Ok, so I had three different people ask me about geocaching today. I didn't have time to explain at church, and it would take too much space on facebook, so here's the basics...
Geocaching started in 2000 when the military released satellites for private use. A former military man set up caches for his friends on his land. They had so much fun, that they began hiding the caches all over the state of Washington. It didn't take long for the idea to spread, and now there are caches in every state of the US and in most countries around the world.
Caches are little "treasures" hidden in the world all around you. You've probably walked by several of them without knowing they are there. You use a hand held GPS system (not the kind that you use to drive around in your car) to find the caches based on their coordinates. The coordinates can be found at geocaching.com - the most popular site for geocachers. The coordinates are the latitude and longitude for the exact position of the cache.
Caches come in all shapes and sizes. Nanos are very small - often just big enough to roll up a small piece of paper. Micros are a bit bigger - often a 35 mm film canister or something similar in size. Smalls are peanutbutter jar sized. Regular is often an ammo can, but can also be as large as you wish.
Caches must contain a log book for cachers to sign. By the cacher code, you cannot claim finding a cache unless you have signed the log book for that cache. Caches that are large enough often contain a writing utensil and small toys. Dollar store toys, Happy Meal toys, bouncy balls, whistles, decks of cards, hot wheels, baseball cards, wet wipes, mosquito repellant, hand sanitizer and maps are the most common items found in caches, which makes caching great for kids! In larger caches, stuffed animals, coloring books, and educational materials are often found as well. The cacher code states that you may take an item from the cache, but you must leave something of equal or greater value.
Caches also contain "travel bugs" (sometimes). Travel bugs are tags that are attached to an item with a special code so that you can track the item as it passes from cache to cache. Many travel bugs have specific goals such as traveling to all 50 states or returning home from a distant land. I've even seen grandchildren pass school pictures to the grandparents 5 states away via caches!
If you're interested in experiencing goecaching, I'd be happy to introduce you!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
A New Perspective of the Cross
All week long, a Stephen Iverson prayer chant has been running through my head:
Can I take this weight from my shoulders, Lord, and leave it here at the foot of the cross?
So I began thinking about the cross...
It's Holy Week, so there's been a lot of talk about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. I'm not diminishing his sacrifice or the love that led him to the cross for me, for you, for all. But I needed to take it further - or in a different direction - this year.
"Sin" is an archery term. It means "to miss the mark" or "to miss the target." Usually when we hear the word "sin", we think of things that we've done wrong - like lying or cheating or gossip. Some have a grading system for sin where lying isn't as bad as murder. But the truth of the matter is that sin is sin. It doesn't really matter what "degree" or what the sin.
But if sin means missing the mark, then isn't everything that isn't as God intended it to be sin? When I'm not my true self - the person God created me to be - isn't that sin? If I do something out of character for me because I want to impress someone or please someone, isn't that sin? When I see something that is out of sync in nature, isn't that sin? Isn't poverty and injustice sin? Anything and everything that is broken and fallen in our world is sin -not just the things that we would deem as "bad."
When I see the brokenness in the world around me and experience that brokenness in my own life, it weighs me down. It often seems so overwhelming. There doesn't seem any possibility of restoration...
Yet, it's not up to me to restore the world. It's not even up to me to restore my own soul. It is impossible for me to do anything about all this brokenness and sin. Jesus died on the cross for all sin - to redeem and restore everything that is broken and out of sync with God. My job is simply to take the weight of the world (or at least what I see and know of the world) and to leave it at the cross, to leave it with Jesus. In doing so, I accept what Jesus did on the cross - not only for me, but for the world. In doing so, I trust Jesus with everything that is wrong and dark in this world. I trust that on Easter, when we celebrate the resurrection, I can also celebrate the restoration that is taking place bit by bit because of the love and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In leaving the weight of the world at the foot of the cross, I also can celebrate in the life of the resurrection - life that is within me and that leads me to bring a little bit more life, hope and restoration to my corner of the world each day.
So on this Good Friday and throughout the day on Holy Saturday as we wait to celebrate the resurrection, linger a bit at the foot of the cross or at the tomb. Consider all that is broken, and allow yourself to admit your brokenness and the brokenness in the world around you. Take it to Jesus and leave it at the foot of the cross where Jesus' blood can wash over it. And trust that Jesus will be proclaimed risen on Sunday - risen and actively at work in our lives and in our world to restore what is to what was meant to be and what will one day be again.
Can I take this weight from my shoulders, Lord, and leave it here at the foot of the cross?
So I began thinking about the cross...
It's Holy Week, so there's been a lot of talk about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. I'm not diminishing his sacrifice or the love that led him to the cross for me, for you, for all. But I needed to take it further - or in a different direction - this year.
"Sin" is an archery term. It means "to miss the mark" or "to miss the target." Usually when we hear the word "sin", we think of things that we've done wrong - like lying or cheating or gossip. Some have a grading system for sin where lying isn't as bad as murder. But the truth of the matter is that sin is sin. It doesn't really matter what "degree" or what the sin.
But if sin means missing the mark, then isn't everything that isn't as God intended it to be sin? When I'm not my true self - the person God created me to be - isn't that sin? If I do something out of character for me because I want to impress someone or please someone, isn't that sin? When I see something that is out of sync in nature, isn't that sin? Isn't poverty and injustice sin? Anything and everything that is broken and fallen in our world is sin -not just the things that we would deem as "bad."
When I see the brokenness in the world around me and experience that brokenness in my own life, it weighs me down. It often seems so overwhelming. There doesn't seem any possibility of restoration...
Yet, it's not up to me to restore the world. It's not even up to me to restore my own soul. It is impossible for me to do anything about all this brokenness and sin. Jesus died on the cross for all sin - to redeem and restore everything that is broken and out of sync with God. My job is simply to take the weight of the world (or at least what I see and know of the world) and to leave it at the cross, to leave it with Jesus. In doing so, I accept what Jesus did on the cross - not only for me, but for the world. In doing so, I trust Jesus with everything that is wrong and dark in this world. I trust that on Easter, when we celebrate the resurrection, I can also celebrate the restoration that is taking place bit by bit because of the love and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In leaving the weight of the world at the foot of the cross, I also can celebrate in the life of the resurrection - life that is within me and that leads me to bring a little bit more life, hope and restoration to my corner of the world each day.
So on this Good Friday and throughout the day on Holy Saturday as we wait to celebrate the resurrection, linger a bit at the foot of the cross or at the tomb. Consider all that is broken, and allow yourself to admit your brokenness and the brokenness in the world around you. Take it to Jesus and leave it at the foot of the cross where Jesus' blood can wash over it. And trust that Jesus will be proclaimed risen on Sunday - risen and actively at work in our lives and in our world to restore what is to what was meant to be and what will one day be again.
Update
I know I haven't posted in quite a while. I also know that my last post freaked some of you out. I'd apologize for that except that I'm not a bit sorry that I posted it...
Something happened when I sent that. For those that know me well, you know how difficult it was for me to be that vulnerable, and I guess I was hoping for some kind if insightful response that would make everything OK. That miracle response never came, but something changed for me after I posted that. A bit of hope began stirring deep within me.
Nothing in my situation changed, but slowly something has changed - perhaps it's just me. Little things have encouraged me along the way - an email from Stephen, a phone call from Lilly, a few minutes to sit and talk with Shawn, lunch with Randy, a snowstorm that left everything sparkling like diamonds, a week of sunshine and warm weather, encouragement from Mike, some reinforcement from Jack, the possibility of working for YouthWorks - even if it's only for the summer...
So, I don't have anything specific or any great revelation, but I'm OK for now. I haven't clearly heard Jesus speak to me or had the same sense of his presence that I've often had in the past, but all of these little things add up. I have a feeling that someday I'll be having a conversation about this phase of the journey with Jesus, and he'll point to Stephen's emails, Lilly's calls, Jack's comment, that lunch with Randy, Shawn's allowing me to continue to play and lead worship... and he'll say, "See, I hadn't abandoned you. I was there all along."
To those who carried me along on your prayers when I couldn't seem to pray myself, to those who gave words to my struggles when I couldn't find the words, to those who simple listened, to those who cried with me, to those who hoped and believed enough for both of us... thank you. I am so blessed to have friends such as you, and I thank you for "taking me to my Lord."
I think the rest is up to me - and Jesus.
Something happened when I sent that. For those that know me well, you know how difficult it was for me to be that vulnerable, and I guess I was hoping for some kind if insightful response that would make everything OK. That miracle response never came, but something changed for me after I posted that. A bit of hope began stirring deep within me.
Nothing in my situation changed, but slowly something has changed - perhaps it's just me. Little things have encouraged me along the way - an email from Stephen, a phone call from Lilly, a few minutes to sit and talk with Shawn, lunch with Randy, a snowstorm that left everything sparkling like diamonds, a week of sunshine and warm weather, encouragement from Mike, some reinforcement from Jack, the possibility of working for YouthWorks - even if it's only for the summer...
So, I don't have anything specific or any great revelation, but I'm OK for now. I haven't clearly heard Jesus speak to me or had the same sense of his presence that I've often had in the past, but all of these little things add up. I have a feeling that someday I'll be having a conversation about this phase of the journey with Jesus, and he'll point to Stephen's emails, Lilly's calls, Jack's comment, that lunch with Randy, Shawn's allowing me to continue to play and lead worship... and he'll say, "See, I hadn't abandoned you. I was there all along."
To those who carried me along on your prayers when I couldn't seem to pray myself, to those who gave words to my struggles when I couldn't find the words, to those who simple listened, to those who cried with me, to those who hoped and believed enough for both of us... thank you. I am so blessed to have friends such as you, and I thank you for "taking me to my Lord."
I think the rest is up to me - and Jesus.
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