life

What if we were never meant to settle down, never meant to settle for a simple, quiet, comfortable life.  What if that is too easy?  What if we miss out on what we are placed here to accomplish?  What if others miss out too because we never fill the role we were meant to?

These are big, deep questions.  But they are ones we should be asking.

There are times I wonder if we’ve all been brainwashed into thinking that life is doing the same thing day after day without finding any meaning or fulfillment in it.  Are we just working a job because we can or because we have it?  

I think we are standing at the crossroads between the life we’ve lived and the life we could live.

This is the part where I should write a disclaimer saying we shouldn’t quit our jobs or move across the country or the world to do something we love, feel called to do or are passionate about.  But you know what?  I’m not going to do that.  I’m going to let it sit…hover for a while and let the weight of it all sink in.

There are times when I sit down to write because I have this overwhelming urge to get the words out, almost as if I can’t type fast enough.  What if we hit that sweet spot in our lives where every day was like that?  What if we were so sure about what we were doing that the other tangibles fade away.

We can find this place.  We can live this life.  We just need to wake up.  

Sometimes it’s as if we’re sleepwalking through our lives.  We need an alarm.  We need someone to shake us and wake us up out of our monotonous haze; to open our eyes so we can see clearly.  

If you find yourself in this place, if this is you, make me a promise; don’t ignore it.  It goes away. And the more you ignore it, the less likely it is to come back.

We need you to step up...

It still hurts while you’re healing

I had minor surgery five weeks ago.  I started writing this post three weeks ago.  I wrote most of it and then hesitated.  Why?  I felt guilty for writing about my pain when others experience so much more than I have.  Over time I realized feeling this way is a lie.  My pain matters because it’s mine.  It’s real regardless of perspective.  Sometimes perspective helps, but it should minimize what we each go through.  So here goes…

My expectations for recovery were a little unrealistic.  I thought I would be completely back to normal by this time (I thought I’d be completely back to normal three weeks ago).  I guess in my mind I still have the bounce back time of a 21-year-old.  Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way:

First, the pain after the surgery was worse than before.  I did not have any real pain prior to the surgery, more discomfort, but the issue would not have gone away on its own.  Surgery was the only solution to repair the problem.  I remember explaining to my 10-year-old daughter that I had to go in for surgery, it would take a while for me to recover and during that time I would be in pain.  Her response to me was, “but I thought the surgery is to make it better?”  Her observation was very rational.  She communicated our typical human expectation (at least in a culture where we expect to be able to fix everything).  We avoid pain at all costs.  So if there’s pain, something is wrong.  And if there’s something wrong, we get it fixed and it should be fixed immediately.  I have learned though that pain makes us aware of our mortality.  Maybe that’s why it scares us and we flee from it.  But sometimes while in pain we can learn life’s greatest lessons, things we would never learn if not vulnerably exposed to the pain.  It still sucks while you’re going through it, but if your joy is not held hostage by fleeting feelings of happiness and comfort, the pain doesn’t consume you.

Second, it still hurts while you’re healing.  I’ve never had surgery before so I really did not know what to expect other than what my doctor and others told me.  My expectation was that the pain would be greatest immediately following the surgery and would gradually diminish with each day.  For the most part that is true.  The reality is as your nerves grow back and feeling comes back to the area, you actually experience bursts of pain during the healing process.

I find this perfectly relatable to my faith journey.  In Christianity, our belief is that we are broken, wounded and damaged by sin and the only one who can heal us is God through Jesus.  Real committed Christianity is not easy.  An all-out commitment to following Jesus is often synonymous with pain.  This is because we allow the Holy Spirit to dissect us, getting at the root of the problem.  In the process, He cuts through various layers exposing other problems.  If I were in control, I would modify the behaviors and surface actions I know are detrimental.  But God wants to get at our hearts.  If our hearts our changed, then the rest follows.  Sanctification, the process of being made righteous by the work of Jesus in us, is not as simple as a one time, all-out healing.  As the healed areas come back to life, they bring with them painful reminders of life before the healing and the memories of the wounds and injuries themselves.  Even as we are healed, all the collateral damage left behind from our sin does not disappear.  These are called scars.  They remind us of the hurt and damage we have sustained and caused.  It is a messy process but in the end I have found that it’s worth it.  Because for me, there is no other way…

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:66-69

HELLO my name is

Growing up, I felt awkward often. Most times I felt like I didn’t quite fit, so I heard labels thrown around a lot. They were thrown around by others: not tall enough, not enough money, not strong enough, not athletic enough, not tough enough. I even threw them at myself: not good enough, not smart enough, not cool enough. I spent my childhood trying to be like everyone else for the sake of being accepted and liked. I was a people-pleaser. In fact, there were times I tried to please people so much, I was considered two-faced. I told people what they wanted to hear. My own identity was caught up in popularity, trends and acceptance.

The problem is labels lie.

Good, bad, indifferent. They do an awful job of defining who we are. We are more than a label, more than someone’s (or our own) judgmental reaction.

Weathering life experiences and growing in maturity go a long way toward demolishing labels. I don’t find my security in the same place anymore. I used to look for it in the approval, acceptance, and affirmation of others. Earlier in the People of the Second Chance Labels Lie campaign, Mohan Karulkar blogged about finding his identity. That really resonated with me.

Identity.

Identity is what I have found. And my identity is found in Jesus. That does not mean I am a brainwashed clone; far from it. I’ve begun to discover my unique talents, abilities and gifts looking through the lens of Jesus. My lens was pretty distorted before. I couldn’t see clearly. I was searching for myself in all the wrong places. I was looking to others; trying to be like others. Now, I’m beginning to find myself. I’m finally becoming comfortable in my own skin. I’m finding my voice. I know who I am. And more importantly, I know who I am not.

For too long I stifled my artistic creativity for the sake of fitting the mold. For too long I was ashamed of my faith, because it wasn’t my faith, it was someone else’s. I am no longer a people-pleaser. I am Mike Lehr. Sometimes I please people. Sometimes I don’t. And I’m ok with that.

Labels? They bring chains and imprisonment. Why? Because they can never adequately define you.

Identity? It brings freedom, confidence and peace. I will choose that path every time.

This post was inspired by Labels Lie: A People of the Second Chance Campaign.  Find out more about it here.

I am not _______

For the last few months I have participated in the People of the Second Chance Never Beyond Campaign blogging about grace and second chances.  It has been a powerful few months for me.  The topics have impacted me greatly.  The campaign has challenged and stretched my understanding and limits of grace and forgiveness.  These are all good things.

Now I am excited to announce the launch of a new People of the Second Chance campaign called Labels Lie.  POTSC has already compiled a number of powerful images that will hopefully help to shatter the labels we use to define ourselves and others.

Labels can be used to hurt others (intentionally or unintentionally) but they can also be used with good intentions.  Over the next few months I think we will find that labels will always fall short regardless of their intent.  A label does not define who I am or who you are.  You are more than any label you give yourself.  You are bigger than any label someone gives you.

What are some labels that need to be destroyed?  Slut, junkie and ex-con are just a few of those featured on POTSC first images for this campaign shown below.

I hope you will join me in this new campaign as we wade into the deep, muddy waters of labels that bring us down and limit us.  Along the way, I hope we will be able to break free from our past and current labels and live fully into the freedom we find as a result.  Go HERE to see how you can participate.

E.G.R.

It’s Muppet Wednesday!

I grew up watching the Muppet Show. I owned a vinyl copy of John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together. I saw all The Muppet movies as a kid. I was humming “Mahna Mahna” all last night. I am taking my daughter to see the premier of the new Muppets movie tonight. So of course I was beyond excited when People of the Second Chance revealed this week’s poster for the Never Beyond Campaign.

The poster above depicts Animal. Animal is an easily recognizable, notorious Muppet because of his wild antics offset by his stellar drum skills. POTSC is using Animal’s mug to start a dialogue about EGR people.

Extra

Grace

Required

We all have a mental picture of someone when we hear that phrase; whether it’s someone we have to deal with at work, at school, or in our family. This is the person you most frequently complain about on your Facebook or Twitter account.

If you can’t think of anyone, that person is most likely YOU.

But, in all seriousness, how exactly are we to handle these people? Aren’t we justified in our complaints and frustration by their ridiculous actions.

I have learned after 15 years of working with people on a that in most cases beneath every perceived quirky personality trait, flaw or idiosyncrasy is a root. The root is usually an event or a person that/who has caused some damage. We all have them. Over time we overcompensate. Our personality and actions bend to account for this damage.

We can hide it, deny it and overcompensate for it…or we can admit it, address it, and move past it.

At some point, we ALL require a little extra grace. So let’s be the first ones to offer grace and maybe we’ll get a little more ourselves in response.

POTSC is launching the NEVER BEYOND Poster Series: 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. This campaign consists of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.

The campaign draws out themes of forgiveness, grace and what a pathway to a second chance looks like.

Check out the POTSC site to read and join some of the other great conversations going on about grace, forgiveness and second chances.

A Legacy Forever Tarnished?

It took me a week, but I am now prepared to enter into this conversation at the prompting of People of the Second Chance and in light of their latest Never Beyond Campaign poster above of Joe Paterno.

I guess I have somewhat of a localized perspective living in Pennsylvania and knowing many people who went to Penn State and friends who live and work in State College. Along with the rest of the world I heard the unimaginable news last week and read the Grand Jury Indictment of Jerry Sandusky.

This news is shocking. It is outrageous. The stories told in the indictment are both horrifying and heart-breaking. What’s worse, it took this long for the prospect of justice to finally come but justice has still not yet arrived for the victims. They will have to deal with far more difficulty now, having gone public with their accusations.  Not only are they forced to relive their nightmares each day as the stories are rehashed in national media outlets, but the trial will most likely put them face to face with their molester again.

I do not want to get into speculation or dispute about who knew what or what was said to whom. We can only hope that in time the whole truth will come out. But at the end of the day, legally it seems Joe Paterno did what he was supposed to.  Yet for the victims, it was not enough.  Unfortunately, Sandusky’s conduct and behavior seemed to continued for years after the reported incident on campus.  

But the focus of my post is not on Sandusky’s actions, it’s on Paterno’s legacy.  Where does Joe Paterno factor into this? His coaching status is beyond elite, he is idolized by his adoring Penn State fans.  How many coaches do you know who are flattered with a sculpture of their likeness on the campus of the University he/she coached for WHILE he/she is still coaching? It is an unfortunate end to his esteemed coaching career.  This does not completely overshadow all of his accolades, but it certainly tarnishes them.  In fact, earlier this week, the Big Ten removed his name from the championship trophy.

Will the rest of the reminders of him be hastily scrubbed away from the campus and NCAA history? Should his lapse of judgment or morality be the only thing we ever remember about Joe Paterno?  Should one poor decision wipe away any good done?

Absolutely not.

We all make mistakes, we all have errors in judgment.  What is more at issue now is how those mistakes are handled in the aftermath.  Is there a swift apology, expression of remorse and regret?

Joe Paterno really has more to say about the way he will be remembered than we all may think. He now has to opportunity to claim his second chance.

So while this may be the darkest week in Penn State history and in Joe Paterno’s career, one thing I know is that God brings beauty out of brokenness and pain. He brings healing to the hurting. He brings light out of darkness. He resurrects the fallen.

So how will this story end? Who knows. But I for one will not be part of the vulture-culture that piles on, criticizes, speculates and accuses. We owe it to each other to thoughtfully enter into productive discussion, attempting to see from each perspective. I will continue to stand on the side of the victims and cry for justice but I will also continue to advocate for grace and second chances. God knows we each need an abundance of them.

What do you think? Join the conversation…

POTSC is launching the NEVER BEYOND Poster Series: 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. This campaign consists of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.

The campaign draws out themes of forgiveness, grace and what a pathway to a second chance looks like.

Check out the POTSC site to read and join some of the other great conversations going on about grace, forgiveness and second chances.

Forgiving Osama?

In some ways, each of these posts in the Never Beyond Campaign for People of the Second Chance have been building, all leading up to a poster like this.  The unimaginable…Osama bin Laden.  The one whose death was celebrated…or was it?  Did we celebrate his death or the death of something more, something bigger than one man?  A mass murderer.  A mastermind of evil.  An orchestrator of terrorism.  Striking fear into the lives of millions.  We hated him.  We could not understand him.  Why did he do the things he did?  What motivated him?  Can we not understand or do we just not want to?

I’m not even close to justifying what he did.  I was appalled with everyone else that day (see my previous 10 years after 9/11 post).

But sometimes it’s easier to call someone evil or crazy.  That way we don’t have try to understand them or see their humanity beneath the surface of their actions.

Grace recognizes that beneath the outrageous behavior and incomprehensible deeds is a broken human being.  Does that mean that we turn a blind eye to the evil deeds and not hold the person accountable?  Absolutely not!  But what I keep learning is that grace does not make sense.

Jeremy Cowart, a fellow POTSCer, had his work in Rwanda featured on CNN’s photo blog earlier this week.  Each photograph tells a powerful story of forgiveness, transformation and grace. You can check it out here.  It falls in line very well with this theme of radical grace.  The fact of the matter is that most people don’t get radical grace.  I don’t get it!  Why on earth would the family of the victim of brutal murder be willing to not only forgive the murderer but become friends with them? The answer is beyond this earth, it is supernatural, because in reality, it is actually a little glimpse of heaven on earth.  This is the type of radical grace that turns “right” and “normal” on its head.  John Mark McMillan wrote a line in his song, “How He Loves”, that goes, “heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss.”  That’s grace.  It’s messy.  It’s confusing.  It doesn’t make sense.  But while grace holds us in that tension, it gives us a glimpse of the tension between heaven and earth.

Jesus was a revolutionary radical grace-giver.  Not only by what he taught, but what he did to display grace.  He taught us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.  Why?  He knew that when we pray for our enemy,  it slowly reveals their humanity and we begin to see them like us, on the same terms.  And by doing this, by living this way, each day we would see a little more heaven on earth.  Jesus taught us, “Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  May it be so…

What do you think?  Is Osama bin Laden going too far?  Why?

POTSC is launching the NEVER BEYOND Poster Series: 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. This campaign consists of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.

The campaign draws out themes of forgiveness, grace and what a pathway to a second chance looks like.

Check out the POTSC site to read and join some of the other great conversations going on about grace, forgiveness and second chances.

Shark Attack

People of the Second Chance took a bit of a break from the Never Beyond Campaign to focus on introducing their next upcoming campaign, Labels Lie.  You can find out more information about that here.  This week’s installment in the Never Beyond Campaign is sharks, like the image below depicting the infamous Jaws.  But this is bigger than just a movie picture shark, Jaws is a symbol of those people who unexpectedly enter our lives, attack, hurt and damage us.

A shark swam into my life about five years ago. A group of us had just started a home church sort of group that met at a neutral location. We were trying to reach people who had been damaged or hurt by their previous church experiences and help them see Jesus clearly instead of through the senseless layers of religion. A young man was sent to us by others who knew what we were trying to do. We welcomed him in, loved him and got to know him. We began to notice some inconsistencies with his moods and shortly thereafter he shared with us that he struggled with bipolar disorder.  He went on to explain that he had decided to forego treatment after losing his last job. We naively thought we could just continue to welcome him, care for him, and love him without any support system or protection in place.  This was a mistake. I even ignored my own gut reaction out of a desire to be loving and accepting.

A month or so later, there was an emotional break.  Something enraged him and he ended up lashing out at me in particular, and in turn, my family.  It escalated to the point of receiving angry, threatening phone calls, followed be an angry note taped to the mailbox at our home.

After getting counsel from a few close friends, I cut off our interaction and told him that if he continued to harass me and my family, I would be forced to call the police.  In the end, I had to protect my family and he had crossed the line.  I know that it was deeper and more complex than that.  The weeks afterward found me struggling through feelings of guilt and praying my heart would not be hardened toward someone else in need in the future due to this experience.

This shark in my life was unexpected, and pretty much came out of nowhere.  I was able to forgive him fairly quickly, especially since I knew there were other factors that were out of his control.  If nothing else, it was a learning experience.  Life is messy, people are complicated.

How about you?  Have you had any sharks unexpected come into your life and attack you?  How did you react?  Can you forgive him/her/them?  Are they beyond a second chance?

POTSC is launching the NEVER BEYOND Poster Series: 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. This campaign consists of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.

The campaign draws out themes of forgiveness, grace and what a pathway to a second chance looks like.

Check out the POTSC site to read and join some of the other great conversations going on about grace, forgiveness and second chances.

Grace Hypocrite

I   AM   A   HYPOCRITE.

I TALK about grace all the time, I CHALLENGE others to be radical with their grace, but I WITHHOLD it from the person who cuts me off while driving.

The fact of the matter is that I am a work in progress.

As unhealthy as it is to only dwell on my weaknesses, my faults and failures, it is just as unhealthy to only dwell on my strengths, my wins and successes.  If, as a Christian, I am only sharing my “ups” and “wins” I am doing you a disservice.  He is enough in it all.  Up and down, weakness and strength, success and failure.

I NEED grace as much as I NEED to extend it to others.  Why?  Because I would not know what grace is if it were not already extended to me by a gracious and loving God.  We have to learn it and practice it.

I am on a journey.  There are days where I suck at grace.  There are other days where I get such a close glimpse of it that I see it’s transforming power.

Some days are good…some days are bad.  But you are not viewed in light of that big screw up even if the rest of the world chooses to view you that way.  Not by God.  If He were to view you only as a screw up, we would have no hope.  But knowing that we were, are and always will be screw ups, He still came and sacrificed himself for us so we could make it back home to Him.  That is grace.  It doesn’t make sense.  It defies reality, wisdom and reason…

This week’s poster is of Rod Blagojevich.  He is the image of abuse of power and political corruption.  Yet even he is never beyond the reach of grace.  I am grateful for People of the Second Chance and the way they continue to challenge my understanding and limits of grace.  Join the conversation…

POTSC is launching the NEVER BEYOND Poster Series: 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. This campaign consists of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.

The campaign draws out themes of forgiveness, grace and what a pathway to a second chance looks like.

Check out the POTSC site to read and join some of the other great conversations going on about grace, forgiveness and second chances.

Deep Dark Blackness

PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE: DEEP DARK BLACKNESS from PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE on Vimeo.

The above video called Deep Dark Blackness is the result of a stunning collaboration between Jeremy Cowart and People of the Second Chance.  I am a huge fan of both, so when they announced this collaboration I was very excited.  Jeremy has done similar work here, here and here before.  What I love about this method of art is the combination of different media (drawing, photography, and digital layering/editing) to tell a broader story.  The time-lapse video approach also adds a unique feature allowing us to become part of the process, almost as if we are physically there while this art is being created.

This particular theme is the message of radical grace that People of the Second Chance promotes, advocates for and dispenses.  I have been participating by blogging for the last three months in their Never Beyond Campaign.

As a reminder:

POTSC is launching the NEVER BEYOND Poster Series: 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. This campaign consists of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.

The campaign draws out themes of forgiveness, grace and what a pathway to a second chance looks like.

When I first watched it, I felt a combination of emotions: disturbed, amazed, humored (light saber & Lotso), challenged and impressed.  Afterward, I really felt that this video captured to essence of the Never Beyond Campaign perfectly.

Grace…radical grace is messy, confusing and often misunderstood.  It is deep, there are layers to it.  It does not just give lip service or stop at the surface.  No one is beyond the reach of grace, beyond God’s outstretched hand.  More than a few of the people represented in the collage of faces in the video may cause your skin to crawl or a deep unsettling in your soul.  That is what radical life changing grace does.  It breaks you out of your typical habitual reactions and forces you to dig deeper…to understand…why…how…to see things from the other side, the other perspective.  That is why all of the faces being layered as one is so symbolic.  At our essence, we are no different in the way we act, the way we think.  Our actions may not be as public or seem as horrendous, but we fool ourselves if we think they are not as damaging.  It is when we elevate ourselves above others that we begin to lose touch with our common humanity.  

But the beauty of grace is that it does not leave us there cowering in the corner in our brokenness.  Grace frees us.  It gives us wings…lifting us out of the pit, the mud and puts a new song in our mouths.  And we can’t help but belt it out to the world…

How about you?  What do you think?  Let’s keep the conversation going…