Welcome Home, Brett!

Being a season ticket holder at Lambeau Field is a blessing and a responsibility.  I'm always grateful that I have access to one of the few true sports shrines left (along with Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Madison Square Garden, etc.), but at the same time, there are times when one simply has to do his duty and ... participate in history being made.  Such a time was Thanksgiving night this year when Green Bay hosted Da' Bears on the night when Brett Favre's jersey was retired (one of only 6 Packers to be so honored).

What was required of me was first to attend, second to not complain about the weather (horrid though it was), third to visit the Packer Hall of Fame, fourth not to complain about the outcome of the game (stinking Bears!), and fifth to suck it up and drive bravely for two hours through the snow and ice to reach our night's lodging.

Here is a pictorial summary of the evening, in roughly chronological order:

Hall of Fame Visit

The Game

Halftime Ceremony

Belief, Identification, Reliance

Those of us who are Evangelicals have often be taught that "Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship".  It is sort of code for "you don't have to do certain acts, follow certain rituals, say certain prayers to be saved", and we all sort of knew what religions or Christian denominations were being discussed there.  And yet, Evangelicalism has developed over the years religious behavior and expectations all its own - believe these 12 points of doctrine, dress this way, give this much, have communion just so.

It's not my place here to discuss how new movements within religions start out as breakaway groups from a hidebound central authority, and then about 3 generations later become hidebound  themselves.  What I do want to mention, though, is how simple Christianity really is supposed to be, and yet how profound.

It is a simple matter of believe, identify, rely.

"If you believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth, that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), you will be saved."

That's sort of it.  Simple.

Somehow you come to believe that the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah, the Chosen One of Israel whom God promised to sent to redeem His people.

Then you take some public step to identify yourself with Jesus; put on the jersey, so to speak, get the tattoo.  Be "out there" about it, go all in, so that people can't have doubts about your allegiance.

Finally, you stop trying to reach Heaven, to convince God of your worthiness, to work for salvation, and simply rely on Jesus as your "sponsor", so to speak.  He will vouch for you as being one of His party, so you don't have to bribe the bouncer at the door or dress to impress him... Jesus will have told him in advance that you were coming.  :)

Pretty simple, but not exactly easy.

For one thing, you really can't get there, can't make it past that first step, without understanding on at least some basic level that God is greater than the Universe, that the Spiritual trumps the Material, that back in time in Israel, at one moment the metaphysical entered the physical in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

You may not be able to articulate the theology very well, but you sure need to be able to recognize the miracle of the Incarnation, the extraordinariness of God taking on flesh.

That's not easy, it is profound... but it is simple, nonetheless.

An all too brief stay in paradise

Every year for the last three, I have gone to Bermuda in November on business.  It's still warm and humid (dew points in the high 60s), but it is beautiful.  I tend to stay indoors until evening, but the place we stayed at this time was a new one, and it deserves a mention or two when it comes to gracious living.  It's an old fashioned villa along the lines of the Antebellum South, but with British traditions, such as afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches.  Lovely place.  These business trips are just so ... taxing.  There need to be compensations.  :)

European Vacation 2015

This summer, Diane and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.  It was pretty low key, but cool nonetheless.  All seven of the young couples whom we have taken through premarital classes came over in late June for a backyard cookout and conversation.  It was sweet, and a lovely way to remember 4 decades of married life. We had decided to delay the big destination anniversary celebration until Fall, when I knew that I would be in London anyway for my annual business trip there.  Saves on one plane ticket, anyway! 

So, in October, I went to London as usual, and we agreed to rendezvous in Amsterdam (doesn't that sound romantic?  "Meet me in Amsterdam, baby").  From there we boarded a Viking River Cruise ship (yes, just like on PBS) and cruised southbound up the Rhine for a week to Basel, Switzerland.  From there, we switched to train travel for the next week through the Swiss and Austrian Alps, staying in AirBnb locations while we visited Salzburg, Vienna, Neuschwanstein, and Bavaria before heading home from Munich.

Photos taken with my trusty Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are here, should readers care to peruse.  They are pretty much in date order, so you can progress with us from London to the cities on the Rhine to the mountains and cities of southern Germany and Austria.  For the rest of this blog space I show only a small selection of my very favorites: