I'll Take the Combination Plate

I few years ago I came across the Jimmy Buffett Album Banana Wind.


Track #3 is School Boy Heart. You can hear a live version of the song here.

The lyrics (found in their entirety here) describe a person who is a combination of many things.

The second verse is:
I suspect I died in some cosmic shipwreck
With all hands spread all over the deck
What the heck
Then some kind of obscene and unscrupulous mind
Began to pick up what he could find
Added ice, shook me twice, rolled the dice


The chorus starts with
Cause I got a school boy heart, a novelist eye
Stout sailors legs and a license to fly
And finishes each time with a different combination of traits.

I think being a combination of traits is a good thing. I enjoy being 'well rounded.' I can do a bunch of things, even if I do not do them for a living. I have a chemical engineering degree, a masters in education, a teaching license, and I am in the Navy. The path I have taken to joining the Navy wasn't the most direct, but I wouldn't change it if I could. I am thankful for all the things I have picked up along the way. It allows me to do more things and to find enjoyment in a lot of various things.

I am already a combination of education, traits, and life experiences. I plan on adding to these throughout my entire life. I never want to specialize in one thing and give up all my other traits.

Live Simple

Today's sermon was built on giving. John Wesley talked about giving when he (supposedly) said:
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can."

He encouraged us to do more for Christ. It seems weird that by doing good to others we are doing more for Christ, but Christ tells us in Matthew 25, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

In Sermon 50, "The Use of Money," Wesley gives us some practical advise in how to live in a giving way. "Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then give all you can." Wesley qualified this by explaining what each, seemingly simple, step meant.

First, Gain all you can. We should earn what we can as long as what we are doing isn't harmful to our health , isn't harm to our families, and doesn't hurt others. There is nothing sinful about money, it is OK to earn and have it.

Second, Save all you can. We should live simply in order to free up money to give. It is a Christian ideal to live a simple life. We see the apostles lived simple lives. We see this as recorded in Acts 2, "42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." They sold all they had and gave to all who were in need. They saved all they could by living simple lives. This is not something that we do easily as Americans. We lack for nothing but want for much. The pastor gave an interesting observation of America when he said that it is said that necessity is the mother of invention, but in the US, invention is the mother of necessity. Take a look at a SkyMall magazine. Who on earth would need that stuff? I have never gotten up in the morning, looked in my closet, and thought "if only I had an electric tie rack." I've never taken a dog on a walk and thought "if only I had a stroller to put this dog in." Invention has become the mother of necessity.



We need to learn to live on enough. What do we need to survive? Do I need a big screen TV to survive? Am I even happy with having a small TV? Can I survive, or perhaps even do better, without having a TV? What about eating out? Can I survive not eating out? Might I be even better not eating out and instead eating at home? Would it be cheaper, healthier, and a better way to spend time? Many of the ways we spend our money are wasteful in that they do not make things better for us. Can I do without going to see a movie? Do I have to buy a new music CD every few weeks? Can I still live without staying in nice hotels when I travel? Many of the ways we spend money can be sacrificed. But there is a reason behind these sacrifices.

Third, Give all you can. By saving all the money we can, we can then give it where it is needed. On his radio show, Dave Ramsey says that the last step of his financial program is to make a bunch of money and give it all away. Waite Phillips once said that the only things we truly keep are the things we give away. The followers of Christ made sure that everyone had what they needed. When we give, not just money but our time and abilities, we need to do so with a certain attitude. Paul addresses this in 2nd Corinthians 9 when he writes"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." It is important that we spend time in prayer to know what it is that we should give and then give so out of our love.

Ex-Atheist Reminds Us of Our Influence in the Pew

I recently (as in like an hour ago) read an article from the UM Reporter (Yes, the same people who desire us to be "one" like Lennon's song Imagine) about an ex-atheist turned United Methodist minister. The article, found here, describes the path Rev. Julian Davies took to going from being an atheistic university professor to being a United Methodist minister.

Short summary, he had not grown up in the church and knew little about Christianity. He married a Christian who wanted to have their wedding in the church she grew up in. He refused, saying that he didn't feel it was appropriate for him to stand in a church and pretend he was a Christian. She later invited him to church, to which he finally consented to because he felt it didn't have to pretend to be a believer to sit in church.

Going to church, he realized that not all Christians met the picture he had in his mind. Many were intellectual, not 'literalist' (I wish we had a better way of describing literal as in literally the word of God via the Spirit-inspired writings verses literal as in no poetry or figurative writings in the Bible), and had no idea why people did what they did in church.

One of the things that confused him was way people said "amen" at the end of prayers. He asked the person next to him, who kind of freaked out and just said "we just do, OK?" Once he had a question for the preacher in the middle of the sermon. After he raised his hand to ask it, the person next to him grasped his arm and encouraged him to not do what he was doing and to instead take a class to learn the reasons. (I really like that idea. I often have wanted to ask questions in the middle of the sermon. I instead write it down and either research it or ask the pastor after church. But wouldn't it be great to raise you hand and have the pastor call on you?)

Taking the classes, he was moved not only to faith, but also to the ministry. He now is the pastor at The University Church at the University of Toledo.

Reading the story, I thought about the influence we can have just by being in the pew. For Davies, he was confused on what to do in church, didn't know why things were done, and sought answers to his questions. He sought for these from, and ended up by guided by, the lay people.

Questions I thought of were:
1) Would a visitor know what to do in your church service?

I recently visited a UM church and went in a door that didn't have a ushered manning it, so I didn't get a bulletin. I was lost during church. I didn't know what hymns to sing unless I looked at someone's hymnal or recognized that song. I didn't know the words to the congregational prayer. I didn't know when we were suppose to stand up for various things until everyone else stood up. I didn't know this because it was assumed that I had a bulletin, therefore the pastor didn't announce hymns or when we were to stand or sit.

One of the things that really bugs me is when churches do not describe the method of communion before taking communion. For example, the first time I took communion at a certain church in College Station, it wasn't explained that you were suppose to hold on the bread and cup until the entire congregation had it. Then we were to take it together. The bread and cups got passed down the pew, I partook, and then the pastor said "As we take the bread together, we are united as the body of Christ. Let us together eat the body." Oops!

2) If someone asked you a question about why we do things in church, would you know the answer?

From the story, Davies wanted to know why we said "amen" to end the prayers. The person he asked didn't know, just that it was what you were suppose to do. (In case you don't know, it comes from the Hebrew meaning "so be it." We say it as an affirmation of our prayers.)

3) Would you know where to ask if you didn't?

Davies was able to find the answers to his questions (and indeed new life in Christ) because he was encouraged to attend one of the classes at the church. If a visitor was in your church, would you know where to take them if they wanted to know more? Do you know where various Sunday school classes are, or at least where the information booth is?

Though probably not the intent of the author, this article reminds us of the influence we have as parishioners sitting in the pew.

Time Slips Away

The song Ain't it Funny how Time Slips Away, has been recorded by many artists. I am familiar with some like Willie Nelson and Dave Matthew's Band, but my favorite version is by Al Green and Lyle Lovett.

Amazingly enough, you can hear a copy of this version at this website. The lyrics are available online as well.

The story in the song is a guy meets an old girlfriend of his. He asks her about her new boyfriend and comments that the line about loving him until the end of time is the same thing that she told him. They leave and he mentions that he will probably see her in the future some time, and to remember that someday, she will going to pay.

The reason I like the Lovett/Green version is three fold, Green's voice, Lyle's my favorite artist, and the big band sound. Lovett and Green are backed up by Lyle's Large Band. The sound is amazing.

I also am captured by the concept of time slipping away.

The past few weeks, I don't even know how many, I have been doing some temporary work. I am enjoying it, I am involved in something that I enjoy, camping. Time has slipped away. I don't even know how long it has been. I wake up in the morning, go to work, come home, eat dinner, read, sleep, repeat. No wonder time slips away.

I cannot cause time to slow down. I have always wanted to though. When I was younger, I thought it would be cool to have the power to make time stop for how ever long I needed it to. This was mainly so I could finish my homework without losing any fun time.

A lot of times, when I am going some place I know I will really enjoy, I think about how in just a matter of time, I will be leaving that place. So far, I have left every place I went to, except for the coffee shop I am currently at. In just a few minutes, I will be leaving here too.

Time slips away.

I can't figure out how to hang on to things, because everything I have done, except writing this post, has ended. This too will end in just a few minutes. Perhaps the best solution is given by Lawrence Millman. When one adventure ends, the only thing there is to do is start another one.

I am off to start another adventure. Time will be slipping away.