The Dalai Lama

Watching CSPAN on Friday, I listened to the Dalai Lama, speaking at the Library of Congress.  He's 74 years old now.  He's a great speaker with broken English, very charismatic - everyone's wise grandfather with nice things to say. Not a mean bone in his body - very peaceful.  And I was glad to hear, he's never heard of Tiger Woods.
  
As I watched, I was thinking, "he sounds a lot like Jesus".  You can't fault a thing he says - it's all good.  But he's just a man.  Or is he?
  
"His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama" - "Political and Spritual Leader of the Tibetan People".  He is the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama.  An "enlightened being" - putting off nirvana for awhile to serve humanity.  His name is Tenzin Gyatso.  A Buddhist who lives in excile, in northern India - in the city of Dharamsala.  He describes himself as a 'simple Buddhist monk'.  Tibet is an area inside China, made up of 3 provinces, and Tibetans want to be seperated from China, to live in a democracy. 
 
From what I've read, Buddhism has 2 primary beliefs:  1) people are generally good at heart, and 2) all religions are generally good.

Yet - Christianity too has 2 primary beliefs:  1) people are inherently bad at heart, and 2) all world religions are inherently bad.
       
Funny, isn't it, that you can tell someone you are the reincarnation of someone else - an enlightened being - holy - a 'god'.  No one even flinches, and they'll give you awards and ceremonies and the 'wise' among us (super intellectuals) will pour praise upon you and worship the very ground you walk on.

Besides - how can you NOT like what he says, how can you NOT like the position of a Buddhist?

Yet, tell someone you're a "Born again believer in Jesus Christ, God's son", - and you're a crazy loon from mars.  
     
And here we are - there you have it.

Those Old Hymns

I stole a hymnal from a church pew one day.  How bad is that?  I wanted to take it back later, but could never muster up the courage.  As it turns out, most churches threw away all the hymnals anyway.

When you go to church these days (if you go) - you don't sing hymns anymore.  Most churches have gone contemporary - and you don't even hold a book, you read from the big screen on the wall.   
 
But occasionally, and what I now find fascinating, when they do sing the old ones - I seem to know every word and even most of the versus.   Why?  Why do I know the words to so many hymns?  My mom and dad is why.  He was a preacher and I was the little kid in the front row sitting not-so-still.  But I heard and sang every song for a very long time: week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after-year.  Dad loved the old hymns (still does), and back then there wasn't much contemporary music out there (and if there was, the blue-haired lady at the organ couldn't play it).
  
Now, the hymnals are gone (some stolen, some thrown away).  I remember as an eight or nine year old, I would occupy my time in church finding all the hymns written by "Fanny" Crosby.  I'm not proud of this mind you.  I would whisper and laugh with my friends, "I found another 'fanny' - hee, hee, hee".  But I was eight and I was a good boy after all - that was as bad as I got in those days - living on the edge of darkness, making light of Fanny Crosby.  Ya, I was a bad one.
     
But I'm not kidding - I know all these hymns.  Even if I can't recite every verse, I know the timing, the tune, and I can hum along with the best of them.  I can still see the page numbers like "429" or "278".  I can still see the 'written by' and 'composed by' descriptions.  I remember always wondering why a song writer rarely wrote his or her own music to go with it - strange I thought:  if you're gonna write a song, wouldn't you sing it to some music or tune that you also made up?  Then, there was the closing prayer and I moved on to other thoughts ......
  
If I was ever to be a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, in the dark dense forests, in a cage with rats, I would still have my hymns to fill my mind.  This would keep me alive.  And they ARE awesome.
  
Thanks mom and dad - for imprinting the great hymns on my mind over those years.  And I promise, when I finally meet Fanny Crosby upstairs, I will laugh with her at my silliness, I'll get her autograph, we'll take pictures and sing "To God Be The Glory" all night long!

Blurry Pictures

Two weeks ago I was shown this extremely blurry pciture.  I squinted my eyes and tried to focus.  I have to admit, I knew what it was before I squinted, I was putting on a show - to delay my reaction. There was a lot to think about. In those nano seconds, I was watching my life flash before my eyes (it, of course, isn't about me, it's about the 'Moreno Baby' and the baby's mom and dad). 

But still, it came as a shocker - we were all eating pizza and it was noisy.  My mind drifted to the hundreds of conversations I've had over the years about: 'what do you want to be called when you're a grandfather ....'.  "I'm not that old yet, never will be, not gonna happen ...." were my usual replies.  I've had this feeling before, like the first time I saw a gray hair, or going to the gym and having to step-down the barbell weight for curls ('just too heavy today'), or when I got the AARP card in the mailbox, or the first time some high schooler called me 'sir', or the day I gave my little girl away and then the day I gave my other little girl away, and the day my doctor insisted I start taking certain medications.  And the list goes on. 

  

Blurry pictures.  These are the times that try men's souls.  

     

And the Moreno Baby is but one more step in the process of life.  And I'll need to get things into focus.   Come September, 2010, what do I want to be called?  Who do I want to be?

 

In the book of Joel it says: .... "the threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with new wine."

 

Things are looking good.

   

  

The Illusion of Me

An acquaintance of mine (also named Scott) would say on his talk radio show here in Dallas: "why ruin the illusion of who I am, with the reality of me?" I always have to think about that one for a minute..... Now, if the reality of me is better than the illusion of who I am, then I wouldn't be ruining anything - right? I think so. So then, we should strive to be even better than people think we are.

Simply put, we should be real, so there's no complex illusion floating out there about us. Don't fake who you are - be you - all the time, and no one will get confused - especially you.

This is harder than I thought - to be real.  Your first inclination is that 'you are who you are - so why change who I am?'.  Well, I know when I go to work, for instance, I'm not exactly the same person I am when I'm at home, or when I go to church, or when I'm with the family, or certain family members, or when I'm out eating in a restaurant with friends.  I even seem to change from day to day in each of those scenarios. I change with the weather - sun vs. rain. When I hit my thumb with a hammer, I'm a different person than I am sitting in Sunday School looking up scripture.  Don't get me wrong, we all have personalities that make us unique.

So it becomes a 3 or 4 dimensional matrix of 'who I am'. Down right CREEPY when you think about it.  Schizophrenic even.  We talk about these people as if we could never be that way, and usually the ones talking the loudest ARE those people.  I can be one of those people sometimes.

But are you any different?  We all have a bit of chameleon inside of us - some with more degrees of color and depth than others (not a good thing really). I do know that I've always admired the ones who don't seem to change much - chameleons who at least remain the same shade of the green family. I know how they will react in weird circumstances, I know I can trust them generally to act in a consistent manner - no matter what.   I don't know too many people like that.  Most of us are pretty unpredictable. (some politicians - most - have 8 or 9 dimensions to them. deception is a job requirement to them).

We're called to be better than that.  And as believers in Christ (if you are one), emulating JC, we're 'encouraged' to be new creations - leaving the old behind - we have become new creatures living in a foreign land. The world needs us. Unbelievers need us to act differently than them - otherwise we are just like them and that's no good to anybody.

I'm convinced too - that we don't just change once, and we're done. We have to make ourselves change, every morning, every day, every hour. Not sure how Biblical it is, but I know it's true. It's a conscious effort that we have to make like brushing our teeth. We have to force ourselves to be real - FORCE IT.  It's a paradox.  If you think you don't have to make yourself be real, you're not (in my must humble opinion). It's hard work. Living is hard work.

2 Corinthians 5:17. "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation". I saw a rather large tatoo on the back of a pretty rough looking guy recently with that scripture. And I liked it. I'm thinking he was smart enough to realize he needed to be reminded everyday of who he was now, and whose he was - and to be reminded how to act - every day.

Be set free - to be you - nothing and nobody else ..... as long as who you are is who Christ wants you to be - your life will be incredible.  It's a work-in-process for all of us - to be more than an ILLUSION.
  
(pic from NY '09 - subway mosaic)

Ultimate Fighting

Flipping through channels the other night I stopped to see interviews with 2 guys:

- Diego Sanchez   and    BJ Penn -

Until then, I had never heard of these guys (out of touch, I know). They're going to meet in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the 155 light-weight class, this Saturday night - 12/12/09. I'm looking for a place I can go to watch it (likely, Dina won't come along).


I've always been intrigued by this Ultimate Fighting stuff. It seems so brutal and barbaric - there don't appear to be any rules. You win by either a knock-out, or a choke-out. That's tough stuff. My intrigue comes from a primal instinct (for guys) to go to battle, and prove that you're the best, the toughest, the meanest, the baddest one out there. My main sport in high school was wrestling -so I know the feeling a little: mono-e-mono. But there was no hitting allowed in wrestling (unless you could get away with it). It was more of an art, and we had weight classes, just like UFC. It was a lot of mental preparedness, as much as physical. (I was 'average' at both - just FYI). My mother always said I was a good wrestler, because I was her 'little hugger :)' - she would sit in the bleachers and tell the sweet story to the opposing team parents - who would then walk over to their boys and point at me and whisper - 'the little hugger'.

I was doomed from the start.

But, these 2 guys are unique. They both sound articulate and smart - I never would have suspected it. I work with all kinds of guys with advanced degrees who are not as well spoken as these guys. "BJ" made a comment - talking about his opponent "Diego": "He's gotten further than he should have - because he's tough mentally". Wow - that's quite a statement.  On the one hand he was complementing Diego - for his mental strength, but he was saying Diego doesn't have the physical skills to compete with him. That's confidence - on a whole different plane. You can have all the psychological or mental strength you want, it might get you a long way, it might even beat most people, but if you don't have the raw strength, skill and technique that I have, I will crush you - because I bring it all to the ring.

This fighting stuff is about discipline - mental, spiritual, and physical discipline. To win, at anything, you have to be disciplined, and you have to make sacrifices. These guys spend their entire lives trying to balance the physical with the spiritual - to win a gold belt - to be champions. What I admire about guys like this is watching what they do when they've been hit hard.  When they go down - they get back up. When they're trapped, they think of a way out. When they take a hit, they hit back. They're strategists - always thinking. They're champions - and they love what they do. (Diego even said he has "always trusted the Lord through his entire career").

You and I go "to the mat" everyday. We need to be ready for battle. When we get knocked-down, we need the discipline to get back up - and fight our way through.  And we don't have to go it alone.

In Oswald Chambers today (12/10) he said: "if we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist ..... and will produce continued turmoil. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally .... disciple yourself now - or you will ruin your entire personal life with God."

Good stuff.  Be an Ultimate Fighter.

(picture taken of a door marker - on the steets of Prague '08)

Jack Flak

Did you know - you can link to the ongoing saga of Jack Flak anytime? (on the left side - just click. or go to crazyjackflak.blogspot.com)

I Loved Her First

I've been suffering, deeply, inside today.

There was this wedding over the weekend, and in some respects, I didn't show up. OK, I was there, it was my daughter Jorden's wedding. Now, 48 hrs later, I've got some real regrets. It was absolutely beautiful. It was outside, the weather was perfect, the setting was stunning. The vows were said with perfection. The sun, and then the moon, took your breath away. It was pure Texas.

Jorden wasn't just cute that day, she was gorgeous. I'll tell you a secret: I don't know exactly how girls think about these things, but guys judge on a scale of 1- 12, not 1-10. A '10' is pretty darn good. But when you see spot a '12' you're telling the other guys that the scale is broke, this one is off the register. Most Hollywood types are 'fake-8's', they can never go higher on the scale. They're ok of course, but a fake-8 is a robot with money and an agent. A 'Texas 12' on the other hand is the definition of a pure and natural beauty. Usually, she drives an older model car or truck. Usually, she doesn't come from money. Usually, she uses a minimum amount of make-up. Usually, she likes to work hard in the sun and has a big nasty but friendly dog (or two). Usually, she's a bit of a loner but very social. Usually she wears ragged-out blue jeans. Usually she prefers to eat on the hot patio and not inside with the air conditioning. Usually she's a conservative who loves the USA. Usually she's modest to a fault. Usually, a 12 doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. A 'Texas 12' doesn't compete in beauty contests because they don't have the desire to be loved by everyone - but if they did - the world would be embarrassed by the shameful winners that went before them. A '12' is the complete package.

Jorden's a Texas 12. Her sister Hollen is another Texas 12.

So what is my regret? I loved her first. And I didn't remind her or her husband and everyone there, that it was me - who loved her first. I wanted to pick up the mic and take just 2 minutes to remind her, and him, that I Loved Her First. But I didn't.

But, since I have a blog ...... Jeremy:

"I was enough for her not long ago. I was her #1, she told me so. And she still means the world to me just so you know, so be careful when you hold my girl. Time changes everything, life must go on, and I'm not gonna stand in your way.... but I loved her first. I held her first. And a place in my heart will always be hers. From the first breath she breathed, when she first smiled at me, I knew the love of a father runs deep. And I prayed that she'd find you someday, but its still hard to give her away. I loved her first."

Have fun in Mexico Jorden and Jeremy. And don't forget, I loved her first.