A Little Dave for the Drive Home

A Sign For the Times

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:20:25 +0200

Today I hung my sign. The most important sign I own. It’s one
I made many years ago out of broken shards of clay and stone,
made into a word that simply reads, “SINCERUS.”

And what exactly does that mean?

It's Latin and literally means, “without wax."

It comes from a practice of the early Roman and Corinthian merchants who set their earthen and porcelain jars out for sale. If a crack appeared in one, they would fill it with wax the same color as the jar, so a buyer would not be aware that it was cracked. But astute buyers learned to hold these jars out in the sun, and if the jar was cracked, the wax would melt and the crack would be revealed. The sunlight would show through. Jars with wax will hold water, but they are ultimately counterfeits.

One of the main causes of this type of cracking is from poorly compressed foundations in the floor of the pot. After one centers and before walls are pulled, the floor of the clay must be compressed. Rushing and not taking the time to establish this foundation can ruin an otherwise perfectly thrown pot. The kiln and/or drying process will reveal the error. 
Sincerus comes from the Greek word: [i-lick-ree-nos], which means: “judged by sunlight; tested as genuine; as sunlight exposes the true nature of an object.”

As you might guess, the etymology of this word leads us to our English word:
"Sincere": “Not feigned or affected; genuine. Being without hypocrisy or pretense; true; pure; unadulterated."

But it all goes back to this Greek word that originated from observing pottery. The Romans used the Latin "Sincerus."

Potters would hang this sign [SINCERUS] above their workshops to make a statement, that their wares are authentic, and without wax. I am tapping into history and doing the same. I've carried this sign a long time, hoping to one day hang it over a shop of my own.

It has and has had profound significance in my life as I am forced to confront my own actions and ask myself, is my life “without wax?” What does it mean to be sincere? Do I try and fill in the parts of my life that I don’t want others to see, so that I appear to “have it together” on the outside? I’ll be honest, many will see me publicly, but the true test of this word is found when applied to my private, personal life. I’d say for most of us, there lies the rub.

I see this sign as perhaps the most important step in the building of this workshop. The sign itself doesn’t do anything, but the application of it makes all the difference. I’d like the world that walks by to know that the artist inside is seeking to be authentic and without pretense. It reminds me to take everything back to center and produce only that which is true and sincere. That goes for what is taught inside as well.

But hanging signs and posting quotes do not make a person what the symbol says they are or want to be. They merely point one in a direction of obedient intent.

And if I can take it a step further, all this really has nothing to do with me. This is what only the living God through His love, mercy, awful grace, and transcendent Spirit is capable of. I’m just a messenger. And it’s a good message!

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
—Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Thoughts From the Greatest Scientist of the 20th Century

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:41:27 +0200

"Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came In Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth;
but, no, the universities immediately were silenced.

Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks.

Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth.

I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly."

--Albert Einstein (1879-1955) in a magazine article, December 23, 1940

------------

I find Einstein’s observation quite interesting, as many in Germany whom I meet feel rather differently [concerning the Church]. In the eyes of many, even the Church was silenced, and in many cases an impotent force against evil, siding with its infamous leader.

As a learner of German history, perhaps Einstein was referring to brave men and woman like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Helmuth Moltke and Sophie Scholl, who, in the midst of chaos, found hope in Jesus Christ and pursued love.

This post is by no means an exhaustive look at what was done for or against or in the name of God during the years of Hitler’s reign, but to consider Einstein’s comments. A man who many consider to be the most brilliant scientist of the 20th Century, here, observes a force more powerful than his H-bomb. The Church.

But more importantly, what happens when Christians make a stand for the truth?

Moltke used his influential position to warn the outside world, to warn the German people, and to help Jews escape from the Nazis. When he was betrayed and brought to trial the judge said to him, “Nazism and Christianity are alike in one thing: both systems demand the whole man.”

“Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans were founding members of a group called the White Rose. The White Rose was a group of students from Munich university who had decided to do what they could to stand up to Hitler and his government. They had a hand operated duplication machine that they would use to print off thousands of pamphlets. In their pamphlets they would speak against what Hitler was doing to Germany, and against his military ambitions. Sophie, with her brother Hans, and a friend were all sentenced to death for treason and were executed by the guillotine in February 1943. Sophie’s last words on that day were: “The sun still shines.”

What she meant by this was: You can do these things to people but there is something greater than you, something better than you, that will outlast you. The truth will shine out in the end. After a showing of the movie about Sophie’s life in a German cinema a man stood up and said angrily “What good did those students do? What is the point of throwing your life away like that? Did it shorten the war by one day? Did it save one life? Understandably, there was a shocked silence and the man walked out.

It would seem however, that the German people do believe that this Christian woman made a difference. In 2003 the German nation was asked to vote on the 10 greatest Germans ever and Sophie and her brother were voted as the fourth most important Germans of all time – higher than Bach and Einstein.”

(excerpts taken from http://chpc.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=55)

Movie link: Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage (The Last Days) - IMDB link

The Trip Home

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:52:16 +0200

What does lightning, heat, crystal-meth, tears, and miracles all have in common?

Answer: Our trip home to Cologne.

I'm sitting on our couch watching Sofia explore her home again, pointing at our cats and yelling, "bah!" We just ate breakfast and woke up to a clear, sunny day here. Life is really blessed for us this morning, but the last two days felt like a mess.

Our hour and 15 minute flight from Charlotte to Newark ended up lasting 7 hours, as we never left the airplane, were re-routed to Philadelphia, and sat on a hot tarmac sweating, waiting with a baby, and a cabin full of impatient passengers. Severe thunderstorms in the New York area shut down all three major aiports on Wednesday, causing major delays and international flight cancellations. As our pilot announced further delays and changes, and the cabin air grew warmer and staler, stress elevated and a woman behind us and her daughter began to freak out.

Their frequent shouts, cursing and panic started to affect everyone. The flight crew thought she was upset with all the flight changes, but Rachel had a chance to talk with the woman's daughter who privately shared with her that her mom is a crystal-meth addict, going through detox right now.

After another loud outburst that woke a miraculously sleeping Sofia, I turned around and felt the need to step in. My instinct was to open the plane door and push her out, but being that I had just shared with my neighbor that we are missionaries headed back home to Germany, that might not have spoken well about our ministry and compassion. I told this woman if she didn't regain control, she's most likely going to be escorted off the plane and into police custody. We worked on breathing together, we got her some calming tea, and went with the best remedy I know for tension, humor.

Scrolling through all my photos of Sofia with her
Oma, her aunt Celeste, videos of her walking,
and finally this photo (shown here), we finally
got to laughing. The airports don't always get
us to our gates on time, but how about this for
travel advancements? For a Dad who had to go
and no where to set his baby, this was awesome.
And as you can see, Sofia seemed to enjoy
herself in whatever this seat is called! It was a
bonding moment I hope she never remembers. :)

Because of the delays, we missed our flight to Germany, and found ourselves stuck in Newark with no way home. US Airways was not helpful at all, even telling us we would have to buy new tickets to Germany. Yeah right! At the realization that we would not have enough food and diapers for Sofia if we stayed the night in the airport, my heart sank and my panic rose. I felt so overwhelmed by the situation. I felt a dark presence again fighting to keep us away from Cologne. Normally, I think this wouldn't have bothered me so bad, but traveling with a baby, my bride and now totally helpless, it really crippled me emotionally. I sat the girls down with our carry-on bags at Chili's, went into a bathroom stall, and cried. Then I prayed.

We managed to get on a waiting list with
Lufthansa which didn't guarantee anything. They
told us to go eat and come back, and when we
returned to the desk to hear of anymore news,
the ladies there actually went and ticketed us on
midnight flight to Munich, gave us $75 in food
vouchers, a bag full of diapers and 10 jars of
baby food, and put us in the bulkhead row of the
airplane, where they have bassinets for babies
to sleep in (photo). They showed such
compassion to us as we stood there holding our
bags, the new diapers and food, and tears just
running down our faces. We didn't know what to say we were so tired and overcome. Fortunately, Sofia just kept laughing, growling and proclaiming her "bahs!" to everyone, unaware of any of this.

She showed me during our 36 hours together that what really mattered to her was being with her Papa, getting fed and having his arms to sleep in. Mama's too. None of this really bothered her. She walked up and down the aisles on the first stranded flight, smiling and pointing at hot, weary strangers. You could see the tension ease as her and Rachel would pass by. No matter how bad I felt or how worse I thought it could get, I would look at her and always get a smile or reach-out for me to hold her.

We finally made it home yesterday evening, our luggage lost due to so many flight changes, but wouldn't you know it, this morning at 11:00, all our bags arrived on our doorstep, with "Rush Delivery" tags on all of them.

I truly believe that for all of you who prayed for us, this was the result of your faith. It was exceedingly more than we could have hoped for. I felt so weak yesterday. I felt the weight of 3.5 months of travel and support-raising, the sadness of not raising our support and needing to stay longer [back in June], the magnitude of God's provision bringing in ALL our needed support in just 36 days ($1619/month!), the joy of going home, and then the inability to do so and getting stranded. I am in need of some emotional rest!

And I am still in need of a Father's love. I got to borrow a cell phone while on the tarmac in Philly and called my own father, the "resource king" (that's a compliment Dad). He got people praying, called the port authority in Newark and was able to arrange for the food and diapers to be there. Fathers will do anything for their children. That's why I called mine. That's why I prayed.

But Sofia taught me the greatest lesson, because she was dependent and abided in me and Rachel the whole way through. She reminds us once again that focusing on the Father is always the most comforting option, and generally yields the best results. And she did it all with a smile and attitude of contentment. That will go a long way when living in a foreign country.

“Walled In!” Germany’s Inner Border

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:27:36 +0200

Deutsche Welle (German World) at dw-world.de has created a fascinating computer animation of the Berlin Wall at the height of its construction. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwQsTzGkbiY

Well, Well, Well...

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:27:59 +0200

(From the Gospel of John, chapter 4)

“Now numerous Samaritans from that town believed in and trusted in Him because of what the woman said when she declared and testified,”

If you’re not familiar with this story, it’s really an amazing encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman who came to draw water at the hottest part of the day. That wasn’t typical for a woman to do (they went early before the heat of the day), and it wasn’t typical for Jesus, a man and a Jew, to be talking with her, a woman and a Samaritan (Jews and Samaritans were kind of like oil and water, they didn’t mix). But then when did Jesus ever follow ALL the cultural or religious norms?

So we have this well [physical reality], the Son of God [Divine love and truth] and an outcast woman [humanity]. What happens there is amazing, but what I am moved over and encouraged with this morning is the few verses after the one I shared above.

4:42 “Then many more believed in and adhered to and relied on Him because of His personal message [what He Himself said]. And they told the woman, now we no longer believe [trust, have faith] just because of what you said; for we have heard Him ourselves [personally], and we know that He truly is the Savior of the world, the Christ.”

That is indeed the hope here, in sharing “the most glorious message of all time” (to quote a friend last night). Allow me to bear witness, but at some point, tell me you don’t need my faith to believe because you have experienced the personal love of a God who forgives, comforts, teaches, and restores.

At times I’ve put more of my faith in others, books and things that remind me of God’s love. When I’m confronted with life and challenges, do I cling to the quotes of other spiritual authors, or receive His personal message for me?

I think today I just want to sit with Him like this woman did, and have a drink together. (I’ll let Him choose water or wine). I wonder what He’d say to me?