Thursday, May 20, 2010

cracking the windows

(Two quick things: facebook friends, i'm sorry, i will try and hit your topics... just not in this post. secondly, my friend Jason has a blog, and his latest post i consider his best of many great posts so far. Please visit In Lieu of Eye Contact and enjoy.)

I drove to Lowe's today to see if they had dry erase paint. It's paint you put on your walls so you can draw directly on the wall with dry erase markers and are still able to erase it right back off. Awesome stuff, except that i failed in my first attempt to put it on my office wall. Long story.

But as i parked my car in the Lowe's parking lot i had a very quick dilemma on my hands: do i lock my car or keep it unlocked? As i exited my car i made this decision: i'm going to "crack the windows to give the appearance of security." I thought those literal words.

In that moment i had an insanely meta-cognitive moment: is this really me? is this who i am? Do i leave the windows cracked just to show people something i'm really not?

Do you leave the windows cracked in your life? Maybe with a trusted friend you tell the stories but leave out the details. "Well, i did something i'm not proud of... but i learned my lesson..." but you don't ever share the details, and what it was you learned. You provide a cracked window, but you don't let them in.

The thing with me is this, i probably crack the windows the best around my wife, closest friends and fellow employees. Why? So that i look secure. But isn't it better to be secure?

In the Kingdom, being open is being secure. "They were naked (bare), and felt no shame." Genesis 2:25. In what ways are you cracking the window, and with whom? Why? Are you afraid they can't help you? Are you afraid of the consequences?

What about with God? Cracking the window with Him comes in various forms. One of the easiest of the many forms to fall into is doing something good instead of doing His will. "I wrote my dad a card," doesn't substitute that exact thing on your heart that you know God's calling you to do in that moment. We create security in the cracked window of a good deed, when our true security comes in following His will. There is no greater security than being in God's unlocked car of His dreams for you.

Stop cracking the window, and you will experience a greater security than the false security you are trying to show off to the world.

Or to the customers at Lowe's for that matter.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Liberty


You know you've seen it recently. That person dancing in the statue-of-liberty costume that is clearly as cheaply made as possible while still resembling her universally renown meaning. That person works for Liberty Tax Service and can usually be seen doing the above...

One morning i watched as our local red-headed twenty-something male donned the costume and was dancing during the morning rush hour. A girl who was about the same age was walking two dogs on leashes right towards the dancing statue of liberty. Then i witnessed "the moment."

This moment is the one where the dude realizes he has to do something to redeem his unfortunate scenario if he's going to impress the girl. So he pauses his dancing, and as the girl is halfway across the street he haunches over to welcome the two puppies.

Well, the two dogs get so freaked out that the he-lady liberty just turned his/her attention to them that they darted out into the middle of the busy intersection. And they darted so quickly that the owner lost control of both of the leashes.

I know. I know. There just can't be a good ending to this. Right?

Well, the girl called the dogs' names and, before being pummeled by oncoming traffic, returned safely to the girl. She scooped them up, grabbed their leashes (firmly) and walked the dogs politely right on by our local friendly Liberty Tax employee.

You know, there are a lot of things dressing themselves up as "liberty" to us these days. And our Master calls our name in those moments, beckoning us back to Him. Will you let those fake promises of liberty run you right out into traffic (which often in our day truly is busy-ness)? Or will you stay on course with your Master? Take some time to recognize the things in your life that dress themselves up as freedom in your life and draw close to your Master instead. It will save you from much unneeded harm.

"It is for freedom Christ set you free." -Galatians 5:1

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