Superman
October 3, 2008
Who doesn’t like Superman? Who hasn’t wanted to be Superman or some kind of superhero? High Calling blogger Bill Coffey tells the story of his son’s obsession with being Superman and muses about what will happen when he realizes one day that he isn’t a superhero.
My son is in his Superman stage. A vital phase of a boy’s life, in my opinion. He has the cape and the pants and, according to him, the X-ray vision.
“You’d better be good,” he told me, “or I’ll get you.”
Point taken. Nowadays, I’m on my best behavior around the house.
He also has the T-shirt. The cheapie kind, bought on sale. Hold it up to the light and you can see right through it. Which may or may not be where he gets the whole X-ray vision thing from. But it has the “S” on the front, and that’s all he needs. And the fact that the shirt is so flimsy actually comes in handy. He can wear it under most anything.
And he does. Under pajamas and church clothes and sweaters and even other T-shirts. There. Ready at a moment’s call.…Read More
One Mom, Two Mom, Red Mom, Blue Mom
September 28, 2008
With all of the tension of the political scene these days, it’s always nice to hear some good old fashioned, nonpartisan encouragment. Dena Dyer delivers with a fantastic, uplifting little bit of political parody. You must see this!
It’s Dr. Seuss meets Jim Lehrer.
Update: Dena Dyer just sent me the full text of her book. Enjoy!
Red (State) Mom, Blue (State) Mom
A Dr. Seuss Parody by Dena Dyer
One mom, two mom
Red mom, blue mom
Short mom, tall mom
Big mom, small mom.
This one wants to go, go, go—
This one likes to take it slow.
Some stay home, some travel far.
Say! What a lot of moms there are.
Some have two kids, some have four.
Some have many, many more.
Some vote red and some vote blue—
Some are purple through and through.
Not one of us thinks like the other,
But each of us is still a mother.
Makes no difference who you choose—
Don’t see red or get the blues.
Have you kissed a boo-boo on a knee?
Or sewn a costume, 1-2-3?
Moms can do it, yes we can!
Even cook green eggs and ham.
Moms are more alike than not.
We work, we fret, we laugh a lot.
So when I talk about my choice,
Respect me please, don’t raise your voice.
And remember when November comes,
What we tell our little ones—
Be polite, and in a pinch
Please don’t turn into a Grinch!
Do You Have Cause Fatigue?
August 12, 2008
Marcus here. Over at New Breed of Advertisers, Sam Van Eman has confessed “I think I can’t, I think I can’t.”
Ouch, Sam. That’s bleak, man. That’s Cormac McCarthy bleak. I know what Sam means, though, and I appreciate his bold, if slightly shocking honesty.
Sam explores the idea in much greater depth in his MUST READ article at Catapult Magazine called Melinda Mae Missiology. The title of his article refers to a Shel Silverstein poem. (Click here and listen to Shel’s crazy reading.)
I’m no Melinda Mae. I lack focus. I lack patience. I lack perseverance. To be honest, I’m flat-out tired. In fact, I have had “cause fatigue” for sometime now. You know cause fatigue, right? Ten Facebook “friends” everyday tell me I should support their causes: “Spay Your Dog” and “Recycle Your Cans” and “Change the World This” and “Change the World That.”
Oh yeah. And this one. Join our Facebook Blog Network. (Actually, that’s not a cause. It’s a cool Facebook plugin that looks like it will aggregate all of our content on Facebook. Or else it will just be a fancy Facebook blog roll. I’m not sure.)
Even with the apologetic parentheses there, I feel bad about even asking people to join something else, click on one more link, stand up and digg or favorite or tag or participate in one more networking possibility or world improvement campaign.
There are just so many options that we start to shut down.
What else can we do except focus on the world in front of us? I don’t know where else to work on building the kingdom of God–whatever that means exactly. I’m still thinking about Sam’s article at Catapult when I make comments like that.
Here’s what I see in my life. I can be a good dad–and do things like watch a pickup softball game with my four-year-old son in the evenings. (We watched warm-up and ten minutes of the first inning last night.) I can be a good husband–and do things like encourage my wife after she has a tough rehearsal for Willy Wonka. (She’s Mrs. Gloop.) I can work hard at my job–connecting people online, editing articles, and doing my best to pay writers on time.
And I can write poetry. Which has no value in the free market sense, but it brings me joy. And for me, it is a kind of prayer.
Sure I do church and charity stuff too, but the real mission of my life is what I spend the bulk of my time on. Work and Family seamlessly (hopefully) integrated with my Faith in God.
None of those are very earth shattering causes. In fact, they seem almost cowardly in their simplicity. But they are what I do. Should I do more? I don’t know.
What do you do?
Spiritual Decompression
July 21, 2008
The modern world taxes us. Literally of course, but also emotionally and spiritually. We are far too busy, far to distracted, juggling too many tasks, keeping up with schedules that are too full. You can step out of the modern world for a time, taking a vacation. But it often takes a few days to settle into a slower pace of living.
Real Live Preacher noticed this on a recent vacation. He wrote about it in a piece called “Spiritual Decompression.”
It’s a little unnerving when you first arrive. When darkness falls and there is no television or news, you might find yourself fidgeting a bit. But Jeanene and I have learned to wait patiently until our bodies adjust to the simple sounds and the simpler pace of life. Once you emotionally let go of the modern world and the fast pace of life we’ve created for ourselves there, your body settles quite nicely into what I would say is a more natural state. Before you know it you’ll find yourself happily staring off into the distance, listening to the echoing booms of a thunderstorm, or watching a hummingbird float gently in front of a flower. You might look up to find that you’ve spent an hour trying to feed a cracker to a chipmunk.
Our daughters have not been to Creede as often as we have, and they are not used to the awkward decompression time. The first night we were here, our middle daughter finally grasped the reality of our situation. No television and no internet, which means no MySpace. She panicked.
“Dad, what are we going to do? There’s nothing to watch on TV, and I can’t get to MySpace. What are we supposed to do?”
“Well, that’s why we come here. You have to settle into a simpler kind of living.”
“Yeah, but what are we supposed to DO?”… Read More
What if You Don’t Like Your Job?
July 2, 2008
My dad said work built character, especially hard word, and most especially hard, unpleasant work. And he was probably right. Most people need the experience of having to work hard to earn their living by the sweat of their brow. Not all work is fun, but most work needs to be done by someone. And if that is true, why not you?
But then you grow older and you spend more of your life working, and it becomes clear that having a meaningful job that you appreciate and perhaps even enjoy is also a good thing. Finding the balance between those two is tricky. I tend to think that teen-age boys ought to split rails, mow yards, and drive spikes with a sledgehammer. 46 year-old-men, it seems to me, ought to supervise. I will admit that my view is heavily biased.
But what do you do if you don’t like your job but you have to keep it? What do you do if your Christian faith calls you to be grateful, but you just don’t like what you do for a living?
Andre Yee posted a piece at his blog, Every Square Inch, that addresses just this issue. He has a lengthy quote from another writer and some practical suggestions that I thought were pretty great. Check it out.
I’ve enjoyed every job I’ve held but I know that isn’t the case for everyone. Some find themselves working in jobs that are less than satisfying…some even hate their jobs. Many Christians regard job satisfaction as a God given right and find themselves questioning why God hasn’t blessed them in this way. Sam Shin asks these thought provoking questions on his excellent Gospel Prism blog -
“Does God want us to love our jobs?”
“Does God ultimately care what kind of job we hold?”… Read More
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Conversational Parenting from Mary DeMuth
June 30, 2008
Marcus here. As HighCallingBlogs.com gradually learns to walk, we’ve been connecting with some of our bloggers in particularly unique ways. Mary DeMuth is one of those. She blogs at Relevant Blog about writing, parenting, faith, work, and a myriad of things. Best of all, Mary is a really, really good writer.
I had lunch with her in New York City a year ago at the Book Expo America when she was promoting her new book Authentic Parenting. Good book. In fact, I just checked Amazon. Would you believe EVERY SINGLE reviewer gives the book five stars? It really is an amazing book.
Even though she’s currently in Africa on a mission trip, she’s letting us run an excerpt over at TheHighCalling.org this week. (The wonders of the internet!) Her article definitely worth a read. It starts out like this:
Conversational parenting is both spontaneous and purposeful. Life and connection do happen in the margins of life, where little planning occurs, but being purposeful also helps communication immensely. Consider these two scenarios: Read More.
(On a side note, Mary is also one of the featured speakers at a week long session of Laity Lodge Family Camp this August. Visit LLFamilyCamp.org to learn more about our program there, or click here to register online.)
In the Shadow of the Man
June 27, 2008
Drew Hill is a new blogger to our network. He has an easygoing and honest writing voice. Recently he told us the story of how his first son was born the same year his father died. 19 years later, he still lives, joyfully, in the shadow of his father.
Nineteen years ago my world changed. Nineteen years ago my son was born, my father died. “Goodbye, Dad.” “Well, hello, Little Guy.” Nineteen Father’s Days have come and gone since I stopped reaching up and started reaching down, and nothing matters more to me than being a dad, being there for our three children.
I went by the cemetery in Kansas City the other day. I hadn’t been there for quite awhile. The big tree near Dad’s grave has been removed. It took me a minute to find it. It’s been a long time since we laid his body down to rest there. Lots of summers and winters have warmed and chilled that spot.… Read More
One Stone at a Time
June 25, 2008
I’ve always been in a rush, I’m afraid. I wait until the last moment and then rush to finish. And even if I start on time, I like to move fast. I don’t know why. This kind of living served me well in my 20s and 30s, but not so much in my 40s. This decade I am discovering the beauty if slow work and slow progress.
Most of the truly great things in life cannot be done overnight. The great achievements and the really important projects are generally the kind of things that take lots of time. Recently a man in our church led a group of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to make a path through the woods to the back of the property, lined with stones. They had to clear the land, gather the stones, and lay them. The path is over 300 feet long. There is NO WAY kids that age can be dedicated to a project like that unless they are enjoying the work itself along the way. That’s this man’s secret. He made the work fun. They enjoyed their times working together and then one day the job was done.
Writer and High Calling Blogger Ann Voskamp works a piece of land that her grandparents owned. Every year they gather the rocks that rise the surface. It is a job her parents did and she did and now her children do. It is a job that will never be finished. Her husband said it best. “You do this one rock at a time.”
“You picked this field, Mom?” Our 13 year-old future man pants the words, his arms too full, his face red with work.
“Every year. This ground’s been picked and picked and picked.” I toss two more rocks onto the trailer’s rising mount and think of the years of gilded harvests before the late autumn rains, the shift of clouds and winds, and white flakes falling, years of warmth returning, and us with it, to work up soil and pick these rocks, rocks, rocks.
“Is there a volcano or something underneath this field, just bubbling them up? Where do all these stones keep coming from?” His brother, sweaty, grimy, weary, hollers from the other side of the trailer. He’s kneeling down, both hands gripped to a stubborn one, thin muscles quaking it back and forth.
I laugh, motion him out of the way, kick at the embedded granite. “When I was your age, my brother, sister and I, we used to fill trailer load after trailer load with rocks and these crazy dreams of some spray we’d invent to disintegrate stones.”… Read More
Being Fully Present
June 19, 2008
One of Tina Howard’s gifts as a writer is that she possesses a kind of simple honesty. Most of us want to look good in front of our friends and at church. It’s easy to put on a happy face and pretend. With writing, the temptation is even greater. Writers can hide behind their pretty words. Tina writes about being a mother. She writes about the joys and the griefs, and yes, even her own weakness.
When you write like that you give people permission to admit their own weaknesses and begin to grow.
Recently Tina wrote about the way that we parents can be with our children and not really be with them. And it’s not just with children. Being fully present with others is something you have to learn.
As I lay in bed last night thinking over my day, I saw snapshots of me being with my family - but not fully there.
I asked my daughter to feed the dog . . . while I was staring at my computer screen.
I played with my daughter in her play room . . . while I thought about something I needed to get done later.
I kissed my husband when he got home . . . while I calculated how soon we needed to leave in order to deliver a piece of furniture on time.
I listened to a friend talk about her day over the phone . . . while I scanned my email for new messages.… Read More
Lessons of a Father
June 11, 2008
Father’s Day is coming this weekend. Once again we stop to think about our fathers, both who they are and what they did for us. A good father is a wonderful gift; not everyone is blessed to have had one.
David Rupert has posted a wonderful tribute to his own father at Red Letter Believers. His father taught him some classic masculine lessons of work and patience and faithfulness. Truly, a good father is a wonderful blessing.
My dad was a roofer. For more than 50 years, he climbed ladders, crawled over rooftops, and literally hung on the edge of danger. He eschewed air nail guns and most powered tools, choosing the patient, deliberate act of hammering shakes one at a time. Each one was accurately placed, as if the entire house depended on it.
His was a simple approach. He rarely hired a crew, choosing instead the lonely road of a dedicated craftsman.… Read More
