The Floorboards of Heaven

My mother-in-law had a phrase I always loved: "When You Look Up At The Stars You're Looking Through the Floorboards of Heaven."

Love that. I was reminded of that phrase this past weekend. After a wild Friday night of cleaning out the garage with my wife (it was actually much less lame than it sounded to type that) I took my dog and an adult beverage out to my back yard and just stared up at the sky.

Have you done that lately? (Not taken my dog and a beer out to my back yard, but just watched the stars?) It's so inspiring. In my opinion staring up at the stars really is a better use of 30 minutes than to watch "Dancin' With The Stars." But that's just me.

Looking up at the stars is as powerful and meaningful today as it was thousands of years ago when the Psalmist wrote:

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Pslam 19:1

I thought about that verse and what makes star gazing so meaningful this past weekend. Here's what I came up with:

Perspective: To gaze out at the billions of stars, each one synchronized in its patterns and movement, and to realize there are entire galaxies out there that we can't see, puts so many things into perspective. Namely, that there is a God so awesome that he created all of this. And no matter how big I try to make my problems, I can never make them too big for God to handle.

Look up. Science was never my thing in school, but I did manage to learn that the Sun is a star that's 93 million miles away from the Earth. That's so far away that the sun's rays we feel today, actually left 7 years ago. That's 7 LIGHT YEARS away. To quote that annoying song: Unbelievable!

Equally amazing, is that the stars we see are even farther away than our Sun. So as I stared at the stars this weekend, I was seeing something literally over 100 million miles away from me. But what is the farthest distance I can see when I look out here on Earth? Maybe 100 miles, tops? I've been to one of those observation decks that say you can "See 7 States!" but that's nothing compared to what you see when you look up.

The point being, that by looking up to God, you easily can see more and accomplish more than if you only spend time looking for solutions here on Earth.

So many times, that's my problem. I've been looking at the wrong things. I've spent too much time looking behind me - worrying about things in my past. I've allowed myself to look down on myself, or worse, on others. I've spent so much energy looking for answers in things of this Earth. Instead, I should look up and look for God. It's quite a sight to behold.

Radiohead go Green

Radiohead played "House of Cards" on the Conan show last night. (Fun fact: Radiohead was the musical guest on Conan's first show in 1993). Anyhoo, it was extra cool because the band DIDN'T travel to NYC to preform the song. Instead, they recorded a special version in London, and avoided the international travel, which would have left a carbon footprint equal to driving a car for a year.

That's Truthiness!

Let's face it. When most people think of Sunday School teachers, they picture this:



But maybe they should be thinking something more like this:


That's right. Stephen Colbert, America's funniest man (sorry, Carrot Top) just happens to also be a Sunday School teacher. And recently he dropped some strong Biblical knowledge on his guest Philip Zimbarado during a discussion on the origins of evil.

Zimbarado, a Standford professor and author of The Lucifer Effect, said on Colbert's show: "Lucifer was right and God was wrong." An obviously miffed Colbert came back swinging with a theological rant that would make those in seminary proud.

Colbert said: "God gave Satan, the angels and man, free will. Satan used his free will-and abused it-by not obeying authority. Hell was created by Satan's disobedience to God, and his purposeful removal from God's love, which is what hell is-removing yourself from God's love. You send yourself to hell, God does not send you there."

Now that's some truthiness!

I couldn't find a clip of this exchange on the YouTubes, but here's a great one with Colbert making Larry King seem even more confused than usual.

Who's In Your Fave 5?

Watch any sporting event these days and it is absolutely impossible to escape those "Fave 5" commercials. They crack me up. Barkley is his usual awesome self
("And that's why I don't eat shrimp!" Classic!) And when it comes to acting D-Wade is, well, definitely one of the best b-ballers on the planet.



Seeing these spots adnauseam got me to thinking: if you could have anyone in the world in your fave 5, who would it be? Someone you could call up at anytime to ask their advice, get together for coffee, or discuss if they think unicorns really exist. (They don't).

Here's who I'd have in my Fave 5:



Rob Bell
I've devoured all of Rob's books and NOOMA videos, listen to his weekly podcasts, and even went on a road trip to catch him speak in the ATL. He has such an incredible knowledge of the Bible and engaging personality that makes him truly the most inspiring pastor/teacher that I've ever heard.






Robin Sharma
Another incredible author (you must check out "The Monk That Sold His Ferrari" and "Who Will Cry When You Die.) Robin's website and blog is also a personal fave for insights on how to "Lead Without Title" as he likes to say.











Bono
Who wouldn't want the man behind The Joshua Tree and these sunglasses to be on speed dial?













Mark Hoppus
I love his bands (Blink 182, +44) and his blog/podcast (himynameismark.com) cracks me up. We seem to have a lot in common: we're the same age, both have young kids and love power punk rock and The Descendents...so you know, we'd have tons to talk about it.



Steve Nash.
He's a 2 time MVP. He has his own incredible foundation. And Shaq called him "The Canadian Eminem" which doesn't totally make sense but is still somehow a totally cool nickname. Plus anyone who can make this pass should be in my 5:



So who would be in your Fave 5? Discuss!

Update on Dying Professor

Last night, ABC ran an hour-long special where Diane Sawer interviewed Randy Pausch, the dying professor I blogged about earlier this week. It was very inspiring to learn more about his story, and hear from his wife and kids about this inspiring, albeit tramautic, situation. If you missed it, go here to check out a story recap and video highlights.

He Turns it Up to 11!

Here's my boy, Luke, proving it's never too early to start bringing the rock.

What a Lecture

I blogged about Randy Pausch's last lecture a while back. He's a father of 3. He's a college professor. And he's dying of terminal cancer. While that last sentence seems so bleak to type, you'd never know it from Randy's attitude, perspective and approach to life. He's been sharing his "last lecture" on campus, and the viral video of it has been viewed millions of times on the YouTubes. That officially makes it an "Internet sensation" (forgive me Father for I have typed a cliche.)

Yesterday, he was on the cover of Parade. Check out the cover story and his life lessons, along with video of his last lecture. Amazing.