Weird Dreams and such...

I wish my dreams were not so strange. Most people have normal dreams. Dreams that they can interpret. Dreams that at least have them playing superheroes that give them confidence that maybe they are supposed to do something great in their lives. You know the people I'm talking about. He/she claims that they went to bed unsure of what they were to become and then Freddy Mercury appears with words of wisdom about starting a rock band. Or another may close their eyes only to find themselves fishing once again with their great uncle named Creekmore telling him/her to...I don't know...cast a welcoming hand toward a troubled friend.

I just have stupid dreams.

The other night I dreamed that several members of the youth group here at church were invited to defend the Christian faith on Jon Stewart's, The Daily Show. It just so happened to be conveniently filmed on the patio of Boscoe's on Madison. It was a 30 minute show and I took three youth so that they could have their half hour of fame. But as soon as the LIVE show began, the entire group answered one question and then ran away. The show was ruined and Jon Stewart was angry at me. What am I to do with that???? Does anyone have any idea?

Last night I dreamed that I decided to ride out a hurricane at my parents new home. I thought it would be fun. But the flood waters came up and washed away the lattice work (that doesn't exist fortunately) and an inch of water came into only one room of the house. Now had could that happen? The house is level. I'm so confused. Oh, and the water scum was brown, smelly, and my parents just decided to keep it that way. It made me want to call my parents at 6am this morning and ask them if they had chosen brown for their primarey wall color.

Were these just related to the Smores that I ate on Sunday night during a campfire? Hey, I'm missing my pillow. Sorry, bad joke. But I really was talked into eating that strange recipe of burnt marshmallows, chocolate bar, and graham crackers. Just the sugar rush alone made me invision Smurfs jumping out of the nearby picnic table.

My former pastor once told me that dreams are NOT about God or other people, but about ME. I once told him about my dream of trying to become a lifeguard but this big man in a wheelchair who didn't have any limbs was trying to give us intructions. I guess this was about me in some way but I would rather blame it on some bad tacos. His possible explanation was that I feared I didn't feel I had a leg to stand on. Probably something to that. I would hope that God wasn't speaking to me through a dream with an invalid man yelling at me to swim. There must be other ways for me to get a message. You know, an image of Moses telling me that there are actually 15 commandments. Then I would wake up and be sure I was supposed to be an archeologist.

Trip to Heber Springs

Our family went to Heber Springs this weekend. We had a great time. We ate, fished, watched football, ate fish, slept, ate, played, and ate. I didn't want to leave. So Carson and I created a barricade so that the other half of the family couldn't get in to take us back to Memphis. We stuck my son Will behind the structure to provide an intimidating presence that is necessary during times like these. It didn't work. I write this from Memphis.

Facebook, the do-nothing networking site

Ok, I've finally done it. I have joined Facebook, the social networking site that allows individuals to become connected once again. Last week I received another invitation to become a member and now I am connected with 70 friends from MS, GA, AL, and TN, and even Australia. Facebook is clean, fun, and quite informative. But don't join if you are an extremely private person. Don't join if you are one who wants to forget the past rather than relive it.

But I am a minister and part of my job is to poo-poo on all things cool. Just kidding, but not really. As I was reflecting on this I must say that I began to think of the theology of Facebook. I was fairly disappointed with myself for automatically pondering the possible drawbacks, temptations, and sins of the social networking world. I was becoming the clergy that I often can't stand to listen to or read. So I told myself that I was not going to do such a thing. Facebook is good, moral (if you want it to be), and about community. And to a certain degree it is.

BUT..(there's is always a BUT when a minister speaks) how much of Facebook is really just about finding out the scoop on people we never will talk to again. And is that community? It may just be another easy way to relate to people but to not actually get involved. It feels good though. The reason that this occured to me was because I joined a wonderful organization called Watering Malawi. The organization is about raising money so that people in a particular village in Africa can easily get water to their crops and homes from a nearby lake. It is awesome and doing a lot of good. I joined their cause through Facebook. And now I feel good and fuzzy about it. And then a friend of mine noticed that I did this and he joined WM and it is listed as me recruiting him to WM. This made me feel even better...but I really did nothing. But is still feels rather nice.

I think this is a trend within American Christianity. I am part of the problem. We have made God safe and community safe. But everything I read in Scripture deals with risk, faith, and authentic relationships. We fulfull our expectations but do we really ever get involved. We communicate with others from a distance but rarelly strive to get to know others on a deep level.

And by the way, I don't plan on deleting my Facebook account.

Should be required viewing...

Nothing challenges my faith more than the reality of war. My desire is to be a pacifist but I admit I am far from it. Jesus was a pacifist. Therefore, I know that his followers should follow his teachings of peace. But I confess that I can't resolve my personal conflict between his teachings of peace and "The Necessary War."

I believe it is my own fear that drives my inability to refer to myself as being anti-war. I fear that the minute I declare a pacifist view that I will be completely unable to live up to it.

Before anyone makes a judgement of my words or decides to label me a...whatever, you must see Ken Burns documentary, The War. Just when I think I have theological answers I am reminded of the world of the 1940's.

I think my troubles began again when this sweet elderly lady from Mobile, Alabama said that the invention of the atomic bomb was the greatest idea ever. And then she laughed in a sweet little voice as if to tell all other generations that its necessity was a reality that others will never be able to understand.

She is right. Unless you were there...you can't understand. And to go on with insincere pacifist talk is to dilute her experience as trivial. I use the word "insincere' because I know that I haven't quite adopted a theology of a peacable kingdom. I only sound like it from the pulpit. I would love to resolve this personal, theological conflict but I just don't have enough answers to criticize anyone who thought that America's involvement in the Second World War was necessary and good. I've tried to sit back and pray for peace and remain unmoved in my hope that the truth of the resurrection of Christ will make all things better. Is this all a Christ-follower is to do? It is impossible for me to watch a documentary like this and not be horrified and patriotic at the same time. It is impossible for me to not imagine a promised peacable kingdom but also root for our American marines at the same time.

Let me be clear. I believe in a better world to come when horrors like WWII won't happen. My hope is only found in the truth that the resurrection demonstrated that death won't win in God's Kingdom. Flannery O'Conner said something like this, "By the time our spiritual house is in order...we'll be dead. We will make our way though life but it will often be in darkness. And faith will never clear anything up. It is trust...never certainty."

I hope that God can move me to a point where I have answers for terrible realities like war. And more importantly, what the Christian response should be about such things. I'm just not there yet. I will pray for peace, I will hope for peace, and I will LOVE peace. I will hate violence, hate all war, and oppose it when our sword is not wielded well. And for now I will both despise what happened from 1941-1945 and also praise the ones who had to endure it.