What a Girl Wants

Watched this really cute movie last night with my daughter and her friends as they celebrated E's (my daughter) birthday. The premise of the movie is a girl grows up without the thing she wants most, her dad, and her journey to find him and herself.

Doing what I do, soldier in the Army, a pilot in helicopters, and the inherent risk with those things, makes me fearful of creating a similar situation. My only hope in the face of that fear is that I am not the person that completes my daughter's identity. My prayer is to teach her that, and while there may be a hole in this "life" of hers should the hazards of this job take their toll, the Life that is given to her by her Father can make her completely whole!

Previous Comments:

Hey, this is fantastic!!

Jim

Posted
by: the Shovel at August 31, 2003 04:08 PM

Oh this is a tough one. There are many times that I've
wondered - if for some reason I'm not here anymore for my child - how will they
know both my desire and hope for them that they establish for themselves a
relationship with Father?

I've even seriously considered making a video
tape of myself sharing my testimony and my journey with Him for the just in
case. Of course I have my writings - Approaching Glory Articles (as opposed to
the general blog - Approaching Glory)

Every girl wants to be affirmed
and unconditionally loved by Daddy. Daddy sets the pattern for so much emotional
and spiritual issues in a little girl's life. And when you don't have a healthy
example the scars can be tremendous. But we serve a good Father who - given the
chance - reveals Himself to be the perfect Father.

The fact that you
would even consider this lets me know you must be a pretty sharp Daddy. Your
little girl is blessed.

Posted by: lillium at September 3, 2003 10:41 AM

Real vs. Fake

How can I tell what is real? Is it what I see? A magician makes a living by making people see things that aren't there or not seeing things that are there. Kind of similar to special effects people who are expert at tricking the camera and the eye into seeing something that is fake as if it is real. The military has spent years, since WWII, trying to hide facilities, people, and vehicles from easy detection, even though those things might be in plain sight.

We even hide the real intended meaning of what we say by disguising it with a certain tone of voice, or using certain words or phrases that are often used in other ways. Or we hide what we're feeling by pretending other emotional expressions.

The thing is that what is often presented as reality is intended to hide what is really real because of fear. Fear that something will be found out or that the true intent will be misunderstood or even that the truth will cause a retaliation in kind because the truth isn't really all that lovely, nice, or even friendly.

Take manners, for instance. A behavioral code that is really designed to cover a multitude of "sins" regarding what is said and done in everyday life. Manners advocates may not openly admit to a standard of putting on a false face when something untowards is done to you or you are faced with a dish that is unpalatable, but it is the very construct that dictates specific behavior under certain circumstances which means that we have to hide what we really feel or think under the pretense of being a person of good manners; someone who treats everyone with a proper respect regardless of the circumstance.

The truth is the real me is often not very polite, loving, lovely, presentable, etc. But it is that real me that God knows and loves, the same me that I so desperately have desired to escape my entire life. That is the same me who finds Jesus going to the cross for him, not some pretend "me" that is perfect at acting like whatever someone thinks Jesus would act like today.

Previous Comments:

All very true and frustrating until you remember that you are a vessel made
for a noble purpose and that until He returns and sets ALL things in order, you
will be a work in progress. And as a work in progress, we will make those
inevitable blunders that will throw us off balance at times but the good news is
that He knows our hearts and the motives behind our actions or sometimes our
inactions. Reality is only found in Jesus Christ and His word says that we are
one in Him as He is One with the Father. I stopped worrying about what others
thought of me and put my focus on keeping my eyes on Jesus and what He was
saying to me. I find that with my focus on Jesus, I tend to be more tolerant of
others. Thank God because I sure need others to be tolerant of me a lot more
than the other way around! Relax and enjoy those that He has surrounded you with
and let Him "worry" about what's real or fake! Pleasure "talking" to you.

Posted by: Art at August 31, 2003 08:05 PM

Art,

For me this is more an issue of understanding that it isn't a
better me that Jesus loves and wants to be with. It is the same me that is ugly
sometimes and feels that he must somehow hide his "nakedness". It used to be
that this me felt like he was tossed out of the garden like Adam and Eve, but
now I can see that in spite of my actions, I am continually held in a wonderful
embrace by my God. So, my discussing the real vs. the fake isn't so much whining
about what people think of me, but more of an understanding that it is the human
nature in me that puts forward a fake appearance trying to hide the blemishes,
putting on fig leaves if you will, when the reality of the old dead "me" doesn't
even phase God.

Posted by: HarryTick at August 31, 2003 09:30 PM

The Obtusityness of Tickdom

I suppose this entry will be nothing more than voicing my frustrations with the desire to measure myself by the response of others to the things I say. I'm continually voicing this opinion that the gospel isn't based in what we do or don't do, but I continually measure the worth of what I say by any positive response and have, many times, reacted against the negative responses.

I suppose that any obedience would be the very speaking out itself, that is, if the things I have to say are even motivated by the Spirit of Life at all. I acknowledge the fact that they might very well be just the opinions and thoughts that I have inside of my own head. I fear that it is even more likely that it is those thoughts that would be agreed with, rather than any spiritually revealed thoughts I might happen to share.

But, as I have shared before, many times, in these times of self-doubt, as real as that might seem at the time, I am continually buoyed up by a knowledge beyond mine that says we are not what we appear to be.

Posted by HarryTick at August 29, 2003 04:28 PM

Previous Comments :

Hey bro ... I don't think "Obtusityness" is a real word!! hehehe! This was a cool thought you shared here because I really do understand that flip-flopping tendency to rate my "insights" by the very thing I know can never truly rate anything!

Jim

Posted by: the Shovel at August 29, 2003 04:36 PM

'Obtusityness' is better than real, it is a Vinnie-word!!

Thanks, bro, for a most welcomed and encouraging response! The thought that we're the ONLY ones going through a thing can create a fear that stops us from sharing anything at all. I'm sure that others will blame you in the weeks and months to come for my continuing on and on...and on! :)

Posted by: HarryTick at August 29, 2003 05:40 PM

It's good to know that my abuse of the english language has at last been publicly memorialized, ha ha.

Keep sharing the thoughts, Harry. My life has been much busier than I like lately, but I always look forward to seeing what has been on Mr Tick's mind while I was away. I always enjoy them!

Posted by: Vinnie at September 2, 2003 04:41 PM

I enjoy your posts Harry. Like I said before - I may not agree with all of them (I'm sure this doesn't shock you - LOL) BUT I enjoy your journey with Him. It is fresh to see someone honestly attempt to express the experience. That in itself makes the effort worth it doesn't it?

Posted by: lillium at September 3, 2003 10:31 AM

Faith and Works

James wrote,

"Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works."

The works we do as believers aren't to prove that we believe, they are the byproduct of believing. Your faith isn't believing the right words or doctrines, it is the evidence that an unseen God has joined himself to you and sparked a fire of Life within you. The works aren't things you learn to do, they are the living expression of God's love as he moves through you to touch others. Works aren't the result of your efforts, they are God's reminder to you of how much he loves you; so much so, that he is willing to share with you his experience as he loves others.

Resting vs. Working

Somedays I just struggle to come up with something to share on this blog. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy sharing thoughts and those days when I write something well, it just has that sound to the language that sings and the point just snaps into place like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle. I really love those days. But those days don't always happen for me. All those empty days on the little calendar on the 'Walking the Dogma' home page, those are the not happening days.

Honestly, a good many of them I really worked to try to force something good to come out. I worked hard. I mean, I have 47 'articles' posted and I have probably deleted just as many attempts at articles. But the life of Christ cannot be forced out of a mold. It can't be extruded, pressed, or formed into a shape that you think it should take. It can only flow.

It saturates your whole being, not necessarily in a way you feel, but you really are entirely permeated with the spirit of the life-giving force of the universe. You are filled beyond any capacity to contain it, you have no choice but to overflow and the life starts a trickle and quickly grows to a rushing torrent....and all without you lifting a finger. And wherever the life flows it gives sprout to fruit; just to let you know who it is that has chosen to dwell with you, within you!

Previous Comments:

I finally got here and read your blog. I absolutely love it and haven't found a thing to disagree with yet. :) I would argue with you about the Christianity thing, but, it would only turn out to be about semantics and connotations and we would go round and round as usual until we realized we basically believe the same thing.

Posted by: Mom at August 23, 2003 03:01 AM

Hi, Mom!

Everybody, my mom. Mom, everybody.

I'm really glad you like it. Kind of feels like when I brought Pooch home that time. "Can I keep him?" :) I dunno why it reminds me of that time, it just does.

Posted by: HarryTick at August 23, 2003 03:59 AM

Hi, Mom!

Posted by: the Shovel at August 23, 2003 07:54 AM

This is really encouraging to me. Just broke through somethin', I don't know what. No more trying here...Thanks so much, Harry!

Posted by: mary at August 23, 2003 04:17 PM

Do It or Else!

I know of a gentleman who claims that he doesn't believe in eternal punishments because he doesn't believe in hell as an eternal place of torture. However, if someone isn't obedient to God's Law, he says that they will just die and won't get to enjoy heaven. I guess it's some sort of partial annhiliationism, but he claims that it isn't a punishment.

When I grew up, and even as an adult, there have been plenty of times I have been threatened with the punishment of having something withheld from me. It is always given as some sort of incentive to perform the way someone else wants me to. The Christian twist on this is that ONLY those who are REALLY Christians will do the right things. ONLY THEY will treat others with the right attitude and respect, as evidence of their love for God. So, if you want to be a REAL® Christian, you should/need/have to do the right things! Which is always what I...err, I mean, Jesus says you should do.

The issue I have is that his message is no different from any other religious message. Messages that say that you have to do this in order to gain this reward. The implications of which, whether stated at any other time or not, are that not doing this results in a punishment (i.e. sin/disobedience brings punishment/absence of reward). The punishment could be as simple as no longer existing to as difficult a concept as eternal torture. The message is still the same, it remains a threat to coerce obedience "in the name of love".

Previous Comments:

Gosh Harry
Alwas easy to find differing opions on anything.
One guy thinks this the other thinks something else. To tiring for this resting person to care about--really.
Luv Yuh

Posted by: pharga at August 23, 2003 05:04 PM

Not sure what you are meaning, pharga, other than resting.

Posted by: HarryTick at August 24, 2003 01:00 AM

Not Enough Time

There just never seems to be enough time. How can I cram everything that is required of me into 24 measly hours? How can I be a good employee, a good husband, a good father, etc.? Something is bound to fall through the cracks, you can't possibly be the best at everything ALL the time.

It's okay. I have a secret to share with you. People who are the best at what they do, sacrifice something in order to achieve their goal. The thing they usually sacrifice is time. Now, you've all heard the pleas about how much time can you afford to give to God, to reading the Bible, to praying, in exchange for what God has done for you, right? Relax, I'm not going to lay one of those on you, I just wanted to remind you of them.

Consider this, that God didn't sacrifice Jesus on the cross in order to trade him for your time. He doesn't demand your time in exchange for his grace and mercy. The God of eternity isn't concerned with your hours and minutes and seconds in order to make sure that you have devoted enough time to let you into the gates of heaven. You are his, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! How can minutes or hours spent devoted to him make you any more of his than you already are? There's not enough time in the world!

Previous Comments:

Thanks Bill! I really appreciated this!

Jim

Posted by:The Shovel at August 18, 2003 02:10 PM

Amen. Really neat, and true. Good stuff.

Posted by:Mary at August 18, 2003 08:50 PM

Hi Harry!
Good news you've shared here. We're his no matter what we do or don't do!! yeaaaa!

Posted by:Connie at August 19, 2003 10:04 AM

A Shot in the Arm, Part 4

If I were to be judged before I died, I would be guilty and convicted for every wrong thing that I have done. But, if I die and come back to life as another person, how can I be punished as the person I was before?

The religious thinking that attempts to preserve my life and righteousness is the very thing that caused me to lose the eternal life that I was seeking. The more I fought to attain eternal life and to hold off death, the more the inevitability of death revealed itself. To the point that I've even lied to myself in order to feel "as if" I was alive and that others around me were dead, when I am really no different than they are. On the other hand it is the very death that I have sought to prevent, both spiritually and physically, that sets me free from this body of death and its slavery to sin.

In Jesus, I have experienced that death that is surely to come already in order that I might enjoy the newness of life, NOW. As Paul might say, "I am really dead and the real life I'm living, isn't me living but Jesus Christ living in me!"

Previous Comments:

Bill,

This post was a shot in the arm Dr. Harry Tick, thanks! Believers in Life Himself are not immune from feelings of fear. Fear of falling into sin, fear of death, etc. The reminder that we've already "experienced that death that is surely to come already in order that I might enjoy the newness of life, NOW" is better than a booster shot any day, bro. We be jommin'. :-)

agapealoha love dave c.

Posted by: Dave Cossaboon at August 4, 2003 03:54 PM

Sometimes

Sometimes the asking of the question is more important than arriving at a "correct" answer.

Saving Private Ryan: Epilogue?

In Jesus we see the one life that is worthy, sacrificed to save the lives of many. Everything about our human sense of justice tells us that this was not right. How could one so worthy take the place of those who have been deemed "not worth it"? Even in the movie, Private Ryan immediately sees the disparity in trading the lives of 6 men to rescue him from the hell of war. We could maybe agree with it if one man gave himself up for his squad or platoon, a fact that we recognize with awards for heroism, but we would seriously question a man giving his life to save the entire enemy army as well.

What could possibly be motivation enough for anyone to do such a thing?

Signs of Life

Do you realize that babies are some of the most watched humans on the face of the earth? Just about everyone loves to watch a baby, to see them look up and smile into a face that is gazing intently, beaming, as it watches a new life demonstrate itself.

Some of the watching though, is based in fear. Fear that the new life has ended. A worried mother or father pauses in the doorway of the nursery and listens and watches intently to see that there is still a rise and fall of the chest, that the whisper of baby's breath continues, that there are still signs of life in the night.

In physical life we know that these fears are not totally unfounded, although perhaps a bit alarmic, and that a good majority of babies will grow and mature and become toddlers, and children, then teens, continuing to adulthood. This is the normal progression of life. It is to be expected, but what drags us away from that hopeful expectation is fear.

Opposite to this fear which destroys hope, is love. The love of God is upon us. Our spiritual development is secure because of the love of God in Jesus Christ. There is no need to watch for signs of life in others in order to determine the continued evidence of life or growth. Within the love of God, we see that the signs of life are given as signs to ourselves, that we are made truly alive by the one who gives life!

Saving Private Ryan

I was watching the critically acclaimed movie, "Saving Private Ryan", about an impossible mission where six soldiers are sent to rescue the last of four brothers who joined the service to fight in WWII. It seems that there were some reservations by the men sent to save him as to whether or not one man was worth the lives of six.

REIBEN: "Well, sir, in purely arithmetic terms, since when does six equal one? What's the sense in risking six guys to save one?"

During the course of the whole movie, the worth of this one man is questioned over and over. Those soldiers sure didn't see Private James Ryan as being worthy of their sacrifice, and demanded that he redeem it in exchange for a life that meant something. In the end, as Ryan is saved from death, the leader of the expedition to find and save Private Ryan, Captain Miller, with his dying breath begs him, "Earn this....earn...it..."

To the contrary, we often think along the lines of "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." (Spock, The Wrath of Khan) The question is, which one of us is it going to be? Which one of us is going to sacrifice themselves for the rest of us, and what are we going to require of the ones who might receive the benefit of the sacrifice? Are we going to require them to "earn it" in order to make sure that it wasn't "wasted"?

Previous Comments:

"The question is, which one of us is it going to be? Which one of us is going to sacrifice themselves for the rest of us, and what are we going to require of the ones who might receive the benefit of the sacrifice? Are we going to require them to "earn it" in order to make sure that it wasn't "wasted"?" -HarryTick

What could we possibly do to earn it? And it will be done by those who love. Makes me think of "The Measure of Man" song... because then we have to define measures life's success and that definition is different for everyone and subjective.

Likewise - we can't earn Jesus laying down His life for us - and we can't earn "worthiness" after we accept His sacrifice. We keep trying to measure Christ by His followers and too often judge His sacrifice was a waste when we measure the people by society's measurements. We fail to see the hearts as He does. IMHO it was Love that sought us and bought us and Love that keeps to that Day.

Posted by: at August 2, 2003 09:58 AM

Thanks for the good response. It's actually right up the alley of what I was getting at.

In the snippet you quoted, I was alluding to the fact that none of us are the One who is willing to sacrifice for "everyone else". Sure, we'll sacrifice for those we think are worth it, but the act of sacrificing for people regardless of their worth is the work of Christ. His sacrifice is totally independent of the worthiness of those he died for and their worth is determined not by what they did to deserve it, but by the One who sacrificed himself for them.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Paul (Romans 5:6-8)

Posted by: HarryTick at August 2, 2003 01:24 PM