Through the Lens of a Dad

On July 2, 1982, truck driver Larry Walters attached forty-five, helium-filled balloons to his lawn chair, put on a parachute, and strapped himself into the chair in the backyard of his home in San Pedro, CA. He also took with him a pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, cold beer, and a camera. Walters rose to an altitude of over 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and floated from his point of origin in San Pedro into controlled airspace near Los Angeles International Airport.

He slowly drifted over Long Beach and crossed the primary approach corridor of Long Beach Airport. After 45 minutes in the sky, he shot several balloons, and then accidentally dropped his pellet gun overboard. He descended slowly, until the balloons’ dangling cables got caught in a power line, causing a blackout in a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes.

Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:

“Where you scared?” “Yes,” he replied.
“Would you do it again?” “No.”
“Why did you do it?”  “Because,” he said, “A man can’t just sit around.”

I love Larry’s last reply. It’s true.  A man can’t just sit around, especially if that man knows the greatest news for all the world. Lately, I feel like I’ve been just sitting around. Worse yet, I’ve been sitting on the Gospel, without any kind of movement. But this past Sunday, Pastor Nancy Sugikawa gave a message at our church called, “Follow Jesus, Change the World.” In it she shared three questions that changed the DNA of her church:

1. How is our faith changing the world?
2. What are we attempting that takes great faith and great sacrifice?
3. How are we involved in the fight against global poverty?

And as action items, she gave us three:

1. Educate yourself on the intersection of faith and justice.
2. Explore specific local and global needs.
3. Engage in small acts of justice and compassion.

As for me, I’m currently doing the first two – educating myself and exploring. I am currently reading a book called “The Hole in Our Gospel,” and looking into some needs that our church can attempt to take on through the World Vision website.

I feel excited and I feel a little more alive because of Nancy’s message. I hope I can stay on track and not “sit around.”

Thanks for reading.

Joe

Have ever you stopped and looked at your life and wondered, what happened to me? This morning when I took off my shirt to shower I was frightened by the bald, pregnant, Filipino woman staring back at me. It truly was frightening to see myself (in profile) with a gut the size of Texas. While showering I began thinking about what my life looked like 5 years ago. Back then, my belly looked more Connecticut – noticeable but not offensively large, as are the citizens of Connecticut (I would have compared my stomach to Rhode Island but that’s the smallest state in the U.S. and that’s just not true of my belly). Five years ago I was more diligent about going to the gym with my gym “buddy” (his name coincidentally was Jim – KIDDING!). Back then I cared a little more about how my body looked than I do today.

But all of my lament regarding my gird also got me thinking about my life, about ministry and about the things I cared about when I was living in Seattle. It spurred me into action about writing some things down about my life and what about it has changed, other than the obvious. What has changed in my life? What things about ministry, about the church and about God has changed for me? What things should I filter out? What are valid changes? What are changes that just don’t really matter in the long run?

What about you? What has changed in your life? Where were you and what was heaviest on your mind 5 years ago?

Thanks for reading.

Joe