The first appointment of this new post-partisan president? None other than Chicago representative and former Clinton hack, Rahm Emanuel. This is a guy that another Democrat, Paul Begala described as “a cross between a hemorrhoid and a toothache”.

The appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who
have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though
they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not
rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who
deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the
present form of this world is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

In others words, by all means do it, but only as if you’re not doing it. Confused? Read all of Piper’s post, it is an excellent reminder.

But saying all of that is simply to point you to a beautiful story of conversion. A lifelong coffee-hater and hot chocolate lover, converted to good, real coffee. This conversion took place in Paris, but fear not - there really is wonderful coffee to be had here in the U.S. and it isn’t found at that ubiquitous third place that I’ve seen referred to as the church of St. Arbucks.

The author even managed to find a great cup of coffee in a most unexpected place, his grandfather’s kitchen:

Grandpa rose with the sun and had completed eight sudoku before eyes had rolled from the back of my head. Dragging myself to kitchen to endure whatever was about to pass for coffee, I found Grandpa in the kitchen with a burlap sack of raw green Guatemalan coffee beans, carefully shoveling scoops into a jet black coffee roaster, equipped with a small catalytic converter to quell the smoke that would otherwise coat the kitchen when roasting coffee beans at home. One has many expectations before a trip to Florida, both good and bad, but homemade, fresh-roasted coffee was not one. Yet there I was with a rich and bold mug of black coffee, cradled in hand on a dewy Ocala winter’s morn that I could not have had anywhere else in the world.

They said boy you just follow your heart
But my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He’s the one I have chosen
And I will follow Him

He has told you, O man, what is good;   and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,   and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

There are a couple of things that I was told on a regular basis as I was growing up.

1. I can be/do anything if I just put my mind to it.
2. God gave each of us certain gifts and talents and if we are not using them we are not glorifying Him.

I have now spent nearly half my life struggling to figure out what gifts God has given me and how I can use them. I have also spent many of those years struggling on the edge of depression because I feel like I haven’t been able to grasp what it is I’m supposed to be doing with my life.

There is a part of me that knows I’m not supposed to think like this, but I really want to believe that God has given each of us something special to do – and of course the thing He has for me is big! I’m supposed to be doing something important for Him. People were supposed to look at me and say; “now that is a man God is using!” (Yes, that would be my incredible pride and egoism speaking!)

Now I find myself at nearly 38 years old still struggling with what do with my life. Still often feeling like a little boy even though I have a family of my own. I’m often discouraged and feel like a failure. I feel like I must not have worked hard enough, or, I got skipped when God was handing out the talents.

The reality, I am hopefully beginning to see, is both more and less. God wants more of me than I can begin to imagine. But it is not through the things that I accomplish. He wants me and is using me in ways I can’t see. As I am faithful to care for my family and raise my children. As I love my wife. As I mow my yard and help my neighbors move. As I sweep or clean or make sure the car payment is on time. As I do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before Him.

Perhaps it is in the mundane day to day lives we lead where God meets us most fully, for it is there that we learn kindness and justice and humility. In the book Souls on Fire Elie Wiesel tells the Hasidic parable of Eizik, a poor but faithful Jew from Cracow who finds a treasure hidden under his own stove after traveling and searching for it elsewhere.

Could it be that my story is similar? There is treasure is to be found in my own home, under my own stove. God’s presence and grace is to be found in the midst of the everyday. If I look might I find treasures under the stove, around the corner in the nooks and crannies of my everyday life?

Lord, it’s hard to turn the other cheek
Hard to bless when others curse you
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be a man of peace
Lord, it’s hard, oh it’s hard,
You know it’s hard to be like Jesus
Don’t you know it’s hard, oh it’s hard,
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be like Jesus

And it’s hard to step out on them waves
Hard to walk beyond your vision
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be a man of faith
Lord, it’s hard (hard), Lord, it’s hard (so hard),
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be like Jesus
Don’t you know it’s hard (hard), oh it’s hard (yeah hard),
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be like Jesus

Now Denis Haack has gone and written a fantastic post that, just very briefly, looks at the costs of current dairy and meat production practice. The costs are not financial, but they are great.

“I do want to argue, however, that Christians take creation seriously. And that includes treating our fellow creatures with the dignity and care that is intrinsic to their natures as part of the gloriously interconnected world that God called into existence. Though ruined by brokenness it need not include mistreating fellow creatures because of greed.”

Please read the whole thing here.

For years I was a complete political junkie. Way back in high school I thought that I wanted to someday run for political office and while I had long ago moved away from that idea, I’ve always kept up with what’s going on in Washington. Over the past couple of years however, I’ve begun to believe that nothing worthwhile is actually happening there. Cynical right?

Or maybe it’s just my small government, local is better, community-oriented, ‘crunchy’ conservatism playing itself out. I’m looking for a candidate to say that the federal government is way too big, way too intrusive and needs to be scaled back dramatically. That doesn’t mean that I’m a libertarian, I wouldn’t mind at all if there were government funded programs, as long as they were run at the state or local level. Why not cut federal taxes dramatically and allow states to determine what is truly necessary for the citizens of that state? Yes, the federal government has a role to play, just not as large of a role as it’s taken on.

And yes, these are just rambling, incoherent thoughts as I keep one eye on the stock market tumbling after this over-extended, bloated government has voted to give away 700 billion dollars in order to keep this very thing from happening.