A Liberated Mind

First and foremost, I just want to say that this is not going to be a serious post.  At all.  In any way, shape, or form.  I have had a long week, and the last thing I need to be serious right now. 

No, right now I need to make bad jokes, be my normal lame self, and make fun of myself for just being a bad dog owner.

Now I know what you are thinking: “Seth, with all the crap going on in the world right now like 2 wars, the battle over healthcare, the Supreme Court hearings for Sotomayor, and the fact that some really scary people in Stockton, California, think they see Michael Jackson in a tree AND stated that Michael Jackson meant more to them ‘than Jesus does to some people’, you are writing about your dog?”

Why yes.  Yes I am.

See here’s the thing that some people may not know because I never talk about it: My family has a dog.

Huge shocker I know, but yes, we have one.  She is a yellow lab, roughly 85 pounds, and sheds like a contestant on “The Biggest Loser” after being at the ranch for a few days eating nothing but chicken and broccoli and working out 13 hours a day.

And my dog is also missing about a quarter of her tail.  There is a story behind this tragedy, and yes, I am in the middle of that story.  You probably have not heard the story because it happened during my extended time away from the blog – hence why I have never mentioned to most of the eight people who read this blog.

Anyway, if you want to hear the story, I will tell you.  I warn you, however, that it once again highlights the fact that I am a massive idiot.  As if you didn’t know that already.

All that being said, know that this is the problem I have: I do love my dog, and I could not stand giving her away to another family.

BUT, I don’t spend as much time with her as I should because I work, have a family, and I hate having to wash my hands immediately after petting her (again, the shedding thing).

So what should I do to spend more time with her?  My wife already takes her on walks, we let her inside when it gets too hot and too cold (granted, we cage her up in our kitchen to keep the rest of the house from getting dirty), and I am the one that bathes her and brushes her out…every few weeks. 

I also throw the ball with her in the backyard and clean her off when she finds the mud hole.  Heck, I even feed her twice a day and put medicine on her that keeps her heart from getting worms and keeps her body from having fleas and ticks all over it. 

Okay, that was not necessary to add in those details.  Sorry.

However, even after all of that, I just don’t feel like I give her the attention she deserves.  I mean, seriously, this has been a quandry for me for like the past 3 years since our daughter was born.

Okay, that is probably not true – I gave up paying attention to the dog about a year after we got her and we have had her for over 5 years now. 

If I were to be honest, I only bathe her when it gets to the point of her stinking up our house and my wife “strongly suggesting” I bathe her.  I only play ball with her in the spring and fall when the weather is nice.  And yeah, putting her only in the kitchen and not the rest of the house isn’t probably the nicest thing to do.

But our house is much cleaner now than it used to be.  That is good, right?

Um, no. 

Holy crap, I am a bad dog owner.

But I want to do better, I really do.  So if you have any ideas or tips on how I could be a better dog owner, I would really appreciate them.  Just be nice.

And if all of this is not enough motivation to communicate your thoughts, know this: If I get no brilliant ideas, my dog will just continue to be lonely and depressed. 

So there.

S

It is with sadness in my heart to report that this afternoon my friend’s mother I have previously written about in my last two posts has passed away after her battle with cancer.  No words can describe how much I hurt for my buddy, and please continue to pray for he and his family.

Thanks for listening over the last few days as I have written about my friend and his mother. Blessings to you each.

S

This weekend my buddy and his mother who is fighting cancer were constantly on my heart.  I wrote this in response to how much I ache for her and her family as they walk through this difficult time.

Enjoy it and be encouraged…

S

—

A Mother and Son’s Journey

John’s mother is afflicted. Again.

By Adam and Eve’s rebellion, their desire, and their choice to welcome sin.

John’s mother is suffering. Again.

As the victim of their conspiracy, unfairness, and her silent killer creeping in.

John’s mother cannot overcome. Again.

Her time is closing in, relief is coming, and all she knows will be made right.

John’s mother misses her child. Again.

As she did the first time, the next time, and every time he catches her eye.

John’s mother loses a tear. Again.

It rolls down her thin cheek, hits the bed, and carries with it John’s name.

John’s mother fears the end. Again.

Though she knows a better place; it’s been prepared, and she will no longer feel pain.

John’s mother fights on. Again.

She will never give up, never give in, and always live by His grace.

John’s mother comforts him. Again.

As she smiles proudly at him, holds one last embrace, and lands a final kiss to John’s face.

John’s mother challenges him. Again.

By the way she loves, her spirit, and the way she holds her head high.

John’s mother knows what’s coming. Again.

She is prepared for heaven, her new body, and the look in her Father’s proud eye.

John’s mother is dying. Again.

As she has never been. Though she beat it before, Jesus is now calling her home to Him.

John’s mother will be alive. Again.

Though she always has been. And as she closes her eyes, John knows he will see her again.

It’s Friday.  I am taking a half day off to hang out with my two-year old daughter.  Our air conditioning is cranked at full blast.  We even have naps scheduled for later on this afternoon.

Things could not be any better it seems.

Then I get an e-mail from a buddy of mine that says his mom is back in the hospital, and they have found cancer.  Again.  This time it’s worse because there is lots of it now.  Frankly, it doesn’t look good.

So I called him, and I talked to him for a bit.  

Though I tried to do my best, I pretty much failed as miserably as I could have in consoling him and helping the situation.  I did that thing we all do, and I fumbled the ball as I tried to be encouraging in the face of tragedy.  Even in my sincerity, the words that came out of my rambling mouth were inadequate; nothing could make this right.

Sure, I told him that it sucked and that we don’t truly understand God even if we think we have a small part of that Mystery figured out.  Fact is, we have no clue about anything in a situation like this.

And I told him to call me if he needed to vent and get it all out there.  I am not sure how much that would help, but I said to him, “I am here if you need me to listen”.  The least I could do was that.

The simple fact is that the whole situation is sad.  And unfair.  And crap.

And it’s a part of life.

And there is nothing anyone can do.

But do you ever wonder why this sort of stuff just happens sometimes out of the blue to people you really care about?  This is no celebrity we don’t truly know or an older relative of ours at the end of their long life.  This is a mother, a grandmother of a baby grandchild, and a wife in the prime of her life.

This should be the best years this woman has.

Yet it might all soon be gone.

Just like that.

A gut shot coming out of nowhere.  Without warning.  Hitting harder than anything’s that ever hit before.

Seriously, that sucks so bad.

So after I got off the phone with my buddy, I figured out that whatever I had on tap for the blog this afternoon would have to wait.  I realized I needed to tell that story for a couple of reasons:

First, pray for my buddy and his family.  God knows who you are talking even if you don’t know his name, and he and his family need God’s comfort and grace right now in the worst way.

Second, hug your family this weekend.  Let them know you love them.  Tell them you appreciate all they do and who they are in your life.  Seriously.  Be annoying about it if you have to, but communicate with them what they mean to you.  And make it a point to do this more often from here on out.

Because you know what?  We all take gut shots from time to time, and though we have no idea when they are coming, we need to do our best to be ready for them.  And we need to make sure those around us are ready for them, too. 

Just think about that as you hug the neck of someone you love this weekend, faithful readers.

S

Okay, not really.  I just needed a catchy name for this post.

Actually, I am really starting to get into the whole new media/social networking thing right now.  No, really I am.

Granted, the process to get here has taken a bit longer than I thought it would (which is crazy because if you know me, you know I like expressing my opinions on stuff even when I have to start talking out of my rear end because I have no idea what I am friggin’ talking about), but that is only because at times it does seem a bit too much like high school to me.

What I mean by this is that the point of social networking, to a certain extent, is to build your networks or your friends or your tweeps or whatever.  Theoretically, the more of these folks you have, the more influence and popularity you have. 

Sort of like high school.

At the same time, if you are on Twitter but no one ever “re-tweets” you or responds to what you say or engages you in any type of conversation at all, isn’t that sort of like my entire high school experience?

And what if nobody comments on your Facebook status?  Or inquires about why you might be downcast or distant if you haven’t updated in several days?  Or what if nobody reads your blog?

What does that mean for you as a social networker?

And crap, sometimes you may even feel a little peer pressure to link to the coolest stories or have the funniest status update or tweet about the most popular subject or find the next big story. 

Do you see the point?  This whole thing is just like high school!

Thankfully, however, I have learned that as a 31-year-old husband and father that I can seemingly talk to myself and be okay with that. 

I can carve out my little niche of the internet (I am talking to my 7 readers out there now) and be fine with that.  No big deal at all. 

I am hopefully well past that point in my life when I am trying to be the most popular kid in school or the best athlete or whatever.

But still.

We should all admit that, yes, it feels good to know that you are loved or popular or the talk of your corner of the internet.  And, yep, it does suck when no one seems to be paying attention.  I am sure lots of folks probably deal with these issues.

And not to go off on a tangent, but maybe that is just one of the dangers of social networking.  Another could be that we could get so busy attempting to connect with so many new folks that we fail to grab a movie with our spouses or write physical notes of encouragment when our real friends are going through crap. 

Not saying this is the case for me, I am just saying…

Anyway, the point of all this is that like any other type of human interaction, social networking does involve some sort of emotional involvement.  People can be made to feel good about themselves as a part of a community, but then they can also be made to feel like losers or outcasts if they don’t feel included in those communities.

I just think that maybe instead of letting social networking consume all aspects of our daily lives (and you know this is the case with A LOT of folks), maybe we should make a point to disconnect throughout the day. 

We need to be reminded every once in a while that we are more than Twitter users or Facebook friends.  We are more than just bloggers or anonymous posters on messages boards.

In reality, we need to connect with those who we know love us.  And if you think about it, it would probably do us each some good to spend that extra time with our friends and families.  Couldn’t hurt, right?

And to me, all of that sounds a crap of a lot better than re-living the same feelings I had while I was in high school.

What do you think? 

S

As I sit patiently waiting to receive the new Derek Webb record “Stockholm Syndrome” via digital download, let me just fill you all in on a couple of things I have been thinking about lately.  And granted, I don’t ever want to get too serious or deep on this blog, but sometimes I just have to scratch an itch.  So here I go.

One of the lyrics that DW mentions in the big ‘controversial song’ called “What Matters More” on his new album (which can be purchased here) is based on a Tony Campolo quote that goes like this: “First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a shit. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

Now obviously since DW has used a very similar lyric (and yes, he included the cursing), it is going to catch a few people off guard.  But my hope is that the lyric makes people think about the statement – it has certainly made me ponder if I really care about what happens in the rest of the world while I am so comfortable living in it.

At the same time, I am currently reading a book by a guy named Mark Scandrette who is an emergent church leader in California and is all about “walking in the way of Jesus”.

(And just to clarify, I do not consider myself progressive or cool enough to be an emergent – I simply dig SOME of their prospectives.  However, this is neither the time nor the place for that discussion.)

Anyway, one of the things Scandrette and many other leaders in this movement talk about is bringing heaven to earth versus bringing the folks of earth to heaven (my massive paraphrase).  Which, due to my being raised in conservative churches, is pretty much a foreign concept to me. 

And because I have been told all my life to only tell people about the gospel, I am kind of new to this whole concept of showing people the gospel through my actions and personal sacrifice.

However, I like the idea of both.

I think we need to share the gospel verbally (which the emergent folks probably don’t dig), but I also think we need to be missional and love our neighbors and enemies and point them to the gospel through our actions without having to verbalize the gospel to them (which is probably kind of weird sounding to most traditional church folks).

Basically, there needs to be a balance.

Which brings me back to Derek Webb and Mark Scandrette and how they are both making me reevaluate my own faith and how it is played out in the course of my daily life. 

In reality, neither of those guys get it perfectly right – no one has ever gotten it right except for Jesus.  Yet there are cool things I can learn from both lyrics to a song and words from a book.

Some of these things are like how I realize I never want to be pigeon-holed or labeled.  Or how I don’t ever want to fit a norm and have people peg me down as this type of Christian or that type of believer.  And how I understand I need to be more concerned and be less apathetic and indifferent. 

But I have also began realizing that that I need to be more purposeful in both verbalizing my faith and living my faith out in very meaningful ways and visual ways.

Combine all this with the fact that I am studying the book of Ecclesiastes right now, and holy crap, I am walking through some pretty heady stuff.

But the one thing that I truly know is that there is a hurting world out there that needs both the message of the gospel through my lips and the message of the gospel through my hands and feet. 

And at the end of the day, for me at least, it has to be both or it is not truly the gospel at all.

Anyway, that is what I am thinking about right now.  As always, I would love your thoughts.

S

Maybe you didn’t know this, but when any new music comes out in the form of an album, it usually comes out on a Tuesday.  I say that not because I am any sort of musician – and no, being a fairly decent bass clarinet player in the high school band doesn’t count – but because I am finally back on the blog. 

And thus it begins on a Tuesday - just like it does with new music.

It has been since the middle of December since I have been on here, and yeah, that is entirely too much time to not communicate with the six or seven people who consistently read my thoughts.  This will change starting today – Tuesday – and God willing, continue to you word by word, sentence by sentence, and paragraph by paragraph for the foreseeable future.

So what happened?  Where the heck did I go?  Well, as I look back to the fall when I was blogging all of the time, I realize now it was easy because I was so focused on the election and the political climate surrounding it.  It was also football season, and using Fridays as a time to get away from politics to discuss the upcoming OU game was an easy thing to do as well.  All in all, it was pretty easy to blog.

But what of the present?  President Obama has been in office for almost six months, our economy has worsened beyond anyone’s expectations, and we live in an even more fractured country than before the election.  The media has sold itself for a cheap thrill to the new administration, folks who never have are protesting across the country, and silently and slowly a way of life is eroding away.

Bleak, I know.  

To be honest and frank, I am pretty sure I have avoided this blog for the last 7 months or so because there hasn’t been any motivation for me.  Understand that I loathe the thought of being white noise in the midst of lots of other white noise.

And yes, I have probably become indifferent and slightly apathetic to it all.  And wow, am I now the existentialist I have always fought against?

Though I am not sure about my absent motivations, I am quite sure of the answers to these questions: Why today?  Why wait until now to jump back onto this ship?  Why go away for 7 months and lose your readership just to come back and write in the same climate you have purposely avoided?

The answer is simple: because I have to.

The thing is I am naturally a person who cannot hold their thoughts to 140 characters.  I talk out my frustrations, joys, and everything in between in a way that can best be described in the cliche of a “conscience stream of thought”. 

Basically, it is not that I don’t have anything to say, it is just that it takes me longer to get there than others.  Plus, for the most part, I don’t know what I am going to say until I, well, say it.  Much of the time it is impossible for me to plan out what is going to come out of this mouth of mine.

This is sometimes good, and yes, it is sometimes bad.

But at some point, it all has to come out.  Somewhere and somehow.  And oh yeah, I have this blog for it to come out on.  Nice.

Don’t get me wrong – I have tried tweeting, attempted to make my Facebook status poetic and mysterious, and even gone back a bit to my personal writing. 

Still, I feel like I need to come back here.

All that being said, for the next week or so I am going to try and get on here only once a day to talk about what is happening in my world.  Not THE world because there are so many people talking about that.  But rather what I am thinking about, listening to, and getting worked up about.  Then as time goes on, I will try to get on here multiple times during the day depending on my time and further motivation.

Just as before I will try and keep the tone down the middle the best I can, but I cannot promise anything.  I simply want to start writing again for those who want to hear my thoughts.  Whether it be for an audience of 10,000 or just me, that is enough.

All I know is that it is time to come back and talk again.  It feels good to be here, and I hope you will come back to listen.

S