“In the wake of procrastination…..”

In the wake of procrastination lay chaos and frustration. As oft I blunder, I sometimes wonder, will I reach my destination?

Why is it that we struggle so much with doing what we are  supposed to?  Or should I say why do I  struggle so much with doing what I’m supposed to… when  I’m supposed to do it?

Why am I a procrastinator? 

We Do NOT understand time! No wonder we can’t figure out eternity…..

Do you ever ponder eternity?  What will happen “at the end of time”?  What was here before “In the beginning….”?   There is so much that we do not know….

I was thinking about this in the context of the heaven/hell debate when I was putting together my post last week.  The variation in perspectives on the destiny of the soul following our physical death is significantly impacted by our understanding of time. 

My perspective on Hell? It’s about time….

Hell has been a hot topic (pun intended) in discussions lately.  Competing books, blog posts, inflammatory comments and heated accusations (alright, I’ll stop with the puns!) have been all over the place.

So far, I’ve given my opinion on other folks’ blogs, but I’ve held off here.  This is ironic, because

Top 10 signs that it’s been too long since your last blog post

Alright, I’ve been playing hooky and haven’t posted anything on here for awhile.  It was not intentional or premeditated or anything… it just sort of happened.  I looked at my page today and realized I’ve only posted once this month, twice in the last 31 days.  For someone that wants to blog regularly, that’s really pretty pathetic! 

I need to stop procrastinating, get “back in the saddle” and write something, but where to start?  How about a David Letterman style Top 10 list?

Grace that smacks you upside the head

Excellent post today on “grace” from Rachel Held Evans at http://rachelheldevans.com/grace-doctrine.  Rachel’s basic point is that we are good at defending “grace” as a doctrine, but we’re not always so good at living out grace in how we act.  I initially commented on her post, then realized that my long-winded response would work as a post on my own blog.  So, what follows is my updated comment on grace and how easy (or not) it is to live out….    

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For me, the area where I’ve had the most frequent opportunities to show grace – followed closely by my biggest failures to do so – has been as a parent. 

“Jesus, take the wheel! I’ve got to deal with these kids!”

The Father is driving the big family van with all His kids crammed in the back heading for their heavenly vacation destination. Of course, as with most large families, the kids are bickering in the backseat, crying about being hungry, needing to go to the bathroom again, and constantly asking “Are we there yet?”  

 Finally, an exasperated Father says “Jesus, take the wheel!  I’ve got to deal with these kids!”

Today’s not the end of the world… but it could be!

That was a weird weekend….  With all the noise about end of world predictions and significant “life events” going on for me personally, I couldn’t help but ponder the weirdness of it all.  I had a definite sense of “vuja dey”, that strange feeling that nothing like this has happened before!

Last night, I was starting to feel like we made it through unscathed, when I heard that a friend of the family passed away after a year-long battle with cancer.  That reminded me that, though it’s not the end of the world, the end could be just around the corner for any of us. 

Stephen Hawking is…. a fool?

I wrote this note and posted it to Facebook last year before I was blogging — it was a response to Stephen Hawking’s book and quotes that said things such as “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.”   Stephen’s latest quote was that heaven is a “fairy tale” for those of us that are “afraid of the dark.”   I’ll write a post that responds to that shortly, but for now, I’m reposting this one: “Stephen Hawking is an idiot…  or maybe just a fool?”:

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So, physicist Stephen Hawking is supposed to be one of the most brilliant minds in the world? If so, he’s just proved that no matter how smart we are, we can still be completely stupid.  Check out his bottom-line conclusions about God and the universe from “The Grand Design”, his latest book:

Truth. Reality. God.

Or, described more fully….

Truth IS.                  Reality IS.                          God IS.

Words can’t fully express it.  Rather, OUR words can’t fully express it… because our words are limited:

In scope…  

In power…

In ability…

In authority… 

Lots of other ways too, but I think you get the point. 

We are limited in our humanity, so we cannot fully describe the limitless, the infinite.  And that’s ok, we’re not actually expected to or meant to.  Strive to? Yes.  Get there? No.

Want the truth? Check your assumptions….

I’ve been enjoying all the signs, blog posts and comments going around this week during the “Rally to Restore Unity”.  I feel kind of like the kid on the bench, hoping for a chance to get in the game… sort of. What if I get in the game, a fly ball actually comes my way, and I drop it?  Why worry? Well, the truth is…