tom clegg

Mystery

2008-06-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

So I don't have all the answers or many answers for that matter. I just don't know. I do not know why things happen the way they do or how things end up in the shape which they do. I especially don't know all there is to know about people, the universe and God. I suppose if I did know everything about people I'd be truly disappointed, the universe...bored and God well...he certainly wouldn't be God...anymore.

I am at a loss at being able to completely understand the riddle of another person. The one I live with and experience more than anyone else is my wife. She confounds me in ways I cannot explain much less understand. Just when I think I have her figured out she surprises me with some dimension of her being that is utterly foreign to me. A life time of adventure.

And the universe, what a smug notion to think that I know even something about it's infinite expanse and infinitesimal complexity. I know that I don't know. That I do know. The more I do know the less I am aware I do not know. A life time of exploration.

And God, of course, invites me and defies me. I know He is knowable and unknowable. Like my wife I know I may have a relationship with Him who is unknowable. I may know Him but never possess Him. I chase He who chases me. A life time of pursuing the pursuer. Seventy times seven.

I don't know...

Pain

2008-06-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

No doubt you are familiar with this topic...pain. It is our constant companion in life, our greatest teacher, the shaper of our heart, soul, mind, character, integrity and love. Pain forms and molds. It prunes, removes and orients. It also breaks up hardened places and fertilizes dead places. Pain gives, believe it or not, far more then it takes away. I say this because, what else can really make the kind of difference in our lives like pain? Nothing.

In short, they didn't tell us in sunday school or seminary that pain would be the dominant force in shaping life...I wish they had. I also wish they'd told us that the first thing in God's agenda in our life is not alleviating our pain. I think if they had things would have made a lot more sense in life...now at least. I suppose then I simply would not have believed them.

Patrick

2008-03-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

Unabashedly I love Patrick the Patron Saint of Ireland.

In "A Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus," Patrick wrote: The Confession of Saint Patrick.

I am Patrick, yes a sinner and indeed untaught; yet I am established here in Ireland where I profess myself bishop.

I am certain in my heart that "all that I am," I have received from God.

So I live among barbarous tribes, a stranger for the love of God.

He himself testifies that this is so.

I never would have wanted these harsh words to spill from my mouth; I am not in the habit of speaking so sharply.

Yet now I am driven by the zeal of God, Christ's truth has aroused me.

I speak out too for the love of my neighbors who are my only sons;

for them I gave up my home country, my parents and even pushing my own life to the brink of death.

If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples;

even though some of them still look down on me.

Patrick Patron Saint of All Missionaries. The more I learn of him the more I want to be just like him. Most people have no idea who he was or why we celebrate the anniversary of his death. Suffice it to say he was while not even Irish the greatest of her men. Do some research you will be astounded...truly. I have now written two short biographies in an attempt to tell his story and deleted them both from my blog as I think you will be amazed at what you find if you dig for his story on your own. A good place to start is:

He, it is said, once wrote:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

The Lorica.

Watch this great YouTube video about him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEo47c3R8fw

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

people matter

2008-01-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

people matter.

they are precious.

none are disposable, none are perfect, none are beyond redemption.

it seems too many people i encounter doubt this on a very fundamental level.

they doubt this, it seems, most profoundly about themselves.

i think that may be the most original of sins.

to disbelieve that they matter...to anyone.

especially to God.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2007-12-03T18:15:00.001-08:00

So as a society and as the human race we are supposed to be evolving. I think that means improving..I'm still thinking on that one.

So today I'm on a a trip to Southern California. Not too complicated, not too complex. Done it probably more than a hundred times.

First sign things are going bad...I wake up early.

So I'm thinking hey cool...run get a cup of coffee before I have to get ready and leave town. Zip grab Starbuck's...okay, pretty good so far. But then.

Wham! I witness a car wreck. Thankfully nobody's hurt but clearly the guy who's at fault is going to take off on the the innocent party. I get out of my truck. Before you know it he's going looney. Finally the cops arrive. "Here's my card I saw it all...it's this guy's fault...call me if you need anything." "Sorry Sir you'll have to stay and wait till I take your statement. Pleading etc on my part: no dice you're stuck.

It's getting late. I rush home...no shower, grab my stuff jump in the car. Make it to the airport just in time for final boarding call and woosh. "I'm sorry folks but we're having difficulty with some of the equipment and we're going to have to go back to the gate." Okay...no big deal...these things happen.

Hour or two later we push back and land in Denver just as my flight is leaving. Rebooked on next flight. Okay...smooth sailing. (you see where this is going don't you?)

Just as we're boarding. Folks there's a problem with the APU and we're are canceling this flight. Two for two!

Rebooked. Head over to the gate. Over sold. Sorry sir we made a mistake (a noble confession on their part) you're booked on the next flight.

Finally I make it to LA. Maybe I should have stayed in bed.

Somebody said well it's an imperfect system. No lie. Now, I'm not whinning...I'm just observing as I journey.

So as I was saying...who thinks this world is getting better? That we as humans are really, evolving?

justice

2007-11-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

i was reading n.t. wright last night and he is so...pardon the pun, right...when he writes about the need to make things right. the particularly human need to set things right in the world or as he puts it the need for justice.

where does that need come from?

how can it be explained?

while we and certainly i don't always live out justice...i none the less yearn for it, strive for it, despise when it's absent and cheer when it shows up.

i freely admit i cannot tell where this need comes from. socialization? genetics, education? religion?

why does injustice hurt so much?

is this another place where god reveals himself to us humans?

i dunno...but it makes sense.

chasing time

2007-11-27T06:54:00.000-08:00

"chasing time," that's what they called being in a hurry when I lived in east africa.

"you'll never catch him," is what always came next.

such wisdom.

life has been manic the past 30 days.

eldest daughter turned 18, celebrated 20 years of marriage to my sweetheart, released a new book, coast-to-coast, debuted new seminar, celebrated thanksgiving, etc, etc

chasing time.

what would i do with him if i caught him?

finally!!

2007-11-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

hey everyone...so sorry for the delay it getting this blog up and running!

life has been a whirlwind since the release of MISSING IN AMERICA and I want to thank everyone for their patience!!