the drum|rob fairbanks

Wintery Wonderland

I have a well earned reputation for being a wee "grinchy" in the winter.  I certainly don't want to make anyone think that I am surrendering my right to grouse about the cold, but this morning was spectacular here in Spokane.  With the heavy snows (12 inches) and then the ensuing cold, clear skies, the trees almost looked cosmetically flocked and the colors were stunning.  Yes, I do have my moments of winter enjoyment and "niceness."  Yes, the Grinch had his stoney heart thawed a bit today.

Here are a couple of shots from my iPhone.

From my driveway looking west after an agressive snow removal job...

Out my front picture window.

“Christian famous” pastor quits his church, moves to Asia – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

By, Eric Marrapodi, CNN

via religion.blogs.cnn.com

I don't know Francis Chan, but to be quite frank, I respect him a ton.  At the height of Christian stardom, he walks away.  That's right - pulls the plug.  When we talk about leadership from a Biblical perspective, it must be self-aware (understand our place) and self-effacing (clear about importance).  I do not see a great deal of either of those things among the star elite.  As a matter of fact, I see the exact opposite.  Like I said, don't know what is driving him, but it seems like something quite counter-culturally and, may I say, good!

I wonder what would happen if all the "stars" took a break.  What effect do you think it would have on the church in the west?

Surprised by C.S. Lewis: Why his popularity endures – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

By John Blake, CNN

via religion.blogs.cnn.com

One of my heros. When the question is asked in groups "if you could meet anyone, who would it be?" my answer is most frequently Lewis.

Merry Christmas from the Christian Associates Family

 

Hope - Our New Names

Here is a moving prayer by Walter Brueggemann

Our right names

You God toward whom we pray and

about whom we sing, and

from whom we claim our very life.

In your presence, in our seasons of ache and yearning and honesty,

We know our right names.

In your presence we know ourselves to be aliens and strangers.

We gasp in recognition, taken by surprise at this disclosure,

because we had nearly settled in

and taken up residence in the wrong place.

For all of that, we turn out to be

we strangers, unfamiliar with your covenant,

remote from your people,

at odds too much with sisters and brothers,

we aliens, with no hope

without promise

with very little sense of belonging or knowing

or risking or trusting,

It is in your presence that we come face to face with out beset,

beleaguered existence in the world.

BUT

You are the one who by your odd power

calls us by new names that we can

receive only from you and

relish only in your company.

You call us now,

citizens… with all the rights and privileges and

responsibilities pertaining to life in your commonwealth.

You call us now saints, not because we are good or gentle

or perfect,

but because you have spotted us and marked us

and claimed us for yourself and your purposes.

You call us members… and we dare imagine that we belong

and may finally come home.

So with daring and freedom,

we move from our old names known too well

to the new names you speak over us,

and in the very utterance we are transformed.

In the moment of utterance and transformation, we look past

ourselves and past our sisters and brothers here present. And

we notice so many other siblings broken, estranged, consumed

in rage and shame and loneliness, much born of wretched

economics. We bid powerfully that you name afresh all your

creatures this day, even as you name us afresh. We pray for

nothing more and nothing less than your name for us all,

utterly new, restored heaven and earth.

And we will take our new names with us when we leave this place, 

treasuring them all day long,

citizen,

saint,

member,

even as we take with us the odd name of Jesus. Amen.

 

In response to this prayer, I wrote out what hope means for me:

Hope for me is living into that new name, that new creation that Christ has crafted!

Where…

• Shame is vanquished
• Inordinate desires and cravings are quelled
• Howling loneliness, is met with intimacy
• My obsession to produce and perform is transformed into Sabbath rest
• Active and passive prejudice is overwhelmed with reckless compassion for the other
• The swords of the world are beaten into plowshares and spears of my neighbors are converted into pruning hooks
• The grappling of motives, evening the cloaked respectable ones, are purified
• Killing fields are exchanged for the sweet peaceable land of Beulah
• A roaring lion will lie down with a lamb
• I will not be called disappointment, but embraced
• I will not be called wounded, but healed
• I will not be called inadequate, but ample
• I will not be called broken, but whole
• I will not be called unloved, but beloved
• Hopelessness, despair, and desolation are swallowed up in sheer, unfettered HOPE!!! 

 

An Employment Recalibration Underway

"We're producing almost as much as we did before the recession, with 7.5 million less people," said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute. "The difference is going into the productivity numbers and corporate profits."  From CNN

 

What does this tell us about the state the American work force had gotten to?  The reality was many who were working were not really working.  Hard to be competitive with that type of work diligence.  This might be one of the silver lining of this recession.

In my Home Town - Awesomeness in the Big Time