Joining the Over the Hill Gang

A poor attempt at a timed photo on the beach, but its real and its us.

Tomorrow I will be 65 years old. Geez, time flew. Very grateful to have survived the heart issues I have experience since I turned 50. Determined to not go gentle into that good night but to rage, rage against the....whatever the poem rages against.

I am appreciative of friends, family, church and especially my wife Laura for every memory, every joy, every experience, every opportunity.

My dilemma in one succinct phrase

"The Bible is no more inerrant than the person reading it" Dear folks, its not doubt but legitimate inquiry to ask whether the interpretations you have been told are actually correct. The history of Bible interpretation is a dark saga of using proof texts to support some of the oddist conclusions and some of the most violent acts in human history.

The same group of currently hot teachers who are telling us they have pegged the prophecies of the Bible to the next three months are those who are expressing the same fundamental dogma that has destroyed better teachers than themselves when they say that those who are not in agreement of their conclusions are the "one world false church'

If the first statement is true then I also must hold my own interpretations and the views of others both old and new in a cautious mode and not fall into the same trap of being so sure that I am understanding the implications of the ancient text that I refuse to reexamine the views of others.

I still resonate with those who are urging us to read the Bible the way Jesus did, with a healthy focus on the love that endures and a willingness to lay old patterns and power plays behind. The gospel is about vulnerability not power as one writer puts it. So I hope my dilemma is yours as well.

Knowing the future is a really bad idea

I do not understand people who want to tell me what is going to happen next. The odds of getting it right are poor. The belief that you can take a scripture portion and peg it down to the next six weeks seems enormously difficult.

Prophesying about the coming bad news makes living in the moment very difficult. What are all those counting on all those seven bads things going to do if all seven of those bad things fail to occur in a timely fashion? As they always have so far 100 percent of the time.

What if it does? Do those who predicted it get a round of applause as final judgment descends upon the world? Way to go Mister predictor. Meanwhile the last precious two months of my life have been sickened with dread, and or anticipation, or....whatever.

Anyhow, I have plane tickets to Kauai for the end of September so Lord do what you must, but I will be OK if the prognosticators of the doom of our culture miss it by a month or two.

Just a tiny bit of closure and appreciation was healing

When Jesus failed to return in the months following 9/11/2001 those who predicted that we were wasting our time enlarging our sanctuary took revenge on my theology by taking our 50 kid youth program to their back yard. This included many sweet families I had baptized and shared tables and lives with.

The resultant split did not stop the completion of our building, but changed our ministry so much that after a year I realized we could not regain our momentum and resigned. Eventually the remnant church sold the property for one dollar to a Calvary Chapel group that was just starting and had grown to 100.

Last Sunday in my first visit to the property in 13 years, the pastor told the congregation of the gift and acknowledged my visit. In that early service I saw one man who had stayed from my era. It was the first time I had met the pastor and he knew of my story but did not know me.

The short acknowledgement that their congregation had received a tremendous gift sort of made all those years of struggle in that little cowboy community that was about to explode in housing and growth feel appreciated. And in that moment of appreciation I felt a deep healing in my wounded spirit. I was glad they continued on that corner and expanded the outreach of the property. I also realized that the calvary chapel kind of maranatha come Lord Jesus is not as rabid and destructive as the fundamentalist dispensationalists who are currently having another moment in the limelight by predicting the end of everything this coming September.

Silence is Golden

Enjoyed seeing Waialua Falls featured in Jurrasic World that past week.

My absence from the blog, and my silence on Facebook stem from trying to survive the comments for and against all the things happening on the news. Maybe it's my upbringing in the 60's or my own personality but I just don't respond well to pronouncements about being on my side or the wrong side of an issue. Or those decrying the end of civilization as we know it.

I do believe as I continue to listen and study that the fundamentalist mindset in religions of anykind can be destructive. So I am just listening with many winces, and trying to walk in love, grace, mercy, compassion, and patience as I approach my 65th birthday on July 13. Still proud to be an American and still love my faith.

The new spirituality

Wow, I am on Medicare

Used my card for the first time today at my cardiologist and pharmacy. It is a weird feeling to move from private to public insurance programs. No turning back, I am on the other side of young and it has been a great experience getting here in every way.

I was able to thank my cardiologist for extending my life with his medical skill today, and he shared how hard it is to deal with Medicare in his practice, and I know he desires to help as many people as he can.

Enjoyed a round of early golf before the heat got too bad, always a treat for me. Did not get to see the Bethlehem phenomenon last night although I have enjoyed watching Jupiter and Saturn in recent weeks each night.