Red Sky In Morning...

The sky was on fire this morning. The pictures really don't do it justice. But it was one of those mornings where you are so proud of yourself for actually getting up and actually getting out the door. When He just says..."Hey Dude...take a look...it's magnificence on display for you...no one else is standing in the exact spot you are and seeing my display like you are...I created this very moment for you...and you alone." Wow...I better take another look.

What do you do when someone does something so special for you. Duh...just say thank you.

I started thinking though about the old addage, "Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning." What in the who haw does that mean...and does it apply to me since I'm just a walker. It seems it has to do with dust particles in the air and it is an indication of turbulence in the air. I guess that means something to someone...but not to me.

I am one of those guys that if I want to know what the weather is like I'll open a window. If I get wet cause there is an unexpected shower...then I'll be wet untill I dry out...no big deal. If it snows and I get trapped and need to camp in my car for 13 days...well...just pray I don't have someone in the car who is weaker than me...can we say together Donner Party. The point is...I don't worry about stuff like that.

But even Jesus talks about this. In Matthew 16 he says to the Pharisee's,

"When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,'and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.'You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky,but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."

It seems that some people are so focused on natural things that they fail to see the obvious. Some see the red sky and see weather related concerns. Some see the red sky and know He is just showing off a little...He can. How sad we get concerned about the weather and not see the bigger warning...a life without Him is going to be way worse than being is a ship in a rough sea...or being the weak guy at the Donner gathering...take a warning...

An Old Friend

This morning it was really cold out. Yesterday we had a late snow. Today it was cold and dry but the kind of cold you can feel like a layer against your whole body...I just walked faster hoping I wouldn't notice it. It was so cold...but despite the cold...I was surprisingly warm inside. I was walking with an old friend...John Denver.

I know...he was a bit of a freak. I know...his music was a little sappy. I know...I KNOW!!!! But I loved him. His music brought me such great comfort and great pleasure. So many of my ideals about life and relationships I learned from him. He had a joy and a sweetness about him that seemed to translate into joy and sweetness in my life...how could you not love this guy?

So walking with him this morning was an awesome reunion of sorts. It was nice to listen to his songs again from the perspective of a man who has been walking with Him now for 35 years. Also from the perspective of walking with Tracey now for 32 years (that alone would kill an ordinary man). My life turned out way different than Johns did. I was bummed when he divorced Annie. Her song was the guide for me in selecting my own bride. I wanted someone who "filled up my senses"...all of them...and I found her. I was bummed he was into some weird religion that made him think he was the center of the universe...too bad really. I was bummed he was estranged from his kids...so many of his songs helped me understand what a real father could be like. I was really sad the day I learned he had flown his experimental aircraft into the sea near Monterrey and died. I was sad because I wished he could have experienced more of the life he helped me to discover. There was so much more for him to experience...and yet...tragically it ended. I miss you sometimes John.

So walking with him this morning was really great. I know I only got to walk with his image...his ideal...that which he projected through his songs. I know he could sing about something without ever actually expressing what was really going on in his real life. I know all of this because it is true of me too. How often am I like John and "singing" about something I don't actually experience in my own life. How often am I really honest about who I am?

John, I'm sorry your life ended so soon. Thanks for all the great memories and your friendship over the years. Thanks for your life cause you are still teaching me things. I wish you could have met me and I you. I wish I could have introduced you to Him.

The Eagle and The Hawk

I am the eagle, I live in high country
In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky
I am the hawk and there's blood on my feathers
But time is still turning they soon will be dry
And all those who see me and all who believe in me
Share in the freedom I feel when I fly
Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Sail o'er the canyons and up to the stars
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be, not just what we are

Breaking Out

This morning I took a little different route for the walk. It was similar and yet different. I thought this morning that maybe I had gotten into a rut and needed to shake it up a bit. It was nice.

Ever notice that our lives can get stuck in that rut as well. I did. Well I should say He noticed...yeah Him. Actually I think He knew that long ago, that we humans like to think we are all different and independant, and yet we fall into routines and patterns...glorified ruts.
Well I'm not sure who came up with the idea...and I actually don't understand all of the significance...but whoever came up with the idea of Lent, probably found themselves in the middle of a big long rut. In order to get out of that rut, they decided they needed to shake things up...try something different.

Now trust me, I know life with Him is not all about giving things up. It is mostly about doing things that orient our lives towards Him. I find I can do so much more in Him that I never experienced without Him. But I also know there were somethings I had to give up in order to find Him. Lately, my life has been mostly focused on what I get from Him...not so much about what I can give Him. That is a sucky feeling to think I have made this all about me...

So...see ya later rut! I'm breaking out...and to be honest I am a little afraid...a little bit...terrified. But I have to believe my life is going to be better as a result.

So...today...the first day of Lent...I am giving something up. It's something that recently has become a default mode for my life...something so sinister you have no idea how it can suck the very life out of you. It consumes more and more of your soul and more of your time and more of your...well LIFE!!! So for 40 days starting today...I'm giving up TV. That's right...the Boob Tube...the Mind Number...GASP!!!!! I'm coming out of the rut....I feel better already just saying it.

But...you say...what will you do? How will you spend your evenings? I will spend time with my beautiful wife, I'll read books, I'll play my guitar, I'll work in my shop, I'll go for walks with that beautiful wife, I'll t...ta...tal........TALK to my beautiful wife.

Wow...are those the things I have been exchanging for a night of TV? Who decided that the rut was more appealing than life outside the rut...not sure...but it seems pretty awful to me now.
As for me and my beautiful wife...we will follow Him...we're out of the rut baybe...and LOVING IT!!!!!!

Spanish Pipe Dream by John Prine

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke

[Chorus:]
Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

[Chorus]

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "You must know the answer."
"She said, "No but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own

A Second Look

This mornings walk was a wet and rainy one. A mild drizzle turned to a steady down pour. On these days I put my hood up and I kinda get into reflective groove as I walk. It's usually an intense session of deep insight into my own life. But today, it was a little different.
I was listening to a digital copy, recorded off of a record, of Jethro Tull's classic allbum "Aqualung." Now this was a huge hit for JT and for me. This album pegs out at number 67 on the all time best album list...it is a classic. I remember how so many of the songs went right along with my way of thinking about life..and in particular...religion.

You see when I listened to it as a teenager, it reinforced in me everything I hated about the church. It spoke to those things that reinforced my personal bents against the way people were so exclusive and did so much wrong in the name of God. These views of mine, and JT's for that matter, got this album the dubious honor of getting burned by the religious right...I mean literally thrown into a fire. The flames of course only made this album more popular with those of us that wanted to burn down the existing structures and moral values. And then...
A couple years after being an Aqualung junkie, I had a opportunity to actually meet the real Jesus. In my zeal to be more and more focused on my relationship with Him, I put a lot of those albums into the round file. Many of them just seemed to put me in a very critical place. This album was always a catalyst for my mind to look suspiciously at God and frankly His people. So Aqualung was one of those albums that went bye bye in my purge of music (I'll tell you about that at another time).
Then one day I came across a digital copy. I wondered how it would hold up after all these years. So I loaded it into my iPod and set off on my walk.
Now I have to tell you...it sounded GREAT!!! I mean those opening riff's of Aqualung are classic...simple...grunged up...but smokin hot. Thirty six years and the music is still so intense and it buzzes in my soul. But the lyrics took on a whole new meaning to me. In the midst of those words that used to ring so true in my life about all of the negative in the church...I heard the rest of the story. In the midst of the criticism of the church, was a prescription for the church. Don't put God into your little box...he's too big for that. God cannot be confined to our religion. Would you really want to worship a God you can control or easily figure out. These words (though not entirely biblically accurate) express the frustration that many people feel who are outside the church. Those of us who are in the church often are the reason people don't want anything to do with God. That is a crime...a shame...a disgrace.
It is amazing how often when people try to point out our flaws and inconsistencies, we tend to react negatively...we tend to want to destroy anyone or anything that would criticize. Seems to me that was a key reason Jesus was crucified. Now I am not trying to compare Aqualung's write Ian Anderson with Jesus. But sometimes people outside the church can have a perspective that we may not see. I mean come on, God has used a jackass to speak to his people...surely He could use a rock star to reveal a little bit of truth to the church. I think we can handle the truth...I know God can.

OOOOOUUUUUCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Ouch! Man, I hate it when that happens.
I hurt my knee this morning. I didn't do anything to it...didn't twist it...didn't fall on it...didn't do anything out of the ordinary to make it hurt. I started out like I do most mornings, full of vinegar and ready to be schooled by Him. But this morning about a quarter mile into my walk...pain. I hate pain...but I usually am one of those people that just pushes through pain...even if my leg were falling off I still keep dragging. But this was a sharp and very prevelant pain.
About then, I came to a cross roads of sorts. Now if I turn back now, I could nurse this thing back the short quarter mile. If I keep going it means no turning back and I have to go up and over my big hill. Drag on Limpy boy...its what I do.
So as I crest the hill, the pain is at its sharpest...like someone shot an arrow into it. I keep pressing on and somehow the pain subsides. It must have been the adjustments I made to my stride, or the way I way I angled my back as I walked. It was kind of embarassing walking that way but somehow it reduced my pain level. I was thankful that I didn't see any other walkers this morning...they can be so cruel. One little weird walking pattern and they think your weak. But I was safe this morning.
As I press on, the minister of funny walks (have to go way back to "Monty Python's Flying Circus" for that reference), I notice now my back is hurting...then my foot...now my neck is hurting....what's the deal? I didn't do anything wrong and now I've got pain everywhere. Oh sure I could have turned back...but lets face it...you would have thought I was a wuss if I had. I pressed on, made some adjustments along the way, compensated for my pain and now my whole body is messed up...whats up with that?
Then He spoke to me. I wasn't really going to listen...honestly I was a little mad at Him for not just fixing me. Now I have all these other pains and aches.
"Don't you see?" he says.
"See what?" I says. "I see I am limping and hurting and aching and and and...."
"Wuss" he says. "All around you are other walkers who are hurt and walking in pain...and you are one of those walkers who look at their walking style and criticize it...somehow thinking you are better than them."
"Huh?" I says "Whatchyou talkin bout Willis?"
"You have no idea what pain people are in as they walk. They have to make adjustments...they have to compensate for the pain they feel and as they do...it creates other pains."
"ME????" "I do that?" "Surely not me!" "Okay...well...maybe just a little bit."
He was right...I hate that when He's right...I should be used to it by now...He is usually right.
Why do we do that? Why do we see someone limping around and we want to pounce on them? It hurts to face the truth about ourselves.
Ouch...

The Greatest Hits

Well it has been way over a month since I have written...and walked for that matter. But today was one of those special and not so special days. Special because it was a beautiful cold but showy morning. The clouds were really magical, the sun rising made them all shimmer as it began to reflect off of the bottoms of them. The wind was brisk and bitey and depending on the direction I walked it either propelled me along or slapped me right in the face. It was special to listen to music I had been trying to locate for like 30 years and finally found it (Dennis Wilson's "Pacific Ocean Blue"...yeah the Beach Boys Dennis Wilson). It was and still is fantastic. It has one of my all time favorite songs on it called "Only With You." It was special just to be up and moving and outside...considering my advanced age it was really special.

But it was also not special today as well. It was like that 100Th episode of "Seinfeld" where they just show little clips from the past 99 episodes...you know...it's good and funny but nothing you hadn't seen. It's like buying a greatest hits album of your favorite artists. Mostly reruns of something you already have. Again...all good...but you've been there done that.

Today was that day as well. As I spoke to Daddy I was looking for something new and exciting...you know to rock your world. But instead I only saw the things I had seen before...nothing special...just a different day. I even had a close encounter with the Emu again this morning...he didn't scare me and I even got a close up pic of him...no sweat...he didn't even notice I was there. Same old houses, same old streets, same old pains and creaky legs and ankles. Same old Same Old. Kinda boring really.


It wasn't until I got home that it kinda hit me...

Same Old Same Old...can be a good thing. Sometimes it is our desire for the new and shiny toys that makes us fail to recognize that the things we have were once new and shiny to us...but over time they become just routine. It can be a car or a tool or a house or a TV or a yard or a town or a hobby or a memory or a or a or a or a..............

It can be a wife or a husband a child or a grandchild or a mom or a dad or a church or a friend or..........God...my GOD!!!!!

How can we ever take for granted these precious and amazing gifts? Sometimes NOT SPECIAL is incredibly special. Sometimes a Greatest Hits album is better than the original. I mean come on...the number one selling album in the history of the United States at over 29 million copies is "The Eagles Greatest Hits." That's pretty special...