love

What Happens When We Don’t Understand?

Lots of things happen and we try to understand. Some situations are predictable and therefore easy to understand. Others we can make sense of even if it is not the outcome we would normally expect. Then there are the situations far beyond what we would expect. I can, with some degree of accuracy, predict that a child with an upbringing that encourages questioning for the purpose of understanding and involves laughing together but never laughing at the child when the answer is obvious, will do well. Power dynamics in which the person perceived to have the power explains what is not understood in terms suited to the other person’s intellectual limitations and mental capacity will lead to a well-developed adult. If this continues through the teenage years, there is a higher degree of success for the maturing individual and a stronger relationship with all who pour into their lives but…

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What If?

It’s a strange time in my life. I wrongly assumed that the things I have done and continue to do would have reached more people. Somehow, I came to the conclusion that the things I love to do like writing blogs, plays and music, my book, leading worship and preaching sermons would lead to a wider audience. I’m not saying I expected to be famous or even well known. I’m not going to lie; I dared to dream once in a while that I could be more than I am, be someone who’s name came up when people talked about this thing or that thing  but now my dreams can be best described as backwards. Instead of a vision of what I want my future to be, my dreams revolve more around the past and the question, “What if?”

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“Start Children off in the Way They Should Go*…” and They Might Go 

I thought I would make a great parent. I believed I could avoid the mistakes my parents made and find ways to improve on what my parents did right when raising me. I think most if not all people believe that they can at least be as good a parent as their parents or maybe even better. I’m not sure where I ended up on the better than, equal to or less than scale but if the measurement is how many times we called poison control… 

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I’ve been having an Affair

It is no longer a secret. I have shared this information with people who are close to me and now I share it with everyone. When my wife and I sat down to talk I didn’t know what to expect. She just looked at me with very little emotion. Every so often she nodded showing she agreed with what I was saying or that she was already aware of what I thought was a secret. It’s not that I had the affair in secret, no, it was quite the contrary. Everyone who has seen me in the last 30 years or so, has not only seen me with me affair partner but has for the most part thought we were happy together. They also saw me with my wife and we were happy too, so they said nothing.

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I Have To Admit, I have Bad Theology!

With the passing of my dad halfway through his 94th year of life, I have found myself remembering him in a way that is bad theologically and yet very true. I could never preach this as it could and should be immediately challenged but still I believe buried deep in its wrong interpretation of grace is the truth. If there is anyone I have known in my life that I would say will, without a doubt, be in heaven, my dad is that person. Based purely on the life he lived (bad theology), he will be there!

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I Need More Than Nothing – A Modern Lament

Lights flashing, noises blaring, everything trying to get my attention. For what? Why should I listen? Why should I watch? Why should I give one person or product more attention than another? What do you have to offer me that has true value? Behind the lights and sounds is there anything of substance? Is there anything that can stand on its own without all the fanfare? Without all the flashing lights and blaring noises, what do they have? Maybe that is all there is to life now. Hype, showmanship, polish and presentation all void of any depth. When you go beyond what catches the eye, what appeals to the ear and what engages the senses often there is nothing.

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