Caroline's Writings: Hollywood, Traditions and the Church

Caroline's Writings: Hollywood, Traditions and the Church: Today at church, the streets were blocked off for a traditional parade that will commence tonight down the streets of Hollywood.   Our chu...

Hollywood, Traditions and the Church

Today at church, the streets were blocked off for a traditional parade that will commence tonight down the streets of Hollywood.  Our church cannot have services tonight in Hollywood because of street closures.  As I was walking leisurely across Hollywood Blvd. to church because of the street being blocked off from traffic, I was reminded of the old days of this parade. 

The Hollywood Christmas Parade used to be a big deal.  Big stars used to ride in convertibles and on floats.  As I would watch the parade on television when I was a teenager, I remember thinking that if I ever go to Los Angeles I would go to that parade.  I’ve been to the Rose Bowl parade, and I’ve even volunteered with the floats, but not the Hollywood Parade.  It’s not worth it anymore.  That’s what made me think. Keeping a tradition because it is a tradition, even when it’s dying, isn’t worth anything. 

The floats I saw were a disaster and looked like they were put together in a few minutes.  Having worked on floats with the Rose Bowl parade, I know the many days and hours that work goes into the beauty of those floats.  I even saw that in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade the floats were being brought in the night before fully decorated.  The Hollywood Christmas Parade does not do these things, as I watched people decorating floats this morning. It needs to die or change, just like many traditions in our churches.

It’s hard to let go of a tradition.  Nostalgia sets in and we reminisce of the good old days when life was simple and fun.  We have a choice.  Change it or end it. Change is difficult, but it is necessary for growth.  Growth causes change.  Look around at your traditional event or activity.  Is it dead or done with a tired attitude of it having to get done?  If so, it’s time for a new tradition.  When we let go of one tradition, we can start a new one.  It has to start somewhere. 

As much as we struggle with tradition and change, we might want to be reminded that we have adjusted to technology, especially if you are reading this.  As we enter the Christmas season, some of us have many traditions that we’ve had in our families for years.  There’s nothing wrong with holding on to a family tradition, but if we want to make life better, we can always start a new tradition. There are always new traditions to start that can increase giving.  There are groups helping those in need and we can partner with those groups and realize that the Christmas season truly can be one of joy and peace. 

Traditions are not bad.  In fact, some traditions are worth keeping, but if it is dying or just a mess, it does not belong in our lives.  It is clutter.  It is noise.  It is not love.  Jesus didn’t hold onto traditions that did not glorify the Father.  In fact, he broke the traditions of the Pharisees.  Maybe, it’s time that our traditions of the Pharisees die in our churches and we open our doors to allow in Jesus. 

Caroline's Writings: True Love for Pastors

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Caroline's Writings: Faith or Fear?

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Caroline's Writings: Obedience Brings Sacrifice

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Caroline's Writings: Read A Book

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Caroline's Writings: A Chocolate Thanksgiving

Caroline's Writings: A Chocolate Thanksgiving: In 2018, on this Thanksgiving, we are being warned not to eat lettuce.   What’s ironic is that the other day, a small pie...

A Chocolate Thanksgiving

In 2018, on this Thanksgiving, we are being warned not to eat lettuce.  What’s ironic is that the other day, a small piece of dark chocolate revived me.  I had no energy having just returned from our amazing conference in Houston, and I had two more hours to fulfill at work.  Someone put out a bowl of chocolates.  The dark chocolate choice was brilliant.  It was what I needed. I was revived and brought all my energy back.  Who needs lettuce when chocolate revives? 

We live in a world where people complain more about events and ideas of which they have no control.  We live among a society that empowers greed and power rather than gratefulness. Actually, being thankful has never been easy for humanity, which is why Scripture is full of passages reminding us to be thankful.   It’s when we stop and take a look at what we have we realize that there is so much to be thankful for. 

It’s in the little things of life that remind me being thankful is empowering just like that little piece of chocolate.  I’m thankful I have a roof over my head, food to eat, family, friends, a job, hobbies, a computer, the Internet, clothes, entertainment, freedom, grace, love, hope, and dreams and goals.  Some people may not have any of these, but there is something to be thankful for. 

We are alive.  We are breathing.  The sun rises and sets on each new day to start over.  God is gracious to us even though we do not deserve his mercy and love he gives it freely.  Relationships may be difficult, but it’s only in the struggles of life that we grow and learn.

Psalm 136:1 says it perfectly.  “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.  His faithful love endures forever.”  No matter what we encounter in life, God’s love is extended to us beyond what we could ever give. 

So for this Thanksgiving, I’m looking around at what I have and not what I have yet to attain.  I live in a state where many people have lost everything in devastating fires.  I have friends enduring and becoming stronger even though they have severe illnesses.  It’s in the small parts of life that make me the most grateful.  It can be a small piece of chocolate that can make the day so much better.  It’s not easy, but having a grateful attitude is so much better than having a desire to want more and never achieving.  I choose gratefulness and within that I hope to empower others to be grateful and look for the chocolate moments in life.

Read A Book

As I sit in my hotel room here in Houston, Texas on the last day of the National Conference of Teachers of English (NCTE), I am reminded that there are many people out there that believe in the power of reading and more importantly that they read books.  There are some people that make major life decisions based on some evidence found in articles and blogs.  That to me is disturbing.  We must read books. 

A movie was created this year from a book that I had my students read.  My students all believe that the book was better.  Of course the book is better.  It has more detail and it took more time to create than the movie that was based on it.  Writing a book takes time.  I should know because I’ve done it.  I wrote my book, Overcoming Church, because an article was not big enough to contain the information of what it took for me to overcome the hurt that the church dumped on me. I tried to make it an article and a blog post.  It was too big.  In my book, I give the advice to lay a strong foundation and take time on your own to read the Bible.  You will discover many accounts, knowledge, and wisdom pieces that you may have never known existed.  I know I do every time I read it. 

A book comes together after months, and sometimes years of research and work, even novels that are based on topics that the author needs to research. An article takes less time.  In fact, even how we punctuate the title determines how long it takes to create it.  If it is a book, movie, album, or a television series the title gets written in Italics or underlined if handwritten.  If the title is an article, blog, poem, or song, it gets “quotation marks” because it takes less time to create.  Some grammar nerd figured that out.  I would say that to me this indicates that books are more powerful than articles.  Books contain not only more information, but also contain more power. 

If you want power and knowledge, read many books. I would encourage people to read the Bible and read it many times.  A friend once told me that he, as an atheist, knew more about the Bible than some of his Christian friends.  That’s disheartening and disturbing.  So, let’s walk away from our computers, put down our phones, and pick up a book.  A book will open your mind to many more adventures, along with power and knowledge.  Imagine the arguments we could stop just by reading books.   “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  Psalm 119:105

Obedience Brings Sacrifice

On Veteran’s Day we honor those who have made great sacrifices so we can enjoy the freedoms that we have.  Some have sacrificed limbs, physical ailments, family time, careers, and some have sacrificed the ultimate with their lives.  They sacrifice so that we can enjoy a life of freedom. 

I remember walking through an airport this last summer and people were thanking military members and were doing small acts of kindness for them like buying coffee at Starbucks as they waited for their flights.  I have former students who chose to join the military so they could explore a larger world than what they have known their whole lives.  Obedience is the common characteristic that all of the young people from my classroom that went into the military had.  It’s only fitting that with obedience comes sacrifice. 

Many Christians connect the life of Jesus and the sacrifice He made to those in the military, but what many of us omit is the obedience that sacrifice takes.  Obedience builds character.  It’s obedience to follow the guidelines to protect not just ourselves, but our comrades around us.  The military is about protecting the community and the country, not just individuals. 

Imagine if the church would become like the military and work together through all of our differences and begin to sacrifice for people to meet Jesus.  It does not mean sacrificing theological beliefs, but how about we sacrifice our stylistic choices of church.  We need to sacrifice our selfish desires in order to get out of the way so others can see Jesus. 

Obedience to Jesus means we love, have mercy and grace.  Many people will say that churches should preach sin and list all of our sins.  I’ve been reading the sermons of Peter, Stephen, and Paul.  They listed their sins.  We all have sins and we know which ones we commit.  We need the sacrifice of Jesus not the shaming of a Christian.  With obedience to Jesus we will begin to sacrifice.  Then, we will see the beauty in others that our world so desperately needs. 

Faith or Fear?

This week our country will vote for leaders in our government.  Our country is divided and many people live in fear because of it.  Do we fear or do we have faith?  In reality, this election in California could have a possible affect on me personally.  I don’t tweet or yell on social media.  You know why?  It’s not my job to tell you what to do.  I live by faith knowing that even if everything were to crumble, there are people who will pick up the pieces with me and create something new.  I’ve seen it before and I expect to see it again. 

When we live by fear, we imagine the worse.  When we lead by fear, we want to control others.  I have encountered very few leaders that lead by faith.  Most lead by fear.  In the church, they tell us how we are to DO things, but rarely do they tell us to BE.  Be kind.  Be compassionate.  Be forgiving.  Be loving.  Be humble.  Be passionate.  Be just.  Be truthful.  Be pure.  If we begin to become busy being all of these attributes, we will not have time to do things that lead people to do them because they fear.  It’s not just the church.  It’s in our society. 

If we are busy doing something for others, we become human beings who care and are focused more on being than on doing.  There are needs that our country has.  Are we going to just let congress tell us what to do and be, or can we step up and make a difference? Be a servant and pick up trash around the community to show love for the environment.  Be humble and help out someone in need and understand that your one act of compassion is so much more than any government official will affect that person. 

We have a choice this week to vote.  We can choose whomever we want to be our leaders.   We can choose what policies we want to put in place.  More importantly, we have a choice.  We can choose to be like Jesus or we can choose to tell others what to do to be better.  It takes faith to be and sometimes, it takes faith to do while showing that we are being.  Fear just keeps us at home or at a coffee shop tweeting or on Facebook talking about what everyone should do and how people should be.  I choose to be.  I’m choosing to be, and I will do so that others can see that my being is striving to be like Jesus.  I hope many will join me.