Easter: The Antithesis of Narcissism

"My reflection would be more lovely if the water were more pure."

For Christians, the Christmas Star and the Empty Tomb serve as bookends around what has become known as "The Christ Event". But as Christians, we also believe that Christ was not a temporal, mortal man. We believe that He existed in the beginning and will orchestrate an end that has yet to unfold.

As such, we believe that God created man in His image, also immortal and eternal by nature. Life provides an environment by which we choose to live out eternity in the darkness of death or in the light of Life.

Then we spend our days trying to live up to that higher calling; to be in the light as He is in the light. We try to discern and do good, perceive and reject evil, be transformed by the renewing of our minds and be conformed to the image of Christ in every conceivable way.

Unlike Narcissus, we gaze upon our own reflections and see our imperfection, our shortcomings, our weaknesses and failures.

And if we're not careful, like Narcissus, we become enraptured by that reflection.

As I reread my blog posts over the past few years, I realize how self centered (if not narcissistic) I am. My theme this year of Wellness and Strength, my Momentum thoughts of 2011, my perspective on homosexuality (which I still can't believe I put out there for everyone on the planet to read), even my thoughts on God and how to live life, think and act in congruence with my knowledge of Him - the whole list is all about me.

In my defense, I don't know what else I'd write about. I don't know anything about anybody else.

But still, on this particular Easter, the wind is blowing in a different direction. My thoughts today are that the whole reason for Easter is to set me (and all of us) free from the paradigm above. God died for us because He loves us, and that is our only hope - our only salvation.

When He walked among us, Jesus healed ten blind people. Nine of them went off looking at stuff. They could see at last, and I'm sure they were busy looking. Maybe they were enraptured by all of the stuff they could see. One of the ten came back to say, "Thank You."

I'm sure I'll get back to my own reflection soon...to all of the stuff that's wrong with me and how to fix it, overcome it, etc. But today, I just want to say, "Thank You, Christ Jesus for all that You are, for all that You have done, for all that You are doing day by day in and around me, for Your love and sacrifice on my behalf, for life and light."

Maybe that's all I really need to do every day.

It's All My Fault

"and I'm really proud of that."

Facing down the final month before I turn 50, thinking about the Parable of the Talents in Matt. 25 and Easter tomorrow, my thoughts today surround being at fault.

We live in a world that wants someone to blame for everything. Unfortunately, or mirror doesn't always allow that person to be someone else. Even when it is clearly someone else's fault, God admonishes us to 'forgive, even as He has forgiven us."

I know that there are many situations in my life that didn't work out the way I intended. I know that I am not beyond criticism. But there is a component of the blame game that hardly ever gets noticed.

The one 'at fault' most of the time is the one who instigates the situation in the first place.

Ultimately, God created everything, so in a sense everything is His fault. God handles this burden easily. He didn't create bad situations. He created opportunities for really good situations - even in the face of tragedy and suffering.

Since we are created in God's image, it is our bias to use our imagination and faith to create situations in and around our own lives. We plan, try, dream, work and invest ourselves in all kinds of things that we think will make our lives and the lives of the people we care about better. This is a good thing. It's how we're designed to work.

Sometimes, our motives are not pure. Thus we have God's word and spirit to create in us a pure, clean heart. There is a remedy designed to show us how to create better.

Sometimes, our motives are pure. But through a lack of knowledge or perspective, we start a cause/effect reaction that doesn't end well. We learn from those experiences and accumulate a resource over time called Wisdom to protect us from making those mistakes again. There is a remedy for those who lack wisdom.

Sometimes, our motives are pure and our actions are wise. But someone else involved in the equation screws things up. Then they turn around and tell us it's our fault. We need to learn to see through that. When our hearts a re pure and our hands are clean, we approach God boldly, full of confidence in Him. There is a remedy for those who do right and are called wrong at the throne of Grace.

Sometimes our motives are pure, our actions are wise and the whole universe works together on our behalf. But some random something beyond our control thwarts our efforts and steals our outcome. Call it bad luck. In those times, when the rest of the world tells us it's our fault, we just have to say, "Shit Happens," pick ourselves up and try again.

The only way I will ever get through life and be able to say that nothing is my fault is if I don't do anything to start with. That is the sin of the wicked and lazy servant. Of that, I am absolutely Not Guilty. And the proof is all of the people who think it's my fault!

Too Late For Me

"...but it's about damn time."

Simple Math

"God Loves A Cheerful Giver."

I never have trouble contributing. Everybody in the world that's doing something good needs money. I love helping and being a part of good causes, humanitarian projects, evangelistic or holistic outreaches, missions or a variety of other concerns. I'll probably never have any money - I'll give it all away.

Giving is, of course, not just financial. It is money, time, used furniture, clothes, credit card miles, broken down cars, advice and counsel and anything else you can think of.

Contributing to the well being of others is absolutely a component of "Wellness". When I give to a worthwhile activity, everyone benefits. I benefit from knowing that I helped accomplish something good notwithstanding anything that could be said about my value (or lack thereof) otherwise. Other people benefit by receiving whatever I can give. Nobody loses. The universe is just a better place. And as one who gives, I have an undisputed role in making it so.

So how about this simple math concept:

More or less, 3500 calories is 1 pound of body weight. If I want to lose a pound a week, I have to do something with 3500 calories a week, or 500 per day. I can work hard enough to burn them up. I can consume fewer to begin with.

-or-

Can I give them away?

Surely someone can use an extra 500 calories a day, right? Two thirds of the world goes to bed hungry. Sounds like there ought to be need and a solution equation someplace in there.

A Business Diversion

"Speaking of full time jobs..."

What a great week!

I know I haven’t done much writing this week. But I don’t have any progress to report on the Wellness and Strength front, and work has been busy, busy.

The exclamation point on the week is that we fixed our one big mistake. Several years ago, we bought a couple of inlets for a certain aircraft. We thought we could sell them pretty quickly, so we got ‘em and paid to have them certified.

They’ve been sitting here since. Today we finally sold one, which pays back the capital it took to buy and repair both. That’s a big shot in the arm for us, and totally out of the blue.

The other aspect of this particular transaction is that business in November and December was uncharacteristically slow. This is how things started for us in December 2007. Six months before the rest of the world figured out we were in a recession, our sales fell through the floor. I was getting a little concerned that we were starting that cycle again.

As it worked out, it’s just a hiccup. Things started picking back up in January on the sales side. Collections didn’t get any real help until late February. We went on an aircraft buying spree at the end of last year, so I was really sweating things in January and February.

But, just as March brings Spring, severe weather and Easter (at least this year), it is also bringing some much needed money, momentum and (at least for Yours Truly) peace of mind.

I’m getting too damn old to worry about money.

It's Not About The Gold

"...and it's a good thing, too."

My thoughts lately have surrounded the parable of the talents in Matt 25. More specifically, I've been thinking about the guy that is not discussed in the parable; the guy who invested his Master's money with the best wisdom he had, and lost it.

A surface level, shallow reading of the story teaches us that the guys who doubled their investments are the ones that the Master respects and rewards. The difference between these guys and the wicked and lazy servant who buried his talent is totally financial. It's all about the gold. It's all about the increase...success...achievement...victory...outcome.

If God's self expression was limited to these few verses, and that's all we could know about him, most of us would be in big trouble. Perhaps the surface level, shallow version of the Master is all that the servant with one talent knew. No wonder the guy was terrified. If his Master was all about profit, he better not screw up. How many of us live life just like that poor guy? "If I don't do anything, I can't screw up."

Many religious people behave as if our walk with God is just this simple: Performance is all that matters. Those who perform are good and faithful and those who don't measure up are wicked and lazy.

But if we look at what the Master said about the two successful people in the parable, we see a little deeper. In praising them, the Master uses the words, "Good" and "Faithful", not "Smart, Shrewd or Stingy." And the reward given to the successful servants was not gold. It was more work to do.

If it was all about gold, all about profit, shouldn't the servants have shared in the gold? Instead the master saw that the servant was good and faithful with gold and gave him charge over 10 cities. That sounds like a lot of work, not a reward. I'm not even sure I want that much reward. Does anyone?

Cities are full of people. Christ was all about people. Charge over 10 cities is about people. Christianity is about three things: People, People and People. Some are good and faithful. Some are wicked and lazy. Some are "none of the above". They're just living their lives, doing their best, hitting home runs from time to time and screwing up.

But still, when the Master returns and looks at my life, what will he say? I hope He can find something that makes Him disagree with my mirror.

Wellness and Strength Starts With The Mouth

"The only thing I got from my British heritage is bad teeth."

I have terrible teeth. It's not really the only British stereotype in my life, but it's the most prominent. My family has always had bad teeth as far back as I can remember. It's just a little mean of God to make human beings live for 70-80 years, but give them teeth that only last 45.

Of course there are two approaches: One is to fight the inevitable from an early age and probably lose anyway. The second is let things happen and deal with whatever unfolds. I chose the second way. But now we know that oral health is directly related to overall health more closely than anyone thought when I was young.

As I pay attention this year to Wellness and Strength, I cannot ignore my mouth any longer. I don't have any dental problems, but I don't pay enough attention to my mouth. Smoking for 27 years didn't help either. As it relates to Wellness, I have started paying attention to three areas specifically related to my mouth.

First is what goes in. I am trying to eat better.

Second is oral hygiene. I'm brushing, flossing and mouthwashing. I still hate my teeth. I'm playing the 'all things work together' card.

Third is what comes out. I'm watching my "yes's" and 'no's" pretty carefully, and starting to do more healthy things by saying more healthy things first.

We know that heart disease and gum disease are closely related. Preventing gum disease prevents heart disease too.

We know that we are what we eat. I'm living proof. Eating better is being better.

We know that what we say is what we become.

Maybe I can figure out the nutrition, exercise, weight loss, wellness and strength equation. That is hard. I'm working on it. But to the extent that it starts with the mouth, I can, "Watch My Mouth".

Music For A Broken Piano

"Now that takes a real Virtuoso."

Anyone with some education, a little aptitude, a lot of practice and passion for music can make a piano sound good. But what can you do with a broken piano?

I've struggled my whole life with being a great guy, just not good enough. I'm like the broken piano. I get it. I am very aware of my limitations, shortcomings, faults and failures. I can quote the list of 347 reasons I'm not good enough forwards and backwards.

If someone finds a few more, I really don't need to hear them. 347 is plenty.

I've been thinking lately about the Parable of the Talents in Matt 25. I may actually have to jot down some notes before I can get it out of my head. But my main question in rereading this familiar parable is, "What about the guy that has been given a talent or two, invests them using the best wisdom he has, and looses the investment?" Not every investment made by good and faithful people doubles in value, does it? What about broken piano guys like me?

There are no obvious answers to this question in the parable itself. There are some contemplative possibilities. But the parable doesn't give an example of the servant who tried and failed.

Perhaps failure is not a possibility. Perhaps the example of the Master who goes on a long journey is not applicable to our lives. Perhaps the Master never leaves or forsakes us. Perhaps, whether it makes sense to us or not, we can relax in the knowledge that the Master Himself directs our steps. If we loose a talent or two of His gold along the way, He can afford it.

Perhaps we need to remember that He writes the music and He plays it. We're just the broken pianos.

If They're Known Terrorists, Take 'Em Out?

"It's amazing how unimportant the Constitution is when we don't like someone."

First, for what it's worth from a politically cynical guy like me, "Congrats" to Rand Paul for the filibuster yesterday. He was trying to draw attention to predator drones, their use in assassinations worldwide, the lack of oversight or even consistency in how and where they are used, and most importantly, the question of whether they can be used against United States citizens on United States soil with the same discretion (or lack there of).

"If they're a known terrorist, take them out - no questions asked." That seems to be the attitude of most people here. One person even told me, "If they could have taken out Timothy McVeigh with a predator drone before he blew up the Murrah Federal building in 1995, they should have."

(DISCLAIMER: I disagree. I am among those that might have supported McVeigh completely had he blown the place up at 2:00 AM when nobody was there if he'd made sure that even the security guards were out of harm's way.)

Disclaimer aside, my reaction is, "Really?"

If they had known he was going to do that, they could have arrested him and given him the due process which the Constitution provides to all of us. If it doesn't apply to all of us, it doesn't apply to any of us.

They didn't know he was going to do that. Should they have assassinated him without due process because some unknown and unaccountable person in the intelligence community thought he was going to do something like that? Hell No.

What are we thinking here? How can we so loudly support our military, then despise the basic principles they're supposed to defend? Where are the Second Amendment rights advocates on this? Do they think their AR-15 Assault rifle will do anything to help them against a predator drone? Are we really this out of touch with what America stands for, what it's supposed to be about?

Is it that hard for our President, the nominee for CIA Director and the US Attorney General to stand up and say unequivocally, "Drones will never be used to assassinate US Citizens on US Soil. It is illegal and antithetical to everything our Constitution stands for."

Wellness and Strength March Madness

"It's a process, not an event."

Well, time for a quick update. The concept I'm working with this year is that none of the issues below are separate issues. They're all interconnected and related. So a bullet point update is about all I have room for in one post

Good News/Bad News: Good news is that I'm still vaping instead of smoking. Bad news is I still smoke two or three old cigarettes a day. In February, I tried to 86 the one before bed, and was not successful. I may have even lost a little ground last month.

I did manage to go a whole weekend without a real smoke, but by Tuesday, I couldn't deal with it. I smoked one. I'm not too upset though. 2-3 a day is a lot better than 2 packs! And I'm still enjoying vaping, and still not fighting all the time.

But the smokes just won't let go. Bullet is: "The Empire Strikes Back."

I started exercising a little. I got out the excercise bike and the cheap, Academy Sports version of the Total Gym I've had for a few years. My facebook post from last weekend says it all:

I spent 45 minutes on my exercise bike today. Almost not smoking for a few months has really helped. I used to only last 10-15 minutes b4 my lungs gave out. Today I only stopped because of the sharp pain extending down my left leg, blurred vision and a strange numbness on the left side of my face. But I'm better now.

I'm eating breakfast every day. Except I forgot today, and now I'm starving. That's actually good news, I think. But I still struggle with the nutrition/eating right stuff. Somehow, I have to translate "I need to eat more healthy" to "Buy 1% milk at the store from now on."

And finally...drum roll, please...

Total weight loss since I started working on Wellness and Strength last December. "ZERO." I weigh exactly the same as I did then. Hmmm.