So I was reading one of my favorite authors, N.T. Wright, last night and he is so…pardon the pun, right…when he writes about the need to make things right. In specific, the particularly human need to set things right in the world or as he puts it, the need for justice.

Where does that need come from?

How can it be explained?

While we, and certainly i don’t always live out justice, I do, none the less, yearn for it, strive for it, despise when it’s absent and cheer when it shows up.

I freely admit i cannot tell where this need comes from: socialization, genetics, education, religion?

I mean, if reality is that one day we all just creeped up out of the primordial ooze. You know, by just by chance. Without a soul, a creator or any trace of purpose. How can the need for justice possibly be explained? If we are all here only by chance wouldn’t the most natural desire or craving be for selfishness at all else’s expense?

In other words, wouldn’t injustice be the natural craving or desire?

If life is really about the survival of the fittest…then why does injustice hurt so much?

Is this another place where god reveals himself to us?

I dunno…but wow, it sure makes sense.

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So I don’t have all the answers or many answers for that matter. I just don’t know. I do not know why things happen the way they do or how things end up in the shape which they do. I especially don’t know all there is to know about people, the universe and God. I suppose if I did know everything about people I’d be truly disappointed, the universe…bored and God well…he certainly wouldn’t be God…anymore.

I am at a loss at being able to completely understand the riddle of another person. The one I live with and experience more than anyone else is my wife. She confounds me in ways I cannot explain much less understand. Just when I think I have her figured out she surprises me with some dimension of her being that is utterly foreign to me. A life time of adventure. And now that we’re empty nesters the mystery is getting more of my attention everyday.

Then there’s the universe, what a smug notion to think that I know even something about it’s infinite expanse and infinitesimal complexity. I do know that I don’t know. That much I do know! The more I do know the more I am aware of what I do not know. A life time of exploration.

And God, of course. He invites me and defies me. I know He is knowable and I know He is so incomprehendible. Like my wife I know I may have a relationship with Him who is unknowable. I may know Him but never possess Him, never master Him, never. I chase He who chases me. A life time of pursuing the pursuer.

Seventy times seven. And then some.

I just don’t know…

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Where is all the leisure time they said we would have if we bought their gizmos? You know what Im talking about. All those ways our lives would be easier, simpler and more care free. Has it worked for you? Do you have more ‘free time’ on your hands than you did five or ten years ago? Has all the stuff made our lives better? Has all the busyness made us closer to each other?

I asked a group of young families if they were more or less stressed these days than they were five years ago and they overwhelmingly said, “MORE!” I think I identify with them because all those promises to make life easier just seems to make it more complex and more time crunched.

Work meetings, school meetings, town-hall meetings, politics, soccer games, softball games, piano lessons, ballet lessons, band practice, football practice, clubs, organizations, e-mails, facebook messages, internet updates, chats, instant messages, text messages, skype, Blackberrys, PDAs, laptops, iPads, iPods, iPhones, iTouch, iLostCountALongTimeAgo!

Is it me? Or does the idea of adding one more thing, ANY one more thing just drive you crazy?

This is the primary reason we at Westview will always strive for the least complex and least busy-making approach to living out Christ in our community.

This is important to remember as we lean into the future together. We’re going to be talking about upgrades, transitions and changes. We may be doing some things a lit differently. And it is very easy to reject new ideas because we are all just so busy trying to wrestle with the old ones. I suggest we all embrace the opportunity to approach things from the vantage point of simplicity.

I promise, we will never add things, develop programs or organize meetings that merely produce religious busyness or in anyway waste your time. Instead we will always strive to make any and all decisions, directions and developments those which will help us live as Jesus did and nothing else.

Jesus said, “Come, my yoke is easy and my burden is light…”

I’m looking forward to the journey,

Tom

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I spend a lot of time traveling.

Mostly by air.

So I read with interest the news article about the flight attendant who had had all he could take: apparently a JetBlue flight attendant flipped out after an argument with an agitated traveler last Monday, cussed the passenger out over the intercom, stole a beverage from the plane’s galley and made a grand exit down the emergency slide at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. He has now been charged with multiple felonies by the authorities and elevated to a kind of folk-hero status by many who shrugged off allegations that Slater endangered others and instead praised him for his standing-up-to-the-man attitude.

Ok first of all, I understand just how frustrating the travel industry has become and how stressed employees and passengers alike has become so I totally believe the story. And that’s really sad when you think about. Not so much that it happened but that someone loosing their cool, endangering the lives of people in his care but worst of all
causes them to be a mini-celebrity. Did he do the right things? Of course not. Have you or I ever felt the same way? Absolutely! But worse, his problems and our feelings are really symptoms of a much greater problem: the disappearance of simple kindness and patience from our society. Everything from road-rage to internet assault and
more.

This week we’re going to be talking more about love and in particular how patience and kindness are proofs or characteristics of God’s love in our lives and essential to our faith.

Aren’t you glad God is more patient with us than that flight attendant? Don’t you think we’ve all given HIm ample reason to not be?

That’s grace.

See you Sunday.

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It always bugged me that the Beatles released their 40th (or so) #1 hit, ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, and then they broke up!

I guess it takes more than just singing about love to make it real in your life.

Love is both the central motive and supreme test for anyone who says they are following Jesus Christ. “By this,” Jesus said, “will all people know that you are my disciples; that you love one another.”

Love is a choice and love is really all that matters. Check out more about love in this week’s podcast.

Have a super week!

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Thanks again to everyone for such a warm welcome into your church. This week we’ve been really busy planning, preparing for and brain-storming about the future. Since the future is where we are all headed it’s a good idea to work on it!

What does your future hold? Would it be good to know? Or is it better just to wait and see?

Some things we do know…such as school starting or a wedding date, when a paper is due or baby is on the way, when final exams are scheduled, an audit, trial date, the Super Bowl, when the new model car or computer is coming out, retirement or your birthday.

Somethings we can plan for some we are prevented from knowing about ahead of time. Some are happy; a surprise party, a bonus, falling in love, finding a long lost friend or an new book, song or movie that really connects with you. And some are not happy at all; sickness, lay-off, betrayal, loneliness or death. On thing that is certain about the future is the promise we can trust that God will be with us. In fact, He’s already in the future, the past and the right now.

Can you be fully present in the right now? Sometime you meet people who are not be present in the right now. Where are they exactly? Usually they are regretting the past or fearing the future and that keeps them from living in the right now. I believe that is what Jesus was talking about when He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 In other words, so that you and I can be fully alive, present in the right now.

Being fully alive in the right now, knowing that God is with us, is what makes us capable of everyone on planet earth is seeking. This fall will be an exciting time at Westview and a great time to invite your friends, relative, neighbors and associates who may be seeking into your faith community. Pastor Susan will be doing a ten-part series called “I Believe,” a perfect starting place for everyone to learn how in Christ we can be made fully alive, fully present, fully ready for our future…whatever may come.

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Last day to order:  August 16th, Distribution Day:  Aug 21, 11 – 12:30 PM.
Can order online at www.angelfoodministries.com <http://www.angelfoodministries.com/>   or find the monthly menu at the church (on Linda’s desk)

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Each Friday morning, there is a support meeting for those who are looking for jobs.  We meet at the church from 8 – 8:45 am.  (Formerly known as the Job Hunters Group)

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Thanks everyone for making my family and me feel so welcome at Westview.  It meant so much to us.

I am very excited about the possibilities, the potential and the promises we have before us!  I believe the path to God’s unfolding future is through faith, hope and love. And love, we all know, is the greatest.

Together and only together can we make a difference in the future of our world…loving  one another is the ultimate test of discipleship and the means by which God reveals his kingdom to lost people.

You see, the bible teaches that, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…. John 6:44.” What does use to do that drawing?  Patience , kindness, compassion and hospitality, among other things, is what God uses to draw people to Jesus.

We’ll talk more about this in the coming weeks but you showed me today that these things are alive and well at Westview!

You are loved,

Tom

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