YONDER BREAKS

Have you ever had a time when your own selfishness was revealed to you? I have been reading Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes  by Kenneth E. Bailey, a study on placing the person and teachings of Jesus in their proper context (it's very good). Today, I was reading a passage trying to explain the profound and sacrificial love of God, as illustrated in one of Jesus's parables. As I was reading, I noted a great quote he uses from  Mattá al- Miskin , and then immediately thought, Are my blogs as profound as that? Are they words from God, or is it just me?   Maybe that doesn't seem like a bad question to ask, but I assure you, the motive was selfish. Why did it have to go back to me at all?! I'm reading about Jesus and his sacrificial love, not my own achievements. To make things worse, my own creative pursuits got me thinking about this album I'm releasing (which I'm tempted to link to, because I want more people to see it), and whether or not those  words are pro

Did you ever listen to that band EDL (Every Day Life)? They were one of those groups good for the time, but that has nothing to do with this blog post... The other day I was listening to this song while doing dishes: At the end he sings, "I love you, there is no one else." The words made me think about our relationship to God, how it's supposed to be like marriage: permanent and faithfully focused on one. But we don't often treat it that way, do we? Either God is someone we can discard when doubt comes, or stray away from for significant amounts of time, leaving and returning as we see fit. What kind of marriage is that?! Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. ( Eph

I get asked for about a million things every day. The quantity of requests that come from my children is staggering, and are mostly food-related. As a result, the number of times I say, "No" each day startles me. Sometimes I just get tired of saying no, actually! But I can't give them snacks every time they ask, and I can't let them watch TV all day long. So what am I to do? The whole thing presents a sort of rest-fatigue that I'm not sure how to handle. It reached a new level tonight, as I was heading home after a great skate session . I was getting gas and a homeless man was asking other gas-getters for some money. Of course this can be an awkward situation for even the most generous. I give sometimes, and try to ask God for when it is appropriate, or when something else may be needed -- a listening ear perhaps, or at least a polite acknowledgement. (Those sound like weak arguments as I write them -- maybe I'm just avoiding awkward situations -- but let

I've been meeting more skater dads lately, which has got me on the board a lot more as well (funny how that works ). We live in the land of skateparks, with one less than four miles away in just about every direction, but sometimes a quick skate session at a street spot is all I have time for. The problem with these is, they hurt my knees and use way more effort than ramps. As I traverse my thirties, having these street sessions becomes way less enticing each month. But today I was just feeling a street session. The kids were taken care of and I had a couple hours, but I went to a skatepark instead, not wanting to drive around in circles looking for spots when I could be skating instead. Not really feeling the large concrete features at the particular park I ended up at, plus the slippery, steep pool, I drove to another skatepark, but on the way noticed a couple street spots that looked good. With time to cruise, I gave it a shot, and found an even better  skate spot, tucked away

I wrote recently that I broke my first skateboard deck in a couple years. Today I put a new one on, and decided it might be nice to move slow and do it by hand, instead of using a drill or ratchet; an exercise in patience of sorts. Well, about a few turns in, my hand started cramping and I considered backing out... How easily my generation gives up on our convictions.  Discipline eventually won over, however, as this was an experiment on slower living, and so I had to finish what I started. My first observation was that going slowly caused me to examine my board more closely, noticing things I often overlook when skating. How do the trucks look? Are those nuts on the end so scraped down that I'll never be able to take them off again? Are the wheels wearing down, or still have life left in them? It also caused me to pause and think about how much fun skateboarding is, all the people I've met. This sport (as silly as it seems, investing so much of my life in a piece of wood