You might be surprised to see what is making the news today. Among the stories of war, corruption, pollution, and where carnival workers live, there are glimpses of the Kingdom and accounts of redemption.
Take Monday, June 18th in the San Diego Union Tribune. The UT has never been considered a bastion of articles on faith, but on this day three separate pieces appear that promote the Gospel.
First is the story of Christopher Yanov. Yanov seems like the classic product of a church youth group. Smart, college bound, and wondering how to serve God in today's hustle and bustle.
After college, he subed at a jr. high not far from where I grew up in San Diego and noticed the oppression and hopelessness gangs and broken families have on smart kids. So he walked in their shoes and reached out to Hispanic gang members. Now he runs Reality Changers, a ministry that tutors smart kids from tough neighborhoods so they can get to college.
The UT also featured Majur Malou, a Sudanese survival of torture for his Christian faith and belief in democracy. Malou was assisted by Survivors of Torture and now is the director of St. Luke's Refugee Network, an outreach to Sudanese refugees settling in San Diego.
Last was the story of Richard Liggett, the Louisiana convict who built the coffin in which Ruth Graham was buried. Liggett was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder and found Christ. Liggett built simple, but beautiful birch caskets at the prison before he died of cancer.
These three stories are examples of today's medium for the Gospel. These are the quiet stories that reach people without knowing that God has just laid His hand on their shoulder. These are the examples of redemption in our midst.
What other names did your parents consider for you?
It wasn't another name, it was the first part of a double name. You know how some people have double names like Mary Ellen, or Julie Anna or Bobby Joe. Well the first part of my double name was Goddammit. So the full name would come out as Goddammit Paul.
For a while there I thought they might shorten it to GP, like how some people go by JP if there name is John Paul, or TJ, if there name is Thomas James. But heck if my folks weren't purists and GP just never stuck and they kept the whole thing.
Ah....those precious childhood memories.
Maybe it was the NyQuil. Maybe the fever. Whatever it was, it sparked a new focus and symbolism for my life.
It was a month or so ago when I had a terrible flu. Head pounding, eyes burning, sinus erupting flu. I felt awful.
The worst part was I had committed to house/dog sit for some dear friends. We got there Friday afternoon and by Saturday mid-day, I was just worthless. So, I did what any red-blooded American male does on a weekend when sick: I watched cable.
As I flicked up and down on a cable system with which I was totally unfamiliar, I landed on the umpteenth replaying of The Lord of The Rings on TBS. I love LOTR. Its a great movie, with great characters and all. And, of course, as a dying man in a recliner, how could I pass it up?
But something about this particular viewing of LOTR really got to me. It wasn't anymore about a cool adventure with interesting creatures and the classic battle of good vs. evil. During this viewing the true analogy of God's redemptive plan for the universe became clear. The fact that man, among the most fickle of the creatures, had a hand in the fall and redemption of of middle earth. The fact that creation was a part of the drama. And that fact that evil was displayed so well all hit me very hard.
I determined that, ala John Eldridge, I too would become a warrior. I would engage in the Great Adventure against evil and have to rely on those who were perhaps considered insignificant by many. I would do my part to keep this fragile hope alive not because there is anything in it for me, but because I simply cannot do nothing.
What I needed was a symbol. Maybe a LOTR poster? They were inexpensive and featured all the characters.
But a friend of mine suggested something better: a sword. Ah...yes! What every warrior needs!
I looked on the web and was attracted to Anduril, the sword of Aragorn (the guy played by Viggo Mortenson). Now Anduril was made from the shards of Narsdil, the sword that Aragorn's faither Elendil, used to fight Sauron. Elendil was killed and the sword shattered but Isildur, Elenddi's son, took the hilt of the sword and used it to cut the One Ring from the hand of Sauron. So, bottom line, this is a sword with some juice.
Oh sure, everyone thought I had become a total fantasy geek as I became more interested in LOTR. The wife thought for sure this was the beginning of some crazy mid-life crisis where I start attending renaissance fairs and start asking her to dress like a wench.
No, this was about LOTR and the story - not about medieval martial arts and weaponry. Weaponry, however, as always been a latent interest of mine. I do own a set of Philippino Arnis fighting sticks, an official marine K-Bar combat knife, a US Army machete, and a couple of other cool weapons.
When I was a pre-teen I had to accompany my parents as they shopped for antiques when we lived back east. Most of these trips were just frustrating as a kid. But in one shop in central New Jersey I found a cool thing: a real medieval style shield. I have been carrying it around with me for many years.
I stripped the paint off the shield, buffed it out, and painted it black with a white tree, the symbol of Gondor, one of the human Kingdom's of LOTR middle-earth.
I am pretty excited about these new symbols in my life. I look forward to having grand-children and telling them the significance of the sword and shield and introduce them to Lord of the Rings.
I'll load a picture of my sword and shield soon.
