Fully Alive in God

“Después [del bautismo], el Espíritu llev ó a Jesús al desierto.  Allí estuvo cuarenta días, viviendo entre las fieras y siendo puesto a prueba por Satanás; y los ángeles le servían (Marcos 1:12-13).” “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beast; and the angels waited on him (Mark 1:12-13).” So Jesus is driven out, right after this amazing baptism by John the Baptist.  Justo después de su bautismo tan impresionante, Jesús esta llevado al desierto por el Espíritu.   Have you ever felt the Spirit driving you to spend time by yourself?  ¿Acaso alguno de Ustedes han sentido algo semejante? Right now we have Lent to try to figure out our own version of these 40 desert days of Jesus—Sabemos que Jesús estaba en el desierto para cuarenta días.   Pero San Marcos no nos dice que pasa.  San Mateo y San Lucas ayudan un poco.  Matthew and Luke add some spicy details about Jesus’ temptations, but

Last June, Alene and I had an adventure!  We decided to spend a week walking about 100 km or 70 miles of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain.  The first day that we struck out was a Sunday.  We were supposed to walk thirty kilometers that day, or about 20 miles, and we began at a leisurely pace climbing the hills out of Orense, a town near the Spanish/Portuguese border.  As the day continued, we were hot and thirsty and realized that, since it was Sunday, there were almost no cafes open to eat or refresh ourselves.  So that day we were invited inside by not one, but two households.  One man fed us cheese, wine and water and sardines, and seemed amused that we thought we would make it all the way to Pi ñ or, not stopping in the traditional stop of Cea.  Another couple lent us their restroom, gave us fruit and a big bottle of flavored sparkling water that was like nectar.  We made it to Cea and, travel weary, ate some yummy sandwiches and had a

El junio pasado, ¡Alene y yo tuvimos una aventura!   Last June, Alene and I had an adventure—we walked about 70 miles of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.   Decidimos pasar una semana en España caminando cerca de 70 millas a Santiago de Compostela, haciendo un peregrinaje.  El primer día fue un domingo, y teníamos que caminar 30 kilómetros ese día, o cerca de 20 millas.  Empezamos caminando lentamente, saliendo de la cuidad de Orense por las colinas. Un poquito mas tarde, nos dimos cuenta de que, como era domingo, ningún café estaba abierto para comer o descansar.  Pero en el camino, algunas familias abrieron sus casas, dándonos un quesito y vinito en un lugar, y agua por supuesto.  Otro lugar nos dejo ocupar sus servicios y nos dieron fruta y una botella de agua con sabor de limón que era como un néctar.  Eventualmente, muy cansadas, llegamos a Cea, una ciudad famosa por su pan, y el lugar donde la mayor parte de los peregrinos duermen por la noche.  Pero nuestras maletas y nuestra hab

The other day, we happened to be watching Jon Stewart’s Daily Show , and saw him interviewing a doctor, David Agus, who has the idea that vitamins are not actually healthy for us, and that exercising just a half hour a day is absolutely better for us.  Jon Stewart asked Dr. Agus why it was that people like him really wanted to pop a pill rather than move…  And Dr. Agus mentioned that we all want the “quick fix.” [1]   We all want the easy, magical, one quick solution with minimal effort on our part soothes all our woes, outcome.   It reminded me of this little video I saw on Facebook a couple of months ago, called “23 ½ Hours,” about how, regardless of weight or pre-existing health conditions, people who move a half hour a day live longer and healthier lives. [2]   In life, solutions, true healing, are often a whole lot slower and take some effort on our part, like that effort that it takes me to try and move daily.  And my human nature gets a bit impatient with that, even though I hav

El otro día, estábamos viendo el “Daily Show,” con Jon Stewart, y él estaba haciendo una entrevista con un medico llamado David Agus.   We were watching “The Daily Show” the other day, and we caught an interview that Jon Stewart did with a doctor named David Agus.   Agus tiene el concepto de que las vitaminas no son muy buenas para nosotros, y ciertamente no ayudan tanto como una media hora de ejercicio cada día.  Jon Stewart le preguntaba a Dr. Agus, por qué es que nosotros los  humanos solo quiere n tomar pastillas, y no quieren hacer ejercicio.  Dr. Agus mencion ó que todos queremos un remedio rápido.  He was saying that rather than do the simple thing that takes effort, or exercise, we want the quick, almost magical solution of a vitamin to cure all our ills. [1]   Me recordó de una pequeña película que yo vi en Facebook llamado “23 y medio horas,” en que otro medico explico que solo mover media hora al día ayuda mas que cualquier otro cambio que uno puede hacer para su salud. [2

“Have you not known?  Have you not heard?” (Isaiah 40:21) Perhaps you have a specific memory associated with this passage.  For me, this is what it brings to mind: a midsummer’s night at a Christian rock concert, a field lit up by a stage, standing far back in the crowd, I hear a call to conversion, a call to turn to Jesus, to turn to a faith I suspect we all largely had, and this Australian voice is booming out these words… “Have you not known?  Have you not heard?” and later, “those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Is. 40:21; 31).  And although I have no need at the moment to turn to Jesus away from some bleak path, I still feel exhilarated hearing those words.  Exhilaration, pure and clear, fills me, like the night air.     How we remember things and how things are shared with us is so important.  And last week, many of this congregation shared their truths;