Blog Archives
Marquee Messages
Earlier this week, I sent out a Tweet of a cute sign that I saw outside of a local church. It made me laugh, and so I Tweeted it. The marquee outside of this church, lit up and shiny, said, “Sign broken. Message inside this Sunday.” Clever, huh?
But the weird thing was that I kept having this phrase roll around in my head this week. It was almost as if it was a dream or a deja vu that I was trying to recall or connect with. Every now and then this marquee would pop into my head for no reason until finally, I got it! This morning it came to me in the shower. As clever as the sign is, it isn’t quite right, and I guess I was just a little slow on the uptake.
You see, if the lives we are living as Christians are only “heard” on the inside of the churches, then we are missing something aren’t we? We need to be gathering as bodies of believers for strength, teaching, discipleship, support, encouragement, and collective ministry, but that’s what goes on on the inside. The message of Christ, or who we are as Christians, better be visible on the marquees of our lives – on the outside of our churches.
How will our neighbors know that there is a better way to walk through life if they don’t see the message outside of the church buildings. They may not be going in there at all yet, so the only chance we have, is to be “the message” on the outside. To them.
I get it, though. The sign is meant to draw us into that church to hear the message of hope and a future, and it’s clever in doing that. But my “ah-ha” moment for this marquee, not that I didn’t know this anyway, is that their message is a good reminder to be the message.
It reminds me of a movie, as many things do since I love movies so much. In Miss Congeniality, Michael Caine’s character is speaking to Sandra Bullock’s character near the end of the pageant. There is some confusion going on, and I won’t spoil it for you, but he is getting excited that she is nearing the announcement of the winner, and she might actually pull it off and “take the crown.” He says to her, “Be the crown. You are the crown.”
I say to you, “Be the message of Christ - you are the message” to the world around you!
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matthew 13:43)
Travel Tip #5 – Or, Whatever Happened to Snail-Mail?
I had this really great post to add to this blog on Sunday. It was funny. I was brilliant. You really would have enjoyed reading it. But due to technical issues, you won’t find it here.
That is of course unless it is out floating in cyberspace somewhere.
You see, today’s post will continue my Travel Tip series because I have a new tip. Don’t expect your technology to go with you. Love your computer? It won’t boot up quite right from the hotel. Love your 3G Air Card? It won’t be able to find a signal on those really long stretches of freeway. Love your iPhone or Blackberry? The app you downloaded in order to post blogs from your phone will save your work, but then lose it. Count on it.
Technology is like that. We love it, and we hate it. Simultaneously. The old-fashioned postal system just doesn’t do it for us anymore. It’s not fast enough. The only time that’s helpful is when paying the IRS or some other bill, right? At all other times, we want speed, efficiency, immediacy. Not what I got this weekend. Not on my computer, not on my hotel wireless (ha!) connection, not on my 3G Air Card, and not on my iPhone. It’s too bad, too.
I was on a roll with my observations and comments, but when I selected “Save” from my mobile app in order to spell check the post, I never saw the post again. It disappeared. Gone. Not on my app documents, and not on my computer when I got home to log in properly. So, the really great post you were going to read about my travels this weekend is floating in some “Saved” black hole somewhere.
I wasn’t quite finished with the post, however, so if you do find it, will you please return it to me?
Milestones in Learning
Not too long ago, I asked my own children (aged from 11 to 21) what was the most important thing they had ever learned in school. This could be a scary question if you keep in mind that in some form or another, I have been directly involved in their education for all of their lives. But, being that they have on occasion accused me of being a bit too serious, they were not surprised that I asked. They have learned that as a parent, sometimes I ask my children questions that I know how they are going to answer, but I want them to verbalize the answer anyway. This was not one of those times. I did not know how they were going to respond, but I asked the question anyway.
Their answers pleased me. To sum it up, they said something along these lines. The most important thing that they had learned in school was the ability to think for themselves and that the end result of what they learn is not up to me, but up to them, up to the effort and work that they put into the learning process. Good. My job is done, I can hang up my figurative teacher’s chalk now. They’ve got it.
Shouldn’t that be the end result of all learning? The ability to process information so that you can think it through and apply it is critical. Knowing what you need to learn, and how to learn it is one of the tenets I have held to in teaching, not only my own children, but those with whom I have had the honor to work with over the years. Being able to keep the question, “So why does this matter?” or “What’s the big picture here?” in the back of your mind at all times is, I believe, an important part of the learning process. Unfortunately, in many school settings, this question is not even mentioned. I want to challenge you, no matter how old or young, no matter what you are learning, to always keep this question in focus. Don’t just go through the motions of learning, or of life – it matters! Ask yourself why while learning!
