John Shore

On any given day I can expect somebody to come knocking on my door to tell my why I am not "saved" and why the information they want to give me offers me the only path into heaven. Fortunately, my dog tends to spend her time growling at them, providing me with a quick exit.

Sometimes I wonder how many doors they knock on before finding somebody willing to listen. I wonder if they actually have any success bringing people to believe the way that they do.

John Shore has recently released a book called I'm O.K., You're Not:The Message We're Sending Unbelievers And Why We Should Stop . He has some good suggestions for those who find that trying to convert others doesn't work all that well.

I don't want to give away too much because it's worth your time to read the book. I'll give you one rather big clue to his approach, though. John advocates the use of respect. Yes, he actually thinks it's a good idea to represent Jesus by treating people the same way He did.

What a novel idea. Yet if it's so obvious, why don't people just do it?

Though John's book focusses on the way Christians sometimes treat non-Christians, the same applies in almost every area of life. Think about all the arguments people get into about politics and other hot-button issues. Rather than treating people with respect, we see those who think in ways that we disagree with as someone to try to change.

In other words, I'm right, you're wrong.

Read John's book, even if you're not an evangelist. He makes a lot of good points about living in general. If you read beyond the obvious, his words will give you a lot to think about.

John Shore makes liberal use of humor. You'll laugh out loud frequently, while at the same time recognizing yourself (maybe even painfully) in some of what he says.

Read the book. If you take it to heart, you'll find your own little corner of the earth becomes a better place.

Christmas After Loss

I am finding so many worthwhile things to blog about, but haven't done it. The holidays have been fairly difficult this year. Trying to put up the tree and other Christmas decorations has brought back so many childhood memories, as well as a sense of the limited time we really have on earth.

If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that the sadness this year is because of the loss of my Mom.

I love listening to Christmas music, but it brings tears to my eyes every time now because December was full of Christmas music growing up. I listen anyway. The memories are worth the tears.

My daughter wanted the Relient K Christmas CD. It turns out it's quite difficult to get, so I ended up purchasing a digital download. It's all pretty good and really shows their sense of humor (starting with the title, Deck the Halls and Bruise Your Hand.) As much as I like it overall, one song in particular stands out. It's called I Celebrate the Day. It asks the age-old question about whether or not Jesus knew He was the Saviour from birth. It also addresses the issue of seeing another year go by and finding your relationship with God in the same place it was the year before. Here's the first verse:

And with this Christmas wish is missed the point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency we're less than half as close as I want to be

I can relate all too well to that. That song is one of the reasons I keep listening to Christmas music despite the tears.

Something unusual happened while I was putting up the tree. You remember how, as a child, you really felt the magic of Christmas? Remember how Christmas had a distinct feel to it? Then you reach a certain age and you find that the magic isn't the same. Christmas is still good, but feels a lot like any other day.

For several minutes while putting up the tree that old feeling of Christmas came back. It's been decades since I've felt it. I'm still amazed that through my tears, I could still feel the magic. All I could do is hope that it was Mom stopping by with her own Christmas gift.

The only thing I can say is that it was priceless.

I wish Christmas magic for all of you this season.

Passion and Service

I am Catholic. I love the Mass, but in the past I have sometimes found that my mind wanders a great deal when I'm at church. There is a lot of repetition, and it can be hard to keep attending to the same words week after week.

I've often wondered how priests manage daily Mass and several on the weekends. They not only say the same prayers over and over, but if they give mulitple Masses they get to constantly repeat their sermons.

On Friday, December 8, we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This past year or so we have frequently attended a church where the music is inspiring and the priest clearly loves what he does. When I looked at the priest on Friday, it occurred to me that this man loves praying the Mass. I think he looks forward to Holy days because it gives him an excuse to offer more Masses.

This priest glows with his love for God and his passion for what he does. Needless to say, he has inspired a lot of people, myself included. I look forward to Mass at his church.

Switchfoot strikes me as being a lot like Father Mark. They love what they do so much that they will sometimes find a local coffee shop where they can play after completing a concert. These are people who are clearly doing what they choose to do with their lives. In the process, they have inspired many.

It makes me wonder: do people who follow their passions tend to be those who make more of a difference to others? Switchfoot has touched a lot of lives. Father Mark has also touched many.

Father Mark and the members of Switchfoot serve others while living passionate lives. I wonder what the world would be like if we all did the same.

Elton John Wants To Ban Religion

Elton John says that if he had it his way, organized religion would be banned. He thinks they promote hatred against gays. Sir John states that religion "turns people into really hateful lemmings."

These are strong words. I’ve always enjoyed Elton John’s music, and I was saddened by his attitude.

I can’t speak for all religions, but I know that many of them don’t think the gay lifestyle is morally acceptable. That is completely different from promoting hatred towards gays. Though you will find homophobic individuals within any religion, it doesn’t mean that the religion promotes it.

As much as I dislike what Sir John said, it should give members of organized religion something to think about.

Elton John may be wrong about what churches promote, but he is right about some individuals within a church. Some Christians and members of other organized religions can be pretty self-righteous and can come across as though they are full of hate.

I’m proud to say that I’m a Christian, but I have been attacked by Christians of other denominations. When struggling with chronic illness, I’ve been told that I pray wrong, or I don’t have enough faith. Some Christians think that they need to “save” me because they believe that the teachings of my church are wrong.

Then again, it’s not only Christians who can act this way. My daughter has had people say some pretty nasty things to her by atheists. It seems that if she states any kind of opinion in agreement with her Church, they stop listening and start yelling.

Christians should be better than this. Jesus accepted everybody. You can think somebody is sinning and still love the sinner. Remember that you’re a sinner, too.

Sir John, I disagree with you completely. You need to separate the members of a church from what the church actually teaches and promotes. Organized religion has done an awful lot of good in the world. Just because they don’t condone the gay lifestyle doesn’t mean they should be banned. If somebody espouses hate while claiming to be “religious”, that doesn’t mean the church teaches hate.

If a number of musicians preached hatred, you wouldn’t want to ban music.

To members of organized religion, keep in mind that Elton John speaks for many. It’s not just hatred of the gay lifestyle that is a problem, it’s the superiority and self-righteousness of some that harms us all.

You might not like with Sir John says, but maybe it’s time to learn from him.

Giving

We often hear about people inspiring others. Some inspire us by the way they approach the struggles in their lives. Often we find art, music, or good writing inspirational. Bravery and selflessness, such as that demonstrated when people risk their own lives to save others, has the same effect.

But what does it mean to be inspired?

This question is on my mind a lot because, as anybody who has read my previous entries knows, I was just at the best concert of my life. It was....yup, here's the word...inspirational. I've been to some good concerts in my lifetime, but this was way above anything I've ever seen.

In fact, I'm not the only one saying that. Check out this blog from another fan who came to the same conclusion.

The evening was so memorable that I want to find a way to say "thanks" to Switchfoot. After reading more about them, I realized that they have a passion for making the world a better place. What better way to give back than to try to do the same thing?

I started a new thread at the message boards at Switchfoot.com. The thread asked for ideas on how to give back to a band that has given us so much pleasure.

There weren't very many responses. I then suggested we find a way to make small differences. I wasn't talking about major efforts; I was just suggesting we do things like noticing who needs a kind word that day or other similar efforts. We could post what we do as a gift to Switchfoot. It would directly show Switchfoot the ways they impact others.

It surprised me how quickly that thread died.

What about you? What do you do when something moves you? Do you let it make a difference, or just enjoy the feeling of inspiration while it lasts?

Think about this: if enough people made a conscious effort to do something each week to make the world better, even something that seems small, the impact would be huge.

The next time you feel inspired by somebody, find a way to give back. You never know how you might change a life.


We were meant to live for so much more!