Sterling Griggs

The television show Lost was one of my favorite shows of all time. Thanks to Netflix, I can relive every episode from every season as often as I want and this time around my oldest daughter is watching it with me. We are in the midst of Season Four (there are six seasons in all) and it can be just as confusing to fully understand what is going on in the plot now as it was when the series first aired. In the episode that we watched last night, one of my favorite characters, Desmond Hume, is experiencing a bizarre occurrence of what can only be described as time traveler's amnesia. An even more bizarre behaving physicist is able to diagnose Desmond's dilemma and tells him that in order to survive the constant ping-ponging back and forth between time dimensions he must discover something or someone in both dimensions that is familiar. In other words, Desmond must seek to find his constant. What is it that grounds you in the reality of today and gives you hope for tomorrow? Th...

Sunglasses have become an essential part of my life, not because I want to look cool but because my eyes are so stinkin' sensitive to the sun and sunshine is so critical to my well-being and happiness.  I have never personally invested in an expensive pair of sunglasses (i.e., Oakley's or Ray Ban's) because I could never justify having an expensive pair of sunglasses that I would either lose or break in a short amount of time. Earlier this year a friend gave me a really nice pair of sunglasses as a gift (in the $100) range and, for the very first time, I grasped what having a nice pair of sunglasses was all about.  The clarity of vision that they gave to me was astounding and the fit was great.  No cheap wiggle and loose screws for this guy.  I'm going big time! As I packed up and headed to the beach a couple of months later I knew that I needed to take really good care of my new sunglasses, for the ocean had claimed more than her fair share of my loot over the yea...

I came across this cartoon on Facebook the other day and just about spit my coffee on my computer's keyboard. In an age of so much technology - most of which I really like - there has become a disconnect when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Like the illustration above addresses, technology has antiquated our commonly accepted terminology and replaced it with more postmodern definitions. For instance: • Status Update - Used to mean where you are currently in a relationship. Now it means typing into the Internet any mundane thing you've done in the past five minutes ago so the whole world can hear about it. • Follow - Used to mean attaching yourself to someone on influence for the purpose of learning from them. Now it means adding someone to an internet list so that you can keep up with their status updates. • Friends - Used to refer to people who you share life with because they have significant purpose and meaning to you. Now it refers to a huge list of...

The call of God on your life is not always an easy one to accept.  It's not that any of us want to necessarily live life apart from God's divine direction, but there are times when what He asks of us may not make sense to us - or others in our lives - so that we balk at what and where we believe He is leading us to do.  Knowing that God wants to use you is not that hard to believe.  Knowing how and where can be a little more difficult. In John's gospel (5:1-15) we read the account of Jesus entering Jerusalem and walking by the pool called Bethesda.  This pool was surrounded by people who were sick - blind, lame, paralyzed, etc. - because tradition had it that an angel would stir the waters in this pool and, when that happened, the first one in the water recovered from whatever physical ailment had afflicted him.  One man in particular had been lying by that pool of water for 38 years, hoping for that healing that he believed this stirred water would give to hi...

"Seeing is believing."  This is a saying that has been around for a long time.  But what does it really mean?  Are we to call into question anything that we cannot or have not truly experienced?  If that is the case, our belief systems are confined to the small spaces that contain our personal world.  In other words, we wouldn't believe much because there is so much we have not seen.  The philosopher Kierkegaard is commonly credited with the phrase "leap of faith," which can be defined as jumping from one quality of belief into another, even if there is not substantial evidence for doing so.  For instance, Christians are often accused of talking leaps of faith to believe in Christ, one whom they have not physically seen and who lived a life that transcended metaphysical possibilities culminating in a bodily resurrection from the grave.  Yet if we are going to throw this accusation against Christians then can't we say the same of those who hold t...

"If you don't learn from history then you are doomed to repeat it."   This is a phrase that I've heard uttered many, many times and the meaning of it is pretty obvious.  Learn from the mistakes of the past so that they do not become a part of your present. Each week I have the chance to teach middle and high school history at an independent school and this past class we were discussing the fall of Rome.  As a way of illustrating the reasons why Rome fell, I divided the students into groups of three and had them design their own kingdom.  Everything from what kind of government they would have, military prowess, geographical location, and economical considerations were theirs to decide.  And they also had to decide which among them would be leader in their new kingdom. I have to admit that I wish school was always this fun.  The creativity and answers that they gave were hysterical if not a little bit impossible.  They were big dreamers and planners...

This isn't meant to be gross or inappropriate, but the day that I switched from briefs to boxers was a great day in my life.  It was like one of those rites of passage from childhood into manhood.  The boxers vs. briefs debate will probably always be waged and eventually you're gonna have to make a decision which side you are on.  I'm not sure that I can adequately explain why it is so glorious, but if you are a man you probably understand.  Another great day is when your children graduate from diapers and pull-ups to underwear.  That is usually a bit of a tougher transition with lots of bumps in the road along the way, yet not having to grab that pack of Huggies or Pampers at the store every week is just as freeing.  Sure, family trips take a bit longer but I'd rather pull into a rest stop for a bathroom break than to have to smell a dirty diaper for 50 miles. Is there some sort of connection that we can make with underwear and our relationship with Go...

When you woke up this morning, did you spend several minutes in prayer in order to determine what you should wear or whether or not to have cereal or waffles for breakfast?  Chances are, that wasn't part of your agenda.  And if it was, I hope the waffles tasted great.  The fact is, most of us don't spend an awful lot of time praying when it comes to the everyday "normal" choices that we face.  I've heard this point discussed many times with the consensus being that, if we are walking with the Lord as we should, then our daily decisions will be tinged with His wisdom and the common sense that He gives to us.  Prayer for God's wisdom and guidance is a part of that and it serves as our compass in our daily decisions. But what about the big decisions that life brings your way?  You know, those times when you are faced with a new job opportunity or where you want to further your education or who you are going to spend the rest of your life with in marriage....