Scott Hawkins Thoughts

The Touch of God

2009-11-30T15:21:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Emily and I went to get a Christmas tree. We went to a Christmas tree farm, searched the acres for the perfect tree and ended up picking one that leans slightly to the left. When we moved the tree into our apartment it immediately filled the air with the beautiful smell of Christmas. Christmas engages all of our senses. We eat candy canes and fruitcake. We smell Christmas trees. We hear Christmas carols. We see beautiful lights and touch Christmas paper. Christmas hits us from every possible angle and creates the perfect Christmas experience. We expect this out of our Christmas. I can’t have a fake Christmas tree because I need to have my home smell like Christmas. These sights and sounds make Christmas.
We expect this out Christmas, but don’t demand it out of spirituality. We expect to be spiritually mature people without engaging all of our senses. Spirituality is something that we relegate to our voices and brains. We participate in bible studies and hide out for quiet times, but spirituality is so much more. When we worship we kneel, stand, watch, listen and taste. God comes at us in a variety of ways while we worship. Why don’t we learn how to experience God through all of our senses during the rest of the week?
Can a good meal be spiritual? Can the smell of a freshly plowed field connect us to the creator God? Can the hug of a close friend be the arms of God? Spirituality needs to be bigger than our voices and brains. We need to allow God to work through our whole bodies as we worship him with our whole selves.

The First Days

2009-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

My first months at First Presbyterian were a little slow. I would come into work and catch up with the office staff, plan that weeks activities and then slowly start to read or search the internet for interesting tidbits, such as, did you know that Tahoe is farther west than Los Angeles. It took a while to get my feet under me and know what I was supposed to do. It is altogether different at Christ the King. I showed up at the same time that Pastor Chris, the senior Pastor, underwent back surgery. So, it has been go, go, go since day one and its been great. I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of people and teach a number of different Bible studies. It has been a blessing to me to see so many kind people and to learn about Christ the King. This is a great congregation and Emily and I feel blessed to be here.

The Road ...

2009-11-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Emily and I are unusual road trippers. We don't do well leaving early in the morning. We wake up slowly and then pack up our room. We take our stuff out to the car and celebrate if it is before 11:30 am. We then start to drive, but we want to see the sights of the road. Well, now it is the early afternoon and we stop to take in some new experience. Yesterday it was the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. This was an incredible exhibit. Emily and I took it in slowly. Listening to the stories of the survivors and watching the news footage of this horrendous act. Then we explored the investigation and learned about how they caught Timothy McVeigh. This exhibit makes you think about your preceptions, safety and the value of life. It also made me realize the importance of community because of the way that the people of Oklahoma City rallied around the victims and rescue crew. The newscaster would announce that they needed D batteries and then half an hour later they would have to stop people from bringing batteries because they got too many. This is definitely worth the time. We got out of there late and then had a long drive in front of us. Which again puts us in our hotel late, and so starts the cycle again.

Kings of the Road... Again

2009-10-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

Emily and I have set off on the open road. Before we could do this we had to pack our whole lives into cardboard boxes and send them off with a moving company. There are a couple of things that you learn while you pack up your house.

1) You have way more stuff than you thought you had. When the moving representative, Jewel, asked me how much stuff we had, I told her and she estimated 3000 lbs, which seemed like a lot. Then you start packing up and realize that 3000 lbs may be a little light (especially when you forget about the 1000 lbs of books in your office, oops)

2) Packing is horrible. It is like playing a giant game of Tetris inside of every box, while making sure the box can hold the weight and will not shift much in route.

A quick note on thoughtful wedding presents. A very nice young woman decided to paint a stone paver for us as a wedding present. It is beautifully painted and has our names and wedding date written on it. The problem is that it is a stone paver, meant to be placed in your backyard and then walked on. It is not meant to be shipped across the country. Except, how do you throw away a gift like that and you can't donate it anywhere hoping that there is another Hawkins Family established August 28, 2009 somewhere in the greater LA area. So it got packed much to the movers delight.

3) Movers are great. They came and carried all of our stuff downstairs and then packed it. They worked incredibly fast and efficiently, but it is strange to see a group of strangers drive off with all of your stuff. As the drive away you hope that the real movers don't show up half an hour later ready to work.

We then said our last tearful goodbyes and hit the road. We headed to Phoenix and spent the day with my cousin. We got to see his children, Danika and Brandon, cute kids and eat delicious Buffalo wings. (One of my favorite food groups.) We then went to the Grand Canyon, drove through the Petrified Forest and are now typing this post in a library in Albuquerque. We are taking our time and enjoying the sights and sounds of the southwest.

Honeymoon

2009-10-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

I will now make good on a promise. I will talk about the honeymoon.

Emily and I had the opportunity to go to the big island of Hawaii. One of the church members was gracious enough to let us use their condo as a wedding gift. It was a great condo on a piece of property that overlooked a golf course with a mountain view. Emily and I flew into Kona and then made our way to the condo. The big island of Hawaii is one of the most unusual places on the planet. It contains 11 of the 13 climate zones in the world. The only two it is missing are Arctic Tundra and Saharan Desert. The Kona side of the island is dry and only gets 6 inches of rain a year, while the Hilo side of the island is a rainforest and rains 300 days a year. The reason that this happens is because there are massive volcanoes in the center of the island. The storms slam into the Hilo side and then cannot cross over the mountains to the Kona side.
Emily and I explored a lot of the island. We took a tour to the top on Mauna Kei, one of the premier star gazing sights in the world. It was a strange trip because you start at the beach where it is hot and humid and then you drive up 13000 feet where it is freezing cold; they give you parkas to help you survive the climate change. We watched the sunset over the clouds and then they set up telescopes and gave us a star show.
We also got to see a green sand beach. This beach required you to hike two and a half miles, according to the guide book which I’m sure was accurate had you started in the right place, but we did not. We parked where I thought was the beginning of the hike, only to walk two miles and then discover another parking lot which was the real starting point! I ran, well walked, back and got the car while Emily waited patiently on a small beach reading Time Travelers Wife (her book of choice for the first part of the honeymoon). I got to the small parking lot and we continued our hike, we soon got discouraged because of our choice of shoes and after meeting a couple who did not make it (and looked like they were in good shape) decided to turn around. When we got to the small parking lot our in shape couple friends offered us a ride in their jeep. Why they had a jeep and didn’t decide to drive originally is a mystery to me. We finally arrived at the green sand beach and were blown away. It is strange to see Hulk colored sand. It was worth all of the trouble.
We also saw Manta Rays, snorkeled in a marine sanctuary and jumped off cliffs. We had a great time exploring the island and relaxing. The only downside of the whole trip was that the condo didn’t have air conditioning. Hawaii is a tropical climate, take that to mean hot and humid. It doesn’t really cool down at night so we took cold showers at night to cool off and then got in bed with all the fans pointed at us. We would wake up at 7 and kick off the blanket, by 7:30 we were kicking off the top sheet. When 8 rolled around we would be spread out trying to stay cool and soon would give up and get out of bed. It was a great trip and we were sad to come back to the main land, but we had things to do, like move to Alabama.

Unemployed

2009-10-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well Emily and I are officially unemployed! I don’t think this is any father’s idea of a perfect way to start a marriage. A father doesn’t dream about his daughter getting married, then a month later both of them quitting their jobs. Emily keeps telling me that I am not technically unemployed because I have a job to go too, but it’s more fun to be unemployed.
First Presbyterian threw us a great going away party. People spoke about Emily and my ministry at the church. They took turns saying the nicest things about us. It is humbling to have people say such nice things about how you have impacted their lives. God did amazing things through us and I was so proud of Emily for all that she did for the babies and moms at her infant center. After that special day we hit the road to go to one of Emily’s best friend’s wedding in San Francisco.
The wedding is tonight, Saturday, but we got here late Monday night to help her do all of the pre-wedding things. Having just gone through this ourselves we understood all of the craziness that a wedding entails. We made flowers, created programs, folded stars, in short, we crafted. Fine motor skills are not my strong point, but the quantity was high, so my quality was overlooked. It has been great to be able to help Robin get ready for the wedding and spend this special time with her. We also got to visit Emily’s sister Christine. We are trying to see people and get all of our goodbyes in before we hit the road to Alabama.
Moving is a strange experience. You are leaving behind a lot of friends and family and stepping out into the dangerous world of the unknown. We know that we are being called to Alabama and God is going to do great things, still it’s a bit overwhelming. We are looking through pictures of apartments that Judy has assembled and trying to decide where to live when he arrive; so many choices and a huge thanks to Judy for all of her hard work in assembling the information for us.

From Where You Stand?

2009-09-28T16:49:00.001-07:00

Scholarship has taken an interesting turn. There are more and more scholars who are beginning to tell you their biases at the beginning of their work. The cover story for Time this week is on the city of Detroit. (A city that is close to my heart because both of my parents grew up there, I visited yearly when I was a kid and I still have a lot of family in the city.) Time bought a house in Detroit and is going to write about the city for a year with an insider’s perspective. The article says, “While we do not intend to be cheerleaders or apologists, we do have a point of view: we want Detroit to recover and find its way into the future.” (4) There it is - their bias. Theologians and historians are doing this as well. My theology will always be affected because I am a middle class, white, American. I will always see the world through my limited lens. This isn’t a good or bad thing, it just is. I also have biases. I think that Jesus Christ has given us the perfect way to live. All of my thoughts, whether they be political, scientific, or sports related will be affected by my faith.
This is also true of the Gospels. Many modern thinkers have been frustrated by the gospels because they are not the kind of history that they want. Modernism sought a neutral position in its scholarship. This came out of the love affair with science, which fancies itself as unbiased knowledge. This spilled over into all the different areas of academy. The problem with the gospels is that they are deeply biased. The authors of the gospels believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and they wanted you to believe the same by the time you finished their account of His life. They did not try to be neutral reporters, they were evangelists; writing so that you would give your life over to the subject. It is important to remember this as you read through the gospels. Resist the temptation to read them like modern history textbooks. (Which also have a perspective!) Read them as passionate pleas to see Jesus as the Son of God.

Shadowlands versus Narnia

2009-09-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: This is a spoiler alert. I am going to quote the end of the Chronicles of Narnia. These books are older, but great. If you want to read through the whole series with no prior knowledge of these books, stop reading this blog. If you are OK with a small spoiler then continue reading.

The Chronicles of Narnia are an incredible series of books written by C.S. Lewis. I believe that these books contain almost every Christian doctrine taught through story. The story involves two lands; 1950’s Britain and a new world called Narnia. A group of children go between these two worlds and go on incredible adventures in Narnia while Britain ticks through modern history. The series ends with a train crash in Britain and an epic battle in Narnia. At the very end of the series Aslan, the God figure, tells the children some shocking news. “There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands – dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” Amazing. The “real” world, modern day Britain, was the Shadowlands. The truly real world is Narnia. They are created for Narnia and are just now entering life.
How often do we live in the Shadowlands? The “real” world does a great job of convincing us that its truths are complete. We define our lives around the “real” worlds definitions; we are successful when we make enough money, happy when we own a nice car and joyful when we are viewed by others as busy and important. These definitions form our life and force us into believing that anyone who lives differently is wrong or naïve. Enter Jesus, a man who refused to live according to our rules and we crucified him for it. Jesus life and death ushered in a new kingdom; the kingdom of God.
One of the great Lutheran doctrines is the idea of now and not yet. We are fully living in the kingdom of God, while we wait for Christ to come again and usher in His kingdom. The interesting thing is that we refuse to live by God’s kingdom definitions. We are waiting for the fullness of the kingdom, but refuse to see the kingdom alive around us. You have the opportunity to live a Narnian lifestyle in the midst of the Shadowlands. The kingdom of God is alive! There is a different way to live, but it requires you to redefine everything.
Success is seen through a bloody savior on the cross. Happiness comes in the form of washing feet. True joy is found in seeing others as greater than you and serving them. These definitions may force us to sell our cars or spend our time differently and they will make you trust in the faithfulness of God who has never abandoned His people. The real world is at hand and you don’t need a railway accident to live in it. The kingdom of God isn’t just waiting for us after we die, but available to every believer who is brave enough to jump into the arms of God. This way of life should lead you to a cross, but what a ride.

Our Stuff

2009-09-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

The difficult thing about moving is all of the stuff. Emily and I have accumulated a whole bunch of stuff. Some of it is really good stuff, like all of our wedding presents, beautiful glass and silverware. Then there are the holdouts from my bachelor days. A large Buffalo skin, Lakers posters and important mugs. I am learning that my bachelor possessions are not good stuff according to Emily. My possessions are not things to be proud of, but buried in the garage or the dumpster. Who knew that neon green paintings would not be acceptable décor for a married house. Nevertheless our stuff has to make it from California to Alabama.

Here seem to be the options: 1) Rent a truck, pack it all and move it all myself. Pros: Your stuff probably won’t break, although that seems unlikely with my track record. Cons: A whole lot of sweat and a direct drive to Alabama. 2) We pack it, load it and someone else drives it. Pros: Cheap and we can take our time and see the country on our trip out. Cons: Again, a lot of sweating and carrying. I have moved so many people and I have personally moved twice already this summer. It’s a lot of work. 3) We pack, someone loads, drives and unloads. Pros: Everything, I can pack, but I don’t have to carry, Oh happy day! Cons: Price… alas it’s not that much. A down economy is bad for a lot of things, but good for moving. Everyone wants to move us and I am glad to let them help. No stairs, awkward boxes or deep leg squats. Option 3 it is. I will not only be saving my back, but my friends backs and our relationships because I won’t have to beg them to help me.

A final thought on moving. Anyone who has ever moved anybody knows the trinity of horrible moves: pool tables, pianos and sleeper sofas. The first two are obvious and you are usually warned, but the last one sneaks up on you. You bend down to grab what looks like a normal sofa, except it weighs a metric ton. Sleeper sofas serve no purpose except to frustrate movers and ruin sleep. The designer of the sleeper sofa always manages to put the support bar right in the middle of your back so you can’t escape its constant pressure. I say yes to beds, futons and sleeping bags, but I have an emphatic no waiting for you sleeper sofa.

2009-09-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

The Big Transition

2009-09-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

2009 is going to be the year of change for Emily and I. As 2009 began Emily and I were engaged, we both worked at the First Presbyterian Church of Orange, living in the state that we both grew up in. As the year draws to a close we are married, quitting our jobs and setting off to Alabama where the closest person we know is in southern Florida. In about two months time everything will be new and different. We are even upgrading our cars! I will still have a few pair of boxer shorts that will be hold over’s, but if Emily has her way those will make it to the trash eventually.

The change started on August 28. That was the day of the big wedding. We were planning this wedding for months. There are an amazing amount of tiny details in planning a wedding: Ribbon colors, music selections, program paper. All of these decisions are important to Emily and they need to be important to me, or, as Emily puts it, “I don’t even care about our wedding, or our marriage.” I do care, but just not about the color of the ribbon that will wrap the box of cards that is on everyone’s plate. My main rule to any man who is engaged and planning a wedding is, care, but not too much. If you care too much then you will argue about the ribbon color which always ends in cold stares or tears.

Emily and I did great planning the wedding and managed to have a lot of fun in the process. The wedding turned out beautiful and really fun. Emily’s favorite color is purple. Favorite is actually not a strong enough word. Purple beats other colors like Usian Bolt beats the competition. (I guess I should say like ‘bama beats Auburn, but I fear that would open a can of worms since I don’t know who I go for yet?!) So, it was a purple wedding. We had the ceremony in the sanctuary at First Presbyterian. One of the unique things about our wedding is that it was in a sanctuary. All of our friends got married at their venues, but we got married in the church. Which was perfect for Emily and I, we are church people. I have always enjoyed sanctuaries. They are peaceful places that make you want to remove your shoes and just stand for a moment to stand in awe of God. Our ceremony was a great mixture of traditional, contemporary, sacred and fun. Emily came in to the song “Legacy” by Nichole Nordeman. We sang “How Great Thou Art” and then left to “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Our friends played all the music which was awesome.

We then took a limo with the bridal party to our reception site. This was my first time in a limo and I loved it. It is great having someone drive you around while you stretch your legs out in a style. I’m not sure how much it would cost to buy one of these and have Emily drive me around in it, but it may be worth it. We then went to the Hotel Maya in Long Beach. We danced, visited with friends and just had a great time. Everyone says that your wedding goes by really fast, so I tried to take in every moment, but it still went by fast. The dance floor was packed until the last song which I loved. Emily and I have a great group of friends who are great dancers. It was so much fun and I tried to stand back and watch Emily as much as I could because she will never wear a wedding dress again and it was fun to see her in it. We then went off to Hawaii for our honeymoon. That will be my next post for this space!

My First Post

2009-09-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

Here is my first post. I am going to be using this blog to track our move from California to Alabama. It will be full of fun stories, my thoughts and pictures. I hope that you have as much fun reading this as I do writing it.