The God Squad
Thinking back to the mid 1980’s when I was in college. We had a group of guys who lived in the suite next door to us. They were born again Christians.
Great guys. They played guitar. They were lots of fun to be around. You never had to worry about whether your room was locked when they were around.
We called them “The God Squad.”
It’s kind of funny when you look back on it. Besides the cool name these guys got, you really wouldn’t have noticed too many differences. The main ones: the prayed before eating, never swore and never threw up in the bathroom sink.
If you looked closer you also saw another difference. They had an air of serenity that most of the rest of us didn’t. We always seemed to worry about stuff – grades, girlfriends, lack of girlfriends, cars, etc.
The God Squad were always in a good mood. They seemed more self-assured than the rest of us. At least this particular group of guys did.
There were others around – the ones who got in your face and asked if you’d been saved. Some of them seemed to look down on those who didn’t hold the same beliefs as the others.
Even then I could tell those guys radiated negative energy and usually repulsed the very people they were trying to attract.
The God Squad would just be. If you asked a question, they’d answer. They may even invite you to whatever place of worship they attended. But it always seemed like an invitation, not an ultimatum.
I admired The God Squad for their willingness to do what felt right, and the ease with which they did it. Unlike the other more aggressive born again Christians, no one made fun of the God Squad. They were among the most respected group of people in the residence hall.
Not surprisingly (looking back on it) they also seemed to have the most attractive girlfriends, although not necessarily what we thought of as the “hotties” at the time.
With twenty something years of hindsight and some good life experiences, I now know The God Squad were really just some of the early practicioners of the Law Of Attraction.
They used Christianity and the Bible as their frame of reference, and they focused on the parts that preach love, inclusion and acceptance of all people as God’s children.
I’m glad the God Squad were around then. They were great role models for me and others, not necessarily in what to do, but in how to be yourself. Saying very little, they actually said a lot.
For all you current God Squadders, keep up the good work. Be yourselves, and invite others into your experience. The right ones will show – ready, willing and able.
Your Pal,
Larry
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First Post: Let The Wild Things Be Wild
4:00 pm on a gorgeous Thursday afternoon. About 70 degrees out. Perfect time to mow the lawn. I’ve been getting grief from Jill, my 16 year old about the length of it, and our usual lawn mowing kid hasn’t started the season yet.
So I gas up, check the oil, and get into it.
The front lawn looked like a beautiful, lush meadow. The grass was ten days tall and wildflowers were everywhere. The center island had its flowering bushes in full bloom and the dogwood tree was incredible.
But of course conditioning kicked in. No one wants to have the only house in the neighborhood with the overgrown lawn. So I started in on the front yard.
There were two patches that had the most beautiful purple wildflowers. They come around every year about this time. They last three or four weeks, then die off.
That is, they last unless they get mowed over along with the rest of the grass.
Each year I watch the bees come by and pollenate these wildflowers. Sure, there are plenty of other flowers for the bees. Lilacs are also in full bloom right now, not to mention thousands of other varieties.
But these are my flowers. They’re on my lawn.
It was an easy choice. As carefully as I could, I mowed around the patches of wildflowers. I even cut into them slightly where there was an opening. I tilted the lawnmower up in certain places to get to patches of grass in the middle the flowers.
I treated them with the TLC that something wild and beautiful deserves.
And I looked back at my work when I was finished. A very nice, neat, “proper” front yard. Fits in nicely with the rest of the neighborhood. There’s something to be said for order; compliance to the standards of those around you…when you aren’t compromising your own principles.
And I looked at the brilliant bursts of purple. No doubt some of the neighbors won’t be in love with the “weeds” I left in the yard. No one else in the neighborhood seems to have those blooms on their lawn.
But the processes of nature, the way we allow the natural world to flourish around us…for me it was more important than falling in line.
I’ll take the annoyance of a few folks. To see something express its beauty and its purpose, and to play a role in allowing it to unfold…it’s magic.
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We have people in our lives who are those purple flowers. They don’t do things the way the rest of us do. They don’t stay in line. They upset what we think is the proper balance of things.
But they bloom so beautifully.
And they feed a process we may not see, but is more important than any simple conformity.
Yeah, you can cut them out of your yard. You can wall yourself off from their wild, uninhibited nature.
Or you can delight in the God force they have to express.
And you can get swept up in it and become a “wild thing” yourself.
I know what my choice is.
Naturally Yours,
Larry