The End is Beauty

 Why do I go backpacking?  Why spend all of that money on the latest and lightest gear?  Why drive six or seven hours or more to get to a place where I can punish my poor body.  Why walk for miles carrying forty or fifty pounds on our aching back.  Why do I wear my feet into a bloody, blistered mess? 

It’s the beauty. 

One must walk thirty miles and ascend twelve thousand foot Muir Pass to get to McClure Meadow.  One might even be too exhausted to take it all in when they make it.  But that beauty is just stunning.  The beauty takes one’s breath away.  After seeing these places like Thousand Island Lake or pitching my tent on a peninsula in Rae Lakes I come away a different person.  The beauty somehow fills my soul in a way like the way my stomach is filled by a gourmet meal.  No, that does not even come close!

You Belong in the Hall of Faith!

The enemy wants us to settle.  The enemy wants us to settle for something other than what Jesus is holding out to us.  He wants us to settle for a fast-food version of religion rather than a Steak House feast with our LORD.  He wants us to settle for a life in the church pew listening to what someone else heard from God rather than also having a two-way conversation with Jesus ourselves. The enemy wants us to settle for being satisfied in the grip of worldly attractions and the culture’s gadgets rather than experience real agape love and freedom from sin’s grasp.

The Significance Apparatus

Note:  I found this letter/essay on a faded piece of school notebook paper in an old book that I purchased at a recent used book sale.  There was no signature or byline.  It was very hard to read.  It was practically scribbled. But the first line grabbed me, because I am interested in discoveries. And so I struggled to read it.  I had to rewrite it because it was really hard to decipher.  It looked like it was a huge effort for the person that wrote it.

The Significance Apparatus

In my research I have discovered a new physiological protein receptor that when activated can lead to very addictive postures.  

It is well known that drugs like cocaine simply activate receptors in the brain that already exist for other purposes.  Usually the drug acts just like some other molecule in our body only the drug works "better".  We have switches in our brain that when turned on can cause a myriad of responses.  Some molecules attach to molecular receptors on nerve endings and the thrown switch may be a sense of well-being or even euphoria.  Often times what the drug does is it grabs onto the receptor better than the natural molecule. The drug may bind tighter and not let go like the weaker natural molecule does.  In that way, it works "better."  The result of the drug is a much stronger or prolonged stimulus. It is often so strong that entire brain pathways are altered.  Proteins in the brain can be chemically changed resulting in what we call "addiction".

The receptor I discovered is similar, but it is activated by a touch not by a specific drug. The receptor is near the middle of the back.  When a simple tap activates this receptor the subdermal protein's structure is temporarily altered and it sends a signal to the brain.  It is almost like pushing a button. A feeling of well-being follows. Some have described the experience as a sense of importance or significance.  That is why I call this protein the “significance receptor”. There is also a noticeable reflective response. The person receiving the stimulus almost always stands up straighter.  It is almost impossible for an individual to reach back and pat their own receptor, although some have been seen trying to activate their own receptor.  The "natural" purpose of the receptor is probably to cause a very positive feeling like when a mother wraps her arms around a young child and unwittingly activates the protein receptor.  Most people are not even aware of the actual receptor.  They just think patting someone on the back is a perfectly natural thing to do.  Some say it is just a cultural gesture.

I just happened upon the discovery of this protein by accident.  

The Neglected Roof

The other day I was working around in the workshop in my garage and needed to go up in the attic for something.  Usually when I go up into the rafters I carry a flashlight.  I have one of those lights that I need to keep shaking and knocking otherwise it does not work.  So, as usual, the light went out, but I could see just fine in my attic.  Uh-oh, that’s bad.  One thing you don’t want in an attic is lots of sunlight especially with the first big El Nino storm two days away!  

The lots in my old neighborhood are set up so that the homes and garages sometimes sit only inches from the property lines.  What that means is that I rarely see the south side of my garage.  The north side looks just fine.  The roof is old but quite intact.  However the south side faces my neighbor’s yard.  It is conveniently out of my daily sight.  When I climbed up on the roof and looked at my neighbor’s view of my roof I was at first astounded, then flooded with embarrassment.  The sun over the last few summers had baked half of my roof to a char-broiled crisp.  There are, or were, three layers of roofing material.  The top layer had almost completely worn away, piece by piece into my neighbor’s yard.  There were several places where I could see the original wood shingles from 1923.  And there were a couple of large holes.  I was hoping that my neighbor was not at home when I tried to assess my roof and cover the biggest holes with some remnant shingles, but no such luck.  “Sucks when a roof gets old,” I heard from down to my left.  

There must be entire chapters in Proverbs written about the fool?

“For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them..” Proverbs 1:32 (Emphasis mine)

Ouch!

Distraction Drills

On September 5, 2013 the Denver Broncos’ quarterback Payton Manning threw 7 touchdowns!  This has not been done since 1969. Now if you are not a follower of football that is ok, but I think you will like this story.  To me that incredible on field success is not the best part of the tale.  It is the off the field experience of this future Hall of Famer that makes the on the field performance so fantastic.

In 2011 it was thought that Payton Manning might never play again.  The then 35-year-old NFL veteran had to sit out an entire season after having serious neck surgery.  This was an injury that doctors had little experience with when trying to predict his chances at coming back.  His old team gave up on him.  They did not even try to trade him. The Indianapolis Colts outright released this four time NFL MVP that led them to the 2006 Super bowl championship.  

Not only did he comeback in 2012, he also led his new team, the Denver Broncos, all the way to the AFC playoffs.  But it was in this game that he had another huge setback.  Seconds away from victory the opposing Ravens quarterback throws a Hail Mary pass to tie the game.  The Ravens eventually won the game in double overtime. It has been called the most devastating loss in Broncos history.  Manning threw two interceptions; one of those was run back for a touchdown that would prove the difference in the game’s outcome.  The loss would have demoralized many a good player.  (Think Bill Buckner)

So who does Manning face in the first game of the 2013 season.  You guessed it, the Super Bowl XLVII winning nemesis Baltimore Ravens.  This time the outcome was

Belief in Prayer

I think we are way underestimating this thing called prayer.  

About five or six years ago I visited a village in rural Kentucky where the people did not use any electricity.  The people operated a lumber mill adjacent to a small creek that was all run by waterpower.  The water turned a wheel which had belts attached to it.   They had an elegant system whereby they could loop the belts on to their machinery that would then cut the wood.  These machines were beautiful.  (I am a woodworker; I think strange thoughts like this!) These folks had purchased large industrial saws, but they had taken the motors off of the machines and thrown them away!  You see, they did not believe in electricity. 

That is an interesting sentence… “They did not believe in electricity”…Does that mean they did not think electricity exists?  I am sure they did.  But truly they did not believe in it.  They did not trust it.  They did not rely on it.  They did not use its power at all.  They could not see the benefits of electricity.  They did not see any purpose at all in electricity.  But in some ways they still “used” it. 

If You Could have Superpower

It seems like there are an awful lot of movies out the last few years centered on super heroes.  I am thinking of movies with characters like Captain America, Spiderman, Superman, Thor, Ironman, Hulk and Batman just to name a few.  And there are many more of these movies coming in the next few years.  What is with all the fascination with superheroes?

Maybe audiences are simply enthralled with superpower.

There’s Captain America with the power of incredible strength and speed and the ability to be frozen for decades. He can bench press over 1000 pounds and run at 50 mph.  He also heals very quickly. Spiderman has the power of super speed and agility and strength with the ability to stick to walls and shoot out spider cords.  Thor has an extended life span, can travel through time, control weather, and even regenerate damaged parts of his body. 

Now maybe you have no interest at all in superhero movies.  But even so, as you look out at our world and the state it is in, wouldn’t you for just one minute entertain the idea that it might be nice to have a certain superpower to make things all right or at least a little better?  Maybe you have seen some injustice recently and felt so powerless to deal with it.  Wouldn't a little superpower here or there have done some real good?