Hello again ... Happy 4th!

Whooops! I just realized tonight that I managed to go a whole month without updating this blog. And that's really a shame, because I have some interesting thoughts rattling around this head that I shall share with you sooner or later. Looks like later at this point.

Anyway, just a short thought as the Fourth of July fades into the Fifth. The choir at church this morning sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which has long been one of my favorite songs. I recall memorizing the lyrics out of the hymnal during a few select Sunday evening services, but now I'm just telling on myself.

But that song tends to make the chest swell and brings out both patriotic and Christian pride, though I'm not sure that's exactly a good thing.

Our pastor today did a nice job with his phrasing in one part of his message. He was talking about how God was neither liberal nor conservative, Republican or Democrat, American or any other nationality or race. And he added this, forgive my paraphrasing:

"We often ask whether God is on our side, when we should be asking, are we on God's side?"

Hmmm, now that's worth singing "Glory, glory, hallelujah. God's truth is marching on."

Heaven and Hell

Last week marked the death of legendary rock and roll singer Ronnie James Dio at age 67.

That typically would not be enough to make this blog, but it jogged a memory of an article I read about Dio, as he was simply known, some years ago.


A little background for those readers who never heard of Dio and don't feel like they're missing much. He sang for several rock bands in the 1970s and 80s, most famously replacing Ozzy Osbourne as the lead singer of Black Sabbath. Dio went on to a highly successful solo career as well. He is credited with originating the devil horns gesture (seen at right) and gained a fair bit of notoriety with the cover art on his Holy Diver album (below).


All that being said, the article I remembered was from HM magazine. They used to do a series of interviews with famous musicians that covered a lot of territory, but ultimately included their views on the Bible, Jesus and Christianity. Here's a link to the interview, if you're so inclined as to read it in its entirety.

But the part that I always remembered was his spiritual relativism, if you will. You see, Ronnie had what was probably the classic Italian Catholic upbringing. And he says the morals he learned were essential ... and by the way, by all accounts Dio was one of the nicest "stars" you might ever want to meet, at least with the fans.

But Dio is also very open about his religious feelings and says this, "My feelings are that the teachings were great, but in my mind, my religious beliefs are that you are God, and you are Jesus Christ, and you are the devil, and I am, and all the people I know around me are. But I don’t need to go to some place and listen to somebody else to tell me whether I’m good or bad, or whether I’m right or wrong. I am my shrine. You are your shrine. We are all Jesus Christ, and again, I have no problem with anyone thinking Jesus Christ is this deity, someone up there. It’s cool.”

I went back and looked at Dio's career and lyrics in light of that statement again this week. And the results are fascinating. One of his signature songs was the title track of his debut album with Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell. Here are the lyrics:

Sing me a song, you're a singer
Do me a wrong, you're a bringer of evil
The devil is never a maker
The less that you give, you're a taker
So it's on and on and on, it's heaven and hell, oh well

The lover of life's not a sinner
The ending is just a beginner
The closer you get to the meaning
The sooner you'll know that you're dreaming
So it's on and on and on, oh it's on and on and on
It goes on and on and on, heaven and hell
I can tell, fool, fool!

Well if it seems to be real, it's illusion
For every moment of truth, there's confusion in life
Love can be seen as the answer, but nobody bleeds for the dancer
And it's on and on, on and on and on....

They say that life's a carousel
Spinning fast, you've got to ride it well
The world is full of kings and queens
Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams
Its heaven and hell, oh well
And they'll tell you black is really white
The moon is just the sun at night
And when you walk in golden halls
You get to keep the gold that falls
Its heaven and hell, oh no!
Fool, fool!
You've got to bleed for the dancer!
Fool, fool!
Look for the answer!


Re-reading the interview and then listening to Dio sing these lyrics, I feel like maybe he wasn't as mysterious a rock and roll figure as many thought.

Ronnie had seen agents of heaven acting like agents of hell within the walls of his church growing up. And then he no doubt found fellow artists and musicians with reputations worthy of hell to be the most heavenly people he ever met. So life began to blur that line between heaven and hell, so much so, I'm not sure even Dio knew which side he was on anymore.

In the interview, he talks about the controversial Holy Diver album cover as well. He says this, "The question I was always asked about that album was, ‘Why do you have a monster, or a devil figure, killing a priest?’ And my reply has always been, as far as I’m concerned, it was a priest killing a monster. It’s all in what you’re told. I wanted to do it that way, because I wanted people to ask me that question, so I could say, ‘Why don’t you look inside the package?’ That was the whole point of it. Why couldn’t that devil look like he could be God. Why couldn’t he? Do we really know what God looks like? No, we don’t. We have no idea."

And the irony is not lost on me that even as I type this, Ronnie James Dio now knows, for better or worse, who is the devil and who is God, what is heaven and what is hell.

And my admonition to you and myself is simply this: Don't let the injustices and inequities of this world cloud your vision for right and wrong. The semantics will be debated from now until eternity, but in the end there does exist just one Heaven and just one Hell. And your allegiance, or lack thereof, commits you to one side or the other.

Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 12:30: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

Life less ordinary

I was scrolling through the program guide on the TV recently when my eyes lit upon a movie called A Life Less Ordinary.

So I got to thinking about this notion, and I realized that a less ordinary life might be the reason I like the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Heroes, Lost and a million other sweeping dramas, books, sci-fi stories and the like. Because in each one of those cases, the characters are living anything but an ordinary life.

Meanwhile, we mope and meander, busy enough in our lives but feeling oh so ordinary. And then I caught a documentary on the National Geographic channel called Eye of the Leopard. It followed the cat from birth through the first three years of its life, while I and my daughter watched mesmerized as the leopard sought shelter from a storm, hunted for food, fought to preserve its territory, leaping up trees, down trees and generally doing things a wild cat does.


Truth be told, this cat was living a very ordinary leopard life. But ordinary to it seemed extraordinary to us.

Our lives are not so different. We go shopping, go to work, eat, play, mow the yard, talk to a neighbor and on and on. Ordinary things, but when done with the love of Christ and the power of God, they can take on extraordinary implications to those who are observing and being served.

Don't wish for a trip to outer space or to be reborn in a world of hobbits and trolls, simply find a way to live a life less ordinary in the three blocks to the end of the street, down the grocery store aisle or across the cubicle.

What you didn't do

This post will be fairly short, because I'm going to recommend you spend more time reading an outstanding article called Kermit's Song.

Read it all and come back, even if it takes a day.

OK, done? Wow, what a story. Have you ever been like Kermit Alexander, quick to proclaim, "Somebody should do something," but oh so hesitant to be that somebody? I know I have. I guess that's why the story is so powerful. You never know the impact on your life or on someone else's that just one person could have.

And then there's the guilt, the guilt that lies in each one of us for our sins, our mistakes, our things we didn't do. But just like Kermit, we all are offered a second chance. It is in every breath we take, every morning we wake up and every step we move. We have the chance to make a difference to somebody that day in the same way that one man made a difference for eternity with a crown of thorns sitting on his head.

We spend a lot of time in our society worrying about what we have to do, what's on our list, what's the schedule? But maybe the question shouldn't be what do we have to do, but what haven't we done?

And like Kermit, we can then pray, "Lord, don't let us miss someone."

Not what I deserve

I've had ideas, nearly made it to the keyboard a few times, but just haven't updated this blog in a while.

Funny thing is, sometimes I think things like that happen because God's not done with a previous idea yet.

That notion came full circle for me with this week's Sunday morning sermon. It was about Jesus' parable of the prodigal son. Oh boy, heard this one a few times before, right? Wrong.

As the pastor spoke, he emphasized this crazy notion of grace. The idea that we don't pay the penalty for our wrongs. Instead, someone else -- Jesus -- pays the penalty despite doing everything right.

It's not fair is it? But that's just it. The prodigal son came home knowing what he deserved, but instead of an "I told you so" and being sent to live with the servants, he got a feast and a festival. He got grace.

And so it goes for us. Heaven knows we don't want what we deserve, yikes! We want grace ... which brings me back to my post about Easter being for me and my plank-eyed soul.

What I was really trying to say is that Easter is about being offered grace, even when I don't deserve it. It's about someone else paying the penalty for my wrongs. It's about a father, a Heavenly Father, that not only welcomes me home but runs to meet me.

He knows I've been slopping hogs and squandering my gifts. He knows I deserve nothing more than a swift kick to the posterior and that I am inferior.

But he gives me a party hat and some presents, and says, "Welcome back."

That's not what I deserve, but that's grace, that's Easter, that is a miracle!

Happy endings

The stage was set Monday night in Indianapolis. Underdog Butler had a chance to win the NCAA men's basketball championship against perennial power Duke. In fact, the Bulldogs wound up with not one, but two shots at victory.

But as many say, sports is a microcosm of life, and that means no one should be surprised when both shots missed and the happy ending of a movie script was not to be.

For all of us on this earth are headed to an unhappy ending. It is inevitable -- "the wages of sin is death." Even Jesus as he took on our sin was forced into an unhappy ending on the cross.

But that celebration we just had on Easter Sunday gives us hope. The resurrection of Christ tells us that all those unhappy endings can turn out to be new beginnings.

Death is not the destination, it is the doorway.

Easter is for me

From Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to, finally, Easter Sunday, we've probably heard and will hear no shortage of meditations, sermons and thoughts on Easter. So here's mine.

Let me start with Matthew 7:3-5, not your typical Easter text:
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

I quote this passage because it is the basis for one of my favorite songs, "Easter", by an obscure band called Raspberry Jam. It is preceded by the recitation of the George Herbert poem, Easter. The chorus is this simple thought:

"She whispers support and I scream judgment,
You see Easter is for me and Plank-eyed soul."

The simplicity and truth of this floors me. Jesus died upon the cross for the thousands who offered support as he rode into Jersualem on a donkey then screamed judgment days later when offered a choice between the criminal Barabbas and their former messiah.

He died for Peter, who told Jesus "I will never fall away," and within 24 hours had denied every knowing the man.

He rose again for the very same, and for Thomas, who would not believe until he had seen and touched the scars for himself.

He rose again for a man named Saul, who persecuted Christians in the name of the Lord until a blinding light on the road to Damascus changed his name to Paul and his mission to salvation.

He died and rose again for me, who would scream judgment at the tiniest speck of sin in the life of my friend, family or even a stranger while a plank the size of Texas obscured my own vision of God.

Jesus' resurrection on the third day -- on Easter -- is all about second chances, and sometimes third and fourth, even 999th chances. That empty tomb gives every man the chance to one day return to the Garden of Eden, to perfection.

Every plank in my eye was the wood Jesus' hands and feet were nailed to.

On one side of him, a criminal whispered support, "This man had done nothing wrong. ... Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

On the other side, a criminal screamed judgment, "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

There, but for the grace of God, go I. You see, Easter is for me and my Plank-eyed soul.