I Like You

My wife and I have a strange, but nice pattern where when we encounter each other, we say "I Like You". What we are saying is that we appreciate the strengths and the mutual affection we have for each other. This phrase "I Like You" does not replace love. Love is an act of the will and has nothing to do with the other person. My wife could be completely unresponsive and I would still love her. But in saying "I Like You", I am saying I appreciate all that is contained in her being. This is consistent with the words for love in the bible. The word agape refers to the unconditional love, the covenant commitment love whereas phileo refers to brotherly affection or the Greek word equivalent of like.

I have started to use my Fitbit more. The other day I realized something. After I charge the Fitbit up fully, it flashes on the screen "I Like You". Wow, I did not realize my Fitbit likes me. I could sit on my lazy butt for weeks on end and after I charge my Fitbit, it will still say "I Like You". That is not agape love or phileo love, but self-love. The programmers of the Fitbit software (it's always the software) figured out that we better put motivational concepts in or people will get discouraged or apathetic.

It got my thinking how many people confuse self-love with brotherly love, or even worse with covenant love. Self love can never stand alone. The bible says to "let another praise you and not your own mouth" (Proverbs 27:2). I can come up with all my own motivational statements all day long but in the end, I must have someone else to admire something in me, even when I am a complete screw-up. God has wired us to long for the affection and admiration of others. It is part of what keeps us in relationship.

The Case of the Hidden Pearl

A Filipino fisherman in western Palawan island has found possibly the world's biggest pearl, but he didn't know it. For 10 years, the 34-kilogram (75-pound) pearl was hidden in a bag under a bed. The fisherman's family would rub it with their hands before going out to sea in the belief it would bring them luck, said relative Aileen Amurao.

Amurao, who is also Puerto Princesa city's tourism officer, said Thursday that the man gave her the pearl last month for safekeeping because he was moving to a new place. The pearl was sitting on a bench in her home for weeks until she found time to check the internet, and she was shocked to learn that it could be the world's biggest at 2.2 feet (67 centimeters) long and 1 foot (30 centimeters) wide. The estimated value of the pearl is 100 million dollars.

This story reminded me of the story of the "pearl of great price". This story in Matthew 13:45-46 says that a merchant was seeking fine pearls and upon finding one, he sold all he had to go and buy it. I am struck by the differences between the two stories:

• The realization of value - the fisherman must have known that he had something of value because he hid it under the bed. But he really did not know the true value of what he had. The gospel is of unlimited value but many don't realize it.
• The response of what to do with the value - the fisherman rubbed the pearl for good luck. How many of us treat the gospel as just a good luck charm. No doubt the merchant of the gospels saw the pearl as a fantastic investment because he was an investor of pearls.
• The reaction upon finding the pearl is of high value is shock to the fisherman but obviously not shocking to the merchant who knew the value he had. I wonder how many people will be shocked to find that the gospel is "good news" to so many and it is just waiting for those who will embrace it.

The pearl of Matthew 13 is something that intrinsically people would regard as high value. Not much more needs to be said. Jesus says in Matthew 7:6 says not to cast pearls before swine. The idea is you shouldn't have to convince somebody of something that has intrinsic value. It is one of those things that is self-evident, unless of course we misunderstand or misapply it. 

The Summer of Weddings

It seems like each summer these days is packed full with weddings. It seems to be the confluence of a number of factors.

1. We are at an age where the next generation is getting married so our friends kids, friends of our kids, etc. getting married.
2. One of our ministries is being marital mentors through our church.
3. I am married to a wedding coordinator.

So between Deb and I, we will have about 10 weddings under our belt this summer. It is not a problem and I am not complaining because I love weddings. We always are comparing notes about what went well and what didn't, etc. As a wedding coordinator, Deb works very hard to make sure the wedding goes without a hitch. Yesterday was the first time that I actually was both an attendee at the wedding as Deb coordinated it as well.

Weddings can be very informal - yesterday was in a barn in Geauga County. Or it can be very formal and buttoned up. To me, what makes the wedding special is not the venue or the food, but the vows. The vows are everything and we tend to downplay them. I took my vows very seriously and that is why at my own wedding over 30 years ago, I almost backed out (for the second time I might add). A vow is a lifetime covenant in front of witnesses in God. That should be a serious matter for all of us. Marriage is the human symbolism of Christ's relationship with the church. Christ's relationship with the church is permanent as the marriage should be.

But honoring a covenant is a marvelous thing. When our marriage was hanging on by a thread, the covenant before God was honored by us and then a work began in each of us supernaturally. I believe that God even works in marriage through those who do not profess faith in Christ if they treat the covenant in the same way. It is one of those "common grace" items because marriage is a spiritual institution. From time to time I replay those vows I made 31 years ago to remind me of that covenant. I have a ring on my finger that reminds me of that covenant I made 31 years ago.

Deb reminded me yesterday that ours was a morning wedding like the one we attended yesterday. I completely forgot that fact and the weddings come and go, but vows are forever.

Top 10 Reasons to Love Northeast Ohio (Revisited)

Several years ago, I blogged/bragged about the numerous things to love about Northeast Ohio. Cleveland has been in the news a lot the past few months between the Cavs winning the NBA championship and the RNC Convention. People have been raving about our city and our area. My wife who is a transplant from the western suburbs of Chicago loves it here and says "we want people to love our area but not so much that they move here" which means we like kind of being on the fringes. I grew up here, moved away and have been back since 1985.

We live in a community. The gospels are replete with the environment and community that Jesus and the disciples lived. Imagine the gospels without the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Samaria, and of course Jerusalem. Other than the lousy winters there is no other place I would rather be. So it is with great pride that I republish my blog of two years ago of the Top 10 things to love about Northeast Ohio.

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#10 - Little Bit of Country, Little Bit of City

I really like that I can ride my bike not too far from me (even in Cuyahoga County) and I can be in the country.  I have lived in the Chicago and New York areas and it is a lot harder to find country. When we lived in Aurora, I would bike about 10 miles from our house and I was in Amish country. We had Amish builders on our house. Every Labor Day, we make a trek to the Great Geauga County Fair where we look at pig butts (as Debsue says), eat onion rings and drink 4H milkshakes. We are in the country, yet we are also in a city with all of the city amenities. Best of both worlds. 

#9 - A Manageable City

This one is quite similar to #10, but slightly different. Our city is very manageable. What I mean by that is it is fairly easy to get around and navigate. From our house in Brecksville downtown is 17 minutes with no traffic. Traffic here is nothing compared to other cities. Have you driven in LA, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Washington, D.C.  I missed a flight in Baltimore driving from Dulles, VA 30 miles away as I was in traffic 3 hours. Even smaller cities can be challenging. Our rush hour commuting delay is usually around 10 minutes. I commuted downtown for 7 years and it is really nothing. Yes, we would love to have a better RTA system, but it isn't terrible. From one end of the city to the other is a few minutes. There is a reason why Cleveland's downtown residence is now at 98% occupancy. 

#8 - Museums

I am not a museum junkie and that is why this one is probably number 8 on my list. We have a plethora (using a big word because of the topic) of museums. And they are top rate. The Cleveland Museum of Art is massive and just underwent a major renovation.  The Museum of Natural History is going through a similar renovation. By the lakefront is of course the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and the Science Center. In Akron, you have the Inventors Hall of Fame. In Canton, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Specialty museums, normal museums, quirky museums - we have them all. 

#7 - Blossom Music Center and the Cleveland Orchestra

A city of less than 500,000 has one of the world's renowned orchestras seems almost too good to true. Every summer, Debsue and I principally have a staycation where we stay in the area. We love being here in  the summer and one of the reasons is to go to Blossom Music Center and hear the Cleveland Orchestra.  We get season passes each summer and sit on the lawn - it is the perfect place to hear the orchestra and the perfect venue to be with friends, drink wine or beer, and eat dinner.

 

#6 - World Renowned Health System

It is hard not to think of Cleveland without thinking of our world class medical care. Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals are best in class. Now we have added the Global Center for Medical Innovation (formerly known as the Medical Mart), the only facility in the world that demonstrates the future of health and health care. One time a friend who is in medical care in Cleveland once asked me if there was any better place in the world you could get sick and not worry about the quality of health care. He was right. 

#5 -  Neighborhood Diversity and Charm

I learned this one early on when I started living here. Do you live on the east side or the west side? Side note - we now live in Brecksville and there is a running debate on whether this is east side or west side. If you use Route 77 as your divisor, we live on the east side. If you use the national park, we live on the west side. Maybe we can claim both! Cleveland is a city known for its neighborhoods. Shaker Square, Gordon Square, Tremont, Ohio City are examples of some of our favorite "neighborhoods". In Ohio City, there is the West Side Market, the oldest operating indoor/outdoor market. We love to visit there, buy great produce, Ohio City pasta and from time to time fritters and Steve's gyros. One of the things we love the most is the people we see at the West Side Market. In Tremont, there is Grumpy's, in Gordon Square, the Happy Dog.  There seems to be a decided food theme to this one.

 
#4 - The Lakefront
If you had asked me the top 10 off the top of my head, I probably would not have listed the lakefront. I don't have a boat and I live 15 miles from the lake. There is also no doubt that the lakefront is underutilized. But I also know that is changing. Cleveland sits on Lake Erie and that makes it a hub of transportation and commercial activity. It is also a hub of recreation. Last Friday, Deb and I volunteered for the Cleveland Metro Parks at Burning River Fest. The festival was at Wendy Park. A year ago, I did not even know where Wendy Park was. We were promoting the new Water Taxi system coming over the next few years. I was privileged to work on this project as part of Leadership Cleveland II. The lakefront is a great asset and the best is yet to come.


 # 3 - The Park System
In my rankings, I could have easily justified this as number one or two. One of the major reasons we moved to Brecksville is because it is at the fulcrum of three different park systems - Cuyahoga National Park, Cleveland Metro Parks, and Summit Metro Parks. All are first rate and they almost seem to blend together. In fact, I used to think they were all kind of one big park system. Again my ignorance. The CNP is one of the top 10 most frequented national parks in the country. It is up there with the Yosemite's of the world. I have a much greater appreciation of our park systems as both a regular user and because of my friendship with a few leaders in CNP and Cleveland Metroparks. I think it is crown jewel. I love getting on my bike and just riding on the Towpath or Bike n Hike.

 
 #2 - SPORTS...
Hard to believe that I would put sports teams number two given that we haven't won anything since 1964. I was five years old at the time so I have no recollection of the event even though we lived in Euclid at the time. That makes it even more amazing that NE Ohio is still so sports crazy. I submit as proof that the Plain Dealer, our daily paper is almost always half devoted to our crazy sports teams. Count articles on the front page as indirectly related to sports. We have a definite bias as an area towards football - we will support that even if the team stinks which it has since 1999. Now we have added Johnny football - not sure what that will mean. But we also had 455 straight sellouts in baseball and one of the top attendance figures in the NBA for basketball when Lebron was here. Speaking of which - Lebron is back! If you have not seen Frank Calliendo's rendition of Lebron's speech in Morgan Freeman's voice, it is definitely worth a look.

 
#1 - The People
A community is only as good as its people. I love the people in this community. By and large, they are down to earth, genuine, mostly humble people. To that point, I get to interact with some pretty successful people and the vast majority are wonderful people. I could not say that about growing up in the East Coast or what I have observed other places. NE Ohioans care about people. We care about our community. The biggest flaw we have is that we tend to have an inferiority complex but I think that is changing. NE Ohio is on a roll baby and it is about time the world sees it for what it is.

Uniter or Divider?

These few weeks have been very tumultuous for our country. As I write this from Cleveland, OH, the Republican National Convention will be kicking off tomorrow. Protests have already started. I am finding myself praying fervently for our city and our country in these times. It seems like everyone has an opinion on what divides us. Everyone has an opinion on what will correct these racial, generational, and political differences we seem to have.

As I have been contemplating this, I find myself asking the basic question - am I a uniter or a divider? That is, I am part of the solution or do I just want to find a way to whine about the problem. As protesters were gathering for next week, about 1,000 of us gathered yesterday at the Wolstein Center to lift our country, our city up in prayer. I was struck by the crowd which crossed racial, generational, ethnic, and denominational lines. The event (www.theresponseusa.org) was completely apolitical. In fact, at the start of it, it even made a point of saying it would not even mention any names or any parties.

The unifying factor for this group was a common faith in Jesus Christ. I found myself in a prayer huddle surrounded with people whom I just met but had an immediate common bond with. Paul says that the "he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility" (Eph. 2:14). It is the common bond of Christ that allowed me to walk into that building and immediately feel like I was part of a family gathering. And the family had a united mission - to pray our city and our country through these challenging times.

Cavs Celebration - Shared Victory and a Great Multitude

Lebron James said the past week has been surreal. I would agree. I am a lifelong Clevelander - I have lived other places in my life but of the 56 years I have lived on this earth (thus far), 45 have been in this great city. I also am a huge Cleveland sports fan. I was five years old the last time Cleveland won anything and I have no memory of that event. Like many others, I have lived through Red-Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Blown Save, and yes, The Decision. I began to question whether a championship was going to happen in my lifetime. Ohio State, while sweet covers the whole state and not just our little city.

That is why the victory Sunday night (only a week ago) and the parade on Tuesday were so extra special. Sunday night Deb and I went to Ohio City and watched the game at Market Garden Brewery. We knew win or lose we needed to experience this event with others of similar sports faith. After the improbable victory we went downtown and I must have high-fived a thousand people. It did not matter whether you were old or young, black or white, rich or poor, thin or fat, you celebrated that night. Then there was the parade. I rode my bike downtown because I wanted to; a) avoid the nightmare traffic, and b) get a better firsthand sense of the crowd. I have never seen that many people gathered to celebrate. Seeing over a million people celebrating in my little city brought tears to my eyes multiple times. The panoramic shot from my iPhone paints a picture.

My heart and head went to a place that maybe others haven't thought about. This is a small taste of the celebration in heaven. John says in Rev. 7:9 that a "great multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" will be celebrating God and the Lamb who is Jesus Christ. I even thought about King James and how this city embraced the returning superstar as a small taste of worship of the infallible, sacrificial King Jesus. Many people seem to have this impression of heaven as a boring place. Nothing can be further from the truth - the reality is it is a giant party.

It is also a giant party with purpose. There are lots of passages that describe heaven as a place of joy and purpose. As I was standing in the parade, I had lots of joy but no real purpose other than to yell a lot. God in heaven will not only provide incredible joy, but there will be function as well. Sunday night I heard a lot of people saying "We did it". Well last I checked, none of us even picked up a basketball. We identified with the Cavaliers because they represented Cleveland. We also represent Christ who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross for our sins. In fact the word Christian means "little Christs". The sacrifice ushered in responsibility - responsibility in this world and the one to come. Only God could provide true joy and ultimate purpose.

The Wonders of Life

In my blog post last week, I reflected on the cicadas and the wonders of observing this phenomena. I think many of us take for granted those things that happen routinely but are anything but routine. Several weeks ago, we were flying to Florida and the man in the seat behind me of nearly 50 years old commented that he had never flown before.

He was so excited that he asked the people on either side of him to take pictures out the window. He was also hyper-ventilating as we took off and gasping as we landed. About 30 minutes in the flight, he hit the call button and asked the flight attendant if she could "take his order". He did not understand the routine of airplane service. About a few hours in, I got up to stretch (I do this routinely in flight because I have had a blood clot and my hamstrings also are very tight). He asked me if it was ok to stand in the aisle like that.

I reflected on what this man was experiencing. Since when does flying 600 mph in a metal tube with a hundred of our closest friends become normal? My brother-in-law is a pilot and even he is routinely awed by what the world looks like from 10,000 to 30,000 feet in the air.

We were at a wedding last night and a friend of our daughter brought her seven week old baby to the wedding. Looking at a new born baby should fill us with wonder. In the movie Rocky (Rocky II that is), Rocky says to Adrian when their baby is born "I can't believe you did this". Rocky has wonder but it is misplaced. God is the author of this complicated human organism and uses people as the means.

Do we approach life with a sense of wonder?  Or with a sense of routine? There are so many daily routine, ho-hum things that we see that reflect the wonder of who God is. Even giving ourselves credit for the wonders of technology should be directed not from the inventor but to the ultimate creator God who fashions the complex into the seemingly ordinary.