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Showing posts from 2016

Their today, yesterday, and next week

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And so it was.  The Summer before their Senior year burst onto them as they sought to make it a memorable one together. The pool party was packed with the Juniors looking forward to their last trip through the halls of the school as the sun beat down. Most were swimming while a few exposed their less tanned undersides to the darkening rays. The music blared from the boomboxes coordinated to 92.5 WMJQ much to many's dismay. However, the two of them were lost in the moment as everyone who wanted to lined up on the springboard that jutted into the in-ground pool. I might as well jump...go ahead and jump...forget it an jump... And with each mention of the word jump a body would be flung into the air trying to avoid the last one that hit the water. It was all rather chaotic and the unbridled laughter and excitement made more than a few sides and stomachs ache from taking in the scene. They knew that these days would end soon enough, but it seemed so far into the future

That which brings us together

“I can’t bring myself to think that Trump will be in charge. In the simplest terms, what brings us together is good, and what separates us is bad.” Brad Pitt on the prospects of a Donald Trump Presidency Believe it or not, this is not a post on who you should vote for this year come November. I read this quote and thought to myself that Mr. Pitt can't literally mean this. As someone who is a Christ-follower, I cannot endorse this definition of "good" and I think that, if he gave this a little more thought, he would not continue to offer this either. Now there is a lot about Christ that is unifying (reconciling) and the heart of the Gospel is the unity that we have re-found through Christ with God himself. This unity was lost in the Garden way back in Genesis 3 so much so that I was, at one time, an enemy of God. Christ brought me near to God through the work he finished on the cross and in his resurrection from the dead. He died for my sins so that I would not have

Laughter through the warm rain

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The family reunion was much more tolerable with her there as they strode the creek bed seemingly oblivious to the approaching clouds. They talked and planned that warm Spring day wondering what the Summer would bring them as they prepared for their Senior year. There were still tests to take and the Spring concert loomed large with the solos that the two of them had to prepare for. Their burdens seemed halved by the support they were to each other and the full weekends that they could spend together doing homework and going out alone and with their friends. They were an item in the school for sure. Not overly popular and not normally shunned they seemed to have found their place even if they rather didn't care what others thought. They could chalk the negative comments, more often than they should perhaps, up to jealousy or outright envy.  Thankfully they weren't more than a few hundred yards from the main pavilion when it happened.  A cloudburst of warm rain tumbled from

The humble God revisited

I was watching a video the other day of a thinker that, once you got past his mannerisms, talked about the moment that God the Father turned away from God the Son. Now that is a profound mystery and I don't ever expect to understand it all (even in heaven). It reiterated to me how unique Christianity is among the belief systems of the world in that it is the only one which has the humiliation of its God as a central tenant. There is not a more loving God than the one revealed to us in the religion of Christ. Then I got to thinking about the claims of deity that Christ made in the New Testament. Clearly the fact that the Messiah would be God in the flesh was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament, but Christ came right out and said it in the Gospels. Now there had been people claiming to be God far earlier than Christ and there have been people since that have done that. But there is a difference I see in those people when compared to him. Christ's claims to deity wer

The moment

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He was a little late getting to the dance as the car that he had depended on being there was absconded by his older brother for some reason. He had to hoof it from his house to the school gym (a 20 minute walk at the most) and he had not been nearly as ready as he could have been to account for the delay. He rather relished the walk as it helped him clear his head. He past the bleachers at Barnard Exempts that he had sat on numerous nights listening to his Astral Voyage album. He walked past the gas station where his brother and he would score a big gulp usually after a tennis match and the Olympia restaurant that he had always meant to check out one of these days. Cutting through the Maiden Lanes bowling alley parking lot he passed the smokers by the gate that separated Chase-Pitkin and the school property. He sniffed his shirt and was pleased that his journey through the smoke did not linger on him. Ascending the stairs he handed in his ticket and saw that the gym was rather

Sweet sounds on the nightshift?

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“C’mon, Jerry! Duane can do it can’t he?” Mark complained to his manager as Duane quickly walked away to do whatever he did when trying to avoid an unpleasant task.  “What you got a hot date or something?” he smirked ignoring the fact that they were left standing in the middle of aisle 5 in Duane's absence. “Yeah, in fact I do!” he shot back semi-disrespectfully but trying to hold it together.  The movie they were all going to at the Little Theater was to start and he had timed his arrival there to coincide nicely with his shift ending. He knew he would get paid for the overtime, but he didn't care about the money because Nan was going to be there and he desperately wanted a seat next to her. “Well, you’re spot mopping anyway…” Jerry ordered as he walked away. He was done with the conversation and Mark made his way to the produce aisle to begin his new task. The muzack was especially loud as there were barely any customers or activity in the store. It made it the perf

OK, that may have not been the greatest plan

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The next Monday after the scribbling on the board he fully expected Nan to say something, to smile at him somehow, to let him know that she had received the message. But there was nothing. Literally nothing. She wasn't acting any differently and their conversations were just as they always had been. The dance was Friday night and he was already a touch nervous about the whole thing. The path that he'd hoped that he paved for her to be receptive to his invitation to dance at the right moment was not what he envisioned it to be. So much so that he wondered if he should go at all. He was looking for some glimmer of hope that this was not going to be the disaster that he was painting it to be, but he wondered what that light would be. Maybe when he drove her home (so she could avoid waiting around for the bus) there would be a glimpse of what the dance could be. What their time together could be. ----------------------------- Before leaving the car that morning he had swit

"Ridiculous" was his favorite word

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The kids were gone from the classroom.  Alongside his best friend John, they were almost done with their Confirmation requirement to teach religious education to the 3rd graders at St. Charles on Saturday mornings. It was always somewhat of a chaotic time, but enjoyable enough for the both of them as he began to write on the board. I’m sorry but I’m just thinking of the right words to say, Even if they don’t sound like I planned them to be… “What are you doing?” John asked watching him as he wrote such a large note on the board. “Asking her to save me a dance next week,” he responded as if was the most natural thing in the world to do. She had a similar Confirmation requirement and she team taught a class of 4th graders with her friend in the same room only later on Saturday afternoon. “She’s not going to see that,” John said as he cleaned up the remnants of the craft the kids had worked on. John was probably right, but he had to try anyway. “Shut up. Do you have a better

Tighten up that embouchure!

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He was thankful for this time when he could at least look at her. They were in the same clarinet section in the concert band even though she was a first clarinet and he was mired in being a second. The concert was coming up and very few things could distract them from their preparation except... Mr. Forte entered the practice room and asked for all of the members of the dance committee for somewhat of an emergency meeting.Of course that meant that she had to go. He knew that she had a hand in the decorations and she would soon spend practically an entire night with her friends up on ladders and scaffolding to get the gym ready for the dance. He would join her save for the quartet rehearsal that he needed to attend. He stupidly signed up for it in a bid for some extra credit and he dreaded rehearsing knowing that he would miss the chance to be with her for such a significant amount of time.  He imagined the fun that they would have together as he would find it hard to leave her s

Non-complimentary behavior and the image of God

Recently there was a story in the news about a dinner party that was suddenly interrupted by a gun-wielding man that demanded money. Now the dinner guests didn't actually have any money to give to the man (I can relate, believe me) and tried to dissuade him from carrying out his threats of shooting if he did not receive it through all means at their disposal. Nothing seemed to be working until a woman offered the man a glass of wine. Now it was fine wine, the likes of which he had never had (by his own admission) and soon the gun was back in its place and he was sampling the cheese as well. The man said something very extraordinary:  "I think I got the wrong place."  He then walked off into the night with a glass of wine and the experience of a dinner he will never forget. Psychologists call this non-complimentary behavior where someone (the woman) acts in a way that is completely unexpected and totally changes a situation. I would expect the dinner guests to fight

Why can't I ever remember my locker combination?

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He was running through the halls to get to his locker. He knew that if he was caught in the sprint that graced his feet he would be written up for sure. He couldn't let that happen. He also knew that the seat beside her in study hall would only be briefly unoccupied and he had forgotten his Chemistry book that he promised her that he'd bring. Almost slamming into Erin as he cruised into his locker he offered her a quick apology and tried his locker combination. He had no idea what it was, again, as he loosened his tie and began to sweat. The bell would be ringing too soon and he knew she would be surrounded by her friends by then. The cafeteria wasn't too far from where he was...just down the stairs and to the left, but he had a scant few seconds until.... As the bell rang Brother John Davies seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Oh, hey there..." he began in his usual way. "Having some trouble there Mr. Dudley?" "I can't remember my locker

She would grin and bear it...

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“From high atop Irondequoit High School....93 WIRQ...music for the North Coast of America…” “Get on with it, man…” Lee almost screamed at the radio waiting for the promised debut of the new Flock of Seagulls song.  As the guitar mixed with the keyboards he instantly thought of her. He told both of them that she would love the song as his assurance was met with quizzical looks. “No, she’ll like it!” he assured the both of them. “There is no way she’ll hate it.” “If she likes this,” Sam laughed, “you know you’ll need to propose to her on the spot.” “Maybe I will,” he shot back with a smile. “If you don’t, I will,” Lee retorted. Of course he wasn’t about to let that happen. It seemed like he barely knew her, but he was growing ever more in love with the girl. It was almost as if nothing could separate them. So much so that even if she hated the song she would grin and bear it.  For him.  For them.  She was just that kind of girl.

Down the old valley road

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Valley Road - Bruce Hornsby and The Range Crunch crunch crunch… They didn't need the leaves underfoot to reminded them that it was Autumn. The fiery leaves were more than enough to accentuate the coolness of the crisp air as they walked the ridge to the view through the clearing that he knew she would love.  “Wait,” he said as he removed a pair headphones from his backpack and handed one to her. He got his splitter out as they paused, briefly, and he plugged her headphones into it doing the same for his making sure it was snug into his Walkman.  “OK, almost there…” he fast-forwarded to the song he wanted to share with her at this moment. It was a good thing that had a counter on his and knew right where it was on the cassette.  “There!” he smiled as the song played and hoping that his smile would be returned by her. It was and they laughed lightly at each other as they clumsily walked on connected to the music at his hip.  They pushed through the brush and could he

A mix tape for you.

It seems like a long time ago, the 1980’s doesn’t it?  There was so much that happened during that time in our lives. So many friends that we found and lost. So many tests that we tanked and aced. So many songs that we shared with guys and girls that we found as friends and maybe even with a hope for something more.  At any rate, maybe it’s because I am 46 or maybe it’s because of something more (a wish maybe?) that  I want to completely re-imagine my life with you in it. As significant as you are to me now I want to think about us sharing our lives together as the music that meant so much to me was playing and as the times those songs reminded me of burst to mind.  I mean the fact is I wish you were there with me. I don’t know why but I do. So this is, maybe, a misguided attempt to express those feelings to you and rewrite my entire life with you. My entire life. Hopefully you won’t find this strange, silly, or stupid. It just seemed like it was something right for me to do at

In Christ alone.

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In Christ alone I place my trust And find my glory in the power of the cross In every victory let it be said of me My source of strength, my source of hope is Christ alone - Michael English, In Christ Alone Thump, thump, thump, thump... The Iron Pigs were down 8-0 early in our first playoff game last night at the ball park. Now we found ourselves down 14-11 in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was nerve wracking enough that we were seemingly mounting a comeback of epic proportions and had the bases loaded with 2 outs. Then, the winning run strode to the plate. This was no ordinary batter mind you; he was the winning run. And he was my son. Well, he managed to get two strikes on him. Thump, thump, thump, thump...take a breath, Son.  Take a breath, Dad. Well, then the pitcher made a mistake and gave him a pitch between his belly button and chest. My son swung and drove the ball between the first and second basemen and the rally continued. We were now at the top of the order an

Fearless? I needn't be.

Fearless people,  Careless needle. Harsh words spoken, And lives are broken. - Seal, Prayer for the Dying It is fearlessness that got me into the sinful condition I am in. This fearlessness hurtles me headlong into indulging in these fleshly desires rather than embrace what God made me to be. It seems to me that the opposite of fearlessness is not courage but something much more like wisdom.  Courage itself is subject to a grand ideal in the least case and God himself in the best case. Can you (like me) see courage bending the knee to something greater than itself? Perhaps, to further the anthropomorphism, fearing something greater than itself? Zeal is subjected to that for which which we are zealous. No, the fear I have will allow me to react both with great courage and even great timidity when the situation presents itself. Do I fear when timid and throw it to the wind when courageous? No, not at all. I act in fear in either situation and subject myself to the One whom I sho

The scoreboard lied last night

I have been known to do some smack talk from time to time and always in a light-hearted way as I am not all that competitive. When my boys are the victims of a legitimate diatribe, and if they actually won the game that is the subject of the smacking, I always tell them to just say "Scoreboard." The scoreboard doesn't lie. Well, it isn't supposed to. But it did last night at my son's baseball game. We were playing a beatable team and the score was tied going into the 5th inning out of 6. We were the home team and when we took the field for the top of the 5th I winced a bit when I heard this boy was going to be taking the mound. Our pitching was a bit shaky but I knew that we would be in further trouble when he was going to be pitching. He hadn't pitched all year and when I think of the boys that I would want to see on the mound at this stage in the game his name is not on the list. It is not even last on the list. I knew that this would result in a loss for