A Perfect World? October 10, 2008

I had the pleasure today of co-leading (with Donna) a women’s round table discussion on Christianity and Politics. We called it ‘Rock Your Vote, Baby!’ With Canadian and US elections just over the horizon, we spent a lot of time talking about party platforms, candidates, our apathy at times, where we get passionate about issues, how we decide who to vote for and a wide variety of other political topics.

In our research for today, a friend came across an article by John Ortberg (from ChristianityToday.com). In one part of it, he challenges us to imagine a world where we get exactly the right candidate in office, with exactly the right policies, exactly right tax laws, all the issues and office appointments are exactly worked out perfectly with no glitches or faults. Can you imagine that?

Now… with that in place, ask yourself these questions:

Would that usher in the kingdom of God?

Would the hearts of parents be turned toward their children?

Would all marriages be models of faithful love?

Would greed and pride be legislated out of existence?

He also asks this question… With all the right policies in place, Would you finally become the woman or man you know you ought to be? (I summarized his questions…end summary.)

You see my friend, the condition of our human hearts stands independently from the circumstances of the world we live in. It has to. I understand with fresh eyes how Paul expected that we could be in this world and not of this world. We can do it, if our heart is right. The state of the heart trumps the state of the nation. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be informed, speak out when we see injustice, take action where action is needed, use our voice to impact our world. But if your heart isn’t in the right starting place you will be nothing more than a noisy gong.

As we prepare to go to the polls, ask God to reveal any areas of your heart that might need a check.

Peace. ~kp

Lose the mullet! October 6, 2008

Tonight as my hubby and I watched the Sports Center highlights, I was intrigued as to why the announcer referred to Barry Melrose (head coach of Tampa Bay Lightening) as “The Mullet.” My husband replied, “He used to have a mullet” as if it was the most natural answer in the world. My mind did an instant replay of all the bad hair-dos I have had over the years. I’m so thankful not to be known as “The Perm” “The Pixie-Cut” or (and I shudder as I type this) “The Side Pony-Tail.”
Although it IS funny to call a grown man “The Mullet” ~ often we carry around a lot of nicknames, put-downs and garbage from our past that we need to let go of. Others probably don’t call us these names – but we can sure recall them ourselves. The apostle Paul sure knew what he was writing when he penned “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” God wants us to learn from our past, but not stay there.
So I encourage you sister – lose the mullet – or whatever name you may still call yourself – and tell yourself today, you are loved and created in the image of God.
Peace.

~kp

Irony – Here’s A Laugh October 3, 2008

I am watching my friend’s 2-yr-old boy today so she can substitute teach. Her plan is to sub once a week so she can keep her seniority standing in the school and grab a few extra bucks, and I told her I’d watch her little munchkin so she can do that. Anyways – when she dropped him off I asked her what subject she was teaching today.
“Technical Education at the high school” she replied.
“Computer stuff?” I asked.
“Yes.” She answered. I laughed because she and I commiserate over computer woes all the time – losing documents when the computer crashes, frustration over dropped connections, you know the stuff!
I asked, “So what are you teaching…proper anger management when the computer doesn’t do what it is supposed to do?”
She laughed and said, “The really ironic thing is that I was trying to sign up to sub for middle-school English but I pushed the wrong button on the computer screen.”
Isn’t that great!? I hope you and she both have a technically-problem-free day!
~kp