That Smell

This Monday Loralie called me about mid morning. She said that our dog had cornered a skunk under the back deck. The dog got out but not before the skunk sprayed a bit. Missed the dog. Hit the deck. Hit the foundation of the house.

So began a process of pulling up decks boards and putting a light under the deck for 24 hours a day. I did see the beady little eyes reflecting back at me once but there has been no sign of it now for several days. So time to button everything back up and get things back to normal.

As is normal in situations like this the skunk came at a bad time. It was an hour before Loralie was having people over for the day. She ran out for more candles and air freshener. And it was the start of my busiest and roughest week of the year (week before school starts). But her friends were good about it and I managed to survive the week(barely).

I did learn from one of the guys who works for me that a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixed with a little liquid soap cuts the skunk smell when his dog gets sprayed. And his dog gets sprayed all the time (I think I would get a new, smarter dog). Anyway, I tried spraying that (minus the liquid soap) under the deck. And it really cut the smell. Details of the specific solution for those interested can be found on the Internet.

But every once in a while I will still get a whiff of that distinctive odor. And I have been struck by how much that is like life.

You see I have these faults and issues. And I am sure that you have your own set so don't get too smug on me now. But as I work to clean up those faults and issues sometimes I am just covering up the smell with candles and air spray. And the odor keeps coming back.

But if I work to the root of the problem (which is almost always me) and with outside help, those issues and faults can be washed away. Sometimes that faint whiff comes back to remind me of where I have been and where I don't want to go again.

And sometimes I just flat fall down in the stink and have to get cleaned up all over again...

Silence

Yesterday I was tired of noise.

So I turned stuff off. I didn't have the radio on as I went to and from Bible study in the morning.
I kept the radio off all day at work.
Didn't play music through the computer.
Kept the radio off when doing errands at lunch.
Turned down the ringer on my phone. I could still hear it and I did answer it but it wasn't near as loud. Kind of nice.
I did turn on the radio for a bit in the car as I drove to ref a soccer match since the skies were black and ominous looking. But I found it distracting.

It was...pleasant.

Found myself thinking for a change (I know, something new for me).
But without all the noise I heard more than I usually do.

I wasn't quiet by any stretch of the imagination.
If anything, I noticed just how much noise is going on around me all the time.

But I think that I heard more when I didn't try to fill up the quiet with noise...

Reimagining Church

I just finished the book Reimagining Church by Frank Viola (no, not that Frank Viola for you fellow Twins fans). It might seem like it took a while (because it did) to those of you who have been following this. But I have been ready several other books at the same time.

Frank's central premise is that we need to move to a more organic church than the current model of the organized hierarchical pastor based model that currently exists throughout the United States. I couldn't agree more. Think of organic church as a house church.

But I am struggling with the radical solutions proposed by Frank.

Two things. One is that I fear the kind of intimacy that an organic church calls for from its members. Part of that is my Norwegian Lutheran stoic reserved heritage. Not that it is a bad thing, it is just a part of who I am.

The other thing, is that making the move to an organic church is a totally radical step. I have been steeped in the culture of being a "member" of a church. Of being a part of an organization. Of having "worship" planned out. Of having a liturgy.

So this all goes into the pot. Just as I am struggling with what to do about the organized, corporate church, I am struggling with where we go and who we gather to worship with. That is not elitist by the way. The who we gather to worship with should more accurately be phrased as to where are we supposed to be worshipping?

So the pot gets full of unanswered (for now) questions that go up to God and a look to the inspiration from the Holy Spirit as to the answers. It may be that this is a process of many small steps rather than a big leap.

I look forward tot he seeing what the answers are.

And I hope for the courage to follow through on those answers...

Living Water: Lessons from Esau

The next chapter of Living Water by Brother Yun is Lessons from Esau.

I hadn't thought too much of Esau as having lessons for me before now.
I always thought that Esau was one of those Old Testament stories that is nice to read about how Jacob stole Esau's inheritance.

Brother Yun points out that there are lessons to be learned.

The Bible says that Esau: "despised his birthright" (Genesis 25:34).

This relates to us today. God has given us a tremendous gift of eternal life. And yet all too often I despise it for a "bowl of stew."

Esau wanted that bowl of stew to satisfy his own desires, his immediate needs of the flesh. When I satisfy the immediate needs of my flesh at the expense of my walk with God, I am doing the same thing as Esau.

There are so many stories in the news of Christian leaders who have given into the immediate needs of the flesh and been caught at it. Their testimony is damaged and the world's view of the church suffers for it. In fact, many times it seems as if the world takes glee at the downfall of the Christian.

And while we often think of the needs of the flesh as being sexual, it is not always true. Our "bowl of stew" may be prestige, food, money, toys, sleep, golf, career or any other thing that we put between us and God's call for our lives.

Brother Yun points out that "it is only the grace of God that can help and train us to overcome temptation." This is so easy to forget. I too often try to do things in my own strength and ability because after all, I am an American Man. I have an image to uphold.

And the other thing I take away from this is not only can I lose my way but churches and nations can lose their way. Churches trade their birthright to be Politically Correct instead of being Christ Correct. Or making people be comfortable instead of confronting them with the truth of the Gospel. Or of being the biggest or the most popular.

I must remember I have to let go and let God be God. For no matter what structures and rules I put in place they will fail me unless I am relying on God's grace to get me through the trials and temptations that I don't have to look very far to see.

And I must always take heed lest I fall.

The Biggest Loser

Last night (Tuesday) was the premiere of the latest edition of The Biggest Loser on NBC.

This is one of the few reality shows that I watch semi regularly.

The contestants are often grossly over weight (obese) and at the end of their ropes. They think that they have no hope. Many have tried multiple other methods of losing weight without success. Their only hope is to surrender control of their life over to someone else so that they can gain control of their life for the long term.

I have recently been struck by how similar this is to the Christian life. We have to turn control of our life over to God in order to gain control over our eternal life. We have to totally surrender.

The contestants on The Biggest Loser have to surrender to the trainers, producers, doctors and dietitians on the show. Some succeed at this better than others. But some only temporarily surrender and after the "game" is over go back to the way things were before and gain back some if not all of what they had lost before.

If we totally surrender to God we can never go back to the way things were before, it is an irrevocable change that is started. If we turn our back on God and take back control we tend to become more wretched than we were before until we surrender again. It becomes a daily and even a minute by minute surrender.