Love from Traffic School

I'm going to be totally open with you.  I spent the day in traffic school today, and I don't mind telling you I'm a bit traumatized now.  It felt like an 8-hour horror show, mixed in with a fear of driving because-"they'll-get-you-with-a-ticket-no-matter-what." I sat there with 30 other people, our mouths agape, feeling terrible about ourselves and wondering if we should buy bus passes.  We were shown videos of horrible accidents including decapitations, life cripplings, and bloody deaths of teenagers and children.  We saw cars fly off cliffs, cars burst into flames against trees, cars run  into one another in huge pile-ups, and children and animals die because of traffic infractions like talking on cellphones and driving without seat belts.  I'm telling you, when it came time for lunch break, nobody could move.  We sat there like 30 stunned and shocked sparrows on an electrified wire.  I sat next to a young girl tattooed and pierced all over who had a DUI and it was costing her $23,000.00.  The girl's pierced face is still before me, and I'm thinking it will take her a very long time to pay off that DUI.  Such a precious girl, so cherished by Jesus, and  yet she made a mistake that will affect the rest of her life.  Thank the Lord, she didn't kill or injure anyone, and God, in His mercy, heard her prayers and helped her through the lengthy process and financial hardship.  Most of us in the class had tickets for things like rolling stops, red lights, speeding, cell phones, and one guy for making a U-turn in the middle of the block.  We weren't exactly what you'd call criminals, but we sat there in our guilt and shame wondering how we could make this a positive experience.  I decided to make it a learning experience and so I took notes as though I were in a college class.  (Ask me anything.)  By the end of the day we were all completely spent, exhausted, fried.  You should have seen the older people.  They could barely stand up.  It had been a harrowing day of looking at the reality of driving with stress the horrors on the road.  When we finally signed out and received our little certificates of completion we filed out like silent lambs to the slaughter.   I could hardly drive home.  We had been programmed to think we'd do something wrong and get pulled over, and we'd have no way out of it, even if we were right.  I had to go before the Lord in the Throne Room with 2 Peter 1:2-4:  "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue..."  Ah yes,this verse too-- "happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding..."  (Prov. 3:13). 

What is Happiness?

With Spring here I've noticed a sort of languid ho-hum in the air.  Have you?  It's as though the world just sat back and gave a big sigh.  People are telling me they're sleeping more, and they're complaining of laziness.  Never mind the volcanoes erupting in Iceland and things like pollution and even pollen--  Maybe we're all a little bit tired.  Or maybe it's what the songs call Spring Fever.  Winter and worry has worn us out.  But I believe this is a time to contend for the power of the Word of God in our lives and in the lives of our families and friends.  I believe this is a time to contend for our cities and our neighborhoods. (Always for our nation.)  Yes, okay, "a little sleep, a little folding of the hands," but then up and attum, I say. Time to start anew, re-energize, gear up and create something astonishing and wonderful around us.  Prayer changes everything.  Don't give up, don't fall asleep in the Light--  Strength creates more strength--  beauty moe beauty-- love more love.

Running Toward Something Big

Ever get the feeling you're on the way somewhere in your life, but you don't know where?  As a practicing psychotherapist I talked with people every day about the direction of their lives and the conditions that feed into the  loss of focus and purposes.  I don't believe we need a personal trauma to feel a sense of futility.  In today's world depression is as common as apple pie-- in fact, moreso.  More people suffer depression now than in the last 20 years.  A contributing factor to depression is change and fear of the unknown.  The world itself is radically changing.  I'm finding in my own life that many things (places, people, situations) I've counted on as reliable and steadfast are now either removed or radically changed.  How to handle the changes and losses we face?  As for me, I challenge myself DAILY to enter a place of inner stillness and breathe in the sweetness of God.  I reject all aspects of fear in order to  feel the overwhelming sense of love and  stability.  The love of God never changes.   I believe with all my heart that if you love God you're heading for the greatest hour of your life.  The greatness that is you have hardly even begun.  It is vital to keep our eye on the truth and to "cast down imaginations [fears, worries] and every high thing tht exalts itself against the knowledge of God , bringimg into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2Cor 10:4-5). 
What a privilege!           

New book

  I'm starting work on a new book and I'm consumed with it.  Even after writing over 20 books  and countless stories, articles, reveiws, etc., I approach each new project like something rare and precious-- like a holy stranger I need to get to know.  I love the challenge of thinking in terms of language, nuance, implication... the wonder of words, of creating a world on the page.  

Out on the water...

Yesterday I went kayaking, and out on the water with nothing but sea and sky, the sound of the wind and the waves-- it was a taste of heaven.   Kayaking can be hard work, though; your arms are constantly rowing, steering, guiding the kayak through the sometimes resistant, choppy sea water.  I couldn't help but think, on our way back to the boat launch, as I pushed and pulled that oar, how all things of value require hard work.  From sports to marriage, all things of value require hard work, even pain. 

What's In Us

I taught a seminar this week about the power within us and it surprised me how many people were stunned at the thought that there was a supernatural power and energy inside us connecting us to eternity.  The people wanted to know how this worked and I explained Jesus is the way to God.  Jesus? they asked.  "--But isn't that narrow minded of God?"  I explained that God made it easy for us to grasp His loving plan for us  since Jesus Christ is the only one to fulfill all the Older Testament prophecies about a Messiah to come, to die and be raised from the dead in three days, walk the earth , raise the dead, heal the sick, and send us His spirit to live in us ... I gave a very basic biblical reasoning.  I absolutely love to talk to people about God-- but sometimes, guess what.  Sometimes I meet up with hearts like ice-- they just cannot be penetrated.  I've kissed dead saints in their coffins goodbye, and I tell you, talking with these living souls with deadened hearts is like the kiss of the coldness of death.   I praise the Lord for those whose hearts open like sunshine to the glorious presence and power of God, in our Savior Jesus, but I grieve for those who wait at the sidelines in their dark tombs of doubt.

You are Vast

I wonder if we really realize how huge we are in this universe.  We live our lives as best we can, day by day, and yet there is a hugeness  in us I wonder if we're aware of.  I minister across the country and in other nations as well, and I meet up with so many people who don't recognize the power, beauty, and vastness within them as followers of Jesus Christ.  In my last blog I talked about the problems that weariness or sleep deprivation can bring about-- but no matter what condition we're in, we are always vast within!  The Holy Spirit can be quenched, but not extinguished in His children.  As much of the Presence of God we are willing to inhabit is as much of His glory we will release into the world.