Creation

This is the view my wife and I woke up to this morning from our hotel room in Vancouver, BC. We're here until Saturday when we'll board the ship for our Alaska cruise. Today we are going whale and eagle watching around the Vancouver area.

Back to the view. It is simply spectacular. To see the majestic creation of the Creator, to understand how He simply spoke a word and bam! there is was, to sense His awesome presence in the heart of everything He created, now that is huge!

I think I may go and write a worship song.

Leaving...

If it matters to you, I will be away for the next 12 days with my wife Elaine as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary (see the August 21st post "Milestones"). Talk to you when we return!

Milestones

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Milestones. Landmarks. Waypoints. These are all significant events in our lives that not only separate our lives into periods, but also act as defining moments for us. We celebrate birthdays, rites of passage (first kiss, driver's license) and achievements. We can remember our high school graduations and our first dates. If we are married, we can remember our wedding day.

When we are younger, milestones act more as separations in our lives. They let ourselves and others see us as "before" and "after". We reference milestones as points of change.

Thirty years ago today, I took Elaine Odom as my wife. I remember beginning to cry as she appeared in the doorway, escorted by her brother, waiting to come down the aisle where I waited. I remember how she smiled when we held each other’s hands and recited our vows. I remember our kiss, the first as my bride.

Thirty years ago today, I reached a milestone in my life. I got married. Today is another milestone, as Elaine and I celebrate thirty years of marriage. My life is not so much separated by this day as it is defined by it.

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What's The Point?

Have you ever noticed that just about all created works are identified as being a work of their creator? If I said I owned the original Starry Night you might think I was referring to the Don McLean song recorded in 1971. But if I told you I owned a Van Gogh's Starry Night, you would know exactly what I was referring to.

The same is true about music. We identify songs as "a U2 song" or "a Matt Redmond tune". When F. Murray Abraham, playing Antonio Salieri in the 1984 movie Amadeus hummed the song Eine kleine Nachtmusik, he identified it to his audience by saying, "That is Motzart."

Created works cannot be separated from the one who created them. The creator will always put part of themselves into their work. The created work will always point to the creator, showing nuances, hints and "signatures" that mark it as theirs. The created work cannot "free" itself from the hand of the creator. It is not an independent entity which has no identity apart from its creator.

In the same way, we as created beings are known by the One who created us. Although the world in which we live gives us an identity apart from our Creator, we can't shake off the fact that everyone's identity is tied to their Creator. They may reject it. They may ignore it. But, they can't deny it.

Our Creator has "signed" us with His personal mark of ownership. It is expressed in our own creativity. It flows through our dreams. It is the root of our passion. Everyone of us are people who have been created with purpose. That purpose is to point back to the One who created us.

Who Am I?

You may be asking about me, "Who do you think you are that people would want to read what you have to say?" Well, I have wrestled with this question for several months. In fact, the main reason that I have never started a blog is because I continually ask myself this.

Do people really care what I have to say? Or, am I simply concerned about how I might be perceived? If our world is a world of new information, and that rate of new information grows exponentially, do I have anything worthwhile to add?

Well, maybe people really don't care what I have to say. And I guess it doesn't matter how I am perceived. Concerning adding worthwhile thoughts to the overwhelming amount of writings, ideas and musings that are "out there", I have to take what is churning inside of my head, heart and soul and express it. And so, I write.

You may still ask, "Who am I?" I have been created in the image of the Great Creator. I have been given a mind that asks. I have been given a heart that seeks. I have been given a soul that dreams.

So to more clearly answer your question, I am a simple man... just like you.