Hey everyone! Do you ever think of voices? They can destroy us in pain with just a few words...they can raise us to near ecstasy in another. They can use words to motivate us or music to soothe us.
Out of this one thing comes all communication related to speech. All languages are simply differences in the way this voice is altered in one way or another.
And what is more frustrating than when your ears are plugged up and you can't hear someone or when someone cant hear you and keeps saying, "What?"
In short, voices are amazing!
But, have you ever stopped to think about how all this works?? Truth? Voices and all their sounds are made by 2 little cords of tissue called the vocal cords - and are they a great creation!!
Check out this Utube video that we watched at Mtm last Thursday (we did not produce this, just watched it):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajbcJiYhFKY
Amazing!
So simple - 2 little cords of tissue, vibrating against each other - making all those sounds, all those languages, all that significance to our lives!!
So simple, yet so complex! So wonderful and unbelievable and yet so easy!
We can make some sounds by manmade methods, but they are not so simple and easy to confine - they just would not work on the space of the throat!!
You see, God made your voice so amazing and wonderful and He made all of us to respond to voices so profoundly! He did this special, for us. We are amazing and complicated and yet simple - and God is the mastermind of it all!
He loves us very much! Now, does that make everything simple in life? No. Painless? No. But, it can help you remember that thre is More to life than just the usual American get more become more achieve more that we usually see!
My advice? The next time you hear your voice, or someone else's, take a second to notice - enjoy the amazingness of it all and invite God to join you in the moment- thank Him for making you so wonderfully snd ask Him to join you in your day! See if this doesn't make a little island of wonder in the craziness of your day!
By the way, at More than more we are totally commited to living this way - trying to get out of the usual and into the ordinary amazingness that is around us all the tmie. And we do not deny the pain of life, instead, we choose to care about each other through the pain - not to run from it and not because of what a person may have to offer the group, but rather, we love each other, just because.
If this sounds good to you, if you are curious, or if you are fed up with the usual of our world, we would love to have you join us - we will be hanging out next Thursday night, March 10th, 6:45-8:00PM, at McAllister Center, just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, with free childcare, as usual.
Hope to see you there! In the meantime, enjoy your voice!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
So, what about Joy??
So, if Joy is clearly not the same as happiness, but something deeper and fuller and less dependent on our circumstances - it seems we can imagine feeling some joy, even in the midst of difficult times...
Joy seems to be connected with several things - First is what we are going for - if what we are shooting for is temporary and short range, we seem to get happiness, but if it is bigger than us and more meaningful than just something we can buy or get (which seem to lose their significance in a short period of time)or some individual person (who can betray us or may not always be around - like kids growing up or marriages failing or friends hurting us) - if it is bigger than this, more lasting than this, then we seem to get joy as we find it.
Second is that joy involves hope - it seems to be attached to the fact that tomorrow may bring all kinds of things, but it is likely that there will be good in it. There may be tons of pain too, but that there will be good working in our lives too.
At More than more - we are learning the really joyful parts of life that most of us would name, if we thought about it for a while, would not be the things we spend most of our time dwelling on, working for, shaping our time around, etc. Rather, we spend most of our time for other things - and then miss most of the joyfulness on a daily basis - this is the shape of our society.
But we are choosing to try to notice the things in life that point us to real joy - that help us find deep meaning and wonder in life - we are choosing to find God in life and that is giving us joy - many times in the midst of the most severe circumstances. We are daring to leave behind the rush around days of American life and instead in the midst of our rushing (we are busy people) we choose to let go of the schedule sometimes and notice the wonder and amazingness of life around us and people around us and savor. We are inviting God into those moments and He is coming into our lives and helping us see what's really important! And this changes everything. Life is still hard, but like one of the folks said the other day, "I have had one of the worst years of my life, but it hasn't seemed as bad as I thought it would have." This is because of God in our lives - He makes all the difference.
So, if you are racing francitcally through life - and feel no joy. If you reach your goal and it seems to wither in your hand, happiness fading. If you have invested and invested in someone and they have become your world and they have betrayed you - realize that there is still hope - it will still be painful, but there is hope and JOY.
We would love to have you join us - we will be hanging out tomorrow 2/24/11 - 6:45-8:00PM McAllister Recreations Center, Lafayette, just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, free child care, as always.
hope to see you there - have a joy filled day...
Joy seems to be connected with several things - First is what we are going for - if what we are shooting for is temporary and short range, we seem to get happiness, but if it is bigger than us and more meaningful than just something we can buy or get (which seem to lose their significance in a short period of time)or some individual person (who can betray us or may not always be around - like kids growing up or marriages failing or friends hurting us) - if it is bigger than this, more lasting than this, then we seem to get joy as we find it.
Second is that joy involves hope - it seems to be attached to the fact that tomorrow may bring all kinds of things, but it is likely that there will be good in it. There may be tons of pain too, but that there will be good working in our lives too.
At More than more - we are learning the really joyful parts of life that most of us would name, if we thought about it for a while, would not be the things we spend most of our time dwelling on, working for, shaping our time around, etc. Rather, we spend most of our time for other things - and then miss most of the joyfulness on a daily basis - this is the shape of our society.
But we are choosing to try to notice the things in life that point us to real joy - that help us find deep meaning and wonder in life - we are choosing to find God in life and that is giving us joy - many times in the midst of the most severe circumstances. We are daring to leave behind the rush around days of American life and instead in the midst of our rushing (we are busy people) we choose to let go of the schedule sometimes and notice the wonder and amazingness of life around us and people around us and savor. We are inviting God into those moments and He is coming into our lives and helping us see what's really important! And this changes everything. Life is still hard, but like one of the folks said the other day, "I have had one of the worst years of my life, but it hasn't seemed as bad as I thought it would have." This is because of God in our lives - He makes all the difference.
So, if you are racing francitcally through life - and feel no joy. If you reach your goal and it seems to wither in your hand, happiness fading. If you have invested and invested in someone and they have become your world and they have betrayed you - realize that there is still hope - it will still be painful, but there is hope and JOY.
We would love to have you join us - we will be hanging out tomorrow 2/24/11 - 6:45-8:00PM McAllister Recreations Center, Lafayette, just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, free child care, as always.
hope to see you there - have a joy filled day...
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Joy
While we all seem to agree that joy is hard to define, or even figure out, we had some good talk about it.
It certainly is not the same as happiness. Happiness is nice and good, but short and more surfacy (kinda superficial) comepared to joy.
Joy seems to be deeper inside us - longer lasting - and less dependent on our circumstances. We could be in a great time of our lives or a not so great time of our lives and have joy, but not necessarily happiness.
It seems that joy comes from inside more and happiness from outside more - like joy rises from within us and happiness is something we get done to us or something we achieve or get or buy or have...
What do you think?
It certainly is not the same as happiness. Happiness is nice and good, but short and more surfacy (kinda superficial) comepared to joy.
Joy seems to be deeper inside us - longer lasting - and less dependent on our circumstances. We could be in a great time of our lives or a not so great time of our lives and have joy, but not necessarily happiness.
It seems that joy comes from inside more and happiness from outside more - like joy rises from within us and happiness is something we get done to us or something we achieve or get or buy or have...
What do you think?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Adapatability
Hi - ever wonder what would happen to a snake if you put it in the artic? Or maybe a polar bear in a tropical rain forest?
Well, the answer is easy - they would not do well - they would die out!!
But, have you ever considered that people can live in nearly any place on Earth and survive? There have been people living in the hottest, the wettest, the coldest, the dryest and everything in between. It is pretty amazing!
The reason that we are able to do this is that we humans were made able to adapt to different environments very well! We can adjust our temperatures and heat consumption or preservation. We can think about how to further survive by collecting water or by covering up to keep dry!
But, this is no accident - we were made so amazingly complicated and wonderful by a God who loves us very much and wants us to succeed on this planet!!
Now, i understand that life is full of problems and pain and crises and issues, not to mention bills and frantic paces, hectic schedules and meetings to keep - but in the middle of this i fear we have often lost our joy - our appreciated of the amazingness of life! Let me ask you then to remember, whenever you see or think of a faraway place, a vacation, a getaway, etc, that you were made able to adjust to wherever that place is - and in that moment, just start a conversation with the God who made you that way!! Appreciate how amazing you are and invite Him into the moment - you will not regret it...and the more you do it, the more your life will be released from the prison of our rushing world!
If your life is crazy and lonely - if you are wondering if there's something More to life - we would love to share a couple hours with you - talking about this kind of stuff!!
We will be hanging out at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, 6:45-8:00PM tomorrow night, February 10th. As always, there will be free, excellent child care!
Hope to see you!
Well, the answer is easy - they would not do well - they would die out!!
But, have you ever considered that people can live in nearly any place on Earth and survive? There have been people living in the hottest, the wettest, the coldest, the dryest and everything in between. It is pretty amazing!
The reason that we are able to do this is that we humans were made able to adapt to different environments very well! We can adjust our temperatures and heat consumption or preservation. We can think about how to further survive by collecting water or by covering up to keep dry!
But, this is no accident - we were made so amazingly complicated and wonderful by a God who loves us very much and wants us to succeed on this planet!!
Now, i understand that life is full of problems and pain and crises and issues, not to mention bills and frantic paces, hectic schedules and meetings to keep - but in the middle of this i fear we have often lost our joy - our appreciated of the amazingness of life! Let me ask you then to remember, whenever you see or think of a faraway place, a vacation, a getaway, etc, that you were made able to adjust to wherever that place is - and in that moment, just start a conversation with the God who made you that way!! Appreciate how amazing you are and invite Him into the moment - you will not regret it...and the more you do it, the more your life will be released from the prison of our rushing world!
If your life is crazy and lonely - if you are wondering if there's something More to life - we would love to share a couple hours with you - talking about this kind of stuff!!
We will be hanging out at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, 6:45-8:00PM tomorrow night, February 10th. As always, there will be free, excellent child care!
Hope to see you!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sports...
1-13-10
Well, you must know that I am a Chicago Bears fan – it comes from weeks and months of brainwashing from “The Super Bowl Shuffle” when I was a kid I think. Now please don’t hold this against me, especially this weekend if you happen to be a Seahawks fan. So, on Sunday when the game is on, I will batten down the hatches, turn off all relational attachments but those corporately engaged in frolicking in the joys of football and zone out in happy land (or sad/angry land if the bears get whipped), and maybe become so unruly that I bear only a slim resemblance to my usual self. Now, I may close myself off, but not from fellow bears fans! We relish the time spent together, cheering for our team, even in criticizing the coach’s choices or the players’ performance. And, at the game itself, set in the freezing cold of Soldier Field in January, there will be a community of warmth basking in aggression and excitement, in passion and togetherness, in unity.
It’s interesting, but you know what’s even more interesting? This will be happening at Playoff games around the country this weekend. It will be happening at hockey games and NBA games, and college basketball games and high school games and junior high games and even 4th grade basketball games (I know because my son is on the 4th grade basketball team at his school). Truth? We love sports. We love all of it. We are addicted to it! Men and women, boys and girls…you will rarely see people more excited and animated, angry and passionate, than at any sporting event.
But have you ever looked at it a little deeper and considered what it is about sports that is so wonderful to us? Well, let me give you my opinion and you can tell me what you think.
We love the community of sports, the togetherness, the unity, the common purpose. It taps into something that runs very deeply within all of us. You see, we were hard wired to have relationships, to work together, to enjoy the commonness of mankind. We are just better when we are working together with other people – it feels safe and right and peaceful. We love being united for or against something.
Why is it that the college in my hometown has no problem getting people to give millions of dollars, even in an “economic slowdown”, to new projects, buildings, new developments, while at the same time struggling to keep up with the maintenance on the facilities that they have?
Why is it that it is easy to get people to give money to stop AIDS (project RED) or to stop human trafficking, if they will be joining together with others, but to have them give money to their County Health Department to administer meds to TB infected people immigrating from Vietnam is something that just does not happen?
Why is it that marriages so often are great when they are out attacking the world together, in their early days, but when the years pass, they are sucked into the everydayness of life and they lose the passion and wonder for life? For each other?
But, why have sports become so big? Can’t we have the commonality of purpose, the unity, the wonder in togetherness in some more productive area of our everyday existence? Well, look around. Do you see people who have lots of time, energy, passion, excitement to apply to unity and commonality of purpose in something in their everyday lives? I don’t. You see, the drive to productivity of our society naturally pulls us away from any depth, any commonality, anything other than getting done the next thing that needs to be done. We trudge on minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day – each looking the same as the previous thousand, all bent on, as the recent Monday Night football commercial states, Getting to Monday night. We miss out on the purpose and wonder of life and this longing we have to something more. We want to have this kind of unity. We want to have relationships – we are made for it, but our world does not seem to allow it, at least not without purposefully bucking the system, realizing the futility of our world and our system and intentionally going a different way from the rest of society.
So, what does this ask of us? First, recognize that you are made to love sports – ok, not sports – but relationships and unity of purpose – doing something productive together. You were made to love and be loved…and sports is just a taste – it gets so much better as the depth increases and the purpose develops and extends! You, see, God loves. He loves relationships and purpose and involvement and depth – He hates superficial and meaningless – He hates producing just to store stuff away and to get more and more and more! He loves people loving! This is why sports feel so right! We were made to feel this way! So, the next time you are cheering for your favorite team, with your buds around you, or the other parents around you – you might just smile, notice the wonder and awe with which you were made – enjoy the way God made you! Thank Him for the fact that He loves so much, He does not abandon us to the mediocrity of our society! He wants wonder and awe and passion and purpose for our everyday lives. Invite Him into the moment with you – savor depth for a minute. Second, begin to look for chances to buck the system. How can you begin to let go of the superficiality of our produce more, get more, society, that so pulls us away from the unity and meaning and wonder that we were made for? Begin asking the God who made you the way you are to show you what your life could look like if it were to embrace the passion of sports in everyday life. Now, be careful with passion – passion is not momentary excitement – it is not a license to abandon commitments and the loves currently in your lives – instead, it is an invitation to see all of the commitments and loves with different eyes – to see them with God’s eyes – to open them up with all the wonder of your first Cub game!!!
This, by the way, is what More than more is all about. We are all trying to live our lives this way. We are trying to figure out what God’s way can look like, for real, in the world we live in, but the way we were made – not strumming harps and flying around like angels - but fist pumping, chant cheering, dancing and bash brother embracing, passion! We hope you will join us – we will be getting together to hang out again on January 27th, 6:45-8:00PM, at McAllister Recreation Center, just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette. Go Bears!
Well, you must know that I am a Chicago Bears fan – it comes from weeks and months of brainwashing from “The Super Bowl Shuffle” when I was a kid I think. Now please don’t hold this against me, especially this weekend if you happen to be a Seahawks fan. So, on Sunday when the game is on, I will batten down the hatches, turn off all relational attachments but those corporately engaged in frolicking in the joys of football and zone out in happy land (or sad/angry land if the bears get whipped), and maybe become so unruly that I bear only a slim resemblance to my usual self. Now, I may close myself off, but not from fellow bears fans! We relish the time spent together, cheering for our team, even in criticizing the coach’s choices or the players’ performance. And, at the game itself, set in the freezing cold of Soldier Field in January, there will be a community of warmth basking in aggression and excitement, in passion and togetherness, in unity.
It’s interesting, but you know what’s even more interesting? This will be happening at Playoff games around the country this weekend. It will be happening at hockey games and NBA games, and college basketball games and high school games and junior high games and even 4th grade basketball games (I know because my son is on the 4th grade basketball team at his school). Truth? We love sports. We love all of it. We are addicted to it! Men and women, boys and girls…you will rarely see people more excited and animated, angry and passionate, than at any sporting event.
But have you ever looked at it a little deeper and considered what it is about sports that is so wonderful to us? Well, let me give you my opinion and you can tell me what you think.
We love the community of sports, the togetherness, the unity, the common purpose. It taps into something that runs very deeply within all of us. You see, we were hard wired to have relationships, to work together, to enjoy the commonness of mankind. We are just better when we are working together with other people – it feels safe and right and peaceful. We love being united for or against something.
Why is it that the college in my hometown has no problem getting people to give millions of dollars, even in an “economic slowdown”, to new projects, buildings, new developments, while at the same time struggling to keep up with the maintenance on the facilities that they have?
Why is it that it is easy to get people to give money to stop AIDS (project RED) or to stop human trafficking, if they will be joining together with others, but to have them give money to their County Health Department to administer meds to TB infected people immigrating from Vietnam is something that just does not happen?
Why is it that marriages so often are great when they are out attacking the world together, in their early days, but when the years pass, they are sucked into the everydayness of life and they lose the passion and wonder for life? For each other?
But, why have sports become so big? Can’t we have the commonality of purpose, the unity, the wonder in togetherness in some more productive area of our everyday existence? Well, look around. Do you see people who have lots of time, energy, passion, excitement to apply to unity and commonality of purpose in something in their everyday lives? I don’t. You see, the drive to productivity of our society naturally pulls us away from any depth, any commonality, anything other than getting done the next thing that needs to be done. We trudge on minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day – each looking the same as the previous thousand, all bent on, as the recent Monday Night football commercial states, Getting to Monday night. We miss out on the purpose and wonder of life and this longing we have to something more. We want to have this kind of unity. We want to have relationships – we are made for it, but our world does not seem to allow it, at least not without purposefully bucking the system, realizing the futility of our world and our system and intentionally going a different way from the rest of society.
So, what does this ask of us? First, recognize that you are made to love sports – ok, not sports – but relationships and unity of purpose – doing something productive together. You were made to love and be loved…and sports is just a taste – it gets so much better as the depth increases and the purpose develops and extends! You, see, God loves. He loves relationships and purpose and involvement and depth – He hates superficial and meaningless – He hates producing just to store stuff away and to get more and more and more! He loves people loving! This is why sports feel so right! We were made to feel this way! So, the next time you are cheering for your favorite team, with your buds around you, or the other parents around you – you might just smile, notice the wonder and awe with which you were made – enjoy the way God made you! Thank Him for the fact that He loves so much, He does not abandon us to the mediocrity of our society! He wants wonder and awe and passion and purpose for our everyday lives. Invite Him into the moment with you – savor depth for a minute. Second, begin to look for chances to buck the system. How can you begin to let go of the superficiality of our produce more, get more, society, that so pulls us away from the unity and meaning and wonder that we were made for? Begin asking the God who made you the way you are to show you what your life could look like if it were to embrace the passion of sports in everyday life. Now, be careful with passion – passion is not momentary excitement – it is not a license to abandon commitments and the loves currently in your lives – instead, it is an invitation to see all of the commitments and loves with different eyes – to see them with God’s eyes – to open them up with all the wonder of your first Cub game!!!
This, by the way, is what More than more is all about. We are all trying to live our lives this way. We are trying to figure out what God’s way can look like, for real, in the world we live in, but the way we were made – not strumming harps and flying around like angels - but fist pumping, chant cheering, dancing and bash brother embracing, passion! We hope you will join us – we will be getting together to hang out again on January 27th, 6:45-8:00PM, at McAllister Recreation Center, just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette. Go Bears!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
After Christmas - a lull?
Hi everyone. Do you ever wish that you could just hang out with some people who cared about you not because of what you could produce for them, what you could give to them, what you look like, what money you have, or anything other than that you exist and are wonderful simply because you were made? Do you ever wish that you could hang out with some people who actually tell you the truth – like friends are supposed to do?
The truth is that the lull we sometimes feel after Christmas is because we have realized that we cannot buy enough gifts to make people love us – we cannot purchase our way to love. We will never have enough of us to make everyone happy. No amount of earning or spending will make give us meaning! A society of superficial relationships seems to be starving us for real. We are looking for something with substance, something true and real and purposeful. It turns out that people can be loving, caring for others, noticing the amazing things in life and allowing those to really dominate their lives – this is the only way to live - and this is what we are shooting for at More than more.
We accept all who join us, with open arms, and we would love to have you join us – this Thursday night, 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister Recreation Center – just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette. Hope to see you there.
The truth is that the lull we sometimes feel after Christmas is because we have realized that we cannot buy enough gifts to make people love us – we cannot purchase our way to love. We will never have enough of us to make everyone happy. No amount of earning or spending will make give us meaning! A society of superficial relationships seems to be starving us for real. We are looking for something with substance, something true and real and purposeful. It turns out that people can be loving, caring for others, noticing the amazing things in life and allowing those to really dominate their lives – this is the only way to live - and this is what we are shooting for at More than more.
We accept all who join us, with open arms, and we would love to have you join us – this Thursday night, 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister Recreation Center – just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette. Hope to see you there.
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