Letting the Cable Sleep

We were getting free cable.  And it was 100% legal (and totally sweet).  RCN didn't split their internet and cable signal, so we paid $17 a month for internet and plugged in our TV and got the cable fo' free.  It was a sweet gig.  While it lasted...

But with everything switching to digital, I flipped on the tube a week and a half ago and was greeted by static.  Bye-bye 74 "basic" channels.  El and I aren't big TV watchers, but you really miss something once it is gone.  We both are bummed to not even be able to see any of the Olympics.  But I feel a strange sense of clarity (and frankly, superiority) with a lack of (any) channels.  Maybe I'll read more.  Ellie and I could have more deep, thoughtful conversations.  Maybe this is just the beginning of an awakening of our creative minds, leading us toward a life of new and rich experiences, free of the mind-numbing broadcast tentacles that slowly suck the life from all of us in our comfortable living rooms.

Or maybe I can only live "TV free" until L O S T starts in February... 

Welcome Home, Billy

I just saw something incredible:

Bill Buckner getting a standing ovation at Fenway.

If you're not a Red Sox fan and have no clue who Buckner is, he's the guy that blew the '86 series for us.  A routine ground ball went right through his legs, costing us the series.  He was hated in Beantown.  That was the closest we'd come to a championship in a loooong time and it was pretty simple to dump those years of frustration and agony solely on the shoulders of that one man and is fielding error.

And yet today, at our home opener, celebrating last year's big win, here comes Billy to the mound to throw the first pitch.  And he is cheered.  And cheered.  And cheered.

There's something so beautiful about that moment.  I cannot imagine the pain and ridicule that this guy faced for years.  The jokes, the putdowns.  Sure, he blew a pretty simple play that cost us the game, but we as fans (and a city) were not about to let him off the hook for it - ever.  I can't imagine an entire city putting me on their "most hated" list (for decades).

Yet it seems we have finally let it go(although interestingly it took TWO championships, not one).  

Bill Buckner is vindicated.

It really is beautiful.  

I couldn't help but think, in all that emotion of that touching scene of how much like Billy I am.  I've had some pretty big screw-ups in life.  And if God were the Boston Red Sox (superfans, notice I said IF), I've let Him down a lot worse; He knows and I know it.  Yet Jesus is standing there in the crowd, ready to take me back.  Ready to reinstate me.  Ready to say "Welcome home, John".

I'm just glad Jesus didn't make me wait 20 years to forgive me.

Exit Strateegery

We had this really interesting conversation at Sr High youth group the other night...it is something that I've been wrestling with, turning over in my mind: are we as Christians being rescued from a "hell on earth" by accepting Jesus, or are we (by accepting Jesus) suddenly charged with doing our part to clean things up down here?

I would argue the position of the American Church as a whole since my upbringing in the 80's seemed to support the first thought: the world is a mess, we accept Jesus, we know that he will one day return to set everything right, so we're kind of sticking things out until the fireworks start.

But I am seeing a growing trend in the "post-modern" church that is advocating for us as Christians to be more involved in social issues, whether it be feeding the poor or recycling. This of course sounds like a great idea, but I think this idea can be taken to an extreme. Is our call truly to rescue trees by riding a bike to work, or should we be more concerned with The Big Two Jesus gave us - "love God and love others"? And what does "loving others" look like? Is it being nice to everyone? Or is it purposely sharing our faith in Jesus with them? If we're too pushy with our "agenda", that doesn't seem very loving, does it? But if we truly love others, don't we want them to get what we have (not mono, but, you know, salvation from sin/eternal life)?

Maybe following Jesus means all of those things. Maybe it means a bar graph with some areas being a lot taller than others.

What do you think (assuming that someone actually reads this)?
Where's GOD'S TRUTH in all of this? What does the Bible say?

Food for thought.
Let's keep the discussion going.