Bolero: On Being a Preacher

In Bolero, by Maurice Ravel, there is a snare drum part that repeats through the entire piece. The piece is 15 minutes long, and the entire time the snare drummer plays "Rat tatatat, tata tat, tatatatat tat." I remember my high school band director telling me that this was one of the hardest things to do in music, because it has to be exactly right, every time, for 15 minutes. It can't speed up (which is very easy to do with something like this), and it can't slow down (which might happen if the drummer starts to fall asleep). The rest of orchestra gets to take turns playing the melody and having fun, but the snare drum just keeps playing steadily on. You can see for yourself. Try to listen to the whole thing without turning the volume down. (I dare you)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2q-gWMAGjw&feature=related

On Sunday's when I distribute communion, I say, "The body of Christ, given for you" over and over. I try to be sincere with each person but sometimes my mind wanders. Nontheless, the words are true every time. I realized that as a preacher, I am going to say those words over and over and over and over. Not only will I say them during distribution, but I will say them in many other ways in many other situations. That message is the very thing that I am being called to speak. I may say them in different ways at different times, but it must be that message. No matter where I am, and no matter how I say it, it must be those words. I cannot add anything to them or take anything away from them. Even when the rest of the world is having fun with their little melody Christ is still speaking those words, constantly, without waver. They are the ostinato of our lives as Christians and as a preacher Christ will often use my mouth and my life to keep them going. Christ says, "My body, for you. Me, for you. For you. For you."

PS. I have a new bicycle. It is pretty exciting. Read about it here at the bike blog.

Freedom Needs a King

Here's a thought: Freedom is not ridding ourselves of all kings. That would only put us in charge of ourselves and how can we be free if we are burdened down with the responsibility and rule of our own lives? Rather, freedom comes from having the right king. And our king died on a cross and is the good shepherd. Our king is no other than Jesus Christ himself. Amen.

Don't Wake the Preacher

Here is a joke that I found on the internet:

You might be a preacher if...you dream that you are preaching only to awaken and find that you actually are.

There is almost too much truth here.

First Snow in SoCal

We don't get winter here in SoCal (they say it will come later, but I don't believe them). Instead we get fires. Yesterday there was a particularly bad bout of them. The wind had subsided today, but they were still working on some spots.
I first became aware of the fire when I saw the smoke out my window:
Some of the fire was somewhat near my place (a mile or so maybe). I could see some of the flames from my mailbox:
I walked down the street a ways and I could see more fire:
Later in the day, the smoke began to role in and soon it was blocking the sun, which was ok because it was almost 90degrees out.

Today when I went to church, there was still a lot of smoke in the air, and there was a thin layer of white ash on the roads. It blew around like a little snow flurry:
I guess that is as close I am going to get to a snowy winter.

PS. I also received my new bicycle yesterday. I haven't done much with it because of the fire and smoke and such, but there will be a post about that soon.

Household tip #7865

This is the first time in my life that I have had my own apartment. I have had my own room before, but never an entire apartment. It is not big but it is more space than I have ever had, and it is all mine. I have my own shower and my own toilet that no one else ever uses. I have my own deck. I have my own refrigerator. I have my own kitchen table where I keep all my own junk mail.
I also have my own kitchen sink, with a garbage disposal. I use my sink to wash my very own dishes. Sometimes the garbage disposal will acquire a less than acceptable smell. Even for a bachelor's apartment.
Someone gave me some hand-picked oranges and they were so juicy that I had to peel them over the sink, so I put the peels down the garbage disposal. This gave my very own garbage disposal in my very own sink in my very own apartment a more acceptable scent.

Depressing Christmas Walmart

The other day I bought a few things at Walmart. (Don't worry, I don't usually patronize Walmart, but once in a while I buy a few things from them.) As I walked around the store I noticed that Christmas music was playing from the PA. I then walked past the Christmas aisles. Rows of superficial junk. The whole thing made me depressed. Walmart at Christmas time always makes me depressed.
Maybe it is because the whole thing is merely a ploy to get people to spend money. Maybe it is because it reminds me that I will have to buy people Christmas presents and every year I try so hard to get everyone a good gift and I always fail miserably. Maybe it is because it seems so desperate to begin the Christmas sales season so early. Maybe it is because the whole thing is so superficial, and as the season gets closer it will become overly sentimental as well. Maybe it is all these things.
Nevertheless, Christmas is sneaking up on us already.

Ecclesiastes: What?

The adult Bible study group at church came to the end of the book of Mark several weeks ago. The pastor asked them what they wanted to study next, and somehow they decided on Ecclesiastics. I was excited because it is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It goes deep. However...
It does not make for an easy Bible study to lead. The book is full of contradictory and confusing things. I don't mind these things myself. In fact, they are the very reason I like the book so much; on the surface it is meaningless, but deep down there is truth.
But when you try to study it verse by verse in a group, things can get difficult for a leader. There are many hard questions...
Well I have to lead this group for some of the weeks and so I went to the library to study up on Ecclesiastes so that I could be and extra smart intern and answer all those difficult questions. I found, however, that the books on Ecclesiastes don't have the answers. In fact many of them are quite boring. Ecclesiastes is just one of those things that is great to read, but dreadful to read about.

Congratulations.

I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations to Senator Barack Hussein Obama on being elected the 44th president of the United States of America. A great honor has been bestowed upon him and a great responsibility has been given to him. I hope he got plenty of sleep during his campaign because now he must go to work. Expectations are high but if he tries for even half of what he promised, he will do great things.
And to the people of the United States of America...
The game is over. It is time to get to work. There are many challenges facing us and there is no time to lose. Once you have recovered from your election party hangover, turn off the TV, stop reading the blogs, get up, and get to it. There are millions of people in this country and this world who need nothing less than your service and sacrifice. Now that the election is over you can stop talking about Sarah Palin around the water cooler and start talking about what you are going to do to bring about this great change. We have a leader, now we need the courage and commitment of each and every citizen. And may the God of the universe bless us and guide us.

Facebook Groups: Politics

I have been invited to join another political Facebook group. This one wanted me to donate my status for Barack Obama. I'm sure I could just as easily have been invited to donate my status to John McCain, or to Bob Barr, or Cynthia McKinney. I have been invited to several groups like this and I have joined none of them. While there is nothing wrong with these groups in and of themselves, they are an indication of a quite disturbing attitude among many people in the USA.
It seems like most people in this country believe that the solution to any problem is having the right president in office. People think the solution to global warming is to vote for the right candidate. They think the current economic problems are all the presidents fault and if we make the right choice in November everything will get better. They think the president can end poverty, fix health care, save social security, and lower taxes.
The truth is that the people of this country are the solution to the problems. If we want to save the economy we have to stop being so greedy and manage our finances better. If we want to end global warming we have to reduce the amount of energy we consume. If we want to end poverty we have to help people in our own communities and stop living lifestyles that contribute to systems that breed poverty. If we want to save social security we need to start saving for our retirement.
It is ridiculouse and dangerous for us to look to the government, and especially to look to only the president, to solve problems and get things done. The only reason we do it is because we don't want to make the sacrifices necessary to make a difference. We are too greedy and self-centered and we can't even admit it. So we look to someone else to do it. If we keep looking to the government to do everything for us, it will. It will get more and more powerful. The president will get more and more powerful because we will want them to be. And in the history of the world it is quite rare to find a place where having one very powerful person taking care of things in a large and powerful nation has led to any good.
This election has become too "historic." We give it far too much weight. Be more concerned with who your senators and representative are and be even more concerned about what you personally are doing to make the world a better place.