YONDER BREAKS

I'm reading  Embodying Our Faith  by Tim Morey, per the recommendation of my pastor, and in the second chapter, he points out Paul's having to adjust his missionary practices to appeal to a foreign group of people (Athenians). And while doing so, Paul says something that really struck me about God. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.   And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.   From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.   God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.   ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’   As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are...

It's the big season here in the South Bay of Los Angeles, and with more surfers than miles of beach, it can get a little crowded out there. My last couple of sessions were riddled with drop-ins and ignored lineups, and so I thought I'd write a little refresher course on surf etiquette and handling those who don't comply. Not an unusual crowd at Manhattan Beach. Respect the lineup:  There is a finely crafted, unspoken system for properly sharing waves, particularly at a point break where there is only one or two spots where the wave even breaks. It is called  the lineup.  Essentially, when you paddle out to the break, sit in the back of the line. As sets roll through, the surfers at the top of the lineup will catch the waves, and then the line moves forward. After a few sets, you'll be at the top. Catch your wave and it all starts again. Paddling to the top of the lineup right away is disrespectful and can sometimes put you in bad standing with your fellow sur...

Today is my birthday, and I'm not handling it well. Not in the sense you may be thinking. It's not one of those milestone birthdays that makes you question your place in life and causes you to abandon your family for Costa Rica or spend your life savings on that 1965 Mustang GT500 you've always wanted. No, the reason I'm not handling it well is that I'm not good at asking for things or getting my way, which is what you do on your birthday! Maybe it's more common than I think; or maybe not. But as I examine why and how I got to a place where it's difficult for me to ask for favors and gifts, I think I've discovered that at least part of it is an improper handling of Christian piety. We're taught to put ourselves aside,  counting our lives as nothing . And so, over the years, in an effort to live a "proper" Christian life, I've often gone without opinion. But are we called to not have an opinion? Or are we called to selflessly ...