Reflecting

This week I had quite the silly day and it showed up on Facebook.  A friend of mine from high school celebrated in his comment, "Kessler's back!"  The next day I posted that I was feeling more "dignified" to which my friend expressed a "boooooo" and his desire for "yesterday's Kessler."  A thought I'm sure my wife and he would have to sit on opposite sides of the aisle on.

I know he was referring to the lighter post of the day before, but I was stuck on the words "yesterday's Kessler."  (Which by the way does need to happen more often.  I am a very firm believer in we could all stand to lighten up a little.)

Let's be honest, other than a simpler lifestyle, less flesh on TV, lower prices, and a 90 kazillillon dollar nation debt, yesterday has little to offer me.  So, although "yesterday's Kessler" wore pants that had a smaller waistline I was thinking through some reasons why I'm glad he's not around.

1.  He didn't know how to be himself.  He was really focused on watching other people and trying be them.  He had a hard time just being who God made him to be.

2. He didn't know he was human.  There's nothing like a physical limitation to remind you of how human you really are and how precious and fragile life really is.

3. He didn't take the faith journey seriously enough.  No excuses.  You know in your heart of heart when you're taking it serious and when you're not.  For too long I don't think I did.

4. He didn't know how to be a husband.  That takes time.  I'm still learning.  But, the "old Kessler" didn't know what he didn't know.

5.  He didn't know how to reflect.  Maybe that's a phase I'm going through now.  I like thinking on God, friends, prayer, the Word.  I think reflecting is cleansing.  "Old Kessler" thought only mirrors reflected, and they were for girls.

6.  He didn't know how to walk on the water.  Now that I'm flawless I realize how easy it is to be me.  That's why I wouldn't want to be the "old me," it was too much work to pretend to be flawless.  Oh, but not pretending anymore, that's liberating.

7.  Of course I know #6 isn't true.  And the "old Kessler" knew that too.  The difference is the "old Kessler" hated and hid the truth of it and the "new Kessler" is learning not to.  I'm a follower of Christ.  I'm not flawless - He is.  I'm not a Savior - He is.  I'm not the leader - He is.  I'm not called to save the world - He is.  I'm not the miracle worker - He is.  I am a follower.  The "old Kessler" didn't understand that.

I do.

Dave

language...

I read about orthomyxoviridae. Those pesky little viruses that have been visiting so many of our homes. Flu. “Hemagglutinin and neuraminidase molecules cluster into a bulge in the cell membrane.” I know that because I read it on Wikipedia.

No wonder some of us didn’t feel good our hemagglutinins were clustered with our neuraminithingys! Nothing good can come of that.

Reading the about the common flu is like reading the list of possible side effects of a prescription. Intimidating. Read the possible side effects for a prescription for an antibiotic and you may need an antidepressant too. Frustrating. Read the possible side effects of an antidepressant and you need a vacation. Overwhelming.

I don’t understand the language.

Super Bowl! Just the word will cause some to salivate and others to yawn. And let’s be honest, drop the male female stereotype here - both do both. Forget the intricacies of the game, the strategies of timeout management, the passing game and running game, penalties, shots on goal, birdies, double dribble, and what partner’s best even mean.

If the voice wasn’t on the commercial most wouldn’t even know what in the world a Super Bowl XLVI was! How do you even pronounce Xlvi?

There’s a language issue.

When people don’t understand the language they tend to devalue what isn’t understood. “It’s only____________. It’s not that big of a deal. I really don’t care.”

Think this through - the last thing that you “devalued,” was it something that someone else valued and you didn’t understand why? The last time someone devalued something you valued was it possible that they didn’t understand the code?

Now think about being someone who is walking into your church as a guest. We just talked to them about our “hemagglutinin and neuraminidase” or our “half back option.”

I think we should keep the good news real. I think we should keep the good news reachable. I think we should not get too big for our own religious britches. I think we should be sure we are there for those who might not know our language.

Dave.