Today was another awesome day!!

Sometimes, things go well.

This morning I had a 10 am conference call.  It was over by 10:15, and simply involved scheduling another meeting.  We dedicated a garden in one of our buildings to one of our State Senators who has worked tirelessly to help us over the years.  You can find a writeup of the event here.  It worked out better than I had even hoped!!

I came back to the office, and my socially challenged son, Amit decided that I needed to leave at 4.  His birthday is September 11 and I usually go to the US Open with him.  We decided to go tonight, since Andy Roddick is supposed to be retiring after this Open.

So I'm tryna get out of my office by 4 pm.  Everything that could go wrong did;  I tried to do a background check on a potential new employee, but forgot my password to Lexis and couldn't find it anywhere; the printer didn't have the proofs ready on the artwork for the banners we want for the block party; and so on and so on.  I decide that I need to leave at four and one of the people who was supposed to have met me around 2:30 calls at 4 to say he'll be there in 15 minutes.  I tell my staff to tell him not to come, as I'll be gone.  I offer to give my staff rides home.

 I'd told my staff they could leave at four if they helped me to get out, so I thought it a little odd that they didn't call me to remind me until 3:58.  But I started shutting things down, trying to close up and get out. I come downstairs about 4:10, and they are dragging their feet. "Come on!" I say, "Let's go!"

"Well, Ms. Perry, Mr. Williams is on his way over." 
"But I told you to tell him we'd be gone."
"Yes, Ms. Perry, but he says he has a surprise for you."
" I don't want a surprise.  I don't like surprises. I went to the Liberty game last night and was out late.  I gotta go to the Open tonight because Amit wanted to go, and then I gotta go back tot he Liberty game tomorrow. I don't want a surprise. I want to go."
"Ms. Perry, he told us what it was.  You should wait.  It's gonna be worth it."
"Y'all want to wait?"
"Yes, Ms. Perry. We want to see your face."

So we wait and we wait.  They are just giddy with excitement.  "O. M. G, Ms. Perry, this is going to be so cool!  Just wait!"

Sometimes, if you are called to lead, you have to learn to follow.  My staff knew how important it was to me to leave, and they knew the surprise that was in store for me, so if they thought I should wait, I tried to wait.

Mr. Williams called to say he was right around the corner, and a few minutes later he called again.  It was like 4:30, and all I could think of was how I needed to go home, about 20 minutes away, change clothes, and get to midtown so we could leave by 5:30. 

And then my "surprise" walked through the door.  You could have knocked me over with a feather when Kia Vaughn walked through the door!  That was CERTAINLY worth the wait!  What a delightful young woman! 

When he interviewed, Mr. Williams had stated he was friends with her, but everyone who interviews sees my Liberty stuff and says they are friends with someone on the Liberty.  When he mentioned it, I'd said something like "Oh, that's nice" and kept the interview going.  But to have this young lady COME TO THE COUNCIL was more than I'd ever expected!!  What a great way to end the day!

Here's a picture of me pretty excited to have Kia Vaughn in the first floor of our Council:

Now, there are certain privileges that come with being the Executive Director.  One is that you can exercise certain crazy quirks.  So I added an addendum to our dress code that says the only logos you can wear on your clothing are Council logos and NY Liberty logos.  I did it mostly because I wear NY Liberty jerseys on game days and there's no way I'm going to stop. 

Apparently Mr. Williams told Ms. Vaughn about it.  She actually took a picture of our policy, then autographed one of our employee handbooks for me.  THAT was pretty cool!  We also got a chance to chat about her having lived and played in Israel.  We didn't get to talk for long, but I told her about my trips to the Middle East and the pic I sent of me in a NYL shirt at the entrance to Mt. Sinai.

Here are pictures of Kia Vaughn outside our offices at 490 East 167th Street:

 

If that had been all that happened today, it would have been wonderful.  But I went to meet Amit in midtown.  As I'm walking down the street, I run into Ricky, the son of Sandy from church.  Ricky seems to have his head on his shoulders and appears to be doing quite well for himself.  It was great to see him.  He has a daughter now, that his mom brings to church.  He proudly said "You've seen my daughter, right?"  And without my prodding, he mentioned how he wants to start coming back to church.  That was great.  We met with his friends Malcolm and Annie, and finally we were on our way to the Open.

Despite the fact that it was nearly 6 before I got to Amit, and well after 6 before we were on our way, it took us no time to get to Arthur Ashe Stadium.  We watched Andy Roddick defeat Bernard Tomic in straight sets (Roddick is supposedly retiring; Tomic is a 19 year old Australian), and then watched Victoria Azarenka defeat Jie Zheng in a match where the biggest thrill came in seeing Zheng actually take a game.  I think she took one, and was defeated in straight sets. 

Still, there were over 60,000 people at the Open today, and this evening's match was sold out.  I'd love to continue going every year, but the seats are celebrity trust fund expensive.  This is the view from our seats,

complete with lady who kept leaning forward so we could see her color job instead of the court, and these seats were already more expensive than we said we'd pay.  It was nice to spend time with #1 socially challenged son, though.

Overall, today was an AWESOME day!  The Liberty play tomorrow, and Kia put on one of our 163 Council rubber bracelets.  She says she'll wear it tomorrow.  She also took me outside and introduced me to her mother, who invited me to come and sit with them tomorrow.  As soon as I get those pics, I'll post them, as well.

What a great day it was!  A Great Day!!!!

Blessings and Demons

So I'm at the Liberty game tonite.  They didn't win, but I don't go just for the win; I go for the game.  On the way back, my child Amit calls.  Amit's birthday is September 11, and we usually go to the US Open.  He's trying to find a wife and I'm trying to pay my mortgage off in 15 years, so we haven't had as much disposable income as in past years, but we talked about going.  He really, really wanted to go, and even though the seats were $100.00 more than the limit we agreed on, we decided we'd get them.

Then he decides we'll have to drive.  It occurred to me that year before last when we went, Amit was styling in a Mercedes (on display at the Open), and I didn't have any car.  This year, we're trying to decide whether we'll both drive our cars, or whether he'll drive us both in his Mercedes SUV.  I was thinking about how things change, and how much material blessings we've both enjoyed.

And I was thinking about sports.  Like I said, Liberty tonight, US Open tomorrow night, Liberty again on Saturday -- looking at my schedule, one might think I was into sports.  One would certainly not believe the host of illnesses, orthopedic conditions and injuries I deal with.  (Sidebar:  this conversation in my head was before I came home to my copy of USMS Swimmer magazine, with an article on training with chronic illness).  But the net result of my thoughts is that I was happy and grateful.  Zipping through NYC in the evening,  Chrystal Rucker blasting ... I was having a Thank You Jesus Good Time.

And then I saw it.  I rolled up on a Jeep with a Romney sticker on the back.  Now, NY is a mostly Blue State, but NYC is about as True Blue as Duke is (not politically; that's probably a phrase that only Dukies will get.  But NYC  -- well, it's one of President Obama's best fundraising cities).  A Romney sticker here is something of an anomaly.

But I completely lost my mind.  I rolled up on it, and suddenly I was yelling, "You're an A-HOLE!!! OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! YOU'RE SUCH AN A-HOLE!!!!!!"  Mind you, my window was open, and I didn't know whether theirs was open or not.  Thankfully, I had turned my Jesus-praising Gospel music down...  I caught myself, mostly because there is a very real possibility of physical danger for people who yell obscenities at other people in NYC.  Somewhere, I was aware that my actions were not reflective of the Jesus I'd just been praising seconds before, but I didn't stop, I just toned it down.  I went from "You're an A-HOLE" to "Man, your friends must really hate you!  They've totally messed up your car!"

And I felt a rage inside of me.  Sure, the rage has been fueled by listening to Mr. Ryan spin the truth.  The rage is fueled because it brings back memories of living in the South when white people put you on an uneven playing field and used the results not as indicators of their treachery, but as more fodder with which to debase and degrade you.  The rage is certainly fueled by a Congress that has a stated goal of defeating a black president, but will use the results of their collective sedition as "evidence" that the POTUS should not be re-elected.  The rage is fueled by the fact that my mind draws a direct parallel between the folk who are at the RNC and the folk who were in lynch mobs and who were in the crowds as the dogs and hoses were turned on people....

But that doesn't excuse my behavior.  My ancestors went through things far more blatantly oppressive than these, things that equally affronted human sensibility, and they reacted not with uncontrolled rage, but with unmitigated dignity.  Why, I wondered, did I react in such an uncontrolled manner?

And that's when it hit me.  The only thing that could make a person behave that badly is a dark force.  I believe America has come face to face with evil incarnate, and that is in the persons of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.  They've taken evil upon themselves as a cloak,  Now that I've recognized it, I've got to watch for it.  Scripture tells us that satan can quote Scripture, and I saw that later this evening as Mr. Romney joked about making money and not wanting to go to hell, too... With that simple statement, he brings the question of faith front and center, appearing to  mock those who would question his Mormon faith, while simultaneously appealing to the greed of the "evangelical Americhristians" whose favor and votes he seeks.  His deception and redirection in this statement are akin to that of a magician -- he's an ideological magician, and I fear that people's critical thought processes will be re-or mis-directed by his twisted words.

But I've gotten off topic.  The topic was blessings and demons, and I wanted to talk about how I recognized both tonight.  I'm grateful for just waking up and breathing air this morning.  I'm nowhere near to being a Biblical literalist, but the stuff that's going on in our political system right now is demonically creepy,

I pray enough Americans will open their eyes. I pray that I can exercise enough control to not behave like the demons we need to battle.

Gotta go.  Long day tomorrow:  contracts, politicians, and then the Open.

A Leap of Faith

So for my birthday this year, I went skydiving again.  The video from this year's jump is here.    Last year's jump, my first, is here.  I could see this becoming an annual thing.  It's exhilarating, but there's also something about facing one's fears, and there is the very real aspect of stepping out on faith.  It takes a lot to approach the open door of an aircraft that's a couple of miles above the ground, and then to willingly exit that aircraft.  It takes a tremendous leap of faith. 

Of course, as soon as you do, the winds rush up to meet you, and you're in some sort of otherworldly experience.  But it takes a lot to get there.  It occurs to me that the process is relevant not only in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense, as well.  How many times do we face uncertainties, or seeming impossibilities?  How many times are we fearful or discouraged by them?  Put off by the raging of the wind, or the height or velocity of our aircraft?  How much does it take from each of us to make that leap into the unknown, sure only of the fact that God holds the outcome in God's hand? 

I think it's something we need to do more often -- relinquishing control (or what we think is control) and offering ourselves to the joy that comes in relying solely on God.

But that's a manifestation of spiritual growth or spiritual development, and that does not come overnight.  I train 5 days a week, three of them with kettlebells.  Now, I'm closer to 60 than I am to any other whole number, and this class has twenty-somethings groaning and moaning.  It's taught by the same guy who teaches Boot Camps.  I don't kid myself that I can do what the 20-somethings do, but I can do a few burpees now, and I can do jumping jacks now, and I can do deeper squats than I ever could, and I can swing a 25-pound bell.  I couldn't do any of that when I started, and my form can certainly get better.

The point is that I can do more now than I could before, and that has come about through training and application of what I've learned.  I believe the same is true in our spiritual lives.  I see so many people who don't appear to exercise their faith, so much as display it.  They have all the answers, they know exactly what Jesus would say and do -- and there is no room in their consciousness for doubt or error -- or growth. 

I'm not so sure I believe that.  I believe that our earthly journey is one in which we are continually stretched and shaped and molded anew.  I don't think it's one where we pick up our cross and parade it around, I think it's one where we pick up our cross, perhaps stumbling under its weight, and if we should drop it, we pick it up again.  I don't believe the process is constant or static; I believe it's continual and dynamic.

Sort of like the process of jumping out of an airplane.  It's all about going into the unknown and finding that God has already been there.

Some thoughts on the shootings in the temple.

I am saddened, a bit angry, and even more afraid because of the shootings at the Sikh temple in Milwaukee yesterday.  I'm saddened any time we humans think the answer lies in killing another human.  I'm angry that we live in such a permissive society and continue to let stuff like this happen.  Yes, it's true that guns by themselves don't kill people -- they are only the instruments.  But when you have a society which appears to have relaxed or eradicated all semblance of moral standards, and which allows the common person access to weapons made for mass murder -- what can be the expected result?

And I'm a little afraid because of what I fear could be the cause or the result of incidents like this, which is a knee-jerk return to any sort of religious literalism.  As a preacher, I probably shouldn't say that, but I'm saying it.  Yes, the Bible is God's love letter to humankind.  Yes, the Bible records God's covenental relationship with humankind.  But I don't obey all the 613 laws of the First Testament (I eat shellfish and pork for starters), so no, I don't take the Bible literally.  Seriously, yes.  But not literally.  While I respect the right of people to believe whatever they believe, I'm tired of apologizing for being a progressive Christian.  I love the Lord with all I've got --all my Heart, Soul, MIND, and Strength --- and I trust that if there's any issue or concern that can be made manifes to my awareness, that it can also be made manifest to God's awareness.  So I believe, for instance, that while the truths contained in the Holy Bible are eternal, the particulars may not be.  We don't take slaves in war, men trim the corners of their beards, and so on. 

My fear stems from the fact that many of us humans tend to self-righteously cherry-pick the Scriptures we hold as binding.  We'll tell you you're going to hell for being gay (a First Testament Law, echoed by Paul but never mentioned by Jesus), but will say nothing of the fact that Jesus told us not to lay up treasures on Earth (Jesus himself, not someone who came along later and never met JC in the flesh); or that it was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  We forget that Jesus sent his disciples out with nothing, and that the only time Jesus got mad was when the moneychangers were sitting in front of the temple, trying to make a profit off the faithful.  I've gotten a bit off topic.  My point was that I fear people who read the Bible or any other Sacred Scripture without a critical eye, and with a lack of discernment.  While I believe the truths conveyed in Scripture are timeless, I also believe that they are Spiritual truths, and are usually conveyed in a Spiritual manner.  Simply opening a book, reading it, and parroting it back does not necessarily imply conveyance of that truth. 

But that's what a lot of people do, and I'm not talking only about Christians.  I've known Jews and Muslims who were this way, and it leaves me sad and a little bit afraid.  The reason it leaves me afraid is because it creates an environment in which people not only believe they are right, but they Genuinely believe their correctness comes from Above.  It's not the fervency of their belief that gets me really;  it's the arrogance.  It's the same thing that happened with eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the same thing that led to the construction of the Tower of Babel.  Whenever we humans start to believe that we have complete knowledge of the Divine, I think it puts us in dangerous territory.  Why?  First because it takes away from the sense of awe and wonder of the Divine, but it also begs the question:  If you have complete knowledge of the Divine, why(how) are you still human?

The human tendency, of course, is not to consider or wrestle with questions such as this, but to assume that pseudo-divinity and to assign it some sort of moral, spiritual, or other superiority.  We put into place a value system that effectively says "I'm right and you're wrong," or "I'm better and you're worse." or some other sort of dichotomy which, by its very nature, denies the universality of the human spirit.

And no, I'm not a universalist. I very much believe in the power of the Blood of Jesus to save.  I believe we get to accept or reject that salvation which was freely given to us.  But I believe Jesus died for all of us, not just some of us.  Somehow, I believe we're all gonna get a shot at accepting that gift. And I think we're gonna be really surprised to see who really did, and who didn't.

This was supposed to have been a reflective piece, but it's not.  I'm just sort of rambling.  But at least I'm writing again....