Witches and confessing to iPhones...

I saw a news story the other day that reflected the desperation of both our economy and of our spirit. I am pretty sure it was in Salem Massachusetts...one of the major witch centers of the world...where witches were being called on and were busy blessing houses and removing negative energy so that they would sell. Now, this says several different things to me. Immediately it says this homeowner is not a Christian and secondarily they are desperate for some kind of presumed blessing which will potentially cause their house to sell. I feel quite certain this is a “self made” man or woman who believes that their own power to create magic has failed and they have sought a higher power...a witch. I am at a loss how someone could actually believe this and be able to operate in any reasonable manner in the world. It's absolutely ludicrous to believe in something so absurd but people do believe in this and worse. Rabbits feet...horseshoes...four leaf clovers...and more. In Proverbs 11:25 it says, "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." When you're generous to others, God is going to be generous with you. As a Christian, it is obvious to me that unless I'm obeying God in the matter of following Him, God doesn't give me any actual guarantee to meet my needs. God is not obligated to meet any of my needs if I'm not obeying what He's told me to do. God says we can short circuit the power and the promises in our life. And certainly if you are not even plugged into Him in any manner then you have created an impossibility. That only leaves you one option...you're on your own. Honestly, to me that would be a very frightening prospect and selling a house would be the least of my worries. Plain and simple...God desires two things. He desires us to be in a close intimate relationship with Him and He desires our total dependence on Him. Do we depend on people we do not trust? Yes, we do and what happens? We get let down and disappointed. Our dependence on God is linked to our trust in Him. And that trust is linked to faith. The more faith we have in God, the more dependent we will be on Him. And the more surrendered in child like dependence, the more He takes care of us. So, there lies the problem...aside from the obvious. No trust in God...no relationship...no acknowledgment of Him as the risen savior and no faith except whatever we are able to do in our own power. It's called self reliance... and it seems to me, an unimaginable way to live. So, speaking of crazy and unimaginable things being important in peoples lives in a wrong way...I've got a doozie here...the new Apple “Confession: A Roman Catholic App”. Honestly, I thought it was a joke or a prank when I first heard about it. Nope...for $1.99 you could own it and not be left in the confessional booth sharing secrets with your priest. Yep...it was true and even blessed and approved by the Catholic church. It has been recently reported in the The Washington Post, last week, that a whopping 45 percent of Catholics never bother with going to confession and that only about a quarter of them go at least once a year. It seems that the up close and personal touch is what makes the confession of our sins so awkward and infrequent. So, this is the perfect sacrament/app for those who enjoy a more impersonal approach. To begin you enter your personal data...uh, creepy... and then answer a series of questions. Once completed, then you press the finish button which brings up a random spiritual quote from some long dead Catholic saint along with a lists of prayers and the Acts of Contrition based on your specific sins. Just so you know, I'm sure Apple probably reports the big sins...So, let me get this straight...I'm confessing my sins to an Apple device and it's doling out my punishment. I really never was too keen on the idea of a priest being a middle man between me and God before now and I am even less keen on the idea of it being an iPhone. Have we really just come to the point that we think this is ok? I will share a letter written in response to a news article dated February 16, 2011, in the La Canada Valley Sun from Flintridge California...

As a Protestant, I'm not going to have much favorable to say about an application that perpetuates what I believe to be an error at its root. Biblical confession is a matter of believers mutually sharing spiritual difficulties and leaning on one another for support to overcome them (James 5:16). It isn't about going into a box and revealing lurid details of your dark side to a guy behind the curtain. I’ve always wondered about priests that sit listening to endless confessions about masturbation and petty crime, afterward retaining the knowledge of every unsavory aspect of their parishioners’ lives. While I'm sure they generally view this information as a sacred trust, it has been used against people in times past by those in authority, including the priests themselves (no offense to the thousands of ethically well-behaved). The go-between nature of priestly confession also contradicts the Gospel message of direct access to God with direct forgiveness, since the only mediator between God and man is Jesus Christ, according to Scripture (1Timothy 2:5). Adding yet another middle-link in the equation seems all the more convoluted. Now, instead of interacting with fellow Christians, let alone a mediating man in black, there’s this passionless piece of programmed plastic that spews random quotes from dead saints like a Magic 8-Ball. This, after putting in vital information that could be hijacked or stolen, and once again, used against you. Imagine confessing to illicit thoughts or secret illegalities only to have them discovered by someone who gets a hold of your phone. Yikes!
I do believe that every advance in technology should be utilized for the sake of Christ, and there are already daily devotionals, Bible reading programs and other things available for Christians to use. But whether composing a Catholic iPhone confession will live beyond this app’s current novelty, we’ll see.

Rev. Bryan Griem
Montrose Community Church

So, witches and iPhone apps and any other foolish thing you choose will come and go and I think it's very obvious that God has boundless grace and mercy and even a sense of humor. But sometimes I just feel like His patience has got to be wearing thin...I know mine is...
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Direct Orders - Anis Mojgani

 You have been given a direct order to rock the f**k out.
Rock out like you were just given the last rock n roll album on earth and the minutes are counting down to flames.
Rock out like you just won both showcase showdowns.
Rock out like the streets are empty except for you, your bicycle, and your headphones.
Rock out like your lips were just placed onto a break dancing muse with legs that go all the way up.
Rock out like publisher's clearing house is ringing at your front door.
Rock out like you'll never have to open up a text book again.
Rock out like you get paid to disturb the peace.
Rock out like music is all that you've got.
Rock out like you were standing on a roof top and city is as loud and glowing as a river flowing below you.
Rock out like the plane is going down and there are 220 people on board and 221 parachutes.
Rock out like the streets and books are all on fire and the flames can only be extinguished by doing the electric slide.
Rock out like it's Saturday afternoon and Monday was a national holiday.
Rock out like somebody's got a barrel pointed to your temple saying "Rock out like your life depended on it fool, because it does."
Rock out like your eyes are fading but you've still got your ears but you don't know for how long so rock out like 5 o clock time make it pop n lock time.
Rock out like you've got a pants full of tokens and nothing to do but everything.
Rock out like you are the international skee-ball champion of the entire universe.
Rock out like you just escaped an evil orphanage to join a Russian circus.
Rock out like your hero is fallen and you are spinning your limbs until they burst into a flaming pyre of remembrance.
Rock out like you are enslaved in the south and dancing is all that you have to know who you are.
Rock out like your dead grandfather just came back to take a ride with you in your brand new car.
Rock out like the table was full.
Rock out like the neighbors are away.
Rock out like the walls won't fall but damnit you're gonna die trying to make them.
Rock out like the stereo's volume knob only has the figure 8 of infinity on it instead of merely numbers.
Rock out like it's raining outside and you've got a girl to run through it with.
Rock out like you're playing football, football in the mud and your washing machines not broken.
Rock out like you threw your window open on your honeymoon because you want the whole world to know what love is.
Rock out like you just got a book published.
Rock out like you just went to your high school reunion and find out everyone even the women are all overweight and bald except for the former homecoming queen, who has just been divorced by her impotent husband and who only has eyes for you.
Rock out like you've got a date with Heidi Klum.
Rock out like the shadow of man passes behind you, drops you to your knees, you're buckling in a sweat, cold metal's pressed to your forehead, the trigger is pulled, and the gun jams.

Rock out like you've got an empty appointment book and a full tank of gas.
Rock out like Jimi has returned carrying brand new guitar strings.
Rock out like the mangos are in season.
Rock out like the record player won't skip.
Rock out like this was the last weekend, like these are the last words, like you don't ever want to forget how.

no roses...no chocolate...

Well, we've arrived at that day of the year when all of our attentions are on flowers, chocolate and hearts...Valentines Day. I thought long and hard about all the worn out and tired cliches that will be bantered about today...all the guilt driven sentiments...all the money that will be spent. All the hollow “I love you's” that will echo around the world. Do I sound like a total Valentine cynic? As far as the so called holiday goes...I am. I'm sorry and I apologize in advance if I am wrecking the day or the luvy-duvy mood for you. I just cannot stand how we are so manipulated and tugged at sometimes very cleverly by advertisers and others to believe that this day has anything at all to do with love and affection. It doesn't and shouldn't. It however is a day to make us perhaps focus on the heart both visually, emotionally and spiritually. I feel like if there is anything good that comes out of this day maybe that is it. As a nurse, I have lots of experience with the heart in many different respects...mostly the brokenness and illness of it and the effects on everyone because of that. One thing I have come to understand and appreciate is that there are a lot of sick and broken hearts in the world. Often times they are visible and sometimes not. Many of us go out of our way to hide that brokenness until it overpowers us with very bad consequences. I remember the first time I saw a real human heart...utterly fascinating. Needless to say, it didn't look like the typical bright red artistic representation we so often see. I was just amazed about the intricacy of the design and function. It wasn't until many years that I really understood it as the seat of the soul and tried to understand the spiritual aspect of the heart. The mechanical stuff is amazing enough but the emotive and spiritual aspect in nothing short of mind blowing. It is an aspect of humans that we will never know or understand and I am pretty sure that God intended it that way. There are over 800 times that the word heart is used in the King James Version of the bible...and over 400 in the Message bible. That's quite a difference. Yeah...you might say different language or translation...I say they cut a lot of the heart out. Just an observation. I remember when I saw heart surgery for the first time. I always wondered...how do they stop the heart from beating? Iced cold almost frozen slushy saline solution...BAM...comes to a dead stop...pardon the pun. It becomes cold and almost frozen...it stops...we die. No different from what happens spiritually, right? We lose our passion...the things that set our hearts on fire...we become lukewarm...then cold...heartless, as they say...then we die. That is an amazing parallel and I didn't get it for a really long time. I was no different that many of us and was walking around looking apparently quite normal on the outside but had a sick and growing sicker heart that was poised to kill me. This is the semi-perfect plan of Satan and that is to attack and capture our hearts and then kill us from there...sometimes slowly and sometimes faster. I was NOT lucky...I was blessed....I recognized the disease in time by the symptoms that were wrecking everything in my life and making others around me sick as well. Apparently another part of Satan's plan is to blind us to these symptoms and how sick we really are until it's almost too late. This is what we do...we ignore the warning signs. Oh, they were there all right...perhaps very subtle at first but become progressively worse. We rationalize away our tiny seemingly inconsequential sins until we have a full blown crisis on our hands. God knew that we were going to have heart trouble. He constantly reminded us our hearts were wicked and prone to deception. In Proverbs 28: 26 it says, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool”. He knew. And in Jeremiah 17: 9 it says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”. He knew. What's the solution? Simple really...a heart transplant. Yeah...this is a service God provides for you with your wicked, deceitful and broken heart. In Ezekiel 11: 19 He says, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:”. Now how's that for a good deal? No lengthy hospital stays...no risk of complications or rejection...no lifetime of medications. Does that sound crazy? Am I reading too much into this here? No...actually, I don't think so. You see, it happened to me...I am a witness to the miraculous ability of God to redeem and restore us no matter how sick. The only thing that stands in the way is our stubbornness and refusal to submit and admit we are totally powerless to heal ourselves no matter how hard we try. It's called surrender. This is why there is such rampant self medication that we do to our selves with drugs, alcohol, porn, and material things. We have this basic flawed idea that we can treat this heart trouble with a bunch of meaningless and empty stuff. It is a paradox of extreme proportions and we don't have to look far to see it anywhere we are. There is this pain in the deep depths and recesses of our soul and we do our best to numb it however we can. We can't ignore it...we numb it. It doesn't go away. It's like a very hungry parasitic worm in our gut and no matter how much we eat...it isn't enough and does us no good to sustain life. The good news...we can escape this life robbing heart condition...just surrender. That's it...no more...no less...stop fighting...giving in doesn't mean giving up. So, today... take a look at your heart...not that fancy one that's red or pink and surrounded with a lacy paper doily and probably says something cheesy like...roses are red...violets are blue. I think Jesus probably...no, I'm sure... has a better one for you....and His says ...be mine...

thoughts on writing blogs...

Writing blogs is a funny thing. I have thought about it a lot here lately as I seem to be writing much more than I normally do. In a way it sometimes feels like I'm writing a random note and putting it in a bottle and tossing it into the sea. I know a lot of what I think and feel compelled to write about is not random at all. I know that when I minimize distraction as I have this last month, writing comes easy and I feel inclined to write more. For me to write it is not a polished and complicated process. I actually don't know if that is either good or bad. I do know some who write are very disciplined and have rituals and a process they employ when they write. My writing seems to emanate from a wispy thought that seems to come into my awareness at sometimes odd and inopportune times. Once I began to dwell on it it just expands and flows from there. Sometimes the words in my head are coming faster than I can write or type. When I go back and read those...uh...I usually have to rewrite and polish that one much. However the nugget is always there. The most peculiar things can trigger these micro essays. Things I experience...things other people say...thoughts...dreams and visions. I cannot speak for others but I have found when I fast I have amazing graphic and technicolor dreams. Writing is a mind exercise that I find both challenging and relaxing. I am not sure if I have written enough yet to have a distinct style. Some who read my blogs may disagree, I actually try not to think about it because then I will feel the pressure to create it...over and over. You know like Stephen King or John Grisham...both very genre specific. I have always kind of had this little fantasy about writing a book. I have joked with many friends that I am going to write a book. Who knows? One thing I do know is that just sitting down and pouring out words on paper seems to be the easy part but there is much more involved. There is a science and a business behind every book you see for sale at Barnes & Nobel. I also know there are a lot of failures and what originally sounded like a good idea ends up at Goodwill selling for 25 cents. Writing, whether a book or a blog presupposes the idea that you have something interesting or worthwhile to say. But, if you have read any amount of blogs or self published books you find anything but that. It also is a little egotistical in that you feel like what you are writing is important...witty...relevant...or any other description you can add. You want people to read your words and have some sort of reaction. You want to be validated as as a writer and seek some type of approval from your readers. It's like the basic premise of most social media...you want readers...followers...an audience. It is rewarding as a writer of anything to know that your words...no matter how constructed...can affect those reading them. I am pretty sure it is safe to say that my writing lacks a degree of sophistication and style aimed at eliciting a specific response from readers. I think my thoughts are pretty raw...free flowing...and rambling at times but are always written from the heart. There is a feel when this happens because the writing takes a very conversational tone in my head and I think that makes it to the paper. I guess if I do actually have a goal when I write it is to just hear me speaking to you as you read. That actually is a pretty funny mental image as probably most of you don't know me or how I sound. So, use your imagination. I find the very act of creating something written just as satisfying as if I completed a painting. Both are really a visual exercise to me as I see the random thoughts and words coming together to complete a picture. I really laugh sometimes when my wife and I visit museums or art galleries and I look at some modern abstract art. I always say the same thing...”Heck, I could do that”. But, could I ? Probably not...I may come close but I can assure you that my artistic skills would very much pale in comparison. I think there is this inner creative urge in all of us and this can take many paths of expression. Writing is no different. Some people write fiction...poetry...news stories...plays. I think you get the point. There is an outlet available for us all to achieve our highest degree of artistic expression. I have a really good friend who is a writer and a gifted creative thinker. In addition to books and other writing projects he writes a blog of his thoughts on a variety of things. On one of his recent blogs, I was particularly struck and moved deeply by something he wrote. He said, “As a creator, you are a teacher, a role model, you are setting the moral compass of every person who interacts with your work”. that's just a little pressure..."setting the moral compass of every person that interacts with your work"...that's a really big statement. I guess that is what I hope to do sometimes but it seems a little too self assured for someone like me...I infrequently get a comment or two on my blog about things I say...or how I say them...certain things seem to resonate with certain people. I think those people are those who have been through some stuff...are going through some stuff...had some heartbreak. There is a relationship and a connection on a deeper level. I feel sometimes like I write naked...no, not literally...I just put it out there in a raw unpolished way. That is pretty scary sometimes as the thought occurs to me that maybe I am sharing too much in a too personal way. Then I become more analytical than I way to be and edit too much. I then become obsessed with crafting the process too much and for me it loses something in that process. I think the spontaneity and unpredictability is what works best for me. No matter if I ever become a published writer or not...that's one thing I hope never does change...something tells me it won't.

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.                                                                                                                     ~e.e. cummings

ancora imparando...

I saw these words inscribed somewhere lately and I simply cannot remember where. I walked around with this saying, for weeks, popping into my consciousness at some of the most random moments. That was a sign to me that this had some really strong connection or was something important but I just couldn't connect the dots. I assumed that the language was probably Latin or Italian and attempted to translate. Latin...no, Italian...yes. The meaning was...”still learning”. I thought about this even more now that I knew what it said. I realized how crazy this is as it is both a question and a statement at the same time. Still learning? Having a medical background I really have come to the conclusion...you learn or you die. In Hosea 6:6 it says, ”My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." Sometimes I feel like I get stuck in a place mentally, physically or spiritually. This period of being stuck can last varying lengths of time and it always feels long even when it isn't. That is because I hate to sit still and have a whole lot of difficulty focusing on one task at a time. My wife says I'm scattered. I am real good on the front end and getting something going but then...something happens. I lose my way...I veer off course. My usual plan, years ago, was to just give up and go on to something else. Abandonment...walk out...leave...quit. I finally think that I discovered in those times of fumbling and feeling inept that God just wanted me to just sit still. He wants me to sit in the mess for a little while...sometimes a long while. Sort of like Job...He wants me to see, hear, smell and taste this. He really does want me to suffer...as crazy ad that sounds. I am absolutely convinced that in the depth of my failure and misery He is trying to teach me something. I honestly can say that sitting in the middle of a big self made mess is pretty uncomfortable. We want to run...place blame...It took me a long time to see that this is how we learn the hard stuff. God wants us to be fully present...not focused on escape. He wants us to experience this fully with all of our senses. I repeat...He is trying to teach us something very profound and life changing here...so He holds us in place. It's like He is giving us a challenge test to see if we get to graduate to the next level. If we pass...we go on. If we don't...we get stuck and have to go through the spin cycle again. We are forever...ancora imparando...It seems like I have always had this amazing knack for doing practically everything the hardest and most difficult way possible. I just had this idea that things that weren't that important to me were meant to be rushed through. In that rushing through there was not much thought of others or discovery of any lessons I was supposed to be learning along the way. I bluffed a lot...shot from the hip...believed in luck and fate alone. I blew it...more than once. How I survived sometimes is a total mystery...but not really. I know God had a plan...a life long plan that despite my best efforts, could not be thwarted. So, I struggled with getting stuck until I figured it out and then we moved on. The learning doesn't ever stop nor does it respect any desire you may have for it to. God is showing us stuff all the time in many different ways. Sometimes He can be very subtle and with a nudge here or somewhere else he calls class into session. Sometimes, the lesson may be very critical...life saving perhaps. That is when things can get very interesting and God uses extreme measures to get our attention. Like Jonah in the belly of a whale...a burning bush...manna from Heaven. With these types of things you know that the lesson is on the way and is soon to follow...just be ready. Be open to the possibility that you don't know it all. What we do know is so infinitesimally small...it's impossible to compare to what God has available to teach you. I know that as much as I have learned about God and my relationship with Him in the last fifteen years...I am so far away from even being close to knowing much of anything. But,.there is one thing I do know...for an absolute certainty and that is....I am...ancora imparando...