What is Your Favorite Disney Character?
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Norah was asked this question by her friend Ella.  And Norah without hesitation said, “Darth Vader.”  What?  Really?  Darth Vader?!

What in the world am I raising here.  Now technically Star Wars is now owned by Disney, so any character in Star Wars is a Disney character.  So, yes, Darth Vader is the correct answer.  But I guess when I think of Disney characters I think, those Disney princesses and I sort of expected Norah to respond to the above question to be answered as any of the numerous Disney princesses. 

Norah is a girl!  My little girl!  She should be liking Disney princesses, right?  Or at least she should be liking the good guys.  But she didn’t answer what I expected.  She answered that her favorite character is Darth Vader.  Darth Vader, the most ruthless, intimidating, powerful dark side Sith lord, dictator, of the Star War’s galaxy.  That is her favorite.

She went from liking unicorns, narwhals, fairies, dolls, cute things, to now liking Darth Vader.  But I think she still likes unicorns and all that cute stuff, but let's just add Darth Vader in the mix now.  But I guess I should have seen it coming.  I mean she has Darth Vader decorated on her purple crocs.  Her crocs are decorated with the Death Star, Boba Fett, and Darth Vader.  Yeah… all bad guys…. She took off the Millennial Falcon, R2D2, and C3PO decoration from her crocs.  She only liked the bad guys apparently. 

So… She likes the Dark Side of the Force apparently.  Well, she isn’t a little girl anymore.  But she is still my girl.  And I also agree, the Dark Side of the Force is Star Wars is so dang cool.  So, I don’t mind it too much, I guess.

Also, for Halloween she went from wanting to dress like frozen characters, to now wanting to be a scary vampire. 

Norah cannot be the same when she was a little baby girl.  She is changing and she will like what she thinks is “cool.”  The things she now enjoys is changing and becoming more diverse.  And it should be.  I cannot expect her to always like princessy things anymore.  She will grow and she will change.

And that is what our faith should be like as well.  As life gets more and more complicated, our faith journey should be expanding and growing.  As we face life challenges, is should also challenge belief as well, not to destroy it but to refine it.  So never think about the way that God spoke to you when you were a child is going to be the same when you are 30 or 50 or 70 or 80 years old.  God is unchangeable, but the way He speaks to you will be different.  God knows what you need and God knows all the things we go through in every stage of our life requires different answers to every challenge in every age with go through. 

We should be going through change in understanding our faith from the song, “Jesus Loves Me” to “Amazing Grace” to “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” to “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” to Bless be the Tide that Binds.”  These hymns are a reflection of our journey with Christ, from little, to maturity, to aging, to the end, and everlasting.  Life goes from being simple to complicated, and our faith should be growing just the same. 

Just remember the challenges that we face in life, the challenges of our faith and belief are all part of the process to become stronger and getting closer to God.  And never fret about these challenges, because Jesus is there with you guiding you through this process. 

The world may change.  You may change.  Your faith may grow.  But remember what never changes is how much God loves you!  Have confidence in that!

So much pressure when I am trying to get the kids’ lunches ready in the morning for school.  I always have 2 pair of eyes watching me as I make turkey sandwiches.  Their eyes feel like it is piercing through my heart!  I can almost feel what they are feeling, the desperation and need to just get a little bite. 
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I don’t know which one is worse, the cat or the dog.  Because the cat is vocal, very vocal.  Meowing and crying constantly.  And I know that our cat has perfected her cries so well that it garners attention.  Meanwhile, my dog is silent.  She just sits there in the kitchen watching, not making the slightest noises.  No barking, no whining, not even the slightest movement.  Our dog will just sit there silently and patiently…. Drooling… drooling a ton, as if she is forming the newest Great Lake, named Lake Superior Drool. 

 So, I feel so much pressure to give some food to my cat and dog while I make turkey sandwiches.  I now feel that I am obligated to give them just a little.  But before I even give them the tiniest food, I have to make sure I finish making the food for the kids lunch, clean up everything and put the food away while saving a little nub for the cat and dog.  Because if I give the cat and dog too early, like in the food making process, they will continue to be relentless in their begging technique. 

So, I got to wait till the end.  And only when I give them a little treat, the pressure for me will end.  I can feel relief and feel peace.  And when you think about it, life is just like trying to make sandwiches in the morning while hungry animals are begging right in front of you.  Life is all about pressure, and most of the time the pressure we feel is because of other people, and that other people have their eyes on us. 

Pressure in the workplace is because your boss, colleagues, workers, and even “customers” have their eyes on you to see your “performance” and whether that “performance” is up to their standards of excellence.  Pressure in school is often felt because of how concerned we are about what other people think about us, or how my grades might impress friends, teachers, or parents.  Pressure is all around us because we tend to focus our attention on other people and that their opinions might matter to how we feel.  We often focus on the eyes that are on us, feeling people’s gaze and hoping that we do everything we can to satisfy the people around us.

Unfortunately, this kind of thinking needs to end.  Our happiness, our being, our life should not be controlled by other people’s opinions.  Who really cares what people think.  We will never be able to make all people happy anyways!  The truth is you can make some people happy but then other people may feel unhappy. 

Your teacher may give you high praises for being a good student, but some of your classmates might ridicule you for being a “teacher’s pet.”  You might impress the boss with your work ethic, but your work peers may see your work ethics as a threat to their job performance, and then they may isolate you from workplace relationships.  You can never win all people over and satisfy all people’s hunger.  So, stop trying.

Jesus’ ministry was full of disappointment.  No matter what he did, there is always some to criticize him.  When he heals people, the religious authority questions Jesus’ authority to heal people.  When Jesus gives a message to the disciples, the disciples leave Him because the message is too difficult.  When all Jesus wants to do is serve God, His family calls Him crazy.  If we learn anything from Jesus, it is simply that we cannot please all people, it is impossible.  But this never stopped Jesus is serving people well.  Regardless of Him facing rejection and criticism, Jesus continues to take care of people no matter what.  Because Jesus’ serving, loving, and caring heart for people is never depended on people’s acceptance.  Jesus serves others because He loves them, even if they do not love Him back.  Jesus serves, because He knows it is the right thing to do, and He does it because He wants to, not because He has too.
Love people, service people, it is good to do so, but don’t do it because you are looking for a reward and people’s applause or because you want to make people happy.  Love people, serve people because you want to, because service and love gives you happiness and peace.    

To be honest, I do not think my cat or dog is going to love me less if I do not give them some sandwich meat from making school lunches.  Also, I do not think their opinion of me is going to change much if I do give them a taste of what is being made for school lunches.  But I give them a treat of it anyways, because… well… I want to.

My son’s feet smell like Cheetos.  I used to love eating Cheetos… I no longer desire them.  After school Ben’s feet have a strong scent of Cheetos!  Last year wasn’t like that, as a matter of fact this is the first time his feet smell.  And apparently, this is the beginning of the end because it’s only going to smell worse!  Apparently, the peak of boy smelliest occurs at ages 12-18, then at 18 you sort of get used to it. 

After school, every day I have to tell Ben to go upstairs and wash his feet.  Sometimes I do it for him, but He’s got to do it on his own.  Makes me amazed how Jesus washed His disciples’ feet.  All twelve disciples’ feet, 24 feet in total, 24 feet smelling like Cheetos.  Then it makes me think maybe Jesus had to wash their feet, not for a theological lesson or an act of servitude, but probably because of the strong smell of Cheetos engulfing the upper room. 

Now my disclaimer:  Cheetos are a lovely smell, when they are directed towards Cheetos… but if something else smells like Cheetos that are not Cheetos… that’s not pleasant.  So, I got nothing against Cheetos… I just have a problem when his toes smell like Cheetos.

I am kidding about my commentary about Jesus’ feet smelling like Cheetos… I understand that Jesus did this as an act of kindness and a life lesson to teach His disciples.

OK… back to what I was saying about feet smell and coming of age. 

I must understand that even though my son’s feet smell unpleasant and that it will get only worse, I should not despair and feel nauseated.  It only means he is growing up and maturing, and that is a good thing!  SO, bring on the Chee-Toes!  Wonder it next year Ben’s feet will be a different scent... like Fritos, or Cheesecake, or whatever food I once enjoyed that I will now have to give up due to Ben’s feet smelling like the food I enjoy.  Who knows. All I know is that this is a sign that he is growing.  That amazed me because I still see him as this little boy!  But according to his foot smell… he’s no longer a little boy… he’s just A BOY… I must drop the word “little” in describing him now.  He is growing up, he is changing.  So, I must give thanks to God, to bring this boy out of the little stage and into a new era of becoming.  God has led Ben back then, and God will continue to lead Ben now and the days that follow. 

However, I do pray to God and ask, Does Ben’s feet really need to smell like Cheetos?  Also, anyone reading this… Do you want any extra Cheetos… I have regular ones and puff ones.  I know I’m not going to eat them for a while.  

On the internet a while back ago, I encountered a questionnaire that asked one question to the person and that was, “What is the best country in the world?”  And you simply answer.  But my question is what is considered “the best?”  The best in what?  Are we answering this question based on education, politics, medical care, retirement, happiness, financial needs, welfare, job opportunities, freedom, religion?  Anyways, my answer was obviously biased, because I answered The United States of America as the best country.  But I didn’t base it on any of the categories above, I answered because I loved the people and the freedom of individual autonomy, and power of influence.  Now I understand that someone else would answer this simple question differently, and answer a different country, which is fine.  It is hard to measure what is the best or greatest country in the world.  We all have certain biases on what is the best or greatest. 
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A few Sundays ago, we encountered a passage that the disciples were arguing who was the greatest disciple.  Jesus, of course, hearing this, responds that if you want to be great you must be last for the first will be last and the last will be first.  He continues to reiterate that being last means you must be a servant to all, put other needs ahead of your own.  And Jesus continues to tell the disciples, that anyone who accept s a child would be the greatest.  A child is Jesus’ metaphor to represent the weak, forgotten, voiceless, and vulnerable in the society. 

I like Jesus’ answer because His answer is as simple as it gets.  It is straightforward and honest and regardless of our biases, Jesus says to help one another, no matter what.  Jesus holds no judgement but only wishes that everyone that encounters Him and learns about Him will understand that what He requires is for every person to put others needs ahead of themselves.  That is true greatness. 

Take care of each other and take care of the world.  Yes, the world... the little creatures that God has places before us to be caretakers of those little ones.  Remember God’s instruction in Genesis, to be caretakers and “namers” of the creatures here below.  They are directly influenced by our human activity.  We move into next Sunday to celebrate World Communion Day, that day is for all people to recognize God glory and the savior of the world, Jesus Christ.  But this day isn’t just for us humans, it is also for all of the creation… the world, the world that includes people, animals, plants, and even inorganic materials such as mountains, valleys, and seas.  This upcoming Sunday, people, mountains, and all creatures bow to the one true God, creature of all, and redeemer of all. 

It is easy for any of us to be bias and focus World Communion Sunday to be a day for us humans… but it is a day for all creation, God’s creation to come together and worship.  Mountain bow down, even the wind and waves listen to Jesus’ voice “to be still!”  So, let's remember once again what Jesus says, “To be the greatest, you must become servant to all.  Anyone who welcomes a child is the greatest.”  So, let's make this world worthy of God’s holiness and a reflection of God’s care and love by taking care of each other and all of creation.  Show compassion on all people, animals, and the earth.  That is be responsible and be caring.