Loving, Learning, and Leading

How would Jesus Drive? Today, I spent one hour and fifteen minutes driving my children to school this morning due to difficult winter weather in Rochester, NY. When you are sitting in traffic, you have time to think of a whole bunch of things, most which have no significance. I began to think about the WWJD slogan that was revitalized in the past decade. I was thinking about how would Jesus drive. As a human incarnation of the Godhead, He would, of course, drive perfectly. However, I was asking myself "what does perfect driving look like". Afterall, its not just limited to the right speeds, and obeying traffic laws, but the intent and motivations would also be in line with the purposes of God. So, I was thinking that perfect driving would also be related to the destination and the purposes of that destination. In other words, if God is love and Jesus is a incarnation of God, made flesh, driving would be a means to love. So if the destination itself was to do somet

Implications of "24" I have been excited about the return of "24" to the weekly TV line up. My family and I became addicted to this intense show about 3 years ago when someone purchased the first season on DVD. I have been thinking about the character of Jack Bauer. He is an American Heroe. We watch him because he is a reflection of what we think we need. He, like all superheroes, are an extension of our sense of justice and manifestation of our ethos. When Jack begins to kill, maim, and torture, we justify his actions in the name of defending the safety of America. I watch, like millions of others, as he does "whatever he has to" to get at the evil villains who are seeking to destroy America. We rarely hear their story. The villains never have the privilege of being humanized. Some may say that this is a simple extension of the dehumanization that occurs with violence, but I think it is because it is more comforting to kill those without families

Rethinking Male-Female Friendships Its been a little while since I have written. As many of you know, I am in the midst of a transition and now life has settled down enough for me to regularly share some thoughts and to gather your insights. I have been thinking a lot about male and female friendships. How do healthy non-romantic relationships between adult men and women develop and remain vibrant without either unhealthy boundaries, or aloofness. I know that many of those who read my blog are committed and mature people who have walked along the Christian journey for some time now, but I still think we struggle with defining and understanding healthy parameters for male and female relationships that are not romantic. There is a tendency to polarize. We either say that all relationships that are not romantic with the opposite sex must be avoided, or that you can have any relationship with anyone, along as you are not sexually intimate. I personally find that natural friendships ar