Status Overload

 

Reading other people's statuses, I believe, gives me a very small idea of what it's like to be God:

the ability to see other people's thoughts
and wonder if they realize I'm reading them;

the happiness of other people's joy
and the sadness of other people's sorrows;

the joy of love accepted
and the frustration of love rejected;

the pleasure of having others ask you for help
and the pain of others running as far away from you as possible.

It just makes me that much more thankful that He sticks with us and continues to love us regardless of our opinion or belief (or lack thereof), unconditionally, and without us ever having to ask Him to do so.

I’m even gladder that He doesn't take my approach, which is to log off, say to hell with it all, and stay away for a week or so. Which I think I’ll go back to doing because I’m *not* God.

Thank God.

Love to all.

Mr. Owl

Notes for the Journey revisited

 

Intended for no one but me, but written here in case something here speaks to you.

Keep reaching out. Never stop. The one time you stop will be the one time the other hand was reaching for you.

That voice that keeps second-guessing you? That voice is not of God. Ignore it.

Say hi to as many kids as possible. They've grown up and they think you're a doofus. Be the doofus who said HI to them and don't worry about how they react or if they even react. Do it because you love them and because you've watched many of them grow from little kids in kindergarten to the teenagers they are now.

You will see a lot of people you know over the next four years that you used to be close to, and you need to acknowledge that those relationships have changed. Regardless, when you see them, hug them. Talk to them. The reason you even know these folks is because they reached out to you, they love you, they aren't afraid to let Christ's love flow through them. You shouldn't be afraid, either.

Focus on the people who are happy to see you, and believe that they truly are happy to see you.

Be a pest for God. That's not your decision. If you think someone needs you, chances are you may be right. There's enough loneliness in this world without people living in fear of reaching out to others. And if they reject you, that's not your call either. Let God handle it; He knows a few things about rejection.

Do what you can when you can with the time you have. If that isn't enough for some people, that's not your problem. Let God handle it; He knows a few things about people who are never satisfied.

If the opportunity to be kind presents itself, seize it. Don't let it go by into that netherworld of regret and might've-been. Be the person who stands out in the crowd with your kindness. Don't be just another person, another face in the crowd.

Do something, don't just sit there. If you feel it move inside you to do good or to do something good, very likely God put it there. Don't deny it or Him.

Tomorrow's another day. If the sun doesn't come up tomorrow, it only means God's called it a day and it's time to go Home. Isn't that where you want to go anyway?

Keep doing what you're doing, let God take care of the rest.

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Finally, promise me you'll come back and read this as often as necessary. Jesus loves you, this I know; for the Bible tells me so.

Love to all.

Mr. Owl

This Night Was Reeaally Bizarre! (How Bizarre Was It?)

Exhibit A: VH1 showed the movie “Tommy,” based on the album by The Who (us oldsters already know this; this is for the kiddos who might know who The Who is (no, don’t start that up, either)). To say this movie is deranged is paying it a compliment. This is the proverbial train-wreck; it’s so bad, you can’t NOT watch it. How did these people have careers after this (Ann-Margaret, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner.... The Who)? Nathan wandered in during Tina Turner’s performance as the Acid Queen.... he’s now scarred for life. He said, “What the heck” but it sure sounded like he said something else, for which I really can’t blame him. Y’know, I’ve never taken any illegal drugs or any other kind of hallucogenic; after watching this movie, I no longer need to.

Exhibit B: My sister is dating a guy with a pretty sizable collection of records. When I found out that he was moving and was going to be putting a lot of his stuff in storage, I generously offered to “store” the records at my house. I figure, even if only 30-40% of the records are good, it’ll be worth it. Well...... I spent tonight boxing them up. (I should make it clear right here that these records actually belonged to the boyfriend’s dad, so I don’t blame him for the selection. There are also some real gems in here, too. Of particular delight is this record called “Welcome to the LBJ Ranch,” where these guys took actual interviews of major political figures of the 60’s (Eisenhower, Bobby Kennedy, Mr. & Mrs. LBJ, Nixon, etc) and made up new questions resulting in the answers sounding funnier than originally intended. There’s also this lovely record called “No String (with Strings),” which is a score for a Richard Rodgers Broadway play from sometime in the 60’s. It’s definitely a product of its time, but I love that kind of music.) There are still a few others I haven’t gotten to yet, but the questions remain: how many Anne Murray records does one need? How many Olivia Newton-John records does one need? Does ANYONE need TWO copies of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Gord’s Gold?” Or two copies of "Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits?" Or two copies of that “Nadia’s Theme” record, which has by far *the* creepiest record cover ever printed? I mean, I felt like I was doing inventory at Half-Price Books with all the Herb Alpert records, Helen Reddy records, Glen Campbell records, BS&T records, etc.

Exhibit C: Favorite game show of all-time is Match Game and I’ve been so happy that Game Show Network has been showing reruns of it lately. Now I can finally understand all those double-entendres I didn’t get when I watched the show as a little kid. But that’s not the bizarre part. No, the bizarre part, the thing that still makes me break into convulsions just thinking about it, the one thing that made me laugh so hard my mouth went dry, my sides ached, tears streamed down my face, my nose was running..... you’ve probably already seen it in my status but it’s worth repeating here: the ShakeWeight. Now, there is no way I can accurately describe this thing without making it sound like.... well, basically a sex toy disguised as a physical fitness product. The more this commercial went on, the more I howled simply because I couldn’t believe I was seeing this on commercial TV. Out of respect for the younger audience (who’ve probably already seen the commercial anyway), I’m not going to post the link to the website or any YouTube videos. If you’re that curious, you know where to look, but be forewarned: if you try not to laugh, you might seriously injure yourself! I can honestly say I have *never* laughed so hard in my life, and those of you who see me on a regular basis know: I laugh a lot. This one had me going for a solid half-hour before I got my composure (or what’s left of it) back in place.

I hope your night was slightly more normal than mine!

Love to all.

Mr. Owl

Christmas Song of the Day: Friday, December 4

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by the Ventures
(from THE VENTURES CHRISTMAS ALBUM)

(Download to listen here: http://www.mediafire.com/?vnnjy0t5dvo)

Yes, it is starting off with the opening riff of the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." The whole album is like this. There's a version of "Sleigh Ride" on this album that starts off with the Ventures signature "Walk Don't Run" riff before kicking it into high gear on the sleigh ride! Imagine that: the world's first mash-up 40 years before mash-ups became popular!

I played this for Nathan this morning on the way to school. I think he liked it. We started making up lyrics:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it, you might say that I feel fine!

Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say:
"Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you help on our hard day's night?"

Then how the reindeer loved him, as they shouted out with glee:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, don't you know that she loves you!

Or something like that.....

Anyway, the Ventures are my all-time favorite rock band. They are to me what Metallica is to Nathan: the band from which I learned most of what I know about how to play the bass and the guitar. I've been listening to the Ventures since before I learned how to walk, and I've virtually destroyed every Ventures record my dad had (remember yesterday's comment about being infatuated with spinning records at an early age? These got the majority of the abuse!). Finding this album on CD over ten years ago was such a treat, and I'm glad I snagged it cuz I don't think you can find it anymore. BUT, if you've got a record player and a Half-Price Books (or a Doc's Records!) near you, this can be had fairly cheaply.

Enjoy!

Christmas Song of the Day: Thursday, December 3

"Here We Come a-Caroling" by the New Christy Minstrels

(download to listen: http://www.mediafire.com/?miky3w3lnlq)

My Mom's Christmas albums were always a source of joy when I was growing up, and this song has more than its fair share of memories. (It also has more than its fair share of pops, crackles, surface noise, etc. This is what happens when one gets infatuated with spinning records at a very early age!) Probably the happiest memory involves my daughter Amanda. In 1992, when she was five years old and her mother and I were engaged, we were driving somewhere and listening to Christmas music and this song was on the tape we were listening to. She liked it enough to want to hear it again, and we taught ourselves to sing it while we were driving. The "aaaahhhhhhh" in the middle..... every time I hear that, I hear Amanda singing that!

When I bought a record player (after having been without one for about six years or so), and then when I got it hooked up to my computer, Mom's Christmas records were the first thing I saved to CD (well, that and my Styx records!). Before then, I'd been relying on an old cassette tape of the records which was stretched beyond capacity. You can imagine the joy I felt when these records came caroling outta the car speakers, scratchy sound & all! Plus, this song is a lot of fun to sing along with. Just pick a part, any part!

Enjoy!

Honest Thomas

Thomas gets more grief than he deserves, simply because Jesus used him as the catalyst for saying "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." It's as if Jesus is anticipating the other disciples saying to Thomas, "Yeah, see? We told you He was back! We told you we saw Him!" I don't want to put words in Jesus mouth, but the underlying thought here is Jesus saying to them, "I don't want to hear anything out of you knuckleheads. If I hadn't chosen to appear before you guys, you'd all be saying the saying the same thing Tom just said to me. Only difference between him and y'all is he's got the backbone to be honest with me." The lesson here is that doubt, in and of itself, is not nearly as poisonous as our dishonesty in dealing with it. I can go on and on about how sure I am of my faith in the risen Savior, but if I don't acknowledge my doubt before Him, then I make a mockery of His sacrifice for me. So, I don't know about y'all, but I believe I'm gonna cut Thomas some slack from here on out.

In Him and around the corner (and still faithful despite my doubt),

Al

That day is done

Note to self: if you are reading this blog and it's after midnight and you're looking for a reason to write.... STOP! Go to sleep! Your days grace has run its course.

Say good night to God and hit the hay! Pick it back up again tomorrow. It'll still be there, only it'll be covered in the newness of the day.

In Him and around the corner (and in constant need of reminding),

Al