It is a difficult thing to pay attention to our conversations, relationships and simply being in the presence of others. We rely so heavily on cliche, routines and posturing. From the opening moments of human interface these relational habits kick-in with the force of the most powerful addictions. What do I mean?
"Hi, how are you doing?"
"Fine!" A pause and tilt of the head sideways. "And how are YOU doing anyway?"
"Couldn't be better," he lies.
Fake smiles--yeah I've been caught in a few. I had a guy in one church that would give me back my Guy Smiley smile every time I posed it.
Why can't we live in the real world? Why can't we truly mean what we say, interface with sincerity and truly touch one another with authenticity? You need to be seen today. Has anyone looked at you? Has anyone studied your eyes and your face and really asked about you? You need to be heard today. Is anyone listening?
Would you touch someone this day by making a real conversation--by being honest when you are with them and looking them in their beautiful eyes and expressing some form of human contact? Would you listen to someone who needs to be heard.Oh God, please help us love each other!
Sometimes when people tell me I'm special, I'm tempted to think they just like being loved. They just think it's cool being seen, or heard, or spoken to in the present tense and moment... Funny idea, isn't it?
For more on this topic click here.
Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Chapter 3 of BREAKERS is Coming!
I have chapter three of Breakers in the bag, and plan to post it next Monday--March 23. I wanted to let you know if you checked back in.
I'm not sure how far I'll be going with this. The Runaway Pastor takes some powerful twists and turns after the first chapters, and I've been hesitant to post more than the first seven chapters of it. I don't want to give up too much of a book we are trying to market. But Breakers is a different thing. I probably have an estimated 16 chapters printed on this one, and as I remember, nothing too much is "given away" at the end of them. So I may just go for a while. Or maybe a publisher will jump in and say, "Wow, that's a best-seller in the making! Let's buy it!" Well, if that happens, all of you "comment and encourage" people won't be forgotten:-).
Hey, speaking of publishing, I want to put in a mercenary line or two here. A blog of this sort is a free way for me to have people read what I've written. And a few hundred different people from all over the country and around the world have shown interest in The Runaway Pastor already. That is gratifying, and has happened largely through word of mouth advertising by people like you. Thanks. And, if you like what you read here, please pass the word along. Tell friends, copy and paste the URL to people you think might like this theme.
If you haven't guessed, there is a thorny issue (at least one) in the plot of Breakers. A Christian minister guy is getting somewhat interested in an irreligious girl. This story is allowing me to explore questions of the walls which separate us...especially those that Christians seem to erect that Jesus didn't.
I've spent my life crossing borders of suspicion, culture and class. I've never met a person in which I don't see the stamp of the image of God. I believe deeply in all people--that each of us are potential representatives of the love of God. Breakers is giving me the chance to work out this idea.
By the way, this book probably needs a title besides this working one. Got an idea? Maybe after you read a bit further you will? I've also thought about "Worlds Apart." That feels a bit clumsy though.
Keep your eyes out here next Monday for chapter 3 of Breakers. And have a few friends look in as well.
Peace to you.
David
I'm not sure how far I'll be going with this. The Runaway Pastor takes some powerful twists and turns after the first chapters, and I've been hesitant to post more than the first seven chapters of it. I don't want to give up too much of a book we are trying to market. But Breakers is a different thing. I probably have an estimated 16 chapters printed on this one, and as I remember, nothing too much is "given away" at the end of them. So I may just go for a while. Or maybe a publisher will jump in and say, "Wow, that's a best-seller in the making! Let's buy it!" Well, if that happens, all of you "comment and encourage" people won't be forgotten:-).
Hey, speaking of publishing, I want to put in a mercenary line or two here. A blog of this sort is a free way for me to have people read what I've written. And a few hundred different people from all over the country and around the world have shown interest in The Runaway Pastor already. That is gratifying, and has happened largely through word of mouth advertising by people like you. Thanks. And, if you like what you read here, please pass the word along. Tell friends, copy and paste the URL to people you think might like this theme.
If you haven't guessed, there is a thorny issue (at least one) in the plot of Breakers. A Christian minister guy is getting somewhat interested in an irreligious girl. This story is allowing me to explore questions of the walls which separate us...especially those that Christians seem to erect that Jesus didn't.
I've spent my life crossing borders of suspicion, culture and class. I've never met a person in which I don't see the stamp of the image of God. I believe deeply in all people--that each of us are potential representatives of the love of God. Breakers is giving me the chance to work out this idea.
By the way, this book probably needs a title besides this working one. Got an idea? Maybe after you read a bit further you will? I've also thought about "Worlds Apart." That feels a bit clumsy though.
Keep your eyes out here next Monday for chapter 3 of Breakers. And have a few friends look in as well.
Peace to you.
David
BREAKERS: Chapters 1, 2 and 3
Hope you had a great weekend. I had a chance on Friday (my day off) to do the third chapter. This has really been fun for me. Like I said earlier, this book crashed with a hard drive several years ago, and I had only printed out a bit of it. I began writing it about 8 or so years back. So Cam and Kenna are like old friends, and they struggle with stuff that interests me. I've always hoped for a chance to get back to Breakers. Thanks for encouraging me along the way. I'm grateful.
You can click here to go and read the first three chapters of the book.
Again, your comments both spoken and written are appreciated. I welcome any suggestions, editing or ideas for the book. Just send them to me here or on my email, which is listed along the side bar to the right. Example, I'm not married to the title of the book. Maybe you would like to suggest another? Have at it.
I'll look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for reading. And if you like it, tell your friends please!
Peace to you.
David
You can click here to go and read the first three chapters of the book.
Again, your comments both spoken and written are appreciated. I welcome any suggestions, editing or ideas for the book. Just send them to me here or on my email, which is listed along the side bar to the right. Example, I'm not married to the title of the book. Maybe you would like to suggest another? Have at it.
I'll look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for reading. And if you like it, tell your friends please!
Peace to you.
David
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Ticket to Ride
One of the major themes of the novel, The Runaway Pastor, is commitment. Promises are broken, yet reconsidered. Vows are reassessed, wrestled with. A train whistle haunted my writing of the book.
I've ridden trains, mainly brief commuter trips, or European city to city hops. And all trains everywhere have one thing in common: Once you board and the train begins to move, you have no power to change directions on a whim, no matter how much you might feel the need for such a turn.
While in the former USSR, our children were very young. My wife and I spent a great deal of time planning what we would do, should the rapidly opening and closing doors of the subway cars somehow separate us from one another. The nightmare scenario-- which thankfully never took place--was the possibility of our children exiting at a station, and the train moving forward with us still aboard. Imagine the panic of a parent, longing for the train to return to the station, yet knowing there is no stopping until the next.
During my years as a pastor, I've had the privilege of helping a hundred or so couples promise their lives to one another. Are there ever moments in married life when one partner or the other believes they might wish to go back, and reconsider their vows? Of course. It is at those moments, that vows are like a train ticket. No couple wishes to pledge themselves to love, cherish, have and hold one-another for the "next little while." Brides and grooms hold a passionate belief that each is committed to forever. You buy the ticket planning to arrive at the other end of the line together. It costs you your sacred promise. And you board the train when you make those vows.
My October 1979 promises have landed me 29 years down the track, riding with the same love. We've gone through storms that rocked the carriage. We've struggled at stops here and there. But we bought one ticket, and boarded one train. I'm so grateful for the promise that has carried us to this place. Without our vows, we each might have criss-crossed our lives in short bursts one way, and then the other.
Where are you going? What have you pledged your life to? Why not land in the place you committed to go in the first place? To where have you purchased a ticket?
I've ridden trains, mainly brief commuter trips, or European city to city hops. And all trains everywhere have one thing in common: Once you board and the train begins to move, you have no power to change directions on a whim, no matter how much you might feel the need for such a turn.
While in the former USSR, our children were very young. My wife and I spent a great deal of time planning what we would do, should the rapidly opening and closing doors of the subway cars somehow separate us from one another. The nightmare scenario-- which thankfully never took place--was the possibility of our children exiting at a station, and the train moving forward with us still aboard. Imagine the panic of a parent, longing for the train to return to the station, yet knowing there is no stopping until the next.
During my years as a pastor, I've had the privilege of helping a hundred or so couples promise their lives to one another. Are there ever moments in married life when one partner or the other believes they might wish to go back, and reconsider their vows? Of course. It is at those moments, that vows are like a train ticket. No couple wishes to pledge themselves to love, cherish, have and hold one-another for the "next little while." Brides and grooms hold a passionate belief that each is committed to forever. You buy the ticket planning to arrive at the other end of the line together. It costs you your sacred promise. And you board the train when you make those vows.
My October 1979 promises have landed me 29 years down the track, riding with the same love. We've gone through storms that rocked the carriage. We've struggled at stops here and there. But we bought one ticket, and boarded one train. I'm so grateful for the promise that has carried us to this place. Without our vows, we each might have criss-crossed our lives in short bursts one way, and then the other.
Where are you going? What have you pledged your life to? Why not land in the place you committed to go in the first place? To where have you purchased a ticket?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Runaway Pastor: Just for fun--Who is reading?
Just for fun! In the spirit of the NFL Play-Offs and the BCS bowl games, I thought it might be fun, (or at least interesting) to post the current standings on various states visiting this website over the past month. (OK, this is goofy!)
Most visitors are reading the front page, and then chapters 1-7 and The Parable of the Gym entries.
First, for the national standings:
1st place: The United States of America
2nd place: Ukraine
3rd place: Israel
Next, for the state standings:
1st: Indiana
2nd: California
3rd: New York
4th: Michigan
5th: Tennessee
6th: Texas
7th: Utah
8th: Arkansas
9th: Kansas
10th: Georgia
So in the spirit of competition, let's talk it up, and I'll keep you posting on how your state is doing. (There are ten other states close to making the top ten.)
And, since Ukraine is doing such a stellar job (with Zena our most courageous and prolific commentator) and the Eastern Christmas is upon us, С РОЖДЕСТВОМ!!
Most visitors are reading the front page, and then chapters 1-7 and The Parable of the Gym entries.
First, for the national standings:
1st place: The United States of America
2nd place: Ukraine
3rd place: Israel
Next, for the state standings:
1st: Indiana
2nd: California
3rd: New York
4th: Michigan
5th: Tennessee
6th: Texas
7th: Utah
8th: Arkansas
9th: Kansas
10th: Georgia
So in the spirit of competition, let's talk it up, and I'll keep you posting on how your state is doing. (There are ten other states close to making the top ten.)
And, since Ukraine is doing such a stellar job (with Zena our most courageous and prolific commentator) and the Eastern Christmas is upon us, С РОЖДЕСТВОМ!!
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