A Long Obedience In The Same Direction

Clicking through the channels the other night I stumbled upon one of my recent favorite movies, "Cinderella Man". My favorite point in the movie is when the hero's wife, Mae, comes to him just before he takes the ring against his most feared opponent. Knowing the chance of death was real for her husband, Mae had been vocal about her disapproval of James entering the ring. But after seeing the number of working-class people pulling for him and praying for him, she has a change of heart. She finds him as he is getting taped up for the fight and says... Maybe I understand, some, about having to fight. So you just remember who you are... you're the Bulldog of Bergen, and the Pride of New Jersey, you're everybody's hope, and the kids' hero, and you are the champion of my heart, James J. Braddock. With that type of support, James goes out and wins the fight. It reminds me how much support my wife gives to me, and reminds me to be grateful for the quiet, behi

Last night we went with others from our small group to an exhibit at WWU put on by World Vision. It was called the Experience AIDS project. Basically it is an interpretive center that you put on headphones and are led through the story of 1 of 4 children affected by the AIDS epidemic in Africa. It took about 20 minutes to go through. Towards the end of it you actually go into a “clinic” and wait for the results of your AIDS test. I got a red X on my hand since the child I “was” was HIV positive. It was a pretty stark reminder of the death sentence such an experience is for so many in Africa. Once again I feel incredibly blessed and moved to try to DO something more for the millions of children orphaned in Africa. World Vision has “pastor’s tours” to AIDS affected areas which I am thinking I might go on sometime in the next year. Of course I’d have to actually become a pastor again! Next week, Monday-Wednesday everyone in our church is being challenged to live off a subsistence diet fo