Month: September 2026

A Brand New Thought

I am giving this post the title “A Brand New Thought,” so that, when you see it, you go, “WOW, I wonder what BRAND NEW THING he’s thinking about,” and settle in to carefully read. But it’s not new. The title is what I’d call ‘shameless click bait.’ It’s sort of a dirty trick, but I’m not sorry.

Yesterday’s reading in the Bible In A Year plan included this beauty, from Ephesians 5:2, “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.”

Just in case you forgot, and are thinking right now, “hm, what is love?” Welllll, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (That is taken from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8) I know we talk about this a lot, but for some reason, today it really hit me again, really got into my head and heart.

I’ll soon turn 51 years old (or have already turned 51, depending on when you read this). I really don’t care much about my birthday, except to use it as an excuse to reflect, examine, where I am and/or where I am going, who I am and/or who I am becoming. It’s exactly the same as New Years for me. That Ephesians 5:2 is in my reading seems like too much of a coincidence.

For most of my whole life, I’ve spent entirely too much time sitting in the idea that I am not enough. (1. Not enough? Of what? Of anything and everything. 2. What is interesting to me now is that this feeling – that I am not enough – is simultaneously a lie the enemy uses to tear me down, and the Truth of God’s redeeming work through His grace for me. Isn’t that fascinating, that something could be the Truth and a lie, depending on the context and Who/who is telling it?) My ChatGPT assistant Theo said I can get stuck on “fixing things,” and fixing them yesterday. My intense focus on my own growth in my faith, identity, in my relationships with Jesus, can become just another checklist, where I forget to be where I am, forget to experience joy, stare at the scenery passing instead of the beautiful miracle of now. (But as you may know, I also focus on mindfulness and not missing anything. Both of these seeming contradictions are true.)

So, what does the next year, 51, mean for me? What will I work on? Where’s the next step in my personal, spiritual evolution? Maybe I can simply slide those answers to the side, and simplify the vision. Maybe I’ll just think about the example of Jesus, and “live a life of love.” That’s it. No ruminating, no fixating, no overthinking. Just living this life of love. I am loved. All He does, every step, every word, was driven by His life of love. If I am to follow His example, maybe I can just love, too?

And that includes me. No more wanting to be further down the path, frustrated that I’m not where I’ve somehow decided I should be. I’m listening to a Bon Jovi song, “Just Older,” and the lyrics to the hook are: I like the bed I’m sleepin’ in And just like me, it’s broken in. It’s not old, just older. Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans. The skin I’m in is alright with me. It’s not old, just older.

I am broken in, wrinkly like a Shar-pei. Notice, he likens his older, more wrinkled skin to a “favorite” pair of jeans. What if we could see us as Jesus sees us, would we see our experiences and (perceived) imperfections as the texture that makes us who we are, that makes us so awesome, that makes us our own “favorite?” Would we be patient and kind to ourselves? Always hope, trust, and protect ourselves?

Yes, yes, I know this is a stretch and we probably shouldn’t trust in ourselves, and definitely shouldn’t place our hope in ourselves, but maybe just give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, from time to time. Maybe don’t be so mean and demanding of ourselves? Maybe instead of the next task or step, we could just be patient and kind, and just live the life we’ve been given, based on the love we’ve been given? And we could just be grateful. Wouldn’t that make this the best year yet, the perfect illustration of the grace & freedom He (and only He) gives?

Of All These Questions

I’ve often referenced this hosting site’s prompts. Today’s is, “What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?” It’s easy, for me. My dad often used to tell me to “be very careful who you marry.” I think every young boy and girl should hear this as often as I did, over and over. I wrote a whole post on this particular wisdom of my dad on my other blog, and my last line was, “He passed away 20 years ago, but he did get to meet the Angel and come to our wedding, so he knew I listened.” I like that last line, I imagine he’s happy and proud of me to marry so far out of my league, and I’ve always imagined him, totally contented, knowing what a difference he, his life, his love, and his words made in my life.

[I didn’t expect to write all that, but I’m not too sorry. Yesterday, I spent a full, extraordinarily beautiful day with my mom, aunt, and sister, and I was thinking of him. Apparently, the AI prompt generator was, too.]

Anyway, in last week’s message, I asked a lot of questions. I always do, but there were more than usual on Sunday. And really, there’s only one that has taken up residence in my head, heart, and spirit. Only one that I ask several times every day. Perhaps, of all these questions, only one that truly matters.

Oh, that’s probably not true. I can think of at least 1 more that is certainly more important (we can talk about that one another time). But, maybe only 1.

The question is… IS it loving? Is this (word, thought, post, act, etc) loving? Or, to put it another way, am I loving? If we are to be walking, talking examples of agape…

[Agape is a Greek work for love that doesn’t care if you want to, if you feel like it, if you like the person, if anything. Agape just does. Agape loves neighbors and enemies, loves when it’s hard and when it’s “impossible.” Agape forgives and gives grace.]

…are we?

An hour on Sunday might not change our lives too much, no matter how cool and compelling the teacher might be, but if that teacher asks a question like “is it loving?” and we allow the Spirit within us to answer, to hold our hand and lead us toward the space where we might be able to say yes, then transformation is certain. If we can sit with these questions, honestly and with humility, we might find new pathways to awesome new destinations.

Incidentally, if that teacher asks questions like this, we can all be assured that the teacher has been on his knees, aggressively stretched for the last several weeks, laid bare, staring at the ceiling, asking himself the same questions. That teacher has been asking if his message is loving? Is it True and is it loving? And then that teacher is constantly examining everything for that answer, everywhere he goes, everything he says, thinks, does. Is it loving? Am I loving???

Yesterday, I drove my mom and aunt home from my sister’s home in rush hour through Philadelphia. Was I loving toward the other drivers? To the construction workers? To all involved in the gas price racket? To my passengers?

There’s no end to this: Am I loving to the Angel? To you, who might be reading this? To me? Are the thoughts I have ultimately loving, rooted in nothing less than agape?

…And what if they’re not? If I find that this post is NOT, would I delete these last few hours of work? What if I really want to publicly eviscerate the committee that decided we didn’t need that turning light, would I have the discipline to breathe and not push the “post” button? What if that person realllly deserves it? Is it loving?

Is this thing (whatever it is) love?

There is a terrific scene on the tv show The Office, where one of the characters, Dwight Schrute, says, “Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, I do not do that thing.” Maybe we could all take a second to paraphrase his words during our day? Whenever we’re about to do, say, think, something, we could ask, Is it love? And if it’s not, we could not do that thing. And if we all did that, then what? What would our relationships and communities look like? What could be possible???

Like Stars

The Dallas Cowboys broke our hearts by losing to the hated New York Giants last night, and it made me think of that passage in Romans (why do I do the things I don’t want to do, and not do the things I want to do?). I would very much like to move on from the Dallas Cowboys, but I’m beginning to suspect I simply can’t, or won’t. What’s the difference between can’t & won’t, anyway, right? Probably nothing, that loss is devastating either way. Let’s move on.

I really want to continue to discuss the homework from Sunday. If we remember the Message translation of several verses in Matthew 5, “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!”

He brought us here to be light, put us on a light stand, on a hilltop, to bring out the God-colors of the world. We were never supposed to keep our identity or our faith private, keep God a great big secret, hiding under buckets. But you know what? I think we have been doing just that. Many of the light switches in my home have a small slider that dims the bulbs. I like to do that, because it can feel like I’m being interrogated. (I always think I’m hilarious when I say, either “Tell me what I want to know” or “I’ll never tell you anything,” depending on if I’m the one flipping the switch or not. Absolutely hilarious.) Sometimes, it’s better to have a nice soft glow in the evening. In fact, I think that’s the best thing for our circadian rhythms as we begin to wind down for bed.

However, we are not those light switches. The light inside us is never better as a nice soft glow. We are made to shine like stars. Of course, we might shine in different ways, but there isn’t one of us that doesn’t have it, that isn’t made to light up our surroundings. If we’re at work, shine. At home, school, the grocery store, gym, highway, shine. Always shine.

The next question is, what does shining look like?

Well, honestly, it looks like you.

There have been times where I want to say things, want to laugh out loud, want to give of myself, want to wrap my arms around another, want to cry, sing, dance, whatever… and I don’t because, what will they think? Maybe it’ll be taken wrong, misunderstood. Maybe they’ll get offended or judge me or something. And so I do the equivalent of wearing a bucket. I move that slider down, I dim the most authentic, coolest, most awesome version of me. I hide the man God has “wonderfully made,” the man God is forging, transforming, the man I am and am becoming.

You know, I can get pretty excitable on Sunday mornings. There were many weeks early on, as I was speaking, that a voice in my head started with the shame, trying to convince me that I was embarrassing myself. Tone it down, this is inappropriate in a church, that kind of thing. It was often loud and awfully convincing. This voice was also lying, holding a bucket and dimmer switch out for me.

After the Israelites reclaimed the Ark of the Covenant, when they were bringing it home, king David was dancing before it, through the streets, in front of everyone, and his wife Michal was horrified. She “despised him in her heart” for being so “undignified,” and tore him up when he got home. This was the voice in my head, Michal’s. David responded, “I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.”

In other words, this man “after God’s own heart,” was going to shine, no matter what, no matter where, no matter when. In Matthew 5, Jesus gives us that same call. We’re called to live and love out loud, so let’s do that, all the time. (In Dallas Cowboys wins AND losses.) Let’s stop wondering what we’re supposed to look like, or how we should act, and just be exactly what He’s made us to be, and do exactly what He’s made us to do: Shine.

Now, What You Hear Is Not A Test

The Angel & I spent last weekend’s holiday at a Labor Day party/picnic/bocce ball tournament. The food and company were excellent, we lost both of our games badly, and I got to spend some time with my family. The soundtrack for this sacred time was a best of the ‘80’s playlist. During the Sugar Hill Gang’s classic hit “Rapper’s Delight,” I watched my cousins sitting next to each other across the yard. They weren’t talking, they were just moving individually, in perfect time (with the music and each other), and mouthing every word (which is really saying something, “Rapper’s Delight” is very, very long). This continued for quite a while, covering quite a few songs.

My family hasn’t always been this close, there was a too-many-year period where we were estranged. We used to live next door to each other, then we moved, things happened, grudges & resentments happened, distance happened, then another thing happened, that distance didn’t matter anymore and we were reconciled. As I watched them, I thought of all that. I thought of my sister, and the language that close relationships have that transcends language and time. I thought of us and how much we all missed, and how much we still miss, deciding some sort of thing or another was more important than this.

So, then, I started to think about the relationships we share, and the reasons they end (or are placed on pause). I wonder if we even remember the reasons. We remember the times we spent, the fun we had, the memories we made, together, but we usually have a much harder time remembering the nonsense that keeps us apart.

We’ve taken to reading the “love chapter” in 1st Corinthians 13 every Sunday. Love is patient and kind and doesn’t keep any record of wrongs and never fails. Do these characteristics describe each of our interactions & conversations, do they even describe our homes and/or marriages?? I said earlier that the holiday was a “sacred time,” and the worship music was “Rapper’s Delight,” and that was true. Every time love becomes the cause and the effect, the motivation and the result, of our lives, God is the main character, and we may as well call those spaces church. Every time our love asks us to lay our own interests, vanity, control, and need to win, down, and we respond by doing just that, it is absolutely church. When we hold each other, listen, laugh, play, cry, these things are all church, and wherever they happen is the temple of God.

I’ve been in churches full of bitterness and unforgiveness and I’ve been in bars and gyms full of support, encouragement and capital L love. Monday, that yard was a temple, a monument to the God who made us and sustains us.

You know what else I thought? That we live in a world (comprised of millions of homes, streets, neighborhoods, communities, districts, states, countries, planets, and galaxies) in desperate need of the message of Jesus, the love of Jesus, the Gospel of Jesus. And we need to be the so-called (for lack of a better term) “brand ambassadors,” of the Gospel. We need to sing & dance along to this divine Story, over and over again, being living examples of possibility instead of clinging to our own little stories.

I realize that this, of course, doesn’t come easy (and spiritual attack is, sadly, very real), and can be quite painful, but that is also part of the Story we happen to be in. That’s why we simply can’t continue to miss the most beautiful, inspiring parts just because we’ve chosen to be somewhere else, divided by who cares what. These are our lives and we are our people, church is anywhere & everywhere, “Rapper’s Delight” is awesome, and I am truly grateful for (or in) all of it.