OK...I admit it...Linda and I are "24" junkies. I've watched this FOX network show every year now that it has been on...I think this is the 4th year. I have to ask myself the question: WHY? It is a frustrating show to watch. Jack gets drawn into an Apocalyptic crisis beyond all imagination and in the course of 24 hours...which translates into about 20 nights watching...and therefore, at least 6 hours of advertising...he has to save the United States, and therefore the world!!!! Not an easy task if you think about it...after all it took Jesus at least 3 years and then in the end over 3 days and 3 nights to accomplish "saving" the world.
What I've discovered is that time moves so slowly when it's being measured out minute by minute. If it's all in crisis, who could handle the stress of it?
Yet, sometimes that is what we get. We get one thing after another and time moves so slowly, as if minute by minute time grinds on and the crisis never does seem to get to the end.
I am so looking forward to eternity when time will be no more...I don't know if it's harps and clouds...I really doubt it. But I'll be happy that its way beyond the norm of 24 hour days. I love life, and love living, but if there wasn't any hope for the future of eternity, life would be one long "24" episode...yuck!
Monday, January 30, 2006
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Relaxing and Reading
OK, it's Thursday morning and I'm at "Cool Beans" a coffee shop near East Towne. My friend Dave Day arrived yesterday afternoon from Bristol, England, and he's doing some shopping -- as Lindsay would say, "At the Dave Day Memorial Mall"... Dave's the consummate bargain shopper. He has been coming to Madison to visit us for over 13-14 years now and he always takes the opportunity to do some bargain hunting.
I stopped with him at the first place he wanted to go -- Barnes and Noble. But the book I had recommended wasn't in stock, so he will let it go for now.
We went to the coffee shop because we were a bit early for the ten o'clock openings for most stores. I brought along my books and computer and decided I would relax and read while Dave goes on his next expidition. Which brings me to the "Relax and Read" part of this.
I had a chance to catch up on the blogs I have bookmarked, just to read/see what people have been up to of late. I loved reading from friends and family...and I love the visual imaginary pictures that I get in my head reading what they've said.
SO>>>
Lindsay: It was great to read your blog and the timetable of your birthday. Wow, my little girl is 25! A quarter of a century old...amazing. I wished there was a way to do a "Z-burt" from a few thousand miles away, but I'll wait for next month when you'll be home. I do miss you, and thanks for the visual of "Wotten-on-the-Edge"...(don't you love those English names). I was there once and I could visualize the place Pete took you to -- Hey, as well TGIFriday's. Happy Birthday sweetheart...you're beautiful.
Mary: Sorry for the chipmunk face...I hope your swelling goes down. A year from now the celebration will have to be that those cursed wisdom teeth (what sadomasochist thought of that title for those crooked incisors?) will no longer be a problem. I do hope you can eat something other than applesauce soon, but I do smile with the picture in my head of your pretty face with swollen chipmunk cheeks...sorry! :)
Chris: As always, I can't read your blogs and not smile. You should keep writing and polish that skill. You're a great story teller and I'd love to see you develop your gift over time. Missed you for dinner last night, but as always, you're lovely bride brightens every place she is in.
Eric: Great blog... as always, there's so much more that you could say, but why waste the words. Got a card from your mom and dad. Hawaii, wow...go ahead Sandy, rub it in, I can take it.
Neil: So the Toyota is biting the dust! Amazing, especially because I remember when you got it. That thing has put a lot of miles on the road...it's been pretty good, but seemed like it needed retirement a couple of years ago already...testament to your faith and perseverance to keep it running. What I love the most in the blog is the celebration for Si's birthday. When mine comes around, Zoe, I expect to see Happy Birthday written in the sands of some beach also -- well, not really -- but it was a cool picture.
OK...those were the ones I got to...Perhaps you've got a blog in reading this that I don't have...please let me know at elliottpollasch@yahoo.com where yours is located. I'd love to read it.
Dave is still shopping, so I'll go on to other Reading things:
currently I've started a number of books...all are interesting and I keep juggling the reading to keep them all somewhat fresh, while not getting any of them done!
Still, they are provoking me in good ways. SO...what are they?
1. "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. Grade: Excellent. A good writer who had a neat non-religious way of talking about faith, life with God, love, forgiveness, hope, etc... Defintely a Yes!
2. "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. Grade: Very Good. Provacative, part of the Emergent church movement. Won't agree with some things...maybe even a number of things...but I love being poked and prodded, and pushed around by someone who will make me think.
3. "God of the Possible: An Introduction to the Open View of God", by Greg Boyd (ok, Gregory). Grade: Very Good. Not a feel good book, but presents a view of God as sovereign that you & I haven't heard preached from the pulpit in most evangelical churches - probably ever! Makes you think, ponder, and re-evaluate some theological presuppositions.
4. "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places...." (and goes on more), by Eugene Peterson. Grade: Very Good. Peterson is someone who've I've enjoyed reading over and over again. He, Philip Yancey, and Henri Nouwen's books populate my extensive library. This book is the first of five planned books on Christian Spirituality. I'm about a third of the way through it, but he's already "wowed" me with his interpretation of the link of John's first few chapters and Genesis 1-3! Worth the reading, but slow down and savor it like a gourmet dinner...it's not fast food!
5. "Invitation to Theology" by Michael Jinkins. Grade: Good. Ok, so all I can give a theology book is a good rating! What I like about the book is some genuine and fairly fresh looks at God through the window of the Apostle's Creed (which by the way wasn't written by the Apostles -- unless you're Catholic and believe in the Apostolic Succession of the office of the Papacy!). The down side of this book is that it is limited to the Apostle's Creed.
6. Lastly, add to this list the book "Wine"...which is a massive book that covers everything worldwide about wine...the grapes, the regions, the wines, the world! It's a fun book to pick up and read for ten minutes when I want my brain to rest, and I want to dream about being in beautiful places.
OK...Dave's not back yet, but I'm done. To all of you bloggers, I love reading you when I can...please come back often and tell me where you're at.
I stopped with him at the first place he wanted to go -- Barnes and Noble. But the book I had recommended wasn't in stock, so he will let it go for now.
We went to the coffee shop because we were a bit early for the ten o'clock openings for most stores. I brought along my books and computer and decided I would relax and read while Dave goes on his next expidition. Which brings me to the "Relax and Read" part of this.
I had a chance to catch up on the blogs I have bookmarked, just to read/see what people have been up to of late. I loved reading from friends and family...and I love the visual imaginary pictures that I get in my head reading what they've said.
SO>>>
Lindsay: It was great to read your blog and the timetable of your birthday. Wow, my little girl is 25! A quarter of a century old...amazing. I wished there was a way to do a "Z-burt" from a few thousand miles away, but I'll wait for next month when you'll be home. I do miss you, and thanks for the visual of "Wotten-on-the-Edge"...(don't you love those English names). I was there once and I could visualize the place Pete took you to -- Hey, as well TGIFriday's. Happy Birthday sweetheart...you're beautiful.
Mary: Sorry for the chipmunk face...I hope your swelling goes down. A year from now the celebration will have to be that those cursed wisdom teeth (what sadomasochist thought of that title for those crooked incisors?) will no longer be a problem. I do hope you can eat something other than applesauce soon, but I do smile with the picture in my head of your pretty face with swollen chipmunk cheeks...sorry! :)
Chris: As always, I can't read your blogs and not smile. You should keep writing and polish that skill. You're a great story teller and I'd love to see you develop your gift over time. Missed you for dinner last night, but as always, you're lovely bride brightens every place she is in.
Eric: Great blog... as always, there's so much more that you could say, but why waste the words. Got a card from your mom and dad. Hawaii, wow...go ahead Sandy, rub it in, I can take it.
Neil: So the Toyota is biting the dust! Amazing, especially because I remember when you got it. That thing has put a lot of miles on the road...it's been pretty good, but seemed like it needed retirement a couple of years ago already...testament to your faith and perseverance to keep it running. What I love the most in the blog is the celebration for Si's birthday. When mine comes around, Zoe, I expect to see Happy Birthday written in the sands of some beach also -- well, not really -- but it was a cool picture.
OK...those were the ones I got to...Perhaps you've got a blog in reading this that I don't have...please let me know at elliottpollasch@yahoo.com where yours is located. I'd love to read it.
Dave is still shopping, so I'll go on to other Reading things:
currently I've started a number of books...all are interesting and I keep juggling the reading to keep them all somewhat fresh, while not getting any of them done!
Still, they are provoking me in good ways. SO...what are they?
1. "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. Grade: Excellent. A good writer who had a neat non-religious way of talking about faith, life with God, love, forgiveness, hope, etc... Defintely a Yes!
2. "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. Grade: Very Good. Provacative, part of the Emergent church movement. Won't agree with some things...maybe even a number of things...but I love being poked and prodded, and pushed around by someone who will make me think.
3. "God of the Possible: An Introduction to the Open View of God", by Greg Boyd (ok, Gregory). Grade: Very Good. Not a feel good book, but presents a view of God as sovereign that you & I haven't heard preached from the pulpit in most evangelical churches - probably ever! Makes you think, ponder, and re-evaluate some theological presuppositions.
4. "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places...." (and goes on more), by Eugene Peterson. Grade: Very Good. Peterson is someone who've I've enjoyed reading over and over again. He, Philip Yancey, and Henri Nouwen's books populate my extensive library. This book is the first of five planned books on Christian Spirituality. I'm about a third of the way through it, but he's already "wowed" me with his interpretation of the link of John's first few chapters and Genesis 1-3! Worth the reading, but slow down and savor it like a gourmet dinner...it's not fast food!
5. "Invitation to Theology" by Michael Jinkins. Grade: Good. Ok, so all I can give a theology book is a good rating! What I like about the book is some genuine and fairly fresh looks at God through the window of the Apostle's Creed (which by the way wasn't written by the Apostles -- unless you're Catholic and believe in the Apostolic Succession of the office of the Papacy!). The down side of this book is that it is limited to the Apostle's Creed.
6. Lastly, add to this list the book "Wine"...which is a massive book that covers everything worldwide about wine...the grapes, the regions, the wines, the world! It's a fun book to pick up and read for ten minutes when I want my brain to rest, and I want to dream about being in beautiful places.
OK...Dave's not back yet, but I'm done. To all of you bloggers, I love reading you when I can...please come back often and tell me where you're at.
Monday, January 23, 2006
On bathing with your dog
The old joke is "Did you hear about the dyslexic atheist who didn't believe in DOG? OK, bad joke. I just spent a weekend with a bunch of Christians...but it was a lot of fun! Most of them were Catholic...a few came from the Evangelical Christian side. Here we were, a bunch of Catholic Christians and Protestant Evangelicals, with a Catholic priest also. We were all at a Retrouvaille Formation weekend...a writing weekend for people who will "present"- i.e., they will give talks at the Retrouvaille marriage weekends to couples who come because their marriages are in trouble...often serious trouble. The success rate for Retrouvaille weekends is high...much higher than any other kind of intervention. The reason why -- in my humble estimation -- is that people who "present" are people whose marriages also were in crisis mode at one time.
OK...the weekend...it was great, and other things. If I were going to describe the weekend, I would use words like Wonderful, Hard, as well as Frustrating -- because we had to leave early -- and Painful, because we worked on the misery some more. Linda and I have come along way in our marriage, but it has been work, hard work, of which I'm grateful we got the opportunity to do, and have felt the guilt of "how did you ever let things get that bad" more than once. It was a hard weekend, that in the end, I feel personally "God met us" on it. Going to the weekend was hard, because I had to teach on Sunday...two services. I still had a wonderful time reconnecting with people, and surprisingly, I felt the joy all over again with listening to Frank and Julie tell their
stories...they are a wonderful gift to our Retrouvaille community!!!
I also felt a lot of joy in seeing Father Walt again. The last time I saw him was at our weekend, almost three years ago. He is a breath of fresh air, and I enjoy the way he models grace to people who are often hurting.
Oh yeah, the dog.
It was hard weekend in that it was tiring. But, "God met me" wonderfully in the end. On Saturday
night after I got home from Saturday's Formation day, I realized that I was "brain fried". When I got home I felt exhausted and yet I knew that I had to prepare to teach the next day. After about a half hour of futile thinking, I decided to take a jog with the dog and clear my head. We ran for about 20 minutes and when I got back it was almost 9. I decided to take a bath and soak in hot water. That's where I was, praying, asking God for insight and help in preparing -- in the bath tub, with
my eyes closed in prayer -- when all of a sudden, "Splash"...my dog jumped in with me! I said, "excuse me!!!" got up and dried off, got him dried off.
It was then that it hit me..."He just wanted to be with me...that's all". It was then I felt God say,
"Elliott you've been with me this weekend, I won't leave you tomorrow, relax."
Even though I was shot, I went to sleep with that assurance, and Sunday I taught...and although I never feel great after teaching, I honestly can say I felt calm inside...relaxed...and refreshed -- bathing with your dog...or is it dyslexic...God?
OK...the weekend...it was great, and other things. If I were going to describe the weekend, I would use words like Wonderful, Hard, as well as Frustrating -- because we had to leave early -- and Painful, because we worked on the misery some more. Linda and I have come along way in our marriage, but it has been work, hard work, of which I'm grateful we got the opportunity to do, and have felt the guilt of "how did you ever let things get that bad" more than once. It was a hard weekend, that in the end, I feel personally "God met us" on it. Going to the weekend was hard, because I had to teach on Sunday...two services. I still had a wonderful time reconnecting with people, and surprisingly, I felt the joy all over again with listening to Frank and Julie tell their
stories...they are a wonderful gift to our Retrouvaille community!!!
I also felt a lot of joy in seeing Father Walt again. The last time I saw him was at our weekend, almost three years ago. He is a breath of fresh air, and I enjoy the way he models grace to people who are often hurting.
Oh yeah, the dog.
It was hard weekend in that it was tiring. But, "God met me" wonderfully in the end. On Saturday
night after I got home from Saturday's Formation day, I realized that I was "brain fried". When I got home I felt exhausted and yet I knew that I had to prepare to teach the next day. After about a half hour of futile thinking, I decided to take a jog with the dog and clear my head. We ran for about 20 minutes and when I got back it was almost 9. I decided to take a bath and soak in hot water. That's where I was, praying, asking God for insight and help in preparing -- in the bath tub, with
my eyes closed in prayer -- when all of a sudden, "Splash"...my dog jumped in with me! I said, "excuse me!!!" got up and dried off, got him dried off.
It was then that it hit me..."He just wanted to be with me...that's all". It was then I felt God say,
"Elliott you've been with me this weekend, I won't leave you tomorrow, relax."
Even though I was shot, I went to sleep with that assurance, and Sunday I taught...and although I never feel great after teaching, I honestly can say I felt calm inside...relaxed...and refreshed -- bathing with your dog...or is it dyslexic...God?
Monday, January 09, 2006
Remembering to Go Forward
Yesterday, (Sunday Jan. 8) Linda and I went up to Randolph, Wi. to worship with, and for me to teach, our old congregational community called Randolph Evangelical Free Church. It was such a wonderful experience, even though life has changed for all of us a lot since we were there. We grew up as a young married couple, with young children, while serving pastorally in that church from 1977 to 1988. The eleven years of time cemented some wonderful relationships...people who we loved then, and still continue to love today.
The guy who led the worship: Wayne VanderGalien said it best: "When we said goodbye it was one of the hardest things we all went through and in some ways it would have been easier if it would have been a thousand miles away, but the fact that it was only 60 miles made it much more painful..." (my words)... I agree.
It's now been 18 years since we left, and visiting to teach in that place made it much more palatable, just because of the time lapse.
I spoke on "Remembering to Go Forward", partly reminiscing, partly teaching, out of Deuteronomy 8, where God keeps saying over and over again, "Remember"..."Do Not Forget"...."Remember"...
For me, Randolph has lots of good memories. It's where our family grew up, and although I'm grateful for what they received in their educations through Madison's schools, I know that there was something very simple and very safe about our family in a small town.
Yet, to be honest, I was lost in a wilderness towards the end of my time in leadership there. I think God had placed me there for a season, and for a reason, but in the end, I was very affirming of God's moving.
That's the hard part...I would have loved to move a bunch of the people from that community with me. That can never happen. I went forward, and God proved himself to me, to my family, and to the folks in Randolph over and over again.
Still, it's good to remember...and keep going forward.
The guy who led the worship: Wayne VanderGalien said it best: "When we said goodbye it was one of the hardest things we all went through and in some ways it would have been easier if it would have been a thousand miles away, but the fact that it was only 60 miles made it much more painful..." (my words)... I agree.
It's now been 18 years since we left, and visiting to teach in that place made it much more palatable, just because of the time lapse.
I spoke on "Remembering to Go Forward", partly reminiscing, partly teaching, out of Deuteronomy 8, where God keeps saying over and over again, "Remember"..."Do Not Forget"...."Remember"...
For me, Randolph has lots of good memories. It's where our family grew up, and although I'm grateful for what they received in their educations through Madison's schools, I know that there was something very simple and very safe about our family in a small town.
Yet, to be honest, I was lost in a wilderness towards the end of my time in leadership there. I think God had placed me there for a season, and for a reason, but in the end, I was very affirming of God's moving.
That's the hard part...I would have loved to move a bunch of the people from that community with me. That can never happen. I went forward, and God proved himself to me, to my family, and to the folks in Randolph over and over again.
Still, it's good to remember...and keep going forward.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
New Year and Happy Sad
Ok, it's now January 3...I've made it through the first of the year and celebrated with 6 hours of football on Sunday, and 6 more on Monday!!! The good news is the Badgers won...kicked Auburn butt!! No one gave them a ice cubes chance in hell; but they did it anyway. I watched the game with Andy and Linda. Then, in the evening, Andy and I watched the Notre Dame/Ohio State game...six hours yesterday. Previous to that, on New Year's Day, I watched the end of the Mike Sherman era and the Packers. They fired him...hey Mike, been there, done that...you'll survive. As a wacky prophetic aquaintance of mine told me two years ago -- "I've never met anyone worth their spit who hasn't been fired at least once in their life."
I said Happy Sad...I wasn't sad that Mike Sherman got fired. I feel badly for him; but then again he has a severance package of 3.2 million dollars for next year...he'll be crying all the way to the bank! I think Mike will be a coach in the NFL again. I could be sad for the 4 and 12 record the Packers had this year...but I'm not. The cup is half full when you realize we get the fifth pick in the next draft, which means we finally will get a quality pick in the next draft. I'm not sad because the season is almost over with...there is always next year to look forward to and the break for the next 8 months gives me time to focus on more important things than the 4 months of football offers me.
The fact is that most of life is Happy...AND, I don't mean that I have good "happenings" all of the time. It's my opinion that a lot of people base their happiness on their happenings. In otherwords, anyone can be happy if they get a lot of money...but then again, I have seen a lot of people who had positions of power, money, big homes, lots of material things...jet set, fly all over the world on vacations, etc...and deep down inside they are miserable people. Happiness isn't based on happenings!
NOW...having said that I am SAD about something that is happening. The SAD is Seasonal Affective Disorder -- a fancy way of saying the Sun hasn't shined through the grey skies for the last two weeks! In short, I'm suffering from the lack of sunlight. My daughter in England has had more sunlight than we have in Wisconsin...and everyone knows that the sun never shines in England during the winters (ok, it does shine at least once for a couple of minutes in January). On a serious side, SAD -- as sunlight deficiency is called -- is for some people a serious problem, so I don't mean to make light of the need. SAD is a part of the winter malaise that seems to hit us all. Part of it is chemical...we need Vitamin A(or is it D) that sunlight provides.
But, I'm not depressed...just hungry for Mr. Sun (or is it Ms Sun) to shine. It hit me today as I walked into the training center offices and a jet flew over on it's way to landing at Truax field. Normally I can look up and see a jet a couple of hundred feet or so off the ground and read the numbers on the side...this time I couldn't even see the Jet!!! I thought, I hope they can see the runway before they land!
SO...please pray for the sun to shine over Madison, Wisconsin. There is much to be Happy about...there is this one SAD thing going on.
I said Happy Sad...I wasn't sad that Mike Sherman got fired. I feel badly for him; but then again he has a severance package of 3.2 million dollars for next year...he'll be crying all the way to the bank! I think Mike will be a coach in the NFL again. I could be sad for the 4 and 12 record the Packers had this year...but I'm not. The cup is half full when you realize we get the fifth pick in the next draft, which means we finally will get a quality pick in the next draft. I'm not sad because the season is almost over with...there is always next year to look forward to and the break for the next 8 months gives me time to focus on more important things than the 4 months of football offers me.
The fact is that most of life is Happy...AND, I don't mean that I have good "happenings" all of the time. It's my opinion that a lot of people base their happiness on their happenings. In otherwords, anyone can be happy if they get a lot of money...but then again, I have seen a lot of people who had positions of power, money, big homes, lots of material things...jet set, fly all over the world on vacations, etc...and deep down inside they are miserable people. Happiness isn't based on happenings!
NOW...having said that I am SAD about something that is happening. The SAD is Seasonal Affective Disorder -- a fancy way of saying the Sun hasn't shined through the grey skies for the last two weeks! In short, I'm suffering from the lack of sunlight. My daughter in England has had more sunlight than we have in Wisconsin...and everyone knows that the sun never shines in England during the winters (ok, it does shine at least once for a couple of minutes in January). On a serious side, SAD -- as sunlight deficiency is called -- is for some people a serious problem, so I don't mean to make light of the need. SAD is a part of the winter malaise that seems to hit us all. Part of it is chemical...we need Vitamin A(or is it D) that sunlight provides.
But, I'm not depressed...just hungry for Mr. Sun (or is it Ms Sun) to shine. It hit me today as I walked into the training center offices and a jet flew over on it's way to landing at Truax field. Normally I can look up and see a jet a couple of hundred feet or so off the ground and read the numbers on the side...this time I couldn't even see the Jet!!! I thought, I hope they can see the runway before they land!
SO...please pray for the sun to shine over Madison, Wisconsin. There is much to be Happy about...there is this one SAD thing going on.
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