The Battle for the Soul

Hope you're sitting, this could take a while. Lenee and I just returned from a 20th anniversary trip to San Pancho, Mexico...a little village north of Puerto Vallarta. We had an unbelievably good time, in more ways than one. We were quite surprised to see that this little pueblo of 1800 was experiencing a dramatic onslaught of New Age influences: Yoga and Wellness Centers, chakra aligners and white robed artisans committing their "dreams" onto canvas.

A new community center had just opened, with an emphasis on activities for children. The center offers a computer lab with 14 computers, a library, and a variety of classes - including english. But a VERY strong theme running throughout is a Green Philosophy...to an extreme, earth-worshiping position. It was a bit disheartening to see the influence that these well-meaning but misguided folks were having on San Pancho.

Then, we got home and took the family to see Avatar. While it was creative in certain aspects, and the 3D was interesting, Avatar is, at its core, a New Age propaganda piece. Corporations and the military are inherently evil, planets are called "Mother" and there is a life-force connecting all things. Pantheism, Karma and pagan rituals are to be revered. And it is the biggest money-making movie in the history of the world.

We are the proverbial frogs in the pot, and we're enjoying the jacuzzi...even paying for the privilege. Lord, help us.

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Where's my mountaintop? I wonder...

At 45, I thought I'd have more answers by now. Turns out I've got more questions than I used to have, and most of the old questions remain unanswered. Questions like: What do I want to be when I grow up? What will our lives be like after the kids are gone? How many licks does it take to the get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Whatever happened to Spandau Ballet?

I see people struggle with some pretty hairy stuff, and sometimes, not always, but sometimes, the resolution seems startlingly obvious. And then I watch them do the opposite. And then I listen to them complain about their lot in life, how God has let them down, if he's even interested in them, and never once do they suspect that they are their own worst enemy.

I wonder if our contact with people at the store is making any difference to them, to their lives. I wonder if all the hours and hours and hours I spend studying, preparing sermons, counseling and leading accomplishes anything other than making me unreasonably tired and cranky. I wonder if I would be doing it all even if I didn't get paid.

I wonder, if offered a small cabin on a mountaintop in the Great Smoky Mountains, all expenses paid for life, how quickly I could pack. I wonder if that's my version of mansion that Jesus is preparing for me...I sure hope so.

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Humility...or lack thereof

There's this guy that comes to Groovy on a fairly regular basis...a real music fan. A partial list of his recent purchases would include Beatles, Mastodon, Matisyahu and Sly and His Stoned Family...nice, great variety. Anyway, Ringo (not his real name, but a nod to the luckiest drummer in the world) and I always manage to get into discussions that range from music to metaphysics to current world events. His last visit was no different. After covering our usual globe-spanning range of topics, he began to explain his tendency to keep religion, especially Christianity, at a reasonably-safe arm's length. It was, he surmised, due to his lack of humility. Humility.

This caught me slightly unawares. I'm always up for a good debate, and usually it's "oh you Christians are a bunch of hypocrites", to which I reply..."Yep!, that's why we need Jesus". Or "you can't prove God exists" to which I reply "and you can't prove he doesn't, so we're both operating out of faith"...things like that. But I've yet to encounter anyone honest enough to actually admit to being too selfish, too self-centered, to self-dependent, too independent to need a God, much less a Savior.

Somehow, I found this refreshing. Truth be told, I battle with that as well. I think we all do, to some degree. In my case, however, it tends to drive me closer to a God who is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. Takes a little pressure off....feel me?

Anyway, can't wait for the next convo...ought to be scintillating.

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Bittersweetness?! Is that a word?

While I am not an adherent of the Taoist philosophy of the Yin and Yang, I understand its appeal. Good and evil. Light and dark. Opposing forces that bring balance. Life has a way of mixing both the good and the bad in a grand boiling stew pot of human existence. Invariably, it seems, in our journey through this temporal life we are often met with the phenomenon of "two steps forward, one step back." We are often forced to consider that, but for this one little annoying thing, or, with that little systemic tweak, things could be better than they are. And then, woefully, we realize that some of these irritants are beyond our control or even our influence.

I think it is exactly these moments that the Apostle Paul was referring to when he said "I have learned to be content in all things." Let us all candidly admit that we are rarely content with anything, much less All Things. It took me a while to get it, but notice that Paul said he "learned" to be content. It did not come naturally for him any more than it does for us. But Paul knew, and apparently was better able to remember, that if God is sovereign, and I believe he is, then the "one step back" experience must be according to his plan, as well the two steps forward.

Unlike the Taoist, I am content to believe, and with good reason I think, that God IS in control, and not some ethereal life force. Perhaps that's where true contentment starts.

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Yadda, Yadda

I'm not entirely sure why I have decided to "blog" I think it's because I am philosophically opposed to "tweeting" and have a remarkably healthy aversion to building a Facebook farm. (I donlt even know what that means...but I've been ignoring them like crazy.) Oh, and we don't have Directv anymore. And you'd think that not having Directv would lead to significant amounts of time spent gazing, longingly, into the shiny black rectangular appliance which hangs on the wall. Youd' think. But you'd be wrong. Bravo Hulu!

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