Here is a great post by my friend Lisa. She uses a word that relates with her experience that I can’t use from my own. Here’s the address to her thoughts:

Let’s Put the Kettle On: The Famine and Michael

I’m having a hard time putting my head around the global celebration of a man whose life was flickering out in obscurity just months ago. Why is it that after a person is dead everyone talks about how important, meaningful, and great their lives were? Maybe if Michael Jackson had this kind of support before he died he wouldn’t have had the end of his be so isolating, estranged, and detached. But I guess talking about how great a person is after they are gone is a lot easier than taking up the responsibility and sacrifice that relationship requires. Once again…we come across the idea of famine, only this is the famine of substance that I think Lisa articulates so well…

(just to be certain you know this…my opinions don’t necessarily reflect Lisa’s)

I’m tired of Facebook…this is rant about it.

I’m no longer a fan of everyone knowing stuff about me that I have accepted as a ‘friend’. Don’t you think that having a thousand ‘friends’ that you never see or share life cheapening the word? The word used to mean something…now it just means people that I’ve accepted to see my personal information and pictures online.

Facebook has a way of creating a sense of false connection in some relationships. Some interaction on Facebook is ‘real’ because it actually effects the real life I live day to day. But some interaction creates a weird sense of connection…I say weird because these connections don’t really connect with anything in the life that I touch on a daily basis. Like does it really matter when I write things like, “Justin is going to bed.” Or “Justin is getting ready to eat lunch.” While it is good to get in touch with people around the world, I just don’t think that getting play-by-play of people’s lives is really creating a real relationship. Information and knowledge about someone is not relationship with someone. Even information that builds on actual relationship is easily skewed because words created on a web page are not a replacement for the person.

I believe that this false sense of knowing is actually harmful to the development of real relationships in our daily lives.

Facebook is a networking tool that I enjoy, but when we look to it for a sense of relationship it can displace us from reality. Why would I want to spend time reading the status updates of people whom I never see, when my daughter is sitting on the floor wanting to play with me? Or when my neighbor needs help moving? Or when I could be playing guitar? If I really wanted to learn about how a friend a doing, how is reading their status update a good replacement for picking up the phone or meeting for coffee?

I don’t want to be extremist or anything, but I do want to be honest with myself about how well I am actually doing engaging with the world around me. Virtual reality will never replace actual reality.

I went to Jen’s brother’s Marine Corps boot camp graduation on Friday (which was really cool and great to see Eric) so military was already on the mind when this quote:

“Soldiers realize that it’s war that makes Generals”
Seth Godin – Tribes

I immediately thought about the reality that it’s the war of life that builds our faith. As I was thinking about this another thought came to my mind:

The people written about in the Bible were people who said and did radical things to challenge, and therefore change, the status quo. They heard from and obeyed God. They spoke with confidence, despite the message, because their closeness to God gave them the confidence that their words were from Him. Fear, laziness, desire for peace, or comfort wouldn’t deter these people from being the voice of truth. These were people who willingly went to war, even against their own people, and they came out heroes and generals of the faith.

What wars are you in? What challenges are you experiencing? Are you content being a soldier or do you want to be a general? Who are the generals that you want to be like?

(Side-note: I wonder, where are the prophets in the Church today? Are they in the Church or not? Have they been ostracized? If they were welcomed back how long would it take for them to be uninvited?)

This morning we woke up at 6am. Normally when I’m getting up that early on a Sunday it’s because I’m heading off to a church service. Today we were heading off to a Cheerleading competition that my little niece Avery was in. I have to be honest, I was skeptical about going. I’m a boy (in case you didn’t know) and I grew up going to baseball, soccer, and softball tournaments. Manly stuff. Where men and women were yelling things like, “Be more aggressive Johnny” or “Keep your eye the ball Billy!” or “Good Eye”. Things that under normal circumstances one probably wouldn’t say…well, I guess it depends on your job. If your an optometrist…I digress.

Like I was saying, this cheerleading thing was way out of my scope of normal. Dads wearing pink. Mom’s applying masses of makeup. Normal people blowing horns, shaking noisemakers, and cheering like we were vikings getting ready to go to war. Except this was for 4-8 year old junior cheerleaders!

After about 45 minutes my culture shock began to wear off. I think it was in part because I asked God to help me with it. I was beginning to get bugged by all the hooplah, and I just didn’t get it. On top of that, the ‘good Christian’ was feeling a bit of guilt for not being at a church service on Palm Sunday. So I prayed. I asked God to help me see this with Kingdom eyes…and they were opened.

Instead of seeing little girls way too done up for their age (except my niece, who looked beautiful!) I was seeing little girls who were being esteemed and valued. And it wasn’t just the ‘perfect’ ones or the ones that we would say did a good job. They even did the ultimate American thing: Gave every girl a ‘first-place’ trophy. The quasi-European in me balked big time at this. This is just not realistic in the real world. But in a bizarre, Kingdom way, it’s perfectly normal to believe that all are going to be given first place trophies some day. I guess when you ask for Kingdom eyes…things jump out.

So Jesus was entering into Jerusalem. A king riding on a donkey. Bringing both judgment, yet hope for those who would join His way. Creation was just days away from Jesus initiating the beginning of the re-creation of all things. Love, beauty, laughter, joy, celebration are all significant qualities of the Kingdom that I follow Jesus into. And I choose to join this new creation (and be a new creation) that he put into effect on that Palm Sunday years ago. Today, I cheered for little girls in red glittery outfits as if my voice and laughter could somehow, in someway, be Kingdom-music to their ears. To be a pre-cursor to the Kingdom music that they’ll hear from Jesus himself when they all, I pray, meet Him.

So, here’s to Palm Sunday, and cheering for the little ones in whom we see the Kingdom!

***Oh…and photo credit has to go to Jen…who is a great photographer!