Tonight at the grocery store, our seven-year old son Ian saw a poster with a smiling youngster about his own age in full martial arts uniform, inviting him to come take lessons (for a small fee, of course). He asked if he might be able to, and my immediate reaction was, “No, Ian… we’re not going to do that.” It’s not because I have some reason to not like martial arts. Chi knows martial arts, so it can’t be that bad… right?

As I pondered my immediate, and somewhat stronger-than-I-anticipated reaction to Ian’s question, the obvious reason for my rejection of his idea was our busyness. Karate would be just one more thing. It’s obviously not a bad thing, but it’s a thing. We only have so much room for things…

But, you see… in America… we have full access to as many things as we want. We can do anything and everything. Things dominate our lives. We go from one thing to the next to the next… sometimes juggling a few things at a time. There are so many options, and we don’t want to miss any of the things.

I know. I am a super-perp of this.

We are overrun by our busyness, and end up being stretched so thin that the things we are trying to do end up being more of a drain than an enrichement to our lives. That’s not to say we can’t get good stuff from all of the good things we’re trying to do. We certainly do. But the busyness can just minimize the good we can get.

I looked it up a bit tonight, but could not find anywhere that busyness is talked about as a “sin”. I’m certainly not trying to make a list of what to do and what not to do… just want to see if it’s one of the things God warns us about. But I couldn’t find anything topically like that. Hopfeully God will lead me to some scripture that deals with this idea. I am not ready to call the compulsion to keep doing more and more stuff a sin… but perhaps in a way it’s gluttony?

We mainly think of gluttony as being with food, but perhaps it could be with our time, and our activities. We fill every moment with some activity… some busyness. Is that gluttony a “sin”… or just making the most of our time?

I am certainly making no sweeping accusations or judgments. And, perhaps my thoughts tonight are really just for me. Perhaps God wants me and my family to not be busy. But at first glance it sure does seem that our culture is overwhelmingly busy. Going from one thing to another… never time to connect with each other, and just enjoy the people and the life God has given us. Again, it could just be me, take a look around and I think you’ll notice that we live at a blinding pace… just because we can. There’s so much to do.

I have no clever ending to this story. Just processing these thoughts tonight as they enter my head. Of course, I welcome your feedback and insights on the “threat” of busyness to our culture, and to us individually. Would love to hear your thoughts, too.

In my most recent post, I received a comment to which I was replying… when I realized that the comment was way too long to be a comment. And, I wanted to bring to light some more thoughts I had on that “What If?” article I linked to last time.

The comment I reads:

Mike said…
Greg… So, if i’m understanding what this interpretation is saying, ‘we’ are the Kingdom of Heaven? We are the pearl that the merchant sold everything to get? Are we the treasure that was found, re-hid, and then unearthed again? That’s the one that most intrigues me. The Kindgom of Heaven was found… then hidden again until the finder had sold everything to purchase the land, and then re-found once the land was his. fun!

Perhaps the Kingdom is not the object of the story, but the nature of it. Perhaps the Kingdom is as simple as the God who is love. The three stories have in common the one who is seeking, and then finds, and then gives everything to have what he has found. (At least, the first two stories include the last part there.)

Not sure about the chronology of the analogy… but it really seems to fit my picture of who God is, and the nature of his Kingdom. It’s so backwards. The one who should be served, is the one who serves. The one who should be loved, is the one who loves.

Jen was reading Zaccheus’ story again recently to the kids, and Jesus says at the end of that time that he came looking for the lost. Sounds like that guy who was “on the lookout for choice pearls”.

I love the way that story reads with that different perspective.

The kingdom of heaven is not something to be laid hold of… or taken by force. (Jesus talked about that somewhere..) It’s a reality where we are the objects of God’s love. We are the beloved, and he is the lover. Scripture reveals that over and over.

I do not think that his love detracts from his holiness, or his deity. Nor is it a removed, obligatory love… just “part of his nature”. Rather, I think those attributes magnify the audacity of his love. It’s outrageous, and not what should be. The King should not be the one who is in love with his servants. But the Kingdom is backwards from what it is “supposed” to be.

Everyday in the Kingdom (it would seem) is “Opposite Day”. 🙂

Know you are loved. It is the good news. It makes all the difference in the world. It makes it a different world.

The other day I was reading a blog that Jen & I have been talking about a bunch and wanted to let you in on the conversation. I commented on the blog, so you can just read what I wrote over there, as well the blog and other comments. Basically, it’s another way to look at the parables Jesus told of the “pearl of great price” and the treasure hidden in the field. It’s amazing.

When you get a moment, take a look at the blog, “What If?”

Happy Bloggiversary! Today is the third anniversary of the day I began this blog. Three years, three books, and now 764 posts later… I actually haven’t run out of words yet! 🙂 Somtimes I guess I think I will…

Here are some of the highlights from the three years as I see them:

• The Water Shoe story… (here and here
• The Dime-In-The-Nose Story
• Publishing my books (from stuff first posted here): A Journey Shared (2005), Life In The Rearview Mirror (2006), and There’s The Steeple… Here’s The Church (2006)
• The addition of comments, so discussion can happen. (If you haven’t noticed yet… I’m quite relational…)
• Reading (and then commenting) through the book of Galatians. I’m only half-way done, and would like to pick that up again. So far it has been astounding reading through it again. Just the absolute freedom that there is in Jesus is mind-blowing.
• I have also started up two other regular columns (well, one has become much less regular…): gregshead.newsvine.com, and (just this week!!) a column/blog at BuffaloBills.com!!
• I even tried to start keeping a blog of everyday events … but that didn’t last very long…
• And of course, this is where I post a lot of my fun news and stories about Apple computers and such… including this one on Newsvine (with links back to an article I posted here.)

Well, I could probably keep going, but that’s a pretty good list. Thanks for reading along with me, and for joining in the conversation. In fact, if you have anything to add to the list above, please do add your comments below.

Happy third bloggiversary! Looking forward to more!

Saw this today, and had to post. I know, I know… just adding fuel to the fire. But… really… it’s true! I brought this up a few months ago… and now other people are realizing the same thing. 🙂

Read the Yahoo! article here:

Review: Mac Pro beats Dell on price – Yahoo! News

I believe we are in the throes of everyone’s childhood nightmare…

CHICKEN POX!

Ian has a crazy rash all over his face, and it’s spreading. It certainly has all the signs of C-Pox, so, I guess… here we go! Our neighbor has already asked if she can have Ian come play so he can infect her kids. Is that not the weirdest thing? “You have the chicken pox?!? Oh man! Can you come over and be around my kids so they get it too??” I’ve never quite understood that, but perhaps it’s cause I have never had them as an adult.

Hope I am still “immune”…

Well… we’re going to try the home remedies and I’m sure we’ll be getting a lot of advice over the next week or so. But for now, Ian just itches. A lot.

I went to the post office today, in a bit of a rush, just getting the week started and as I was walking up the sidewalk to the entrance, I noticed an older lady approaching the building as well, but she stopped before reaching the sidewalk … to smell a white rose that was in the middle of a bunch of other weeds. She actually stopped to smell the roses.

Made me smile. I love that not everyone is so distracted and completely swallowed up by their own busyness. Helped me sorta relax for the rest of my errands.

Perhaps it will help you relax today, too. 🙂

It’s 7:47am, and I am awake. On Sunday. While that is sort of odd, it’s perhaps more odd that we are awake this early to go to the county fair. 🙂

Jen’s dad is preaching at the worship service at the fair this morning, so they asked if we would like to join them singing. We did, so here we go.

Last night’s bedtime was later than it was supposed to be because as I went to post my article to the Buffalo Bills Review, I found out that I had lost more than half of it. That was not possible, since I saved every 5 minutes as I was writing it. But what happened was probably the strangest thing that has ever happened to me on a computer.

I originally saved the file to the wrong directory. So, using OS X Tiger’s Spotlight search window, I found where I put the article. It was in a strange templates directory. So, instead of going to that directory the normal way, I decided to try to drag the file FROM the search window to my desktop. That apparently made a copy of the file. So, then I took the same file (which was apparently in the same (wrong) place) and sent it to the trash. I saw the one on the desktop still, so we were good.

I didn’t think about it after that, and closed out the application after finishing the article. There was no “Do you want to save your file” warning or anything, so all was well. When I opened the application back up, the file was saved at the ORIGINAL save point!!!!!!! I could not figure it out, until I traced back what I did and realized that somehow I had REALLY confused my computer, and every time I saved the file… it was saving a phantom file or something?

Don’t know, but had to share. That was the strangest thing I have ever seen a computer do. 🙂

I am NOT a fan of e-mail forwards. Mostly I skim the ones from my parents (my Dad likes to pass them along) and my sister (since she sends them less frequently)… but overall, I know they’re all just garbage. It would be like reading tabloids or something – purely for the entertainment value.

So, I got an email from my sister today that was HILARIOUS because it shows the INSANITY of the emails that get passed along. Two glaring examples they forgot to add are that Mars will soon be bigger than the moon in our night sky, and the fact that that dignitary from Nigeria never did send the money they needed to deposit in my bank account…. Other than that, this is a fairly comprehensive, classic slam of all e-mail forwards everywhere. 🙂

Enjoy!

Thanks

I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the email about rat poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa’s novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I can’t enjoy a good Latte from Starbucks anymore because they WOULD NOT send any coffee to that poor Army Sgt who requested it. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won’t crawl in my back seat when I’m pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put “Under God” on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can’t boil a cup water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face… disfiguring me for life.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don’t support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I no longer worry about sudden cardiac arrest, since I can now cough myself back to life instead of wasting time calling 911.

I no longer have any sneakers — but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can’t use anyone’s toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

Thank you too for all the endless advice Andy Rooney has given us. I can live a better life now because he’s told us how to fix everything.

And thanks to your great advice, I can’t ever pick up $5.00 I dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex-mother-in-law’s second husband’s cousin’s beautician, who is a lawyer.

Have a wonderful day, and you are welcome !!