Things I'm Learning from Autism (Part 1)

I've decided to start a series on my blog called "Things I'm Learning from Autism." It should give you a glimpse into the world of Autism and the kinds of things a parent of an Autistic child thinks about. I'm going to try to post something everyday for a month on this topic. For those of you who don't know, my son, Pierce (4), has Autism.

So, here's the first thing I'm learning from Autism:

Autistic people are in their own world and they're only capable of thinking of themselves. In light of that, it's very important to stretch them to think about others. Here's what that means for us: We have to set up our home in such a way that Pierce has to ask for anything and everything that he wants.

I'ver never thought about it before, but having to ask for what you want is an interesting way to teach someone to think about others, isn't it? We usually think that asking for what we want is selfish, don't we? I want a new car, but making that desire known would just make me look unrealistic and self-absorbed. We all want a million dollars, but try going up to someone on the street and asking them for that kind of money, and you'll get a strange look at best and a punch in the face at worst. If we went around voicing our desires, we'd look extremely narcisistic. So, why would we want to force our self-centered little boy to ask for everything he wants?

The reason we need Pierce to ask for stuff is becuase we need him to know that, in life, you can't just go around grabbing anything you want without asking. In other words, what I'm starting to learn is that it's not wrong to desire things, but it's very wrong to take action on those desires without asking. It seems to me that this is why God tells us over and over again in the Bible to ask for what we want. He says that we "have not because we ask not" (James 4:2), and states in Psalm 37:4 that we are to "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Ultimately God tells us to ask Him for what we want for that same reason that we ask Pierce to ask for what he wants. What God knows (and what I'm starting to understand) is that when you have to ask for things, you have to recognize that there is someone who controls those things. And, when you see that you are not in control of the things you desire, you come to a place of unselfishness. So, while taking assumes ownership, asking assumes a lack of control and a limitation of rights. In this sense, teaching Pierce to ask for what he wants is training him for a life of unselfishness. In the same sense, learning to ask God for what we want is designed to teach us how to delight in God's control and ownership, so long as we ask with the right motives (James 4:3).

Autism Lesson 1: Taking is selfish; asking is unselfish.

Flowers from the Grave

Sigh. This story breaks my heart. Imagine you're Stacey Markham, and you just found out that your husband, Cpl Jonathan Markham, died in a roadside blast in Iraq. Now, fast forward six days. Your doorbell rings and there's a delivery person giving you flowers and a card. You open the card and read the words, "I love you with all my heart. Jonathan". It's at that point that you realize that your dead husband took the time to send you flowers and a card from Iraq as one of his last acts on earth. So sad.

You can read the story here. This thing is getting real old, real fast.

"Letting Go" of Bush

Gosh, I love Peggy Noonan. I've linked to her many times, but linking to her recent article is pretty tough! I almost always agree with Noonan, and - man, this is hard to say - I agree with her again. In this article she articulates why she no longer supports the Bush Administration.

It's taken me this long to get here, but I'm here. Now, unlike my liberal friends, I don't think George W. Bush is a bad guy. I don't think he's this terrible dictator who is out to hurt America. I just don't think Bush took advantage of the most polarizing event in modern American history to unite a country that wanted to follow his lead. Here's what Noonan says about this:

Bush the younger came forward, presented himself as a conservative, garnered all the frustrated hopes of his party, turned them into victory, and not nine months later was handed a historical trauma that left his country rallied around him, lifting him, and his party bonded to him. He was disciplined and often daring, but in time he sundered the party that rallied to him, and broke his coalition into pieces. He threw away his inheritance. I do not understand such squandering.

Instead of using wisdom to lead us out of crisis, Bush and Co. jumped the gun, like an eager child pouring a glass of milk, and made a huge mess. The Bush Administration's consistent bungling has not been intentionally malicious, but it has cost us dearly. Again, Noonan's words ring true:

What I came in time to believe is that the great shortcoming of this White House, the great thing it is missing, is simple wisdom. Just wisdom--a sense that they did not invent history, that this moment is not all there is, that man has lived a long time and there are things that are true of him, that maturity is not the same thing as cowardice, that personal loyalty is not a good enough reason to put anyone in charge of anything, that the way it works in politics is a friend becomes a loyalist becomes a hack, and actually at this point in history we don't need hacks.

It's sad for me to say it, but I'm no longer on board. Immigration is a disaster, the war is a quagmire, government spending is out of control, and the only thing I can say good things about is the abortion issue (at least Bush appointed pro-life judges). Call me liberal... Call me a flip-flopper... Call me un-American. When it's all said and done, I just can't feel good about this thing any more. I'd like to apologize to all my fans.

RIP Marquise Hill

Former LSU Defensive End, Marquise Hill, has passed away. He died in a jet skiing accident on Lake Ponchatrain.

A few thoughts:

1. Jet skiing on Lake Ponchatrain is generally not a good idea. If the snakes and alligators don't get you, there's always the chance that you'll have an accident. Not being disrespectful, but I wouldn't jet ski in that Lake.
2. Hill was a heck of a player at LSU. He was part of the huge resurgence in Tiger Football that came about in the early 2000's. Hill was a monster (6'6" 300lbs), and helped LSU to a National Championship in '03.
3. My favorite quote by Hill was after the BCS National Championship game. Jason White, the Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, was the opposing quarterback. Hill and his defensive mates repeatedly roughed White up. After the game, Hill told reporters what he shared with White on the field.
   

   “He’s Mr. Heisman, and we wanted to go at him all night,” Hill said after the game. “That’s a big award, and if you win it, you’re going to pay for it.

   “I said to him, ‘Excuse me, Mr. Heisman, I’m going to be coming at you all night.’ He just nodded his head at me.”

Rest in Peace, Marquise.

Geaux Tigers!

They're Back!!

I'll never forget where I was when my good friend, Todd Bragg, sent me his band's first cd. I was living in Vail, Colorado in a house with 20 other guys. By week's end, everyone was wearing out this folksy cd by the group with the funny name. Caedmon's Call was something unexpected, even for me. Todd has always been a great guy and a wonderful musician, but even I wondered if his band would be any good. Turns out they were great, and have stood the test of time in a very strange and flighty industry.

Several years back, one of the band's co-frontmen, Derek Webb, left the band. Derek was a bit of a tortured genius. His voice was raspy and haunting, his lyrics were equally raspy and haunting, and he was fun and quirky to watch. The chemistry between he and other co-frontman, Cliff Young, was always entertaining, and really quite magical. When Derek left, things definitely changed.

Caedmon's Call made their best album ever after Derek's departure (Share the Well), but it met with very limited success. Derek has developed a large college and young adult following, but he's still a bit on the fringes. Together again, perhaps the magic of the original Caedmon's Call will return. Their new album, Overdressed, will hit stores in late August. Derek wrote and recorded on this project.

However this turns out, these folks are some of the nicest, coolest, most real people you'll ever meet. I wish them well.

Terry Tate had nothing on this guy

Remember the Office Linebacker: Terry Tate? This is a little spoof on that guy, except he's not trying to increase workforce productivity. This dude's making sure that people are evangelizing. Pretty funny stuff.

My favorite line comes at the 3:20 mark when the Linebacker proclaims "I knocks the pride out of them!" Awesome!

Sad Day for LSU

Those of you who have never been to the LSU campus, and especially to a Tiger football game, will never be able to fully appreciate the sadness of this day. LSU's wonderful mascot, Mike V, has died. Mike was recently given a new habitat, and I guess the new diggs were too much for Mike's Tiger heart to handle. The first time I saw Mike was in 1987, when I went to my first LSU football game. Mike lived in a cramped little cage near the Peat Maravich Assembly Center (PMAC). It'll be very interesting to see Mike VI. He'll have a sweet new home to live in thanks to his successor. RIP, big Mike.

Christianity "Going South"?

Newsflash: The World is Changing. In particular, the Christian world is changing. Phillip Jenkins' eye opening book, The Next Christendom, points out some staggering statistics about the changing face of Christianity. Here are some:

• In 1950 a list of the world’s leading Christian countries would have included Britain, France, Spain, and Italy, but none of these names will be represented in a corresponding list by the year 2050.

• In 1900 Europe was home to two-thirds of the world’s Christian population; today, the figure is less than a quarter. By 2025 it will fall below 20 percent.

• In 2005 about one third of the planetary population, some 2.1 billion people, were Christians.

- 531 million were Europeans.
- 511 million were Latin Americans
- 389 million were Africans
- 344 million were Asians
- 226 million were North Americans

• The number of African Christians will double in less than 30 years.

• In 2025, here’s how these figures will change. Of the 2.6 billion Christians worldwide…

- 595 million will live in Africa
- 623 million will live in Latin America
- 498 million will live in Asia
- 513 million will live in Europe
- Latin American and African Christians will account for half of the world’s Christian population.

• By 2050 only about one fifth of the world’s 3 billion Christians will be non-Hispanic whites.

What all of these figures tell us is that Christianity is, quite literally, "going south." In other words, the momentum of Christianity is moving to parts of the world that have less access to wealth and resources, namely Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Now, how does that make you feel?

I’ll be honest that it made me feel a little bit scared. It made me feel like I was losing my Christian voice. It made me wonder if Christianity would survive in such cultures, and if it did survive, would it even look the same as the Christianity that I believe?

Then it made me look at Christianity throughout history. It survived the Romans, the Catholics, the Europeans, the Nazis, the Russians and the Americans. It survived the Crusades, the Reformation, the Scientific revolution, Darwinism, the Industrial Revolution, Marxian philosophy, Television, the Internet, etc. If the West hasn't completely screwed up the gospel by now, who can? Plus, think of the culture of the West and compare it with the culture of the South. Which is more like the culture of the Bible? Perhaps there's a lot we can learn from our Southern friends about the true nature of the church.

We've reviewed the Western challenges to the Christian worldview, but have we considered how those challenges influence the way we view our faith? It would take us at least sixty days in the woods to begin to understand God without all our gadgets, television, internet, and luxuries, much less the philosophical baggage we may not even be aware of. So, while Christianity has survived these things, it has also been influenced by them. What will it be influenced by in 50 years?

This is important, because now, more than ever, we need a clear understanding of what it means to be distinctly Christian.

Is the Christian life summed up in the old hymn, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey”? Is it all about discipline and discipleship? Is it all about knowing Christ and obeying his commands? Here’s what Scott McKnight says about that:

“My 20 years of studying and teaching the Gospels have made me very aware of the power of Jesus images of discipleship--his admonishment to "be perfect" and to "take up your cross daily," and his warning that "any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." I also am aware that these texts can be abused and misused, particularly when they are employed to present radical obedience as the entirety of the Christian life. Radical commitment is an important concept, but it is not what the Christian life is all about. There is something behind discipleship.

Is it the disciplines that stand behind discipleship? Jesus prayed, meditated, fasted, kept periods of solitude, lived simply, worshiped and celebrated. But he rarely spoke about the disciplines. They are there, but they are not his focus. Because they are so objective, the spiritual disciplines easily attract legalistic and pietistic barnacles that turn them into ugly monsters. Because the disciplines can be quantified, counted and assessed, they can easily lead people to compare themselves favorably or unfavorably with others. And because they are acts, they can easily lead to a sense of accomplishment and superiority. A discipline-focus for spiritual formation can lead to legalism--as evidenced by the Christians who congratulate themselves on their daily Bible reading, church attendance, or the superior vocations of their children.”

So, what is it that we are to be focused upon as Christians? What is our gospel? Again, McKnight is helpful:

“A scribe comes to Jesus and asks, "What is a life of discipleship? What are the disciplines designed to accomplish?" Because that scribe is a Torah-observant Jew and because Jesus is a Jew as well, the scribe asks this great question in a first-century Jewish manner: "Of all the commandments [and you know Jesus, there are over 600 of them], which is the most important?" "The most important," Jesus answers, is this: 'Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no greater commandment than these" (Mark 12:28-31).

Behind discipleship and beyond the disciplines is love--love of God and love of others. Radical commitment is fine, if it is fired by love. Spiritual formation is noble, if it produces love for God and others. Without love, to modernize Paul's words, we become either fanatics or egoists. When Jesus says we are to love God he is quoting from the Shema, from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, words that were recited according to the "divine hours of Judaism." Most scholars think observant Jews recited this passage two or three times per day. But when Jesus goes on to say that we are to love others, he tampers with the sacred creed of his contemporaries. He adds to the Shema by quoting Leviticus 19:18, and in so doing creates a new creed for his followers, the Jesus Creed. Love of God is to be joined, at all times, with love for others. Both, always. Apart they turn humans into fanatics and egoists. Together they turn humans into the imago Dei, walking expressions of God's love.”

In the ever changing landscape of the Christian world, the joy of the true gospel is what excites me most. The opportunities we have to be people of The Jesus Creed - lovers of God and lovers of others - gives us the freedom to embrace our Southern brothers and sisters with grace and simplicity, and allows us to learn and be shaped by them as they learn and are shaped by us. After viewing these statistics and pairing them with McKnight's quotes, I am as excited as ever about being a part of the world community of Christ followers. It's nice to know that as the world changes, the gospel remains simple, beautiful and believable: Loving the triune God, while sharing that love with the diverse world.

Girls do it too!!

This is really funny, but a bit crude. I've always contended that girls do it too, even though some act like they would never do such a thing. This shows how far they go to avoid getting caught. Enjoy!!


Girls Fart Too - Awesome video clips here

Mike Seaver debates Atheists

Kirk Cameron, the star of the 80's sitcom, Growing Pains, will be a part of a debate on the existence of God. This debate is a bible-less debate that is designed to try to prove the existence of God using logic and science and not the Bible. Interesting stuff. The event will be aired live on abc.com on May 5. ABC's Nightline will also air portions of the debate.

On a side note, I'll never forget that episode of Growing Pains when Kirk Cameron (Mike Seaver) tries to make the moves on this really pretty high school girl. He pulls out all the stops. Finally, when he's done with his big speech to try to win her over, she speaks, and her voice is the most high pitched, ridiculuous voice you've ever heard. That Mike Seaver... he was something.

Watch a Video and Help with Autism

Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to Autism awareness and research, is asking that you watch this video by the band Five for Fighting. They’re trying to raise money for Autism research by asking people to watch this music video online. If you click on this link and watch this video, you’ll be generating 49 cents for autism research, so please do it if you have the time.

Pierce Update

I'm too tired to get into what went on yesterday, but we had a pretty significant and difficult meeting with Pierce's therapist (for those of you who may not know, Pierce is our 4 year old Autistic child). I can't go through it right now, but it was a hard meeting. We left heartbroken and depressed. Each time we face this Autism monster we take a tremendous beating. I'm reminded of the Caedmon's Call song, "Wings of the Morning". It says "Ask any good detective and he'll tell you, 'It's the eyes that always give the truth away.' In yours I see a fear that's bound and gagged you with no hope for escape."

I'll be honest: we don't feel any hope for escape right now. This thing is so all-consuming and painful that neither Kim nor I know what to do. We're tired, depressed and confused. But hey... what's new!

Anyway, my good friend, Chad Freeman, just wrote an article about us on his blog. He does a beautiful job of captuing the heartache that we feel on a daily basis. For some reason, as I read his article, the rest of the song came to my mind. It says "On the wings of the morning hope is rising! In your darkest night His love will light your way!" Man, thank God for the gospel!!

"Who's to blame?" is the wrong question

I haven't written anything about the Virginia Tech massacre because I've been just trying to soak it all in and see where everything settles. The news coverage has been, at times, troubling. Public reaction has been the usual mixed bag of compassionate empathisers, blame gamer's and heartless ogre's. The most disturbing thing, aside from the thing itself, is the rush to find someone to blame.

Denny Burk writes a great article today about how the "blame game" is fruitless at this point. He pretty much sums up my thoughts. Check out his article here.

When Animals Attack... Reporters!!

OK, I don't know why I love this kind of thing so much, but it just cracks me up when reporters get ambushed by the "loving" animals they are doing stories on. The sheer shock and anguish of the overzealous reporter when the animal attacks is just funny to me. Look, I know I'm sick and twisted, but just try to watch these videos without busting a gut. See, you're sick and twisted too. Just admit it!

Here's are the 5 best animal attacks of reporters. Enjoy the carnage!!

And this is why America has a weight problem...

Unbelievable...

Everbody was Kung Fu Fighting!

Kung Fu movies were a big player in my childhood. My older brother was obsessed with Martial Arts, and we were huge fans of the infamous Saturday Night Kung Fu Theater that aired on local TV at about 11:30pm. My favorite Kung Fu movie was "Five Deadly Venoms", a classic that features various different styles of fighting including, "The Snake", "The Lizard", "The Toad", "The Centipede", and "The Scorpion". As a kid, I was captivated by this movie. It'd be fun to see it again.

The reason I'm blogging about this is because I recently found this post, which features the 5 best Kung Fu movies of all time. "Five Deadly Venoms" tops the list!

Are "More" and "Better" really more and better?

I just started a book called "Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and The Durable Future" by Bill McKibben. Here's a quote from the introduction that made me think:

"And in the end it's reality I want to deal with - the reality of what our world can provide, the reality of what we actually want. The old realism - an endless More - is morphing into a dangerous fantasy. (Consider: if the Chinese owned cars in the same numbers as Americans, the world would have more than twice as many vehicles as it now does.) In the face of energy shortage, of global warming, and of the vague but growing sense that we are not as alive and connected as we want to be, I think we've started to grope for what might come next. And just in time."

McKibben's point is this: "More" and "Better" are not turning out to be the best motivations for civilized society. Rather than making our lives full and rich, these economic motivators have left us overindulgent and wanting. Perhaps simplicity and community are the best motivators for a new age. If so, we are certainly poised for a better world. That not only makes me excited about America's future, but it also makes me excited about the cause of Christ. After all, Jesus is the perfect model of simplicity and community.

The latest Time Magazine cover story is "Why We Should Teach The Bible in Public School." The premise, per the title, is that teaching the Bible might be necessary for a well rounded public school education. I'm skeptical because I believe it is a little wierd to teach the Bible without doing so in a context of faith. That would be like a math teacher instructing students about literature. Studying the Bible is not simply an intellectual pursuit. It is, at its core, a spiritual pursuit. So, while I'm not opposed to students being exposed to Scripture, I am uncomfortable with the idea of the Bible being taught in an intellectual vaccum. It was never intended to be viewed in this light.

Here's a snipet from the Time Magazine article:

"Says Stephen Prothero, chair of the Boston University religion department, whose new book, Religious Literacy (Harper SanFrancisco), presents a compelling argument for Bible-literacy courses: "In the late '70s, [students] knew nothing about religion, and it didn't matter. But then religion rushed into the public square. What purpose could it possibly serve for citizens to be ignorant of all that?" The "new consensus" for secular Bible study argues that knowledge of it is essential to being a full-fledged, well-rounded citizen. Let's examine that argument."

A Little Perspective...

I found this video fascinating. I've never seen anything that so clearly demonstrates that the majority of the world lives on the margins, and the vast minority of the world lives in wealth. We must do what we can to move our world into greater balance. I think we do that by first deciding to live with less, and then deciding to do more to help others with that which we don't need.

"That's Not Nice"

Peggy Noonan is just about always a good read, with insightful wisdom and intelligent discourse that rarely hits below the belt. In her latest Opinion Journal, she shares what many in our country are undoubtedly feeling in this supercharged political climate (Especially in light of the recent wave of hate speech by the likes of Ann Coulter and Bill Maher). My guess is that there are some on the far left who would be viewed as extreme, some on the far right who would share that title, and the middle is divided into those who care and are frustrated, and those who don't care and are frustrated. For those of you who care and are frustrated, this article should give voice to some of the causes of your frustrations. Hopefully it will convince you that it's still OK to care.

One other thing about this article: Noonan points out that Grandmothers have a lot of wisdom, and they have the kind of discipline and sensibility to restrain from the things that "are not nice." Noonan writes, "Fifty years ago, no one speaking at a respected political gathering would say, would even think of saying that Adlai Stevenson is a faggot. Nor would Arthur Godfrey or Jack Paar have declared on their television shows that we'd be better off if Eisenhower died. Is our discourse deteriorating? Yes, it is." Although I agree with Noonan's sentiments, I do find it troubling that prior generations demonstrated such great restraint, yet were capable of such great oppression with reference to race relations. They wouldn't have called other candidates "faggots", but they wouldn't have had a problem calling a black candidate a "nigger." Just a thought.

I still get Noonan's point, and I think the article merits acclaim. Her basic points are true and much needed in today's political world.