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It’s funny, but for some reason this year I’m having more conversations with people about lent. Personally, I love it because it helps me to reflect on the season, which I always need a good reminder. The funny thing is that it is an odd set of conversations. As a matter of fact, they’ve run the gambit of funny to introspective to just plain frustrated.
The amazing thing is how often the “frustrated” conversations are happening. It seems that with the world being what it is, more and more people are feeling like they need to be giving things up. There are lots of people who are suffering and they want to make some kind of sacrifice. The downside comes when they “fail” to meet their expectations.
Several conversations have been with folks struggling with their to give something up, and it ultimately wants to make them, well, give up. They are tough on themselves, and feel like they’re not living up to Jesus example of sacrifice. They feel like failures.
After reflecting on all of this, I have come to the conclusion that Jesus wasn’t trying to set the “bar high” to make the rest of feel bad. In fact, the Lenten season should really remind us of God’s love and grace. The fact that Jesus sacrificed himself for us is an amazing act of love. It is that loving act that is done not to make us feel bad, but instead to demonstrate the depth of God’s love.
Instead of beating ourselves up, we should take the time to stop and thank God. Use the lenten season as the reminder of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, that the “chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” I want to stress the enjoy portion of this. Notice that it doesn’t say, beat yourself up, make yourself feel bad, and/or basically hate yourself in the name of God.
It seems simple, but remember that wonderful old song “Jesus loves me, this I know…”
This past weekend, the Presbytery of the Mid-South hosted it’s annual Presbyterian Youth Connection retreat out at Pinecrest. The theme was From Walking to Talking, and it was a fantastic experience for everyone there. The focus was on we learn to live out our faith, which is something that I know we’ve talked about a lot at Presby Place.
For the third year, Presby Place provided leadership in the areas of music and recreation. Jared, Sally, Lauren, and I threw our collective knowledge out for the fun and entertainment of everyone. The youth that came had a lot of fun, and there is a good chance that we might have had even more.
To share in the fun, I’ve added a slide show from our trip to the post. Enjoy the pictures, and who knows, maybe you can join us out there next year!
Author’s Note: You can keep up with our photos on our Picasa account. http://picasaweb.google.com/presbyplace And you can follow us on Twitter on @Presby_Place. http://twitter.com/Presby_Place
The start of the Lenten season is upon us, and today is Ash Wednesday. It marks the beginning of the journey to Easter. You may also think about it as the day that ashes get put onto your forehead. Either way, both are correct.
When I was a child, I love lent. I’m not sure why, but it may have had something to do with kicking it off with a pancake dinner. Still, as I grew older, I like that it was a time that everyone stopped to reflect upon lent. It was a look inward at ourselves and our relationship with God. When I was in college, this was tremendously appealing to me, because I was constantly reflecting upon my life experiences.
Needless to say, I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit to thinking about lent. As I sat in an Ash Wednesday service today, I was struck by something that was said. Lent is about our quest for understanding and deepening our relationship with God, and not for being vogue in giving up something to “diet”.
It is a statement that I’ve tossed around my head a couple of times, and for whatever reason, it stuck with me this year. Perhaps it was the numerous conversations leading up to today that dealt with what the individual was going to give up. Those always seem to lead to people out doing each other, and there never seems to be a permanent change.
This year, I’m going with a different approach. I am aiming to simple listen to God on a daily basis. That’s not to say that I don’t do it now, but instead, my want is to be more intentional about it. I know that God is talking, but the question is, am I listening. My hope is to hear God’s will for me, and to do my best in living it out.
This is the only place that you will hear me talk about this, because I don’t want to make it a show. However, I would ask you, what are you doing to be closer to God?
A few weeks ago, we started studying social justice, taking up To Do Justice as a dicussion text. During our first discussion we talked about justice for the workers, and what an eye opening experience it was.
We are all aware of poverity, and we live in a city that has struggled with poverity. However, many Americans thank about people who are homeless when they think of poverity. Many people would never stop to think about the fact that someone could have a job (or three) and be poor.
The truth is that there are lots of hard working people that do not have enough. When you begin to look closely at the American working class, you see that there are lots of cracks and inperfections. There are companys that will not intially work there employees enough hours to qualify them for medical insurance. Many have a huge disperatey between the highest paid employee and the lowest paid.
It is easy to think that charity, which is extremely important, is the solution, but in order for important change to take place, the system needs to change and not just be helped. You can see why the concept of a living wage is tremendously appealing. A wage that is set to help people meet their basic needs, and not have to work themselves to death, simply trying to make the ends meet.
It is interesting to listen to people’s reaction to a living wage. I think it has a great deal to do with the contrast it sets to “The American Dream.” In the American Dream, your hard work and determination make you rich. However, if you’ve ever had the chance to talk with someone working three jobs to support their family, you’ll know they are definitely hard working. It almost feels like we are short changing the American Dream because we are only dreaming of “enough”.
The truth is that Jesus challenges us to move away from a competitive spirit, and instead move to one of help and concern for all people. Instead of focusing on the fact that “it’s not fair” mentality, Jesus forces us to see the value that all workers bring. The truth is that without all of the various workers, the system would not be able to run.
My challenge to you is to look at a living wage, and begin to see the steps that YOU could take to help make it a reality.
One of the most difficult things that faces any college student is choosing priorities. Don’t believe me? Well, let’s take a look and see.
On the surface, being in college seems easy and everyone has the same priority. It’s easy to look and think that people are there to get an education. Why else would the be in college? And, for most of the students, they would say that it was a major priority for them to get an education.
However, is that their biggest priority?
Ask your friends what there’s are, and you might be surprised at the answers. Some folks might say that they want a well-paying job, and college is a way to do it. Others might say that they don’t want to live the same life that they grew up in, and college is a way to make a change. Still, others might say that they have no idea because they’ve been told their entire life that they were going to school.
Personally, I know that when I was in school, I would tell people that an education was number one. However, my actions would say something a little different. In an effort to soften the blow, I will remind everyone that I did in fact graduate college, I have two masters degrees, and am a productive member of society. Now, my actions would say that I was more interested in having fun. I would go to parties, stay up all night, skip class, and join lots of clubs. If extracurricular was a major, I would have gotten it.
I tell you that to say, some times we don’t even realize what our own priorities are until we start looking. And how often are we taking that close look at our motives? If your like me, when I was in college, not very often.
I always like looking at the Pharisees interactions with Jesus. I’m sure that if you asked them, they would say that there number one priority was to make sure that understood and followed the law. However, when you look at the interactions various Pharisees had with Jesus, it came across that they focused on trying to catch him. Why else would they test him over and over.
The truth is Jesus gives us a lot of instruction on priorities. We’ve talked many times about Jesus’ teaching on money, and not letting it rule ones life. However, in the cast of social justice and in our conversations on the 21st Century Social Creed, we find that Jesus told us to help each other. We need to focus on ways to help humanity, and keeping that as a priority will help to make wise decisions.
If you look at my earlier examples, you’ll see that most of them viewed education as a means to an end, and in some respect, they are right. The question we should ask ourselves is does that end match up with the priorities that Jesus taught us?
So, guess who has two thumbs and has forgotten to update the blog… in a while… That’s right, this guy right here. Now, with that out of the way, on to bigger and better things.
I am proud to announce the first ever Presby Place Bad Movie Match-Up. We’ve all seen bad movies, and chances are you think you’ve seen the worst movie of all time. Well, now is your chance to prove it. We’re hosting a competition to find the worst movie ever.
“How?” you ask. Presby Place will host the event as a NCAA bracket style match up. Each round, we will have a certain number of head to head competitions. The winner will be selected by a composite school of the judges. “Who are the judges?” you ask. That’s simple, they’re anyone watching the movie (that’s not competing in that particular match up).
It’s a pretty exciting match up so far, and I must say, there are some truly awful flims that have been selected. I don’t want to give any away, but I promise you that they’re not just bad, they’re awesomely bad. If you’re interested in competing in the event, send me a message (or a comment) and I’ll get back in touch with you. Are you interested in hosting your own Bad Movie Match-Up? Send me an e-mail (or comment) and I’ll contact you with all the information you need.
It looks to be a awfully fun time, and I would hate for anyone to miss it. Hope to see you there.
Oh, by the way, what do you think the worst movie of all time is?
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