I came across this quote from a good friend who is the wisest young man I’ve ever know.
Quit looking for the solution and find the opportunity in the problem itself. Could it be that the precise reason for these problems is the opportunity to bear witness to God’s sufficiency admidst the problem? Could it be that the answer is: there is no coping strategy. Could it be that the call of Christ is not to solve the problem, but to suffer it? Perhaps the call is not to the end, but to the journey….
Maybe the gospel of Jesus … is all about our relationship with Jesus rather than about ideas. And perhaps our lists and formulas and bullet points are nice in the sense that they help us memorize different truths, but harmful in the sense that they blind us to the necessary relationship that must begin between ourselves and God for us to become His followers. And worse, perhaps our formulas and bullet points and steps steal the sincerity with which we might engage God.
http://donmilleris.com/2012/01/31/why-scripture-includes-so-much-poetry/
Youth cannot reach their potential through the influence of peers. They best mature through the influence of older, wiser, and more experienced mentors. If generational segregation was the start of the moral downfall of youth culture, than re-connection through formal mentorship is the logical solution to empower youth against the curse of low expectations.
I am, maybe, the ultimate Protestant, the man at the end of the Protestant road, for as I have read the Gospels over the years, the belief has grown in me that Christ did not come to found an organized religion but came instead to found an unorganized one. He seems to have come to carry religion out of the temples into the fields and sheep pastures, onto the roadsides and the banks of rivers, into the houses of sinners and publicans, into the town and the wilderness, toward the membership of all that is here. Well, you can read and see what you think.
Jayber Crow – Wendell Berry
For whatever reason, while looking at the x-ray of my fractured foot, it reminded me of when I was a young boy and my mother would take me to the shoe store. It seems that we always got Buster Brown shoes. What was the most fun was that when I tried on the shoes I got to use the fluoroscope to see exactly how they fit my foot. Very cool.
The gimmick changed from decade to decade to suit the market at the time, but the most famous sales pitches were that the fluoroscope allowed salesmen to better fit shoes and that it made it more fun for kids to go to the shoe store. During the Great Depression, a popular sales pitch was that the fluoroscope allowed the best possible fit, which made for longer-lasting shoes and implied that customers would not have to buy as many pairs for themselves or for their children. In reality, the shoe-fitting fluoroscope was little more than a way to attract potential customers because essentially the same fit could be obtained by simple measurements.
Buster Brown was my favorite brand of shoe. Buster hid in a shoe and had a dog named Tige.
You cannot walk the second journey with first journey tools. You need a whole new tool kit.
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr
Rohr’s statement regarding the first half of our lives and the second half has been proven correct in my experience. Most of the tools that I found necessary and useful in the first half of my life have not served me well in the second half. In fact, it never occurred to me that I would need different tools. The tools I refer to are both practical and spiritual tools. With regard to spiritual tools, my first journey spiritual tools were mostly ineffective.
One of the things I remember about my father was his propensity for always trying to do a job with whatever tools he had available rather than taking the time and expense to get the tool designed to do the job. For example, he would always repair the brakes on our cars. Removing and installing brake shoes necessitated brake spring pliers. Dad refused to procure any brake spring pliers, insisting that the job could be done with ordinary pliers. I must say that he always got the job done but at pretty high cost… busted knuckles, wasted time, frustration and anger, improper installation requiring re-installation; not to mention the lessons he was teaching his son in the process. I followed his example. Thankfully, I eventually decided to have the brakes on my vehicles repaired by a real mechanic.
In retrospect, my first journey spiritual tools were akin to the ordinary pliers my father used. It seems to me that if I had used the proper tools in the first journey, I would have been better prepared for the second half. At least I could have avoided all those busted knuckles, et al; and maybe have taught my children a different lesson.
A quote from interview with Kerry Burke who has been reporting on crime for the New York Daily News, primarily homicides—or murder and mayhem, as he tends to call it
I go into these houses and there aint no men. I walk into these places and there aint no men. There are mothers and grandmothers, and there are these children that belong to whom exactly? Families are fractured. I see the unwanted children. Sometimes they are males around, but theyre the cats who are living off of the women. They are on the couch, there for the drink and the drugs or whatever money she has. They are the broken men. But there are no men. There are no fathers. Time and time again.
The first 1:40 of this video recognizes and honors the Fern Creek HS Marine Corps Jr ROTC. Their accomplishments are outstanding.
Grandson Ryan is a member and performs with their competition drill team. He has done a great job and works very hard. I am proud of him. Congratulations and keep up the good work.
This video is a short clip from their competition this past Saturday when they placed first.
For the Joy of the Journey is back up following several frustrating days after my site was hacked. I am still tweeking the design but all my posts are recovered and I’m in the process repairing my picture links. That will take some time but I am grateful to be back on line. I have also restored my Pew Notes blog.
This experience has been helpful in a couple of ways. First, I know a lot more about websites and databases than before. Second, it was an opportunity to rethink the whole idea of blogging and social media, et al. I considered abandoning it all together but after some consideration I decided to continue. I’m not sure how much of an audience I have. If I knew exactly I would probably reverse my decision.
I am enjoying Pew Notes. I keep finding a lot of good stuff in my notes. Since both blogs are published to Facebook and Twitter, perhaps the audience will expand.
A few days ago I took the time to look back at 2011. The year was full and there were a lot of events that shaped the year. Here are some highlights from 2011:
I took pottery classes taught by my friend Tim Vetters. I enjoyed them enough to take two sessions. I am not sure that I got in touch with my artistic self but it was well worth the time. Working with clay is a humbling experience. I was never able to get the hang of centering on the wheel.
We are surrounded by a number of rental properties, many of which are occupied by seminary families. We have gotten to know many of them and close friendships have developed. Asbury Theological Seminary completed the construction of 100 family housing units early in 2011. As a result, our seminary neighbor families moved into the new housing. It was very good for them but it was sad to not have them close by. The vacancies around us have filled and we are looking forward to getting to know our new neighbors. The continual turnover of neighbors is always a good opportunity to get to know new people.
Toward the end of the year our street was closed to through traffic as a result of the construction of single student housing by the seminary at the east end of our street. This has temporarily impeded the flow of people past our house. I miss the front porch interactions but I am looking forward to this fall when the street will be reopened and I expect there will more people passing than before.
We had a very successful year with our guest house. We had 180+ guests from 19 different states and Canada. It was rented 142 days, way beyond our goal for our first full year. It has really been a pleasure to meet and get to know so many different people. We are gaining a number of returning guests. Ann and I really enjoy being hosts.
2011 was a very interesting year for me health wise. I had more issues and opportunities than the previous ten years combined. I will not elaborate on the details but I do know that I have a greater awareness of my health status and the responses necessary to continue enjoy the life style that I have enjoyed in the past few years.
Tanya received her Master’s degree as a Nurse Practitioner from Vanderbilt University. Although I am geriatric rather than pediatric, I am very fortunate to have a medical advocate at my disposal. She keeps a close eye on me.
2011 could be described as the year of baseball. Ann and I have come to enjoy Cincinnati Reds baseball. I attended opening day and we took in several games together. We had a special family day with the Gabeharts and Crocketts. It was a great ball game and much fun.
My seminarian friend Mark, invited me to his Thursday night fellowship with other seminary students. I have found it be a very rewarding experience. I have met and gotten to know several men from a wide array of nationalities and cultures. Our conversations provided me with a deeper understanding of the scope of the kingdom of God. I continue to be impressed with the faith and passion of the seminary families.
Ann and I took on some remodeling projects at our house. We added a new bathroom and reconfigured our mud/laundry room. That allowed us to reconfigure our existing bathroom. Lots of work but it has turned out to be very nice. We also re-tiled the fireplace in our living room. Ann painted our kitchen and will be painting other rooms.
Earlier this year I determined to catch a number of feral cats that were hanging out in our neighborhood. They were multiplying rapidly and action was required. I managed to catch three and have them spayed and neutered. They were off-spring of mother and daddy feral cats. It was not long before kittens began to appear. Ann I spotted there hang put and managed to capture 5 of them along with the mother. They were all taken to the animal shelter. Only daddy cat remained but he is very wary. Thankfully, since he has no mate, he doesn’t appear around here much and there are no additional cats. The three cats that were fixed have become fixtures. Ann has adopted them and feeds and waters them. They enjoy our front porch but will not allow us to get near them except for a few rare occasions.
Although we did not go to Florida in Jan – Feb, we had several trips and visits this past year. Carter and Lori and Clark and Vanessa both moved in 2011. Carter and Lori moved from Birmingham, AL to Dallas, Texas. We were able to visit them in Birmingham in May. Carter and I went bass fishing and had a great time. We got to visit them in Dallas on our way to Abilene and see their new home located in the downtown area of Dallas. They will be experiencing urban living for the first time. Clark and Vanessa moved from Burlington, IA to Racine, WI. We traveled to Racine and enjoyed visiting for a few days. It was our visit time in the area and we enjoyed it very much. Clark and I did some “urban” fishing. We caught several nice salmon.
In February we went to Memphis to celebrate Neyland and Turner’s first birthday at Scott and Allison’s. It was a grand time. They came to visit us for their first time in August.We also got to spend some time with them in the fall on our way to Texas. They are great kids.
In September, Ann and I flew to New Mexico and met our friends Ron and Jean Like and toured northeast New Mexico for several days. We enjoyed it very much and hope to return in the near future.
There were many other enjoyable times. As I reflect on the year, it becomes more and more obvious how blessed we are. I look forward to 2012 with deep gratitude for our lives and circumstances.
