Casting a shadow

I was recently teaching a passage out of Acts 5. I noticed something I had neve seen before.

Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. - NIV

The question is whether our impact on other people is so healing, so positive that people seek to live within our shadow. Or whether, their experience with us and our church is so negative, so judgemental and so distructive they run the other way when they see us coming. After all it was the religious people that found the "people of the way" so offensive. The broken seemed to be willing to find any way they could to be near them.

Beauty and Metamophosis

I've been rereading The Metamorphosis by german writer, Franz Kafka, in preparation for a lesson I'm teaching this Sunday. The thing I find amazing about the story is the way Kafka describes the events when Gregor wakes up and finds that he has changed into some kind of creature over night. While the German word Kafka used can mean bug it can also mean a more general unclean animal. I think he intentionally used an ambiguous word because the story is more than a horror story like The Fly. It's a story intended to make us question our values.

Gregor's first concern is how his transformation to this grotesque creature is going to effect his job. Even his family and his landlord are concerned with his ability to earn a living.

This story came to mind as I was studying Acts 3. The first couple of verses say this.

The time of prayer was about three o'clock in the afternoon, and Peter and John were going into the temple. A man who had been born lame was being carried to the temple door. Each day he was placed beside this door, known as the Beautiful Gate. He sat there and begged from the people who were going in.

The paradox of this man, broken from birth, sitting by a gate named beautiful begging for just a little bit of money to get by. I think the point is that we surround ourselves by things we call beautiful. And those things keep us in our broken condition. Our brokeness just like Gregor's transformation to the "ugly" quickly becomes the new normal.

Peter and John break that new normal by not giving a few coins but by addressing the brokeness and reconciling this lame man with God. Now, that's quite a metamorphosis.

Simply, The Church

Simply, The Church - Scope

---

Simply, The Church - Impact

---

Simply, The Church - Community

John Hughes Got It Right

As I was watching the Oscars the other night, I was struck by the tribute to John Hughes. When I thought back on all the films of his I've watched I was surprised by how often I found meaning in them. Breakfast Club had a huge impact on me, even though I had left high school far behind me by the time in came out.

But I think what is more important than his films was his commitment to his family. The guy left Hollywood at the height of his career because he wanted to be with his family and felt the Hollywood life was not healthy. I stumbled upon an interesting article about that decision. It's worth a read.

Although his values came through in many of his films, I doubt it's more clearly seen in any of them as well as in the ending of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Take a look.

Rest in peace, Mr. Hughes.

Food Has Meaning

Last week I went to the Chief Creative Officer Boot Camp in NYC. It was a fascinating day filled with interesting insights into why we, people, act the way we do.

One of the most fascinating parts of the day was when we talked about trends in food preparation and consumption. There are two key trends. First, the move toward artisan products. Simply, that means companies that are creating food products by hand, in small batches, with imperfections and more of a home made character. The second trend is the move in home design toward great rooms that include, the kitchen, family room and often even an office. The second trend is recreating the kitchen from a factory behind closed doors to stage where the cook is a "micro-celebrity."

This discussion probably lasted several hours. That, in itself, is amazing. A one-day conference on marketing and cultural trends dedicated almost a third of the day to food-related discussions.

I think this illustrates how important food is to the human experience. Therefore it is now surprise that our relationship to food is woven throughout the Biblical narrative.

Think about it, the very first test of man was related to food.

Genesis 2.16-17
And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

It goes on from there, doesn't it? Cain and Abel both bring offerings of food, one meat and one vegetables. The meat is accepted the veggies are rejected. See, vegetarians are evil (just kidding.) The Passover, fasting, the Eucharist they all are spiritual disciplines with strong food-related metaphors.

I think maybe we don't taking eating seriously enough. It's meaning and context is powerful.