Sunday, March 27, 2011

Lists, Love Wins

Normal things I saw this weekend and/or Signs that the End is Near

1. An overturned pickup truck smashed to pieces with both occupants apparently unharmed. This scene caused us and twenty other vehicles to leave snow-buried Shaver Lake at speeds under 25 mph.

2. My NCAA bracket in ruins.

3. My son terrified of getting out of the "snow boat" sled as we waded through 4 ft drifts in order to "play."

4. The playground at Northpark turned into a stew of wood chips and eventually a pond suitable for fish and ducks.

5. A blog post featuring me reading a controversial recent best seller that I haven't actually read.

Pretty sweet albums in my weekend, mental vacation playlist

Bright Eyes- The Peoples Key
The Strokes- Angles
The Tallest Man On Earth- Sometimes The Blues is a Passing Bird
Brandon Flowers- Flamingo

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Lent and Friendship

I have a lot of opinions.

Trust me, ask my friends. Speaking of friends, I am blessed to have a bunch of them who are constantly giving me grace as I blather on and on about God, music, politics, bicycles and fashion. Reverse the order of that list and that's probably more accurate.

These friends come from all over the place, geographically and ideologically. I have liberal friends, fundamentalist friends, post-conservative friends, hyper-critical friends and existentialist friends. My closest friends though are probably the ones with whom I have the most common ground, which I think is natural. Recently Bekah and I and the kids got to spend some quality time with our best friends which was likely the highlight of our year so far. Nothing is more healing to the soul than dinner and conversation with people you share your life with.

Jesus clearly articulated the need for close friends and yet, because spending time with people you have most in common with is Natural, he also modeled the SUPER Natural ability to find common ground with all types of people. He also expanded the circle of who we should be willing to lay down our lives for to go beyond family, friends, fellow citizens, to even include our enemies.

During this season of Lent, rather than blog on and on about my opinions. It is my hope that I can reflect on what I am thankful for....today, it's friendship. And in a posture of humility, to be open to the work of the Spirit, transforming me to become more like Jesus, to be a better friend to a wider group of people and to love my enemies as much as I do my friends.

(During the season of Lent leading up to Easter, when we Christians celebrate the Resurrection, I am following along with an ACTS World Vision study. You can to!)