A detour on the way to destiny

I’ve heard enough preachers in my day to do a full two hour stand-up routine with about every variety and denomination featured. I’ve heard some great phrases, one liners, and simple truths in those sermons too. I’ve boogied for Jesus with the grooviest dudes in Hackensack, and have sung a nasal chorus with Brother Moses the cross-eyed preacher, in a building so deep in the black hole of Nowhere, it lacked a sign, a heating source, and indoor plumbing. I’ve watched a deranged man coo at his congregation until one man nearly fell off his seat in laughter. And I have heard such a powerful sermon that throngs of people were affected. I’ve sat under the best, and I’ve heard the worst. You could say I have seen and heard a mighty big crowd of witnesses in my time.

So when I say I have been on that “detour on the way to destiny, more than once,” I am hoping I’m not using another preacher’s sacred sermon phrase. That detour on the way to destiny has caused a lot of problems in life. I have seen it in my own, when I missed a road sign from heaven and ended up in the second best football field ever. Now, I’m heading for that best football field ever. Too bad the fog was too thick to see the gate entrance until now…

But now I have my ticket…

It seems strange to the world, but God does work in such unusual ways that it confuses those who do not know Him. They’ll think that they are running the show, they are destroying their enemy, but in reality…..God will take their evil and twist it around for our good- for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. The Imposters, and the ones following their own selfish desires….think they have a victory when everything seems to be going their way. But then something impossible will happen- the one following after God’s heart will suddenly come through the mess on the other side with a better job, better living conditions, a better group of people to work with, a better home, a better wife or husband, a better day to day existence, and even a better reputation, You can count on those poor unrepentant sinners scratching their heads till Judgment day…unless something changes.

I’m going through what seems like an impossible situation…but God has already promised me a victory and a new situation better than what I have had before now. If He will do it for me, He will do it for you. You have to “put all your chips on the table,” telling God “you’re all in.” When you move all of your trust over to God, like in poker when you put all those chips on the table, it is no longer you trying figure it out.

Think about it…then go do something about it….and you’ll be blessed…(no, no pastor’s quote there, just yer man from the mountains).

PS I don’t play poker, but when I was younger…

I am a Patrick

Of all the people this world has seen in the thousands of years, of all the mortal men and women who have walked on this globe, few have a life that resonate more with my heart than Saint Patrick. I never tire of his story, never tire of his example, and never tire of Saint Patrick’s Day, no matter how pagan people try to make it…because I know his example shines like a light in a lost and confused age.

His dedication to the goal- a vision years in preparation- are an example to me, since I too have been years in preparation for the next step. He did not fit the mold either, and although there were others before him who were successful, it is likely his passionate spirit, and his unique understanding, that separates him from Columba and the other equally great evangelists of his time in the area.

Patrick, like Saint Brendan, one of my other heroes of the faith, was a man with a story, woven by the constant need for reliance on God, in a way that would challenge anyone today. His writings reveal that he, like Brendan, possessed a Pentecostal-like fervor and insight many Catholics would rather not admit; it is in the lives and writings/stories of these two men that the Catholic church would do well to heed in this era of trouble filled with people drowning in feelings of hopelessness, confusion, and emptiness.

I celebrate Patrick, my predecessor and example, by trying to walk the walk Patrick walked…in the spirit. And if I ever get the chance that many have, I too will climb Croagh Patrick and the mountains he and Brendan climbed, going away to a lonely place to get direction.

So, when the morning wakes and the day begins, contemplate what our Brother Patrick would have been doing if he was alive today. I do not believe he would be in a pub eating corned beef, even lamb, and drinking green beer, because he had nothing to do with them. For those who are celebrating it that way, it is time you search for the real life story and writings of the man- you will be shocked by his witness. I can think of few with such a great witness…in the history of the world following the birth of Christ.

Baptizing the masses…in a clawfoot tub

When you’re in college, you do crazy things. You may ingest a half dozen donuts in half an hour, stay up 48 hours drinking motor-oil-flavored soda pop, or….baptize people in your bathtub. The latter occurred one night while I was dutifully working at the donut shop serving “Stoner Dogs” and “Jalapeno Flurries” to inebriated college youth. I came home to find the floor wet all around our tie-dye-bedspread- covered sofa in the living room. After placing my donut stash inside the refrigerator, I headed upstairs, following the trail of terribly large drops…to a soaked tile bathroom floor.

The light revealed more danger as I manuvered from one spot to another attempting to skirt the incident zone. Finally, gripping the side of our clawfoot tub, I discovered damp lint, curly hair, and what looked like an emptied bottle of anointing oil. It had all the earmarks of a serious Pentecostal Party.

I headed to my room, worn out from having to slap Stoner Dogs together at record pace to keep up with the night’s demand. I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep. When I woke, noon had passed and the house seemed quiet. I ambled down the stairs to find our resident journalism major sitting on the couch nonchalantly reading a textbook in the same area I discovered serious water damage in the wee hours of the night. When I asked him about the evidence, he said that several people had followed him home from a fellowship/worship service where a young man expressed the need to be baptized. Seizing on the opportunity, he had offered our bathtub…and a place on the sofa…

When I reflect on the antics of my housemates in those years, I am amused by how unpredictable our lives were. It seemed like we constantly entertained guests, had someone sleeping over on the couch, or sat up late doing crazy things like celebrating Millard Filmore’s Birthday with a Dart Contest, eating huge pots of Ramen-noodle Surprise and drinking Double Cola (legalized motor oil?). Those may have been “crazy days and crazy nights” but we never had to resort to drugs for our craziness, we just took the gospel literally…and creatively.

Lifestyles of the complex and confused?

People are like trees- they all have a root system under the surface that most of us do not see, and a source of nourishment. But unlike trees, some people reveal their true source when they organize themselves on facebook, repeat themselves on youtube, and splash out with a new girlfriend or boyfriend, a new car, or a new toy- something reflecting their inner character.

Recently, I found myself speaking with a stranger about values. While the stranger spoke, I noted that her self-appraisal did not match her online profile. This does not, of course, mean that she was untrue to either herself, her public, or her persona. What it did mean is that 2 + 2 is not four, that stars in the sky are not just beyond one’s reach, and that the tooth fairy is not necessarily loaded with silver cash, quarters, or stray dollar bills. In reality, it is all a bit of a jumble trying to explain what is now intricately complex. For in our world of personas, some lie, some tell the truth, but even more are confused. The latter is so true when the character presents a face that cannot match his or her actions. No, the real source is a spiritual thing, one many people cannot or will not grasp. But, as the Bible states, you know the tree by its fruit.

It amazes me how many people I meet- especially women- call themselves “born-again Christians,” “conservative,” or “traditional,” but who, when their source is revealed, are opposites of what they claim, or people who confuse “labels” with reality. This reminds me of a brief period in my life when it was assumed- by those who assumed- that I must certainly be Jewish. The evidence supported it, they claimed. I attended a religious meeting on Friday nights, I had two Jewish friends, and I frequently used the term “that’s not kosher.” They ignored the fact that I ate sausage in their presence, was able to quote New Testament passages in first century Greek, and had an Irish, not Jewish, name. In other words, people sometimes do not pay attention to where the tree is planted, where the root system goes, nor the obvious.

There is much ignorance and prejudice in the world that has nothing to do with race. Humanity is certainly no closer to evolving into something better; human nature and ignorance still permeate much of the planet. But now, as the virtual world explodes into ever more complex facets of “reality,” the possibility of confusion has expanded. It is only when we discover one’s source of strength that we find who a person truly is…