Distraction Drills

On September 5, 2013 the Denver Broncos’ quarterback Payton Manning threw 7 touchdowns!  This has not been done since 1969. Now if you are not a follower of football that is ok, but I think you will like this story.  To me that incredible on field success is not the best part of the tale.  It is the off the field experience of this future Hall of Famer that makes the on the field performance so fantastic.

In 2011 it was thought that Payton Manning might never play again.  The then 35-year-old NFL veteran had to sit out an entire season after having serious neck surgery.  This was an injury that doctors had little experience with when trying to predict his chances at coming back.  His old team gave up on him.  They did not even try to trade him. The Indianapolis Colts outright released this four time NFL MVP that led them to the 2006 Super bowl championship.  

Not only did he comeback in 2012, he also led his new team, the Denver Broncos, all the way to the AFC playoffs.  But it was in this game that he had another huge setback.  Seconds away from victory the opposing Ravens quarterback throws a Hail Mary pass to tie the game.  The Ravens eventually won the game in double overtime. It has been called the most devastating loss in Broncos history.  Manning threw two interceptions; one of those was run back for a touchdown that would prove the difference in the game’s outcome.  The loss would have demoralized many a good player.  (Think Bill Buckner)

So who does Manning face in the first game of the 2013 season.  You guessed it, the Super Bowl XLVII winning nemesis Baltimore Ravens.  This time the outcome was

Belief in Prayer

I think we are way underestimating this thing called prayer.  

About five or six years ago I visited a village in rural Kentucky where the people did not use any electricity.  The people operated a lumber mill adjacent to a small creek that was all run by waterpower.  The water turned a wheel which had belts attached to it.   They had an elegant system whereby they could loop the belts on to their machinery that would then cut the wood.  These machines were beautiful.  (I am a woodworker; I think strange thoughts like this!) These folks had purchased large industrial saws, but they had taken the motors off of the machines and thrown them away!  You see, they did not believe in electricity. 

That is an interesting sentence… “They did not believe in electricity”…Does that mean they did not think electricity exists?  I am sure they did.  But truly they did not believe in it.  They did not trust it.  They did not rely on it.  They did not use its power at all.  They could not see the benefits of electricity.  They did not see any purpose at all in electricity.  But in some ways they still “used” it. 

If You Could have Superpower

It seems like there are an awful lot of movies out the last few years centered on super heroes.  I am thinking of movies with characters like Captain America, Spiderman, Superman, Thor, Ironman, Hulk and Batman just to name a few.  And there are many more of these movies coming in the next few years.  What is with all the fascination with superheroes?

Maybe audiences are simply enthralled with superpower.

There’s Captain America with the power of incredible strength and speed and the ability to be frozen for decades. He can bench press over 1000 pounds and run at 50 mph.  He also heals very quickly. Spiderman has the power of super speed and agility and strength with the ability to stick to walls and shoot out spider cords.  Thor has an extended life span, can travel through time, control weather, and even regenerate damaged parts of his body. 

Now maybe you have no interest at all in superhero movies.  But even so, as you look out at our world and the state it is in, wouldn’t you for just one minute entertain the idea that it might be nice to have a certain superpower to make things all right or at least a little better?  Maybe you have seen some injustice recently and felt so powerless to deal with it.  Wouldn't a little superpower here or there have done some real good? 

Time for Spring Training!

 Jesus says that if we are to follow Him we need to deny ourselves.  As someone who desperately wants to follow Jesus, I want to be able to deny myself.  But as my wife, kids, students and close friends know, I am inclined to put myself first.  I am good at thinking about it afterwards, but I tend to fly off the handle or get first in line before I think about it. Later I am able to reflect, “Argh, I did it again, I did not deny myself.  Father, please forgive me.”  That reflection (repentance) is good, but it is too often after the fact.  I want to be predisposed to deny myself.  I want self-denial to be my automatic reaction. I want self-denial to be in my “spiritual muscle memory.”  Right now every fleshly part of me screams out, “Give me what I want!” It is like having a temporary blindness to what is really good.

This struggle, and the fact that it is March, draws my mind to one of my favorite subjects:

A Kansas-sized Storm

I recently heard a story that I want to relay to you and the rest of my friends.  It is a story about a storm, a Kansas storm.  Those storms are big.  

A little girl was playing outside on a Kansas farm*. Mama was inside cooking dinner.  You know what it looks like, a big white two-story house, wrap-around front porch, a giant maple tree that stands in the front like a sentinel, guarding the house (a little too closely!) A swing hangs on its lower branch. Bikes and skates are strewn about and an above ground pool is in the yard.  Sun flowers, gladiolas, and hollyhocks are growing in three neat rows. The land is so flat that you can see the sky for miles in all directions.

The wind.  You can hear that gale beginning to whine through the corn field and around the corners of the house, whispering its warning.

“Mama, I want to come inside. The wind is blowing.”

Wanna go Fishing?

There is this perfect little fishing stream no more than 90 minutes from my home.  It is beautiful.  The fall colors right now are exploding in the yellow aspens and golden oaks.  The cool autumn breeze brushes the trees and they seem to be clapping their hands as you hike through the groves of them to this splendid little fishing hole.  The creek just glistens as the late afternoon sunlight reflects off the surface of the water.  The sound of the brook flowing over the rocks smoothed by centuries of flow is so relaxing and pleasant to hear.  I am giddy to the point where it is hard to tie the hook on my line. The word that comes to my mind is radiant. Seriously, I want to put down this keyboard and drive there right now!  The creek draws me to it with its magnetic beauty.  And to think this secret little spot is not six hours drive away in the Sierras and then another ten miles by hike. No this place is accessible right here in the local mountains just steps from the road.  

The stream is only a little wider than my running, jumping stride.  I have just failed in attempts to leap over it giving my feet a bath in its clear water.  In its deepest parts I bet there are very few pools over two feet in depth.  

But I would like to take you to the best place to catch fish.

Hitting the Wall

When the Journey Seems to have too many Roadblocks

Recently my daughter and a few of my close friends and I went on a backpacking trip to a place called Minaret Lake in the High Sierra.  I delight in the back country.  The sky is bluer, the water is too, and I just so much enjoy purple lupine, bright red Indian Paintbrush and other wild flowers in creek-watered meadows.  I think my favorite part, though, are the mountains. Thousands of years ago the glaciers that covered the Sierra receded leaving behind tremendous, rugged peaks that surround beautiful, crystal-clear lakes full of multi-colored Brook Trout!  As we sat at our campsite next to the lake and looked across the water we could see these towering peaks like sky scrapers standing guard over the lake.  From the topo map we calculated that these peaks were over 1000 feet straight up!  Early in the morning when the water of the lake is still and mirror-like you can see the beautiful reflection of the mountains.  A jumping trout sends out circles of disturbance from the center of the lake just outside the reach of my fishing rod’s cast.  The whole scene causes spontaneous worship and adoration of my Creator. 

 But these minarets don’t look like “normal” mountains with gentle slopes.  These peaks are carved into grotesque shapes that look like the teeth of an angry giant: teeth mostly worn away by grinding and chewing, leaving large gaps in between.  Clyde Minaret is the most stark peak.  It steeply slopes to a point and it is bent somewhat about half way up.  Clyde Minaret has a bright red iron rich deposit that looks like a blood stain from some past meal.  These mountains reminded me of something I would more likely see in a Dr. Seuss book than in a natural setting.