Bike Riding Donkeys

Remember the game "Telephone" we used to play as children?

A group of children sitting in a circle; one thinks of a phrase like "Fuzzy monkeys like yellow bananas", whispers it into the ear of the child sitting next to them, and then that child whispers it to the next until the phrase goes all the way around the circle. The last child says out loud what they were told:

"Busy donkeys bike with bandannas"

Everyone laughs because they realize that's not what the 1st child originally said. It's a great illustration on how communication breaks down when it gets passed around from one person to the next; each time traveling further from the source.

It's hilariously funny with a group of kids at a party, but terribly destructive with adults in everyday life. When we pass along misinformation and misunderstandings we contribute to the breakdown of trust in relationships. This happens at work, in families, and in our friendships. Being a trust-worthy and life-giving person means that instead of calling others, you dial the source directly.

The next time you hear something that you are curious about, sounds a bit off, or you need clarification on, don't pass it along the circle...go to the source, assume the best, and you just might be surprised at what you actually hear.

A Decade Old

Creative.

Silly.

Insightful.

Goofy.

Adventurous.

Compassionate.

Energetic.

Sensitive.

Tenderhearted.

Fun-Loving.

a Gift.

Dont' Be A Ball Hog

One of my soccer coaches used to say:

"I don't care if you score the goal, I care if you get the assist...

...your job is to make your teammates look good."

Being a key player on a team means setting those around you up for success. A generous player brings out the best in others in such a way that their own weaknesses get minimized (which is greatly needed if we are going to contribute anything worth-while in this world).

Conversely, it is the "Ball Hog" who, convinced that they are the ones who will "save the day", end up doing everything, running all over the field with little direction and clarity, and in the process greatly minimizing the role of their teammates.

One creates an environment where others see the value of their play and look forward to contributing; giving way to new insight and possibility. The other creates a fractured state of frustration in which the team is nothing more than a group of uninspired individuals who have no stake or care in the direction the team is headed.

What kind of player are you? Are you going to keep insisting on doing it all yourself at the expense of your team and your common goal? Or, will you work in a way that inspires others to contribute their best because you were quick to pass the ball.

Wait In Line

Next time you find yourself in a line try something...

Wait.

You may be thinking, "Isn't that kind of obvious?"

I don't think so. Just take a look at how many people fill their time waiting in line on their mobile devices. People playing Angry Birds, checking email while listening to Green Day (that would be me), or Tweeting about how lines at the grocery store make them crazy.

You can fill your time in line with so much mindless consumption that before you know it it's your turn at the check out, and you can think to yourself, "man, time flew by".

"Waiting", in these circumstances, is really nothing more than mindless interaction with the illusion that we are actually accomplishing something so that we don't feel like our time was wasted.

While we may be completing some minor tasks, the constant influx of data keeps our mind bouncing from one thing to the next without ever having to stop, pause, reflect, and assess. Moments in our day where we are forced to wait can actually become sacred spaces for us to disconnect from life's hurried pace and take a bird's-eye-view of our day or even our life.

In our true waiting we can be free to observe the people and situations around us, as well as observe where our day has been and where our day is going. Waiting can help us connect to life's bigger picture. Waiting, emptying, pausing are often the canvas for new thoughts, ideas, and discoveries.

So whether you are at the grocery store, doctor's office, or in the parking lot of your kid's school, try using your time in line to simply wait.

Post It on the Refrigerator

Your art doesn't have to have wall space at the Guggenheim to capture the imagination of others. It doesn't need to have it's own exhibit at MoMA to create a following. And it certainly doesn't need to be hung next to a Rembrandt at the Louvre to shape the world.

The refrigerator will work just fine.

We all have a forum in which to share our thoughts, our ideas, our art. It might be the corner of a local coffee house outfitted with a stool and microphone, a bulletin board in the break room at work, or a kitchen table surrounded by family and friends.

We all have a refrigerator in which to bring our art to the public.

And so your family, friends, and co-workers; those who share the same niche interest as you are waiting. Waiting to hear from you; waiting to see just what you will post on the refrigerator that will shape the way the rest of us view the world.

What will you post on your refrigerator?

Lonely Lone Ranger?

It's tough to be a "Lone Ranger"...

...even the Lone Ranger had a sidekick; a teammate.

Why? Because creativity never develops in a vacuum. You need people to surround you, bounce ideas off of, and to tell you that you're crazy.

The difficulty is in finding the right people. You need teammates who believe in you when you fail to believe in yourself, who push you when you decide it's time for a break, and who tell you to move on when there is something waiting up ahead to discover.

So go ahead and be a "Lone Ranger"; share ideas that the world thinks are peculiar, offer suggestions that dwell far outside the box, and never let your dreams be tamed by the oppression of the status quo. But just remember, that in order to thrive like the Lone Ranger...you need to be a part of a team.

Begin

The greatest thing Steve Jobs did? Not the Apple II or the iOS software. I don't think it's his vision for Pixar or development of iTunes which changed the way we listen to music. And sorry to say, I don't think it's the creation of the iPhone or iPad.

Steve Jobs' greatest contribution is that he began.

In a garage with a friend and an idea.

No rules to follow; simply doing what only he could do.

Too many times we get hung up on trying to make something spectacular that we become paralyzed from doing anything at all. You can't change the world if you don't begin somewhere.

Whom Shall We Disappoint?

I came across this passage in Seth Godin's book, We Are All Weird, and wanted to share it with you:

If you persist in trying to be all things to all people, you will fail. The only alternative, then, is to be something important to a few people.

And to get there? To get there you must disappoint some slightly engaged normal folks, who, to tell the truth, can probably live just fine without you.

The ski area at Jackson Hole has a choice: to become even more welcoming to extreme skiers who seek out the expert trails, or to dumb the facility down to be more open to the average skiers who represent the bulk of vacationing travelers who might consider a trip.

You can probably hear the argument in your head. "But if we don't open more beginner slopes and build a new lodge, we'll lose these customers to Aspen!" It's not easy to walk away from average, because average represents mass, or the promise of mass. The chance to become the next Wonder Bread/Budweiser/Chevy is seductive, but no longer practical. The field is too crowded, and there's not enough upside after you build a middle-of-the-road normal brand.

If you cater to the normal, you will disappoint the weird. And as the world gets weirder, that's a dumb strategy.

Un-Chain Your Yard

Is this the best solution?

Sure, I understand that you live on the corner lot of a busy neighborhood and that people cut across your lawn.

Yeah, I get that that when people regularly walk across your yard they trample the grass you work hard to keep green.

And absolutely, I can appreciate that you do not want a pathway of dead grass, making for one big eye-sore on your front lawn.

But, is the rusty chain (pad-locked to a tree and tethered buy an equally rusty stake) any better?

What message do you send to your neighbors and community when you string rusty chains on your lawn?

Maybe instead of counteracting and blocking the "offer" of others you could accept and take the "conversation" some place new.

Why not create a pathway across the corner of your lawn (think "Better Homes and Gardens"; paving stones and all) to facilitate what people are naturally inclined to do?

Every day people say and do things we wish they wouldn't. They infringe on our space and trample things that are important to us. Our first reaction is often to "shut it down", and so, we do equally clumsy things...like wrap chains around trees.

Chains in our yards cut off community and deprive relationships of what they need to be nurtured.

So today, when someone takes a short-cut through your yard, resist the easy "solution" that chains relationships from developing, and instead, challenge yourself to create a new pathway that will cultivate the growth of a relationship.

Mr. November

My son Luke recently won a calendar contest through Consumers Energy. Elementary age kids from all over MI entered drawings to be considered for CE's 2011-2012 Safety Calendar and Luke's was chosen to represent the month of November.

While Luke's picture has something to teach us about electricity (namely the "safe zone" in coming across a downed power-line), it also has something to teach us about art.

Good art educates.

It might be a song's rhythmic melodies that teach us about the movements of life, a clever satirist who points out the folly of our politics, or a photo's raw grit that reveals the human struggle. Whatever the medium, good art always speaks.

The wonderful thing is that you don't need to be a brilliant musician, a seasoned photographer, or even 4th grader entering a contest to create important art. You simply need to share what you see and the way you see it with others.

So please, teach us something, show us something, reveal to us where we've gotten wrong and inspire us towards something right.

We need your art for the calendar.

Appear Stupid

If you are concerned with looking good, fitting in, and gaining mass appeal, your contribution's capacity for brilliance will be greatly diminished.

It's when we step outside the norm, offer an idea that seems ridiculous, or implement a plan that appears preposterous that we find ourselves on the cusp of something wildly (and creatively) "new".

Sure you might get laughed at, mocked, or relegated to the corner. But, you also might gain a fringe audience that, through your collective "stupidity", changes the world.

For all of us.

Doodlers Unite!

In a recent post I discussed my propensity to doodle. Sunni Brown's short talk on TED is good reminder of the doodle's importance.

The Most Important Tool

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” - Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement ceremony, 2005.

Thank You Steve Jobs

Camouflage Dragons

When I asked my son what color he was making his dragon, without skipping a beat he said, "Camouflage".

I didn't realize that "Camouflage" was a color (my hunting friends are way ahead of me on this one). However, what I can tell you is that a camouflage dragon is interesting to look at.

I've seen blue dragons, purple dragons, and yellow dragons before. But a camouflage dragon?

That's worth a second look.

Never before have we had more opportunity to create things that are worth a second look. We have access to tools via the web, through photoshop, and in our Crayola boxes that can help us bring to life what we could once only imagine.

So the obvious question: What is your camouflage dragon? What will you create today that is worth a second look?

Wise Words Wayne

"Led Zeppelin didn't write songs everyone liked. They left that to the Bee Gees."

When you try to please the masses your art suffers. When you make your art palatable to everyone it looses its prophetic voice.

Good art, ideas, breakthroughs, and innovations come because instead of being concerned with what's popular, the artist concerns themselves with what's revolutionary.

Ghoulies a Go!

I think the Groovie Ghoulies got this one right.

Are you passionate?
Do you love what you do?
'Cause I am, and I'm telling you if you're a hitman, a hooker,
a punk rock nightclub booker, be passionate, or don't do it at all.

Are you passionate?
Do you love what you do?
Would you do it if they didn't pay you?
If you're a preacher, a teacher, or, trying
to run a record store, be passionate, or don't do it at all.Find more similar lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.com/Z45Are you passionate?
Do you love what you do?
If not, then you're pretty screwed.
If you're a dreamer playing a song to a world
that's gone all wrong, be passionate or don't
do it at all.

What are you passionate about? What's keeping your from doing that today?

Kazoo Mike

This is Mike.

Mike is a professional kazoo player. He makes a living playing his kazoo for others.

While playing his kazoo, Mike also happens to collect tickets at the movie theater from those going to see the latest blockbuster film.

Some might say that Mike's job is merely to ensure no one gets into the theater without paying. But don't tell this to Mike.

Mike understands that his role at the movie theater is really a platform to give others a gift. When people unexpectedly hear the song, "When the Saints Go Marching In" flawlessly played on the tiny plastic instrument, smiles and laughter can't help but materialize. A culture of fun and silliness is being created not because Mike loves his "job" but because he loves his art.

Every one of us has a platform. Circles of influence where we can either get by doing only what is expected, or give something that cultivates the kind of culture we want to be a part of.

Maybe it's time you became a professional kazoo player too.

Safe Soccer

My only question: "What was the previous venue for soccer like, that makes the new location the safer alternative?"

Doodle

I am a doodler.

I doodle in notebooks, in the margins of important documents, and during meetings to keep my mind from wandering farther than it has already traveled.

Doodling offers no rules or outlined plan for a measured result. There are no misplaced marks when doodling, only new lines of intrigue. Doodling is freeing; no critic, no profit-loss statement to be analyzed, and no expectation of "company growth".

Yet for some, doodling is paralyzing. "What should be drawn?" "What if it doesn't turn out right?" "What if no one likes it?" These questions should never be entertained in the doodle process. They are anti-doodle.

Doodling is about uninhibitedly exploring "new", simply "because". Doodling is about getting something on paper as it just might be enough to birth inspiration. Doodling is about releasing that which we have held captive for fear of not fitting in.

I need to doodle more. Our world needs to doodle more. It begins with you.

What will you doodle?

The Art Around You

Last Saturday I was with my family at a collaborative art show/experience downtown Grand Rapids called Art Prize. Artists from all around the world entered their work to be on display throughout the downtown area.

Art in the buildings, outside of the buildings, on the buildings, street performers...at Art Prize, art is everywhere.

The Art is impossible to ignore.

In my daily routine Art doesn't emerge as brilliantly as it does at Art Prize. The mundane of each day (looking as it did the day before) has a way of neutralizing anything that speaks afresh. Sometimes in a sea of repetition, painted in variants of grey, it seems as if Art has left long ago.

This void of Art, beauty, creativity, and wonderment creates a vacuum in which the air itself becomes too difficult to breathe.

Yet the Art is not gone.

It is there; the Blue of the Sky, the Texture of the Tree Trunk, the Sound of Children, the Chill of a Fall Rain.

Lying just beneath the surface of the Institution, the cog of Industry, the Normal, and the Mass Produced, Art is everywhere.

It takes creative insight, the Artist, to excavate that which society has covered over; to point to the beauty ignored because of mass repetition. In a world where Industry is on the decline we need Artists more than ever, to open our eyes to the beauty that has been there all along; to point out for others what has always been present.

Wherever you find yourself today may you be aware of the Art that surrounds you and may you point it out for the benefit of others.

Tragedian

I do not know that I ever saw anything more terrible than the struggle of that Dwarf Ghost against joy. For he had almost been overcome...But the light that reached him, reacted against his will. This was not the meeting he had pictured; he would not accept it. Once more he clutched at his death-line, and at once the Tragedian spoke.

- C.S. Lewis The Great Divorce

Bonhoeffer, Palin, Barnes & Noble

The same shelf...really?

Psalm 15

LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?

Who may live on your holy mountain?

Those whose walk is blameless,

who do what is righteous,

who speak the truth from their hearts;

Who have no slander on their tongues,

who do their neighbors no wrong,

who cast no slur on others;

Who despise those whose ways are vile

but honor whoever fears the LORD;

who keep their oaths even when it hurts;

Who lend money to the poor without interest

and do not accept bribes against the innocent.

Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Direction

"For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm" Proverbs 1:32-33

Waywardness and Complacency.

Directionless and Apathy.

Sometimes aimlessness is my only direction and complacency my only drive.

I am listening.

The Gift-Giving-Gizmo

In John chapter 14 Jesus says to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I don not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

The world gives under the constraints of a closed system. A system of scarcity in which there is only so much to go around; so much food, wealth, affluence, health, and power. As a result, the giving of this world has to be conditional.

You will receive these “gifts” if only the right conditions exist. Being born in the right place, going to the right schools, choosing the right line of work. The mechanism by which the world “gives” requires the proper investment and a little (or perhaps a lot) of luck.

Because this is the choice mechanism of “gift giving” in our world, in order to receive these gifts one must tirelessly pursue the “right avenues” in order to reap a benefit. In essence we become legalistic mechanics of the gift-giving-gizmo…making sure we’ve done everything possible so that we’ve postured ourselves to receive from the world. Maintaining the gift-giving-gizmo is tiring; maintaining the gift-giving-gizmo is, for all purposes, work.

That’s why we have phrases like, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Very few things in this world are given benevolently; they are earned through exchange or proximity. And so in this world the notion of a true gift is rare. That’s why when we see something or experience something beautiful, creative, and prophetic we stop in awe. We realize we were just witnesses, recipients, of a gift.

So when Jesus says that he does not “give as the world gives”, he is standing against the so-called gifts of our day. For Jesus, “gift” has nothing to do with human manufacturing or human achievement. Instead it is through love poured out on the cross and brought to power in the resurrection that gift is truly defined.

When Jesus tells those who are thirst to come and drink (receive the gift) he then goes on to say that anyone who drinks will have “rivers of living water” flowing from them (Jn.7:38). The beauty in this gift is as we participate we ourselves begin to pour out this love-gift to others. This gift is meant to be shared.

It cannot be earned. It can not be cozied-up to. No corporation can commodify it, no military regime can grab it, and no religious order can bestow it. This love-gift is given out of an over-abundance…plenty to go around; no scarcity here…a true gift.

As you go about your day, don't wait for the gift-giving-gizmo of this world to do something remarkable. Instead, give generously of the love-gift that has been given to you.

Animated Functions

How many of us move from one event to another, one conversation to the next, one text message to email, all without stopping to take a breath? To pause?

Our drive for efficiency does not sit well with schedules that are finite. We are in a continual race to get things done, keep up, and keep going. The treadmill never seems to slow down let alone stop.

This pace of living gives the illusion of life but is really nothing more than going through life as if we were unconscious; one thing to the next, without thought, without reflection, without pause. In this practice we become a true “busy-body”; an automated, animated, function.

This is not life. Yet we keep going, and our pace keeps us numb; numb from problem solving, creative thinking, and deep human interaction. In this space we find ourselves everywhere and nowhere…scattered.

Maybe it is time to stop.

Stop and remember that you were not created as a function, but enlivened by the breath of God.

Breathe.

Give focus to your inhale.

Give focus to your exhale.

Breath is the space in which awareness happens. Maybe the discovery is that the world is larger than your thoughts, or perhaps, smaller than you could hold. Your discovery could bring in to sharp focus the current moment, and how that moment will never be duplicated.

Amidst the pause and release, discovery of who we are, where we are, and what we are rises to the surface. In our breath we become conscious again. We begin to see our full self; our success and failures of the past, our practices and constructions of today, and our longings, desires, and fears for tomorrow.

When we breathe we steady ourselves. Our being is no longer thrown around and twisted up because of circumstance, but instead, we find ourselves anchored through the steadiness of God’s given breath. His life, his being, animating us, animating me, animating you. We no longer operate as functions; we live as children.

Today, before you read that email or send that tweet, breathe; be mindful of your true connection.

This afternoon, before you hurry in the house after you come home from work, breathe; be present for your wife and kids.

Tonight, before you tell you children to “quiet down" after dinner, breathe; be willing to engage in their play.

You are not a function. You are alive. Breathe.

"Thank You For this Chicken" pt. 2

A few posts ago I shared about our family's participation in a local farm. I came across this clip from Portlandia and had to share it.

Sit at the Welcome Table

In my church experience growing up, we took communion on the 1^st Sunday of each month. For a kid that meant that on those particular Sundays church would run 15 minutes longer and that I wouldn’t get to have any of the “snack” that the adults seemed to enjoy.

As I’ve grown and have strived to follow after Jesus, the participation in the Table has become more central to me.

The beauty of the Eucharist is that it has nothing to do with me. Christ’s work, his salvation, and his Lordship are independent of me. That is good news. I don’t have to “feel spiritual” for God to be close; the Table proclaims that he is. My theology of the atonement doesn’t have to be perfect for Christ to bring death to life; that’s what he does. This Table is marked by what God has done, is doing, and will do.

The Table could stop here; resting solely on God’s accomplished work and it would be complete. Yet the Table keeps going; the Table is an invitation.

At the Table I do not become a passive observer of God’s act, nor do I become a teller of some historical event. Instead I am invited to participate the work that God is doing; I have the joy to “proclaim” it for my life. Here, the Table has not just served as a symbol for Christ’s sacrifice, but a beacon; calling me to share in that sacrifice.

We have been doing a teaching series at Renovate (listen here) over that last few weeks on the Lord’s table. While we haven’t exhausted all aspects of what participating in this sacrament communicates, it has been a good primer for what we are “saying” each time we share of the bread and drink of the cup.

What has been your experience in participating in communion? How have you experienced Jesus? How have experienced the Church?

Downcast

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

- Lamentations 3:19-24

Pursuing Longing

Yearning and longing are not things I am particularly fond of. I would much rather rest in discovery and contentment. Something in my wiring tells me that if I am longing then there must be something wrong with me. Maybe it is my lack of appreciation for what I have (in relationships, accomplishments, and possessions) that keeps me on the unsettled path of longing. Sometimes I long simply for the longing to cease.

I recently began reading a book by Rabbi Irwin Kula titled, “Yearnings; Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life”, and have been thankful for the way in which Rabbi Kula has articulated the importance of our yearnings. In the introductory pages he writes, “Our yearnings generate life. Our desire animates us” (p.xiii). While our longings and desires can drive us mad, they are essential in our pursuit of discovery; discovery of self, discovery of others, and discovery of God. Maybe our goal should not be so much to squelch or subdue our longings, but rather to ask “What are these longings teaching me about myself? About God?”

Throughout the Scriptures yearning and longing fill the pages. God longs to create out of love, the Israelites long for freedom to become the people of God, Hannah longs for a child, Jesus yearns to do the will of the Father, Paul longs to see the Church form across cultural barricades, creation groans with yearning for renewal, and God longs for full restoration of all that he made. Longing and yearning give way to movement , expansion, and creativity; longing is an essential element to the God story.

As I personally yo-yo in and out of spaces of longing, contentment, and back to longing, I have tried to remind myself that yearning is necessary. Without our yearning we give way to the stale stagnancies of death. Maybe our prayers should not be, “God please take away this yearning”, but rather, “God may my longings be rooted in you and propel me further into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.”

This in some way echoes the words of Paul in Philippians, “I want to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:10-12).

These are words of longing, pursuit, and movement.

Maybe it is your longing for a healthy relationship with a loved one that will serve as the catalyst to help you love them more deeply. Maybe it is your longing of meaningful work that will cause you to spend extra hours dreaming and writing your next idea. And maybe it is your longing to be comfortable with your uncomfortable-self that will cause you to move closer to the one who created you.

Creator of all, Truth made known in flesh. May you become the craving of my heart and the yearning of my soul. On my journey grant me spaces of rest and encouragement that I may appreciate the fullness of all you have done in life around me. And before I become too complacent, nudge me and unsettle me, that I may never give up my pursuit to follow after you. Amen.

Key Chain

Lilly came up from the craft room (hard at work with glue, glitter, and scissors) and presented me with the best key chain ever. If she keeps this up she may just get anything she asks for.

God of Creation

That God created the world means that all material things reflect God’s glory and power. The incarnation cements this connection. Christ’s eternal and glorified new humanity means that human life is now enmeshed in the life of God. God’s story and the creation’s story come together in Christ, making things more than mere bits of matter, and opening our eyes tot their ultimate transfiguration. Creation, incarnation and the ultimate re-creation of the cosmos reveal a God for whom matter matters, and material things open our eyes to the One who is above and beyond all things.

Jesus Christ, God incarnate; God as matter, stuff, body, flesh and blood, has forever bridged the divide of creation and creature. In Christ’s incarnation, God now fully participates in the life of creation, and his creatures are represented before his throne with the ascended Lord. Christ is the primary and ultimate sacrament. By virtue of Christ’s taking on flesh, God is no longer a distant creator, but now, in Christ, "This is my Father’s world," and "he shines in all that’s fair." Christ, the sacrament of God made flesh, can again make the whole creation a sacramental place.

Leonard J. Vander Zee Christ, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper

The Mirror of Erised

"The mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”

- Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter on the dangers of the Mirror of Erised

Thank You For This Chicken

Recently at the dinner table our son Luke offered the prayer before dinner and surprised me with his words, “Dear God, thank you for this chicken, the farm it came from, and please look after all of the other animals.” In this prayer Luke reminded us of some things we had forgotten.

Our food comes from somewhere.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but with all of the instant “food” so readily available to us, it becomes easy to forget (or even know) where our food comes from.

In being reminded that our food has an origin, we’ve begun asking: “Where does our food come from?” Asking this question has been a bit like opening Pandora’s Box. “Just exactly what kind of plant grows a Twinkie?”, “Do these cookies really come from tree-dwelling elves?”, and “If this apple is labeled, ‘organic’, then what kind of apple is this?… ‘Industrial’?”

Our questions have led us to make some changes in the food we purchase. Each Tuesday Misty stops by Grassfields Farm on her way home from work to pick up milk, eggs, and whatever meat they have available (we started back in January). After our first experience we instantly appreciated the taste and quality of the food but even more have grown to appreciate being able to build a relationship with those who grow/raise our food. Participating in this local farm has reminded us that we are part of a bigger creation and that we have a responsibility (and privilege) to steward what God has made.

I recognize it is in part due to our “affluence” that we have the opportunity/choice to purchase food from a local farm. Not everyone has the means of transportation to connect them to locally grown food (we live in a part of the country where farms are still common, unlike many of our cities which have become “food deserts”). Further, fresh/clean/whole food is more expensive (a cheeseburger from McD’s is 99 cents, and a head of broccoli costs close to 2 dollars). As a result, we’ve had to make some choices in the food (and amount) we purchase.

Instead of buying 2lbs of beef from the grocery store we purchase only 1 lb. at the same price from the farm. In buying less food we have begun to look at what we eat differently. Don’t get me wrong, we have plenty to eat, but having to purchase less food means that we cannot afford to think of food in terms of “mindless consumption”, instead food, animals, and the farms they come from become a “gift”.

Another gift of purchasing local food has meant that we’ve had more prep-time in preparing meals. At first this may sound more like a chore (we are all busy with the hurriedness of life) however, purchasing ingredients to make our meals has caused us to slow down. Lilly, peeling carrots for dinner, has developed a deeper appreciation for the food we eat and Caleb, chopping lettuce for salads, has caused him to be more curious about eating “leafy greens”. Instead of Mom “heating up dinner” our meals have become a family affair, full of conversation and meaning.

Is this something we do each night? No. We still have evenings where soccer games and gymnastics cause us to eat on the run, but those times are becoming less and less. We may never be able to fully live off of locally grown food however our hope is that as we do our part to steward the food resources in front of us we are able to create better, more intimate connections with our community, our kids, and our Creator.

That is something to be thankful for.

At Work

In John chapter 5 Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. Jesus should have known better.

You don’t heal on the Sabbath.

Thankfully, the Pharisees were there to remind Jesus of his “faux pas”.

Upon questioning his Sabbath breaking, Jesus said things like: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working”, “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does”, and “…I seek not to please myself but the one who sent me.”

In Jesus’ reply I am comforted in knowing that the Father is always at his work. No vacation keeps Him lounging, no difficult situation keeps Him guessing, and no “rules” keep him confined. Our Father is always at work.

While I am comforted and assured of a God who is always active on behalf of His creation, I also desire to be able to reply with confidence the same way Jesus did: “I do only what I see the Father doing…”

Like an apprentice in relationship to the artisan, being about the Master’s work isn’t merely vocational; it is a calling. This calling isn’t reserved for clergy or those who work in a church, but each one of us.

"Farming and the Global Economy"

If communities of farmers and consumers wish to promote sustainable, safe, reasonably inexpensive supply of good food, then they must see that the best, safest, and most dependable source of food for a city is not the global economy, with its extreme vulnerabilities and extravagant transportation costs, but its own surrounding countryside. It is, in every way, the best interest of urban consumers to be surrounded by productive land, well farmed and well maintained by thriving farm families in thriving farm communities.

Wendell Berry Another Turn of the Crank

“Wood – I’ve Found You a Seeker”

One of my favorite parts in the book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, is when Harry is busted for flying his broomstick just after his class was instructed not to do so. Never mind that class bully Draco Malfoy took something that didn’t belong to him and flew it into the afternoon sky. And never mind that Harry took to his broomstick in an effort to retrieve the object and return it to its rightful owner. And never mind that Harry was successful. The bottom line is that Harry did what he shouldn’t have been doing, and when his teacher came back to the class and saw Harry in mid-flight he was caught in the act.

Harry was quickly escorted out of class by Professor McGonigal. Just what punishment would come of his rule-breaking?

Surprisingly, instead of a scolding Professor McGonigal introduces Harry to Oliver Wood, Captain of the Quidditch team (a sport in the Wizarding World played on high flying broomsticks). Approaching Oliver with a terrified Harry Potter, McGonigal said, “Wood, I’ve found you a Seeker” (A Seeker happens to be one of the most important positions on a Quidditch team; reserved for the quickest, fastest, and sure-handed flyers).

Harry wasn’t in trouble at all. In fact, quite the opposite…he was being made an integral part of the Quidditch team (something that never happens to first year students). Although Harry got it wrong by breaking a teacher’s instruction, he also got it right and showed his natural skill and raw aptitude for flying.

Further it was Professor McGonigal who “caught him in the act” of doing something wrong but also an action that show-cased his potential. Professor McGonigal’s response was one that gave encouragement to the giftedness that lay just beneath surface.

Everyday people around us, whether in the home, classroom, or in the workplace are playing by the rules; not wanting to get caught doing something they shouldn’t. They’re tip-toeing to live carefully within the lines of the practical and the “supposed to”. Yet in this space of safety little room is give for innovation and creativity, making it virtually impossible for anything remarkable to emerge.

As you go about your day, catch someone in the act of doing something unique, thoughtful, creative, and encourage them to pursue their raw talent. Chances are they had to break a few rules to do so, and we’ll all be glad they did.

Mechanically Separated Spirituality

I put a frozen pizza in the oven the other night and read the ingredients while I waited for the self-rising crust to do its thing. The pepperoni was advertised as being made with “real pork” and “real chicken”. As I read further I discovered that the pepperoni was made with “mechanically separated” chicken.

“Mechanically separated”?

What is our definition of “real”?

While the industrial age has produced cheap and quick “food” what have we lost in the process? Have we lost touch with the “real?”

I can’t help but wonder if we were to have an ingredients label on our churches what it might read.

“Made with REAL disciples”, “Ingredients: strategically formulated spirituality, business-model infused Holy Spirit, and enhanced ‘worship’ through relevant music and teaching.”

We are living in an age where many of us don’t know what our food is made of or where it comes from.

The same could be said of our spirituality.