This morning we woke up at a fairly normal time, and were feeling pretty good. The car horns, the grunting (not lowing) cow, the dogs, the rooster all conspired to keep us awake during the night, but we slept quite well. Andrea and I took a walk through the neighborhood after breakfast, taking in the different houses and gardens, the vacant lots full of weeds, trash and discarded coconut husks. We checked out a couple of shops and waved to children at a small school, out in the yard taking their recess.

Lunch was dosas and idli, with sanibar and coconut chutney, from a small café on the corner. Andrea and I tried masala dosas, which were quite good, although they left a little warmth in the belly. After lunch, we drove across town to see a temple and shrine – very sobering. It’s amazing to see how hopeless a religion has such a stranglehold on the people here. Tying orange threads on a tree to give your burdens to a god, dropping small coins in pots to signify prayers, sitting quietly staring at a giant statue of the god, all to gain a god’s favor, to hope to manipulate the god into blessing them.

We spent a couple of hours wandering through a mall adjacent to the temple – actually, the parking garage for the temple is underneath the mall. We stopped at a hallal chicken shop, then headed home for dinner, which was a delicious version of a local chicken and spinach dish. We’re winding down now, feeling a bit weary, but looking forward to fellowship tomorrow.

I’m struck, this morning, by how much our world is changing. Sure, the global society is evolving, but I’m not thinking that big. Andrea and I are going through massive shifts in thought and focus, and if I let it, it will overwhelm me.

In a month, we’ll be a matter of days from flying to South Asia, exploring what may, if the Lord allows, become our new home for at least 2 years. I’ve lived in our current house for 6 years, in the Nashville area for 17 – almost as long as I lived in the home in which I grew up. I’ve been in my current job for almost 9 years.

This month marks massive changes in our finances. We’ve been blessed to avoid the downturn in the market until now, but it has finally trickled down to us. The budget we’ve been working on for the last 3 months is irrelevant now, but the basic principles we’ve been learning and trying to apply definitely come into play.

Again, if the Lord allows, when the time comes to move, we’ll be moving freely – debt-free for the first time in our marriage, for the first time in years for either of us.

These are the things that play in the background, like shadows cast by a campfire. And here is what blazes before me – words from Joshua and the Psalms:

Joshua 1:5bJust as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Psalm 128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

The first is God’s calling to Joshua, just as Israel is ready to cross the Jordan River. Moses is dead, and Joshua is being called to lead his people into the land God has promised them – a partial fulfillment of a covenant spanning centuries. And it feels like we are in a season like this. I am haunted by doubts – whispers that I am not up to this task, that this is a fool’s errand. Yet deeper in (or maybe “further up, and further in”), a stronger voice calls out, that God knows me, created me, grows me. That this is a season of fulfillment, of calling, of redemption, of being made new. So I strive to submit to verse 9, to remember my calling, to remember that God is with us, and will not forsake us, and the Spirit enables us to be strong, to be courageous.

The second and third are from the Psalms of Ascent, sung by Israel as they journeyed to Jerusalem to worship. There is both comfort and warning in Psalm 127. While the warning is apparent, the comfort is in converse: if the Lord builds the house, if the Lord watches the city, then work and watch are not in vain. The Lord’s blessing and kindness brings rest, peace, and fulfillment. This is reflected in Psalm 128 – the blessing for those who fear the Lord. This is our calling, in this season: to fear the Lord, to not be anxious, to be confident in the work the Lord is doing, and has done over the past 28 and 35 years.

Some of you were there – literally there – a little over 13 years ago when it happened. When my shoulder fell apart. Adam and Lindy were there when I was reaching for stuff in the air while the docs at Baptist put my joint back in place, but not really back together.

This month marks the 13 year anniversary of when I finished PT for my shoulder reconstruction. They repaired the rotator cuff, reattached some tendons and ligaments, and left me with a 5″ souvenir scar – “I had my shoulder rebuilt, and all I got was this dumb scar.”

It’s been bothering me a bit over the last couple of years. A big shift in the weather, and I’m feeling it. Can’t get comfortable at night. Growling a bit more at my friends, coworkers, neighbors. The weather changes needed to trigger the aches have been getting smaller, and after quite a bit of encouragement from Andrea, I talked to my doctor, and made an appointment with an orthopaedic specialist.

The nice thing about going to a respected doctor at Vandy is that, through him, I’ve got access to some amazing specialists. I saw Dr. Hannah at the Vandy Sports Medicine Clinic this last week, and was very impressed. The clinic is run like a well-oiled machine, clean and fresh. The staff and nurses treat you like a patient, not a file. Dr. Hannah was compassionate, listened; he didn’t get overly clinical, yet was very professional.

So, the x-rays looked good. Quite good on Vandy’s computerized medical imaging system. It was pretty cool to see it on a nice widescreen lcd, where he could adjust the “lighting” of the “film” with a trackball, rather than having two settings: one bulb or two. Structurally, he said everything was fine. It’s simply that when you rebuild a joint, it doesn’t go back together exactly like it should, so the wear is a bit different. Just needs a little tweaking, a little maintenance. No surgery at this point.

I’m taking a stronger anti-inflamitory for a month, and starting 6 weeks of PT next Friday. I’m really hopeful, at this point. I’ve been dreading going back to the ortho, dreading the spectre of surgery, remembering how hard it was. But I’m not in the midst of a severe depression this time. I’m not alone in a dorm room, trying to balance classes, work, being an RA. I have a wonderful and supportive wife, and I’m at home. So I’m hopeful.

Clicky

Coffee Klatch

So how should we, as Christians, respond to this presentation? As Lauer gave his very brief overview of the national religion, he gushed about the beauty of tradition, even of the artwork, but as he spun a prayer wheel devoted to their god of compassion (Chagtong Chentong), there was no mention of the common tendency to pay the elderly to spin the wheels for others, or the blend of local animistic/shamanistic beliefs and Buddhism that is practiced, and the overflow of superstition that this belief system breeds.