Quote of the Week

"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their

names are anger and courage: anger at the

way things are, and courage to see that they

do not remain the way they are.”

--St. Augustine

I swear he just does this on his own...

Kayla has gone to the rec center with me a hundred times and watched me shoot around. She was attending men's league games as a baby and was given a basketball hoop by her grandparents, and she has probably tried to shoot a basket five times in her life. She is bewildered by the idea of playing catch or even rolling a ball back and forth. So Chase came along and I never tried to get him to play catch with me or have any interest in balls or hoops, but it's all he wants to do all day. Andrea thinks maybe we should get him on Letterman for a shooting exhibition by the not yet two year old.

CCDA Conference anyone?

Andrea and I are heading out to the CCDA Conference in Miami in October. Anyone who reads this going to be there?

"The mission of CCDA is to inspire and train Christians who seek to bear witness to the Kingdom of God by reclaiming and restoring under-resourced communities."

Quote of the Day

Selfishness ... feeds an insatiable hunger that first eats up everything belonging to others and then causes a creature to devour itself.

- Dom Helder Camara
Brazilian archbishop

From the Voice of the Day over at God's Politics

An Extremist

Excerpt from "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr.

...But as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist in love - "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice - "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ - "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist - "Here I stand; I can do none other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist - "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist - "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice - or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime - the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. So, after all, maybe the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I think I could just blog quotes from MLK for the next few years, and even if no one read them I would have a wonderful time typing them up and thinking about them myself.

I think this idea makes a lot of sense

I read an interesting quote the other day that made a lot of sense to me...

The key to making progress is to do the right thing as often as possible. The best way to do that is to make doing the right thing as EASY as possible--so easy, in fact, that it's more effort to do the wrong thing. Weight loss success stories are loaded with simple techniques like "I started packing my lunch," and "I put the snack food on a high shelf," and "I joined a gym that was closer to my house," simple habits that make the right thing easier and the wrong thing harder.

I read this on a website about exercise and fitness, in an article advocating for the consumption of protein shakes because of their convenience. He says, "You could--and maybe should-- eat nothing but whole, natural food day in and day out. But convenience will almost always trump good intentions. Strapped for time, it's easier to resist an empty-calorie bagel by mixing up a quick shake than it is to whip up a steak on the grill. Try to do it all with whole foods and you're bound to screw it up from time to time, leaving your body with less fuel than it needs for optimal recovery."

While some people reading this may care less about how much protein they consume each day, I'm thinking that this simple idea may have implications in many dimensions of our lives. Small simple choices make up the fabric of our lives, and I wonder if simply making the better choices a little easier could change our lives for the better...any thoughts?

Kayla's first day at her new school

Kayla just had her first day at her new preschool in Oakland, Little Sprouts Preschool. It is connected to New Hope Covenant Church in the San Antonio Neighborhood. They are good people.

As I expected, my girl had no problem jumping in and making new friends. On her first day we waited anxiously, prepared to stay longer and provide emotional support, and she was ready for her Mommy and Daddy to leave after about 30 seconds. That's my girl.

The Fam

Shalom Poem

SHALOM

Shalom to you
Shalom for us
For you and me and we and everyone

Together we yearn
Together we groan
Together we cry

Together we search
Together we sweat
Together we pray

For SHALOM
For an end to bloodshed
For things to be made right again
A revolution of love
For salvation –reconciliation – redemption - transformation

So in anticipation we walk
On the journey
To love, peace, friendship, safety, salvation, goodness and wholeness

To be healed in our hearts, minds, souls and bodies
To be made new in our families, schools and neighborhoods

We believe in a Kingdom best explained by beautiful stories
And we believe in this Rabbi/Storyteller/Messiah/Savior/God
Who is the Prince of Peace
The Prince of Shalom

So would you follow Him?
Take a walk with Him?
Jump into the rabbit hole of something more

Leaving behind the worry and fear
Taking steps towards justice, mercy and love

Would you open your eyes to the bad and the good
Following the gentle nudge of the Spirit that you cannot ignore for one more second

And dream with me
And hope with me
And love with me

Love with your heart and your hands and your feet and your life

So do that thing you’ve only dreamed about…

Tell her you’re sorry before it’s too late
Tell him you love him and you’ll try
Sell it and give the money away
Ask for help with your addiction
Spend more time with your family
See that counselor
Invite your neighbors over for dinner
Move into that neighborhood
Open your doors to the outsider
Welcome the lonely
Forgive the insult
Turn the other cheek
Walk the extra mile
Visit the hospital and the prison
Find your enemy and give him a hug

Trust

Trust that the words of your Savior are worth following
Trust that He knew what He was talking about
Trust that your Father is still at work in the world
Trust that the Kingdom of God is at hand
Trust that the walls really can be rebuilt
Trust that we can be His hands and feet
Trust that in losing your life you will find it
Trust that you’ll receive a hundred times more
Trust that being last is being first

We can be the conduits of peace
The messengers of love
The proclaimers of grace
The advocates for Shalom
Because HE – IS – WITH - US

Jesus for President - this Friday