both cannot be king of the Jews. One of them must be a fraud. Luke in his gospel doesn’t mention Herod in relation to his birth but Caesar Augustus. Augustus was the ruler, for all intensive purposes, of the whole world. Luke’s gospel seems to declare that both Jesus and Augustus cannot be Lord. The world is not big enough for both of them. One of them must be a fraud. So while the gospel of Jesus Christ is that he has come to forgive our sins and reconcile us back to God, his gospel is also one that will challenge the world powers of the time.

So I am going to be looking at a few different things. I want to look at titles that these people had for themselves and then I want to look at the scriptures and see if any of these titles were taken and applied to Jesus. Then I was to ask the question, How would these powers feel if they heard their titles given to Jesus? I want to look at the characteristics of their rule and ask how do they compare and contrast to the type of kingdom that Jesus talked about? I want to look at what they viewed as the good life and ask how that measures up in comparison to what Jesus describes as the good life.

I find this particularly interesting because often times social justice is a term that we use for helping the poor and doing good to our neighbor. We often treat it as something that might be nice to do if we have the time. I have found that by looking at the birth of Jesus in relation to these powers, it isn’t just about being nice or compassionate, it is about the gospel.

I will spend a couple weeks looking at the birth of Jesus in relation to Herod and then a couple on Jesus’ relation to Caesar Augustus.

Surf’s Up!

I “officially” got up on the board one time yesterday. 10 of us made the trek to Santa Cruz and got in touch with the ocean. I also for the first time wore a wetsuit. What an incredible invention but I will say that I had never worn anything as form fitting as that.

Comic Relief: One Campaign

Righteous Anger

“While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight, I’ll fight to the very end!”

William Booth

I think that sometimes it is ok to be angry as a Christian. I was thinking about this today. Anna Nicole Smith dies. I have no doubt that she was made in the image of God and dearly loved. But the news followed her story for how many weeks or months going over every single detail of her life? Even my dad’s beloved Fox News channel and his No Spin (like that exists) favorite Bill O’Reilly couldn’t resist covering this subject.

Why do we ignore that 30,000 kids die of malnutrition? Why do we ignore that 27,000 people are still in some sort of slavery and half of them are under 18 years of age. What about when Focus on the Family freaked out when Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson had that mishap during the Superbowl and just ignore terrible injustices around the world that might be just a little more important?

A question I am trying to ask myself more and more is what things are really worth getting upset about?

What do I get angry about? It may sound weird but I think we have only so much rage to dispense. I don’t want to waste my energy getting angry at the delivery lady who has a bad attitude (yesterday) or a less than satisfying tax return. I want to harness that energy (we are able to use incredible amounts of effort when angry) for things that really matter. I know that religious people being angry conjours up terrible memories of the crusades but that was religious manipulation by people in power not a reflection of Christ. When Jesus got angry the lame were healed. It was a beautiful kind of anger. An anger that put the abuser in their place and brought life out of those who were viewed as a product or something to be owned or possessed.

I’ve found that anger will always be with me. But can be a powerful catylist when it is filtered through the love, grace and mercy of God. Sometimes anger is like the alarm clock that goes off when the poor and oppressed are neglected and wakes me up from the sleep of consumerism. It’s been said that the true atheist is not the person who doesn’t believe in God. The true atheist is the person who can stare into the eyes of another and not see the image of the one whom they were created in. Lately, recognizing that image in the oppressed has been stirring and anger in my soul.