July 2007

I was going to call this one, “why green is not a good colour for an extension cord used with an electric lawn mower,� but that seemed a bit long.

My life is changing.

It used to be that all my best thinking was done in the bathroom. I don’t know what special power that room had over my brain, but it seemed that whenever I needed to work something out in my head, sitting on the toilet or taking a shower did the trick. I’d always get such great ideas for stuff in the bathroom.

Now lately, they’ve been coming while mowing the lawn.

This was highly unexpected.

Yesterday while mowing the yard I got thinking about how bad it would be if the extension cord blended in with the grass. I’m sure my chances of running the thing over would be exponentially greater if it was the colour of my “grass.� There are things we do not wish to hide: things that should never blend in as well as they do. I would love to find a T.V. remote that is a bright colour. Mine is black on one side and grey on the other. It is a beautiful remote control but it can be so hard to locate: especially when it’s upside down on the black chair.

There are other things we wish to remain visible: the phone, keys, and anything we are proud of.

It’s usually just the mess we try to hide.

But maybe that sin, that personal mess, is like a green extension cord. If we hide our sin, or camouflage it so that no one else sees it, aren’t we likely to run it over? Aren’t we likely to keep going back over, again and again, the sin that no one sees?

Perhaps our sin needs to be more known to others so that we don’t repeat it.

I must admit that I’ve grown rather fond of this whole being alive thing. I’ve never seen a dead body, but my wife, the nurse, tells me they’re really gross. My desire to remain alive is probably somewhat influenced by my desire to abstain from grossness, but mostly because of the practical realities associated with being dead: chiefly the reality that there is no life with death.

You cannot be both alive and dead.

With death then, comes the absolute absence of life.

And the body, while void of breath and life, is left a pile of useless skin, bone, muscle and all that other stuff that makes up a body. It may look like a perfectly good body, but it’s utterly useless.

But now it’s prone to decay and rot with the whole rotting bit inevitable.

James says near the end of chapter two that faith without action is dead. Dead faith sounds no more appealing than a dead body. Faith without action is useless: with decay and rot inevitable.

James asks if such faith can save.

Action based on our faith is the breath in the lungs. Actions are the proof of life. Actions elevate faith from the doldrums to something exciting.

Our actions will not save us but they are the difference between a faith that is superficial, and saving.

Sometimes I think we blame God when He seems distant or our faith seems stagnant and rotting. I wonder if the cure for that isn’t “stepping out,� and putting some action to our faith.

I remember in elementary school reading a book that said people would be living on the moon in the year 2000. This was in a science textbook. My guess is that it would be cheap now. Seven years later and there isn’t a single person living there to my knowledge.

We love try to predict the future don’t we? Isn’t there a security found in trying to figure it all out?

I was driving home form a meeting this week when it struck me that I have no future. Not like absolutely no future, I had then and still have now a pretty good idea that I’ll wake up tomorrow: thus I have a future. However, I have no idea what will happen beyond waking up (and perhaps eating food): thus I have no future.

Okay, I’ll stop as I suspect I’m beginning to sound like that bald guy from “Princess Bride.�

There really aren’t a lot of absolutes in this world are there? At this moment I’m trying to think of some and all I’ve got apart from God is some joke about death and taxes.

Isn’t it odd then that I would keep searching for certainty in a world where there is no absolute certainty of anything?

The reality is that only God is absolute. Only God will be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is a far greater likelihood that God will be with me tomorrow than there even being a tomorrow.

It occurred to me towards the end of that drive home that I do have a future. My future is in heaven. Not a new concept but one that’s becoming more real. My future is in heaven and as long as I keep searching for the future here on earth I’m going to feel lost and frustrated because I won’t be able to find it: it’s not here it’s someplace else.

In a similar vein, I’m considering where I find security. So often I think that security will come in knowing the future. God is teaching me that once I know deep in my core that my future is in Heaven my security can be found in my heavenly father. For true security comes from God not from knowing the future.

I have to my right (in my office right now) a large pedestal. It’s about three feet tall. If it were four inches taller it would appear as though the poster of a lady sweeping the church was elevated to a place of prominence. I suppose that would be an excellent image to have on a pedestal.

Instead I have the PYM Cup placed upon it.

The PYM Cup is two pieces of plastic fused together. One piece was formerly a small bucket, the other a large bowl. Each cost only a dollar.

This trophy that cost only two dollars and fifteen minutes of my time is currently held up in a place of prominence.

Some might say that I place the wrong things on pedestals.

I suppose I do.

I get that wrong all the time.

The things that I should value are too often overlooked and I ascribe great amounts of value to things that deserve none.

I’d give you all the examples flooding my mind, but that’s too embarrassing. Let’s just take a couple examples. How about: fine clothes, being well groomed, and celebrities.

Well, not too fine of clothes: I’m too cheap for that. I try and dress well but I’m not about to pull Mr. Visa out for Armani. I do have some limits.

And not Hollywood celebrities either, I have little interest in them beyond knowing who’s who so that I don’t embarrass myself. I’m more interested in different celebrities. Not comic book writers or sci-fi celebrities either, just to set things strait.

It almost makes me sick when I consider the amount of time, money, energy, and importance I give to these three things alone: fine clothes, being well groomed and celebrities.

James says it should.

Actually, he says that favouring the rich over the poor is sin.

He doesn’t really dance around the issue or sugar coat anything. Maybe that’s why I like the letter so much. He just comes right out and says in verses 9 and 10 of chapter two: “If you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.�

So now I’m in this place considering the things I put on pedestals: the things I show favouritism to.

I hope I’m not the only one considering these things.

I mowed the yard yesterday.

As with many chores of life, yard mowing requires some incentive. Here to help us is that incentive. I call this: “reasons to mow the yard.�

1. Small children wander in and are often lost for hours.
2. The local university keeps leaving messages on your machine wanting to use your front lawn for biological research
3. The sun sets at your house a half hour before it does at your neighbours simply because of that strip on the west side of your house.
4. Your dog keeps going nuts because he hears voices and noises on the street, but is not able to see what’s going on.
5. You haven’t heard from your son in nine hours. His last words to you were, “I’m going to look for my bike. I left in on the lawn.�
6. Forest firefighting crews are asking to do training in your yard.
7. Migratory birds are using your yard to seek refuge from the neighbourhood cats.
8. Tour busses are stopping by to show people the giant dandelions. This morning you saw a sign reading: “trail to the tallest.�
9. You’re worried that anti logging advocates will spike the stems and prevent clear cutting in your yard by camping out and protesting.
10. Every time you walk down the driveway you get a sense that something is watching you.
11. Your house is no longer visible on Google earth.

Sometimes my wife says I have selective hearing. This bothers me.

I’m not bothered because she’s wrong. She’s actually right. I do have selective hearing. I’m bothered that she thinks I’d use my superpowers against her.

I discovered this ability when I used to be a postie. There was always so much chatter and noise in the post office that I’d be too distracted to sort my mail for my rout. Selective hearing enabled me to work well and pick up words and phrases of importance such as: “gun,� “he’s going to snap,� and “the boss is coming look busy.�

I’m now exploring the possibilities it holds for helping me fight crime.

I don’t think I’ve ever used selective hearing with Sheena.

I sure hope I haven’t.

Now reading the last half of James chapter one I’m considering the pros and cons of selective hearing.

James’ concern is that people aren’t really listening to the word of God. They’re only half listening if any. It’s as if people have selective hearing when it comes to God’s word. Almost as if they’re only hearing what they want to hear.

He comes to this conclusion based on how they live their lives. They’re quick tempered, they have moral filth, they forget what it says, they don’t control what they say, they don’t do what the word says, and they neglect widows and orphans.

In essence the religion they practice based on what they think the Bible says reflects something far from what pleases God.

They missed something. And as a result their religion was not Christianity. They claimed to know God but God did not approve of their religion.

This danger is real in our day too.

Are we making sure that we’re listening to everything God has to say to us? Or are we only hearing the bits we want to hear?

Our lives will be far off track if we were to only take bits and pieces of God’s word and live our lives based on that.

I was listening to news on the radio the other day. The story at the time was about a guy who was sentenced to community service for the crime he committed.

This is far from being a new event. Community service is a sentence many people have received. It’s even a bit of a punch line because of the number of offenders who receive such a sentence when, perhaps, they should receive more.

Community service always seems like getting off easy.

But if community service is easy, why don’t I do more to serve my community?

It struck me that day that I’ve never really thought about community service.

Why is it a punishment?

Why isn’t serving one’s community the norm?

Why are we so surprised when someone does something nice for another person, or assume that the guys on the side of the highway in orange jumpsuits picking up trash are inmates?

Wouldn’t it be cool if the punishment became disallowing community service? Or if community was so important that serving it was the only reasonable thing to do, and being separated from others was the punishment not the lack of freedom?

Am I waiting for a judge to tell me to serve my community? Or is the Judge going to one day ask me why I didn’t serve more?

Or am I going to get my act in gear and get serving?