The motivation behind our stances

There has been a lot of talk in the church about the homosexuality. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian church is happening this week, in which the issue of ordination of practicing homosexuals as officers and ministers in the church is on the table.

Without getting too much into it right now, as I have devoted other blogs to the issue, I was considering what it is that motivates most people's stance on the issue. I came to the conclusion that the most common motivations would be:

a - concern for the individual (how that person's behavior will affect that person)

b - concern for self (how that person's behavior will affect me)

c - concern for the church (how that person's behavior will affect the church)

While there are other variations, I think that it essentially boils down to those three, or perhaps some sort of combination of them.

All three of these motivations are important, and all have sound reasoning, but it seems that Jesus is most clearly calling us to do (a). The other two are justifiable, but ultimately, Jesus is concerned with the individual. The condition of the individual affects the condition of the whole, so in that sense, focus on (a), you will affect (c) as well. The condition of the whole will likewise affect the condition of the individual, so in that sense (c) will affect (b).

Still (a) should be the focus. If we are instead motivated by things like, "I don't want the church to change," or "I don't agree," we tend to be thinking more self-centered than selfless. Jesus wants us to serve, to be selfless.

That doesn't mean blindly accepting everything about everyone. But it does mean putting the needs of someone else over our own wants and preferences. Sometimes the most selfless thing that you can do for someone is to say "no." Sometimes it is to say "yes."

This is not a partisan view on this issue, but it is a necessary view if we are to truly approach the issue as Christians, as followers of Christ.

Tell Them Hot Hocky.

A few months ago, XM was playing a channel that was all Michael Jackson, all the time, for a month, in honor of Thriller's 25th anniversary. I then went on a Michael Jackson binge for a while, which was recently resurged.

I have realized that every single Michael Jackson song eventually devolves into gibberish. Example: the end of Black or White finds MJ singing

Iss Blaa, Is Whii, Iss Blubba doo, yeah yeah yeah.

It is practically inevitable. The best example of this, and perhaps the quickest to take that turn onto the incomprehensible highway is the song "Wanna Be Starting Something." This one goes like this:

Say you wanna be startin somethin'
you got to be startin' somethin'
Say you wanna be startin' somethin'
you got to be startin' something

Too high to get over (yeah yeah!)
Too low to get unda (yeah yeah!)
Ya stuck in the middle
And a remby blemba...

The first verse goes:

Took my baby to the doctor
wit a hee dimba dumba da he dumb.

This is brilliant. The man has no need for coherency to sell a record. I mean take even the lyrics that are distinguishable, like Thriller:

Cause this is Thriller!
Thiller night!
Girl, I can scare you more than any ghoul would ever dare try!

What? Why does Michael want to scare girls? Like if it was, "Hey this is scary, but you can cuddle with me," that would be a pop song that makes sense, but this is is a plain enigma! That goes against the very equation of pop!

Why, Michael?

And yet, when we listen to it, why does it make such sense to us?

Here is one more gem:

Beat It! Beat It!
No is the heed a heed it!
Tell them hot hocky
Tell them no bites
It doesn't matter
who's wronga right.

My conclusion is that Michael Jackson hyp-mo-tized us all with his gibbery lyrics and sweet dance moves. I am still not immune to the infectious jammin' on the one grooves of 80's and 90's MJ. I am not afraid to admit it, and I think most if not all of you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Wit a hee dimba dumba da he dumb.

The Summer Solstice

Today is the longest day of the year.

Get out and have some fun.

We are going to go to the drive in to see Indiana Jones and Iron Man for $8. Ironically, today the start time for a drive in movie is later than any other day of the year.

Put the computer down and go outside.

Now.

The pleasures of living in the South

Since last I wrote, Adrien and I have successfully moved to Mooresville, North Carolina. I have just wrapped up my first week of work at First Presbyterian Church as the Associate Pastor for Youth. Most of my week has been acclimating myself to the building and the system. Half the staff is on vacation, and there haven't been any big youth gatherings this week, so it has been relatively calm.

Today, Adrien came to see me at lunch so that we could walk downtown to try and get library cards (we couldn't as we don't yet have NC driver's licenses). On our walk, we stopped to get ice cream, as we had been given a gift certificate to the local ice cream place. As we were walking back to the church, both with wielding ice cream cones, we crossed in front of a car that was waiting at a traffic light. The driver was a young guy in his twenties, maybe, who said out the window, "Ice cream is good, isn't it?"

Now I need to note that there was not a hint of sarcasm or malice in his tone. This guy was legitimately championing the inherent goodness of ice cream to us as we walked in front of his car. It was both hilarious and sweet.

I'm not sure what part of "the South" this qualifies as, but today's encounter definitely rules out "dirty South."

Time to get a new license

On Thursday, I will officially be a resident of a new state, which raises my legit residential tally to 6 states overall:

PA
Iowa
Florida
Illinois (where I voted for some senator with a funny name)
Wisconsin
and now North Carolina.

I lived in Georgia for a summer, long enough to get mail there and pay state tax on my income, but I got mail when I was in Italy, too, and I never really "resided" there, so that state didn't make the cut.

Our house is currently filled with boxes. The movers boxed in a day and a half what would have taken Adrien and I two months to accomplish. Genius. I'm only moving like this from now on.

Also, we have shut off our internet here in Wisconsin, so to get a connection, I have had to sit on my back porch and pick up a faint signal from one of my neighbors. This has led me to realize that it is in fact quite delightful to be outside and on the internet. It seems rather paradoxical, but I quite enjoy it.

When next we talk, I will have a soft southern draw...

Oh! I am also now an ordained minister of the word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Hooray for Jesus!




(postscript: we have had a good string of Orange Flower days recently)

Avocado Days

Our friend Val gave us a silly gift for Christmas: it is a miniature easel, about three inches tall. With it came three miniature canvas paintings that she had painted, each about two inches tall. One is of orange flowers. Another is what we call "art deco", which is a bunch of primary colored polygons.

The third is a painting of an avocado. That one is very murky colored.

I soon realized that Adrien was changing the pictures (as only one fits on the easel at a time) almost daily, but with no discernible rotation order. She explained to me that when she gets up in the morning at 5:30, as we are getting ready to leave for the commute to Dubuque (about 45 minutes), when she looks out the window, she tries to determine what the day is going to be like. She then sets the mini-art to correspond with what type of day it will be. The orange flowers are a bright and sunny day, generally a happy, fun day. The art deco is an uncertain day, where basically anything can happen. The avocado is a gloomy day, mostly referring to the weather, but also sometimes when the day itself is just a hard one.

Tomorrow is Adrien's last day at work. She really loves this place and it has been really hard on her. Leaving Dubuque has been a hard process for me as well, but it is harder to see Adrien sad. We have really had a wonderful time in our Wisconsin/Dubuque life for these past three years, and have been blessed to have gotten to know a ton of amazing people.

It's hard to move, even when it is to a good place.

This will be my ninth move, and fourth for Adrien and I in the past 6 years. I'm really looking forward to the prospect of not moving again for a while, of moving somewhere that doesn't have an end date before we even get there.

We are BOTH incredibly excited about North Carolina and all of the possibilities that lay ahead for us in there. Yet, that doesn't make leaving Dubuque any easier.

Adrien loves her job and the people that she works with, and we have made great friends. It is a really hard place to leave. We know that Mooresville is the place that God is calling us, and awesome things await us there, but we first have to get through the goodbyes before we can take comfort in the hellos.

Please pray for us, and especially for Adrien.

We've been having a lot of avocado days.

Working on the last Youth Group, Sorry I haven't been around

So I've had a busy week, but Adrien and I may finally have a place to stay when we get to North Carolina. More on that later, when it is 100%.

Until then, I've taken a break from doing what I should to show you this video. You may have seen or heard about it before. Obviously it is fake, but it's still creepy. Watch the whole thing. It's about two minutes long.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poSYwC0jx5E