You can take this job and…
Some people think being a full-time youth pastor (or any pastor for that matter) is very easy money. You can see it in their eyes when they ask “What do you do all week?” (if I had a dollar for every time…). Agreed, I don’t have to perform endless hours of manual labour, but believe you me… pastoring does have its huge challenges, and yes, even pastors come home sometimes dreaming of another occupation.
A long time ago when I sanded car doors, when I packed kiwifruit, when I milked cows, when I washed hair, when I flipped burgers… I could forget about work at the end of the day. Work ceased to exist from the time I clocked out to the time I clocked in. My non-work hours were spent thinking about everything else but work. For a pastor, ‘work’ never stops (except maybe for holidays, and even that’s debatable). Pastors don’t really have a private life. Unlike certain politicians, what we may choose to do or not do in our spare time could very easily destroy our lives… and the lives of many others. It’s a big deal.
Just this morning I was staring at the ceiling at 4:30am thinking, praying, worrying, then stopping myself and praying again… for people. People. Jesus lived and died (and lived again) for people. So that people could know God. Pastors are pastors because they feel called to spend their lives helping people know God.
It’s hard when people I pastor experience tragedy, trials, conflict. It’s especially hard when people are offended at me, but it hurts most when people walk away from God… I wonder how God feels? I can’t clock out and forget about that.
Please don’t think I’m asking for sympathy. On the contrary… I doubt if I would be fulfilled doing anything else. I’m built for this, and do it gladly (most of the time 
.
For the pastors reading this, be encouraged. Pastoring is a high calling. When you feel like throwing in the towel and doing something easier, don’t. Think about how the person in the Chinese sweatshop feels right now… assembling Barbie ripoffs for 80 hours a week so that their children can eat.
For everyone else reading this… your pastors (if they are genuine and unfortunately there are some who aren’t) love you and want the very best for you. They work not for ‘easy money’ but for your well being.
I thank God for my pastors. I thank God that I’m a pastor, and I thank God for the opportunity to help people know God (and get paid for it .
R.I.P Burton’s DeLorean
You are feasting your eyes upon the blog formally known as Burton’s DeLorean.
I grew tired of looking at the 2008 layout, and since discovering that the DeLorean is on Time magazine’s 50-worst-cars-of-all-time list (click here), the name just had to go.
So here you have it… May I present to you ‘B is for Burton’ (kinda catchy if I do say so myself
It’s a shark-eat-shark world
I love great marketing ploys. I also have a fascination with sharks. Imagine my excitement when I came across this desktop wallpaper.
Click here for the big picture.
Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?
I’m interesting in reading that book now Paisley…
(Read the article accompanying the photo here.)
Kali, Thugees & the Temple of Doom
Those of us raised on a regular media diet in the 80′s will remember well Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I was all nostalgic the other day, and watched it on DVD (the first time in nearly twenty years). I must say that I was appalled by the human-sacrifice-to-Kali-goddess-of-death-by-thugge-cult-fanatics-in-temple-under-palace scene. The ‘Fast Forward’ button was used fuequently. Perhaps, I’ve become resensitised (opposite of desentitised) in my old age, which is a very good thing.
The disturbing part is that the Temple of Doom and corresponding cult is based on fact.
Thugee (from the Hindi verb ‘thaglana’ meaning ‘to deceive’) was a secret society based in India with followers who regarded murder as a legitimate sport and a very important part of their faith. The Thugees used scarves to strangle unsuspecting travellers whom they would befriend on the high roads of India during the pre-British era. At its prime, the Thugee cult was responsible for about 30,000 killings per year.
Thugees worshipped ‘Kali’, the Hindu goddess of death and destruction. They believed Kali had ordered them to destroy all men who were not of their kindred. Hence, every murder carried out was considered an offering to Kali. Surprisingly, Kali’s followers were normally good citizens (many were influential in Indian society) who were also devoted to their families.
The cult was eventually eradicated by the British colonists, led by Sir William Henry Sleeman during the second quarter of the 19th century.
A few concluding questions…
- Do Thugees still exist? Who really knows for sure that they were completely eradicated?
- Would Sir William Henry Sleeman be tried for War crimes if he was alive today? Thugee extermination does not sound very PC to me.
- Killing was considered crucial to the Thugee’s religious practices. If they were active in New Zealand today, would they get away with murder? After all, a former NZ polititian frequently (and flauntingly) broke the law during his days in parliment. His excuse? Religious practice.
- Just how authentic did Lucas and Speilberg make the Temple of Doom? The freaky chanting and sacrifice rituals… I shudder to think. I know that during the sacrifice scene, Mola Ram chants in Hindi, imploring “Kali Ma Shakti de,” asking for the “Spiritual power of Mother Kali.” It is very disturbing actually. Where does acting become reality? Where does ‘being entertained’ become ‘being defiled’?
And finally, yes… the english word ‘thug’ originated from ‘thugee’.
Nana was kung fu fighting
Nana passed away when I was a tween. She lived out of town and I never saw her all that much. She was an elderly, eccentric, half-Italian lady, who knew a lot of grief in her lifetime.
One memory of her that always makes me smile is the time she stayed with us a few days during the school holidays in the eighties.
It seemed like Nana lived for soap operas and no one could pry her from the television set during her daily helping of Young And The Restless, Days Of Our Lives and other similar drivel.
I was going through a Jackie Chan phase at the time and had absent-mindedly forgotten to eject ‘Project A’ (Jackie Chan classic) from the video player, when it was Nana’s turn to watch the tele.
Nana must have wondered why her much-loved soaps had become so action-packed all of a sudden, because unbeknownst to me at the time, she had accidentally pushed ‘Play’ on the remote and watched Jackie Chan for two hours!
Wax on wax off Nana! The following youtube clip is dedicated to you
