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| I was in this conversation the other day and the random comment was thrown out that the youth of today don’t know how to be quiet anymore. “Being quiet” was meant as taking the time to find stillness and be comfortable with silence and reflection. I didn’t really respond to the comment but there were nods around the table that this seemed so. All of them were at least a little older than me so you might think it was a dismissive statement. I know it wasn’t meant to be, it was out of genuine concern that today’s youth seem to have to fill their every waking moment with activity. And to some extent, I suppose it’s true. However, it reminded me that many people will say this kind of thing, shake their head, and wonder why the younger generations don’t get it. Since then, I’ve been going over it in my head. I got to thinking, isn’t it kind of our fault that kids these days don’t have time to be still or quiet? Well, not my fault. At least I don’t think its Gen-X’s fault. It’s possible we’re partially to blame as we’re getting to that yuppie age but I mean moreover our parents (which I suppose will ruffle some feathers). I think Gen-X was where it really came into full swing. Isn’t it partially our fault that the latest generation sits at a desk doing homework, texting, listening to their iPods and watching television, all at the same time? Bear with me here. Multitasking. Remember that word? That’s the word I kept hearing as I grew up. I didn’t get it all that strongly from my parents but I sure heard it in popular culture. It was a buzz word that meant productivity and progress. multitasking — n 1. the execution of various diverse tasks simultaneously 2. the carrying out of two or more tasks at the same time by one person Business especially picked up this word and ran with it. Being a capitalist society (no I’m not bashing capitalism); this was the magic word for profits. Did I say profits? I meant productivity. Not only feasible in business; the word bled over into all jobs. Even if the job’s purpose wasn’t to bring in profit revenue, the saving of any money by means of increased productivity amounted to the same thing. And so it bled in to our schooling. Being good capitalists and champions of progress, our administrations and schools embraced the business model. (Knowing that teachers don’t always have a say, keep in mind that this isn’t an accusation of teachers in general.) So we were told that good students and workers needed to multitask to be the most efficient and productive citizens. Multitasking: dividing your attention among activities so that you may do more things at once. Productivity is the goal. Productivity equals more; in amount if not quality. With all the demands on being productive and doing more, it appears as though we created this new generation to do exactly what we wanted. They spend more time doing school and extra-curricular activities. So in between all of that they have to fit in social lives and leisure time. Is it any wonder that they can’t be quiet? So then we come to the question: What do we do about it? Should it change? Should we demand less? Should we go back to telling each other that our best is enough? Do we say that more isn’t good for us? We are fully immersed in this lifestyle now. How do we affect a societal change? What we can’t do is claim to have no understanding of why kids are the way they are. | |
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| I finally got around to my second tattoo. Tattoos are very personal things and I wanted to make sure this was it. I had thought about it pretty steady for a bout a year. The color gradient is it's actual color, not a quirk of the camera. It took about an hour to finish. That's a small amount of time for a pro but a bit of time for me. It's the two perfect circles (inner and outer rings) that took the most time.   For those of you who may not know it, my favorite cult movie is The Wizard of Speed and Time starring Mike Jittlov. I'm pretty happy with it! | |
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| I'm preparing a lesson, again. This time it's for the 3rd and 4th graders about sincere worship and how we get distracted from it. The scripture (John 2:13-22) deals with Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. It's one of my favorite passages because Jesus is consumed with passion for his Father.
It made me realize that I can't remember the last time I lost myself in worship. I'm doing a lot of considering lately and have discovered I greatly desire to serve God with abandon, and to lose myself to worship.
Part of it's distractions but part of it's on me. I think abandon or zeal comes from constant immersion in the Word. I think the Word is what keeps us open to stepping outside of ourselves whenever we are distracted by work, projects, or how we'd prefer a different type of music than we're hearing.
I thinks it's time for me to refocus on this.
Psalm 69:9a - "For zeal for your house consumes me."
I so very much want to be consumed...
Father, give me a heart for worshiping you! Help me to hold on to you and cling to your Word. Keep me away from distractions so that I may lose myself in you! Teach me to seek you with abandon and zeal. Amen.
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| I've been prepping for a lesson on Mark 8:31-38. It's the passage where Jesus foretells of his death and resurrection. Peter, his mind being on human things and expecting a conquering messiah, tries to shush Jesus up. This results in the famous "Get behind me Satan!" line of which I scream at people when they remind me of the terrible Highlander 2 movie. *shudder*
Jesus further explains that to be His disciple, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross. Dying on a cross was a excruciating and shameful way to die. This scared the shi poo out of his disciples. And let's be honest, it wasn't a great marketing statement on Jesus' part.
Ultimately, Jesus is talking about commitment. Following Jesus isn't simply a Sunday-morning-comfortable-pew sort of thing. It's not an I-can't-make-time-for-God-because-I've-got-sports kind of thing. It's not about convenience or fitting it in your schedule if you can. It's an all consuming full time calling. It's what we're here for. It's not how we're saved (grace alone) but it is our responsibility as believers.
All of this got me thinking about how hard it is to go simply beyond the decision to commit and the action of commitment. I started thinking of all the things I actually commit to before I commit to taking up that cross. I realized that I spend a lot of time and commitment finding ways to entertain myself - whether it's playing on the computer, reading a novel, or watching TV. Often, I plan my day (consciously or unconsciously) around maximizing my down time.
So my question to throw out is: What things do you commit your whole being to if not taking up your cross? (Be honest, we're all guilty of this.) | |
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| I'm always torn when purchasing a new Star Wars action figure. Right, let's move on past the part where you're thinking to yourself he still buys action figures and just go with it.
Tactile experience, or touching for those of you who think I made it sound too fancy, is a powerful thing. An object seems less real until we touch it. That's why babies are always grabbing things. It's intimate and certain knowledge about an object.
The internal spiritual war (what laypeople refer to as struggle) when adults buy toys is always between leaving it in original packaging in the hopes that it will one day have increased in value enough to retire on, or to give in to our inner child and play with it. But let's face it, no modern toy is ever going to be worth enough for me to buy my own island. (If such an island was to be purchased, it would be renamed to Spatula City. Don't question it.) Heck, it probably would even be enough for me to buy a TV.
I could always leave it unopened so that I could display it in a museum like display case, ensuring that it will for ever stay pristine and viewable. That's what adults do, correct? We show case our collections for others to enjoy as well.
Don't be silly, of course I opened the action figure. How else is Lando Calrissian supposed to fight the evil Empire?
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| Was reading a chapter on the usefulness of ethical guidelines in ministry (not legalism). It seemed like the chapter author was assuming I would think such things unnecessary and needed convincing.
The main thought I had while reading was: Of course it makes sense to have ethical guidelines, you can't expect to fight the Gorgatron with your keys all willy-nilly.
It's possible I may be a little tired... - I'm Feelin':amused
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| I find myself considering how odd it is that while we are encouraged (mostly when young) to do no more than our best and utmost, we tend to end up striving for "perfection" in whatever we are doing. We tell children our best try is enough but we tell each other as adults that it must be perfect. It seems to be the consensus (well, maybe not everyone) that perfection is not attainable-at least not by us mere mortals.
So I wonder, which is it? What directive are we to follow? Do we kill our spirit in our quests for perfection or do we simply give all we can. Are we lying to our children? Are we then in turn deluding ourselves about our abilities? What good is the pressure of the unobtainable?
Fortunately, I am made perfect before God in Christ. I am freed by my Savior of the need for earning perfection. Because we are perfect in God's eyes,by no achievement of ours, we are capable of doing no more or less than our best. It doesn't have to be "perfect", but only our all.
I think I'll take my Lord's directive.
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
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Even so, I still struggle with feeling "good enough" from time to time... | |
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| My wife sent this text to me today:
So Kyllan asked for peach juice and since they made ornaments at school we went to Wal-Mart to get ornament hooks as well. After we got the juice I asked Kyllan if that was all and he said no we still need to get hookers.
That's funny as hell.
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| It had been a relatively peaceful day in the Wallace household. For a Fall Thursday, it was an unseasonably warm but pleasant day. A trip to the neighborhood park had been undertaken and accomplished. The boys were fed and sleepy. It was time for naps; none more deserving than the selfless a father who watched over his boys with love and gentleness.
This day, it seemed the infant's nap was to be first. So I carried him upstairs and placed him on the changing pad before being put in his crib. It was then, having removed the old diaper and cleaning my son that I realized the drawer we usually kept diapers in was empty. With a heavy sigh I prepared myself to carry a half naked child downstairs, paying no heed to the risk of urination from a seemingly endless supply that infants posses.
But wait! Was it possible? Did we have and extra box of diapers in the closet? We did! I would not have to traverse the stairs of a two story house that seemed like such a good idea before I had children. So I put Malcolm back upon the changing pad.
As I turned to open the closet not 5 feet away and to retrieve the remembered diapers, I suddenly sensed that something was amiss...
From behind me came an unexpected thud!
"Holy sh*...sssshhhocking turn of events, Batman!," I yelled. (It's my story so that's the phrase I'm claiming.)
When a baby, new to the world, either falls or otherwise injures themselves, there is a brief moment in time before they fully grasp what has happened to them. This moment is known as the What the Freaking Heck Just Happened to Me Black Hole Phenomenon. The infant in question, freshly injured, sucks in a breath that stops time completely. It is an agonizing moment for a parent because it holds equal potential for both horror and/or hilarity. In this instance, your child will decide whether or not to scream, cry, laugh, or simply stare in dumbfounded shock. All a parent is able to do is stare in time-locked realization until said child releases their deciding breath. This exhalation, in turn, releases the flow of time, allowing you to comfort or care for (or laugh at) your child.
Malcolm had decided in his wisdom that the changing table was not where he was supposed to be. So he left the comfortable security of the changing pad for the adventure of free-fall. Naked from the waist down, I might add. What's more, is he had the audacity to be "surprised" by his sudden stop. He was ultimately okay, but I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat when I realized what had happened.
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Now I'll admit this may not, in fact, be exactly how it happened. My back was turned at the moment (about 8 seconds) he decided to leave the changing table. But that's the story I'm going with. I can only assume the reason my son threw himself at the floor with such enthusiastic abandon was either because he didn't believe the floor to be real...or that he could take it on.
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| I'll write another post in a bit about my new job. I've been pretty quiet since the entry about Jim. For now, suffice it to say the job is going well and many of the doubts I had about taking it have given way to genuine excitement for my role in ministry at Crown of Life.
Today, I thought I'd share a devotion I finished writing for the monthly 5th and 6th grade event taking pace this Sunday. It's mostly a time of fellowship to get to know each other in a more relaxed environment, appreciating that a worship gathering isn't the only way we are meant to be the Church. And we usually have short devotion mixed in there as well.This one wasn't solely my idea, but I did the fleshing out. It's a simple one, in keeping with the age group but still brings home the point from scripture: Romans 3:23 Devotion – Fuel 56, November 11th, 2011Paul Blart Video - Now that’s what we call falling short. Blart couldn’t make it. - What was Blart’s goal in this video?
- Health issues prevented him: hypoglycemic
Can anyone think of a recent event (maybe in the news or on television) where a person or people fell short of their goal? - Rangers?
- What was their goal; what would perfection be for them?
- Did they just not try hard enough? Why couldn’t they make it?
Can someone here think of and share a time when they fell short of a goal? - What was the goal?
- Why did you fall short?
- How did it make you feel to work for something and fail (fall short)?
When we fall short of a goal, it sucks. It means we’ve failed to measure up to this perfect prefect idea of what we want to do or be. When we can’t reach this goal, when we’re not perfect, it hurts - especially if we keep trying and can’t do it. It can be even worse if other people see it. They may think we’re failures! God calls us to be perfect – Does anyone know where he does this? He gave us the 10 Commandments and expects us to keep them. Can we? A lot of the time we mess up, we don’t do what He asks. We don’t love, we fight, we steal…etc. Sometimes we even try really hard! We may even think others are perfect. Sometimes we may even think that we are perfect! Romans 3:23 – we’re told, “for all have sinned…” This means that no matter how hard we try, we (all of us) can’t be perfect because our nature is sinful. We fall short! So what does this mean for us? Romans 3:24 – “and are justified by grace…” What does this mean? We are made perfect by Christ’s grace! God gives us this gift for FREE! He makes sure we are perfect in His eyes! No matter how many times we fall short or just mess up. No matter how many times try and fail, we are perfect in Christ! Jesus, through his blood, makes us reach our goal of being a part of His Kingdom! I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty awesome to me. - Topic:church stuff
- I'm Feelin':thoughtful
 - I'm Rockin' Out To:Lynyrd Skynyrd, Phil Collins, Twisted Sister
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kyllan's journal
