Pandemic or Epidemic?

Well, my son Matt was diagnosed with the swine flu on Friday afternoon. I had to go to Asbury College to pick him up and take him to the doctor. The media have been hyping this for quite sometime...ever since Mexico had a massive outbreak and death toll last year. The first diagnosis for Jessamine county was August 18. Matt was diagnosed two days later. Seems like this small college/seminary town has its fair share of virus swapping.

So far he seems to be doing good. His worst day was the day he went to the doctor. The fever was up, accompanied by chills, massive headache, slight cough and need for sleep. They told us to quarantine him. I think the biggest reason is that they won't have the vaccine ready until October.

He has slept a lot the past two days. This morning the fever is down. His appetite is good. I think he is out of the woods. Maybe it won't be the epidemic they were predicting. One can only hope and pray.

To Know and Be Known

I had the privilege of sitting in on a social networking forum a few days ago. I must say that I found it quite fascinating. The human soul longs to commune. We were made that way. I believe God gave us this gift because He wanted us to taste the wonderful blessedness of communion in which the Trinity exists. I also believe God gave us this longing so that we would ever seek communion with Him...our true Home. He also gave us this gift to allow us to experience the joy in communion with others. This is so evident in the astounding and varied ways we have discovered to communicate with each other over time. We long to know and be known.

I spent some time looking up advances in technology. We have pushed ourselves forward to discover new ways of expression. I was truly amazed and astonished at mans communication progress through time. I thought I'd post them here.

Here is a condensed history of communication:

• Before 3500 BC-painting by indigenous tribes
• 3500's BC-Cuniform and hieroglyphic writing (one symbol at a time)
• 1500's BC-Alphabet writing (one letter at a time)
• 1450 AD-Gutenburg printing press (mass communication possible)
• 1835-Morse code developed
• 1843-First long-distance electric telegraph (long distance code communication possible)
• 1876-Discovery of telephone (long distance voice communication possible)
• 1901-long distance radio signal (voice communication to the masses)
• 1925-First television signal (voice and image transmittal to the masses)
• 1947-Cellular phone discovered
• 1958-Photocopier for office use (mass business communication)
• 1963-First communications satellite (world-wide mass communication)
• 1976-Apple home computer invented
• 1985-Cellular telephones in cars become wide-spread (mobile communications)
• 1994-USA government releases control internet and www is born (communication at light speed)
• From these latest technological discoveries, texting, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc... have become of age.

The discovery of new ways of communicating has accelerated exponentially in this day of information technology. On a personal note, I remember when my daughter was on her eighth grade field trip in 2002. Only two children on her bus returning home had cell phones. Those two children were practically pummeled to a pulp because the children without phones were begging to use those two phones to place calls to parents awaiting pick up times. By the time she graduated in 2006, the majority in her class had cell phones but didn't have a clue about texting. Her sister just graduated this year 2009. Her graduating class barely speak audibly with their phones preferring texting and twittering.

It will be interesting to see what advances we will make in communication in the next 25-50 years. Humans will continue to push forward to discover new ways to communicate. After all, it is a drive God has placed within each of us. Spirit will yearn to connect with spirit. Deep will call to deep. We will long to know and be known.

STEELERS FOOTBALL

OK...so I AM a Pittsburgh Steeler certified crazy fan!!! I can't tell you how excited I was that tonight was the beginning of PRE-season football. Yes...pre-season. I guess you have to be from the Pittsburgh area to know just how much that means. Somehow, life is better when the "men of steel" are on the field...when they are suited up...when ESPN is broadcasting the game weekly. I think this feeling is tied to the history of western PA. The northeast has been through its share of ups and downs. As a kid, I remember oh so well, the "RUST belt" times...the layoffs of the 70's...the steel mills shutting down...the coal mines laying off mass numbers...the little town fronts "closing shop" and becoming ghost towns...a mass exodus to the southern states where unions didn't rule, etc.. What was the ONE thing that gave us HOPE during those days? What was the ONE thing that the broken down town and fractured individual spirits could RALLY around? YES-the PITTSBURGH STEELERS! Sunday afternoons (and occasionally the rare Monday night) was the highlight of the week for so many of us. It is a tie that binds even decades later.

I find I am one of those who have "moved south" to find better work opportunities. Yes, thirty plus years later, I still get together with other Pittsburgh area transplants for game time. There are a group of four to six of us who rally around a television set to cheer our team on. Thanks Steelers for giving us the glue that held us together through the tough economic times of the 70's! Thanks for being the glue that holds us all together no matter how many miles we live from downtown Pittsburgh!!!

OK, so for a few hours, our minds are OFF the problems and struggles of everyday! You STILL give us a few hours of HOPE and JOY! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!

Into the Deep

I visited a childhood swimming spot when I was visiting the old homestead in the Alleghenies in PA this past summer. I remember going camping with cousins at the spot before I was five years old. We would eagerly run carefree down the hill from our campsites toward a very cold man-made mountain lake with our young mothers sprinting close behind carrying sand buckets, plastic shovels, towels, snacks and drinks. None of the pack of cousins knew how to swim during such young and tender ages so we had the mother-made restriction of not going in above our waists, and they were close by to make sure that rule was strictly obeyed.

At the age of six, we moved to North GA. The summers in "Dixie" were extremely hot and muggy for those from the north. Public swimming was the answer for young children, and mothers who lived in homes without air conditioning. To help put my parents minds at ease, I was soon enrolled into a two-week swimming lesson program at the local YMCA. I don't remember much about the program, but I do remember the first few days of lessons, we stayed in that shallow "not going in above our waists" water. By the end of lessons, our last day, was jumping into the deep end, which was about 10 feet deep, and swimming the breadth of the pool unaided. I still remember the fear and trepidation I felt right before I jumped. One special comfort of that moment was the other 6-7 year olds swimming next to me who also took this scary plunge for the first time that day. There was the sense of "we are all in this together." I also remember the elation and joy as I swam unaided to the other side.

It seems that most of our lives are spent splashing around in that shallow water of numerous superficial relationships. Often this is the result of a cursory and fast-paced life-style society has inclined us to lead evidenced by our excess in "doing" and absence of "being." The surplus of "doing" insulates us from launching into "the deep" soul touching that involves trust, time and vulnerability.

Last night I had the privilege of entering the deep with a few precious friends. These are the special group of friends with whom I often make that swim. One friend in particular was wrestling through the onslaught of grief having just lost a loved one to suicide. She welcomed us into the raw truth of that moment. There wasn't the outward facade of sickening religiosity that so often shows up in "Christian" circles covering up the reality of raw emotion and pain. The type of religiosity that hides the truth keeping others out (in the shallow) and the hurting one in the isolation of pretense and denial. She trusted us by allowing us to wade into the deep with her...to cry with her...to reminisce about the loved one...to laugh...to open up about family dysfunction..to cry again. This was soul touching soul time. This was the deep.

There is a special reassurance knowing there are those who also will swim out to be with me when I am in the deep. This post is for you.

Pig Pen

I had the chance of sharing in chapel several Wednesdays ago. It was good for me to live in the biblical text and seek the Lord for a message. It was good to spend chunks of time with Him seeking his wisdom and counsel. It had been so long. I had been praying and praying that He would speak to me in order for me to have something to share. I lived in the Hebrews 12:1-2a verses for about two weeks. I know...one and a half verses sounds pitiful for two weeks time, but it was quite a rich and deep well for me. I heard His voice again like I hadn't for quite some time. I wish this weren't true about me, but sometimes I do better when the pressure is on...when I have to share. I take very seriously the assignment of sharing God's Word. I revere and honor His Word so much that I want to do my part in being prepared. It was a great experience. I am grateful to the chapel office for the privilege.

One facet of this text I had been meditating on was the cloud of witnesses. I have been blessed above and beyond to have such a VAST cloud about me. Those who have gone on...those in my family heritage; those who have been part of my church family heritage. I had and have some very good friendships. Add to that all the heroes of the faith...Abraham, Sarah, Rahab, Samson...to mention a few that Paul shares in the prior chapter. I can also add the New Testament heroes, Paul himself included, to the cloud.

As I was meditating on this concept, an interesting and comical figure came to my mind. Remember the cartoon character "Pig Pen?" Pig Pen was the little fellow in the Charlie Brown cartoon strip. He was the one who walked around in a cloud of dust because he was...well, a little dirty all the time. That was the image I had of myself. See, I am blessed beyond measure by some very dear friends who love me unconditionally. I think of the "porch ladies" I am a part of who meet once a month for dinner. These are dear friends who share deeply from the heart. We share pain, joy, hard decisions, disappointments, much laughter, tears, encouragement, and our spiritual journeys. I TRUST these people. They cheer me on to running the race. They are in my personal cloud.

I also think of the dear ladies that work in my department. We have prayer every morning at 8:30am. We share prayer concerns. These are the ones I could share when my aunt was diagnoses with a brain tumor. These are the ones who cried with me when she died only four weeks later. These are also in my personal cloud.

So this is why I see myself as "Pig Pen." Instead of the "personal dirt cloud" he exists in, I have the privilege of existing in my own "personal friend cloud" on this earth. Friends who cheer me on. Friends who are run the race with me.