Simple Truths

I have a really good book to recommend: Simple Truths by Stephen Bauman.  It was published in 2006 by Abingdon Press.  Bauman delivers a daily one-minute inspirational message on WCBS radio in New York City.  This book is a compilation of some of those messages.

I was re-reading the book recently and began listing some short Simple Truths that I have picked up over my 68 years of living, and 40 years of ministry.  The list will turn into a sermon to be delivered at St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Bloomington (where I serve as one of the pastors) in early 2014.

Here are some Simple Truths:

-The Creator really does love us, and really is committed to our redemption…

 -Grace is at the true center of our Creator and Redeemer…

 -The Redeemer just could be at work in all the world, in all people, and even in all faith systems…

 -Divine grace is bestowed on me, and on people other than me…

 -The hope of this world is the unlimited and loving patience of the One who created us all…

 -I am expected to forgive, to be merciful, and to love…

 -Even though it troubles me, it is nonetheless true that the Creator loves my enemies as much as me…

 -We human beings are most near perfection when we love each other…

-Like it or not, we are known by how we live, how we live together, how we treat one another, how we spend our time, our money, and our energy…

-We can choose to reflect grace to the world around us, or not…
 
-We can practice a faith that is rock-solid compassion at its core, and porous at its edges…or we can practice a faith that is all about hard-edged exclusion, encrusted in ancient creeds, and couched in terrible prejudice…
 
-Who we are becoming is entirely up to us…

-We truly are compelled to act in the world…

 

But then, I am reminded that:

 

What They Don't Know...

I thought about it for some time, and finally I did it.  It turned out really well, I think.  It doesn't take up much space in the living room...and my wife, Pretty Lady, so far tolerates it quite well.  So far.

Two big blankets, three kitchen table chairs...that's all it took.  It sets on some plush carpet, so flooring was not an issue.  I have a small clip-on reading light for times I am in it during evening hours.

That's not my blanket-tent, but its close enough for you to get the idea of what I've got going here in...oops, I almost let my location slip!

Mine is covered in aluminum foil.  It took just over five large rolls of the stuff to do the trick.

The aluminum foil is, as you know, applied so that the NSA cannot do any snooping into parts of my life that I would like to remain private.

The NSA (National Security Agency) is supposed to monitor the globe!  Seriously, the whole damn globe!  It is tasked with collecting, decoding, and translating information and data..."including surveillance of targeted individuals on U.S. soil."  And they are sneaky...that's where the aluminum foil comes in handy.  The NSA is "authorized to accomplish its mission through clandestine means."

Phone calls.  The NSA is listening to everything you say in every call you make or receive.  Except for political robo-calls.  Even the NSA thinks those things are just stupid.

The same with texts.  Or any communication you may engage in using your fancy-schmancy really expensive "phone."  They probably do the same with me and my flip-phone, but it doesn't require as many spy-hours as it does with all the "smart" phone folks. 

(On October the 23rd, Pope Francis, speaking to prison chaplains said, "No cell is so isolated that it can keep the Lord out."  He probably could have gone on to say that, "No cell phone is so private that it can keep the NSA out."  And if the Pope could have said it, you know if has to be by-God true!)

Surfing on the computer.  Yeah, the NSA is all over that.  Think about how the sites you visit play-out among a bunch of spy-types in a bunkered headquarters building, ten stories underground just outside the belt-way.  That's why I bought the aluminum foil.

I am considering a hot plate and small coffee maker for my blanket-tent.  That way the NSA won't be able to monitor how much not-good-for-me food I eat, and how many gallons of Starbucks coffee I drink in a day.

My aluminum foil covered blanket-tent also repels any spy-rays that are beamed into my house from those drones that appear in my backyard every Tuesday and Saturday.

It used to be fairly easy to detect spies, back in the good old days of "Bond.  James Bond."  But nowadays the NSA is all in to that "clandestine" thing.  And they are taking the "whole damn globe" thing way too serious, also.

So, I got me a blanket-tent.  Aluminum foil covered.  I wasn't born yesterday, ya know.  (And I'm not sayin' exactly when I was born...that would make it too easy for them.")

Taking the Golf Clubs out of the Car...

First off, I don't own a car.  I own an SUV.  Secondly, I don't know what the name is for the storage area in an SUV.  In a car, its a trunk.  I still call the storage area of my vehicle a trunk...but maybe its more correctly the way-back.  My struggle with that whole storage area and type of vehicle was resolved by just giving this rant the title, "Taking the Golf Clubs out of the Car."

That's the model and color of vehicle I own. 

During much of the year...roughly April thru October...I keep my golf clubs in my SUV.  I only play golf, on average, once a week during this time but just having those clubs with me wherever I travel opens the possibility that I might find a way to sneak off and play 9 or 18 holes.

Those are not my golf clubs.  And that is not my golf bag.  My clubs are specially crafted for "senior" players...a different type of flex in the composite shaft, and maybe even a more forgiving "sweet spot" on the club-head.  (Trust me, I need all the age-appropriate help I can get with this crazy sport.)

My golf bag is quite old...and is close to needing replacement.  It also is blue and gold, and has Notre Dame logo on it.

This is what I will be giving up until about next April.  Sigh. 

The weather has turned cold here at the northern border of Southern Indiana.  Snow flurries are in the weather forecast.  It was 31 degrees outside when I woke up this morning.

Its just a seasonal thing, I guess...the clubs will be back in the Honda soon enough.  But it got me to wondering about all the things we set aside over a lifetime.

Activities...you can think of many that are abandoned as the aging body can no longer do what it used to do.

People...the ones that are left behind because of graduating from school, moving to a new place, getting a new job, divorce, death, a "falling-out."

Beliefs...about how the world operates, how life is constructed, what is "right" and what is "wrong," the role of religion and faith in the business of living day-to-day.  (I have said and written many, many times that, "There comes a time to stop believing the unbelievable.")

Memberships and Associations...with groups, organizations, and causes that once were important to you, but now are not. 

But golf.  Oh my, golf is about to be set aside for another winter...with the hope and expectation that it will be back in the spring.  There are some very important things in our lives that need to be seasonal.  They remain important in our lives exactly because they on-purpose show up again and again.

Sigh.

No Yankees in the Post-Season...

The regular major league baseball season has been over for a couple weeks now.  There's a new wrinkle in the Playoffs this time around, with five teams from each league (American and National) making it to the post-season. 

When the ten teams were finally known, I chose the Detroit Tigers and the Pittsburgh Pirates to face off in the World Series.  The Tigers are still alive and fighting for the American League Championship.  The Pirates took an early exit and are probably playing golf by now. 

But here's the shocker: The New York Yankees didn't make it to the post-season!  Usually, they do.  No such luck this year.  Wait til next year!  That's what my Chicago Cubs fan friends say every year. 

The Yankees will make it back to the post-season again.  Probably sooner than later.  And they will make it to the World Series again.  Sooner than later.  And they will win their 28th World Series Championship.  Yup...sooner than later.

But baseball really is more than just a game.  Its philosophy.  And hope.  And drama.  And theology.  And the promise of life eternal.  OK, maybe not that last one.  Maybe.

See what I mean:

"Its wonderful to meet so many friends that I didn't used to like."
"There comes a time in every man's life, and I've had many of them."
"You have to go broke three times to learn how to make a living."
(Those three quotes are from Casey Stengel...long-time manager of both the Yankees and the Mets.)

"We made too many wrong mistakes."
"The game isn't over until its over."
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
(And, those three quotes are from Yogi Berra...also a player and manger with both the Yankees and the Mets.)

"Its a great day for a ball game; let's play two!"
"You must try to generate happiness within yourself.  If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace."
(Those two are from Ernie Banks..."Mr. Cub.")

"Why does everyone talk about the past?  All that counts is tomorrow's game."
(From Roberto Clemente...great ball player; wonderful humanitarian.)

"It is dangerous for an athlete to believe his own publicity, good or bad."
(From Bob Uecker...average player but quite famous announcer.)

Like I said, baseball really is more than just a game.  Its philosophy.  And hope.  And drama.  And theology.  And the promise of life eternal.  OK, maybe not that last one.  Maybe.

Someplace Else...

I live in Bloomington.  A very nice and decent-sized town in what is just about the northern boundary of southern Indiana.

I grew up in Lydick.  A very small little burg just west of South Bend (and Notre Dame!), and just about a half-hour drive from the Michigan border.

I moved from Lydick to Los Angeles!  Yeah.  All that.

Just shy of five years after moving to L.A. I moved to Indianapolis.  Between Indianapolis and Bloomington, I have lived in Jeffersonville (on the Ohio River just across that river from Louisville), Indianapolis again, Greencastle (about an hour drive due west of Indy...home of DePauw University), Indianapolis one more time, Vincennes (the oldest city in Indiana...right on the border with Illinois), Avon (a fast-growing suburb on Indy's west side...in a neighboring county)...and, as I stated above: (Now) I live in Bloomington.

I think in all those places (with perhaps one exception) I have felt "at home."  I moved from Indianapolis the first time...and all subsequent moves...because of my job.  I think in all those places (with perhaps one exception) I liked my job.

I have, from time to time, wished I was someplace else.  Ft. Myers Beach, Florida comes to mind.  And the southwestern part of our country...maybe New Mexico or Arizona.  The only place I have previously lived that I have thought I might like to go back to is L.A.  I have returned to Indianapolis often...as the above itinerary shows...maybe back there.  Maybe.

The great Yogi Berra once said: "If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up someplace else."

Trouble is that someplace else is always someplace else.

Kinda like wishing to be in sometime else. 

Or maybe like wishing to be someone else.

Being comfortable with when and where and who you are is a really big deal, don't you think?

Still, the sun and sand of Ft. Myers Beach is very inviting.