“We may not be directly to blame for the sufferings of others, but we cannot ignore the connections,” wrote Christopher Wright.

Wright, the author of The God I Don’t Understand challenges us to see our deep connection to the pain, suffering and impact of evil in our world.

“Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

I had some shame stirring as I woke up: rude to my wife, messy with my stuff, snoring, gingivitis, etc. God knows I can digress if I sit in my junk for long.

When I do, I felt like a wreck. I know some of you have felt the same way:

I’m not even strong enough for myself
I’m falling to pieces
Honestly don’t care about anything anymore
Can’t go on living like this
I need someone to listen. No one can help me.

Fortunately, God is listening.

On the way to work in the back of my mind was playing:

I wrote my first Spoken Word poem today.

Some would say, “I wish he would crush me.
I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me…
But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me…my cry to him reached his ears…

He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock…

Broomball In A Blizzard

The snow fell relentlessly. By the end of the game the ice on the rink was covered by inches of snow.

My friend Matt Benson, pictured here, was playing goalie during this Spring storm. He lay in goal on a comfy layer of fresh snow.

He’s safe but more than once while playing broomball I’ve been bruised and bloodied, but on this particular day I felt nearly invincible.

Snow fell while we raced across the ice. The falling snow made falling on the ice a far safer venture than usual.

Breakaways & Broken Spirits

A beautiful February day filled with sunshine, laughter and friends.  It was a TreeHouse staff retreat and we had the morning and afternoon off.  A group of us headed to a local hockey rink for some broomball.

Since many players enjoying scoring goals more than stopping them I volunteered to play goalie for our team.  I also knew that most if not all the players were more athletic and better broomball players that I was. I also assumed that the differences in our abilities would be less evident with me in goal.

On more than one occasion someone has suggested that I am competitive. The truth is they’re right, but it’s much deeper than that “I am competitive.”

Broomball

I learned to play broomball courtesy of Bethel U’s VP Ralph Gustafson. In 1987 Ralph was the youth pastor of Bethel Baptist Church of Green Bay, WI. I was Ralph’s “Youth Ministry Associate” or some such title. I worked long hours, got paid for a few and loved my boss and the teens so much I volunteered the rest of the time.

I’ve read a couple of Stephen Arterburn books. Since I believe that Healing is a Choice I chose to give tHealing is a Choice a read.

The author explores 10 choices that he believes we need to make if we are to experience genuine and lasting healing.

1. The Choice to Connect your life
Lie – All I need to heal is just God and me.

2. The Choice to Feel your life
Lie – Real Christians should have peace in all circumstances

3. The Choice to Investigate Your Life in Search of Truth
Lie – It does no good to look back or look inside

True intimacy provides significance and security.

Significance is “a purpose for living which will give me a real and lasting impact on my world and a purpose which I am completely adequate to accomplish.”

Security comes from unconditional love, at TreeHouse we call it “love without strings.”.  “People need that kind of love.  We need, really need, to be loved as we are, loved at our worst.  We need to regard ourselves as worthwhile.  In order to do so, we must not only be significant but also be secure in the unconditional love of another person.”