season of Lent: forty days of sacrifice

The text from Church this week was Luke 4:1-13.  It's the testing of Jesus in the wilderness for forty days.  I don't think it is a coincidence that this text is at the beginning of Lent.  It may be some inspiration for all of us who, now five days into Lent, may want to be giving into a temptation that has been set before us.  Some people think of Jesus as someone they can't relate to because he never sinned.  It seems that they are overlooking this passage, where he faces incredible temptation.  For in these forty days, Jesus was tempted with the whole world (Luke 4:5-7).  

The temptation of Jesus is a great inspiration throughout Lent for us to sacrifice and to find strength in Jesus' own temptations and sacrifice.  Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness.  We spend forty days giving something up for Lent.  

During Lent the things that we give up - the sacrifice and the accompanying temptation - bring us closer to God.  Many people often think about or pray to God more.  Some people read the Bible more.  Some people come closer to God through the mere act of surrendering.  It's in this season we often learn a lot about ourselves and at the end we celebrate Easter.   

We're taught in this hardship to come closer to God.  But during Lent we pick our “hardship”.  We choose not to eat chocolate or drink coffee for those forty days.  Some of the things we choose when we look back at it are really more of a nuisance than anything.  They aren't like the temptations Jesus had in the wilderness, or during the hardest times in our own lives.  

In the biggest hardships of life and during the biggest temptations we often fail at loving God and loving others.  We break under the temptation.  When we lose a job or lose a loved one, our faith is tested.  And many of us fail.  We blame God, we blame others, our anger is out of control, and we lose our hope and faith in God.  It may be some of the smaller temptations like choosing work over spending time with our children, or choosing a movie over catching up with friends.  Temptation has gotten the best of us.

In the hardships and temptations that we don't choose, it is in these hardships that our faith should grow.  Sometimes these hardships are forty seconds, forty minutes, or even forty days, or forty years - but in the midst and at the end we need to remember the life of Jesus, and his death and resurrection.  In this - we have hope!

season of Lent: substituting gummy bears

I wonder how much substituting goes on during Lent?  I mean if someone gives up chocolate do they substitute that fix with gummy bears?  What if I want to sacrifice driving everywhere?  I decide I will ride a bike places, walk, or take the bus.  But what if sacrificing taking my car places is substituted into bumming rides off my friends. By the end of Lent my friends aren’t celebrating Jesus’ resurrection anymore, they are celebrating not having to give me a ride everywhere.

When does sacrificing become sacrificing?  When do we truly give up what we intended to give up?  How do we know?  When does the sacrifice lead us to think about God? 

Is it a sacrifice if we aren’t?  I’ve given up my fair share of things over the years.  Things I really enjoy like chocolate, ice cream, and soda.  For forty days though it didn’t seem like a problem, just some temporary time away from some of my favorite foods. 

Maybe food isn’t the best thing for me to give-up then.  I can’t be alone in this.  People must be able to just breeze through Lent without giving it another thought.  For others though food is the right thing to give-up.  So much so that I hear stories every year of people failing after a week into Lent of eating McDonald’s fries or having to eat a cupcake on Friday after a long week at work. 

Is there a way to make sacrificing harder or easier?  And that leads me back to this: what is sacrificing?  Can we really fail at Lent?  I know there are more questions here than answers.  This is only the beginning of my Lenten journey.  I hope you are thinking of some questions, and if you weren’t, I hope you are now.  

season of Lent: i have a confession

I have a confession to make.  Television is not totally out of the picture.  1) The Olympics are on for the first week and a half of Lent.  And I will be watching them.  I’m not sure if this defaults what I was giving up or maybe that I’m not taking it seriously enough to completely give it up.  But I also know that being legalistic about doing or not doing something is not good.  It often takes the meaning out of the very task you are doing.  2) I have Netflix.  Netflix costs money and to not watch any of the Netflix coming in seems like not being a good steward of money.  

With that being said.  Netflix will only be watched on the weekends and no instant watch with the computer will be used.  This still involves less television watching without wasting money for two months.  I think.  I’m sure there is a better way about this.  For me though, it works.  
I think the overall objective here is still pure and met.  Less television (which is always good) and more time with God and with others. 

the road to something...

(Click to enlarge)

Recently the Bureau of Labor Statistics came out with the latest unemployment and job loss numbers. You can find the numbers here. You can also find the numbers on a much easier to read graph at NPR. The graph, at least the job loss graph, showed up on Facebook promoting the Road to Recovery under the Obama Administration. That graph is here. The Road to Recovery graph looks quite nice. The graph shows this great dichotomy between the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration. It’s almost as if the changeover was the cause for less job loss. And maybe it was. But maybe it wasn’t.

You’ll notice that one of the two graphs from the BLS site and NPR site is missing. It’s the unemployment rate graph. It’s the graph that shows unemployment shooting up over 10% toward the end of 2009. I’ve created a similar chart (it’s shown at the top of the post) showing the unemployment rate that is similar to the Road to Recovery graph.

As you can see the graph isn’t as flattering as the other one. Indeed you could almost say the changeover created more unemployment. Of course we all know that’s not true. Obama in a speech acknowledged the continued problem of unemployment. The road to recovery is getting better. That’s clear from the fewer jobs being lost month after month. But there’s still a lot of work to be done. That’s apparent by the second graph. And Obama won’t silence his many critics until he lowers that second graph.

Lent: thoughts beforehand

So, many people this season are giving up Facebook. I’ll be looking for something far more useful and meaningful to give up, or in actuality, to take on. For me there is no need to give up Facebook, because giving it up would 1) not be hard, and 2) wouldn’t lead me to think about God.

Food is usually the primary candidate for items that people give up during Lent for practicing and non-practicing Christians. I’m not sure if that’s more because of tradition or possibly because it is simpler to give up a specific food compared to other aspects of life.

I know I have given up my fair share of foods: chocolate, ice cream (a few times), soft drinks (when I used to drink soft drinks), desserts, and last year not buying store bought cookies.

This year? Well, I won’t be giving up any food, but television. Stuck inside during the winter, it’s easy to turn on the television and relax. It’s not hard to find other things to do. That’s not the problem. It will be that moment of getting home wanting to sit down and relax for a little bit and just zone out. Instead of course – it will be something else.

And, I’ll be taking something on as well. I’m continually trying to read the Divine Hours, a type of daily devotion, but alas neglect the book many nights. I’ll be taking on trying to do the devotion each day. Our pastor as well has encouraged each member of our church to recite the greatest commandment (the pastor quoting the author Scot McKnight calling it the Jesus Creed) Mark 12:29-31 each day. Along with that I’ll be reading Scot McKnight’s 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed.

40 days of the best towns

By no means am I a world traveler or even someone who has traveled throughout the United States extensively. But - I have been to my fair share of cities and towns. Some unique and some… let’s just say I’m glad it was only a visit. For now, sticking to the theme of 40, here are my top forty cities (in no particular order) that I love and a reason or two why.

1 Chicago, IL – It’s a place I lived for four years and have come to love.
2 Detroit, MI – It’s probably on most people’s bottom 40 cities. But for me Detroit will always be a haven for what is Michigan’s history, present, and future. It represents automobiles, adversity, and a hope.
3 Ann Arbor, MI – One of the great unique cities in the world - it was where I was born.
4 Saline, MI – I grew up in Saline. It actually has been voted one of the top cities in the country (mainly because of its location to Ann Arbor without living in Ann Arbor), and it acts as a place where almost anyone would want to raise their family.
5 Kalamazoo, MI - I experienced college in Kalamazoo. It’s diverse and has the charm of a big city.
6 Cheboygan, MI – Cheboygan is off the map for most Michigan vacationers. For me though, it became a vacation wonderland.
7 Indian River, MI – Indian River is in between the two largest inland lakes in Michigan – it is a water wonderland.
8 Boston, MA – History and present combined.
9 Sudbury, MA – I got married here. Enough said.
10 Barre, MA - It’s quaint, has charm, and it’s where Jess is from.
11 Stowe, VT – Swoop, swoop, swoop!
12 Grapevine, TX – It’s where my brother lives and I love to visit!
13 Tampa, FL – Who doesn’t like going to Florida? Plus, my aunt and uncle live here.
14 Monroe, MI – As someone who loves genealogy, I can’t leave a town that has so much family history off the list.
15 Toronto, ON – I’ve been to Toronto twice now. And have loved it each time.
16 London, UK – A premier city.
17 Prague, CZ – Just awesome.
18 Evanston, IL – Every time I walk around Evanston it reminds me of Ann Arbor.
19 Springfield, IL – Springfield is one of the most underrated cities in Illinois.
20 Indianapolis, IN – A race car lover’s paradise.
21 Mackinac City, MI – It’s a little touristy, but it still has one of the best views of one of the world’s longest suspension bridges.
22 New York, NY – How can this city not be on a top 40 list? It’s on here for the pizza alone.
23 Petoskey, MI – A great summer town.
24 Spring Green, WI – Home to Taliesin
25 Decorah, IA – Iowa’s got to be mentioned, right? And this little town is jam-packed with charm.
26 Oak Park, IL – Frank Lloyd Wright heaven.
27 Bellingham, MA – The first place I lived in Massachusetts.
28 Oak Brook, IL – The town where I got engaged.
29 South Haven, MI – The first Michigan town I brought Jess to.
30 Dallas, TX – A great city in Texas.
31 Hyannis, MA – The first place I got a job in Massachusetts.
32 Marion, MA – The reason I moved to Massachusetts.
33 Wareham, MA – Our first house in Massachusetts.
34 Niagara, NY/ON – Honeymoon capital of the world. A destination spot on either side of the falls.
35 Schaumburg, IL – Even a suburb can make it on my list. But only because it involved a first date.
36 Wellesley – It’s one of those towns that when you visit you want to move to because it has everything.
37 Brooklyn, NY – I’ve only been there for a hot dog and a shot to see a non-existent baseball stadium, but it was great.
38 Whitney, ON - Because it offers one of the most remote scenic parks I have ever been to.
39 Ypsilanti, MI – It may just have the best hoagie I have ever had.
40 Lansing, MI – Hey! It’s the capital of Michigan!

So, obviously my favorite places are a little slanted to the places I have lived, visited, and experienced – but isn’t that how it is for all of us?

40 days of anywhere

As Lent is fast approaching (it’s only two weeks away) I am going to write some “40” themed blogs. The first:

I could live almost anywhere and here are 40 reasons why:

10 Reasons why I love the city of Chicago:

1 The diversity is uncanny compared to almost anywhere in the world
2 Chicago has the best hot dogs, pizza, burgers, and overall best food I have ever had
3 Being on Lake Michigan is one of my fondest memories in the city
4 Everything is always open and always at your fingertips
5 It’s a sports lover’s paradise
6 One man: Frank Lloyd Wright
7 The architecture is magnificent
8 The park system and wildlife is way underrated in Chicago
9 Tre Kronor
10 If it wasn’t for overpriced homes I would have a home there, well unless…

10 Reasons why I love Massachusetts:

11 Almost all of Jess’ family lives in Massachusetts
12 The Atlantic Ocean is less than half a mile away from where I live
13 The state is jam-packed with history
14 It has such a diverse geographical region for being so small
15 The Appalachian Trail
16 The Wayside Inn
17 Those little town greens that everyone talks about
18 The fascinating differences in pronunciation (Barnstable is “barn-stuh-ble”, not “barn-stable”)
19 Where’s all the traffic?
20 We have a yard and a garden

10 Reasons why I could live in Ann Arbor:

21 The University of Michigan
22 Michigan football
23 Ann Arbor is the most unique city I have visited
24 Zingermans, Washtenaw Dairy, and Blimpy Burger
25 Green libraries and Co-ops in a city? Yes!
26 One of the top 10 hospitals in the world
27 Kerrytown, Hill Auditorium, and The Michigan Theater
28 A big city with a small town feel
29 The town is just a little bit liberal
30 The Hands-On Museum

10 Reasons why I could live anywhere:

31 I grew up in the flat Midwest – geography doesn’t get more boring than that
32 There is always new food to try
33 You can go birding anywhere
34 You can find a geocache all around the world
35 Water pipes won’t freeze in the south
36 You can tell a grasshopper joke just about anywhere
37 I’m happy as long as there is a river and a kayak in hand
38 A good book travels anywhere
39 Three words: “Netflix instant watch”
40 I could live anywhere, as long as I am with Jess