On the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

These thoughts were recorded in 1998 as I prepared to journey to Eastern Europe for a three-year mission term. On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, I thought I'd re-post them here.

In 1987, I made a choice. I was in Germany and had a free weekend to sightsee. My wife and I had been in Munich a couple of weeks before and I had enjoyed the visit. On this free weekend, I could return to Munich (which was familiar and "known") or I could journey to Berlin (the unfamiliar and "unknown"). I elected to return to Munich and enjoyed the weekend.

Two years later, I watched with millions of others around the world as "The Wall" came down, reuniting the divided city. At that moment I realized I had missed an opportunity that would never again be available to me. I had missed an opportunity because I had opted for the safe, familiar and comfortable destination rather than the one that held some "risk" for me.

For some reason I reflected on this experience this weekend as I thought about the people God brings into my life every day. Some I will never meet again. Others need a kind word of encouragement. Still others may learn something from our encounter that will impact the rest of their lives. For others, God might use the opportunity to draw someone into a personal relationship with Him.

God, help me recognize the opportunities of lifetimes. May I never turn from their challenges by escaping into the familiar and comfortable.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiahless/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Where did that come from? Redux

In the last post to this blog (a long time ago), I told the story about how a 10-digit number popped into my head while filling out a deposit slip at the bank. It was my oft-used, long-time frequent flier number.

Last week, I received a note from my airline explaining that, since they had merged with another operation, I now have a new frequent flier number. Really. After 23 years, I now have a new number.

I thought it was a loyalty program! How loyal can it be if it can be -gasp - changed without my knowledge or consent. It's my number! I want it back! Even if it is for my own good. Yeah, right.

Laughable isn't it. I found myself caught up in the "how dare they change anything without my consent."

Change. No one likes it. But it is necessary. That's been my mantra. I've used that line all too often. And, you know? Now that the shoe is on my foot, it fits. I embrace change.

And, in 23 years, maybe I'll have it memorized, too. Like the combination to the lock I used in high school and lost years ago.

Where did that come from?

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the bank to deposit a check. I do not carry deposit slips, but complete counter slips in the lobby. I filled out the slip from memory, including the branch number of the bank and my account number - all 10 digits.

After handing over the deposit to the teller, I watched her enter the data into the terminal and verify it. The expression on her face changed, and she re-entered the account number.

"That number is wrong, isn't it?" I asked.

"I think so," she replied.

I removed the slip of paper from my wallet with my account number and she made the correction. What troubled me was that I had no idea where the 10 digits I had written on the deposit slip came from. It surfaced in my memory without effort. It was the right length. I continued to stare at the number and wrote it on the receipt to so I could figure out where it came from.

Later in the afternoon, I did a search for the number on my PDA. Immediately it popped up in context, and I laughed out loud. My son looked at me with curiosity. I told him what had happened. Then, I apologized for having traveled so much when he was younger. That 10-digit number? My Delta Frequent Flier account.

Where did that number come from? From my experience. Yet another example of how we must be careful about what we take in from our experience - what we see, read, hear, etc. For, as my pastor says often, "what is down in the well, comes up in the bucket."

Did you wake up with worry?

In these uncertain times, it's not difficult to find something to worry about.

Someone has said, "Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday."

So, did your worry yesterday change anything? If something changed, it probably wasn't a result of your worry, but your perspective.

Jesus said it this way: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? -- Matt 6:25-30 (HCSB)

Stripes with Plaids

There are a number of websites I read daily. Sailing Scuttlebutt is one of those. It is a summary of links related to Sailing and Sail Racing. It also concludes with CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION, which is a quote or observation that is normally quite humorous. Such as the following:

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.” - Albert Einstein

Don't really have time to elaborate. You can see the point. Slippery Slopes are just that. Once you start down them, it's hard to stop. As you go through your day today, beware of compromise. We don't need anyone else wearing stripes with plaids or dark socks with shorts.

Lightning Storm

During a time of prayer on Wednesday, I had a strong sense from God that I needed to rearrange my schedule to include a visit with my parents on Thursday. It wasn't difficult to do so. The unique thing was that God seemed to be speaking very clearly. So, I did so yesterday.

Last night, as we sat in the living room - watching TV, talking and me catching up on e-mail - a storm rolled in. Actually, it had been all around us for an hour, but after checking the NOAA weather radar, I commented that it looked like a big cell was heading our way. A few minutes later, the rain intensified, and it sounded like hail was bouncing around.

Now, I like a good storm. The raw power of nature is awesome ( in the truest sense of the word) to me. I love watching lightning, feeling the rain and wind, and just listening to the sounds. After growing frustrated wth my wireless connection dropping in and out, Dad and I walked out to the carport. to watch.

The storm was close. Popcorn-sized (not golf-ball) hail was bouncing around. I was standing on the doorstep and dad was just inside the door. FLASH/POW! The hair on my arm stood up. I grabbed Dad's arm. I'm not a jumpy guy, but that startled me. We were now standing in the darkness as several lights were out. Wow.

We went inside and reset several breakers in the electrical panel. Noticed several lights were still out as the strike had caused them to burn out. Then I noticed a smoky haze. As a former firefighter, I began searching for the source. First stop, the attic. All clear. The haze was very light, had an electrical smell and was getting marginally thicker.

Mom had not moved from the recliner. She just kept saying "that whole corner lit up." So, I walked over to the corner and saw little bits of plastic in the floor. And two ends of what used to be one wire. And smoke marks. Apparently the lightning struck of flashed the TV antenna on top of the house and basically exploded at a connector joint. Mystery solved.

Now the inventory. Everything attached to that antenna was damaged: 2 TVs, 2 VCRs, and a satellite receiver. (Insurance has already told them to go shopping today. They have "good neighbors.")

I sat down to blog this last night, but found that I had no internet connection. Troubleshooting that led to fried wires in the phone junction box as well. Not sure about the DSL modem after checking it again this morning.

Storms still amaze me. I still like them. And nothing was damaged that can't be replaced. But there is a larger point. The extraordinary from the ordinary. Here it is.

I was there.

Because I was listening and willing to change my plans, I was there. While Mom and Dad could have handled everything without me, I'd like to think I made it a little easier for them. Because I was there. And, I experienced a really big storm from dead center, right in the middle of the chaos, make your hair stand on end ground zero.

Are you listening today? Is He calling you to make some adjustments to you plans? Can you hear Him? Are you willing?

Being Present in the Present

Until now, it's something only my Men's Fraternity small group knew. Something that I've been striving for. Something that has been challenging, but in the fleeting moments of success, something that has paid great dividends in my relationship with my family. My goal has been to increasingly "be present in the present."

Say what? Well, it means that when I'm with my family, I try to put what has happened up until that moment out of my mind. And, I try not to let my mind wander into the demands of the future. Finally, and this is the most difficult, I have to set aside the gadgets, quit trying to multi-task (which, by the way, I've come to believe is not possible) and focus on the immediate needs of the relationship.

Wow. That has been challenging for me. But, I think I'm making incremental progress. And now, the biggest test of all is upon me. And I'm going cold turkey.

Spring break is upon us. We have not had a family vacation that did not involve a visit to our extended family in years. So, we have been saving our time and money for this vacation. On Monday, we snagged a last minute deal to stretch our vacation dollars. Tomorrow we will leave for six days of "just the four of us and a couple of thousand other people" fun in the sun, sand, and water.

The test? When we leave home tomorrow, I'll leave without my computer. GASP! And, on Sunday, when we leave the car in the parking lot, my cell phone will be in it. ARRGH! Unplugged. No Twitter. No Facebook. No blog (not that that is a big stretch these days...). No Drudgereport. No e-mail (I'm sure I'll pay for that when I return).

It's my choice. It's an investment in the relationships that are most important to me. I want to be present in the present. No distractions. No intrusions. Just un-interrupted time with my family.

I'll let you know how it goes when I plug in again next week.

New Computer

My absence from this space is, in part, a result of changing computers. The system I was using had to be reassigned, so I took the opportunity to move into the ultra-portable, tablet PC world. After a warranty claim, a reshipment that was held up in customs, and a climb up the learning curve, I finally got Scribe Fire configured again.

I know, I could have posted directly w/o this platform, however, old habits die hard. I've been reminded of that point in the last week as I grew accustomed to Vista, MS Office '07 and several other new twists related to the new system.

Each of us are continuously creating new habits. Would it not be in our best interest to make sure that the habits we are forming are helpful and not harmful? Old habits die hard. Let's make it easy on ourselves.

How happy are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times. Psalms 106:3 (HCSB)