Through Your Hands

In Nashville, when we were helping a friend move, it always took one more person than any other town. Because almost everyone is musical most have a piano, and because everyone is musical, while you’re moving this heaviest of instruments, one of the movers is going to stop carrying and start playing as you strain along the sidewalk toward the U-Haul truck.

My favorite keyboardist, perhaps with the exception of when we’re helping someone move, is Jon Coleman. Jon plays with the physical energy of Jerry Lee Lewis but with more talent. He is something to hear and see. The road has taken Jon out through the states this summer, and I haven’t seen him in too long. At his last posting, he was in Fargo.

One of Jon’s friends is John Hiatt. Jon thinks so much of him that he named his son Hiatt. Because of my esteem for Jon, I started listening to and appreciating John Hiatt’s music and lyrics. Hiatt’s writing is meaningful and often mystical touching deep mythic themes of the soul which are too often lacking in Music City. One jewel that I have uncovered recently is Through Your Hands. Here are the lyrics and a link to John Hiatt singing it at the Franklin, TN Theater. It’s a fresh water spring for all of us travelers on life’s journey. Blessings on all you musicians traveling this summer…

Continue reading “Through Your Hands”

Got Enough? How Much Stuff Do You Need?

George Carlin is still one of my favorite philosophers. His reflections on STUFF inspired me when writing Enough.

As you reflection on your life and your stuff, perhaps you’ll find this first chapter from Enough – and Other Magic Words to Transform Your Life helpful on your life’s journey or at least as you clean out your garage. Continue reading “Got Enough? How Much Stuff Do You Need?”

Which is Real – Oz or Kansas?

In a lot of family vans, they have movie players so the kids can watch movies while they ride along. You can’t do that while driving, believe me… not that I’ve done it. I don’t have to. I just replay them in my mind. I have them stored, in my brain. Apparently my storage space was full by the time I was twelve because all I have in my mind is movies from childhood.
So, while driving back from Nashville to Orlando, the movie The Wizard of Oz started playing. I can’t decide on who I think is scarier Ms. Gulch on her bicycle, or the Wicked Witch. If you throw in the flying monkeys, I have to say the Wicked Witch but before that I’d say it’s a tie.
Then, because I am a preacher, I can’t just replay The Wizard of Oz in my mind, I had to consider them philosophically, “Which place is real, is it Kansas or is it Oz?”
Think about it. If you’re first thought is, ‘Of course Kansas real. Oz is made up. It’s just a story, a product of someone’s imagination. Not Kansas. I’ve been to Kansas.’ I must point out to you, in the movie Kansas is in black and white while Oz is in color.
Continue reading “Which is Real – Oz or Kansas?”

Wisdom Rocks

   A man encountered Sophia at the market selling used books. As he searched through a pile, Sophia reached below the table, pulled out an old book with a ratty cover, and when certain no one was watching, whispered, “Try this one. It is a treasure.”
   The man bought it for a few pennies, took it home, read it, and to his surprise, on the inside back cover he found scribbled in tiny letters a few sentences, a brief description, about a magic stone that could turn anything it touched into pure gold. According to the book, the stone was lying somewhere on the shore of the Black Sea among a million other pebbles that looked just like it. The one difference was that the magic stone was warm to the touch whereas all others were cold.
   The man set up a tent on the shore and went to work. Each stone he picked up, if it was cold to the touch, he threw it far into the sea so that he wouldn’t keep picking up the same stones.
   Stone after stone, he picked each up, felt it, and hurled it deep into the water. Stone after stone…
   He worked a week, a month, ten months, a whole year, patiently feeling each stone and tossing it into the sea.
   Then, one evening, he picked up a pebble, and it was warm to the touch! Through sheer force of habit, he threw it far out into the water.

In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.  Leo Tolstoy

Beyond Tulsa Time and Past Being a Burden

Danny Flowers has been an inspiration to me for some time. He shares part of his story in this episode of Songwriter.

Danny holds the prestige of being the only person I know who received a standing ovation in a Presbyterian Church. I think a lot of the congregation understood the story and circumstances behind Danny’s song, I Was a Burden. Here are probably the best 11 minutes you’ll spend today.

 

There You Are!

A common classification for the world’s population is that there are two types of people in the world: people who enter a room and say, “Here I am!” and people who enter a room and say, “There you are!”

In John 21, the risen Jesus comes to Peter and asks three times, “Do you love me?”

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

read more… Continue reading “There You Are!”

Peace of Mind During Brain Storms

What to do in a brain hurricane – Say, “Be still,” to Stormy Thinking

There are times when your thoughts and emotions can possess you, and you do need to respond. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” When anxiety takes over, or when any thoughts or emotions dominate, telling them to “Be still,” is a helpful practice. This isn’t an act of emotional condemnation telling them, “You’re a bad emotion,” or telling yourself, “You shouldn’t feel that way,” but just instructing the turbulence in your mind to, “Be still.” Continue reading “Peace of Mind During Brain Storms”

Cayla’s Way

I have a magician in my church. Her name is Carolyn Baumgartner. She can make a handkerchief disappear and then reappear again. I’ve seen it.

She can also make some books disappear as well. For their sixtieth wedding anniversary, instead of gifts of more stuff they don’t need, they asked for donations and bought a book for every student in the local elementary school. Continue reading “Cayla’s Way”

The Way God Is

When I chose the artwork for the cover of the 2014 edition of The Psychology of Jesus, I picked this painting by Bartolome’ Esteban Murillo.

8 Murillo return-of-the-prodigal-son-1670

        To me the subject of the painting and the story it tells is obvious. To my surprise, even the most Biblically literate have not immediately recognized this story brought to art by Murillo. I even asked my son, “Who is in this painting?” Not knowing what to answer, he gave the answer most twelve-year-old pastor’s sons would offer, “God.” The painting’s subject matter is given away in the title, “The Return of The Prodigal.”  Painted later in his life, Murillo was part of the Brotherhood of Charity. The group felt that charity was the only activity that people could do which touched the heart of God and eternity. All accumulating, whether power, wealthy, or even knowledge was temporary and lost in death. They highlighted seven acts of charity and mercy. Besides, retelling the story of the prodigal, Murillo’s painting highlighted the act of clothing the naked visually clear in the large pile of clothes the servant holds for the son.  Continue reading “The Way God Is”

The Journey is Home

Travel with those who love a journey,
accompany those who enjoy adventure,
be a companion to those who laugh often.

 If you heart is like a house with no door,
how can you ever feel at home with anyone?
If your heart is open, you can be at home
with anyone, everywhere.

 The people of The Way are never lost
because they are always at home,
no matter where they are.

Be like eagles,
why care where your nest is,
when your home is the sky?

Blessings at the Crossroads

Martin Guitars has an ad campaign called, “Crossroads.” In the ad, they retell the legend of Robert Johnson’s encounter with the devil. It’s a gloomy night at a crossroads on a rural Mississippi plantation in the early 1930’s. A struggling blues musician named Robert Johnson has a burning desire to play his guitar better than anyone else. At this lonely intersection, the Devil waits for Johnson. With the moon shining down, the Devil plays a few songs on Johnson’s guitar. When Robert Johnson gets his guitar back, he has complete mastery over the instrument. His soul now belongs to the supernatural being, and for the next 5 years or so, he creates music that will live past his tragic, suspicious death in 1938 at the age of 27.

A closer look at the lyrics of “Crossroads” shows not a man struggling with the devil and fame but with loneliness and pain. The crossroad is whether or not his pain will overwhelm him or whether or not he can come through it with a song. Continue reading “Blessings at the Crossroads”

Stop Listening and Pay Attention

“Stop listening.”

It was not what I expected to hear from my counseling professor in seminary so I stopped doodling in my notebook and paid close attention.

“When you are with a couple, or a family, and what they are saying to you or to each other makes no sense to you, stop listening. Just look at them. Pay attention to how they sit – who is near and who is far. Look at how they move, toward or away from one another.”

I had been to so many seminars on listening. I had received and catalogued so many handouts and books on listening skills, that his lesson was both surprising and revolutionary. Continue reading “Stop Listening and Pay Attention”

Barker Cool

 

   Clemson University President, Jim Barker, at his final graduation ceremony as Clemson President, told this to all present,

   We don’t know exactly what life will be like as we begin the next chapter. But we know what we must do. We must think differently to solve the world’s problems, as well as the everyday challenges that we’ll encounter along the way. And we must strive to be brief, be brilliant and be gone — and be gone on to new challenges and new opportunities.

   From his very beginning as University President in 1999, Jim embodied ‘cool.’ I know the idea of being ‘cool’ is dated, even cliché, however, some people just have it. Cool is the way they are, how they handle themselves, what they say and what they do. Jim Barker was cool before he was president, during his tenure, and even now. The man is simply, cool. Sometimes cool is just cool. Here are a couple of examples.
   Shortly after being inaugurated as President, Jim wanted to emphasize some of the lesser known Clemson sports, so Jim went water skiing pulled by the women’s crew team.
 Image result for jim barker ski behind crew team

Continue reading “Barker Cool”

Lenten Devotional: Day 34

Search

Langston Hughes
 
All life is but the climbing of a hill
To seek the sun that ranges far beyond
Confused with stars and lesser lights anon,
And planets where the darkness reigneth still.
 
All life is but the seeking for that sun
That never lets one living atom die –
That flames beyond the circles of the eye
Where Never and Forever are as one.
 
And seeking always through this human span
That spreads its drift of years beneath the sky
Confused with living, goeth simple man
Unknowing and unknown into the Why –
The Why that flings itself beyond the Sun
And back in space to where Time was begun. 

Pray: Precious Lord

Thomas A. Dorsey 1938
 
Precious Lord
take my hand
lead me on
help me stand.
 
I am tired.
I am weak.
I am worn.
 
Through the storm
through the night
lead me on
to the light.
 
When my way grows drear
precious Lord linger near.
 
When my life is almost gone…
 
hear my cry
hear my call
hold my hand
lest I fall.
 
Take my hand
precious Lord
lead me home.

Lenten Devotional: Day 33

The Journey

Mary Oliver
 
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save. 

Pray: Psalm 38

O Lord,
all my longing
is surely known to You,
all my sighing
cannot be hidden from You.
 
My heart throbs…
My strength fails…
The light of my eyes
is going out…
 
I am hurting,
and my pain is ever with me.
 
For You, O Lord,
I will wait.
In You, O Lord,
I will trust.
 
Do not forsake me,
Do not be so far from me,
Come closer to me,
Quickly!
Help me.
You, O Lord,
are my only hope.

Lenten Devotional: Day 32

Paradise Lost

Erich Fried translated by Stuart Hood
 
When I had lost
my first country
and when in my second country
and in my place of refuge
and in my third country
and in my second place of refuge
I had lost everything
then I set out
 
to look for a land
that was not poisoned
by any memories
of irreplaceable losses
 
So I came to Paradise
there I found peace
Everything was whole and good
I lacked for nothing
 
Then a sentry
with a flaming sword
said: Pray: Get away
Here you have lost nothing’

Pray: Deliver Me

From the cowardice
that dare not face new truth,
 
From the laziness
that is contented with half truth,
 
From the arrogance
that thinks it knows all truth.
 
Good Lord,
deliver me!