The Lost Blogger

So, why did you stop blogging?   I get asked that from time to time.

Have you ever spent long hours on a project where you neglect to click "save," then something happens and you lose all of your work and have to start over, but you can't recover emotionally, so you just quit and walk away from it for a while?  That's what happened to this blog in May of 2010.  Something happened.

It was going along better than ever:  regular posts, increasing readership, creative juices flowing.  At the time, I was writing often about the television show Lost and the themes and subject matter it presented.  I had found the show particularly fascinating because it was brilliantly incorporating religion, science, philosophy, literature and all of the tensions between them.  It wasn't the usual tripe on television.  It was smart and it appeared to be going against the usual shallow television world of action without consequence.  The show posed good questions that real people struggle to answer, but need to explore anyway.  Lost could have been a show for the ages, to be debated and discussed for generations.

But behind all of my excitement about the cultural phenomenon I was writing about was a sense of foreboding, a dark feeling of impending doom, a nagging notion that the show would fall short of it's potential.   Still, as the show was coming to an end, I wrote a series of blogs entitled "Why I love Lost."

Before the finale, a friend asked me what I thought would be the most disappointing ending.  I said the worst case scenario is that the show would betray all of it's themes and just have some disconnected ending where mysteries are not resolved, where characters are inconsistent, conflicts are minimized, and have some kind of amateur plot turn where it turns out that everyone had always been dead and they all go to heaven or whatever and live happily ever after.  "Any show on TV can end like that," I said to him, "It would be the ultimate cop-out from cowardly writers who chickened out when they had the opportunity to draw conclusions about right or wrong, truth or falsehood."

Let's make sure we offend everyone in the name of not offending anyone...

Horrified, I sat on the couch and watched the finale with my supportive wife, and my worst fear was realized.  It was exactly like the worst case scenario I described to my friend. 

The finale concluded, Kristy and I just looked at each other, turned off the TV and didn't say a word.  We went upstairs and got ready for bed, still in stunned silence.  I remember brushing my teeth for a seemingly endless time as I tried to recover from what whatever it's called when you get assaulted by a television show.  My friend who I shared my worst case scenario with sent me a text, "I am so, so sorry..."  With toothpaste dripping from my mouth and my toothbrush clamped between my teeth, I grabbed my phone and texted back,  "I don't even want to talk about it."

More to the point, I didn't want to blog about it.   Nor did I want blog about anything else.  Except for a copy of an article I was asked to write for someone else's blog, I didn't write anything.

For six years, I had been a Lost evangelist, helping people see what really was going on in the show.  I was one of those people, who could waste your whole evening explaining to you why you should watch it.  I was excited that there was a show that would actually suggest there is right and wrong, that certain things in life are black and white.  It was a show that would demonstrate that there are consequences for our actions, and a need for redemption and forgiveness outside of our own abilities.  For a time, it was a rare admission from Hollywood that there are actual truths about human society and behavior that we need to stop ignoring in deference to political correctness or whatever the reason.  But the way the show ended betrayed all of that, and in fact, it betrayed any intellectual or artistic value the show may have had.  It became corny, and well, lost.

I sold my Lost DVDs for cheap at a garage sale and have never watched any part of it again.   Today, I cannot recommend the show to anyone.  Don't rent it, don't buy it.  You are better off renting something silly like Cops and Robbersons instead.

One unexpected result of the Lost debacle is that it cured me of television.  At first, I didn't want to watch any show that the Lost actors would later appear in.  But, even now, there are no shows that are on the "must watch" list for me.  Sure, there are a couple of enjoyable shows out there that I watch if it fits my schedule.  But if I miss an episode or two, it doesn't matter.   I don't Hulu them, I just move on.  I don't care.  There are better things to do.

Occasionally, I get a random email from someone I don't know asking me to update this blog. Often, they are asking me to finish my comment on Lost.  So there you have it.  There's the update.  I will blog of it no more...

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Why I Like Lost - Part III

(This is the third post explaining in some detail why I like the TV show Lost.   Please read the first post here, then continue with part II and then this list below...)

Why I Like Lost - Part III

The Spiritual Themes

John Locke: "Why do you find it so hard to believe?"

Jack Shepherd: "Why do you find it so easy?"

John Locke: "Its never been easy!"

I was in a Lost online forum reading posts speculating about the mysteries of the show and what it is actually about.  For some reason, this particular forum was spending lots of time debating the scientific aspects of the show, believing it is primarily a show about science fiction. 

I chimed in with my own opinion, relaying some of what I posted here in Part II, and also the issues the characters are dealing with spiritually.  You would not believe the rage I got from these folks in suggesting that the show is not actually about science, but about faith.  But I was able to prove my point, much to their dismay, by simply asking them to watch the episode conveniently entitled "Man of Science, Man of Faith."  That theme, faith vs. science, is a constant in the show, and for my friends in that forum, they reluctantly had to agree.

Spiritual themes are significant in Lost; a title itself with a spiritual meaning.  In the show, those who trust science are often proven wrong, but sometimes they are right.  Faith is put to the test in similar ways, where sometimes the faithful are rewarded, but other times, they discover they have been deceived.  The show moves along with the characters repeatedly placing their trust in each other, in themselves, in the island, in God, or in science.  This is how we live life too; it makes the show and its characters even more compelling.

Deception is a danger, both in faith and science.  In science, you have to trust that physical laws are always constant and that assembled data is correct, otherwise, you can scientifically come to a false conclusion and be deceived.  Likewise, faith requires some kind of teaching or understanding, even if you conjure up some kind of belief all by yourself, it's still contrived from some kind of attitude or experience.  But often, when our faith is misplaced, we are deceived and disaster follows.  The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, so to speak. 

Lost handles this subject very well.  The nature of deception is that while we are deceived, we don't know we are deceived, we don't believe we are deceived, we will even argue that we are not deceived.  We don't know we are deceived; that's why we are deceived.  We find out we are deceived once truth is forced upon us by the circumstances of reality and truth.  In Lost, no one is sure who to trust, or what to trust, but they are forced to make a choice and place their faith somewhere.  The great thing is, the audience also isn't sure who or what to trust.  It brings us along in the adventure that is true to life's challenges and risks. 

Another spiritual theme is free will vs. predestination.  How much control do we have in our life?  Its is all planned out for us or can we choose to change our direction?  Is our fate predetermined by God or the universe or our DNA or upbringing?  These questions have been significant in every area of human thought.  Something people have always inherently asked is, "Why am I here?"  This question is the ultimate question our heroes in the story are asking.  Are they on the island by chance or by fate?  The viewer can relate quite well to that question.

Good vs. evil?  Also a huge question.  Who is good?  Who is evil?  How can we be sure?  Is everything black and white or is there a middle road? One episode to go, and we only have this partially figured out.

Recently, one of Lost's head writers confirmed that the show is about "redemption."  Redemption is indeed the main conflict the characters are going through spiritually.   With this in mind, the show presents the audience with the basic spiritual questions people ask.  Can a person change?  Does a person have to atone for their sins, or is there forgiveness and grace out there?  Does one redeem oneself or is someone (or something) else the redeemer?  Is there a God or not?  What happens when you die?  Does anything really matter?

Again, this is compelling.  Redemption of some kind is at the heart of all religion and spiritual thought.  The characters wrestle with these issues.  They aren't even sure where they are, but they consider it may be Heaven, Hell or Purgatory or some similar place.  Their perception is driven by their attitude about past sins and decisions and whether or not they can still have value and hope and purpose.  The power of love is intertwined in each case.

Naturally, as a Christian minister, these topics and the way they are treated by the writers is very interesting to me.   I don't think the show is going to have some kind of distinctive Christian resolution, but I am very sure the writers have been to Sunday school a time or two:

Ben: "Thomas the Apostle. When Jesus wanted to return to Judea, knowing that he would probably be murdered there, Thomas said to the others, "Let us also go there and we might die with him." But Thomas was not remembered for this bravery. His claim to fame came later when he refuses to acknowledge the resurrection. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. The story goes that he needed to touch Jesus wounds to be convinced."
Jack: "So was he?"
Ben: "Of course he was. We are all convinced sooner or later, Jack."

So, it has given me much to discuss with my friends who believe differently than I do,   A good article about Lost and faith was published in the Wall Street Journal this week.  It has a couple of significant spoilers, so don't read it if you haven't watched all through Season 5.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703957904575252492097673442.html

Here is one of my favorite scenes as a character (Locke) questions his faith.

... Why I Like Lost - Part IV - Coming Soon...

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Lost: It's About Redemption

The long wait is over. 

I know I need to explain why this is my favorite show (actually, its the only show I watch right now), but for now, a video to celebrate the beginning of Season 6. 

This is my favorite promo commercial.  While some think Lost is about science fiction, its actually a show about redemption.  How the writers will ultimately handle the issues of redemption in the story remains to be seen, but from an increasingly dark and frustrated culture, the theme is definitely one that we all need to seriously explore.



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Obligatory Bible in 90 Days Plug

According to a recent poll, 75 million Americans have a lifelong goal of reading the entire Bible. Its a worthy goal for anyone - not just people to go to churches that teach the Bible. After all, its the best selling book of all time, its the most researched document there is, and it is the foundation of western thought.

Did you know that in less than an hour a day, you can read the entire Bible, cover to cover in 90 Days? 12 pages a day. That's it. The whole thing. 3 months and you are done.

I've asked our church to do this with me. Starting yesterday, June 7, by the Labor Day weekend, people who keep up will have read the entire Bible (you can start anytime you want of course.) Not a bad answer to the question "What did you read this summer?"

Too many Christians never bother to read it, which is why they misuse it and fall for the tricks of the TV preachers... and worse. Every person who claims to be a Christian needs to read this book, which shouldn't have to be said, but it has to be said. Christians who do read through the Bible experience amazing life change, sometimes dramatically.

The troubles and errors of the Church in history do not come from the Bible; they come from a misreading and misapplication of the Bible, usually caused by a fruit salad approach to it - pulling verses you like out of context to make a point or defend a bad position. This is also the source of most people's trouble with the Bible who don't believe it. They take a verse here or there out of the greater context and make a falsely informed decision about God. Sometimes they believe a Christian's interpretation that is wrong in the first place. The book is meant to be taken as a whole, not as a collection of glib religious suggestion and gobbledygook.

And for my agnostic friends out there - you can't be a good agnostic and not read the Bible. Don't be a hypocrite agnostic! Read it.

Atheists? Well, a recent Pew Research poll suggests 21% of atheists believe in God. No joke. Guess you better read it too and then decide whether you are an atheist who believes in God or not.

A few years ago, someone gave me a Three Year Bible. I was instantly amused... and somewhat disturbed. The advantage of the 90 day approach is that you can enjoy the story that is told all the way through the Bible, rather than a disconnected bits and pieces you would get in a 3 year approach. When read straight through, its an epic drama, with heroes and villains, sex and violence, fall and redemption, struggle and victory. And in the end, good defeats evil - love wins!

The Bible is a scholarly book, but it isn't written for scholars. Its a collection of stories and history and poems and songs written most often by the worst of sinners. So, while some of it is hard to understand, most of it is easy to understand. Reading quickly, you can just keep moving - the story has its slow moments, but there is a great payoff for each difficult passage.

As well as a good story, this is a book that also makes bold and certain claims about God and our relationship to him, purpose and meaning of life, and eternal destiny. At minimum, its worth an open read, wouldn't you say?

So, this is not intended to start a debate or even to push buttons. Its just to say that this is a great way to read through the Bible, a goal everyone has a good reason to accomplish.

Here are some helps:

A daily reading plan bookmark

My own 3 minute daily podcast with my reading reflections (cheesy music included!) (iTunes required)

You can use any Bible translation you want, however, lots of Bibles have study notes and small fonts and other things that make the task seem much bigger. Additionally, a modern translation will help so you don't feel like you are reading Shakespeare for 90 Days. Please note that "The Message Bible" is not a Bible, its a commentary, so it doesn't count. I recommend the New International Version. (If you are using a Catholic Bible, the "apocrypha" is not included in the 90 Day plan, so you could tack on another month if you really want to.)

There is a Bible published that is specifically designed for the 90 Day plan, reading plan included, as well as some other supplementary material (audio versions, group study materials, etc.) I am setting up a link for these items through our church that will pay a commission that we will donate 100% to a San Diego charity, likely the Rescue Mission. You can find these items here for the time being.

Enjoy your summer reading... let me know if you have any questions.

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Blogging Angst

Angst - |a ng (k)st; ä ng (k)st| noun
a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general. (from whatever dictionary is loaded onto my MacBook)

I have angst. I've had it for nearly a year. Its not the worried or stressful or hand-wringing kind of angst. Its not causing me to lose sleep and its not creating distraction in a detrimental way. Its not the kind that results in not trusting God. But there is a constant angst in me caused by discernment which seems to be suggesting some very big things are afoot.

I appreciate this definition above because my angst is "unfocused." I can't exactly put my finger on it, but it is related to the human condition and the state of the world in general. That's a big subject. And there are very big things going on. I believe a lot of people have this same angst right now.

I think this angst is somehow related to the fact that while I believe most people have this angst to some degree, and most people also believe that most people share this angst, it doesn't seem like anyone knows how to effectively discuss and respond to this angst over these big things going on, and the people who should be talking about these big things going on don't seem to have a clue that big things are going on. Someone needs to address this angst in a productive way. It seems to just linger, like a storm visible off shore threatening to create destruction, yet promising to relieve drought; but the weather channel won't acknowledge its presence.

Are you following me? If so, it can only be because you have this angst too. I think this angst is emotional and spiritual. There are big things going on.

Why am I telling you this, my faithful yet dwindling blog audience?

I think this angst of mine is the biggest block to my blogging. Because it is unfocused, it is difficult to even know where to start working it out. Every day, I have something I feel like I could blog about, but its difficult to get started because of focus - where do I start? It gets overwhelming and time consuming. My blogs could easily be thousands of words on a subject, whatever it is, and I don't have time to type all of that. This makes it especially hard to blog on serious subjects where I want to be thorough. If you know me, you understand that I can be a bit wordy (I recently preached a sermon that clocked in at an hour and six minutes. Take that Rob Bell!)

Another block is that some of my readers are people from my church where I pastor, which means some readers will take very seriously things I have to say about serious matters. So I need to becareful to post disclaimers, indicating whether my thoughts are strong conviction or mere speculation or commentary, especially when dealing with unspoken angst that many people are feeling but not expressing. Have no fear, remaining faithful readers, I'll still post some fun and an eventual exhaustive explanation about why Lost is the best show on TV.

I have some angst that Lost is not going to end well next year, but that's another issue.

Why am I inspired to blog now all of a sudden?

Well, another blogger, another pastor, found a way to express some of the angst he is feeling about changes coming to the church world. This is only a part of the angst I feel, but its relevant to it and a good place to start. Even if you aren't familiar with church terms or how church works, the issues discussed impact our culture significantly, whether you go to church or now. This relatively unknown blogger posted an article was picked up my major news magazines and websites and has caused a lot of buzz, especially in church circles. So I thought I would use his articles, entitled The Coming Evangelical Collapse to spur some writing of my own. We'll see if this works...

Disclaimer: These articles will cause you to think about your angst. Also, I don't necessarily agree with all of what is written, and my perspective is more optimistic - the changes he suggests are coming will lead to very good things in my view. But change is a comin', and I don't mean the political slogan tomfoolery we think of currently.

You can read all three parts at the link below. Feel free to comment on my blog if you wish to express your angst. I'll use this to inspire some blogs in the coming days.

If I can keep it short...

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-original-coming-evangelical-collapse-posts

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PS: "Tomfoolery" was not in my MacBook dictionary. A moment of angst about whether I should have stayed with a PC soon followed, but was quickly resolved.

Truth - Independent from Ideas

I have much to write about concerning issues observed during our recent election. Mostly, I an troubled with how unconcerned we are about what is actually true, and how reality governs what actually happens. I recently made this statement in an email conversation with a similarly concerned person in my church:

"With the decline of investigative journalism, the politics of scientific funding, and the corruption in the education system, “truth” is left to be revealed only by consequence rather than wisdom and aforethought. Sadly, the Church has not risen above the culture in these matters, and the truth remains hidden until it wreaks havoc with people and the nation."

I'll write more on this, particularly on the role of the Church in society at a later date (read: as soon as I have time to get my thoughts together on this.) Below is a video someone sent me that illustrates this point to some degree. Looks like Peter Schiff took a lot of heat for being right.



Truth - "conformity with fact, or reality."

Reality - "something that exists independently of ideas concerning it."

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Obligatory Lost Announcement

LOST - Catch up by January 21, 2009...

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The Chinese Oikos and the Garage Door

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak at the Chinese Bible Church here in San Diego. I took French in high school and college, which, once again, was not valuable. But who takes Chinese anyway? Fortunately, I had an interpreter.

Whenever I am asked to speak somewhere, whether it be a church or other kind of community organization, it tends to be on one of just a couple of topics. Most often, I introduce audiences to the idea of their "oikos." I plan on writing more extensively about oikos in the next week or two. Most people reading this probably have some idea of the concept and how it works. But, in short, it goes like this:

Oikos is the Greek word meaning "household." In terms of ancient Greek society and in modern sociology, this "household" is not simply your spouse and 2.5 kids that live with you in your domicile. It refers to the people who surround you in your relational world, your circle of influence. One sociologist says your oikos is the group of people you spend an hour or more with or around every day. So for most people, their oikos consists of the people who do live in thier domicile, and also their family or roommates or strangers who move in to your house when you are away for Christmas (subject of another experience I should blog about.) It also consists of coworkers you were most closely with, classmates you see every day, the people who live next door to you. The average person has between 8-15 people in their oikos. For me, about 8 of them are Starbuck's baristas.

Oikos is vital to any society's survival. When people pay attention to their oikos, and work to meet each others needs, society works very well. When people ignore the needs of the people around them, society begins to crumble. Its all about the oikos.

So, to any audience, the concept is received well. Its basically a practical and tangible way to love your neighbor. I have now taught the concept in 3 languages and to people of all ages and backgrounds. It is a great equalizer. You don't get to choose your oikos (maybe your spouse, but that's it.) Therefore, everyone has an oikos and everyone is in someone else's oikos. Its unavoidable.

One person from the Chinese congregation shared with me afterward that he thought the oikos idea would work well in the Chinese community here. He said they basically practice this as a culture anyway and that to actually list our your 8-15 people will just make it even more practical. He was very appreciative.

But then he said something interesting. He asked me how the oikos philosophy is working in my church, since "westerners don't tend to do this very well." It is indeed harder for westerners in many respects because we love our walls.

How many of us really know the people who live next door or across the street or in the neighboring apartment? You may remember that in the terrorist manuals that were found after 9/11, the terrorists were advised to not be too concerned about their American neighbors since typically the neighbors aren't paying any attention and will hardly take the time to get to know you. They should expect to make their plans and build their bombs without much interference from the neighbors. It was a sad commentary.

I read one study that blamed automatic garage door openers for this phenomenon in American culture. It suggested that many years ago, people got to know their neighbors because they were often outside watering the grass with a hose and sitting on the porch to cool off becuase there was no air conditioning in the house. And when people got home from work, they had to get out of their car, and actually go open the garage door by hand. All of that out door time presented opportunity to say hello to neighbors, strike up conversations, invite them over for a bar-b-que etc.

Today, for most Americans, we get to our house, while staying in the car, we click the clicker, drive in the garage, then click the clicker again and get out of the car in our private garage with the door down and go into the house. Our built in sprinklers water the grass automatically, and the air is cleaner and more comfortable in our house. Safe. Away from pesky neighbors that we are suspicious of because they never talk to us.

Kristy and I have been making an effort to actually get to know our neighbors. They are in our oikos and we are committed to getting to know those people. Interestingly, the two families we are actually getting to know are the only two families who spend time outside their home.

Across the street, they water their yard with a hose and they sit in lawn chairs to get out of their hot house since they don't have A/C. The other family has a game room and bar in their garage and are often out there. For the most part, we have been unable to get to know our other neighbors simply because we never ever see them. We are planning to invite them over for dinner. They may call the cops on us, but we'll see.

More on oikos later. But its an interesting experience that has me thinking much more today about how important it is that we are concerned about our own oikos. As a Christ Follower, I think its not an option.

I encourage you this way - do you know who your oikos is?

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The Need for Urgent Care

So, my last post, the one where I promised to blog more, was in May.  This year, at least.

I've learned that its hard to keep a blog going when you are, let's say, a bit wordy.  I have several half written posts that never got posted because I was so verbose that I never got to the point I had in mind to begin with and I would have to stop because I had other work to do.

Other work.

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago as I had some kind of cold or flu or something like that going on. My wife went out of town to help her mom and dad with some things and I promised her I would see a doctor if I didn't get well in a couple of days.

I don't like going to doctors generally, but I especially don't like to go when I think I probably just have a cold.  Usually, you can't get an appointment with your regular doctor when you are sick all of a sudden, so you need to go to one of those clinics, often labeled "Urgent Care," where you get well acquainted with your wristwatch.  Be careful not to confuse "Urgent Care" with "Emergency Care," where the long wait is instead measured by a calendar.

The humiliation of going to Urgent Care with merely a cold begins upon arrival.  It starts with the smirk from the nurse receptionist, who considers you just one more in the line of hypochondriacs, and asks you for the reason for the visit.  This time, I responded with a lot of words to try to explain that while perhaps I am simply some kind of blockhead with a cold, there is the possibility that it may be a tumor or some kind of kidney disease, so I just want to do the smart thing and get it checked out.

After the long wait with the others in the post-nasal drip orchestra, extended by boredom due to the lack of up to date news magazines, they finally called my name.  I'm not sure why I have to weigh myself, but after that humiliation, they put me in the little room to wait again.  I always have a dilemma at that point as to whether or not to sit on that medical cushion top table thing with the butcher paper, or to just sit in the chair that is really there for your mom.  This time, I chose the chair.

As I waited for the doctor to come in, I read all the posters on the wall in the exam room.  Much to my shame, in this particular room, they all had a particular message for the patient.  I learned that there's nothing they can do about a cold, and once they determine that you have come to their office for nothing, they will educate you about why you won't be getting any antibiotics or pain killers and that everything you need is at the Rite-Aid right next to your house.  There is no urgency and there will be no care.  They will however make sure to thank you for bringing your germs into the waiting room and ask you for your full copay.

I also noticed this chart called Duration of Cold Symptoms:

I sat there on day 4.  Great.  I hope they don't have a pointer as they point that out to me on the chart.

Finally, the doctor, who is younger than I am, came in and instructed me to get out of the mom chair and up onto the butcher paper.   She took out her instruments and quickly looked in my ears, up my nose and down my throat. She quickly stood back and looked at me, but with a different smirk than the receptionist.

"So, what do you do for a living?" She said rather sternly.

"I'm a pastor" I said with a painful, scratchy throat.

She then took her pointer finger and pointed at my chest and said "You have a profession with no boundaries.  You need to go home and go to bed.  You have a sinus and an ear infection in both ears."

Initially, this was wonderful news!  I would not be the target of medical poster art; I am actually sick!

But what she said to me was truly profound and well, true. In 2007, I never took most of my vacation days.  I was already behind in 2008 and it had been a stressful year.  Its very hard for me to take real time off.  Thanks to my smart phone and wireless Internet, I'm never that far away from my responsibilities. And she was right.  I was sick because I wasn't doing what is right. Instead of treating my body like a temple, I could barely even say I was treating it like a relatively well managed presbyterian youth center.  A spiritual conviction came to me from a doctor who sees too many sick pastors.

I meant this blog to only be a couple of paragraphs, a re-entry into the blogosphere. All this wordiness is to say that this summer, I took some time off.  I had great times with my wife, my parents, and a nephew. I decided to not get around to blogging.

Thanks to the time off however, I'm more focused, with more clear priorities than before, and more ready to be productive. I started this blog as a new year's resolution to be a great ministry tool and personal outlet, along with a resolution to take regular  Sabbaths.  God used that doctor to give me the spiritual "urgent care" I needed to get back on track.

So, I've been back to sabbaths and now, back to blogging.  Looking forward to some much shorter and more regular posts.

And Lost begins in less than 5 months. Just thought I'd mention that...

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Something to Post About

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to have the time to write. Like the typical new years resolution, it petered out well before the calendar turned to February. However, I am determined to keep working toward the goal of becoming a regular blogger.

There has been much to write about since my last post, including 2 interesting holidays, but those will come around again next year so I’ll save it. I’ve sprained my ankle pretty seriously too in the past couple of weeks. But ankle pain can’t be blamed for a lack of typing. And Lost is so fantastic! Matthew Abaddon deserves his own post. I’ll get to that eventually.

But now, there is something great to write about today. As I type this, I am somewhere over Central America, in heavy turbulence, hoping my relatively decent airplane coffee doesn’t bounce out onto my friends next to me. In a couple of hours, we’ll be landing in El Salvador.

I am travelling with 12 other people on a mission to the small village of San Jose El Naranjo. In the coming week, I plan to write and post more about this village and what we see there. More importantly, I’ll write about what God is teaching me this amazing and fun team of people who are in for a currently unrevealed spiritual life change. I don’t know what God will reveal to me during this trip, but I have to say I haven’t been as excited about what cannot be known of his providence for a long time.

On Saturday, February 22 (or “22 February” as they keep making me write it), we will begin by touring a water project that is bringing safe water to our village. This project is key to the overall mission with this village for the simple reason that without safe water, people die and can never escape poverty. Our church and others have contributed financially to this project through a ministry called Enlace. I’ll write more about this later, hopefully with some pictures.

Our team is carrying nearly a ton of baggage. Literally, almost a ton. The tonnage mostly consists of 400+ new school backpacks full of new, much needed school supplies. We’ll be giving those away later in the week. Because mosquitoes love me, malaria medicine also adds weight to the scales.

The day started out a bit rough and a long time ago in a different country. I went to sleep around midnight, enjoyed the sound of car alarms for a couple of hours and got up at 4 am to finish packing and some other work. Because it was raining in San Diego, it took us nearly an hour to get to the airport, normally about 20 minutes away. Drivers in San Diego put their vehicles into park on the freeways when we get just a little drizzle. Apparently, so do airline pilots in San Diego because we sat parked on the tarmac for two hours in the rain waiting to take off.

That delay created some anxiety for us because it became clear that we would likely miss our connecting flight in Houston. I was getting ready to call my Houston friend Robert and announce a surprise overnight visit. Oh and by the way, I’ll be bringing 12 of my friends and a ton of luggage. Really, almost a whole ton! Did I mention that?

But as the whole country seemed to be delayed today, our connecting flight was also delayed. Oh, as feared, our connecting flight was at the farthest possible gate from our arrival gate. We all had to run several miles through the massive stale popcorn smelling Bush airport and we barely made the connection – out of breath and sans a much desired Starbuck’s pickup.

I’ve completely messed up my customs form. With my contact lenses, I can’t read very small print.

I believe the hotel we stay at the first couple of nights in San Salvador has wireless Internet, so I anticipate being to post a couple of things. I would be more certain about that, but I took 8 years of French instead of Spanish and that makes it hard to read the hotel website. French – yeah, I have lived in Southern California my whole life, what language should I learn? French (see last sentence, two paragraphs up.) I’ve never known anyone personally who speaks French for a legitimate reason.

Anyway, if you are reading this by 22 February, or 23 February, it means I and my team have arrived safely, we have not been jailed for trafficking school supplies, and our hotel indeed has Internet service.

I look forward to telling you how things are going.

SCF

Forgiving the Unfriendly Town

Today I had to drive to a meeting that was normally about a 90 minute trip away from my office. Much of the trip takes me through some smaller, more rural communities in our fine county.

Once such community I came to has several shops and stores along a strip that is really the only main road through the town. Because of the proliferation of Indian Casinos (Native American Economic Entertainment Resorts) in that region, there was a major road widening project underway. This is causing significant traffic delays, but it is necessary so that the roads could handle the increasing casino traffic cruising through this small town all through the day and night.

I had already been in two meetings, starting at seven o'clock in the morning, plus another meeting of sorts on the phone while on the drive. In the three meetings, I had much coffee. In the car, I had much coffee. During my phone meeting, it became clear to me that I would need a biological pit stop.

First I stopped at a gas station. To my great surprise, I learned that I would not be given the gas station restroom key. I thought that perhaps they would prefer that I buy something and "pay the rent" so to speak, so I offered to buy a pack of gum. Rudely, the attendant told me the restrooms are not for the public. I offered to buy gas at $3.63 a gallon but even that wouldn't get me into the restroom.

Flabbergasted and increasingly more biologically concerned, I got back in my car, waited for the flagman to allow me back into traffic, and went next door to a quaint local restaurant. But on the front door was a very large sign that said "Restrooms are for paying customers who eat a meal only." I definitely had no time for a meal and quickly discerned that I didn't have time to discuss policy with the manager.

Next door was an auto-parts store, a rather large one. Surely these guys would understand. But they were the most adamant "Absolutely not, you can absolutely not use our restroom. We in no way have a public restroom." He then added, "and no one on this whole strip is going to allow you to use their restroom, so you might as well be on your way."

Discouraged in my mission, I inquired as to whether or not he could direct me to some appropriate shrubbery. At this, he gruffly said "Not on my property!" I left... and he and three other employees followed. They watched me all the way to my car until I got in and drove away.

Eventually, in another town farther away than I thought possible, my mission was completed. There were no further complications of any kind.

I spent the rest of the day pondering this experience. What an unfriendly town! I kept saying to myself. It was clear that they had some kind of town meeting where they collectively agreed on this policy. I was surprised that even buying something would not earn me some hospitality or even pity. This mean town angered me throughout the day.

But by this evening, driving back through (I had been very careful to take care of all biological business before leaving my meeting) I was reminded of a great rule of thumb to remember whenever people are rude or hurtful: "Hurting people hurt others and are easily hurt by them." I teach that all the time, its one of my favorites. I got this rule from John Maxwell. He said I could steal it. The purpose of this rule is to help us learn to respond well when people hurt us.

How should we respond when people are rude, condescending, inconsiderate or mean to us? Should we be rude back? I don't think retaliation is part of spiritual maturity. It seems to me that a mature response is to understand that when people behave oddly or hurtful, there is something behind it, something that if I fully understood, I would have compassion rather than take it personally.

I wondered about what would precede a community-wide no-public restroom policy, one that would even drive away business, one that would not be customer-friendly.

I realized that the local casinos, four of them that I am aware of within just a few short miles, could be having a negative effect. Certainly, the traffic in the small town was not helping their businesses. It was a mess outside: construction mess, hundreds of cars, most of which were not local and not carrying potential patrons. The smoke, noise and traffic cones must make shop owners grumpy.

I also figured that a large number of people leaving casinos may not be taking care of their own biological business before leaving. Passers-by with too much to eat and too much to drink probably increases the number of drop-ins these businesses receive. And since these drop-ins have no money left, they aren't buying anything either.

Could it be that there is a necessary reason for the no-restroom policy?

Is it understandable that these shop-owners would be rude considering they are likely deluged with over fed and over watered people who have no intention of patronizing their establishment and take the parking spaces of those who do?

Are these people hurting financially because of the issues? and personally as their small town is carved up and polluted by casino traffic?

Are these people hurting?

With those thoughts, my anger turned to compassion. And in my heart, forgiveness.

I guess I don't actually know if my speculations are correct, but nonetheless, the unfriendly people there deserve my consideration of their situation. And my patience.

Next time I go through that town, I think I just go in these stores and smile. And buy something.

SCF