This morning I am picking up The Practice of the Presence of God for the first time in months. I hate when I start reading books and they never get quite finished. With the addition of my reading list I hope to keep these unfinished books in front of me so that I will remember to pick them up and finish them.

This morning I read the letter by brother Lawrence entitled “How to Adore God”. In this he gives 3 practical steps as to how to adore God with our entire being. As I articulate these, my prayer is that I will meditate on them with the purpose of living them.

In the first he states that to adore God is to worship him with the heart of our very being. To grab that place deep down in our souls and worship him from that place. God is spirit, it is the depths of our spirit that should worship him.

The second thing to remember is that HE IS GOD and we are not. He is infinitely worthy. He is perfection.

What man, no matter how little sense he may have, would not exert all his strength to show his respect and love of this great God?

The third thing is that we need to be honest and admit that no matter how hard we try, our nature is the opposite of his. Despite this he is willing to make us like him. He has chosen us!

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!

As we bring ourselves to this third thought we are without excuse in giving him all our adoration. In our unworthiness he has bestowed upon us infinite worth.

I see that the intent of these steps is not to give us a formula for some liturgy but instead to progressively bring our thoughts to a place of understanding that once we begin to meditate on God and who he is, how can we help but to adore him.

I just finished the book Tender Warrior: God’s Intention for a Man. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.One of the things that should have been obvious to me but really was not until after it was pointed out to in the book was the fact that men are built to strive for a purpose beyond themselves, however they can’t do this effectively without other warriors by their side. In other words they need something or someone to die for but also need someone (a brother) to die with, a brother striving for a common goal.

I find it interesting that on the day I finish the book that I stumble across a web site that discusses the “Sterling Institute of Relationship”. Apparently this group has been around for many years and has its origins in appealing to this male brotherhood instinct. I am in no way advocating this group. It’s practices, methods and purposes are at best questionable and have all the earmarks of a cult. The reason that I bring it up is that there is appeal for guys. We want to belong, we want to be part of and we need a brother to make the journey with us. It is a basic yearning.

Like everything else this yearning can be exploited or misdirected and used for wrong. I challenge all men to take a few moments of introspection and consider your calling as a warrior and your need for brothers of integrity in that charge.

Does anyone remember what we’re memorializing on Memorial Day? In years past I’ve asked person after person what this holiday is about and the response I get in the vast majority of instances is that it is vaguely related to “someone dying or flags or something like that”. The consensus is that this day signals the official kick off of the summer season, BBQ’s, lakes, boats, swimming, camping, recreation, fairs, festivals, etc. It’s progressed to the point that even my fellow veterans have fuzzy recollections of what this holiday us about. I will need to do a quick lookup myself to see if my memory serves right. How sad is that?

Back to my point… What has happened to a day that is set aside specifically to honor those that have fallen while in our country’s armed forces? The official purpose of the holiday has changed over the years since it’s inception - which was if I recall created to honor civil war veterans that had passed on. Over the years the holiday became more inclusive of all those that served in the armed forces. This morning I am visiting family in the small community of Burney, CA. We were out at 7am placing flags on the graves of ALL former veterans at the local cemetery. Some of these that have served in defense of this country will be remembered in no other way on this day. Whether they served in time of war, fought overseas or served in peacetime they willingly sacrificed more than anyone without a military background can even understand.

On a personal note, I served during peacetime in the last decade of the cold war. There were a few skirmishes in the world during my 12 years 9 months of active duty, but nothing that involved me directly as a member of the submarine force. Now I find myself in my mid-40’s and am looking at hooking up the United States Submarine Veterans local chapter in my area. I will likely be the one of the youngest, if not the youngest in that chapter. Their key function is to ensure that the memory of former submarine veterans is not forgotten.

Let’s all take a moment to give thanks to all those that have served their country and sacrificed in more ways than most are willing to give up.

I think it’s safe to assume that women are much better than men at recognizing the subtle nuisances involved with interpersonal communication. Not that men are completely ignorant, but in comparison to women we really are like the proverbial bull in a china shop.

As I think about the truths around this innate ability it makes me realize that I need to rely on her gifts in increasing measure. Practically, for me, this means that I need to give her relational assessments far more weight than I am accustomed to doing. I have always weighed her opinion and observations in my decisions but I see that I pretty much always gave it the same weight as my own assessment. Hmmm…. could this explain why in all those situations that involved discerning what is going on with the other person in my relationships that my “gut” feeling was incomplete at best and wrong in other cases?

A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman–who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.
Proverbs 31:10 - Amplified Version (AMP)

Joy of all joys!

When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Psalms 126:1 - New International Version (NIV)

Has the Lord ever been so good to you that it just seemed too good to be true? Has he ever blessed you with such joy that jsut for a moment you thought you were dreaming?

In this verse this morning I know that the Lord does want to bless me in that way. Is he trying now and I am so tied up in the entanglements of life that I can’t see it? Reality is always there but out perspective dramitcally alters what we see. Today I am going to purposefully set aside the cares and look for what He is doing.

I was listening to Dr. Laura last night on the way home from my Critical Thinking class when she shared an email of a tribute written by a wife to her husband of 11 years. It was a very touching tribute and I thought, this guy is very lucky to have a wife so understanding of his role and sacrifice as a man.

But luck as nothing to do with it. This is obviously a man who gives of himself, sacrifices, and it’s noted and appreciated. I am sure that this tribute was not prompted by a single act of love or specially planned date with his woman. No, this tribute was prompted by persistent, continued attention to being a husband and father. One especially striking thing to me was that this tribute expressed gratitude not for the things that the woman valued most but for the things that every man values most. It was spoken in HIS love language.

A man wants to provide. A man needs to sacrifice. She acknowledged his everyday sacrifice in going into work with a smile to a job he really doesn’t like. She appreciated his smile and hugs when he came back home. A warrior needs to be praised for the battles he fights, many times alone. It is sacrifice. A man also needs someone to sacrifice for, someone to make provision for, to plan for, to guard and protect. She acknowledged these things that mean the most to him.

I have no doubt that he spoke HER love language in the way he did all these things. She felt the love that his actions showed. Marriage is a two way street and in this case they are both “speaking to the other” rather than expressing love in the way that “they want to be loved”. Putting the needs of the other first is what it’s all about, isn’t it.

The season finale of LOST IS NOT what I expected. Something more like a cliff hanger rather than huge new DIFFERENT mysteries, was inline with my expectations. I haven’t digested last nights episode enough to know how I feel about the revelations of last night but one thing is for sure… I need to follow this through and see where this all goes.

I have to agree that last nights episode did indeed “change everything”. Now there are 4 months to sit around the water cooler and formulate all new theories, speculate on where things are going and wait in anticipation for what is to come.

Some of my questions:
> Will Michael & Walt get away? Will Michael turn around after thinking about what he’s done.
> Locke now know’s what he’s done, but is it all too late? What’s to happen now?
> What in the world was the flash and sound all about? Was the quarantine door trying to say something to us?
> Why are Jack, Kate and Sawyer to important? Was Hurley’s only function to go back and tell the others not to interfere?
> What are the others up to?
> Why in the world did Widmore’s daugther have the arctic station monitored? She knows a lot more about what’s going on if she knew what to look for.
> What’s in the world is going on with years worth of logs sitting in a pile? Is that every logbook ever completed?
> What’s up with the fake hatch?
> Why are the others dressed like that? What can they accomplish?

My biggest mind blowers:
# 1 - The pile of logbooks - “Didn’t see that coming!”
# 2 - The release of energy - “What actually happened”

I’ve got to think about these questions and a lot more as I can absorb.

I don’t know where it came from as neither my literary skills nor my vocabulary reflect it but I love to see the relationship and etymology of words. This morning I ran across a web site that is absolutely fascinating. It is a visual thesaurus.

A thesaurus is nothing new but to me, being a visual learner, it was entrancing. Give it a whirl. I love the way it groups related words in a family tree. The Internet can be a great place… for exchange of information.

iPod compatible sneakers… brought to you by Apple & Nike…

You knew it would happen. Here it is. Next we get the Nokia sneaker.

People are such odd ducks. Let’s say there’s 8 people in a room. All have different struggles. One finds it easy to look at others agasp because they are so shocked that anyone could think that way or “do such a thing”. Another sees everyone has having huge “hidden” problems. Still another looks at everyone else as better than themselves, no struggles, life is just merry with a few pitfalls here and there. Yet another is too busy expressing their own “troubles” to even notice anyone else has a problem. Then there’s the one that has the answer for everyone, just do this or that and it’ll be all better. This can’t be undone by the one that stops everyone else in their tracks so you can all sympathize with the poor hurting soul.

None are wrong, none are right. But each one will tell you that each is right and the others don’t get it. The human condition is very interesting. We all ache, we all laugh, we all toil. Granted there are various degrees and seasons of life where the burden may be lighter (or not). It’s not that they’re all right, it just that each has their own viewpoint and message that they communicate with the way they live their life.

I DO NOT subscribe to the relativistic mantra that what’s right for you is OK. There are absolutes, we all know it. Deep down we all have a sense of justice and right. That line may tip one way or another depending on background and culture but we all agree there is bad (and conversely good). Why is it that we so often apply right and wrong to others that don’t agree with us? Even the current “tolerance” movement is intolerant of intolerance. We all judge. It makes it hard to have genuine compassion for our fellow man.