It's not hard to look at our world and wonder. I wonder about our future - the future of our country, of our lives, of our world. With the unbelievable debt of our country growing, the trust of the people of this world fading, and the tendency to live a life fully focused on whatever makes ME happy in this moment, the world seems to be bankrupting itself while feeding on selfishness and short-sightedness.
Yet, only a couple generations ago the "American Dream" seemed to be making this the "Land of Opportunity." The people who came here to this country from all over the world, many owning nothing but the clothing they wore, seemed to have a strange sort of happiness and optimism - yes, it was hard and they sacrificed greatly, but they looked to the future for what would become of their family in generations to come because of the love, sweat and tears they poured out - they saw the future with hope and joy!
Now, we have, as a country, achieved all that they set out for us. We are successful - no less than global domination. We have an unbelieveable life - with cars and tv's and warm places to live - looking around the world, we see that we are remarkably close to the dream our dreaming past generations had for us. Yet, are we REALLY happy? Do we find that the end of the American Dream is satisfying and peaceful? Do we find that we savor the moments of our days and spend much of our time just smiling at the wonder and amazingness of our lives?? In each 24 hours, do we find that the majority of our time is spent doing the things we would do if we really could choose what we wanted to do? Do we put our heads on our pillows each night and find the smile hard to escape us because of how fulfilling our lives are?
I think you will find if you look around our country, around your neighborhood, around your house, you will find that the answer is, "No."
So, if we are not happy and full of joy when we have made it to our ancestors' dream for us, then where have we gone wrong? Why were they happier than we are? Why are we so harried and frustrated and stressed out?
The truth is that we have misnamed the American Dream. The real dream of America - the joy and wonder and hope of this country - is not found in success and achievement and power and money...it is not found in pleasure and fun and self-pleasing...it is not found in escape or even in religion and being very successful at your belief system.
The real wonder and amazingness of this country - that made this country great - is love. It is a willingness to sacrifice for someone else...a willingness to see the beauty around and savor it, to be satisfied with what you have in the moment and yet to keep trying to become the best you can be...a lifestyle that lives like each of the people i encounter in a given day is just as important as i am and that i should treat them that way...a desire to see someone else have a great life when i can help them, and to look for ways to make that happen...a really deep knowledge of what is really important and what is not in this life, and a life that shows that you really believe it...
The problem is that it is hard to live this way - there is virtually nothing in our society that is encouraging us to live this way. In fact, everything teaches us to live exactly the opposite. So, how can we return to the real American Dream?
This is what More than more is all about. These things are what we believe in at More than more and we are looking for ways to live this out, to change over our lives to experience life in the fullest. You see, there is a fantastic God who is so interested in our lives and He is so amazing that He set the world up to be lived in this "true" American Dream kind of way - that is why living that way is so amazing!! At More than more we notice the wonder of life and the people around us and this keeps our focus on what is really important. Plus, we invite this amazing God into the moments of our lives and He helps us to see life differently - and we have the chance to celebrate life, not just plod away at it until we die.
It is a great way to live!
We would love to have you join us - we will be at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, 6:45-8:00PM tonight, the 4th of November and then again on the 18th, same time - we would love to have you join us!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
the wobbly leaves
I was sitting in my tree stand the other day. It was the middle of the day - not the best for encountering a deer necessarily, but a great time to just take in the wonder of the world and talk to God about life.
So, it, of course, is fall here in Indiana and the trees around the stand are an amazing array of colors, the smells are almost overpowering of the fallen leaves and the woods. It is like God decided to explode his color pallette and scent factory all over!
So, there i sat and as I took it all in i noticed a funky little leaf. It actually was 3 leaves, on one stem. They were sitting leaves down, with the stem up, wedged in the crook of the stem, on a branch. With each gust of the wind, the 3 little leaves swayed back and forth and yet they did not move. They just went on swaying back abd forth, back and forth, back and forth. These little leaves had already fallen off the tree, and yet they had not fallen to the ground. I thought it was kinda sad.
Here were all their brother and sister and cousin leaves falling to the ground, where they would be used by the forest to make that beautiful smell of the forest and eventually become fertilizer to make the next year's soil even richer - their lives would be used up for the life of the forest - a wonderful and meaningful purpose. Either that or the others were still on the tree - some were there giving life to the tree - taking the energy from the sun and giving it to the tree - a wonderful purpose and a great life to be sure.
Then there was this one silly little clump of leaves - it was almost like they could not decide what they wanted to do - they were not heading back to the tree to give life into it and they were not falling to the ground, where their lives could be used to make something else much better. Nope, there they sat, determined to stick it out where they were, flapping in the breeze, no purpose, no meaninf, nothing, just watching out for themselves!!
So, the more i looked at the 3 little leaves - wobbling around - i felt sad. i saw myself in those 3 little leaves. i saw America in those 3 little leaves. i saw a man who talks about giving himself, but lives in luxury. i saw a man who talks about sacrifice, but who wines when he gets hungry. i saw a country that talks about loving a neighbor but does nothing about it. Truth is, it is how we act, how we live our lives, that tells what we really believe and think is the most important thing - not what we say, or what creeds we recite, or what church we attend or what humanitarian group we are a part of.
You see, the more i say one thing and do another, i find that i am just like that cluster of leaves - pitiful - unable to go one way or the other - unable to make my life really count for anything, unable to live for any purpose - just flapping in the wind.
i choose to not live that way - i choose to give my life - to jump off the tree and make a difference in the world around me. Is is hard? Yes. There is always someone silly hunter who commes along and tromps on me - i get bumped and jostled and even peed on sometimes (sorry if that's too crude). But the way of life that REALLY matters is always one that requires some being tromped on, some pain.
But, it is sooooo worth it. I meet hundreds and hundreds of people whose lives are empty - meaningless - they realize that their lives really matter for very little - they are flapping in the wind - never really comitting to anything. But, when they begin to see that there is something More to life than just the usual, they come alive - their lives begin anew - with fire and passion and excitement, with healing and restoration and even joy. You see, when I jump off the flapping branch and choose instead to dive in head first to be used, i find myself face to face with people who need help - and when they get help, embedded in the life and love of a person, they find meaning and value in their lives that they did not know before.
This is where life explodes with wonder! This is the heart of More than more.
We choose to no longer follow the usual way if selfishness and flapping around with whatever breeze happens to blow by - no we choose to give up our lives, to jump in head first, to make a difference!
Tomorrow this is what we will be doing at McAllister Recreation Center - we will be giving away hundreds of pairs of shoes, and dozens of prescriptions and doctor visits. We will be jumping off the branch - and it will be fantastic!
If this kind of life sounds like something you'd like to learn more about, we would love to have you join us next Thursday - 11/4, from 6:45-8:00 PM, at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette - of course there will be free childcare for your kids - we hope to see you!
So, it, of course, is fall here in Indiana and the trees around the stand are an amazing array of colors, the smells are almost overpowering of the fallen leaves and the woods. It is like God decided to explode his color pallette and scent factory all over!
So, there i sat and as I took it all in i noticed a funky little leaf. It actually was 3 leaves, on one stem. They were sitting leaves down, with the stem up, wedged in the crook of the stem, on a branch. With each gust of the wind, the 3 little leaves swayed back and forth and yet they did not move. They just went on swaying back abd forth, back and forth, back and forth. These little leaves had already fallen off the tree, and yet they had not fallen to the ground. I thought it was kinda sad.
Here were all their brother and sister and cousin leaves falling to the ground, where they would be used by the forest to make that beautiful smell of the forest and eventually become fertilizer to make the next year's soil even richer - their lives would be used up for the life of the forest - a wonderful and meaningful purpose. Either that or the others were still on the tree - some were there giving life to the tree - taking the energy from the sun and giving it to the tree - a wonderful purpose and a great life to be sure.
Then there was this one silly little clump of leaves - it was almost like they could not decide what they wanted to do - they were not heading back to the tree to give life into it and they were not falling to the ground, where their lives could be used to make something else much better. Nope, there they sat, determined to stick it out where they were, flapping in the breeze, no purpose, no meaninf, nothing, just watching out for themselves!!
So, the more i looked at the 3 little leaves - wobbling around - i felt sad. i saw myself in those 3 little leaves. i saw America in those 3 little leaves. i saw a man who talks about giving himself, but lives in luxury. i saw a man who talks about sacrifice, but who wines when he gets hungry. i saw a country that talks about loving a neighbor but does nothing about it. Truth is, it is how we act, how we live our lives, that tells what we really believe and think is the most important thing - not what we say, or what creeds we recite, or what church we attend or what humanitarian group we are a part of.
You see, the more i say one thing and do another, i find that i am just like that cluster of leaves - pitiful - unable to go one way or the other - unable to make my life really count for anything, unable to live for any purpose - just flapping in the wind.
i choose to not live that way - i choose to give my life - to jump off the tree and make a difference in the world around me. Is is hard? Yes. There is always someone silly hunter who commes along and tromps on me - i get bumped and jostled and even peed on sometimes (sorry if that's too crude). But the way of life that REALLY matters is always one that requires some being tromped on, some pain.
But, it is sooooo worth it. I meet hundreds and hundreds of people whose lives are empty - meaningless - they realize that their lives really matter for very little - they are flapping in the wind - never really comitting to anything. But, when they begin to see that there is something More to life than just the usual, they come alive - their lives begin anew - with fire and passion and excitement, with healing and restoration and even joy. You see, when I jump off the flapping branch and choose instead to dive in head first to be used, i find myself face to face with people who need help - and when they get help, embedded in the life and love of a person, they find meaning and value in their lives that they did not know before.
This is where life explodes with wonder! This is the heart of More than more.
We choose to no longer follow the usual way if selfishness and flapping around with whatever breeze happens to blow by - no we choose to give up our lives, to jump in head first, to make a difference!
Tomorrow this is what we will be doing at McAllister Recreation Center - we will be giving away hundreds of pairs of shoes, and dozens of prescriptions and doctor visits. We will be jumping off the branch - and it will be fantastic!
If this kind of life sounds like something you'd like to learn more about, we would love to have you join us next Thursday - 11/4, from 6:45-8:00 PM, at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette - of course there will be free childcare for your kids - we hope to see you!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
What do we do with the massive pain of life?
Ok, so even though what you will read primarily on this blog is that More than more is a group of people with a hopeful outlook on life - that we are searching for something More than the usual stuff that Americans spend their lives pursuing and we are finding life better and more meaningful because of it - we are also not so silly and delusional that we totally miss the MASSIVE amount of pain that life seems to dump on us.
Not that it is just "us" at More than more - it seems to be universal - all people, everywhere, have MASSIVE amounts of pain. Now, granted, some have more than their share and that I totally don't get, but by and large, all people have tons of pain in their lives.
Pain seems to be one of the things that we all have in common - and a lot of it is random - not caused by us, not asked for - just happens.
So, I wanted to spend some time this last Thursday giving some voice to the fact that I totally see the pain. We, at More than more will not run from it. I have spent a lifetime around church people who deny or ignore or "paint a happy face" on their pain (and attempt to on everyone else's too). I have heard over and over again, "Just give it to God." or "Let go and let God." or "What dooesn't kill you will make you stronger." among others - and while there may be some truth in these - they never seem to be very conforting when the doctor throws around the Cancer word, or your spouse has decided that they love someone else.
What would and does bring some degree of comfort is to have some people who actually care about you. Not for what you can provide to them (because in the midst of pain, you only provide them pain). Not for how good looking you are or how wealthy you are (because who looks great with a snotty nose and tear stained cheeks and how many of us are actually wealthy anyway?) But people who actually care about you. People who will listen and hear, people who will hug you if you need it and give you space if you need it. People who actually remember that you are struggling the next time they see you, because they listened. People who might even call you if you were struggling rather than making you call them. That helps.
In fact, it is so much easier to make it through another day in the middle of the pain that we can actually consider the idea that it could someday end - that we might someday become somebody better because of it. But it only feels this way because the idea is all warmed up by the love of the people around us.
So, this is part of what More than more is all about. We truly care about people - yes it is true that we are a messed up bunch - and we have our share of issues too, but we really care about people. There's something about this More than more way of living that takes us there. And it is so much better than anything else I have evr found in the midst of massive pain.
So, we don't ignore pain. We just live through it...together.
Not that it is just "us" at More than more - it seems to be universal - all people, everywhere, have MASSIVE amounts of pain. Now, granted, some have more than their share and that I totally don't get, but by and large, all people have tons of pain in their lives.
Pain seems to be one of the things that we all have in common - and a lot of it is random - not caused by us, not asked for - just happens.
So, I wanted to spend some time this last Thursday giving some voice to the fact that I totally see the pain. We, at More than more will not run from it. I have spent a lifetime around church people who deny or ignore or "paint a happy face" on their pain (and attempt to on everyone else's too). I have heard over and over again, "Just give it to God." or "Let go and let God." or "What dooesn't kill you will make you stronger." among others - and while there may be some truth in these - they never seem to be very conforting when the doctor throws around the Cancer word, or your spouse has decided that they love someone else.
What would and does bring some degree of comfort is to have some people who actually care about you. Not for what you can provide to them (because in the midst of pain, you only provide them pain). Not for how good looking you are or how wealthy you are (because who looks great with a snotty nose and tear stained cheeks and how many of us are actually wealthy anyway?) But people who actually care about you. People who will listen and hear, people who will hug you if you need it and give you space if you need it. People who actually remember that you are struggling the next time they see you, because they listened. People who might even call you if you were struggling rather than making you call them. That helps.
In fact, it is so much easier to make it through another day in the middle of the pain that we can actually consider the idea that it could someday end - that we might someday become somebody better because of it. But it only feels this way because the idea is all warmed up by the love of the people around us.
So, this is part of what More than more is all about. We truly care about people - yes it is true that we are a messed up bunch - and we have our share of issues too, but we really care about people. There's something about this More than more way of living that takes us there. And it is so much better than anything else I have evr found in the midst of massive pain.
So, we don't ignore pain. We just live through it...together.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
a night to remember
Last Friday, rather than getting together and hanging out at McAllister, we spent the evening in someone's home who really needed some help. Instead of just talkingabout living life differently, we lived life differently for real.
It was fantastic to work together as a team and reach into the lives of some people who needed someone to give them a break. You may not have noticed, but life seems to give out plenty of bad breaks, not to mention the fact that we sometimes make decisions that bury us. When all this comes together, life can be downright hard.
Friday we spent the evening with a family who has had things really hard lately. We spent the evening working alongside them and it was great to see them encouraged by the help we gave them, but even more by the fact that a bunch of people loved them enough to take their Friday evening to spend with them, doing whatever they could to help.
You see at More than more we believe that there is something More to life than just the usual American way of always trying to just get ahead another step - there is a life that is filled with meaning and purpose and even joy - and we live it out in our day-to-day lives.
We will be back at McAllister again on 10/21, 6:45-8:00PM and we hope to see you there. McAllister is just off 20th and Schuyler Ave in Lafayette. If you are tired of living the get more, become more, achieve more, buy more, lifestyle of this world, come join us - we wold love to show you More.
It was fantastic to work together as a team and reach into the lives of some people who needed someone to give them a break. You may not have noticed, but life seems to give out plenty of bad breaks, not to mention the fact that we sometimes make decisions that bury us. When all this comes together, life can be downright hard.
Friday we spent the evening with a family who has had things really hard lately. We spent the evening working alongside them and it was great to see them encouraged by the help we gave them, but even more by the fact that a bunch of people loved them enough to take their Friday evening to spend with them, doing whatever they could to help.
You see at More than more we believe that there is something More to life than just the usual American way of always trying to just get ahead another step - there is a life that is filled with meaning and purpose and even joy - and we live it out in our day-to-day lives.
We will be back at McAllister again on 10/21, 6:45-8:00PM and we hope to see you there. McAllister is just off 20th and Schuyler Ave in Lafayette. If you are tired of living the get more, become more, achieve more, buy more, lifestyle of this world, come join us - we wold love to show you More.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The rocks by the sea
10-3-10
Today I found a wonderful rest and I wanted to tell you a little about it. We slept in – can you imagine? I slept in, alongside Melissa, until 10:00!!! We woke to the alarm that signaled 30minutes to the end of the free breakfast downstairs (6:30-10:30 and I wonder who was up at 6:30?). We finished breakfast and, as the cappuccino began working, got ready to go to the beach. Most places are not open on Sundays in Sicily (what an idea!! – I am wondering if the founder of Chik-fil-A is from Sicily?) and so a drive in the country and then catching some rays and basking by the Mediterranean sounded relaxing on our first day.
So, we drove off into the countryside with Melissa jokingly navigating but mostly soaking it all in and taking pictures and videos. The lady in our hotel said that only about 10miles or so away is a beach called Arenella and so we headed off in that direction. We saw the signs and drove that way, trying to look less like tourists and more like Italians (which means lots of crazy driving). Well, somewhere along the way we must have missed the sign for Arenella and instead turned a wrong way. Sometimes this would bother me intensely, but today I did not care if we had some adventure along the way. So, as we went, we began to not care if we made it to Arenella at all, but mainly just that we got to sit by the water and chill out for a while. So, at one particularly steep one lane road Melissa said, “Hey, look bikini girls! I bet there’s some beach down there!” So, we drove a little further, turned around and then decided to try the one lane, steep hilled, road.
Now, Melissa does not drive stick shift vehicles at all and so she has not clue what it is like to drive down a road like that, much less to parallel park on it and not roll back (or front) into anything around you, so to her this excursion was wildly fun, to me a bit stressful, but we have good insurance on the rental (thank goodness!). After getting parked with no dings and no hit walls or cars, we walked down to the water to find that this was not a beach after all – it was actually just a whole lot of flat rocks by the Sea, where locals gather to sun themselves and relax away their Sunday afternoon.
There were very few people there and it looked nice and so we agreed it was worth a try. There, down the rocks from a bunch of Sicilians, we had one of the most peaceful and restful days ever. We read and talked, prayed and napped, had lunch and just had a fantastic day!
After we were done there, we decided to drive down to Arenella just to see what it was like. A few miles down the road we found a lovely little beach, with tons of people (and it was 4:30 PM) that had lunch stands and chairs and was bustling and busy, with kids and their paraphernalia coming at us as soon as we arrived. We hurried to get away from there and then headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. But here’s what I learned:
Sometimes the best place for you is not the place you were looking for.
We went looking for the beach…we found the rocks – the rocks would have been anticipated to be hard and pokey and unpleasant, but they were perfect! It was the ideal place, and if we would have forced our way to the beach, we would have never found the perfect place. The problem with finding the perfect place, though, is that often times it requires you to allow a different idea, something you never considered, to enter your mind.
So many times we Americans are so wrapped up in our routines and our ideas (and everyone else’s around us for that matter), that we forget to really notice that the best place for us, the best thing for us to be doing, the most wonderful, fulfilling and amazing thing may be something that we drive right by and miss, each and every day!
So, my advice to you (and me), is to try in this day to live life willing to notice life around you – open your mind – have conversations with God about where it would be best for you to be. Open up the possibilities and allow the schedule and agenda that you cling to so tightly to gently float away and allow your life to open up into brand new steep hills and cool sea waters.
Today I found a wonderful rest and I wanted to tell you a little about it. We slept in – can you imagine? I slept in, alongside Melissa, until 10:00!!! We woke to the alarm that signaled 30minutes to the end of the free breakfast downstairs (6:30-10:30 and I wonder who was up at 6:30?). We finished breakfast and, as the cappuccino began working, got ready to go to the beach. Most places are not open on Sundays in Sicily (what an idea!! – I am wondering if the founder of Chik-fil-A is from Sicily?) and so a drive in the country and then catching some rays and basking by the Mediterranean sounded relaxing on our first day.
So, we drove off into the countryside with Melissa jokingly navigating but mostly soaking it all in and taking pictures and videos. The lady in our hotel said that only about 10miles or so away is a beach called Arenella and so we headed off in that direction. We saw the signs and drove that way, trying to look less like tourists and more like Italians (which means lots of crazy driving). Well, somewhere along the way we must have missed the sign for Arenella and instead turned a wrong way. Sometimes this would bother me intensely, but today I did not care if we had some adventure along the way. So, as we went, we began to not care if we made it to Arenella at all, but mainly just that we got to sit by the water and chill out for a while. So, at one particularly steep one lane road Melissa said, “Hey, look bikini girls! I bet there’s some beach down there!” So, we drove a little further, turned around and then decided to try the one lane, steep hilled, road.
Now, Melissa does not drive stick shift vehicles at all and so she has not clue what it is like to drive down a road like that, much less to parallel park on it and not roll back (or front) into anything around you, so to her this excursion was wildly fun, to me a bit stressful, but we have good insurance on the rental (thank goodness!). After getting parked with no dings and no hit walls or cars, we walked down to the water to find that this was not a beach after all – it was actually just a whole lot of flat rocks by the Sea, where locals gather to sun themselves and relax away their Sunday afternoon.
There were very few people there and it looked nice and so we agreed it was worth a try. There, down the rocks from a bunch of Sicilians, we had one of the most peaceful and restful days ever. We read and talked, prayed and napped, had lunch and just had a fantastic day!
After we were done there, we decided to drive down to Arenella just to see what it was like. A few miles down the road we found a lovely little beach, with tons of people (and it was 4:30 PM) that had lunch stands and chairs and was bustling and busy, with kids and their paraphernalia coming at us as soon as we arrived. We hurried to get away from there and then headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. But here’s what I learned:
Sometimes the best place for you is not the place you were looking for.
We went looking for the beach…we found the rocks – the rocks would have been anticipated to be hard and pokey and unpleasant, but they were perfect! It was the ideal place, and if we would have forced our way to the beach, we would have never found the perfect place. The problem with finding the perfect place, though, is that often times it requires you to allow a different idea, something you never considered, to enter your mind.
So many times we Americans are so wrapped up in our routines and our ideas (and everyone else’s around us for that matter), that we forget to really notice that the best place for us, the best thing for us to be doing, the most wonderful, fulfilling and amazing thing may be something that we drive right by and miss, each and every day!
So, my advice to you (and me), is to try in this day to live life willing to notice life around you – open your mind – have conversations with God about where it would be best for you to be. Open up the possibilities and allow the schedule and agenda that you cling to so tightly to gently float away and allow your life to open up into brand new steep hills and cool sea waters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
