Celebrating differences

It has happened!  Richard Clees, my youngest son, now wears the same size shirt as I do.  This causes problems when Catherine does the laundry (which is most of the time) because she doesn't know whether a shirt is mine or Richard's.  I keep telling her the Harley shirts with the clowns on them are Richard's and the Harley shirts with the pin-up models riding a Harley are mine!

Besides owning Harley shirts Richard and I are a lot alike.  We both like football and wrestling.  Stephen King's "It" is at the top of our favorite book list.  We both think Daniel Tosh is hilarious.  We both can't play Skyrim enough.  I could go on and on, but there are also a lot of differences.  Richard likes rap music, I do not.  I love reading theology books, Richard does not.  I rush everywhere, Richard does not.  I like Burger King, Richard likes McDonalds.  Again I could go on and on.  However, I like that we have differences.  I learn from the differences and sometimes I am exposed to new things I enjoy.  For example there are a few songs on my "favorites" list on my iPod that would never be there if it wasn't for Richard listening to them (Undead by Hollywood Undead is an example).  I also did not like Tosh. O even though I had not watched it, but when I did I laughed and laughed (did you know Daniel Tosh is a pastor's kid?)

As I though about all this I thought how we sometimes shun diversity and only want to hang with those who are like us.  I think we should celebrate diversity and learn from one another.  There is not another human being who doesn't have something to offer each of us.    

The Forgiveness of Zeus

The other night two of my dogs got into quite a row over a bone.  Omega, the little one, was sure that Zeus, the bigger one, wanted to steal his bone.  When Zeus wandered too close Omega unleashed a fury of gnashing of teeth that went on for about oh, 7 seconds.  I was able to separate them and take the bone away from Omega.  The funny thing is I don't think Zeus even wanted the bone, he just happened to be walking by and Omega's selfishness got the best of him.

A few minutes after this little battle Zeus was licking Omega and they acted as if nothing ever happened.  I'm no dog psychologist, I don't know if dogs even have the capability of carrying a grudge, but I was amazed that Zeus seemed to forgive and love on his homicidal manic companion (token Calvin and Hobbes reference).  I thought what a wonderful world we would live in if we treated those who wronged us the way Zeus treated Omega after this incident--ok we don't need to lick one another, but you know what I mean.  This Advent season we might be able to give a great gift to someone by giving them the grudge we have been carrying around.

Influenced Theology

I've been thinking about my last post and why I have changed in my thinking--what were some of the catalyst that caused me to unroot my tap root type thinking, examine it and replant it with a fibrous root type thinking.  Was it my son being blown up in Iraq?  Was it studying for an M-Div and D-Min degree?  Was it simply getting older and more mature?  Yes to those and a host of others.  Our life shapes our theology and sometimes specific events play major roles in the outcome of our thinking.

This has me wondering what shaped Jesus' theology?  Lords of Light!  Jesus' theology was shaped by the Father and cast in iron unmovable and unchangeable!  If you believe that just go ahead and stop reading because I don't want to offend you...

...still here, ok.  Jesus was 100% divine, but Jesus was also 100% human and therefore shaped by the world he lived in.  My thought for the day is how was the teen-age Jesus shaped by the announcement that Tiberius was the new Emperor...the new king.  What thoughts went through the mind of young Jesus as people rejoiced and lamented the news of a new emperor and how did that thinking later shape the way Jesus spoke of the Kingdom in the Gospels?

I said what?

This is my first blog post in over a month.  The reason for that is simple--my writing was focused on getting some assignments done for class and seriously getting started on my dissertation.  But I feel like crap today and want to do some writing that is really just for me.

Yesterday I went back and looked at some of the sermons I have preached during the Advent season.  I did this for two reasons: 1) I wanted to make sure I wasn't repeating the same stuff, 2) I wanted to kick start my mojo.  What happened was I became horrified.  "Really, I preached that sermon!?"  I exclaimed to whoever may have my office bugged (Concerned Nazarenes and The Society to Abolish Those Who Believe in Bigfoot).  My thinking has really changed over the years.  I've moved in my thinking on theology, politics, and even NASCAR.

This made me think about books I've read.  If my thinking has changed then I conclude that other people's thinking probably changed as they got older and more mature.  If I read an early book by Jurgen Moltmann (insert favorite theologian of choice)  does it really reflect his theology later in life?  And what about journals.  We Nazarenes are always quick to quote John Wesley's journals, but what Wesley wrote early on isn't necessarily what he believed and taught later in his life.  Therefore when we quote someone isn't the responsible thing to do is to add a footnote and write when that person said such a thing.

* My recent reading of Richard Rohr's "Falling Upwards" is probably a major catalyst for this blog post