Blog Relocating!

I am relocating my blog to WordPress for ease of formatting and integrating it with some other blogs for Brooklife Church.

The new Renovate blog location is: http://mwerickson.wordpress.com.

Impress me ...

Impress me ...
...not with the things you have
...not with how fast you drive
...not with the house you live in
...not with the clothes you wear
...not with your reputation
...not with the style of your glasses
...not with the salary you draw
...not with the shape of your body
...not with what you know

Impress me ...
...with the things you have given away
...with your patience toward others wherever you go
...with your hospitality to those who enter your home
...with your inner beauty that is deeper than the clothes you wear
...with your humility
...with your way of seeing others
...with your generosity with the salary you draw
...with the shape of your soul
...with how you live out what you know

"Brighter Day" by Chris Lizotte

I'm a big fan of a guy named Chris Lizotte who is a worship leader at a Vineyard Church in California. What I love about his music is the way that he conveys such honest and heart-felt worship of God in his music. He's been around for awhile, but I just came across this video of a new song of his called "Brighter Day" with his sister-in-law, Crystal Lewis, guest singing with him.

Enjoy.

Busyness: A Love/Hate Relationship

I struggle with busyness. I hate it, yet I love it. Being busy refreshes me, but also can suck the life out of my soul.

In my recent reading of a biography of Henri Nouwen, an amazing writer on the spiritual life who was also a professor at Yale and Harvard, I came across this reflection that spoke deeply to me. Nouwen was a busy man who realized that his external busyness revealed a deeper issue at play.

His biographer, Michael Ford, writes these words:

While teaching, lecturing, and writing about the importance of solitude, inner freedom, and peace of mind, he kept stumbling over his own compulsions and illusions, only to discover that his vocation to be a witness to God's love was just becoming another exhausting job....His writing about prayer might even have been keeping him from a prayerful life. In his concern for praise from other people, was he slowly become a prisoner of expectations instead of a priest liberated by divine promises? (115-6).

In this vein, Nouwen himself writes:

While complaining about too many demands, I felt uneasy when none were made. While speaking about the burden of letter writing, an empty mailbox made me sad. While fretting about tiring lecture tours, I felt disappointed when there were no invitations. While speaking nostalgically about an empty desk, I feared the day on which that would come true. In short: while desiring to be alone, I was frightened of being left alone (116).

For Nouwen, the core issue was the quietness and loneliness of life that was not busy. While that may be the same for me, I'm not quite sure. Without a doubt, this is something for further thought, reflection, and prayer.

What is it that makes us both love and hate the busyness?