Always Reforming

From Facebook to ESPN, the nation is currently obsessed with the protests of our National Anthem by highly paid athletes, particularly in the NFL.  Everyone with Internet access has suddenly discovered  a renewed sense of either patriotism or an antiestablishmentarianism, while the intellectuals bemoan the vapidity of sports.  We're all very socially conscious these days, it seems.  Aren't we all so evolved? Despite my jocularity on Facebook, I am deeply interested in this subject.  As I reviewed my blog from last year discussing this phenomenon, something struck me.  The protests continue, but nobody really even knows why anymore.  It was originally Colin Kaepernick's way of protesting police brutality, particularly against African-Americans.  Subsequent protests were acts of solidarity on the part of fellow players.  This year the protests are far more ambiguous.  They are protests against racism and hate.  They are attempts ...

Dear human race, Listen to your voicemails!  Okay?! Seriously, people.  It's really not that difficult of a concept to comprehend.  When someone calls you and leaves a message, please listen to that message before calling them back.  97% of the time the call back will be thereby rendered superfluous.  They have left that message in order to convey information.  Please gather that information before calling them back. Technology makes us lazy, they say.  If you're looking for convincing evidence, look no further than our unwillingness to spend 30 seconds of our lives listening to the audible message intended to convey important information.  Voicemail is basically magical.  You can actually press buttons on your phone and, if that person isn't available to speak to you, you can speak to a "mail box" on the other end.  When that person has the requisite amount of time, he/she can somehow listen to the sound of your voice on their phon...

Dear children, Someday people will most likely make comments about your names.  Those comments may occasionally be derogatory or confused ("Are you Amish?!"), but will typically be complimentary or benign.  "Oh, what a nice name!" they'll say.   You're welcome. Please don't think that this is unintentional. Your mother and I have made every effort to grant you names that attract attention, not because we want to be those hipsters who came up with the world's most original names, but because we want your names to mean something.  You see, your names are more than just words used to beckon or identify you.  They are opportunities to proclaim the Gospel to the world.  They are occasions of worship.  They are ideals we hope become realities in your life--not merely names, but epithets. This emphasis on the importance of names by no means originated with me.  This idea pervades the Bible (as it did the cultures of the ancient world) and was...

A few weeks ago an odd and tragic event occurred at the funeral home across from where I work. My coworkers and I heard shouting and saw police cars and an ambulance in the parking lot, and we wondered what could possibly necessitate those things at a funeral.  We found out later that a family member had shown up and caused a ruckus at the funeral of a young man who had passed away.  My coworkers and I couldn't help but to wonder what could possibly drive someone at a funeral to behave in such a way that law enforcement had to intervene.  Is this individual simply that dense?  Is he/she that unaware of funeral etiquette?  Did he/she just not care?  Our minds were thoroughly boggled.  I could only come to one conclusion: it was grief.  I'd like to say a few words about the power of grief.  I have written about grief before, but I feel it bears repeating.  Truth be told, grief is one of the few life experiences about which I am personall...

Ahem. Why does it seem like every time someone posts a positive affirmation on Facebook, 85,000 people feel the need to defend the inverse or opposite position, as if the positive affirmation necessarily acts as a denial of it?  Allow me to give you an example: Positive affirmation: "I like coffee with milk in it." Comment section: "Why don't you like coffee with sugar in it?" "Why don't you like tea?" "I like coffee and tea and, therefore, I am a much more complete human being than you!" And, of course, let's not forget about this gem: "I'm only here for the comments." (extra points for a Michael Jackson meme inserted) Now, I don't like coffee, but that's not the point.  The point is that the positive affirmation does not necessarily imply any of the ideas rejected by the comments.  Perhaps the person posting about their coffee also likes tea.  Perhaps he (or she--let's not be sexist here) dri...

Evangelical (what does that even really mean anymore?) leaders recently released a declaration regarding sexuality.   The Nashville Statement  (hereafter NS) is simultaneously concise, thorough, and Biblical.  As would be expected, it is causing a bit of a stir in the media and across the Internet, where it is generally being portrayed as the hateful vitriol of outdated homophobes.  Here are my initial thoughts on the statement and its subsequent reception. 1) It is sad that it is necessary.   You know how pathetic it is that your cup of hot coffee has to have a warning that says that the contents are hot?  Yeah, the fact that the NS is necessary is sort of like that. Christians believe that homosexuality is wrong?  What?!  Christians believe that gender and sex are related?  What?!  Christians believe sex outside of marriage is wrong?  Again, what?!  This is all so shocking!  Be still, my beating heart!  All the p...

Weary and exhausted, Kirk Adams found himself plodding across Missouri on some back-road highway. "Faster?  Yeah, right!" he thought.  "I should've stayed on 70."  He was travelling west across the country in search of something more than small-town life in Ohio could provide.  At age 24 he was searching for a job, for a home, for himself.  He wasn't sure where he was going, but he would go as far as his crimson '99 Camry would take him.  He snapped his head backwards as he caught himself dozing.  He couldn't remember how long he had been driving and it was now after midnight. A pale moon and distant stars were the only lights besides his hazy headlights.  He yanked his head up again.  "Man," he thought, "I need to find somewhere to stop."  He flipped through the channels until he found a decent song--Hotel California--and cranked it up as loudly as it would play without destroying his speakers.  He opened his windows to let in so...