Altared Perception

Over the last three months, I've had four loved ones pass away. Three were family members, and the other was my dear friend Lyman. I love my family members who passed away, but I was probably closest to Lyman. We met every two or three weeks, and we would talk about...well...anything. Lyman and I had many conversations. There is something cool about talking to someone almost 70 years older than you. You learn about how the world used to be. How culture has changed. How events shaped people. I learned a lot from Lyman. But there's one thing I learned from Lyman that I think is more important than anything else: hope. plastic hope I've realized something about hope. We, as First World, modern Christians, have forgotten how to hope. We hope the Tigers make the World Series. We hope traffic isn't backed up. We hope that lottery ticket will pay out. We hope the flu shot will keep us healthy. We hope...or maybe we are just crossing our fingers. Perhaps we

One of my favorite animated movies is called "The Emperor's New Groove". Its humor is very dry and witty, and while I don't care for David Spade's voice acting, he can't possibly spoil the movie for me. It's a classic. The movie follows Emperor Kuzco, an arrogant ruler who cares about nothing but himself. He quickly established his self-preoccupation in the opening scene , dancing in the limelight and basking in all praise people give him. In the middle of his dance routine, he accidentally moon walks into an old man, and has him tossed out the window for "throwing off his groove." He is self-absorbed, and is willing to dispose of anyone who gets in his way. (Don't worry, the old man ends up being fine...except for a little psychosis...)   I have to admit, there's a groove I try to get into. The one where your heads in the game, and you know how to win. You are aware of what you need to do, and you know exactly how to get i