French Toast "Run"

2/4/11 Snow’s a-comin’ !!! Everytime snow is in the forecast, I, like many of you, have made a French toast “run.” (bread, milk and eggs) I have literally “run into” lots of folks doing the same thing. It’s like a battleground at Kroger for that last gallon of lactose free milk or a race as people jockey in line at the self-check out. It reminds me of the stories Larry would tell of his mom dragging him to the Clover Day sales at the old Goldsmith’s downtown at Main & Gayso. (Anyone have any idea why they were called “cloverday” sales?) He said that inevitably she would drag him to this big bin of lingerie where women would push, shove and grab for the seemingly last bra available.

Why are we like that? Pushing, shoving, grabbing, & running---unaware or worse, uncaring, of others around us. Why the panic? It’s not like we don’t have a grocery store or Walgreen’s on every corner or new sales and coupons at Macey’s every week. Is it indicative of our greed or is it a trust issue. Are we really going to starve if we miss a meal?

It’s not about us as Rick Warren reminds us in Purpose Driven Life. So why do we continue to act like it is---not just obnoxiously but even subtly? It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about the Lord and His purposes. His purposes for us. His purposes for others, through us, as we share and supply His love. (Philippians 4:10-14)

It’s about Him who daily supplies all our needs ---the One who provides a lot more than “French toast.” “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost……” (Isaiah 55:1-3)

2/5/11 No snow came, but this morning I used those "supplies" for making some good French toast!

decadence = decaDANCE

4/30/09 decaDANCE w/ apologies to wordsmiths
Weeks ago when I described a dance of depenDANCE, I could use that spelling because Mr. Webster said it was a variant of dependence. I changed the spelling for emphasis and to aid friends my age, who need “association” help in order to remember. This time I thought I was going to have to really lay hold of poetic license. Then I decided to “google” decadance. I found a group called Decadance. It is a social dance performance group that strives to make traditional couple-dancing less traditional. My dance with the Lord is probably not considered norm by some folks but it does rely on Him as the one who leads. The purpose of Decadance is to be interesting and inspirational for all types of audiences. That part I can also agree with. But when the dance becomes all about self---where other links took me---it becomes decaDANCE, as it crosses an unhealthy line and personifies that “self” indulgence, that I am convinced, is the wrong kind of dance for God’s children.

Past blogs have indicated that in the depenDANCE one steps toward and leans on the partner who is leading---that is such an important part of the abunDANCE---the leading of the Lord. The avoiDANCE however is one that pulls away from the partner who is leading. The dance then becomes one of evading the rhythmic guidance that is crucial for the two to “dance on” together. The result is the antithesis of a partner relationship. The decaDANCE can have a similar result---when one dancer wants to go it alone. The spotlight is on one---the mantra is “all about Me.” Time’s 2006 Man of the Year had readers gaze at their own reflections in the mylar mirror on the magazine's cover. They were thinking of YOU/ME --everyone in today’s digital age having a part in the information age with cell phones with video capacity; I was seeing a world ruled by self-absorption, with YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and yes, even blogs.

At a Tea Pot exhibit at the Dixons Gallery there was a quote from a man with 10,000 tea pots. “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” To me, that is a reflection of our over indulgent culture/society…..and it is wrongful thinking. What's the purpose?
Rick Warren, in Purpose Driven Life, addresses this issue with his first sentence, “It’s not about you.” Yet, we are taught early on to “watch out for #1” or “the one with the most toys wins”---this self-absorption is decaDANCE. It desires more of Me and less of thee. (capitalization intentional) Even our focus is on “my wants,” “my goals,” “my dreams,” “my life.” That emphasis on self is an empty/purposeless life that never gets filled no matter how much we try to add to it---whether a bigger home or faster car or prettier face, or more achievements—it’s all just “stuff” that never satisfies, because it will never be enough. “Meaninglessness in life comes from not only too much pain but also measures of too much pleasure.” (C. Huffman 11/30/08) The life of abunDANCE comes to those who find satisfaction in Him and live according to His purpose.
Choose to ”dance” with purpose. Let decaDANCE and avoiDANCE remain wallflowers in your life. abunDANCE is from Him who came that we might “have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)