Category: culture and current events

a letter to fathers

I remembered this post recently and thought now is a good time to revisit these thoughts. I wrote this post almost exactly a year ago, while working in Honduras. Maybe it’s Valentine’s Day that has me thinking about it again.

daughter & dad

___________________________________________________________________

John Mayer’s song, “Daughters,” scratches the surface of the longing a daughter feels to be loved by her dad, but (not surprisingly) it isn’t strong enough.

Fathers, be good to your daughters
daughters will love like you do

It was simple enough to capture the attention of a whole crowd of daughters who wished for what this nebulously suggests, but I wish this song spelled out specifics.

Fathers:

  1. Be transparent about your first and greatest Love.
    For many daughters, your faith is a secret. You might go to church or you might have a Bible, but your ideas and convictions are as hidden and elusive as treasure on a child’s crayon-scribbled treasure map. It’s okay to be somewhere in the growing stages of your faith – in fact, it’s refreshing for us daughters to know you haven’t “arrived” yet. When your daughter can see you admit you need God, her heart and tenderness toward you will grow, but more importantly you will have pointed her gaze to the Father who never fails.
  2. Love your wife.
    One of the greatest ways you can love your daughter is to love and serve your wife. When your daughter sees you honoring, protecting, partnering, laughing, enjoying, and living in a way that reflects God’s design for marriage, she will respect your role and have an excellent example of a husband (especially important in those years when you cannot relate to your daughter. When nothing makes sense, love your wife well and I promise your daughter will see it!).
  3. Choose to be around.
    Your daughter will feel special when you decide the best place for you is next to her.
  4. Get personal.
    Some of my favorite memories with my dad are simple ones that we shared while we did chores together on the farm or as we drove out to a football game or prepared our animals for county fair. Every discussion doesn’t have to be deep, but if you open up first then you’ll gain your daughter’s trust and she’ll likely reciprocate (even if it’s not right away).
  5. Encourage, praise, love the God-honoring things your daughter does and push her in those things to be excellent.
    I’ll never forget my dad’s insistence that I study that little spelling book in preparation for the elementary spelling bees. My dad still types on the computer with his pointer fingers and English wasn’t his strongest high school subject, but when he found out I could put letters together in the right order, he was going to make sure I did it excellently. Those little things (though I assure you I didn’t love them at the time) made his love for me so obvious.
  6. Be gentle.
    Your daughter will appreciate well-placed words and respected silences.
  7. Be good to your sons, too.
    Your daughters are smart. They will see the way you are leading and guiding your sons. Right now they are making mental notes in their heart about whether their dream man will act like the father and brothers in their lives. Many daughters hold on desperately to the hope that it can be different. If they have to rely on Hollywood, they will be hoping for something unhealthy and unrealistic. Your daughter has a front row seat for what a man should look like – so show her!

 

let LOVE fly like crazy
and let those people closest to you benefit

Posted on by Caroline 0

this & that

It’s like powdered sugar, this snow.
Deliciously winter.

My list is long of to-dos today, but here are some things worth the clicks. I haven’t posted this & that for a while, so I hope you still remember what to do with these links (click).

I found Jeremy Larson by way of his creative wife, who has a vintage store in Missouri and blogs on the web. I really appreciated his style and the stories behind the songs. He just re-vamped his website and you can stream his latest CD, They Reappear. He’s a cellist. His full-time job right now is writing string arrangements for bands and producing music (whoa). That right there is legit.

Are you a doubter? Join the crowd…  of everyone. What do we do when the people around us struggle with the faith, with believing and not seeing? This article over at the Gospel Coalition, “Dealing with the Doubting,” is really helpful in giving some practical tools.

Wow. Check out this video. Just click right now and watch it.

I’m a big fan of discernment, but sometimes the word gets thrown around and it seems less-than-useful. I appreciate Michael Horton’s article, “Making Necessary Distinctions: The Call to Discernment” because it puts contemporary controversies in perspective. He writes, “Sometimes we treat contemporary controversies as if we were the first to encounter them. Unaware of the discussions and debates that forged Christian consensus in the past, we often treat controversies as if we were the first to encounter them. Starting from scratch, we often end up with our own lopsided confusion of things that ought to be distinguished and separation of things that ought to be held together.” He goes on to tackle three controversies and how to think through them.

It’s been too long, but the Lord of the Rings movie will come out this year! Here is the trailer:

Lastly, I enrolled for a second time in the Perspectives class. It’s only been one week and I’m crazy with blessings from it. The Lord so desires that we know his heart for the nations! You should check it out to see if there is a class starting in your area!

Okay, friends. I hope you are enjoying the snow today if you’re anywhere near it. Do me a favor and look kindly on it – respect the power and beauty in those little flakes.

and as always,
let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 0

this & that

While you are picking up the toys strewn about and nibbling at the last of the holiday baking, check out these links!
  • Jonathan Edwards’s resolutions organized in seven categories– a good build up to all those things you will try to squeeze into this next year. A little preparation never hurt anyone. Maybe instead of making your own list of “shoulda, coulda, woulda”s, try checking out what Jonathan Edwards resolved and if it makes sense to you.
    Religious Affections

  • This collection is one of several “Top” lists of 2011 I really enjoyed. It’s from Qideas, highlighting articles from the past year. I also enjoyed Tim Challies Top 10 books and also his Top 10 List of Top 10s.
  • Speaking of Top 10, Tim Keller is regularly on mine as a pastor and author. Looks like I’ll need to find a copy of “The Meaning of Marriage” and dig in, based on the rave reviews. It’s not just the subject that interests me, it’s Keller’s approach to questions and controversy and Bible application.
  • This is a great clip of a child being heroic AND precocious. Check it out.
  • After reading Chesterton’s “Orthodoxy,” I considered him a kindred spirit and friend. His love of creativity was a direct reflection of his love for God. It might be one of few theological pieces that I laughed my way through. He did have a strong view against Calvinism, but that never bothered me. This article might explain why.
  • This might be my favorite article, as of recent. Russell Moore writes about a conversation he had with theologian Carl F.H. Henry before he died. Moore was lamenting the current state of Christianity and the direction it was surely headed, when Henry reminded him that our eyes for despair are not God’s eyes. What about Saul of Tarsus? C.S. Lewis? Charles Colson? The article ends with this:
    Jesus will be King, and his church will flourish. And he’ll do it in the way he chooses, by exalting the humble and humbling the exalted, and by transforming cowards and thieves and murderers into the cornerstones of his New City.
    So relax.
    And, be kind to that atheist in front of you on the highway, the one who just shot you an obscene gesture. He might be the one who evangelizes your grandchildren.
  • I read this NY Times article last week sometime and I’m still thinking about it. “The Joy of Quiet” explains a surprising trend in society these days. Or, maybe it’s not so surprising if you understand that what is luxury must also be rare. These days, quiet is rare, so people are starting to consider it a luxury. Unplug my hotel room? Sure, I’ll pay extra for that. People do! Anyway, it’s an interesting article.
  • If you aren’t really in to articles, but you love photographs, check out 24 hours in pictures from around the world. Fascinating! Here’s a sample (kids in India wait in the taxi for their family to return:

There is more, but I think Wednesday can only handle so much (I read the stats and you’re not going to click on all these, anyway!).

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 0

the blessing and the mess of it

How is it that the political push for presidency has made a mad rush at the Advent stage?

I have friends – good friends of mine – who have reasons and schpeels and thoughtful arguments about who I should support in the next election. After being out of US politics for three years (not that there wasn’t plenty going on in Honduran politics to keep me occupied), walking around inside its borders feels like another case of the blind leading the blind.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful.

I’m thankful I don’t have to worry if the policeman pulling me over is legit.
I’m thankful there aren’t men with large guns guarding every fast food restaurant.
I’m thankful I can open my Bible in a coffee shop.

But, it’s not perfect.

Liberties, freedoms, greed, possibilities, money, truth, defense, cause… sin – the blessing and the mess of it are mixed together like a good, Midwestern casserole and sometimes it’s hard to tell what ingredients were thrown in.

Reminds me of the human condition – the blessing and the mess of it.

We’ve got people occupying Wall Street because there’s a bunch of money they don’t have.
We’ve got people marching in support of our troops, who are marching in other countries.
We’ve got people rallying to bring those troops home – for good.
We’ve got people protesting abortion clinics and people protesting the elimination of them.

We’ve got a bunch of sinners in this country, can you believe it? I don’t know how that happened.

Wait, yes I do. And I know the way to redemption. His name is Jesus.

God knew, before the foundations of the world, that we would make a mess out of His perfect Creation. He knew we would kill our brothers and hate our neighbors; that we would spit in the face of His provision and throw away manna like it didn’t just fall miraculously from the sky. He knew and He still provided a way.

His name is Jesus.

Nowhere in history can we see a glowing story of human victory over evil. Nowhere in history have we ever been able to redeem ourselves or pull ourselves out of the deep, dark pit called evil with our own strength.

There is a way.

His name is Jesus and God planned that He would be born into the blessing made mess called Creation, so that He might restore us into right relationship with our Creator.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

God, come and be with us. Show us the way into beautiful. Come, disperse the gloomy clouds and put death’s dark clouds to flight. Bring the brilliant light of salvation.

Jesus is the only way to truly see beauty in the blessing and the mess of this life.

Posted on by Caroline 0

this & that

What a week.

So many thoughts. So many reasons to give thanks.

Here are some links for laughter and thinking and love.

Senior Citizen Flash Mob This is a group of elderly folks who think they can have fun, too. I gotta give ’em props for the effort. It reminds me of the documentary Young at Heart – but less cool. You should definitely watch the documentary if you haven’t seen it!

As sad as it sounds, how we googled in 2011 is an interesting litmus test of our priorities and it turns out we are all mixed up (big surprise).

Christopher Hitchens died. This outspoken atheist passed away from cancer in Houston and it just might be the perfect time to reflect on some of the beliefs (yes, atheists have beliefs too) he held onto so tightly.

Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens

The Gospel Coalition calls the Coming Catholic Ad Blitz “among the largest religious media blitzes in U.S. history.” This campaign is one calling Catholics to come “back home” – to find their local parish and learn (or re-learn) what it means to be Catholic. This fascinates me. I wonder what your thoughts are?

Its been said, “If you don’t expose your secret, your secret will expose you.” This article by Rebekah Lyons called, “What’s Your Secret?” is refreshing as it looks at the secrets we bury down deep and the relief when they are uncovered.

Well, it’s a short list and I’m processing so much these days – taking in the beauty of everyday, reading about grace and gratitude and moments. I’m trying to step in to every moment thankful, as I read through One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

It’s painting the world in beautiful hues.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 2

what if life was a program

So, I woke up groggy today – the kind of groggy that takes a few groans and stretches to successfully escape morning’s clinging clutches.

Walking around in this new slightly-less-nomadic skin has it’s beautiful charms and strange discomforts. My clothes are folded frumpy in a sweet smelling wooden dresser, my suitcases sit empty in the closet, and my car eddie is almost a local on these streets.

Settling in feels like crawling out of an old skin – one that knew many houses and couches and faces in this in-between phase of transition. I might have become a little addicted to “never a dull moment” and “expect the unexpected,” even if it meant never having a routine. Continue reading →

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spinning around inside a story

Not that long ago, I watched the film Tree of Life with some friends and promised myself that I would give it the mental attention it deserved. These are the notes I had to work with:

So… when I finally got around to writing about the film, it was too big to smoosh into a single blog post. I pushed it to the place cobwebs creep in my mind and agreed it was something to “come back to” when it didn’t feel like the philosophical dump truck unloaded on my brain’s front stoop.

Yesterday, the Tree of Life found it’s way through the cobwebs by way of another film – a bookumentary. Notes from a Tilt-A-Whirl has been on my “to do” list for an impressive long while. My motivation to see this “idea film” greatly increased when the time on my iTunes rental was running out. Last night, I finally found some kindred spirits who would commit 51 minutes to run after an author’s ramblings. With the storytelling fervor of Donald Miller and cinematography resembling Rob Bell, N. D. Wilson takes you through each chapter of his book, “Notes From a Tilt-A-Whirl” in a way that simultaneously appeals to your mind and your heart. With Creation as his backdrop, Wilson wrestles through topics like philosophy, academia, suffering, and why every person should view life as an art appreciator.

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl Movie Trailer from Gorilla Poet Productions on Vimeo.

In the hours after Wilson closed his last chapter, I realized why I appreciated the Tree of Life. It wasn’t for it’s overt declaration of Truth or it’s objective dealing with the meaning of life. The most valuable message was one of beauty.

The world is a beautiful place. Scarred, true, but oh-so-beautiful.

Once one makes this admission of beauty, there are more questions to answer.
Where does it come from? Does it always win? Why does it lose? Do we control it? Who decides what beauty is? How many beauties are there – just one kind?
(C.S. Lewis dealt with this subject masterfully in his book, “Abolition of Man” when he discusses the miseducation of children)

All these questions, bound together by the tension in the nature vs. grace conflict, demand resolution. Whether Tree of Life sufficiently answers these questions never concerned me, because I was too busy being impressed by the way beauty and tragedy were communicated so clearly.

But, last night, as we watched Notes From a Tilt-A-Whirl around my 13 inch Mac laptop screen, I marveled that there is more beauty. We were never meant to be satisfied merely admiring the beauty of the Ultimate Artist. We are meant to live the beauty – to interact and understand and breathe the beauty. We are meant to do what is impossible through the One who makes impossible things happen (see Ephesians).

We are meant to look at what has baffled philosophers and tormented academicians and take in all the beauty of Truth with the humble reverence of a child in the dreamiest of castles.

The castle is very much real – there is no use arguing otherwise. We waste much time and miss much beauty by arguing its existence.

More to come… meanwhile, watch the film so I have more people with who I can process its merits!

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Posted on by Caroline 1

Occupy Life: This Day Happened

This is another in a series of posts called Occupy Life. Read here or here or here or the original post here for more.

The sun sets on another night and the rusty colors fading ripe in the night sky fill my heart with … wonder.

Today, I didn’t uncover any philosophical gems or scientifically disprove gravity. I didn’t speak to hundreds with a riveting account of the Gospel or sacrifice all of my North American excess.

This morning, I wrestled myself free from my many blanketed cocoon to meet the day with haphazard hair and a neutral temperament. Most days, cheeriness escapes before I can even take a breath (which makes for verrrry interesting encounters when I spend nights with my sister, who requires an hour at the least before conversation – not to mention my incoherent, cheery ramblings).

Today, I ambled around … folding laundry and showering and getting ready in a somewhat alien morning stupor. And then the day happened – every last waning moment of it, filled with ribbon tying, table decorating, record-keeping, and averting the small catastrophe that would have been the tablecloths.

That’s it.

Nothing spectacular – just walking with the rhythm of life and being available to respond to oh-so-practical needs in oh-so-unromantic ways.

And sometimes – precious MANY times – this is what is required of us. No, not ribbon tying – living. But, really, really living where life is the most mundane things, not the exception to those things. If I had held my breath, waiting for this Friday to spark with out-of-the-ordinary light, I would have made the Guinness Book of World Records (or be dead).

Humming some tunes while I finish my time at my temp job; climbing into “my own little world” while I sort and organize and live.

I’ve always got a song on my heart – a soundtrack for living alive. Today, that soundtrack is this song by Sojourn, “Lead Us Back.”

Today, this is the sound of life in the ordinary and extraordinary leading to the place where we must return to see its true glory.

Lead Us Back
Falling down upon our knees
Sharing now in common shame
We have sought security
Not the cross that bears Your name
Fences guard our hearts and homes
Comfort sings a siren tune
Weʼre a valley of dry bones
Lead us back to life in You
Lord we fall upon our knees
We have shunned the weak poor
Worshipped beauty courted kings
And the things their gold affords
Prayed for those weʼd like to know
Favor sings a siren tune
Weʼve become a talent show
Lead us back to life in You

Lord Youʼve caused the blind to see
We have blinded them again
With our manmade laws and creeds
Eager ready to condemn
Now we plead before Your throne
Power sings a siren tune
Weʼve been throwing heavy stones
Lead us back to life in You.

Weʼre a valley of dry bones
Lead us back to life in You.
Weʼve become a talent show
Lead us back to life in You
Weʼve been throwing heavy stones
Lead us back to life in You.

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Posted on by Caroline 6

a matter of faith

Yesterday, I stumbled on some unlikely (for me) reading about Tim Tebow. I have tried to stay away from all the noise, because I don’t want to feed a monster. But, this article does more than diagnose a media phenomenon – Chuck Klosterman looks at why people are so passionate about whatever side they’ve chosen to take in the Tebow Controversy of 2011, of which I claim neutral status.

Here’s how he sums up his rather lengthy article,

The crux here, the issue driving this whole “Tebow Thing,” is the matter of faith. It’s the ongoing choice between embracing a warm feeling that makes no sense or a cold pragmatism that’s probably true. And with Tebow, that illogical warm feeling keeps working out. It pays off. The upside to secular thinking is that — in theory — your skepticism will prove correct. Your rightness might be emotionally unsatisfying, but it confirms a stable understanding of the universe. Sports fans who love statistics fall into this camp. People who reject cognitive dissonance build this camp and find the firewood. But Tebow wrecks all that, because he makes blind faith a viable option. His faith in God, his followers’ faith in him — it all defies modernity. This is why people care so much. He is making people wonder if they should try to believe things they don’t actually believe.

(Read the rest here)

I think Klosterman hits the nail square on its head when he suggests the real root of anti-Tebow angst is not his presence in the media or his specific religious affiliation. The real root of all this angry noise is a universal discomfort of the other. Tebow, a sports anomaly, appears to truly believe that there is a power greater than his offensive line and a plan beyond that of the Super Bowl… and he hasn’t biffed any interview to reveal otherwise.

Again, not necessarily a Tebow fan or non-fan, but I think this informal social study points to an uncomfortable result from the impressive intellectual advances of modern and post-modern thought. Your average Joe would rather support other average Joe sports icons who trust in their abilities alone to get the job done. But this is more than sports (also as Klosterman points out). Though it limits possibilities, we are willing to ex-communicate a divine presence because we would rather believe outcomes are within our control (good or bad). Believing otherwise means we would have to do some serious soul searching.

If Tebow is really as transparent as he seems, if there is no gnarly skeleton in his locker, if he does believe all he claims, then sports fans might have to start thinking seriously about the forever post-game.

There are countless historical examples of this same universal discomfort that arises when someone of irrefutable character makes a bold statement by a life that points to something else. I think of Bonhoeffer.

This man had the pedigree for greatness – he had family ties, academic prowess, and a determination that would make (dare I say) Tebow seem like a nursery rhyme. He studied hard, gathered degrees, and decided to pursue the ministry (in his day, a respected career, but an unlikely one for a man so bright and gifted).

But he had something I can’t quite put my finger on, something that weaves life with theology in a way they can’t be separated.

I call it viviology because I can’t find a better word.

This viviology is not a gimmick. It’s not something you see on Sunday or at speaking engagements. When Bonhoeffer was working with adolescent ruffians in Wedding, very few people noticed. His life was not a show, it was just life. I imagine if I could ask Bonhoeffer why he worked so hard with that confirmation class or why he poured so much into the discipleship of young men, he would say, “What else is there to do?”

Being “radical” or a “standout” is really not something we should have to add to “Christian.” C.S. Lewis once described in Weight of Glory our duty as Christians to always operate with a mindset of war. We are always accountable to our commander, always looking to be useful, and never looking for praise for what comes naturally with the job description as soldier.

God shouldn’t have to qualify our calling by saying He wants us to be “radical” Christians. When Christ said, “Follow me,” the calling was filled to fullness. There is no room for lukewarm and no room for additional meaning. The only kind of calling to follow Christ is one that consumes every fiber and fills every motion. The Christian calling is one alive and breathing, with the air of gratitude filling our lungs. A life of faith is not one that can be neatly sliced and served up in reasonable portions.

A life of Christian faith is just life – all of it.
And that’s a big statement.

I certainly didn’t set out thinking I had this much to say, but we surprise ourselves sometimes!

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

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Posted on by Caroline 1

Advent Reflections

As I jump from couch to couch, my spirit is unsettled in this season. I am not anxious or worried or tired because of my circumstance (I actually thrive in surprises and unknowns). No, my spirit is longing for Jesus.

As He is singing over me, my songs respond in earnest with a yearning to be closer, held in the sovereign and sufficient hands of my Savior.

Here are some beautiful advent reflections, if you’re in the mood for thinking further…

Advent Prayer Requests by Brett McCracken show a beautiful plea for the Lord’s returning.

If you want to read something that seems spun in wonder instead of penned, check out Ann Voskamp’s reflection What if We Renamed Christmas.

The Advent Book is a resource that has me at “an experience that brings anticipation to every day of advent.”

Here’s an advent devotional guide from Desiring God and Noel Piper.

I’m reflecting a bit tonight (this morning) on the nomadic life of Christ and how His home was Himself. He brought home around in His presence and then invited people in. He made His face a shining welcome and never turned anyone away. Christ invites us to understand what it means to abide in Him – to live in His presence, experience His joy, and be overwhelmed by gratitude because we do not deserve His company.

Advent is about Christ making Himself nothing so we can be made perfect in Him. And through Him, we stand before God with crazy thanksgiving and unashamed freedom.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 1