As I walked off for lunch I realized that what I was saying might have left the wrong impression. I am pleased to be going to Kenya and that God is sending me there, but that isn't to say that you have to go to Kenya to share in God's blessings or in His righteous honor. I have felt just as honored to help build playgrounds or pack food for the poor or even to sing Christmas Carols for shut-ins. I once dug a path. That sounds like ho-hum, so what. But this path was to help a young woman that had been paralyzed in a car accident get into her house in a wheelchair. It is not what we are called to do that brings honor, it is the fact that God has given us this opportunity. Whether you help feed the poor in Kenya or give half a sandwich to a homeless person on the street near your work, either way you bring honor to the God who created you and have therefore earned the respect of all.
That's all I wanted to add.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Countdown to Kenya - Day Twenty One
What a blessing it is to be able to go to Kenya and do the Lord's work. What an incredible gift I've been offered. What a wonderful opportunity.
In each life there falls just a few such gems. When I was younger I was always impressed by two types of stories - ones where people had incredible once in a lifetime opportunities and ones where people had done incredibly righteous things. We are all impressed with Neil Armstrong - the first man to walk on the moon - AND Mother Theresa - who took care of the sick and the needy in India for her entire life. Ask Bono and I'd bet that he'd tell you the opportunity to be a rock star on a huge stage was second to helping the poor and hungry in Africa.
But the thing is, these opportunities don't come along all that often. Let's be realistic. Most of us don't have the time or the temperament to do either of these things. We aren't dedicated or talented enough to be Neil Armstrong, and we have too much normal living to do to be Mother Theresa. We have bills to pay and friends to see and families to raise and all sorts of other things. We can be impressed by the actions of others. We can applaud what they do. But we will never be them. We will never have that opportunity to be a rock star or a prophet.
So to get this opportunity, to reach a point in my life where I am in a position to let the rest of my world fall away for a short time so that I can help others in a far off land, is a truly incredible gift. God has blessed me. And I can't possibly take any credit for these actions. He calls. I follow. And I thank Him for this chance to be the kind of person and do the kind of thing that I most admire.
In each life there falls just a few such gems. When I was younger I was always impressed by two types of stories - ones where people had incredible once in a lifetime opportunities and ones where people had done incredibly righteous things. We are all impressed with Neil Armstrong - the first man to walk on the moon - AND Mother Theresa - who took care of the sick and the needy in India for her entire life. Ask Bono and I'd bet that he'd tell you the opportunity to be a rock star on a huge stage was second to helping the poor and hungry in Africa.
But the thing is, these opportunities don't come along all that often. Let's be realistic. Most of us don't have the time or the temperament to do either of these things. We aren't dedicated or talented enough to be Neil Armstrong, and we have too much normal living to do to be Mother Theresa. We have bills to pay and friends to see and families to raise and all sorts of other things. We can be impressed by the actions of others. We can applaud what they do. But we will never be them. We will never have that opportunity to be a rock star or a prophet.
So to get this opportunity, to reach a point in my life where I am in a position to let the rest of my world fall away for a short time so that I can help others in a far off land, is a truly incredible gift. God has blessed me. And I can't possibly take any credit for these actions. He calls. I follow. And I thank Him for this chance to be the kind of person and do the kind of thing that I most admire.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Another thing society has decided
I'm sick and tired of all these stories that suggest "Fat People are costing us all money!" As if somehow this was something that people do out of spite to skinny people everywhere. Its bad enough being ostracized from society, made fun of, and all the rest that goes with being overweight, but to have to take the blame for high medical costs as well?!
Do the math people! If 10% of all health care costs go to fat people that means that 90% of all health care costs don't go to fat people. Skinny people live longer. Therefore they use more medical expenses over longer periods of time. Further, the only reason fat people's health care costs can be quantified (allegedly) is that they tend to develop the same medical problems (heart problems, etc...). Well, by that token we could also quantify how much money is spent on health care for women (maternity and OB/GYN) or Black People (sickle-cell) or Gay People (AIDS) or whatever... Should we decide that women spend too much money on mammograms? Or perhaps we should just let people with AIDS die out since that would save some money there?
Everyone of us will develop some medical condition in our life. Some of these medical conditions will have been avoidable (like broken limbs from skiing, for instance). Some will not. The cumulative effect of all our medical conditions will decide the quality of our life. But to lump an entire class of people together because of one shared condition and then suggest that that condition is what keeps health care costs high is prejudicial and stupid. After all, people who have cancer spend WAY more on medical coverage than anyone else - and scientists have been telling us for years all the things that cause it. So clearly cancer is avoidable as well. Let's start talking about cancer patients as being drains on our pocketbooks and see how far that flies!
Okay, rant mode off. Some things you just have to get off your chest.
Do the math people! If 10% of all health care costs go to fat people that means that 90% of all health care costs don't go to fat people. Skinny people live longer. Therefore they use more medical expenses over longer periods of time. Further, the only reason fat people's health care costs can be quantified (allegedly) is that they tend to develop the same medical problems (heart problems, etc...). Well, by that token we could also quantify how much money is spent on health care for women (maternity and OB/GYN) or Black People (sickle-cell) or Gay People (AIDS) or whatever... Should we decide that women spend too much money on mammograms? Or perhaps we should just let people with AIDS die out since that would save some money there?
Everyone of us will develop some medical condition in our life. Some of these medical conditions will have been avoidable (like broken limbs from skiing, for instance). Some will not. The cumulative effect of all our medical conditions will decide the quality of our life. But to lump an entire class of people together because of one shared condition and then suggest that that condition is what keeps health care costs high is prejudicial and stupid. After all, people who have cancer spend WAY more on medical coverage than anyone else - and scientists have been telling us for years all the things that cause it. So clearly cancer is avoidable as well. Let's start talking about cancer patients as being drains on our pocketbooks and see how far that flies!
Okay, rant mode off. Some things you just have to get off your chest.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Buy Three Miles or One Lego Brick or One Bag O' Rice!
Somewhere in your life, there is money lying around doing nothing. Lazy Money is a problem that affects 99 out of 100 Americans. But fortunately for you, there is a cure.
In the far off land of Kenya there are people who have a very vigorous exercise program for money. You send your money to this program and it will be stretched, used, invested, and put to such good use that you will be amazed at how far your money can go.
For instance: For every lazy dollar you send, three miles of ocean, land, air, and other assorted planetary mass can be traveled over by one intrepid person (me). I should know. So far I have been able to leap over 300 MILES on just pocket change! That's very well exercised money indeed!
For instance: For just five lazy dollars you can buy one Lego brick. Now, that may not sound like much, but 700 of these Lego bricks magically transform into a complete HOUSE in Kenya. 700 plastic bricks = 1 home. That's not something that even Ty can accomplish on Extreme Home Makeover!
For instance: For just forty lazy dollars, you can clear a pad of ground, fill it with nutrients and water, plant seeds, watch it grow, cultivate the rice grains, dry them, bag them and deliver them to starving children in a home on a mountainside halfway around the world in Kenya - thus feeding the children for a short time. When was the last time your dollars even did half of that?
Your dollars are lazy, flabby things. Send them to me and I promise to make them strapping and handsome again! There won't be a bit of fat on them when I am done with them.
So, send your lazy do-nothing dollars to:
Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA)
201 Eucalyptus Drive
San Francisco, CA 94132
Please include a note that says: These dollars are for the Kenya Children Mission Project. And, if you'd like to help send me to Kenya, please also note: For Will Robison's Kenya Travel. Whether this money sends me to Kenya or helps children in Kenya directly, your dollars will not go to waste.
Thank you for listening to my message. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
In the far off land of Kenya there are people who have a very vigorous exercise program for money. You send your money to this program and it will be stretched, used, invested, and put to such good use that you will be amazed at how far your money can go.
For instance: For every lazy dollar you send, three miles of ocean, land, air, and other assorted planetary mass can be traveled over by one intrepid person (me). I should know. So far I have been able to leap over 300 MILES on just pocket change! That's very well exercised money indeed!
For instance: For just five lazy dollars you can buy one Lego brick. Now, that may not sound like much, but 700 of these Lego bricks magically transform into a complete HOUSE in Kenya. 700 plastic bricks = 1 home. That's not something that even Ty can accomplish on Extreme Home Makeover!
For instance: For just forty lazy dollars, you can clear a pad of ground, fill it with nutrients and water, plant seeds, watch it grow, cultivate the rice grains, dry them, bag them and deliver them to starving children in a home on a mountainside halfway around the world in Kenya - thus feeding the children for a short time. When was the last time your dollars even did half of that?
Your dollars are lazy, flabby things. Send them to me and I promise to make them strapping and handsome again! There won't be a bit of fat on them when I am done with them.
So, send your lazy do-nothing dollars to:
Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA)
201 Eucalyptus Drive
San Francisco, CA 94132
Please include a note that says: These dollars are for the Kenya Children Mission Project. And, if you'd like to help send me to Kenya, please also note: For Will Robison's Kenya Travel. Whether this money sends me to Kenya or helps children in Kenya directly, your dollars will not go to waste.
Thank you for listening to my message. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Lest I get into a rut...
Sometimes your life is about Kenya, sometimes not. As much as I want to go, I have to remember to maintain a fair and balanced life that includes my other interests. For some reason, my mind has wandered in different directions this week. That's okay. It'll come back to Kenya before too long - of that I am certain.
You see, I apply the same sort of lack of mental discipline in all things that I do. I let my mind free to wander wherever it may go. Unfettered it can take me into some pretty strange places, but eventually it gets bored with its wanderings and comes back refreshed and usually with some keen new insight into a former problem.
For instance, I have not applied any sort of rigid control on my brain in trying to figure out the brief synopsis of my second planned novel (of a trilogy). I just sort of let my brain wander. As a result, it has taken some time to get from point A to point Z, and my brain has taken some interesting turns along the way, but it finally produced a conclusion this week. I'm happy to say that the synopsis for novel #2 is done and its pretty good. Now, I let my brain loose again to finish off the trilogy so that I can finally sit down and start writing the first novel. (You see, I kind of need to know the ending of the story before I write the beginning - which is why I need to at least plan out the second and third books of the trilogy before I start writing the first).
My brain has also been distracted with the arrival of my new camera and the impending start of my second film. I've been cramming an entire semester's worth of digital film making knowledge into one week of study, just to get started. This sort of technical knowledge is fascinating and mentally draining - which tends to make my artistic side of the brain wander all the more and further afield (which explains why I am always a mental basketcase at the end of the school year).
So in pursuit of purely intellectual and artistic goals this week I have not had time nor the energy to work on Kenya. But I don't feel negligent, just absent. You see all of these pursuits serve some sort of higher purpose in the long run though I don't always know what that purpose might be - kind of like algebra in high school. Some of the strangest bits of knowledge that I've gleaned on these flights of fancy have proved to be rather helpful on occasion - I even remember one little bit of knowledge that calmed a storm brewing in Naval Intelligence (but, of course, I can't talk about it).
As you can imagine, I'm a big fan of the Beatle's song, "A Day In The Life." Where It will go, indeed...
Have a great weekend!
You see, I apply the same sort of lack of mental discipline in all things that I do. I let my mind free to wander wherever it may go. Unfettered it can take me into some pretty strange places, but eventually it gets bored with its wanderings and comes back refreshed and usually with some keen new insight into a former problem.
For instance, I have not applied any sort of rigid control on my brain in trying to figure out the brief synopsis of my second planned novel (of a trilogy). I just sort of let my brain wander. As a result, it has taken some time to get from point A to point Z, and my brain has taken some interesting turns along the way, but it finally produced a conclusion this week. I'm happy to say that the synopsis for novel #2 is done and its pretty good. Now, I let my brain loose again to finish off the trilogy so that I can finally sit down and start writing the first novel. (You see, I kind of need to know the ending of the story before I write the beginning - which is why I need to at least plan out the second and third books of the trilogy before I start writing the first).
My brain has also been distracted with the arrival of my new camera and the impending start of my second film. I've been cramming an entire semester's worth of digital film making knowledge into one week of study, just to get started. This sort of technical knowledge is fascinating and mentally draining - which tends to make my artistic side of the brain wander all the more and further afield (which explains why I am always a mental basketcase at the end of the school year).
So in pursuit of purely intellectual and artistic goals this week I have not had time nor the energy to work on Kenya. But I don't feel negligent, just absent. You see all of these pursuits serve some sort of higher purpose in the long run though I don't always know what that purpose might be - kind of like algebra in high school. Some of the strangest bits of knowledge that I've gleaned on these flights of fancy have proved to be rather helpful on occasion - I even remember one little bit of knowledge that calmed a storm brewing in Naval Intelligence (but, of course, I can't talk about it).
As you can imagine, I'm a big fan of the Beatle's song, "A Day In The Life." Where It will go, indeed...
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Countdown to Kenya Antarctica - Day Fourteen
Some people like warm, tropical climates. I mostly prefer cold isolated places. I can't explain it, but places like Iceland, Alaska, and Idaho (in the winter when the fishing is crappy) appeal to me. Perhaps its a natural reaction to growing up in a city full of people. At some point, you just want to get away from it all... far, far, away.
As a result, one of the places I've always wanted to visit has been Antarctica. When I was in the Navy, I even inquired about being stationed there for a six month tour. Being an intelligence specialist sort of kept me out of the loop on that one... not too much need for interrogating penguins apparently. So, instead, as I got older, wiser, and had higher limits on my credit cards, I started preparing for a trip to Antarctica.
My first bit of knowledge - it costs about $6000 on a good day to take a cruise there. That's pretty much where I stopped preparing. I don't mind maxing out my credit cards, but I'd like to do it a little at a time - not on one roll of the dice.
However, my dream of going to Antarctica has never been fully vanquished - not so long as there's a lottery to win. For the past several years now, I've been keeping track of cruise costs in the hopes that they would have gone down. Alas... they've gone the other direction and I'm further from my goal than ever before.
Now that God has made this rather inconvenient request of me to travel to Kenya and I've agreed to go that great tempter, Satan, has really gone out of his way to drag me back over to his camp. Not only has he thrown Antarctica back in my face again, but he's added a new wrinkle that is literally kicking me in the face with desire.
You see, National Geographic Travel sent me a flyer yesterday for their latest two week cruise to Antarctica with an added bonus - guest speaker and fellow traveler, Neil Armstrong.
Neil! Freaking! Armstrong! - the first man who ever walked on the moon - one of the greatest heroes in the history of heroes - will be traveling on a cruise to the place on the planet I most want to visit. I could go there together with this man. I could finally meet one of my most beloved icons and visit one of my touchstone locations at the same time and for the same price.
Of course, Satan didn't contend on one thing more powerful to my soul than even God's command. At heart, I've still got Scottish roots, and the National Geographic Cruise costs $10,000 or more. For that amount, Neil Armstrong would have to be my roommate.
Sorry Satan... Kenya is still my destination of choice.
As a result, one of the places I've always wanted to visit has been Antarctica. When I was in the Navy, I even inquired about being stationed there for a six month tour. Being an intelligence specialist sort of kept me out of the loop on that one... not too much need for interrogating penguins apparently. So, instead, as I got older, wiser, and had higher limits on my credit cards, I started preparing for a trip to Antarctica.
My first bit of knowledge - it costs about $6000 on a good day to take a cruise there. That's pretty much where I stopped preparing. I don't mind maxing out my credit cards, but I'd like to do it a little at a time - not on one roll of the dice.
However, my dream of going to Antarctica has never been fully vanquished - not so long as there's a lottery to win. For the past several years now, I've been keeping track of cruise costs in the hopes that they would have gone down. Alas... they've gone the other direction and I'm further from my goal than ever before.
Now that God has made this rather inconvenient request of me to travel to Kenya and I've agreed to go that great tempter, Satan, has really gone out of his way to drag me back over to his camp. Not only has he thrown Antarctica back in my face again, but he's added a new wrinkle that is literally kicking me in the face with desire.
You see, National Geographic Travel sent me a flyer yesterday for their latest two week cruise to Antarctica with an added bonus - guest speaker and fellow traveler, Neil Armstrong.
Neil! Freaking! Armstrong! - the first man who ever walked on the moon - one of the greatest heroes in the history of heroes - will be traveling on a cruise to the place on the planet I most want to visit. I could go there together with this man. I could finally meet one of my most beloved icons and visit one of my touchstone locations at the same time and for the same price.
Of course, Satan didn't contend on one thing more powerful to my soul than even God's command. At heart, I've still got Scottish roots, and the National Geographic Cruise costs $10,000 or more. For that amount, Neil Armstrong would have to be my roommate.
Sorry Satan... Kenya is still my destination of choice.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Countdown to Kenya - Day Nine
My special thanks to Randall Sherman for hooking me on the "Reluctant Memsahib" blog from Tanzania. Anthea is the mother of four living in a far away outpost of Tanzania trying to make ends meet. Her blog is a story of Africa, but also a story of a family struggling with the day to day issues of life. As such it feels so familiar and yet so exotic - which is an incredibly mesmerizing and addiction forming combination. If there is a more perfect antidote for the kind of anxiety I displayed in my last post, I don't know what it is.
One of the issues I've been struggling with this week is the thought of why I am going to Kenya. At our last meeting, I heard the familiar refrains of mission travelers everywhere, "Why go at all? Surely the money can be better spent... blah, blah, blah..." These are the questions of people that have never taken any sort of mission trip, but that would never question spending thousands of dollars to travel to exotic locations on a vacation. The same argument could be made about a vacation, by the way. Why go to all the way to Italy when you could just visit North Beach in San Francisco and save thousands of dollars? However, every time the question is asked of me I still question my motivations.
For me, the answer is fairly clear. I'm going to Kenya because God called me to go. I don't say that like I've got some sort of direct line to Heaven and that God wanted me to go to Kenya specifically cause nobody else can do what I can do. I'm not some sort of savior of Africa. Heck, I don't even really have any idea what I can do there, or if I'm even needed. I might spend the entire time there sick with malaria for all I know. I say it because its a fact. Before God clearly told me to go to Kenya, I really had no notion of going. None. As a vacation, sure, maybe... but it's an awful long ways to go to see some animals in overgrown vegetation. And as far as being a missionary... there are other people way more qualified than I am. But my opinion on this matter doesn't count. God called me to go, and I have humbly accepted the task. What I do when I get there is anybody's guess.
But that lack of knowledge about what I can do in Kenya can really make one question their motives. Is there some secret desire on my part to go to Kenya? Did I imagine the whole God thing because deep down inside I've always wanted to go there? Am I really just acting out some sort of savior complex? Do I believe I'm going to make a difference and save Kenya?
I don't suppose that the fact that I think these questions are absurd clears me entirely. So, for the record, my answer to all these questions is no. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, no.
I'm going to Kenya because God is calling me there. Of my trip, I can say three things with certainty. I will not be able to go without God's help. I have no idea what I'm going to do there. And I'm sure I'll take more from Kenya than I'll ever be able to give back. I expect to be changed. I hope that I can also help Kenya change - for the better. But that's really in God's hands. I'm just going along for the ride.
One of the issues I've been struggling with this week is the thought of why I am going to Kenya. At our last meeting, I heard the familiar refrains of mission travelers everywhere, "Why go at all? Surely the money can be better spent... blah, blah, blah..." These are the questions of people that have never taken any sort of mission trip, but that would never question spending thousands of dollars to travel to exotic locations on a vacation. The same argument could be made about a vacation, by the way. Why go to all the way to Italy when you could just visit North Beach in San Francisco and save thousands of dollars? However, every time the question is asked of me I still question my motivations.
For me, the answer is fairly clear. I'm going to Kenya because God called me to go. I don't say that like I've got some sort of direct line to Heaven and that God wanted me to go to Kenya specifically cause nobody else can do what I can do. I'm not some sort of savior of Africa. Heck, I don't even really have any idea what I can do there, or if I'm even needed. I might spend the entire time there sick with malaria for all I know. I say it because its a fact. Before God clearly told me to go to Kenya, I really had no notion of going. None. As a vacation, sure, maybe... but it's an awful long ways to go to see some animals in overgrown vegetation. And as far as being a missionary... there are other people way more qualified than I am. But my opinion on this matter doesn't count. God called me to go, and I have humbly accepted the task. What I do when I get there is anybody's guess.
But that lack of knowledge about what I can do in Kenya can really make one question their motives. Is there some secret desire on my part to go to Kenya? Did I imagine the whole God thing because deep down inside I've always wanted to go there? Am I really just acting out some sort of savior complex? Do I believe I'm going to make a difference and save Kenya?
I don't suppose that the fact that I think these questions are absurd clears me entirely. So, for the record, my answer to all these questions is no. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, no.
I'm going to Kenya because God is calling me there. Of my trip, I can say three things with certainty. I will not be able to go without God's help. I have no idea what I'm going to do there. And I'm sure I'll take more from Kenya than I'll ever be able to give back. I expect to be changed. I hope that I can also help Kenya change - for the better. But that's really in God's hands. I'm just going along for the ride.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Countdown to Kenya - Day Seven
A zebra charges Kenya Wildlife Service rangers at a ranch west of Nairobi on July 30, 2007. The rangers are relocating some 2,000 animals, including hundreds of zebra and impala, from this ranch and two other locations to Meru National Park, which has been devastated by poaching.
Photograph by Boniface Mwangi/Reuters
My thanks to National Geographic for this update from 2007. I saw this photo and it just made me laugh. I suppose being chased by a wild animal is not anything to laugh about, but at the same time, the fact that they can be chased by a wild animal, that there are still zebras to see in this world, can bring a smile to my face.
I've been browsing photos for pictures of Meru in particular and Kenya in a broader context. I'm experiencing culture shock in bits and pieces as I try to imagine myself inside these photos. A photo of a bus station in nearby Nanyuki looked so foreign to me that I almost could not imagine the sights and sounds and smells of the place.
I guess I don't want to admit to being a sheltered American. I've traveled, after all, and visited places all over the United States, Europe, and Canada. But the closest I've come to this kind of poverty was in Mexico when I was a kid - crossing over the Rio Grande from El Paso. It was so exotic and third world feeling that I admit to not liking it at all. Give me the sanitized street scenes of Morocco at Disney World any day. Let me marvel at the spectacle of Neunshwanstein in Germany. Pierce my soul with the haunting beauty of the Pieta in the Vatican. Don't let me get dirty in the slums of a distant country. Don't put me in harms way around people that don't look or act or talk like me. And definitely don't make me eat their strange food.
At heart, I guess I'm just an armchair adventurer. I want the thrill and excitement of Indiana Jones without all the muss and fuss of actually experiencing the foreignness of a place. I like Panda Express. I hate Chinatown. I like Taco Bell. I hate the Mission District. I have a hard time leaving my comfort zone. So much for being an anthropologist.
To be fair, it can be incredibly uncomfortable going to a new place and meeting new people. I have actually a fairly good track record when it comes to stepping out on my own and seeking adventure. Through the Navy and beyond, I've lived and worked in many places around the country and I've always adapted to the location that I've gone. My "reaction" to these locations is more a sign of my fear and anxiety about the unknown. Once I'm there and once I get to know a place, I quickly become a native.
I didn't know squat about Hawaii when I arrived (and talk about a foreign country ;) but within six months I was comfortable enough to walk 15 miles from my base to my apartment at night - just to see if I could do it. I may hate change and I may love the known a little too much, but I'm perfectly capable of thriving in a foreign setting.
I look at pictures of Kenya and I see a dirty, dusty, backwards town that scares the heck out of me (somewhat because of how Disney-esque it really looks ;) and then I think of what I'm being called to do and I just know that I will fall in love with Kenya. Fear is always irrational in the end.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Countdown to Kenya - Day Six
Praise God! For He provides all of our blessings.
I have been struggling to translate into words this feeling of inner completeness that I've been experiencing since last week. It flows, in part, out of my discussion on the faith of the disciples on the boat and Jesus's suggestion that they should have just calmed the waves themselves. I realize that that's just my interpretation, but I have found it to be a profound interpretation. I've spent the last week trying to figure out how to calm the waves.
Clearly the Bible is filled with God's miracles. In fact, you might say the entire book from cover to cover is just one long miracle. That the awesome and majestic creator of ALL things should want to have a personal relationship with me is pretty darn miraculous. Heck, I know plenty of people here on Earth that don't want to even give me the time of day. Some of that, maybe, I deserve. And that's the point. If I deserve being ignored by people here, imagine what I deserve in my relationship with God. And yet, He still wants to have this relationship with me - with all of us! That's pretty miraculous.
Understanding that calming the waves would be a miracle, however, doesn't tell me how to do it. Is there a certain flick of the wrist? A tone of the voice? Do I hold up a staff or bang it down on the boat and cry, "You SHALL NOT storm!" in my best Gandalf voice? See, that's part of the problem. My idea of miracles is shaped by Hollywood, and Hollywood's idea of a miracle is that SOMEONE has to do them - thus lending the power of the miracle to the person and not to the actual miracle. You don't get Danny DeVito to part the Red Sea, you get Charlton Heston. But I'm guessing Moses was probably closer to DeVito than to Heston.
So in my best producer like way, I decided to break down the problem one step at a time and I started with a relatively "simple" miracle - God's granting of a son to Abraham, despite his advanced age. I pictured this old man with his old wife (something like the happy couple at the beginning of UP) who have had one break after another and just haven't had a child yet. And God tells them that they will have a child. Abraham must have been thinking, "You're crazy!" but he just nodded and accepted that God could do anything He wanted.
How does the miracle work then? Is it simply faith? Did Abraham believe it would happen, so it did? No. There is no trigger. There is no formula. There are no magic words to make miracles happen, because a miracle is not magic.
When I was a kid and I got in trouble and I knew that I was going to be beaten within an inch of my life, I always found it to be a miracle when my parents would console me instead and treat me with love. In fact, any time where I was certain something bad would happen and instead it turned into something good, something beyond what I could have ever hoped for because it defied everything I knew to be possible, I chalked that up as a miracle.
Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac, beyond all their expectations in their old age because God granted them a child. God created the child for them, like He creates all children, out of love. It was a miracle that they had a child at such an advanced age - but the miracle was not in the creation of the child, the miracle was in the gift that they received from God. All such gifts show us that God loves us enough to personally intervene on our behalf. All such interventions are called miracles. Miracles are love just as God is love.
If I were a kid living day by day wondering if I was going to eat that day, struggling to survive in a hot and dusty slum in Kenya, dealing with all the terrible conditions there and not knowing any other existence, it would be a miracle if someone from the other side of the world who had never met me were to just show up one day and feed me, clothe me, and send me to school. This would be a miracle because I would have no expectation that people from half the world away would show such love to me. This would be a miracle because such a thing could not happen without God showing His love to me. There would be no magic words to make this happen. No special hand movements. No dance or song or anything I could do to make it happen. Impossible for me, but for God, its simply showing His love.
That is how I can calm the storm - with love.
I have been struggling to translate into words this feeling of inner completeness that I've been experiencing since last week. It flows, in part, out of my discussion on the faith of the disciples on the boat and Jesus's suggestion that they should have just calmed the waves themselves. I realize that that's just my interpretation, but I have found it to be a profound interpretation. I've spent the last week trying to figure out how to calm the waves.
Clearly the Bible is filled with God's miracles. In fact, you might say the entire book from cover to cover is just one long miracle. That the awesome and majestic creator of ALL things should want to have a personal relationship with me is pretty darn miraculous. Heck, I know plenty of people here on Earth that don't want to even give me the time of day. Some of that, maybe, I deserve. And that's the point. If I deserve being ignored by people here, imagine what I deserve in my relationship with God. And yet, He still wants to have this relationship with me - with all of us! That's pretty miraculous.
Understanding that calming the waves would be a miracle, however, doesn't tell me how to do it. Is there a certain flick of the wrist? A tone of the voice? Do I hold up a staff or bang it down on the boat and cry, "You SHALL NOT storm!" in my best Gandalf voice? See, that's part of the problem. My idea of miracles is shaped by Hollywood, and Hollywood's idea of a miracle is that SOMEONE has to do them - thus lending the power of the miracle to the person and not to the actual miracle. You don't get Danny DeVito to part the Red Sea, you get Charlton Heston. But I'm guessing Moses was probably closer to DeVito than to Heston.
So in my best producer like way, I decided to break down the problem one step at a time and I started with a relatively "simple" miracle - God's granting of a son to Abraham, despite his advanced age. I pictured this old man with his old wife (something like the happy couple at the beginning of UP) who have had one break after another and just haven't had a child yet. And God tells them that they will have a child. Abraham must have been thinking, "You're crazy!" but he just nodded and accepted that God could do anything He wanted.
How does the miracle work then? Is it simply faith? Did Abraham believe it would happen, so it did? No. There is no trigger. There is no formula. There are no magic words to make miracles happen, because a miracle is not magic.
When I was a kid and I got in trouble and I knew that I was going to be beaten within an inch of my life, I always found it to be a miracle when my parents would console me instead and treat me with love. In fact, any time where I was certain something bad would happen and instead it turned into something good, something beyond what I could have ever hoped for because it defied everything I knew to be possible, I chalked that up as a miracle.
Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac, beyond all their expectations in their old age because God granted them a child. God created the child for them, like He creates all children, out of love. It was a miracle that they had a child at such an advanced age - but the miracle was not in the creation of the child, the miracle was in the gift that they received from God. All such gifts show us that God loves us enough to personally intervene on our behalf. All such interventions are called miracles. Miracles are love just as God is love.
If I were a kid living day by day wondering if I was going to eat that day, struggling to survive in a hot and dusty slum in Kenya, dealing with all the terrible conditions there and not knowing any other existence, it would be a miracle if someone from the other side of the world who had never met me were to just show up one day and feed me, clothe me, and send me to school. This would be a miracle because I would have no expectation that people from half the world away would show such love to me. This would be a miracle because such a thing could not happen without God showing His love to me. There would be no magic words to make this happen. No special hand movements. No dance or song or anything I could do to make it happen. Impossible for me, but for God, its simply showing His love.
That is how I can calm the storm - with love.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Kenya Children's Mission Group Info
By Robert Taussig (reprinted with permission)
The Kenya Children Mission Project Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA)
Mission Statement: We assist poor, downtrodden children and their families in Meru, Kenya, children orphaned by HIV/AIDs, some raised by equally poor, single grandparents without housing or tillage; others living on the street, with no hope of a better life. We are partnering with Meru’s agencies and churches to provide these children with food, school fees/uniforms, healthcare and love, showing that real people care about them.
Affiliation: Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA), 201 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132; member of the San Francisco Presbytery and Synod of the Pacific.
Brief history: The Lakeside Kenya Children Mission Project has been in existence since May, 2008 and is a formally approved mission by the Session of Lakeside Presbyterian Church. The Mission Group was founded specifically with the objective of helping poor, hungry, downtrodden children living on the street or in rural settings without the means to grow up as productive members of their society. The first trip to Kenya was made in Jan-February of 2009 to focus on the township of Meru, about 180 kilometers north of Nairobi, where our mission leader, Karl Morthole, had taught in a ‘Harambee’ (self-help) secondary school from late 1969 to 1972 under the auspices of the UPC(USA)’s Commission for Ecumenical Mission and Relations, the Methodist Church in Kenya, and the National Christian Council of Kenya. During this trip, roughly 15 different groups were contacted and met personally in Meru to determine the extent and capability of their support for poor, orphaned children, and ability to partner.
From that survey, 4 groups were selected as the initial partners, with the understanding as our mission grows and diversifies with additional experience, that we might support additional groups and/or increase the level of effort for those that we had already selected. Our support will be in the form of school fees, funding for food, clothing, and medicine, and for hands-on support in Meru during our mission trips to supply direct nursing assistance, repair of homes, facilities, drilling for water and possibly supplying critical equipment such as computers, photovoltaic cell power systems, batteries, satellite dishes, and vehicles, depending on the urgency of the need.
Examples of how gifts to our organization are used: One hundred percent of all gifts to the Lakeside Kenya Mission will accrue to the benefits of the mission children and their families, and to the activity of our partner organizations in Meru supporting these same mission efforts. Gifts made through our church are tax deductible via our 501(c) 3 status. Our partner organizations are: The MCK Runogone Church, Ripples International, and the street children programs supported by the Methodist Church of Kenya at the Catholic Consolata Mission location in the Mjini slum of Meru, and in the Nkabune area of the Diocese of Meru.
The first mission financial contributions from our Lakeside Church congregation were delivered to each of our four Kenyan partner organizations in June, 2009 to provide funds for food, medicine, school uniforms and fees. Our mission team operating expenses are entirely supported by the mission members themselves. All mission members pay for their own trip costs to and from Kenya, and for their travel-living expenses within Kenya.
We are encouraged that college age members of our congregation are interested in this mission. We plan to bring them as young missionaries to Kenya as soon as it is feasible to do so. An effort is being made to involve other churches of the San Francisco Presbytery in our mission, to bring their special talents to aid these poor Kenyan children. Our hope is, God willing, to maintain our personal presence in Kenya for a month or so each year, and possibly more often, to help our world grow closer together in spirit and fact. We invite and will help to develop longer-term support for this mission in Kenya.
A key purpose of our mission is to support these children in the spirit of Christ and to ensure that our contact with them makes this purpose clear. Each of our partner organizations in Meru is devoutly Christian, carrying forth His message in their daily endeavors and devotions. Runogone Church has recently raised funds for another building on the church grounds to accommodate the increase in mission activity related to the poor children and their single parents or grandparents in their area. Ripples International has recently constructed a Chapel and three story hospital on a plot of land sufficient to provide housing, a vegetable farm and some livestock to increase their capability to care for both the health and the spiritual life of their orphaned children.
We encourage prospective donors to the Kenyan Children Mission Project of Lakeside Presbyterian Church to contact our mission group to get the most up-to-date news and information on this Project. We intend to periodically update this mission information and will list the latest entry date here: July 10, 2009.
Contact Information: Please contact us through our Mission Director, Karl Morthole, by email (karl@morthole.com), by telephone at 415-986-0227 or by mail at Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA), 201 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132 if you have any questions or would like to discuss the current status of our mission activities.
The Kenya Children Mission Project Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA)
Mission Statement: We assist poor, downtrodden children and their families in Meru, Kenya, children orphaned by HIV/AIDs, some raised by equally poor, single grandparents without housing or tillage; others living on the street, with no hope of a better life. We are partnering with Meru’s agencies and churches to provide these children with food, school fees/uniforms, healthcare and love, showing that real people care about them.
Affiliation: Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA), 201 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132; member of the San Francisco Presbytery and Synod of the Pacific.
Brief history: The Lakeside Kenya Children Mission Project has been in existence since May, 2008 and is a formally approved mission by the Session of Lakeside Presbyterian Church. The Mission Group was founded specifically with the objective of helping poor, hungry, downtrodden children living on the street or in rural settings without the means to grow up as productive members of their society. The first trip to Kenya was made in Jan-February of 2009 to focus on the township of Meru, about 180 kilometers north of Nairobi, where our mission leader, Karl Morthole, had taught in a ‘Harambee’ (self-help) secondary school from late 1969 to 1972 under the auspices of the UPC(USA)’s Commission for Ecumenical Mission and Relations, the Methodist Church in Kenya, and the National Christian Council of Kenya. During this trip, roughly 15 different groups were contacted and met personally in Meru to determine the extent and capability of their support for poor, orphaned children, and ability to partner.
From that survey, 4 groups were selected as the initial partners, with the understanding as our mission grows and diversifies with additional experience, that we might support additional groups and/or increase the level of effort for those that we had already selected. Our support will be in the form of school fees, funding for food, clothing, and medicine, and for hands-on support in Meru during our mission trips to supply direct nursing assistance, repair of homes, facilities, drilling for water and possibly supplying critical equipment such as computers, photovoltaic cell power systems, batteries, satellite dishes, and vehicles, depending on the urgency of the need.
Examples of how gifts to our organization are used: One hundred percent of all gifts to the Lakeside Kenya Mission will accrue to the benefits of the mission children and their families, and to the activity of our partner organizations in Meru supporting these same mission efforts. Gifts made through our church are tax deductible via our 501(c) 3 status. Our partner organizations are: The MCK Runogone Church, Ripples International, and the street children programs supported by the Methodist Church of Kenya at the Catholic Consolata Mission location in the Mjini slum of Meru, and in the Nkabune area of the Diocese of Meru.
The first mission financial contributions from our Lakeside Church congregation were delivered to each of our four Kenyan partner organizations in June, 2009 to provide funds for food, medicine, school uniforms and fees. Our mission team operating expenses are entirely supported by the mission members themselves. All mission members pay for their own trip costs to and from Kenya, and for their travel-living expenses within Kenya.
We are encouraged that college age members of our congregation are interested in this mission. We plan to bring them as young missionaries to Kenya as soon as it is feasible to do so. An effort is being made to involve other churches of the San Francisco Presbytery in our mission, to bring their special talents to aid these poor Kenyan children. Our hope is, God willing, to maintain our personal presence in Kenya for a month or so each year, and possibly more often, to help our world grow closer together in spirit and fact. We invite and will help to develop longer-term support for this mission in Kenya.
A key purpose of our mission is to support these children in the spirit of Christ and to ensure that our contact with them makes this purpose clear. Each of our partner organizations in Meru is devoutly Christian, carrying forth His message in their daily endeavors and devotions. Runogone Church has recently raised funds for another building on the church grounds to accommodate the increase in mission activity related to the poor children and their single parents or grandparents in their area. Ripples International has recently constructed a Chapel and three story hospital on a plot of land sufficient to provide housing, a vegetable farm and some livestock to increase their capability to care for both the health and the spiritual life of their orphaned children.
We encourage prospective donors to the Kenyan Children Mission Project of Lakeside Presbyterian Church to contact our mission group to get the most up-to-date news and information on this Project. We intend to periodically update this mission information and will list the latest entry date here: July 10, 2009.
Contact Information: Please contact us through our Mission Director, Karl Morthole, by email (karl@morthole.com), by telephone at 415-986-0227 or by mail at Lakeside Presbyterian Church PC(USA), 201 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132 if you have any questions or would like to discuss the current status of our mission activities.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Countdown to Kenya - Day Three
Does it sometimes seem like everything hits at once? Kenya is getting called out by President Obama as needing to reform its corrupt practices. Even in my short time dealing with Kenya, I can see that these systems are in place and will probably need to be navigated around. Fortunately, none of the people we'll be dealing with directly are involved in any of that. But this can be a part of doing business in any part of the world (whether its called outright a bribe or disguised as a legitimate "fee", it still amounts to the same thing... Yes, I'm talking to you BofA!)
At the same time, Kofi Annan, former head of the UN, basically dropped Kenya into a world of trouble when he decided to, more or less, wash his hands of the whole Post-Election Violence investigation. It seems that the Kenyan's, rather than launching a legitimate investigation into the violence of nearly two years ago, had almost managed to get another one year extension on their ongoing investigation. Annan said, "Justice delayed is justice denied," and turned in all of his paperwork to the Hague which has decided to launch it's own investigation into the post-election violence. The Kenyan government is now scrambling to show that its investigation is ongoing and yielding results, especially since the current political leaders of the country will not be exempt from the Hague's investigation.
The same thing seems to be happening to my Friday, though on a far smaller and more annoying scale. Work is difficult... but at least difficulties mean that I still have work, and for that I'm grateful.
Have a good weekend.
At the same time, Kofi Annan, former head of the UN, basically dropped Kenya into a world of trouble when he decided to, more or less, wash his hands of the whole Post-Election Violence investigation. It seems that the Kenyan's, rather than launching a legitimate investigation into the violence of nearly two years ago, had almost managed to get another one year extension on their ongoing investigation. Annan said, "Justice delayed is justice denied," and turned in all of his paperwork to the Hague which has decided to launch it's own investigation into the post-election violence. The Kenyan government is now scrambling to show that its investigation is ongoing and yielding results, especially since the current political leaders of the country will not be exempt from the Hague's investigation.
The same thing seems to be happening to my Friday, though on a far smaller and more annoying scale. Work is difficult... but at least difficulties mean that I still have work, and for that I'm grateful.
Have a good weekend.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Countdown to Kenya - Day Two
So yesterday, I stood in the harbor with my flashlight in one hand, my crown on my head, and a giant marble tablet in the other hand and I cried out, "Give me your tired, poor, huddled old coins yearning to breath free!" I collected all my old used coins, counted them all up, and am now $96 closer to Kenya. $96 down, $3504 to go! Of course, it took me like four years to save up those coins, so... I'm going to have to come up with other methods of raising money.
Now Dave Lamb (aka Pastor Dave... aka Ranger Rick... aka That John Denver Look-Alike ;) had an interesting question yesterday and I thought I'd address it. You all know why I'M going to Kenya, but you probably don't have a clue why WE'RE going to Kenya. So let me back track...
Really, this whole thing begins and ends with Karl Morthole. Back in the day he was a PeaceCorp volunteer in Meru, Kenya, working with a school as a teacher. Though he went on with his life after he left Kenya, Kenya never really left him.
Jump forward a number of years and Karl started going back to Kenya for visits and reunions. While there, he discovered that his former school needed some assistance, so he brought the issue to Lakeside and we generously donated some money for school uniforms and other projects. The Youth Group at the time even sponsored an AIDS Education program out of Meru.
But Karl started thinking there was more that he could do, so he decided to go back and help Kenyan farmers by setting up a coffee exchange here in the United States. Unfortunately, that's a rather tough market to crack.
All of this was going on sort of at his behest and completely on his own. Lakeside supported Karl and his efforts, but they were his efforts.
On a completely different tack, a group of Lakesider's were getting together to study missional programs and the deepening of their commitment to Christ. Out of this group, which included Karl, a number of them got together and decided that they wanted to form a small group Mission Study Group, to figure out if there was a better way of doing mission at Lakeside. After a relatively short debate, they realized that there was one person amongst them that already had a passionate mission going - so they formed the Kenya Mission Group.
I joined the group earlier this year and the very first thing that occurred after I joined was a short fact finding trip by two of the group members. They went to Kenya to find a mission program that Lakeside could partner with. Kenyan people helping Kenyan people with Lakeside helping them. We didn't want to be in charge, we only wanted to assist. Well, the trip was so successful that we had a real hard time narrowing the assistance down to four groups and six different missions.
We are currently supporting four different missions in Kenya. Two of the groups are children's feeding programs located near slum neighborhoods in Meru (and just outside Meru). These programs feed up to 120 kids a day and try to get them school uniforms and into schools. (Kenya has free education for grade school, but not free uniforms). These are the programs that I'll be working with mostly. Another of the programs is the Runogone Church in Meru that has taken a pledge to help up to 200 families in their community that are either in poverty or right on the edge. They are doing much the same as the other groups, but on a much larger scale. And the final program is Ripples International - a Kenyan program with funding from all over that has several different missions. The ones that we are working with are their programs dealing with AIDS Testing and Consulting, Abandoned Infant Care, and Help for Young Battered Women (teens and younger that have often been sexually assaulted).
We are raising funds and awareness for these groups and in less than six months, we will send a team of people to Meru to physically help in any way that is possible - including drilling a couple of wells to help them deal with crop sustainability.
This is an ongoing effort - not one that ends in six months and two weeks - when I return from Kenya. We have no illusion about our ability to completely end suffering, but we are doing what we can to help and God willing that help will go far.
I hope that answers all of your questions.
Now Dave Lamb (aka Pastor Dave... aka Ranger Rick... aka That John Denver Look-Alike ;) had an interesting question yesterday and I thought I'd address it. You all know why I'M going to Kenya, but you probably don't have a clue why WE'RE going to Kenya. So let me back track...
Really, this whole thing begins and ends with Karl Morthole. Back in the day he was a PeaceCorp volunteer in Meru, Kenya, working with a school as a teacher. Though he went on with his life after he left Kenya, Kenya never really left him.
Jump forward a number of years and Karl started going back to Kenya for visits and reunions. While there, he discovered that his former school needed some assistance, so he brought the issue to Lakeside and we generously donated some money for school uniforms and other projects. The Youth Group at the time even sponsored an AIDS Education program out of Meru.
But Karl started thinking there was more that he could do, so he decided to go back and help Kenyan farmers by setting up a coffee exchange here in the United States. Unfortunately, that's a rather tough market to crack.
All of this was going on sort of at his behest and completely on his own. Lakeside supported Karl and his efforts, but they were his efforts.
On a completely different tack, a group of Lakesider's were getting together to study missional programs and the deepening of their commitment to Christ. Out of this group, which included Karl, a number of them got together and decided that they wanted to form a small group Mission Study Group, to figure out if there was a better way of doing mission at Lakeside. After a relatively short debate, they realized that there was one person amongst them that already had a passionate mission going - so they formed the Kenya Mission Group.
I joined the group earlier this year and the very first thing that occurred after I joined was a short fact finding trip by two of the group members. They went to Kenya to find a mission program that Lakeside could partner with. Kenyan people helping Kenyan people with Lakeside helping them. We didn't want to be in charge, we only wanted to assist. Well, the trip was so successful that we had a real hard time narrowing the assistance down to four groups and six different missions.
We are currently supporting four different missions in Kenya. Two of the groups are children's feeding programs located near slum neighborhoods in Meru (and just outside Meru). These programs feed up to 120 kids a day and try to get them school uniforms and into schools. (Kenya has free education for grade school, but not free uniforms). These are the programs that I'll be working with mostly. Another of the programs is the Runogone Church in Meru that has taken a pledge to help up to 200 families in their community that are either in poverty or right on the edge. They are doing much the same as the other groups, but on a much larger scale. And the final program is Ripples International - a Kenyan program with funding from all over that has several different missions. The ones that we are working with are their programs dealing with AIDS Testing and Consulting, Abandoned Infant Care, and Help for Young Battered Women (teens and younger that have often been sexually assaulted).
We are raising funds and awareness for these groups and in less than six months, we will send a team of people to Meru to physically help in any way that is possible - including drilling a couple of wells to help them deal with crop sustainability.
This is an ongoing effort - not one that ends in six months and two weeks - when I return from Kenya. We have no illusion about our ability to completely end suffering, but we are doing what we can to help and God willing that help will go far.
I hope that answers all of your questions.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Countdown to Kenya - Day One
I've been visited today by my alter-ego, Dr. Wig. He is the fun side of my personality - the one who sees everything in a positive light. He's been woefully missing during the last couple of months and it was good to have him back in charge of the ol' brain for a while.
Of course, he's spent most of the day mocking me for my lack of faith on Kenya. He's reminding me of how far I've got to go on this whole faith thing.
For instance, I've always read that Luke passage that I quoted a couple of days ago as Jesus chastising his disciples for waking him when clearly the storm would have not killed them so long as Jesus was aboard. "Where is your faith?" Or to paraphrase, "Surely you didn't think God was going to sink this ship while I was aboard, did you?" But I suddenly realized this week that Jesus was not questioning their faith because the disciples were scared of sinking, He was questioning their faith because they bothered Him at all. "Where is your faith?" I.E. Why did you wake me? Why didn't you just calm the seas?
I've been setting out on the boat journey's of life with a life vest. I've taken my oars. I've remembered my fishing tackle, my GPS, my radio to call for help, my navigational charts, even my flares... but I don't think I've ever packed my Storm Quelling Kit.
It sounds ridiculous until you read the Bible and see what His disciples and all manners of great Biblical leaders were able to accomplish with little more than faith. Imagine walking into a gathering of crazed religious fanatics and challenging them to a duel of the gods. Imagine having them call upon their god to light a Weber Grill and failing... to be expected, of course. But imagine then taking the same Weber Grill, dousing it with water, and calling upon God to light that puppy from Heaven. What do you REALLY think would happen?
Or what if you were commanded to have the Earth spin backwards one day? Or you were being pursued by an entire army down to the banks of an impassable channel of water? Or what if you were commanded to attack an entire army with just a handful of men? (none of whom looked like Gerald Butler from 300 ;)
I think the least of God's troubles would be for me to find a way to Kenya. To Him, this might be the equivalent of worrying whether He'll remember to breathe in the next second. Get Will to Kenya? Got anything a little more challenging?
I mean how small must my faith be if faith the size of a mustard seed can move entire mountains?
See... Dr. Wig is a good mocker and I'm glad he's back inside my head for a while - even if it means more thoughts on my Broadway Musical... ;)
Now, to figure out how to raise $13,600 in the next six months ($3600 for Kenya, $10,000 for the Movie) and to lose 40 pounds. Anyone want to sponsor me to lose weight? $1 a pound! That's a real steal on the normal conversion rate which is closer to $2 a pound right now... All proceeds get me to Kenya... even if I have to walk or swim part of the way.
Thanks for reading.
Of course, he's spent most of the day mocking me for my lack of faith on Kenya. He's reminding me of how far I've got to go on this whole faith thing.
For instance, I've always read that Luke passage that I quoted a couple of days ago as Jesus chastising his disciples for waking him when clearly the storm would have not killed them so long as Jesus was aboard. "Where is your faith?" Or to paraphrase, "Surely you didn't think God was going to sink this ship while I was aboard, did you?" But I suddenly realized this week that Jesus was not questioning their faith because the disciples were scared of sinking, He was questioning their faith because they bothered Him at all. "Where is your faith?" I.E. Why did you wake me? Why didn't you just calm the seas?
I've been setting out on the boat journey's of life with a life vest. I've taken my oars. I've remembered my fishing tackle, my GPS, my radio to call for help, my navigational charts, even my flares... but I don't think I've ever packed my Storm Quelling Kit.
It sounds ridiculous until you read the Bible and see what His disciples and all manners of great Biblical leaders were able to accomplish with little more than faith. Imagine walking into a gathering of crazed religious fanatics and challenging them to a duel of the gods. Imagine having them call upon their god to light a Weber Grill and failing... to be expected, of course. But imagine then taking the same Weber Grill, dousing it with water, and calling upon God to light that puppy from Heaven. What do you REALLY think would happen?
Or what if you were commanded to have the Earth spin backwards one day? Or you were being pursued by an entire army down to the banks of an impassable channel of water? Or what if you were commanded to attack an entire army with just a handful of men? (none of whom looked like Gerald Butler from 300 ;)
I think the least of God's troubles would be for me to find a way to Kenya. To Him, this might be the equivalent of worrying whether He'll remember to breathe in the next second. Get Will to Kenya? Got anything a little more challenging?
I mean how small must my faith be if faith the size of a mustard seed can move entire mountains?
See... Dr. Wig is a good mocker and I'm glad he's back inside my head for a while - even if it means more thoughts on my Broadway Musical... ;)
Now, to figure out how to raise $13,600 in the next six months ($3600 for Kenya, $10,000 for the Movie) and to lose 40 pounds. Anyone want to sponsor me to lose weight? $1 a pound! That's a real steal on the normal conversion rate which is closer to $2 a pound right now... All proceeds get me to Kenya... even if I have to walk or swim part of the way.
Thanks for reading.
In Memorium: Oscar Mayer
Sing with me one last time:
Oh I wish I were an Os-car Mayer Wie - ner
That is what I'd tru-ly like to be
'cause if I were an Os-car May-er Wie - ner
Ev-ery one would be in love with me.
Rest In Peace, Mr. Mayer.
Oh I wish I were an Os-car Mayer Wie - ner
That is what I'd tru-ly like to be
'cause if I were an Os-car May-er Wie - ner
Ev-ery one would be in love with me.
Rest In Peace, Mr. Mayer.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Rock The Boat...
Luke 8:22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
On Wednesday of last week I had the following thought: "Perhaps I'm taking on a little too much responsibility. I mean, come on, a movie AND a trip to Kenya? Not to mention all the other little projects I've got going on. Am I so arrogant as to believe that I can do all of this stuff? Am I perhaps being a little too much like Icharus? Are my wings on fire?"
Less than half an hour later, my boss called me into a meeting about various different things and let me know exactly that with tough times might come tough measures - including the possibility that I might not have a job in the near future. Needless to say, in these economic times, this news did not surprise me. But it did shock me a little. Its one thing to suspect things are coming. Its quite another to hear them spoken out loud.
My immediate thought was, "There goes Kenya." Even if I were to find a new job, and one that pays quite a bit more than what I'm making now, the odds of any new employer letting one of their brand new employees tromp off to Kenya for two weeks in January seems extremely remote. I also came to the immediate conclusion that if I didn't get outside money for my movie, it too was not going to fly.
As the week progressed and I alternated between moods of despair and hope, I wandered around lost. My mental ship of state had taken a wallop of a storm wave and was just swirling around and around like a canoe in a whirlpool.
Finally, I grabbed hold of myself and said, "Where is your faith?" The first storm wave had come along and I had let go of the tiller and just drifted - like a rookie seaman.
I knew that raising $3600 to go to Kenya was going to be difficult in this economic climate, but I guess, deep-down, I suspected that I might still accomplish it. See, I'm something quite special and I have amazing powers and... God had to rid me of that suspicion. There is NO WAY I am going to Kenya without His help. He will get me there and all power and glory to Him.
It is not Moses getting his people out of Egypt. It is God. I am not going to Kenya. I am being sent. And when I set foot in that distant land, I will rejoice and know that He has made it possible.
(That's assuming I don't drown in debt in the meantime ;)
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
On Wednesday of last week I had the following thought: "Perhaps I'm taking on a little too much responsibility. I mean, come on, a movie AND a trip to Kenya? Not to mention all the other little projects I've got going on. Am I so arrogant as to believe that I can do all of this stuff? Am I perhaps being a little too much like Icharus? Are my wings on fire?"
Less than half an hour later, my boss called me into a meeting about various different things and let me know exactly that with tough times might come tough measures - including the possibility that I might not have a job in the near future. Needless to say, in these economic times, this news did not surprise me. But it did shock me a little. Its one thing to suspect things are coming. Its quite another to hear them spoken out loud.
My immediate thought was, "There goes Kenya." Even if I were to find a new job, and one that pays quite a bit more than what I'm making now, the odds of any new employer letting one of their brand new employees tromp off to Kenya for two weeks in January seems extremely remote. I also came to the immediate conclusion that if I didn't get outside money for my movie, it too was not going to fly.
As the week progressed and I alternated between moods of despair and hope, I wandered around lost. My mental ship of state had taken a wallop of a storm wave and was just swirling around and around like a canoe in a whirlpool.
Finally, I grabbed hold of myself and said, "Where is your faith?" The first storm wave had come along and I had let go of the tiller and just drifted - like a rookie seaman.
I knew that raising $3600 to go to Kenya was going to be difficult in this economic climate, but I guess, deep-down, I suspected that I might still accomplish it. See, I'm something quite special and I have amazing powers and... God had to rid me of that suspicion. There is NO WAY I am going to Kenya without His help. He will get me there and all power and glory to Him.
It is not Moses getting his people out of Egypt. It is God. I am not going to Kenya. I am being sent. And when I set foot in that distant land, I will rejoice and know that He has made it possible.
(That's assuming I don't drown in debt in the meantime ;)
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