Due to lack of interest in what I think was a post of superior quality yesterday, I’m throwing a Pithy Party for myself. It’s my blog, and i’ll be terse if I want to. So with no further ado, I’d like to send a succinct shout-out to SongOfSloman’s reader up in Fargo, North Dakota. Appreciate ya’ll up there, donchya know? And I’ll leave you with what may be the greatest motivational speech I’ve ever heard. So have a great weekend, and THUMBS UP EVERYBODY… FOR ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!!!
Today, on Theological Thursday, I’d like to ask a simple question. Would you catch a grenade for Jesus? Because He would catch one for you. What are you willing to sacrifice for Christ? What if following Christ makes you less cool? What if standing up for Christ costs you your job? Would you follow Him to the ends of the Earth? Would you die for Him? He died for you. And with a few minor tweaks, I think this is the exact point Bruno may have been trying to make. Our faith is too weak. Please play the following song while reading and meditating on the modified lyrics, and ask yourself, “Am I truly committed to Christ?”*
01_Grenade.m4a
Easy come, easy go
That’s just how you live, oh
Take, take, take it all,
But you never give
Should of known you was trouble from the first sin,
Why were We** hopin’?
Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked,
Cause what you don’t understand is
I’d catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I’d hang and die on a cross for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You know I’d do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh, oh
I would go through all this pain,
Spill my blood to wash away your stains,
Yes, I would die for ya baby;
But you won’t do the same
Adapted from Grenade. Original lyrics by Bruno Mars
*OK. This may be a bit much. If you are frustrated or angry after reading this post, please re-read the initial paragraph dripping with as much sarcasm as literarily possible. Now enjoy your second time through the song.
**”We” obviously refers to the Trinity.
In my previous post yesterday / this morning, I was asking, “How big should we dream?” Should we be more realistic when setting goals, or should we aim past the stars? Where is the balance between complacent apathy from lack of ambition and crushing disappointment when we fail to attain what was never possible?
I propose that you dream big, perhaps a little bigger than you think feasible. Then you work hard, pray hard and play hard. In the end, but also along the way, give thanks for what you have and strive for contentment in all circumstances.
I don’t have that Dodge Viper or BMW X5 yet, but maybe someday (then again maybe I’ve matured enough to give those things less value)… In the mean time, I am content and even ecstatic that the 1993 Mazda 626 that I began driving 12 years ago, is still running like a champ (most days) with over 190,000 miles. We are not yet home owners, but we love our apartment with a view of the golf course and pond. And although babies may be just past the horizon for us, we are enjoying this time alone that may be non-existent for 20 or 30 years (dang, that’s a long time).
So what’s your not so far-fetched fantasy?
I thought I clicked the “post” button yesterday, but evidently I did not. So pretend that it’s Monday while you read this, otherwise you’re in for a Two-for-Tuesday.
While shopping for a couple of high school graduation cards this past weekend, I began to feel old. Then I began to feel nostalgic. So look forward to more reminiscing over the next couple weeks.
The class of 2001 had a front row seat to a lot of great hits. Beyonce, Train and J-Lo were topping the charts. Harry Potter and The Fast and the Furious were big box office thrillers. I guess not much has really changed. I remember our senior class taking a survey and having some of our responses printed in the yearbook. One of the questions that has somehow remained lodged in my mind was: “Where will you be in 10 years?” My reply was this: “I’ll probably have a house in the suburbs of a city with a wife and kid 1 or 2 on the way. Working for an engineering firm and driving a Dodge Viper and a BMW X5.”
Well, I am in a suburb of Dallas, I am married to an incredibly beautiful and patient woman, and I am working as an engineer, BUT no house, no kids (present or on the way) and certainly no Viper or X5. I can’t be entirely sure what my 17 year-old brain was thinking, but I’m pretty sure those were legitimate hopes and dreams at the time. Regardless of whether those thoughts were sincere, I have to assume that I was at least slightly delusional. Any adult that read those words likely shook their head with pity for my ignorance. I know I do now.
But how big is too big to dream? For as long as I can remember I’ve always been a pessimist masquerading as a realist, and even I powerfully overshot reality when targeting my future ambitions. Should I reign in my desires or work harder to accomplish outlandish objectives?
Find out tomorrow (errr… today) in part 2.
I need to appologize to everyone out there in SOS Nation. I am sure you were all waiting anxiously for my airplane post yesterday, but it never came. I let you down, and I’m sorry, but I want to assure you that it will happen again. And that is a promise I’m willing to stand behind. And that is a promise that I will deliver on.
All kidding aside, I did have inspiration and intention of posting yesterday, but I was just too tired, or more accurately, too lazy to do so. While I was in South Texas this week doing an energy audit for a school district, I came across an oddity that I had to take a picture of. The photo above is truly rediculous, but somehow later in the day, God used it to teach me a lesson. This piece of equipment on the side of a school building is apparently worth protecting, but not worth protecting well. I’m not sure what this picture says to you, but to me it says that I put way to much trust in the time and effort and planning of my finances that have a great appearance of safety, when in reality money has no way of shielding me from life’s greatest tragedies. My savings account can’t keep my wife safe. My stocks can’t prevent me from being diagnosed with terminal cancer tomorrow. And my 401(k) can not offer deep-seated hope and peace in this life or eternal salvation for the next.
What “protections” do you put too much hope in?
In an effort to maintain my commitment to posting a minimum of every business day, I find myself typing with my thumbs on my iPhone in a La Quinta in Harlingen, Texas. We flew down yesterday, and while it pained me to be away from Dallas when the Mavericks were playing game one of the NBA Finals against the Hated Heat, (Dang that was a long preposition.) I was pleased at the number of Dirk jerseys & Mavs fans representing at the local Buffalo Wild Wings here in the Rio Grande Valley. The resulting outcome was not favorable. Of course I’m talking about the game, not the delicious flavor of the new Chipotle BBQ dry rub that I took the opportunity to wisely partake of. Lucky for the Mavs, I will be back in Dallas tomorrow night which is obviously where I was for every other game that they have won this postseason. I’m pretty sure my position on the planet is the x-factor that sways the teams performance. If not the entire team, at least the bench and certainly my close personal homeboy Jose Juan Barea. The lil rican needs me!
Anyway… Look forward to my first airport or maybe even in-flight post tomorrow!
Where would you like to see me post from?
Song Of Sloman 