Meursault

Hi. My name is Mike, and I've been a library junkie for about three weeks. I've met Chuck Norris, John Newton, T.S. Eliot, John Grisham, Victor Hugo and others through wonderful pages of paper. It's been so long since I last had free-reading time, that I've been really happy to have this time. This time of burying my head in books has been nicely balanced with time of working out my body and my soul.
John Newton impressed me with his deep humility, and his submission to telling others of the grace that saved him from himself. Chuck Norris... well, I did learn more about the martial arts. T.S. Eliot... I feel like I can relate to him a lot. Such a driven guy, who felt so alienated from the state of humanity on this earth.

I've been paddling a bit, here and there. There's a little trip up to Sylvania in about a week, which should be a nice time up north. It certainly is the season to get back into the water. I do miss tubing and water-skiing.

Seasons... it's good to remember the seasons of life, and that they indeed do change. They come, and they go. It's often easy to forget in summer that fall will soon be at the door. The drudgery of winter can often dispell the expectations of a warm spring. I find that it's refreshing in those days when thought can transcend the routine of a season and appreciate the beauty of the Lord who gives life and allows even the unrepentant their time to roam the earth's crust. Amazing grace.

Being part of a church that recently split from another church is a difficult thing. While some are excited to "move ahead," I find myself still a little grieved that the split happened anyway. Obviously it's not the first time there's been division within the church. There seems to be those who stoke the coals of gossip, of which I've probably been part of at times, and how greatly does it spread like an agitating virus! I think I've always had a pretty liberal view of gossip: why talk about someone else (if they're not around) unless it is strictly complimenting that person? One might say, "It's important to share 'concerns' about other people." If that's the case, why wouldn't those concerns be directly addressed? And once they've been addressed, does one person's conflicts with another person have to become a whole group's conflict with another person?

I've grown agitated with the thin grapevine within the church lately. Have we become too accustomed to a gossip thirsty culture, where newspapers and news programs tend to focus on the corrupt, the violent, and the sensational?

Full Stomach, Busy Fingers, Blurry Eyes

I remember that, at the end of my time at Rawhide, I was feeling pretty spiritually 'lean.' Life in this world (or perhaps slow death in this world) rides along this wild torrent of work and recuperation from work. The flowering of families and the atrophy of families, the hope of lovers found and the disappointment of lovers lost.

So much happening. The entertainment of television and all branches of other electronic media fascinate me so much, as the human race so quietly find itself in need of 'something else' besides work and family and... the Lord?.... to give hundreds, if not thousands of hours too.

I feel like quite the alien, as I take time in these summer months to get to know the Lord again. There is little or almost no financial gain for a season like this. Reading pages from an ancient book, spending time with an invisible God, investing in an unseen Kingdom (with few perks of luxury promised in this present world)... it seems funny at times. It's also incredibly peaceful. I mean, I'm ready to go... to kick the bucket... cash in my chips. And at the same time, I think that of that illustration that C.S. Lewis used in comparison to our present circumstance. Enemy-occupied territory. There's a good deal to be done on this planet, until I'm called out by my Captain.

At yet, it seems even more ironic that so many don't question where they "came from" before they entered the womb, and where "they're going" following the failure of their physical health on this planet. And while few people end their day with being assured that they're ready to die, it doesn't seem too outlandish to often consider the brevity of life. Has entertainment and pursuit of 'more' clouded eternity out of the minds of people who strut and fret their way upon this life's stage? Given the frailty of humans, isn't it obvious that there is something or someone beyond our inventions, philosphy, and technology that has given shape to the experience of being alive?

It seems that "Evangelism" constantly bridges the gap between the startling reality of God and the deception of the pleasure-seeking existence on earth.
Welp, that's all for now. I've been just sitting in a chair for a bit, and my fingers found the keyboard, and things just started moving. I'm gonna go outside soon! Wisconsin's rivers are calling my name.

Tolerating Jesus

Sometimes I get to the point where I find that I'm tolerating Jesus in my life. The words "tolerate/toleration" have never settled well on my ears...
Like a landlord who rents out his spaces, there's that reluctance to serve his tenants unless they, of course, are paying him their dues. The Bible describes that, for the Christian, the human body is a physical home of the Spiritual form of God. And I find myself assuming the role of a reluctant landlord at times, as my skepticism sometimes grows of this wild tenant.
Will He take care of what I entrust to Him? Will He keep quiet in the night hours? Will He pay up when I expect Him to pay up? Will He keep "His end of the bargain"? And slowly, I approach that mindset where I tolerate this "unpredictable tenant."

"Maybe," my thoughts ponder, "that I can house this tenant but cut His control of utilities that I could otherwise offer Him when He goes beyond what my initial deal was with Him... I can tolerate him, but I won't cater to His unusual nature."

And thankfully, this whole mode of living is flipped on it's back by the Wild One's nature:

"Therefore , since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."

The landlord signs over everything that he has, giving the Tenant monopoly over all properties and utilities, trusting that this Tenant knows love better than anything that the landlord has ever experienced. The need for the landlord to collect has come to an end. His desire to collect rent had clouded out the view of his own many outstanding debts. The debts that before he'd never seen, were paid off by this wild Tenant... something that he'd never experienced before.

What a wonderful surprise to my 'tolerating' heart, that what I had once pictured as my confinement and heaviness was in fact my wonderful deliverance. Of course, I often can't see what the wonderful 'Tenant' will do with the properties I've given to Him. When I feel like listening, He always lets me know, if not ahead of time.

Over past years, He's chosen to raze a good deal of what I'd built up, and I'm excited to see what He plans on doing next.

A Change In Direction

After telling scores of people that I'm traveling to Europe and Israel this summer, I think some things have changed. I've felt less comfortable with the idea of traveling to Europe and Israel... I'm not quite sure why.
Well, I do. I really hadn't prayed too much about plans to travel this summer; I guess that it just made sense to go as far as I could!
As I started actually asking the Lord about what He'd like me to do with my summer, He responded with what I should do for the majority of the summer: fellowship with Him and friends in the forests and rivers of the northwoods. As I thought about that more, it made more sense. Imagine that!
This season is so different than most summers I've had so far... I'm anticipating a lot.
-Mike

Online Shenanigans

My friend Bushy (nicknamed for his volumous beard) once had a habit of calling "shenanigans" if something smelled of prankery or tomfoolery.
When I first heard about online blogging, I had a mental note calling "shenanigans." Though blogs are commonplace in this myspace era, I just need to work out a few things before I start writing in this.
It seems that in the 'old days' before air-conditioning and television, folks in neighborhoods would spend a healthy portion of their summer evenings with conversation as their after-hours entertainment. In some ways, I wish I could have been part of that era.
Now Iiving in an era that is bent on efficiency, convenience, and 'small comforts,' I find myself missing what I never experienced on the front porch: community. I'd be wasting my time to point fingers at why this has happened, but still hope to find that... I think the front porch looks a lot different this days.
It happens not only face-to-face, but on cellphones and computer screens. Technology, global commerce, education, (and missions work!) have paved the way for extravagantly different front porches. Of course, nothing replaces reclining back with good friends in each other's company... but the increasing lack of this in world culture leaves an increasing hunger for community with others. Staying in touch, sharing important news, laughing, sharing the details....
That said, I think that I'm ready to give little snippets of time to this online front porch. Hopefully we can stay in touch!