Makisupa

When I wake up after a good night’s sleep to the sound of birds gently chirping outside my bedroom window, while a soft breeze blows the freshest air in as the sun begins to brighten the sky I am at one of my happiest moments. Then I see my beautiful wife and wonderful daughters, I know that I couldn’t be happier.  But then life comes crashing in and the ever pressing march of tasks, duties, and other responsibilities presses me back to a point where my happiness is stretched to its limits.

Ever been there? Most days, You say?  What happens next?

We let the pressures of our lives continue to push us until we have to release that pressure and often in the way of channeling it into someone else, and more often than not – our family receives the bulk of our grief and in turn it is sent right back to us in a cycle of continues pressure and stress with the people just a short while ago were the very definition of our happiness.

Where did our happiness go? Most of us will accuse others of stealing it from us, but the fact is that we simply discard it. It reminds me of the cop show when the officers get their fresh hot donuts and coffee, and then immediately receive a dispatch and proceed to dump everything in pursuit of their duty. But most of us aren’t cops and our emergencies are rarely that critical, besides who ever said you couldn’t enjoy your donut along the way.

Years ago a student of mine introduced me to the term makisupa,  which, as she told me; ‘Happy for no reason – you know no matter what’s going on choose to be happy and act that way.’  And that’s the definition I carry with me. (now I’m not a complete ignoramus, I do know and realize that this term is also used to refer to drug use and some other negative connotations) Sure the more common usage means to “act stupid” for no reason, but when you think about it, you often “act stupid” when you want to have fun.  It’s all about a frame of mind and choosing it.

All too often we allow outside influences affect us, and we then choose to be unhappy about it. That’s not to say that when your child pulls in the driveway with a brand new dent in the back of your car, that you need to be happy  about the circumstance. Instead what I’m saying is to not allow it to rob you of your happiness or worse choose to say or do things that in the heat of the moment you will may regret. Choose to hold on to your happiness, solve the problem, teach the lesson, maintain your relationship and realize that things are just things and that this moment in time is just a sliver of your existence.

The biggest regrets in my life have never been about the things I’ve lost, but rather the people I’ve lost due to make the wrong relational choices, and the opportunities I’ve lost for being to ticked off to take advantage of them.  Additionally, you are one part of the butterfly effect… you can either continue to build the storm or you can stop flapping your wings and let it subside.

Don’t get me wrong there are times for all of us that things get so bad, and they seem to just pile on and push us down further and further, fight your way out from under it, but all the while hold on to your happiness and know that God has built you to be tough enough for this challenge too… Choose to be Happy for No Reason at all, and when you have trouble remembering it… Act stupid for no reason… it’ll remind you…

A Traveler's Guide to the Kingdom

Book Review – A Travel’s Guide to the Kingdom by James Emery White

You sit rapt in a story of history and intrigue and far-away places that you’ve never seen that we wrought with significance that you never realized existed. Now a great fictional story teller can paint imagery in your mind that make you feel you’re there and a great inspirational writer can stir feelings in you that make you want to pack your bags and head out on a mission.  What if you put those two together; What impact would it have on your life?

I have unashamedly been a fan of James White’s writings for years now, but admittedly they have grown more and more – shall we say – advanced in their context, vocabulary and ideology, that I’ve had a difficult time recommending them to all but the most stalwart of theological and philosophical readers. But in his newest book, A Traveler’s Guide to the Kingdom – Journeying through the Christian Life, White takes us on an expedition to the many places around the world that he’s visited and felt significant impact on the many take-aways we as Christians (and seekers) should be experiencing.

White, takes us to places like Oxford England to visit the Eagle and Child Pub where CS Lewis became one of the most prolific Christian writers of the modern era;  to Johannesburg South Africa to experience the Apartheid museum and the lessons of what Community can and should be;  to the Horrors of the mid-twentieth century Europe with a visit to the Boom Ten House in Haarlem Holland, where a young woman  named Corrie followed the greater Will of God and helped Jews escape the Nazis; and finally to Dachau Germany, where so many less fortunate were unable to escape the horror.

Each chapter begins which a virtual walk through of the environment of the locale, I could see the dark wood and smell the age and liquor of the Eagle & Child; I envisioned myself entering the small meditation rooms of the Iona Abby and the cells of the Monastery.  I could see the stained glass of Chartes and hear the voice of Billy Graham, and I felt the cold abandonment and stark fear for those who fled and faced death at the hands of the SS and Gestapo. His simple colorful style in describing architecture as well as the experience of arriving in the wrong town, made a connection and rivaled even the best travel guides Frommer’s or Fodor’s has to offer.  Moreover it drew me in and gave me a more personal connection to the messages.

I would recommend this particular book to anyone who already calls themselves a Christian, but it still leaves an open door and a welcoming hand to the spiritual seeker.