A truly incredible weekend

2008 got off to an awesome start for me -- the first weekend of '08 was spent with my father and my son at a men's retreat with approximately 160 other men from Evangelical Free Church of Hershey, PA.

Of course, the question came up more than a few times -- what's three guys from Newark, DE doing with this group from Hershey, PA? The answer to that one is simple, we came to see the guest speaker - John Fischer.

I have been reading John's books and listening to his music for probably 20 years now - his insight is pretty darned impressive. If you ever get a chance to see him in concert or attend a seminar or retreat weekend where he is speaking, just do it - you will be challenged and encouraged. In the meantime, try to get one if his books and sign up to get "The Daily Catch" - a daily e-mail from John that helps put a lot of things into perspective.

Just to give a very simple, scratching the surface kind of review of some of the things John spoke about this weekend:

1) Christians should have a fearless faith - ready to see the world through a wider lens, appreciate more of the creativity, truth, and beauty that exists regardless of the conduit through which it arrives

2) to quote from Proverbs 25:2 - "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings" - so search (or ask, seek, and knock)

3) People today are searching for transcendence, significance, and community -- ideally that is exactly what a church based on the gospel should be offering, you fill in the rest

4) Many of us might need to look into a 12-step program for pharisees (myself included)

As an added bonus, I had the privilege of serving on a Saturday afternoon political panel with former Pennsylvania State Representative Jeff Coleman, Ron Hostetler (former candidate for U.S. Congress), and Steve Hoke (truly brilliant mind - knows more about Constitutional principles than most will ever hear about in their lifetimes). The discussion was moderated by Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

The weekend was also awesome on a personal level -- as mentioned before, this was time spent with both my father and my son -- it was great to get a "guy's weekend" together. We got to talk, share, play Risk, and enjoy a great time meeting dozens of quality people together.

A quick note to the guys at Evangelical Free Church -- you guys put on an excellent event, every detail was well planned and executed, thank you for doing all you did to make this such an awesome experience!

To see several photos from the weekend (including the midnight dodge ball games, the lost hikers, and concert shots), click here.

About the school prayer thing...

I recently came across a great piece concerning the school prayer issue, here's an excerpt:

And now let’s add to that the attempts by misguided school officials to compose “nonsectarian” prayers that would pass constitutional muster (“We affirm our Supreme Being, creator of the Universe,” things of that sort), and you have to assume that we’re well beyond 100,000 attempts to circumvent the court’s unambiguous ruling that you can’t pray in school, period.

And by the way, that very first Supreme Court school prayer case, Engel v. Vitale, revolved around a 22-word “nonsectarian” prayer that’s perhaps the lamest one ever written. It’s impossible to write a lamer one or a less offensive one, so just stop trying! Don’t believe me? Okay, I’m gonna go ahead and quote it:

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”

That’s it. That’s the entire New York State Regents’ Prayer. That’s the prayer that the Supreme Court struck down as a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Anyone who went to a New York public school in the fifties had to recite that every day, to the point that baby boomers, if reminded of it today, can’t get the annoying echo out of their head, like a bad Barry Manilow song—which is fitting, because Barry Manilow himself was actually one of those kids who had to recite the prayer beginning in the third grade and continuing through his graduation from Eastern District High School in Brooklyn. For all we know it’s the source of his lyrical inspiration.

I invite you to check out the whole piece here, then check back to share your thoughts...

List of possibilities...

First, the disclaimer, I'm blatantly stealing this from another blog:

Click here to check out Anonymous Opinion.

Now that that's out of the way, here's a fun little exercise -- go down the list and check off everything you have done, then think about things you might want to do, of course there's items on here no one would actually want to do as well.

Feel free to share any thoughts. I went through this and can say that 67 of the items apply to me -- so far.

Enjoy!

And, may 2008 bring about many adventures, opportunities, and blessings!

Ken



01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn't care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Really Random Stuff

There's this great store on Main Street in Newark that sells all kinds of great stuff. One thing is this collection of buttons with witty messages on them. I can't help but buy a few almost every time I go in the store. I've given away many - you know, you see the perfect one for a friend or relative, you have to get it for them. It's also a treat for my kids, “Go ahead, pick out a button, I'll buy it for you.”

My main collection (the ones I kept for myself) is scattered around my computer screen at home - I figured I'd share with you the little messages I have hanging around my place:

“Another Deadline, Another Miracle”

“Power corrupts, Absolute power is kind of neat.”

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts”

“You people and your quaint little categories”

“Angst-Free Zone: no wallowing!”

“If you're going to walk on thin ice, you might as well DANCE”

“Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice”

“Tact is for people who aren't witty enough for sarcasm”

“If your coalition isn't driving you crazy, it isn't broad enough”

“I'm one of THEM, and I vote”

“Little chance of success, Certainty of death. What are we waiting for?”

This is what Redemption is all about...

NPR has this series called "This I Believe" which encourages people to submit essays about their core beliefs. I enjoy the vast majority of them. This one just stopped me in my tracks.

To listen to the essay read by the author or to learn more, click here.

I believe in the power of redemption.

I was an interrogator at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I don't have any torture stories to share. I think many people would be surprised at the civilized lifestyle I experienced in Guantanamo. The detainees I worked with were murderers and rapists. You never forgot for a moment that, given the chance, they'd kill you to get out. Some committed crimes so horrific that I lost sleep wondering what would happen if they were set free.

But that is not the only reason I could not sleep; I had spent 18 months in Iraq just before my arrival in Cuba. First I served as a soldier for a year, and then returned as a civilian contractor because I felt I hadn't done enough to make a difference the first time. After the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, I left because I felt I could not make any difference anymore. Those events simply undermined all of our work.

I felt defeated and frightened and tired, and I hoped I could redeem myself by making a difference in Guantanamo. Still, I couldn't sleep. I was plagued with dreams of explosions and screaming. After being sleepless for more than 48 hours, I began to hallucinate. I thought people were planting bombs outside my house in Guantanamo. That was the night my roommate brought me to the hospital.

When I returned to work, I began to meet again with my clients, which is what I chose to call my detainees. We were all exhausted. Many of them came back from a war having lost friends, too. I wondered how many of them still heard screaming at night like I did.

My job was to obtain information that would help keep U.S. soldiers safe. We'd meet, play dominoes, I'd bring chocolate and we'd talk a lot. There was one detainee, Mustafa, who joked that I was his favorite interrogator in the world, and I joked back that he was my favorite terrorist — and he was. He'd committed murders and did things we all wished he could take back. He asked me one day, suddenly serious, "You know everything about me, but still you do not hate me. Why?"

His question stopped me cold. I said "Everyone has done things in their past that they're not proud of. I know I have, but I also know God still expects me to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. That means you."

Mustafa started to cry. "That's what my God says, too," he said.

Accepting Mustafa helped me accept myself again. My clients may never know this, but my year with them helped me to finally heal. My nightmares stopped.

I don't know what kind of a difference I made to the mission in Guantanamo. But I found redemption in caring for my clients, and I believe it saved my life — or at least my sanity. People say, "Hate the sin, not the sinner." That is easier said than done, but I learned that there is true freedom in accepting others unconditionally.

I believe we help to redeem each other through the power of acceptance. It is powerful to those who receive it and more powerful to those who give it.

Wrapping up 2007

Quick disclaimer:

I am fully aware that the calendar system we all use is pretty arbitrary, I am fully aware that the division of a year into 12 months and marking the point where we watch the numbers change on the year as January 1 has almost nothing to do with anything. For a comprehensive look at the whole measuring-time-calendar thing, I highly recommend the book "Questioning the Millennium" by Stephen Jay Gould -- it is incredible.

OK, now that that's out of the way, let me say this:

I love the whole concept of New Year's Day. This is something I actually mark in my own way for a couple of weeks.

I love spending time thinking about all that has occured in the year, I love everyone's year-end lists -- Best movies, best records (or CDs or whatever the kids are calling them these days), best books of the year, greatest triumphs, biggest embarassments, you name it, I love it!

I can tell you that 2007 has been an incredible year for me. From starting the year off on the unemployment line (well, actually had to wait until January 2 for that, the unemployment office wasn't open on Jan. 1) to spending the first half of the year wondering if I'd ever have a regular, full time job again to getting to spend some great time with family and friends to landing a job that turned out to be better than I ever could have imagined or hoped to getting to do some really neat side projects -- this year has been so much more than I ever could have dreamed a year ago.

Which leads to all kinds of thoughts about 2008!

Oh, one other thing -- I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions. I mean the new year is a great time to try something new, try to start a new ritual or something. But for Pete's sake, if you're going to eat less and exercise more, than just do it -- if you're going to quit smoking, just do it. Stop setting unrealistic expectations on a date, just do whatever you want to do -- really, do it, now!

So, how did 2007 treat you? What are your thoughts about 2008?

A kinder, gentler Christmas message

I think in most areas I can be diplomatic and tactful -- of course then there's the Christmas thing (see previous post).

Thankfully, I have some great people like Bill Barto willing to send along things that kind of carry the same message, but in a nicer way.

It appears that this is one of those e-mails someone created and has since made its rounds (in other words, I don't know who wrote it), but it seems to work. So, here's the nice version:

Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.

Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival.

Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime. How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on . If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember : I LOVE YOU, JESUS