pensamientos

1. I recently discovered Boyce Avenue

2. Field of Dreams 2: Lockout
This mini-film has everything that a good film should have:

Football

Tony Gonzalez

Iowa

Kevin Costner

But really.  It is HILARIOUS.  You should check it out.

3. Club Crackers

Apparently, the serving size is 4 crackers.  This makes the 4 sleeves that I have had in the last week and a half seem rather excessive.

4. Target and Old Navy

I have officially banned myself from these stores due to the large amount of my June paychecks that went toward supporting their causes.  12 days until August.

5. Men's Plaid Shorts

Yes.  They are very nice.

And so are shirts like this:

And this:

But let's not put all of these nice things together.

Because then you look ridiculous.

(Just because my eyes have been exposed to this two times in the last 24 hours)

6. Quotes of the Week

Me: My pants are twisted.
Brother: I hear that happens a lot in Canada.

6th Grade Boy: I love the Broncos.

Teacher: Did you know that our Bishop is a Broncos fan?

Other 6th Grade Boy: Well, I bet the Pope is a Steelers fan.

Me: I bet Jesus is a Chiefs fan.

The teacher is explaining "The Agony in the Garden"

1st Grade Boy: I always wanted to be a spy.

Teacher: That's nice (continues teaching).

1st Grade Boy:  And a pirate!

7. Mono

I have it.  You better not kiss me or you will have it, too.



Moments with Michael

A Michael Scott moment to add a smile to your day.

Wild and Free as the Willows

I recently went to a book sale and bought a book called, "Princess of the Moor" by E. Marlitt.  To be honest, I had initially judged the book by its cover and I thought it would be interesting since the cover had a portrait of a young woman from a couple centuries ago.  What really got me, however, was the inscription on the first page of the book:

To Cecil
from
Mildred H
Dec. 25, 1913

This little note seemed quite charming to a closet romantic, like myself. 

This is all really besides the point.  As I was reading this book, I came to the end of the first chapter and was so captivated by the closing paragraph that I read it several times.  As I continued reading, I kept returning to this section just to reread it--to be drawn in once more by the beautiful language that the author had chosen.  If nothing else than for the sake of recognizing the author's genius in this particular section, I thought I would include the portion in this blog post.  As I share it with you, I realize that it will most likely mean very little to you as you have not read the pages leading up to this portion.  Nevertheless, I hope that you take this opportunity to consider the language of the section.

"It was thus I grew up, wild and free as the willows beside the stream, and as I stood there under the old pine, barefooted and clad in a coarse, short petticoat, the evening breeze playing in my wavy hair, I laughed--laughed aloud at the young dandy who had sought out the soft turf for his dainty boots, and incased his white hands in leather--that was my revenge" (p. 29).

And it Broke My Heart to Say Goodbye

To my brothers...and you know who you are.

Every now and then God gives us a glimpse into heaven, that is, into the relationship of the most holy Trinity.  I caught a glimpse this past weekend when I was blessed with the presence of three young men who have forever changed my life and my heart.  The friendship between us is one that has grown over many hours of laughter, stories, and deep conversation-not over beer, games, class time, or sports-but conversation. 

Friendships like this don't require complicated formulas.  More than anything, these friendships seem to have stemmed from the simplicity of what it means to have truly human friendships.  That is, the simplicity of caring for other people and a community without hesitation, hidden pride, or judgement.  In essence, these relationships have been built on the basic human way of being a friend.  They are built on undivided attention, vulnerability, virtue, blunt honesty, humor and complete absence of negative judgement.  It is this experience that makes me realize how starved this world is for true friendships.

So, here's to disney coloring pages, poor analogies, the "b word", stereotypical assumptions, and the Keys to the Kingdom.  Here's to Albuquerque, Nevada, Pakistan, and Iowa.

Things I don't understand

I've decided to start a series of things that I don't understand.  Why?  Because I am confused a lot by the little things in my everyday life. 

#1 TIDU: How we can send rockets to mars for years at a time and create army warcraft tweny years beyond anything in our imaginations, yet human kind has yet to master the craft of making a copy machine that doesn't break down once a month.

#2 TIDU: Why the second tooth from the back on the top right side of my mouth is starting to hurt as the numbness wears off, but the cavity that was filled was in a tooth on the bottom of my mouth.

Presentation Counts

I am now a guest blogger at this amazing new blog, "Wake. Breathe. Bleed. Live".  My friend created it as a resource for those who work in ministry, "A means to feed yourself, so that the world may be fed. With so much demand on ministers to be the ones to continually expend themselves to feed the flock, we felt it was important to offer a place to be able to come, read, reflect and grow."

I figured that since I am posting substantial posts on that blog, something that I rarely do on my own blog, I could just post them here as well.  This is the most recent one that I have written for the blog:


Life’s all about presentation.


For example, consider the women in this photograph:

The sign, along with their frowns and looks of death, clearly reveal their opposition to liquor. As I can endorse the moderate consumption of alcohol, it is clear that these women will not be attending my St. Patrick’s Day celebration. They are simply standing for their cause and practicing their freedom of speech, but in the end, I don’t think we can assume that this poster was effective. As the quote states that surrounded the picture in the email when I received it, “If you were around in 1919 and came upon this poster, I mean, seriously, wouldn’t you just keep drinking?”

In my short time in ministry, many great publishers, organizations, and companies have presented their products to me. It is exciting to see these groups reaching out to modern man in ways that will attract him. Whether it be online accessibility, modern color schemes, “hip” language, or eye catching graphic design, these products are certainly appealing to the audiences we are trying to serve. After considering program after program from organization after organization, I can’t help but be relieved to remember that the Church isn’t triumphant in winning souls because of its catchy slogans and attractive study materials. It is important to use our resources to reach out to people and develop relationships, but we must always use them in the context of the bigger picture.

In his encyclical, Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II said, “No darkness of error or of sin can totally take away from man the light of God the Creator. In the depths of his heart there always remains a yearning for absolute truth and a thirst to attain full knowledge of it”(1). What does this mean? The Truth is what ultimately attracts human beings to Jesus Christ. These study programs can be fantastic tools to lead men and women of all ages to Christ, but only as much as they participate in the Truth.

When I consider the various study programs, I always ask myself, “Does the attraction of this product go beyond its physical appearances and convenience? When one is no longer entertained by the unessential details of this product, will it still continue to lead them closer to Christ?” The best and most successful study programs are those that, whether immediately or gradually, draw one to Christ rather than to a particular theologian, author, or famous speaker. If they aren’t essentially focused on Christ and the Truth, they may lead to momentary success but long term failure.

I am thankful for these programs and have found them useful in my ministries as much as the studies reach out to the way modern man lives, thinks, and relates to the Truth.. However, I am even more thankful that the human person is created to desire and seek the Truth and I can do nothing but guide them in their search.

Via Dolorosa: The Way of the Cross

My parents made sure that our family prayed the Stations of the Cross as part of our family Lenten devotion each year.  This is why I thought I would be somewhat prepared for my big trip overseas to participate in the Via Dolorosa marking Christ's journey to calvary.  What I experienced was very different than expected.

First of all, it was loud and busy.  It's funny how we make assumptions about things.  Clearly, because the stations of the cross are always in a quiet church with a reflective atmosphere, the "real thing" would offer the same sort of quiet solitude for prayer.  False.  The Via Dolorosa occurs along a path throughout the Old City of Jerusalem.  This means that we were traveling through the same streets as everyone who was simultaneously traveling to the store, school, or home.  In the background of all of our Bible readings were normal conversations as well as annoyed glances as we clumsily filled in around the stations and blocked the street from others.  Even more, the majority of this journey occured in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.  Instead of honoring Christ's  death within the open arms of Christian hospitality, we entered into his Passion in the streets of a foreign religion. 

So what was it that allowed me to enter into Christ's calvary with all of the noise, distractions, lack of hospitality?  The fact that it would have been exactly the same at the time of Jesus.  When Jesus was condemned to death, there wasn't a crowd of old ladies following Him with their rosary beads.  Instead there was noise.  The citizens and guests of the area were trying to go about their everyday lives when they had to move aside for a man carrying his cross toward the outskirts of the city.  He was not embraced by the hospitality of a group of people, but rather, just one woman, Veronica.  As Mary watched her son struggling with His cross, she wasn't amongst a symphathetic crowd.  She knew who was to be crucified that afternoon, but the world did not stand in reverent silence as the Son of God passed through them, scourged, bloodied and head toward is brutal death.  In the same way, the world did not stop for us.  

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre had its own surprises in store for us.  This church marks the location of Golgotha where Christ was crucified and also contains the sepulchre where Jesus was buried. In the same way that the streets were full of noise, many chattering groups of people gathered in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Even more, the space in this church was divided between several different Christian churches who don't particularly like each other. This meant that when the one group began evening prayer, another group gradually got louder to try and over power the other one.  As a Christian who is relying on these fellow Christians to protect and take care of the holy sites, I was glad to see the high level of maturity between the groups [sarcasm].  Sometimes it is just best to forgive and forget.  But anyway, back to Jesus.

The last several stations along the Via Dolorosa occured in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  We were fortunate to visit the Holy Land at a time when there are very few pilgrims making the trip overseas, so for the most part we didn't have to work around large congested groups of people. Nonetheless, we had to wait for short amount of time, probably half an hour at the most, to make it to the rock of Golgotha.  Even though I was on a once in a lifetime pilgrimage walking along the same roads as our Lord, I became annoyed with the wait. It was later in the afternoon, and to be honest, I was probably hungry and ready to head back to the hotel for a nap. 

During this wait, however, I noticed one of the girls in our group crying as she waited.  I remember wondering how she was able to concentrate and focus on Jesus' death with the distractions of the noise and traveling fatigue.  Later on as she was talking to the group, I realized that it was because she had connected our wait to that of Jesus' own suffering on the cross.  While I was standing and craving pita bread and hummus, she had considered the long hours that Christ spent on the cross.  Jesus had to wait, too. 

We adore you, oh Christ, and we praise you. 

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.