Monday, May 26, 2008

Lane & Ben's Boating Adventure

Indiana has had a showery Spring thus far. Because Lake Monroe is Indiana's largest body of water, most of the rains run into this reservoir. However, even its great size hasn't been able to contain all the drainage, but instead has flooded. So when Ben and I couldn't reach the boat dock because of deeply submerged roads, we decided to see if we couldn't take the forest route. Below is a map that outlines our adventure. The X is where we docked the boat, the thick lines are where the road was flooded, the thin outlines the edge of the flooded forest, the green is my route to the lake, and Ben's way back is in orange. Click on the image to enlarge. As you will see, Ben was obviously the more adventurous one, and it was his first time ever driving a boat.

alt : http://www.youtube.com/v/Xwhp6sGHhrE&hl=en

Note: Please replace words like "prairie land" and "plain" with "forest". As you can tell by my absent vocabulary, I was truly overwhelmed.

alt : http://www.youtube.com/v/K4VPjxqZmHY&hl=en

Posted by Lane at 23:22:18 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Expression Failure & Fishing Success

I want to take you there. I want to use words that capture the ambience so that you feel like you were right there with me, next to my side. I want you to feel the cool raindrops and smell the wet forest. I want your heart to race like mine did, even to be out of breath. I want it to be just as real to you as it was to me.

Sometimes, I really wish I could just express myself. To some it comes quite easily. The moment their mouth opens you find yourself connecting with them. They communicate well, understand hopes and fears, and have a good grasp of their inner-life. All of these qualities are so far from me. Only in recent years were they even a part of my understanding of man's experience. So two nights ago when I was incredibly thrilled running through the forest on a muddy trail just before dark, I wanted to come back and write about it so you would really know what I'm talking about. I didn't want to describe and analyze it like I'm good at, but I wanted to bring you along with me in it.

Why? Because detailing and examining my experience would ruin it. And that's what I do quite naturally, scrutinize instead of relish. But I don't think that's what beauty is for. It's to take pleasure in.

So what is written above is the result of my inability to express myself. But Monday night was awesome. It was a full moon, which meant great fishing. It was overcast, another plus. And to top it off, it was raining, which meant fishing would be very good. But even very good in Indiana is like catching 3 game fish (bass, pike). In about two and a half hours, I caught 8 largemouth bass, plump females full of eggs, and some weird half crappie, half bluegill. I've never had a better day of fishing in Indiana. I went to my secret spot on Griffey Lake and even caught a fish on my first cast. Amazing! All the bass were caught along an 80-yard stretch, and every good spot produced a fish. The TV professionals aren't even that good. Then, after all my fishing success, I had the sweet experience of running in the rain at late dusk through the trails of Griffey. It was exhilarating!

What I'm learning is that the whole experience was so cool that just telling you the facts about it seemed like I was stifling it. I wanted you to feel like you were there with me. I know some people can write like that and it was my intent to try. But I would have been here all night, and still ended up writing my frustrations instead. I guess that's discipline when you want to be good at everything. All that to say I had a great time fishing Monday night, caught a ton of fish, and wanted to share that with you. I hope this wasn't too painful.


PS Really, I didn't want to post this. It's somewhat whiny, a bit confusing, and too pensive. But that's me, I guess. While I'd like to clean it up so it's nice and tidy, I figure a little bit of dirt couldn't hurt.

Posted by Lane at 23:07:49 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, May 04, 2008

My Ultimate Why? - Part 2

This has been an interesting Sunday. Everything seemed normal this morning as I got up for Sunday school and greeted before the second service. But before my duty was done, God brought a family my way that changed about everything. To put it discreetly, a couple whose lives were broken walked through the door seeking financial assistance. A few days prior they had walked in the rain to the church and spoken with our secretary. She said it would be best for them to come to the Sunday service and meet with the deacons afterwards. And this morning God brought them into my life as well.

For sake of privacy, I won't disclose their story, but they had been through some of the most horrible things of anyone I'd ever met. And as they opened up to me their sins and sorrows, my utter hatred and neglect of the poor and helpless became sharply clear. The man, who reminded me of myself, maybe more than anyone else I've ever met, and his wife met with an elder and a deacon for aid. Afterwards, they joined our Home Fellowship Group for lunch and they continued to be open with me and now others in the church. Hearing the tremendously tough times they've faced exposed the lie of my quaint life. It was clear that others in my small group experienced the same uncovering. Thankfully, my church and I were able to help out this couple and will continue to. Certainly, God was blessing both parties through our interaction.

Later this afternoon I joined a two friends at the park, one of which had recently graduated and was now leaving Bloomington. When I arrived, they were sitting and watching some mutual friends play volleyball. I was fresh from dropping off the couple at their home and my heart was still burdened. I shared their story with my two friends to engage them in the work God was doing in my heart in hopes that He might also work in theirs. It was a good time of fellowship and burden for the couple, and then we moved on and began to talk of our future plans. In a short while, the departing friend said goodbye and left. My remaining friend and I were asked to join the sunny Sunday afternoon volleyball game and we did. As we played, everyone was encouraging, and knew one another fairly well. Children were playing freely in the rest of the park and some tunes were provided through a player's vehicle. Sounds swell, doesn't it? School just let out, weather was fantastic, friends were fellowshipping, and it was a relaxing late afternoon. The closest thing to disturbance or danger was the pea gravel court we were playing on.

Now this is exactly the tension I'm talking about in my previous post (Part 1). I spent the morning with a desperately broken couple reaching out for help and the afternoon in perfect harmony with friends. Nothing at all was wrong with playing volleyball and having good, clean fun, except that's really what young evangelicals are all about. How do I know this so well? Take a look at the morning story I just told. That meeting was shattering. My life is pristine. There's no danger or dirt in it. It's filled with fun activities and "fellowship" and "having a good time with friends". I spent last night watching YouTube videos with two dear friends who left Bloomington today for good. What was the fruit of that? Does Christ gain glory from this, that our perfect little evangelical lives are 'exciting' and 'clean' and 'prosperous'? It's a joke. My life is a tragedy if I spend it this way. So I won't condemn sunny afternoon volleyball, but I will if pea gravel is the closest peril you face.

But I haven't resolved my tension. I know I have a guilty conscience about not loving the poor and the blind, the widow and the orphan. But I still haven't resolved the fact that I'd like to get soon-to-come Jack's Mannequin album, but I'm already on a tight budget and now want to care for this couple. And I'm all or nothing. If the kingdom of God IS all that matters, then I can't spend another dime entertaining myself. Does anyone else ask these questions? I know some of you have, but you were young in faith and recognized the glory of the kingdom come. Have we lost this?

And maybe it is my guilty conscience, but where does it stop? Is there any line in our life that the King cannot cross? Should we buy generic soap instead of Dove so that we might give more? I don't want to obsess over the little things like I have in the past, but if I give up all my kingdom, what area of my life will not be claimed for Christ's? If I start, where will He stop? Do I really have to sell my stuff? I really like the cheap, scrappy 12 foot boat I got this past winter. I mean, fishing is really relaxing and it's something my dad and I share. And I can use it to minister to young men. But I don't need it. Isn't it precisely what Jesus is talking about when he tells the rich, young ruler to sell all his possessions? Okay, I'm starting to feel like the emerging church, because I'm just asking questions. But, honestly, what does it mean to seek His kingdom first?! Do you feel the tension?
Posted by Lane at 20:43:04 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |