Thinking Weekly

1) After four weeks of classes I think I have my routine down. Bout time.

2) I held my newest nephew yesterday for the first time. I was stupid giddy the rest of the day.

3) Every year I forget how much I like fall until it shows up again.

4) At one point this week I was looking forward more to reading about communication theory than going to class. It's official I'm a book-nerd, not a class-nerd.

5) It's possible Angry Birds was played for a short time in a class when the professor ranted about global warming. Maybe.

6) "For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." Romans 14:23

7) "The affinity of our hypothesis with mathematics will be noted whenever possible." Well crap.

8) There's that.

9) Broke out the old man slippers!

10) Older song, but great video.

A Nephew's Uncle

I’m an uncle again!

It was a hairy weekend, with all kinds of realizations, thoughts and fears all tossed into two days.

My second nephew was born via emergency c-section four weeks early. In a moment thoughts of, “if this doesn’t work things won’t be good,” and, “Dear Lord, I don’t want to preach a funeral with a tiny casket…” went pouring through my head. You can imagine the fear, but still more I think of my sister and brother-in-law, the thoughts running through their minds, the fears of their hearts.

I broke down at one point – you know the “nasty crying” kinda break down. Classes seemed to be more than what could be handled; at the time, there was no idea of what was happening in that cold hospital room, and I’d just sat in an all day conference. Emotionally drained, physically exhausted, mentally sleepy that was Saturday night.

Yet, there is hope. It came in the form of a question on Sunday night. “What get’s in the way of mission?” My priorities, my priorities are getting in the way not simply of mission, but of my view of God.

The three priorities of my life had become my gods. They’re good things, my priorities, things worth taking prior notice of often, but they will not save me.

There is an overarching greatness and goodness that ought to be viewed as better than those nifty things, which fill my time, he is the one who does sustain them after all, he is the one who created them.

So in a weekend full of fear a nephew was born (he’s doing great BTW) and was used to reveal the perpetual brokenness of his uncle’s heart.

What is Joy?

Let me explain a word to you, a word, as I understand it.

Joy, joy is not simply happiness, nor is it simply excitement. For in joy there is sadness and there is brokenness, happiness and sorrow. Joy is an idea held within the heart transcending all aspects of life, from the devastating to the amazing. Happiness is fleeting and sadness will not last, but joy goes right through the heart of both of these.

Joy has been a recent theme in my life. Not simply in my personal study but in the teachings of the church as well as the discussions with my friends. Joy, it seems, is such an elusive thing.

We’re always wondering how it came to us when we have it and where it went when we don’t. But I don’t think that’s a proper understanding of what joy really is.

Joy, it would seem, is a constant. Once it is had, it will never go. “But what about when I feel no joy?” you might ask. Joy is no feeling, it’s an idea held in your heart -- not your brain. We feel excitement and happiness but much like love joy is not a simple emotion.

It is quite complex really. For though I love The Anchor I do not love it the same way I love my nephew. And though I love my nephew I do not pray for him the same way I pray for my future children. So it is with joy.

But with joy we have lower words to describe those base feelings of happiness and excitement, it is not so with love (I love Oreos and I love God – same word completely different meanings).

This is joy: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you… So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
This is joy." (2 Cor 4:7-12,16-17)