home, i love it but…

I live in Brooklyn. I love the diversity I encounter day in and day out. I wish the pace of life was slower and more relaxed.

Where do you live? What do you love about where you live and what do you wish was different about where you live?

pentecost

This Sunday Christian churches worldwide will celebrate Pentecost which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. It is said in Acts 2 that the Spirit came like a violent wind and like fire.

I remember well the time when a candle’s flame turned into a fire at my house. It was Christmas and my mom opened our house for the community Tour of Homes. People were milling around our house when suddenly a candle’s hot wax dripped onto some material that was obviously not flame-resistant. The small, contained flame on the end of the candle grew quickly into a small fire that had the potential of getting wildly out of control. The good residents of Tahoka, however, jumped into action. The fire was contained but the general feeling in the house was that we were moments away from total chaos.

And I also remember the winds of West Texas. There were times the wind got so bad that it stirred up the sand from cotton fields which created a dust storm. Ever tried to drive through a dust storm? You can’t. And it’s not uncommon to find mesquite and elm trees bent to the east because of the strong winds that blow in from the west. Meteorologists add Wind Advisory to their regular list of weather storms they look out for.

Many of us who believe in God have done well in domesticating the divine. We think of God and God’s Spirit as a gentle breeze and a subtle flame. The breeze feels cool and refreshing while the small flickering flame emits light but not too much.

And so I’m wondering as Pentecost draws near, Is it possible for us to recapture a sense of the Spirit manifesting itself in such a way that we feel it as a violent wind and fire? Or was that a particular need for those first believers, those Apostles who were left with the challenge to make sense of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? In other words, Are the metaphors of Spirit as Violent Wind and Spirit as Fire needed today or are they outdated?

don’t mess with me

It started innocent enough. Sophia was reading books to Ira. It was such a great moment that I got the camera out to film the scene. For about fifteen minutes they sat on the couch reading peacefully…until Sophia started dictating what would be read. Ira didn’t agree. She tried hiding a book from Ira. He wasn’t having it.

dreams

Here are a couple of dreams that I can’t seem to shake:

1. I can’t shake the tutoring center dream. A couple of Sundays ago, I talked of this dream during a sermon. I think several others at CCFB are catching on. Very soon, I’ll take a little video and show all of you the storefronts along Hoyt St. that could potentially house the center. The dream goes far beyond just a tutoring center but this is where it will start.
2. I would love to cook Laura and the kids a meal that is fresh and delicious. Problem is, I can’t cook. Really, I can’t. I’ve tried and the times I’ve tried have turned into disasters. Now it’s all up in my head. But I’ve got a dream that someday, I’ll overcome my fear of the kitchen.
3. I dream of coaching my kids’ Little League team or Little Dribbler team. I’m not sure this will come to pass and I won’t sweat it if it doesn’t but I dream about it.
4. I dream of attending a Duke Univ basketball game. I can’t imagine there being any better sporting atmosphere.
5. I dream, along with Laura, of fostering and adopting. Again, I’m not sure if it will come to pass but Laura’s done some work on me and I now dream of being a foster parent and we’ve always wanted to adopt.
6. I dream of a land full of donuts and milk. Mmmmm, donuts.

check it

Did you see the article about the guy whose finger grew back after it was cut off? He sprinkled a little magic powder on the finger and sure enough, it grew back. Crazy. Check it here.

Laura and Sophia had another cool fieldtrip the other day. Laura wrote about it on her blog. Check it here.

No TV show is funnier than this one. Check it.

More disapprove of our current president than any other in our history? No! Really? Check it here.

Did I mention this was the Summer of the Hayses? We’re going to spend the 4th with my college buddies at a very nice lakehouse livin’ large. Check out the scene here.

my girl

There will be a day when I will go to kiss my daughter and she will turn in such a way so that I kiss her cheek and not her lips. Then, there will be a day when I go to kiss her and she will turn away completely so that I can’t kiss her at all.

There will be a day when I go to give my daughter a hug and she’ll respond limply instead of the full on bear hugs that we were accustomed to giving each other.

There will be a day when I will invite her to a wrestling match and she will respond with a look of horror in her eyes. She will collect herself just in time to say, Dad, please. I’m so over that.

When those days come, I will mourn the loss of what once was. For now, I revel in my daughter’s desire to kiss me, to hug me unabashedly and to wrestle until our hearts are content.

predictions

What? You didn’t know I was in the prediction business? Indeed I am. Sit back and behold the magic:

1. A Western Conference team will win the NBA Finals. Okay, so that’s a soft prediction as the Eastern Conference is horrible. But hold on, there’s more.
2. The Yanks will go all the way. What? Did you expect me to choose the Mets? Laughable. The BoSox? C’mon. The Yanks pitching staff will come together and our big guys will start hitting. They’re hungry this year. It’s gonna happen. Tired of my sports predictions? Allow me to change gears.
3. Obama and Clinton will fight it out ’till the convention. This, of course, spells disaster for the Dems paving the way for McCain’s win over whoever the Dem candidate is. Yes, the sky is falling in my world. Politics makes your stomach turn? Okay, switching gears again.
4. The internet is here to stay. Seriously, people, I think the internet is for real. You want personal predictions? I won’t disappoint.
5. After the intensive feeding clinic that begins this next Monday (hello, commuting!) Ira will be getting most of his nutrition through food that is taken by mouth. His g-tube feedings will be minimal. By September, Ira will be getting one hundred percent of his nutrition through oral feedings.
6. Finally, I’m predicting the Summer of the Hayses. Do you remember the Summer of George? George got a severance package and declared that he was taking the summer off. Laura and I don’t have a severance package and we’re not taking the summer off but for the first time in years, we feel free to do things that were unimaginable three years ago. It will be the Summer of the Hayses. Bring it.

the latest

The hole in Ira’s neck still hasn’t closed. And so at the follow-up with the ENT today, Laura pressed the doc for answers. The doc said that it sometimes takes two to three months for those holes to close up and that we should give it more time.

Time? Who’s got time, doc? This kid is ready to experience a swimming pool and we’ve got big plans for the month of July!

And so we have a pending surgery date on June 25 to close up the hole. Thing is, it’s a tricky operation with several risks. I was not excited to hear about the procedure, the overnight stay in the hospital with a drainage tube in the back of Ira’s neck or the possibility of a punctured lung due to air moving in the wrong direction. Ugh.

And so we’re praying that the hole close up. According to Laura, the doc didn’t seem too optimistic that it would and honestly, I’m not either as it hasn’t made that much progress since the trach was taken out but I’ve seen weirder things happen.

athletic

Of the four major athletic leagues in the US (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB), it is clear to me that basketball players are the most athletic of the bunch.

bring it

friday fun?

On Thursday nights friends come over for coffee, refreshments and thoughtful conversation. Last night, JTB led us in a discussion on the link and sometimes disconnect between contemplation and action. At one point in the discussion she read a quote to us that intrigued me:

In order to do good, you must be good.

What do you think about that quote? Is it right thinking? Or is it off? If it is off, then what is a more accurate way of saying that? If it is right thinking, why?

(JTB, could you supply us with the author and context of quote?)