I’m turning 50 this week. 

I’m not yet fifty — it’s just one day away — but I thought I’d lead you through my journey, and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two that will help you on your journey.

Alone, But Not

You know how it is when you feel less alone when someone else can understand your pain?

There are days when I live like a practical atheist. 

Not that I don’t care about God, but that I don’t even think about God.

Today begins a three-part series on chains that lock us down. 

By that I mean that:

They shackle us to selfishness
They clamp our compassion
They fasten our desire to offer forgiveness
They latch us to loneliness
They padlock our potential

Today’s two chains poison us:

Gotta Be My Way – If we spend all our time demanding that others think and sound like we do we’ll never really learn, much less embrace, what they think.

Drama Dragger – Trying to drag others into our emotional slop so they will make us feel better never works for long.

I’ve read and valued Patrick Morley’s book Man In The Mirror.  I found it relevant, poignant and inspirational.  I had not read anything by Patrick Morley in years, but I was anticipating more of the same.

I was not disappointed.

Morley has a great reputation, and based on my experiences he certainly knows what he’s talking about.

Whether I would choose to refer to his “7 Primal Needs” as primal not I did agree with him that they were of import.

Man Alive: Transforming Your 7 Primal Needs into a Powerful Spiritual Life is based on his decades of discipling and mentoring men.

Amy and I saw incredible beauty and riches in Hawaii, and we saw signs of tragedy and injustice.

Challenges

“How many steps does it take to become homeless? It depends.

Remember the owl in the old tootsie pop commercial? He would ask how many licks to get to the center of the pop; take a few and then chomp down on it. Task accomplished.

So needless to say it doesn’t take all that much to hit the streets for survival.

Each morning just before the dawn surfers wake up, grab their gear, paddle out and head out into the surf. There they look, listen, feel, notice, observe, calculate, analyze and determine based on all those factors what the surf will be like that day.

Water is a mighty force. The waves on the North Shore are among the mightiest. It’s important to acknowledge their power.

To fear the Lord means to acknowledge God’s great power, God’s complete authority over us, and all of creation, and God’s terrible hatred of the pollution of sin.

When I was a child I loved black licorice, cherry licorice, chocolate, and, well, almost all candy.  Candy was tasty, and in short supply in my house.  Candy, I believed, brought me happiness.  I wanted candy, and I needed cash to buy candy. 

I picked up pennies in the ground, checked phone booths and candy machines for unclaimed change.  I was always on the lookout for stray money.

Stray Money

When I was eleven or so I went with a youth leader and a group of boys for pizza.  I must admit I’m not certain what my previous experiences were in restaurants, but I know what I did that night.

On Friday Shannon read this story that my dad had sent to us.  It captured my attention.  I hope it captures yours too.

“DON’T LEAVE IT ON THE DESK”

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States .

Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course their freshman year, regardless of his or her major.

When tempers flare during your holiday gatherings here’s another piece of wise advice:

Choose to not to use hurtful words.

A hot-tempered person starts fights;
a cool-tempered person stops them.

Everyone enjoys a fitting reply;
it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time! [Proverbs 15:18, 23]

You do not have to hurt the other person back.  Their words do not have power over you, you do.

It’s cost awareness that prompted President Obama’s health care plan.  It’s cost awareness that prompted his supporters to support his plan.  And, it’s cost awareness that prompts his detractors to scream and howl.

I must admit that the dollar signs and costs of the health care plan has caused me to glaze over.  I also glaze over when:

- A baseball player, even one as good as Ryan Howard, needs $125 million dollars to play a game he loves.

- I cannot grasp the benefit of searching for Noah’s Ark

- I cannot grasp the complexity of the debt problems in Greece