My sons continually crack me up. The other day I was told of something Levi said while at church. He was talking about the things he likes, and anytime what he likes comes up you can bet he'll talk about football. For goodness sake, he knew the names of all the NFL teams by the time he was three! Anyway, he was talking about how much he likes to play it, how he likes to play catch with me (poppa) and how we'll often play together in our backyard. "But," he lamented, "poppa always loses. I think I'm going to let him win sometime."
Precious. My five year old is sensitive enough to care that I don't ever seem to get to win, to score a touchdown, to evade a tackle. So he's going to let me win. He's going to lose on purpose. This should be interesting.
Because like most fathers, I've been losing on purpose for some time now. I've been slowing down, making exaggerated dives that end up tackling only air, and dramatically demonstrating my frustration that my little blue-eyed all-star has gotten the better of me once again. What's going to happen when each of us tries to be the loser?
It reminds me of a portion of a verse from one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In Romans 12, Saint Paul gives tremendous advice to the church on how to put love into action. Read verses 9 through 21 and put them into practice... I dare you! If more of us did, the world would never be the same. But in that section, as part of verse 10, we read, "...outdo one another in showing honor."
I bet that looks something like a father and son each trying to lose the game. I think it looks like mothers and daughters trying to demonstrate greater appreciation for the other. I think it looks like bosses and employees working to be the most grateful for the opportunities of the day. I think it looks like men and women, boys and girls, black and white, Christians and non-Christians, striving to live the Christ-like example of love that knows no bounds and keeps no record of wrongs.
How can we outdo one another in showing honor? Let's give ourselves away to the world, and do our best to be the biggest loser.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Taking Philippians 3:13b Too Far
In Saint Paul's letter to the church in Philippi, he writes in 3:13b, "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead...." Hmmm. Allow me to take that verse way out of context in order to make a point.
This morning I had to stop at a local grocery store to pick up some milk for my wife, who was making some Fat Tuesday goodies for our Mother's Morning group at the church. The store was selling paczkis in droves, and everyone who purchased even one was given a free strand of beads. I couldn't help but think of the wild celebration that is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, in many places around our country, around our world. How beads are often given freely, usually to attractive women, usually with the hopes of, well, of some sort of "offering" in return. I couldn't help but think of the drunkenness and partying and hoopla that surrounds Mardi Gras and other celebrations tonight. Having recently moved to Michigan from near St. Louis, Missouri, I can attest that the Soulard area downtown by the Arch can throw together a Mardi Gras bash that rivals a lot that New Orleans can offer. Lots of beer. Lots of flashing. Lots of people doing lots of things that I'm fairly certain Fat Tuesday was never intended to promote.
I think we've taken the "forgetting what lies behind" portion of the Philippians verse a bit too far. We've lost the Shrove Tuesday aspect of the Lenten preparation, the desire and willingness to prepare ourselves for a season of refreshment and refinement that, to be sure, demands sacrifice, but also comes with great joy and peace.
We need to remember what has been. We need to honor the past. We need to listen to the wisdom of days gone by. And we need to learn from the roads we've trod. And yes, we do it all to help us move with greater confidence, greater purpose, into tomorrow and the bright vistas the Lord is opening our way. But we as Christians ought to be people who know why we do what we do.
Fat Tuesday is more than a day to indulge our gluttony and foster our bad habits one more time before Lent. It's a time to reflect upon what really satisfies, upon what really matters in this life. It's a time for us to take stock of our souls, and do the hard work of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape them into the image of Jesus.
This morning I had to stop at a local grocery store to pick up some milk for my wife, who was making some Fat Tuesday goodies for our Mother's Morning group at the church. The store was selling paczkis in droves, and everyone who purchased even one was given a free strand of beads. I couldn't help but think of the wild celebration that is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, in many places around our country, around our world. How beads are often given freely, usually to attractive women, usually with the hopes of, well, of some sort of "offering" in return. I couldn't help but think of the drunkenness and partying and hoopla that surrounds Mardi Gras and other celebrations tonight. Having recently moved to Michigan from near St. Louis, Missouri, I can attest that the Soulard area downtown by the Arch can throw together a Mardi Gras bash that rivals a lot that New Orleans can offer. Lots of beer. Lots of flashing. Lots of people doing lots of things that I'm fairly certain Fat Tuesday was never intended to promote.
I think we've taken the "forgetting what lies behind" portion of the Philippians verse a bit too far. We've lost the Shrove Tuesday aspect of the Lenten preparation, the desire and willingness to prepare ourselves for a season of refreshment and refinement that, to be sure, demands sacrifice, but also comes with great joy and peace.
We need to remember what has been. We need to honor the past. We need to listen to the wisdom of days gone by. And we need to learn from the roads we've trod. And yes, we do it all to help us move with greater confidence, greater purpose, into tomorrow and the bright vistas the Lord is opening our way. But we as Christians ought to be people who know why we do what we do.
Fat Tuesday is more than a day to indulge our gluttony and foster our bad habits one more time before Lent. It's a time to reflect upon what really satisfies, upon what really matters in this life. It's a time for us to take stock of our souls, and do the hard work of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape them into the image of Jesus.
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