Feel Good Friday

It seems like there is a lot of stress in the world today and we all know that stress causes a ton of physical problems for us. People have a lot of different ways of coping with stress -- some good and effective, some not so good. There's deep breathing, physical exercise, overeating, binge watching tv, withdrawing from society, pausing to pray, and a plethora of other things. 

As election season in the US draws to a close, what are your go-to ways of dealing with stress?
Are you able to find a place of peace in the chaos of day-to-day life?
How do you find good feelings in stressful times?

I'd offer these two coping methods. They are both simple, but most people do not do them well. Like most things, doing them well requires practice. 
The first is breathing -- not just breathing for oxygen, but focused, purposeful breathing that calms and focuses our thoughts and our whole being. Though I am not an expert by any means, I am able to slow my heart rate, lower my blood pressure, and calm my physical body and emotional being with practiced breathing.
The second thing is rest. I really believe that most westerners suck at resting. I think we have been conditioned to believe that one has to be constantly moving and progressing to be successful and we have been taught that pausing to rest is somehow a bad thing. Every time saving tool or process has been used to be able to do more rather than to be able to rest more. Resting well takes practice. Breathing well helps.

How do you deal with stress?
No judgment please. I realize that not all methods are good methods. If eating a bag of chips or smoking a cigar is your thing, feel free to share that. 
Maybe hugging is your thing and now you feel that your go-to stress reliever has been pandemic restricted. Sacrebleu!
Maybe posting pointless rants helps you.
Maybe reading pointless rants helps you.

Well...?
Leave a comment and share your thing.

John

Boldly Leaping Into the 20th Century

Tomorrow morning we will take the leap into the 20th century as we will finally have a rural internet service installed.  We've been paying a little extra to be able to hot spot our phones to use our laptops and tablets, but it will be nice to actually have internet to be able to access the full range of options for TV programing, video streaming, etc.

Rural internet options are limited and expensive, especially if you have high internet needs or use real time online gaming. Fortunately, we have neither of those and will be satisfied with a lower cost satellite server. Even so, internet for a couple of low tech retired folks shouldn't cost this much. Families with kids in school or that run small businesses from home (or small rural businesses) should have affordable access to the information (or often misinformation) super highway. For us, it's a part of the trade-off for fewer neighbors, quiet nights, and starry skies. For others it is forced isolation due to low income or poverty.

I am looking forward to being able to better use my outdoor TV, as well as being able to stream videos and shows to our indoor sets. I probably shouldn't be as excited as I am to be rejoining the connected world, but there's a little low tech kid in me that thinks it's cool.
It's funny when you realize that I'm typing on a Bluetooth keyboard that's connected to an old, broken 2 in 1 Windows laptop/tablet (keyboard doesn't work) that's mounted in a cheap old folder (using Velcro) from an even older and cheaper android tablet knock-off. I'm pretty much the epitome of an old guy trying to be cool in the techie world but falling way short!

sigh

At least I'm okay with it. I am actually happy that I don't feel the need to always be connected. I could manage well without my Words with Friends 2 habit on my smarter than I am android phone. I doubt that I'd experience withdrawal symptoms if Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter crashed simultaneously. Nor do I think that the world would miss one more political post or cigar pic from yours truly.

Perhaps all of our connectedness is just a poor substitution for building actual relationships with one another.
Hmmm...maybe there are things from the past that are worth holding on to after all.

John

Monday Motivation -- VOTE

It is just eight days until election day!
Already, nearly sixty million voters have cast their ballots with democrats outnumbering republicans nearly 2 to 1 in early voting. Chris and I voted last week.

If you live in Southwest MO and need a ride to the polls on Tuesday, let me know. I am available to help.
If you know of someone that needs a way to vote, help them out if you can.
VOTE!

I'm pretty certain that Missouri will cast its collective electoral votes for Trump. It is red enough that we haven't endured political rallies or ads in great number from either party.
The days that follow November 3rd will be interesting. As much bluster as there has been from the fringe right, I really don't anticipate an armed uprising if Trump loses. I do acknowledge the possibility of protests and pockets of violence from demonstrators on either side should their candidate lose, but am hopeful that the vast majority of Americans will be accepting of the vote. 

Either way, Wednesday morning will come, people will go to work, school, etc., and life will go on.

My Monday Motivational encouragement for this week is just a simple reminder to guard your peace in this coming week.

 

Choose your battles wisely.

John

Guilty Pleasures

What are your guilty pleasures -- those things that are nothing more than unnecessary indulgences?
They can be food, drink, apparel, activities, etc.

Three of mine are cigars, bourbon, and UFC fights.

Yours?

John 

Morning After Reflections

It's early on Friday morning and I've been reflecting on last night's message. Admittedly, I'm probably my own worst critic. I know that I was never a very typical Baptist preacher, but at The Venues I feel very much like a Baptist preacher.
I am always impressed by the teaching of Pastors Phillip and Ben. I know the time that they put into their messages -- both in biblical study and in searching for contemporary quotes, memes, writings, and applications.

I just tell stories.

And I would probably rather tell you a story or just have a one on one conversation than a one-sided monolog to a group. There is no timely feedback when preaching - no questions, no clarifications, and often times there isn't even the ability to see facial expressions or postures due to lighting. I worry about clearly communicating my thoughts and feelings. Maybe I should use more notes to help me stay on course. 

I greatly appreciate the after message feedback from my Venues people -- more so than I have from church people in the past. There seems to be a more genuine attitude at barchurch where people feel like they can be themselves and free from judgment.
In the end, I think I'll accept that and rest ... until called on again.

Be well.
Tell your story.
Demonstrate your faith.
Share God's love.

John 

Twofer Tuesday

Just a quick little note for this afternoon.
I had my first magic show since about this time last year. The program was booked last fall/winter for a senior adult group at a local Church of the Nazarene. Due to the pandemic, this was the first time the group met since last March. 

Instead of their normal potluck style luncheon, they had catered box lunches with ham, turkey, or roast beef sandwiches, fruit, chips, and bottled water. Tables were well spaced and only sat four people to round tables that would normally seat twice that. Everyone wore masks except while seated at their tables.

Senior adults are a great magic audience. They are as easily entertained as kids and generally better behaved! I had a good time -- and I think they did, too!

Now to prepare for Thursday night's barchurch message!

John 

Daily Devotions

I'm curious.
How many of you have a daily (or at least regular) type of devotional reading that you use?
It doesn't have to be a religious reading. It can also be inspirational, motivational, or educational.
I have an intellectual devotional that covers seven different fields of knowledge in rotating fashion for 365 days. (I'd be a lot smarter if I actually read it daily.)

I've never been disciplined enough to stay with a daily devotion for very long. Or maybe I've never had a daily program that was interesting or inspiring enough to keep my attention.
What do you (or would you) look for in a daily devotion?
Something for meditation and contemplation?
Something for inspiration?
Something enlightening and informative?
Something else?

Seriously, leave a comment.
I'm interested in what keeps people coming back day after day.

John

The Ambassador

I've been thinking about that Disney Princess Theology that I wrote about last week and how I see myself in the stores of the bible. But more than that, I've been trying to use that to shift my perspective in the real life stories as well.

During our current President's term, much has been made of the evangelicals endorsement, adoration, even worship of Donald Trump. He's been called God's chosen one (by himself and others). Exvangelcals (like myself) have railed against such comparisons and against those making them. Many outspoken critics have opined that such hypocrisies are the reason than many are leaving the church and are in search of another god or at least in search of a place that sees God more along the lines that they perceive the God of the bible to be.

But what happens when I stop looking at others in judgment and turn a critical eye towards myself?
What do people think when they judge God by my thoughts, words, and deeds?
If you were God, would you want me representing you?

It's a little funny how each time I sort of accept that maybe I'm not really cut out for (or called to) that preaching thing, I get another call or opportunity to do it just one more time. In an honest assessment of myself, I'm not really much of a preacher/teacher. I have no formal education, nor do I have any training for such an undertaking. I'm basically just a storyteller with a platform. 
But let's be honest -- people love stories!
And people learn from stories. 
Maybe that's why Jesus taught by telling stories as much as he taught by personal example.

I really need to be more concerned with how people perceive God when they look at God through the lens of John. I've heard (both directly and indirectly) some of their perceptions of me and those don't bother me too much -- even the ones that are very wrong. 
However, I would be greatly troubled if they saw God as an angry, judgmental, waiting to condemn them for every minor violation of The Law kind of being rather than as the loving, merciful, and understanding being that I know.

If we are Ambassadors to the Kingdom, how well are we representing the God we worship?
Maybe it's time for a little personal assessment -- without the Disney Princess Theology.

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Monday Morning and Princess Theology

 I'm just easing into Monday with a cup of Ethiopian coffee, a little B. Knox on Spotify, and some thoughts from this mornings meditation with our Pastor of Stoke.

Earlier this week I shared this pic on Facebook

This morning's meditation was from Luke's gospel and was a familiar story -- The Good Samaritan.
As I thought about this story, conscious of our tendency to use this Princess Theology, I wondered why we (yeah, me too) never see ourselves as the priest or Levite even though that's who we are every time we drive past a person in need on the highway or as we walk down a sidewalk in our city or town. 

Sure we can say that we were in a hurry, that it seemed unsafe, that we didn't see them -- or we can just come to terms with the simple truth that we aren't that great at loving our neighbor and maybe it's something that we should work on.

Perhaps the best place to begin is to just open our eyes and begin to see people that are in distress. The truth is that some of our close friends and family are hurting and we haven't been paying attention. If we don't see the pain of the people we are close to, chances are good that we won't see the hurt in the strangers we encounter. 
How about for this week's Monday Motivation we just work on paying attention to the moment; being aware of the people and the energy around us. It's a place to begin -- seeing people, listening to them, feeling what they feel, and then (and this is the difficult part) deciding if we will be a good neighbor.

Have a grand week,
John <><

More Thoughts on Writing

 Way back in the day, when I wrote my very first post at Out of My Hat, I mentioned writing a book on Joy Management. I'm probably in a much better place to write about joy management now than I was fourteen years ago. And that's a good thing since I've never done anything with that simple idea -- not a single sentence on joy management.

Actually, I was thinking along the lines of sharing my philosophical journey from being raised in a Roman Catholic home, to becoming a Southern Baptist evangelist, to becoming a more contemplative and less judgmental heretic and someone that is just working on being more like Jesus. 

Being more like Jesus is tough. First you have decide which Jesus you want to be like. I really don't want to be like the evangelical idea of Jesus. I get the Savior of the world thing, but I can't really do that. Being Savior seems to be the only thing they are concerned with and that following Jesus and his commands has seemingly fallen by the wayside. It appears that many Christian denominations are still focusing on the Jewish perception of a judgmental God (Old Testament) rather than the loving and merciful God that Jesus came to show us (New Testament).

I was wondering -- how would I go about such a book and do I need a title or at least a theme to follow. 
Originally I thought something like -- When I found myself, I found God. In my head that sounded better than it looks in print.
I don't think of myself as God, but I do recognize that God is in me and finding God in me has been at the heart of my spiritual and philosophical journey. Working through all of the filters and masks to find ourselves is difficult enough, much less trying to find God in all of that. 

I came up with this:  After you throw out all of the filters, masks, and fake personalities that we use to look like someone we are not, we can finally identify our true self.  This has taken some thought and a lot of time, but I'm getting close -- I think. Once you've discovered who you really are (your true self), if you can dismiss that person, what's left is God living in you and through you.

I really don't know if that even makes any sense. I have to think it about some more.

But...
When I got to barchurch last week, Pastor Ben was teaching in the Book of Job and he talked about the idea of emptying ourselves before God. I don't know if that was an affirmation of what I've been thinking or if God is telling me that I still need to figure it out.

What I have discovered over the years of searching is that the contemplation, the figuring it out isn't a part of the journey; it is the journey.

Think about it.
John

Teaching Old Dogs

I watched the Vice Presidential debate last night -- okay, I didn't manage to endure the whole thing. We were out when it started but recorded it with the new fangled DVR technology. I intentionally mock the technology that has been out for a decade or more because we have never had it until a month or so ago and this was the first time we used it. When we got home, we watched the remaining part of the debate live and then went back to the beginning.

I admit that I am a bit of a technological dinosaur. While I greatly appreciate the technology I use and realize that there would be benefits to using other technological advances that I don't use, I am slowly adapting to the world of internet technology and advances. I'm not sure that the same can be said of many of the old politicians that are running our country or aspire to run it.

Does VP Pence not know that there are audio and video files to prove that he lied or made misleading statements repeatedly last night. Is the President unaware that everything he says is recorded. Do they really believe that they can lie and we won't know it.

They campaign like a couple of old white guys that can browbeat constituents into voting for them by outshouting their opponents -- okay, Pence is more of a soft talking, condescending liar, but you get the point. That campaign style may cater to their base, but don't they need to expand their influence if they hope to win this election? I imagine that there are many of their more technology savvy supporters that must be embarrassed by the disregard for truth.

When outright lies are made from any political candidate, I am surprised that the opponent doesn't just respond by telling listeners to fact check it for themselves. I dare say that these old dogs are going to be the cause of their own demise -- and this is one old dog that will welcome the change.   

John

New Bluetooth Keyboard

 It has been quite sometime since the keyboard attachment to my 2 in 1 laptop/tablet quit functioning. I'm pretty sure I've been using the onscreen virtual keyboard for over a year. While I haven't felt so inconvenienced as to buy a new one, it probably has kept me from writing as often this past year. The virtual tablet keyboard isn't as bad as texting from my phone, but neither is it as fast nor as comfortable as an actual keyboard.

A new Bluetooth keyboard should be arriving today. I'm looking forward to using it and writing more often. And it's just in time for NaNoWriMo!

November is National Novel Writing Month and is an encouragement to writers to write daily and finish a novel. While I don't plan on writing a novel next month (or any month for that matter), I may be more likely to work on the NaBloPoMo (blog posting) thing and actually post daily. If there is a topic you'd like to hear my thoughts on, feel free to offer the suggestion.

I admit that I have a couple of non-fiction book beginnings floating around in "the cloud," but I'm not sure I have the discipline nor desire to bring them to a successful conclusion. I'm really no longer the same guy that started those books.

For better or for worse, you may be hearing from me more often in the coming days. Take appropriate action!

John