Monday, January 31, 2005

The Right to Vote

Anyone else fascinated by what's going on in Iraq these last couple of days? I don't care what your political (or even moral, for that matter) views are concerning the war, some of the stories floating out of Iraq are incredible. Over 60% of the voting population braved mortar shells and machine gun fire, suicide bombers with explosives strapped to their bodies, threats and intimidation from extremists, long lines and disorganized polling stations...all to cast a vote for their country's new leadership. It's the first democratic election the country has seen in over 50 years. 85 year old grandmother, crippled and illiterate, was carried to the polling station by her grandsons so she could excercise her right to vote. Blind man, who has been waiting in line since the crack of dawn, has his son read him the ballot so that he can cast his vote. And the truth is that what awaits them all in the near future is more death, more fighting, more suffering. They endured all of this because they hope that their votes can bring peace to their country. Amazing what people will endure when they have hope.

This is the caption for the picture above:
An Iraqi citizen, turning his head to protect his identity, proudly displays the indelible ink on his finger as proof he has voted in Iraq's first free election in over 50 years on Jan. 30, 2005. Everyone voting in the historic election has to mark their finger with the ink to indicate they have already voted as a means to deter voting fraud.

Monday, January 24, 2005

Accountable

Mondays are the worst...what more can be said about that? This Monday, in particular, found your's truly sitting in a large room, listening to some lecture on how to use Crusade's new company credit card. For the uninitiated, we basically have a credit card that is to be used whenever we need to purchase something on behalf of the ministry. I feel bad for the guy giving the group of us the tutorial. He tried not to bore people. Definitely deserves props for that.

I read an article on the ESPN site a week ago and it reminded me of something spiritual. I was pretty amazed at that. The article was about Derek Jeter (for those of you who don't know America's pastime, he plays shortstop for the hated New York Yankees) and his baserunning skills. Here's what I found interesting:

"Jeter made one (baserunning error) as a rookie in 1996. He was caught stealing, the dreaded third out at third base. Manager Joe Torre was livid about such a rookie mistake. A half inning later, after playing in the field, Jeter came in the dugout and sat right next to Torre on the bench. Without saying a word, Jeter was telling his manager, 'here I am, I screwed up, let me have it, I'm accountable.' Torre looked at him, laughed and said 'get out of here.' It was probably the last big mistake Jeter made on the bases."


I'm only a mild Derek Jeter fan, so I don't say this because I have his poster on my wall or own three dozen of his rookie baseball cards...but I think that's a pretty good example of being accountable. We talk about wanting/needing others to hold us accountable, but that really only works if we hold ourselves accountable, too. When I screw up (which is multiple times a day), the last thing that I want to do is to face up to the music. I'd rather go hide and keep to myself, hope that nobody noticed. At the very least, I'd rather just get chewed out and after that, avoid the one that I've wronged or is keeping me accountable. I don't need to look any further than Genesis and Adam's response to God after his sin in order for me to see that this is true of me, too.

It takes a lot to go face up to my mistake and hold myself just as accountable as someone else is. To not hide away and try to avoid it, but to deal with it and grow from it. Derek Jeter may or may not live this way in any other aspect of his life. He's really not the point. The point that I see for myself is that if I can hold myself up to a higher standard and be accountable in one area of my life, then there's hope for me in many other areas, too. But only if I'm accountable.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Epic Conference 2005

We just returned from Southern California yesterday. This year's Epic Conference was held out there over MLK weekend. I didn't think it was possible to be so mentally tired that one could not think, no matter how hard one tried...but that's how I felt after the Conference was over. Directing a conference is more work than I imagined. More work than I care for, really.

On the subject of being tired, I used to think that was a bad thing. Somehow, to be tired meant that something was going wrong. If things are well, why would one be tired? That was stupid thinking, by the way. We grow tired, regardless of circumstance. Energy and passion is an expendable resource. Renewable, but expendable. Most of my life, I've tried to hoard my "energy and passion" and to spend it at times of my choosing (usually times when it would benefit me the most).

What a difference I see in how Jesus spent his. The times that I see him pulling away from the masses, even his own disciples, all came after great investments of his time and energy in others. The tiredness that I feel after giving something to others, of investing in others feels somehow different than the tiredness I feel when pursuing my own ends. Late night conversations with college students while at a conference gave me a recent reminder of this. I pray that He can teach me to be more giving, more generous, and more gracious with my energy and my passions.