Shorts Review

Shorts received some well deserve praise. Read about it here. Also, we hope to see you this Thursday for unTapped!

Doors, doors, and more doors

Last night's meeting at Short's Brewing Co. began with a question about regret and doubt. How often do we make decisions and then go back and wonder what would have been if you'd made the other decision?

Someone compared it to walking through a door. Once you've gone through that one door, you will always wonder what was behind the other doors. Then someone else in the group said, "There are other doors?!"

How much fate vs. free will, or destinity vs. chance is there in our decisionmaking process? Better question, what is the place for regret and wonder in these decisions?

Change in values?

I have two friends who recently posted pictures on Facebook that I appeared in. The first picture is from 1998, my freshman year in college,

and the second picture is from two years ago, right before I graduated from seminary.

And for a point of reference, here is a picture of me now -

My point in showing these "fantastic" pictures of me is to note that I can remember those times like they were yesterday, yet I know how much of a different person I was then compared to now. I can't quite put my finger on how and why I think of myself as a different person, but I know that what I thought, what I believed, what I wanted, and what I hoped for were entirely different things in each of these three snapshots of my life. In addition to looking different, I just feel different than I did then.

So what is the concrete, immutable me? Is there a part of us that doesn't change? Are we the same person and it's just our external pressures and environment changes, or are we truly a million different people from one day to the next?

Who are we and who are we going to be? Do those things have to be mutually exclusive?

What is our true identity?

Discuss: Art, Kids and God

Tonight for unTapped we will continue our discussion about art and beautuy as well as discuss the legitimacy and reality of childhood spiritual experiences.

hope to see you at Short's, tonight at 7:00pm

Earliest Memories

Yesterday was a fantastic day to celebrate Easter. It was beautiful out in Northern Michigan - the birds are returning, the snow has melted, and green things are just around the corner.

We took my daughter outside to find eggs in the yard. She LOVED it. My son (10 mo.) didn't quite grasp the concept but my daughter, she was in her glory. At nearly 3 years old she is doing some pretty incredible stuff and I'm loving watching it happen.

I told someone at work about this this morning and she said, "My boys talk about the first outdoor easter egg hunt they did when they were three or four...right around the same age as your girl."

Then I made the strange connection/realization that my daughter might actual retain some of the memories she experiences these days. Up until this point, I was pretty sure she wasn't going to remember the time we got stuck in the mud while driving. At least, I figured she wouldn't remember it when she was in her twenties so it wouldn't come back to haunt me.

Nope. Now she remembers things and she's starting to build up a memory of her life.

I talked to another friend about something that happened to us in college and he said, "Wow, I don't really remember that. I guess a little bit, but I don't remember it like you do."

Why do we hold on to some memories more than others?

No unTapped this Week

We won't be meeting this week for unTapped. But, feel free to swing by Short's anyway.

Sharing the Shins

What do you love? What are you passionate about? Do you ever find yourself telling everybody you know about a sports team, band, or film? What is it about cultural things that make us want to bring the reality of the experience to other people?

I'll give you a double example. Years ago, a friend of mine kept badgering me to see a film called Garden State. I was not a big fan of scrubs, so I consistently refused. However, I was won over by my friend's passion about the film. When, I finally did see it, I was blown away by one line in particular.

For years now, I have been a huge fan of the Shins, an indie band from Albuquerque. Before Garden State most people had never heard of the Shins (they are on the soundtrack). So, for the most part, I was alone in my adoration for the Shins' baroque pop discography. That is, until I saw Garden State and heard the line. Check out this scene from the film to get what I am talking about.

"The song" was "New Slang" by the Shins. I almost jumped out of my seat. Somebody else loved the Shins! I don't know why that was so exciting to me other than the fact that I now realized that I was a part of something bigger.

in the film, Sam's passion for her music and for sharing it with others is beautiful and magnetic. But is it always magnetic to share your passion?

The other day, my wife was paid a visit by a local religious group that is trying to recruit people to their Easter services. More than anything, their door-to-door is annoying to most people, but aren't they sharing their passion? Why is it annoying when religious people share what they are excited about, but it is not so annoying when people share their passion about sports, music, books, television, etc. ?

Another interesting perspective on this subject comes from a committed atheist, Penn Jillete. Listen to what he has to say:

So, an atheist seems to think that if religious people believed that their faith really had eternal implications, they would be sharing it with everyone.

What do you think? Should religious people share their faith?