Renewal

It's funny how life is.  One day you feel on top of the world, the next day not so much. To extrapolate further, it seems like for an entire YEAR one can feel on top of the world, and the next year feel like life has just kicked you in the shins and left you on the sidelines to nurse your sores. 

For the past couple of years, life has kicked me in the shins.  I gotta be honest and say it, because it's true and there's no point hiding it.  Life is a grand, wonderful experience, and the road I'm on is uniquely mine, so I won't bemoan THE ROAD itself, just the fact that the road is sometimes rocky and difficult to walk on.  

I feel as if the pavement has been very, very hot and I've been walking in a a thin pair of flip-flops which have about worn out, melting now and then and sticking to the pavement. My foot slips out of the sticky flip-flop, and I stumble onto the hot pavement, and hop around like a rabbit for a few minutes until I get the flip-flop unstuck and back on my foot. 

But, the pavement has been cooling a bit, I think, and the shoes I've found definitely fit better, and are much more supportive than a pair of flip-flops.  The road is still rocky and steep, but I'm able to walk the road a bit easier now, seeing as how I have better equipment. 

Make any sense? No?  That's OK, it's my blog and this writing is a cathartic experience for me alone, really.  If someone else wants to read it and get something out of it, I'm pleased to have shared, but first and foremost, this is for me. 

I've had a bit of a dry spell when it comes to writing about life.  As you can see, my last post here was back in May of 2007, over 2 years ago.  I am, though, beginning to feel the bug to write and discuss things again, and felt it was time to renew this journal.  I tried an experiment with my Pollock Pines journal, but the Pollock Pines experiment itself was somewhat flawed, so writing about the experience became an exercise in frustration.  Writing about frustration while frustrated is not fun, and in fact is frustrating (like the way I slipped three different tenses of frustrate into one sentence?), so that experiment went quickly by the wayside. 

Which brings me to today.  I miss writing about life, and what I believe and what I feel.  I miss being open and honest with the world about what's on my mind, and talking to others about what's on their mind.  

So.... I'm gonna renew this, my first and longest standing journal.  This journal dates back several years, and follows my life through several phases.  From anger and sadness, to joy, to a renewed interested in Christ and teaching and singing.  I talk about my parents and family, and trips with my kids.  But most of all.... I talk and share with those who might want to know me better.  

To that end, for anyone who might care, I declare this blog renewed and re-opened for business!

Admission is free, but donations gladly accepted. 

On Protests and Blunt Clubs

I drove by San Juan High School yesterday, where my daughter attends school, and saw a rather large protest going on.

Members from a local church were protesting the suspension of a student for wearing an anti-gay t-shirt during the Day of Silence a week or so ago. The Day of Silence is in support of Gay and Lesbian tolerance on campus, and a Christian young man wore a t-shirt stating "homosexuality is sin". He was asked to remove it, refused, and so was suspended as being in violation of school policies against wearing clothing with offensive messages.

Now, I understand that this places the schools in a tough position, because both sexual orientation and religious views are "protected" groups in the schools. The schools are charged with promoting a safe atmosphere for learning, and State education codes explicitly prohibit discrimination or harassment based on gender, race, sexual orientation, and religion, among other things. That's not what my letter is about. I feel for the administrators who are mostly decent people trying to do their jobs the best they can, and are put in a very tough spot.

There were about 30 or so people lining Greenback Lane directly in front of the main parking lot of San Juan HS. They held professionally printed signs, with bold letters proclaiming "God Hates Sin", "God Hates Sodomy", Homosexuality is Sin", The Wages of Sin is Death", "Christian Student Suspended for Wearing T-shirt", and several with bible verses relating to Sodom and Gomorrah and Romans 2, as well as a sign saying something about "taking our nation back". The group was general peaceful, standing for the most part quietly along the street, talking to each other while drivers went by and either honked in support or not.

What I want to say is, it broke my heart when I drove by that scene. Looking into the faces of those with the signs, and reading the message they were relating, I felt nothing but aggression and severe judgementalness from that group. Here were Christian brothers and sisters, fellow followers of Christ, and all I could think was "How does any of this show the love of Jesus to students they are trying to reach?" I had no quarrel with the theology of their statements, and the leaflet they were handing out was biblically accurate as far as I saw, but where was the love of Christ?

It honestly brought tears of sadness to my eyes to think that my daughter, who attends San Juan, would look at this group and in some way equate their actions with what I'm trying to teach her about Christ.

I though back to JT's sermon on Sunday. I think he was right on the money. Luke 6:22-24, "God blesses you who are hated and excluded and mocked and cursed because you are identified with me, the Son of Man. When that at happens, rejoice! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were also treated that way by your ancestors." NLT

We know the world will hate us BECAUSE OF our love for Christ. I think Christ is assuring us that, if the world notices we are different, then we are on the right track in serving Him. I just don't see the joy or celebration of Christ in this type of protest, though. Instead, I see a political statement, demanding that the world respect Christ's message and our right to say it, when that's not the way Christ brought his message into the world! He brought it freely, to those that would have "ears to hear", not to be drummed into our ears by force. No one is ever forced to accept Christ's message, OR bend politically to appease the desires of His followers.

Luke 6:26-29, "What sorrows await you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets. But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn the other cheek." NLT

As JT said, this turning of the cheek is the Christian response to the personal attack on our faith, our ethics, our morals, and our very being because of Christ. In so many places throughout the bible, the Christian response to persecution is prayer for our "enemies" (whoever they be), responding not in kind (by protest and political action) but by kindness, gentleness, and assertive preaching of the Good News of Jesus.

Mind you, JT noted that that this passage is not saying we should lie down and allow ourselves to be physically assaulted without trying to protect ourselves. However, he also sighted the example of the early Christians, who, when faced with no other choice, and were unable to do anything to protect themselves, went to their deaths in the Roman Coliseum and elsewhere with that joy and faith that Jesus talked about in Luke 6:22. Jesus spoke that "turn the other cheek" phrase not just as a spiritual lesson, but with full understanding that His followers would, on occasion, have to literally turn the other cheek even unto death.

Anyway, I say all this in an effort to clear my own mind and solidify my own thoughts on this protest that I observed. My daughter said most of her friends thought the protesters were stupid and mean, and she did too. That broke my heart.

As Christians, we do have a responsibility to share the Good News in all places, boldly, but with love. The lack of love makes the Good News into very bad news because it confronts people with sin in their (our, my) life, and places a choice in front of each of us. Without the Good News that not only is there sin, but a loving, hopeful way to overcome that sin and find reconciliation with God, then the Good News becomes nothing more than a blunt club with which to beat people over the head.

There IS a place for Christian activism, and I will support those who feel led to go out and speak up boldly regarding what they see as wrongdoings in society, but that activism must ALWAYS be tempered with love and gentleness. What I saw yesterday felt much more like a blunt club, and that made me very sad.

I wonder what a prayer rally held in front of the school would have looked like, with signs stating that we are meeting to pray for the students and asking that God would bless those who are standing firm in their faith as a way to show His love to even more students and staff at the school? Probably very different.

If you actually read this far, God Bless you for putting up with my tirade! I speak not as any authority, just as one trying to work things out in his heart and mind, to try to serve Christ better.

I invite your thoughts or comments.