"A kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time..."

In the first stave of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Scrooge's nephew says "But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time."

"[Christmas is the] only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seemed by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle [Scrooge], though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that ithas done my good, and will do me good; and I say, "God bless it!"

Today, I introduced 57 eighth grade students to A Christmas Carol. The most they could remember from vague cultural references as a crabby old man ("like the grinch!") and ghosts - but none mentioned the moral of the story or the change that Scrooge undergoes.

Clark has graciously invited to join One August Dei as a blogger. I recently graduated from Biola University and am now teaching English Language Arts to 137 eighth graders at a charter school in South Los Angeles. 99% of my students are free/reduced lunch and many of them have never been outside Los Angeles. The world in which they live is small: not by choice, but often a result of the zip code where they were born. I am part of a national non-profit organization that aims to end inequality in education in our nation, focusing on placing recent college graduates in high-need, low-income urban and rural schools. A Christmas Carol is one small unit of a larger, year-long goal I have to widen my students view of the world. Over the next few weeks, I hope to add a unique perspective on A Christmas Carol: brought to you by a first year teacher and his 137 eighth grade students in South Los Angeles.

Morning Prayer: Take My Life and Let It Be

1. Take my life and let it be
   Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
   Take my moments and my days,
   Let them flow in endless praise.
2. Take my hands and let them move
   At the impulse of Thy love.
   Take my feet and let them be
   Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3. Take my voice and let me sing,
   Always, only for my King.
   Take my lips and let them be
   Filled with messages from Thee.
4. Take my silver and my gold,
   Not a mite would I withhold.
   Take my intellect and use
   Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
5. Take my will and make it Thine,
   It shall be no longer mine.
   Take my heart, it is Thine own,
   It shall be Thy royal throne.
6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour
   At Thy feet its treasure store.
   Take myself and I will be
   Ever, only, all for Thee.

Morning Prayer: To the Saints in Ephesus

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and in earth derives its name, that according to the riches of His glory he may grant to you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Chris may dwell in your hearts through faith-- that you, being rooted and grounded in love may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and hight  and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than we can ask of think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Sound of the Week - Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley. I'm sure all of you have heard his rendition of "Hallelujah" and love it, but the rest of his music is often times sadly overlooked. He's got an incredible voice, flowing lyrics and a beautiful sound overall. So for those of you who have never really listened to Jeff Buckley...enjoy.

And check out his CD "Grace". It's fantastic.

Jeff Buckley - "Mojo Pin"

Morning Prayer: A Pursuit of God

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness 
And it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. 

I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. 

I am ashamed of my lack of desire. 

O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; 

I long to be filled with longing; 

I thirst to be made more thirsty still. 

Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. 

Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. 

Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” 

Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee 
Up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.

Finding Rest

Life often provides us with times of relaxation. Whether that means a weekend in the wilderness, a day at the beach, sleeping in on a Saturday, or a ten minute coffee break at work, we know what it feels like to relax. Lately, I've been confronted with the the fact that in my life those times of relaxation are often the times in which I find very little rest or peace. In those prolonged moments when my schedule offers a void, my head begins to race. All of my worries, insecurities, and irrational fears rise to the surface and anxiety gets a grip. But wait:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

He only is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

Finding peace and rest are very different pursuits from the search for relaxation. We must find a way to lay our burdens down and quickly step away. We must loosen our grip and release the reigns. We must recognize the bigger picture. Our lives are significant but our actions or inactions are incapable of derailing the sovereign will of God. I have never found true rest while relying on my own abilities. However when I turn to God and affirm that "Your will be done," the waves beneath my feet become a solid and unshakable foundation. It is in that moment when I finally rush into the capable and loving arms of a Father who delights in my joy.

Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.

I urge you each to find rest in this coming week. Finding true peace is contrary to our contentious soul and thus we must struggle to embrace it. Don't settle for cheap relaxation but instead find rest.

Sound of the Week: Beirut - Nantes

This week's sound comes from Beirut, a band from New Mexico who sound like they're from some tiny Eastern European country whose name nobody can pronounce. This is probably because the lead singer found his inspiration from Balkaan folk music while traveling through Europe in high school. They're odd, and probably not for everybody, but I'm a big fan. Interesting instruments and a very unique sound. "Nantes" is absolutely my favorite song, but I also attached a two other songs by Beirut if your interested.

Beirut - "Nantes"

Beirut - "Cherborg"

Beirut - "Postcards from Italy"

***If you like Beirut, you might just like this song as well.

DeVotchKa - "How it Ends"

The Gospel of the Ungrateful

This is the Gospel.

All humanity is born into sin. The simple act of our birth earns us damnation. We are ungrateful creatures, scorning our Holy Father for the fleeting pleasures of earth. Bent on doing evil and lovers of sin, we wander through the darkness drunk on depravity, too blind to even understand our wretched state. We are born into our death, wallowing in our own filth, unable to pickourselves up or clean ourselves off.

And God saw us in this offensive state, yet He did not abandon us. We were his enemies, doing the very things he hates as we sinned. We were vessels of wrath, spitting on our creator, assuming we did not need our Heavenly Father.

Yet He did not abandon us.

He saw us, and though He hated the sin we reveled in, He loved us. He wanted us to have the opportunity to be with Him, but in our dirty and depraved state we could not come near His Holy nature. As a good and perfect judge, He had to punish our sin and pour out His wrath on that sin. Man had to pay for their iniquity.

Yet even still, He loved us.

He had to punish our sin; yet he loved us so much that paradox became reality as God became man to atone for our sin. Man had to pay, so Jesus became man, taking on flesh, that he might be a sacrificial offering in our place. He came, and as He died on the cross He absorbed all the wrath that the history of humanity, past, present and future, had earned. The Father poured out every bit of wrath on Jesus until His wrath was completely satisfied. Jesus paid it all. He drank the cup of wrath to the bottom till not a drop was left.

He saved us from our sin.

There is now no condemnation for those who repent and put their faith in Christ. For those who trust in Jesus, not only is the Father’s wrath towards them satisfied, but they are also wrapped in the righteousness of Christ. So now, the gracious Father on high looks at the believer and sees him as clean and righteous. There is no impending wrath for those who accept Christ, and the Father does not see us as filthy sinners, but instead as righteous sons because Christ was righteous. This is the gift of grace that God offers us, and all we must do is leave our sinful past behind, put our faith and trust in Christ alone, and live to love God. We trade our awful, depraved lives for ones of purpose and joy, and trade our eternal damnation for eternal life.

This is the Gospel.

It is radical. It is mind-numbing, earth shattering and life-altering. It is totally undeserved, utterly transformative and completely insane. Seriously, it is absurd that God loves us and saves us. But He really truly does. However, too often the Gospel does not amaze us. For many of us who have grown up in the church, like myself, the Gospel has become very normal. We think of it and are unimpressed, and thus ungrateful. It become an obvious reality to us and we think to ourselves, “of course God died for us, what else would he do”. We hear that "in Christ you have been saved from eternal damnation", and we do not get excited. That is wrong. In our minds it becomes the status-quo and the way things “should be”, and thus we even go so far as to believe we deserve the grace of the Gospel. But we do not, and we must fight this complacent idea that the Gospel is normal and unimpressive.

We do not deserve grace, and we should wake up every morning utterly in awe of the fact that God has saved us by grace and adopted us as His sons. Think about it. Really think about the Gospel. Ponder it, wonder at it, revel in it, marvel your way through it. It is insane what God did for us, so lets begin to find more joy in that incredible gift.

This is the Gospel. It is absurd, but it is true. It is amazing.

Morning Prayer: Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Right From My Heart

This is a micro-macrocosmic introduction of me:

I went through a phase where I tried to eat nothing but yellow foods for breakfast. I was limited to bananas, pineapple, and scrambled eggs with the occasional garnish of cheddar cheese—occasional because it was a bit too orange for my liking. It was served on yellow plates.

Then I went through a phase where I tried to eat nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast. It was delicious and so, so nostalgic.

Then I went through a phase where I tried to be like my grandpa and eat nothing but cream of wheat or oatmeal for breakfast. Did my grandpa only eat these things? I don't know, but eating breakfast like him meant eating only these things.

Then, in the comfort of myself, I ate whatever I wanted and didn't worry about broadcasting my breakfast food choices to the world. I still do this (or I did until I wrote this).

Once Henri Nouwen asked Mother Teresa how to live out his vocation as a priest, and she responded, "Spend one hour a day in adoration of your Lord and never do anything you know is wrong, and you will be fine." [adapted from The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen]

To live a life honest with myself meant living what was right from my heart. And what is right from my heart is only determinable after blurring the lines between my heart and God's.

Sound of the Week - Rye Whiskey

I really love music. I don't play any instruments, nor do I have any musical knowledge, but I do love music. So once a week I'm going to post a new song that I like to share with you my friends. Here's the thing though. Like I said, I don't have any musical training so I only judge songs based on two things:

1) I enjoy how they sound

2) I like there lyrics

I don't get into technical stuff. So if the guitar lines are too basic, the drumming is no good, or the bassist doesn't know what he's doing...I'm sorry. I just like how music sounds in my ears. Let me know what you think of the songs though.

Today's song is called "Rye Whiskey" by the Punch Borthers. All you Nickel Creek fans should enjoy this because this is Chris Thile's new band.

Enjoy

Taking a Second Look

I had a conversation recently and I must admit: I'm still developing my views on the subject. What should we do when we are confronted by a man or woman, destitute and asking for money. Conventional wisdom says that most of these poor and often-homeless individuals are victims to their own vices; they are addicts to the worst degree. In fact, I have been told that it is wrong to give them money because it only feeds their addiction.

It is true. Many of these poor individuals are slaves to substance abuse. Most of them are irrevocably damaged by their choices. It is true. They may use that money to buy alcohol or drugs. Also, I think we would all agree that an offer of food and shelter would be more beneficial. But what should we do when we don't have food or shelter to give? Indeed, we often don't have the necessary resources or time to give them food or shelter. Should we give them our money?

I say yes. Give them everything you have. Give them not only what you can spare but more! In regard to the poor, the hungry, and the destitute, Jesus tells us that "[a]s you have done to the least of these, you have also done to me." He clearly is not saying merely to serve "those who are unfortunate victims of external circumstance." By "least of these" I think and know that he means "the least": Those who are in prison for just cause; those who are poor because their bad choices; those who are hungry because they are unwise. Jesus did not love people based on pretense, he loved people and through that love earned the right to demand better of them. The prostitute of John 8 deserved capital justice but Jesus forgave her of her crime and demanded she live a redeemed life. We don't know, she may have returned to the streets that night. Ultimately, it does not matter. Every person is responsible for their own actions. We must show love first (after all, isn't that how we know love?) and use that care as a way to persuade others. So next time you see someone on the road with a ridiculous sign that pleads for help, realize that you are responsible for your actions, not theirs. We have been given a gift--Love--and we are responsible to give to others without pretense.

 "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor."

Hearing Love

What if we listened?

What if we really, actually listened to one another? I’m not talking about simply hearing the words that our friends speak. No, I’m talking about something much more intimate and much more difficult. I’m talking about listening to our friends and using our ears to peer into their heart to see their well-being that we might love them better. To really know our friends.

Many of your friends are hurting, some are lonely, and most are anxious. Some are experiencing great joy, others intense sorrow, and some are even wrestling with deep depression.Some are struggling to cope with the busyness of life, while others are so confused about life that they are utterly paralyzed and simply do nothing.

What if we began to listen to these people. What if we started seeking to know them deeply, and to care for them based on how they are doing. What if I stopped living a life focused on myself, and began to focus on the needs of my friends. What if I stopped treating people based on how I “feel” like treating them, and began to take time to understand who they are, and how they are doing, and then using that knowledge to love them excellently.

What if we really listened? Well , to put it simply: if we begin to listen better, we will love better. And if we begin to love better, we will serve God better. Thus, we must become better listeners. Because if we do not know what is going on in their life or their heart, how can we love them well? To love a friend when they are in a time of grief is very different from loving a friend in a time of joy.

Unfortunately, the honest truth is that most of us are very self-centered. Even the most virtuous man struggles to listen well that he might know and love others around him. But that is what we must do. That is our calling. That is what Christ did.

We must gauge out our old perspective and adopt the vision of Christ. We must die to ourselves so that Christ can resurrect our hearts to be enabled to genuinely love the world. We must partner with the Holy Spirit, and pray with fervor, that we might be empowered to take our eyes off ourselves to know and love those around us. This is what happened to the St. Paul. He was literally blinded by Christ, and when he regained vision, he no longer saw the world as a hypocritical, self-righteouss Pharisee. He no longer focused on himself because in comparison to serving God, anything we do to serve ourselves is rubbish.

Here we encounter a paradox of life. In our depraved minds, it seems that focusing on ourselves will ensure a life of success and happiness, while focusing on others will lead to an empty life. However, in Christ, we live in an upside down kingdom where things don’t always make sense because, in reality, the life of pride leaves a man empty, unhappy and unfulfilled, while a life of love and sacrafice brings purpose, satisfaction and intense joy. So let us seek to adopt the vision of Christ, and let us plead with God for a new perspective in life so that we can truly know and love our brothers and sisters around us.

The Bird's View

Have you ever noticed the limitation of perspective? This is what I mean: No matter how great your imagination or how out of the box you may think, your whole life is spent seeing from only one perspective. From the moment you wake to the moment you fall asleep, you can only see with your two eyes and perceive with your own five senses.

We can't truly say that "I know how you feel" and we can't say anything when someone writhes, "You just can't understand what I'm going through!" Even our emotions are limited and prescribed by our past experiences. This is one of life's greatest limitations and it produces most of life's greatest conflicts. Because we see and feel things so differently, we build values around different things. In marriages, families, and friendships, people are divided because they grasp onto their needs too tightly. It's true, a need is a need. I need food. I need to be heard. I need acceptance. I need to feel significant. These are all rational and reasonable needs that are often too evasive for the human soul. Alone they create no conflict but when two people grasp for the same thing, be it attention, acceptance, food, or significance, conflict arises.

Love. This is the prescription for all of life's problems: Love. When we Love, we lay down our own needs for the sake of others. Love doesn't call us to ignore our needs, it calls us to elevate the needs of others. In Love, we can postpone our own fulfillment as we seek to fulfill another. Often times Love goes unnoticed, but in a relationship this sacrificial Love elevates the needy and empowers the needy to fulfill the needs of others. Love. It is our call; a new perspective on Life. This is a bird's-eye view of Christian living.

Stories and Metaphors

Foreword

This is not my story. My story is part of a larger story. God is the author of this story, and I am just one character in that story. What do I want for my life? I want my part of the story to be a good chapter. Simple as that. Donald Miller, one of my favorite authors, talks about the elements of a good story in his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. They are:

1. A character.

2. Who wants something.

3. And overcomes conflict to get it.

That's it!

So lets review what you have learned about me so far:

-I want to live a good story (speaking of stories, one of my favorite movies is Toy Story which, I believe, is an excellent story).

-I trust that God is writing that story (Which is, as Shai Linne Says, "The Greatest Story Ever Told").

-I love metaphors (running is one of my favorite metaphors, not to mention activities).

-I like to read (memoirs, fiction, Ann Lamott, Chuck Palaniuck, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foers, C.S. Lewis, among others).

What will I write?

I would like to share things I have been learning. That is what is most interesting to me, and I hope it interests the reader also. The theme may not be concrete, and it may take shape as we (the other contributors and I) begin to lay the foundation of this digital conversation. I think that lessons learned are easily understood when they are presented in metaphorical terms. Look at Jesus and his parables, Aesop and his fables, or any good teacher trying to convey an abstract concept. Any metaphor, like any good story, has three elements:

Topic

Image

Point of Similarity

My hope is that I can make explicit the point of similarity, without dissecting the creature into isolated specimen. I hope that the point of similarity connects the dots for the reader also.

Thanks,

Ryan

Blog News

So, what I haven't told you yet is that this blog is actually not my blog, I'm just one of a bunch of contributers. Hopefully, this will keep more people interested as each author will add a different dynamic to the content. So over the next few days, please stay tuned to read the thoughts and musings of Ryan Richert, John Sirjord, Matthew Barrios, and Kyle Lundquist.

High Ground in a Political Tsunami

The midterm congressional elections are tomorrow, 2 November 2010, and the world is watching. What do 'We the People' think about the state of our nation? What do we think about President Obama? Do we really like Republicans, Sarah Palin, or Christine O'Donnell? Did the economic stimuli help or hurt the economy? Is the Tea Party just another political fad (see: Ross Perot)? How do we make sense of the results?

I can't tell you all the answers but as an avid watcher of all-things-political, I can tell you what you should expect to see in the headlines of Wednesday morning. And just for fun, I'll tell you what I think it all means.

Predictions:
1) Republicans retake the U.S. House of Representatives by netting 65+ seats.
2) Republicans take control of 33-34 Governorships.
3) Republicans net 9 Senate seats, the U.S. Senate is deadlocked at 50-50.
4) In California, Proposition 19, Carly Forina (after recount), and Meg Whitman all lose.

What would this all mean? Ultimately, I believe that Nancy Pelosi, much of the Democratic House leadership, and 4-5 members of Obama's team leave their respective posts (mostly to "retire") between now and January. Republicans will reelect the same party leadership. This election should be seen as a dual referendum on both Presidents Bush and Obama and as such, a popular movement toward austere and frugal government. People are uncomfortable with the size of government and deficit spending. Most voters probably trace responsibility for these economic times to poor legislation and mediocre executive leadership over the past decade or two. The majority of people like President Obama and they want him to succeed, but they are getting this feeling that he is more interested in self-achievement then he is in popular leadership. The majority doesn't like Republicans, the Tea Party, Democrats, or any other political movement.

I think the mood of voters is this: They just want it all to go away so that they can live in the sunny nostalgia of yesteryear (whether that be the golden age of Clinton, Reagan, or the world your carefree childhood). None of those 'worlds' ever really existed but it is true that the problems we're facing now seem to be unfixable. As a nation, we've faced greater challenges and none of them had quick fixes. The Cold War took decades to defuse. The Depression cost our families years of blood, sweat, and tears. The sin of slavery was not removed by a simple proclamation. The struggle for independence was not won by the resolve of the minutemen. Please just remember that your vote tomorrow can not save the world, you must look to another Savior.