The past few days I’ve been pondering what I like to call the Silver Screen Super Heroes. Many are looking for heroes these days, and it seems every time we turn around, the usual place for heroes, such as sports figures, keep falling down. Now I know we’re all human, but the hero category coming from the sports arena these days seems very littered with broken dreams and broken promises.

As a result, some people are connecting more with the super heroes of the big screen. There are so many to choose from! The Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, X-Men, and that really just scratches the surface. Every time I turn around there’s a new super hero movie on the horizon promising better special effects, and larger than life heroes.

Of all the super heroes listed above, there’s one that really stands out in my mind as someone putting forth a message of discovering the hero inside of each one us, and that’s Batman. Why Batman you ask? I arrived at this conclusion after interviewing Michael Uslan, the Executive Producer of the Batman movies. As we talked about the full range of Batman movies and discussed the somewhat different take in the Batman Begins movie, Michael told me something very interesting about the new Batman character. He said he went to great lengths to make sure people understood that while Batman may be considered a super hero, he’s a hero with no special powers. Most big screen super heroes have some kind of super human quality, but not the Batman of the Batman Begins movie. As a matter of fact, when you watch the movie you discover he uses the resources around him, to in turn become the hero of Batman.

As I pondered that aspect of the character portrayed in Michael Uslan’s Batman I also discovered his underlying message. Everyone, that includes you and me, have within us, and around us, the resources we need to overcome any situation. It doesn’t take a super hero to overcome difficult situations, it takes a person with purpose and destiny, and the desire to pull on the good qualities within each one of us.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus

It seems this afternoon was filled with tech support conversations. It all started with a problem of not connecting to the Internet at all. That was followed by the discovery that my godlaughs.net domain does not seem to be working.

The good news is, my Internet connection problems were solved. The somewhat bad news is, my godlaughs.net site still seems to be down. First I spoke with one tech support person, then I sent an email to another tech support person. They keep telling my someone is pointing to the wrong IP address. I have a hard enough time remembering how to spell some domain names, let alone figuring out what to do with all those really strange IP numbers. But alas, hopefully it will all be sorted out soon.

All this IP talk of pointing the domain to the right place reminded me of how many people think they need to connect with God. It can all seem very confusing to someone not up on all the Christian hype, lingo and clichés. Why is it humankind likes to complicate so many simple things. The “keep it simple” rule really does work.

When wanting to connect with God, all we need to do is talk. While it’s true sometimes we wonder if Anyone is listening, we can rest assured He is. In the end, as we journey through this life, we do indeed discover He is easier to connect with than we think, and we don’t need an IP address to figure it all out.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus

The new Samuel L. Jackson movie opened over the weekend entitled Resurrecting the Champ. It’s about a retired boxer who’s living on the streets, and a second generation sports writer trying to find his big break. Little does he know, that while trying to find his big break with a big story, he in turn discovers his voice.

At the beginning of the movie a particular line jumped off the screen at me and I quickly wrote it down. While the young writer was talking with the newspaper editor about why he couldn’t get more prominent placement in the paper, the editor replied saying; “I see a lot of typing, but not much writing.”

Wow! What an incredible thought!

During the past few days I’ve been contemplating that phrase. Many times we type and type and type, but very little really gets written. Of course as a writer, that is of great concern to me. But what does that phrase really mean? I’m sure there’s much more to it, but after a brief look at the phrase I think it hooks in with the idea that if all we’re doing is jotting down facts about any given situation, we’re just typing. But, when we go behind the facts, and discover how the facts in turn link to life, and dare I saw it, our own personal life, then we move into the area of writing.

The older I get the more I realize the importance of purpose and destiny. How are we affecting those around us? How are we living our lives? Are we simply typing the script of our lives moving from one random incident to another? Or, are we writing the script of our lives, interacting with life and growing through each and every experience.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus

Another weekend has almost finished once again. While some live for the weekend, many live for the week. Living for the week means looking for opportunities to encourage those around us with words of hope we may have received over the weekend.

Today we visited another church in the area. The speaker was very uplifting and he reminded us of the importance of looking at the areas in our lives where we’ve tasted of the refreshing waters of a great well. For whatever reason, many old wells become filled in with the distractions of life. When this takes place, we become not only frustrated, but we also lose touch with our foundation. The foundation is always what one builds on in order to move forward in our purpose and destiny in life.

As I wind down yet another weekend, and another night, I’m meditating on what wells in my life need to be re-opened, cleaned out, and re-claimed. My prayer is, that you will do the same.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus

A pretty major storm went through our area last night. It was one of those storms where everything is quiet, and then suddenly thunder starts crashing and rain starts teaming. It only took a couple close shots of chain lightening before the power went off and then, adding more drama to the storm, everything got very dark.

Off to the china cabinet my wife went in search of candles, while the boys and I went in all directions looking for flashlights. Our middle son was working at the radio station, so I headed up to make sure all was well there. The back parking lot was like an ocean, so first I moved cars out of the water, and then headed down the road toward the station.

It was a very odd storm with a mixture of chain and sheet lightning. The rain would come and go, sometimes hard, sometimes not so hard. Making my way toward the station I also found myself avoiding tree branches along the way. All the time our oldest son was riding shotgun keeping his eyes peeled for big puddles, tree branches, and from time to time, even bigger branches. In the end, all worked out well. I think the power was out for a couple hours, but nothing major really happened.

The storm reminded me of what life can be like sometimes. Things are going well, when suddenly along the journey we find ourselves in the midst of a storm that seems to come up out of nowhere. When the storms of life hit us, how do we respond? Many panic, some bury their heads, while others declare “Oh woe-es me!”

How should we respond?

I’m reminded of the story about a group of men who suddenly found themselves tossed to and fro in a boat in the middle of a storm. The Person riding shotgun that day calmed the storm with a single word. So the story goes, the men found themselves safely on the shore, out of the storm.

So, did the storm stop completely? I really don’t know. But I do know this, the Person riding shotgun that day calmed the storm and helped the men find rest on shore. I also know the same Person is available today to help us find our way safely to shore too, when we’re in the midst of the storms of life.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus

I just finished watching qualifying for the Nextel NASCAR race at Bristol. The race is set for tomorrow night, but now the starting grid is set for the race. They’re on a short track this week and that means a lot of bumping, grinding, rubbing, and racing. It also means short tempers with, at times, helmets and yes, even fists flying. For the drivers, it’s all in a days work as they go fast and turn left.

Sometimes in this journey we call life we get a little wound up and it seems all we’re doing is going fast and turning left. Tempers can flair as we bump into one another and sometimes even get out of control. Many times we simply add to our stress level as a result of not willing to slow down to either let the other guy go past, or reflect on what God might be trying to teach us in the moment.

As I wrap up another day, I’m trying to slow down for a few minutes to ponder the events of the day, and yes even the week. Maybe this should be a weekend set aside for contemplation, instead of simply going fast and turning left.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus

I’ve been reading A Year With Thomas Merton over the past month or so and find his journal thoughts fascinating. From time to time I’ve pondered jotting down few daily thoughts of my own, but then in this busy life, such quiet moments of writing seem to pass away quickly. Maybe it’s because I’ve tried to make it all too much of a brain surgery moment.

With that in mind, I thought I’d try this again, and maybe along the way, encourage a few others in this journey we call life.

Tonight I’ve been pondering the word relationships. So often the concept of relationship and networking revolves around not encouraging one another, but how can we use one another. What an outdated concept of networking and relationship. I believe true networking and relationship occurs when we come together to encourage one another, and help one another along in life.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus