I saw this sign on a church today: Evolution - When Scientists Became Monkeys. I gotta tell you, this really angered me! I mean, we're supposed to be salt and light, a city set on a hill and they go and put THIS on their church sign? Church marquees in general can be cheesy and preachy and I guess I understand them from a marketing perspective. There's a church in town that always advertises its sermon title this Sunday and they are usually current, culturally relevant (albeit slightly cheesy) titles. Regardless, I can appreciate that they are trying to entice people to come and (hopefully) hear the gospel.
With the church I saw today I don't understand the purpose of the sign. It's obviously not to share the gospel or to entice the unchurched to come check out a service or even to make people think. Instead it simply spreads the stereotype that Christians are a close-minded group of people who would much prefer to sit in their sanctuary and judge the outside world. That they are cloistered away from society and occasionally chuck God Bombs over the wall in the form of sarcastic signs or Chick Tracts. It is very frustrating! If you have some insight into a sign like this that I'm not seeing please comment and let me know... I would love to be wrong in my sweeping assumptions.
The other thing that I noticed today were the changing leaves. In looking at them today death kept being brought to mind. By and large, people think that Fall is beautiful because of the changing colors. But it's only beautiful because we know the end of the story. The leaves change color as they are dying and will eventually fall to the ground but we know that they will return the following Spring. I doubt that we would all enjoy Fall so much if we did not know what was going to happen next.
Imagine if all the world had known was Summer and green leaves on the trees and suddenly that all changed. Leaves began to die and fall to the ground. Botanists around the world were stumped and had no idea what happened. Would we think that the oranges, reds and browns were beautiful? Or would they be terrifying? But since we know that after this death there is rebirth we look on the Fall with joy at the beauty in creation. I think the analogy here is fairly clear... those in Christ know the ending. We have the rebirth after death takes us and can therefore die in a way that is beautiful to those who we will see again and we can approach it without fear, for it is not the end!
Have a great day!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
This morning on the way into work I say a young boy - probably 6 or 7 - out in his front yard with a Golden Retreiver. It got me thinking about all the dogs that I've owned and the lessons that I learned by owning them. I think it's really important for kids to have pets (where possible). I've learned a lot about unconditional love, personal responsibility and humanity by caring for animals.
Our current dog, Tank, is 5 years old and is the only dog that my kids have known. They love to climb on him and pet him and get excited to see him when we come home. My son is now to the point where he wants to help feed and take care of Tank and I think it's helping to teach him some additional responsibilty. It's also helped us be able to teach them both that they should be kind and gentle to animals. The downside of owning a dog the size of Tank is that neither of the kids have a fear of other dogs, even in a healthy sense, so we have to be careful around dogs that are not used to our kids.
Throughout my life I've had to put down 5 dogs that I can think of (there's probably more). Each one was a heart-wrenching event but showed me that life is fragile. It is some of the deepest sorrow that I've felt to lose an animal that's been part of my family for 10+ years. But this too was good for me to learn as a kid and is good for us to learn now. In fact, the loss of my in-laws dog this year led to some deep discussions with my son regarding life and death and was a big catalyst in him asking Jesus into his heart. I think it's clear that I've got a soft spot for pets!
The other big thing I noticed today while driving was all the Halloween decorations. I don't remember there being that many decorations when I was growing up. There are some people that definitely go all out for Halloween. I have to admit that Halloween is a fairly new thing for me. Growing up we didn't celebrate Halloween due to the dark aspects that are associated with it - witches, ghosts, etc... It was something that my parents didn't really want in the house so we tended to not have any celebration or acknowledgement of it.
Thinking back on those times, I think that if I saw some of the houses that I've seen recently I think I would have judged them as Satanists or at least heathens unworthy of my attention. As I've gotten older and out in the world a little more I've started to realize something - Halloween doesn't mean any more to most people than Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. There may be a vague familiarity with the origins of the holiday but by and large it has nothing to do with the way that it is actually celebrated. And granted, there is a minority who celebrate Halloween as a "holy" day. But for most, Halloween is a time to get together with friends and family and the traditions dictate that costumes are worn and candy is taken from strangers. This is no stranger than hunting for eggs or eating turkey or exchanging gifts, it's just what the traditions call for.
So with that said, While I do try to remember the real reason for Christmas and Easter as those have true meaning in my life, Halloween has never had a "religious" meaning for me. So, I'm going to give it one this year. Here's my plan: to celebrate with friends and family, to dress up in costumes and beg candy from and hand out candy to strangers; to go WITH my neighbors door to door; to develop relationships with people on the one night of the year when they will willingly open their homes to me and my family with no questions asked. I want it so that next year I'm taking candy from/to friends and neighbors and not strangers.
So that's my encouragement to you: don't withdraw from the culture, engage! Plus, it'll probably end up being a fun and sugar-coma-inducing night...
Our current dog, Tank, is 5 years old and is the only dog that my kids have known. They love to climb on him and pet him and get excited to see him when we come home. My son is now to the point where he wants to help feed and take care of Tank and I think it's helping to teach him some additional responsibilty. It's also helped us be able to teach them both that they should be kind and gentle to animals. The downside of owning a dog the size of Tank is that neither of the kids have a fear of other dogs, even in a healthy sense, so we have to be careful around dogs that are not used to our kids.
Throughout my life I've had to put down 5 dogs that I can think of (there's probably more). Each one was a heart-wrenching event but showed me that life is fragile. It is some of the deepest sorrow that I've felt to lose an animal that's been part of my family for 10+ years. But this too was good for me to learn as a kid and is good for us to learn now. In fact, the loss of my in-laws dog this year led to some deep discussions with my son regarding life and death and was a big catalyst in him asking Jesus into his heart. I think it's clear that I've got a soft spot for pets!
The other big thing I noticed today while driving was all the Halloween decorations. I don't remember there being that many decorations when I was growing up. There are some people that definitely go all out for Halloween. I have to admit that Halloween is a fairly new thing for me. Growing up we didn't celebrate Halloween due to the dark aspects that are associated with it - witches, ghosts, etc... It was something that my parents didn't really want in the house so we tended to not have any celebration or acknowledgement of it.
Thinking back on those times, I think that if I saw some of the houses that I've seen recently I think I would have judged them as Satanists or at least heathens unworthy of my attention. As I've gotten older and out in the world a little more I've started to realize something - Halloween doesn't mean any more to most people than Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. There may be a vague familiarity with the origins of the holiday but by and large it has nothing to do with the way that it is actually celebrated. And granted, there is a minority who celebrate Halloween as a "holy" day. But for most, Halloween is a time to get together with friends and family and the traditions dictate that costumes are worn and candy is taken from strangers. This is no stranger than hunting for eggs or eating turkey or exchanging gifts, it's just what the traditions call for.
So with that said, While I do try to remember the real reason for Christmas and Easter as those have true meaning in my life, Halloween has never had a "religious" meaning for me. So, I'm going to give it one this year. Here's my plan: to celebrate with friends and family, to dress up in costumes and beg candy from and hand out candy to strangers; to go WITH my neighbors door to door; to develop relationships with people on the one night of the year when they will willingly open their homes to me and my family with no questions asked. I want it so that next year I'm taking candy from/to friends and neighbors and not strangers.
So that's my encouragement to you: don't withdraw from the culture, engage! Plus, it'll probably end up being a fun and sugar-coma-inducing night...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Today was a rainy day and I was glad to have something to look for while I was driving other than grey skies and rain.
Here we go:
There was a Jaguar with this license plate: ARMSDLR. Don't know what the guy does for a living but I'm not going to break into his house!
I decided to write down all the different states I saw today and of course there was not a whole lot of variety:
Here we go:
There was a Jaguar with this license plate: ARMSDLR. Don't know what the guy does for a living but I'm not going to break into his house!
I decided to write down all the different states I saw today and of course there was not a whole lot of variety:
- Florida
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- California
- Tennessee
- Utah
I actually talked to the guy with the Utah license plate. He's an auditor and has been at the bank for the past several days and he's got his family with him in the car. I asked him today if he drove them all the way here from Utah and he said he's been relocated to Charlotte but they drove over from there. I think it's great that his family is able to be here with him, that's gotta be fun...
I did drive down the best looking street in Huntsville, at least in the fall. If you get a chance, drive down Franklin St in downtown between Lowe Ave and Williams Ave. I'll try to get a picture in the next couple of days to post. It's great with the leaves changing and the old homes in Old Town.
Let me know what you think if you get to drive down Franklin St...
Monday, October 26, 2009
I have to confess that this post will encompass both today and yesterday, mainly because what I saw yesterday trumps what I saw today...
While driving home with the family from church yesterday morning we came upon a truck sticking out into the middle of the road. It looked like the driver had turned onto a side street and stopped with the back end still hanging out. As we approached the truck, we saw two people standing of to one side - a man and a woman. I'm not sure what the man looked like because everyone's attention was drawn to the woman. She was wearing a long sleeve black shirt... and that's it. I couldn't tell if they were fighting or just carrying on a normal conversation. Regardless, I immediately shouted "This is so going in my blog!!!" This is not something I expected to see three blocks from my house.
I just reread the above paragraph and realized something about that last sentence - for the most part none of us expect to see this in our neighborhoods. We like to think that everyone within a 5-mile radius is just like us. They all have jobs that provide good income, access to all the fringe benefits that we enjoy (college, cable, internet, etc...) and expect that in general they should look like us. It freaks us out when we see someone who lives in a lower socioeconomic position than we are. Ultimately we should remember that these are people not projects and they deserve respect. I want to teach my kids this.
I'm actually quite glad that once they start going to school my kids "commute" will take them past some lower-rent apartments. I think this will be good for them to understand that everyone comes from a different background and everyone should be treated with the same respect and honor as an image bearer. I hope I can follow through with that...
Today I noticed how many cars in the area have some connection to South Carolina. I saw one car that had a SC license plate followed by at least 3 or 4 others who had the palmetto and crescent moon somewhere on their car. It was weird.
I also saw a guy driving down the interstate with his gas flap open and the lid waving in the breeze. Since we were going 70 MPH I did not try to communicate with him; I would have if we'd been on surface streets.
I saw a dentist office that will be holding the "Great Candy Buy Back" on November 2... I guess they are buying kids' Halloween candy so they don't get cavities. Sounds like great publicity...
Have a great day! See you tomorrow....
While driving home with the family from church yesterday morning we came upon a truck sticking out into the middle of the road. It looked like the driver had turned onto a side street and stopped with the back end still hanging out. As we approached the truck, we saw two people standing of to one side - a man and a woman. I'm not sure what the man looked like because everyone's attention was drawn to the woman. She was wearing a long sleeve black shirt... and that's it. I couldn't tell if they were fighting or just carrying on a normal conversation. Regardless, I immediately shouted "This is so going in my blog!!!" This is not something I expected to see three blocks from my house.
I just reread the above paragraph and realized something about that last sentence - for the most part none of us expect to see this in our neighborhoods. We like to think that everyone within a 5-mile radius is just like us. They all have jobs that provide good income, access to all the fringe benefits that we enjoy (college, cable, internet, etc...) and expect that in general they should look like us. It freaks us out when we see someone who lives in a lower socioeconomic position than we are. Ultimately we should remember that these are people not projects and they deserve respect. I want to teach my kids this.
I'm actually quite glad that once they start going to school my kids "commute" will take them past some lower-rent apartments. I think this will be good for them to understand that everyone comes from a different background and everyone should be treated with the same respect and honor as an image bearer. I hope I can follow through with that...
Today I noticed how many cars in the area have some connection to South Carolina. I saw one car that had a SC license plate followed by at least 3 or 4 others who had the palmetto and crescent moon somewhere on their car. It was weird.
I also saw a guy driving down the interstate with his gas flap open and the lid waving in the breeze. Since we were going 70 MPH I did not try to communicate with him; I would have if we'd been on surface streets.
I saw a dentist office that will be holding the "Great Candy Buy Back" on November 2... I guess they are buying kids' Halloween candy so they don't get cavities. Sounds like great publicity...
Have a great day! See you tomorrow....
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Week of October 19-23
This week was an odd week for me, I had an early breakfast on Tuesday and worked half days Wednesday and Thursday and did not go into work on Friday. After my thoughts on routine from last Friday this was a very odd week because there was very little regularity. This also did a number on keeping track of what I saw when so I'm doing one post for the whole week. Hopefully this will not be super long, I'll try to be brief.
At different points I drove through a drive-through and picked up takeout. I need to explain something first, we eat Steak-Out a lot. I didn't realize how much we ate Steak-Out until a few months ago. I walked in the door and they said "Hey, Mr. Treen, how are you today." I hadn't called in an order so I know they didn't just look it up on the screen; they actually know who I am. They also know my car so when I pull up, if I've called ahead they have my order ready by the time I get inside. I know this is a little sad but the food is good and marginally better for us than fast food. These people have stopped seeing me as customer X and started seeing me as Mr. Treen (which is humorous in and of itself). I try to be nicer to them now too; I'm not anonymous anymore.
Regardless, I drove through a fast food restaurant this week. Here I am, interacting with another human being while I'm in my car! It's exactly what I've been writing about this whole time. Well, not exactly because they weren't in a car but still... I found myself thinking about the person at the window. Rather than a tool or obstacle to me getting my food, this is a person. What are they going through today? What is going on in their life? Is this a temporary job or is this their career? I gotta say, once I started thinking of them as people it changed the way I interacted. I made eye contact and said thank you.
I've been out with friends in restaurants where I have been embarrassed by how the servers were treated. They were talked down to and treated like second-class citizens. Please don't do this! Think about the fact that every food-service worker is fundamentally a person. They deserve the same level of respect that you would give your friends or anyone else you respect.
Hopefully this week I can get back into the routine of posting every day. Thanks for reading!
At different points I drove through a drive-through and picked up takeout. I need to explain something first, we eat Steak-Out a lot. I didn't realize how much we ate Steak-Out until a few months ago. I walked in the door and they said "Hey, Mr. Treen, how are you today." I hadn't called in an order so I know they didn't just look it up on the screen; they actually know who I am. They also know my car so when I pull up, if I've called ahead they have my order ready by the time I get inside. I know this is a little sad but the food is good and marginally better for us than fast food. These people have stopped seeing me as customer X and started seeing me as Mr. Treen (which is humorous in and of itself). I try to be nicer to them now too; I'm not anonymous anymore.
Regardless, I drove through a fast food restaurant this week. Here I am, interacting with another human being while I'm in my car! It's exactly what I've been writing about this whole time. Well, not exactly because they weren't in a car but still... I found myself thinking about the person at the window. Rather than a tool or obstacle to me getting my food, this is a person. What are they going through today? What is going on in their life? Is this a temporary job or is this their career? I gotta say, once I started thinking of them as people it changed the way I interacted. I made eye contact and said thank you.
I've been out with friends in restaurants where I have been embarrassed by how the servers were treated. They were talked down to and treated like second-class citizens. Please don't do this! Think about the fact that every food-service worker is fundamentally a person. They deserve the same level of respect that you would give your friends or anyone else you respect.
- I saw a truck moving a big house on Drake. The house took up both lanes and I'm pretty sure that they were going to have to take some signs down that were in the middle of the road to get the house through. I wonder what is so important about that house that people are going to the trouble of moving it.
- The Rock Family Worship Center got a new sign, it looks good and very 2010. It'll be fun in 10 years to be able to look back at styles and think "that's soooo 2000's".
- I saw a self storage facility that had a sign that said "Climate Controlled Storage". There's nothing interesting about that except that Storage was on the bottom line and had flames coming from underneath it. I couldn't help but think that the sign should have said "Climate Controlled Storage FROM HELL".
- This reminds me of another storage facility I pass regularly, you may have seen me post this on Facebook but I think it's worth posting here too:
Yes, this is a Funeral Home/Climate-Controlled Storage.
Hopefully this week I can get back into the routine of posting every day. Thanks for reading!
Friday, October 16, 2009
The big news of this day is that I saw the Alabama/Kentucky guy AGAIN... This is three days in a row. In fact I was behind him and got a picture of the tag (the numbers have been blurred to protect the innocent).
If you click on the picture to enlarge it you should be able to see the license plate frame.
So after three days in a row I started wondering if all of us are really that predictable? We all leave the house at the same time, go to the same job and do mostly the same stuff for 8-10 hours (or more) and then head home. I bet that I would run into this guy on the way home except that I take a different route home. It's really no wonder that we don't take more notice of the people around us. We're so stuck in our routine, engrossed in whatever is on the radio.
I also saw three cars all in a row that had advertising on them: ALFA Insurance, Caroline's on Main, and Kemp's Flooring. I don't know anything about the people driving these cars but I figure it's one of two things: either they are driving a car that is paid for by the company and the driver doesn't necessarily care or the driver is pursuing a dream.
I have great admiration for people who can start their own business. In many cases the routine that I described above does not apply. Predictability is not a part of their vocabulary. I don't think that I have it in me to start a business. I need the routine and stability that comes from working for someone else. But there is something attractive that comes from creating something that's bigger than yourself. I hope for these three drivers as well as all of my friends who have their own businesses that things go well. And for those of you who are like me, support the people who step out on their own.
Let me know what you're routine looks like in the morning, especially if you've got your own business. Do you think you could start something on your own? Would you want to? What's holding you back?
So after three days in a row I started wondering if all of us are really that predictable? We all leave the house at the same time, go to the same job and do mostly the same stuff for 8-10 hours (or more) and then head home. I bet that I would run into this guy on the way home except that I take a different route home. It's really no wonder that we don't take more notice of the people around us. We're so stuck in our routine, engrossed in whatever is on the radio.
I also saw three cars all in a row that had advertising on them: ALFA Insurance, Caroline's on Main, and Kemp's Flooring. I don't know anything about the people driving these cars but I figure it's one of two things: either they are driving a car that is paid for by the company and the driver doesn't necessarily care or the driver is pursuing a dream.
I have great admiration for people who can start their own business. In many cases the routine that I described above does not apply. Predictability is not a part of their vocabulary. I don't think that I have it in me to start a business. I need the routine and stability that comes from working for someone else. But there is something attractive that comes from creating something that's bigger than yourself. I hope for these three drivers as well as all of my friends who have their own businesses that things go well. And for those of you who are like me, support the people who step out on their own.
Let me know what you're routine looks like in the morning, especially if you've got your own business. Do you think you could start something on your own? Would you want to? What's holding you back?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Day Three of my experiment. I've gotten several comments from people reading this both on the blog and in person so, thanks! It was a fairly interesting day today for sightings:
- I passed a cream colored VW Beetle convertible driven by a woman in her twenties with a "Baby on Board" sign in the back right next to a "Grandmas for Obama" sticker... one of those things did not seem to fit.
- I saw two overly-affectionate construction workers hugging on the side of the road... it was a weird sight!
- There was a great bumper sticker that said "I'm all that's left of a bizarre childhood". Totally describes my life.
There were two things that happened today that made me stop and think. First, I saw the Kentucky/Alabama House Divided guy again. It made me wonder how many of the same people I drive to work with every day and I have no idea who they are. In the car culture that we live in we're in insulated bubbles with our own music and conversations and never bother with people in the other "bubbles". I wonder if it would be different if I took public transit (if that was an option for me). Would I be on a bus or train with the some of the same people every day and would I interact with them or would I shut down with my cell phone or iPod? How would our culture look if we were all forced to interact with non-friends or family during our commutes?
The second thing that happened started when I decided to write down all the vanity tags that I saw today along with the corresponding car type. I saw quite a few, here's the list:
- DUCTRK - Ford F150
- LAVON - Mitsubishi Eclipse
- MOUSE88 - Pontiac Gran Prix
- FIRELDY - Classic Mercedes Convertible (I couldn't see the model)
- PBURKS - Dodge Intrepid
- RGPHHR - Chevrolet HHR
- SFTBL7 - Dodge Ram
- PROHR - Mercedes G Class
- PRLE89 - Chevrolet Cobalt
- DKPONY - Ford Mustang - Shelby Cobra edition
- 1TPEACE - Buick Rendezvous
- HO-3 - Mistubushi Galant
- WE ROOF - Dodge Ram
- KT BEL - Saturn Ion
Think about it - how many collegiate plates or stickers do you see in a given day? How many Willowbrook magnets do you see on mini vans driving around town? People want community; they want to be a part of a larger group. They want to see someone with the same tag or same sticker and feel connected.
At the same time, many of these people want their own unique identity within their community. They want to stick out with a custom tag; they want to be differentiated from the rest of the Auburn or Alabama fans. So they are willing to pay $100 to be a unique part of a smaller community. It's really what we all want - we want to fit in without blending in.
So, here's your challenge: find someone and be their community. Provide the affinity that they desire that will allow them to fit in. And when you're with your groups of people, find out the unique attributes in people to keep them from blending into the background.
Thanks for reading this super long post. If you or someone you know uses vanity tags or specialty tags or both comment on this and let me know what that particular tag was chosen...
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
So, my experiment made for an interesting day today. I was much more attuned to what was going on around me and paid more attention to the people in the cars rather than just the cars themselves.
That's not to say that it wasn't an interesting day for sightings:
So that's about all I saw today. Like I said it made me aware of my surroundings and made me think much more about what's going on with those who I interact with daily. If you feel up to it post a comment if you've seen anything interesting as you commute...
That's not to say that it wasn't an interesting day for sightings:
- I saw this first:
Yes that is a Pumpkin duct taped to a mailbox...
- I saw a Yellow Mustang with the tag: MOMPONY
- I saw a car that I see at least once a week that has a "House Divided - Kentucky/Alabama" license plate frame. It's a blue Toyota Avalon that I always remember because I wasn't aware that Kentucky and Alabama were rivals...
- There was an accident near the Interstate with a firetruck, ambulance and police cars. I couldn't see what the problem was because I was trying to get through traffic and off the ramp. But, I did say a prayer for whoever was involved... See, I'm paying attention to people!
- I saw two cars that were in the process of getting parking tickets. I tried to get a picture of the man getting out of his little ticket car but couldn't snap the shot.
- I passed abortion protesters twice - thankfully there were no kids out there with them to be indoctrinated in ignorance. I could write a whole post on this subject. I don't disagree with the protesters beliefs, just their methods.
- Finally I saw what could only be described as a used medical equipment tent sale outside of a doctor's office:
The sign says "Make Offer" in very poor handwriting.
So that's about all I saw today. Like I said it made me aware of my surroundings and made me think much more about what's going on with those who I interact with daily. If you feel up to it post a comment if you've seen anything interesting as you commute...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 13
- A mail truck being towed
- A super old guy driving a white car
- A student driver who didn't understand the concept of a green arrow.
- A guy standing beside his car talking to another guy that was in the middle of the road. The middle-of-the-road guy glared at me when I passed them.
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