Today is my birthday. I’m not one that gets too caught up in, and consumed by, my birthday each year. It’s kind of fun, but i don’t get nervous as it approaches, and I don’t really care about adding another number to my years. In fact, this year I hit 38! Happy Birthday to me! Other than the normal “I can’t believe I’m almost 40, where does the time go?” type feelings, I don’t really obsess about my age. People always used to tell me that I acted older than my age, and I figure that I’m just now getting caught up. That said, I do use the occasion each year to reflect on my life a little bit – where I’ve been, where I am, where I want to go, and most importantly on my relationship with Jesus Christ.
This week, as I was reflecting on those things, my mind started to wander to the book of Judges. Now I have never stabbed a fat monarch through with a knife, killed 600 people with an ox goad, or driven a stake through a sleeping man’s head. I haven’t attacked an army of men with only torches and trumpets. I’ve never promised to sacrifice my daughter in exchange for a victory in battle. I don’t have long hair, and I’ve never chopped anything into 50 pieces and sent them as gifts to every state in the union. That said, there is one verse that really resonates with me and my life from the Book of Judges (two verses really, but they say exactly the same thing). Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25 both read:
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
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in reply to evdoyle 12:03:53, 2010-08-28
So last week this time, I was in the final day of my seven day Go Dark week in which I turned off all electronics for the week other than some predefined exceptions (at work, etc.). This is the second summer that I did “Go Dark” week and the experience, though similar in many respects, also was markedly different. I suppose first though I should start by confessing my shortcomings.
When I was growing up, I liked to listen to Simon and Garfunkel. And, no I’m not that old. They were already past their prime years of musical production by the time I started to listen, but I did enjoy their musical stylings. At one point, I counted the song, “Sounds of Silence” as one of my favorite songs. Why am I telling you all this? Because, this week, I am smack dabbed in the middle of my 