Month: December 2016

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(not) something lesser

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Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m guilty. Totally guilty.

Sometimes I make this entire holiday season into something it was never intended to be. Sometimes I make it about materialism. Sometimes I make it about gifts. Sometimes I make it about something lesser.

Sometimes I pout. Sometimes I get something so stuck in my craw that I can’t emotionally shake myself out of it. I can’t always surrender to the Divine in order to help me navigate wisely through it. So yes, sometimes I focus on something lesser — not realizing that it actually is lesser.

A local church community created the below in video form last week. I thought it was brilliant — and relevant to each of us in different ways. It’s a message for Advent, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for future celebration. But sometimes we’re so busy that we miss the depth of the celebration. We miss what’s most important…

Everyone wants Christmas
To be meaningful
But, instead it becomes
Shop, shop, shop,
Credit cards
Traffic jams
To do lists
Useless gifts
Then off to church
Noel, Noel, Noel
Sometimes we’re just glad to survive it.
Did you know Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year?
EVERY YEAR.
So we ask?
How did Jesus celebrate?
Jesus gave
He gave himself
Relationally.
Incarnation.
Time, space, presence… (do you see where this is going?)
WHAT IF
you bought FEWER GIFTS
[that sweater she won’t like]
[that random gift certificate]
[that toy he doesn’t need]
And then instead of BUYING that gift
Give something valuable
LIKE
YOUR
TIME
Talk, eat, sled, bake, bike, read, play, create, craft
TOGETHER
Make gifts (like when you were a kid)
And remember that money you didn’t spend
What if you gave some of it away?
To the poor, the hurting, the lonely, the hungry, the sick, the thirsty
Since 2006 thousands of churches have been giving all over the world
That’s a lot of love… life
All because people
Spent LESS on gifts
And MORE ON relationships
LET’S FACE IT
Consumerism does not equal happiness, memories, meaning
Spend less on gifts
Give more on presence…

If we gave more on presence, I wonder what would happen… would our relationships be better? … would we be more empathetic? … would we be less accepting of division and writing people off? … would we learn to see more sides than our own?

I’m thinking I need to do this far more than this time of year.

Respectfully…
AR

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what’s in a name?

ohjmwb4xwle-bruno-martinsWe go by a lot of names…
Mom, dad, bro, sis, friend, foe, aunt, uncle, cousin, cuz, niece, nephew, grandma, grandpa, bestie, and BFF…
Engineer, astronaut, author, executive, critic, cook, customer service rep…
Actor, actress, flight attendant, and fireman…
Director, producer, priest, pastor, and salesman…
Mediator, negotiator, appliance repairman… spy, or a cool-as-a-cucumber secret agent…
Nanny, neighbor… teacher, student…
Client, patient, donor, doctor, even a volunteer.

That doesn’t count the more intangible…
Bridge-builder, helper, “the glue that holds it all together”…
Patriarch, matriarch… Leader.
Follower, believer…
Rebel, resistor…
Antagonist, protagonist…
Heroine, hero…
Rookie, veteran, pessimist, optimist, realist, and more.

Don’t forget our loyalties…
Cubs’ fan, Broncos’ fan, Duke Crazy, college basketball enthusiast…

And there’s a whole slew of those names…
Boilermakers and Bulldogs, Hilltoppers and Hurricanes (even Golden ones), not to mention the Ragin’ Cajuns and Green Wave.

We have our socio-political names…
Democrat, Republican, Libertarian… Conservative, Progressive, Socialist…
Feminist, capitalist, activist, and even the Polish Beer Lover in Poland (I kid you not).

And names identified via age…
The elderly, millennial, and Gen-Xer…

Or by our location…
Floridian, Californian, New Yorker.

Even the insults offer a name…
Bully, brute, villain, and bad guys.

We go by a lot of names.

That’s the bottom line. We can’t be identified solely by one.

Current culture seems to encourage a singular identity, i.e. “They’re just a ________!” Fill in the blank. Usually it ends with some kind of “-ist” or some kind of “-phobe.” And then that “-ist” or “-phobe” is somehow supposed to adequately explain all of another’s behavior or thinking, especially behavior and thinking that we don’t understand.

The inherent problem, however, is that one kind of name or a singular identification is inaccurate; it does not — and cannot — explain all who we are, all how we behave, and all how we think. It is not enough.

For the record (… and be prepared for my longest sentence ever here…), I am a Boilermaker, blogger, student, parent, child, friend, teacher, leader, Christian, coach, facilitator, female, John Grisham reader, administrator, donor, volunteer, Human Resource Director, mediator, special needs advocate, Hoosier, Buckeye, show choir nut, speaker, writer, work out enthusiast, cleaner, cook, encourager, loyal “Friends” rerun watcher, artist, piano player, pickle hater, pet owner, in addition to being a loyal fan of the Bengals, Reds, Gators, Colts, Packers, Pacers, and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. I’m a fair-weather fan of many more and a zealous, unofficial member of fan clubs supporting Bon Jovi and Bruno Mars.

What’s in a name, therefore, I ask?

A lot.

But never enough.

Respectfully…
AR

Posted on

shocking

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Not everyone rooted for them. Not everyone was a fan. In fact, I can’t promise you a clear majority was in support. Some actively cheered against them. Others called them a national hero. It can be a bitter, vicious sport at times.

Soccer, that is.

Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, commonly known as Chapecoense, is a Brazilian football club — a soccer team. Soccer is a “big deal” in Brazil.

Chapecoense, itself, is a relatively small club; however, for the past two years, they have played in Brazil’s top division, Série A, one of the strongest leagues in the world. The 20 clubs in Série A are thus also a “big deal.” With any “big deal” and all the inherent loyalties, there will be both passionate opposition and support. There will be persons who actively cheer the team on… and persons who sincerely desire for them to fail.

Late Monday night, Chapecoense was on their way to what was touted as the most significant match in their club’s history. Yet as their chartered jet approached the airport, intending to land in Columbia, it experienced electrical failure and shockingly, fell from the sky. There were 81 people on board: 72 passengers, which included the team and 21 journalists, plus a crew of nine. Only five survived.

The death of almost an entire team is tragic — almost unspeakable.

The crash of the airplane is equally shocking.

It’s awful… awful and heartbreaking.

While there is nothing good in the heartbreak itself, what I do suspect is happening in Brazil, is nothing short of sobering…

Gone is any disrespectful opposition…
Gone are the sincere desires for one to fail…
Gone is an emphasis on the smaller picture.

My sense is that today in South America, Brazilians have been shocked into seeing the bigger picture; they have been shocked into remembering what is most important.

Also, no doubt amid the shock, one of the most meaningful moments from the tragic day of 9/11 was when George W. Bush stood on that rubble with his arm around the fireman from company 164. With a bullhorn in one hand (and no teleprompter in the other), the President yelled:

“I want you all to know that America today is on bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. This nation stands with the people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut, as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens.

[Shouts come from some far back in the crowd… something along the lines of “I can’t hear you!” To which Pres. Bush responds…]

I can hear you! [applause]

I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! [The crowd screams and shouts with massive enthusiasm.] The nation sends its love and compassion to everybody who is here. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for making the nation proud. And may God bless America.”

The cheers and the unity manifest in that moment were absolutely beautiful. Unity… harmony… it is beautiful. On that day, we were all Americans.

In Brazil, right now, they are all Brazilians.

Does something tragic have to happen in order to shock us into remembering the bigger picture? … to shock us into remembering what we are? … who we are? … and who we are together?
And… that what we are… together… is actually beautiful?

Respectfully…
AR