Coincidence

I think of a person I haven't seen or thought of for years, and ten minutes later see her crossing the street. I turn on the radio to hear a voice reading the biblical story of Jael, wihich is the story that I have spent the morning writing about. A car passes me on the road, and its license plate consists of my wifes and my initials side by side. When you tell people stories like that, their usual reaction is to laugh. One wonders why.
I believe that people laugh at coincidence as a way of relegating it to the realm of the absurd and of therefore not having to take seriously the possibility that there is a lot more going on in our lives than we either know or care to know. Who can say what it is that's going on, but I suspect that part of it, anyway is that every once and so often we hear a whisper from the wings that goes something like this:

"You've turned up in the right place at the right time. You're doing fine. Don't ever think that you've been forgotten."

Frederick Buechner- wishful thinking

Ministry of Rebuke

Better is frank reproof, than love that will not speak, faithful are the wounds of a friend.

Proverbs 27:5-6

It is possible in our day that rebuke is going the way of the ten cent ice cream cone. The mood in society is against it. It's not nice, not politically correct or maybe you just have a problem with anger. I'm OK, you're OK.
This proverb sums up a great number of incidents found throughout the word of God, in which people in a caring community stood eye to eye, toe to toe, heart to heart, didn't run away, but administered candid rebuke.
A few years ago, an athlete went with the fellowship of Christian athletes down to Daytona Beach Florida. It was during spring break, and students from colleges and universities all over assemble at Daytona Beach to have a party, one long party, as part of spring break. One morning as this athlete was walking along the beach, he saw a college student standing with a blue sweatshirt on with his arms crossed in front of him. The athlete stopped and said, "Oh, uh...University of Virginia?" The guy somewhat sheepishly unfolded his arms and on the front of his sweatshirt was the slogan, HELP STAMP OUT VIRGINITY. The athlete shrugged his shoulders and started to walk away, and then the student, his conscience touched a bit said, "what's the matter man, don't you like it?" And the athlete stopped and said, "Well, it certainly caught my eye." He said, "you know, I've got a suggestion for you. When this week is over, I suggest you get that sweatshirt dry cleaned, and then put it in a plastic bag and hang it in your closet. You're a good looking guy and I'm sure that in the months to come you'll meet someone and get married, and you'll have children, and perhaps you'll have a daughter. And when that daughter of yours gets to be about 16 or 17 and she's about to go out on her first date, I'd suggest you take that sweatshirt from the closet and give it to her and urge her to wear it." The student responded, "Man, if my father had talked to me like that, I wouldn't have worn this thing.

Better is open rebuke than love that will not speak.

And yet it is often in the name of love that we remain silent. It is often because we feel that we care so deeply about the other person that we do not want to speak rebuke. But it may be that we do not care too much, it may be that we do not care enough. One difficult thing for a friend to do for a friend, is to administer reproof. Enemies do it far more easily. Enemies can be profuse in their compliments to you when they are talking face to face, but they can cut you behind your back. The Romans had a proverb that said, "For a man to be safe, he needs either a faithful friend, or a bitter enemy." because a faithful friend will admonish but a bitter enemy will criticize.
One thing is certain, love that will not speak, when it needs to speak, will make no moral difference in another persons life. And it is only love that can really do that well.

Rebuke is not the first word in a relationship, it's not the last word (or shouldn't be), it's not the only word, it is not the prevailing word, but at times for the sake of God, for the sake of love, it is a necessary word.

Father, thank you for the acceptance that we have enjoyed in a caring journeying community. For the touch and the embrace of love. For those who have seen our faults and have seen through our faults, to see our need. And thank you for those friends who, because they love us, at the right time and in the right way, spoke a word of rebuke. As a spiritual community that is not perfect, grant that we shall be supportive of one another, concerned for one another, and in those times when love and principle conflict or come together, may we speak the word of love that can make a moral difference in someone else's life.

Quote of the Day

"Strange it is, that men should admit the validity of the arguments for free discussion, but object to their being 'pushed to an extreme'; not seeing that unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are not good for any case."

John Stuart Mill

The Rock

"Not only that--count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable."

Matthew 5:11 (The Message)

Whenever I feel like this, and the only ones left are Adrienne and Pauly, I watch this:


and listen to this.

(I love that guy, and his American flag shorts! and the fact that he NEVER went down)

Thug Life

Toddy

1 1/4 ounces Stoli Razberi
3/4 ounce Grand Marnier
3/4 ounce white creme de menthe
3/4 ounce cranberry juice
Stir and strain into a chilled martini glass

Did you see Leno last night?

It was historic!!

You need this towel

...because without it, you wouldn't be able to tell one from the other?

She's somebody's hero

My wife is amazing. I admire her so much. We have the privilege of parenting two beautiful daughters who are the apple of my eye. Mothers are special. Their nurturing, patient, loving character is profound. Mothers never turn their back on you, never walk away, always remain your biggest cheerleader. They are heros, they are the kiss of God. I love my wife. Here's a little tribute to her (and perhaps you too, if you're a mother), she even looks like Jamie!

Watch it

here

Spills & Chills

I know this may not show it, but these people are killer athletes...


(all pictures courtesy of nbc)

YES! That's a great idea...

That was a wicked conversation at exhale thanks to everyone. Relationships, friendships, jealousy, ...good stories, input, ideas. I learned some new things, you guys are rockin'!

Been doing a lot of praying and thinking these days as I embark on my final project for my Doctor of Ministry degree...yeah yeah Dr. Phil...like I haven't heard that before!

No but seriously, I've got a FANTASTIC idea for BREATHE and practically impacting our corner of the world for simplicity, faith, compassion, respect, frugality, love, economy....I'm SO excited!!!

I'll tell ya more soon....

Some people are crazy bloggers!

...chill!

Bird Flu

Friends...

I heard someone say today that in our lives we will acquire somewhere around 366 friends.
But only 6 will be TRUE friends.

hhhhmmmm.......

That was fun!

Pacific Road Runners "First Half" Half Marathon
19 February 2006

                  HALF MARATHON OVERALL RESULTS
        RESULTS BY WINNING TIME CANADA WWW.WINNINGTIME.CA


Place  No.   Name           Div  /Tot  Div    City     Prov Net Time 

631   959  Phil Harbridge   74/133   M4044  RICHMOND   BC   1:47:43.0
1659  958  Kay Harbridge   178/213   F4044  RICHMOND   BC   2:17:27.2 

Crooks and Whores are Going to Proceed You Into God's Kingdom

I think the most difficult passages of literature to understand, are those that you think you understand and then discover you don’t understand, and then have to start at the beginning to try to understand.

If you know Robert Frost’s poem- “Mending Wall” you know that the best line in that poem is that “good fences make good neighbours.” That is often quoted by isolationist types who want to shield themselves from everybody else, and so they build walls instead of bridges. And they think that Robert Frost is giving them some support. If you read the poem carefully however you discover that that is not the poets sense of it at all. He is simply quoting his next door neighbour who is bathed in clichés and he got that from his father & he passes it on to his children. But Frost himself does not accept it. In fact he begins the poem by saying, “There is something that does not love a wall.” And it’s his sentiment that all of nature tries to pull walls down, and only bigots & stupid people try to build them up.

You discover then as you come to that poem, that you have that cliché in your mind, that you have to read it 2 or 3 times if you want to understand what Frost was trying to say.
The most difficult thing to understand is something you think you understand, and then discover you don’t understand, and then you have to start at the beginning to try to understand.

I often find that is true with passages in the Bible:

The story of two sons

28"Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, "Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.'
29"The son answered, "I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went.

30"The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, "Sure, glad to.' But he never went.

31"Which of the two sons did what the father asked?"

They said, "The first."

Jesus said, "Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God's kingdom. 32John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn't care enough to change and believe him.


We are looking at a number of those paradoxical, confusing, 'hard', sections of the Bible at inhale and trying to make some sense of it...the door's open, the coffee's hot.

Freaks

I'm tired of being painted with the same brush as Pat Robertson, or Benny Hinn, or Jack Van Impe or (just about anyone else who wears a tie!!)...

Extreme right-wing, hardcore, Bible-thumping Jesus freaks, R (not) Us/me. I don't have severe rectal cramping. Of course you'll be able to find shallow, reckless, monolithically complacent Christians who tout their beliefs in the philosophy of Jesus but advocate tax cuts for the richest of the rich instead of succor for the poorest of the poor. Who consistently favor the interests of big business over those of the imperiled environment. Sure.

But that's not me (or many other Christians I know) and, more importantly,

that's not Jesus.

The scandal of grace however, is that Jesus is as bat-shit crazy in love with Pat, as he is with me (and you)

A kiss

Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.




Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for."




Friend?

Life changes fast

A friend of mine shared with me today about something happening in his life. He's been visiting a 16-year-old neighbor, in the hospital that he's never met. The teenager was caught riding one of my friends' stolen bicycles, and for that, it will probably cost him his life. God, I hate the law of unintended consequences.

As the story goes the boy was caught on one of the bikes by the police, charged with a misdemeanor, released, then apparently beaten into a coma over it by his father. Turned out that he wasn't beaten into a coma, but rather was injured by a freak accident as his parents tried to keep him at home. They love him.

Life changes fast.
Life changes in an instant.
You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.

My friend visits the boy in the hospital as he clings to life. The family asks him to pray for miracles, so he does. He doesn't tell them that the only miracles he believes in for brain-dead boys have to do with organ donations, the grace of God, and the people they've left behind. He doesn't tell them that sometimes death is a kind of healing, too.

For better and for worse my friends' life and the life of that comatose teenager are intertwined in so many ways. And that's true of all of us isn't it. Our lives are so intertwined that it is impossible for any of us to understand in advance all the consequences of even one small action. Oh how we hurt each other sometimes. How poorly I can behave, and mistreat people even unintentionally. All we can do is try our best to obey Jesus, and help each other pick up the pieces when things go bad. I'm so grateful for the people in my life who care for me even when I may be comatose and on life support. I've had the privilege recently of walking alongside some neighbors who are going through very tough times...life isn't fair.

Life changes fast.
Life changes in an instant.
You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.

And if, like me, you stubbornly hope in the victory of a good God that you've never seen, then thank that God for that hope, which is perhaps the best gift of His gifts on this side of death.

Check this out!!

Imagine if we could use this method to tell the story of Jesus and Grace!

Yes Sir Mr. Vice President

Coexist

Good discussion last night!

COEXIST was founded behind the concept of the COEXIST design logo. Combining the three monotheistic symbols to spell "coexist" suggests a lifestyle of creative conscious. COEXIST embraces life first. We design the possibilities of enjoying it together because we are all at the interface of what is and can be. We aim to expose the distraction of discrimination, while promoting the vitality found in "collective." COEXIST expresses global beauty in all ways of life through the lens of fashion and design.

This symbol was rocketed to awareness with the help of U2 and their Vertigo tour:

more here

The fury over cartoons however continues to rage. Here's an interesting letter to the editor.

A Letter To My Editor

I wrote the following to my local paper, in response to some idiocy that becomes inductively apparent in my response:

Editor,

Pearl Bailey’s column (Feb 12, “Artists Must Consider Consequences Of Their Work”) would have literally amused me if it hadn’t been so sadly pervasive. Let me get this straight. The artist; that objective, benevolent breather of concrete life into the nostrils of abstract thought—has absolutely no responsibility for their work—until—Muslims become offended. That about right?

I’ve repeatedly seen my God put to the rack in the artistic arena. I’ve seen Him smeared with human feces for artistic effect. I’ve seen Him dropped in a vat of the artist’s urine and photographed with a backlit aura—only to receive increased federal funding from the NEA. I’ve seen Him portrayed in cinema as a hapless, Hollywood-caliber nitwit without resurrective power. I’ve seen Him crucified as an incoherent hippie—complete with a Superman sweatshirt.

I’ve also seen the same, high-profile defenders of such rubbish do their dead-level best to throw a two-by-four into the spokes of Mel Gibson’s private life, merely because he dared to portray the crucifixion for what it was—a brutal setup by politicians and weak leaders not unlike those who’ve funded the heretofore listed pieces of garbage. Yet, somehow, those of us who have been offended by such things appear to have overcome the base desire to torch Martin Scorcese’s house, or run Andre Serrano through a textile shredder.

But let some marginally-creative hack stick a finger in Mohammed’s eye, and I’m supposed to now start drawing an exclamatory chalk line around the edges of artistic propriety? I think not. In order for me to join such a malignant cadre, I’d have to trip over the mountain of DaVinci Code books between me and the brain-dead queue ready to take up the gun and ride against a couple of Danish cartoonists. It just isn’t worth my time and effort to think that tolerant artwork begins at the house of Allah.

Lastly, I’d like to address this notion that fundamentalist Muslims need to have their faith “violated” before rioting, pillaging, killing and maiming everyone outside their myopic little periphery. The filmmaker, Theo Van Gough—a distant nephew of the obvious—was shot and had his throat slit in a Paris street for merely making a movie chronicling the oppression of women in Islamic nations. He got nowhere near blaspheming the good name of Mohammed. Yet, he still had his carotid artery evacuated at an intersection with little or no fanfare from the left. And no complaint from anyone in the art world.

I have a theory about why artists are generally upset with the Danish cartoonists. It is precisely because they’ve transgressed the unwritten law of the art world in general: that any enemy of Israel and the West is to be treated with respect.

Even if they kill you.

Sincerely,

Ron G,


Freedom of speech is certainly an issue. Clearly this is a clash of cultures. One culture that values and firmly embraces freedom, and individual expression. The other which values and firmly embraces radical devotion, and collective obedience. We all seem to preach peace, but because we are seemingly hopelessly ethnocentric (or worse yet--self centered), who will rescue us?

My Valentine

The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only... Nothing is more real than these great shocks which two souls give each other in exchanging this spark.

Three words, two people, one soul.

fresh air

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post via e-mail. Your encouragement and support is deeply appreciated. You're the best!

God

I meet with a group of people weekly. They are an amazing group. Some of them come together on Tuesday nights, some on Sunday mornings. We talk about everything. We're journeying. Today we talked about God.

When you hear the word 'God', when you think about God, what image comes to mind? Is it one of an old man who furiously pushes and pulls leavers to make things happen--things from parking spots close to the mall to finding you a spouse? A grandfatherly type God who heals some and maybe leads others to the best sale price?

For many people their concept of God is built around a concept of a God who is outside of everything. He's not here but, out there. Oh sure he made everything but now he sits on a distant star impotent to the cares of mankind. He may or may not show up here--he can never be counted on to appear when I need him.

The problem with that concept is that you have to prove that God even exists. We start with what is empirical--what I can see and touch and smell and hear, what is 'real'. So then what we end up debating and discussing is whether there is a God somewhere else who has something to do with...this.

The people who wrote all of the different posts and genres of the Bible seem far less interested in debating whether God exists and far more interested in describing what God is like. He calls himself, I AM. think about that. Even when pressed for a name God says I am. I'm WAY bigger than a name or a concept of a virtue or an idea, the best way to describe me is with a verb. IS. AM.

When you're listening to music in a room, can you point to the music? Not where it is coming from, but the music itself. Where is the music? Dumb question right? Because the music is everywhere in the room, it fills it.

God is beyond anything our minds can comprehend.

In light of that, what does it mean to have a personal relationship with a God like that? I've been a Christian for nearly 40 years now, and I'm still not sure I've got my mind around it. How do you love a God that is so vast? And why do many Christians act so stuffy or judgemental, or hurtful?

When I think of God, ....

I hear a song.

I've been hearing this song for nearly forty years. Sometimes it is faint and I've wandered off from God. Or perhaps the hurts from life, friends and experiences have dulled the sound. But sometimes the song is clear and rich and full and textured. I'm dancing to the sound. It is haunting. It's a song that moves me. It has a melody and a groove. It's unpredictable! Lot's of other people have heard this song, for thousands and thousands of years. They've found the song captivating,

and they've wanted to hear more.

Some people want to deny that there's a song. but it keeps playing. The song is playing all around us all the time. The question isn't whether or not you're playing the song, the question is, are you in tune. God gives us life and breath, he is generous. So when I am selfish and stingy and I refuse to give, I am essentially out of tune with the song. Oh how out of tune I can be. Thank God for patient people who dance with me.

God is love. Unrestrained. Unconditional. So when we see someone sacrifice themselves for the well-being of another, they are inspiring because they are in tune. It's music to our ears, to our lives. Faith, love, hope, compassion, generosity, truth, patience, mercy, fidelity (the way Jesus lived)...I can see that. I can understand that. I can relate to that. I can play that song.
I want to play in tune.

Do you hear it?

Play on

I Choo Choo Choose You

I was casually noshing on a few candy hearts today, thinking about my amazing wife, when what do I find but this little beauty....




I'm feeling it!

Brokeback To the Future

The other gay cowboy movie

Pick up your iPod and follow...

uh...

Knowing You

In his film Sleeper, Woody Allen through a kind of grotesque scientific experiment is catapulted into a future century. And at that distant time, he is given a series of photographs to look at, to identify, and as he goes through the pictures, he gets off a series of hilarious one-liners. He comes to a picture of Billy Graham (not the wrestler) and he looks at it for a second and he says, "...oh, uh...Billy Graham...he thought he had a personal relationship with God." And the audience in the theatre bursts out in laughter.

It does sound kind of strange doesn't it?

Does sound like somebody may have fallen off the turnip truck who says that he knows God personally.

I mean it's not inconceivable that you would confess that you believe God exists. It doesn't seem to stretch the imagination that you might believe that God who is omniscient knows you!

But there is something close to arrogance and insanity to say that YOU know GOD!

I mean could a long-necked crab have a meaningful relationship with the likes of an Albert Einstein! But the distance between human and God is infinitely greater than that between a crab and a genius.

But the question is- Do you know God?
Do you know him personally?
Does God want to be known?
And how can you know Him?
And if it is true that you do have this intimate relationship with the God of the universe, then what difference does that make in your life?

All of those questions are in the back of the mind of the father who takes up the first 9 chapters of the book of Proverbs in the Bible. Here's a father who is having a conversation, in fact a series of conversations with his son, and by implication with his daughter. He wants his boy to know the facts of life, and his conversations stretch from heaven to earth, from the sublime to the seductive. But in chapter 2 of Proverbs, he wants his son to know that he can have a relationship with God. What he is saying in the first 4 verses is simply this:

If you really want to know God,
that has to become the magnificent obsession of your life.
YOU DON'T BUMP INTO GOD

(** by the way, that's true in friendships and relationships. To have a relationship that is deep and noble demands time, and energy and effort. Think about the friends you have, and the time you spend with them. Relationships demand investment)

It's a cartoon man!! A CARTOON!

Viewer Discretion Advised

Sweet! Another great night of food, beverages and discussion at exhale. While we started from where we left off last week with Brokeback Mountain, the conversation wandered a bit with so many voices in and out of the topic of relationships. I was struck at one point with the intense (though brief) foray into processing the movie Sideways. Not sure why we got onto that topic, and while I've not seen it I know the story line. What stood out to me is that there were not just a few people who "loved that movie", and defended it simply as a movie, with no consequence. "It's just a movie, it was incredibly entertaining".

...and that's where I disagree.

You see movies are not simply isolated short stories created in a vacuum that have no bearing or consequence on society. Art imitates life. When we talk about Transamerica (a new movie about a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual who takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she fathered a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York) this is reflective of real life, it's not a fairly tale. When we talk about Brokeback Mountain, this is reflective of real life, it's not make-believe. And when we talk about Sideways (or an avalanche of other such 'material'), this is real life, people actually do make such bad decisions about the use of their body and sexuality, it's not just the big screen. For the sake of objectivity, let's just run down a bit about the movie from one movie review website (this is just a bit, not the full flavor--apologies ahead of time if you're not use to such language):

PROFANITY

At least 79 uses of "fuck", 15 uses of "shit", 5 slang terms using male genitals ("dick," "cock," "Johnson" and "bone"), 1 using female genitals ("box"), 5 asses, 3 assholes, 5 hells, 1 damn, 5 uses each of "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ," 3 of "Oh my God," 2 of "God" and 1 use each of "God damn," "Christ," "For Christ's sakes," "For God's sakes," "Good Lord" and "Oh Christ."

(*note, Jack is on a mission to get laid as many times as he can prior to his upcoming marriage)

SEX/NUDITY

Jack states that both chicks and dudes like him.

Jack tells Miles that the latter needs to "get laid" and that his best man gift to him will be to "get you laid."

Jack tells Miles that they're going to get the latter's "bone smooched".

Jack repeatedly refers to various women as potential sexual conquests (all the week before his wedding). He ends up repeatedly having sex with Stephanie and then has a one-night stand with a waitress he's just met.

Jack tells Miles that he was just trying to get him "a little action."

Jack states that he's going to "get laid" before he's married

Miles walks into their hotel room, we then see a full shot of Jack having sex on top of Stephanie.

Jack tells Miles that Stephanie is different and then adds that she "fucks different...she fucks like an animal."

Jack makes a comment about "hooked up" and then asks Miles whether he wants to "feel that cozy little box (vagina) clamped down on your Johnson" (all referring to Mia).

Mia is mad that Miles didn't tell her about Jack being engaged. He says he was going to the night before, but she then states, "You wanted to fuck me first."

Jack jokingly tells Miles, "You didn't get any, did you?" (meaning sex with Mia). He then jokes, "You're a homo, aren't you?" with Miles sarcastically replying, "Yeah, I'm a homo."

Spotting a large waitress, Jack says he bets that "that girl is tons of fun...you know, the grateful type."

After having an affair with a waitress he's just met, Jack shows up back at their motel room, completely nude with his hands covering his crotch. He then says that he had to rush out when the woman's husband came home early and caught "me with my cock in his wife's ass." The two then have to go to that woman's house to retrieve Jack's wallet and he wants Miles to go in and get it. Miles sarcastically states that he'll say, "My friend was the one balling your wife." He then sneaks into the house where he sees the woman's husband having sex on top of her.

Hhhhhmmmmmm......sounds like entertainment to me...if you've got a pocket full of quarters!

I fully recognize that this rabbit-like breeding (oh sorry, not breeding that would imply responsibility!) regularly occurs, and that is why some people like to see a movie about it (and perhaps why some who don't copulate three times on their first date are anxious to see a movie about it). But does that mean that this has no influence, consequence or effect on society, people, you/me? News Flash: movies are not always just about 'entertainment'. Often there is a deeper influential commentary on society. Sexual scavenging is vastly different than cheating on one's taxes, driving over the speed limit or stealing a chocolate bar. One deadens my conscience the other deadens my conscience AND my soul. One is about compromising societies laws, the other is about compromising myself ontologically. To joke and make fun of the gift of our sexual selves and 'entertain' ourselves with a characters hunt to prostitute himself, and boast of his sexual preying and acts of aggression, is to in some sense lose compassion for others, and to deaden the soul.

I don't have to teach my kids to not enjoy the smell of rotten eggs. They know it stinks.
We would do well to learn the same truth.

Next Life...

I want to be a dog...I want to be THIS dog!

One man's trash is anothers treasure

With the way technology is changing these days, updating your hardware is as important as...well, changing your toothbrush, because it seems to be needed as often. But. What does one do with the old behemoth? Here's a few suggestions...


(keep in mind that this is the ONLY picture you'll see of a MAC! and it's the best use of an old one too, proving once again the superior versatility and user-friendliness of the MAC!)

Superbowl XL

chips a
dip a
peanuts a
popcorn a
licorice a
chex mix a
clodhoppers a
nachos a
smoked oysters (nudge nudge, oh yeah!) a
wings a
"beverages" a

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

The sweet smell of Survivor! It's here, it's here!

Yessssssssssss!