A Pilgrim’s Odyssey

Are You An "A" Student?

Lack of self-awareness and honesty is one of the most crippling things a human can do to themselves.

Teaching your kids to do the same is worse.

As you get older, you observe that a lot of people never learned why they weren’t "A" students in school. Not that an "A" students can't be irrational, they can, but usually to get As requires a work ethic and basic level of aptitude and skill along with a decent level of self-awareness, i.e. if I don’t work hard I won’t get good grades. While "C" and "D" students easily fall prey to a lack of self-awareness of their work ethic, "A" students can easily fall prey to the same thing because of pride and vanity.

All of us are susceptible to it.

Coaching sports has taught me great lessons in this, both by examining myself and watching others. My team and how it plays is a reflection of me, especially the things they need to work on. If they are doing something I don’t like, I’ve learned the first place I need to look is at how I’m doing things, and what my expectations are and should be.

Parents have taught me how easily it is to get blinded to reality. We all believe in our children, but sometimes their performance and abilities don’t rise to our ambitions. If your judgement is clouded, you will eventually lose credibility and it hurts your child.

Honest self-awareness is the key to developing ourselves and dealing with others. Grade yourself: your work-ethic, your abilities, your strengths, your weaknesses, what can you improve? Are you a good listener, do you do your homework, do you have the humility to hear things you don’t like?

Romans 12:3 "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

Chicken Pot Pie, and The Beauty of Tribes

I can remember the smells and happiness. Sunday gatherings at Ma Dick’s, short for Dickerson, when I was a young boy and my mom hauled me and my brothers down to Mississippi every summer.

Her home was hot, an old simple dwelling, and the kitchen probably got to 120 degrees on Sunday afternoons. It was filled with delicacies, pot pies with dumplings, sweet tea, okra, biscuits, pies, green beans, watermelon and much more that I’m missing.

Every room was filled to the point that men were standing in the doorways and outside scrambled a rat pack of kids of all ages running and hollering.

It is where the seed was planted for big families, and I’m sure it contributed to my desire to have a huge one.

People ask me a lot, especially today when families are small and many people don’t even want one, why, why so many kids?

We are a tribe, and I grew up in a tribe. Tribes can be messy, and if you are not careful, a tribe can be suffocating. But at its best, a tribe has your back, you feel safe, and with the foundation of this safety you believe you can do anything.

Think of the Israelites wandering the desert or early Christians meeting in homes and catacombs. There is strength in numbers, and there are no numbers closer than the blood of a close family.

What if you weren’t raised in a big family, or are single and your family is spread out, etc. Well then create a tribe. I would start small, but keep your friends close and cultivate relationships. Get out of your comfort zone and go to Bible studies, clubs, or heck, move to a small town!

Survival and Pride, Prayer and Fasting

In a facebook conversation yesterday, I said to a friend, “people are far less driven by their conscience than they are by their survival instincts and pride.”

It is true. It is true about me, and it is true about you. It is one of the reasons all humans need “religion” - to train themselves to develop and follow a true conscience. Lose that training, you risk losing your conscience, your compass, and falling victim to your most base instincts.

Of course, I believe my faith, Christianity, isn’t just any “religion”. The core of our faith is the need to recognize that we are always falling prey to our instinctual, selfish, pride-filled side.

1 Corinthians 10:13 tell us:  "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

It is our own desire to do evil, it is deep within us. We don’t need to judge others, we need only look at ourselves to understand why we need our faith

James 1:12-16 follows: "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers."

We talked earlier this week about fasting. And how it should be as common in our life as prayer. We need them both, and with the aid of grace and the comforter, the holy spirit, we can root out the desires of our soul that leads to suffering and death, and replace them with a divine conscience that guides us to peace.

Be Like Toodles, A Sojourner!

My wife and I (girlfriend at the time), were on the homeward leg of a motorcycle journey and we had one last stop to make with my Grandma Toodles. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I approached long-haired on a motorcycle with a strange girl.

But Grandma Toodles never failed, and she had supper ready and not soon after, with a grin, asked if she could try on my helmet! She said if she was younger she’d have me give her a ride. I tried to coax her, but she wouldn’t budge.

You see, there is a sojourner in all of us. A traveler, a part of our soul that knows we are on a journey and when we recognize that life gets exciting.

In many ways, the Bible is a storybook of journeys. From Adam and Eve leaving the garden, to the wanderings of Moses and his people, to John the Baptist in the desert or Christ on the many paths of his ministry.

We are all called to be part of that journey.

In Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Cleaning Our Cells And Our Souls

We are sojourners! How do we war against the things that war against our soul? We go deep! Physically and spiritually!

From a Forbes magazine article on fasting:

"Longo’s hypothesis is that fasting (or starvation) forces your body to “recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed” which explains the drop in the white blood cell count. Two of the key mechanisms are an enzyme called PKA and a hormone called IGF-1, both of which are reduced by fasting. Once you start eating again, your stem cells kick back into high gear to replenish the cells that were recycled."

Now that is the potential result from a physical fast. Why wouldn’t a spiritual fast have the same impact? But instead of fasting from food, why not fast from every unnecessary, worldly thing in your life – internet, TV, magazines, gossip. Force yourself to give up on anything extraneous. Maybe go on a retreat, into the woods, the desert, to a monastery. Don’t feed your passions for a few days and see if the desires recede and you begin to focus on more important things.

Just like a physical fast, a spiritual fast isn’t a one-time thing. We accumulate garbage, in our cells and in our souls, and we need to periodically flush them out to see clearly and live healthy.

We Are Sojourners

From a prayer to Christ our King:

“we are sojourners on earth, our true citizenship is in heaven”

Sojourn – a temporary stay (n) or – to stay for a time in a place (v)

Sometimes a stranger helps us when we are broken down. More often than not, they pass you by.

Sometimes you wake up to a happy surprise, sometimes a horrible disaster.

But don’t worry, you are sojourner!

1 Chronicles 29:15: "For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding."

1 Peter 2:11-12: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

Exposing The Wizards Behind The Curtain

The GameStop stock mania has shown a lot of people what is behind the curtain of finance.

Short selling is a fairly simple concept—an investor borrows a stock, sells the stock, and then buys the stock back to return it to the lender.

Small traders, college kids, and many others took advantage of this, primarily on the trading app Robinhood. They purchased and drove up the price of GameStop that many big hedge funds and banks were counting on going bankrupt and making money with a short.

As the big boys lost money they tried to shut down the ability of these young entrepreneurs to communicate and even trade. And the Wizard stepped from behind the curtain.

These Wizards are all around us, in government, in social media, in banks, in mega-churches, in professional organizations, on college campuses.

Knowledge is power and you know as well or better than most "experts" what you need for your life and happiness. Stand up, be heard, be bold, it is time to expose the curtain and fight for your family, faith, and local community.

Hey! Teachers! Leave Them Kids Alone!

A January 27, 2021 report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research said that 45% of California youth between the ages of 12 and 17 report having recently struggled with mental health issues, with nearly a third of them experiencing serious psychological distress that could interfere with their academic and social functioning.

They went on to say: “With almost half of California’s adolescents experiencing moderate to serious psychological distress, there is an urgent need to protect their psychological and emotional well-being by addressing the structural and social factors related to inequities in mental health,” said D. Imelda Padilla- Frausto, the study’s co-lead author and a research scientist at UCLA CHPR."

"Using data from the center’s 2019 California Health Interview Survey, the study authors looked at social determinants of health — non-medical factors such as family income, insurance, race and ethnicity, and citizenship status — to determine which adolescents were most affected by mental health distress."

"They also examined the impact of adolescents’ physical health and behavior in areas such as eating habits, physical activity, social media use and substance use, including drinking and smoking."

But what about stable families, time spent on all technology, time in church, etc. We discuss on today's Pilgrim's Odyssey.

My Worst Day, Was My Best

A friend asked me about my toughest day this morning, and what I learned. It was a failed trip that left my family in a home without water. It's a pretty amazing story if you take a few minutes to listen today.

We learned a lot. There is only a few things in life worth focusing:

Faith

Family

Relationships

If you see a good cause, a good work being done, support it. Few are willing to pay the price and we need them. I wouldn’t be here without the people that supported me.

Alone In The Land Of Fire And Ice

It’s been an icy day here in Indiana - on the roads, the sidewalks, the trees. Days like this always remind me of my time in Iceland when I was in High School. The land of fire and ice.

One lesson I learned from that trip was how to be alone with yourself. I mean really alone.

Sitting alone, miles away from anyone. You hear voices, the earth speaks to you, and birds are more than birds. Heck I was attacked by some I thought were friends!

One day it was like life's mystery unfolded in front of me while sitting on an enormous boulder. There will be great wonder, but great suffering. I didn't really understand real suffering at the time, but I’ve found it to be true. To live is to suffer, and anytime you overcome that is a triumph.