Confession, or Group Therapy

"I'm worse than you think worshipping a God who is greater than you know."

Jon Jorgenson

For my fellow believers, tell me if you have experienced this.  Have you ever felt like a sermon was being preached directly to you?  You know, as if there was no one else in the room and the pastor had written it exactly for your situation?

That was me.  This entire summer.

Our church has been working through a sermon series on Ephesians this summer, and every week was aimed directly at me.  Even when we went to visit friends in Ohio and attended their church service that morning, guess where the sermon was from - Ephesians.

Ephesians, in particular, provides one of the more practical applications of how the Christian life is to be lived.  It outlines why the life is so important and instructs us on how it is to be lived.  How we as Christians are to act.

"[F]or at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.  Take no part in unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.  But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light."

Ephesians 5:8-14

Even our bible study as a couple seemed to be hitting on the same themes.  We moved from reinforcing Ephesians and Galatians into the minor prophets.  All about how God's people had strayed and how he would correct them.

How God disciplines his people.  How He corrects them.  How He will not allow His children to remain in darkness.  How He will expose their darkness to the light.

Two weeks ago, I had to confess to Jamie that our debt was twice the amount that I had led her to believe.  That though we had already been crawling out from under a lot, there was a portion that my arrogance and pride had held on to.  That through my issues of control, selfishness, and pride, I had determined that there was a piece that I needed to correct.  That it was my problem, that I had created it, and that I alone needed to be the one to fix it.  And because of that foolishness, I had instead let it increase.

God had been working on me all summer.  Every sermon was used to convict, every study.  Each one was God's way of saying that this could no longer remain in darkness.  Looking back, I'm now convinced all of this, the firing, the long job search, the sermons, all of it was designed to get me to this point.  To a point where I no longer had self-reliance.   Getting me to the point where I would stop fighting it.

And believe me, I fought it.  I bargained with God.  I pleaded.  I even tried to delay the particular day of telling Jamie when I finally got to the point of confession.  I then got a reminder in our church email bulletin with a first point that said "We should live our lives in the light and continually expose things that we have kept in the dark."  That was clear enough for even me to understand.

I also know that I clearly heard Him say "I will not bless you until this is confessed."  Letting me know He would provide, because He promises to provide for His people, but there would be no permanent job, there would be no great position, no new opportunity until this was out in the open.

So, it has been confessed.  I confessed first to Jamie.  I've confessed to my pastor, to our parents, and to a journey group member.  And now I'm confessing it here.

I'm not going to go into the full details.  I do not mean to minimize the weight of the confession, but the amount of money is not the root issue.  We are not in financial trouble; the amount of debt is significant, but it is a fraction of what we have come through.  Given our projections, even in this time, should nothing change, we project to be completely out within less than a year.  Hopefully, if a permanent position comes it would be something that would speed up the process even more.

The root issue to be addressed is the self-reliance to think I could handle it all by myself.  The control issues to think I should.  The foolishness and selfishness that led it to increase.  And the preservation instinct that led me to cover it up instead of reveal it.  That is what needs to be confessed the most and that needs to be addressed.

I'm sure there is a question as to why confess it in such a public forum.  In such a public way.

Sure, confession is good for the soul.  There is power in exposing ourselves, in acknowledging our failures, and moving on from them.  It brings the issue into the light and it increases accountability.

But that is only a small part of confessing here.

I write all of this because I firmly believe this is what church is supposed to look like.  It is supposed to be group therapy, instead of the pep rally we have made it.  It's a hospital for the sick, the broken, and the wounded, instead of a country club for the well-to-do.

One of the saddest realities is that we have created a vision of the church in modern American society of the ultra-pious, goodie two shoes coming together each Sunday.  Of a group of people who do nothing wrong, who have their lives together, who have all the answers and who judge those who don't.  That idea that you have to get your life together first to go to church.

It's why the most common complaint against churches is that they are full of hypocrites.  Because that is an impossible standard.  And it is a great lie.

The real truth is that we are all far worse than you realize.  We gather on Sunday because we know how bad we are.  That there are people that have come from abuse, from neglect, from addiction, from crime.  That there are compulsive liars, cheats, and addicts among us.  We gather in the Lord's house because we know what we have been brought through.  What we have been saved from.

Churches are full of filthy sinners barely holding it together.  Full of people struggling to live day to day.  Those who do what they do not want to do and do not do what they want to do.

I write because I want to be a part of that reality and not the sanitized version of church we have created.

I write because from the outside, I'm sure our life looked like everything was perfect.  Like we had everything together.  Because we're good at hiding and covering our weaknesses.  Our shortcomings, our failings.

I write because I know that is not the truth.  That we struggle, just like everyone does.  That we have our hang-ups like everyone does.  We have issues that you might not even imagine from the outside, from the mundane to the serious.

I write in case anyone else is going through the exact same thing.

Because we should live in the light and continually expose the things in the dark.

Imagine if our churches really looked like group therapy.  That they appeared to the outside world like a place where people gathered to get better.  To get healed.  Where they could be completely open in regard to the struggles that they were facing.  Where they expected to get support instead of judgment.

If we opened with something like, "Hello, my name is Mitch and I am a sinner.  In this past week, I've struggled with self-control, self-reliance, and self-image issues.  I continue to struggle with trying to control most aspects of my life.  I have seen things I should not, I have said things I should not, and done things I should not.  And because of that I have been ashamed to live as I should.  I've felt like a failure for most of the week."

A place where we were able to show each other just how similar our struggles are.  How alike we are in trying to live this Christian life.  And how we cannot do this on our own.

How we need the two most beautiful words in the English language - "But God"

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2:4-7

I can tell you that it is definitely better on this side of confession.  That while there are things that I am still having to work on and that there are repercussions to confession, it is far better for it to be in the light than to be hiding it in darkness.  To be fearing its exposure.

That there are already positive impacts that I can see happening.  I can see how this will lead to our benefit.  That it will be a blessing.  I'm not going to give into magical wish fulfillment thinking, believing the job is just going to immediately fall into place because I've confessed.  Treating God in a transactional way - I've done my part, now it's time for you to do yours, etc.  The job will come in its time according to His will.

The blessing is in the freedom.  The blessing is in a better focus.  The blessing is in a strengthened relationship as we work through this.

The blessing can be in helping others work through the same or similar issues.  In speaking truth into other's lives.  In being part of that great group therapy needed in the church and our society.

In hopefully revealing a bit of that God for greater than you know.

If there is something you need to bring to the light, if there is something you need to confess, I pray you are able to find someone that you trust to do so to.  A pastor, a friend, a spouse.  Someone that will hold you accountable.  Someone that will respond in love and will seek to help you through whatever the issue is that you are holding on to.

It's what we were created for.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

2:10

Mississippi Burning

What should be a couple of wake up calls over the next two days...

The first, a Facebook post that I saw shared via Twitter. Because it's important to recognize when others say it better than I ever could. Emphasis added in the text is mine. With a few closing thoughts at the end.

"If you’re reading this and you’re thinking that the ICE raid in Mississippi was justified because the 680 men and women apprehended are undocumented, and therefore in your eyes they are here “illegally” and we “have the right to enforce our laws,” you should know the following:

The owner of the business in Mississippi who hired all of these undocumented persons uses a social security number verification system and he is the one who supplied his own workers with the fake numbers and fake documentation they needed.

The employer is guilty of perpetrating fraud and identity theft but he is not being charged with these crimes. Further, the owner of the business was facing charges of sexual harassment and assault by several brave immigrant women who came forward to share their stories.

The federal government knows this but they are not bringing charges against the owner of the business for this reason either. Last, the employer was found responsible of wage theft in the amount of 3.8 million dollars.

Again, brave workers came forward to talk about unpaid hours of work and illegally docked paychecks. And they proved their case. But as you might have guessed the federal government is not charging owner of the business with any wrongdoing here either.

The White House is not directing the Department of Homeland Security to make an example of this business owner by fining him and/or charging him because he is a major donor to the Trump presidential campaign. If you thought the swamp was being drained you are sorely mistaken.

But wait it gets worse. The White House flew in the national director of ICE ahead of the raid in Mississippi and imported 600 ICE agents not stationed in that area. All of this constitutes an unprecedented expense of our taxpayer dollars.

And based on all available evidence the reason the White House and Department of Homeland Security justified this expense was they knew that they would receive viral media coverage by choosing to execute a raid of this scale in the wake of the El Paso shooting.

The Trump re-election campaign has already spent $17.2 million on digital ads. 2,200+ of these mention an “invasion of illegal immigrants.” And by rounding up 680 workers in the most public and publicized way possible the White House has, as it did with the 4th of parade, made the conscious decision to buttress and complement its campaign expenditures on our dime as taxpayers.

ICE didn't select this site randomly. This site had been on their radar for a year. They knew with a great deal of anticipation that this raid would happen at this time.

And that’s how they were able to get 600 agents shipped in and that’s why the national director was on the ground. And yet they did not notify any child welfare agencies ahead of time.

They knew they were rounding up workers with kids who punch a time card. They knew they were not getting gang members or people who travel from place to place and are difficult to track. They knew they were going to take moms and dads away from their children...(many if not most of whom are US citizens) right before the first day of school.

They knew they were going to leave children orphaned by conducting this raid but they never did anything at all to try and help those children.

And if all of that doesn’t make you sick to your stomach then consider the fact that there is no immigration court in the state of Mississippi. Immigrants in detention are not entitled to lawyers. They don’t get phone calls.

If they lived in any other state their family members trying to find them would know which courts to call. Anyone rounded up in Mississippi will likely end up in court in Louisiana or Tennessee. But there’s no way of knowing for sure.

So again, you are taken at work. But your boss goes home and nothing happens to him. You can’t speak to or see your kids unless someone along the way possesses enough humanity to help you do so. Otherwise you have no lawyer assigned to help you, and you're not entitled to a phone even to make a collect call. Since you’re not entitled to the same rights in the immigration court system as you are in any other court system, and your family doesn’t know where you are, or when your hearing is, chances are you’ll be deported.

If you don’t have family in the area to fight to keep your kids, they will become wards of the state. They will end up in foster care. And they’ll be scarred for life. All because Donald Trump chose to steal your tax dollars and mine, and use them for his re-election campaign.

And if you still don’t care because you’re so wretched and broken that you think your ignorance of immigration law justifies your belief that people need to “get in line” despite the fact that there are 185 visa types and each one has multiple “lines” and wait times.

If you don’t know or care that a Mexican with a PhD cant win a Green Card in a lottery and will wait 23 yrs to be reunited with his family, while a Belgian high school dropout with a juvenile criminal record can win a Green Card in lottery and reunite with his family in 3 years.

And that these are the broken immigration laws you want to enforce when you chant “build that wall” and “send them back,” then please by all means enjoy that Make America Great Again hat made in China."

Facebook post by Unai Montes-Irueste, Director of Communications at United Ways of California

We often talk about the distinction between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law.

At what point does enforcing the letter of the law turn our stomach?

Seriously.

Watch the video of the 11-year old pleading for her father and mother to be returned.

“Government, please put your heart — let my parents be free with everybody else, please.”

“I need my dad…mommy. My dad didn’t do nothing. He’s not a criminal."

Is this who we are???

I guess, more importantly, is this who we want to be?

The Last Picture Shows

Once again, we have a series of articles proclaiming the death of the movie theater.   It seems despite Avengers: Endgame having the greatest opening weekend of all time and becoming the second highest grossing film of all time (fifth when adjusted for inflation), theaters are not really having that great of a year.  So far this year, $5.62 billion in tickets have been sold, down 10% from last year.

Beyond gross ticket sales, stock prices have felt the effect.  AMC's stock dropped to an all time low on July 2, 2019, representing a decline of 25% year to date, down 50% since 2012.  AMC is the largest theater chain in America.  Its competitors are similarly feeling the pinch.

Problematically, one studio seems to be driving a substantial portion of the health of the movie theaters.  Disney accounted for one third of the gross ticket sales so far this year.  And that's not even including the 20th Century Fox films.  That means, for the foreseeable future, as Disney theatrical releases go, so go movie theaters?  And as Disney pours more and more into Disney+, will there be a greater impact on its contribution to the theatrical total?

Streaming, rental, and home theater has definitely been a large cause of the decline of the modern movie theater.  And honestly I can understand why.  Today, you can have a near theater movie experience at home with all the modern home theater equipment and can avoid all of the theater problems.  The talkers, the unruly kids, the phone usage.  Being stuck in the front row particularly now in the day of choose your seat, where you cannot get a good seat for nearly any movie unless you plan it out days in advance.

The cost of a seeing a film in the theater has also skyrocketed, though it only accounts for a small portion of the theaters profits.  They are still making their money on concessions and food and beverage.  It's why you're seeing so many theaters adding the dine-in options.  To draw away more concessions dollars.

Yeah, I'm not going to lament the death of the mega-plex.

There are benefits, yes, in being able to see whatever new movie is out.  But it's so impersonal.  It's so chain and devoid of life.

Give me a single screen cinema that's being curated.  A mixture of new films and the favorite classics of the owner.  Give me something like the Alamo, with sing-alongs, quote-alongs, and Mr. Pancake presentations.  Give me a drive-in with a double feature.

Give me a theater where you feel like you are part of a club, going through the best of film.

For that reason, I  firmly believe that movie theaters aren't ever going to completely die, they just may go niche.  And that's not a bad thing.   The content will be everywhere.  That may just make the theater experience worth it.

No Longer MAD

I am profoundly sad to hear that after 67 years, MAD Magazine is ceasing publication. I can’t begin to describe the impact it had on me as a young kid – it’s pretty much the reason I turned out weird. Goodbye to one of the all-time greatest American institutions. #ThanksMAD pic.twitter.com/01Ya4htdSR

— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) July 4, 2019

Maybe it's time to worry?

After 67 years in publication, MAD Magazine will cease production of new content.  Publisher DC Comics has announced the magazine will halt the production of new content following issue #10 this fall, apart from its annual Holiday Special.  The magazine instead will switch to rereleasing previously created content.

So MAD Magazine will still exist on the stands, but it will no longer be commenting on American life.  That's hard to believe given its long history in the skewering of politics and pop-culture.  It was many kids introduction to satire.

MAD began life as a comic book published by EC Comics, debuting in August 1952. Three years later it switched to a full magazine format and through its life, it has served as home to some of the finest cartoonists comic writers and artists.  Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, Will Elder, Jack Davis, John Severin, Sergio Aragones.  

It filled the gap in political satire in the 1950s to 1970s.  Always pushing the boundaries of the sensors, continually parodying American culture.  No topic was sacred.  Advertising campaigns, the nuclear family, big business, education, publishing, the sexual revolution, hippies, pollution, the Vietnam war, counterculture, cannabis and LSD, tobacco, and alcohol.  Democrat and Republican alike.  

To many, it provided a vital education in satire and humor.  “Plenty of it went a little overly head of course, but that’s part of what made it attractive and valuable.  Things that go over your head can make you raise your head a little higher.  The magazine instilled in me a habit of mind, a way of thinking about a world rife with false fronts, small print, deceptive ads, booby traps, treacherous language, double standards, half truths, subliminal pitches and product placements; it warned me that I was often merely the target of people who claimed to be my friend; it prompted me to mistrust authority, to read between the lines, to take nothing at face value, to see patterns in the shoddy construction of movies and TV shows; and it got me to think critically in a way that few actual humans charged with my care ever bothered to.”  Robert Boyd, the Los Angeles Times in 2007.

Particularly missed will  be new Spy v Spy entries and the Mad Fold-In.  The Mad Fold-In  has been in the back cover of virtually every MAD magazine since 1964.  All written and drawn by Al Jaffee, who is 98 and will still be contributing up to the last issue.

I've seen some responses online that amount to "television shows are cancelled all the time and no one says television is dying."   Trying to downplay the death of print.  But we very clearly see that periodical print is on decline.  Newspapers are struggling.  Magazines are struggling.  Comics are down to a pittance of a readership compared to their cultural reach.  

And when an icon of 64 years shutters new content.  It's easy to understand the concern.  The content was still relevant and biting satire.   It just wasn't finding the audience.  

It also seems to be a victim of the DC Comics restructuring following the AT&T and Warner Brothers/TimeWarner merger.  First Vertigo and its 20 years of more literate comics.  Now MAD.  It seems any imprint that is not labeled DC is going away.  I wonder if the writing is on the wall for them too.  After all, DC's success in film has not quiet panned out the way they might have hoped.

But instead of pondering what could happen in the future, instead of giving into the sentiment at the top that it might be time to worry, I think it's time to focus instead on the words of the immortalized Alfred E. Neuman - 

"What, me worry?"

Stewardship II

Or why it matters.  Why we can have hope.

In certain circles of opposition to environmentalism or global conservation, there is a bit of fatalism.  The idea that nothing we do matters in terms of the planet.  That if there is global warming, it's not caused by humans, but by other natural factors.  And likewise, that there is nothing that we could do to change it for the better.

This flies in the face of the available evidence.  We can clearly see areas in which the harms to the environment are our fault.  The plastic islands.  Ocean acidification.  Air pollution.  The list goes on and on.

With all of that, it would be easy to give into despair.  To believe the future is hopeless.  Go ahead and run a search on Google and see how many results come back for the question "should I have kids given global warming?"  There is reason enough to be so concerned that people are contemplating forgoing children instead of leaving them a ravaged planet Earth.

Clearly, there is an issue that demands action.

But, it is also important to remember that we have reasons for hope.

First and foremost, our God is a creator who takes care of His creation according to His will.  He is not just looking out for His people, He will be about redeeming His entire creation.  And that includes the Earth.  That is why there will be a new Earth following the Judgment.  He cares about His creation and He will make it perfect again.  Now, might He use global warming/climate change to accomplish His final judgment?  Yes.  He's done it before with a global flood.  But until and through that time, He is tending to what is His.

“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not more valuable than they?”  

Matthew 6:26

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.  Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?  In his hand is the life of every creature and the breadth of all mankind.” 

Job 12:7-10

“In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” 

Psalm 95:4-5

Further, He has created a wonderfully, living, and self-sufficient organism in the planet Earth.  It is not designed to maintain a status quo, but to be a living and healing organism that adjusts to changes that occur and continually evolves.  It adapts.  That is what all of the effects of global climate change are.  Polar ice cap melting, global sea rise, removal of coastlines, etc.  They are all adaptations of the planet reacting to the change in temperature and trying to compensate.  A system trying to correct itself.  

What is hard to swallow in remembering this fact, is that sometimes the corrective action is devastating to the human race.  We, by nature, are creatures that like to maintain a status quo.  We want to be able to visit the same beach in the same place we remember as a kid, that our parents brought us to, that their parents brought them to, and so on and so on.  We want to be able to continually build houses in now flood prone areas.  In tornado alleys.  On fault lines.  On hurricane prone coastlines.  All on the chance that we will not be affected often.  That we can build to adapt.  

We remove forests, we displace local wildlife, we alter the topography of the region.  And expect that there will not be an effect.  So that we are surprised when nature reacts back.  

Maybe we need to start reconsidering our relationship with His creation?  How much we change it?  How much we take from it?

There is also reason to hope because we do see positive changes in the environment.  We are seeing the benefit of activism regarding protecting, cleaning, and reviving the world around us.

We are saving endangered species.  Red-cockaded Woodpeckers have been saved through science and ingenuity, moving the bird out of endangered status.

We are restoring natural landscapes.  The restoration of the Pawcatuck River in Rhode Island, once dammed, has restored a migratory pathway for American shad, river herring, sea-run brook trout and other species for the first time in centuries.

We are saving habitats ravaged by natural disasters.  Conservation techniques involving putting seedlings in a specific soil mix before transplanting has helped more than 70% native plants survive after wildfires in opposition to invasive cheatgrass.

We are finding new sustainable sources for food and other supplies.  Seaweed farming in particular requires little additional input than sunlight and sea water, holding the ability to remove excess nutrients from eutrophic areas, and even mitigating the effects of ocean acidification.  This could be a great help in saving our marine life.

We're changing our energy use.  Renewable energy use is on the rise.  A recent report from Wood Mackenzie predicts that clean energy technologies have become so cost effective that they will replace fossil fuels as the main source of energy within the next 20 years.  Currently, five states generate more 10 percent or more of their energy from solar energy.  More than 100 cities and counties are committed to transferring to 100 percent clean energy.  And other countries are leading the way.  Germany produced enough renewable energy in the first half of 2018 to power every household in the country for a year.  Portugal ran on renewable energy for the entire month of March.  Costa Rica has been maintaining 98-99% renewable energy for years now.

We are learning about some of the most effective solutions.  In particular, scientists have noted that there is a cumulative space around the world the size of the United States available for planting trees and that this would reduce global carbon emissions by 25%.  Scotland has done their part, planting over 22 million trees last year, smashing their goals.

We are making new discoveries each and every day and we are seeing millions of people, and scores of companies and governments committing to make a change. To become better stewards.  To give up what is easy or convenient, for what is better.  What is sustainable, what is beneficial.  What is healthy.

The good news is that there are very easy steps that can be taken to start.

Recycle.  Even if you don't live in an area where recycling is a part of the city or municipal garbage collection, you can start by being committed to recycling as much as possible.  Focus on eliminating single use items as much as possible, in particular plastics.  Such as plastic straws and other utensils, plastic plates and cups, plastic containers.  Reuse the plastic containers.  Be like our grandparents.  They make excellent containers for leftovers.  No need to buy them separate from the store.   When you upgrade your electronic devices, be sure to recycle the old ones with the electronics company.  They can be stripped for parts to be used in repairs or remodels.

Reuse.  Buy second hand items.  Find new purposes for old items.  Trade with friends and neighbors.  Donate items to charitable organizations so they can be redistributed. 

Reduce.  Reduce waste.  Compost food waste.  Switch single use items out for repetitive use versions.  Cloth napkins for paper towels, plates instead of paper plates, handkerchiefs instead of Kleenex, etc.  Look for ways to reduce the amount of items that you are putting in the trash.

Refuse.  Refuse products that are harmful to the environment.  Take the Plastics Pledge  refusing plastic straws, plastic bottles, and plastic bags.  

There are many easy steps we can take.  It just takes a commitment.

Are you willing to be a better steward of God's creation?  Do you desire to be the faithful servant in this respect?

Why not start today?

My Radiator Springs Moment

I know it's viewed at the bottom of the Pixar franchises, but I love the Cars movies.  Particularly the first one.  I think you really have to be from a small town to appreciate the underlying sentiment in that film.  One of the strongest emotional beats in the film comes when Sally explains what happened to the small town of Radiator Springs that brought it to its run down condition.  As she explains the decline of small-town America as a result of the rise of the interstate, the film plays "Our Town" by James Taylor in the background.  Written by Randy Newman, the song is a mediation on how society has changed, moving away from the idealized small-town life.  James Taylor was the perfect choice to perform the song, as his voice brings the wistful lament to fruition.

Long ago, but not so very long ago
The world was different, oh yes it was
You settled down and you built a town and made it live
And you watched it grow
It was your town

Time goes by, time brings changes, you change, too
Nothing comes that you can't handle, so on you go
Never see it coming, the world caves in on you
On your town
Nothing you can do

Main street isn't main street anymore
No one seems to need us like they did before
It's hard to find a reason left to stay
But it's our town
Love it anyway
Come what may, it's our town

I had my own Radiator Springs moment on the drive back from San Antonio.  Typically, I would jump at the chance to get on the 130 toll and just make good time on a much less traveled road.  Or to stick to the interstate and head back up I35 to keep traveling at 75 miles an hour.  But this weekend, to avoid the mess that is I35 in Temple, we jumped on 317 to head up through downtown Belton, past Temple, to Moody and Hewitt, before getting back on the interstate at Waco. 

There is something that is missed when we zoom by on the interstate, as it rarely ever brings you through the heart of a city but rather often just off to the side.  What springs up on the interstate is most often the same chains you see in every city you pass through.  You miss the soul of the city, what makes it unique.  Better architecture, new discoveries.

All to often, I'm so focused on the destination.  To get there, to be done with the drive, and to be able to do the checklist of things I have for whatever the endpoint is.

I need to be better at the journey.  About enjoying the moments along the way and finding new and interesting things along the way.  To slow down and allow them to be discovered.

In my daily readings I've moved on from Lamentations in my daily reading to Ecclesiastes.  I'm working through the more lyrical and poetic books of the Bible.  Psalms, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and then Proverbs.  I always had a picture of Ecclesiastes as a bit nihilistic, perhaps from one too many focusing only the "life is a vapor" references.  What struck me in Ecclesiastes is how Kohelet (perhaps Solomon), seems to advocate the opposite of nihilism.  Perhaps it is just my outlook, but I came away from Ecclesiastes appreciating life and time as a gift, to be enjoyed.

"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.  Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 8:15

So, I want to enjoy the small towns.  I want to find those unique places.  I want to take those moments to breathe and enjoy the scenery. 

I pray for joy in all things.  To find contentment from the Lord and not from external circumstances.

Especially in traffic.