Sad Legacy

As news comes out about the Penn State football scandal, it just gets sadder.  The perpetrator has been convicted and is behind bars, but that is no consolation to the people whose lives may have been ruined.

I am especially saddened about head coach Joe Paterno.  He led a football dynasty at Penn State, serving on the coaching staff for 61 years.  He was revered, almost worshipped, by the Penn State faithful.

But his legacy fell apart in 2011.  It turns out that he helped keep the secret that destroyed lives.  The NCAA penalized the University severely for the scandal by, among other penalties, vacating all the team's victories from 1998 to 2011 under Coach Paterno.

The coach apparently served the school's football culture at all costs, hiding anything that might interfere.  I don't believe that Paterno condoned Sandusky's crimes, but he helped to cover them up.

So, Paterno will not be remembered as college football's most winning coach.  He won't be remembered for his football dynasty.  He will be remembered for keeping heinous secrets, for maintaining a football program at the cost of dozens of harmed children.

We build a legacy one day at a time.  But the best legacy is built with integrity.

R-Rated World

In his video, Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl, philosopher and poet N. D. Wilson reminds us that we live in an R-rated world.  As much as we would like to protect ourselves and our children from the cruelties of human existence, our world is violent and unfair.

The world is also full of beauty, joy, pleasure, and happiness.  All around us we see the wonders of creation.  We like to celebrate the good stuff.  And we should.

We don't need to celebrate the bad stuff.  Sometimes evil happens because someone wants attention--any kind of attention.  (At sporting events, the "streakers" used to get a moment of fame, until the TV directors learned to turn the cameras away, minimizing whatever attention the perpetrator might get.)

But without celebrating evil and suffering, we have to acknowledge that it exists.  The shootings in Colorado last Friday were a chilling reminder that evil people are in our midst.  Massacres have happened ever since Abel's brother committed the first murder.  Accounts in ancient history--even in the Bible--are gruesome.  In times of war and times of peace, there have been sickos who delight in violence.

Today we hear about them from all over the world, almost in real time.

There is a spiritual enemy who uses people to destroy lives.  He comes only to steal, kill and destroy.  His weapons are lies and hate.  He whispers lies into the minds of his prey, distorting their thoughts, turning them against God and people.  Whenever I hear about these horrible crimes, I know the devil has been at work.

Jesus came to give life.  This world may be R-rated, but Jesus is the ultimate Director, and this story ultimately shows that he loves this world.

Give it a rest

I recently finished a book called, The Rest of God, by Mark Buchanan.  This is the book I have been looking for since I became a Christian.  It really explains the concept of Sabbath.

Because observing the Sabbath is clearly commanded by God, I believe it is clearly a good idea.  In fact, not observing the Sabbath could be called sin.  Well, it must be called sin, if we believe that God meant what he said.

I remember friends at a Bible college who were prohibited from studying on Sunday.  They could stay up past midnight on Sunday, and study in the wee hours of Monday morning, but they had to wait for the clock to strike 12.  Never mind that the real Sabbath is Saturday.  Never mind that the real sabbath is reckoned from sundown to sundown.  At that college, Sabbath went from midnight to midnight. 

On what authority did they make that rule?  Is that what Jesus has in mind?

And how does Sabbath-keeping avoid the pitfalls of the uptight Pharisees, whom Jesus condemned?  How do we keep the fourth commandment without being legalistic?  If Sabbath is really made for man, then why is it such a burden?

Buchanan makes the case that real Sabbath begins with a change of attitude.  We can be still outwardly, while we are churning inwardly.  What kind of rest is that? 

We need to think about Sabbath like God thinks about Sabbath.  It is not something we have to do.  It is something we get to do.  It is a weekly reminder that our work is never done...and that it's OK. 

I have been more intentional about taking time off, both mentally and physically, but I've got a long ways to go to live out Sabbath as God intends.  At least now I'm making progress.

Imagine...

Author Sidney Sheldon said, "A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it is to be God." 

That blank piece of paper, like a brand new document in Microsoft Word, is full of possibilities and potential.  It can be a love letter, a grocery list, a novel, a term paper, a lost puppy flyer, a poem, artwork for the refrigerator, a bill, or a bookmark.

The blank page can take you to the limits of your imagination.  Nothing is impossible in a story.  The author gets to make up all the rules.  Gravity can repel.  Animals can talk.  A planet can have two suns.  A spider bite can convey superhuman powers.

But the student staring at the empty exam page, straining to answer the essay question, knows how daunting it can be to create. 

Creating engages the imagination.  It releases ideas, dreams.  It harnesses an indescribable power. 

God uses imagination as he creates.  He has created us in his image.  He invites to imagine and create as well.

More to it

One thing I have learned is that there is more to it.  It doesn't matter what "it" is.  Maybe it's the story of a broken marriage or a successful career.  What we see on the outside is only part of it.  There is more to it.

During high school I worked at a drug warehouse in Greensboro.  It was hot, dirty, not very lucrative, and you could never predict exactly when the day would end.  Usually around 5:30, sometimes 6:00. 

During college, I looked for a better summer job.  The perfect job would be a bank teller.  Yes.  Sit in the air conditioning, count money, predictable hours.  What could be better?

I worked hard to get a job, working for Wachovia Bank.  I had it made!

But there's more to it, I found out.  Turns out that tellers have to deal with people -- different people every day.  Happy people, busy people, unreasonable people, angry people, deaf people, broke people, rich people.  And after dealing with all these people, I had to balance my cash drawer.  I had to account for every penny every day.  Turns out, that's a big responsibility.  Turns out, I didn't really like that work after all.

So, I have learned to be patient with people as they do their jobs.  It may look easy, but I know there is more to it.

Count it all joy...

Yes, James has a timeless reminder (James 1:2) that we should count it all joy when we encounter various trials.  Sigh.

I am far too slow to learn that.  But I am learning it.  Here are a few reflections on James 1:2-3.

I see that it is really true, that the hard times test and strengthen our faith.  This promise fits well with the one in Romans, that "in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). 

The deeper the struggle, the greater the character development.

Wallowing in my trials never really helps.  If I genuinely trust God, then I can count on him to see me through the hardship, and I can know for certain that I will be better for having been through the wringer.

Trials are never fun, even knowing that they build me up.

Every trial, in my experience, has been worth it.

I hate having the same kinds of trials repeatedly, because I realize that I'm still having to learn the same kinds of lessons.

More trials are coming, but at least I can count it all joy.

Whimsy

I'm about half finished with Bob Goff's new book, Love Does.  This guy inspires me to let loose, cut loose and do something.  He's full of crazy stories about things he has done and things that happened to him.  He thinks way outside the box, asking simple questions and launching out into "capers."  He meets God on the move, as he embraces the whimsy of life.

I've been following Bob on Twitter for a while, and I've heard him in interviews.  He is a most winsome and engaging person.  Of course I wanted to read his book.

I must confess that I was hoping to read about some mid-life epiphany when he became the whimsical character that he is today.  That would offer some hope for me -- someone who has played it safe far too often, and has taken life far too seriously.

But alas, Bob has always been that way -- as far as I can tell, half way through his book.  He has often fallen on his face, and always dusts himself off, ready for the next caper.

Maybe I've always been that way, too, deep down.  I just need to jump into some capers, and stop taking life so seriously.