Chiming In: Rudy Olivo

*Rudy’s writing this week. As much as he influences my thought process in a given week, I thought you might LIKEWISE enjoy listening in:*

How many times do you see a creator of a given entity hand over the reigns of his/her creation to someone else and then see the thing go down hill?  Two examples immediately come to mind.  One is when God decided to let Adam have at it in the garden and the other is when Steve Jobs left Apple the first time.  Both had dire consequences.  The good news is that after the fall, both are in process of being saved by their respective creator-admittedly one is far bigger reclamation project than the other.  With these examples in mind as cautionary tales Eric Nentrup is nonetheless handing over the keys, for at least one blog, to me Rudy Olivo.  Hopefully this experience will be better than the other two.  Thanks for reading….Have you heard the Chris Rice song, “What if cartoons got saved?”  Its a cute song.  Have you heard morning drive time Christian DJs?  They speak to each other in cutsie language.  Have you gone to your local Christian bookstore?  Its full of a lot of cute crap.I’m not sure if this is my issue or if it is a possibly major issue we the church need to deal with.  I must admit that even I fall into the trap of the sing-songy, smurfarrific Christian language from time to time.  A couple days ago I sent an e-mail and as I hit the send button, I realized I wrote a line that said, “I had a really awesome prayer time while praying for…”  That was true, but it was in the context of a serious, possibly grave situation.  My legitimate joy in the Lord made me want to puke.  Okay, not the joy itself, but the way I communicated it.  I’m unsure of the impact it had on the receiver of the e-mail, but it made me think it was poorly worded.There was a recent issue of Time magazine devoted to happiness.  It was an insightful look at how people view happiness.  One of the thoughts that interested me is why we as a society find art so great when it causes a stirring of melancholy or even pain, but if it makes you feel all warm inside or if you laugh so hard you spit your Hoegaarden (if you haven’t tried this outstanding Belgian wheat ale, you are missing out) out your nose it is fluff.  Why is Adam Sandler a buffoon, but Russell Crowe is a freaking genius?A short joke interlude:  Whats the difference between God and Russell Crowe?  God doesn’t think he is Russell Crowe.Do these same misgivings of what is truly art bleed over into our view of the spiritual world?  This site has dealt with angst.  I have learned much through the struggles that Eric shares and the personal thoughts and experiences that others have written.  Would I learn the same through joyful stories, or would I blow it off as overly happy, not dealing with real life Christians?I’ve experienced some difficulty in the recent past.  Actually, it has been more painful than anything else I’ve ever seen.  In the midst of it, I’ve seen a change in my spiritual life.  Today, and over the last 3 or 4 days I’ve felt like I’ve had a direct line to God.  I’ve been given over to talking like a morning Christian DJ.  It sucks, but its great at the same time.  It sucks because when I feel and communicate this way I know I immediately remove myself from the understanding of some people (people like me).  I also fear that some will see my behavior in a manner that lessens the gravity of what I’m experiencing or like I don’t hold important what really is.Some say perception is reality.  Is it?  If so, maybe we need to keep quiet more and get more busy (busier?).  For those of you indoctrinated into Christian culture for many years, do you remember the old Petra song, “Sometimes Gods children should be seen and not heard”?  I think we need to remember this not only when we are trying to quiet the guy down who is yelling hate speak on the local corner, but also when we just don’t have anything to say and try to sugar it up so much that it drives people away.  When you feel that connection with God where you can’t describe the experience any other way than the flowery language, than do so.  If not, don’t.  The false pretense lessens the way people are able to perceive the power and the truth of God.A quote from Henri Nouwen to conclude my thoughts…. >”Sometimes it seems that our many words are more an expression of our doubt than of our faith.  It is as if we are not sure that God’s Spirit can touch the hearts of people: we have to help him out and, with many words, convince others of his power.  but it is precisely this wordy unbelief that quenches fire.” (The Way of the Heart 39)
>*Disclosure: Any referenced Books, Movies, Music, etc. that link to Amazon.Com, or the search box in the sidebar,now benefit EricNentrup.Com. If you’re going to order something through Amazon, and don’t mind making a stop here first to do so, you’re patronage is greatly appreciated!*