Category: Uncategorized (Page 144 of 188)

For me, Tiger is just another reason to boycott Nike.

Yes, I’ve boycotted Nike, the former reason also being another big name; I switched to New Balance when LaBron signed a ticket worth more than the debt of a small African nation. Other than accepting a few gifts, I’ve kept to my non-Nike support and Tiger might just cause me to wave that banner high.

There’s been some public opinion asking if people are over Tiger’s indiscretion. I saw a facebook status that said, “no matter if Tiger is bad at life, he’s wicked at golf” and I’m sure this is probably true. But I’m not ready to forgive Tiger. I don’t trust him.

KLM said that her dad used to ask, through the process of grounding the kids, “are you sorry you did it? Or are you sorry you got caught?” Though Tiger has put out a timely apology to his fans, I believe he’s only sorry that he got caught, especially in such an embarrassing manner. So when he says he’s sorry, I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. He just wants his life back. And honestly, I don’t think he cares that I’m not over it – as long as he can go back to doing what he wants.

And, (this may be a bit more surprising), it’s not the infidelity that really gets me. Adultery realllly gets under my skin, but I think this version is especially worrisome. Though the real cause of death was adultery, the sickness leading to it was an overdose of power.

King David provides a parallel example. Both were caught with their pants down, but that’s not what should cause us to be apprehensive to trust again. Both were men at the top of his game. The world at his fingertips and no one to stop him. Whatever he wanted, he got – whether it be the conquest of a small nation or a green blazer. And so why should it be any different with people, specifically, beautiful women? These men thought that because they had money and authority that they can also take what was not theirs simply because they wanted it. Any person who believes this has fallen into a very dangerous place.

The adulterous nature of the sin makes me especially queasy not just because I feel awful for the wife. When a man feels so entitled to possess whatever he wants, and he puts women – people, God’s creation, individual lives – in that same category, it makes me a bit scared. We cannot be a society that allows a man collect ladies the way he does cars and it be brushed off so simply.

Fortunately, we’re not trusting Tiger to make decisions on behalf of our country; he just fills our TVs on a Sunday afternoon. But I do think it would be to our benefit if we take the position that the sort of person who thinks that a person makes a good object to conquer doesn’t belong on our list of idols.

… there is an equal and opposite reaction. My physics teacher taught me this. Right? Or am I crazy and just making it up? Until my cousin KJ can clarify, I’m operating on this assumption. It’s foundational for a new theological conclusion**.

Tonight we rented Sherlock Holmes, and while Downey does portray an interesting Holmes, I must say I’m a bit disappointed with the underlying plotline. I think I remember seeing it on the latest Batman: that the good of the world cannot be good without an evil to fight against. Every Holmes needs a Blackwood; every Batman needs a Joker; every Increadible an Incrediboy; every Jack Bauer a slew of two-faced government moles.

But it’s not just true in the sense of heroes; there is something fundamental to the human condition that contrasts good and evil. It’s not until you’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death that you can lie in green pastures. I think that’s what Jesus was getting at with the Beatitudes – each of the “blessed are the…” seems to highlight the people who know what it means to be without, at a low point – poor, mourning, weak. Until you see how little you have you don’t realize how much God offers. Those who live in the status quo are blinded to the many blessings of a life with God. Now that’s a bumper sticker: Mediocrity is blinding.

One of the classical philosophical questions of the world is “if God is good, then why did he allow evil to exist in the world?” Or… why all the hurting? Why introduce pain? Why create the mosquito? Lots of people smarter than I have attempted to answer the question. But I think physics, or Batman, can do it. Without experiencing the evil, one will never realize what is good. It’s not until you’re sick that you value how healthy you are. It’s not until you brake an ankle that you fully enjoy a good run. It’s not until you get a bad office chair that you realize how important posture is.

Our household is overcoming a bit of disappointment this evening. Not the trials & tribulation type, but disappointing nonetheless. But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I hope that this disappointment lights the way to greater joy when we see our prayers answered. We’ll give higher value to the good news when finally comes.

Now, stay tuned for the sister post on this topic: Every Batman has his Robin, every Holmes his Watson…

**This theological conclusion is not nearly as profound as that which I read by David Crowder & Hogan in their book Everybody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to Die in which they use the laws of physics – that energy cannot disappear but must go somewhere – to prove the existence of heaven. Very impressive.

According to my nightstand, it’s about time to have a baby.

Before #1 was born, I read the book Birthing from Within, which was very helpful at getting myself in the right frame of mind before, well, giving birth (I’d love to give a longer review, including that the artsy stuff at the front of the book was lost on me and I skimmed over it). The week before I was due I found myself with a free Friday night so I meandered around the Stately Raven and came home with Pillars of the Earth. These 2 books got me through 12 hours of labor; one that helped prepare me and focus me, and the other that I read between contractions to help forget how much it hurt.

I just returned BfW after a brief re-read and now World without End (PotE sequal) has been started. All this to say, it’s about time I realize that I will soon be laboring.

You’d think that because a person does such a thing one time that the second time wouldn’t seem so daunting. Not true. I’m completely shaking in my proverbial booties. But something in me says that it’s supposed to be that way.

Most people who know me and want to hear birthing stories know that I had child #1 completely natural. Yes, I felt the whole thing. It’s not necessarily a badge I wear (at least, I hope I don’t) and there’s nothing wrong with taking other courses of action (*any following statements made are not meant to be a personal reflection of someone who chose to have an epidural. I’m 98% sure each of those individuals did not give the decision the depth of theological consideration as I have, and those 98% are probably considered by their peers a bit more normal than I). I had someone tell me recently that an epidural was the best thing God ever created. I won’t argue it’s effectiveness. But something in me has led me to attempt to go without.

When I think about life and birth and motherhood, I like the idea that it all starts with a whole lot of pain. My friend JE said after having her baby that epidurals should be outlawed for those under the age of 18 as a way to discourage similar future occurrences. I laughed, agreed, and then pondered the deeper ramifications (because that’s what I do).

It’s not just having a baby that’s difficult. Raising one has a lot of tears and challenges as well. Labor and delivery, in the worst case scenario, is typically over by at least the 3rd day. We get to keep these children for at least the next 18 years (though as our society continues to lengthen the term of adolescence there’s a good chance we’ll be responsible for them until they’re 30).

In our society there are lots of ways of dealing with pain and troubles. Everybody has their version – whether it be socially acceptable or not. Drinking, drugs, power abuse, sarcasm, outright denial, workaholism, or just blogging their opinions to the free world. Mental health professionals would tell you the best of those coping mechanisms help you work your way through the issue, not just cover up the effects of it.

Yes, I could just “turn off” the pain of having a baby. And perhaps this next time I’ll find myself doing just that (though I’m mentally preparing myself by saying it’s not an option). But when heartache comes later in life, I can’t just turn it off. I can’t just pop a pill to make it go away. I’m sure that at some point in raising my children I’ll come to the point of having to dig deep to find the strength to make it through.

I learned in my “naturalist” book that the body has natural endorphins that kick in when it feels pain to help take the edge off; when the body no longer senses the pain, it turns off the message to release these little friends and your body is back to feeling it all. So when the pain meds wear off, it’s like walking out of a warm, cozy house into below freezing weather, but without a winter coat. By avoiding the problem, you’ve removed all the tools you have at working through it.

After having my first, you could say that I was in some pain. In my first attempt to go to the bathroom there was some significant hurt, especially because I’d sat on the bed for so long. The nurse then tells me that the quicker I got up and the more often I moved around- though initially painful- the faster I would begin to heal.

And, I think, so it goes in life. We can turn to those epidurals of life that temporarily turn off the pain we feel, but at some point those wear off and we’re left with the same problem on our hands. Pretending it doesn’t hurt doesn’t make it hurt less, it just prolongs the pain. Sitting there and avoiding it doesn’t bring healing. But walking through it will.

So as I walk into this world of motherhood again, there is a force that says this is “good pain.” Like when you just finished a really long, hard run and you’re tired and sore. But you know that this run was one of those building block moments of being able to finish a larger race that is the ultimate goal.