Summer!

Well, almost.
A little more than an hour past sunset in the Midwest the earth and sun will reach the summer solstice point for the northern hemisphere. That makes this the longest day (daylight) of the year. 

Summer is my season.
I'm not particularly outdoorsy, and I don't do anything special to celebrate or enjoy summer. Mostly I just sit on my butt and enjoy the warm, sunny days. It's weird that I enjoy being outdoors without really doing anything outdoorsy.

I won't lie -- sometimes mowing and caring for our yard and flower beds can be a pain in the arse, but I do love my quiet morning coffee or evening cigar while looking out at this view.

I'll be out watering and weed-eating in a little bit. I am going to try to get work finished in the mornings before it gets too hot. I'm not usually successful because I do enjoy my morning coffee and quiet time a bit too much. 
Enjoy the Summer Solstice.
Enjoy the summer season.

Here's an old favorite of mine to usher in summer.

John

After Death

Last night we went to see Angel Studio's newly released film, After Death.
You can watch a trailer here.

Typically, I view near death (or after death) experiences with some skepticism. That probably sounds weird coming from a former preacher/evangelist. Maybe it's that the few books I've read on the subject seem to have an ulterior motive from capitalizing to make money to proselytizing. If that's you, too -- you will still find the movie interesting, though probably not life changing.
I went because Chris wanted to see it.

To be fair, I am an after-life believer.
I don't know what it will be like, but I do not believe that the end of life is just the big dirt nap. I doubt that our thoughts of heaven and hell are accurate and even tales from these near-death experiences are just glimpses into what lies behind the curtain. Nevertheless, I believe that we are more souls with a body than we are bodies with a soul.

I don't think that these stories are fake.
I believe they are real experiences and I believe that there are similar experiences that multitudes of people have had. Unfortunately, I don't think that we are very good at learning from the experiences of others. And even as we suck at learning from other people's experiences, we fully expect them to learn from ours.

I can't really give this an enthusiastic -- You've got to see this! -- kind of recommendation, but I would say that it is worth seeing. Watch it and consider what it offers. I think the producers are wanting to start conversations more than making converts. 
And that's always a good place to start.

John

Philosopher's Stone

I was going to write about this morning's prompt from my online gratitude journal:

What lesson have you learned the hard way? A long, windy path almost always teaches us more than a short, straight one. Embrace the struggle.

As I thought about what I was going to write for the blog, I was thinking about how I would label the post and didn't think that any of my current labels fit it well. I thought that maybe it was time for a new label -- or maybe even time for a new, separate blog all together -- one that expresses different philosophies of life.
Nah, I don't need that. I usually just write that crap here but haven't really labeled it as such.

Like most people, I borrow philosophy from others and adapt it to my own personal experience. I also have my own philosophies that I have arrived at through experience, contemplation, and observation.
Different faith communities and faith leaders have given us many good philosophies of life. Christians and Buddhists have many books and practices that have gone beyond their own followers' lives and influence the general public in many ways. I imagine that the same is true for Islam, but I am less familiar with those teachings. There are also a great many atheist philosophers that give us deep insight into the workings of humanity in relation to each other and to the world around us.
While philosophy isn't truly a science in that it relies more on observation and logical analysis rather than on empirical evidence, I still find it a fascinating study. 

The philosopher's stone is a reference to the ancient alchemy of searching for a tincture or powder to change base metals into gold or silver. It is (or was once) believed also to give long life or immortality and its roots are both ancient and diverse. I don't know that the alchemy of the past and the philosophies of today hold much in common, but I think I'm going to use Philosopher's Stone as the new label for my philosophic ramblings.
I'll get around to sharing my answer to today's prompt on another post. For today I'll leave you with a link to an old favorite tune by VanMorrison -- The Philosopher's Stone

John

Mind Over Matter

Today's morning meditation is a little personal and self healing.
I woke up a few hours ago feeling chilled and achy, but I am aware that this is no doubt a reaction to the three vaccines I got yesterday -- COVID booster, shingles, and tetanus. I went back to bed, covered up, and slept for a couple of more hours.

Now I'm up and spending my morning time inside. I have a sweat suit on, am covered up with a throw, and have a space heater on in a small room. I'm actually feeling quite cozy right now. 

Because I'm old, I was thinking of an image from the old television show, Kung Fu. Kwai Chang Caine teaches another man how to survive their hot box punishment by using mind of matter techniques/

https://youtu.be/cW5bShSt9tg

I do believe that the mind holds great power over the physical world. 
My meditation text for today:

"Your body can stand almost anything.
It's your mind you have to convince." --Unknown

John

Beach Body

Yeah, I don't have one.
But I am taking the body I have to the beach.
Hopefully, I'll be taking a little less of a body to the beach.
Two months. That's how long I have to get beach ready.

I'm really not that vain.
I would go to the beach today with the body I have and I would enjoy myself. But since I just booked us on flights to Puerto Vallarta, I think I'll take advantage of the incentive to lose a little weight and get conditioned for walking the hills to and from the beach.
House/cat sitting for the kids 400 meters from the ocean is tough work, but as parents, we feel it's important to show our support.

In other news...

Okay, I don't really have any other news.
I'm enjoying/enduring the hot, humid Midwest summer, the flowers are blooming, I might go to bike night again this week (I might not), and all of the other very typical, ordinary stuff that I do (and love doing) every day.
It's a pretty simple life (with or without the beach body).

I'm thinking about a new little project--a flowerpot smoker.
Here's one (of many) video on building one.
I haven't priced anything yet, but figure I should be able to get everything I need for less than a C-note.
I'll get back to you if I actually do this.
Other than that, I'll be doing the old man, retired guy thing while trying to do the beach body prep at the same time.

Enjoy the day. We're looking at another 100F (38c) kind of day in the Ozarks.

John

UNION - Yes!

Something for your Labor Day

John
Commercial Food Workers
International Sheet Metal Workers
National Air Traffic Controllers Association

Perseids!

It's just about that time! Thursday night/Friday morning is the peak time for watching this year's Perseids meteor shower! I'm hoping the skies above SWMO are clear so that I can enjoy a good view.
The best time for viewing is in the early morning hours, between 2 and 4 AM.

The current night sky is pretty spectacular without the seasonal meteor shower. If you look south/southwest around midnight you can see the Scorpion. Follow the constellation to its tail and you are looking towards the center of our galaxy. From the tail of the Scorpion, northeastward to not quite directly overhead, you should be able to follow the Milky Way if you have reasonably dark skies. 
Facing south and looking up, but not quite overhead, you'll see two bright objects just east of the Milky Way. The brighter one (and furthest east) is Jupiter. The dimmer one that is nearly in the Milky Way ribbon is Saturn. With a decent pair of binoculars (and a steady hand) you can see four of the moons of Jupiter. They will appear as tiny pinpricks of light and will be in a line extending from Jupiter's equator. It will take a small telescope or spotting scope to see the rings of Saturn.

I am constantly amazed by the order of the universe and unable to comprehend how such order could come to be by accident. The intricate design of the universe seems to shout, "Creator!"
Enjoy!

John

Wednesday Wisdom

I saw this quote on Facebook on Monday.
I heard it in a Ted Talk on Tuesday.
I'm sharing it here on Wednesday.

On Monday I thought, "That's good. I'm saving it for a Wednesday Wisdom post."
On Tuesday I thought maybe the Universe (aka God) is trying to tell me something.
Today I am sharing it with you.

John

PS Btw, the Ted Talk is worth listening to. Eighty percent of us are lying to ourselves about whether or not we lie to ourselves. Hmmm...check it out here.

The Circle of Life

I've mentioned that weird thoughts have a way of rolling around in my head. Here's the most recent:

I've been more concerned with the planet and how we are abusing it. Consequently, I've been reading about things that upset the natural balance of the ecosystems and how the earth resolves the imbalances. Occasionally humans will try to intervene and correct some of the problems we have caused, but our solutions often address the problems from our perspective, not from a save the earth perspective.

Anyway -- from somewhere came this thought about a scene in the Lion King. Mufasa is explaining to young Simba about the circle of life. He says that even though they (lions) eat the antelope, when they (again, lions) die their bodies turn to grass and the antelope eat the grass--or something like that.
But that doesn't happen in the human circle -- at least, not anymore.

Our bodies are not left to decompose and return minerals and nutrients to the soil. We pump them full of chemicals, seal them in a casket, seal the casket in a concrete burial vault, and finally buried in the earth where they will eventually decompose but still remain isolated from adding our basic elements back into the earth's ecosystem.

Weird, huh?

Burial vaults have only been used for a hundred years or so, and primarily serve to keep cemetery grounds level by not allowing the ground to collapse as the casket and body decay. I imagine that cremation has a negative impact on the atmosphere from the burning part, but at least the elements can be reintroduced into the environment in some fashion -- spreading or burying the ashes in some manner. There are now several companies that offer to make bio-pods from your ashes and create an urn with a tree or potted plant that can be replanted for a memorial. Or you can even have your ashes compressed into a diamond or jewel that can be worn or handed down for generations.

Personally, I kind of like the tree idea.
I mean, since dumping my corpse into a ditch or burying it in the backyard isn't really an option.
Anyway -- just another weird thought.

And since you're already singing the song in your head, here it is with the video intro to the animated movie version.

https://youtu.be/Zn_qirpdBag?t=35

John

Social Distancing

Social distancing is right up my alley. Over the past few years, I've spent a great deal of time in this new practice. I've also managed to get myself entangled in a few regular group gatherings. (Ugh! Even typing out those words makes a part of me cringe.) Unfortunately, volunteer service rarely takes place in a social distance friendly environment.

This morning I'll be watching the online broadcast of The Venues weekly worship as the church is complying with county's health request to cancel all activities where 250 people or more will be gathered in one place. That's probably the responsible thing to do. I don't know if the smaller gathering of our midweek bar church will be cancelled or not.

It would probably make people uncomfortable if I was out and about today, anyway. My normal spring allergies have kicked in and I've been doing a fair amount of coughing from post nasal drip, as well as frequent sniffling and nose blowing. I'm pretty certain that it's nothing more than that. I don't meet the criteria for Corona virus testing so maybe I'll just stay away from people for a short while.

I imagine that I'll encounter a few more people on the walking trail today. During the week I can walk several miles with only seeing one or two other walkers. It's one of the perks of retirement.

Truthfully, I will miss seeing many of my church friends today.
But I am willing to isolate myself for the good of the general public!

Keep your distance,
John

This is Me

I really want you to listen to something. It will take 35 minutes of your time, but everybody needs to hear this message. This link will allow you to choose to watch or listen. Pick the one that suits you. If you watch and want to skip the music, jump to the 30 minute mark. If you are reading this well past today's date, the message is from 10-13-19.

I believe that Pastor Phillip's approach to presenting a difficult topic was excellent. We (Christians) have been wrong before.
It's not that God was wrong.
We were wrong.
God hasn't changed, but perhaps our understanding of God and God's ways needs to change.

For a good number of years I have been preaching in Southern Baptist Churches as an itinerant evangelist. I have preached revivals, pastored camps, filled pulpits, taught classes, and performed magic for outreach events. Although the calls to preach have kept coming over the past two years and I have preached revivals and on Sundays, the truth is they are coming less often.
When I left my Southern Baptist church over philosophical differences two years ago, I knew that this day would come -- the day when I would no longer be asked to preach in the churches where I have been preaching.

Because my simple message of God loves you and Jesus died for you hasn't really changed*, I welcomed the opportunities to preach. However, I know that simple, insignificant (to me) things about me would be enough to disqualify me preaching in most evangelical churches -- like drinking alcohol.
Yeah, I'm fond of a bourbon, rum, or tequila with a good cigar. I enjoy a good craft beer with my kids or on a hot summer afternoon. I've kept pics of my drinking off of social media because of the few pastors and church people that still follow me.

But really, what's the point?
This is me.
I smoke cigars, enjoy a good bourbon, believe that God created, loves, and affirms the LGBTQ+ community, and I love God and strive (but often struggle) to love others as Jesus did. Although much of my core beliefs about God and God's great love for us (all of us) haven't changed much, the peripheral beliefs are enough to exclude me from preaching in the places that I've been preaching.

Last Saturday I served the LGBTQ+ community as a Faithful Ally during Springfield's Pride Fest.
Next month I will be officiating a same gender wedding for two friends that demonstrate love as well as anyone I know. That will pretty much seal my fate as far as preaching in most churches.

Honestly, it makes me a little sad.
But then again --
This is me.

Cheers!

God loves you.
Jesus lived for you!

John <><

*Changing my way of thinking

Friday morning

In a little while I'll be heading out to Breakfast Venues -- perhaps my favorite hour of the week!
Breakfast Venues is a weekly service of our church to provide breakfast for 100 to 150 of our homeless friends in north Springfield.
I am always encouraged by The Venues people that show up to serve each week. Most of them take an hour off from work or make arrangements to go in late so that they can serve the community. Hot scrambled eggs and a mix of sausage and potatoes are provided by a local restaurant. Some type of grain (muffins, pumpkin bread, coffee cake, honey buns, etc.), a fruit (usually bananas or oranges), and milk are provided by members of The Venues. Someone also provides the paper plates, napkins, cups, and plastic forks. And we are there to share God's love and provisions.
It is a grand way to start the day!

Also in the running for my favorite hour of the week is Thursday evening's Downtown Venues -- Bar Church. Our midweek gathering is held at Ernie Bigg's Piano Bar in downtown Springfield ... and it is growing. Last night was packed for our guest speaker Micki Pulleyking, PhD, MDiv, Professor of Religious Studies at MSU, and Pastor at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Springfield.
Last night's message was on the life of JC (the other JC -- Johnny Cash) and how his Christianity relates to our own journey of following Jesus. The pre-message music was provided by Doctor Micki's daughter, Quinlan Pulleyking. Quinlan also serves as worship leader at Emmaus Church, here is Springfield.

As a bonus, I reconnected with a former student of Dr. Micki's afterwards. She had interviewed me
for a class paper 10 years ago and now serves as Program Director, Mission Ministries at Church of the Resurrection in the Kansas City area.

Gotta go be a venue for God's love.
Have a grand day!

John <><

Submitting My Resignation

Today is my fifty-ninth birthday.
In reality, birthdays are no longer a big deal. After all, I've already had 58 of them (59 if you count the day I was born).

I have decided that I don't want to be a grumpy old man. I don't think I am ready to invite everybody over to walk barefoot in my yard, but I don't want to be the neighborhood curmudgeon that yells, "GET OFF MY LAWN!"

I think that I am becoming a little less grouchy than I once was. I seem more likely to make allowances for people's poor behavior than I used to. Realizing that nobody really cares about what I think about other people has given me the freedom not to judge others on how they look/act/think/talk/believe/etc./etc.
That doesn't mean that I'm very good at going out of my way to actually be nice to people. It's been a pretty big step just not to be mean or grumpy. I still need some work on the nice/kindness/loving part.

I am submitting my resignation as a Curmudgeon in Training.
Maybe I'll re-apply at a later date. Maybe not.
Life really is too short to be grumpy most of the time, so Don't Worry, Be Happy!



John <><

John, Chapter 19

John 19

In summary --

This is the story of the crucifixion.
Because the Jewish High Council doesn't have the authority to sentence Jesus to death under Roman rule, they bring him to the Governor for sentencing. Pilate doesn't see any reason to sentence him to death and the Jews have to work hard to convince him that Jesus deserves to die. Rome doesn't care that the Jews are charging him with blasphemy. They don't believe in the God of the Jews. So the Jews say that Jesus claims to be a King and that makes him a threat to Caesar.
Several times, Pilate tries to release Jesus, but he eventually relents and delivers Jesus to be crucified.

My favorite verse --

17 ...and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

In today's vernacular, we use bearing our cross to mean a burden or struggle we live with. In Jesus' day it meant you were about to be executed in the most brutal of ways. Because the people of the day were familiar with crucifixion, none of the gospels tell of its brutality. When you think of something that is extremely painful, you might describe it as excruciating. That word and its meaning come from the pain of crucifixion.

Something to think about --

If this was the end of the story, it would make for a pretty poor religion to follow. Oh sure, the teachings of Jesus are still good -- except for that eternal life thing. I'm not sure how that works if God is dead and buried. But this isn't the end of the story. In some ways, it's just the beginning...

John <><

Here's a little bonus for you.

I Resolve to Evolve

Yeah, sure there are things that I need to do -- old habits that need to be set aside and new routines that need to be established. It's weird that we can pick a date on a calendar that inspires us to get started on those things that we just as easily could have started any day last month or last year.

None the less, that day is today and is as good a day as any to resolve to do better in the coming year. Here are a few things that I hope to improve on:

     First are the normal better health resolutions -- more exercise, better diet, lose weight, yada, yada.
If you want to follow my progress on those, go to my other blog -- Healthy Living (by an unhealthy guy)

     Then there are the self improvement/be a better person sort of things.
In problem solving we are often told to look at the big picture. I think I need to spend more time paying attention to the little things --
the little things at home and in my marriage; taking better care of Chris and our household.
the little things in my extended family; paying attention to the achievements and the hurts of others.
the little things in our environment (doing my small part),
the little things in our community and the people that seem to get lost in the big picture.

I really don't know how any of this will look in 2019. I just get the sense that I need to be a better me. I need to listen more and talk less. I need to see more of what is going on around me. I need to do more for others.

It's not like I think the John of January 1, 2019 sucks or is a terrible person, but the truth is -- he isn't that great of a guy, either. So my simple resolution for 2019 is to grow. I resolve to evolve.

What's yours?

John <><

My Community

I'm starting to feel more a part of the community at The Venues Church. It feels like we've been attending and serving at The Venues for longer than a year, but I think last Christmas Eve was only the third or fourth time we went there.

Last Thursday was The Venues Christmas party.
Friday night we were out with two other couples from The Venues to listen to another Venues friend sing at a local place.
Sunday was church.
Today (Monday) I had breakfast with The Venues' student coordinator.
Tomorrow our small group meets for dinner, study, and visiting (fellowship, if you want to be churchy about it).
I don't know if we'll be going to the Blue Christmas service on Wednesday, but I will be back at The Downtown Venues on Thursday night and serving at the Breakfast Venues on Friday morning.

I am getting to know more people and we greet each other by name and with handshakes or hugs.
I find myself wanting to be around Venues people and am always inspired and motivated by their drive to serve others.

Sunday morning, this graphic was displayed during the worship service.

If you can't read it, it says that so far this year we have helped 48,611 people, worked 13,942 service hours, and worked 170 different service events!

One of the things that strikes me about these numbers is how specific they are. It didn't say we've helped nearly 50,000 people (to sound better) or generalize it to more than 48,000. But it counts each person and gives value to each life we impact and relationship we try to build.
Loving and serving individual people is what we do and what we encourage all followers of Jesus to do.
Each life -- every life -- is of value.

If you've ever felt like you don't fit in, like you have no community, or if you just feel like you've been set aside and forgotten, you would do well to spend some time listening to Pastor Phillip's message from yesterday. You can find it here.

YOU are of value!

John <><

Christmas songs that don't suck!

There are several radio stations that have banned a certain Christmas song and much written about such decisions and the controversial message of the song.
This post isn't about that.

The Venues Church is going through a sermon series entitled Christmas Songs That Don't Suck.
You might think that the series would focus on Christmas hymns and the message that they bring to this Christmas season, but you would be wrong.
Yesterday the Rev Dev brought a message from the Christmas classic Frosty, the Snowman.
Frosty doesn't seem like the person you would turn to for any life lessons, much less for something of a spiritual nature.

I invite you to take the time to join us for his message.
If you want to skip the opening worship music (pease don't), go to the 23 minute mark and it will bring you in at the song just before Rev Dev comes in with his message.
You can also follow the link to past messages in the series -- Santa Clause is Coming to Town and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Enjoy!
John <><

Hakuna Matata

I'm enjoying a new Ethiopian coffee today...
Hakuna Ma Latte

I think it means -- No worries, I have my coffee!

Have a great Sunday!
John <><

Nov 20: TED Talks

I ran across this TED Talk recently and it really got me thinking about how much our biases affect how we respond to opposing information and opinions. Whether it's politics, religion, science, or our favorite sports team, we can be so biased that we refuse to accept new information that is contradictory to our firmly held beliefs.
At times, we are all guilty of listening to reply rather than listening to understand. Something we could all probably work on. It's difficult to learn and grow when we're only interested in defending our position.

John <><

Nov 11: What do you know?

Not long ago I subscribed to TED Talks.
Most people have listened to one or two TED Talks on varying topics. I find most short posts to by fascinating and am often intrigued by the science behind the topics.

At some point, it occurred to me that I probably don't possess enough knowledge on any subject to be able to pull off a twelve to eighteen minute TED Talk. TED Talks are a way of sharing ideas and were birthed out of a conference where Technology, Entertainment, and Design converge to share ideas and to make the world a better place.

Yes, I can preach, teach, or entertain for that period of time, but I don't think that qualifies me to share on any given topic. In fact, aging has taught me that I don't know near as much stuff as I once believed I did. I'm learning that much of what I once "knew" as truth, was not, and what I believed to be false has some credibility.

I'm beginning to get comfortable with the idea that I'm a pretty ignorant guy.

What about you?
What do you know?
What information would you pass along in a fifteen minute speech that would be of benefit to a small segment of society?

Just for kicks -- here's one of my all-time favorite TED Talks.

John <><