God is the Measure of All Things

I’m beginning a new series about my personal philosophy of living.  The series will be called God is the Measure of All Things.  As you may have guessed, it’s a completely God-centered cosmology/philosophy/worldview.

Looking back on the past, I think I have attempted to fit theology into whatever view I felt like holding at the time.  In this series, I will work out my personal beliefs and search for answers to the big questions based solely on my understanding of God.  Everything will be built on that.

I’m looking forward to this, and I welcome any input you will have.

These! Are! PUSHUPS!

Ginger is doing this Hundred Pushups Challenge thing, which I inexplicably decided I wanted to be part of.  They also have a squats and pullups challenge thing.  I’m going to do the squats one as well.

Exercising is sort of fun if you have goals.  Between these and the 5K, I don’t even feel that guilty about playing Civilization IV all night.

Quick note:  Don’t try to max out on pushups ten minutes after eating eggs with salsa.  Disaster.

Fact

Once every few days, I pause for a minute and think about whether or not I could land a standing backflip.  I haven’t tried yet, although sometimes I stand on my hands.

It’s the little things.

Costco

You know what’s fun when you’re (nearly) married?  Grocery shopping.  Why? Costco.  Do you need two pounds of hummus?*  Do you need a giant carrot cake?  A laptop?  Car insurance?  Weird soup?  Join Costco!

You get to push around a shopping cart so big that you feel like maybe somebody shrunk you, you get free samples of things that you will never buy, and you get to see other crazy people try and justify their club memberships.

You know what I did the last time we went to Costco?  I made my fiance take this photo:

USA! USA! USA!

Look at it!  It’s funny how different things excite you at different points in your life.  Action figures, video games, beer, and now bathroom tissue.

I thought about it for a minute, and figured out Costco’s not the key, it’s the person I’m with.

We get so busy sometimes we forget to appreciate where we are.  More importantly, we miss who we’re with.  Figure out who loves you, and cling to them.  This time and these people are blessings from God.

After you’ve done that, politely ask your loved ones where to put the pound of hummus left over from the Superbowl party.

*We found out the answer is always no.

Not Real Simple at All

My fiance and I recently purchased a copy of Real Simple Weddings for $14.95.  On the cover was a sticker saying “1 year of REAL SIMPLE included with your purchase (a $9 value)!”

I interpreted this statement to mean that a one year of Real Simple magazine was included with our purchase of Real Simple Weddings.  So, I sent in the fine-printless order form inside the magazine.  Lo and behold, multiple bills for $24 started flooding in the mailbox.

After weeks of emails and  twenty minutes of phone conversations with Real Simple Customer Service representatives, I learned that “1 year of REAL SIMPLE included with your purchase (a $9 value)!” actually means that you have to pay $24 for a one year subscription, and that they will tack on two free issues if you prepay.

Live and learn.

I’m Not There

Director Todd Haynes‘ unconventional biopic of the legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan features different actors playing the part of the Minnesota native at various stages of his remarkable career. Among the actors playing the singer are Cate Blanchett, who portrays the man during his Don’t Look Back era incarnation; Heath Ledger, as an actor playing one of the fictional Dylans in a movie within the movie; Christian Bale, as the Dylan beginning to chafe at being associated so strongly with political causes; Richard Gere, portraying the post-motorcycle accident period; and Marcus Carl Franklin as the young Dylan who passed himself off as the second coming of Woody Guthrie. Each section of the film not only has a different lead actor, but offers different looks that reflect various aspects of popular culture at the time. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In a DVD extra, some of the cast and crew explained that Dylan is so complex and ever-changing that having so many actors play him makes sense.  Director Todd Haynes explains the title by saying it summarizes the enigmatic icon perfectly.  As soon as you think you understand him, you reach out and find that he’s already gone.  He’s already moved.  He’s a mystery.  Look at him:

I love that about Dylan.  I’m learning to love that about God.  He’s not reducible to a set of facts or a theological bent or a poem or a picture.  He’s not just Jesus or the Holy Spirit or a rainbow or a thunderstorm or a Bible verse.  He’s not just Old Testament or New Testament.  He’s all these things.  He’s more.  We can’t just reach out and touch him.  ”I’m not there,” he says.  Don’t get frustrated.   Accept it and enjoy it.

Also, his son is cool.

So that’s another parallel.

Cooking FAIL

Butternut Squash wins the day.

The Bachelor Season Finale

Jake, what have you done?

Shirtless, contemplative Jake.

Skinny Fat

I’m getting married in three weeks.  That means I will have to be the subject of a lot of photos.  That means I’m getting into fighting shape.  I’ve changed my diet and exercise habits and cut weight the healthy way.  For the first time in five years, I’m back to what I weighed freshman year of college.  It feels nice. Well, it felt nice for a few minutes.  Until I realized I was missing the whole point of the wedding and marriage.  I’ll get back to that.

Skinny fat means you look good, but really your body is a mess.  You can still have a lot of unhealthiness inside of you and look good in a bathing suit or skinny jeans.  Skinny fat is deceptive and dangerous.  You think you’re doing good, but really you’re at risk for unexpected death.

Jesus briefly talked about being skinny fat, but he used a different term.  He said whitewashed tomb.  I’ll get back to that.

At church, one of our preachers just finished up a series on Biblical manhood. This week, he talked about the background of some imagery in Ephesians 5:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  Ephesians 5:25-27

Like the preacher, I always assumed washing with water meant baptism or something similar.  The real meaning behind Paul’s metaphor is much more interesting.  In Hebrew times, bridesmaids would symbolically wash the bride before the marriage as a sign of her purity.  I suppose it was a sanctification rite.

The preacher compared the Hebrew bridesmaids to the modern husband.  Just as the bridesmaids helped sanctify the bride for her earthly husband, so does the husband help sanctify his wife to God.  That is a serious responsibility.  It’s also a big honor.

I was immediately frustrated with myself for focusing on looking good instead of being good.  If I sat down and did the math, I would say I have spent more time in the past couple weeks exercising than on my knees in prayer for my bride.  That’s not to say that I wasn’t trying to love her and be a good guy.  I certainly was.  But it does mean I lost sight of the charge that God gave husbands.  It means I was skinny fat.

I’m grateful for the conviction and shame I felt, because they are gifts from God to help me fulfill the responsibilities and honors I have been given.  It’s grace that lets me realize I’m skinny fat, and that I need to get healthy.  It’s grace that warns me to focus on the right things, before I become a whitewashed tomb – a nice husband who forgot his role.

Husbands, love your wives.