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This particular episode was the last one he was filming. I am not a regular watcher of the show, but I always enjoy catching a few minutes of it from time to time. Surviving out in the wild is not really something that appeals much to me, but it sure makes for entertaining tv.

At the end of each show, Les Stroud wraps things up with an inspiring monologue. Usually he talks about the challenges that he face in each episodes particular location. At the end of his last show, this is what he said:

“In the adventure known as life:

There are those who live it vicariously and enjoy the ride from the safety of an armchair. And thats good–

There are those who have a few chances to realize incredible and life changing experiences and though they don’t repeat them, they carry with them a growth and personal philosophy for the rest of their lives–

And there are those for whom a taste is never enough. For whom the lust of adventure is nearly insatiable. And if you add to that the overwhelming desire to create and to share then you get where I reside–

For the end of one adventure only signifies the beginning of another.” 

Where do you find yourself?

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I went to the eye doctor the other day because I found myself straining to read and see while driving. I already had a pair of glasses, but the lenses were all scratched and they were bent into a weird shape so I never really wore them. The eye doctor asked me when I wear my glasses and I replied, “Not very often.” To that she asked with a shocked voice inflection, “You don’t wear glasses when you drive?” I answered sheepishly, “No.” She responded, “You should definitely wear your glasses when you drive.”

To make a long story short, I broke down and got a new pair of glasses. Instantly after I put them on, I was actually able to see clearly. Everything that was fuzzy became clear. My eyes were no longer straining to make out words. Everything was sharp. I could see.

In my personal life, I have been spending a lot of time and energy thinking, reading about and practicing different forms of spiritual formation. One of the biggest components of SF is prayer. In all honesty, I have always struggled with making myself stop everything else and pray because of a wrong idea about prayer. I am also not really one to ask for help so it was really difficult for me to sit down and go over my requests with God. For obvious reasons, this really bothered me. As a follower of Christ and especially as a pastor, we need to develop a prayer life, which I would consider a struggle in my life up to this point.

Recently, on a mission to figure out what prayer really is to correct this problem, I discovered that prayer is about being reminded who God is. Most of the time, when we pray, we are asking God to act. Maybe we are in a financial strain, maybe someone is sick, maybe we simply wish life would be different than it currently is so we ask God to give us something to change our situation. But the more I study and practice prayer the more I realize that prayer is not about gaining possessions, it about gaining perspective.

When I got new glasses, I gained a new perspective. All of the sudden, everything became clear. Yet nothing changed. The print in my books didn’t get larger, the letters on the road signs didn’t grow as I passed by, it all simply became more clear. That is what prayer does for us. It reminds us that God is in control; it gives us a new perspective. Prayer is more than a list of things we ask for. It’s reading scripture, journaling, and being silent before God. It’s giving thanks, and being open to God’s will for our lives. All of these prayer practices, remind us who God is. They help us to see that God is working all around us, and that if we are open to him, he is going to work things out for our good and his glory. Prayer helps us to know that even in the toughest of circumstances.

So, if you are at all like I was, frustrated with a lack of prayer in your life, try to mix things up. Try reading some scripture from the Psalms that talks about how big God is. Try sitting down and giving God thanks for all of the things he has provided you with. Try journaling about an issue that you are facing in your life. Get together with a friend or mentor and let them help you see things in a different light. When prayer is stripped down to a wish list for God, we lose the most important attribute in our relationship with God… the perspective that he is. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t ask God to meet our needs. We are instructed in scripture to do that. I am simply saying that in order to sustain a life of prayer, we need to first be reminded who God is so that we know he can and will meet or greatest needs.

Its easy to fall into the trap of thinking I know what’s best for me, and asking God to make that happen. I have come to the point in my life where I realize that I have no idea what’s best for me and furthermore, I don’t want to burdened with that responsibility. God is in control of my life, and my greatest need is not for him to respond to my wish list, rather it is to give me an improved, fresh vision of who he is.

In the words of Brian Regan, “How can instantly improved vision not be at the top of your to do list?”

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I love how we are able to stay in touch with one another. Because of technology, almost anyone is available to you at the touch of a button. We can be constantly connected to each other, which is really cool, but also with famous athletes, movie stars, authors, and politicians. It is awesome that we are able to communicate with people we will probably never be fortunate enough to meet in person. It is equally as awesome that friends are always available.

Even though communication technology is extremely captivating, it definitely has huge negative consequences. We are never fully present anymore. I am amazed that we think it is okay to tweet or check our facebook while we are supposedly engaging in relationship with the people we are around. Its like we are saying to the people we are with, “You are important enough for my full attention until someone else comes knocking on my virtual door.” I know we don’t mean that, and we certainly don’t say that, but we cannot be fully present in two places (ie. in physical conversation and virtual communication) at the same time.

A few days ago, I was hanging out with my wife and checking my twitter account. She said something to me and I completely ignored her. My thinking was that I would finish checking what my fellow tweeters had to say and then I would re-engage in conversation with her. Don’t tell her I actually thought that:). Later on, as I was reflecting on my day, I realized that the tweets of friends that I could read at any time, were more important than giving my wife my undivided attention at that moment. To be honest, this realization really frightened me. I was overwhelmingly bothered by the fact that what was on the screen of my phone was more important than listening to my wife.

So in light of this, I have made a commitment. I am going to do my best to ignore my cell phone in meetings or conversations. I am going to try to do only one thing at a time. I am going to offer my undivided attention to whatever task is before me.

I know that this isn’t going to be easy and that at times I am going to fail. Just last night I was talking to some teens and I got a text on my phone and I read it. The other day I allowed my phone to interrupt a meeting. I am sure that some distraction will sidetrack me today and most-likely tomorrow as well. But now that I am aware of this struggle, I am going to do my best to overcome it. I at least owe that much to myself, my friends and family, and to my God.

So here’s to you social networking devices. You are being downgraded to the trunk. Relationships and the tasks at hand will be the only things in the car with me. I promise to check in with you from time to time to make sure everything is okay, but never again at the cost of being fully present.

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I must confess, in this ugly, mess of an existence we call life, I find it difficult to see where God is in all of it.  I find myself oddly insulated from the outside world.  The inner sanctum of the church copy room is a fitting metaphor for my life at this point.  I don’t see the world as it is from my desk with no view, but worse than not seeing is acting like its not there, or that it’s easy to understand or dismiss.  The world is all around me, but i walk through it as a ghost, not interacting, not really caring all that much.  Then a night like tonight wakes me from my delusion.  The world is not to be ignored.  I find myself suddenly aligned with the athiests, the agnostics, and the godless heathens in the wonder that there could possibly be a god in the midst of this turbulent and hopeless world.  What could God have possibly to do with affairs or loveless marraiges or sexual immorality?  Where is God when people lie or selfishly and intentionally hurt each other.  What has God to do with exclusion, belittling, destructive words, or hatred?  Is God there in the bedroom of the unwed, or in the delivery room of the single mother, or in the abortion clinic?  Is God with the addict, the junkie, or the boozer trying just to escape it all?  Where is God these days?  How does one even come to find God in the midst of a messed up situation like this?  Sadly, people turn to a Church full of sanctimonious stuff-shirts who care more about  the look of a person and their political affiliation than their eternal salvation; a Church that claims to worship the Almighty God, but who stand expressionless and somber when claiming to do so; a Church whose mission is to make disciples, but only drives people away with messages about anything but the Gospel.  This Church cannot be the Church in which God abides.  Surely such a place would be vibrant, welcoming, loving, and above all genuine.  And here I stand on the inside.  If the gate is truly narrow that leads to salvation, I often wonder whether the gate will be open to me.  For too long I have, with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, denied this simple truth: we are imperfect people, just like everyone else.  Somehow we grow accustomed to the culture of church, and we forget that real life doesn’t happen when we come to church and put on our happy faces and act like everything is going well.  Life is just as difficult and messy on the inside as it is out there.  So what’s the difference?  Inside this institution, inside the walls of the Church, we can find comfort.  We find a way to set aside all the difficulty, all the failure, all the disappointment, disaster, and hardship.  It is a simple message that we all to easily forget: Jesus loves me, this I know.  This truth is universal…  In a world of contorted and complex truthiness, we can take solace in this: that despite how the world has treated us, God is still in heaven, and he has already sent his one and only, beloved over all creation, everlasting, genuinely loving son to show us the way to live apart from that.  And that’s where I find God in all that goes on, in all the craziness of life…  The simplicity that when I call on Jesus, he hears me and cares about my situation.  Though no one else may listen, Jesus is there to hear my crying.  Though no one else may care, Jesus is there to empathize with my situation.  And though no one else may know what I’m facing, what I’m dealing with in the hole i’ve dug myself that I call my life, Jesus has already been there.  He’s seen the world as it is: grimy, dirty, messy, and destroyed; and he has faced the worst life has to offer: he’s been called an illegitimate son of a woman scorned by society, he has been called a heretic and a friend to sinners, he’s been shunned by the religious institution, called a liar, hunted as a rebel, betrayed by those closest to him, was falesly accused, abandoned, beaten, crucified, died, and put in a grave.  And where, you ask, is God in all of this?  Where he always is, on his throne, ruling the heavens and the earth.  Not as a puppet master, controlling everything on a whim, but as a God deeply hurt when he sees the sad state into which his creation has transformed itself.  He was moved to action when he sent his son, and he is moved to action by the desperate cries of those who seek him.  He knows and understands the depth of our pain and would help us if we would but reach out our hand in humility and seek his.  And though it may not seem like the answer we look for, grace is freely given by a God who truly loves us, whether to change our situation, or to help us through the mire of the life in which we find ourselves enmeshed.  He calls to us, that we might not lose hope, saying, “my child, i’ve been there, and i promise I’ve got something better for you, if you’ll just follow me.”  Sadly, so many choose not to follow.  They see a God who has been either impotent or unwilling to help to this point, and truly believe the better way is to change their own life.  They may have even gotten this idea at a church, in the self-help gospel that seems now popular.  But this is not the gospel.  The only solace comes from living a life truly committed to following God’s way for us.  The narrow path is no cake-walk, no easy ride.  We are still walking through the grime and gruesomeness of the world around us.  But when we follow God, we travel on safe roads through the danger to find the reward that greets us in the end:  “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” -Revelation 21:4  This is my experience.  When it seems God is farthest away, i find him by simply looking for him.  In spite of all that would draw me away and take the heart of me, I find the face of Christ looking me straight in the eyes, beckoning me to come away from all this to a place he has prepared for me.

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Usually summer for me is more time with students and less time in the office, but this summer has turned out completely different. There is so much going on that it has been next to impossible for me to hang out. Hopefully that will change this week.

Next week, I am headed to Orlando with my wife and three other females. I am pumped for the break form business as usual. I am also excited to spend the week with some great people. Being in Orlando will put the icing on the cake. Look out Disney.

I am sad that the Magic lost last night. I knew that it was just a matter of time before the Lakers won, but I didn’t want to believe it. I am not really a Magic fan, but I really like Dwight Howard.

I saw two movies last week, Star Trek and Land of the Lost. I enjoyed both of them. I am not a huge Will Ferrell fan, but this time he did a great job. Star Trek was surprisingly awesome. I never really understood the hype, but enjoyed the movie none the less.

Book I’m Reading: I am still on The Godbearing Life

Music I’m Listening to: ESPN Radio. Sad but true

Funniest Thing From Last Week: I watched a teen girl attempt to swat a bug away from her face, but wound up slapping herself.  

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