Last Friday I spent the morning at my daughter's preschool. I took a day off work, making sure to tell everyone I work with that I was proudly spending the time with my daughter. It was a great three hours.
The morning started with a variety of art projects. We colored, we glued, we were very creative. We then moved outside for some father-daughter time. My daughter lathered my face with shaving cream and "shaved" my face with a toy razor. I took a turn and shaved her face as well. We looked for gold rocks in the sandbox and she showed me how she can play on all the playground equipment.
We closed the morning with a beans-and-hot-dogs lunch (none of which my daughter ate) and a sing-along. I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world.
As I played with my daughter, I noticed a few things. First, it became obvious that several of these dads didn't seem to know what to do with their kids. They awkwardly talked and played, but it was unfortunate to see that not all of them appeared to have a close, playful relationhsip with their kids. Kinda sad.
But then there came the sing-along. It was amazing to see all these dads from all walks of life and from all educational and professional backgrounds singing the "hokey-pokey" with their kids. All pretenses and apprehensions were thrown out the door. Even the ones who appeared out of place earlier were really getting into it. Few could actually sing (or sing well at least), but all were having fun.
It's amazing what three hours with a bunch of three- and four-year-olds will do.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
We're singing the wrong song
Here's a little something I wrote awhile back...
In Elie Wiesel’s harrowing Holocaust memoir Night, he tells the unimaginable story of watching a thirteen-year-old boy being hanged to set an example for the other inmates. The young boy had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was now being punished by the Nazi soldiers. However, the boy was not killed instantly as the other two victims were. The boy did not weigh enough for his neck to break as the noose went taut. So he hung there, choking to death for over half an hour as the other concentration camp inmates were made to file pass. As they looked on, Elie overheard one of his fellow inmates wonder aloud, “For God’s sake, where is God?” Elie, at one point a very devout Jew before entering Auschwitz, responded in his own thoughts, “Where He is? This is where – hanging here from this gallows” (65).
The Holocaust left many, like Wiesel, wondering where is God in the midst of evil. When human beings turn on each other and commit horrible, unimaginable atrocities against each other, where is God? Why doesn’t He do something? Why doesn’t He stop it? These are questions that have been asked for hundreds, even thousands of years. After seeing her brother Lazarus die of a terrible illness, and Jesus delayed his visit to the home, Martha got frustrated with Jesus, saying to Him, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11). She knew Jesus had the ability to intervene and prevent her brother from dying, and yet He delayed his arrival a few extra days. Jesus, where were you when my brother needed you the most?
We have asked, “Where is God?” for thousands of years, and we still ask that question today. In their song “Wake Up Dead Man” from the Pop album U2 sings “Jesus, Jesus help me / I’m alone in this world / and a f***ed world it is too… Jesus, I’m waiting here boss / I know you’re looking out for us / but maybe your hands aren’t free / Your Father, He made the world in seven / He’s in charge of heaven / Will you put in a word for me?” Where are you God? We’re all alone in this f***ed up world. There is so much evil. So much pain. There is AIDS in Africa. There is genocide in Darfur. There is war in Iraq. Hurricane Katrina. On and on and on. Where are you God? Wake up, dead Man.
It’s an easy question to ask, but a difficult one when there seems to be no answer. Whether on a personal level or a global one, it is a question we have all come face-to-face with. We have all faced hardships, trials, and tribulations. We have all cried out and shaken our fists at the sky. We have all sung, “Wake up dead Man.”
But the thing is, we’re singing the wrong song. Right before “Wake Up Dead Man” is “Please,” a song that doesn’t ask, “where is God?” but “where is the Church?” The chorus says, “Please… please… get up off your knees.” It implores Christians to stop praying about the world’s troubles and get up and do something about them. Prayers are great, but sometimes prayer isn’t enough. I’m going to throw something out here: I think that while God is able to do something about our troubles, He often chooses not to because He wants us – His Church – to step up and do something in His stead. God is more than capable of stopping the genocide in Darfur. He can bring an end to the bloodshed in Iraq. He can stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. But He doesn’t. He expects us to do something about it.
All throughout history, tragedies have occurred. The Jewish Holocaust. The Armenian Holocaust. The Killing Fields of Cambodia. Rwanda. Bosnia. Darfur. AIDS. Katrina. And through it all, God stood silent. And so did we. We prayed about these events. We asked God to intervene. But why didn’t we do more? We need to get off our knees and do something. God has equipped us and empowered us to make a difference in our world. He desires for us to be a part of His work in the world. His work of healing. His work of redemption. His work of ending the pain and suffering we inflict upon each other and ourselves.
James says, “It isn’t enough to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all – it is dead and useless” (2:17 NLT). Faith is not simply praying for God to do something and then sitting back and waiting for results. Faith is stepping out and doing something and trusting that God will meet us along the way. We have the faith that God will answer our prayers, but what we fail to realize is that God wants us to be a part of that answer. Faith requires action.
But what can we do? How can we end the genocide in Darfur? How can we stop the spread of AIDS in Africa? How can we rebuild the Gulf Coast after Katrina? We can put our money and our time and our resources where our prayers are. But what difference will that make? If the Body of Christ actually got up off its collective knees and trusted that God would meet us as we stepped out in faith, amazing things could happen.
A case in point: Several months ago, groups of young people, primarily of Latin descent, decided they wanted to do something about the problems and issues faced by many immigrants, both legal and illegal. They got online and emailed their friends and posted messages on Myspace and organized a nationwide protest of our country’s current immigration policies. Then on May 1, these people stayed home from work and school. They didn’t go shopping. They didn’t fill up their gas tanks. They made a statement about the important impact that immigrants and their friends and families have on our country, and specifically its economy. And they got their point across. Although it is taking a while to sort out, Congress is finally trying to revamp our decades old immigration laws.
Or take for example the work of many celebrities in helping the various causes already mentioned in this essay. After Katrina hit, all of Hollywood and the music industry held benefit concerts and performances to raise millions for the relief effort. George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, and many others have brought poverty- and AIDS-stricken Africa to the spotlight. These celebrities have done so much to help those in dire need around the world. They have been quite successful in their efforts – and they don’t even have the power of the Holy Spirit working with them. Now imagine what we could do, the united Body of Christ millions strong and empowered by the Spirit, getting up off our knees and speaking out against AIDS and poverty and genocide. If that happened, people would listen and take notice. People would get on board and join us in our efforts. We could bring an end to the pain and suffering in our world. And we could answer the question, “Where is God in the midst of our pain and suffering?” He’s right here, using His Church to make a real difference in the world.
In Elie Wiesel’s harrowing Holocaust memoir Night, he tells the unimaginable story of watching a thirteen-year-old boy being hanged to set an example for the other inmates. The young boy had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was now being punished by the Nazi soldiers. However, the boy was not killed instantly as the other two victims were. The boy did not weigh enough for his neck to break as the noose went taut. So he hung there, choking to death for over half an hour as the other concentration camp inmates were made to file pass. As they looked on, Elie overheard one of his fellow inmates wonder aloud, “For God’s sake, where is God?” Elie, at one point a very devout Jew before entering Auschwitz, responded in his own thoughts, “Where He is? This is where – hanging here from this gallows” (65).
The Holocaust left many, like Wiesel, wondering where is God in the midst of evil. When human beings turn on each other and commit horrible, unimaginable atrocities against each other, where is God? Why doesn’t He do something? Why doesn’t He stop it? These are questions that have been asked for hundreds, even thousands of years. After seeing her brother Lazarus die of a terrible illness, and Jesus delayed his visit to the home, Martha got frustrated with Jesus, saying to Him, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11). She knew Jesus had the ability to intervene and prevent her brother from dying, and yet He delayed his arrival a few extra days. Jesus, where were you when my brother needed you the most?
We have asked, “Where is God?” for thousands of years, and we still ask that question today. In their song “Wake Up Dead Man” from the Pop album U2 sings “Jesus, Jesus help me / I’m alone in this world / and a f***ed world it is too… Jesus, I’m waiting here boss / I know you’re looking out for us / but maybe your hands aren’t free / Your Father, He made the world in seven / He’s in charge of heaven / Will you put in a word for me?” Where are you God? We’re all alone in this f***ed up world. There is so much evil. So much pain. There is AIDS in Africa. There is genocide in Darfur. There is war in Iraq. Hurricane Katrina. On and on and on. Where are you God? Wake up, dead Man.
It’s an easy question to ask, but a difficult one when there seems to be no answer. Whether on a personal level or a global one, it is a question we have all come face-to-face with. We have all faced hardships, trials, and tribulations. We have all cried out and shaken our fists at the sky. We have all sung, “Wake up dead Man.”
But the thing is, we’re singing the wrong song. Right before “Wake Up Dead Man” is “Please,” a song that doesn’t ask, “where is God?” but “where is the Church?” The chorus says, “Please… please… get up off your knees.” It implores Christians to stop praying about the world’s troubles and get up and do something about them. Prayers are great, but sometimes prayer isn’t enough. I’m going to throw something out here: I think that while God is able to do something about our troubles, He often chooses not to because He wants us – His Church – to step up and do something in His stead. God is more than capable of stopping the genocide in Darfur. He can bring an end to the bloodshed in Iraq. He can stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. But He doesn’t. He expects us to do something about it.
All throughout history, tragedies have occurred. The Jewish Holocaust. The Armenian Holocaust. The Killing Fields of Cambodia. Rwanda. Bosnia. Darfur. AIDS. Katrina. And through it all, God stood silent. And so did we. We prayed about these events. We asked God to intervene. But why didn’t we do more? We need to get off our knees and do something. God has equipped us and empowered us to make a difference in our world. He desires for us to be a part of His work in the world. His work of healing. His work of redemption. His work of ending the pain and suffering we inflict upon each other and ourselves.
James says, “It isn’t enough to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all – it is dead and useless” (2:17 NLT). Faith is not simply praying for God to do something and then sitting back and waiting for results. Faith is stepping out and doing something and trusting that God will meet us along the way. We have the faith that God will answer our prayers, but what we fail to realize is that God wants us to be a part of that answer. Faith requires action.
But what can we do? How can we end the genocide in Darfur? How can we stop the spread of AIDS in Africa? How can we rebuild the Gulf Coast after Katrina? We can put our money and our time and our resources where our prayers are. But what difference will that make? If the Body of Christ actually got up off its collective knees and trusted that God would meet us as we stepped out in faith, amazing things could happen.
A case in point: Several months ago, groups of young people, primarily of Latin descent, decided they wanted to do something about the problems and issues faced by many immigrants, both legal and illegal. They got online and emailed their friends and posted messages on Myspace and organized a nationwide protest of our country’s current immigration policies. Then on May 1, these people stayed home from work and school. They didn’t go shopping. They didn’t fill up their gas tanks. They made a statement about the important impact that immigrants and their friends and families have on our country, and specifically its economy. And they got their point across. Although it is taking a while to sort out, Congress is finally trying to revamp our decades old immigration laws.
Or take for example the work of many celebrities in helping the various causes already mentioned in this essay. After Katrina hit, all of Hollywood and the music industry held benefit concerts and performances to raise millions for the relief effort. George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, and many others have brought poverty- and AIDS-stricken Africa to the spotlight. These celebrities have done so much to help those in dire need around the world. They have been quite successful in their efforts – and they don’t even have the power of the Holy Spirit working with them. Now imagine what we could do, the united Body of Christ millions strong and empowered by the Spirit, getting up off our knees and speaking out against AIDS and poverty and genocide. If that happened, people would listen and take notice. People would get on board and join us in our efforts. We could bring an end to the pain and suffering in our world. And we could answer the question, “Where is God in the midst of our pain and suffering?” He’s right here, using His Church to make a real difference in the world.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
It's been awhile
It's been a long time since I've written anything here. Too long perhaps. So often the urgent matters of life take priority over the important things. I know I often get the two confused. But hopefully when life gets crazy (and that happens often), I can take a step back and consider what is really important and what can be put off for a little while.
It's been awhile since I've visited the site and added my two-cents-worth to the realm of cyberspace. But hopefully I can get back here a little more frequently. After all, I do still have some things to say.
It's been awhile since I've visited the site and added my two-cents-worth to the realm of cyberspace. But hopefully I can get back here a little more frequently. After all, I do still have some things to say.
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