Being bad at stuff is fine AWESOME…
Dec 27th, 2011 by ljkim
Recent studies suggest that you should never tell children they’re “smart.” Instead you should complement them for “working hard” or “overcoming obstacles” and things like that… Because if you tell people they’re smart, they’ll avoid doing things they’re afraid they won’t be good at. Which is a problem, since the way you get good at things is by being bad at it first, yet persisting and getting better… One of the things that Jesus’ teaching set ME free from is the fear of being bad at things. Whereas before (because of pride) I had to be good at something to enjoy it, now it’s different. If my sense of worth doesn’t come from what I do (but from God’s gift of “righteousness”), I’m free to enjoy things I suck at… and I get to learn (and get good at) new things on a regular basis… Continue Reading »
You can always check the right hand margin of this page for the time and location of our Sunday Meeting… But just to bring home the point: we’re back at our old space on 18th Street!
When I have important days, important events, I like to plan things so that everything is settled and organized…but reading the birth narratives reminds me how messy it all was… unwed single mother – forced to travel – no place to stay, gives birth outdoors and puts the baby in a manger. I like things “neat” because it gives me the illusion that I’m in control – but I guess God likes allowing chaos because it proves to me I’m not. Lesson #5, God is fine with chaos. If your life is messy, it’s not because God isn’t working…it’s an opportunity to trust Him to be in control of the big picture, while you try to be faithful with your part. 
This is the seasons of lists and resolutions – so in line with the spirit of the season, here’s my top ten list (otherwise known as the Ten Commandments):
Christmas is about Jesus, remembering His birth…even though he was NOT born Dec 25… So if it’s all about Jesus, then what’s the pine tree all about? Did they have pine trees in Bethlehem? And what about the guy in the red suit? reindeer? The problem is Christmas is not about Jesus at all: it’s about gifts and family traditions, snowflakes and mistletoe (which were not present where Jesus was born). This is a serious problem. On the one hand our Christmas is a travesty: a birthday party in which the birthday boy is not really invited. On the other hand, it’s something that means a lot to a lot of people, it’s filled with warm memories and good wholesome traditions. So what do we do? 
There’s a part where Paul says he wants women in the church (but this applies to men too) to be modest in their outward appearance, adorning themselves with “good works” rather than the latest hairstyles and expensive clothing. I understand that we read that in the worst possible way – there have been plenty of fuddy duddy’s who for some dumb reasons don’t like nice things… But I don’t think that’s what Paul was doing. Because, I happen to know a few women, who can be beautiful without makeup, and glamorous without expensive clothing. A person’s character can make them look like a million bucks! And all the made-up people with expensive shoes look frivolous standing next to them. They have the real beauty that expensive clothes tries to make up for… If that’s the case, no wonder Paul thinks people should seek for the real thing instead. 
Here’s something I’m working on… just because Jesus asked me to, and because he’s right as usual that this way of life is better: living in the moment. ”Do not be anxious about tomorrow…” Dogs, for instance, are remarkably “in the moment.” They’re not pissed off because of what something smelled like yesterday, and they’re not stressed out about their walk tomorrow, they’re here now. Young children are often like that too – which is why they laugh more than older people. I can have a perfectly good day – be well fed, well loved, at ease – and yet be all wrapped up because of something I need to do tomorrow. This is dumb because even if what I’m stressed about is as bad as I think – I suffer through it multiple times by worrying about it in advance… 
There’s a part in the Steve Jobs Bio where Sculley walks Jobs through the Met (museum) to test him… To see if he was teachable when it came to subjects he didn’t know anything about. And he found that (although he could be an “difficult” in other contexts), he was really interested in learning things he didn’t already know. The truly difficult part of learning anything really new is: we don’t usually want to know what we don’t (already) know… We like lessons when they tell us stuff we ALREADY know. Amen to that! But stuff we don’t know (whether it’s right or wrong) is scary, unsettling, shifts power away from us, forces us to be like children.
Grace and I have been watching a DVD set, that talks about deciphering what a baby’s cry means. The author is a trained musician and opera singer who noticed that in the first three months babies made 5 distinct types of cries corresponding to their 5 different needs. You can read about it 
Any sermon that doesn’t put you in touch with Jesus, that isn’t passionate about what God can do in your life and through you – is a travesty! Any sermon that makes you feel like you’re under some kind of obligation to God instead of being swept up in God’s passion for sinners – and God’s passion for the world – is a grave injustice to the Cross. Because this God stuff we give lip service to – or at least the parts that actually come from the Bible – are REAL! And if that doesn’t excite you, then you’re not alive. Today’s sermon was about “blessed are the peacemakers…” and I think it missed the mark: Because God is inviting you to join Him in His work of doing awesome stuff in this world… And instead of inspiring you, I think I put you to sleep. Instead of stirring up your heart, I made some of you feel like “I don’t know if I can do this…” Of course you can’t do this…on your own. But as God gave Moses the mission, and the ability, God sends us out to move mountains and then walks ahead of us…