Pit Bulls

I love pit bulls ("pit-bowls" said in my Shorty Rossi voice).  I just took one in this morning that a friend had  found...I couldn't stand the thought of it going to the humane society and being killed.  I know the policy in a lot of shelters is that they don't even adopt out pit bulls because of the danger.  And the danger is real...a pit bull can be a dangerous dog, but it can also be (and is most often the case by a wide margin) the sweetest, most loving and loyal dog you have ever known.

But people look at the wide shoulders, big jaws and large head and fear.  I wonder if people look at me in the same way: wide shoulders, big arms, beard and tattoos--fear.  However, I know God doesn't look at me that way--I know God loves me for who I am.  When I am loving on a pit bull it reminds me of God loving on me.  When I am loving on a pit bull I am reminded of the awesomeness of God's creation.

I am also reminded of how awesome it would be to live in a world where no one discriminated regardless of breed, color, race, ethnicity, wealth, etc...(of course I'm not just talking about dogs).  I guess it starts with me...Lord, help me to love everyone and bring my prejudices to the forefront where I can work on them.

Skills

I have four skill sets that are pretty much useless.  I took pride in these skills as a youth and even practiced my craft whenever I had the opportunity.  Someday I dreamed maybe I will be able to do them professionally or even better maybe they would become an Olympic sport.  No chance.  I am left with skills that I can't even brag about to my kids because they don't really have a clue what I'm talking about.

Here they are:
1) I could dial a phone like nobody's business.  I knew exactly when to start the rotary dial going again without messing up the call.  My fingers fit the holes perfectly and I could even do the one to zero and back to one exchange flawlessly.

2) My arms are the perfect size and my tendons and ligaments have just the right amount of give in them to allow me to roll up a car window in record time.  I am the rare specimen that is ambidextrous when it comes to rolling open windows so I can get the drivers side just as easily and quickly as the passenger side.

3) I could go from channel 20 to channel 50 with a twist of my wrist on the television dial.  I never stopped short on channel 48 or 49, nor did I ever go past channel 50.  I was a wizard with the dial and not once did I wear out the dial like my father said I would.

4) Finally, I could go from a full squeeze on the gas pump, let go and nail the exact dollar amount.  I didn't have to slowly ease my way to the ten or, God forbid, the twenty dollar mark.  I went full speed and stopped precisely where I wanted.

Sadly, these skills are basically useless in our modern world which got me to wonder how many of the skills and tactics I've learned about leadership and evangelism have also gone by the way side?  It is an important reminder that we must remain teachable and always be looking to adapt to an ever changing world.

Thank God!

Post fight interview

Floyd Mayweather defeated challenger Victor Ortiz the other night in a very controversial boxing match.  In a post fight interview the first thing he did was praise God.  I guess I'm ok with that...I do admit to getting the shakes a bit when athletes start praising God for their victories (does it mean the losers should curse God or even worse maybe God doesn't like the losers!?).  However, just a few moments later he flies off the handle and acts like someone who isn't very thankful at all.

It made me wonder how many times do I praise God or acknowledge God and then act in a way that is contrary to being a lover of God.  Isn't that the essence of the commandment to not take the Lord's name in vain--to say you follow the Lord and act in a very different manner?  Instead of throwing a stone at Floyd Mayweather (or wishing I was 50 years younger so I could fight him) maybe I need to do a better job of acting like a follower of Christ and someone who truly loves unconditionally.  

Retribution Theology

I've been thinking of the many different ways in which we put human parameters on God's love.  The one that is currently sticking in my mind is retribution theology--the idea is that if something bad happens to you than you must have angered God or vice versa if something good happens to you than God must be pleased with you.  Retribution theology is so not God!  God loves us unconditionally.  We may base our love on how angry or pleased we are with someone, but God does not.  God demonstrates his love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  The whole idea that we somehow have to please God is overwhelming!  Imagine trying to please your relative who has everything--now imagine trying to please God who has created everything.  Impossible, overwhelming, and in my opinion leads to a defeatist attitude where we throw in the towel because we just can't do it.  God loves you unconditionally.  God loves me unconditionally.  However, we still try and hold on to retribution theology.  I still do it--I mean sometimes I am so sick that I actually think the outcome of my favorite team's game rests on whether or not I have angered or pleased God.  Talk about egotistical!

Let us simply enjoy the love God has for us.  And let us honor that love by loving others in a similar fashion.

Dead Man Walking

I was feeling under the weather this morning and decided it was a good morning to lay on the couch and watch some TV under my favorite blanket.  I had recorded Dead Man Walking a while ago and took this opportunity to finally watch it.  Wow!  What a performance by Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.  In the movie Sister Helen Prejean develops a relationship with death row inmate Matthew Poncelet (the movie is based on the real life relationship between Sister Helen Prejean and death row inmate Elmo Patrick Sonnier).

I will not get into too many details about the movie other than Sister Helen shows unconditional love for a hate filled, convicted rapist and murderer.  She believes he is guilty, but still loves him even in the presence of the families of the teen-age children he murdered.  But what really blew me away was at the end of the movie when she is at Poncelet's funeral and one of the parents of the murdered children shows up.  The man says he is still filled with anger and hate for Poncelet and looks at Sister Helen and says "I just don't have the faith you do".  She replies: "It isn't faith, if it was it would be easy, but this (love) is work."

Love is work.  It isn't easy, it is sometimes messy, sometimes surrounded in pain, sometimes against how we feel, and takes energy.  But those who follow Jesus are called to love.  Sister Helen showed love and grace to a very vile and evil man.  I have trouble showing grace to the woman on her cell phone that didn't realize her lane was ending.  God help me.