Growing up (unlike some friends) my family only moved one time, and the distance was hardly measurable in miles. Just down the road from Dad's house is the location of our first home - a humble little trailer.
Since moving back home from school in 2003 I have moved once a year, and this will be my third. Once a year isn't so frequent to be astonishing - but the fact that I find things I can toss as I prepare for each move does astonish me. I am much less a packrat now than I was as a child, but I still must have lots of that tendency in me.
My inspiration - one who took this journey just this fall. Katie E. packed her whole life into one car - or at least that was her intent when she began trimming her worldly posessions to move from the DC area a hundred miles or so to Seminary. I think a friend did end up helping her, but it is still an admirable goal. "If I can't take it to Kentucky, why bring it to Easton will be my test."
Oh - and to add to the pressure of this lovely Advent season (which Sunday I thought I might be able to enjoy like never before) my landlord has a chance to rent my apartment to a woman who will be evicted from her location on the 20th. So - I have just over two weeks to pack and relocate my life - and still get to travel an hour to work each way for a little more than a week once I am settled in.
Oh Lord - I need a job once I am moved. Help me see where/what it is when I should!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Sunday, December 03, 2006
The End of the Beginning
For the last five weeks I have been teaching one of the adult Sunday School classes and I can't say just how much fun I have had. True - this responsibility is daunting - but this is a burden each of us should have at all times. This is perhaps the biggest blessing. Each day we live our lives should be with the sober realization that we are Christ to those around us.
And just what does that mean? I have lived until this year thinking I was supposed to live Christian values. People who see me living this way each day would then ask me about my source of grace and strength. Certainly God can work this way - but what must our lives look like before someone asks for our secret? We can't look just like the people we are surrounded by - that is for sure! I encourage anyone reading this post to read through the Sermon on the Mount (as it is called) and see just how radical our Christian ethic is.
Not only must we look different to the world, but it is imperative that we sound differently. I had lunch today with a father and son pair - the latter of whom is attending my Alma Mater begining in January. The father told today of one particular coworker who attends a well-respected evangelical church in town but can't keep his mouth quiet at work describing all the lascivious things he would do to this and that beautiful woman. "He should just stay home and watch cartoons or something on Sunday morning as go to church and act that way during the week" says the dad. Amen!
Among all this appropriate talk should be our Christian confession. How can someone believe unless they hear, and how can they hear unless they are told? I might spend some time talking about how or when to share this confession, but we would do well just to share at all!
This is the end of my tenure as a Sunday School teacher, but it is just the beginning. The toe has tested the water so-to-speak and I am just thrilled to continue on this journey.
And just what does that mean? I have lived until this year thinking I was supposed to live Christian values. People who see me living this way each day would then ask me about my source of grace and strength. Certainly God can work this way - but what must our lives look like before someone asks for our secret? We can't look just like the people we are surrounded by - that is for sure! I encourage anyone reading this post to read through the Sermon on the Mount (as it is called) and see just how radical our Christian ethic is.
Not only must we look different to the world, but it is imperative that we sound differently. I had lunch today with a father and son pair - the latter of whom is attending my Alma Mater begining in January. The father told today of one particular coworker who attends a well-respected evangelical church in town but can't keep his mouth quiet at work describing all the lascivious things he would do to this and that beautiful woman. "He should just stay home and watch cartoons or something on Sunday morning as go to church and act that way during the week" says the dad. Amen!
Among all this appropriate talk should be our Christian confession. How can someone believe unless they hear, and how can they hear unless they are told? I might spend some time talking about how or when to share this confession, but we would do well just to share at all!
This is the end of my tenure as a Sunday School teacher, but it is just the beginning. The toe has tested the water so-to-speak and I am just thrilled to continue on this journey.
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