Everything That Rises

Right now, this very day, 17 million children do not know where their next meal is going to come from. That's 17 million children who will shut their eyes to go to sleep tonight without the assurance of a meal tomorrow--an assurance folks like me (and no doubt any of you who read this) take foolishly for granted. By the way, those 17 million children don't live in mud huts in sub-Saharan Africa, or rocky caves in the parched climate of the Middle East; they live right here, in the "good ol' U.S. of A," and in case you forgot, that's 17 MILLION CHILDREN. I heard that news as I was headed out the door this morning to church, but as if that news wasn't enough to make me feel like a worthless bastard in my blue suit, holding my mug of coffee, my wife shared a different bit of news with me that troubled me the rest of the day. She said that a fellow teacher in her school once gave some students some books to take home and read. She gave them to them to keep an

Thanksgiving. Where did it go? I mean, the candy from Halloween hasn't even been loosed from its wrapper before I am bombarded with e-mails, T.V. commercials, radio ads, billboards, events, and all manner of media promoting Christmas. Is Thanksgiving the Rodney Dangerfield of holidays? I have grown increasingly annoyed at this apathetic treatment of the holiday (and frankly I am surprised that some right-winged organization hasn't made a big deal about the snubbing of a potentially patriotic holiday). I think the grand commercial shuffle that Christmas has become has a lot to do with the displacement of Thanksgiving; maybe we should move the holiday after Christmas, then there'd be no rush to get up early the next morning, leave your family for the whole day just to buy a trunk load of junk that others will wind up donating to charity anyway! I don't know...I'm just saying. I think I'm most annoyed though with the way that the erasing of Thanksgiving has led to

What does it mean to be blessed? We ask God to bless our food, our country, our efforts... We ask for blessings of health, wealth, and prosperity... We consider others blessed if they have a good family, enough money, and nice things... But what does it really mean to be blessed ? I've thought about this question recently, because someone said to me, "God has blessed me with a wonderful family." I have probably heard that sentence (or one like it) at least a hundred times, but this time it struck a dissonant chord in my mind. Honestly, it made me question the validity of such statements altogether. It has made me ask "What does it mean to be blessed?" Blessing seems to somehow be connected with reward, and if that is the case, then blessing is connected with effort (uh-oh Calvinists!). But if that is the case, then how can God "bless" one with a good family (looks like the Calvinists aren't out yet!)? I'd like to think we're looking at &qu

Note: This is actually a re-post of a note I wrote on Facebook. Please forgive my quasi-laziness. Humor me for a moment would you? Imagine God sitting in a boat on the crystal sea in heaven; the boat has a glass bottom, and He is able to gaze in observance upon His creation. Is He pleased? Perhaps He sees what He always expected to see? Maybe He knew what He would see before He ever peered through the glass. Either way, can you even begin to feel what He must feel? Now, don't some of you get ahead of me and puff out your chest and point your finger to the left and say "it's those liberals causing the world to spin out of control away from God," nor be too quick to cut your eyes to the right and say "it's those damned conservatives and their ancient ignorance." We have all played a fiddle in the devilish tune that causes the darkness to dance. I recently read "Mere Christianity," and in it, Lewis makes a point I find quite suitable for those of