She believes in me!

While I've not experienced any depression over this job search, I recognize how taking time off gives feelings of uselessness an avenue to work their way into the mind of a man. I've seen it happen to friends and family members. I've felt as though I was unsure of what my potential was, not that I had no worth, but that I wasn't sure what my talents were suited for outside of the educational field, one in which I have trained for quite a long time.

I know. Everyone thinks the world of his or her spouse. All of my friends, and even some of my enemies, agree that I have the most wonderful wife in the world. I showed her a few of the job descriptions that I've investigated in my search, and she said of almost all of the possibilities that I was right for those jobs. Of one such position she said that I was perfectly suited to do that job and that it seems taylor-made for someone with my qualifications. She shows me that she believes in me, not just with the words she says, but in the quiet way she rests in the knowledge that God is caring for us. She gives me confidence.

Thank you, God, for Angelique.

Writing

The latest book in the Harry Potter series was released for sale this weekend. My wife and I were at the book store at midnight of its release, and did not get home until 2:00 AM. We were in the 400-500 grouping of expectant customers. I was standing there looking at so many people enthusiastically awaiting the release of a book in the same way that die-hard Star Wars fans wait in line for tickets, and I was flooded with emotions.

The former English teacher in me was thrilled to see so many people interested in reading.

The Harry Potter fan in me was excited to be among the first to discover his next insurmountable obstacle in his efforts to thwart the evil plans of Lord Voldermort.

The writer in me (though he has not had much practice lately) was, and still is, out of his mind with jealousy over the money J.K. Rowling has made with this story. Her net worth is now more than the treasury of England.

A writer writes. I have friends who are writers. Some of them are actually published and are making a living at it. I wrote in an earlier post that I need to do something. Well, I have a play that is almost ready to submit to a publisher. I have a few pages of the back story for a novel that I thought about writing some five years ago and put down. I know that it will be slow getting started, but I guess that if I can write a short column, as I have been doing here, I can perhaps devote some of my time to writing the stories that I want to tell. I might even get a couple of my things published.

Well, as you can see, I usually think to write these post in the wee hours of the morning. If you think I am out of my mind, I certainly can't blame you. I'm not looking for the money that Rowling has made (though I wouldn't turn it down), but the idea that my stories may spark the imaginations of others in the same way hers, Eddings', Asimov's, Tolkien's, Bradbury's, and Shakespeare's (to name a very few) have done makes me curious enough to try.

I will most likely toss this around a bit in later posts, so I welcome your comments.

But, it sure beats the idea of selling water filters.

Back From A Break

Well, I hope, by taking such a long break for posting to my blog, that I didn'tlose my two readers.

I took a break. As you know, I took a break from teaching, working, working out, sleeping on schedule, and taking care of myself. I've been feeling a bit ill since the second day of my camping trip. My wife has put up with a couple of cry-babies, my daughter and me. Grace has an excuse in that she is preparing for full-time school and going through some separation anxiety issues.

You know, the Bible tells me to do everything without complaining. Well, what about if I don't feel like doing anything?! Am I whining? You might think so, but I hope that writing this and publishing it will motivate me to get on the move.

Perhaps I'll get a job selling something. Real Estate, cell phones, or maybe water filters (again). I really don't know. I was thinking about producing my own martial arts DVD's and selling them over the internet. I was also thinking that I could finish my play and publish it with a script service that sells primarily to high schools, cheap. I really don't know, and I don't care. I just need to come back from this break.

Sorry that I can't be deep all the time. Maybe with a bit of practice at writing...

Peace.

WWJD or WDJW?

It's kind of funny to think about, but there have been in our pop culture a few quirky marketing tools to sow spiritual thoughts into the lives of non-churched people. Not too long ago we wore the slogan "WWJD" on everything from writsbands to necklaces to t-shirts. It stood for "What Would Jesus Do?" As a slogan, I think it has great merit, but like so many other fads, it's prevailence has declined.

I was reminded of this when one of my kung fu students, who is somthing of an Agnostic when it comes to his personal theology, asked me a serious question about the Bible. We were eating lunch after our class with another student who was raised in "The Church," meaning our brand of Christianity. He wanted to know if Jesus, being a Rabi in the Jewish Faith, has any surviving writings. I immediately asked if he wanted to know "What Did Jesus Write?" (WDJW) And we all chuckled.

When I answered, "Nothing," the church member was quick to correct me that Jesus wrote the one time in the dirt in John chapter 8, when the woman was caught in the act of adultary...

Funny, every church member to whom I tell this story immediately knows that this is the only record of Jesus ever writing anything. It's peculiar that noone knows what it was that He wrote. Funnier still, Jesus was often accused by the most knowledgable theologians of breaking the letter of the laws of God, and in every one of those instances, He proved Himself to be in perfect harmony with the spirit of God's law.

It's ironic that every Christian's first reaction to such a wonderfully inviting discussion question from a true seeker is to bring up a time that Jesus wrote ... who knows what? If John doesn't tell us what it was, why mention it accept to impress this unschooled person with your own vast knowledge of the New Testiment? But wait.

Most ironic of all is that it did not matter what He wrote. The law was complete. No amount of writing was needed to finish God's work. "The Word was God," John says in chapter 1. Jesus did not come to write a new set of laws, but to demonstrate a more excellent way of serving God than by following the rule book.

The New Testiment is a blessing to us all. It is, however, not a new written code of law. Thank God for preserving the stories of Jesus and the early church in it. The first century church didn't have it as the resource that we do today, but they managed to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. Please, if you are a Christian who shares the good news with seekers, don't teach the rules to them. Share the stories of how you, following the rules ***, makes a difference in your life and in the world.

*** Rule 1 - Love God
*** Rule 2 - Love each other
*** "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:40