On a roller-coaster ride

If you've ever read or even thumbed through the book of Daniel, you know it's rich with history, drama and some downright confusing, albeit intriguing, stuff. I first studied this Old Testament book of the Bible in the fall of 2006. This spring I'm doing the same study again -- Beth Moore's study, "Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy" -- with a fantastic group of women at my church.

As we moved from the chapter 6 (the famous "Daniel in the lion's den" chapter) to chapter 7 last night, we all concluded we're embarking on a roller-coaster ride. Since I've done the study before, I know it's an accurate description. We'd better hang on and enjoy the ride.

The first half of Daniel centers around Daniel living in the decadent culture of Babylon, which has a lot of similarities to our American culture -- a society focused on self-indulgence, pleasure, youth, beauty and an "all-about-me" attitude. In fact, the Beth Moore version of the study draws such a parallel between Babylon and the society in which we live, it's impossible not to be challenged by it. Living biblically truly goes against the grain of our culture, and the disturbing part is most Christians have allowed the culture to have more of an influence on us rather than us having a greater influence on it.

The second half of Daniel centers around biblical prophecy -- i.e. dreams and visions Daniel has about historical empires (prophecy we can now look back at as history) and the still-to-come return of Christ. This is rich stuff -- challenging, mind-boggling, confusing at times, but so fascinating. It's a roller-coaster ride to say the least.

The most important thing I learned from studying this part of Daniel a couple of years ago is that you can't read the book of Revelation without understanding Daniel, and you can't read Daniel without Revelation. Amazing, huh? That a man who lived in ancient Babylon and a disciple of Jesus (John, the author of Revelation) who lived centuries later both prophesied about the same events. I've also learned that our tendency as Christians is to want to know the exact times, places, etc. of the return of Christ. The bottom line is that most of those details are a mystery, and we have to live with that "grayness," if you will, as opposed to the black-and-white of knowing for sure. All we know is the big WHAT -- that Christ will return, that He will right every wrong, and we will come face-to-face with Him. The thought of that scares some people, but it excites me.

A woman in our Bible study group said last night that some people approach the return of Christ as if they're throwing up their hands in the air on a roller-coaster ride. Others squeeze their eyes shut, bury their face in the shoulder of the person next to them and wonder why they got on the roller coaster in the first place. On a real roller coaster, I am the latter. On this figurative roller coaster, though, I want to be throwing my hands up in the air in joyful anticipation.

Picture of love

I'm borrowing today's blog entry from Valorie Burton, a Maryland-based author, speaker and life coach. A friend referred me to her Web site and weekly newsletter. Click here for more information about her.

I thought Burton's take on the "love" chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 was thought-provoking. I realize Valentine's Day was two weeks ago, but I think we could all use a daily dose of inspiration/guidance about love . . . and not just the romantic kind of love. How are you doing at loving the people in your life?

This week, I would like to serve as your loving reminder of what it means to love someone. These are seven straightforward, at times difficult, but always effective strategies for loving others - and experiencing more love in your life. Saint Paul wrote them in the 13th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians. We often hear the scripture recited at weddings. This week, meditate on these seven principles. Find news ways to express love on a daily basis and strengthen your daily interaction with others -- whether loved ones or strangers, co-workers or neighbors. The greatest use of your life is to love. When you apply this kind of love to a situation, it never fails:

1. LOVE IS PATIENT.
People won't always do what you want when you want them to. Practice being patient - whether with your children, your significant other or the grocery cashier who takes too long to ring up your order. Everything happens for a reason - and that includes the timing of when things happen. Be patient and learn the lesson that comes in the process of enduring the wait. Sometimes the lesson is simple: Slow down and enjoy life.

2. LOVE IS KIND.
Every single day, choose to be kind. Ask yourself each morning, "How could I be a blessing to someone today?" Whether it is a kind word, a loving gesture or helping someone in need, seek ways to be kind daily. Not only will it be a blessing to those you encounter, but it feels good to your soul.

3. LOVE DOES NOT ENVY.
There will always be someone who appears to have "more" or to be doing better. Make a decision not to be envious of others, but in every circumstance of life to find a reason to be thankful. Jealousy poisons your attitude, builds resentment and can ruin relationships. Rather than envying others, learn from them. Even be inspired by them. And simultaneously, choose to be content with what you have while you journey towards something better.

4. LOVE DOES NOT BOAST AND IS NOT PROUD.
Resist the temptation to boast about yourself, your accomplishments or your loved ones. It often only makes others feel "less than," which of course, is not an expression of love. Practice humility. Allow your accomplishments to speak for themselves. Others often notice your good work and deeds, even without you having to make a big deal of them. In fact, it is far more attractive to simply "be" great than to try to convince others of your greatness.

5. LOVE IS NOT RUDE OR EASILY ANGERED.
We've all had our moments when our behavior has been less than considerate. Next time you feel the urge to be rude, inconsiderate or to jump to conclusions, stop yourself. Take a deep breath and ask, "What would be a more loving response to this situation?" That doesn't mean that you allow others to walk all over you. You can speak the truth to people in a very matter of fact way, without being rude. Be considerate of others feelings and be willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.

6. LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS.
Have you ever known someone who remembered every mistake you ever made or everything you ever did wrong? As you have grown and become a better person, all they can remember is the person you used to be. It is very frustrating and you may even find yourself ready to distance yourself from that person. Learn from the past behavior of others - and protect yourself accordingly, when necessary - but resist the temptation to continually bring up everything someone has done wrong. Love others by encouraging them towards a better future, not defining them by their past.

7. LOVE REJOICES IN THE TRUTH.
So often, it seems we are afraid of the truth. When something is wrong, we pretend everything is OK. Often both parties will pretend even when both parties know there is a problem. One of the most important love skills you can learn is to be honest. Refuse to live lies or to accept lies as truth. Have truthful conversations with yourself and others. It allows you to get to the core of issues faster. It empowers others to trust you. It relieves the stress of tiptoeing around the real issues. Learn to speak the truth in a spirit of love and kindness, and your life will be richer and more fulfilling.

Running away from politics

I think I've had enough. And it's only February.

I'd already had enough with the bantering going on the last few weeks between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Then today came the New York Times article about John McCain's alleged "romantic" relationship with a female lobbyist -- although the article never provided any evidence that he'd had a romantic relationship with the woman. At least the story provided some discussion in my reporting class this morning over the use of anonymous sources. Anonymous sources should be avoided, I tell my students all the time, for the very reasons today's story highlights. How do we know the story is true if the sources aren't named? How do we know there's any credibility behind the information? Ah, yes, I forgot . . . if it's about a politician, it must be true if there's an anonymous source. Watched "All the President's Men" lately?

I'm not a huge fan or follower of politics, and the last two months have done nothing to change my point of view. This election -- and we haven't even entered the official election season yet -- has already done me in. I'm tired of talking about it with my students. I'm tired of hearing about it on talk radio. I'm tired of the news reports with the latest on the candidate of the day. It's just too much. I started to launch into a spew of negativity about politics this morning when my husband cut me off. "Let's talk about something else," he said. Good idea.

So this blog is where I can get it off my chest once and for all that I'm done! I think I'm going to take a vacation when the Democratic National Convention comes to Denver this August. And declare a media fast for that week. I don't want to be anywhere near it.

Baseball season, anyone? Only 38 more days until opening day. Go Rockies!

Sometimes you just need some good news

"Sometimes you just need some good news." That's what my husband Mike said this week after we got two pieces of news we'd been hoping for.

First, the insurance check for the water damage in our condo is on the way! The water heater in the unit above us went out in early December and caused quite a bit of damage to our place. We cleaned up, had walls and carpet padding torn out and then embarked on a long season of getting estimates from contractors and WAITING. Looking back on it, we didn't have to wait all that long. Insurance settlements just don't happen quickly. I got a dose of reality and gratitude this week when I talked to a colleague whose house was destroyed in a fire a couple of weeks ago. She and her husband have to live in a double-wide trailer while their house is being repaired for the next nine months. Talk about perspective. Anyway, the news this week means we can move forward on our own repairs and start putting the condo back together. The first stage will happen next week when a contractor comes in to rebuild walls and repaint.

Second, I found out this week something unusual. I've had these really annoying digestive problems for months -- terrible gas & bloating, acid reflux, etc. I went to a gastroenterologist (a good one, as it turns out) last summer and discovered I'm lactose-intolerant, which is actually more common in adults than most people realize. (It means I lack the enzyme in my body to digest the sugar -- lactose -- present in milk and other dairy products.) Anyway, the symptoms started flaring up again around mid-November, but I knew it couldn't be the lactose because I've been on a diary-free diet since June.

I went through more rounds of tests, and it turns out my stomach takes twice as long to empty as a normal person's -- yeah, go figure. Who knew? I certainly didn't. It's unclear what's causing that -- it could be a viral infection that has damaged the nerves of my stomach, thus keeping it from contracting properly. Anyway, I'm on some medication now to speed things up in my tummy, and it's helping!!! Halleluiah! I've never had a chronic health issue that drives me crazy to the point of total frustration. I've known people who live with health issues just as frustrating, and you never really know what they're going through until you experience it yourself.

Those are our two bits of good news this week. And next week at this time, there will be more good news. I'll be done with the Beginning Reporting class that demands pretty much all of my attention for the first five weeks of the semester. It's been a good class, but I'm wiped out, and so are my students. It's like boot camp for wannabe journalists. The students take a daily Associated Press Stylebook quiz (the journalist's bible), have writing assignments everyday (just like the pace of being a real journalist), and get zeros on stories that they turn in late, misspell a name or get a fact wrong (they're always shocked to see that first zero, but it teaches them to pay attention). I think I may have weeded a few students out of the journalism program, but the class has inspired the rest to step up, get serious and keep going. Both of those are good things. Journalism is too demanding and too important a job for the half-hearted, at least the kind of journalism I teach my students to do.

The crowded days of life

I'm up during the wee hours of the morning today, trying to get tired enough to go back to sleep. I had a minor medical procedure done today (nothing serious, as it turns out), for which I was under a sort of half-asleep/half-awake anesthesia. The effect of the medication was I was exhausted by 6:30 p.m., but then I was awake again at 11 p.m. This quiet hour of the morning is the best time to think and process, I've found. Problem is, I'm not up very much this late or early, however you see it, so the best time to think and process gets slept away most days.

I have even less time to think and process lately because my life has kicked into fifth gear. I'm in the middle of teaching an intense, five-week version of a basic reporting class, and I'm teaching another, much slower-paced class that's easier to teach but seems somewhat like a nuisance while I'm so immersed in the other class. Right before the semester started I took on a writing project that has turned into a bigger thing than I anticipated. Last week I started helping lead a Bible study at church.

All of this stuff is good, although it takes its toll quickly. After only a couple of weeks at this pace, I long to slow down, take time to have a cup of coffee or tea without having to grade any assignments, look out the window and watch the snow fall (something it's been doing quite a lot in Denver this winter) and otherwise just take a deep breath.

The thing I dislike about being so maxed out is how quickly the time passes, and how disconnected I feel from anything but just muddling through the day before me. The goal becomes survival, and without much "margin" time between classes, appointments, deadlines, etc., I have a hard time enjoying things. This weekend I was reminded that during busy times like this, I tend to feel the most disconnected from God. I tend to think that my relationship with God is dependent on how much time I give him, and I beat myself up when I don't spend the time I think I should with him, should being the operative word here.

Don't get me wrong, time is important in all relationships. But all of us have good friends with whom no matter how much time passes since we've talked or seen one another, when you finally connect again, it's as if no time has passed at all. I want to experience God like that. I think I do sometimes. I need to allow myself that freedom more often -- to come to him with the mundane, everyday stuff, not just the big stuff, and let him into even the craziest of days. Then when all I have time to do is say, "Hi, God," it's enough and we're connected. As good as it is to slow down, pull back from things and reestablish some balance in our lives, during some seasons life is just busy, and we have to figure out a way to connect with God in the midst of it.

One of my favorite devotional books is "God Calling." Here's what it says about experiencing God in the busy days:

"Be calm. Never Fear. You have much to learn. Go on until you can take the most crowded day with a song. "Sing unto the Lord." The finest accompaniment to a song of praise to Me is a very crowded day. Let love be the motif running through all . . . Do not get worried. I am your helper. "Underneath are the everlastings arms." You cannot get below that. Rest in them, as a tired child rests." -- God Calling (January 21 entry)

Fasting from television

Have you ever fasted from watching television? Mike and I have been doing that this week. We actually fasted from TV last summer after we got back from a vacation to the mountains where we stayed in a bed & breakfast with no television in the room. We got back and realized we didn't miss the TV, so we kept it off for a few weeks.

This fast has been more purposeful and a little bit harder -- one, because it's the middle of winter and there's not much to do, particularly in the evening hours between dusk and bedtime, and two, because it's something we've purposed to do. The last TV fast seemed more accidental.

We're fasting for a couple of different reasons:

1) We think it's good to do some kind of fast periodically (not just during Lent when most people think of fasting), whether from food or television or drinking soda or whatever. Sometimes we're so focused on "feeding our flesh," if you will, that we don't realize we don't actually NEED this stuff like we think we do.

2) Fasting clears our heads and helps us focus on what's most important, particularly listening to the voice of God. It's amazing how many voices vie for our attention in our media-driven culture.

The quiet of no television has been wonderful. It's hard to get used to at first -- so often I turn on the TV for noise -- but after a while it's a welcome change. Mike and I have been reading more. In fact, we've both almost finished a book each in a few days. Meals seem less hurried and more intentional. I feel less hurried and more relaxed. We didn't rule out the Internet or radio for this fast, so we're still getting our news and some entertainment. (I actually prefer to get my news from the newspaper or Internet anyway. To me it's like eating a well-cooked meal at home that you can digest more easily. Television news is like fast food -- quick, not much worth chewing on, and it leaves you hungry for something more.)

The most interesting thing I've noticed this week has been the absence of advertising from my life. Sure, I still hear ads on the radio or see them in the newspaper or on the Internet, but they're not the same as television advertising. The consumerism on TV seems intrusive now that I've been away from it for a while, but then again no one is holding a gun to my head forcing me to watch TV. I've never really understood why people complain so much about what's on TV, yet they won't turn it off, as if they have no choice about it. There is an OFF button.

The most amazing thing of the past few days is feeling more in tune to God's voice. No television gives me time to think more, time to pray more, time to process more. When that instinct kicks in to reach for the remote control (and believe me, that instinct has kicked in several times a day), I pause and think, "Nope, I'm not going to turn that TV on." It makes me think about why we decided to turn off the TV in the first place. It seems painful for a while -- after all, fasting of any kind is not supposed to be painless -- but then I just put it out of my mind and set myself to doing other things.

I'm not sure how long our fast will last. We didn't put a time limit on it. But the more time we go without TV, the easier it gets. And the more we realize there's not much worth watching anyway. It's more habit than anything else.

Ahhhh. . . . that peace and quiet, the absence of the noise and talking heads of our culture, sure sound wonderful.

The freedom of a "bluebird" day

Today was a perfect "bluebird" day in the mountains, as skiers and snowboarders like to call the clear-blue-sky days we often get here in Colorado. This was my second day skiing this season -- I went to Copper Mountain last Thursday and Winter Park today. Both days were great, and the best part is I'm not nearly as sore as I usually am after my first couple of days skiing each season. I credit the weight training I added to my workouts last summer -- nothing fancy, but the twice-a-week sessions working out my arms and legs do have some benefit.

At the encouragement of my husband, I got smarter about skiing last year and bought a season pass. Daily lift tickets at most Colorado resorts are now more than $80. (When I first started skiing at age 9, an adult daily lift ticket was about $25. Amazing.) So why not shell out a few hundred dollars before the season ever starts and go as many times as you want? Some people don't see the benefit to this for the ski resorts. Why even offer season passes when you could force people to pay $80 at the ticket window each day? Because ski resorts are not making their money off lift tickets, despite the ever-rising prices. The money is all in real estate (i.e. lodging), and the more times they can get people up to ski, the more likely it is they'll stay the night . . . and of course bring their friends/family and spend other money as well.

Anyway, a season pass is a great benefit for the skier. I'm not sure why I never considered it before. I blame my former inability to manage money very well, and therefore the mentality I'd never be able to afford a season pass. The season pass enables me to ski any day I choose, and if the weather turns out to be horrible, oh well. I can come back another day. I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get all my money's worth out of an $80 lift ticket. I can show up at mid-day and ski a few hours.

Today I skied nearly a full day. My husband doesn't ski. He wants to learn, but wintertime is crazy with his basketball play-by-play schedule. I have only a few friends who ski. I grew up skiing with my brothers and dad. My brothers moved to the Midwest, and my dad's hip bothers him now, so I mostly ski alone. I actually don't mind it, although some people look at me like I'm crazy to drive two hours to the mountains alone, followed by a day of skiing all by myself.

To be honest, I prefer the alone days. When you've skied most of your life, it isn't that difficult or weird. I feel so comfortable skiing, it's almost like coming home. And a day alone on the slopes is much safer than hiking alone. There are so many people around you, and half the time you end up riding the lift with someone else and striking up a conversation, so you really do share the experience with others.

Besides, I tend to be pretty independent up there. I like to skip lunch -- I find I don't get that hungry skiing, strangely enough -- and I usually ski one run after another without stopping. It's one of the only things I do in which I feel truly free -- free to clear my head of all my worries, free to be just who I am. It's just me and Jesus up there, floating across the snow, breathing in the fresh air, thinking about nothing much in particular except how glorious a Colorado "bluebird" day is.