fruit salad

my kids love the wiggles

you know - the musical group from oz who sing with accents about rose-eating dinosaurs and pirates with tickle-sticks?

anyway - the wiggles have this song called "fruit salad" and it's got me thinking.

life is like fruit salad.

someone else makes it for you, puts the ingredients in it, and serves it to you.
you may have to eat it, but you can pick out the bits of things you don't like.

see, there are three kinds of people in the world

1. those who pick the things out that they don't like and enjoy the rest of the fruit salad

2. those who pick out the things that they don't like and rant and rave about how ridiculous it is that anyone should ever include something like guava - for heaven's sake! - in a fruit salad

3. those who just like the fruit salad and eat every bite


but there are some funny dynamics with these fruity-salad eaters


a. those who love the salad often think that those who don't are just grouchy...but this is unfair, since the grouchy people have actually been served something they didn't like, whereas the happy salad-eater has no disruption in his fruit

b. those who pick the things out they don't like often feel smug because they are more mature than those who wig out over the bad-ingredients and think that those who love the salad are just empty-headed simpletons who WOULD behave like idiots if there was something in the salad they didn't like (this, on occasion, may even be true)

c. those who hate an ingredient in the salad may even have a point that guava should not be in a fruit salad in the northern hemisphere, being such a foreign fruit, and may feel that their legitimate gripe justifies their illegitimate temperament



so - who is the "good" fruit salad eater?


a. the one who loves it, eats it all, thanks god for it and prays for the grace to love it just as much even when there's something in it they don't like

and,

b. the one who hates an ingredient, has a valid point about why that ingredient should not be included, and expresses themselves with restraint and grace - aware of the fact that others may genuinely enjoy guava and do not want to have their meal ruined by the rantings of american-ingredient-only fruit salad eaters

and,

c. the one who picks out what they don't like, but also takes time to thank god for those who are currently enjoying their salad and to pray for those who need an extra measure of the spirit while suffering under the dictatorship of the guava


being "good" is not about your salad

it's not even about whether or not you like your salad

it's about you
and how you deal with whatever fruits you've been dealt
and how you perceive others, and have grace for others, in the middle of their meals as well.


oh...and i'm not really talking about fruit salad

prayer for the end of perfection

Lord -

I willingly let go of my need for a perfect life.
I choose to accept the difficulties, the pains, and the burdens
of this life – as you, first and also, accepted its troubles.

I choose to accept the joys of this life.
I choose to take them seriously:
to give them thought and attention,
to celebrate them and share them,
to honor them and thank you for them.

You suffered and died.
I, too, must suffer in many ways and die.
please help me to accept this
more and more every day.

You laughed and loved.
I, too, must laugh many times and love many others.
Please help me to accept this
more and more every day.

Forgive me for my failings,
and help me follow you more wholly
as I embrace the life you have given me.

Amen.

11, by len sweet

Len Sweet's newest book, 11, is about the 11 'indispensable relationships' every believer needs in their life.

it's an excellent, excellent book - i've had the great privilege of reading it three times now, as i'd been asked by david cook publishers to prepare sermon outlines for each chapter of the text.

my outlines can be downloaded for free, with accompanying artwork, by clicking on the title of this post....

but - even if you don't download my stuff - you should really grab the book.

it's certainly one of his best

caedmon - celtic songwriter

one of the famous musicians of historic celtic christianity was caedmon. he was said to be skilled in making verse out of scripture, putting those to song, and singing them in english.

even though he was illiterate, caedmon would have someone read to him from the bible and then spend the night trying to make it work in song. reprinted here is a sample:

teach us again the greatest story ever told
in time, the carpenter began to travel
in every village challenging the people

to leave behind their selfish ways,
be washed in living water
and let god be their king

you plundered death
and made its jailhouse shudder
strode into life
to meet your startled friends

i have a dream
that all the world will meet you
and know you, jesus, in your living power
that someday soon all people will hear your story
and hear it in a way they understand

prayer + theology

our last 3-4 fusion/experiences we've concluded with a prayer written/displayed on our screens.

in many ways, those prayers are part of our design to help move people closer to god. see, whether we've been christians 'all our lives' or are just beginning to follow jesus, we all need to take steps every day to get closer to god.

every day

all of us

more steps

every day we must willingly engage the spirit of god and surrender control of some other aspect of ourselves (or, perhaps, re-surrender something we've previously surrendered...and then taken hold of once more).

so, our prayers have been simple prayers that have tried to convey that sentiment.

we're trying to get everyone to engage jesus a little more.

but - it has been pointed out - these past few prayers haven't used "jesus", but "god"
so, someone asked me, is it enough to pray to god (and not specifically jesus)

well - that's kind of a loaded question

one the one hand - yes!
we pray to the father, by the son, through the holy spirit (that's our technical direction as per the NT)
and when we pray and ask god for greater understanding of him, we can have confidence that he hears us and takes us at our intention (regardless of whether or not we botch up our prayer grammar...as per the teachings of jesus: which of you, if he asked his father for bread would expect a serpent in return?)

then, on the other hand - no, it's not really 'good enough' just to pray to some non-specific deity
we're christians
christ-followers
little christs
we don't follow the 'great spirit' or the 'all-knowing one' or one of the many gods out there
we follow jesus christ, incarnated deity, firstborn over all creation, above whom there is none other, by whom all things are created, in whom we live and move and have our being, etc., yada, and all the rest.

sometimes i get so overwhelmed while preaching that all i want to do is just stop whatever i'm saying and start saying 'jesus'

over and over again

it's my pentecostal roots, i think

everything i'm doing i'm doing for him - even working at westwinds has little to do with westwinds and everything to do with serving and engaging jesus.

jesus.

jesus.

so it breaks my heart when someone wonders whether or not we're prayer to/about jesus, because - for me - there's no other option. if i ever truly neglected jesus with my teachings or with my affections, i'd be unable to bear that.

it would kill me if that were true.

i am quite certain, however, that it's not true. though (in the case of our current study of ecclesiastes) we rarely incorporate the person and work of jesus (because he hadn't been born when the text was written and we can only honestly introduce him in the text when the text suggests it) in our messages, that doesn't mean that our prayers and our worship are not for him/to him/about him/in response to him.

him, of course, being jesus

jesus


jesus


jesus


jesus

ecclesiastes prayer

apparently, we're prayer-maniacs right now at westwinds.

here is the prayer we concluded fusion with on sunday:

god -

forgive me

i have thought too little of you,
too infrequently of you,
and too much of myself.

i have made you a bidder for my affections when you are really so much more.

you are my maker.

i have not taken life seriously,
nor have i honored you
(or even my true self in you)
with it.

help me to live differently

help me to live with integrity

help me to live with an awareness of your spirit as i follow you.

amen.

easter prayer

we concluded fusion on easter sunday with a prayer (displayed on our screens). for those who missed it:

god -

i have many regrets.

i have done many wrong things. i have hurt myself, you, others, and the world - sometimes in small ways, sometimes in greater ones.

please forgive me for all of this.

i do not want to keep fighting you.
i want your love and forgiveness.
i want to feel it.
i want to know i have it.

i willingly accept whatever it takes to know you and be known by you.

i am yours.

amen.