Granted, that’s a bit over-simplified, but you get the point. The things that I encounter are (for the most part) to be kept at a safe distance and judged from afar. This could include a book, a song, a movie, a lifestyle, a person… just about anything. I have some trouble reconciling that mindset with Jesus’ core mission stated in John 3.16-17: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

The thing that strikes me, in this train of thought, is the part where it says that God didn’t send Jesus down here to condemn the world. Yet that’s what I find myself reflexively doing, more times than not.

I’m getting the impression that leading with suspicion, and judgment are contrary to Jesus’ core mission. The way he said it himself, he positioned “condemnation” and “salvation” as opposites. So how could I, as a follower of Jesus, claim to be about love and salvation when I’m spending more time condemning? I can’t. And, frankly, that’s embarrassing.

I’m not blaming the church for this, mind you. Please don’t take me for one of the guys who seem pretty happy to bash the church lately. There was a lot of good that came from my upbringing, and I’m grateful for it, on the whole. I’m also a big boy, and I own my flaws. So this isn’t a posting to absolve myself of these shortcomings. It’s more a verbalization to help me to more clearly identify it, and maybe strike a chord with the one or two other people who happen to read this.

In our car, control of the radio rests firmly in the hands of the front passenger seat (unless I happen to sit there… then it’s a special exception and the driver maintains control). Where I’m more of a “one station at a time” kinda guy, others in my family are “players of the field,” as it were. But this is not why I’ve absconded with your precious attention.

The channel surfing dynamic has taught me something about music. It is, at once, possibly one of the most unifying and polarizing energies that we humans are allowed to enjoy. Whether you consider yourself a “fan” of music in general, or not, hearing a song in any setting immediately gives one a feeling of “like” or “dislike.” See, music has that basic ability, no… it’s not an ability, per say. It’s more of an occurrence, since music isn’t consciously DOING anything. Regardless, if you play a song in a room of 10 people, you’re likely to receive a number of differing opinions about it.  In smaller settings, those opinions are likely to be expressed, discussed, debated, argued, etc.  The beauty of this difference comes from the old adage that “you can’t argue taste.”

Take that same song and play it for a stadium of like-minded fans, and you’ll witness and altogether different occurrence.

I love music.  I love listening to it, playing it, writing it, seeing it live… everything.  When I’m playing with others it appears to me like an ethereal string or stream that floats around us.  When everyone senses it, they grab hold of it and we’re instantly together.  “In the pocket,” some would say.  If not everyone senses it, the playing is less joyful and more laborious.  Again, music will either pull people together, or pull them apart.

How about this… if you have one, post your favorite artist & album in the Comments below.  I’m always on the lookout for my next favorite album.

However (and I mean this in all love and sincerity), college girls, there is NO occasion where it’s ok to walk around in pj’s and slippers (or Ugg boots, for that matter). It just isn’t ok. Ever.

In the dorm, no problem. When you leave the dorm, put on some jeans, please. Or a skirt. You’re a girl, and this is a viable option. It should be less effort to throw on a skirt rather than pj’s. A skirt is just one giant leg hole. Go with that. Then you can wear your Ugg boots and it’ll be just fine. You’re wearing your “College Name Here” sweatshirt, and that’s likely going to play with a well-chosen skirt. This is a much better idea than pj’s and Ugg boots.

Please don’t let it happen again.

Sincerely,
Murph Krajewski

Edit:

A grand prize of $1 will be awarded to the commenter who comes up with a link to the most obscure TV theme link.  Whattaya got!?

No joke, dear reader(s), by surrendering that space I instantly felt better.

Having inherited a distaste of aggressive fellow motorists from my father, I found myself at times speeding up faster than I normally drive in order to reduce the space between me and the car in front of me.  My hope was to cut off any potential avenue for knuckleheads to come swerving in front of me at high speed.  I guarded that lack of space.  Claimed it for myself.  I was tense, wanting the drive to be over, and actually considered pulling off to the shoulder and just waiting until the traffic thinned out.  The tension was palpable.  Then I had a flash of recognition.

I heard my own voice giving advice to a friend of mine who was a bit wound-up recently.  “Relax,” I told him.  It all starts with a good deep breath.

The speedometer was at 65 (in a 55mph zone… and I was STILL getting passed by cops.  That’s another post for another day).  I usually hold firm to the “speed limit + 5″ standard, so I was clearly acting from my tension.  I eased back to my normal speed, which created some comfortable space  in front of me.  No joke, dear reader(s), by surrendering that space I instantly felt better.

It all starts with a good deep breath.

As I looked around, chaos still reigned on the road around me.  All I had done was take and deep breath and choose to not be a part of it.  Funny, that, because I couldn’t remember ever choosing to BE a part of it in the first place.

Several things jumped out at me from the 20-minute commute:

1. Chaos will happen around us in any place at any time, and our natural tendency is to jump right in and try to keep (or beat) its pace.
2. Choosing to disengage from chaos doesn’t bring order to the world, but it does bring order to you.
3. It all starts with a good deep breath.

My pattern is to take moments like this and draw deep, spiritual parallels to my life.  I have, but I won’t force them on you.  Feel free to take my experience and draw from it what you will.

First, thank you for communicating with America in a relevant way. I feel like you understand and are personally invested in modern technologies. I like the fact that you speak with both large words, and phrases like “no one messes with Joe.” I get the feeling that you are an educated man, and one who hasn’t forgotten that he is an American first. I sense that you have, wisely and refreshingly, done away with the archetypal president of the past. You’ve changed the game. Thank you.

Second, thank you for inspiring me. I know that televised speeches are meant to be rousing and positive. There’s a lot of talk about what you and the government are “going to do,” and I confess to you the fact that I’m jaded. I’m cynical of politicians and I don’t apologize for my feelings. I’ll also reserve my judgment to allow time for watching to see if these claims actually do come to pass. Those things being said, I found myself hoping that most Americans were watching. For what it’s worth, I’ve never felt that way before. Thank you.

Finally, thank you for your sentiments of personal responsibility on the parts of all Americans. Encouragements for people to get involved in their communities, statements that parental support is the cornerstone of education… these things echo what I believe.  Thank you for saying them.  I believe that you’ll continue to say them.  I hope the people who need to take the hint and adjust their lives accordingly.

Now I’m watching Bobby Jindal do some self-promotion (maybe some pre-campaigning?).

Mr. Obama, thank you for being an inspiration to me, my wife and my daughter.  I’m proud to be an American citizen during this point in history.

During a segment about the African wilderness, the subject matter turned to a herd of impalas.  Of course, for every herd of grass-eating creatures there’s a pack of grass-eater-eaters.  This time the pack was comprised of hyenas, and as it turns out, they’re pretty sophisticated hunters.  As the process began, the first look we got was a line of lithe, spotted dogs trotting easily through some sparse trees and scrub brush.  (Personally, the first thing I noticed is that they were like Stormtroopers… they traveled in single-file, to hide their numbers.)   At this easy pace, the pack approached the main herd of grazing impalas.  Predictably, the herd immediately retreated.  As the would-be victims saw their pursuers close in, panic ensued and the herd broke into chaos.  Once that happened, the hyenas would pick one young creature who happened to run off alone and take care of business.

Store that away for a few minutes.

Recently we’ve been talking about Revelation at church.  Last week we started talking about chapter  12.  In this particular chapter, we get a view of Satan as a big ‘ol dragon.  Not only is he big and ol’, but he’s mean and nasty.  Get this… first he tries to eat up a new born baby.  No luck.  The baby gets protection from Heaven.  This makes Satan angry, so he starts to raise a ruckus in Heaven.  Michael comes in, delivers a sound thrashing, and tosses Satan out of Heaven.  Satan gets huffy and tries to kill the baby mama… no luck.  She also gets some protection from Heaven, and is placed out of Satan’s reach.  Satan uses another tactic, and tries to get at her anyway.  This time the earth itself helps her out and thwarts Satan again.  By this time, Satan’s just about had his limit. He decides to take out his frustration on anyone who claims to follow Jesus.

Here’s what I get from that account: Satan has power, but he also has limits.  He has the ability to affect the physical world, but he can be stopped.  When he’s stopped at one avenue, he’ll try another.  Persistent little devil.  First he tried to strike at the baby (likely Jesus), then he tried the mother (possibly the people of God), then he tried some other tactics against the mother and was stopped again.  Finally, about 4 steps down the chain, he’s left the avenue of us (“us” being followers of Jesus).

Now let’s tie some things together.

We know, from Revelation 12, that “picking on humans” isn’t Satan’s first choice.  It isn’t even his second or third, which says to me that “we” are not the pivotal thing in his plan.  We’re simply the only wall where he can find a weakness.  So what does he do?  He charges at the pack in order to cause confusion, isolate us, and pick us off when we’re vulnerable.  I have a solid hunch that one of Satan’s primary tactics is lying.  We know that he’s good at it.  He’s a master of disguise, and he wields a silver tongue.  When he accuses us of not being “good” enough, or “pretty” enough, or whatever, he’s getting us to believe his line of crap for the simple purpose of isolation and distraction.  Once we’re distracted, we lose heart and fall away from following Christ.

We have power, though.  Believers have the power of Jesus on the cross.  We have the counsel of the Holy Spirit.  We have the unreasonable love of God the Father.  We have each other.  We CAN resist the diversions.  We CAN avoid the chaos.  We CAN frustrate the devil and resist his schemes.

I don’t know about you, but I think we should.

On January 25th, I’ll be leading a worship band in playing at my church.  The topic of the day is not necessarily a “feel good” one, so we’ve decided to jump in with both feet.  The music will be heavier and darker and full-on rock.

I play an acoustic guitar, exclusively.  It’s a Taylor 510, and I completely love it.  Lately, however, I’ve had this hunger deep in my gut to really rock.  I mean REALLY rock.  Not just play acoustic in a band with other guys who are really rockin’.  I need to make some noise.  Some grungy, distorted noise.

I don’t know where this hunger is coming from, and I don’t know where it’s going (kind of like James Taylor in the bridge of Country Road), but what I DO know is that today I picked up my hand-me-down electric guitar.  I tuned it up and hit Google to find some chords for a couple of songs that have been stuck in my head recently.

First on the list was Weezer’s Dope Nose.  The tone at the beginning of that song is the one I most want to acheive immediately.  I found that it was much easier to play that I thought.  I’m not ready to put it down on wax, or anything, but it’s discernable and pretty good.

Second was The Pretender by the Foo Fighters.  Also surprisingly easier to play than I had feared.  I have a lot of work to do on this one to really capture the changes in feel, but the progression is simple and MAN… this song friggin’ rocks.

Anyway.  I plan/hope to keep evolving in to a more well-rounded player.  I’m also encouraged as a writer to find that several of the songs I really dig are, in fact, very simple.  There’s no need for overly complex progressions.  Appealing music is well within my grasp.  I love the idea of being able to express myself with that newly found bit of info.

Next up… more work on the power stance.

Imagine, if you will, you’re sitting in your favorite congregation.  The worship band just finished a set of deep, poignant and inspirational rock worship with just the right hint of an emotional charge.  You feel a slight glisten of sweat from the exertion.  The anticipation of hearing from God’s word runs through you like a slight electric charge.  Not enough voltage to cause pain, but enough that you know something is different about your entire being.

Your pastor takes the front of the room.  (Perhaps just as ruggedly handsome, but lacking the ornamental adornment of the worship leader.)  He says, “We have a an old friend of the family with us today.  He didn’t want to distract what’s happening here, but I begged him to share some words with us from his experiences.”  Without another word of introduction, the pastor hugs the man who joins him in front, then takes a seat.

So here we are.  Sitting in church.  Jesus is standing in front of us.  No one breathes for fear that the noise would drown out whatever he’s about to say.

What would he say?

I want this to be an exercise where you, dear readers, comment back with the content.  But be warned… your answer will be more a revelation of yourself than a sermon to others.

Me?  I think he’d say something like, “Don’t blame me.  I voted for McCain.”  Ok, that’s a joke, but it’s my blog and I can be as politically incorrect as I want here.

I think he’d say to us that the first step of being a Christian is to relax.  Stop worrying so much.  Give yourself room to be “in transition.”  Give other people room to be “in transition.”  Give the world room to be “in transition.”  I think then we’d find that guilt would fade, forgiveness would be easier, and fewer people would get hurt in general.

Relax.

But that’s just me.  What do you think he’d say?