Reaching for the eternal ‘oughtness’

Posted on January 17, 2022 by jwfisch

“I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”

– Martin Luther King Jr. upon receiving the 1964 Nobel Peace PrizeOIP-27

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Monkey business

Posted on January 14, 2022 by jwfisch

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Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Kudos to those who took my challenge to think a little more deeply about the song by Steve Earle, that I’ve been talking about over the last few days, “God is God.” (Go to www.catchjohnfischer.com and scroll down for the last two Catches.) We’ve seen the songwriter’s version of his own song and a Joan Baez live recording of it and followed the lyrics for two days. Why do this?

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God is (still) God

Posted on January 12, 2022 by jwfisch

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“This is the kind of song that you write when you’re 56.” – Steve Earle

We’re going to spend one more day on the song “God is God” by Steve Earle. Yesterday’s recording of the song was by Joan Baez, but today I want you to hear it from the songwriter himself. 

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Posted in walk by faith, Worldview | 12 Comments

‘God is God’

Posted on January 11, 2022 by jwfisch

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Our Catch today is a song I’d liked you to hear and think about. It’s by Joan Baez. She didn’t write it but I must assume that because she is singing it she must believe at least most of it. I do too — most of it.

The final verse is a little ambiguous, but I can accept that as part of the dialogue of an open mind that we must have in order to walk alongside another soul who is searching and listen for where they are at. 

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Posted in grace turned outward, worship | Tagged | 11 Comments

No-fault insurance

Posted on January 10, 2022 by jwfisch

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To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Jude 1:24-25

I just recalled the longest night and reread the Catch about it and realized we are in a different place now. Not that everything is suddenly great for everybody, but at least we are headed in the right direction, even though you might not feel it. Spring training starts in a little over six weeks. Every day, those of us in the northern hemisphere are inching closer to the sun’s warmth. I know that some of you are just settling in for a long winter’s nap, but it’s still true that progress is being made toward longer days and warmer weather. It’s inevitable.

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First responders

Posted on January 7, 2022 by jwfisch

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I was just climbing into bed at two in the morning last night when I smelled something burning. Believe it or not, we do have fireplaces here in southern California, and some people actually use them to burn real wood, but this was not that. It smelled like something synthetic being burned. I doubted anyone was burning plastic in their fireplace. Since none of our smoke alarms were going off, I followed Marti outside and sure enough, there was that smell, and even a little smoke visible. We got an unhappy Chandler out of bed to look around and he ruled that it was indeed a house fire or car fire in the neighborhood and that he had even seen something red. Quick to pass that off as a fire engine, he went back to bed. Looking in the direction he pointed, I surmised the fire engine would have to be sitting on my neighbor’s roof in order to be seen. Nevertheless, he has an uncanny sense about things like this so I was most likely to trust him though I was still a little uncertain as to whether this was an official fire and whether the fire department had it covered. Could I be confident about going to sleep? 

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Posted in diversity, giving, grace turned outward | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Happy Anniversary; Take Three

Posted on January 6, 2022 by jwfisch

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There have been times I have cursed my mentor, Ron Ritchie, for convincing Marti and me to set our wedding date in early January. After spending a good part of the previous year waiting for certain obstacles to the forward progress of our relationship to be cleared away — sort of like waiting for an amber light to turn green —  when that green light came on late in the previous year, he had encouraged us, “Why wait?” It seemed good at the time, but as the years have played out, it soon became apparent that a wedding anniversary that close to the holidays can seem like an afterthought. We sort of fall into each other’s arms, spent from Christmas and New Years with ne’er a glass of champagne left over with which to offer a toast. But that’s an excuse, and excuses, whatever the reason, do not set well with my wife. She’s right. This is a day, whenever it falls, that must be marked with intimacy, tenderness and renewed love.

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Posted in family, love, relationships | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Away in a manger

Posted on December 24, 2021 by jwfisch

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So many different ways to show it, be it a nativity or a crèche, it’s the simple story of the birth of Jesus. There’s not much you can do with it except to get everybody there — even the wise men, though they came much later — and place them around the manger and the baby and Mary and Joseph. It’s a quiet, tender scene. “Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lays down His sweet head. The stars in the sky look down where He lay. The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.”

Whether the shepherds are the neighborhood kids in bathrobes, or the professional actors in the closing nativity scene of New York’s Radio City Christmas Spectacular Starring the Rockettes, (a little too spectacular for a stable) it never gets old. God truly came up with something none of us would have ever thought of. Jesus, born into straw poverty. Jesus starts right out identifying with the poor and the homeless. Little baby, lay down your sweet head now while you actually have a place to lay it. Later, you will not.

It’s such an arresting picture that cuts through all the glitz and glitter of the season. Once again, imagine the night sky and the angelic hosts and the shepherds and Mary and Joseph, and the baby, lying in a manger, just as the angel said. A baby and a king. A baby and a savior. A baby and hope. A baby and light in the darkness.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among people of good will.”

Merry Christmas and we will return on December 27.

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‘Joy Deep As Sorrow’

Posted on December 22, 2021 by jwfisch

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Well, we made it. As the dawn started to creep into the morning sky, I realized we had made it through the longest night of the year. From now on, the sun will come up a little earlier and go down a little later each day. We’re tilting back toward the sun. Every day gets longer until June, when summer is in full swing and the Angels are in first place. 

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The Longest Night

Posted on December 21, 2021 by jwfisch

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And when it’s day to me, it’s night to someone

And when it’s night, you may not want to go on

                      – Mark Heard

Today is the longest night of the year and the beginning of winter, at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere. For our friends in the southern half like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand it’s the longest day and the beginning of summer. That’s because the earth tilts slightly, and on December 21 is when the northern hemisphere tilts furthest away from the sun, thus the longest night of the year. According the scientists, who have to have a scientific explanation for everything, a huge meteor shower bombarded the earth billions of years ago and pushed it off its axis. It’s amazing what you have to go through to explain things when you don’t have a God to just push the earth slightly with His finger because He wanted to create some joy and pain in our lives with the seasons. 

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