If you know me, there is a constant theme that has permeated throughout my life .... from time to time, I tend to say stupid things (no comments from the peanut gallery... i.e. Brooke, Uncle Todd, Noel, David, Jeremy... you know who you are).
Whenever I think about people saying "stupid things", I'm always reminded of one of my all time FAVORITE stories. I have this friend named Lenny (names have been changed to protect said persons identity), many reading this know who I'm talking about. Lenny, used to work at a pharmacy where he counted pills. One day, Lenny is doing his everyday task of counting pills... a process that requires him to spend the majority of time looking down. This particular day, as he counts pills, he hears the bell ring on the front door, he very briefly glances up and sees that the female customer (who has just walked in) is on crutches. So, in his attempt to be friendly as well as witty, Lenny says the following, "so... did you hurt your leg playing football?". Her response was, "no, I lost my leg in a car wreck....". Yes! It's OK to laugh at that.
Needless to say, that one of the funniest/craziest stories I've ever heard....
I just thought I would share that with everyone so we all could enjoy it. In actuality, this is not the kind of "stupid" speech I'm talking about in this particular post.
I have spent much of the last year doing a ton of "self-evaluation"; particularly in regards to my perspective shifts. I use "shifts", in the plural form because I can go back over the past 12 to 15 years and point out times when my perspective makes a clear and direct change in direction. In the midst of all of this "self-evaluation", I realize that I used to have a word in my vocabulary that should probably, for me, be considered profane .... incredibly stupid at the very least.
That word is, "NEVER".
Here's a few of my favorites:
- I'll never do that..
- I would never say that..
- I'll never use a credit card to buy things I can't afford..
- I'll never try internet dating..
- I'll never change my opinion about that..
I could go on for days with things I've said I would never do, say, experience.
If there is one thing that I've come to realize, it's this, you can pretty much guarantee that at some point if you have used the word "never" in any of the above contexts... you will in fact do it, say it, think it, act on it.
For me, the most prevalent situation would be "past opinions". I can't even count the number of things that I just "knew" I was right about, that I had the "correct" opinion on, only to see that I was COMPLETELY wrong. Or, if I wasn't wrong, I was completely off base with my motives.
One positive aspect of past mistakes is the fact that I can actually see where I went wrong, I can admit that I was indeed wrong. How many people, due to pride, can't muster up the courage to admit mistakes. Can't find one opinion that was wrong, one motive that was nothing more than the selfish pursuit to feed their/my ego.
I suppose that the older I get, my perspective continues to shift ... I continue to grow: as a person, Christian, a man. So I've learned to attempt the elimination of the word "never". The more I use it, the more I am destined to look back and see how narrow minded I've been.
Truthfully, we do not know what tomorrow holds. There is no crystal ball that will tell us when the curve balls will be thrown.
What's the point in using a definite word like "never" in an indefinite world...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Charlie: "Where are we??"
I have been completely obsessed with "Lost" as of late. About two years ago Noel brought me the first two seasons on dvd and said, "dude, you need to watch these, some of the best television ever made". Of course, I kept the dvd's for a year or better and never watched beyond episode 2, which is completely crazy because I have now for the past 2 months been frantically trying to catch up (I'm now on season 5 and should be ready for the new season next week ... heck yeh!!).
Now, in season one, Charlie (one of my favorite characters), makes a statement that foreshadows the entire plot of the show ....
Standing on the beach, looking back at the jungle, asks the most profound of questions ... "Where are we?".
~~ in typical "Lost" fashion I'm going to jump a bit in subject matter and hope to get back to a singular point ~~
Unless you have been under a rock lately, or you just do not care about the state of our world, you have most definitely seen the devastation in Haiti. Conservative estimates have the death toll at over 150,000 people ... mothers, fathers, children, teachers, rich, homeless, the forgotten. All of this has really weighted heavily on me, which could be due directly to the fact that a young man that I go to church with had been in the country for 2 hours before the quake hit and for several days had no contact with him... that's another story all together.
Regardless, I have felt a heaviness for the people of Haiti .... then today I get this email from Noel with a link to an article from "theonion.com". If you are not familiar with theonion.com, it is a satirical news website (really funny) poking fun at the days current events.
So, Noel sends me this link, I begin to read and quickly realize that the message in this article is a poignant message to the world. For me, it's a direct message to the church, a direct message to me, Jim Odom - Christian bookstore guy that sits safely at his computer and blogs about the worlds problems and the call of the church.
Here is the link:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/massive_earthquake_reveals_entire?utm_source=onion_rss_daily
So, if you've had a chance to read the post, it's kind of obvious why this speaks to me so much.
From the church's perspective, it troubles me that it takes such a massive calamity to get our attention. Now, I want to be careful not to take away from the enormous show of compassion and aid that has been directed at Haiti. It's beautiful the way the world has taken Haiti under their wing, so to speak, to provide aid.
I think Haiti, more so than other countries, is looked at with "distain" from the United States and it's churches due mainly to the fact that it's a "voodoo" nation. Now, I get the reasons why Haiti has had such hardships since their independence was won from France, we do reap what we sow. And I definitely feel that there are consequences for a nation when the people so openly turn from God.
The problem for me with a country like Haiti is this: as believers we have a tendency to have the "you're getting what you deserve" mentality. Directly followed with the ever popular "i've washed my hands of this", "you're on your own". The simple fact of the matter is, we all deserve death... Never has there been a person born on this planet that didn't serve such a fate. I praise an almighty Jesus who said, "I'll take God's wrath, instead of it being poured out on you". So, regardless of Haiti's past, they need Christ... they need Love... period.
"Where are we??" ... a question I should never have to ask myself again ....
I know exactly where we are .... In a world that needs love: Haiti, Africa, Woodlawn (community in Birmingham), Guatemala, China .... BEFORE the tragedy strikes.
Now, in season one, Charlie (one of my favorite characters), makes a statement that foreshadows the entire plot of the show ....
Standing on the beach, looking back at the jungle, asks the most profound of questions ... "Where are we?".
~~ in typical "Lost" fashion I'm going to jump a bit in subject matter and hope to get back to a singular point ~~
Unless you have been under a rock lately, or you just do not care about the state of our world, you have most definitely seen the devastation in Haiti. Conservative estimates have the death toll at over 150,000 people ... mothers, fathers, children, teachers, rich, homeless, the forgotten. All of this has really weighted heavily on me, which could be due directly to the fact that a young man that I go to church with had been in the country for 2 hours before the quake hit and for several days had no contact with him... that's another story all together.
Regardless, I have felt a heaviness for the people of Haiti .... then today I get this email from Noel with a link to an article from "theonion.com". If you are not familiar with theonion.com, it is a satirical news website (really funny) poking fun at the days current events.
So, Noel sends me this link, I begin to read and quickly realize that the message in this article is a poignant message to the world. For me, it's a direct message to the church, a direct message to me, Jim Odom - Christian bookstore guy that sits safely at his computer and blogs about the worlds problems and the call of the church.
Here is the link:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/massive_earthquake_reveals_entire?utm_source=onion_rss_daily
So, if you've had a chance to read the post, it's kind of obvious why this speaks to me so much.
From the church's perspective, it troubles me that it takes such a massive calamity to get our attention. Now, I want to be careful not to take away from the enormous show of compassion and aid that has been directed at Haiti. It's beautiful the way the world has taken Haiti under their wing, so to speak, to provide aid.
I think Haiti, more so than other countries, is looked at with "distain" from the United States and it's churches due mainly to the fact that it's a "voodoo" nation. Now, I get the reasons why Haiti has had such hardships since their independence was won from France, we do reap what we sow. And I definitely feel that there are consequences for a nation when the people so openly turn from God.
The problem for me with a country like Haiti is this: as believers we have a tendency to have the "you're getting what you deserve" mentality. Directly followed with the ever popular "i've washed my hands of this", "you're on your own". The simple fact of the matter is, we all deserve death... Never has there been a person born on this planet that didn't serve such a fate. I praise an almighty Jesus who said, "I'll take God's wrath, instead of it being poured out on you". So, regardless of Haiti's past, they need Christ... they need Love... period.
"Where are we??" ... a question I should never have to ask myself again ....
I know exactly where we are .... In a world that needs love: Haiti, Africa, Woodlawn (community in Birmingham), Guatemala, China .... BEFORE the tragedy strikes.
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