Death comes for us all

Farewell Elston D., a fine man who live 92 years, endured the problems of a major stroke, but left behind a legacy to his friends and family. He was a mason, a computer user who helped many organizations keep their books, a good husband to his first and second wives, and a great Representative of the greatest generation who served in the military and as an insurance provider for his community.

A postscript to the Crystal Springs incident, there was a rally and prayer walk downtown to show this couple that the majority of the community have grown beyond the racism that created the news event over the weekend.

A grand daughter did this wonderful tribute showing him aging through the cycles of his life.

Rainy Days and Sundays always on my mind

The beach at Hanalae is usually crowded in the summer, but that day we felt alone in one of the most idlyic spots in the world, I cherish that moment.

We had a shower here in the desert that lasted an hour, in the late afternoon, one of my favorite times of the week, as Laura prepares for a new week in school, as our empty nest fits us like a glove.  The cat comes out on the porch because we know the rain is more effective than an electric fence and he watches the rain with wonder in his cat eyes.

I notice now in the blogging world where I go to hear other people ideas that the blogs are so snazzy and everyone has a row of connections to reach them along the top of their page and I am reminded that life has passed me by in the speed lane, and I am just going fast enough for facebook but will never speed up to twitter and never post videos on my blog or visit those places with the cool sayings with beautiful backgrounds.  I would rather read a book. And thats OK.

I am reading a book that was left on the magazine table at our now defunct recycle center outside the office. It was one of Oprahs favs and a huge bestseller in the spiritual new age market. I figured finding four brand new books out there was a sign. One of them was President Obamas biography and I just left it on the table, the other three are on my desk. One of the ideas in the book is about finding space between the stream of thoughts that are always rushing through your mind, that place of presence is the real you, where you can sense peace and hope even when hardship and hurt and pain enter your mind from the wounds of the past or the fears of the future. You can experience peace in the now.   This has always been one of my personal interests, fully living in the present. So, here I go to start another week. But that week I prepare for will still only be lived, moment by moment.

Salads are wonderful

Laura has an August Birthday coming up. This is one of my favorites from a past trip to Kauai on the path from our resort to the beach at the Hayatt Regency.

Except for the 2 pills a day and some numbness in the pads of my feet, my dozen year experience with type II diabetes has been tolerable. Today I ate very clean, (a term that means no unhealthy foods) and as I was preparing our salad supper, I felt the presence of low blood sugar, tested at 77, and had some crackers and OJ to counter it. The plaquing of my arteries is another and less happy story related to diabetes.

I buy organic greens from Sprouts, (please don't make veggies too costly as the drought toll comes in), I like spinach and spring mix, and today here is the list of things I added. Tomatoes, Carrots, broccoli florets, golden raisins, strawberries, sunflower seeds, that Greek cheese crumbles I keep forgetting the name of, and a dose of real fat dressing. Have you noticed how fat we have gotten on low fat eating.  Healthy fats are our friends. They deal with hunger and feed the brain.

Is was so tasty and the textures and sweet bits bursting with flavor. As  we finished Laura noted that I had left out some cucumber, red onion, and a fresh avocado that I totally forgot as I was raiding the fridge for ingredients. There is always tomorrow. And yes, Laura prepared a delicious tuna salad for lunch in our shared weekend responsibilities. Patriarchs out there, put that on your plate and eat it, and get up and learn to cook and prepare good foods, its a fun way to love and serve your wife and family.

Crystal Springs in the news

I love lakes and rivers and springs, especially when I am playing golf next to them.

I used to wander about the names of the places I ended up living, or the names of churches I served. They all seemed to have two names or have a reference to water or things associated with water.

Crystal Springs, Mississippi, my first community, had 10 thousand souls, all the churches were segregated in the mid 70s. Apparently this weekend, First Baptist had some negroes worshipping with the congregation for the past year who asked for the pastor to perform their wedding in the sanctuary. I would assume the pastor had permission, but when someone drove by during the rehearsal, they called their friends and pressured the deacons to stop the ceremony the next day, the pastor feared trouble and gave in and moved the wedding,  as no blacks had ever been married their before. The couple felt discriminated against and the news trucks have descended. The Mississippi Baptist leader said this was a step in the wrong direction. I agree.

Moss Point, being a point in a lake or river, just became a majority black community when I moved their in the early 80s, the first black mayor was elected and things were changing. We worked to make the transitions and invited my son's black friends to Vacation Bible School. A small step forward. The church is still segregated....and is dying.

Desert Springs church in Tucson, lots of desert, no springs.

Queen Creek AZ no queens, no creek.

Sun Lakes AZ, lots of sun, lots of lakes.

The Hey Jude Olympic Ceremony

I came of age with the British Invasion of the Beatles and Paul McCartney still rocks the house. It was an interesting extravaganza of movement and music and a picture of our cultures rise and fall.  The hymns at the beginning when in a simpler time trust in God and hunger for spiritual things kept the center together, all the way to a celebration of childhood stories to the cacophony of modern music and the internet. I liked it.

These international sporting traditions beyond all the expensive electronics and fireworks really do celebrate the human spirit of achievement and discipline of the body and mind, and the diversity which we really do need to get an understanding of.in America and in the western church. The new Jerusalem will not look like a homogenized gathering.

Overheated again

Could not finish a morning round of golf. Light headed, pulse racing. I am no longer physically able to handle the humidity.

Been researching responses to Scott McKnights post on Christian Reconstructionism and where it has popped up in recent decades in the Dominion Movement in the Charismatic Church, in the HomeSchooling and Quiverfull and Biblical Patriachy movements, and in young earth creationism and the Constitutional party. Interesting to dip back into the fruits of Rushdoonys Institutes of Biblical Law again.  It is no longer the family I run with these days.

Is is not that I believe laws are wrong, they are good and especially for restraining evil, but the enforcement of Christian or Jewish commandments is pretty much like the Muslims vision for enforcing Sharia, they both have the same root. Jesus was about transformation not physical enforcement.

The Chick Fil -a Incident

This is my favorite picture of me and two friends from the early 70s. I was and am a lover not a fighter.

I was reading a favorite Christian blog this morning when a word was used that transported me back to the early 70s in Seminary. The word was Reconstructionism and the name was Rousos J. Rushdoony. I survived the first introduction of Christian Reconstruction Theology in the south. It arose when a disciple of Rushdoony was given a teaching position at my seminary and we began to see how your ideas about the Bible affect the way you prepare for and do ministry in this world.

Greg Bahnsen and Rushdoony were part of my life back then as we were introduced to an eschatology of post millenialism and the law as normative for all of culture. This movement believed the gospel would convert the world and we would all live under the ten commandments like the Israelites, so we should begin to enforce law keeping in culture whether or not people are followers of Christ.  Its a huge subject with many twists and turns, and eventually Bahnsen was asked to leave the school and we redefined the mission of the church in the world was not to enforce cultural norms but to introduce the world to Christ and let Him transform us from within.

I have never developed a habit of eating at Chick File or however you spell it.It seems misguided that I am being asked to eat there to save America???? I am OK that the restaurant gives people Sunday off, but I think sabbath observance was an old covenant restriction on the Jewish people, and when we tried to transplant it to the Christian Sunday the confusion between law and gospel began. It is possible to win a culture war and lose the quest to  be Christ to a desperate world by dividing us from them and trying to "take back America". Looks like I am going to have to brush up on the brush up that almost destroyed my seminary.