My mother only knew how to play one song on the piano. It was part ragtime with hints of a church hymn mixed in. I find myself still humming that tune even though she passed on nearly 13 years ago.There are other memories which tend to surface around Mother’s Day ... like how my mother would carry one of those old Panasonic cassette recorders to bluegrass festivals and record her favorite groups. You could never hear the actual music because mom would start singing along and forget about the recording.Or my mom’s love of flowers and her affection for cats.Now that I can no longer pick up the phone and talk with mom, I wish I had paid more attention to Mother’s Day. When you’re young (and often stupid!), special days seem more burdensome than blessed.There isn’t anything I wouldn’t give to sit next to my mom one more time…
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The Disney Channel likes to call their new movies “D-COM’s.” It stands for Disney Channel Original Movie. Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, and others.The irony is that all the “original” movies tend to follow a very predictable pattern. The same actors and actresses bounce from one movie to another. If you turned off the sound, you would think you were watching the same movie each night. Of course, I’m a bit jaded because I’m “forced” to watch all the new D-COM’s. Or maybe I just can’t recognize art when I see it.Back before Jesus was born, King Solomon once wrote “there is nothing new under the sun.” In other words, human nature has remained pretty consistent for thousands of years. We create new toys to amuse ourselves (can anyone say “Crackberry”), but our basic needs, hopes, fears, and dreams remain the same.God-followers have always been asked to walk a path that…
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I used to think that older people who talked about the “good old days” were just being nostalgic for when they were younger. Every “good old day” always sounded brighter than the present day. Back in those “good old days,” even a baby’s dirty diaper smelled better.Now that I’m inching towards being included in the “older” demographic, I find myself in a curious position. I find myself talking with other forty-something people about “the way kids are” and about how things were different “back when I was young.” It’s kind of funny. Not the getting older part, but about how perspective changes with time.Then again, our perspective should change with time. We learn, we grow, we experience significant life events. Wisdom isn’t the result of growing older; it’s the result of growing older and paying attention to what we learn along the way.As Christ-followers, our perspective is informed by more…
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Words matter. Understanding the words we use matters even more. I found this to be true while helping coach a team of 8 year-old girls in softball. “I want to bunt. What does that mean?” Or another girl asked me what a “fair ball” was.Softball players have a language of their own, borrowed from the baseball diamond. A few examples: getting in a pickle, worm-burner, rope, shiner, high cheese, heater, Texas leagueer, and on the list could go. To an outsider, it might be a little intimidating until the basics are mastered.The same can be true of church. We may find ourselves speaking a language that people disconnected from God may not understand. Newer, more modern versions of the Bible help -- they translate the Bible using contemporary language. But no matter how current or contemporary the translation, there will always be words that need to be defined for new…
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It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is? By BONO I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport. I am a long way from the warm breeze of voices I heard a week ago on Easter Sunday. “Glorify your name,” the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea. Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of ... Carnival — rock stars are good at that. “Carne” is flesh; “Carne-val,” its goodbye party. I’ve…
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