Books and BoSoxs/Yankees

While the Red Sox Nation waited to see if their team would play after the Sox were striking for another 40K, the Yankees were helping the Virginia Tech community continue to heal from the shooting months ago by playing an exhibition game in Blacksburg (and giving a nice million dollar check from the Steinbrenners). A Hokie student asked Jeter to pose for a pic next to the stone in memory of her late fiancé, a Jeter fan. If that thought doesn’t get you choked up, like A-Rod in October, you are heartless. For more on the (dare I say) Christ like behavior of the Yankees check out Cromer’s blog .
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I was recently asked to give the most influential books I have read. In the last few years I said - Simply Christian- NT Wright & Simple Church-Rainer (In my opinion it could be simpler by being edited down, but still a great model for church). I might eventually add How (Not) to Talk about God- Rollins.

What are your three most influential books?

The Way

Jesus says, “I am the way and the only way.” In John’s Gospel, Jesus gives a series of self-identifying statements, which reveal his divine status, and this one makes me struggle the most. If Jesus is the only way to the Father, then no other way gets us to God. Pre-Jesus Judaism will not get you there. Islam leads you on a road that doesn’t get to THE Destination. And the list goes on and on.
I am a product of my environment and that’s not all bad. I have been formed (some by choice and some not so much by choice) to be a person that doesn’t want to disrespect the religious experiences and the stories that influence someone’s life. I don’t like the idea of telling someone that their religious heritage is empty, because Christianity has been given too many black eyes by people who are quick to get involved in verbal (and not so verbal) fisticuffs with those who have different religious experiences. So I am tempted by the popular option of saying that all roads lead to the same destination. A Hindu and Christian both travel roads that lead to the same divine mountaintop. This mentality proposes to respect all differing religious stories by proposing that they are really all analogous. But does this really respect all religions? It seems to actually disrespect all religions by the arrogance of the outsider. One can pompously say that these differing religious narratives actually aren’t that different. Our Hindu friend says there are many gods, but our Jewish friend says that only one God exists. Yet the supercilious outsider mocks the defining characteristics of each by saying your doctrines matters little because you both are going the same direction.
While I maintain the mentality that “do unto others…” does include respecting formative religious narratives of others. I think that watering it all down just doesn’t work either. I am reminded of an episode from ER not too long ago in which a grief-ridden doctor faces death while being swamped with the guilt of administering a lethal injection to a posthumously vindicated man. He wants the chaplain to give him answers for how to be forgiven and how to experience grace. She gives him the nebulous postmodern “all roads lead…” answer. But this answer leaves him empty. The doctor furiously castigates her because he wants a simple right or wrong, yes or no answer, but all she has to offer is ambiguity.

Jesus gives us that simple answer, “I am the way.”

10,000 BC

Sunday night I saw 10,000BC while in Dallas with Lindsay and her parents. The movie automatically goes in my ‘guy movie’ category alongside gripping movies like Braveheart and Gladiator. In all of these movies we see the common thread of the battle for family and justice. William Wallace in Braveheart fights for his country and revenge for his wife’s murder. Maximus in Gladiator fights for Rome and for revenge of the deaths of his family and his beloved friend and emperor. In 10,000 BC, the hero, D’Leh, fights for the emancipation of his people and for love. It’s the same story, told and retold. Yet it still grasps us in the same way, because these stories touch on an almost primal compulsion for fighting a battle worth living for and dying for.

What’s in your ‘guy movie’ category and what is it about our 21st century life that makes these movies so powerful?

Wedding Bells

We are back in Florida after being in Texas last week for a speaking engagement in East Texas. Not only did we get to make some new friends at the church, but also we were able to get over to DFW and Abilene to see family and friends. But we are not back in Florida for long. On Thursday we head up to my old stomping grounds of Ohio for a wedding. While I am very happy for the bride and groom, it is going to be the most odd wedding I have ever been to because at this wedding I am marrying my grandma. Before you get some weird Arkansas type idea, let me clarify. My grandma is getting remarried and I am officiating the ceremony. One of my friends in Abilene told me that marrying your grandma isn’t nearly as odd as marrying your dad which he did a few years ago. I might disagree with him in a few days.

As I prepare for the service I am struggling with a few lines.

“Jim, you may now kiss my grandma.” Just doesn’t sound right.
So I might go with, “Jim, you may now give a quick side-hug to my grandma.”

The Shed

It is amazing how life can change one’s impression of a location. I’m back in Abilene, and every time I’m here I drive by our first house. This is the house Lindsay and I bought right before we got married. We welcomed our dogs, Chief, into our family there a few months before we got married (and Chloe the next Valentine's Day). We came home from our Mexican honeymoon and unloaded our car full of presents into this house on the 4th of July back in ‘03. This is the house that I put almost a thousand square feet of Pergo flooring down, painted every room and built a fence with my neighbor the pilot. I remember coming home to that house from Grace Bible Study on Tuesday nights and I remember having dinner ready for Lindsay when she came home from working at Hendrick Medical Center. I remember trying to black out the bedroom windows for the few months that Lindsay had to work night shift. I remember getting a blowup pool for the dogs to keep cool in the summer. So many memories that over time seem to have all been brushed positive, but the memories there weren’t positive for the house’s new occupant.
There was a shed in our backyard that our dogs would go into when it was cold. Actually a few times they would go into the shed, accidentally shutting the door and then find themselves trapped. I would have to go out to emancipate them. My Boxers would burst out the door and leave their futon bed in shambles. But now the shed no longer stands.
As the gossip mill has reported, one of the renters found himself consumed with guilt and thought that another way didn’t exist. So he committed suicide in that shed. Someone, I’m not sure who, decided to tear down the shed. As I drove by the backyard I saw our dog’s blow up pool sitting on top of a pile of rubble from that shed. Life and her memories can be so wonderful and at the same time it can be so painful.
Lord Jesus come soon…

Fishing Trip

I went deep sea fishing off the coast of Louisiana with my friend Derek on Thursday. Here is the Tuna we brought home.