and I saw Jesus just briefly...

it happened. right here in my little neck of the woods. I saw Jesus. Briefly. Given my numerous years on the planet I think brief is a good descriptor. but still... i saw him. my post before this one about ChristMAS I mentioned the lawsuit against the small texas town by anti-religious/atheists folks. well here's an update. The person in his 60s who brought the lawsuit had to drop it due to medical expenses he started incurring due to an illness/disease that is causing him to go blind. And he drives a taxi for a living. Yes, can't work. Can't afford a lawsuit. Can't afford the operation that will help his condition. Now some of you reading this have already had the thought that God was at work here. Nope. Not yet. But its coming...keep reading. One sweet little church member of this community saw a news report about this man and went to her pastor...to find out what they could do.... for this athiest... who had filed a lawsuit against them....who was going blind. Then started taking up donations to pay for his surgery for him. And they sent him the money. A bunch of christians showed love to a person. A love thy enemy kind of deal. A pray for those who persecute you scenario. Love thy neighbor as thyself. now you got it... Jesus had showed up. However briefly on the timeline of humanity in my small area of the world, Jesus showed up in the form of his followers and carried out the christianity that He had intended. The athiest could not believe it. He said for the first time in his life for he and his also athiest wife, christians treated him like the thought their bible said they were supposed to. His previous encounters with "christians" had not seemed very "christlike" it appears. He still doesn't believe in God, but somehow he now has a different opinion of what a christian might actually be.... jesus on earth. however briefly. ~npp

so what would you be doing

A headline in today's newspaper simply asked "If you knew the world was ending tomorrow, what would you do?". Supposedly another apocalyptic group thinks the world will end tomorrow, which if true will play havoc with my romantic intentions for the weekend, not too mention my retirement plans.
I really have no idea how these folks come up with this stuff. End of the World. Doomsday. Armageddon. The Rapture. Judgement Day. whatever. I guess it makes good headlines and gives people something to think about. Their mortality.
Sure, the possibility exists that it could all come to a halt tomorrow, and with my luck I'll probably be standing is some check out line that has the little flashing light on waiting for a supervisor... well you know what I mean. Or it could happen before I finish this senten.... (LOL)
You just never know. And know one else does either. Since the days of Jesus somebody has been thinking the end of the world is near. The disciples thought they would see it before they passed away. Didn't happen. People thought that the Civil War, The Great Depression, WWI and II and Hitler and whatever else was the end of the world. Nope, still here folks.
and its doubtful it will all come to a halt tomorrow either. so if your mortgage payment is due Monday, I would suggest mailing it off today.
So back to the headline. What would you be doing if this were the last day? My hope is that if you are a christian, that you would be doing whatever it is that you are doing at this exact moment. Or any moment. Every moment.
Loving others. Being a plus positive in this world. Making a difference. I hope that your answer is nothing out of the ordinary because it was ordinary people that Jesus asked to follow him. Nothing special was required.
Its like the parable of the 10 virgins and the lamps, we should always live as if the return of Jesus was imminent. Not in fear, but in anticipation. And not idly or passively awaiting either, but in serving. In being in relationship with one another.
I don't know if it will happen today or tomorrow or my lifetime or a thousand years or a million years from now, and frankly I don't care one way or another.
Jesus said only the father knows the day and time, so who am I to worry about it.
So what would I be doing? Exactly this.
Enjoy. ~npp

another political season comes and goes

I was watching a young friend's facebook yesterday and she was excited that she was going to vote for the very first time. And she makes it very clear that she is a fan of Barak Obama. I remember my first time to vote and how excited I was about it. I am not so excited this time.

The bulk of the comments were from her friends, both sides of the political spectrum, who were saying this or that about her choice of candidate and she became very defensive, very fast. And the name calling and labeling began. Stupid Republicans, dumb democrats, sarcasm, the country will go to hell if you elect so and so... and I just sighed.

I wanted to tell them that this stuff has been going on since I first voted. The claims that if you vote for the democrats the country will go to hell and if you vote for the republicans they will starve little children. I wanted to tell them that the personal attacks and fear mongering from both the left and the right means nothing. I wanted to tell them that in my lifetime, both parties have held all the power (executive and legislative) at some point and we are all still here. I wanted to tell them, but I didn't. I think this is something they may have to find out for themselves.

In my spiritual growth over the last decade, I have learned a few things. Democrats are not evil. Republicans are not always right. That if you vote out of some misguided party loyalty, then you are doing yourself and your country a disservice. I have learned that liberals and conservatives and moderates and independents all have something to say. I have learned I don't have to agree with any of them. I have learned to value all of them. I have learned to "agree to disagree". I have learned that if you honestly believe a certain thing and can back it up, you should vote your beliefs. YOUR BELIEFS. Not something someone else has taught you. Something you have come to believe yourself out of your walk. It is important. It is powerful. It might make a difference.

I wanted to tell them that neither party is going to solve any of the problems we face. They are not interested in that. They both have agendas and power trips that they are fueling and feeding. Meanwhile, the issues we face are still present. Poverty, terrorism, the economy, health care, crime, life, whatever. And four years from now they will still be present. But no one will remember the promises that were made. No one will hold them accountable.

Don't get me wrong, I do have my own convictions, beliefs, theories, preferences. I think there are certain things that are right and certain things that are wrong, certain policy approaches that are better than others, and I will vote that way. But not because I think one party or one person is going to descend from the heavens and establish Utopia on earth, but because I feel that is the right thing for me and my country. Jesus tells us in Matthew that the poor will always be among us, and that is true. He also says whatever you do for the least of these... So we have our work cut out for us. We need a sense of balance. We need statesmen who will stand on principle. We need a government "of they people, by the people and for the people".

Hopefully the fear mongers and haters and nasty pundits will go away for another four years so we can get back to doing what is important: Loving one another.

Now go vote.

Cigarettes, Soda Water and Jesus

I grew up in the 1970s basically. Those early formative years before reaching puberty and being distracted by girls wearing jordache jeans and coming into their womanness. It was a time of playful innocence, where awareness of things of the adult world had not yet raised its ugly head, and we were allowed to explore the limitless adventures our young minds could conjure up. Cowboys and Indians and Army and Bonnie and Clyde (I will not mention who was forced to play bonnie some times due to the lack of any girls in our group!). Little did I know of the world of sex, drugs and anti-war sentiment. For me, it was Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo and Saturday Morning cartoons. It was 3 channels on a TV with a manual dial. Life was good.

And in the summers, I would be transported into another country for a week or so at a time to visit my grandparents on my mothers side. They lived in Southeastern Oklahoma and this, though only a few hours away from my little town, seemed like an entirely different universe. And they were poor, but I didn't know it. As a kid, I never really noticed that some people lived in big houses and some didn't. Some lived in brick homes while some lived in trailer houses. And I was family and friends with them all. My grandparents lived in a four room house. Literally. If you take a perfectly square box and divided it equally into four parts, that's the house. And you can see each room from the other room by leaning this way or that.

My grandfather was German and my grandmother Native American. We don't know which tribe due to records being burned up in a fire of some sort. But if you look at her photograph, she looks just like Geronimo, but with boobs.

And grandfather was an alcoholic. Not a mean one but one nevertheless. He amused us as kids, with his wisp of white hair piled up on his head, he was a sight to behold. He was a logger in his early days and a tree fell on him. He walked with a cane the whole time I knew him and drew a disability check from the government. And they always had the best butter, cheese, peanut butter and honey. I didn't know that it was food subsidies. It tasted great and they always let us have all we wanted.

And he drank and cursed the whole time I knew him. And I didn't care. He and I would wait inside the house as my parents left, watching through the screen door their Chevrolet Caprice station wagon with the wood grain sides traveling down the limestone road, creating a dust trail that wouldn't settle for hours, and he would tell me to get me and him a beer. He drank Miller High Life in the bottle and man they were cold. He would then roll a Prince Albert cigarette, and then feign he couldn't get it to light. So he would have me light it for him then go ahead and smoke it with my beer. Man, that stuff was so tasty to a 10 year old, and it was our little secret, our little rebellion against the good wishes of my parents. And I loved it.

One day he ran out of beer, wine and whiskey, so he asked me and my cousin of the same age if we wanted to "go to town". Going to town in those days was a big deal because Grandad rarely left the forty acres he lived on. We loaded up in his old ford pickup and headed down the dirt roads to town, where he would buy us a "sody water" and a snack. City boy me would always ask for a Coke and a Snicker Bar, while my Oklahoma cousins would opt for a Orange Pop and a Moon Pie. And of course we would have to eat and drink it at the gas station so we could leave the bottle and not have to pay the deposit!

and somehow, we ended up at the liquor store. Now me and my cousin didn't know it was a liquor store, as grandad told us he was going in to see his girlfriend and get us some Arkansas Soda Pop, which sounded pretty good to me. He returned with two huge bottles of what can only be described as the best tasting grape juice that had to that point touched my lips. Now grandad made us drive back home while he sat on the passenger side and drank. Okay, he didn't really make us, we eagerly agreed to his arrangement. Anything to get to set up on the Sears Catalog and shift that 3 speed on the column. While one of us drove, the other drank. Then we switched places. I can't tell you how many peanut crops were ruined that day, but I'm sure somewhere there was one unhappy farmer.

Luckily, we made it back. Glory hallelujah. I went into the bedroom and fell out under the swamp fan on the bed and passed smooth out. As luck would have it, mom and dad returned a few hours later and found us all passed out. Jesus, the stuff hit the fan and off we go, me in the rear of the station wagon, bouncing around the back roads of Oklahoma, sticking my head out to rid myself of the contents of my stomach.

I'm not sure mom ever forgave him for that. I still can't believe we survived that and many other episodes. Every visit after that, I noticed that mom would make us go to the little baptist church that was close to granddad's place on Sunday morning, even though we didn't know anyone there. I would listen to the old time preacher screaming about sin, and I would think he had me and grandad pegged. And the best part is that the pulpit had a box in it, like a diorama box, with a three dimensional Jesus in it that would stare holes through me, no matter where I was setting. It was kind of creepy. Did Jesus know about the cigarettes? the beer? the Arkansas soda water? I'm sure he did.

I miss those moments. They come and go in an instant. Those experiences that are "once in a lifetime". Those people who loved you in their own way are also gone. And I miss them deeply. But I have those memories, memories of cigarettes, soda water and Jesus.

stupid christians

We finished up the Bill Hybels' "Just Walk Across the Room" book today. Though my group really didn't "get into it" overall, it brought up some interesting topics. (This book could have been condensed into a 15 page 'what not to do' guide for dummy's thing, but Bill probably couldn't have bragged on himself so much).

One of the topics centered around 'putting people first'! What a novel idea. I'm glad Bill pointed this out to us. Actually, its sad that he needed to point it out to christians, but truth is we as a group sometimes do a lousy job of putting people ahead of agendas or personal stuff. The pastor at my church hasn't even gotten this concept down, so obviously its not a lay person only issue.

One story was of a waitress that went to Willow Creek Church and she wrote Bill a 5 page letter detailing how the wait staff rotated on Sunday's having to wait on the Christians so no one got stuck with them all the time. They, as she said, are demanding, rude, and lousy tippers. Go figure.

So today after church, we go to a McAlister's Deli (where we go every sunday) and I am ordering this and that. The young girl taking my order says something to the Manager who responds 'well just do your best', and she replied that she had already gotten griped at. I asked her if the customers were giving her a hard time and she smiled and said someone was griping at her because the restaurant was low on straws or something that she had no control over. I look around and its obviously a church crowd in there, and this is beginning to look so familiar to the story Bill Hybel's spoke about. I responded "whats wrong with those christians anyway?!" She just smiled, leaned over the counter and whispered "Sundays are the worst".

Now, for arguement sake, it may not have been a Christian. Let me rephrase that: May not have been a person who claims to be a christian and attends church. But given the time, day and crowd I'm pretty sure it was. And I hope this girl doesn't judge Jesus by His so called followers.

So my question to you fellow Jesus freaks is this: When you are out and about town, when you see a cashier, public servant, custodial staff in your building, do you see them as a valuable child of God, a person on a journey in life? Or do you not even really see them at all? Do you know any of them by their first name?

Show me a parable where Jesus didn't have time for these folks. Tell me why you don't.