Here and Now

Today is the first day of school for Rachel - and every other kid in Bethel Park... It's our first time at a bus stop with other kids... We see the little girl (and her mom) across the street come outside, so we start heading down the hill. We chat a little on the way down, busy summer, first day of school stuff... A mom and daughter are already at the bottom of the hill (where they live) with a dog. Rachel and Elie go to the dog. Nothing like a beagle to make instant friends... A dad and his son sit on the opposite curb. I wonder why they aren't coming over... A couple other moms and kids and another dad and kids show up. There's a lot of catching up. We're not the only new family at the bus stop. What I do in moments like this is withdraw into myself...I kind of get why the dad and son are sitting on the other curb, I guess. Lori talks with the moms - the kids sort of play together. Rachel really hovers around Lori - the beagle attraction being very brief. There'

This week we're kicking off a new series: Get in the Game. This week: Monopoly:Success and Significance. I just spent about two and a half hours working on a sermon - about two pages of a sermon, anyway, fact-checking and quoting...and I realize now that I can't use it. I need to save almost all of it for another sermon a couple months from now. Well, the truth is I COULD use it, but it'll fit way better in October, and it's really not the direction that I was planning to go this week anyway. But it's frustrating. I mean, two and a half hours for two pages really isn't that long, I guess. I know that I'll be spending a lot more. And it's fair to ask, "If that's not the right sermon for this week, why did you keep going?" Fair question. I guess it's because I was in the middle of it - I was fitting ideas together and re-wording sentences and...it's a matter of not seeing the forest for the trees. It wasn't until I stepped back an

I happened on this http://www.freerice.com/index.php And if it does what it says, then it's great. If not, well, it's still fun to see what words you know or can figure out (and if you miss them, they come back...so you might get go learn a few new words, too).

I've been reading U2 By U2 for quite a while now in drips and drabs - and I'm still only up to the recording of Boy (a great debut album which everyone should own). But I'm also reading The Seuss, the Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss which is more biography than the U2 book (which is more, I guess, memoir/interview). A couple things struck me this morning about U2 and Dr. Seuss. Both create a certain type of art, not appreciated by all, but excellent in its own way and both developed devoted followings very early. Interestingly, at least to me, neither Theodor Geisel nor the musicians in U2 were particularly good at their craft in the beginning - but they had passion and vision and drive - even in the face of rejections and missteps. It seems to me that visionary and creative people are a special breed. Why is it that of the dozens of bands in the Dublin area in the mid-seventies that U2 rose to the top? Seriously, they admit that they weren't very adept musici

"The Body of Christ broken for you on the cross..." The words rest in my ears, familiar yet powerful. The bread rests on my palm. It weighs nothing. I close my eyes and I can't tell it's there. I have to press down on it with my thumb to sense it. And somewhere else in the building I hear - children crying - hammers pounding - a phone ringing Life and hurt and rebuilding and the normalcy of today goes on and on around me...and I can't feel the presence of the Body of Christ in my hand. I hold Christ too lightly, too easily. I have to make myself aware. Until... Until I eat the juice soaked bread. Until I eat the Flesh and drink the Blood... And I can't ignore it. And I can't refuse it. And I must pat attention. For Christ is inside me. And I am not the same...

As I'm sitting here in my office, getting ready for Sunday Night worship, the band is rehearsing Switchfoot's "This Is Your Life" and it sounds amazing. "This is your life...are you who you want to be?" That's a great question. And, really, it's deeper. This is your life...are you who God made you to be? Is there a difference? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Lori and the girls are visiting my in-laws today, so Lori came to church last night and "are you who you want to be" is an important question right now. Lori's passionate about music - and gifted musically. But what she heard me say last night (you know, I'm not sure I even said it...but it was a God thing) was that "your purpose is not necessarily your passion." Abstractly, I believe that to be true...I'm just not sure I said it... But Lori is really drawing some direction from that because she's been wondering about purpose and passion and calling. She ta