Spring is coming, Spring is coming, Spring is coming...13 of 40

So, another day, another dollar, another word from Pastor K. In case you didn't know today is the last day of February, which means we are already 2 whole months into 2013. Time is flying, Henry is 3 and a half months, and in 24 days I will be 35, where has the time gone? I am glad to see February in the rear-view, mainly because I am very much looking forward to spring, I am looking forward to days of warmth and adventure. I am looking forward to getting Henry out of the house more, taking walks at Shadyside in a stroller and taking hikes at Mounds in our Baby Bjorn (bought for $15 at Once Upon a Child). I am looking forward to opening windows during the day to let in fresh air, fresh air into an apartment that can occasionally get stuffy, especially when an almost 35 year old and an almost 4 month old are stuck inside most/or all of the day 6 days a week.

Spring to me opens the door to so much potential, fresh air, yes, but also warm air. Warm enough that I can wear sandals and shorts, warm enough that I can take Henry out without having to layer on blanket after blanket in order to make sure he is not cold. Warm enough to also not have to warm up my car before Henry and I get in. Warm enough to see the look in Henry's eyes when he sees trees with leaves, flowers bursting through the ground, birds chirping in the air. Warm enough for adventure and exploration, warm enough for fun and enjoyment, warm enough to allow a larger portion of freedom of movement, freedom of sight and smell and touch, freedom to do what we want, freedom from ice and snow and windchill, freedom...

So, another month up and another month down. Another month closer to freedom, another month closer to Spring.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

The Amazing Race of Illiterates 12 of 40

So, once again we come to the blog of Kenny without a plan in mind.

I was just looking back at my Psalm songs and on February 27, 2005 I wrote 10, obviously much like this blog, I was behind and needing to catch up. I thought about sharing all ten of them with you, but I am not sure that it would be of interest to you. If it would you can message me here or on Facebook and I will share them. But, since I am unsure about it I will not.

So, onto other things...

We got rid of cable a couple weeks ago, and instead got Hulu Plus and Netflix on our Blu-ray player and a Roku. By and large I am dealing pretty well with the change, it does kinda suck not being able to watch all of my shows, like Justified and Psych on a week to week basis, but overall I think it is working out just fine. Because of the switch I have found some shows I never saw before and have fallen in love with Phineas and Ferb and Avatar: the Last Airbender. Avatar was so good that I watched the entire 3 season run already, and my only disappointment is that there isn't more.

Today I decided to watch an old season of the Amazing Race, Mary and I just started watching it a couple years ago, and there have been 20 Races, so I can now catch up on some I haven't seen. The one I am watching consists of ten families of 4 racing around the U.S.. I am amazed that in every season I have seen, and already quite a few times in this one, even though I am only two episodes in, that people do not seem to have much reading comprehension. For instance, on the episode I watched earlier the teams had to find a clue around the reflecting pool in front of the U.S. Capitol buildings, so, obviously, most of the teams completely skipped over the Capitol building directions and went to the larger, more iconic reflecting pool, the one that spans from the Lincoln Memorial to, then the Washington Monument, and now, the WW II memorial.

I fully believe that if one team would just take the time to read and understand what they have read that they would demolish the competition, winning every leg, because they would have such a large lead to begin each leg, alas they never do. I am an educated guy and I seem to recall that reading comprehension was something that I have been tested on at every educational level, and most times have been tested on reading comprehension before I could even begin a new level. Which leads me to wonder, why, in the name of everything holy, do these people never seem to be able to read a simple 2 to 3 sentence paragraph describing what they need to do next.

It is one of my dreams to participate in the Amazing Race, although Mary doesn't think that the two of us should be a team, she thinks it might destroy our marriage, which might be true. So, if any of you out there would also like to run the Amazing Race, let me know and maybe we can hook up for a chance to win a million dollars, I for one will take the time to read the clue and understand what it is saying so we will not look like imbeciles on national television.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Don't Get TOO Attached....11 of 40

So, another day missed due to Henry been clingy and having to work and being too tired to write when I got home from work, oh well, it happens. Just brings me back to the point that Sundays aren't counted in the 40 days of Lent so I do have a bit of leeway. Add to that the fact that there is really no one to punish me if I don't actually get to 40, and I am doing all right. I still plan on getting to 40, I'm just saying I'm not getting put in detention or getting my hands smacked if I fail.

Anyway, onto other things...

I have this friend at work who gets highly involved with fictional characters. In addition each character that she becomes especially fond of tends to be killed off by the author, which is just plain bad luck if you ask me. In one book series 3 of her favorite characters were dead before she ever read the books that they were in, but she didn't know that, and she got attached, and she got her heart broken when these characters were laid to rest. Each one died a heroic, sacrificial death, but each one cut her deeply. Now, in the world of Batman a Robin is going to die tomorrow and again my friend is hurting, because she has grown attached to this character. In her [and the character's] defense this Robin has transformed from angry little brat to an honest to God hero.

If I am to be completely honest I tend to needle her needlessly about her attachments to these characters, partly because I tend to think it is ridiculous to get so attached to these fictional characters, but the more I think about it the more I wonder, is it really that ridiculous? After all isn't the mark of a good story that we come to care about the people in it? Aren't we meant to want what is best for the heroes and want the bad guys to get theirs? Isn't the mark of a good creation that we hang on every twist and turn worried that they will make it out of various precarious situations? And if I'm honest how many times have I cried while watching a movie, when someone is hurt, or when someone makes a breakthrough, or when someone who is in pain is saved? And is that much different than what my friend feels? She may tend to grieve a little more outwardly [and loudly] than I do, but it is still grieving over characters who are only real on a page or a screen or in our minds.

Now, knowing myself I will probably continue to mess with this poor girl, because with my friends it is one of the ways I show affection, but maybe next time I will come to the realization that I too have walked too closely with certain made up people, and that I too miss them. Maybe I will remember that I still long for the return of Malcolm Reynolds and crew, that I wonder what happened to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko, that I would show up at midnight if there was ever another Harry Potter book, especially if it focused on Albus Dumbledore, who death I wept over. Maybe, just maybe I will be able to send condolences to her instead of mockery, or maybe my hypocrisy will win out once again and I will just chuckle over her ridiculous attachments to fictional characters, and completely forget my own.

Peace and Love,

Pastor K

Sunday 2 of 2, which makes 10!!! of 40

So, Mary went to Mississippi for part of this weekend and Henry and I spent over 36 straight hours ago and we still seem to like each other quite a bit so, there's one for daddy. Mary is going away again this weekend, this time to Florida, but most of the weekend Henry will be with Grandma and Grandpa Merriman. I quite enjoyed my time with Henry and know that I am going to miss him terribly this weekend, he is a cute little kid, cutest if you ask me, but I may be just the tiniest bit biased.

Well, onto other things...

This is actually take two of this second blog, the first one being saved for a later, more controversial date. Instead of controversial I am going to be...I don't know, maybe just random.

My Favorite Comic Book Character: Batman, aka Bruce Wayne
My Favorite 2012 Movie not up for an Oscar: The Dark Knight Rises
My Second Favorite Comic Book Character: Nightwing, aka the first Robin, aka Richard Grayson
The Comic I am Currently Reading: Teen Titans Vol. 1

My Favorite Book Series: Harry Potter
My Favorite Harry Potter Character: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
My Least Favorite Harry Potter Character that Didn't Die but SHOULD HAVE: Delores Umbridge
My Second Favorite Book Series: Redwall

My Favorite Dr. Seuss book about Nuclear Proliferation: the Butter Battle Book
My Favorite Dr. Seuss book not about Nuclear Proliferation: Green Eggs and Ham
My Favorite Dr. Seuss movie: Horton Hears a Who
The most recent Dr. Seuss book I read to Henry: To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street

My Favorite Fiction Author: Jeffrey Archer
My Favorite Jeffrey Archer book: As the Crow Flies
My Second Favorite Fiction Author: Clive Cussler
The Current Fiction Book I am reading: Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson

My Favorite Non-Fiction Author: Rob Bell
My Favorite Rob Bell book: they all rock
My Second Favorite Non-Fiction Author: Brian McLaren
The Current Non-Fiction Book I am reading: The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight

My Favorite Gospel: Matthew
My Least Favorite Gospel: John
My Least Favorite book of the Bible, because so many people misinterpret it: Revelation [no S]

My Favorite Band: Counting Crows
My Favorite Counting Crows Album: Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings
My Favorite Counting Crows song: Raining in Baltimore
My Second Favorite Bands: toss up between Jars of Clay, Collective Soul, and Switchfoot

My Favorite Solo Act: Derek Webb
My Favorite Derek Webb Album: Mockingbird, I love me some social justice
My Least Favorite Derek Webb Album: CTRL, too much concept
My Second Favorite Solo Act: Andrew Osenga

My Current Favorite Video Game: Skylanders
My All-Time Favorite Video Game: Mario Bros. 3

My Favorite Movie Studio: Pixar
My Favorite Pixar Movie: Wall-E
My Second Favorite Pixar Movie: Finding Nemo
My Favorite Disney Movie: the Lion King
My Favorite Bond Movie: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
My Favorite Actors: Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio
My Favorite Movie with both of them: Catch Me If You Can
The Last Movie I watched: Deep Impact

My Favorite Current TV Show: Psych
My Second Favorite Current TV Show: Castle
My All-Time Favorite TV Shows: Firefly and Arrested Development
The Last TV Show I watched in its entirety: Avatar: the Last Airbender

My Favorite NFL Team: New England Patriots
My Favorite NFL Player: Tom Brady
My Favorite NBA Team: Miami Heat
My Favorite NBA Player: Lebron James
My Favorite MLB, NHL team/player: NA
The Last Game I watched in its entirety: the Super Bowl, was hoping for a 49ers win

Well, that's about it folks, till tomorrow.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Sunday 1 of 2, I am getting to double digits today 9 of 40

So, I came up here about an hour ago and I haven't written a word until just now, but I am going to write two blogs tonight so that I can make up for missing yesterday, I was out of town for most of the day. The problem as I see it is that I don't even have a thought on one blog let alone two, I am hoping that if I start typing something will come out, its worked so far.

So, one of my songs based on the Psalms from 8 years ago today.

Past My Words

I have tried too many times
to explain away your mystery
and I forget to focus
losing myself in word pictures
forgetting what it means
to remain in you

and words aren't quite enough
they just can't say
words fail to explain the difference
between what I know and what I want to say

I have forced my way
down the path of no return
and I remember to remember
everything that I even knew
loosing past memories
remaining in you

you, oh, Lord
are somewhere past my words
and you, oh, Lord
are bigger, bigger than these thoughts

I try, I try, I try
to understand, to comprehend
I try, I try, I try
to apprehend, to take it in
but I can't I just fail again

somewhere, out there, past my words
somewhere, out there, past my words
somewhere, out there, past my words, you exist\

It was inspired by a reading of Psalm 40, a Psalm that begins with the idea of patiently waiting for the Lord. The problem is that back when I was writing this song I wasn't feeling very patient, I had spent x amount of days reading the Psalms as a whole [for the first time] and when you read them you realize that God accepts us no matter our emotional condition at the time. Sometimes we come in an attitude of worship, even joy, but at other times we come to God in pain, even anger. The Book of Psalms tells us to bring whatever we have to God, because God can take our worship, our joy, our pain, our anger, and anything else we may bring when we come to God.

Don't buy into those preachers that tell you that you must always be happy when you come to God. Don't buy into those people who tell you that you have no right to be angry with God, God can take it. Don't buy into the concept that God only accepts a certain type of emotion, a certain type of person, God accepts all at all times.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Friday 8 of 40, coming in Sunday's sermon

So, I am mostly over this sickness, though this cough and congestion are proving tricky to dispel completely. But for the most part I have been able to reenter polite society and been able to get out of this stuffy apartment a couple time this week that didn't include work. On Thursday we got Henry's 3 month pictures taken, getting professional pictures taken wasn't something that was on my radar, but Mary convinced me that it had to be done. It was a pretty good session, Henry even smiled a few times for the camera, something he usually doesn't do. Normally you have to distract him from the camera in order to get a smile, for a child who knows close to nothing, he gets what a camera is, go figure.

Now onto things of a more spiritual nature...

SPOILER ALERT!!!! If you are one of the few members of my congregation that read this blog, be warned that it is going to cover some things that I will be covering in my sermon for Sunday, read it if you want to, don't if you want the sermon to be a completely original experience for you.

Tonight I am trying to work on my sermon, it's a sermon that should have been written three weeks ago, because chronologically that's where it fell in my sermon series, but I pushed it a week. But then I got sick last week, so no sermon for last Sunday, so here we are. As I have mentioned before I am currently in the midst of a sermon series on Jesus' 'I Am' statements from the book of John. This week I am in John 14, the way, the truth, and the life. The main reason I pushed it from its original place was because I wasn't sure how to go about writing a sermon on it. We in America have traditionally held this scripture up as our proverbial trump card when we talk about other religions. It's our, 'In Your Face,' scripture, saying, see our book says that our savior is the only way to God, sorry about your luck in following another religion.

And while I may be willing to allow just a little bit of that into what Jesus said, by and large I do not think that is what Jesus is getting at. This conversation takes place during the Passover meal, aka the Last Supper, and Jesus is talking to his disciples about his upcoming betrayal and death. He tells them that he is going away to prepare a place for them and that if he goes they will know the way, and my buddy 'Doubting' Thomas says that they don't know where he is going, so how can they possibly know the way. Thus Jesus responds, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Thomas thinks Jesus is talking about an actual physical place that has a set of directions that are needed to reach it, Thomas is looking for the map, and Jesus is telling him, no, I am the map.

The way I see this Jesus is telling them, in essence, that it is not about the plan, it is about the person; it is not about the rules, it is about the relationship, it is not about the destination, but the company. Thomas wants to follow Jesus to his destination and Jesus tells him that he already is, if he has been paying attention. That's what it really comes down to, not my God is better than your God, but am I paying attention to what I am supposed to be paying attention to? Are you?

Is it about the plan for you? You have a plan, we all do, but are we sticking to the directions and forgetting the actual person of Jesus? Is it all about the rules for you? They exist, sure, but they are not what's eternally important, pursuing and maintaining a relationship with Jesus is. Is it all about the destination for you? Do you care more about getting into heaven than having Jesus in your life now? These are the eternal questions that we need to be wrestling with in light of Jesus' admission that he is the way, the truth, and the life, not who's religion is better. At least, that's the way that I see it.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Thursday 7 of 40...looking forward to double digits

So, here we are again, another day another blog. This has been both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Harder because I was sick for a few days and didn't write anything, if I had this would be blog 9 and tomorrow I would be hitting double digits, instead at my current pace, barring any sickness or other hullabaloo, I will not hit double digits till Sunday. On the other hand it has been easier because by and large when I do sit down to type, something ends up happening, fingers touch keys and words are formed and they combine into sentences, which are usually coherent, so that is working out for me.

Again I come to you friends with thoughts on my mind, some still need editing so they will show up at some point down the road, others are still percolating, i.e. they are so vague they aren't even in editing yet. But the one that is on the tip of my brain is whether or not to write a book.

You see, while glancing across my Facebook page today I noticed a message that said 'you should like _____' I saw that the person behind _____ was also the person behind another _____ that I follow so I decided to give it a once over. Turns out it was a new publishing house that falls directly along my views and beliefs theologically speaking, i.e. they believe in Jesus, but don't feel the need to ram him down anyone's throats.  I thought, 'Cool, maybe I will have to check out some of their offerings.' And that would be that, except I then saw an article on their front page that talked about author submissions. For the heck of it I decided to click on that, which led me to the realization that they accept book proposals from anyone who wants to send them one, which is pretty neat, because in this day and age most publishing houses expect you to have a agent in order to submit anything to them, or they just find you somewhere out in the blogosphere and snatch you themselves. [I'm here if you're out there, call me, we'll do lunch.]

The article went on further to say that you could simply send them a proposal through their website and that they would respond to each and every submission. Now, I do consider myself somewhat of a writer, in fact when Mary and I first got married, and I lost my 'about to be career in conference and performance events' I tried to get into a Masters program in writing at Ball State, obviously it didn't happen, but there has always been a part of me that wants to write. Which is one of the reasons that I started this blog, and one of the reasons I started this particular Lenten discipline. In other words, submitting a proposal to this publishing house is very appealing to me.

Which brings us to my next conundrum, what exactly would I write a book about? Being that it is a religious publishing house it obviously fences me into a particular genre, no great sci-fi novel or murder mystery, no Harry Potter sequel or Nightwing stand alone novel, or book of poetry or comedy submissions. No, it would have to be about God, Jesus, the church, so forth and so on, which as a Pastor and someone with a Masters degree in the subject I am not exactly unqualified to write, but still, what exactly do I have to add to the subject, I mean, have you been to a Christian bookstore recently? There are a lot of books there, and while I feel most of those books should be incinerated, or at least banned from church reading lists, there are still a lot of them, written by people with more degrees, more experience, and more congregants than me.

So, here I am, dreaming and wondering, wondering and dreaming, should I write a book? What would I write about? How many copies would it sell? Do you think it is too early to start calling myself 'the next, next Billy Graham'?

Anyway, until tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Blogs (Wednesday) 6 of 40

So, how many of you have blogs out there? I don't really know, to be honest I am not really much of a blog reader. I only read one consistently, one less so, though every time I do I think I should read it consistently, and one even less so, which I feel bad about. I am told by people that there are about a billion or so out there, which means a lot of people are typing and a lot of people are reading. I suppose that those are good things, but...at the same time how many of us are typing when we should talking? These are the type of questions I sometimes struggle with, after all I spend my Sunday morning partly in a time where I talk and everyone else sits a listens, unless they fall asleep, play Sudoku, or just stare into nothingness, and then I decide that for my Lenten spiritual discipline I will write 40 blogs, an outlet where the equivalent of I talk and you listen occurs through the power of the internet. The internet which allows the following to happen...


United States 1350 views
Germany 47 views
Russia 29 views
Netherlands 25 views
New Zealand 24 views
Israel 22 views
Malaysia 10 views
United Kingdom 8 views
Belarus 4 views
Ukraine 4 views

I have a friend who is working with a church in New Zealand so I know who that is, and I have friends who are becoming missionaries in the Netherlands, but Belarus? Ukraine? Israel? I have no clue who finds interest in the things in my mind in those places. And the fact that there have been 1350 views from the US is staggering to me, I mean, sure at least a few of those are me, and at least 40 or so is my wife, but I had one post that was viewed 70+ times. This is not to blow so kind of horn or something, Mary has several thousand more views than I do, and there are plenty of blogs out there, or so I'm told, that have millions of hits, some each day, I am fully aware of my small corner of the blog world, but the simple fact that I have a corner at all is immensely humbling. I really do appreciate whoever is reading this blog in the UK and Russia and Germany and each country and each state.

In my first blog in this series I wondered why people read the ramblings of this mess of a man. My friend Dan told me it was because I am willing to say I am a mess of a man, if that's true I wonder what it says about us all. How we are willing to accept people if they are real, and how devastated we are when we are deceived by the people we trust [Hello, Mr. Blade Runner, Mr Biker, and on and on].

It's weird in a way, when I started typing I had a whole different plan, one about how I have several posts that I have written and haven't published because I am just not sure if I am ready for the repercussions of them being read. But, then again, if I am a mess maybe I should just let the cards fall where they may, if I really believe something, really think it aligns with what Jesus would have me listen, believe, follow, should the repercussions concern me at all? So, what holds me back? Losing those people who care enough to read my thoughts.

Maybe tomorrow will be a day without fear, but then again, maybe not.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Tuesday 5 of 40

So, I really didn't like being sick, and while it isn't quite over, by and large it has faded away, hence I am back and the 40 posts continue on.

I wrote a post last year about legacy and how a yellow folder made me think about things in my life. Those thoughts keep running around in my head almost every time I look at Henry.  Having him around definitely makes me rethink things about my life.  Things I have said, things I have done. People I have hurt and used and loved. It has made me rethink just about everything about my life, which may be why I have become a little more honest about myself this past year. It's why I could write a post called Confession, it's why I can call myself a 'mess of a man.' It's why I can write in my profile that I am trying to be a better person, husband, pastor, friend and I sometimes don't do that well.

And I am cool with that, because I am beginning to understand things on more levels than I used to. I am finally beginning to believe that God loves me in the mess that I am, and more than that am realizing that God also loves the mess that you all are also. God sent Jesus to show us how far God was willing to go in order to show us how much we are loved, how much we are wanted, how much we are accepted, even in the mess we are, we are forgiven even when 'they know not what they do.' A cross showed me how far God would go.

That makes me realize that I am allowed to be me, until I am what God wants me to be. I can be the half way descent pastor, husband, father, friend, person that I am, until I am a better all of that. I know that's good enough for God, and I hope that it will be good enough for Henry

Saturday, for real this time 4 of 40

So, last night my head was fuzzy, today it is stuffed and running and draining and covering a sore throat with a slight headache and a general feeling of blah in conjunction with some the occasional chills.  In other words I am sick, and I am not a fan of saying such things, and even less of them being true. If I had to lay the blame on anyone it would have to be on Henry, he did sneeze in my face just the other day. But I sill love the little bugger.

Since I am sick I was planning on taking a moment for a blast from the past and share my lyrics for the Psalms that I wrote on this date 8 years ago today, but I checked and I wrote 7 on February 15th and 4 on the 17th, but absolutely 0 on the 16th, so there went that idea.

To that end,

Grace and Peace,
Pastor K

Now I am going to go to bed.

Friday...even though it is Saturday 3 of 40

So, even though it is past midnight I am still counting this blog as being from yesterday.  It was a busy day, which is why I am just now getting a chance to sit down and type away.  First my parents came down and visited, Mary joined us for lunch at the Supreme Buffet, then my mom, my step-dad, Henry and I came home and hung out for a few hours.  A few minutes after they left Mary called and asked me if I would be willing to meet her parents in Fort Wayne for dinner, so when Mary came home we quickly got ready and drove to Fort Wayne. We got back about an hour ago and I had to change, feed, and put Henry to bed because tonight is my night with him, hence the reason it is 12:16 and I am writing today's blog.

I had a couple different thoughts about what to write about tonight, but have decided to save all of them for a later date when my brain is a little less fuzzy, because to be completely honest I am quite tired and my brain is a little fuzzy, it wouldn't really surprise me to read this tomorrow and for some points to be complete gobbledygook.  So, who knows what could transpire over the next few minutes.

So, tonight I want to take a few minutes and talk about fear, or at least a slightly irrational type of fear. I am finding that more and more it seems that there are a lot of people who are downright scared of the world outside their doors. So many people seem to think that everyone and everything is out to get them. And, while I do think that there are bad, perhaps even evil, things out in the world, by and large I don't think these things are out to get me or any other particular person, unless you happen to tick off the wrong mass murderer.

It seems that some people think that schools have become some kind of breeding ground for hate, which may well be true in some places, but if you want to say that bullying is some kind of new thing, I will laugh in your face. I got bullied some in school, and I went to school in the 80s and 90s, bullying is not new, ask any African American who happened to go to school in the 60s or 70s. Or any Asian kid who went to school in the 40s or 50s. This is not to say that bullying is alright, far from it I believe that we need to teach our children to respect other kids, to not physically of sexually or mentally harm another child for any reason, but rather it is to say that schools have never been perfect places, but we didn't used to be afraid of them.

There are other people who seem to be afraid of the food they eat, as if preservatives are a new concept, as long as we have been in the food eating business we have been making food last longer than it should, so we can sell it and consume it later. And in truth I might be able to get behind certain dietary concepts if they didn't all contradict each other so much. I mean, am I supposed to eat more carbs or no carbs? Is red meat essential or awful? Is vegetarianism the way to go, or will I lose essential vitamins if I do it? Can I lose weight if I simply stop eating bad food, or do I actually have to work out as well? Or do I just drink a 'milkshake' or eat more Special K, or have some heart healthy Cheerios? There are about as many different opinions on what is and is not healthy as there are people who want to be healthy.

Then there are people of faith who seem to be afraid of anyone whose faith happens to be slightly different [or sometimes vastly so] than theirs. I am a pastor and I can tell you unequivocally that I am not afraid of people who think differently than myself. I fear no Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Krishna, Mormon, Catholic, Pentecostal or even Baptist. I may find myself at odds with them over certain things, but I can also guarantee that I agree with them on other things. I do not fear Christians who believe in things contrary to what I believe, because they either love Jesus or they don't.  I do not fear people of other faiths, because I know that they are simply trying to understand the world and their place in it, the very same thing that I am trying to do.

There is a quote from, I believe, the second Matrix movie where Morpheus is having a discussion with the general of Zion and the general is pointing out that not everyone believes the things that Morpheus does.  Morpheus replies something along the lines of, "My beliefs do not require them to do so." I often think that if we had that view our world would be at odds a lot less.  Some people might call it being politically correct, I don't think so, I think it means loving my neighbor as well as my enemy, because I believe that if we do that we will end up having a lot less enemies, because you can only love someone you hate so long until you no longer hate them. I worry that our fear continues to turn us against one another day in and day out.  In this moment and in the next I plan to fear less and love more, and let God sort it all out in the end.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Thursday...now it gets hard 2 of 40

So, here we are, day two of Lent, day two of my assignment. The first blog was easy, it was a simple idea, sacrifice or goal, and I picked goal, or perhaps it picked me. Either way, here we are, on day two, and I have no clue what to write about, this might be harder than I originally thought, and to be honest I thought it would be quite difficult.

[someone pointed out that their are actually more than 40 days in Lent because Sundays don't count in the 40, which is odd, I mean shouldn't Sundays count, especially for Lent? This means, in essence that I could skip a few days and still be o.k. but I would hate to skip day two...I might need those days later]

So, I made salsa this evening and came to two realizations. First, I didn't buy enough tomatoes, so my salsa currently tastes like onion and cilantro, both flavors I like, but its not quite right for my salsa. Secondly, I have come to understand the hazards of working with Jalapeno peppers. This is not my first time making homemade salsa, but it is the first time I have actually used a Jalapeno, I usually just add hot sauce to give it the kick, but this time I decided to do it the old fashioned way. To that end I bought a Jalapeno and cut it up, removing the seeds, because as the Food Network has taught me, the heat is in the seeds. What they forgot to mention is that you should wash your hands thoroughly before touching anything else.

To that end my nose was a little itchy so I itched my nose, big mistake, because then my nose was on fire and just kept getting worse.  I asked Mary for help so she scoured the internet and gave me some options.  After putting my finger in vinegar, milk, and finally lemon juice and then rubbing said substance on my nose the pain finally subsided.  The same cannot be said for my thumb.  I don't know if I had a small cut under my thumbnail, or if a microscopic piece got stuck there, or if the Jalapeno gods are just playing a cruel trick on me, but whatever the reason my thumb hurts and I have soaked it in the three aforementioned ingredients with nary a change.  The pain goes away for as long as the thumb is soaking and then comes back a few minutes after I stop the soaking.

So, as I am typing this my thumb is sending messages to my brain that go something like this, "HELP!!! Call 911, call the Fire Department, soak me in milk ALL NIGHT!!!" Of course none of these things is going to happen, so my hope is that sooner or later the pain will cease and normalcy will be restored in my pain preceptors.  Until then I just struggle on, typing letter by letter in sweet agony.

To all of you who have joined me on my 40 day [or so] journey I just wanted to say thanks, it means a lot that there are as many people who seem interested in the ramblings of this mess of a man.  I hope that I have brought you an occasional smile, deep thought, or just caused you to question my sanity, and I hope that it has been enough for you to continue on the journey with me.  It might just be a community of me typing and you reading, but I appreciate it all none-the-less.  Until next time, i.e. tomorrow.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K    

Ash Wednesday: the beginning....1 of 40

So, I have been trying to come up with something to give up for Lent.  I thought of a few but each one seemed to simple for the occasion, I mean how much of a sacrifice is it to give up pop while I have already been trying to cut down on it? I wanted something that would be meaningful, something that would actually be a sacrifice, and nothing I came up with seemed to meet my own internal standards of sacrifice. To that end I have decided that I would not give up anything for Lent, which isn't that big a deal really, Lenten sacrifice is not a part of my Church of God (Anderson, IN) faith tradition. I have occasionally given things up in the past decade or so, in truth more of a test for myself or a convenient excuse to give up something I wanted to give up in general.

But this year, for whatever reason, I am wanting to make some kind of sacrifice. Which led me to option number 2, which is doing something for Lent. This idea was first birthed in me by Mark Krenz about 9 years ago [gosh, am I really that old?] Mark challenged South Meridian's Youth to give up or start something for Lent. At the time I was writing song lyrics and I decided that during the 40 days of Lent I would write a lyric for each of the 150 Psalms, plus the apocryphal 151.  I needed to write 3.775 songs a day, which I didn't always accomplish, some days I wrote fewer, some days I didn't write any, so by the last week I was averaging about 7 a day, but I did accomplish the task [whew].

But what to do this year? I had no clue, I am already reading the Bible for my Sunday morning job, so that was out. I could have decided to read a book a week, but reading with a 3 month old has been a little more difficult than I originally thought it would be. I just didn't know what to do, so I had again come to the conclusion to not do anything, until about 15 minutes ago.  Mary wrote two blogs today, and a friend in New Zealand wrote a beautiful prayer as blog, and it got me thinking that I could kill two birds with one stone.  I have been wanting to write more blogs, and haven't been giving it the time or energy I need to, and I want to do something for Lent.

BINGO, my goal for Lent is to write 40 blogs over the next 40 days. I am sure that some will be longer and some short.  Some will be deep and a few might be a sentence or two of ridiculousness.  Some will be sermons, or songs, or musings, or meaningless ramblings, but they will be mine and to a lesser degree yours. This Ash Wednesday I wear my cross on my heart and type it on my blog.  May the sacrifice of my time, energy, and thought be pleasing to my savior friend, to my avid [or random] reader, and to my jar of clay.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K