Jon Huckins

If anyone has seen the movie Billy Madison with Adam Sandler, they understand the title of this post. My time up at Mt. Hermon these past couple weeks was a great experience. Although at times very tiring (A few different sessions I was teaching with a fever and snot filled nose) and mentally/spiritually draining, it was a very fulfilling experience.

Back to the “O’Doyle Rules” quote from Billy Madison…In the movie the O’Doyle boys are the bullies of the local school who are about twice of the size of the other kids and whose faces are filled with zits. I tried to hang out with the students as much as possible in my time up there. One of the kids was the exact personification of an O’Doyle boy. All week long he would sock me in the shoulder or dig his chin into my back. At one poing when we were all playing water polo he nearly drown me…he was just screwing around and always had a smile on his face, but I was getting pretty annoyed. It was obvious he was a really insecure kid that was just extremely socially awkward.

The last day of the week that he was up there, I saw him in tears sitting on a bench with his counselor. I was later able to hook up with his couselor and hear a bit more of his story. It was a pretty tough one, but he was now sharing it people that cared. The “meat head/bully” front he was putting on was being broken down.

Although I often have different philosophical thoughts and opinions in regards to summer camps, I couldn’t help but acknowledge some of the ways God was made evident in my time up there. The counselors modeled service and humility like I had rarely seen in my life. I was the “speaker” who was supposed to have it all together, but in alot of ways I feel that God did most of the speaking to me.

I will soon be in my third local coffee shop of the morning.

This next week I have the opportunity to participate in one my favorite and most fulfilling aspects of my “job.” I will be once again speaking at a week long Junior High camp up at Mount Hermon. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am a bit disenchanted by most traditional summer camp structures, but my partnership with Mt. Hermon over the years has brought about great hope and encouragement. I really appreciate their understanding of the Gospel and the importance they put on sharing a faith that is more about a daily decision to be an active participate in the Mission of God and less about a one time, decision that can often be lacking authenticity(often because of the setting we create around that decision time).

Anyway, this is the point in my preparation where I have a million ideas, but very little idea of how they are going to all fit together. On top of that, my parking limit runs out every two hours, hence my coming arrival at my third coffee shop. I think I will stick with a water and lemon at the next one…

I knew I was excited to be an Uncle for the first time, but this whole deal has been way more incredible that I imagined. My little niece Maddie was born last Wednesday. I complain that the 26 hour wait in the hospital was brutal, but I guess it was worse for Heather…

Endless waiting with papa Tom…His birthing equipment on his head…

Pregame encouragement kiss from bro to sis…

Uncle Jon spearing little Maddie with his mean beard…

Interesting how there are times/experiences that really suck the life out of you. This past week has been one of those times. It has been a week full of confrontation, REALLY difficult conversations and at times I just felt like I was getting emotionally/spiritually beat up. I haven’t yet been able to articulate why these events have happened. Maybe I will never know. There are plenty of worse instances that could have come my way, but I can’t help but wonder if they are simply “bound” to happen, or if I have found myself in a spot that I can’t win? Hmmm…

This is an insightful quote that I recently read from Parker Palmer in his book Let Your Life Speak. It is a book that wrestles with the idea of vocation. Not just a career, but truly examining the life vocation that God instilled in each one of us from the day we were created. Here is the quote, “As often happens on the spiritual journey, we have arrived at the heart of a paradox: each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up. All we need to do is stop pounding on the door that just closed, turn around – which puts the door behind us – and welcome the largeness of life that now lies open to our souls. The door that closed kept us from entering a room, but what now lies before us is the rest of reality.”

Somehow is the midst of all this crap, I have to be grateful. It is these times that force me to a level of introspection and contemplation that I often overlook. I also find great support and encouragement from those that I am closest with. For now, I pray for discernment in this life of vocation that God has called me to stumble down.

Last night I had the opportunity to go up to San Francisco with some friends to check out the Jesus for President tour that Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw are leading. Having read most of the book and hearing Shane speak at different venues numerous times, I was pretty stoked to check it out. After a late start and lots of traffic, we walked into San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral about 40 minutes late, but we definitely were not too late.

Their sharing, based on their recently published book Jesus for President: A Book to Provoke the Christian Political Imagination, was a type of hopeful protest. I would argue it was prophetic in many of the same ways that the ancient Biblical prophets mourned, cried and offered hope to the empires of the day that were blinding people from the love of God and the coming life of Jesus. They painted clear and powerful pictures of what a revolutionary Jesus truly was within the context of the Roman Empire and discussed His role in bringing about a Kingdom that was much greater than the ruling Roman Empire…one that was not greater because of its brute force, military strength, material possession or social status, but one that would turn the other cheek, serve the poor and oppressed and set their swords down for acts of love and kindness.

After a 4th of July weekend that was filled with patriotism directed towards the greatness of one country, I have been wrestling with Christians (myself included) beings so willing to pledge their allegiance to ideals and actions that are often so blatantly counter to Jesus teachings and way of life. Didn’t Jesus come to save the WHOLE world? If that is the case, shouldn’t we be singing “God bless the WORLD,” not just “God bless America?” I believe it is bordering on idolatry and I don’t want to subconsciously grow numb to where I put my hope. Do I put my hope in America to change the world? Or do I more appropriately put my hope in Jesus and His people to change the world? Jesus did say something about serving two masters didn’t He?

All that to say, it’s not that I’m anti America, it’s that I’m anti a nationalism that blurs and distorts my commitment to Jesus and my pursuit to live in His ways. There are alot of great things about this land we live in and I am grateful. At the same time, I am not willing to fall into a way of thinking or acting that reflects more of my nationalism that my Christianity.

Good Quote from Shane: “The Kingdom question for us is not how are we going to vote on November 4th, it is how are we going to live on Nov. 3rd and Nov. 5th? Voting is something to we do every day with our lives…who are we pledging allegiance to every single day?”

This is a good clip to check out on the topic: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SfLdVazh33E