I'll assume for the moment that most of you have at least seen the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe", if not read it. I really recommend reading it if you have the time, as well as the other six books in the series. I remember reading them when I was in third or fourth grade, and have made a point to read them every few years or so since then. I find that when I read them now, I appreciate them more than I did back then, because I'm able to pick up on things that I didn't when I was younger.

One of my favorite scenes in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is where Aslan goes to free the statues in the Witch's castle. These statues were actually centaurs, lions, fauns, and other creatures who opposed the Witch and whom she then petrified (turned into stone). When Aslan reaches them, he breathes on them, and they become alive once more. I really enjoy this scene, and others like it throughout the other books, because it conveys a deep concept about God. That Aslan's (who, as the son of the Emperor-Over-Sea, is a representation of Jesus Christ) breath is life-giving, and is the only thing capable of saving those who were petrified.

A few months ago I was reading the book of Habakkuk, who was a prophet several hundreds years before Christ was born. Habakkuk lived in a culture where people made images from wood and clay, decorated them, and worshipped them. Habakkuk didn't understand this, especially in light of all that God had done for his fellow Israelites and the fact that God has specifically said to not worship idols. To all the people around him who were worshipping these things they had made, Habakkuk had this to say:

"Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him that says to wood, 'Come to life!' Or to lifeless stone, 'Wake up!' Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold an silver; there is no breath in it." (2:18-19, NIV)

Rob Lacey, in his "Word on the Street" translation, puts it this way:

"Bad news with no driver at the wheel, hurtling towards those who say to bits of wood and stone, "Live, won't you?" Do inanimate objects give good advice?! OK, so it's been sprayed with gold or silver, but it doesn't breathe; it can't talk - it's dead!"

Both of these translations use the concept of "breath" or "breathing" to explain the difference between a living object and a non-living object. Both of these translations use the concept of breathing to explain that some things are worthy of worship (God), and others that are not worthy of worship (everything else).

In the Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan's breath is transforming; it brings the non-living to life. But he is the only breath-giver there is, he's the only one that's deserving of worship. Likewise, God is the only one that deserves our undivided worship. There are many things in our world that we can choose to worship- money, friendships, technology, etc... But Habakkuk's point is that while these things might be nice, they aren't worthy enough for our worship. I might really enjoy my laptop, but it's certainly not deserving of worship- ever have a computer crash? Yeah. Nothing that we can make is deserving of our full attention and devotion, only God is. We have to re-order our lives based on this simple truth. What do we want to give our attention to? Schoolwork? A website?

God is the only one that can create life, and He's the only one that makes life worth living.

Embarrassing Story #6

Well, I can't believe that I've been doing this for six months now. In that short amount of time, we've covered how big of a geek I am, that I can be chased by young boys with squirt guns, am afraid of the Easter Bunny, cried over a big hamburger, and how I kissed somebody else's grandmother.

Yeah.

This month, I'll just be sharing some random things that happened to me when I was at camp on August 10th. First, as a background, I have to mention several things: 1) It was the second to last week of camp, and I was drained physically and emotionally. I had some situations that week that were challenging, and it's not like I had been lying around eating bon-bons before that. 2) Bugs temporarily take over the site sometimes. During Staff Orientation, it was caterpillars that were hanging off every railing, huddled into swarms on trees, etc. The last few weeks of camp it was these little centipede-like things that were crawling around everywhere, mostly along the shoreline and (very inconveniently) on the pier. 3) Birds sometimes nest in places they shouldn't nest. Barn swallows, in particular, are pretty stupid and always build their nests in the most awkward places on site - the Galilee South porch, and the entrance to the chapel. This means that, from time to time, birds fly into the chapel during Chapel.

So the stage is set. We have centipede-ish things all around site, and a bird flying into the chapel. It's breakfast on August 10th, and I'm happily eating my French Toast Sticks, unaware that things are going to get worse from here on out. Then, all of a sudden, I feel something drop onto my head. More than slightly freaked out, I brush my hair, and onto my plate plops...... .....a centipede-ish thing. ......ugh. Gross! ....it was so disgusting that I am still recoiling in revulsion. I get it off my plate, kill it, and get a new plate. But by then I'm flipped out, so I keep looking up with horror, expecting a ceiling tile to come crashing down upon me with several thousand of these little wormy things to crawl all over me (ugh, just writing about them grosses me out ::shudder::). This was the beginning of my day.

The crowning moment, though, happened after all the craziness of the day had finished. The kids had gone home, we had cleaned the buildings, and we gathering in the chapel for a short meeting followed by a closing service for the summer (many staff were leaving after that week). I came in hot and sweaty, and just "done". I had just sat down to relax for a bit when the bird, the infamous Barn Swallow, flew in the chapel. A moment later...

....plop!

Onto my shoulder. I glance over to verify and... yes, it had pooped on me. ::sigh:: ...I'm pretty sure worse things could've happened to me. Actually, I'm positive that something much worse could've happened to me. I have a good life- God has blessed me greatly. But, at that moment, the combination of having a centipede/worm-thing land on my head that morning and the tiredness of camp was just... well, it felt like it just wasn't my day.

So you can add that to embarrassing things you now know about me - I've gotten worms in my hair, and have had a bird poop on me.

Just wait 'til you hear my story for October: "I Can't Believe I'm Going To Share A Story About Girls"