PLUNGE47

“Why tip someone for a job I’m capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.”  ~  Dwight Schrute, on the office

I turned thirty this week and Erin Willingham prayed that I would not become old and shriveled. She had been asked to pray for me as I get older, but her wording made me laugh. Of course it is only natural to want to avoid some parts of life. Still getting shriveled is one of those things we can not control (apart from a strange full body Botox injection… ah, where society is heading… ). So I laughed, because ageing is a part of life—the only alternative is well, the opposite being alive!*¹

I know age is all relative. While 30 is ancient to you, it is young for your parents. Still, every transition into a new decade of life always makes me consider where I have come. Where did I anticipate I would be, where do I want to move from here? What did my twenties mean to me, to my family, to humanity… (I am never so humble to think all of society does not hinge on me… ha!)

I recently came across a picture of the jell-o stapler we gave to Greg a few years ago. The encased stapler was a reference to The Office, which Greg and I both enjoy. Flipping through I saw a picture of Aaron holding the stapler and I could not help but think how much he has changed, from tiny six grader to roaming the halls of high school. Of course he is still just as sarcastic—some things never change!

We make many decisions that impact our lives, time keeps moving us along. And moments never return. Though I look back at Aaron or any number of you, even myself, we can never get back to those moments. They a static, stuck, fixed so that they can only be replayed—never changed.*² And while we dream about the future, it is something that never moves beyond our imagination. Impacting life no more than our nightly dreams. All that we have is this moment. The magical present, where we are not stuck nor a myth. Instead, in the now, we touch reality and impact.

In the now we change society—which does hinge on us, the church. This is the job we a capable of doing! ~ If we seize the moment!

*¹ Laughing during prayer seems out of place. And it is when we are not focused on God. But it not always a bad thing. God invites into relationship and I don’t imagine He expects us to always be serious. Not to say we ever stop respecting Him, but to laugh at life, at ourselves and to invite God into the joy… that seems right.

*² Time travel? As an avid Lost fan, I have been considering the topic. I am not sure if it is possible. BUT, if it is, I do not believe a traveler can change the future. In explanation: either a traveler would be unable to create change or—more likely—they would help to create the future that already exists. To rephrase, the traveler would have always traveled, history would have already experienced them in 1950 though they did not travel until 2020. I know smart people have supposed alternate or parallel universes, but as someone with an avid imagination—our mind’s eye can get the best of any of us! Even a brilliant scientist! – Of course, who knows. Maybe three are 58 versions of me and you out there. I wonder what is the best version? (I have digressed, but thank you for making it to this point!)

“No mathematician today can embrace the whole of his subject as did the great Gauss a little more than a century ago.” ~ Irrational Man by William Barrett

Let me begin by writing that I had no clue who “the great Gauss” was until Wikipedia enlightened. And this in part goes to prove my point. There is currently so much knowledge available that no person can contain it all. Even in our own select field the information age has dosed us with so many facts no person can grasp the whole. It has come to the point that a brilliant mathematician would not even be able to speak to the entire subject of math—much less any other subject. Therefore we grow more and more specialized—there is longer simply lawyer, but divorce lawyers to immigration lawyers.**

To jump into left field. The Gamecocks beat No. 1 Kentucky this past week in basketball. It was a huge victory for USC and the fans rushed onto the court to celebrate. The image in the paper showed the jubilate crowd, all the while the scoreboard declared, “Please Stay Off the Court”.

In our specialized world, we often regulate outsiders off the court and into the crowd. What could they have to say to us—they do not have our knowledge? Secular society does this when the church offers criticism. As if God has no place in the public square (which He created).

But we in the church often do the same thing when secular society calls us out. As I watched the movie To Save A Life I could not help but think of the similarities between our youth groups. So often we become the image of secular complaint—acting as judgmental hypocrites, rather than forgiven sinners!

In this act we announce to the rest of the world that they have no place here, “Please Stay Off The Court”!

**We specialize even in the church, where we no longer have an all encompassing pastor. Instead we have  children, youth, music, and mission pastors—so that Greg can focus on the young and medium Adults, while Rodger keeps us organized (only the miraculous Keith can tame all the ages).

“Blankets are OK but they can slip and slide, plus your hands are trapped inside.” ~ www.getsnuggie.com

A favorite moment from our New Year’s lock-in was when Rob Thompson and I discussed the world renown Snuggie. His family—as all good American families—has multiple of these amazing blankets (unfortunately, Meg and I have zero… which I know leaves you wondering how we can properly raise Ivy and Phoebe—please don’t let DFCS know…). Rob mentioned how much he disliked the Snuggie, because they are so big, as though built to encourage obesity. Yet, he said, his mom and sister love their Snuggies. Only they don’t use them as blanket, instead, they put them on backwards and walk around the house—which was a great visual of people wandering aimlessly in their backward Snuggies…  that is until I realized putting Suggies on backwards makes them just like a bathrobe. Which caused me to wonder, could we all have Snuggies just by reversing our bathrobes? If so, this makes the Snuggie inventor a genius—to sell the world something we already have… only we don’t know we have it!

[Forgive me Rob, and Becca, if I butchered the details. This is how I remembered, but honestly my memory socializes with my imagination far too often… especially in the middle of the night!]

It is funny how much junk we own. While Meg and I do not have Snuggies our attic is full of stuff we do not really need. Still, all these little purchases do not seem to matter much and they make for good conversation at 4 in the morning. But then the images from Haiti flash across the screen and we are convicted. Not just because a nation is intensely suffering, but that they have been suffering for years… while I have bought coffee cups and magic eight balls and dessert (which will only increase my chances of fitting into a Snuggie)… So while I bought aimlessly, Haiti suffered.

Here is an easy way to help, click on the link below!

It can seem like change occurs overnight. Take the election in Massachusetts yesterday and all of sudden the press is scrambling to explain shifting political winds (actual the chase began a few days ago with polls showing the possible results). Of course these winds had not shifted overnight, just no one noticed…

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You can hear it sound, but you can not tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” ~ John 3:8

Like a news reporter, we approach Jesus and apply His reality to our lives. And yet a strategy that worked when we are first saved or even for a certain time, may not work now. And if we refuse to change and continue in the same things we will fin that the Spirit has passed us by…

Scripture: John 7:45-49

The Pharisees were rule followers, not because they loved rules (at least not at first), but because they believed holiness was the key to saving the people of God.  They came to this conclusion after being oppressed for generations and they decided that God had abandoned them as a result of the people’s sinfulness. So the Pharisees tried to be holy, to save the people of God. And yet they became so focused on their strategy they missed the movement of God: “‘You mean [Jesus] has deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted” (47).

“… because [Jesus] will save his people from their sins.” ~ Matthew 1:21

CS Lewis tells the story of a man who loved the sunset and wanted to share its beauty with the world. He could not communicate he mind’s eye, so he choose to paint the glorious event. Then he took his work and showed everyone the beauty of the sunset. Yet over time he stopped coming to watch the real sunset and was satisfied with his own creation. And soon he forget reality all together and loved was he had made…

Tonight things are going to change at Plunge. And many of us are afraid of change (like the marshmallow). So, this will cause some of you to stumble and you will want to go back to the old ways. BUT, we are not moving backward. Our goal is not to find ourselves, our creation, instead our goal is to chase the wind! And in so going to meet and follow Christ!

This is holiness.