God at Mardigras

I attended my first Mardigras last night. It defies a definitive description. It is the most complete party you have ever attended…with 300,000 to 400,000 people.
I have always seen little snapshots of the parades….but the number of days, the number of parades, the number of people involve to make it happen and the number attending…all escaped me.
I doubt seriously I could write anything about Mardigras that has not been written many times over. So I am not going to go there. Instead I want you to visit a few scenes that stuck with me.

Scene One
I was struck by a group of people that thought a good way to tell the world about the love of Jesus would be to show up on Bourbon Street and scream unintelligibly into a microphone. I can say that the tone was angry…not loving. The comments just did not seem like anything Jesus would say…as a matter of fact there is no record of him ever yelling into a crowd of people in the city. The only time, the one time ,that is recorded where he appeared to be genuinely angry was not at the people in the city…but at people in the church who had turned the temple into a market place instead of a house of prayer. That day was a defining moment for those that knew the truth and attended the temple but had severely missed the point of being there.

Scene Two
I saw another group that was gathered in huddles. They sang a song….then stretched out their hands toward everyone as they walked by and simply prayed. They prayed that the people passing by would get to know who Jesus could really be in their lives. Better… much better… but it was soon backing to speaking very ineffectively into a very loud and boisterous crowd.

Scene Three
A very pleasant and smiling young lady walking with her friends…she says a cheerful “Hi” to everyone. She congratulates the very cold and very tired faced people that had stayed along the parade line, in lawn chairs, for the entire freezing cold day and night. They had done this just so they could save a place for their families to get a great view of the next parade. When she greeted them, each cold face would break into a smile and they felt, if just for a moment, a sense of pride…someone had noticed their effort… then I watched as she stopped to speak to a man who was scrubbing the sidewalk in front of a business…she told him that he was doing a very good job…her smile breaks through the drudgery of his work day... although very brief…it was a moment of peace…you could feel it…my guess is that her words landed right in his heart and they stayed with him through his entire day.

I thought of a verse of scripture that perfectly fit what I was witnessing with this young lady “Where sin abounds…grace much more abounds”. No screaming, no judgment, no sarcasm, no criticisms…just a genuinely sweet spirit… smiles…encouraging words…love in action…grace in action…that’s the Jesus I know.

Final Scene
Next year…a Call to Action for those that want to change the world by sharing the love of God.

Show up in full force at Mardigras. ..And instead of using a microphone as a weapon…come bearing the fruits of the spirit…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness gentleness, and self control…
And instead of misunderstood prayer huddles…come having already spent time in prayer for the safety and peace of all those attending…and try this:

If it’s cold…hand out hot chocolate and encouraging words…
The cups should say something like;

A Warm Welcome to Mardigras…You are loved more than chocolate!
John3:16

If it’s hot...hand out bottles of water and encouraging words…
The bottles could say something like;

Welcome to Mardigras…A free drink on us!
John7:37

“I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink…”
“Whenever you did one of these things to someone…
You did it to me”
Jesus

Choosing to Risk the Darkness

Valleys…they are inevitable.
Jesus once said “In this world you will have trouble.”

I meet so many people that are walking through a dark period in their life. And often, words of hope or encouragement fall on the dry lands of disappointment and even the parched ground of despair. It does not matter how many people have been there before you…it does not matter how many giants have been slain…when its you in the valley…you have to work, struggle, fight, and bleed…as though it’s the first time this sort of thing has ever occurred.

I drive across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge every morning on my way into Baton Rouge. It crosses 18 miles of wetlands, a mixture of swamp, lakes, and waterways. Every morning the scene changes a little depending on how high the sun has risen, if there is fog, clouds, rain, or a crystal clear day. Each sight is an unbelievable way to start the day.

Recently, on a particularly spectacular morning, as I looked out over the lake…a golden glow over the hundreds of trees growing right up out of the waters… those waters a mirror reflecting the sun… absolutely no movement…awesome. I began to think about how those trees have withstood powerful winds and the beatings of much rain…still stand…relentless in living…roots driving deep in defiance…we “shall not be moved”. I thought of brave people that I know that are just like those trees. Life has presented them with incredible storms…plenty of reasons to quit…but they are still standing

And then my eyes ran over the many coves and inlets that invite you in…the tributaries that disappear into the darkness of thousands of hovering trees. Though they have been explored many times…should I get in a boat myself and glide back into those areas I would discover many awesome wonders that had just been waiting for me to experience for myself. And some people…people of courage have climbed into a boat that leads them head on into life…they have traveled the deep dark waters…and discovered life in a way that only a true participant can.

The things is this…it does not matter if you are traveling a road that others have already traveled…it only matters how you travel it…how you experience and work with its pain…the things you discover…for yourself… in the dark hidden places.

Life is not about the escape of pain…its about carrying the load that has been handed to you…the very best that you can…its not about if or when or how many times you fall…its about taking the next step…choosing to continue your very own exploration into… for what is to you…the unknown.

The Beatles sang… “There is nothing you can sing that can’t be sung…there is nothing you can do that can’t be done”. And several thousand years before them a king named Solomon penned these words… “There is nothing new under the sun”. Life is not about “new”. There is only one Mt Everest…it is not new…but it is waiting to be truly known, for the first time, by the next brave climber. Life is about the negotiating of the oldest of time weathered trails…waiting to be discovered for the first time by the next brave person…the one who will risk everything to truly live.

So you have taken some chances…with love that didn’t work out…with business that failed…with a dream that has yet to be realized…You are to be commended for getting in the boat…for refusing to just settle for surface experiences. Your bruises…your brokenness…your bleeding…a testament to living…to reaching…to having the courage to dream…to live with passion…refusing to settle for a surface only experience

Right after Jesus said ‘you will have trouble” he said this "But take heart I have overcome the world”. He has overcome the way the world judges a life…even the way we evaluate ourselves…he has visited all the darkest places…loneliness, rejection, being misunderstood…and survived…he knows the value of your efforts…he understands the sense of loss and hopelessness that sometimes comes…He said He wants to give you life and not just life but” life abundantly” but to experience this abundance is to get in the boat...take a trip into the areas of life that demand courage...risk.

Get back in the boat…negotiate the turns…experience life for all that it is…pain, joy, sorrow, peace, trouble, hope, discovery, loss, mountains, valleys…and…“though I walk through the valley of death…I will fear no evil…for He is with me”. Valleys are inevitable…courage is not…your boat is waiting...

God At The End Of My Driveway

I went for a walk looking for God…I found Him…at the end of my driveway. I love to take off walking when I am in the middle of one of life’s little complexities. I like to walk…cracked sidewalks…rocky trails…blacktop roads…areas with some character…some age…like around an old school…abandon buildings…over bridges.

Walking around football and baseball stadiums allows my mind to create hundreds of scenarios of games won and lost…dreams realized…and dreams slipping away…stadium seats where lovers meet…they sit close…knees brushing against each other…vibrations of romance…where a man sits alone…watching…as his child performs…his gut tense…praying they will not fail…life has momentum in stadium seats.

I like to walk down my driveway. It’s really long, as the house sets about two thirds of the way from the road on four and a half beautiful acres…lots of trees hanging over…the lawn is sweeping and inviting. On a clear night the stars seem almost reachable…millions of them blinking…a sliver of the moon stands almost heroic among them as it takes a slice out of the dark blue surroundings…amazing…some of Gods best work.

Recently, on one of these gorgeous nights, I was out on my deck…pondering…looking at the stars…my spirit was unsettled…talking to God…issues unresolved…I took off down the driveway…as I walked I began to realize that I was actually looking for God…I wanted to talk to Him…I laughed out loud and realized most of my walks in my life had been just that…looking for God…His intervention…His answers…His way…His confirmation…or just His presence.

I made it to the end of the driveway and stopped…I was looking up through the branches of the big trees…dark sky…bright stars…I am almost certain one of them winked at me…it was then I noticed that everything was very still and almost no sound…it was also cold…really cold…I was looking and listening…determined not to make a sound…and then I felt a light wind move over my head…it startled me a little…it had been so still…and then I sensed…felt... knew…He was there…I talked to Him...I know He listened…awesome.
Well, of course He was always there…He is everywhere all the time…its me…my many distractions that keep me from realizing what is always true…

“I will never leave you or forsake you” and “If you seek me…you will find me”
God
I found God…at the end of my driveway.

Luxurious Lounging

I have started the New Year with a bang. Since I got off work about 6 pm on New Years Eve, I have been involved in what I am calling Luxurious Lounging…sleeping, football, a little reading, a little writing, easily prepared foods, and good, but cheap, wine. I intentionally made no New Years resolutions. That would have produced unwanted stress. All that mapping out the next year stuff would have to wait. So I took on the words of Scarlett in Gone with the Wind and made them my own…”I’ll worry about that tomorrow.”

However, I do enter the year with some familiar wishes.
Work out consistently
Eat better
Use time wisely
All polar opposites of what I did my very first weekend.

I am thankful that I was able to have three days of Luxuriously Lounging. In some ways I feel bad that I did very little that was productive. I certainly have things that needed to be done and I could have visited with family, read more; written more, contacted more people on Face Book or I could have even exercised. And yes there a many social projects in which I could have been involved….the world needs help in so many ways. When I first realized that I had three whole days off I thought of doing all those things. But…I did not…a little selfish maybe…but…well…you just have to try it.

It was cold and windy outside so I did not even spend that much time on my beautiful deck. For the most part, I stayed inside wearing comfortable sweat pants and a big sweat shirt and sometimes wrapping up in a warm blanket. It gets really cold in my little cottage on the bayou. I did receive a few annoying text from employees that actually took time out of their New Years Day to complain about some things at work. I’m usually a pretty good listener but this weekend I was pretty bent on being non productive so they got very little response. I was not being rude but I was being selfish with my luxurious lounging!

I did bust out with martinis on Saturday afternoon where I officially toasted the New Year and I did make the early service for church on Sunday where I cleared things up with God for laying around for three days. Those two things required the most effort of my weekend. One required a vicious shaking of the drink and the other required a shower. Other than that…well I think you get the picture…

I know there are countless ways to use your New Years weekends more productively and its generally a good time to share with others…but for this New Year’s weekend...I think it was productive lounging complimented by some light meditation…God and I did discuss His plan for me for 2010…but I broke no sweat…I experienced no stress…I’m rested…my head is clear…I’m ready for 2010 and all the good things it is filled with. I am ready to do battle with its enemies and work through its struggles. In the words of Bob Seger…Turn the page…here’s to Luxurious Lounging.

My First Hearing…uhhhh….Device?

Today I received my first of two hearing devices…(Sshhh not hearing aid). I’m still way to vain to call it that. Besides when you say hearing device people are not even sure what you are talking about.
The young lady, Shanna, that assisted me in my hearing test and the selection of my device was very helpful, polite, and even sensitive to my obvious…vanity…thought I was going to say hearing didn’t you? Nope hearing was not the big issue today…today’s issue was…vanity. It was obvious to Shanna and eventually to me that the hearing loss did not bother me that much…while the wearing of a hearing device was causing me great anxiety. She ask what style I wanted and I said I want the style that no one can see. She smiled and said “Of course.”
However, this was not young Shanna’s first rodeo. She proceeded to show me the stylish devices that you wear behind your ear, she told me all the advantages, she told me how much more comfortable they were etc etc. personally, being in sales, I believe she showed me the ones that had the most mark up in them...unfair... maybe... anyway... I just looked at her…like you must not have heard what I said…this was not my first rodeo either (at being totally vain). She had apparently seen this same face before and began to demonstrate how the one in the ear would look and feel. I still did not like it but it seemed the better choice.
So, almost three grand and a week later I am hearing sounds…lots of crazy sounds…some I had forgotten. Small rocks crunching under your feet as you walk across the pavement…cool…my leather jacket makes a sound when the sleeve rubs against the front…I did not know that…how loud heels sound on our marble floor at work…and this one...my blinkers in my car sound like I hooked up speakers to them!...outrageous... and, I can hear the conversations even at other tables in a restaurant…okay that one is not always a blessing…also, my cell phone actually makes a sound when it vibrates…very surprising… I know this will get old soon but I am having a blast hearing all the sounds that have been going on around me that I knew nothing about.
With all that I am still most concerned with what people will think when they see it. Okay, you have to be at just the right angle and on my right side to actually see it but I feel like its this big thing in my ear that surely everyone can see. Yet I cannot see it in a mirror! But…I know someone will!
I want to say to everyone that walks by…I’m not old! I’m totally cool...I lost my hearing playing rock music….I am not old…I’m cool damn it! But actually I have been at work with it for four hours and no one has noticed it….yet!
I know…I know…ridiculous…vain…I should just appreciate the sheer genius of this device. It is so technologically advanced that it even talks to me…it gives me warnings like…”battery low” or “shutting down” it says that when you ignore the battery low warning. Very moody.
Also, I can set the tones higher or lower and for different environments…crowds, phone, restaurants etc….all from my cell phone! Amazing!
But hey, I do have the option of going back to my old device of constantly saying…”What…What…I’m sorry but could you repeat that?” And vanity has me seriously considering it.
Vanity won over good hearing for a long time…it just became such hard work to keep up in conversations. And now hearing is struggling to win over vanity…I must admit…hearing is pretty cool…may the best device win!

People are Doing the Best They Can

Sometimes more than the work of living out the life you have been handed is the living through the mud of others opinions. You put out your best effort and can almost always count on someone to tell you that you “could have” or worse, “should have”, done better.

I have a friend, TJ,that has been teaching me something about seeing people who appear to be, in some way, failing at life. TJ often says of people “They are just doing the best they can”. She gives most everyone the benefit of her believing that they are truly getting through life the best way they can. The angry customer, the sour clerk at the register, the arrogant manager at the office, the rude and difficult client, the mom that is not doing that well at parenting, the dad that seems indifferent to his family, the juvenile delinquent, the criminal on his way to jail. Everyone.
I see TJ as a powerful and successful person. And yet when she says “they are just doing the best they can” it is spoken in such an earnest empathy. It seems to come from a place in her that makes you feel it. You just know she is looking hard at life and considering her own faults, failures, inconsistencies, all of her life choices. You can almost feel the pain. It seems she is saying to herself in the deepest way. “I know I am doing the best I can.” It’s as though she senses the pain in others when their eyes can’t make contact with hers or in body movements that display a weariness that life has not been easy. I have never known anyone who so clearly does not judge outward appearance.

I have an employee that smiles…all the time. He is a faithful employee…there everyday…on time…with a good attitude…good performer but never the top. I would have pegged him as better than average…but not really living up to his potential. He’s one of those people that seem to move about under the radar. I never thought much about him until one day a coworker told me his story. It turns out that just a few years ago his son was playing video games at home with a friend. While they were playing video games a man fired a gun, two apartments over, and the bullet traveled through several apartment walls and directly into the head of his son. The man who fired the gun is in prison today and my smiling under the radar employee communicates regularly with him. His heart is full of forgiveness and empathy for the man who is responsible for the death of his teenage son.

We have all known people that have given up on life for far less troubles. And to drive the point home for me, I was at lunch with this man one day and we were talking about how hard life is for some people. He used a phrase that we have all heard many times. He said “I don’t have to look far to see someone who is worse off than me.” The weight of those words…coming from a man that had so unbelievably lost his son…a man that has a right to say that life isn’t fair…is still counting his blessings. Average? Hardly…I now describe him as exceptional…rare…maybe even heroic.
But like me, you would not get that from a casual glance of this man. He is a living reminder to me that I have no way of knowing the story behind the people I see everyday and of whom I am in a habit of passing judgment.
Maybe we should all, like TJ, take a more forgiving approach to the people in our world and give them the benefit of the doubt. Imagine the compassion you would feel and the kindness you would share on a daily basis if you looked at most people and said in your heart…
“They are doing the best they can.”

Sometimes people truly are doing the best they can with what they know or what they have but it comes up short in the eyes of those around them. The results in their life are often graded by unrealistic standards and the effort they have put forth to just be where they are today goes completely unnoticed.

Let’s decide to stop contributing to the “mud” of negative opinions that cause the struggle of others to be even more difficult. Instead, maybe we could start believing that those around us are doing “the best they can”. Maybe then we would look more closely at the person, where they have come from, what their life struggles have been, the long road they have traveled to be where they are today, and then, compared to that…what do their efforts look like? Probably a lot like yours and mine.

"Iron sharpens iron"

Thanks TJ

“Love your brother as yourself”
Jesus

Men of God in Sin City

This past week I had a chance to share with a group of incredible men out of Las Vegas. We met up at a beautiful lodge that is a couple of miles from the entrance of Mt Zion National Park. I was captured by the magnificent scenery. The sheerness of the red cliffs, the breathtaking sunsets, and the magnificence of morning as the sun rose and created red lines in the sky. You could actually sense how the finger tips of God must have carved out this incredible place. Amazing sight…absolutely beautiful!
But…I saw something even more amazing…Something that gives you hope for this world…something that reminds you that God has an army…that it defies the standards and circumstances of this world…
I saw the finger prints of God on over one hundred men.
I watched as these men…right out of what has come to be known as “Sin City”…sought an audience with God himself! Men, from all types of occupations, all types of families, all types of life struggles…all stretching…reaching…calling out for God. Men…listening…contemplating…praying…considering…struggling…desiring to negotiate this life in a way that would honor God.
Men that left no subjects uncovered...family struggles…sex…business decisions…unforgiveness…the need to be forgiven…how they have ignored God…their need for spiritual disciplines…
Men…that discussed their sincere desires to be good husbands and fathers…to be good stewards of the gifts and blessings God has given them…to be “light” in a world of darkness…to be “more than conquerors”.
Men…that are physical…they love to hunt and fish and drive tractors and work with saws and hammers. They are attracted to sometimes violent and definitely demanding sports…they love things that challenge them physically and mentally.
Men…that are spiritual…they support their churches with their money and their abilities…they hold their daughters and play with their sons…they are seekers of the truth and warriors of the kingdom.
Men…that have strengths and weaknesses…they have good and sometimes not so good desires…they have recognized their limitations as simply being flesh and blood humans…and their need for His supernatural strength…
Men…for three days they sought Him…kneeling at the foot of a cross…bringing a sacrifice of praise to the Prince of Peace…the King of Kings.
Men…they are His warriors…clothed in humility.
Men…they have given Him their lives...their devotion.
Men...making a difference in the world…with hands raised in surrender…with silent prayers that fire through the heavens like heat seeking missiles and God in His excitement guides those humbly spoken words to impossible targets and causes the impossible to occur.
Men…as long as there are men like these…there is more than hope…there is a certainty that God is in control and that He has a very determined and well armored army.
Men…Godly men…in the midst...of Sin City…awesome.