Thursday, April 23, 2009

Kingdoms


I don't know about you, but as I have written before, I do not like change very much. Granted, this is often not expressed in my life choices, but it is true all the same.

Since my trip to Texas, I have been pondering the idea of kingdom. Most of the time when I speak of kingdom, I am talking about the Kingdom of God and how it is demonstrated or not in this world. Today, I am speaking of another type of kingdom, the kind of kingdom we set up around us to make us feel significant and the lengths to which we will go to make sure this kingdom stands. I have set up kingdoms in my life to make me feel more important, whether the people around me knew they were a part of it or not.

I had a youth pastor back in the day tell me that having a "platform" was important and that I should continue to cultivate the "platform" I had created while growing up in Oklahoma. I did not take his advice, though I thought it was probably true. Even back then, God had a way of making me miserable when I did not do the things I should. God has a way of forcing me out into the world whether I want to go or not. A few years down the line, I wondered if I had done the wrong thing and considered the possibility of running back to my place of origin to recreate my lost kingdom. Of course, that kingdom no longer existed, but it made me feel so important.

The most significant kingdom I set up was the one I left three years ago. It was one of the hardest places to leave because it made me feel even more significant than the older one. I stayed longer than I should have because I could convince myself that I was affecting lives for the Kingdom, that I was doing a great work, all those wonderful godly things. But I was building a kingdom for myself. And, though God's picture was on the wall, He was not always at the heart of my kingdom, or even always a part of it. I was very angry with people, with God, especially God, for destroying my kingdom. I still toil with this one, even though I know God calls us to sacrifice that which we love most in order to be refashioned into His image.

What makes me sad, is that I know there are people who have played a significant role in my life, who are still the captives of their own kingdoms. And the irony is this: they think they are in control of their kingdom, that since they created it or better yet believe God created it for them, they are in the right to continue to cultivate their kingdom. Sometimes this means hurting other people. Sometimes it means doing whatever is necessary to defend the borders of our kingdom.

I had someone defend their kingdom from me once and I have never been hurt so much. I had no inclination to pull down even the facade of their kingdom, but questions lead to defensiveness and defensiveness leads to an attack. Attacks lead to casualties and I was one. I realize now that this was part of the process of God destroying my kingdom and I am grateful for that. It continues to be the greatest act of change that God has brought about in my life, and though I still struggle with the repercussions of it (that is what sacrifice entails) I continue to live in assurance that God is here with me on the back side of the moon. But I worry about the fall that may come to the one whose kingdom was greater than mine.

Now, how is your kingdom holding up?

Monday, April 20, 2009

The Blog Blues

If you haven't noticed, I have not posted anything of consequence to my blog in quite some time. Part of this has been because I have been really busy with Lent and Easter. Part of it is that I have not been in the mood to blog. Lots of things to talk about, but no energy to put my thoughts together. I guess I have the blog blues. Maybe I just have the blues.

Part of my problem is a lot of things are about to change around me and I never like that. Getting to know new people is always more energy draining for me and I kind of just wish I could just have people read my vitae and then act like we have known each other forever. You know, there is always that period of time in which you have to determine how much of yourself you can share with someone new. I find this a most difficult part of the process of getting to know someone, since I have to decide how much of a threat the new person is to me, and whether or not they are trustworthy enough to get to know more of me than most people know.

For example, I have a student who said I was hard to get to know. They knew my opinions on things, but did not really know me. Like, for instance, they wanted to get me a little something for my birthday last month, but had no idea what I would like. Is this weird? This student's concern was that because I have a broad base of interests and have been to a lot of different places, I may not be able to enjoy a simple gift. I think I like simple things above all, but how would they know? Is this a problem? Should I give more of myself in relationships?

My biggest problem with this conversation was that I think the people who count most to me, know how I feel about things and know what I like. Does everyone I know, or deem worthy, need to know everything about me? I think it is a matter of give and take. My closest friends did not learn of my quirky thoughts about certain topics the day I met them. It is a process. And there are some people that I feel I could never tell all of my thoughts because they would think I was evil. Maybe I am not giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I hear a lot from people, and painfully hear the subtext of too much of what people say (without actually saying it) to think that it is safe to share all of me with everyone. Is this even appropriate in a teacher-student relationship?

Even in my earlier life, I listened a lot and told stories from my life which were relevant to the situation at hand, but never felt the need to tell someone my favorite color or whether or not I like coil art (I do, of course).

Anyway, speaking of students, I went to Texas this past weekend to sing for a former student's wedding. This was the first time I had seen several of my former students since moving to Florida three years ago. I was excited and very reluctant all at the same time. There were those people I would love to see and some I could stand to wait a few more years to see. I think God must have known that I was not ready to see some folks, because they did not show up to the wedding. But I got to see a lot of people who were glad to see me and understood why I made the life change that I did. It was weird though to be back in those shoes once again. I was not completely comfortable, but tried my best to never let on.

I understand vaguely what it may be like when my daughters get married. This student was one of my favorites, and I believe, the only student that has ever gotten me to sing for their wedding. I met her in 2003 in Washington, D. C. She came in to audition for a scholarship. Immediately, she had all this personality and talent, and I just loved her. I was a young, but I felt very fatherly toward her and over the next few years she came to our house quite a bit, watched our girls, was friends with my wife, etc. We loved her and her friends. She and her little group were very difficult to leave, and I realized yet again how much of a sacrifice it was to give them up. Sacrifice is the total gift of something you love. Because of this, it made it all the harder to make this journey back in time. As long as I am here on the other side of the moon, I am too busy to face the grief. But returning, even for a good reason, was painful. I am glad I did it, but I was very glad when my plane touched down in northwest Florida again.

I do not mean to say that I want to go back, because I do not. I have found a home in the United Methodist Church and I look forward to starting classes this summer for my ordination process. I think that my mood might be better if this all had not come right on the tail of Easter. I am just exhausted from all of it really. Over the eight days of Holy Week, I had fifteen services. Absolutely crazy. And one of them was not at my own church. I sang for Easter Vigil Saturday evening at a Lutheran church. I left after an hour and 45 minutes. Granted, I had to be up before 4 am for our Easter sunrise service. And Good Friday service was all the choir pretty much, so it was a long week, followed by preparations for the wedding and travel to and from.

And you know how there is such a letdown after a big event. Anyway, I am looking forward to clearer skies and minds.

How have you been?