more bad news

So i'm reading all about the new layoffs at GM, reading about people who have worked there for 20 + years and who get called into a conference room and are told their job is being eliminated, to get their things and go. My heart goes out to each and every one of them. And while i'm reading this i'm also thinking of the ulcers that all the rest of the workers must have as try struggle through their workday, hoping no one from HR calls them into a conference room and gives them some news. I understand GM has to do this, their circumstances are beyond dire. And yet the new reality makes our whole metro area jittery.

I don't know what is happening with Michigan's economy. I know a lot of other states have diversified and brought in other more stable and growing industries. I'm worried that michigan has already missed that opportunity, or that our leaders will sit around and hope really hard for a turn-around of the auto industry in 2008... or something silly like that.

My hope is that through all these changes that Jesus Christ becomes more desireable to all of us. He's the Rock of Ages, the one who is always the same, always reliable, always generous, always loving. And i know, because i've seen it time and again, that he will provide for those who need provision. "do not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear...your father knows your needs" The security that GM, Ford, and Chrysler have long provided is proving to be an illusion. Maybe we're able to see things more clearly now, that long standing institutions can't protect, help, or save us. but Jesus can and does.

Through all of this upheaval in our part of the world i pray that Jesus Christ shows himself to be what each of us has always longed for. Someone stable and good...someone to build our lives on.

Let me know if you've been affected personally, [email] i'll be glad to add you to my personal prayers.

a plant of slow growth

George Washington used this term to describe friendship..."a plant of slow growth". I'm assuming that means that it takes a lot of work and feeding a friendship before you can really reap the benefits...So true, at least in my experience.

I find friendship to be much harder than i want it to be, maybe it's because i'm a difficult person and not a very good friend. But maybe it's because friendship IS hard. Maybe that's why it's so important for us to partake in, because it's hard and hard things often make us stronger, kinder, more humble humans. Don't get me wrong though, when you invest, it's also a really great thing... "a plant of slow growth."

I constantly go through cycles of wanting to just give up on all my friends (no offense to any of you) because it is harder than i want it to be. And then later realizing how "worth it" the work is. I had a friend come into town a few weeks ago just to see me. He flew in spent about 36 hours and then flew home, because that was all the time i had to spare. It was a great visit... and kinda nutty too, but that's the beauty of friendship.

I had coffee with another friend the other day. Just sat for an hour or so talking. i walk away from encounters like that baffled at how good they can be for my soul, convinced that it's worth the work.

My concern is that people are giving up on genuine friendship today in the same way that they give up on their marriages, their families, their jobs. When it gets tough they bail. I understand the tendency, but it's really sad and i'm afraid people are missing out without realizing it (again the 'disposable friend' idea from Fight Club)

Maybe think on these things the next time you're ready to throw the towel in on someone in your life and scout for an easier friendship. it just might be worth the work to hang in there.

friends and penguins

i was talking to a friend the other day about the cycle of life. I started thinking about how strange this all is. Here I am in this phase of life where my life is my family. This is evidenced by the fact that when my family is gone i feel a horrible sense of loss. They are my community, and so it is hard to sustain really deep relationships with others. As my family gets bigger, my sense of loneliness gets much greater whenever they take a vacation without me.

But i think back to college and seminary only a few years ago, and things were different. Our lives (mine and jocelyn's) were much more connected with other people's lives. We had this grander experience of community that was much larger in scope. But now here we are with our tight intimate "family" circle. With little outside intrusion.

My friend and I were reflecting on how as time goes on, and your kids grow, you reconnect in with the larger community. Suddenly your circle becomes larger. It can happen too as people age, as spouses die, suddenly the walls of "family" aren't there and so you mingle back out into the larger societal cohort and so you experience closeness with many other people, a more diverse "circle"

we chalked this up to the normal cycle of life. But then i started thinking about those crazy penguins.

If you've seen "the march of the penguins" you know what i'm talking about. Their life cycle is almost reversed. They do their own thing for a few years and then when it comes time to have baby penguins, they all come together. In the movie they kept saying how it was as if the penguins together were becoming a new collective organism. They repeat this for a number of years, year after year, coming together to populate the antarctic with penguins. And then when they're done they go off and do their own thing again.

So my question is, does it have to be this way? This cycle of life thing? Sure we're talking about creatures as different as arctic birds and humans (although those of us who live in michigan might actually relate better to penguins than to those who have no idea what even an "ice scraper" is). But do we unnecessarily cloister ourselves off from the rest of the world when kids come into the picture. And is that always healthy? Don't get me wrong i love to be cloistered off with my family. They are my life's joy, but maybe that's part of this whole problem... should i be keeping that joy to myself or might that joy be something worth sharing with others around me.

Maybe this is the loneliness talking, but might there be room to surround your kids with a loving and safe home environment while at the same time not removing yourself so greatly from community with others? could we stand to be more penguin-like?

why i give... reason #3

maybe this'll be my last one on giving... we'll see.

I give because I believe Jesus is coming back.

this one may seem like a stretch, if so, sorry, but it makes sense to me. which is all i really care about anyway ;)

I believe Jesus is coming back and I believe that it is going to be soon. That is exciting and unnerving. But here's where it gets me on giving.

First, i believe my giving can make a difference in the world. I (we) have a sponsor kid through Compassion International. Joc and i started it sponsoring right after we were married. We figured it'd be one way to love someone else, especially before we had kids of our own. I know that my giving means something to him. I also know that my giving is making a difference in the world through my local church (i won't go into detail, being that i work for the church it could sound like i'm patting myself on the back-nevertheless God IS working). This is important to me because i believe that there is only so much time to make a difference. Then Jesus will return, the timeline of history will be broken and a new existence will commence. I don't want to have regret on that day about not doing enough to prepare people for that moment. So that's why i give of myself, time, family, money... it's in the hope that by giving myself away others might live.

But here's another reason. The bible tells a story about a guy who had a bunch of wealth and he just stored it up thinking he would need it one day or something. But then shortly after he died. It isn't a sad story, its really a story that you shake your head at and say "what an idiot!" I've heard other stories (no idea if they are true) about little old ladies who eat moldy bread and canned beans day after day and then die to reveal they had a million dollars in the bank and no heirs. Seems foolish.

Now i have no reason to belive i'm going to die any time soon... but i could... or Jesus could come back, and how much of an idiot will i feel like if i have a big IRA built up with a great house, cars, and toys ... instead of using my resources to make an eternal difference. If i choose not to give, all the stuff i spend my money on is waste, stuff that will pass away... it's foolishness to put too much into that stuff because Jesus IS coming back soon and like someone said, (and a lot of people have said since) "you can't take it with you"

Just so you know i'm not a doomsday prophet or anything, by saying jesus is coming back "soon" i guess i mean that i choose to live my life with the constant expectation of his coming, so i'm not caught off guard (or i should say not caught off guard as much). There is only so much time left to make a difference, and giving sure does make a difference, eternally. I try to keep that in mind when i'm floundering in my commitment and feeling selfish, "If i spend this money on me, what might i be cheating eternity out of?" peace.