Everyone Needs a Cheering Section

Yesterday, I needed to get myself out of the house. I had been stuck inside most of the day, and I felt like getting outside and getting my body moving a little. I went outside to shoot some hoops. Our neighbor's 2 year old twins were outside with their cousins (2 and 5 I think). As I began to shoot I heard the girls yell, "Yea!" They were standing at the end of the court about 100 yards away watching me shoot baskets. Every time I made a shot they applauded and squealed with delight. Any time I would miss, I would hear something like, "Aaaahhh, he missed." Needless to say this motivated me to make more shots. As I warmed up, I began feeling it and was making shots pretty consistently. If I missed a few in a row, I would run in with a layup just to hear the cheers. I could not help but smile.

This got me thinking about life a little (because we all know sport is really just a metaphor about life, although we usually think of baseball for some reason). Couldn't we all use our own personal cheering squad? Wouldn't be great if every time we did something good we heard delighted cheers? And when we fail, wouldn't it be great to hear them saying, "Ah man, you were this close! Try again! You can do it!". Jesus, told us in Luke 15:10, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Our cheering squad is in heaven. Can you imagine God the Father and Jesus Christ, his son, jumping up from there thrones and giving each other high fives when we turn from our sin? When we say "No!" to that nagging temptation we always give into. When we say, "I can't do this alone. Please send me your grace." Okay, it may not be high fives, but there is much rejoicing. Yea!

God bless you.

Finding the Voice of God

A mother told me a story this morning about her little boy.

The 4-year old was at preschool and was having a rather frustrating morning. The teacher was blowing bubbles for the students to chase. The little boy could not catch any and he asked the teacher why the bubbles were floating away today. The teacher took this time to teach the child about the wind.

"Can you please make it stop?"

"No. God makes the wind blow and only God can make it stop."

The boy stopped and looked to the sky for a moment. He then looked back at the teacher a little disappointed.

"He said no."

This made me think about the wonderful faith of children and their uncanny ability to hear the voice of God. How did we loose this ability? How did we let the noise of our lives block out the voice of the one who made us?

I am in a major discernment process right now. I wish it was as simple as the looking to the sky and listening to the reply. It probably should be.

I was able to spend time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament on Friday night. All I could do was throw myself down before the Lord and beg for his mercy and guidance. How I wish God's response to my pleas for help were as clear to me as they were to the child. I long for that child-like faith.

Almighty and ever-living God,
I thank you for your presence in my life.
Grant that I may hear your voice above all others,
and that I may place your will before my own.
May your grace overflow in me.
I ask this through Jesus Christ, my Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Crap! PVP beat me to it

Okay, so it has been a while. I have been very engaged in my search for work, and have not felt like blogging.

That being said, I was planning on doing a blog about the Jesus being totally divine but totally human. Basically, I was going to talk about how as Jesus, God had to poop, too. It is amazing to me that God would choose to dwell among us and get messy with life on earth.

Then I saw this in my favorite online comic - PVP. Scott Kurtz is truly a comedic genius at times.

I am headed down to LA this weekend to see Matt Maher and to get some training from the gang at LIFE TEEN. I am hoping that it will be very uplifting and that it will help me tune in to what God is trying to tell me these days. Please pray for me and my family.

Grace and peace,

Scott

"6 Million Dollar Man" B. Peterson

I was reading the paper today, when I came across an obituary for Bruce A. Peterson. He was a test pilot, and his crash of an M2-F2 in 1967 provided the footage for the opening credits of one my families favorite shows when my brothers and I were growing up - "The Six Million Dollar Man". He was quoted in 1975, when the show was in its prime, as saying, "I don't think it cost any $6 million to put me back together." In fact, instead of gaining super bionic vision, he lost sight in one eye. Cheesy 70's TV show aside, I am amazed at the tenacity of the human spirit and how resilient our feeble bodies really are. Bruce lived to be 72 and died of natural causes. Rest in peace.

Go Suns!

Okay, so this not my typical post, but what a game. The Phoenix Suns, in a must win game against the L.A. Lakers, win in overtime to force a game 7 in the first round of the playoffs. My son and I were on the edge of our seats. It was awesome, especially after watching Kobe Bryant win game 4 at the buzzer. It brought back memories of going to watch the Suns play when I was growing up, and watching games with my dad. It is nice to have that kind of escape with my son.

I love you, Dad.

Life or Death - Does Vengeance Bring Healing?

My brother is much better at blogging every day. He strikes a wonderful balance of thought provoking issues and frivolity. After a plethora of fun yesterday, he switched gears to get us all thinking. I originally thought about just leaving a comment, but with a title like "Tough Day to be Catholic" how could I pass it up, and I needed a topic anyway. If this posting does not provoke comments, then I know I am writing to no one. ("Is there anybody...out there?" - Roger Waters)

So his post today was about Al Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui and the death penalty. I agree with Bill, it is indeed tough to be Catholic, but not just today. Who deserves to live and who deserves to die? Many narrow it down to what they believe is a simple matter of guilt and innocence. Moussaoui is guilty of a crime that in part changed this nation forever. The men that truly bear the guilt of the death of thousands of U.S. citizens died with their victims - a very unsatisfactory cup for those thirsting for blood.

Throwing Stones
"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." - John 8:1-11

Or if you look at it from another certain point of view...

"Luke, don't give in to hate -- that leads to the dark side." - Obi-wan "Ben" Kenobi - The Empire Strikes Back

(hey - a pun and a Star Wars trilogy quote in one post! Oh and parenthesis too! I know at least Bill is laughing.)

Anyway, back to the real issue. Hate and sin.

There are plenty of scripture passages that support capital punishment. Here is an interesting article that goes into great detail about it. But, what is our true motivation? I believe capital punishment is a product of sin (not just the sin of the convict).

Kevin Sanders of Logos Ministries describes sin as alienation that leads to separation that leads to sinful acts that cascade down through generations.

Sin is a vicious cycle. Jesus asks us to look beyond our hate ("love your enemies") and to forgive ("Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors") so that we can break the cycle of sin. That is hard! Does that mean there should be no restitution. Of course not. But killing a killer brings about nothing of true lasting value.

Does Vengeance bring peace of mind?
The thing that I find most striking about the need for vengeance is how we choose to hang on to hate. I have seen countless interviews with family members of murder victims where they say something to the effect of "I will never forgive him, I hope he rots in hell!" These quotes come before and after the execution of the murderer. This shows me that the death penalty does not bring peace to the families of the victims. I think that is incredibly sad.

I understand the anger. I even understand the hate. I selfishly pray that I never endure the same pain first hand. I also pray that we don't let these sins take even more victims - our souls.