Pickled People Make Poor Parishes

 

One blog that I follow is the Naked Pastor.  Dave Hayward has some great thoughts and challenges for the church through his cartoons. So many times, I’ll see his latest and laugh at how well he captures life in the church.  This was his latest that he posted today and I love it (and hate it!).   I love it because it is so right on!  I hate it because it is so right on.

Why does it seem that the most pickled, sour-faced individuals are found in the church?  The Church – the bride of Christ, the beloved, the one who supposedly knows the Story.  Seems like we may have missed some of the major points of Jesus.   We look and act grouchy, depressed, judgmental, negative and like our communion cups are half-empty.

And then we wonder why people don’t want to come and be a part of our happy family…..

2011: New Beginnings

“New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.” — Hamilton Wright Mabie

My mom posted this quote on her Facebook yesterday and although it didn’t resonate with me at first, I kept thinking about it.  You see, I’m not one to make New Year’s Resolutions.  I don’t get really sentimental about the ending of a old year and the beginning of a new one.  I don’t have ambitious thoughts about how this upcoming year could be so much better than the last.

My personality typically has me living in the moment – not too much reflection or wishing for old days or regrets about past mistakes.  Nor too much pining for a future dream or possibility.  If I do tend to one, it would be dreaming.   But I never really resolve to make those dreams happen. Perhaps I should do more of that but often I find living in the moment about all I can handle.

Which maybe is the reason I don’t achieve a lot of dreams.  Dreams like writing a book, starting a non-profit, getting back in shape, etc. You know what they say about “those without a vision …”.

There are moments where I realize how fast life is going and how if the last ten years went this quickly, the next ten will surely go quicker.  It is in those moments that I also realize that if I don’t resolve to make some goals and take steps to meet them, I may find myself at the same place ten years from now.  Not necessarily a bad life but definitely not the best.

So, I’m doing some reflecting on my dreams.  Some thoughtful pondering about what I truly want out of life.  And along with that, some clear goals that will enable me to realize those dreams.

One of these dreams is writing more.  I use to blog every day.  I use to engage my world in such a way that I had things to say, thoughts to share, questions to ask.  But not in recent years.  And I miss it.

So, goal one: to blog at least four times a week.  Will you hold me to it?

What are some of your goals for 2011?  What can I do to help hold you to your goals?