On an Unexpected Entry

In which, at long last, we have something to discuss.

It’s been a long time since I last wrote anything. There have been a number of reasons, not feeling motivated to write being among the top. But this morning I woke up and felt the need to write. In particular I felt the need to write about Jesus. Today is Palm Sunday and across the world priests and pastors and teachers and believers read what is commonly know as “The Triumphal Entry.”

Growing up I was familiar with the text, mainly for the fact that at church they would give all the kids palm fronds to wave around. I would usually just pull the leaves off of them and was lucky to have anything left by the time we headed home.

A few years ago¹ I was asked by my community-mates to prepare a short sermon/discussion about any text I wanted for a spring retreat² we were taking. The retreat happened to fall on Palm Sunday that year so I dug into the passage of Jesus’s entry as told by John. What I learned was amazing and beautiful, as a result this became one of my favorite passages in the Gospels.  

To get us rolling here is the relevant text that I want to discuss³:

The next day a huge crowd came to the festival, having heard that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem. So they got branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and were roaring:

‘Hosanna [literally, O please save us now]!                          Blessings on the One Who Is Coming in the Name of the Lord!      Yes, the King of Israel!’

But Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written in Scripture:

‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion;                                          Look! Your King is coming,                                                       Sitting on a donkey’s colt!’

Four short versus, and yet, there is quite a lot going on here. First a little historical background to set the stage. At this point in history the people of Israel were under Roman rule. While there were some Jewish leaders in positions of power they didn’t do much of anything without the say-so of Rome. And this situation was not a new one for the Jewish people. They had be toiling under the rule of various people for many years. But there was hope in the Messiah, it was believed that one day a Messiah would come, throw off the shackles of bondage, and free Israel.

People wanted a leader. A revolutionary. A king. And many of them found this in Jesus. So they decided to announce that fact in a very obvious way, that sadly isn’t as obvious to us now. When the passage starts we find that, upon hearing that Jesus was approaching, the people gathered palm fronds to waive around. This may seem like simple way to get a parade going, but there is a deeper meaning going on as well.

Palms, at this time, had an extremely patriotic mean. They were used when the temple was rededicated, and more importantly when Israel rebelled against Rome two previous times the rebels printed coins with palms on them. Simply put; the palm was a symbol of rebellion and of war.

Maybe you think that we are reading too much into this. Perhaps the people just didn’t have time to pick up confetti and signage so they went with the most available thing? Perhaps, but let’s look at the next little section, when the people start chanting. The first two lines are quotes straight from Psalm 118. The last line though? They added “Blessed is the King of Israel.” And that is a large addition. They were calling for Jesus to take his place as a new King of Israel and cast off the Roman rule. They want him to enter with sound and fury, a great warrior and rebel.

Jesus, being Jesus, responds in a beautiful way.

“But Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it…”

Horses are majestic creature, they are graceful and when you stroll into town on one there is a high likelihood of looking like a boss⁴. Donkeys on the other hand are more awkward, they tend to jostle their riders. It’s tough to look regal on a donkey. A grown man riding on a young donkey? Even tougher. Jesus very consciously chose to ride in on an animal that would downplay his grandeur. He took on a role of humility, certainly not the role of warrior or rebel that the people were hoping for. In fact, culturally, his choice of ride said exactly the opposite.

When a king rode a horse his purpose was one of war, he meant to conquer. When he rode a donkey he was coming peaceably. Jesus was sending a clear message to those who wanted him to be a conquering hero, that wasn’t his way. He wasn’t going to be overthrowing anyone, at least not in the way people hoped. Jesus wasn’t out and out deigning his role as a king, he still entered in a kingly fashion, but he wasn’t your typical king.

There is a very strong nationalist vibe going on during the beginning of this passage. The people wanted Jesus to be their king, the king of Israel, a king FOR Israel. When I think about this moment, this point when people loudly cried out for Jesus to be just for them I think of a lot of the voices that I hear in this country today. Often I hear politicians, church leaders, and talking heads bring up how the United States is “God’s country” or that we are blessed or in some way specially set aside by God. In the passage when the Israelites waved the palms a close analogy would be a group of people waving American flags as Jesus entered the city.

Certainly there are people out there that would have no problem with this. However, I believe that Jesus, through his actions, pushed back against this view. Jesus didn’t come as a warrior king for one nation. He is a peaceful king for all nations.

Please don’t read this to mean I am taking a negative view of patriotism. That is not my intent. However, patriotism wrapped up faith, and in Jesus, is something that I think is dangerous and is something that we need to avoid. As we enter into Holy week I hope that you will think about this passage, envision the palms not as the symbol of one nations, but of all nations. When celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus join me considering all of our brothers and sisters across the globe.

Ironically the Pharisees bring it all together in verse 19 when they say ‘See you’re getting nowhere at all! Look! The whole world is going after him!’ Jesus came for all of us so that we may all have the opportunity to know him.

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¹ I can't believe it's been two years, what the what.

On the Numbers Game

In which a story is told and ranting occurs.


It's been a while since I've blogged, which has more to do with a lack of motivation than a lack of ideas¹. I'm actually working on a different blog post that I will hopefully get back to but conversations that I've had of late have led my mind in a different direction.

Those conversations have been about education.

They have not been encouraging.

Wednesday, right before I left work, I sat down and talked to the guidance counselor at the school that I work at. We started talking about students and how frustrating it can be to work with them at times. Nothing we said was really that shocking, it was more just about venting about the fact that those students who are farthest behind and most at risk of dropping out are in that position, not because of a lack of intelligence, but due to a lack of motivation. Most of them just don't care about school. Like I said, this wasn't new information, ask any educator and they will tell you the same thing, unmotivated students are terrible to work with. As we were talking the topic shifted slightly to a conversation that she had with our principal, and this is when things took a turn.

The counselor told me about a school, here in Indiana, that has a 97% graduation rate². This is an incredible rate, an unbelievable rate, especially when you consider the fact that this school is in a small rural community. Schools like that normally have trouble keeping students enrolled for the entire four years of high school. The fact that this school would have one of the best graduation rates in the state was...unreal. In fact, it was just that, not real. This school had found a loophole, for a lack of a better word, that allowed them to keep there graduation rate high.

If there was a student who was not going to graduate on time, or that didn't care about school any more, a meeting would be called. The counselor at this school would bring in the student and a parent and would hand them a form. This form is a withdraw to home schooling form, essentially a legal document that says the parent or guardian will be providing educational services for their child. Once this form is signed the student is no longer a drop out, instead they are a transfer, and no longer the responsibility of the school. The school keeps its high rate of graduation.

At first I couldn't believe it. But then, the more I thought about it the more I realized that I absolutely believed it. Here is the honest truth: education isn't about education anymore. We³ don't care if students receive a well rounded education that prepares them for life on their own, or for continued education after high school. We care about two things: standardized test scores and graduation rates. That's it, that's what it boils down to. How do you know if a school is going well? Well they have great test scores and a high graduation rate. So it should come to no surprise that schools look for ways to help themselves look better. It's just one big numbers game and everybody plays.

I've recently been watching The Wire, which was a show on HBO from 2002-2008. The show follows a group of police and a group of drug dealers in Baltimore, it is one of the best televisions shows I've ever seen. As I was watching the fourth season a couple of weeks ago there was one scene in particular that hit close to home. I've put the dialog from the scene below in a spoiler tag, just click the link and the words will appear. It doesn't give much away, but if you want to avoid everything you can.

Spoiler Alert

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: So for the time being, all teachers will devote class time to teaching language arts sample questions. Now if you turn to page eleven, please, I have some things I want to go over with you.
ROLAND: I don’t get it, all this so we score higher on the state tests? If we’re teaching the kids the test questions, what is it assessing in them?
TEACHER: Nothing, it assesses us. The test scores go up, they can say the schools are improving. The scores stay down, they can’t.
ROLAND: Juking the stats.
TEACHER: Excuse me?
ROLAND: Making robberies into larcenies, making rapes disappear. You juke the stats, and major become colonels. I’ve been here before.
TEACHER: Wherever you go, there you are.

A big part of the police story line in The Wire is the department's never ending battle with crime statistics. Often the officers will change how they write up a crime, making them less serious, so they can say the felony rate dropped. They "juke" the stats. And it is no different in the educational world, that is exactly what this school was doing⁴. At first I was furious that they would do that to their students. As time went on I realized what I was really upset about was that we operate in a system that would make schools feel like that was something they had to do.

This is a very dangerous time of our educational system. Programs like "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top" (don't let anyone fool you they are basically the same) force schools to focus on benchmarks based around standardized tests. But anyone that works with kids can tell you there is no standard, not for how kids learn, not for their social contexts, not for their life experiences. We teach kids to be individuals then test them in a way that is anything but. Add to all this the fact that money may be taken from public education and given to charter schools with little to no oversight, who, if they wanted to, could turn away students who are a risk not to graduate, or even to get high marks. And that doesn't even factor in merit based pay for teachers.

Imagine that you are an English teacher. You've got a family at home you need to support and your pay is based on how well your students do on a test. As the year goes on you come up with a new way to instruct your students that seems to be helping the majority of them prepare. Do you share that discovery with your fellow English teachers, knowing that if they classes do better than yours they will get paid more and you won't? And what about those three kids that you just can't seem too reach? Maybe you stop in at the guidance office and ask the counselor about getting them to withdraw to home schooling so they don't bring down the class, and school. average on the test.

I don't have any answers for these problems. I know that there are things that need to be fixed at schools. I know that there are teachers who probably need to be fired and that unions need to make some changes. But I also know that there are parents that need to do their job and help teach there kids. I know there are kids who need to pull their heads out of their asses and put forth some effort. I know that there are politicians who need to shut the hell up. And more than anything I know that the programs we have now, and the direction that we seem to be moving in, will only lead to disaster. If we don't do something soon it may be too late.

It's just one big numbers game and everybody loses.
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¹ Although the ideas haven't been flowing much lately.
² The graduation rate is determined by looking at how many students enter as ninth graders and then graduate as seniors.
³ This would be the collective, societal we.
⁴ This school sadly isn't the only one that does this, I've heard of other who have "clearing house days" where they pull in any sophomore or older who isn't on track to graduate and do the same thing. And this is at a large suburban school.

On Allegorical Boating

In which a classic beginning is followed by something a little less so.

Once upon time there was a captain of a boat. This young captain was a good man, intelligent and well spoken. When he spoke of his boat he talked about a great and wondrous vessel. A boat unparalleled in all the seas. He spoke with such a great passion and eloquence that to listen to him was to agree with him. People would nod and smile and think to themselves, "what a wonderful boat this is." What's more they would look at their captain and smile, for he was a good captain.

Now, no captain can helm a ship by himself, and our young captain was no different. He was surrounded by a fine crew who, just like the captain, loved their ship. They worked hard to make sure the ship sailed smoothly. And even in those time when the crew could not agree what was the best course for the boat they would find a way to compromise and chart a path for the boat, and work to keep her running. What a great boat this is, the people would say to one another, truly there is none finer. The people would watch the crew and smile, for this crew worked hard to make sure that the boat would always move forward.

Unfortunately this was an old boat, and old boats do have their problems. And in this case the problem was that the ship was taking on water. All around the hull there was cracks, and holes, through which water would flow. If something was not done the beautiful ship would sink. The captain and his crew got together and they made a plan. They would give everyone, both the crew and the passengers, buckets and they would bail the boat out. Those that were the strongest were given large buckets, those who were weak or small were given smaller buckets and, at times, even given assistance to lift them. And together they began to bail out the boat. But soon problems began to arise.

The water rose faster and faster and soon the stronger passengers began to complain that it was too difficult to lift their large buckets with all of the water around them. So the captain and the crew gave them smaller buckets, while taking smaller buckets themselves, and so the water continued to rise. Again the strongest of the people said that they couldn't bail with the buckets they were given, so they were given small buckets while some of the strongest had no buckets at all. As you would expect the water rose ever faster. The captain looked at his distressed passengers and told them not to worry. He would fix the problems, be would stop the leaks and return the large buckets to the strongest people. The passengers were relieved and went back to bailing while the captain went to his crew.

However, when he met with them his voice failed, and his strong will seemed diminished. He did not call for the buckets to be returned, instead he focused on the weakest passengers, those that needed support to even lift the smallest cup. He pointed to them and said, we will take their supports from some of them for they tie up too many of our resources. Those passengers were in shock as their help was taken, their sad eyes focused on the giant holes in the ship. Next the captain said, look, we must plug these smaller holes to slow the tide. But the waters still rose as his crew shouted back, that it wasn't good enough, they wanted all of the supports taken from the smallest people, and they wanted to only focus on the smallest of holes to make sure they were completely closed off. The captain and his crew began to argue in earnest about which of the small holes should be filled, and in what order. All the while the passengers watched as torrents of water flowed through the largest of holes, and still the men shouted, but never about those gaps.

So the ship sailed on. And if you listen closely over the roar of the water, and the sound of the bailing, and the yelling of the crew you could hear the soft slow cry of the small and weak. They cried for the support they lost, the blame they felt, and the fact that they were forgotten by those much stronger than them. Tears ran down their faces adding to the rising waters that would inevitably drown them all.
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Okay, I'll be the first to admit that my little story was very over the top and an incredibly simplified version of what is going on right now in Washington as it relates to the argument over the national budget. But here are some things that I know are true. The current budget proposals, that have come from both democrats and republicans make major cuts to some of the smallest programs. No one from either side of the aisle has proposed to make cuts to our biggest expenditures, and if they are talking about it they aren't talking very loudly. Those people that are going to be most effected by cuts to things the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) feel absolutely shit on by these decisions and the people that are making them. And for once I won't apologize for my language, because I can't imagine there is a better word to describe how they are feeling.

Here are some statistics to solidify how ridiculous this whole plan is.

President Obama made the following budget cuts to some of the programs that are most "important" to him.

• The CSBG is going to have it's funding cut in half, from $700 million to $350 million. (-50%)
• The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is going from around $5 billion to about $2.5 billion. (-50%)
• The Community Development Block Grant Program will be losing about $300 million. (-7.5%)¹

That is a total of just over $3 billion dollars. Meanwhile, here is what is happening with military spending:

• Research and Development is going from $80.21 billion to $75.72 billion. (-5.6%)
• Procurement is going from $135.79 billion to $128.05 billion. (-5.7%)
• Operations is going from $292.83 billion to $294.89 billion. (+.7%)²

Yes you read that right, the operations budget for the military will be going up this next year. Which is ridiculous. Look, here is the thing. I know that the military, for many people, is an important part of the budget, I know that there are a lot of brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day because they believe it is the right thing to do. But the amount of money that we spend on the military is out of control. I did some quick math and here is what savings would look like if we applied the same cuts to the programs dealing with poverty to the military budget.

• Cutting R&D by 50% would save us $40 billion dollars.
• Cutting Procurement would save us $68 billion dollars.
• Cutting Operations by just 7.5% would save us $22 billion dollars.

Even cutting the first two by 25% would save us $50 billion, that is a lot of money. And really that is the most alarming part. The cuts to the poverty services are so small and effect such a small portion of the deficit that it seems like it is all for show, which makes it even worse. Here is the sick thing. If we didn't cut any of the military budget, and instead simply didn't raise the amount going to operations we would save $2.06 billion dollars, more than enough to cover the cost of the CSBG, the CDBG and almost half of the Energy Assistance Grant. It is embarrassing.

What it comes down to is a group of men and women who are making decisions for our nation that are so out of touch with the reality of peoples lives that they would rather stand around shouting at each other about which small holes to plug while the water rises around their ears³.

My mom emailed me earlier this week and she passed down some of that motherly wisdom you always forget is there until it slaps you in the face. So I'll leave you with her words to me.

"I am truly convinced that I want someone representing me who has personal experience with family members, or close friends who have truly experienced hardship...why can't we help those who want to help themselves. This issue brings tears to my eyes and a knot in my stomach."
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¹ These statistics were found here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/02/14/133748987/whats-in-the-2012-budget-plan-npr-breaks-it-down
² These number are from the New York Times infographic which gives a good representation of how absurd the breakdown of the budget it: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/newsgraphics/2011/0119-budget/index.html
³ By the way, they also decided not to raise taxes. Now, I'm no Kelley School of Business graduate or anything but I'm pretty sure if you are in debt the only way out is spend less than you make. If we can't spend less then we need to make more, which means, wait for it, more taxes.

On Getting Out of a Hole

 In which an allegory is appropriated and applied to real life.

My friend Sparkles spoke truly when she said that Aaron Sorkin¹ knows what he is doing when it comes to making Christmas themed television episodes.  He just really knows how to bring it in a real way and evoke an emotional response.  In the second season of The West Wing the Christmas episode, titled Noël, has a scene that just grabbed a hold of me when I watched it a few weeks ago.

Without spoiling much, the episode revolves around the deputy chief of staff Josh who is dealing with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.  Throughout the episode there are times when he seems to lose his grip on the present, suffering from flashbacks and cold sweats.  He also becomes irrationally angry and at one point gets in a shouting match with the president.  None of these things are good things for anyone to be dealing with, but especially someone who is working so closely to the president.  Josh is obviously concerned that this issue may lead to him losing his job.  In fact he is required to meet with a psychologist for an evaluation to determine if he is still fit to be at work.

When he comes out of the meeting his boss Leo is waiting for him.  What follows is the scene that takes place between the two of them.  I’ll write out the dialogue in case the YouTube video is taken down, or if you can’t view it at work.  But you should really watch it instead of just reading it².

Leo McGarry: How'd it go?

Josh Lyman: Did you wait around for me?

Leo McGarry: How'd it go?

Josh Lyman: He thinks I may have an eating disorder...

Leo McGarry: Josh...

Josh Lyman: ...and a fear of rectangles. That's not weird, is it? [pause] I didn't cut my hand on a glass. I broke a window in my apartment.

Leo McGarry: This guy's walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, "Hey you, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out." [pause] Long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?

I started to think about all of the people that I have met in my life.  Friends, family, students, co-workers, everyone.  I thought about times that they were in need and how I responded, or will respond in the future.  “I want to be like Joe,” I thought.  I don’t want to throw a prayer at someone.  I don’t want to throw a Band-Aid³ at someone.  I want to do something unexpected.  I want to get down in the hole with them and help them find the way out.

How great would it be if that is how I lived my life?  Jumping down into pits help people out when they are stuck.  It would be amazing.  But here is the deal.  The more that I thought about it the more I realized that’s not normally the situation that I find myself in.  And that is not the character that I find myself relating to.  More often than not I’m not Joe; I’m the dude in the hole.  I, all too often, find myself looking up at people as they pass by not knowing what to do next.  And that, I realized, is why this scene resonated with me so much; it contains an important bit of truth.

When you find yourself stuck down in some dark place there are people that want to get down there with you and show you the way out, because they have been there too.  The thing is, and I really think this is really important, the thing is, you have to let them know you are down there.  You have to be willing to say, “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?”  And sure you might get some prescriptions or prayers tossed at you, but eventually a friend is going come down to where you are, and he or she is going to show you the way out.

But you need to ask first.
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¹ Of Sports Night, Studio 60, The West Wing, A Few Good Men, and Charlie Wilson’s War fame.
² You should really just watch the whole episode, it was stellar.
³ Or any generic self-adhesive strip.

On Paul's Prayer

In which a warning is given, serious issues are discussed, and maybe some heresy.

Content warning:  This week I step back from the cavalcade of absurdity that is the norm for this blog.  Some of you may be disheartened to hear that, for others you may be thinking that it is about time.  For those of you in the first category don't fear, I will try and think of something extra ridiculous for next week¹.

I'm not really big on New Years resolutions.  I really couldn't give you a good reason.  In thinking about it the only thing that came to mind was that it reminds me a lot like Lent.  For a lot of people they seem to make these resolutions because it's the thing to do, and often they can barely make it a week.  With Lent people tend to give things up, not because it is supposed to signify there giving something to God but because it's just what you do.  Now I just read what I typed and it sounds very judgmental, which is not really what I was going for.  I think that, if even for a week, people try and eat healthier, or give up swearing, that it is a good thing.  But for me personally, I didn't want to have a resolution, or give something up for Lent unless I felt called to do so.

Long story short, this year I still didn't make any resolutions but I did make some goals for myself.  Which may be splitting hairs over the difference between the two but I'm okay with it.  My first goal was to exercise consistently.  It is something that I have tried to do in the past and failed at repeatedly, so I decided to kick things up a notch and threw down cash money on a gym membership at the Sportsplex.  So far I have been successful, now I just have to keep at it.

My second goal is to spend time everyday in prayer and reading the Bible.  It might not seem this way based solely on my writing here but my faith is the most important thing to me.  It plays a part in everything I do.  How I interact with people, where I live, what I do with my time.  It defines who I am as a person.  I am a different person when I am spending time with the Lord.  I don't think that it is a coincidence that my consistency at the gym is synchronous with my consistency in the Word.

Paul is probably my second favorite guy in the new testament²; he really brings it in his letters to various churches.  And despite what the Catholic Church may tell you when it comes to defining early Christianity he is probably the most influential person whose middle initial isn't "H."  I took a class on Paul when I was in college, which is really when I began to appreciate his writing more, and I wish that I remembered more of what I learned in it.  But no worries because I have something even better to share with you about Paul.

Please note:  I apologize in advance for any offense that the following paragraphs cause you.

One of the last things I did while I was on staff with Young Life was to attend Winter Institute, a two week intensive training session.  We spent 8+ hours a day in lectures discussing such topics as, child development, developing theology, cross-cultural interactions, and a variety of other topics that have since dissolved from my brain.  While I was at the training I was rooming with Josh, a staff guy from Ft. Wayne, and two staff guys from Texas.  One night when we were all hanging out, and feeling especially smart (or maybe stupid because we'd been in class so long), we started talking about all of the messages that Paul preaches in his letters.  After a while we were able do boil everything Paul says to the churches into one simple, easy to remember phrase.  It certainly didn't cover everything Paul wrote, but it was the best we could come up with.  The more that I thought about it the more I liked it.  Here is was we decided.

"Paul says, 'Don't be a dick.'"

Now again I apologize for the language, and if this is the last you read of my blog I understand, thanks for coming around.  But time and time again Paul was urging Christians to not get caught up on petty issues.  To love the Lord, to love Jesus, and to love each other.  So I think it works well.

What does all this have to do with my goal of being in the word, or of the title of the post for that matter?  Let me tell you.  The first Pauline letter that I read this year was Ephesians.  No other letter that Paul writes has this message to put aside petty differences more than his letter to the church at Ephesus.  The first day of reading I came across a prayer that Paul wrote out for the church and thought to myself that it was pretty neat.  So I underlined it so that I would remember it.  Two days later I was reading chapter 3 and there was another prayer that Paul wrote that seemed to dovetail with the first very well.  I decided to see what they would look like back to back so I did some copy and paste magic and found that they flowed together perfectly.  I first changed the personal pronouns around so that it would be a first person prayer.  Then I realized that it would just as well as a corporate prayer.  That's when it became this:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which he has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for we who believe.  For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. And I pray that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.   Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen³.

I have really been digging this prayer.  I think it is perfect for the community I live in, for the small group I am a part of, for the church I attend, and for the Church universal.  I try and pray it every morning before I leave the house.  And I hope that as the year progresses it becomes less of something I say and more of something that is always on my heart.

Blessings!  And remember, Paul says, "Don't be a dick."
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¹ Maybe double footnotes?
² Psst...number one would be Jesus.
³ Ephesians 1:17-19 & 3:14-21