Holy Crap…(time flies)

I just had sort of a flashback.  I’m sitting in the Westridge Mall in Fargo ND (as if there were ‘ridges’ in Fargo) in about the exact spot that I started my rather sporadic blogging career somewhere in 2004 or so.

I was looking for my “Call”; God’s direction for my life and what I was to do to serve Him.  I began that year locating telephone cable and ended the year working as a Services Coordinator for Synstelien Community Services.  My last post to this blog (prior to this) was made in October of 2008.

In early November of 2008 I was given the responsibilities and title of Executive Director for Synstelien Community Services, a position I’ve held and started to grow into these past eight months.

I Never Want to Let a Sentence Go…

I have a comma, problem I am addicted to semicolons; not to mention ellipses…and dashes – I also put two spaces after each sentence (and don’t forget parenthetic comments).

But this is how I think.  My economy is “One Sentence = One Thought”.  I can’t let go of the sentence before I let go of the thought.  Commas, semicolons, ellipses, dashes and parentheses are all means of hanging onto the sentence until I’m done with the thought; two spaces at the end of the sentence are a staccato statement “Take! That!”.

My love for the sentence is second only to my love for words and barely precedes my devotion to paragraphs.  These three are the framework of thoughts; chapters are the containers of concepts and books the repository of ideas…which are to us as we are to God.

We are His books; and in our lives he assembles our chapters of growth from His words, sentences and paragraphs of Love.

Behavioral Skills Coaching for Christians

1. Self-Effacing Statements of Ignorance.

One of the most convenient ways to present yourself as deeply spiritual is to make self-effacing comments that enhance your spirituality. This is really quite easy, here’s an example:

“You know I have to confess, I’m really quite ignorant when it comes to evolution.”

This is a really simple example of how to deploy this skill. First you start with a confession, which everybody knows is ‘good for the soul’. Let’s first take a look at how this confessional opening is framed; “You know I have to confess…”. This is a personal and confidential aside that belies deep reluctance. You could as well have said “I really wouldn’t say this to very many people, but in order to be the fine, upstanding spiritually mature Christian that I am I really need to say what I’m going to say”.

Next, wow. The pivotal statement, the core confession; “I’m really quite ignorant.” Now here’s the spiritual juxtaposition; if one were to say “I’m really quite learned…” one could be rightfully accused of pride and self-centeredness. These four simple words turn this whole sentence around as we will clearly demonstrate in just a moment…because here’s the deal…

There are few things that are more spiritual to be ignorant about than evolution. I mean you could say ‘pre-marital sex’ or ‘the dating habits of lesbians’ but let’s face it, every Christian should know a bit about those two issues so as to effectively lament recent social decay.  The totally cool thing about being ignorant of evolution is that there is simply nothing you need to know about it other than that it’s bad.

It’s the most spiritual ignorance there is.

I Could Contract a Severe Case of Idolatry…

My iMac 24 Just Arrived…

Birth…

Five puppies (two girls and three boys) were born to our Shih-Tzu this morning. Our next ten fourteen weeks will be very busy.  We’ve taken many photographs.

Our Studio/Travel Trailer…

We’re still working on our trailer, time is short so progress is slow. Also, most available cash is designated to adoption expenses, which also slows down the progress. We are happy with our progress however; and happy with the results. Our electrical system is largely in place, our cabinets are in place and our icebox is in process. The icebox is a home-built item, I used one cabinet sink base as a sort of framework in which to create a built-in ice chest with three inches of urethane insulation and a hinged lid made of the same material as the counter-top.

It tows wonderfully, alas at 11-12mpg, and I’ve not terribly missed sway control and equalization.  I prefer back roads to interstates, county roads to US highways.  In the photograph it is sitting in our driveway loaded up and ready to depart on a camping/canoeing trip last Fall.

Our first trip this year will be to Chappell Nebraska for a 50th anniversary party for Laurie’s parents.  We compared the cost of towing this at 11mpg and $3/gal for gas with driving our Escort out and staying in a motel; it was pretty much a draw.  Factor in $70+ motel rooms, the general lack of cleanliness and dog unfriendliness and this thing makes more and more sense.  We like being able to stop anywhere at anytime for a snack or a break.  I don’t like the ‘tightness’ of city driving while towing, but I’m becoming more and more accustomed to driving something so long and heavy.  I’m sure that over the years I’ll beef up our truck a bit; probably with some air suspension bags in the rear and the aforementioned equalization system, but ‘as-is’ it’s a pretty good rig.

This spring/summer I hope to finish up the bathroom; it’ll be using a composting toilet so as not to create ‘black water’ nor the subsequent need to store and dump the same.  We’ll have a ‘grey water’ holding tank that will match the 18 gal capacity of our fresh water tank.  I’m insulating the tanks and all of the plumbing will be inside the living area as to extend our cold camping capacity as much as possible.  Our Futon/Couch is mostly framed, we’ve ordered and are waiting for a queen sized futon mattress.

An Artist…

…by M.B. Goffstein; read by Nigel Goodwin on Dick Staub’s The Kindling’s Muse.

An Artist is like God, but small.
He can’t see out of God’s creation,
For it includes him.
With the seas divided,
All the animals named, and the sun and moon and stars
Set in their tracks, an artist spends his life
Not only wondering,
But wanting to work like God
With what he can command: his paints.
He tries to copy God’s creations.
He tries to shape beauty with his hand.
He tries to make order out of nature.
He tries to paint the thoughts and feelings in his mind.
An artist is like God
As God created him.
Small, strong, and with limited days,
His gift of breath is spent
Over his paintbox.
Choosing and brushing his colors,
He tries to make paint sing.

Capon on Left-Handed Power…

I was recently struck as I read this about how vital this approach to relationship is in our care community. By what means to we extend relationship to our clients?

There is one effect that cannot be the result of a direct application of force, and that is the maintenance of a relationship between free persons. If my child chooses not to cooperate with me, if my wife chooses not to live with me, there is no right-handed power on earth that can make them toe the line of relationship I have chosen to draw in the sand. I can dock my son’s allowance, for example, or chain him to a radiator; or in anger at my wife, I can punch holes in the Sheetrock or beat her senseless with a shovel. In short, I can use any force that comes to hand or mind, and yet I cannot cause either of them, at the core of their being, to stop their wrongs and conform to my right. The only power I have by which to do that is left-handed power – which for all practical purposes will be indistinguishable from weakness on my part. It is the power of my patience with them, of my letting their wrong be – even if that costs me my rightness or my life – so that they, for whose reconciliation I long, may live for a better day of their own choosing.

My point here is twofold. The power of God that saves the world was revealed in Jesus as left-handed power; and therefore any power that the church may use in its God-given role as the sacrament of Jesus must also be left-handed. Despite the fact that God’s Old Testament forays into the thicket of fallen human nature were decidedly right-handed (plagues, might acts, stretched-out-arm exercises, and thunderous threats) – and despite Jesus’ occasional use of similar tactics in the Gospels – the final act by which God reconciles the world to himself consists of his simply dropping dead on the cross and shutting up on the subject of sin. He declares the whole power game won by losing, and he invites the world just to believe that absurd proposition.

- Robert Farrar Capon, The Astonished Heart, pp. 62-63

Our Trailer Project…

For some years we searched for a used trailer to camp in. Both Laurie and I love exploring the out-of-doors and of course we will forever need a base to operate out of for our photographic excursions. We never were able to find something that we were willing to part with $10K in order to own…we realized that Travel Trailers and other RVs were not made to last more than a few years. Many that we found in dealer’s lots had water damage, roof damage and structural damage. We also observed that the floorplans really sucked…

Performance Issues…

A post I made nearly a year ago at Boar’s Head Tavern was quoted at about the same time by Dying Church and recently by M Squared T Blog. I’m flattered, and enjoyed a reread of an old post. I couldn’t help but edit myself a bit…

Dear Jesus,

We’ve valued your contributions to our organization these past three years but, despite the fact that your Father owns all the livestock on all those hills, an objective look at your sales numbers reveals that you haven’t been able to generate more than twelve solid leads clients.

Yeah, we recognize the fact that you’ve presented a couple of good sales pitches to some fairly large crowds, the simple fact remains that at the ‘end of the day’ you were only able to ‘close a deal’ with the same guys you first came with. Now we must admit that anybody that can provide perpetual food and drink at parties is a guy you want to hang onto, but you know realize as well as anyone else that each team member needs to carry His weight. At this point in time you’re just not meeting the numbers we need to justify carrying you cutting it.

We wish you well in all of your future efforts and thank you for your faithful, though ultimately inadequate service. We know you’ll find success, but the issue is that you haven’t found it here.

Our Best…

The New Management