Double Team

I know an athlete who over the years has been and will continue to play against two teams everytime they step on the floor.
First the team they face... Looking to take the ball away from that athlete, looking to score against them, looking to better them at every turn. This is true of all athletes and your best friend is motivation, desire, and positive feelings about yourself.
But what if you live in a world where your brain lies to you every day. It tells you that you " will not make it " " You should give up " and tells you at some point, despite all attempts to alter brain chemistry, " there is no hope "..." there is no point in playing " . I have spoken with this athlete and asked what they do when this happens. Their answer is to plead with the God that made them...for Him to show you that there is motivation from somewhere else to carry on. Imagine what it is like when fans don't understand the flagging motivation, your coach sees it as selfishness, and the athlete in question sees it all as a personal failure...and yet...at times I am amazed: This young athlete gets angry, demands playing time, and at times triumphs over both teams they face at the same time. This athlete calls the clinical depression that has dogged her since adolescence kicked in: the " Dragons " . Sometimes the athlete has told me " the dragons have got me by the arse and they wont let go " and I tell her that her Irish Grandmother long ago struggled with the same lies that told her to " take her own life " or that there is " no hope" and yet they both found the God that long ago, and today , who says " when there is no hope left I will be your hope, I will chase the Dragons away for a time..."

Turnaround and Look Back...

There is no denying it...50...50...50...50...I am turning...well I think you get it. And yet, I feel gooooooood. I am just getting started. Yeah, life has been good before this birthday. I say to people " hey it's been 50 years of fun and frolic " But, no, it hasn't always been... I have had men in balaclavas point AK47's at my head during one of my trips to Ireland, I have had my jaw broken in Gastown when I was 19, I have been rushed to the hospital when I had meningitis.My left shoulder has been dislocated three times. I have been shot at by drunk hunters. I have been attacked by a man with a knife in a travel trailer and witnessed the aftermath of a hanging. I have experienced the decision to take my own life at one point... My guess is that if you talk to any man over 50, he has some stories...Yes, some good, very good memories as well. I remember talking with Pierre Trudeau and shaking his hand, I have seen the Hollies, beach boys, stones, and many other bands in their prime.I have been to every province in this country before I turned 17. I have lived as a child in this nation when children truly ran free. In those long summers we would leave the house at 8:30 am at the age of 6 to 12 and come back only for meals. I have watched people being born and I have seen people pass away before me: violently and peacefully. In all of this, the Jesus who has always been there, whether I sought him or not, seems to be so much more than I ever thought possible. I always smile inside when people ask me " where was God? " during some disaster or horrible crime or war. He was... and is always...there to pick up the pieces from our inhumanity to each other. I have in no way become cynical about God. I still retain a sense of romance about the possibilities life holds. I owe all of this to the God that made me and the way he has worked through so many others. Will there be other difficulties and downturns in the rest of my life ? Definitely...but Jesus will be there even when my heart is overwhelmed and I don't believe he is closeby. How do I know this ? Because across 50 years of life, I see him so clearly when I take the time to turnaround and look back...

Driving Miss ( Mr.) Daisy...

I was driving back to Mission from the mall in abbotsford today . It was around 6pm so it was already dark. Highway 11 is of course 4 lane now and a concrete median separates the north/south traffic. Imagine my surprise when I saw a set of headlights coming towards me ! Apparently an older gentleman had turned off of a side road and he was moving slowly in the wrong direction. I pulled over rightaway to see if I could help him get turned around . Fortunately everyone else had slowed down and some other people had already directed him around and back onto a side road. I was pleased that no one in this case was blindly racing down the road or too pissed off to notice that there was a very old man who was confused and in immediate danger. I was glad that we weren't too caught up in our own life dramas and problems to stop and protect someone's father/grandfather . It reminded me of something I read in one of Scott William's blogs not so long ago... " our troubles seem so large until we realize that so many others suffer in ways we cannot imagine. we are spoiled and coddled and selfish. we whine about what we do not have, instead of what we do. we wonder why our spiritual lives never seem 'victorious' yet we are unwilling and wholely unprepared to let ourselves live. reminds me of the quote once again from the 'Shawshank Redemption'. time to 'get on with living or get on with dying.'..."
I'm back on the New Heights blog. Thank you Susan. The way it happened dosn't matter. What's really important ?
I mean , I could be 35 years older driving down highway 11 the wrong way. But then, in so many ways God is helping me
get back on the road everyday so that I can " drive" and " move" in the right direction...

The Wind Blows...


Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.

George Bernard Shaw
Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)

Congregational Exclusivity is your conviction that your church is superior to all others because it's the only one you ever attend.

Mark Greenshields
Recently rejected blogger

At times, there are two ways to deal with people. Aesop's fable about the wind and the sun competing to get a traveler to remove his coat while walking down the road
is wonderfully clear. The wind of course blows harder and harder to blow the man's coat and perhaps the man as well off of the road. but alas the man holds on tighter still because of course he is under attack; first the hide that covers him and eventually the man himself. Perhaps he deserves this judgement...hmmmmm...who is deciding ? The sun on the other hand shines warmly, makes the man feel better about himself, perhaps even warm, cared for,and with no obligation but to become more
at peace with the world around him. As with our recent weather, where did the sun go ?
So why not quote scripture when speaking of such perceived injustice ? Simple. Too often I see scripture quoted and thrown back and forth like snow balls from petulant boys in a school yard. Holy Scripture was never intended to protect my ego or anyone elses. Mores the pity in all of this, because there is always somehwere else to blog...just not where I started.