October 19-25 2014

This week, the question “What inspired me this week” is what will guide my reflections. 

Men of Integrity magazine had a set of reflections this week from Rick Bezet, Be Real; Because Fake is Exhausting. The theme was forgiveness. Its basis was Matthew 18:21ff, where Jesus tells a parable about one person who the king forgave a large debt and the person then not giving the small debt owed by another servant. He discussed myths of forgiveness. Although forgiveness is an essential part of restoring a relationship, it is not sufficient to heal a broken relationship. Failure to forgive will lead to bitterness and sarcasm coming out an inappropriate times. It can also lead to a failure to mature, because one gets stuck in terms of personal, emotional, and spiritual growth. Forgiveness leads to freedom. What struck me this time was that we, who sin against God and have the assurance of forgiveness from God, will not forgive others who do something wrong to us. The discussion on this led me to think of the importance of developing a forgiving way of life or spirit.

            My physical health continues improving in terms of my right shoulder. It still hurts. I have continued with P90x2 yoga and cardio, the total gym, and some time at Anytime Fitness.  

            On a personal note, we saw a movie (Suzanne’s fault) Best of Me, the worst movie I have seen in my life. However, I balanced that with Gone Girl, likely the best movie I have seen in a long time. If you like crime thriller’s, this one is excellent. One inspiring thought was the exchange between two officers. One says that often the simplest answer is the answer. The other responds that she has never found that to be true. The simplest answer was decidedly not the correct answer in this movie. The Book Thief was inspiring in that it showed life in Nazi Germany from the perspective some average Germans. It was slow and a little depressing, but it ended well. It had some interesting insights in the voice-over from “Death,” who encouraged us to relax when our times comes. We also completed watching Bones, season 9, which had a wonderful and surprising final episode. What I find inspiring here is the relationship between Bones and Booth, two people who are so different, and yet have such profound love and respect for each other.

Here is a picture of two beloved members of the household.

            Worship was inspiring for me, and I hope for others as well. Music was wonderful in both services. Good response throughout the morning. Think Orange was wonderful, as was the Youth Small Group in the evening. I worked on the sermon plan for November and December, and that always is an inspiring time. The Finance Committee was longer than normal. Many matters to discuss. Triple S is always inspiring to me, this time s we worked out way through John 6. We had a few computer issues to consider this week. I spent some time reflecting on my appointment form. I also filled out a willingness to serve form on the Annual Conference web site to be a delegate to General Conference. In terms of personal study, I have been working my way through Church Dogmatics by Karl Barth a second time, focused on III.2/3. Although this is not easy, I find it inspiring. I found III.2 to be a masterpiece of how to do a theological anthropology, combining sharp biblical insights with a good reading of psychology and philosophical anthropology. His discussion of providence in III.3 is also inspiring, stressing the parental care of God, that we are always in the friendly hands of God, even when it does not look like it.