There's a short story here worthy of Arthur Miller.

By now you know I like all things automotive. So you won't be surprised that this promotional video fascinated me. I want one! (The great music is a plus.)
Ferrari V12 engine
I have a "computer" on my bicycle. It's about 2" square, 1/2" thick, is attached to the center of the handlebars and has a sensor on the front wheel. By using the two buttons on the unit I can get a variety of readouts including distance, speed, elapsed time and average speed. These are calculated based on the sensor, which is calibrated to the size of my wheel.
Here's the question: does the computer figure my average speed by dividing the distance traveled by the elapsed time, or by keeping a running total of my speed and dividing it by the time elapsed?
Here's why I think it matters. (Keep in mind that I am lousy at math. I'm not even sure the last paragraph makes sense.) On all my routes I come to stop lights and thanks to Mr. Murphy they're usually red. So I stop. The computer has an auto-pause but it takes some time to kick in. So, while I'm sitting at that light the elapsed time is ticking away. If my average speed is based on that elapsed time I'm getting cheated! The average speed that I see at the end of my ride has been lowered because of the time I spent waiting for the light to go green.
However, if the average is based on a running computation of my speed...
I think I just blew a breaker in my brain.
I got gas today and at the pump in front of me was a new Mustang with a signature just to the left of the right taillight: Jack Roush. I've seen a couple of Carroll Shelby Mustangs but didn't know there was a Roush edition. I talked to the guy - not the kind of person you'd expect to drive a car with 415 hp. Probably 65 years old and sporting quite a gut. He said the car was about to break his budget for the tickets he's been written. Maybe posing just a bit, but it sure sounded sweet when he started it up!
At my meeting last night the topic of worship came up. We agreed that it can be a very fine line that separates vertical worship from a concert-style performance. I think it's like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's comment about pornography - he couldn't define it but knew it when he saw it.
Do the musicians and their music point me to God? Or is my attention drawn to their words and/or actions?
I've thought about that segment of our conversation off and on throughout the day. I wonder if some church bands have been unduly influenced by the Christian concert scene. If I go to a Chris Tomlin concert I go to see him perform. Sure, he performs Christian music and wants to encourage us to think about God. But it's a performance and he wants us to leave that concert as satisfied customers. In church those who lead us in worship should, ideally, be invisible.
Yeah, it's hard to define.
I will tell you that the worship leader I respect most is a guy who - when I've experienced his worship leading - models a humility that makes it so natural to focus vertically. He has tremendous God-given talent, but what he says and what he plays is so devoid of dramatics and flourishes that instead of drawing attention to himself he point my attention to God.
So, Mauri, I think it's time for you to visit Phoenix!
1 comment:
Plagiarism only saves time if you don't get sued for it!
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