Walking With Jesus- Enjoy Brilliance and Beauty

I have a buddy whom I call or text every time I discover a song, movie, book, piece of artwork, or piece of comedy that stands out from the crowd.  To stand out from the crowd it has to be brilliant or beautiful.  

We gravitate toward the trite and trivial rather than the somber and grave often because we are trying desperately to hide our true selves.

I do not like trite music, trite movies, trite worship songs, trite books. I sometimes may partake in them, but it never takes me to a higher place. It never fills my soul. They are shallow and are meant to be taken as such and moved on from.

Wow this sounds high horse and preachy, oh well.

I like brilliant and beautiful music, and it seems hard to find on the top forty charts both secular and Christian. So you have to look.

I like brilliant movies and beautiful acting. The Lego movie may have some funny parts and it leads to the happy moral ending, but it is not the best movie of all time. I heard someone call it the best movie of all time. That made me sad. I will take Casablanca anyday of the week.

And don't get me started on the shallow music coming out of Nashville.

The most discouraging part of it is we do the same thing with God. We have turned God into a bumper sticker, T-shirt, political ad, or top 40 music song.

Wow, high horse and preachy again.


I don't want to end this blog that way. I want to encourage everyone to look for more than surface entertainment. I encourage us, myself mostly, to look for the brilliant and beautiful. It is easy for me to go to the trite and trivial. It is like junk food. I want to look for the brilliant and beautiful. It is there. It can be found. It grows our souls


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Song Of The Day-Awake My Soul

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
My weakness I feel I must finally show

Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep totally free

Awake my soul, awake my soul

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
My weakness I feel I must finally show

In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
And where you invest your love, you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker

Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker



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What Is God Like?

“Being disguised under the disfigurement of an ugly crucifixion and death, Christ upon the cross is paradoxically the clearest revelation of who God is.” –Hans Urs von Balthasar, Love Alone is Credible

painting: The Crucifixion by Giotto




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Walking With Jesus-Enjoy What You Are Doing, Do What You Enjoy

We all have responsibilities, things that we have to do. But do we enjoy them.  From getting dressed, to eating meals, to caring for our families, etc, etc.  Do we just do them to get through them, or do we enjoy them along the way.

I was getting dressed this morning and belting out "O What A Beautiful Morning," from Oklahoma, this morning.  (My wife has had a bad influence on my musical taste).  (Also, I like the version with Wolverine singing that song.)  It felt good to sing.  Not sure if my wife and daughter and dog enjoyed it, but I did.

While I was scrambling my eggs, I was practicing my comedy routine.  I was doing some kind of weird chef voice.  I was enjoying it.

Now there are other parts of our lives we get to choose, or at least for the most part.  From careers(for the most part), to hobbies, to leisure time.  I enjoy preaching.  It is one of my favorite things.  I enjoy drawing.  I am getting better at it.  I enjoy movies, reading, walking my dog, weight lifting, eating out a restaurants, serving people, etc, etc.

Why just spend our time mindlessly, when we choose things we enjoy.

How do you enjoy doing your responsibilities?  What things do you choose to enjoy?



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Walking With Jesus-Enjoy The Process

I usually want the finished result.  I hardly ever let myself enjoy what is going on while it is going on.

If I take a trip I am wanting to arrive at the destination, NOW
If I am watching a movie, I do not mind spoiler alerts, because I am wanting to know how it ends before I get there.
If I am watching a sporting event, I wish I had dvred it and not watched it live, so I can skip to the end and see who won.

Maybe if I would slow down and remind myself that the whole event should be enjoyed, that would take the edge off.  Maybe that would add to my enjoyment, because I am enjoying everything not just the end result.

Maybe I will put down the remote and just watch the movie.
Maybe I will enjoy training my dog even if it doesn't go perfect, and not just wish for a perfectly trained dog.
Maybe I will just relax, enjoy the process of becoming a better man, a better Christian, a better husband, a better father, a better friend, a better person, one day at a time, one event at a time.

What about you?  Do you enjoy the process?  What things do you skip ahead on, wanting the finished results?



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