Day 29—The World in Slo Mo

When I got home the power was out. Right in the middle of making supper. So we fired up the gas grill, sliced up the potatoes and meat, and threw on the whole supper. I even toasted my frozen bagel on it. It tasted a little smoky, but I loved it—it felt like we were on an early spring camping trip. So did the rest of the evening.

It’s funny. Bit by bit the world slowed way down. We went out to the porch where the sunlight was brightest so that we could read. After a while we began to notice how quiet it was—no phones ringing, no internet to plug into and check emails, no TV (no great loss there), no power for my music, no washing machine sound. Just quietness, a setting sun, and the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze.

Darkness crept in, little by little, until it was finally too dark to read. We looked out and saw little burning candles in the windows of our neighbor’s houses. Quaint. Just like Christmas but without the snow. Just as I was preparing to fire up the camping lantern the lights came back on. Too bad, I thought. “What a nice little respite that was, God.”

Even though we weren’t running around frantic today, we were idling a lot faster than I realized, because as soon as the power went out, our body-engines began to slow down almost as fast as the little motors that run all our appliances. We both really welcomed the forced time-out. So now I’m in the planning stage of trying to figure out how to knock that pole out every evening around 6:00ish. (Without getting caught, of course.)

Day 28—Toast and Bones

“Toast and Bones”—it’s a strange combination, I’ll admit. But it’s not a new breakfast entrée. They’re actually the names of two dogs—ours and our neighbor’s.

I peered out from between the blinds today and just caught sight of a slight wag of a tail. “Yup,” I thought, Bones must see our dog coming up his driveway for a play-date. The wag of his tail grew more pronounced as he anticipated the ecstasy in which he was about to indulge. I KNOW that sounds like hyperbole, but you have to see it to believe it.

Little 16-week old Toast does the “puppy-run” up the lawn and leaps with NO FEAR onto the face of Bones. Bones feigns indifference with a gentle swipe of her head away from Toast’s leap, but quickly turns back to see what she’s going to do next. Then we humans take our seats as we begin to watch “wrestle-mania.” Dog style.

First one dives for the other’s neck and clamps down. Then the other shakes free and dives for the first one’s neck and clamps down. Sixteen-pound Toast tries to tackle 2’10”, 67 lb. Bones. She loses and goes rolling side over side down the hill. Amused, Bones takes his shot and tackles her. Whummph! Toast is body-slammed to the grass. Her tail wags wildly now! And she attacks Bones again. Pretty soon they end up in one indiscernible puppy-pile, rubbing each others' throat and neck with their heads. There’s nothing like dog-on-dog-smell I guess.

Then quick as lightning they both release their grips and start to tear around the yard in circles tighter than the key on a basketball court. One after the other. Opps—Time out! Found a new smell that needs sniffing. Then, just as quick—back to wrestle-mania. By the time they’re done we’re left with two very happy panting dogs, who are content to simply lay next to each other. Both are covered in fur, hair and lots of fresh dog spit. Oh boy.

I don’t know how else to describe to you what I’m watching except with the words: “unabated delight.” I’ve watched them play like this for several times now. And each time I watch, I can’t help but wonder… am I somehow peering deep down into the Design of God itself, seeing something of the sheer grace and delight with which God created His world, that’s woven into the very fabric of every part of His creation? And most of the time you and I just miss it because we’re enslaved to the Task Lists that we’ve fabricated from our own creations? It makes me wonder.

Day 27—Early Surprise

It all started with a simple phone call. Our son suggested that he come home and stay overnight so he could take Mom out for Mother’s Day. Great idea! Then his mother decided—why not see if Grandma is free and they can both ride down together and we could meet them halfway. Great idea! Then she decided—Hey, maybe the other Grandma is free and we could pick her up and meet the others for the Mother of all Mother’s Day’s Dinners! Great idea!

There are approximately 2.5 million people living in the Twin Cities area. Since it was raining out for most of the day, I think everyone else in the Twin Cities had the same idea. Because as we opened the door to the restaurant we were confronted with a solid wall of human flesh. It took us five minutes just to push our way up to the reservation desk. And it was still early! Already the first round of Mother-Diners was finishing up and little old ladies with big smiles on their faces were maneuvering their walkers to mow down the crowds that packed the entryway as they made their way out with new energy, fueled by their renewed sense of strategic importance in the world!

After our 58 minute wait in the entryway, packed together like sardines, the initial conversation at our table felt more like we were sitting down to a mother-in-law dinner than a Mother’s Day dinner. But once we got our drinks and downed a couple of cheesy-biscuits a piece we morphed back into the delightful smiling mothers and children that we came in as. It was then that my son turned to me, once all the turbulence had died down, and said in a low voice… “I just made a simple phone call to see if I could take Mom out for dinner tomorrow.”

Which just goes to show: “No good deed goes left unpunished.” Maybe next time he'll just send a card. (just kidding, honey)

Day 26—A Higher Purpose for Toast

I strained my eyes to see it. The vet-doc pointed to an area on the x-ray that—quite honestly—looked no different from any other part of cloudy images of light- and dark-gray shades and shadows that covered the film. “Kind of…” I heard my wife and I mutter when the vet-doc asked us if we could see the tiny hairline darker-gray shadow within the larger lighter-gray shadow area. “I think that may be a fracture” she said, pointing to a spot of light gray shadow … “and if it is, that would be causing her enough pain to make her limp around on it.”

We’ll know for sure in a few days. The vet-doc is sending the x-ray to a radiologist. In the meantime, we’re giving our 16-week Golden, “Limpy,” a little extra TLC. (Her real name is Toast.)

Now—you may think what I’m about to tell you is weird, so I’m not going to tell you exactly what we did, but—last Tuesday night our small group gathered together in our house. Near the end of our bi-weekly meetings we always share prayer needs for our various family members, and any other needs, and then enter into a time of prayer. Sometimes, when one of our members is in need of specific healing, we’ll lay hands on them while we pray. I’m not going to tell you exactly what we did that night but our limpy dog conveniently sat in the center of the room (like she always does) while we prayed. The prayers that were offered that night covered a little broader range of the population than usual.

It was a little weird, I’ll admit. But that kind of ministry might actually bring some animal lovers into the Kingdom when nothing else would reach them. Who knows. Maybe Toast has a higher purpose!

Day 25—(part 2) “Faith” (or A Ride on the Steel Viper)

(for part 1, see below on Day 24)
Now, what do you suppose prompted my friend’s former colleague to phone-call him, on this particular day? Ten years later? Without any previous communication or contact between them? Just out of the blue? And here’s an even deeper wrinkle… why this particular person, for whom the life situation was just the reverse ten years earlier? Why not just a close friend?

I know it sounds flaky and half-baked to say that God’s hand was in this. I know that it doesn’t stand up to reason. I know that there’s no way to “prove” it’s not just a coincidence. (Which is why it’s called faith.) But, on the other hand, there’s no way to “prove” that gravity exits either, except by observing its effect on certain objects in relationship to other objects. Because of the way that objects interact with one another we conclude that there must be a “force” that causes this particular interaction even though we can’t directly see “gravity.” And there’s no way to “prove” that quarks and neutrinos really exist either. No one has ever actually “seen” one. We commonly accept that they exist because of the way particles behave and don’t behave when certain forces are applied.

In a similar way when I observe certain coincidental events, or coincidental meetings between people, or coincidental experiences that are shared, I “see” the Spirit of God working. Answering prayer. Guiding and directing with counsel and wisdom. Planting thoughts. Opening our eyes of awareness. Softening hearts. Healing broken bodies and spirits. Shaping and forming a new Spirit inside the human heart—all because it was asked for in one way or another.

For me, I choose the way of faith as I interact with the world. Because I believe that God’s Spirit is still very much active in the world. I see evidence of it by Its effects on people and events. I observe it over and over, even though I can’t “prove” it, and even though I can’t “see” it directly.

The Bible talks about it this way, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1). Actually, this is really a perspective from which to interpret the world and make sense of life—a biblical perspective. It’s a way of doing life. A way of interacting with the world.

I love my life of faith. I find it to be very life-giving. I’m thankful to God for leading me into it. It allows me to catch glimpses of the divine mechanics behind the multiplex networks of life.

Day 24—“Faith” (or A Ride on the Steel Viper), part 1

Today’s surprise: a wild roller-coaster ride in the cab of life! Sparks began to fly (in a good way) in the middle of a meeting when a friend and I began to realize that our paths, and the paths of several mutual friends and colleagues, have been recently crisscrossing all over the place! We laughed and giggled like kids in a candy store the more we talked and shared a mutual vision for working together.

There’s a part of me that identifies this kind of thing as a movement of God, a brush with the Holy Spirit, a glimpse of the Grand Arranger for those who have eyes to see. Another part of me holds back though, wondering if I’ve just stumbled into a dazzling array of coincidences, looking for a pattern where there is none. At least, none that is intentionally planned. There’s no way to know for sure, is there? You can’t prove it either way. You just have to choose which way you want to go in life. And you choose based on what you believe, what you know, and what you’ve experienced.

One choice is often called “faith.” The other is often called “reason.” They’re not always mutually exclusive, but in this instance they are.

For me, I choose the way of faith. I choose to see the hand of God working behind the scenes. Bringing people together in one-off ways. Prompting long-lost friends to phone-call one another out of the blue… for no particular reason, at just the exact right moment. That just happened to a friend of mine yesterday. He hadn’t seen or heard from this former colleague for ten years. Then, on the very day that he needed a key word of encouragement and “sign” that God was still walking right beside him in life—he got a short phone call. From a long-ago friend. To say just what my friend needed to hear.

The timing could not have been more perfect if it had been scripted by Hollywood (where everything always works out just perfectly in the movies).

(See part 2, continued on Day 25)

Day 23—Ordinary Gambling

Today’s surprise: my son needed some reliable wheels to get him from MN to WA this summer, so he bought a truck this afternoon! (And Dad was there to help.) A 4-wheel drive somehow seemed to match his upcoming adventure working in the mountains and rain forest of Olympia National Park. The big decision was… how and where do you gamble your money to get the biggest bang for your buck?

Do you Shoot the Moon by going for a truck, knowing that the gas mileage won't be the best, but the purchase price will be great (as in “cheap”) because they’re a dime a dozen right now? Or, do you hunt and scrape for the better gas mileage wheels that everyone else is also after, knowing that you’re going to lay out a bigger wad for that privilege?

He opted for the truck. For a college student money is especially tight. Mostly you don’t have any. So here was the next line of betting… do you gamble with buying an older truck with more miles but has a greater potential for repairs and break-downs, but seems to run well, requires only half the cash outlay as the other one, and leaves you with a smaller loan total after graduating from college? Or, do you gamble with buying a newer model, with half the mileage of the other truck, half the likelihood of repairs and break-downs, also runs well, but requires double the cash outlay and increases your college loan totals?

Or, do you gamble that your ’92 Saab might actually get you out there?

Okay, probably not. We both were pretty confident that his Saab was not the most reliable vehicle for a cross-country trip. What if it broke down in the middle of Montana, for example? That’s a scary thought. The closest Saab dealer would probably be in... San Francisco—or Sweden itself. We figured that the tow truck driver would probably just take out his shotgun and shoot it to put it out of its misery.

Tough decisions today. Either way you try to play the odds that favor your values and goals. It’s the ordinary gambling that most of us engage in every day of our lives.

Day 22—Dead-ends and Detours

You know how you wait and wait and wait for the chance to have that coveted interview, and then finally the day arrives and you head into it with great expectations? Well, that day came and went for me today. What surprised me is that it didn’t turn out like I imagined it would.

I’m a simple Christian really. And so I pray ahead of time about things like this—for mental sharpness, for a relaxed and calm demeanor, to be myself without pretenses, and for God to lead me during the process. Nothing fancy or flowery. It’s how I approach life. I move along in life in the belief that God is leading me, and that God has a stake in what happens or doesn’t happen to me. I also pray for things like this after the fact, and if I’m especially sharp and alert, even during things like this.

Sometimes the outcome is pretty much what you expected. Sometimes it’s a surprise. And sometimes you come to a dead end. It’s never pleasant when you get that sinking feeling in your stomach as the gravel road that you’ve been driving on in the middle of the country strangely comes to an end even though the map says it doesn’t. Opps. “Guess this road doesn’t go to there after all,” you hear yourself think. Suddenly you have to come up with a Plan B. It’s a bummer.

But I guess most dead-ends in life actually turn into detours, don’t they? Detours that are unmarked, unanticipated, and unplanned. You don’t realize that you’re on one until you have can't go any further and have to turn around. And way you deal with a detour is… you follow it until it takes you back to the main road again, where you can pick up another route to take you to your destination.

Day 21—Sunday Morning Dissonance

Something’s not right. I can feel a dissonance of sorts. See what you think….

Here we are, living in America, totally free to worship pretty much whenever, whatever, and wherever we please. Right? So… I walked into a worship service this morning where I was with some brothers and sisters in Christ that I hadn’t met before—just visiting. We gathered together to thank and praise the God of all creation… Think of it--the God of all beauty… of all power… of all grace… of all mercy… of all love and life. Can you picture it? The God of the Universe! What could be more awe-inspiring?

We sat within earshot of the Word of God, hearing a message that offers life, healing and second chances. To everyone. No matter what. And yet—. And yet when I casually glanced around (our pew-chairs were arranged in a big square so that we could all see each other) I couldn’t help but notice a choir of yawns breaking out from every corner of the room. Some tried to discretely conceal their actions so as not to offend the person up front. Others—I don’t think—were even cognizant of where they were at the time. (It was almost noon, by the way, so no--it wasn't too early.)

Once, I almost laughed out loud—a guy yawned so wide that I swear I saw his appendix! (Okay, not really… but almost).

Now, I’m not writing this to be critical. In fact, I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if this was just a one-shot experience. But—and here’s what’s got me baffled—I’ve been noticing the same thing recently, in several different churches, over several different Sundays, as I’ve attended several different worship services: lots of yawns. Have I just stumbled into some one-off Sundays? Or have I just happened to attend a few of the less dynamic services of worship in my area?

I’m not sure what to make of it. But… somehow, something doesn’t seem right with this picture.

Day 20—Embracing the World

Just finished reading Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson’s book, The Externally Focused Church. Very encouraging. But very troubling.

I was especially encouraged by the way some Churches are investing themselves in making their schools, communities, and neighborhoods better places to live. In one example, several churches in town got together and sent thousands of volunteers into the public schools to rebuild playgrounds, landscape entryways, lay carpet, construct hundreds of much needed cabinets, and paint hallways and classrooms—without being solicited. One fourth-grade teacher stood watching, amazed at the work being done on her classroom by complete strangers and said, “If this is Christianity, then I’m interested.”

Actually, it’s always been who Christians are. Second century Christian writer, Tertullian, wrote, “[Do we not] dwell beside you, sharing your way of life, your dress, your habits and the same needs of life? We are no Brahmins or India gymnosophists, dwelling in woods and exiled from life… We stay beside you in this world, making use of the forum, the provision-market, the bath, the booth, the workshop, the inn, the weekly market, and all other places of commerce. We sail with you, fight at your side, till the soil with you, and traffic with you; we likewise join our technical skill to that of others, and make our works public property for your use.”


But Christians haven’t always been very authentic about living the Christian life. What’s troubling is that the majority of Christian churches in the U.S. are still holding onto a “refuge” theology, trying desperately to stay safe inside the walls of the church while keeping the world safely outside.

Day 19—Simple Church

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of stuff on the Simple Church/ House Church movement... Christians gathering together in smaller groups in houses rather than in church buildings. The reason, they say, is because they want to connect more fully and deeply with God.

They yearn for a first-hand experience of their faith rather than a pre-digested, programmed experience of it. They don’t want to pay someone to care for the poor, they want to care for the poor, personally. They don’t want to pay someone to organize a committee to serve meals, they just want to cook it and go. They don’t want to hear a 20 minute presentation about how they should love their neighbors as themselves, they want to personally engage in dialogue about how to put this into practice, in real life, tomorrow morning when they go to work. They don’t want to submit a prayer request to a member of the church staff for attention, they want to pray for each others’ needs personally before the meeting even ends and they head back home.

At least, that’s my sense of it. I see similar dynamics at work in the House Church that I’m a part of—people engaged in ministry, first-hand, some for the first time. I’m hopeful that the Simple Church movement can help Christians be the church in more authentic ways, instead of just going to church.

Day 18—What’s In A Name?

I walked into a room crowded with people, all eager to advance the cooperative efforts of campus ministry on the University campus. The meeting was already in full swing when I joined them. I tried to slip in quietly but several shouted out my name.

It’s always nice to hear your name, isn’t it? I guess it validates you. Gives you a place. Ties you into a group. Confirms your identity in some basic, intangible way.

Anyway… the surprise today was that one of the guys who had just arrived before I got there was THE person that I was hoping to connect with next week, based on a referral from the day before from a friend who was totally unconnected to this meeting or its focus.

That was quick.

Day 17—The Chore and Fruit of Networking

Networking is hard. Especially as time stretches out. You keep meeting with people, knowing—hoping—anticipating—that the next contact may be THE ONE that leads to the right opportunity. But you don’t know for sure. So you keep moving through your list. One at a time. It’s like sales. You keep calling, keep networking, keep talking, keep exploring who’s around the next curve in the road where you haven’t been yet. Knowing that the further you go the more the odds improve in your favor to bring results.

Today I met two different friends, each of whom gave me additional contacts and places and people to explore. I’m thankful for these friends and contacts. They’re little surprises along the way.

Day 16—Brainwaves and Canyons

Apparently your brainwaves wash over and cut through your cerebral cortex much like melting snow washes over and cuts through the side of a mountain on its way down to the bottom, forming small ruts, then small streams, then gushing rivers, which eventually form deep canyons. That what the magazine article said anyway. The kind of repetitive thoughts we think, and our patterns of thinking—both positive and negative—carve deeper and broader pathways through our brain as we age. The danger, say neurologists, is that when you get locked into patterns of thinking that are negative, self-defeating or destructive, you allow your brainwaves to create pathways that are not positive, healthy, or life-giving. You get “stuck” in patterns of negativity.

Several years ago our physician was telling us the same thing when we were experiencing some tough months as a family. She gave us some ways to change the way we think, which in turn, over time, would carve new pathways in our brains that were healthier.

This is not a new idea. It’s just the scientific explanation for what the Bible has taught us for centuries.

• For example, the Apostle Paul writes in his Letter to the Romans, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

• He writes similarly in his Letter to the Ephesians, “throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”

• And again in his Letter to the Colossians he writes, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
  

Now obviously Paul is not talking about brain waves and pathways in our brains. That’s a very recent scientific frame of reference that was not available to him. Paul’s frame of reference was theological. Spiritual. But I think Paul was onto the same idea.

Here's why. In each of these instances (and there are many others) Paul is focused on the outward behavior of a person who becomes a new person (“creation”) in Jesus Christ, not on their brainwave patterns. But underlying each of these admonitions for behavior change is a presumed change in attitude… a change in the way one thinks. We know from psychology that what we think and believe determines how we feel and behave. Easier said than done.

Changing our behavior begins with a change in what we believe and how we think, which Paul says is accomplished by nothing less than the power of God (the Holy Spirit) acting upon one’s life. Becoming this new person (which is a gift of grace from God) is a process, not a one-time event. In other words, it takes time to grow into this new identity. Which helps explain how the deeply rutted, carved-up mountainsides of our cerebral cortexes can possibly be remade into a different-looking landscape over time. What other power could completely transform the landscape of a canyon-carved mountainside?

Day 15—Ordinary Days (Thank God!)

Seems like forever since I’ve journaled. I’m way behind on my daily “Surprise Me, God” writings.

Here’s a confession—I don’t see a “surprise” everyday from God. That’s probably not a surprise to you because I’m thinking that you experience the same thing. Yeah... I see God working most every day. It’s not that. It’s just that some days are just ordinary days. Actually, most days are ordinary days. I think I’d get burned out if I didn’t have some ordinary days just to cruise. Like yesterday—I got exhausted just thinking of having to “look for God,” for any “surprises.” I just wanted to BE—not have some goal in mind when it comes to God. Maybe that’s partly what’s behind the verse, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). It’s a reminder to me that God doesn’t necessarily “show up” in out-of-the-ordinary ways.

Days 13 & 14—Painting

Went up to my mom’s this weekend to help paint three rooms and ceilings in her house. Toast (my puppy) came too. Probably not the best idea. She brought along her own surprises, which surprised us all, and after which none of us wanted any more surprises. In spite of the blizzard outside, unwelcomed surprises from the dog, long days on a ladder, paint-splattered lenses in my "good" glasses, half of the ceiling falling down in the middle of our project… life is good.

Day 12—Two Women and Two Dogs

Today’s Surprise: I keep running into the same two women and their dogs. One has a Great Dane and the other a yellow Lab. They live in the next neighborhood over and we walk our dogs on the same park path. Of course, everytime I walk my little 14-week-old Golden Retriever (“Toast”) past them the dogs HAVE to stop and play. Toast shrieks with delight, jumps up on the big dogs, tries to grab hold of their neck (like she did with her brothers and sisters a few weeks ago), and runs around them in circles. The big dogs are amused, I think. Sometimes slightly bothered. But they seem to get that she’s a puppy. And puppies behave that way. Sometimes abnoxiously. But they tolerate it. Unless the puppy gets too obnoxious. And then they’ll give a little growl or grunt to ward off Toast. And fortunately for Toast, she gets that.

The only thing for the humans to do is … to interact. We really want this anyway. But how do you just go out walking and stop people on the street to have a conversation? You don’t. You can’t. People might be polite the first time, but after that they would see you coming down the street and suddenly decide to take a left at the next corner before they get to you. So we get dogs. Dogs become our excuse to HAVE TO stop and talk with people.

We’re slowly getting to know each other, our names, our dog’s names, where we live, etc. It’s a little thing… but I’m eager to see what happens the more we keep running into each other.