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Bathtubs

December 20, 2011 in family, giving, global, hope, humanity, love with 0 Comments

Originally from February of 2010, this post is worth re-sharing during this season of advent. Even if you’ve already read it, please read again. Tears flowed down again:

I’ve been publishing a series of posts entitled “Teaching Little Kyla…” documenting and sharing our  journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune. Posts that would normally be included as part of the “Teaching Little Kyla…” series will now be uniquely titled. At times we are teaching little Kyla and at other times little Kyla is teaching us. More falls in the latter.

A couple of weeks ago Kyla had just finished receiving her evening bath. She had been playing in the water with a foam alphabet system, sorting the letters more by color than by consonants and vowels ordered to spell certain words. She calls the foam characters her “super letters.”

Sarah was nearly finished drying and dressing our little one when for no apparent reason Kyla began to pray. The only plausible explanation was genuine gratitude.

“Dear Gawd, phank you for my baphtub… and… for my super letters.” Sarah responded, “Kyla, those are great things to be thankful for. There are some kids around the world that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.”

The world. Stopped. Instantly.

There are some kids around the world that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.

Kyla immediately had a frown across her face complete with angry and confused wrinkled eyebrows. As I watched from across the room I could see the deep trouble and grief that Kyla felt. She turned and looked up to Sarah and said, “No. They do. They have baphtubs and super letters.”

Sarah replied, “No. There are a lot of children – like the children we’ve been praying for in Haiti – that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.”

With anguish… and confusion… and agony… and distress on her face, Kyla looked down. And in the next moment, she looked up… and narrated the gospel.

“I will give them my baphtub and super letters.”

And the tears that welled up in my eyes began to run down my face.

Without agenda. Can’t we all love like a two year old?

 

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^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.

Walter and Justice

December 7, 2010 in Conference, culture, justice, love, missional with 0 Comments

http://player.vimeo.com/video/17359821?byline=0&portrait=0&color=f75342

An Invitation to Justice from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.

Some Empty Rituals are not Empty

December 4, 2010 in love, religion, worship with 0 Comments

Some empty rituals are empty. Others are not.

When we think of rituals we typically think of religious-type rituals. I would suggest that there is no ritual that is not religious. We go about our lives and much like rituals performed at “religious services,” our practices are meaningless. Have you ever really stopped to consider, “Why do we do this?” Is it just a ritual of our culture? Something we’ve been taught?

“This is just how things are.”
“It’s just a part of our system.”

We go about our lives because we adapt to the ways things have always been done. Empty religious rituals.

Some empty rituals are not empty. But these are the rituals that I think we do not practice because we’re busy practicing empty rituals. What rituals do we need to practice that allow us to empty our lives in order that we might make space to be filled by the love of God? A love that will inform our ability to practice rituals that are life giving – to ourselves and to others.

A Benediction for Black Friday

November 26, 2010 in advent, consumption, imagination, jesus, kingdom, love, missional with 1 Comment

It’s coming. The day marked for the celebration of the birth of Jesus is nearing. Comments are frequently made about the origination of the holiday being pagan. I would argue that which was pagan and made religious has largely become pagan again. The “celebration” that we now call Christmas has become the commercial exploitation of God’s incarnation. Is there another way of celebrating?

It’s here. Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving, millions of people are sacrificing a full night of sleep and either stay up all night or awake very early to drive their vehicles to shopping malls and retail stores across the country. Long lines, crammed traffic grids, and hateful behaviors are no deterrent from the cost savings for the mass purchasing of items that may or may not be needed.

Black Friday is an interesting social phenomenon. Why do consumers think they are saving money? Do consumers consider what money actually is? Are the majority of purchases on Black Friday for items that would be purchased even if “sales” didn’t exist? Is the purchasing of items encouraging unfair trade or even slavery in other countries? May we all begin to consider the fullness of what it means to consume, buy, worship, purchase, and enslave while imagining what alternative behavior may be more life sustaining as we celebrate the coming of God into human reality.

I have three ideas/propositions wrapped up in one benediction for how we might go about Black Friday:

May we be most concerned about our relationships with others. May we purchase only what we or others need. May we embrace our imaginative capacities.

Are you artistic?

November 24, 2010 in art, creation, love, minimalism with 0 Comments

“The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Go ye, therefore, into all the world and create.

Should I have been “at church” instead?

November 14, 2010 in Church, Ecclesia, family, imagination, kyla, love, parenting with 0 Comments

http://player.vimeo.com/video/15287137

Kyla, Koalas, and Pachyderms from Travis Keller on Vimeo.

What were you made for?

November 8, 2010 in art, creation, love, missional, psychology with 0 Comments

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “What in the world am I doing with my life?” You may be a professional in a certain vocation that feels unfulfilling. You may be wondering what degree program to enter? You may have already completed most or all of your college credits and find yourself thinking, “Why, oh, why did I major in this?” Maybe you enjoy your field of study or vocation but the rest of life just feels empty and meaningless.

I implore you to consider the question, “what were you made for?”

Some may say, “I wasn’t made.” Others would assert that they are made to love God and love others. Let’s assume for a moment that we do want to seek good and, therefore, want to act lovingly toward others. Let us also operate from the framework that we each possess an imaginative capacity that allows us to consider  and create a vision for life that infuses our unique passions, interests, and strengths with a purpose higher than our own self interest or preservation.

What would that look like for you? What were you made for?

Rob Bell on Resurrection

April 4, 2010 in art, death, hope, jesus, love, Theology with 0 Comments

Press play then close your eyes for 4:00 minutes.

Press play again and listen and watch.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10639312&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1

Resurrection: Rob Bell from The Work of Rob Bell on Vimeo.

Super Letters.

February 12, 2010 in community, family, giving, global, love with 12 Comments

I’ve been publishing a series of posts entitled “Teaching Little Kyla…” documenting and sharing our  journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune. Posts that would normally be included as part of the “Teaching Little Kyla…” series will now be uniquely titled. At times we are teaching little Kyla and at other times little Kyla is teaching us. More falls in the latter.

A couple of weeks ago Kyla had just finished receiving her evening bath. She had been playing in the water with a foam alphabet system, sorting the letters more by color than by consonants and vowels ordered to spell certain words. She calls the foam characters her “super letters.”

Sarah was nearly finished drying and dressing our little one when for no apparent reason Kyla began to pray. The only plausible explanation was genuine gratitude.

“Dear Gawd, phank you for my baphtub… and… for my super letters.” Sarah responded, “Kyla, those are great things to be thankful for. There are some kids around the world that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.”

The world. Stopped. Instantly.

There are some kids around the world that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.

Kyla immediately had a frown across her face complete with angry and confused wrinkled eyebrows. As I watched from across the room I could see the deep trouble and grief that Kyla felt. She turned and looked up to Sarah and said, “No. They do. They have baphtubs and super letters.”

Sarah replied, “No. There are a lot of children – like the children we’ve been praying for in Haiti – that don’t have bathtubs or super letters.”

With anguish… and confusion… and agony… and distress on her face, Kyla looked down. And in the next moment, she looked up… and narrated the gospel.

“I will give them my baphtub and super letters.”

And the tears that welled up in my eyes began to run down my face.

Without agenda. Can’t we all love like a two year old?

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^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.

Can we help Haiti… and Pat Robertson?

January 15, 2010 in adoption, love, missional, Theology, worship with 1 Comment

It is humorous and interesting how a blog post on Pat Robertson’s response to the earthquake in Haiti spikes my blog traffic. What is the cause? Is it that people agree or disagree with Pat Robertson? What has this man done to generate the type of attention that he has? Does anyone actually care about Robertson? Do you actually care more about the people in the country of Haiti? And if you do, what are you doing about it?

A comment on my previous post addressing Robertson’s hateful comments asked, “Can God forgive us for sitting on our a**es passing judgement on people who are actually doing something besides sitting around talking about it.”

Currently, I am, indeed, sitting. I usually do sit when I type. As I’ve been typing, I have been clicking on a button that says “send.” The button processes a message that I am sending to various orphanages and organizations in Haiti in hopes to adopt a child or even two from Haiti who have possibly been orphaned as a result of the earthquake. An update on our ADOPTION page will be posted later today. If you would like to donate to our adoption fund, please click the button in the far left column.

Another “send” button upon which I clicked processed a donation to UNICEF (who is currently providing aid in Haiti) and earned me frequent flyer points in order that I may fly to Haiti to assist with rebuilding efforts. Organizations with whom I have communicated (some through my employer/university/MVNU) are suggesting that additional people are not currently needed. So I don’t think I need forgiveness for sitting on my backside and “doing nothing.” Must I justify my giving and my doing? In the midst of what I hope to be loving acts, I am not stating ridiculous and asinine judgments on people based on their geographic location and a natural disaster. Bad things happen. Evil is present. It is our human dilemma.

What else can we do about the dilemma?

Thank you for your comments.

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