loving the outdoors and a good book

I got to go camping with some guys from church this past Friday night and am headed on a trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire at the end of the week. I am loving it. It makes me so happy to be outside, that sometimes I find myself just looking around with this silly grin on my face. The trip this past week was great, except for me not bringing enough charcoal. We had to finish off our burgers on a frying pan over the camp stove. Otherwise, it was a great time of being together. It is wonderful when there is nothing particular that you need to do and you can just talk, watch the fire, play cards or whatever.

Yesterday I finished The Wounded Heart, which I've been reading for the past 2 months. This is an excellent book which is very insightful as it considers the terrible damage which can be inflicted upon the human soul and examines the various responses to life in a broken world. I could say a bunch, but one of the primary things I've begun to understand from reading this book, is the role that contempt plays in my life. Dan Allender (the author), talks about self contempt and other centered as ways by which we deaden ourselves to the disappointments and hurts that life throws at us. Here's the quick example: going out to dinner you deeply desire a Philly cheese steak, but at the restaurant they don't have it on the menu. In coping with disappointment you can engage in self-contempt, "Why am I being so stupid, being upset over a cheese steak." Or you can engage in other - centered contempt, "This restaurant is terrible" or, "that was such a bad choice to come here" (directed to the person who chose the place). This may seem kinda silly, but if you look for it, I think you'll find contempt for yourself and others is rampant. That's some of what I have seen.