Familiar, but different

It looks like some of the rivers and streams by where I used to live ... but it isn't.

Photo taken at Disneyland, Nov. 19.

Read Anything Good Lately?

I do a lot of reading. Sometimes I buy books, and sometimes I get them from the library. I never seem to be able bring myself to write formal reviews of the books I'm reading (even though I know a lot of blog readers like reading book reviews), but here are some short reviews "in brief" of some books I've read in recent weeks...


The Wild Trees by Richard Preston. This book is fascinating. Did you know that there is a whole new world, largely undiscovered, existing in the branches of California's redwoods? So few people have ventured up there, 200 and 300 feet above the ground. Some branches are so large that a whole forest, with many different types of trees, plants, and animals, sprout from the soil that collects on them! This book is an account not only of the trees, but of the individuals who have begun exploring them in recent decades. Their lives are as interesting as the trees they study, and this is one of my favorite books of the year.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. An enjoyable read, like Brown's other novels; however, several scenes of torture were too violent and gruesome for my taste, and at one point I considered not finishing the book. The plot is highly contrived, and often serves no purpose other than as a vehicle to convey Brown's theological and philosophical ideas. Many pages in the novel consist of nothing more than one character explaining these ideas to another. I can't imagine scenes like this being made into a movie (although I'm sure Hollywood will try). For me, though, it was the theology and philosophy that was interesting, and kept me reading.

The First Paul by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Like The Wild Trees, I found this book at my local library. It was published this year (2009), so I was pleasantly surprised to see it there on the shelves. I can't believe I haven't read more of Borg and Crossan. At this point in my ministry, some of their ideas are not new to me, and yet they present them in ways that make it easier for me (as a pastor) to share them with my congregation. This book is an excellent exploration of the biblical writings attributed to the Apostle Paul, and how Paul's thoughts were adopted and transformed by subsequent writers using his name. The authors show how Paul was a radical on issues such as women and slavery, and how subsequent generations twisted his ideas into something more conservative and reactionary. I'm now inspired to read some of Borg's and Crossan's older books, and am looking forward to Marcus Borg's visit to Chapman Univeristy's Founders' Day next spring.

No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. In the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Will Turner says "This is either madness or brilliance," to which Jack Sparrow replies, "It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide." Reading No Impact Man, I'm struck by both the madness and the brilliance of the author, who convinced his family to live for a year having as little environmental impact as possible. Their goal was to produce no trash and no carbon emissions, which meant buying food without packaging, walking or biking everywhere, turning off their electricity, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator, even though they lived--and worked--in New York high-rise buildings. Along the way, they faced some very difficult challenges, but also discovered new meaning and joy. Beaven's goal is not to convince readers that everyone should live like that; rather, he wants readers to understand how the choices they make affect the planet, and that many of the "conveniences" in life actually do little to improve the quality of life. It's an excellent book that I'm now reading through for a second time.

I went for a short hike in the hills the other day, and found some fall color. Yes, California has a little bit of fall color, but you have to search for it.

Is It True?

Several people have expressed concern for me after reading last week's post. (Wow, people really do read this blog!) Let me clarify. "The Pastor's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" is a highly fictionalized account of what I was feeling on one particular day. As the story's conclusion points out: "some days are like that." It doesn't matter if you're a pastor or Alexander (the protagonist in Judith Viorst's story, upon which my story is based). It doesn't matter if you're the happiest, richest person in the world. Some days are like that.

How much of my story is actually true? Well, it depends on what one means by true. I'm told that someone once asked Fred Craddock (a prominent Disciples preacher) how many of his stories are true. Supposedly, he replied that all of them are true, because they happen to countless people every day.

In that sense, what I wrote is true. It's true enough that other pastors who read it immediately identified with it. One even told me to submit it for publication to various magazines. The details of the story may not be true for them (many of the details aren't even true for me), and yet the story as a whole is true.

What else is true? It is true that ministry can be, at times, frustrating and depressing. So much of a minister's focus is on the world as it can be: an idealized world, the world as God intends it to be; the "kingdom of God," the beloved community; a world in which there is no more crying, a world where lions and lambs live in peace, a world in which valleys are exalted and hills brought low.

But we still live and do ministry in "the real world," the world as it is. Last week, for example, the news here in Long Beach focused on a high-school honors student who was shot and killed following a homecoming football game. She was an innocent bystander, caught in the crossfire of a gang dispute. Surely the church of Christ is called to respond to such violence in our midst--but how? And why does it seem that it's so hard for us to "make a difference" in the world? After all, we've been trying for 2,000 years.

There are many other reminders of the fact that, even though the kingdom of God is "among us," it is also not yet fully realized. If it were, would we be facing budget crises that are making things so hard for so many, and especially hard for those who had it hard to begin with? Would our members be struggling to find employment? Would our volunteers need to be fingerprinted before working with youth? Would ministry everywhere continue to be weakened by personality conflicts and misplace priorities?

(I say this, fully aware that many of the misplaced priorities are my own.)

However, there are some other things I know to be true.

It is true that the ministry of the church really does make a big difference in the lives of its members, and in the world. It is also true that sometimes the pastor, sitting at his desk on a Monday morning, might--for a moment or two--lose sight of this, and fail to see the wider picture.

It is true, for me at least, that it is the greatest joy in the world to know that, despite my imperfections, I am called by God and by a congregation of God's people to preach the gospel and invite the gathered community to the Lord's Table.

It is true that everyone has a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" now and then. Even in Australia. It is also true that "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days" usually don't last, at least not for most of us. When people do experience seemingly endless days like that, to them God provides strength, and to the rest of us, God provides opportunities for ministry.

Finally, it is true that I am blessed to be where I am; blessed by my family and my church. There's no other place I'd rather be. Not even Australia.

Ocean View

So tomorrow is a holiday. The kids are out of school. The Veteran's Day parade was Saturday, and there's nothing on the calender for the day. Well, except for Ethan's play practice in the morning. And I don't know if my wife's evening class is cancelled for the holiday or not. But either way, there will still be an afternoon that is open. The question is, should I do some chores around the house? or go for a walk someplace nice, someplace like this, where the family went for a stroll earlier this year:

The Pastor's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I went to sleep hoping for a divine vision, but if it came, I couldn't remember because the kids cried out all night and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped over the dog and by mistake I cut myself while shaving and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

At breakfast there were Rice Krispees for Ethan and Kix for Tristan but when I reached for my box of Cheerios, it was empty, and I'm also out of green tea, and I didn't notice the Kix that fell on the floor until I stepped on them.

I think I'll move to Australia.

I rode my bike to church because I care about the environment (and my wife has the car this morning), but on the way a truck almost ran me into a guardrail. I yelled to the driver that I was being smushed (or something to that effect). He didn't care.

I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

At church, one member told me how much she likes Joel Osteen's sermons, but she didn't say anything about mine. Another member called to tell me that I'm not in the office enough, while I third member sent an email complaining I don't spend enough time visiting shut-ins.

I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I could tell because when I got online, I noticed that one of the church youth un-friended me on facebook. He said it wasn't cool to have pastor leaving comments on his home page.

I hope your efforts to get the old facebook back fail, I said to him. I hope your farmville barn gets swept up in a tornado and crashes down in Australia.

The secretary got a coupon for a free Jamba Juice in the mail, and the music director got a free CD with cool music on it. Guess who got only junk mail?

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

That's what it was, because I got the directions wrong to the clergy association meeting and arrived twenty minutes late, missing the free lunch. We'll save you some next month, I was told.

Next month, I said, I'm going to Australia.

So then we started talking about how ministry was going. The Episcopalian priest just got a big raise, the Methodist minister welcomed five new families last week, and the Baptist preacher said that his youth group just finished building a new school for orphans in Mongolia. I felt like crying because my biggest accomplishment of the week was unclogging the toilet in the men's room, and I hadn't received a raise in three years.

I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, I started to say, but I realized that no one wanted to hear that.

When I got back to the chruch I finished my sermon, but the computer crashed before I could save it. Then I tried restoring the file but ended up spamming the entire congregation. When, an hour later, the computer was running again, I replied to an email from the board chair, letting her know how frustrated I was with a certain committee chair, except that I accidentally clicked "reply all," and so I had to send another email apologizing to everyone.

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

The treasurer stopped by to talk about the budget and I hate talking about budgets.

There was a hint of judgment in my "verse of the day" and I hate judgment.

The copier jammed, I couldn't find the book I wanted, my bank says I'm overdrawn, and the phone company wants me to pay my bill. I hate the phone company.

On the way home a teenager yelled at me out his car window, and then I went to make dinner but all we had was a box of mac and cheese, and when I drained the water, half the pasta fell into the sink.

I went to tuck the kids in bed, but they said they wanted their mom instead of me.

It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

My wife says some days are like that.

Even in Australia.

...with apologies to Judith Viorst

Is This Spooky, or What?

The pictures in the previous post and this post are from the Historical Society of Long Beach's Cemetery Tour on October 31. Ethan was asked to be a "ghost child," wandering around the graveyard, especially near the graves of children who died a century ago. However, this tombstone near the cemetery's entrance seemed a more fitting spot to take his picture.

Ethan enjoyed the day. Visitors had the opportunity to witness a dozen or so historical vignettes, performed by actors which, I'm told, even included the mayor of Long Beach. Over 1,500 people attended.